Embedded Files
Description:
AU where corvo’s mask/mark is an Alive Thing that essentially Controlling Him.
intro:
With more chaos it starts to control him more. At the end of an ultra high chaos run, it's not Corvo anymore, just the mask taking over his entire body
gradually the Mask starts to infect his right arm first, to the point where Corvo can't let go of his sword anymore cuz the Mask keeps its grip on it. He HAS to use violence/his sword
Corvo getting marked on his face (idk where exactly, forehead?) Which sort of parallels being branded.
the loyalists:
The Loyalists wondering why Corvo keeps his mask on. It's kinda freaky and only really increases their paranoia
Corvo taking off his mask at the lighthouse right before he shoots havelock in the face
finding emily:
Emily, meeting corvo at the golden cat and her being one of the only people he trusts to take his mask off in front of. He has to explain it to her before he can take it off. "Someone, not of this world, did this to me"
general behavior:
his mark almost glows underneath his mask, it makes his lens glow. Corvos eyes glowing as he lets the mark take over and doesn’t really have control anymore. Literally a glowing skull mask. And soon even without the mask, his eyes still glow
also possession is more powerful? Connection of the mind and all that? Corvos uh possession “victims” having glowing eyes, like not startling but you get close and it’s like wtf
God imagine if before every kill Corvo took off his mask. It wasn't a conscious choice, the Mark wants to be seen. Wants his targets, those who have HURT Em and Jessamine, to know what they did, and to know who's going to end them. His eyes glowing and mark glowing underneath the mask that he puts back on before he slaughters them would be bone chilling. They look into his glowing dead eyes.
Okay but ya know how the Outsider has some sort of curiosity with humanity in 1? Like a head-tilting curiosity? That but with Corvo. Corvo tilting his head not to be intimidating, but out of genuine wonder, like the Outsider himself possessed him. The void is curious.... it’ll use what ever outlet it has to see. The Void, not the Outsider, using other marked as vessels to see the world. It hungers for knowledge.
meeting Daud:
Daud seeing the mark on Corvo's HEAD and not his hand, just adds to the growing mystery that he can't allow. Daud taking off corvos mask like “uwu what the FUCK is this”
the daud battle and how he doesn’t even get a chance to think, the minute he and daud encounter each other at the beginning dauds Mark activates all those emotions. He doesn’t get a choice and daud doesn’t even get a chance to ask for his life
post-dh1:
corvo practically is the crown killer, just like he doesn’t have any control over the mark anymore, it’s in his head, the only thing he cares about more is Emily. So the mark just kinda takes over, completed his darkest desires. His darkest desire is just killing all those who dare defy Emily. He wants to protecc em, but those thoughts manifest in the worst way possible.
So he literally doesn’t even know he’s doing it, he is a kind man but the mark corrupts him to a point he doesn’t even realize it. The more and more he's controlled by the mark, the less and less conscious he feels, he feels like a ghost in his own body, it takes more and more control, and soon Corvo isn't even really Corvo anymore. Just a shadow of what he was. A monster who will do anything to protect emily
Corvo coming into em’s room, blood stained. He doesn’t even realize it. His hair is long and covering his face, his mark. He’s not even wearing his mask. Emiky doesn’t even recognize him.
"F-father? Who are you, why do you have blood on you?" "Who are you? Why are you wearing that mask?" But it's a metaphorical mask. A different person in a blood covered mask.
Emily forced to choose, arrest her own father or protect him?
Emily at first being so curious about Corvo's mark, looking at its shape and how it got there, but then her nightmares about a black eyed man, seeing the mark make Corvo do THINGS, bad things. Things her mother wouldn't want to see him do, and that just buds her hatred of whomever did this (that black eyed bastard
authoritarian theocracy:
Emily but she’s like anti void. She has music boxes and shit and all that overseer tech. emily putting all the imperial resourses into the abbey. Despite all the hurt that overseers did to her when she was younger (campbell, and then martin, and even then she was uoung and jot fully aware of everything) she realizes tahtt they're nothing compardd to the horrors of the void
Superstitious Emily,,, paranoid as all hell over Everything. Emily,,,,being pretty much Hiram levels of security. She let her paranoia get to her, and she's become everything her mother is against (ie working for herself/her paranoia and not the people)
Overseer boxes placed around the city, those who are rumored to be involved are killed on spot. She didn’t intend for it to become like this but overseers be like that. She gives them power and they take it three steps further
She has overseers guard Corvo's room and a couple are just around the tower. She forced music boxes played on the palace loud speakers like in Coldridge.
