#Scar definitely helps Mumbo also come out and talk about it to others

[cutthroatcarnival]

Shadows Settle On The Place You Left

A story of how two becomes one.

Read it on AO3!

Warning for: Major Character Death

This fic will include many things that go hand-in-hand with being a lab/experimentation AU, such as: mentions of blood and needles, experimentation (unethical), cruelty (in form of tests, limiting food intake, sleep deprivation, beatings, electrocution, etc.), hallucinations.

Inspired by: Take My Wallet by Jack Stauber

Title from: Youth by Daughter

The Project X AU belongs to @gtwscratch! Go check her out to learn more about this super cool AU- I’ve got a few more fics lined up for this idea… [rubs hands together like a scheming villain]. Also this was written really early on in the AU, so any new things Scratch has posted will not be reflected here (in later ones, yes).

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Everyday was the same. The walls never changed, remaining devoid of anything but violent, ghastly white. Following the same routine over and over, listening to the same horrific screaming and wailing echoing from deeper in the facility. The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again, in hopes of a different result, and by that definition, Impulse could call himself insane. Doing the same routine over and over, hoping for change, hoping for an escape, hoping for this clinical hell to be over. Trapped here in this room, chillingly empty without the presence of his cellmate- but hey, at least the beds had mattresses. Maybe if he focused on that, he could block out the pained screams of his cellmate coming from one of the labs.

Impulse stared at his hands, mesmerized and sickened by the swirling purple that traveled down his arms to his legs, twisting into and around scars. He could call himself lucky just as easily as he could call himself insane, but it felt horrifically unfair- yes, he was lucky, his new attributes could be easily hidden (they weren’t getting out of here. They’re trapped). If only he could stop hearing the sounds of his own wailing echoing and the sounds of the file roughly shaping his horns into sharp points, stop feeling phantom pains from restraints digging into him as he struggled and the panic felt as ghost needles stabbed into his arms. If only.

There were seventeen others trapped here with him, Impulse never quite learned what happened to one of them- Mumbo, a pale, lanky male with dark eyes and black hair, and a frankly glorious mustache- Mumbo and Scar had been dragged away one day for more testing, and only the latter had returned, trembling with haunted eyes, spattered with blood. Impulse wasn’t stupid, he knew what that meant. It had been months- or what Impulse thought was months, time was pointless when you didn’t have a clock- since Scar had talked again, but when he did, it lacked the cheerfulness they were all so used to. Their hope dwindled more after that.

One steady remainder of hope for Impulse was his cellmate, Skizz. The two of them were inseparable, fighting to keep some semblance of their identities and previous life. While it helped, it also became their weakness; if a scientist wanted something from Impulse or Skizz, all they had to do was threaten the other. When they couldn’t sleep, whether from the horrors of the day or fear of the other disappearing, Skizz would tell stories- weird, wacky stories that were a welcome distraction. One of Impulse’s favorites was the story of a giraffe lifting weights, it was so outlandish it had made Impulse forget the agony he was in from that particular test, laughing so hard his stomach hurt instead.

Impulse noticed early on that the scientists didn’t like Skizz. They were rougher with him- not that they were gentle Impulse or the others- dragging him behind, laughing as Skizz struggled to stand and follow- a failure, that’s what they called him. All Impulse could do was watch as his best friend returned each day with more and more injuries- deep bruises and lacerations and scars that added to the collection already decorating his body. They even started to lessen the amount of food Skizz was allowed, even when the amount they had regularly was too little, but Impulse happily shared his own with him. And even while suffering through all these extra tests, Skizz never showed signs of his powers manifesting- so in retaliation to their own failure, the scientists got crueler. Void, Impulse hated the sleep experiments the most, where Skizz would become so sleep-deprived he began to hallucinate and stare through Impulse, mumbling about how the Boogeyman was after him, a haunting purple in his peripheral, always just out of sight, refusing to leave Skizz alone until his blood was spilled.

Days had passed, from what Impulse could gather, and there was still no return of Skizz. An uneasy feeling was eating at him, usually people returned after a while, but his best friend was still missing. He could feel his mind drift to Mumbo, how it was unknown what had happened to the man. Impulse could piece things together easily- Scar’s haunted look, the blood, oh void, the blood- and the picture was not pretty. With no way of getting information, he would rather not be shocked for speaking out of turn to a scientist, Impulse went through his routine. Day after day, hour after hour, rinsing and repeating over and over. There was one small hiccup in his routine; none of them had been taken away for more tests. While not unusual, having a quiet period so soon after the previous one made his skin crawl. And the screams. No longer did they echo down the halls. All that filled them was an eerie quiet, interrupted only by the murmuring of the other patients as they were allowed to move about their designated common room.

No matter how early Impulse’s powers had appeared, he still couldn’t quite grasp them in full- teleportation was simple, so was the swapping, but that was all done when he could see. They wanted him to teleport to a place he couldn’t. When the test was demanded of him, Impulse was blindfolded with a thick wrapping of gauze, leaving him unaware and jumpy. Then there was the cold, sharp prod of something, something very clearly meant to hurt, coupled with a faint buzzing- every muscle in his body failed to keep him upright, he had collapsed in a panicked heap, tearing at the gauze and yelping when electricity coursed through him. What did they want from them? Was this entertainment?

The clank of a dish being set in front of him brought him back to the present, the grim memories leaving a sour taste in the back of his mouth. Humming in thanks at Scott, who gave Impulse a wobbly smile in return, like he had forgotten how to do so. Impulse dug into the bland oatmeal- if it could even be called that, lip lifting in a light sneer at the slop. A reaction that would normally be met with a snicker, yet the seat next to him was painfully cold, devoid of its occupant who had been unseen for probably what had been days, if not weeks.

An angry shout from a scientist sent Impulse into a panic, forcing him to drop his spoon with a clatter as he slipped under the table, watching as the others made themselves similarly sparse. Another voice joined, and no matter how hard Impulse strained he couldn’t hear the conversation. A sharp intake of breath snapped his attention to the table next to him, where one of the blondes- Martyn, he reminded himself- was hiding under, hands clenched over his ears. Martyn. Martyn could hear them. Impulse felt an unsettling chill creep up his spine as he watched horror slowly creep over the blonde’s face, and when his tears started to flow over, Impulse’s own nearly did too. Time seemed to freeze as haunted blue eyes locked with frightened brown, lips forming two simple words; I’m sorry, before Martyn curled in tighter on himself. Impulse was left to stare at the other’s shaking form, mind frozen as he processed the words. I’m sorry. He looked back at Martyn. The blonde’s lips were moving, repeating a phrase that Impulse couldn’t quite place. Martyn looked ill, as he rocked there under that table, hands that were once muffling his hearing now grabbing at his hair.

As the voices disappeared, Impulse shifted, starting to maneuver himself out from under the table- he only had so much time to eat- until a weight crashed into him. Taken by surprise, he tipped sideways out from under the table, narrowly missing one of the chairs with his head. On top of him was Martyn, and Impulse raised an inquisitive eyebrow, only to be met with a sob. There were words falling from the other’s lips, but even this close, Impulse couldn’t hear them. Martyn shuddered, fisting the fabric of Impulse’s gown tighter, before inhaling and exhaling, bringing himself from the brink of hyperventilating. Pained blue stared into brown, eyes telling a melancholy tale.

“Skizz is dead.” Martyn declared, in the smallest, most defeated voice Impulse had ever heard from the other.

What.

“What?” Impulse could hear how his own voice was so small, breathy with disbelief. Skizz was dead? His best friend was dead?

“They said he was a failure, too weak to handle the tests,” the grip on his gown loosened, “they wanted to give him wings, but his body couldn’t handle it.”

Murmuring rose from the other patients that had gathered, all in various stages of grief and disbelief. Impulse was frozen on the floor, eyes wide as he stared at Martyn. Skizz is dead. The words kept repeating in his mind, a mantra that infected his brain. His best friend couldn’t be dead. He wasn’t. He wasn’t. Impulse felt all sorts of conflicted, experiencing every emotion in the book and then some, all because of three simple words; Skizz is dead. The following information that Martyn poured out finally made its way into his brain- his body couldn’t handle it. Skizz is dead.

The world around him shattered.

“Is he… he’s gone?” The tile beneath Impulse felt colder than it ever had. Colder than the metal of the examination table. Colder than the scientists. Even his heart felt cold, frozen, even, as Impulse felt his heart shatter.

“He’s really gone?” Above him, Martyn nodded, and Impulse broke. The world around him disappeared as static and ringing sounded in his ears, drowning out the noise of his own sobs. Never again would he see Skizz, because Skizz was gone. His best friend was gone, and Impulse never got to say goodbye. And didn’t that sting? Didn’t that just twist the knife that had already cut his heart into ribbons? Impulse would never hear that infectious positivity and optimism, even in the face of horrific experimentation, because the scientists had taken it- had taken him away from Impulse. They called Skizz a failure, telling him he was too weak, and those were probably the last things Skizz heard, alone on a cold operating table- nothing but biting, burning remarks. So lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t noticed Martyn roll off of him, or being helped up and guided to his cell. His empty, empty cell. One that would never be full again. And you know what they say about one; it’s the loneliest number you’ll ever know.

[cactuupng]

As a fellow aroace mumbo enjoyer I think you'd enjoy my insane rambles-

So I think Scar and Mumbo are both aroace. They're both a bit different tho- Mumbo never really thought about romance too much. He's never really found someone attractive and he's never had a crush.

He finds some people aesthetically pleasing and I think that he thinks that's what romantic and/or sexual attraction is supposed to be like. He's never thought about it too much, he just though "huh that person looks nice.", classified it as attraction in his mind and moved on.

He doesn't think about romance and he just simply doesn't care.

Scar on the other hand had quite a bit of difficulty figuring stuff out. He finds people attractive, he likes the idea of having a partner and he likes the idea of dating, but any time he thinks he likes someone romantically and tries to imagine dating them he gets uncomfortable. It just doesn't feel right.

I think Scar would randomly stumble across the the term aroace and it sends him into a bit of a rabbit hole. He finds the terms he thinks fit him and it puts him on ease knowing there's other people like him out there and that he's not just broken or something.

Now he knows that there's other people like him out there, he just never thought It'd be someone on the server!

I think Scar would randomly mention something about being aroace or complain about something allo people do and Mumbo would kinda stop in his tracks and ask scar to elaborate or explain.

I think that's how Mumbo figures out that no, not everyone feels like him.

Idk I just think it'd be nice if they then bonded over that and if Mumbo found out a bit about himself through Scar

oughhhh my heart

Thinking about how maybe Mumbo started to figure himself out during s8 specifically, because him and Scar were so close living wise and got closer as friends as well

Imagine Boatem having their usual sleepover, all the others are dead asleep while the two are awake, catching up and talking. Suddenly Scar mentions about being aroace, and Mumbo perks up at the word, questioning what it is and to elaborate further (he always wants to be supportive of course)!

The more Scar talks about it and how he feels, the more Mumbo just starts getting the realisation like "Oh shit." and suddenly blurts out that he might be the same

Cue them bonding about it more the entire night, and them becoming even closer

[modernsuperhero]

Tbh as much as i love seablings i like the idea that lizzie's death has nothing to do with jimmy's curse more. Lizzie's death was her own. If we want to talk about jimmy's curse, instead of lizzie's tragedy, then let's talk about how it was broken on accident.

Consider this: every game has been the same except this one. Certain "curses" are attached to certain people - Jimmy the canary, Skizz the boogey, etc. But not this time - or, well.

Last game was the first time, according to martyn's canon, that two players were so damaged from the watchers' overfeeding on their significant traumas (pearl witnessing scott's suicide, cleo's own traumatic death) that the listeners were able to intervene and temporarily swap their souls out with, ofc, lizzie and gem, to give them reprieve to recover.

I like the perspective that instead of there being one death loop that restarts over and over, there are multiple happening all the time. They overlap. The watchers are of course constantly feeding - and perhaps this is why the members of each loop vary slightly over time. Adding ingredients, removing others, as time wears on. Lizzie was not actively in a loop during limited life - but that does not mean she hasn't been in death games in the meantime. Perhaps even gem has, too, though i believe possessing cleo was her first time.

Also last season, grian was yanked out of his body by the watchers, attempting to remove him from stunting the growth of their anguish farm (making it a game instead of a saw trap, as @stalarys so aptly put it). But he managed to keep his claws in the game, even going so far as to break beyond the literal borders of the game - "we're already dead," as he said, leading the nosy neighbors beyond the veil - because grian is nothing in any universe if not stubborn in the face of authority.

We know from last season that the games are already unstable. The listeners' influence is growing, and grian is proving to be more and more of a problem. (He definitely doesn't know about the listeners' existence, but he's likely unaware of how he may be helping them, and they him.)

Jimmy is not dead first. But he dies so soon after - the second body to fall.

The game, the watchers, the farm - it course corrects when things go wrong.

Grian, who has broken the rules this season not once but thrice - allowing an exception for scar to reroll, even allowing breaking of his own rule on helmets (for both scar and mumbo), and falsely rolling a success last session, is given a chaotic impossible task. (Grian tends to doom his allies - curse or simply bad choices, he is teamed with etho, and their rerolls are entwined. They seem personal, don't they? Etho ran from grian's wither once before. Grian died leading out a warden.) He succeeds, on one heart despite everything, only to be slain on top of the button itself.

He's stuck in spectator. Isn't that perfect? The game, HIS game, GLITCHED. His grip on his in-game body, the part of him he wedged into the mechanics of this death loop, slipped. He regained it, sure, but now he is forced to course correct: he comes back green when he should be yellow.

And grian has just seen the price of breaking too many rules. Jimmy's funeral was too soon. He switches back to yellow, rerolls for his deserved prizes at the cost of his own chances of victory.

(Because victory, while still a goal, is not the point. The point is to break the game.)

(Last season, tango watched one of his closest and most common allies sacrifice himself for his team. This season, he allies with him again. It's ironic that they're giving away their hearts to others - similar to giving away their time. Maybe skizz's death impacted tango too harshly. Maybe his pain fed a bit too much.)

(This is the first season since skizz, an angel, died so full of divine bloodlust that it manifested as the boogey curse, that he has been here and his curse has not. Two curses now, tentatively broken.)

(Martyn feeds the watchers more when he is an unguided hand, wandering and hurting, so ren has not been in this particular loop for a while now. He is available to replace tango, just for a bit, just like how gem and lizzie replaced cleo and pearl.)

Last season, the games finally started to break.

This season, we get to see the cracks.

(The watchers are more obvious this season. The keeper's symbol, grian's lack of achievement entering the end... They're grappling for control as it is slowly but surely dragged away from them.)

[gr1an]

Talk more about mumscarian cannibalising each other

so we’ve got the canon moment of mumbo like. literally eating grian’s soul, right? trying to connect back to his humanity via consumption of the human he holds dearest (scar is a vex so not human and therefore not an option. mumbo also somehow forgot about grian’s wings and feathers. Don’t Ask). mumbo does cannibalism bc it’s how he convinces himself that he is still like. connected to those around him. he’s human, he promises. he’s definitely not on the verge of spontaneously appearing entirely different based on emotions or environment or anything, whaaaaat

and scar just like. eats people for fun? as a vex? for food? i think it was a bit of both. scar also will let himself be cannibalized but for him it’s very much a power thing. scar will remain in control the whole time whether he is eating or being eaten. after eating he also gets immense bloodlust/power-up and mumbo and grian agree that it’s about the hottest thing they’ve ever seen bc scar also starts looking more like. creepy hot. teeth get sharper, fingers become claws, smile is less human than it was before, his human moral compass is much less,,, present. he gets a bit sadistic.

grian’s love is all consuming. he cannot have a normal amount of emotions, we love an emotionally dysregulated king. he’s the most,,, he’s got both the desire to eat and desire To Be Eaten. he’s also interested in the being in control thing but with scar and mumbo, he’s entirely fine not being in control as well. he literally does cannibalism as a coping mechanism guys it’s ableist if you call him a freak for it (/j). mumbo coming back in s9 was definitely a bloodbath for both of them. mumbo desperate to feel loved and accepted back and grian desperate to feel loved and seen by his friend again. the rest of the server just Looked Away from the 7 death messages they each had by the end.

hold on new minecraft-as-reality headcanon just dropped. pain is less intense the more hearts you have. it’s why you see people shouting “ow!” or cursing when they start at full but another player punches them or they fall a long distance, but once players get below half health their reactions to pain are much less. it literally hurts less to go from 2 to 0 hearts than it does to go from 10 to 8 hearts. not even in a “numb to the pain” way, it’s objectively less painful.

minecraft mechanics make things like this so much more feasible. they eat at 5 or less hearts and then respawn when they want to heal back. or have an instant health potion. i think they do health potions more often bc while it closes the wounds it doesn’t help with the blood loss (regen pots would or a saturation beacon would) and so they can also lick the blood off each other still and have that “fun” woozy head feeling for a while.

i’m new to the whole. cannibalism as a metaphor for love and sex and connection thing so i’m not like. my ideas for this are not fleshed out but they do exist!!

[robiin-draws]

Welcome to the HCDA - Chapter 17

Tws: Mentions of death

Notes: Now they get to have a good time (kinda)

Chapter 17 - Chatting

Scar

And then Grian is falling.

The Watchers used some sort of draining spell, and Jimmy had broken free of Tango’s hold to save him. 

Now Grian is falling, and neither of his winged siblings can reach him.

Pearl somehow manages to break free and dives toward him, but it quickly becomes clear she isn’t going to reach him in time.

I reach for my dragon scale, and then realize, Grian has it. He took everyone’s because he didn’t want us helping.

Could I catch him?

There’s no time to think about it, either I do or I don’t. I dart forward, into the empty street they’re fighting above, and position myself where Grian is falling.

“Scar, what are you doing?” Joel calls. Mumbo seems to realize what I’m trying to do, and joins me. Two people is better than one.

And suddenly, the avian has fallen into my arms. I stagger backwards, feeling the strain on my braces as Mumbo steadies me.

“I can’t believe that worked,” I say quietly to Mumbo, meeting his dark amber eyes. My newly healed shoulder is aching again, and so are my legs, but I don’t mind.

Pearl lands on the ground next to me, and I notice one shoulder is bloody. I ask her about it and she shrugs it off. Jimmy is still up in the sky, wings beating as he talks to the Watchers.

He comes down a moment later, and is immediately met with a tackle hug from Tango. Afterwards, he explains the deal he made with the Watchers: we’ll leave each other alone for one week, and then the boundaries go down. That will hopefully be enough time for everyone to recover. He’s very shaky throughout the whole explanation, but it’s not hard to see Tango’s presence calms him down a bit.

I take my dragon scale back from Grian’s pocket and set him down.

“How are we going to get him home?” I ask Mumbo. The rest of the hermits have begun to leave already,

“Carry him, I guess.” He replies. At that moment, Grian stirs.

“You are not going to carry me,” He says groggily, sitting up. “I am going to fly myself home, and you can’t stop me.”

He tries to take off, and immediately falls again. This time, Pearl has to catch him.

“Nope, we’re definitely carrying you.” I laugh. 

. . .

Mumbo ends up being the one to carry him, despite Grian’s numerous protests. We let him walk once we’re back at the headquarters, but I follow him up to his room. I hope I’m being sneaky and that he hasn’t noticed me, but that’s unlikely.

“Scar, I know you’re there,” Grian says when he sits down on his bed. “Come in here.”

“You caught me,” I sigh, coming out from the hall.

He laughs. “Get over here,” He says, beckoning me to sit down on the bed with him. I sit down next to him and he sighs.

“You good?” I ask.

“The last two weeks have been quite something,” He replies, taking off his shoes. He takes off his sweater too, revealing the white undershirt that only a handful of the hermits have ever seen.

“I know,” I agree, also slipping off my boots and braces. “I hope you don’t mind me leaving these here, by the way.” I gesture to the items.

“Not at all,” Grian smiles. Then he leans into me. “I missed you and Mumbo so much.” He whispers.

“I did too, and Mumbo definitely did.” Grian leans on my shoulder and begins to recount his time with the Watchers. I figure the best thing to do is listen and nod once and a while.

He tells me everything, describing his meeting with Gem and his Watcher powers. When he gets to the part about the mall, his voice cracks.

“Jen died.” He says, clenching his fists. “Because of me.”

“It sounds to me like she chose to die,” I reply. “You said she insisted on staying inside while it was collapsing. If she didn’t like being with the Watchers, dying might’ve been a good thing.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Grain sighs, letting his wings relax and leaning back into me. His hands open up too, and I see scabs on his palms, has he clenched his fists so hard during the past couple weeks his fingernails broke skin? He resumes his explanation. Eventually, he finishes his story with being imprisoned by the Watchers.

“Wow.” I say, shocked by how much he had to tell. “That’s a lot.”

“I know,” He sighs. Then he perks up suddenly, fixing me with his deep brown eyes. “It’s late, Scar. Are you sure you aren’t tired?”

“I’m sure,” I lie. I am actually a bit tired, but I like this, staying up with Grian. 

“If you insist,” He shrugs, but I can tell he doesn’t believe me.

We continue to chat, I tell him about what happened from my end. By the time I’m done, I feel really sleepy, like I could just fall asleep right… here…

[dvskf4llz]

Can I request a yan! Etho x ftm reader?

Of course here you go!

All for you...

Yan!Etho x Reader

Warnings: This oneshot will contain the following; Yandere behavior, stalking, possessiveness, Slightly forced kissing. If you're uncomfortable with these things then dni.

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One day while you were building, you got a DM from Xisuma the admin of the hermitcraft server. You had checked your communicater and checked Xisuma's DM, it said: Greetings U/N! I've seen your builds and might I say they're wonderful! Would you be interested in joining Hermitcraft S8?

You were really excited and immediately replied to Xisuma.

I would love to join hermitcraft!

He responded immediately

Wonderful! The IP is: [ insert hermitcraft IP or a random IP ] you can join whenever you like. :)

You replied with a thank you and said you would join it already. You got your teleporter and inserted the IP, you then pressed ' Join server '.

After server hopping for a minute you landed in the Hermitcraft server, you looked around in awe at the beautiful builds. A few seconds later you noticed a blob of green and gray coming towards you, it landed and you recognized who it was. It was Xisuma, You were literally screaming internally while keeping a straight face.

" Hello U/N! Welcome to Hermitcraft season 8! If you couldn't tell I'm Xisuma, the one who invited you here. " Xisuma had said to you while holding his hand out, you shook his hand and said

" Hello Xisuma! Thank you for inviting me to the server! It's an honor to be invited to server with talented people. " You smiled at him he told you it was no problem and said to follow him so he could give you a tour around, you accepted and followed him. He introduced you to the hermits and they were all excited to meet you.

Etho was definitely the most excited one out of all of them, he had seen your builds before and was very interested in meeting you. He was the last one introduced to you, when Etho saw you were like an angel sent from heaven. When you introduced yourself and mentioned you were FTM transgender, he was very supportive just like the other hermits. Xisuma had left you since you mentioned that you wanted to talk to Etho more, you did have a bit of a small crush on Etho before joining the server.

You talked with him for a while, you had an interesting conversation. You two realized you had a lot of common interests. You had mentioned that you should probably go getting materials to start a base, Etho offered to help but you kept on saying no need. He kept on insisting and you gave up and let him join you. You guys continued to talk to each other while gathering materials, the more Etho talked with you the more he would fall for you. You were just so infatuating and you had an amazing personality, Etho could name a lot of things that he liked about you.

Once you finished getting everything you needed you noticed it was already night and you knew you wouldn't be able to build so much when there is a lot of mobs, Etho insisted on you staying with him for the night, you decided to accept this time.

A few weeks in hermitcraft you really got to know the hermits more! you even spent more time with Etho. You loved making so many builds with Grian, you also decided to do multiple pranks on the server. Grian and you became best friends, even Scar and Mumbo became your best friends too! Mumbo would usually teach you how to build some redstone contraptions, Scar would take you on fun outings.

One day, You were just in the middle of building when all of a sudden you feel that weird feeling that you're being watched. You looked around but saw nothing so you just shook it off. What you didn't know was that there was a certain white-haired ninja watching you.

The past few days you started to get creepy love letters and gifts, they would appear anywhere near you like when you were mining you had spotted a [Favorite Color] Teddy bear holding a heart and a note, you looked at the note and it had said: " To: My Beloved U/N, From: your admirer. :)". You were really creeped out by this, the next few weeks the love letters became more creepier and it had included some pictures of you doing things. You decided to go to Etho and tell him about what was happening, you had asked him if you could stay with him and he was overjoyed when you said that.

" Hey Etho? Could I possibly stay with you for a while?" You asked him after telling him what happened

" Of course U/N!" Etho's eyes sparkled with excitement, I mean his own crush who he has been stalking asked him to stay with him! In the same house!

" Thanks! I forgot to mention that you can just call me [Name] instead." You had said to him

" O-oh alright!" Etho knew already about your name he was just surprised that you decided to tell him. He accompanied you back to your house to get your stuff, what you didn't know was that Etho was just staring at you with a lovesick expression. Once you had collected all of the necessary, you two went back to Etho's house. You guys were talking the whole way there, Etho just became even more in love with you. Your laugh and your smile, the sparkle in your eyes when you were excited he just adored those things about you a lot.

Once you two arrived to his house, you and etho placed down your stuff. Etho then asked you if you wanted some food and you accepted, you were really hungry so you decided why not. Once Etho finished making food, you two started eating. After eating for a while you drank what seemed to be normal water, you started to get light-headed. The last thing you saw was Etho staring at you with a lovesick expression and you passed out.

When you woke up, you looked around and noticed you were tied up in a chair. You did notice too the pictures of you on the wall and things you lost, you saw a bed so you thought that you were in a bedroom. you heard the door open, you looked to see Etho standing at the doorway without his mask on.

" oh you're awake love." Etho had said to you while smiling, you tried to get out of the ropes you were tied in

" Why are you keeping me like this Etho?!" You had yelled at him while struggling to get out of the ropes, Etho shook his head and started walking near you. When he was infront of you, he lifted up your chin

" I'm doing this to keep you safe [Name]" He said

" Safe from what?! The mobs?! I can defend myself Etho!" You retorted at him, he frowned at that

" You'll understand soon sweetheart" He replied while leaning towards you, you tried to back away but you couldn't. He started to kiss you and you kept on trying to push him back, you successfully pushed him slightly away with your legs. He sighed and shook his head

" You'll love me soon [Name], after all I did so much things all for you..." He then went out the door and you could hear him locking the door

You were stuck. There was no escape, you had to be with him forever..

I apologize if this is not what you wanted! I can rewrite this if it's not what you wanted anon! <3

I also apologize if my grammar is kinda bad -

[angelonasher]

Everything so far about the Season 9 Egg War (part 2)

buckle up because this is a ride-

Part 1, [you're here!], part 3?

--

1. [26] Grian discovers that both methods of breaking dragon eggs crashes him. It’s also revealed that he knows how to fix it (something to do with a mod) but has decided not to, and instead keep a list of everyone who abuses the crashing. (but he does clean some eggs later in the video, so he might have fixed it, at least temporarily)

2. [27] The Buttercups have a meeting, and their future plan (as summarized by Mumbo) is: “Build up a big tent, have an impressive HQ, recruit some extra people with our sweet magic skills. Apparently. Apparently is the plan- and then, and then victory.” They’re planning to build a big tent to recruit people. I can’t remember what the magic bit was about.

3. [28] Mumbo builds the Bottercup, a walking robot pot with four legs and three buttercups sprouting out of it to fight Doc’s Goat Walker. It has a tnt-missile that should explode on impact.

4. [29] Mumbo talks to Ren while making the Bottercup, and tells him about the robot. Ren then leaves, after saying that he will “definitely not relay this information to Doc.” Mumbo wonders if Ren is a spy.

5. [30] Grian builds a giant pot (of the 1.20 kind) to enclose the Bottercup (similar to the barn enclosing the Goat Walker) and builds “Live Laugh Love” in some beautiful cursive on the side of the perimeter. It took so much time and genuinely looks nice, which makes Grian wonder if he’s pranked himself.

6. [31] Mumbo clears the eggs from his base, and has so much fun with the method he had figured out that he ends up clearing the eggs in the back of Grian’s base too, which he realizes was the most pointless thing he could have done with his time. He also gets a purple crown and becomes his own best friend.

7. [32] Scar builds the Buttercup’s Cookie Shop, a flower pot near the perimeter giving out buttercup cookies for free. The cookies are retextured raw chicken.

8. [33] Doc expresses his hatred for shallow motivational quotes and cursive writing in Minecraft. He also mentions how the Buttercups are turning the perimeter into a Facebook Karen’s kitchen/page.

9. [34] Ren (now Agent double-o-sev-Ren) shows Doc the spy place he built under the Buttercup camp, which is accessed by eating in the cave under the camp, then throwing an enderpearl into the one-block hole that will appear in the wall.

10. [35] The spy place contains three rooms. The spy lab, containing the Discombobulator 9000, the chilling out room, where they wait for the Buttercups to go to their camp but have to constantly press shift (should have surronded it by chests to hide the nametags-), and the Sniffer Hole, located directly under the camp, that also has a random bee.

11. [36] Ren and Doc investigate Scar’s cookie shop, Doc thinking its a sign of peace and Ren assuming it will blow up. Doc gets food poisoning from a cookie, and considers blowing the shop up so other hermits won’t get fooled as well.

12. [37] Doc and Ren go into the Discombobulator 9000 in that order, coming out wearing sniffer oinses. Ren is the top-half of the sniffer, and Doc is the bottom half.

13. [38] Doc helps Ren put sniffers in the Sniffer Hole, and Ren gives him a military package that was shipped accross the Gigaverse by Giga-corp (that is actually what he said.) It contains loaded rocket-crossbows and many “pink large ball” rockets.

14. [39] They use their new outfits to disguise as a “baby sniffer” (sniflet) and blend in with the other sniffers in the Sniffer Hole as they eavesdrop on the Buttercups. What am I looking at. Why??? 😭

15. [40] Scar gives Mumbo and Grian food poisoning with his cookies. Mumbo tells Scar that’s not how a poisoning works, and you’re only supposed to poison a specific person, not everbody.

16. [41] Mumbo discovers that the sign of his tent has been edited to “Buttercup’s toilet” and a toilet and toilet-paper has been placed inside. He thinks it was done by Doc, but discovers it was actually just Scar, because his choice of smooth stone for the floor makes it look like a bathroom.

17. [42] They discuss the “Live, Laugh, Love” writing on the perimeter’s walls, and Scar says he would quit Minecraft if someone ever did that to him. 

18. [43] Grian and Mumbo talk about how their chat said to add a Jellie “hanging in there” poster and a “Peace, Love, and Plants” tapestry. They discuss how they could add details to make it more floral and decorative before they are suddenly interupted.

19. [44] Doc gets frustrated with the threat of shallow motivational quotes and blows his and Ren’s cover by yelling that there will be no such things in his perimeter.

20. [45] The Buttercups dig down and discover the two eavesdroppers. Ren laments at Doc ruining the thing he spent a week building, and Mumbo is probably traumatized by the two’s costume, seeing as his POV was the only one of the Buttercups’s actually showing their abomination of a sniflet in action.

21. [46] Doc says that they now know their plans, but Mumbo responds with a good old “thankfully they were fake plans!” They were not fake plans.

22. [47] Grian realizes they somehow got one of his sniffers, Snot, into the Sniffer Hole. His other sniffer, (Dwight) Schnoot, is not there. 

23. [49] The five agree to settle this like adults by letting the robots do all the work, but not before it is pointed out that they aren’t really acting like adults by wearing sniffer oinses and eating raw chicken. (Doc also offends their new rainbow outfits, which, as said by Mumbo, is a lot coming from the bottom-half of a sniffer.)

24. [49] They drop the concrete-powder doors of the robots and let them start running, which, despite from a slight panic from the Buttercups at the door not falling properly, goes smoothly.

25. [50] As it turns out, the Goat Walker is not only incredibly slow, but it shoots tnt from the wrong end, pooping out explosives and destroying the perimeter of the perimeter instead of the Bottercup. It’s also supposed to shoot tnt from the sides, but for some reason that didn’t work.

26. [51] The Buttercups have issues with the mic mod not working correctly, relogging and always having one person unable to hear the other. They decide to all log off at the same time, and while that fixes the mic issues, it unloads the chunks of the Bottercup, causing it too stop walking.

27. [52] After a lot of panic, Mumbo manages to get it running again, all while the extremely slow Goat Walker has barely left its barn. Ren and Doc cheer for the Bottercup’s success, before Doc tells Ren to stop- but- he was cheering too.

28. [53] The bots eventually collide, and the Bottercup’s tnt exploded as planned.

29. [54] The tnt blows up most of the Bottercup and only the nose off of the Goat Walker. Doc thinks he’s won, but Grian says that if the Goat Walker can still walk, Doc wins.

30. [55] The Goat Walker can no longer run crawl. The Buttercups celebrate their victory, but Doc then alerts Ren and blows a horn, causing Ren to fire a rocket-crossbow at the Bottercups before the two fly away in different directions.

31. [56] Scar alerts the other Buttercups about the butterfly heading speedily torwards his Scarland. Apparently, he was the only one aware that it had tnt, and Grian hadn’t even known it could move.

32. [57] The butterfly flies over the Goat Walker and bombs it. This is due to a miscalculation on Doc’s part when he calculated where the bots would be apon collusion. This would not have happened if the Bottercup hadn’t broken down mid-battle.

33. [58] With a lot of panic, the Buttercups manage to stop it before it even hits the forest seperating the perimeter from Scarland.

34. [59] Grian wonders where Ren went, which makes them all realize that there’s another butterfly (Mothra) being piloted by Ren, heading straight for Grian’s and Mumbo’s bases. (Although, they only seemed to think about Grian’s base at the time. What’s in front Grian’s base, guys??)

35. [60] They stop the Mothra a lot quicker than Doc’s unnamed butterfly. The comments were giving Mumbo credit for that, on his last rocket too, so let pause to applaude Mumbo. 👏👏👏

36. [61] Doc gets upset over the destruction of his Goat Walker and blames the Buttercups for their stupidity causing it too happen. He says “Your incompetence is your strongest power!” and Mumbo replies with "eeeyup."

37. [61] The Buttercups meet up and confirm that the fighting is not over, and that even though they won the battle, they still need to win the war.

38. [92] The perimeter of the perimeter has a lot of damage, and the Buttercups’s bases, as well as their camp, are untouched. That’s. That. How do you fail so badly.

39. [93] Doc (to his viewers) says that he thinks he actually won the Bot Battle, considering that the Bottercup had a lot more damage from the fight itself than the Goat Walker. He also mentions that for his next attack, he has gotten inspired by Tango’s latest episode. Which. I haven’t actually watched. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

40. [94] This should go in earlier but I’m too lazy to change all the numbers: Scar reveals that apparently there was another “legitimate” (not duped) dragon egg on the server before Grian and Doc duped eggs; one that “myseriously” appeared in his inventory when he was in the End a few months ago. He decides he’s going to sell it in an auction on the street between Cubfan’s and Cleo’s rivaling museums.

--

I was planning to wait for Pearl's episode before posting this, but she made a community post saying this week's episode will be new life, not hermitcraft, so I just posted now :D

Anyway, I’d like to encourage you all to point out any mistakes/details I missed in the comments/tags of shares, which I will add in a reblog like I did last time! I don’t watch Ren, so there might be a few :D

(The link for part two in the part one post is at the end of the reblog, not in the og post.)

[frozenjokes]

To Keep // 4

Prev/Next - Ao3 Link

A note from Cub: Scar’s entries were not separated very clearly, so I have done my best to assemble them in a format that makes sense. I hope to keep his journal, but in the case that something happens to it, I have copied his entries into my own notes. This is for the best; his handwriting is atrocious. It is clear he did not intend on sharing these with anyone.

