#Bdubs moved back to green!

[rendiggitydog]

Big update! Change log is in the tags, plus a much cleaner look!

Doc link

[krashlite]

Anyways my hot take abt the cheater’s arc is that all four of them were in the wrong but it was mostly Grian’s fault things went so horrendously since man was the reason why the actual Cheating part of the cheater’s arc happened (characters, obviously)

But yeah here’s how they were all wrong yes

Grian was being incredibly controlling because he didn’t trust Scar to keep them safe. Man was scared of his own damn shadow for a lot of this, but his way of ensuring his own safety was basically to tell Scar to stand in one place and not move. He pretty much disregarded the fact that Scar is a grown man capable of making his own decisions And capable of keeping himself, and the both of them, alive. The fact that they were last on green doesn’t reassure him, only confirms that he is in the right for being so controlling. He thinks his behavior kept them alive. He only loosens up once they hit their red life since at that point danger is assumed. Grian DOES NOT learn to respect Scar here, just puts his paranoia on hold for another day. His conclusion is that he was right and Scar was unreasonable

Scar was pushing back against said control since he knew it was unfounded. Again, he’s a grown man capable of making his own decisions. He has a tendency to mock people to show when they’re being ridiculous, something he does here through being purposefully careless. It’s both to point out how ridiculous Grian’s being and a way to punish him for being so obsessive. Instead of having the intended effect, Scar just pushes Grian further away. He later winds up just following everything Grian says, which doesn’t address the root of the problem here. Except he has no way of knowing what’s wrong because Grian doesn’t tell him. From his perspective, the only thing that got Grian back at his side was murder- since the only times they actually stood on equal footing was when there was a plan for a kill or when that plan went well. Scar’s conclusion here isn’t that he was unsafe, but that he was boring. So it reaffirms that he’s in the right and Grian was being unreasonable

BigB is not and never was the mistress in this situation. Had Grian never approached him, he would’ve never left Ren. He was using his Secret Soulmate as an escape from normal relationship problems he was too scared to address. BigB mainly felt overlooked because he has a quieter personality than Ren, meaning Ren wound up making most decisions for the two of them. BigB did a lot to mirror Ren and to be Ren’s other half, but didn’t give himself space to be his own person in the relationship. This is something that’s brought up in couple’s counseling and something they at least started to address before dying. BigB never intended to hurt either of them, since he did love and value both Ren and Grian- something that’s affirmed by how he talks to them after dying. BigB and Ren talk about how they stayed together until the end and B takes the time to forgive Grian for murdering both him and his soulmate

Ren was doing his best to keep Box afloat but failed to meet BigB’s needs. Since B wouldn’t communicate what was wrong, Ren kept trying to course correct in ways that inadvertently made the situation worse. Ren’s instinct is to be protective- to find an enemy to defend against. That enemy was first Pearl and then Clockduo when Bdubs inadvertently got BigB killed. He also reacted to news of B cheating by distancing himself from BigB. Which, reasonable!! Ren wasn’t obligated to save them if B was the one who left. However, this action only pushed BigB away since Ren was so quick to assume they were over. Ren has a habit of isolating himself when something’s wrong, assuming the worst of a situation when things can be fixed. It worked out between him and BigB in the end but goddamn was that rough

Anyways the four of them are very!! Very messy, I love them dearly

[ahllohehn]

Gem's area ,or whatever the Oracle has, has two kinds of decorations cute cottagecore stuff, and spooky stuff like skulls and stuff

An excerpt from the Camp Oracle's Journal:

"I put some fairy lights and curtains around the cave to make it seem homier. I also made a really wide tent filled with blankets and pillows to add up to the comfiness. After all, it was going to be my home for the next few weeks until I had to go back to school. Actually, it’s gonna be my home for the next summers to come!

There’s not much yet, but I hope to add more soon. Grian’s sister, Pearl, came to visit for a while to get a look at the new oracle (aka me). She was really nice! She helped me out on setting up the decorations around my cave and even gave me an old plushie of hers to add to my tent.

It was a well-loved wolf plushie, if the way the seams were already threatening to burst from just how much it’s been hugged, probably.

I didn’t want to take it at first because, you know, sentimental value! I couldn’t just take away her childhood plushie! But she was really adamant about giving it to me. She reasoned that Tilly (the name of the plushie, by the way) would be safer with me than it was with Grian.

Pearl couldn’t take the plushie with her because she’s always on the move with the goddess Artemis, Hunters of Artemis duties and all that. “It’d be a shame if it got lost mid-expedition,” she said.

And who was I to reject after that reason, you know? So now I have little Tilly living with little Gem in the super comfy and cool Oracle cave!"

Thank you for continuing to read! Have a tour of what's inside of Gem's cave:

COMFY CORNER OF THE CAVE

Cat beanbags and plushies - The cat beanbag is customized to look like Jellie. It was mainly put there during times Scar comes by to hang out with her so he wouldn't have to stay for too long on his wheelchair while visiting.

Seawater rug - Personally sewed by Xisuma after hearing that Gem had interest in marine biology. He wanted her to feel happier when resting in her cave since the cave was too far from the shore and the sea.

Aquatic animal plushies - Impulse and Skizz excitedly came over to give her fish plushies as a welcome gift. The clownfish is named Skizzy. The shark is named Impy, named accordingly to who gave which.

Small foldable table - Gem doesn't fold it often as she keeps her art stuff on it. She draws and makes the pins here.

BY THE WALL

Skull-shaped fairy lights - Not always green in color, but she keeps it green to make everything feel creepy. She had normal fairy lights before this but Cleo jokingly replaced it with string lights she bought during Halloween. Gem liked it so she kept it.

Worn out sword / Worn out shield - Not hers to begin with. They're actually normal weapons Etho had forged as practice before. He gifts them to Gem everytime she wins a spar against him to act as 'spoils of war.'

DESK / CURTAINED SIDE

Desk - There's chairs facing each other on each side of the table. This is where she mainly meets the campers for personal prophecies.

A line of potted plants along the wall - Bdubs offered to give her plants he thinks Gem would like to care for. There's mostly small sunflowers and succulents along the wall. One of the potted plants grew a particular one Gem never saw before. It was only when Pearl came over and questioned why she had a moonlace flower in her cave that she realized she was growing a magical plant. Bdubs never answered as to why he gave it to her.

TENT

Where Gem mainly sleeps. In here, you will never feel uncomfy as she's probably got 20 pillows and 5 blankets in there. Pearl's old plushie, Tilly, lives there with her. Grian asks to come in and cuddle with it when he has a particularly rough day.

about au au tag discord

[fountainpenguin]

Tango POV Session 3 highlights (My first POV this session, jumping in with no spoilers)-

Skizz: "I want a giant blinking heart in the sky" Tango: "Cool idea :) You're doing the redstone, right?" Skizz: ... Tango: "YOU'RE doing the redstone for that, right?"

Skizz: "While editing I was like... 'Am I a loser?' Tango: "No, no, no! It was well before editing that I realized that."

I do love the server dynamics that give us gems like Mumbo sprinting across the ground yelling about how he has a quick, urgent thing he needs to do... Just an average day in the death game.

slkdjf Tango and Skizz finally found someone just as desperate and needy as them... Enter the man who has been shunned for 3 seasons because of his boogeyman kill. We love a BigB!!

BigB: "Skizz, this might be time to point out my weak building skills-" Skizzleman: "Oh no, don't worry. That's why we've got ourselves a Tango!" Tango: /incoherent shrieking and denials

Tango assigned homemaker by the narrative.

So just to be clear, we've got Tango "I will teach you redstone and cheer you on" (Mansplain), we've got BigB "There is no hole in the mesa" (Manipulate), and Skizz "I built the base" (Malewife). Good for them.

Skizz: "At my IRL job when I had to create blinking lights, I literally had someone go back to the breaker and flip it."

Tango, to Cleo: "That's all we are! Cringe 'R' Us!"

sdlkfj Tango hugging and comforting Torchy over how scary Etho's water bucket attack was. "If he comes back, I will take care of this."

BigB: "I have an anvil." Tango and Skizz losing their minds: "BEST TEAMMATE EVER!"

Heart Foundation: "We will join forces and gift our hearts to a randomly selected person. Everyone will like and protect us; we are creating our own plot armor." Etho, immediately after receiving his hearts: "I am a huge fan. Sign me up. Whatever I need to do to stay on. I will let you use the enchanting table. I would be dead if it were not for the Heart Foundation."

Gem and Scott riding up on their zombie and skeleton horses would be SO terrifying. Can't wait to see the fanart of that sdfklj

Tango killed it this session, he did not cut corners in babbling to Torchy.

Gem: "I think your task is to remove light sources from the server." Tango: "That would be very incorrect." Tango as he sprints away, muttering to Torchy: "I know?? They were standing right by us and they didn't even notice??"

Torchy has such boogeyman tendencies, geez. Is this Leven Thumps; did we confine the spirit of the boogeyman to a piece of wood??

Tango, raiding someone's base: "You want to? We could."

I enjoy the new rule about Yellows having one chance to call people out on their task. I think this is a good move to up the tension and also encourage people to do it because you only get one shot per episode. Don't wanna waste it!

slkdjf @ Tango chatting with Etho, Etho susses out his task, so Tango immediately runs to Grian to confirm the rules. Grian tells him no problem, Etho's green so he's in the clear. Tango runs off crowing in laughter.

Lizzie: "I've heard some weird things about you." Tango: "We are excellent today." Lizzie: "That's the weird stuff I've been hearing."

?? Is Tango's official canon that redstone exposure turned his eyes red? Neat.

lksdjf Skizz seething about Impulse.

Tango: "What did he do?" Skizz: "His task was to find somebody who's got greater than 25 hearts and find a way to - air quotes - "accidentally" get them to lose 5 hearts. So he made sure I lost 20."