I think I read somewhere that possibly one of Campbell's reasons to involve with the coup was the power and the possibility of turning Dunwall into a theocracy and depending so much on the Abbey for governing (I mean at that point to it came true, the Abbey is such a heavy military force in the first game) and now Emiky is basically making his dream come true
the DH2 coup:
Corvo prior being so adamant on eliminating Emily's political enemies, so he killed Ramsey but the coup from Serkonos still come and piss on everything ig?
the coup was important in developing emiky character? Like now she sees THREE marked people who have done awful things, just cements her viewpoint. Yeah! Like first Daud (she probs saw his mark as he lifted corvo with Pull), then Corvo, obvs, but then Delilah, and she's fucking pissed at the abuse of power. Time after time Emily keeps seeing how corrupting the mark is, she sees how much the people marked abuse power and she's so sick of it. At this point in her life, esp after Delilah, Emily can't think of the mark/the Outsider as anything more than CORRUPT. beyond the actual game and like the regular character development, Delilah, being a third marked rolling in and fucking everhthing up again really cements her hate for the outsdier
When Corvo gets marblized and his mark taken away a part of her is happy
coup crew are more sort of "hey stop it" and people start going "revolt time maybe????" and the tension is as thicc ass corvo's ass. Delilah has an even EASIER time usurping bc at this point Em is a REAL BAD empress and stuff
the thing with the crown killer gets muddy if we're considering that Corvo's going around murdering people already? people would just be like oh. ok. business as usual.
The crown killer murders happen more frequently and people are like damn ok then, and as tensions rise the other isles grow nervous. They've seen how fast rebellions can be crushed.
the goal's for alex to target Actual Important People rather than people who speak out against emily. their deaths would destabilize things and that'd of course get pinned on corvo and emily
alexi like. starts actually believing it is corv/em doing it until she gets attacked. Alexi, living in the fear that she isn't doing her best. She isn't do the job Emily WANTS her to do. And she fears that despite her connection to Emily that she will be next. Corvo will be hunting her down and killing her for her mediocrity. Or even Emily herself coming to kill her.
The paranoia rubs off on her. She silences herself whenever she wants to make an opinion about Em and her ruling. She hides a gun under her pillow at night. She jumps at any noises she hears while she sleeps. And when those footsteps come, she reaches for her gun. At first the noises make her so scared. She KNOWS that Corvo or Emily could kill her so easily. But when the door opens and she sees a hunched figure with glowing eyes. Alexi shoots alex in her knee smth smth. the voice that growls in pain when she shoots is.... definitely not corvo's.
power goes out in the tower. music boxes are off lights are off all there is is screaming and rustling. delilah kidnaps emily takes her somewhere public like a town square type of deal except i dont know words for things. delilah declares herself ruler, publics like well it cant get any worse. Everyone actually being HAPPY for Delilah to usurp the throne. Delilah mostly does it for herself, but she frames it as saving the people from the tyrannical Emily. Like. People are fuckin jumping for joy. Evil cottagecore witch lesbians are better than emily kaldwin
em getting marked:
the outsider still pulls her into the void at some point to offer the mark and she just breaks down in fear and rage and tries to fight the outsider. Moments where Em is physicslly DRAGGED into the void (at Shindaerey Peak, in Stilton's manor) being some sort of thing that despite her paranoia and everything, Emily will forever be linked to the void, whether she likes it or not
em going nuts with converting old outsider dedicated sites through out the isles, just like the abbey once did in saggunto. They try and fuck up shindaerey peak north quarry and it goes horribly wrong. The outsider reaches through the void and drags em in, who is kicking and screaming, but the outsider's grip is stronger than corvo's or anyone else for that matter.
Em backhands the outsider, but his grin is wicked as her hand comes back marked. Everytime em attacks him that place gets arkane tattoos. They twist on her body like delilah's plants, but this is a dream, right? Just the worst nightmare she ever had. She goes to try and strangle him and he still goes off on how she fucked up, and that if she truly wants to kill him, its gonna take more than that. His head lolls back, and em returns to the real world. She's still markes/tattooed.
Em breaks down bc no no no no no she cant be like corvo, the outsider is bad!!! The mark does awful things!!!! The outsider is still there, she claws at him but her hand goes straight through him. The outsider laughs. The void will always be part of her, wether she likes it or not.