1

From the night after Scar’s return from Hermit Island.

When I changed out my bandages, the wings started moving on their own. Apparently it was the fabric from the island keeping them down, because the bandages I switched them out for did fuck all to restrain them. It’s annoying. I can’t really feel them besides a phantom presence, but they itch like hell at the bases. I’m glad I’m in my room now, I don’t know if the other pirates will be able to see them.

I don’t want them to.

///

I didn’t think to look in the mirror yesterday, so the new blonde strand of hair was a surprise this morning. At this rate, half my head will turn white. At least this one is small.

I also learned humans can see the wings. Cleo stopped by and made sure to tease me about it for the whole five minutes we talked. At least she tried to help me get them back under my clothes. Unfortunately, she couldn’t touch them.

I haven’t seen my ghosts at all today. I guess that’s not too abnormal, but I usually see at least one or two of them wandering around. I usually see Mumbo. He must still be angry with me. I can’t say I know what the hell set him off in the first place though. We were having a nice time, I thought. Ghosts will be ghosts I guess. I hope he gets over it soon, my back is killing me.

2

I stayed inside my room trying to figure these things out all day, with no luck. If I could just control them, I could force them under my clothes and out of sight. No need to ask questions. But then Sausage started to get on my back, telling me I had to ‘go outside’ at some point.

Tonight he asked to come in. It wasn’t really a question.

I pulled a blanket over my back before he opened the door, but go figure, the wings phased right through it. It’s safe to say all the Kestrels know now. I wish they’d all just mind their own damn business.

Sausage felt bad, which I didn’t expect. He said he never would have suggested I go with Cleo if he knew the ghosts on that island would try and hurt me. Don’t like that.

3

I moved them. I think. It was just for a second, where I felt them really be part of me, just like an arm or leg. But it was more than the wings.. there was something else too, something… deeper? Bigger?

I looked in the mirror. For changes. I didn’t see anything but.. I don’t know. Something just isn’t right.

I’m definitely dying.

At least my ghosts, wherever they ran off to, seem to be having a good time. Honestly, it’s been months since I’ve felt this good, not just with my back, but my eye and my throat and everything. I don’t know what they did at that island, but if it keeps me in this good of shape, I might just be glad I went. Well. Not really. I’m still surprised though that I haven’t seen my ghosts. Maybe not Grian, Pearl, or Impulse, but Mumbo has been attached at my hip for weeks. I wonder what they’re up to.

4

I can’t shake the feeling that something is different. I keep looking in the mirror, but nothing has changed.

I also feel like I’m being watched, but I think that has more to do with my nosy ass ghosts than anything. I keep getting these twinges in my back and stomach? Mumbo and Pearl must not be happy about something, but Grian and Impulse still seem to be fine. I still haven’t seen any of them, but I think Pearl has been keeping an eye on me while I’m out and about in the Faction Isles. I can feel her. Well, I can feel the discomfort in my stomach. She doesn’t like it when I talk to Cleo in particular. Whatever. Pearl can throw however many fits about it she wants, that won’t change anything. She’s dead. If she didn’t want me making friends, she should have killed me when she had the chance.

Mumbo is different. He only comes around at night. Again, I haven’t seen him, but I know he’s around, especially when he thinks I’m asleep. I’m not really sure what he wants or what he’s upset about. Well, Mumbo’s always upset about something, so that shouldn’t be a surprise. I wish he’d just hang around normally though. I like having him around.

The area around my new wings has been healing quickly. Abnormally so. Though, my experience with injuries and stitches starts and ends with physical, alive humans, so maybe this is normal for ghost medicine.

5

A SCARCATION! THEY’RE CALLING IT A SCARCATION! I can’t believe it! My own ghosts are taking a vacation from me and they didn’t even tell me about it! WORSE! They told Cleo! AND CLEO DIDN’T TELL ME! Not until today at least! I can’t believe this! I have horrible friends!

I’m so snitching on Mumbo and Pearl.

6

Still, nothing has changed, not physically anyway. I admit, I’ve gotten a bit obsessive over checking mirrors, to the point where I think the Kestrels have noticed, but I don’t care. They don’t know what it’s like.

I haven’t been able to move the wings again since I did the first time, but in all honesty, I haven’t been trying very hard. Most of the time, I forget they’re there. It’s awkward to run into pirates from other factions, but that’s the only time they’re a nuisance. They don’t even hurt or itch anymore. Honestly, I barely feel anything at all back there. I guess I should be concerned, but I’m not overly bothered. I’d rather be numb than deal with Mumbo’s angst manifesting in my back. Though, it’s been more difficult to sense him lately. I didn’t realize how much of my ability to do so was tied t

The entries end here. I don’t know everything about what happened after this, but I believe Scar must have been interrupted before he could finish this entry, possibly by Mumbo. It would make sense, given that he wouldn’t have time to continue it after revealing to Mumbo why he killed him and the others. I am curious about that, but it’s none of my business. I don’t even think Grian and Impulse know. I wonder if I gave Scar a new journal now, if he’d write in it…

[bluiex]

I decided to try my hand at writing a different idea for a Father Spore AU. In this Grian got corrupted very early on (and very willingly). With Mumbo’s complete trust, he acts as an inside spy to help corrupt the system inside out. Of course, as time goes on, it gets harder for him to hide the physical symptoms of being infested, but he does hide it really well. Anyway, here’s a little snippet! Might add more to this idea if I think of other scenes.

———————

Grian stares near blankly at the Mayor as he talks about the resistance, what they’ve been up to, and plans to stop them. He writes down anything any of them would deem important only out of obligation of his job.

The meetings were rather boring, watching everyone throw out ideas that clearly wouldn’t work, not like Grian was helping in that front, subtly changing plans to ensure that they fail. Although he’s sure they wouldn’t even without his assistance. Of course that’s the least boring aspect, the more boring parts were when they talked about how much the mycelium has spread since last time. After all, he’s acutely aware of how far it spreads, if the mycelium in his veins has anything to say about it.

“Grian? What do you think?” He barely visibly startles at Mumbo’s voice.