Yeah, that tracks.

Freaking goodness, Tango put his entire heart and soul into this invisible friend task.

Bdubs' globe is looking amazing <3

?? Etho running up to Joel and saying "I love you?" What is the context; looking forward to figuring that out.

Etho: "I love you." Joel: "Okay, I know you're obsessed with me, I saw you made me your thumbnail of your first episode, but come on..."

Called out at the end!!! Devastating!!!

That is the end, but what a great session. So much death...

[the-joju-experience]

Scar saw the poll turn green. He cheered to himself and smirked.

“About time someone acknowledged my sexiness,” Scar said to himself. He scrolled back up to the bracket, looking for his next competitor. He read the name and paused.

Technoblade.

He swallowed a large mouthful of air. Behind him, he heard the sick sound of steel scraping its scabbard.

---

“Doc, my brother from another mama!” Ren shouted. He leaned over the edge of the Perimeter, looking for his friend. “Did’ja see the bracket? We’re up against each other!” He heard nothing.

“Doc?” Ren shouted slightly louder.

“I heard, Ren,” Doc said. Ren turned around slowly, finding Doc standing over him in his ripped lab coat, taut muscles exposed to the elements that surrounded him. “And I’m sorry that your time in the bracket has to end this way.”

---

“Oi, Pearl!” Cleo said, landing next to their fellow hermit.

“Hiya, Cleo!” Pearl said. “Is this about the bracket?”

"Yep,” Cleo said. “I just wanted to stop by and say, no hard feelings.”

“Why would there be hard feelings?” Pearl asked.

“Well, no one’s heard from Zloy since I beat him into a pulp,” Cleo said. “I just wanted to make sure you knew there’s no shame in losing.”

“What makes you think you’re gonna win?”

Cleo arched her eyebrows menacingly and glared at Pearl.

“No, Pearl, I don’t think I’m going to win,” they said. “I know.”

---

“Hi Joel!” BDubs shouted. His head had just shot up out of a bush on Joel’s island.

“Good lore, BDubs!” Joel shouted, quickly moving his foot out of the way. “How did you even get here?”

“The power of my sexy prowesses!” BDubs said enthusiastically. He disentangled himself from the foliage and drew himself up to full height, which was not particularly tall. “You know what they’re saying about me on the Tumbles, right?”

“I think they actually think I’m sexier,” Joel said.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” BDubs said, attempting to throw his arm over Joel’s shoulder. Unfortunately, he couldn’t reach, so he awkwardly backed away with an outstretched arm.

“I am, as you know, a very tall and sexy god of lore,” Joel said. “I think that beats ‘weird mossy dwarf’ any day.”

---

Scott cursed as he slipped on a rock. He had been crawling through the wilderness for several hours, searching for his competitor, but he had finally come close. He checked his map one more time, seeing how far he had come. Looking up, he saw a small wooden cabin. He approached it and knocked on the door.

Etho opened it, allowing savory smoke to waft into Scott’s nose.

“What’s up?” Etho asked.

“I just came to tell you…” Scott said nervously, “we’re up against each other in the bracket...”

“Oh, that’s fun!” Etho said.

“And that I’m going to tell my fans that if they don’t vote for me they’re homophobic,” Scott said.

Scott couldn’t see it, but deep down he knew that Etho was frowning disapprovingly.

---

Grian walked into Mumbo’s base, following some weird, high-pitched noise from his own base.

“MumboJumbo!” a voice was singing. “I am hotter!”

"Mumbo?” Grian whispered hopefully. Following the sound, he walked deeper, approaching the slight opening in the walls of Mumbo’s vault. The noise grew, and Grian’s hopes grew with it.

Those hopes deflated when he entered and saw Slimecicle dropping slimeballs on every surface.

“MumboJumbo!” the autotuned voice continued. “Come and fight me!”

Grian sighed heavily, turned, and left.

---

Wilbur was walking towards his front door when he noticed Joe Hills sitting on his porch.

“Oh,” Wilbur said. “You’re Joe, right?”

"Yes I am!” Joe said.

“Is this about the bracket?” Wilbur asked.

“Oh, that silly thing?” Joe said. “No, not in the slightest! I just wanted to say howdy!”

“Do you want to come in or something?” Wilbur offered. “I have soup if you want it. And I’ve been told I make some pretty good burgers.”

“No, that’s fine,” Joe said. “I’m good just sitting right here.”

“OK, then,” Wilbur said, opening the door. He walked inside and looked around. On a hunch, he checked upstairs. Nothing was amiss. He came back down to find Joe sitting exactly where he had left him.

“Are you going to… move or something?” Wilbur asked.

“No, I think I’ll sit right here for the next…” he checked his phone. “22 hours and 57 minutes.”

---

Grian returned to his cave to find Quackity lounging on a dark oak stair in front of the portal.

“Hiya!” Quackity said.

"Oh no,” Grian said nervously. “What do you want?”

“I thought I’d skip ahead a bit and try to cut a deal,” he said. “You see, I know I can’t win against you. You’ve got way too many stans.”

“Look, if this is about the bracket, I don’t really care-”

“Look, Grian. I have an offer.” Quackity stood up and walked towards the hermit. “Let’s pool our votes and form a ticket together. We can be co-sexymen!”

“No no no no no,” Grian said. “I’ve heard this story before.”

“But I have to beat Wilbur!” Quackity said. “Come on, man. What the fu-”

“Nope!” Grian interjected, shoving Quackity back through the Rift.

Behind him, Grumbot lit up. He whirred briefly, and then spat out a message.

WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?

“This is a family-friendly server, Grumbot,” Grian said.

[birrdies]

wpuld u consider “I can keep you safe, they’re all afraid of me.” For shadowrot? or really any Cleo ship. because she’s so scary…

Win Secret Life.

There's a certain peace that should come with knowing you'll lose. Etho's not fool enough to believe it's feasible to win; for him, anyway. But that does nothing to dampen the panic, burning bright through him and setting every nerve-ending alight. It's a familiar panic that slips back into his bloodstream, almost like it'd never left. The fear that comes with dwindling numbers, rolling thunder claps, and each audible heartbeat pounding in Etho's ears.

A wild animal that knows it's about to die won't just take it lying down, even if it knows fighting is futile. It'll still gnash its teeth and swipe its claws at anything that moves in its periphery, anything that gets too close or backs it into a corner. And Etho can't help but shake like one, pacing in the same stretch of grass until it flattens to dirt, churning every possible move in his head. A chessboard only Etho's been dropped in halfway through the game and he doesn't know where half the pieces are.

The task book weighs a million pounds, strapped to his waist, where the words taunt him again and again.

Win Secret Life. Win Secret Life. Win Secret Life. Win Secret Life.

"Hey—"

Their base had been overrun, what little defenses they'd managed to build ripped to pieces. It's not safe there, really, but it's not safe anywhere. Least of all out here in the open, the night sky an oppressive, suffocating weight draped over him, rivaled only by the silent stone statue at his back, hands outstretched, non-existent eyes cold and empty. This place is crawling with red names, it'd only take a second for them to come raining down upon him like hellfire.

"Etho."

Grian's gone, too. Not gone gone, but somewhere Etho can't see him, which is almost just as bad. That panic is an unfamiliar one that sinks its teeth into him, like the cornered animal is trapped somewhere inside of him instead, desperately trying to chew its way out. It's always been just him, by the end. He's had allies, sure— beneficial things to have, like weapons or gunpowder or redstone— but if he'd end up alone that would've been fine.

Would have been.

Where the hell is Grian?

"Etho!"

He stumbles, ripping from his mindless pacing by a pair of wide, heavy hands gripping him by the shoulders. Pale, green fingers twist into the fur lining Etho's collar. He stares at those hands, taking longer than it should have to remember that they belong to someone. He lifts his head, eyes suddenly heavy and tired as he faces Cleo whilst simultaneously avoiding her gaze.

With nowhere to go, his legs stagnant, the anxiety festers. A burst of kinetic energy bubbling underneath his skin like a boiling pot with the lid left over it. He tries not to shake. He doesn't know if it works.

"Cleo," he says, swallowing a gasp his body tries to force out. "We've gotta— We need to find somewhere to set up, fortify. Maybe team up with Bdubs and the others— we're outnumbered. They're stacked, they've got Gem, Joel, Scott—"

"Etho, stop." Cleo jostles him by the shoulders, pulling him in close enough that he couldn't squirrel away even if he tried. Her eyes are red. Nauseatingly red, so deep Etho can't believe he hadn't noticed them before now. "Stop, you need to calm down."

"If we don't act now it will be too late," Etho says, reaching for Cleo's wrists, though he's not confident whether it's to push her off or steady himself. Either way once his fingers have found her pulse point, he can't bring himself to let them go.

Cleo's face, usually stone carved sharper than any sword's edge, softens. Her eyes dim, her mouth tilts up at the corner, and she loosens her grip on his collar. The only thing keeping her hands there at his neck are Etho's. Now he's shaking.

"It's already too late," she says, and its the kind of news that should be delivered with a somber, hung head and the unspoken apology too dense to ignore, let alone breathe through. But Cleo's not sorry. She's smiling at him and he's never seen her more relaxed.

It terrifies him.

"No," he says, shaking his head. "No, it's not. We're still here. We can— We can do something, we just gotta find Grian."

"And do what?" Cleo says, raising an eyebrow at him. Her heartbeat is steady. Calm. Everything a red name at the end of their rope shouldn't be. "Aren't you tired of dying scared and alone and desperate?"

I'm tired of dying, Etho can't bring himself to say. I'm tired of trying and it never being good enough.

Instead, all he can do is nod.