The emiky falling and the outsider catching her scene but the hand he catches her from gets marked- she has to watch it rather slowly creep across her skin
would she try to get rid of the mark. cut it off. Imagine she cuts it off... the mark just appears on her other hand. you can’t escape the void that easy
DH2:
emily sees the black markets in karnaca sell runes and perhaps commits murder. She out here swinging at bloodflies for having a bonecharm in their nest
would she get the heart and hear her dead mother be disappointed in her. would she try to smash it, smash the heart of her dead mother?
Such a conflict of interest,,,, she thinks it's the outsider's trickery, one of his many ways to get her to accept the Void, bc if she accepts the heart, that's essentially what she thinks she's doing. She doesn't truly think that it's Jessamine. She doesn't WANT to. This is just another trick by the Outsider. Another way to tempt her into the Void.
she tries to throw it overboard first. it appears by her bed the next day. she tries to crush it, stomp it beneath her boots. it just bounces like rubber. she leaves it in the boat, where she cant see it, where it cant tempt her with the sound of her mothers voice. she finds it in her pocket in the middle of an alley. she breaks down, tries to shoot it, tries to stab it. She tries to crush the heart tea style in her hands that day. It springs back into shape instantly.
Jess being so disappointed in her rule. Emiky just refusing everything she says. “This man is good-“ “Aight murder time”
Sokolov and natural philosophers:
how would this effect people like sokolov. like most natural philosophers have some interest in the occult. emily halts the progress of science and medicine for her paranoia
Emily seeing Sokolov being shifty/heretical and it's on SIGHT. Emily, having to face this ally she's had growing up as a heretic,,, Emily in dh2 finding sokolovs outsider painting and refusing to interact with him. Only asks him for the information she needs and locks herself in her room. She feels so betrayed,, "How,,,how could you BELIEVE in someone like...like HIM?!"
Billie:
Billie revealing herself as dauds whaler. Emily slowly asks if she was ever involved with the void...... she saw that whaler disappear. Asmr we hurt Emily by having each one of her allies reveal themselves to be associated with the Void
Billie admitting yes, she was, but not anymore and Emily swearing to kill her unless she proves she isn’t marked
emily finds the bone charms in billies cabin. she pulls out her sword. Hypatia and Stilton on the boat like 8|. ohh they see emily with her sword out prowling toward billie and try to intervene
corvo post-dh2:
Corvo wakes up at the end of dh2 and can barely remember anything about the past 15 years, only vague memories. Most of them violent ones he never wanted to take part in. Corvo being freed from stone and his sword is covered in blood, “why would I do that?”
Only good memories he can remember was before everything. He remembers Jessamine. The mark wiping or making him mostly forget Jessamine's death and him having to relive that once Em frees him.
Corvo doesnt recognize Emily bc he doesn’t remember much of her growing up. "Who are you? WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!". He refuses to believe that Emily is grown up and not the little Em that he knows.
looks at himself in the mirror :) doesnt recognize himself :)))
The overwhelming emotions of realizing that 15 years of his life just passed before his eyes. He just breaks down. Mutters Jessamine's name, crying that he couldn't see Emily grow up, thinks about all of the blood he has on his hand. “I never watched to kill anyone,... I just wanted to keep you and Jess safe.... and I couldn’t even do that”.
corvos just,,, around like 8|. he's recovering Badly™️. Man is forgetful, can’t hold a memory, can’t handle holding a sword, brings back to many memories.
branch off (au of an au):
Hey what if emily slices the mark on corvo's forehead before branding him. She's all *yelling* as she does it and corvo cries out in pain.
Says a LOT about her paranoia. I mean like she brands him a Heretic like !!!!
Oh what if em does it publicly. The crowd sees corvo restrained, and hears him screaming in pain as emily hoists him up to his feet, hair pushed back, mark and brand for all to see.
What would Corvo even do after being branded? He's just left out on the streets? He couldn't possibly still be Emily's royal protector, let alone allowed in the tower again. He's been deemed a social outcast by his own daughter. He would be arrested probably by the abbey. Even if she let him go they wouldn’t let him go far. Lock him in a room with some music boxes.
