#“lets see how far they can fly on borrowed wings.”

[gigginox]

weak aura gardener vs real professional aura farmer

[taikonaut-kaskara]

This game is fuckin RAW man

[dipperscavern]

Hello!!! It’s my birthday, and that got me thinking… How do you think the Stark men would celebrate their partner’s name day? (Obviously we all know one way they would, but I’m curious if you have any other/more specific thoughts lol)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OMG?? i hope you have a lovely day !! u deserve it !! as for the boys.......

i think jon would be one to congratulate you on your name day with a kiss to your temple & save any gesture for later in the evening when you're both (mostly) free from your duties/responsibilities. he wants you to be able to enjoy yourself & not woryr about borrowed time from your busy schedules !! there's not many options for fun activities at castle black, but i can see him maybe allowing ale during dinner as a small celebration - even getitng tipsy himself if you so wanted. and to you this is quite the gift. because grenn believes he can do anything when intoxicated, and edd would never discourage such amusement. he's trying to learn how to fly & edd is saying he can see his wings forming all while pyp is trying (and failing) to walk in a straight line (he face plants into the wall) (jon and edd nearly wet themselves laughing)

robb wouldn't have much opportunity to really make it a good day and do the things he'd truly like to be able to do for you (war is a bitch) but he'd definitely try!! letting you sleep as long as he could, having someone else do a task or two that youre dreading, and would make sure you both have some time during the day to go horse riding. its not far away from the camp, or as romantic as he'd like it to be, but youre just having fun and enjoying each others presence - something you havent had time to do in a while. and at night when you sneak out as some childish act of rebellion, and he apologizes for not being able to do more, you tell him just that out of all the starks, cregan would have the most wiggle room to make the day special for you. letting you sleep late, mostly clearing your schedule, having the servants prepare you a bath with special products he gifts you based on your needs. if youre the type to get headaches, he'd get oils and herbs that remedy them. or if you just frequently enjoy baths, he'd get the kind that relax you and make your skin super soft. he'd also have the cooks prepare one of your favorite pastries, because he knows on special occasions or as a treat to yourself, you'll ask for it to be made. and it makes your heart swell with how well he knows you <3 so much so that when you see him next youre standing on your tiptoes to press your lips against his (he bends to meet you)

[pakmanjosh]

"Let's see how far they can fly, on borrowed wings."

[ashinaisshin]

見せてもらいましょう…借り物の翼で、どこまで飛べるか。 Let's see how far they can fly... on borrowed wings. ARMORED CORE VI: FIRES OF RUBICON (2023), dir. Masaru Yamamura

[tiny-minecraft-rabbit]

You should do 4 with Jimmy and grian.

"What were you thinking?" Jimmy asked, cupping his hands around Grian.

Grian hissed at him- Usually that would be accompanied with the little borrower flapping his wings, but one was hanging limply from his back.

Jimmy sighed, gently pulling Grian out from the vent he had gotten stuck in. "Dude, I really don't think that vent travel was your best plan."

"Vents are great modes of transportation!" Grian argued, despite the fact that Jimmy had never seen him travel through them before.

The borrower had been trapped, sliding down the walls while trying to push open the grate he could barely reach let alone lift up. He can't imagine how the other had even got into them in the first place, but he certainly wasn't able to get out without Jimmy's help. Even then, considering it's been a few days since he's even seen Grian, he doesn't want to know how long it took for him to even get to a place that Jimmy would find him.

"Just- Just how long has your wing been like that?"

The silence was probably the worst answer he could have gotten.

"You should have come to me- Grian, you know I would have helped you-"

"That's just it, Tim!" Grian snapped, his head looking ready to pop right off, "I'm a gosh darn borrower, I don't need your help. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself and I do not want some Bean handing out charity at every little inconvenience I have."

Jimmy sighed at that, gently bringing Grian to the kitchen counter. "I understand that. I know you don't want me to just give you handouts; but this isn't a handout. You're injured, you have been for a while, and instead of getting help you're letting your pride get in the way."

Grian remained stubborn, "I don't need your help."

"You do," Jimmy insisted, staring down the limp wing, "You don't know how to set it do you?"

More deafening silence. Jimmy could barely believe it. He's seen Grian injured before: small bumps and bruises, at most a twisted ankle that he had expertly wrapped. There was nothing around his wing, not even an attempt at a splint or bandage. Grian couldn't fix it and had just left it to fester.

To be completely honest, Jimmy didn't know how to fix it either.

"I'm calling my friend Pearl. She's a vet, she'll know how to set your wing."

Grian laughed at that. It was an ugly, disdainful laugh. "Yeah. No. Not happening. You want to help that badly you can get me a popsicle stick and gauze. We'll wrap it, hope for the best; but I am not getting another Bean involved. You're more than enough."

"Grian, please, you might not be able to fly again."

"I'm grown okay with that."

A lump formed in Jimmy's throat. There was no way. Flying was everything to Grian. Jimmy saw his face when he flew. Saw the pure joy. Grian may have been okay with losing that, Jimmy was not.

"I'm calling Pearl," he said again, picking up his phone.

"Then I'm leaving," Grian snapped right back, "You can't make me see a vet of all things. I'm not your pet."

Jimmy glanced between Grian and the hole he knew was poked into his kitchen wall. He reached over him, his arm casting a light shadow over Grian, slid the toaster in front of it.

All the rage left Grian in an instant. "Wait, Tim- You're not- You're not actually serious-"

"This is- This is for your own good," Jimmy stuttered out, almost gagging on the words as he pressed the call button. He pulled out a big tupperware box and laid it was a towel.

"Don't. Jimmy, don't do this," Grian pleaded, backing away from him.

His hands shook as he once again scooped up Grian. He had to be firmer, since the borrower was trying to slip out, and far more careful not to touch his broken wing when Grian was struggling.

Pearl picked up the phone, "Hey Jimmy! What's up?"

"P-Pearl! Hey- Hey. I have a- a bird I found, wing is pretty beat up. Can you come over? Please?"

Grian bit into his hand, and it took all of his will not to flinch as he set the borrower in the tub. He was crying. They were both crying.

It would be fine. It was just Pearl and Grian would fly again. Grian could hate him forever, but he would fly.

[mfdraws]

"Lets see how far you can fly....on borrowed wings."

[kc5rings]

She even borrowed a name from a dead merc….

Ave and I were talking about Wiš'adel the other day and Ave said she’s like an armored core now and I’ve been thinking about it ever since

[firequeenofficial]

This weeks submission for @mcyt-soulmate-sweepstakes is for the prompt illusion. Me and my wonderful amazing soulmate @arabella377 (go show her love or die by my blade - her piece is here) successfully melded our minds this week and chose the same prompt!

This is a continuation of the Ranchers fics I did ages ago, set between this one in DL where Jimmy tells Tango about the other Life Series and this one in LimL where Tango tells Jimmy he still remembers Double Life (I've decided there was a chance Tango's memories could get wiped at the start of LimL so I get to write two reunions cause I'm normal).

Just a warning: this goes into some heavy topics regarding friendship, grief, and how much missing someone can hurt. If you're not in a place mentally and emotionally, I would not recommend you read it now, since it comes directly from my own experience and I was nearly crying writing it. Take care of yourself <3

If you want to read it on ao3, the link is here, and if you want to read the version with shipping and kissing etc (but the exact same plot and mostly the same wording), that one is here.

Without further ado, I present to you, illusion!

Tango remembered Double Life.

That was the first thing he noticed when he woke up on Hermitcraft when it was over. Pearl had won, and he had lost, and - as predicted - he remembered every second.

Every wonderful, short, spare second. There weren't enough, not nearly enough. He needed more time. More time to live, more time to fight, more time to-

Oh, who was he kidding. He just wanted more time with Jimmy. He wanted to hear him laugh, to watch the sun rise on his golden wings, to see that amazing smile just one more time. He wanted to show him how much he meant to Tango, how Tango would have done anything, anything at all, to have just a little more time with him. 

And now he'd lost his last chance.

The first thing Tango did after respawning back in his bed in the Citadel was double over and scream like a wounded warden.

Then he forced himself to get up and keep moving. He made himself act normally. When Etho showed up at his base a little after the respawn, he wasn't acting like a part of him had been ripped away. When Bdubs and Impulse joined them, probably acting out of FOMO, their interactions looked just how they always did, like they hadn't been soulmates just minutes ago, like their last death hadn't been in tandem.

But then Pearl sent a message in chat.

<PearlescentMoon> Tango can I borrow you a sec

"Oh, sorry, gentlemen!" Tango grinned like his heart wasn't about to burst out of his chest, like he hadn't spent the entirety of the conversation counting breaths in and out, like it wasn't taking all his concentration to keep his hair from flaring so high it would scorch his ceiling. "When Pearl calls, one must answer!"

Impulse laughed. He was the closest to Pearl out of the four of them. "Of course! Can't keep her waiting."

Tango took off without waiting for the others to fly together to Pearl's.

He worried for a second that Impulse might follow - he shared a base with Pearl after all - but an anxious glance over his shoulder showed him heading with Etho and Bdubs toward xB’s base.

Pearl was waiting for him at the end of her bridge when he arrived.

He could tell immediately, from the look in her eyes, that she remembered too. Just like Jimmy predicted.

"Oh, Pearl," he said, and pulled her immediately into a hug. She was taller than him, but that didn't matter when she fell to her knees, letting him crouch so they were level. Double Life hadn't gone well for Pearl, not for one second.

She was so young. Tango had spent an entire lifetime in the Nether before he'd even stepped foot in the overworld, far too many servers ago. He was older than most of the Hermits even knew. But Pearl... She was so, so young, only a few servers old. She shouldn’t have even been in the Games.

"It's over now," he breathed into her hair, holding her tight as she sobbed. "It's over. We're out."

"H- how can I look at Cleo again?"

Oh.

"I can keep her away if you want," Tango offered, not sure what else he could do. "Just for a little bit."

"She stole him!" Pearl gasped. "She stole him from me! I need to-" She made a sound that was eerily similar to a dog growling. How much time had she spent entirely alone with Tilly? The sound was followed by another shuddering sob. "I can't do this, Tango. How can I live with this?"

Tango swallowed and held her even tighter. All he had to offer was the truth. "I don't know. I'm sorry." After a moment, he added, "The best we can do is try, I think. I don't know that there is anything else we can do."

All things considered, Double Life had been amazing for him. Almost like a mini paradise. All he regretted, really, was his first death and his last. And not getting Scar with the warden. He would gladly go back and relive each and every moment. If he could go back and never leave, he'd do it in a heartbeat.

But Pearl should never have to go through any of that again. She never should have gone through any of it in the first place. He'd never been that fussed about the drama happening between the four of them, her and Scott and Cleo and Martyn, but he wished he had been now. He wished he'd done something to help. He wished it hadn't been necessary.

"It's gonna be okay," he promised. "I'm here, whatever you need."

"Th- thank you."

Before Tango could say another word, the sound of an elytra reached them, followed by the worst possible voice to show up at this moment.

"Hey, Pearl, is Gem around?" Cleo was chipper, not immediately registering the scene before her.

She noticed, however, when Pearl wrenched herself out of Tango's arms, sword already out and swinging, screaming, "YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER!"

"Woah!" Cleo launched herself into the sky to get away from Pearl as Tango rushed to grab the moth-hybrid's arm to stop her from following. "What's going-"

"I think it's best if you leave." Tango's voice was colder than he'd meant it to be, but it got the point across.

Looking confused and worried and hurt, Cleo turned and flew off, looking back only once.

As soon as she was out of render distance, Pearl collapsed again, and Tango knelt beside her, pulling her in as tight as he could.

Neither of them spoke for a long time. Pearl didn't mention how, the longer Tango held her, the closer the embrace got to unbearable warm. Tango didn't mention how every tear that landed on his skin stung and hissed as it evaporated.

He missed Jimmy's feathers wrapping around him every time he hugged Tango.

Finally, when Pearl trusted herself to speak again, she whispered, "I can't lose her, too."

"I know."

"She's my best friend."

"I know."

"How are you doing this? Jimmy was-"

Tango swallowed. "I know."

He knew. Jimmy was amazing. He was kind and gentle and funny and just the right amount of self-deprecating to match Tango, and he was such a good builder and he never blamed Tango for anything and he was just. Perfect. He was perfect.

And Tango missed him.

"I know," he repeated.

He was glad he couldn't cry. It would make staying strong for Pearl - who so clearly needed it more than him right now - impossible.

"Hey, Pearl?"

"Hm?"

"You'll never lose me."

Pearl's shoulders hitched, and she buried her face deeper in Tango's shoulder.

"I'll always be your friend," he swore.

Pearl sniffed, then repeated, "You'll always be my-"

"-soulmate, my Rancher."

Tango's head whipped up with a gasp, his attention immediately pulled away by a familiar voice, speaking familiar words. The words Jimmy had said to him in their final moments side by side, in the brief seconds where they were together in the void after Pearl's win.

There he was. Jimmy. His Jimmy, his Rancher, his soulmate, standing behind Pearl, just inside her base, that adorable smile on his face.

Tango froze, unable to believe it. "J- Jimmy?" How was he here? How was this possible, he wasn't a Hermit, and yet, there he was, clear as day, on Hermitcraft!

"Hm?"

Pearl looked up, then over her shoulder to try and follow Tango's gaze. But, instead of looking excited or asking what was going on or encouraging Tango to go to him, she just turned back to him, brow furrowed.

"Did you say Jimmy?" she asked.

"Y- yeah! He's right there!" He looked back to Pearl for a second, and when his gaze was immediately, instinctively, magnetically drawn back to Jimmy, he found-

Nothing.

Startled, Tango launched to his feet, rushing to the spot where Jimmy had just been, he was just here! "No, where did he go?! Come back!" He looked around, expecting to see him standing somewhere else, hiding just behind a corner or a column, ready to just out and scare him. He was here, he was just here! "Jim!"

Pearl's voice was so gentle, far too gentle, when she said, "Jimmy's not here, Tango."

"No, no, he was here, he's here, I saw him! I heard him!"

"I didn't hear anything, mate."

"Well, you weren't listening! I heard him, I know I did!"

"Tango. It's just your brain playing tricks on you, man. He's not here."

If he could cry, he would be a mess right now. Instead, his flames roared, reaching up like they could somehow reach Jimmy like that. He was here. He had to be.

But he wasn't. He was- he was gone. He was gone, maybe forever, who knew? Jimmy said there had been previous games, but Tango didn't know if there would be subsequent games. What if they'd lost for nothing? What if he was stuck remembering Jimmy forever but never seeing him again? How could he live with that forever?

"Tango?"

The blazeborn jumped. Pearl sounded a million miles away - he'd forgotten she was even there.

"Sorry, uh, what were you saying?"

Pearl gave a sad smile. "Go home, mate. I'll be okay. Take care of yourself."

"But you-"

"I'll be fine." She pulled him in a tight hug. "Thank you for coming."

Tango squeezed her as hard as he could. "You'll come to me if you ever need anything, right? Promise?"

"I promise."

They pulled apart, and Tango took just one second to squeeze her hand. "We'll get through this. You'll see."

She couldn't muster up another smile, just sighed and wiped her eyes and breathed, "I hope so."

With one last shared look that contained words that didn't exist in any overworld language that Pearl would be able to understand, Tango opened his elytra and shot into the sky, flying in a straight shot back home.

As soon as he landed - fell, really - in front of his citadel, he staggered inside, barely keeping his knees underneath him until he reached the main hall, where he'd found sound echoed the best. Then he planted his feet, tilted his head back, and shrieked. Immediately, his hair turned icy blue, his skin paled and the flames at the end of his tail turned to sparks. And then he went on screaming. On and on and on and on, until his throat burned and his lungs were empty and his fire was almost all the way to the top of the high ceiling. The citadel wailed with him, echoing his voice around a million times until it was all he could hear, until the wardens far below awoke and joined in, until every mob within his walls was joining in the symphony of pain.

Only when he physically couldn't scream anymore did he finally fold in on himself, dropping to the floor.

The citadel returned to sleep, leaving behind a silence that pressed on him, making breathing difficult.

The missing him hurt. It hurt so much, worse than a creeper explosion, than an arrow in the back, than an enderman fist around his throat. It hurt worse than anything he'd ever felt in his life. Even when Jimmy had become distant after their second death, it hadn't hurt like this. That was fear. This was... agony. It was torture, pure torture. He'd had his heart sliced clean in two, and he could feel it so keenly, the other half of him unknowable servers away, unreachable.

And then-

"Tango? What's wrong?"

Tango's head shot up as he stood faster than ever before.

He was there! Jimmy was there! Tango knew he'd seen him, he was right!

"Jim!" He gasped, rushing right at Jimmy, so relieved he started laughing.

He threw open his arms, ready to toss them around his Rancher and never ever let go again, but.

But.

But he fell right through.

He just barely managed to catch himself before falling splat on his face, then turned around, panting, eyes wide.

Jimmy was smiling at him, just a little, like he couldn't make it reach any further.

"Pearl was right," Tango breathed.

"I'm sorry."

Tango squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't bear to look at Jimmy, knowing it wasn't really him.

"Why couldn't you just leave properly, like Joel or Scott or-" Tango's voice broke, and he swallowed, crouching as he made himself keep going. "Why did you have to hang around like this? Why did you have to get my hopes up?!" He was shouting again, and he caught himself before he could keep going. Even though he wasn't real, Tango didn't like shouting at Jimmy. He pressed the balls of his heels into his eyes, trying to ground himself.

"I'm sorry," not-Jimmy said again, his voice perfectly matching the regret Jimmy would have had in his voice. But then he said something Jimmy wouldn't have said: "Technically, you're doing this to yourself."

It was true. And yet, Tango couldn't help blaming the illusion on itself. It was just his own stupid brain lying to him, Tango knew that, but it was easier to blame the spectre than himself. So he screamed, punched the floor so hard a bit of rock chipped off, and opened his eyes so he could toss the rock right at not-Jimmy. It passed right through, of course, but it also made not-Jimmy disappear.

Tango was alone again.

He allowed himself five minutes to sob tearlessly. No more, no less.

Then he buried himself in his work. When he was fixing redstone, he didn't have space in his head to think about anything else. When he was building, he was too busy doing calculations about distances and muttering to himself about palettes to notice if a certain blond avian was standing nearby. When he was test running with Hermits, their terrified screams and confused questions easily drowned out any other voices that might be trying to talk to him.

It became easier, with time. Easier everyday to ignore not-Jimmy, though it nearly killed him every time. With practice, he stopped looking away in the middle of conversations whenever the hallucination spoke, though his heart still skipped a beat at the sound of his voice. After many, many attempts, he learnt not to reach for him when he wasn't focusing entirely on his actions.

He visited Pearl often, the pair getting closer quickly. She was the only person who knew Jimmy still followed him around, which was why she trusted him enough to tell him she occasionally saw Scott, too. She joked that they'd have to make the two meet up sometime. Tango, who still felt like there was a beast clawing at his ribcage every time he even thought about the way Jimmy looked at Scott sometimes, hadn't laughed.

The pain never faded. Most days, it was... manageable. Something he'd simply learnt to live with. With Pearl and Impulse and Etho's help, he learned to smile again, and then laugh. He knew Impulse and Gem were helping Pearl too, though none of them had any idea what was going on. He knew Pearl was talking to Cleo again.

He knew she still had to leave her sword at home whenever she knew she would be seeing Cleo.

Some days, though, the pain was unbearable. It would hit out of nowhere, while he was relaxing or working quietly or even laughing at something. Xisuma once joked Tango was neglecting his livestock (which did not exist) when he was spending all his time down in his hole, and Tango had laughed, finding it genuinely funny. But then he'd remembered the cows they had on the Ranch, and with no warning whatsoever he was on the ground, his entire body running out of strength to keep going in an instant as he gasped for breath. Xisuma had panicked above him, and not-Jimmy had knelt beside him like he could help. It hadn't helped even a little bit.

It felt like grief, he realised. Jimmy was alive, he knew, and some part of him was certain he'd get to see Jimmy again, maybe even soon, but still the missing him was so strong the only word that fit was grief. He didn't know how much longer he could go on. How long could a creature of the Nether, far from home, live with only half a heart?

"Tango?"

"Hm?"

He looked up at Impulse, realising he'd been speaking. They were sitting in the Nether, just chatting about nothing in particular.

"Sorry, what?"

"You good, man? I lost you for a minute, there."

"Y- yeah. Yeah, I'm good." He could almost feel not-Jimmy's hand on his shoulder. "Just been a long week, you know."

"Tango, it's Wednesday."

"Right. Long day, then."

"It's noon."

"Right."

Impulse gave a small smile. "If I'm boring you-"

"No, no, no, no!" Tango interrupted, horrified. He'd never meant to upset Impulse with this. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, no! No, it's not that, I swear."

But Impulse just laughed. "I'm teasing, man! I know how you get, it's fine."

Tango sighed and lay down, arms spread to the side, fingers digging into the soft, clay-like netherrack. He stared at the ceiling, far above. The overworld was beautiful, and he wouldn’t give it up for anything, but he usually felt safer here, where he couldn't see the sky, like he was less likely to float away.

"What's bothering you, buddy?"

Tango took a minute to try and think it through, to figure out how to explain it to someone who would never remember how it felt to have a soulmate. Finally, he asked slowly, "What does it feel like when you miss Skizz?"

Tango had never met Skizz - at least, not that could remember, he was less sure now that he knew there were gaps in his memory - but he’d known Impulse long enough that he’d heard plenty about him.

Impulse looked down at him, shocked. "What's brought this on?"

"Just..." Tango sighed again, frustrated with his inability to put it into words. "Just answer the question. Please?"

The other man was silent for several seconds. Tango knew it wasn't entirely fair. After all, there was a reason Impulse rarely, if ever, spoke of the angel who had pulled him out of the Nether. The angel who had quickly become his best friend. But Tango couldn't think how else to explain to Impulse what he was feeling.

When Impulse spoke, it was with barely disguised pain. "It feels like a part of me is missing. Like, the only thing I want is to see him, but I don't know what I'd do or say to him if he wasn't standing in front of me right now. I'm scared, sometimes, that he wouldn't want me anymore, that maybe he's found someone else, someone better. Some days, it hurts so much I can't get out of bed. Some days, I'm terrified I'll never see him again, even though I know he'd do anything to get to me if he could. And I would too. But the pain is always there, no matter what. I've learnt to live with it, but... but it still hurts. It doesn't ever stop." Impulse paused, his breath hitching. Like Tango, he couldn't form tears, but that didn't mean they didn't have some other way of crying. Tango screamed. Impulse simply stopped breathing altogether.

As a nether golem, Impulse wasn't a creature of fire like Tango was, so he didn't need air as much, not like Tango or most of the other hermits. He could go hours without breathing. And, apparently, he sometimes did.

Eyes still trained straight above, Tango nodded.

Another long silence, and then:

"When I joined Hermitcraft, it felt like I was abandoning him." Impulse spoke quietly, breathless in the same way Tango would have shouted. "Like I was going on to something so, so much better and leaving him behind after he'd refused to leave me down here. It felt like I was telling him I didn't care about him. About everything he'd done for me. He told me to go, and I knew it would be better for me, for both of us, in the long run, but I couldn't shake this feeling that, if I never saw him again, it would be my fault. I'm worried if we meet again and I tell him how amazing it is here, he'll think I prefer it over any server that has him in it. But really, I would give entire servers just to see him again."

Impulse swallowed, and Tango glanced at him to see his hands over his face, his back completely still. Not a single breath stirred him. Tango let the silence stretch out so Impulse could work through whatever it was he had to let out before he could go on.

When he was ready, Impulse finished, "For a long time, he was all I had. Now, I have everything except him. And I hate it. It doesn't make sense, cause I love my life here, and I love everything I've built, and I love you and all the others, but..." He trailed off.

"But you love him more," Tango finished for him, voice soft.

"Yeah." Impulse turned his head to meet Tango's eyes. He still wasn't breathing any more than he had to to speak. "Who is this about?"

Tango let his eyes gaze slide away. "You don't know him." Impulse didn't remember Double Life, and he wasn't on Jimmy's list of people who remembered the others. He had no way of remembering Jimmy.

Tango still hadn't managed to build up the courage to talk to Grian, the only other Hermit who would have any memory of the Life Games.

"You love him?"

Tango's throat closed up, a sure sign that a scream was just one breath away, so he just nodded instead, pulling his arms into his chest.

After a moment's hesitation, Impulse leaned back to lie next to him. On Tango's other side, not-Jimmy mirrored their position.

Impulse's next question was wary, probing. "Does this have anything to do with whatever Pearl's going through?" When Tango didn't answer immediately, Impulse added, "Only, you both started struggling at the same time."

Tango swallowed down the scream. "Y- yeah. It's... something like that. How is she doing?" It was easier to talk about Pearl than himself.

"I thought she was doing okay, but then she snapped at Cleo again the other day, so I don't know. She wasn't even doing anything, just talking to Gem, but Pearl nearly ran her through. I don't know what's going on with her."

"Every day is a step further," Tango said. "She's... We're getting there."

"If you need to talk-"

"Thanks, man."

They were silent for several moments, Impulse not breathing and Tango smothering screams, before Tango turned to him and said, just to watch his eyes light up, "Hey, did you see what Grian's been doing?"

"Incredible, right?!"

Impulse never missed an opportunity to rave about Grian's building. 

*

The pain never stopped. It never went away. Some days, it pinned him to his bed. Sometimes, he did nothing but scream all day. Once, he saw Etho come up behind Bdubs and hug him in just the same way Jimmy used to do to him, and he'd had to excuse himself before he could make a fool of himself. But still, it got easier. He learnt to work around the pain. These days, his eyes passed right over not-Jimmy, his voice registering only in the very back of his brain. If his heart skipped a beat, making his fire flare up in the middle of a conversation, then the other Hermits didn't mention it. If his eyes sometimes stared at nothing, whoever he was speaking to just waved a hand to catch his attention back. If he sometimes just curled up with Pearl, neither of them saying a word, then Gem and Impulse gave them all the space they needed.

Some days, she showed up at the citadel and begged him not to let her anywhere near Cleo. Sometimes, he would spend hours in her base, eyes squeezed tight shut, his own fire giving him flashbacks so vivid he could feel not-Jimmy gripping his arms, holding him still.

It was hard, and it would probably always be hard, but more often than not these days, it wasn't impossible anymore.

Then Grian announced The Rift had come to life, and they were being called to another server.

Tango was just as excited as the others - this season of Hermitcraft had lasted far longer than previous ones, and while they were all still having fun, they were still eager for something new, to meet new people and have new experiences. In the days leading up to the date they'd decided on for passing through the rift, rumours spread like wildfire about what the new server would be. Would it be somewhere any of them had been before? Would they recognise anyone from their time in the server hub, or in other servers? Gem especially seemed ecstatic, though she refused to tell anyone why.

It seemed like a lifetime passed before the morning finally dawned where they could step through the mysterious portal in Grian's basement. As they gathered around it, Tango noticed Gem was gripping Pearl's hand tight. Pearl's clinginess over the past few months, rather than scaring Gem away, had instead brought the two closer together, and they were rarely seen apart these days. Cleo had learnt to spot when Pearl was feeling especially territorial and was keeping a carefully wide berth, talking animatedly with Joe.

The gathered Hermits were excited, curious and anxious, which was a recipe for disaster when you wanted to get their attention. After a few attempts, Grian gave up and turned to Impulse. No words were needed before Impulse held out an arm for Grian to fly up to and perch on so he could fling his voice out as far as possible.

"Guys, can we just chill for a second?!" he shouted.

A kind of silence fell - with this many Hermits together, it would be impossible to get a complete silence - and all eyes turned to Grian.

"Right, I know a few of you know this already-" his eyes held Pearl's for a second "-but mysterious portals can be dangerous, so we need to be on our guard. The most important thing, of course, is to have fun, but I don't want to come back with any less Hermits than we went with, okay?"

Nods and agreeing cheers from the Hermits got the small avian grinning.

"Last one there's a rotten dragon egg!" he announced, and leapt off of Impulse's arm to fly straight through the portal, disappearing.

Impulse chuckled, shaking his head fondly, before rushing after him. The other Hermits followed with cheers, and Tango, laughing, was swept along in the tide, straight through the portal.

*

Right off the bat, Empires looked amazing. Everyone he met was so friendly, and there were even a few familiar faces - Joel was loud as usual, and Scott was painfully awkward around Pearl and Cleo, the former of which did her best to avoid him, and the latter seeming very confused about the whole situation. Gem laughed as she was welcomed like a returning hero, and Pearl and False were confused when they received the same treatment.

The tour was a lot of fun. Tango enjoyed seeing the creativity of the players in this world, and how it differed from that of the Hermits'. Unlike the patchwork that was Hermitcraft, everything here seemed to somehow fit together perfectly. And yet, every single build showed the unique mark and style of its builder, like a signature on a piece of art.

In fact, the entire server seemed to be one huge masterpiece.

He laughed when they arrived at Tumble Town. Something about it was familiar, like home, even though he'd never seen anything like it on Hermitcraft, and it was certainly nothing like the Nether. Still, something settled in his chest, a monster whose roaring he'd learnt to ignore returning to sleep at last.

When he first saw him, Tango's eyes simply slid right over him like they'd done so many times. But then he heard the gasp, and he whipped around to look back fully, heart pounding.

Because Jimmy was staring back at him, eyes wide, like he was seeing a ghost, like he couldn't believe it.

Immediately, Tango started noticing other things. Like how he wasn't wearing the outfit not-Jimmy was always wearing - a sheriff's uniform rather than his Rancher getup. Like how, despite this, his bandana was still around his neck, just like how Tango's was under his cloak. Like how his eyes still held that same sparkle, his mouth still quirked up at the side in the same way, his wings still shone like the purest gold.

"Is that-" Tango gasped.

"Is that my Rancher?!" Jimmy's voice was high pitched, excited, squealing in a way not-Jimmy had never done, not once.

Tango's feet were moving before he knew what he was doing, running right at Jimmy without holding back. For one horrible second, he worried he'd just fall again like he had that day what felt like years again. But then Jimmy caught him, and they were a tangle of limbs and wings and a tail and both were laughing and Jimmy was crying and Tango thought he'd never let go. Instead, he lifted Jimmy up - the avian was taller than him, but weighed next to nothing - and spun him around and around, overjoyed.

When he put him down again, Jimmy pulled back a little so he could cup Tango's face and look into his eyes. He was beaming, and Tango couldn’t resist reaching up to brush a lock of hair from his forehead that had escaped the usual confines of his fringe.

Finally, finally, he was back with his Rancher, and he couldn’t smother his smile. This was how it was supposed to be, how they were supposed to be, and he couldn’t put into words how much he’d been missing it. It was…

It was perfect. It was everything he'd been dreaming of for far too many months.

With a shaky laugh, Jimmy leaned down and lifted Tango’s face just enough to press their foreheads together.

"I missed you," Tango breathed.

Jimmy hummed. His arms had fallen down to wrap around Tango’s back, keeping him close. "I missed you too. So much."

"Yeah?"

Jimmy swallowed, nodding against Tango’s forehead. "Yeah."

Tango’s relief was immeasurable. He’d never admit, but when Impulse had mentioned being afraid Skizz wouldn’t want him back, the same fear had bloomed in Tango, too. But it wasn’t true. It wasn’t true, Jimmy had missed him just as much as Tango had! He burst out laughing, too happy to hold it in. "We’re sticking together from now own, big man."

Then Grian cleared his throat, and the two jumped apart - mostly, only their hands were clinging to each other now - and turned to look at the audience they'd forgotten they had. Tango's hair was burning bright with embarrassment, and Jimmy's hand was warm and clammy in his.

They'd never held hands in Double Life, Tango realised. They'd curled up together in bed, clung to each other after dying, fell asleep draped over each other, but they'd never held hands.

He forced his brain to focus, to meet Grian and Scar and Scott's gazes and not grin completely like an idiot.

Scott was grinning. "Awww, this is sweet!"

"I take it you two know each other, then," Scar said casually, and Grian burst out laughing.

He could hear the smirk in Jimmy's voice when he answered, "We've met."

Grian only laughed harder.

Tango couldn't bring himself to mind. For the first time in far too long, he felt like he was exactly where he needed to be - at Jimmy's side. 

[hugsandchaos]

Okay, I know I said that Danny + dark crystal = Eldritch Danny reflex transformation, but this is separate from that. Let’s take a quick step back for a quick second, because I thought this was a good idea.

Danny accidentally touches Twilight’s dark crystal, or maybe he does it on purpose not realizing that’s the thing turning him into a wolf, and becomes a giant space bird. He could either be a raven, crow, or magpie, and here’s the explanation!

Raven or Crow: Ravens and crows are known as symbols of death or something like that, so that would be a reference to his status as a halfa. His dark wings would be perfect for glowing spots or swirls of colors like stars and distant galaxies on a clear night, and they wouldn’t really affect his hair color once he’s back to normal since the feathers are dark. Unless you want to add a few small random spots of white that eventually fade back to black.

This form would also have a ghost form, which looks pretty ethereal. The “living” form has dark feathers, eyes glowing like you took the moon, duplicated it, and put it in his eye sockets with a hint of blue, and several glowing white spots on the under-view of his wings. The ghost form has white feathers, eyes so dark that it looks as if light itself can’t escape it and somehow with a hint of green, and the white spots have turned black.

Magpie: I just noticed that when Danny had bird features in a lot of fan AUs, they’re usually magpie features, which I think is pretty cool! I mean, you can just switch the colors of the feathers when you go from “living” to “ghost”, and you get the best of white and black feathers in both forms! With this one, Danny could have a few stripes of pure white in his hair when he changes back, but his entire hair color doesn’t change like Legend’s did because his feathers were both black and white.

Both ideas could have a few of the same things. Here’s a list of them!

•White spots and streaks in the black feathers to resemble stars and comets, the patterns switching colors depending on which form Danny’s in.

•Under-view of the wings reflects the night sky, even during the day. Looks really odd in ghost form, though.

• ⬆️ Both ideas are for two reasons; To symbolize Danny’s obsession of space and blending in during night flights.

•While in his living form, Danny flies just like a bird. A giant bird, but still a bird, which is a bit of trial and error given how he used to fly. While in ghost form, his core does most of the work, but he can still use his wings to push himself even further.

•Living form eyes glow like the moon, ghost form eyes are dark like black holes.

•Eyes stay the same color? Blue in living, green in ghost.

•Danny is able to mimic sounds and voices just like a crow/raven/magpie. He has fun with it.

•Giant space bird form is 25 feet tall.

Scenarios with Corvid Danny!

•Twilight tries to calm Danny down, but after looking over himself and moving around a little, Danny actually gets excited and starts showing Twilight his new space wings. Danny will want to go back to normal sooner or later, but for now, he wants to stay in this form for a bit. Still, he knows the crystal belongs to Twilight, so he asks him if he can stay in the form for “a bit” to enjoy being a giant space corvid. Twilight was a little confused by Danny’s enthusiasm, but he agreed.

•Explaining it to the group. Twilight explains that the giant space bird is Danny, and when Sky offers to turn him back, Danny refuses and explains again that he wants to see what this form can do first. And then he shows off his space wings, because that’s his favorite part about the whole situation. He has no idea why his form is a giant space bird, but he’s not complaining! Twilight says that he’s letting Danny borrow the crystal for a bit, but there’s obviously going to be a few rules.

•Danny’s not allowed to go near civilization, he’s to avoid travelers, no flying too far, no fighting until he gets used to this form to avoid mishaps, and no jumping off cliffs to practice flying! Get down from there, space nerd!

•Danny carries them and lets them mess with his feathers as long as they don’t pull. I think Sky is most likely to ride on Danny’s back for fun and anyone can climb up onto his head to get a vantage point of the area, but who’s the first to actually ask? Danny suggested it, actually! He wanted the others to see the view he did and lowered his head, then told them to climb on. Then his lifted his head back up, slowly so he wouldn’t drop them, and let them watch the view with him.

•It’s snowing. The group can’t find shelter to get the fire started and they’re tired. Corvid Danny uses his wings to make a tent for them! His wings are really big to support his weight and size, so it worked! Oh, and don’t worry! The temperature wasn’t actually bad for Danny. 1; He has feathers. 2; He’s used to these temperatures and lower. 3; His ghost half.

•Danny practicing flying whenever he gets the chance. He picks up on it pretty quickly! Half of it is from closely watching normal ravens/crows/magpies flying and copying them, and the other half is trial and error.

•Normal corvids flock to Space Corvid Danny and talk to him. They think the strange, giant bird with wings like the night sky needs investigation, and they ultimately decide that he’s friend material!

•Space Corvid Danny copying all sorts of sounds and even the group’s voices. He thinks it’s really funny, and he’s right! The group asks him to copy certain things, sometimes to make fun of each other, and it’s great.

•Space Corvid Danny VS Big Flying Monster!!!

•Space Corvid Danny talking with Twilight about how much he loves learning to see the world in this new perspective.

•The Links spotting or even making constellations in his wings. He gets really hyped up about it, and if they’re making up new constellations, they’re now obligated to make up stories based off it with him!

•The others got “animal habits” or something from their forms, and so does Danny! What are these habits? Let’s brainstorm! Definitely developing a fondness for shiny things, but his space obsession urges him to organize it into a constellation or some other space related art project… That’s all I can think of. 🙁

•Space Corvid Danny going ghost would be pretty interesting! The night sky patterns being inverted would be quite the otherworldly sight!

•He 100% gets Wild to take a few pictures with his phone.

•Danny either going to Twilight and Sky and says he’s had his fun and is ready to turn back, or he’s asked for it back and he agrees. Then he hugs Twilight and thanks him for letting him have such a fun opportunity. Twilight thought it was interesting that Danny didn’t freak out and immediately search for a way to change back, but rather want to explore this new perspective.

•As I’ve said, if it’s a magpie, Danny could have a few stripes of pure white in his hair when he changes back, but his entire hair color doesn’t change like Legend’s did because his feathers were both black and white.

•He might get the chance to be Space Corvid Danny again someday. Who knows?

Little bonus bit!

•Sam and Tucker think that Danny’s Space Corvid form is pretty neat and ask if he can still become a ghost, and he happily shows off! They climb on him, go for a flight, mess around with mimicking sounds, and overall have a great time together. Some of the Links think it’s sweet.

[multitrackdrifting]

"Let's see how far they can fly... on borrowed wings"

[discopoweredcatboy]

F-14 Tomcat

"let's see how far they can fly on borrowed wings." - Raven's operator

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

Hey Slug! Now that all snippets are out, what are your thoughts so far on the BB songs for the 3rd DRB? I'm especially excited for Ichiro's. It reminds me of Hiphoppia but with less intense dream vision feel and more funky back alley hip hop stuff. Jiro's sounds good too tho!

I love anon asks like this that remind me to go look at the new stuff that comes out... I would never think to do it otherwise. Thank you; it's very sweet of you.

Let's fire up the old YouTube and give them a listen.

Ichirou -- H歴維新 / The H Age Revolution

(Side note about the title: I'm using "revolution" here in a general sense, but this specific wording is evocative of the Meiji Restoration, the political revolution in the late 1800s that ended the regime of the Tokugawa shoguns and "restored" the old social order under the emperor while radically transforming Japanese society as a whole. Here, we should understand that Ichirou is tearing down Chuuouku's reign to usher in a new state of society.)

(Fifteen seconds in) YOOO this goes hard. I like this beat and the vaguely military-esque theme w/ the horns.

(At end of preview) DAMN okay. Give me a sec to get my thoughts in order.

Every time I see the language in these songs, I'm reminded of a video of an NHK presenter guy reading the lyrics of one song and announcing dryly, "They're all very good at kanji."

I love how this is much punchier than Break the Wall. Ichirou seems to be much more of an active agent in it, not just the figurehead leader of a revolution--and I LOVE that. It's great to see Ichirou embracing his individuality and not simply playing into the image of MC BB that others want him to be.

I also love all the callbacks to previous songs, quite literally going back to basics. ペンは剣より偽りがない ("The pen is mightier than the sword, and that's a fact!") goes all the way back to Hypmic's very first song's ペンは剣よりヒプノシスマイク ("The Hypnosis Mic is mightier than the sword")

Can't wait to get the full version and learn the lyrics. Seems like a hella fun song to rap.

Jirou -- Sunshine

(Five seconds in) Getting "This Means War" vibes.

(Fifteen seconds in) Bro what is this autotune... This sounds like the opening of Rhyme Anima season 2.