"Then let's go out our way." Cleo grins at him, and it's the first thing to loosen that iron-like grip his ribs have on his heart. "Y'know, causing mayhem, being nasty."

It's tempting. There's few others (if any) Etho'd rather spend his final hours with. Because these are the final ones, if they even have that long, and no amount of panicking or planning or trap-setting will undo the scales that've been tilted against them from the beginning. But the thing about scared animals is that they're stubborn. And no matter how much he wants to give in and let go, he'll never be able to rid himself of that instinct. Not to win, but to survive.

"But the others— They'll be on our tail the whole time." What if they don't have the time to do anything? To live their final moments how they want; just because you don't want to fight doesn't mean everyone else will spare you the same courtesy.

"I'm not scared of some bumbling red names," Cleo says, her words as vicious as they are confident as she finally lets him go, forcing him to drop his hands down by his sides. But she doesn't leave him. She stays right there, within arm's reach, as she tugs free a flint-and-steel from her pocket. "I can keep you safe. For now, anyway. They're all afraid of me."

The laugh that bubbles out of Etho is a quiet, private one that hurts coming up. But he wouldn't have it any other way. "You are pretty scary, Cleo," he says. "What do you wanna do?"

"I think burning Scar's house is a good start," she says, flipping the flint-and-steel in her hand before activating it, watching the small flame dance.

[k-didathing]

Startober Day 6: Runaway

Etho had been on the run for a long time. At some point, it felt like running was all he had ever known. Running became less like an action to him and more like a lifestyle.

Always be ready to move onto the next place.

Don’t get too comfortable.

Don’t grow too attached.

That’s how they stab you in the back, like everyone always does.

But when Etho heard rumors about a sanctuary, a haven for outcasts and runaways, forgive him for being a little intrigued.

Once Etho landed on the dense, jungley planet that the sanctuary was rumored to be on, he started a long trek through the tall green forests, even though he had no idea where this sanctuary could be, or if it was even real.

After a while of hacking through vines with his machete, Etho was getting tired. His tail began to drag in the dirt behind him, and the rhythm of his heavy boots started to slow. He was starting to consider turning back when a net suddenly wrapped around him, pinning his hands to his back and knocking him to the ground.

Yep, this was definitely the place.

He heard a whoop of victory from the treetops and watched as a man scurried down to meet him. Now, Etho had seen plenty of glares before, but until now, he had never seen a full one. The man’s face was covered in greenish feathers that framed his large, dark eyes, and a fluffy, feathery tail trailed behind him.

“HALT!” The man yelled, pointing a small weapon at Etho and forcing him to his feet. “What’s your business in Sanctuary?”

Etho tilted his head skeptically. “‘Sanctuary’? Is that what you guys call it?”

“Yeah? So?”

“I dunno… I guess I was expecting something a little more… poetic? Secretive, maybe?”

“Well, that’s beside the- HEY! YOU STOP RIGHT THERE!” Etho was trying to shuffle past him, but the glare blocked him with his weapon. “That’s not answering my question: What are you doing in Sanctuary?”

“I’m just a runaway, same as any of you.” Etho slipped effortlessly out of the n net, revealing that he had dismantled it entirely.

“WH-HOW?!” The glare exclaimed, his feathers puffing up in disbelief.

“Oh, I’ve been out of this thing for a while now.”

“I - whatever. Follow me. And do not wander off.” 

The two of them wandered through the jungle, the glare messing with some sort of navigation device as they went.

“So, what’s your name?” Etho asked. He wasn’t sure why he was even bothering. He should have simply asked the glare where Sanctuary was, or even steal his navigation device if need be, and teleported on his merry way. But for some reason, he wouldn’t - or couldn’t. Perhaps he was simply intrigued by the glare for some reason.

Nope. Don’t get attached. Don’t become too vulnerable. And don’t jump to conclusions.

“I’m Bdubs. I’m kind of a big deal around here.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, I’m basically a god to the people of Sanctuary.”

“A god?”

“Yep! Here, I’ll show ya.” Bdubs closed his eyes and rubbed his hands together, and after a moment of grunting with effort, all of his feathers erupted with golden light, and even his eyes seemed to glow. Etho had to shield his eyes a bit just to look at him. But then Bdubs’ navigation device began to beep at him angrily, interrupting his bravado. He dug it out of his pocket and groaned as soon as he saw the screen.

“This thing is busted,” he sighed. “But nobody panic — I’m a master when it comes to redstone. I’ll fix this in no time!”

Etho raised his eyebrows doubtingly. He knew what redstone masters looked like, and Bdubs certainly wasn’t the type.

“Hey, don’t give me that look! I am!” Bdubs argued. But after several minutes of tinkering with the device, the only result was more frustrated groans.

“Need some help?” Etho offered, grinning slightly beneath his mask. 

“No, I got it.” But after a while, Bdubs eventually gave in and silently handed the device to Etho. The device appeared to be slightly broken — it was nothing Etho couldn’t fix, but all of his tools were back on the ship. He closed his eyes, envisioning where his tool bag sat on his workbench. He held out his hand and reached through the void, pulling the bag to where he was now. But as soon as he did this, he noticed that Bdubs was staring at him wide-eyed. “How did that happen? Wait a second — are you an Ender?”

“Etho’s tail curled around his feet self-consciously. He couldn’t exactly hide the fact that he was an Ender — though his unusual skin color often made people second-guess what race he was. But even so, he preferred not to bring it up. It led to other questions — ones that Etho definitely did not want to talk about.

“What other things can you do?” Bdubs asked, his large eyes sparkling.

Etho thought for a moment, and noticed a large, alien fruit hanging from a tree many feet from the ground. He slung his tool bag over his shoulder and took a leap straight through the void, onto one of the tree branches. After waving his arms around to regain his balance, he severed the fruit from the tree with his machete, then leaped back through the void to meet Bdubs. The glare split the fruit in two and let Etho have half of it while they walked. The fruit had a rich, earthy flavor whilst still being sweet and refreshing, and Etho quickly finished the fruit, tossing the rind onto the forest floor when he was done.

“So, what’s Sanctuary like? How safe is it, really?” As Etho said this, Bdubs began to walk in front of him. They were approaching a tree, one larger than any other tree Etho had seen in the jungle thus far. Its branches were adorned with little yellow flowers, and its trunk consisted of a swirling, tangled mass of knots.

“Why don’t you find out?” Bdubs answered. As he drew near to the tree, the knots unraveled themselves, revealing a passageway straight through the heart of the tree. As soon as he passed through, the tree closed up behind him.

Etho hesitated as he approached the tree. But as he stood there, something about the light filtering through the branches seemed to speak to him, and three words rang through his mind: Come and rest.

The knots unraveled before him, and he walked right through the tree. As he passed through it, it felt like a great burden had been lifted off of him, one he hadn't even realized he was carrying. The feeling of eyes judging him, watching his every move, that he could never get away from no matter how much he tried. He felt like he had been holding his breath for all these years, and was finally able to exhale.

When he got to the other side, all he could do was stop and stare. A massive city sprawled out for miles before him, covered in colorful houses as people of all origins bustled through the streets. 

He felt Bdubs’ firm hand on his shoulder, reminding him that he wasn’t alone. “Welcome to Sanctuary.”

And for the first time in a long time, Etho stopped running.

(AU by @skimmeh and @kairamuwu)

[bloop-im-a-frog-now]

A Perfect Guide On How To Tame A Horse by Skizzleman

The first thing Skizz ever wanted to do on the Hermitcraft Server was taming a horse.

“Time to find a horse!” Skizz exclaimed to himself. 

That was supposed to be the easy part. The very long, but easy part. Except, it seemed all the wild horses were gone. 

“Where are the little fellas?” He asked himself. “I just wanna ride a horse!”

He had the perfect name in mind as well. He just needed a beauty, take it to his base and parade around the server with it. To show he was a true horse tamer. 

Maybe he should’ve gone to Bdubs, like Impulse suggested. 

No, he wanted to do this on his own, like the big boy he was. He scoured the lands, to find a horse, any horse, even if it was the slowest horse on the Server. Though, Zedaph still held that record, so, it wouldn’t be the slowest, but his point was still being made!

He’d do anything to get a horse right now. 

He passed a pasture, who looked exactly like the previous one he had passed. Skizz was starting to question his sanity, but most importantly, his sense of direction. Was he running around in circles the entire time?

That was when his muse appeared. A beautiful black stallion ate some green grass as it minded its own business, and Skizz immediately knew he had to tame this horse.

He gently approached it, with wheat in his hand as he called it over.

“Here horsie, come eat that good old sweet wheat.”

He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, and the stallion slowly walked towards him, sniffing the wheat in Skizz’s hand.

That was when he hoped the wheat wasn’t too old for the horse’s tastes. He’d hate to give expired wheat to such a handsome horse.

The black stallion started eating the wheat in Skizz’s hand, and the scarred man couldn’t help but smile. He petted the horse’s black mane. 

“Such a good horsie for good ol’ Skizzlie.”

The animal sniffled at the commentary, and continued to eat the wheat. When it was done, Skizz patted its neck and slowly came to its side to place a saddle on its back.

“There, there,” he petted the black, glistering coat. “Don’t move an inch,” he poked his tongue out of his mouth in concentration as he slowly placed the saddle on the horse’s back, “that’s it, just a bit more —”

The horse snorted and moved forward, making Skizz trip and fall face first on the ground. He grunted. 

“Oh, c’mon now! I was so close!”

He skipped to the stallion once again, and this time did not hesitate. He placed the saddle on its back, but before he could attach the straps, the horse neighed and trotted away from Skizz once again.

The scarred man groaned and hit his forehead.

“Stupid jerk! I just want a horse!”

He launched himself to the saddle, grabbing the two straps that needed to be buckled against the stallion’s stomach, and almost received a hoof in the face for his trouble.

“Hey! Jerk face! Watch it!”

The horse whined and trotted in the pasture as Skizz struggled to buckle the straps. He was a bit busy with not hitting his head against the hooves or the rocks or the flowers in the way.

“Just stop! Moving!”

He managed to buckle the main strap until the horse galloped. Skizz grunted at the change of speed, but continued fiddling with the straps. He was determined to keep the saddle safe and secure onto the horse, even if it killed him. 

Skizz buckled the smallest straps just before hitting his head on a rock he did not see. He let go and yelped in pain, putting his hands over his head as the pounding echoed in his mind. The stallion simply snorted and continued eating the green grass. 

That horse was almost the death of him. 

He groaned in pain. “Stupid horse and horse power.”

He raised his head from the ground and squinted at his target. The innocent jerk was still eating the green grass, but at least it had a saddle on its back. If Skizz just made a run for it and jumped on the saddle, he would start taming the horse.

And that’s exactly what he did.

He let out a warrior cry as he ran towards the stallion. It, on the other hand, neighed in terror, and just as it was about to gallop away from the running human, Skizz managed to jump on its back.

“Hiya!”

The horse neighed once more, and tried to get Skizz off of its back.

“Oh no, you stupid horse. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

Skizz held onto its mane as it kicked its rear legs outwards, shook itself, and jumped across the pasture. He was struggling to hold onto the stallion, as he was shaken from side to side, jumping onto the horse’s back every time it made a sudden gesture. 

Eventually, the horse tired itself to the bone, and Skizz yelped in victory.

“Yeah baby! I did it!”

The horse on its side, dragging Skizz with it. The newest Hermit yelped in surprise, and didn’t hold on to the horse as his feet slipped from the stirrup. The stallion swiftly got up and left Skizz in the pasture, trotting away and beyond the mountains.

Skizz groaned.

“Stupid horse with his stupid jerk face and his stupid — stupidity!”

Then, something munched his hair as if it was wheat, and Skizz turned around hastily, sword in hand in case it was a hostile mob. 

But it was just another horse, with a dark matted mane, unperturbed by Skizz’s movements, and continued eating his hair. Skizz laughed.

“Hey there, other horsie,” Skizz laughed again as the horse’s tongue licked his forehead. “Hey! That tickles!”

The animal didn’t seem to care about Skizz’s protest, even when he stood on his feet, it continued eating his hair, following him around.

“Ack! Alright, alright, I get it!” Skizz shooed the horse away, only for it to stay by his side. He smiled. “Aw, you’re lonely. I don’t have a saddle for you, buddy, the other jerk took it away.”

The horse simply stared at Skizz, nudging its head against Skizz’s shoulder. Skizz chuckled.

“Alright! I get it! Jeez.”

He climbed on top of the horse, and it didn’t move. Not until Skizz clicked his tongue and nudged the heels of his feet against the horse. 

“Oh huh. A real Gluestick, aren’t you?”

The horse trotted towards Magic Mountain, where Skizz base was, and listened to every order Skizz gave it.

“You must’ve really had pity on me struggling with that other stupid, huh? Wait!” Skizz patted the horse’s mane with a wide grin. “Gluestick! That’s your name now!”

Gluestick neighed and continued its trot.

“Yeah, me too, Gluestick. Me too.”

[jadienjaystoriesandart]

The Funny Tall Man

Summary: Scar is just trying to take over a mushroom island, he did not agree to being a baby sitter. 

Warnings: Nothing really, this is Fluff and SFW, well unless you count Scar being an evil homewrekcer (literally, he burns homes) and Mother Spore being a mind controlling fae (who low key kidnaps people).

Notes: This is for @sporelings-au and @headless-witch  Tags: @riveraryy and @flooflepuff

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

HEP found itself working hard most days, as the Mycelium was spreading. Scar sighed rubbing his neck and popping it, his ears drooping down. He picked up another paper and read it over sipping on some tea, the rich flavor was nice. Everything was grown locally, everything in his office was grown by him. Giving the place a very lush feel.

Vines hanged down from the ceiling, the air was crisp and clean, the inside made of a hallowed tree. It was the exact opposite of the mushroom villages with air that was thick with spores. The air was near unbreathable by his people, who seemed to have a clear disdain of the Mushroom Sporelings of Mother Spore. 

While Scar himself has no true interest in the island, he had to admit that their encroach onto his territory made him act. Sure the situation had been minor. But Scar wasn’t a push over, and wasn’t going to let the, rather beautiful, Mother Spore think she could just go outside her island. 

He gave pause thinking back to the dear Mother of Sporelings. Beautiful she was, but also wicked. Her mere touch wilted all his plants, his babies, making himself prick with discomfort. Top it off in the past she’s kidnap Woodland Fae of his, and... changed them into these near mindless beings with her spores. Making his insides twist at the thought of it.

Scar wasn’t a fool, while he flirted and teased the mushroom fae, he knew not to let her near him for too long. Not to accept anything from her. Tea was nice, even if they never reached an agreement.

Mother Spore was unwilling to release and give back his people, and Scar as a result would not stop burning houses until he made his point clear. Besides, they were making the air near unbreathable in places too close to his kingdom. 

Signing the paper and putting it out in the out tray neatly the door opened. He looks up as Bdubs comes into the room. “Scar!.” he said, “The garden section is experiencing some wilting.” 

A frown, “Wilting?” Scar echoed bemused, that was rare for his plants to wilt. But as he reached out through the roots he felt the wilting in the area seemed to be spreading. A grimace on his face as he rose and left the room. Heading briskly with his cane clacking on the ground to the garden section.

The Gardens were where he grew most of the food for the main city. Tall fruit trees, small bushes of berries, and vegetables abound in the fields. A place where he was certain Mother was envious of. Perhaps he should make a basket of fresh foods... maybe he could win over the Mother’s favor yet.  Bdubs wanted this was over fast, but Mumbo, his second, wanted a little bloodshed done as possible. Mumbo in fact was the spear head of many political meet ups. Even if they bore little fruit. 

He frowned as he saw one of the blackberry bushes was indeed wilted, as was the strawberry plants, and the blueberries with them. “How in the world?” Scar looked puzzled as he touched the wilted leaves bring them back to their green glow. 

Slowly the plants did heal as his magic poured into them. But Scar noticed one area wasn’t growing at all, as he paused and moved over to the leaves.

“Shhh! He’ll hear us!” “These berries are so good!” “I told you not to touch the bush Ren!”

Pushing them back a squeal was heard as Scar jumped back from a wooden sword to his face. “What in the world!?” Scar yelped as he looked from the sword to an angry red eye glaring at him. 

This one looked familiar, as Scar wracked his brain for info, he remembered seeing this little one with Mother. He looked past the very defiant, somewhat fearful, sporeling to see others huddled together in the bushes. One with ears had a mess of blackberry juice around his lips. 

“What are you doing here?” Scar inquired as he pushed the wooden sword away easily, much to the tall sporlings annoyance. 

“none of your business!” he said in a puffed up brave voice, but Scar easily caught the waver in it. 

“We wanted to meet you!” Another said with him, the little girl with the pink dress and fairy wings said with a bright smile. 

Scar gave a look crossing his arms, “And wilting my berry bushes is how you greet yourselves?” he asked in a firm voice.

Head hung down at that, they looked guilty. “We’re sorry.” the slim child said with a small voice. “They were just so good looking, we don’t have things like this at home.” he said black eyes looking up at Scar.

The slight anger did fade at that, as Scar grimaced to himself, then sighed heavily as he rubbed his face and eyes. “Alright, come out now, so I can heal the plants, and I'll pick you some more berries... just don’t touch anything.” he said to the small kids. Watching as they all clamored out, and the tallest one eyes him with distrust herding them to the middle of the garden. 

Scar shook his head, as he got back to work, healing away the damage done. Smiling softly as he could feel the life returning to the bushes. “Woah.”  A tiny head poked over his shoulder as she stared in awe at how the bushes came back to life. “You can grow plants mister!?” she asked looking at him with wide black eyes.

A nod as Scar started to pick some berries, “Yes, one of my many talents.” he chuckled a bit. “Everything here I grew myself.”

This did get the kids to look around in awe finally taking in how tall the trees were, “We don’t have anything like this at home!” squeaked out the slime boy.

“Unless you count Mother’s tall mushrooms.” the one with horns said with a smile. 

Scar’s smile fell a bit, right, these little guys hadn’t seen anything green save for when they are near his territory. It also seemed they inherited their Mother’s powers of wilting things. 

“I see, well, this is just the section I use to grow fruits, there are place I also grow vegetables, trees for sap, and flowers.” Scar listed off.

“FLOWERS!?” the little girl in pink said in excited, “Can I see!? Please!?” she asked yanking on his tail coat. 

A bit startled by her outburst, Scar stared down at her, then to the children who also looked curious. Well, almost all of them, the one eyed child looked annoyed. “I suppose so, first off though,” he looked at each of them, “Names?”

They each listed off their names, Etho, Stress, Ren, XB, Jevin, and Impulse. 

“Well, my name is Scar... and I guess I can show you the flower gardens, But don’t pick any of them, The flowers are very delicate.” Scar’s voice was firm as they all nodded, eager giggles and jumping up and down. 

Shaking his head and holding back a smile, he had them all hold hands as he lead them along. The flower gardens weren’t that far, and he had no dout they’d be also eager to eat the berries he picked too. Though... “Does your Mother know you guys are here?” Scar asked them with a curious look back at the group.

“Uh... No...?” Ren’s ears flicked down at that. 

“We wanted to see where you go to Funny Tall Man!” Impulse said to him with wide eyes. “We... didn’t expect it to take this long though.”

Alarm bells were in Scar’s head, “When did you guys leave the Mycelium territory?” he asked.

Looking at each other confused, it was Etho who spoke up, “When the sun was rising.”

Scar paled a bit; it was nearing the afternoon now! These children had been out of their Mother’s gaze for over 6 hours! Goodness its no wonder they were hungry and looked tired. 

“Oh dear...” Scar groaned, no doubt Mother Spore was worried sick for them. Look, he might be in a war with her, but he was against using children in a war. Pitching the bridge of his nose, Scar took a breath, he’ll pen a letter to the Goat Father and Mother Spore. This was not going to look well at all, but he also didn’t want to send these kids back to walking on their own! They were lucky they ever found his area and didn’t get lose in the Wildwoods Forest!

Scar’s thoughts were broken as he heard Stress gasp, “Flowers!” she squealed rushing over, Scar quickly stopped her from grabbing on. Shaking his head firmly as she blinked and looked sad but nodded. 

Quickly though, Stress bounced back, “What are these ones called?!” she asked excitedly looking at the pretty purples and pinks.

“Orchids, they are very delicate flowers and very picky flowers too.” Scar told her, “They don’t like to grow for just anything, the conditions have to be right.” he said. Setting up a blanket on the gorund and the basket of fruits for the kids. Which they all quickly moved to sit down as Scar also got some water from the spring nearby. 

It was burning up today, no doubt they were thirsty. He took a breath to keep from fretting, these were Mother’s children, if a hair was harmed on them it’d be his neck. He was looking for a fight, not death. 

Stress ran over to another that Jevin was looking at, “Frogs!” the slime boy said picking up a white frog that squirmed in his grip.

“Yes, I have quiet a few of them.” Scar said then turned, “Ren don’t lick a frog please.” he told the wolf looking sporeling.  Ren froze with his tongue out, and carefully let go of the green frog with a pout. 

“What are these flowers called mister tall man?” Impulse asked looking at the ones in the water that were white.

“Lilies, these ones grow on pads that the frogs can use to stand on.” Scar told them, “See that stem under them, it’s goes all the way down to the bottom of the pond and is rooted into it.” he explained.

He watched as their eyes seemed to be filled with wonder, Stress rushing form the pond over to XB near a large tree, “What’s these!?” she asked pointing to the waxy leave tree with pink and white flowers.

“Magnolias,” Scar told her, “They are ever greens, meaning they don’t shed their leaves in the fall like Mape or Oak tress, but rather shed them year-round, they also come in colors of pink and white.”

XB picked up one of the dead leaves on the ground feeling it’s waxy coating with curious eyes.

Taking his hand, Stress lead Scar over to Etho and these tall yellow flowers, “What are these flowers?” she asked.

“Black Eyed Susans, and the tall ones in the back are Sunflowers.” Scar went over to a small machine near the sunflowers and held out his hand. Out came some seeds that were toasted, “Here.” he handed the two some. “Sunflower seeds are edible.”

Etho looked wary, but did take some, and after seeing Stress try some, he ate a few too. “Their salty.. but crunchy.” he said looking at the rest.

Scar nodded, “They are a good snack, but make sure you drink water as they are rather salty.” he agreed, smiling warmly at Etho. 

“Mister Tall Man?” 

Scar turned, “yes?” he inquired curiously walking over. 

He looked to see Ren pointing to some plants, “These ones don’t have flowers.”

Walking over to Ren, Scar nodded, “Sometimes they do, but not right now. These are herbs. The purple flowered ones are Lavender, the large leave ones that are bumpy is Sage, the dark green ones here is Mint.”

Stress peered at them, “Well what are they used for?” she asked watching Scar pluck off a few leaves and flowers.

“A variety of things, potions, medicine, rituals, even just to make some cooking stuff taste better, or just your house to smell better.” Scar let her smell them even if the tip wilted, “Jellie loves Lavender.”

Giggling Stress sniffed again, “It smells so nice!” she looked very happy as Scar couldn’t help but smile.

They went around looking at whatever caught the kids eyes, Lily of the Valley, Roses, Zinnias, Cosmos. The vining plants of Moon Flowers, Purple Passions, Morning Glories, along with other herbs such as Dill, Thyme, and Rosemary. 

And wrangling them back to take a break and eat something as Scar penned a letter and sent the bird on it’s way to find Mother Spore. The kids were luckily well behaved enough, if Scar had to stop Ren from pouncing on his tail and biting it. they obeyed his rules of don’t touch unless he gives permission. Jevin had fun catching frogs and other creatures, he suppose it was good he couldn’t kill the animals. 

Scar answered any questions they had about plants, within reason, mostly they asked about flowers and herbs. Perhaps it did break his heart a bit that these children had never seen green grass, blue skies, or plants this abundant. Nor could they touch them. 

It made him wonder how anyone could be happy as a Sporeling. Mumbo spoke little of it, even if he still cared for them, it was clear he had no interest in going back. Scar couldn’t say he blamed him, who would want ugly purple grass and only fungus growing around!?

He watched as the children did curl up and started to fall asleep. Etho fought it off for a long time before he cuddled with Ren resting. Scar took a breath, and petted Impulse’s hair watching the sun turn to evening time, and waiting for news from Bdubs on when Mother would come to collect her children.

He can’t say it was a bad day, Scar adores it when people are interested in in awe of his amazing terraforming skills. Even if these children had technically escaped form home and broke into his base. Shaking his head, Scar waited silently.

This was going to be a long talk with Mother Spore, but he would assure her they were fed and well taken care of. And hope she didn’t try to kill his whole garden!

Little did Scar know Mother would be quiet calm about the situation, and might even be curious about flowers herself. 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Notes: If you guys want a oneshot of Mother Spore’s reaction and conversation with Mayor Scar then let me know. Other wise take your fluff!

Scar and Grian are both evil idiots in this one, and both had good and bad reasons for wanting this war. 

Up to Witch if it wants this to be canon. 

Anywho cute sporelings whoo! (Sorry it was a little rushed at the end it’s 10pm here XD)

[life-winners-liveblog]

Watching Double Life session 5

P5

Pearl: Baby Tilly!

Martyn: Stop screaming in my ear!

Pearl: Jeez Martyn, didn't know your ear was this sensitive.

Martyn: My ear is perfectly average.

Pearl: That was... strangely defensive.

Grian: Martyn can we have a quick chat?...again

3L!Scar: ...

~~~~~~

Scott: Those two are being weird.

Pearl: When are they not?

Scar: Ooooh!

Cleo: She got you there Scott.

Scott: Yeah, sure, why are they being extra weird today? Being extra and quirky is my thing. They are two of the three main adjectives used to describe me.

Scar: What's the third?

Scott: Gay.

Pearl: That one was pretty obvious Scar.

~~~~~

Cleo: You know don't you?

3L!Scar: Of course I know...so do you?

Cleo: I'm not nearly as blind as they think I am... I know much more then they are willing to share, That's for sure.

3L!Scar: ...

Cleo: Well then, let's go back to the others, It's rude to talk about people who are listening...or watching.

~~~~~~

Grian: We're back!

Scott: Welcome, how was you talk?

Martyn: Let's just move on.

~~~~~

Scar: Other me! No!

Martyn: Thart was...fast.

Scar: Nooo!

Scott: From green to red in half a session... That's impressive.

~~~~~

Grian: The ship is gone.

Scott: RIP.

Pearl: You will be missed...by two people...everyone else didn't really care.

Scar: The ship has sunk!

Grian: Well... kinda the opposite if sinking...it's on fire.

Scar: Yeah!

Scott: 🎶-Just like fire burning up the way🎵

Martyn: o7 I guess.

Cleo: I don't know where this arson is coming from but I love the way this session is going, more fire everyone.

~~~~~~

Martyn: Well Bdubs might be able to compete with Grian in challenge for worst tnt traps.

Grian: Shut up! I'm not that bad! ... Right?

Scott: ...well

Grian: Right?

Pearl: uhh...

~~~~~~

Pearl: And that's it...only one session left.

~~~~~

Previous

Next

First

[blackdiamond1038]

Secret Life Secrets

Session 5

Green- Successful

Red- Failed

It’s a lot of words. So many words.

Scott- You are in a game of tag between: Scott, Tango, Impulse, and Bdubs. If you see it at the break, you fail. The game continues in the second half and if you are it when the session is over, you also fail. You succeed if you are not it at the end of the session. Yellows have to guess exactly who is playing to make you fail.

Tango: You are in a game of tag between: Scott, Tango, Impulse, and Bdubs. If you see it at the break, you fail. The game continues in the second half and if you are it when the session is over, you also fail. You succeed if you are not it at the end of the session. Yellows have to guess exactly who is playing to make you fail.

Impulse: You are in a game of tag between: Scott, Tango, Impulse, and Bdubs. If you see it at the break, you fail. The game continues in the second half and if you are it when the session is over, you also fail. You succeed if you are not it at the end of the session. Yellows have to guess exactly who is playing to make you fail.

Bdubs: You are in a game of tag between: Scott, Tango, Impulse, and Bdubs. If you see it at the break, you fail. The game continues in the second half and if you are it when the session is over, you also fail. You succeed if you are not it at the end of the session. Yellows have to guess exactly who is playing to make you fail.

Jimmy: Task 1: Hit a green name with a sword until they block you with a shield. If you kill them, you also succeed. Task 2: Find a green name with at least 20 hearts. Take approximately 10 hearts from them any way you see fit.

BigB: You are the red name’s secret lackey. They just give you instructions on damage causing betrayal or trap creation and you must execute it without arousing suspicion from non reds. You can show the reds this task, but no one else.

Lizzie: Every time someone tells you to do something, repeat it back to them in a quieter, whiny voice for the whole session. [Re-roll for harder task] Get the server to sleep through the night.

Grian: You are mimic for the whole session. You must join in with whatever joke is being played out at the time, they do not need to ask. [Pressed success but realized fail in editing]

Pearl: Original owner: If this book is in your inventory at the end of the session, you fail. It must be kept in a player’s inventory at all times. If you give it to another player, you must keep a slot open in your inventory. If this has ended up in your inventory, you must try and return it to the original owner. You will need to re-roll for a hard task next session if this is in your inventory at the end of the session. This tan can not be called out by yellows and does not fail if read by others.

Joel: Backseat game Pearlescentmoon for 10 minutes. If they call you out, move onto another player. You fail if you have to move on more than 3 times.

Scar: Starting with grass seeds, work your way up to a golden apple. Minimum 4 trades.

Cleo: You are in a race with another player on the server. You must convince other players to give you their front door. The player with 5 doors first wins. Beware of yellow names.

Gem: You are in a race with another player on the server. You must convince other players to give you their front door. The player with 5 doors first wins. Beware of yellow names.

Mumbo: Turn any collaborative effort with another player into a competition. If you are called out, you can no longer compete with that player. You must win a minimum of 3 of the competitions.

Etho: You are a weeping angel. if someone is looking directly at you, you must not walk, run, or sneak. You can still turn, but not move for the whole session.

Skizz: Do the opposite of what green names instruct you to do, but not yellows.

Martyn: Task 1: Create a damaging trap in someone’s base. You succeed when it’s unintentionally triggered. If it’s discovered, you must make a new one. You can make multiple until one is triggered successfully. Task 2: Go invisible and hit at least 5 other people with a sword within one minute without being hit back. Task 3: Find a green name with at least 20 hearts. Take approximately 10 hearts from them any way you see fit. [Unfinished this session]

lemme know if I missed anything :)

[epicfranb]

Fuck it I'm not even rereading this. Here you go

Doc hired Etho, a skilled (probably) assassin to kill two of his most hated hermits: Keralis and Bdubs. And, after a long and fierce battle with Keralis that no one ended up winning, Etho wiped the layer of sweat from his forehead and said "Next one's gonna have to wait."

Does he even need to fight Keralis again? Hopefully, the fact that the fight took place is enough. After all, Doc's main goal is to scare them, isn't it? Etho and Doc go way back, so the guess probably has some truth to it.

Fixing up the gear after a long fight like this is a pain though. His sword needs sharping, the bow probably needs replacing, and his armor is... Well, everything could be in a better shape had Etho thought of a plan beyond "spam crossbows, then do whatever". His anvil aim could use some training, and his crossbow machine gun design could be improved. But it's better off in the hands of a more skilled player anyway.

Etho thinks he is quite a skilled player. But not in terms of fighting, no-no. Someone else could take the lead, someone more experienced – Etho's happy enough devising a plan and preparing the gear. Fighting isn't his forte.

Assassinating Bdubs is gonna need a better plan than this. If he succeeds in at least one of the hits, Doc will be happy enough (to pay him). But, unlike Keralis, Bdubs is... Too easy to kill. Pathetically so. It's just going to be boring. He needs a better plan than this.

Fixing armor was a job so usual and monotone to Etho, that it was easy to space out and lose himself in thoughts, and then wake up to a set of fully repaired gear. Normally, he would get some music on, but he kind of forgot about it before he spaced out, thinking about...

Yes, him again. Bdubs.

That man had an annoying habit of occupying all of the space within Etho's head. And, Bdubs himself doesn't do it directly, but Etho blames him anyway, because he knows it'd make him mad.

Bdubs has a funny voice. Every time he speaks, he voices his thoughts in such a strange manner, using some of the strangest vocabulary, interspersed with his "patented" "Bdubs noises". His speech patterns make no sense, the words never quite come out right, he's loud, he's boisterous, he's hilarious, and he's very, very talkative. Man has so many ideas and thoughts running through his head at all times, and he needs to get ALL of them out, to the point where he's been talking for hours, jumping from topic to topic, from idea to idea, and if he isn't stopped, he gets his throat killed. And a lot of the times, his throat does get killed after talking to Etho, because the other spaces out or falls asleep, as if Bdubs's voice is a lullaby to him.

Even now, one swing forth, one swing back, Etho's hands move on their own, the only sound in his head is a replay of Bdubs's voice, saying gibberish. It's like a catchy song that's been stuck in your head, you may not remember the lyrics, but you're enjoying the general sound of it. And Etho enjoyed his imaginary Bdubs singing to him. He has such a beautiful voice.

Helmet done, now onto the wings.

Honestly, it's appalling how different Etho and Bdubs are, even in the small things. Like, taste in food as an example. Etho's first impression of Bdubs was that he's the same sweet tooth that he is; turns out, it's quite the opposite. Bdubs doesn't put any sugar in his morning drinks, and he's a fan of green tea, which Etho only tolerates. He also likes bitter chocolate, and Etho thought those kinds of people only exist in myths... Oh, and he likes raisins. What a weird guy.

Their sleep schedules are so different, that at the rare occasions they've lived together, they barely ever saw each other. Bdubs goes to sleep early, and, despite taking his sweet time getting out of bed, he gets up early, too. A real morning bird with a solid schedule, in contrast to Etho, who stays up all night, working when no one and nothing is around to bother him – and gets up whenever. Sometimes he woke up first, and took his chance to prank Bdubs; other times he wasn't so lucky, and got pranked back. It was a fun back-and-forth while it lasted, but now Etho has the advantage of knowing Bdubs's exact sleep schedule, which Bdubs can't brag about – Etho's schedule is too chaotic. Those games are always fun.

With all the holes in the wings patched up, leggings are next.

Etho recalled his surprise when Bdubs came to him, all those years ago, and with eyes beaming of excitement, exclaimed: "Teach me how to fight!" Etho was never more than decent at fighting, but Bdubs seemed to be so caught up in his idealized version of Etho, that he thought it'd be better to ask him, and not someone who had actual skill. At least, that's what Etho thought at the time.

It was never about the fighting, no. It was never about swords, nor was it about bows or armor – it was about admiration. Bdubs admired Etho, and wanted to be closer to him. No, not in his skill – although, Bdubs admitted, that too – it was just about spending time together. The warmth of the other's skin on his hands, guiding him, on his torso, teaching him, his voice so close like it's reverberating in his heart, and his breath tickling his neck from behind... At least that's what Etho imagined Bdubs felt. Back then, he couldn't put his finger on why Bdubs shivered and blushed so often during their trainings, but, thinking about it now, it made some sense.

Swords clashing against one another, bodies in perfect sync, moving one after the other, shifting their feet in the same rhythm they got adjusted to – it was more like a dance than it was fencing. Sometimes, all of the competitiveness between the two would fade, and they were moments away from throwing their swords on the ground and taking each other's hands, wrap their arms around the other, to guide him somewhere else, in the same dance, same rhythm, but with much different implications. They regretted only a little bit that they never ended up getting into dance.

It was a nice memory, but Etho was somewhat bothered by his cheeks getting hotter. His entire body got hotter, in fact. Sweat dripped from his forehead, and his hands shook slightly.

It seems that it's time for a rest, Etho thought. He still had his boots to repair, but they could wait. He'll be gone only a little while.

For now, maybe he can think about a plan to kill Bdubs... Kill Bdubs, huh. Normally that'd sound quite tempting, but he wasn't really in the mood for any killing now. Getting soft, Etho chuckled to himself. But being soft felt kind of nice once in a while.

If I don't want to kill him, Etho thought as he got into the kitchen – if you could call it that, – maybe I'll find a way to make him die, and me not have to see it. That meant a trap, and, thankfully, Etho had an extensive catalogue of traps permanently in his head. Some of them more obvious, others – devilishly hidden, and whichever one he chose depended on what would get a funnier reaction. In chat, at least. Or in a later conversation.

But nothing really felt right. Etho cracked an egg – fill his base with chickens? no, that won't kill him. Entity cramming maybe? Etho whisked some dough – drowning is a good idea. But it's long, he can get out. And it's painful. Since when was Etho hesitant about a trap being painful? Etho put the cake in the oven –– Wait, cake?

Etho crouched in front of the oven, taking a curious look inside – sure enough, that is a cake. When did he make a cake? Why did he make a cake?

Etho has a pretty strong grasp on his own mind, but even that becomes a mystery when Bdubs is involved.

If the cake was meant to be a trap, it was a bad one. He didn't even put any poison in it! The frosting is now finished too, and that doesn't have any poison either... Unless Etho adds it. Which he doesn't. Whether he forgot, or just didn't want to, he didn't really know. Looking for the right poison, or making it from scratch, was a hassle, and Etho was too lazy to deal with that.

Besides, his mouth watered at his own cake. It was his sugary masterpiece, and he was itching to take a nice big bite off of it... But he held back. This cake is for Bdubs. Once he figures out how to make it into a trap.

Will Bdubs even want to eat such a sweet cake? Etho's mind wandered somewhere else while baking it, so he had no idea how much sugar he actually put into it. Knowing himself and his taste buds, it was probably... Way too much for Bdubs to handle. Maybe the excess sugar can kill him. Yeah, that'll do.

Etho rummaged around his storage system to find a nice big box and some wrapping paper with heart patterns to wrap the cake into. Maybe the heart patterns were excessive – Etho swore he had other types of patterns somewhere – but he couldn't find anything else, and wasn't bothered to. The cake neatly packaged, Etho grabbed his freshly restocked redstone box and flew off in the direction of Bdubs's base.

Etho usually thinks. He thinks about what he's gonna do next, even when he does something on a whim, he thinks first. How am I gonna do it? What are the steps? What am I going to need? His mind was in a haze as he flew, as if locked out of his own head, only able to peek through the bars, and the only thing left of his brain was an enormous screen with just images of Bdubs on it. This was getting ridiculous, but he couldn't stop. He didn't want to stop. The thoughts felt nice.