The absolute shock and emotion, thr fact that the mark pretfy kuch took EVERYTHING from him. His 15 years of life, his place in the tower, his daughter...
emily post-dh2:
Now since daud is dead Emily doesn’t immediately go back to ruling after she frees Corvo, which she’s reluctant to do in the first place, but she has to it Corvo. She goes back to the boat, tells Billie “we’re killing this black eyed bastard for what he did to my father”
She has to get a new royal protector. She probably doesn’t trust anyone though.
promotes alexi to royal protector. but alexi's like,, frightened by her. tries to guide emily down a better path but oh god she's too far gone. "Emily please...you don't NEED all these overseers. Don't you trust me?" And Em gets so defensive about it
asmr emily creates an abbey-based authoritarian regime and billie/someone/probs billie goes to bring her down.
em and the outsider:
what if sider didnt even expect that to happen. "Some things are beyond control, even mine"
emily fights the outsider asmr. The outsider offers to mark her. She spits in his face
“This isn’t my fault. The void did this to him”
“And who allowed that to happen”
Every time she visits the Void she absolutely hates it, fills her with such a sense of uneasy, more beyond than what Corvo or Daud feels. It makes her stomach turn, she feels like she's gonna throw up, she feels WRONG
Okay but Billie and Emily fighting over the fate of the Outsider during the Ritual Hold. "HE IS NOTHING BUT CORRUPTION! LOOK AT WHAT HE DID TO DAUD! LOOK AT WHAT HE DID TO MY FATHER!"
the similarities between emiky and daud are so hard to ignore in this au. Now more than ever. Both are blaming the Outsider for their problems. Emily could easily take dauds place in doto and it would still work
instead of Billie Emily gets the hand and eye.... Maybe not that but the equilvilant. Emily hand and eye but her hand looks more like the shadow walk/far reach look.
other islands revolt:
Morley, due to Em's reign, revolts again. but this time the other isles join in. Not only that, but inner rebellions within the isles. Morely is gonna give gristol hell if its the last thing they do.
Emily breaking Wyman’s heart and having to look them in the eye as they come to declare independence from Gristol. Wyman seeing what Em has become too, and they're so heartbroken to see how she turned out.
Emily, having to see Wyman again on a battlefield on opposing sides,,, Wyman saying their not sorry as the revolutionaries aim at emily with rifles. Emily surrenders. They shake hands once they sign the treaty, and quickly turn away from eachother. Its too painful to think about each other right now.
Smth smth, Wyman was promoted as a leader in Morley by Em
The empire is officially dissolved in the following months.
Morely is obviously first bc like hell they're gonna submit to emily, then serkonos after a skirmish in karnaca. Corvo goes from being a working class hero to "what the fuck have you done". Serkonos is where the outsider myth started of course. Tyvia follows a bit after that, then people in dunwall are starting to rebel.
On jess' death anniversary, rebelling citizens in dunwall hold a candlelight vigil, and pretty much everyone mourns her because the empire truly went to shit when she died. Its also a subtle protest of corvo and Emily's actions. The citizens end up all gathering at the gazebo, singing.
Oh candlelight vigil/protest thing: seeing as corvo got arrested by the overseers, they take his mask and sword and some how the revolutionaries get them. The vigil site itself has a statue of jess, a portrait (by sokolov) of the imperial family pre-dh 1. They have flowers, and they leave jess' hair pin, emily's bow in in dh 1, and corvo's mask and sword. Corvo and emily may not be actually dead, but they're dead to the citizens of the empire, so its a collective vigil for the imperial family in a sense. Above, the moon is full, and the sky is full of stars. The wrenhaven seems to have cleared up a bit.
That same night Delilah sneaks into coldridge, and a restrained corvo snarls and tries to lunge at her. She turns him into stone.
Next morning she ursurps the throne. People rejoice, because fucking finally, emily is no longer in power. Sure delilah may be the leader of a group of evil cottagecore lesbians, but its better than the empress who publicly branded her own father and left him to rot in coldridge.
People actually have some sort of faith in delilah, but emily is headed to karnaca on a mission to gain control over the rest of the isles. There are riots in Karnaca and there's a skirmish at shindaerey peak north quarry. Rebels use void fuckery to their advantadge and smth smth what i said about em trying to speed run doto earlier. Rebels win, Em is now marked and tattoed etc, squeaky toy heart asmr.
So uh eventually she's like aight morley time, and morley is all "GET HER ASS" the moment she arrives in alba. Morley is all attack. kill. at overseers and shit. So the overseers kill a bunch of civillians and morley snaps and is like ok revolution but for real this time. Wyman comes to Emily to tell her that Morley is declaring independence smth smth heartbreak asmr.
Serkonos follows, then tyvia, then citizens in dunwall go all viva la revolution, complete with barricades.
Archives:
sider, watching this: hm. fucked up if true
"Hey nice paint job there buddy" [wipes his forehead only to realize it's still there] "Uhhhhh" [wipes it more vigorously] "UHHHHH"
“Bruh I thought you were joking what-“
“Young man have you been a heretic?”
“I’m basically your grandpa what?”
"i for one support our new witch uprising"
emily seeing a bloodfly land on a bonecharm: >:(
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse