#but that one directly contradicts the above writing so i couldn't really fit it in here

[star-fi]

Do you have more Erchius headcanons or ideas?

hehehe thank you for asking i do indeed!

Edit (Aug 23): sorry for taking so long! this. got longer than i thought it would!

ok so. some of my erchius headcanons can be applied to main lore pretty easily but the other half make more sense in the context of uh. my main "au" is probably the best term for it. I made some pretty big additions to starbound lore for my own stories (which i have not elaborated on much yet). l'll put anything about my main au under a readmore for organization. Edit (Aug 23): I will be putting the au stuff in a reblog. I need to get this post out of my drafts. (Aug 25): Stay tuned for the reblog! It's going to be a lot of oc backstory stuff but also wider worldbuliding.

Edit (Aug 24): Everything is under a readmore now! Post got long.

(For the sake of clarity, I will be referring to the 'Crystal Erchius Fuel' as 'Surface Erchius' and the 'Crystal Erchius' building block as simply 'Crystal Erchius.' Liquid Erchius stays the same.)

Erchius Miners distract the ghost to dig deeper

The most common method, illustrated above, is to gather a large amount of surface erchius and attach it to a ship that will maintain a low enough orbit for the ghost to follow. Surprisingly enough, this method can be considered SpOSHA (Space OSHA) compliant as long as all the necessary guidelines are followed. Most of the guidelines pertain to the amount of time a ship stays in orbit and making sure all miners are evacuated long before the next mandatory ship downtime.

Erchius crystal is a highly regulated, dangerous substance

Even before the first Erchius Incident (emergence of the Erchius Horror) many twisted and malformed bodies would appear in the depths of Erchius mines across the known galaxy. When the accounts of "flesh warping' began to pile up, the Terrene Protectorate banned all Terrene civilians from entering a certain depth into the mines, and then eventually banned entrance into mines completely. This resulted in many mines in protectorate/proc. allied space either shutting down completely, switching to remote controlled mining robots, or continuing operations as usual, illegally. The output from the remote mines decreased considerably after the increase in regulation, resulting in a shortage of ship FTL fuel and an increase in frequency of surface erchius mining by ship crews. Resulting in more erchius ghost-related deaths and injuries.

The illegal mines however, are run by two sorts of groups: Small Covert Groups from the local star system or Letheia Corp. The local groups usually depend heavily on Liquid Erchius in interstellar trade, especially if they don't have any other resources that would be profitable outside their solar system. Many local trade routes/services rely on bartering systems rather than pixels, making the acquisition of out of system resources all the more dependent on the availability of local resources. Now, with the protectorate scrambled and Earth destroyed, many isolated colonies that relied on the backing of the Terrene Protectorate in times of crisis must now rely on more transactional relationships for the acquisition of necessities produced out of their system and for security.

Letheia corp. mines operate on a whole other level. Where the goal of the local mines often is to support one or more colonies, the goal of the corporate mines is to monopolize a market, thereby securing the dependence of most FTL travel in the known galaxy. The majority of Letheia mines started out as local mines and then were bought out by Letheia, who dug deeper than the original owners. To the core. Surprisingly, once they were done, they would give the mines back to the original owners. However, most of what Letheia took from these mines was not Liquid or Surface Erchius, but their Core. Which leads to my next subject:

The Letheia Lunar Bases (A.K.A. The Erchius Mining Facilities) are artificially created Erchius moons

By transplanting the core of an Erchius Moon into a rogue planet, Letheia Corp. created artificial erchius mines substantially larger and efficient than any known erchius moon. However, the chance of an erchius core successfully establishing itself in a new planet are low. If Letheia has at least 12 of these Lunar Bases, who knows how many cores they burned through to get that far. When a natural erchius moon loses its core, the ghost disappears. Over time, the pockets of Liquid Erchius will deplete, no longer resupplied by the core. By taking the core of the local mines, Letheia destroys a renewable resource that most colonies depend on to engage in local and interstellar trade.

So why hasn't anybody done something about this? Well, Letheia is pretty good at covering up after themselves. (They're not the largest mega corp in the known galaxy for nothing.) Before the Ruin destroyed Earth, the local miners that had their Erchius Core taken by Letheia might have complained to the Protectorate, but what can they say? They sold their mine to Letheia and then Letheia gave it back for a fraction of the cost. But it doesn't stop there. By the time the local miners realize the Liquid Erchius is not replenishing, it's too late to search for other resources. They're desperate for solutions. And in comes Letheia corp. with an offer the miners won't refuse: Come work on the new Lunar Bases. In exchange, Letheia will set up stations in their solar system and add them to the Letheia trade routes. The miners are assured that the Lunar Bases may be farther away, but the working conditions are much safer. On the surface, this is a miracle deal, but anyone whose played the game knows: It's a deal too good to be true.

#starbound #oh boy. this. this isnt all. I'm really excited to write more about the galaxy surrounding these incidents. #erchius horror #thanks again to robo for the ask! I wasn't planning for anything like this but your ask really helped me get a lot of stuff i had in my hea #out! #i also have some hcs about how the matter manipulator summons the ghost and its only a problem for the player character #but that one directly contradicts the above writing so i couldn't really fit it in here #maybe somewhere else #probably a version 2 post #the real struggle is the fact that the ghost summoning hc could also fit into my au . so i need to choose between the two if i start making #comics with thierri's crew #also i got this ask on August 12th so thanks again for your patience! #also feel free to ask followup questions!

[undreaming-fanfiction]

Made In Your Image (1)

Did you need a mythology Steddie AU? Probably not. Did I write one anyway? Heck yeah.

The monster's lair was menacingly quiet, full of moving water reflections and prolonged shadows. No one who came in lived to tell the tale, or so the townsfolk said. It was fitting - the cave was home to ruins of an ancient temple, long crumbled and abandoned, the god it had been dedicated to long gone. It was a forgotten place, or had been. Now people avoided it, whispering about a creature of nightmares that made its nest there.

The young man wasn't deterred. He was sent here for a reason and he could not afford to disappoint the ones who told him where to go, what to do. He pushed past the narrow entrance to the cave and took in the humid air, touched the moss on the walls. It was strangely comforting, almost soft. He assumed it would be soft, that's what his parents told him it felt like.

The cave was deep and surprisingly warm. There were hot springs that the priests of the forgotten god used for cleansing and many rituals, now frowned upon - but what wasn't these days, he thought. That was the issue with him, he had too many thoughts, not enough thoughts, a walking contradiction - but not living, not fully.

His steps resonated in the natural dome and he looked up at the opening above him. The sky looked so far away from here, even though he'd seen it only a minutes before. It seemed unreachable and distant, almost sneering at him. He sneered back. It was strangely calming, to be hidden from everything and everyone for a few brief moments.

Well, almost everyone.

"And so they send another poor soul." The drawl was exaggerated, almost lazy. It echoed off the cavern walls and the visitor struggled to identify the direction it came from. Not for long though - a robed figure stepped on the crumbled altar, appearing larger than life. "What was your crime, pretty boy? Did you kiss the wrong girl? Disappoint your parents? Why do they want you gone?"

The young man frowned, taking a step forward. "I was sent here to retrieve an item," he said. "A girl had it when she disappeared. It was a ring, family heirloom."

There was a chuckle as the figure jumped off the altar and the young man couldn't help but notice how normal it seemed, almost human if it wasn't for the movement around its head. "I remember her. Light hair, freckles. Promised to a much older man. She sought me out on her own, you know. Wanted to disappear."

A thin ray of sunshine illuminated the cavern and the visitor could finally see that some of the shapes around the room were not columns and ruins - they were statues. Disturbingly lifelike and frozen mid-movement, they stared towards the main altar. Unblinking, unmoving, closer to him than any human in the town was. He moved forward, reaching out to the statue near the monster.

"That's far enough," the monster said, its voice low, threatening. "Don't you know the stories? Has no one told you of the cursed man with the gaze that can turn anything living into stone?"

But the young man wasn't stopping. He walked directly in front of the monster, step by step, and how ironic it was that it was the monster who froze in fear, who was suddenly backed against one of the few standing walls. "I'm not afraid," he said, staring directly at the figure.

"Do you really want to die so badly?!" spat out the creature, turning so its eyes wouldn't fall on the unfortunate man. "Let me tell you something, here is where they send people to die, but it doesn't have to be like that. It never had to! So whatever you did, whatever you need-"

A hand reached towards him and pulled back the cape, revealing a writhing nest of snakes on the monster's head. The visitor took it all in, the black eyes, the pale skin with smooth patches of scales. The heads of the serpents turned to him and hissed, but the dark eyes were wide, frightened, and where the visitor expected defiance, there was only numbness. Acceptance.

"I'm not afraid," repeated the young man and the monster could finally see him clearly too - his features exactly measured, smooth. He was perfect, almost too perfect, and ghostly pale too. No, not pale. Exactly as he was supposed to be, as a marble statue. The sculptor must have been a true artist, he managed to convey so much in the visitor's body - softness and firmness, intertwined.

The monster shook its head and laughed. "Good one. Can't turn you into stone when you already are made from it." It leaned against the wall and sighed, closing its eyes. Its voice was hollow as its shoulders sagged down, abandoning all fight. "Well, I expected this sooner or later. Did they make you specifically to get rid of me? I wouldn't be surprised. That town has a well of dirty secrets and most of them end up here. With me."

The statue stood still, eyeing the snakes that retreated, now comfortingly licking the creature's face, nuzzling its cheeks. "I...no?" he stammered, raising his hands. Its hands? Who knew. "I told you, I'm here for the ring."

A bitter chuckle ripped from the monster's throat. "I find it hard to believe anyone would be stupid and cruel enough to send you here for something so unimportant. The ring wasn't a family heirloom, but it wasn't cheap - I know because she told me. She didn't have much, but she took the ring with her."

"So...it's here?" the statue said and his voice was so hopeful, so bright that the monster flinched. "If it's here, please just let me take it and I will leave you alone."

The snakes swayed from side to side as the creature shook its head again, looking into the marble eyes with something akin to sympathy. "There is no ring. Not anymore. The girl took it with her when she left - it seemed expensive enough to pay for a place on a ship. Where, I don't know, I didn't ask. I'm sorry."

The statue blinked in surprise, taking a step back. "But..." he turned towards the girl's likeness, set in stone. It looked so much like her, with the clothes his parents described, the rich, curly hair, even the satchel that went missing the night of her disappearance. "What is this? What..."

"Well, you might as well know," shrugged the creature and pushed itself off the wall. Its steps were light and fast and he gestured at the marble statue to follow him deeper into the cavern, towards piles of chipped pieces of stone and dust. There were boulders there, a single glance told the visitor that they fell from the top of the mountain over the cavern. There were cracks in the ceiling, but the monster didn't seem to care for the danger. It reached behind one of the half-formed stones and retrieved a wooden box. He placed it in the visitor's hands. "My secrets don't really matter at this point, when you come back, they will know how to get rid of me...and all of my sheep should be safe at this point, so there is no reason to lie anymore. Open it."

The smooth, milky white fingers pushed the lid open and the statue's perfect brow furrowed in confusion. "Are these...?"

"My tools," smiled the creature and revealed sharp canines in its mouth. It reached out, ran a finger gingerly over the chisel. "None of these," it pointed towards the stone figures in the main body of the cavern, "are real. I made them."

The unnaturally beautiful face turned towards him, swallowing, trying to find words. The creature watched his throat work, marvelled at the beauty - such a human thing to do, from someone who wasn't human. "I told you. This is where they send people to die. It is such a convenient thing, really. Send people here for the most mundane tasks, for the most ridiculous tasks - retrieve several of the monster's scales, bring back a pebble from the monster's layer - and hope they disappear. I don't know who started the rumor that a simple look from me will turn anyone into stone, but at some point everyone accepted it as a fact. They wanted to believe I was a monster for so long I decided to give them what they wanted...and do some good in the process." Its voice was low and bitter and the statue closed the lid on the tools, gave the box back to its owner. The creature's fingers grasped the box as a lifeline, stroking the symbol engraved in the wood before carefully placing it on the ground. "I know it's hard to believe when you look at me, but I'm not the monster here," he told the pale figure. "I might look monstrous, but I don't send my sons and daughters to face certain death because they refuse to obey, I don't get out of inconvenient marriages by sending someone who loves me to their doom."

The statue turned around, studying the figures in the cavern. Beautiful in its presumed death, preserved as a warning for any and all men who would invade the monster's privacy. "So...you made all of these?" he whispered reverently, touching the chin of a small girl, barely ten, frozen in time with her careless smile. "All of these people were sent to you to die and you...you saved them? Where are they?"

"I don't really ask," smiled the creature and patted the head of the stone child gently, moving between his creations with surprising ease. The robe hid most of his body, but the visitor could tell he was tall and lithe, with slender fingers and features so animated, so alive. "Some come to me as a way to escape everything, unhappy marriages, pressure from their families, poverty, suffering. Some of them don't want to believe their families or loved ones would do something so horrible to them. They usually figure it out when they leave and their families refuse to believe they actually saw me, no matter how many items from my cavern they bring. Then they come back and most of them decide to leave this nest of snakes behind. Pun intended. They stay for a few days, for me to keep a piece of them here, to cover their tracks. Some talk to me, tell me what they're running away from - parents who never wanted children, cruel step-parents, being traded like cattle for family fortunes...the list is too long. When I have their likeness down enough, they leave. Some of them go to other islands, others join family members in other towns. Sometimes they tell me more but I try not to remember. If someone finds me, if they finally figure out that what they're afraid of is a lie...well. I could put them all in danger. The only thing I remember are their faces."

The visitor slumped down next to the child's statue, let out a shaky breath. "Of course it would be like that," he laughed, but there was a sharp edge to his voice that the monster found way too familiar. "Of course they would send me to you."

The monster came closer and, after a second of hesitation, grasped the cool, firm shoulder. It didn't know if it would bring any comfort, if anything even could comfort the living marble, but he'd seen the look on his face too many times. "I'm sorry."

The statue shook his head, his face still twisted into a painful smirk. "Don't be. I'm not surprised, you know. I was wondering what they would do with the string of disappointments - would they send me away? I could return. Toss me in the sea? I can't swim or float, but I think I could survive at the bottom of the ocean. They can't just shatter me, not since the priests breathed life into me, so that would be disrespecting the gods. But sending me to you to benefit another noble family?" The word "noble" was spat out with such venom the monster flinched. "Such an elegant solution."

"Imagine how pissed off they will be when you come back," the creature smiled, then grasped the marble shoulder tighter. "Hey, let's sit by the fire. The draft is getting to me."

The creature's actual lair was surprisingly human. There was a makeshift bed with covers, a fireplace, a number of well-loved books. There were tiny statues too, carved with amazing precision. The statue took in the bits and pieces of the owner's personality. "How do you even get food here? Or the books?" he asked, touching a wooden plate.

The monster crawled onto the bed and stretched. Its snakes did too, one of them even yawned. "Oh, that's the most messed up part. For all the hatred and fear, the town still needs me. There are some healing herbs in this cavern. My group of friends," it stroked one of the snakes curling on its shoulders, "is what this whole town relies on for venom. Also antidotes. So sometimes they leave me notes asking for things, I respond with my price...and there are of course those whose dirty secrets are here, with me. They try to ease their conscience by sending small...gifts. Food, mostly. Ironic, isn't it?"

"Sure is. But also good. I was worried you could be starving with...all of this." The statue sat on the ground next to the bed. When he noticed the monster gesturing towards the chair, he snickered. "Do you know how much marble weighs? You want to keep your chair, I presume."

"Fair point," the monster grinned, then rested its chin in palm. "You are a surprising one, though. I've never met anyone who'd be concerned about my living arrangements."

The statue shrugged. "It's what's driving my parents mad, but I just can't help it. I care. I want to see people cared for." He bit his lip, glancing at the creature. "It's kind of funny. My parents are one of the richest families on the island, you know. They wanted perfection, so they paid for it. Just like for anything else. They paid the sculptor, the priests...they ordered what they wanted, a heritage. But something must have gone wrong, or maybe they didn't know what they were getting into, that money couldn't solve everything."

One of the snakes hissed and the creature stroked its head, calming it down. "Are you telling me they consider you imperfect, pretty boy? Can't imagine why. You're a sight to die for."

The visitor chuckled and stretched his legs on the ground. "So everyone tells me. Not that I had any choice in it, but I was told the sculptor was the best. But no, I think the gods played a joke on my parents. Turns out statues are beautiful to look at, but not so much when they look back at you and question you. Why am I like this? What do you want me to be like? Why should I care for you and not for others? What is just enough and what is too much?" He sighed, running fingers through that perfect hair. The gods' blessing made something impossible into reality. The marble flowed like real hair, then settled into a perfect wave over his forehead. "I tried, you know. I tried, but they wanted me to know everything from the start, said it was in the contract, but I just...I had questions. I wanted to learn. I wanted to understand. And they hated it. So now they mostly leave me alone, let me help around the town. Carry the heavy things, do what humans can't. And they despise it so much. Their perfect son, doing manual work like a commoner. They like that word. Commoner."

"Sounds to me you're more human than they are," smiled the monster and watched the statue with fondness. "I'm not exactly the best role model here, but you should know...this is what humans are supposed to do. Help each other. Question things. It's a shame your parents disagree, but that isn't on you."

The statue looked up, interested. "Do you...know a lot about humans?"

"Since I look like this, you mean?" The smile was a bit strained now, but still present. The monster leaned towards him and crooked his finger, gesturing for him to come closer. "Let me tell you a secret. I am human." Seeing the shocked expression on the statue's face, it snorted in laughter, leaned back. "Hard to believe, right? To be fair, I don't know what exactly I am now. But I sure was born human."

"B-but..." the statue stammered, eyes darting between the slit pupils, the snake heads watching him with disdain. "You don't look like the others."

The monster took to calming the snake heads again, stroking their chins until they stopped hissing at his visitor. "That's one way to put it. Most people would just say a monster. A freak. A disgusting creature."

"Is that what they call you?" The sentence was whispered and pained, so pained it shot directly through the monster's heart. "Maybe I don't know enough, but I...I don't think any of these things. You just look different to me. Interesting." After a brief pause, the statue moved closer to the bed and tapped on the monster's leg since it was looking down, blinking rapidly. "I never asked - what is your name?"

The creature let out a wet, ugly sound. Almost a sob, but it quickly wiped at its eyes. "You...you want to know my name?" it laughed, throwing its head back. "You really are special, you know. To this town, I'm just it. I don't even deserve to be considered a person in their eyes. And you...you actually care enough to ask me who I am?"

"I do." The statue reached out and grabbed the monster's hand, squeezing it as gently as it could muster. It was still firm and cold, but the monster couldn't remember the last time anyone touched its hand, not accidentally, not fleeting touches to say thank you. "I know what you mean, I am also...it," the marble lips admitted. "I am not like them, but unlike you, I wasn't born, I was made. I don't need to breathe, they just instructed me to...I don't sleep, I don't eat, bleed. But was still given a name, one that feels cold. But then the town changed it, they...carved it into something that feels like me. I'm Steve." His fingers ran circles over the scaly skin, comforting the monster. "And I know what it feels like to live without a name. So please, tell me yours. You don't need to be the monster, the freak. You don't need to be it. Not with me."

The monster took a shaky breath, trying to get its breathing under control but failing. The marble fingers wiped away his tears, so gentle, gentler than any human hand had ever been with...him. Not it. Him.

The slit pupils met the marble ones. "Eddie," he said, testing the nearly forgotten word on his tongue. "I am Eddie."

#steddie #steddie fanfiction #steddie ficlet #stranger things #stranger things au #strangerthings #stranger things mythology au #steve harrington #eddie munson #eddie is inspired by the story of medusa #steve is inspired by the the story of golem