Bdubs wasn't online, thankfully, so setting up a trap didn't require any stealth ninja moves. Etho didn't even try to hide that it was a trap: the gift box was sitting right on top of an observer, ready to trigger it. There was nothing under it but a dispenser – what was in it? a damage potion? lava? exactly 24 boats to entity cram him (forget that you can't fit 24 boats in one dispenser)? Well, Bdubs is going to have to find out himself. The joy of discovery, and all. Etho's heart raced, despite knowing Bdubs isn't here to catch him in the act; he felt hot all over, despite Bdubs's biome being cooler than his; and his cheeks hurt from smiling, even though nothing happened yet. There was no rational reason for any of those body reactions to occur; and yet, they did. A human's body is hardly ever rational, but Etho found comfort in knowing what causes which reactions, and he was clueless about his current state. He guessed that he was just really looking forward to the prank working... I mean, what prank? It's a death trap! Totally!...

***

Etho had completely forgotten about the trap, when his communicator buzzed in his pocket. All of the gear repaired, and all the hitman matters taken care of, he has managed to distract himself from thinking about his... Friend, and get to work. However, the friend demanded attention, and who was Etho to decline him that attention? In his mind, a picture of an excited dog replaced Bdubs for a second, prompting a sudden outburst of laughter from Etho, which, he was pretty sure, could be heard even from Xisuma's base.

Etho took the familiar route through the Nether to Bdubs's base. He circled above it for a second, looking for the town's proud owner – he spotted him right next to his starter house (made of diorite, of course), and landed right behind him, scaring him to death.

"What are ya doin' sneakin' up behind me like that, huh?!" He fumed, stamping his feet all over the place. "What are you, role-playin' a ninja?!"

"Some people do call me a little bit of a ninja." Etho shrugged, prompting a scowl from Bdubs. "Anyway, whatcha got there? A cake?"

Behind him, the cake was sitting on the observer like on a table, unwrapped, with a small piece cut out of it. Bdubs probably checked it for poison; or maybe he couldn't eat the rest because it was too sweet. Either way, same thing, really.

"Aww, dontcha pretend like you don't know what it is!" Bdubs sang proudly like he just solved the world's hardest riddle; Etho couldn't help but smile, giving himself away. "Yeah, I knew it! It's yours! I know how you bake your cakes, you won't fool me!"

"Did I poison you with sweetness?" Etho asked through laughter.

"I'd rather not say what I did with the piece that I put in my mouth." Bdubs nodded behind him, in the direction of the river. Ah, so it was that sweet.

"Awwww, you spat out my cake? That I baked for you, with such love and care?"

"Yes, but I don't want to do it with the rest, so you're here to get rid of it." Bdubs walked up to the cake and shifted it around, sending a short pulse down. The dispenser didn't fire, meaning Bdubs saw the message.

"You mean you aren't going to eat it." Etho sobbed, hugging his arms. "Welp, more left for me!" He smiled.

"Great! Cuz I physically can't eat it!" Bdubs laughed.

He brought Etho a chair, a plate and a spoon, some tea (three spoons of sugar, as usual) and even a tablecloth to turn the observer into a real table (that ticks sometimes). Etho dug in immediately – he'd completely forgotten he hasn't eaten anything since that battle with Keralis. And oh was the cake sweet. Too sweet even for Etho, but he enjoyed it. Bdubs watched him enjoy the dessert, sipping his own tea, with a wide smile on his face.

"Didn't know you enjoyed watching people eat." Etho commented.

"Nope, just you."

"That's weird."

"You're weird, consuming that amount of sugar and not dying." Bdubs chuckled, but kept smiling. He was rather calm – calmer than Etho expected right after a prank.

The warm smile would get imprinted in his mind forever, Etho felt. There was just too much fondness, too much affection in it, that his skin started burning again.

Bdubs took the cherry from the top of the cake, closed one eye and put a cherry in front of the other: "You're as red as this cherry right now." He didn't even let Etho react, before putting the berry into his mouth. Etho tried not to think about the implications of that. "Come on now, what happened? What are you getting flustered for?" He teased.

Etho looked away – tried to, Bdubs followed his gaze – and put on his mask, even though he still had cake left on his plate. That didn't help hiding his rosy cheeks, and now ears too. Etho gave up trying to guess why his body was doing it at that point. He just didn't want Bdubs seeing him like this.

"Ay, you didn't finish your slice!" Bdubs laughed. "Sorry I took your cherry, but it the only edible thing on it."

"It's fine, I'm just gonna take the rest home," Etho said, attempting to appear collected, but regretted it immediately: his voice cracked in the most pathetic way possible.

Bdubs burst out, leaning on the observer for support, sending a few ticks again. The corners of his eyes teared up, but at least his face was now all red too, so Etho wasn't the only one. It was hardly comforting.

"Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't laugh! I shouldn't...!" He wheezed. Etho was ready to just take the cake and fly away in embarrassment, but the cake needed to be put in a box first – doing it now would only make the situation more awkward. Etho believed he could endure it. "Sorry–" Bdubs kept apologizing, "Know what? Next time, c'mere, and let's bake an actually edible cake together. Sound good?"

Etho sat still for a second, eyes wandering in the forest afar. They could bake a cake together, a cake that both of them could enjoy.

"That... Sounds good." Etho uttered from under his breath. It did sound good. Sweet, even.

"Then it's a deal!" Bdubs clapped his hands together. They arranged a time, he helped Etho pack the cake back up, and then it was time to say goodbyes.

Just as Etho was about to take off, Bdubs pulled his sleeve – and then pulled him closer, wrapped his arms around his torso in a sudden embrace. Etho instinctively put his arms on Bdubs's back, resting his head on his messy hair that tickled his nose. Etho could stay like this forever – or if not forever, then for a long time. But Bdubs let him go, and then they needed to go. Etho hastily took out his rockets and boosted off into the sky, to not let Bdubs see his face again.

Bdubs yelled after him:

"You have a good day as well!..."

Etho felt warm.

[secret-task-tracker]

Session 5

!!Spoilers Below!!

(Red tasks on this posts reblog)

Grian:

"You are a mimic for the whole session. You must join in with whatever bit or joke is being played out at the time, they do not need to ask."

Status: Failed (right at the end as well)

Joel:

"Back seat game PearlescentMoon for 10 minutes. If they call you out move onto another player. You fail if you have to move on more than 3 times"

Status: Achieved

Scott:

"@/obscureSwan you are in a game of tag between; Scott, Tango, Impulse, and Bdubs. If you are "it" at the break, you fail. The game continues in the second half and if you are "it" when "Session over!" is announced, you also fail. You succeed if you are not "it" at the end of the session. Yellows have to guess exactly who is playing to make you fail"

Status: Achieved

BigB:

"You are the red name's secret lackey. They must give you instructions on damage causing betrayal or trap creation and you must execute it without arousing suspicion from non reds. You can show the reds this task, but no one else"

Status: Achieved

Etho:

"@/shreeshruup7058 You are a weeping angel. If someone is looking directly at you, you must not walk, run or sneak. You can still turn but not move for the whole session"

Status: Achieved

Bdubs:

"@/obscureSwan you are in a game of tag between; Scott, Tango, Impulse, and Bdubs. If you are "it" at the break, you fail. The game continues in the second half and if you are "it" when "Session over!" is announced, you also fail. You succeed if you are not "it" at the end of the session. Yellows have to guess exactly who is playing to make you fail"

Status: Achieved

Pearl:

"@/_term1576 Original owner: If this book is in your inventory at the end of the session, you fail. It must be kept in a player's inventory at al times. If you give it to another player, you must keep a slot open in your inventory."

"If this has ended up in your inventory, you must try to return it to the original owner. You will need to re-roll for a hard task next session if this is in your inventory at the end of the session. This task cannot be called out by yellows and does not fail if read by others"

Status: Achieved (much to Etho's downfall)

Scar:

"@/wallacehunters9218 Starting with grass seeds, trade your way up to a golden apple. Minimum of 4 trades."

"I've been training all of my minecraft life for this particular task" - Scar (and truer words have never been said)

Status: Achieved

Impulse:

"@/obscureSwan you are in a game of tag between; Scott, Tango, Impulse, and Bdubs. If you are "it" at the break, you fail. The game continues in the second half and if you are "it" when "Session over!" is announced, you also fail. You succeed if you are not "it" at the end of the session. Yellows have to guess exactly who is playing to make you fail"

Status: Failed (from the second half)

Tango:

"@/obscureSwan you are in a game of tag between; Scott, Tango, Impulse, and Bdubs. If you are "it" at the break, you fail. The game continues in the second half and if you are "it" when "Session over!" is announced, you also fail. You succeed if you are not "it" at the end of the session. Yellows have to guess exactly who is playing to make you fail"

Status: Failed (from the first half)

Cleo:

"@/skypig You are in a race with another player on the server. You must convince other players to give you their front door. The player with 5 doors doors first wins. Beware of yellow names.."

Status: Achieved

Skizz:

"Do the opposite of what green names instruct you to do, but not yellows."

Status: Failed

Gem:

"@/skypig You are in a race with another player on the server. You must convince other players to give you their front door. The player with 5 doors doors first wins. Beware of yellow names.."

Status: Failed

Mumbo:

"Turn any collaborative effort with another player into a competition. If you are called out, you can no longer compete with that player. You must win a minimum of 3 competitions they engage you in."

Status: Achieved

Lizzie:

"Every time someone tells you to do something, repeat it back to them in a quieter, whiny voice for the whole session"

Status: Rerolled

"Get the server to sleep through the night."