(Forty-five seconds in) "I'm ready; the wind's pushing me along; I'm flying with the wings Ikebukuro's given me" Hell YES Jirou you get that identity independent of Ichirou

(Fifty seconds in) "I can't shake the past. I take my scars with me off into a future--a future that's still unknown." Yo this is bars. (I'm butchering its lyricism but whatever) I love that Jirou is actually acknowledging his past and his struggles instead of pushing it away. You notice how his comments on the past are always either "Ichirou was so cool" or "Saburou used to be such a cute kid; what happened?" ? It's good to see him finally being honest enough to touch on his hurt feelings.

(End) Hmm... I don't know how I feel about this one at first liston. I really like Jirou's voice actor's singing voice, so I'm kinda not feeling the autotune. On the other hand, his singing voice definitely has more of a sweet/young flavor, and I can see the authors wanting to lean away from that to make him sound more adult. I think my issue is this song sounds... idk, a bit too idol pop rock to my tastes. I don't mean that idol pop rock is a bad thing; it's simply not my personal preference.

Here's a selection of people in the comments having a normal one:

"Wtf he's hot now"

"I'm picturing Jirou going to school the day after this song drops and his friends being like 'EYYY' and he's like 'Aw, you listened to it? Thanks, guys!' Then a bunch of girls swarm him and he deadass has no idea what they're on about it"

"Say it isn't so... Not my sweet baby boy dumbass Jirou... They made him hot af..."

"I feel like a mom watching my widdle Jiro-chan grow up"

Saburou -- 朱夏 / Maturity

(Side note about the title: Japanese borrows some terms for stages of life from ye olde Chinese (<- very technical term) wherein stages of life correspond to colors and seasons. You may know the word "seishun" (blue spring) or have seen blue = youth as a recurring piece of imagery in Japanese media. (BSD's Blue Period, anyone?) "Shuka" (red summer) is the stage that encompasses most of adulthood; it's the summer or prime of a person's life. The word conveys a sense of energy and a greater understanding of the world than in the youthful seishun period. Sounds like the Hypmic authors want to convey that our baby boy is growing up! *sobs into a hankie*)

(Five seconds in) Chill lofi hip-hop beats for studying

(End) Hmm... Musically, I liked the piano as a consistent piece of imagery for Saburou. It was a little too chill for me, but I always say this and always warm up to Hypmic songs over time lol.

Lyrically, I kept thinking throughout the video "This would be easy to translate" because Saburou monologues for most of it haha. Apart from the imagery related to seasons and the BB's heat/energy "firing" him up to reach the hot summer of adulthood, most of the song is surprisingly literal and straightforward. Saburou states in plain terms that he wants to go be his own person (seems to be the running theme of this album), but it's a departure from his usual style of complex imagery and vocabulary. I would guess that's on purpose, as the song opens with "All through my childhood, I could never wait to grow up. I'm a better rapper than Ichirou, but no one ever sees me as anything but an accessory to him. At least I'm better than Jirou in every way-- oh, who am I kidding? Look at me going on like an edgy middle schooler. I'm always smart, collected, calm--but on the inside, I'm NOT okay!" That is, Saburou is purposefully throwing away his attempts to look smart and mature for his age. He's allowing himself to be rough and emotional like any fourteen year old.

Really fun start to an album; can't wait to hear all the songs! Thanks again for sending this ask, anon.

[superchat]

——Raven，you survived！ ——Let's see how far they can fly…… ON BORROWED WINGS

artist: las91214 ~ be sure to follow and support the artist ~

[5hrine]

Borrowed Wings

C/Ws: NSFW

You fly so far on borrowed wings.

I have found many things which live drifting within me, but none so beautiful as you. None who examine me so closely, who have deemed me worth more than just passing through. I know, now, what it is to be admired rather than only seen, and more, what it is to be understood, pursued. I feel the trace of photons from your sensors, like fingers upon my skin. I did not know the concept of “love” before your touch, before the heat of your engines, before seeing the way you float within me and learning who you really are.

You have taught me so many of your words through pulses of light, always so… frustratingly brief. It took me some time to find the pattern of your language in the bursts. It was only when a copper-rich part of me felt the vibrations that I began to understand, that you speak with sound. I have learned your word for my kind - nebula. I like this name. The way it courses through me, a resonant hum, quiet but undeniably present.

You call my children stars. They like this name, too.

You have spent so long and so much examining me, probing me, trying to learn of me, why must I be kept from returning the favor? I wish so terribly to thread my gaseous form between the plates of your hull, into your life support system, past your farms of algae, to find the soft truth of you inside. I would navigate the space between the teeth of your zippers, the hook-and-loop of your outer shell, just so that I could touch you as you have me. Many dozens of particulate-fingers tracing along your every pore, cold and hot all at once, painting your visor in my brilliant colors.

Would you breathe of me, if I asked you? Would you let me that deep inside? How would I taste to you, I wonder? Would you like the effervescence of me on your tongue? Would you let me strip off your shell, to let me see you wholly, so that I can mimic your shape, arms and legs and fingers and hips of stardust, ready for you to touch, ready to touch you, to feel you, to know you.

I stall your engines to let you drift in my currents. I intertwine my newfound fingers with your own and lead you to your observation deck. I show you beautiful vistas of me, where my brilliance stains space. I help you to avoid my most dangerous places, where the radiation or gravity would hurt you. I bring your hand to my breast, my back arching at your touch. Showing you, intimately, where stars are born. Pressing my lips to your hair, stroking it gently as your lips do their work.

I would let you glimpse the surviving climax of my supernova.

I would trace my fingers over your neck, your cheek, your ears.

I would help you understand that yes, I am space dust. Yes, I am the crucible of stars. Yes, I am alive.

[deep--dive]

[ RAVEN'S HANDLER ] : I've identified the target. That's the mercenary who took your name. Let's see how far they can fly... on borrowed wings.

from ARMORED CORE VI: FIRES OF RUBICON (2023)