Status: Failed

If I made any mistakes tell me please k thanks byeeeeee

[ahllohehn]

Ooc (keep not that I feel so bad for asking this rn)

Could we have some more ethubs?

Please

Bdubs blinked rapidly, biting the inside of his cheek as he tried to fight back a yawn. Sly let out a yip beside him and he waved a hand to shoo the little fox off, "M' fine, Sly," he slurred out before getting back to work on the field.

It's not always that the Hypnos side of his reacts, especially during the day. But it was in the middle of spring, he was weak to this season. The sun didn't feel too hot. The camp was peacefully empty. The slight breeze tickled his skin in a comforting way that made him oh so sleepy. Or maybe a god was aiming to communicate with him that's why sleep suddenly feels like a considerably nice activity right now.

He rubbed his eyes and pinched himself lightly to keep himself awake. Sly let out a few more yips before giving up on getting Bdubs' attention and running off to probably harvest whatever crops are harvestable.

The son of Demeter was able to force his eyes open for a while before he felt drowsy again. He was halfway through one of their few lines of raspberries when the urge to sleep hit him like a truck and he almost fell forward to join the greens in the soil, only to be caught by an arm around him.

Etho manhandled Bdubs familiarly into his arms, supporting the shorter man's entire weight on his one arm as he helped maneuver Bdubs' limbs to hold onto him like a koala.

Etho sighed and patted Bdubs on the back scoldingly, "If Sly hadn't gone off to get me, what would you have done?"

Bdubs huffed and weakly kicked his leg in protest, "Pr'bly stay soooo awake," he grumbled as he rubbed his face violently against Etho's shoulder in an attempt to snap himself awake through vigorous movements.

Not that the son of Hades allowed him to, bringing up a hand to Bdubs' nape to hold him in place, "Because you're definitely showing signs of being sooo awake," he copied sarcastically.

"Why are you trying so hard to fight it anyway?" Etho stood up with Bdubs in his arms, who had to grip at him tightly to stop himself from falling, "Tryna.. get Sly raspberr'es f'r a job well done f'rst," Bdubs whispered, moving his head to side to look at the fields longingly.

The taller demigod chuckled softly, "Harvest anymore and that damn fox will get too fat to work with you."

Bdubs whined but didn't protest as it was getting harder to stay awake. He instead shut his eyes and buried his face to the side of the taller's neck, "Tuck me in. Wh'ever's tryna reach me is prolly gettin' desp'rate," he muttered softly.

Etho ghosted a quick peck on the side of Bdubs' face, barely noticeable due to the mask he wore so it could be mistaken for a simple face nudge, "Rest well, my dreamer."

He whistled Sly over to grip the basket Bdubs wasn't able to fill before leading the way back to the cabins.

Hopefully Bdubs wouldn't mind the cold of the Hades cabin while he 'hibernates'.

[fountainpenguin]

Actually, thinking more about Secret Life Session 7 in-universe (This time drawing inspiration from the Limited Life Clockers dynamic):

- Bdubs is still living at home with Etho and Cleo (and Grian, a cousin to someone in the family if we use LimLife canon) - Scar moves out to start a shop and live on his own (and tbf, considering how chaotic the Clocker dynamic was in LimLife, I don't blame him. Live your life, you funky sunflower dude) - Scar rushes home asking Etho for villagers (For human contact? Help?? Safety in numbers???) - Scar is the first one targeted by Gem's boogeyman infection - He survives!! - Gem singles out Bdubs, backs him in a corner in a tiny cave, and kills him instead - Gem builds her army (3 dead, several injured) and all this time, she doesn't look like a threat because she's just a Yellow hanging out with a scary Red and fellow Yellows - Gem loops back to Scar with a bigger army - Scar runs home, pursued by Gem's army (including his own brother), and dies on Etho and Cleo's front lawn - While all this is going on, Etho killed Grian's pet and is trying to salvage the situation sldfjk - Later, Scar returns home and kills Etho in the lake in front of the house, pretty close to where Scar himself died - Etho insists he will not kill Cleo despite being infected with the curse - Cleo cuts ties with everyone (including Grian, the other surviving relative) and she hunkers down. Last Green standing. - Grian says good-bye to his beloved(?) pet magma cube and runs off on his own - Special shout-out to Impulse asking if he can be the DJ of the boogeyman army because I think it's funny - Etho, who is Yellow and clearly using that to his advantage, rushes towards Joel shouting "Let's group up! Let's group up! Boat Boys forever!" - Honorable mention: Joel shouting over his shoulder, "I know you're one of them, Etho!" He expertly avoids death for a while before turning back to yell "Etho! It's not worth it, Etho!" as Gem cuts him down - Grian makes a stand at home base. He escapes! - Bonus points to Gem stepping in front of Scar as he shot an arrow at Tango sldkjf - Cleo hides out while Etho, Bdubs, and Scar have her on their checklist to kill. Several more dead, many injured. This neighborhood is in ruins - Cleo drowns. She does not get infected by the curse - Also worth mentioning that Martyn, who in LimLife canon was godfather to Scar and Bdubs, gets left alone by the army for the entire session because he's already Red, so he's very much awkward monkey puppeting in the background and that's hilarious

Just a big Clocker fam yikes all over skldjf

[And it was all for what? In the end, the whole army had to press Fail... The chaos. The destruction <3]

[canarydarity]

(Remember the argument Tango gets into with Bdubs at the end of ‘Against All Odds’ chpt 2? Here’s the aftermath of that, but from Ethos pov)

There wasn’t really enough room in the box to shove the door open with any amount of force, but Etho watched Bdubs try. When the door swung back almost directly to him after rebounding off the wall, Bdubs just laughed and caught it with his hand.

It was the kind of door-slamming typically inspired by anger, usually committed by the angry party themself—but this was Bdubs, and it wasn’t his anger he was feeding off of but someone else’s entirely. The action was not performed as a show of frustration, but as a response to being the recipient of it—some way of letting out pent-up energy, the high of knowing someone was mad at you and getting a kick out of it.

Etho followed him inside the box but not all of the way. The second push of the door had been softer, but it still managed to rebound, and it thunked lightly into Etho’s shoulder where he’d halted, half in and half out.

Bdubs was facing away from him, clearly still energized, the mic’s all turned off and the stadium clearing out but no less intensity in his being. He rummaged around the box, moving things around, straightening up in a way that was too aggressive to actually make things neater.

He picked up the small plastic tray full of pencil nubs and tiny eraser bits and old scorecards and just as soon dropped it back onto the desk in a heap, turning his head towards his shoulder but not quite looking over it as he said, “What? I can feel you standin’ there so just what, spit it out.”

Etho shrugged, not that Bdubs was looking to see. “You didn’t have to harp on it.”

“Oh, pshaw—not you, too,” Bdubs scoffed, turned around and leaned up against the desk, his arms once again crossed over his chest; it was so like the picture he’d painted in the clubhouse, the scene they just left, that Etho raised an eyebrow. He didn’t expect to be playing offense. “I was just doing my damn job. Upholding journalistic integrity, or whatever-the-fuck.”

It amused him to say this; he smiled, lazily, all his teeth on display. Etho studied him, his posture, the dangerous look in his eyes.

“I know, Bdubs.” And he did.

It wasn’t really about Bdubs reporting on what had happened—in a way, he was right, he was only doing his job. He had a responsibility to relay the game play by play and word for word, that didn’t change just because sometimes things stopped going well.

“Then what’s the problem?”

Etho looked over Bdubs shoulder, out the windows they’d long since closed and locked, down towards the field, half the stadium lights already turned off and nighttime falling like a heavy blanket of snow. It was dark enough that the seats all blended together, obscuring one another and where the walls ended and sky began. All he could see was the diamond, the grass a beacon of bright green.

“You don’t know what it’s like.” It wasn’t accusatory, not said with the bitter quality of someone scorned. To Etho, it was just a fact, and so he said it as such. He didn’t put much faith in Bdubs accepting it, nothing riding on it as it wasn’t a bet he felt he could win. There’d be an ‘oh come on’ pending, Etho would concede Bdubs had only done his job, start thinking of other ways he could get him to do it a little differently.

“Yeah, and you do?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Eye contact with Bdubs always felt like a staring contest, the petty kind—the one where you accidentally locked gazes with another kid standing across from you on the playground or while on the street, bikes forming a semi-circle, and looked away without thinking anything of it, only for them to claim you lost a contest you weren’t aware you’d joined. Etho was a fan of games, indiscriminate of the type and method of playing—but one thing stayed the same across all fronts: he didn’t much like to lose.

Bdubs stood up from his lean, uncrossed his legs, his arms, and turned back towards the desk, replacing the pencil nubs that had flown from their container when he’d dropped it from a foot above the desk.

“I’ll be nicer. But not because I wanna be or because you asked or anything—and certainly not ‘cause Tango’s got his panties in a twist.”

It wasn’t the conclusion Etho had been expecting.

Bdubs pulled out his chair roughly and collapsed into the seat, head angled just slightly back toward Etho but no attempt at eye contact made.

“But because you’re right. Enjoy that now—I won’t ever say it again.”

Bdubs stared straight ahead, his fingers knotted together on top of his chest, his legs stretched out until the toe of his sneaker was up against the too-close wall. Etho turned to scoot behind his chair and get on Bdubs other side to reach his own, and he pulled it out to sit down just the same.

Their job was done for the day, the stadium mostly empty, only the very last of the janitorial staff still remaining, perhaps Impulse going over some things in his office somewhere dozens of feet below, the lights and camera flashes slowly being replaced by the spotted glow of lightning bugs. The longer they waited, the worse the commute back home would be on the subway for each of them, middle-of-the-day ballgame over and Saturday night-life in the city beginning, but for a few moments longer still, they sat.

(Read the whole story of how etho became bdubs partner in announcing here)