Grian looks down at the possible ideas he wrote down that they discussed and pretends to think of how to help as well. “The mycelium is spreading too quickly for our current methods to deal with it,” he glances around the room, “we have several great engineers here, I’m sure we can come up with a design to help us better.” He’s also sure that with his terrible red stone skills, he’ll ‘accidentally’ ruin whatever they make, either breaking it or making it backfire on any of them. The chuckle that echoes inside his head makes his smile more genuine.

The Mayor beams at his assistant, unaware to his plans of sabotage, “that’s a great idea!”

While they begin discussing different ideas, Grian tunes into the hive mind, trying to figure out what the Father is up to. He’s immediately met with a scolding tone, you have a job to do, my songbird.

Grian tries to send an annoyed pout in response, which either fails or Scar ignores.

He sighs quietly, this is going to be a long meeting.

YES YES PERFECT I've been imagining it like this in my head from the start (just haven't found the will to write it out myself) AAAHHH BLESS THIS I LOVE IT SO MUCH it's so good. I would definitely LOVE to read more

[grimaussiewitch]

Empires smp season two but other mcyt are apart of the empires as citizens. I have reasons but that’s for another time.

Animalia

Lizzie’s empire

Ranboo

CPK

Hbomb

Antfrost

Chromia

Scott’s empire

Karl Jacobs

Jack Manifolf

Tina Kitten

Aimsey

Owengejuice

Dawn

Gem’s empire

Zombie Cleo

Tubbo

Hannah Rose

Punz

Hypnotizd

Evermoore

Shubble’s empire

Bdubs

iJevin

Georgenotfound

Purpled (?)

BoomerNA

Eversea

Joey’s empire

Captianpuffy

Captain Sparklez

Ethoslab (?)

Xbcrated

Cogsmeade

Falsie’s empire

Mumbo Jumbo

Awesamdude

Fundy

Welsknight (?)

Iskall85

GlimmerGrove

Katherine’s empire

Niki Nihachu

Technoblade

Stressmonster

Docm77

Goblin Empire

Fwhip’s empire

Skeppy

BBH

Sapnap

Cubfan

Tango

Olipoligo

Oil’s empire?? Is it an empire???

Wilbur Soot

Quackity

Rendog (?)

Connareatspants

Jschlatt (?)

Sanctuary

Sausage’s empire

Ponk

Impulse (?)

Keralis

Vintage beef

Stratos

Joel’s empire

Philza

Callahan

Dreamwastaken

Xisumavoid

Joe Hills

Tumble Town

Jimmy’s empire

Tommyinnit

Grian

Martyn Inthelittlewood

Goodtimeswithscar

Unknown Empire

Pix’s empire of sorts

Eret

Zedaph

Foolishgamers

Slimescile

Some bonus headcanons

Ranboo was found by Lizzie thinking he was just some weird looking cat.

Tommy and Tubbo are childhood friends and would regularly visit each other’s empire.

There are quite a few people that aren’t from their empire, Eg; Techno, Phil, Skephalo Family, Tango, all of Olipoligo and so on.

No matter what season of empires it is, Grian will always be stuck in Jimmy’s empire. Probably a second in command of sorts.

I saw a headcanon for Jack that he was Scott’s assistant back in season 1 so I think that carries over to season 2.

Residents of Olipoligo travel a lot and it’s not a permanent residence for any of them, especially the musicians.

Dream, Sapnap and George are childhood friends and regularly play manhunt together. Bad joined after some property damage was caused. Ant and Sam also joined not long after.

Scar is a bandit and usually sweet talks his way out of an arrest.

Hbomb is not an actual cat, it’s a reverse Lizzie situation.

Doc and Techno are rivals in regards to gardening. Please stop fighting over tomatoes and potatoes, the empire needs rebuilding.

Owen is tasked to look after the llamas. Most definitely had his drink spit in by the tavern llama.

Bench trio like to hang near spawn.

Eret helps Pix with documents in the museum. They seem to know more about the area then they let on. How old is she again??

Slime has definitely been around since season 1.

The people of Stratos are stuck on the ground, then there’s Phil and Joe who jump scares Joel by chilling in the temples. It make sense with Phil because bird but how did Joe get up there???

I feel like Cleo could of come from season 1 and died from the giant explosion.

[overanalysingfandoms]

More Scarian/Third Life Robin Hood AU

I've figured out the Royal Court

Let's start with the most obvious,

King Mumbo

He's currently the King of the Kingdom (I haven't named it yet, suggestions are welcome)

He's away at war

He's Ren's older brother and Grian's cousin

He's a good king, if a bit bumbling sometimes, and is loved by his people

He left Ren in charge until he gets back

He's Aroace so won't produce an heir making Ren the next in line

Speaking of Ren...

Prince Ren/The Red King

Ren is next in line to the throne and will get it when Mumbo dies

He is Mumbo's younger brother and Grian's cousin

He is in charge while Mumbo is away

He is a bit of a tyrant who always thinks he's right and wants everything done his way

He absolutely despises Good Times and wants him arrested as quick as possible

He is very protective of his family and friends

He lives in Dogwarts Castle

Ren calls himself the 'Red King' to show his authority until Mumbo is back, his court has been unaffectionately nicknamed the 'Red Army' because of this, Ren just rolled with it

The Resistance is hoping to either reform him or have him give up his claim to the throne

Ren is dating his closest advisor Martyn

Martyn/The King's Hand

Martyn is partners with Prince Ren

He is also his closest adviser and has been given the title of the 'King's Hand'

Ren also made him the Sherriff of Crastle village, the small town just outside Dogwarts Castle and he is in charge of catching Good Times

Martyn is extremely protective of his partner Ren and doesn't fully trust anyone else

He's very suspicious, especially of Grian as he sees the way he has interacted with Good Times and is unfortunately very insightful, this is a great source of worry for Scar

Prince Grian

Grian is cousins with the King and Prince, Mumbo and Ren

He is third in line for the throne which is what earns him the title of 'Prince'

It also means that Ren has him near constantly surrounded with guards because he will be king if anything happens to Ren which makes him cautious about Grian

Grian fully resents this and is trying to give his very tired guards the slip at all times, he actually has a lower number of guards than he used to thanks to the amount he's made to resign due to being an absolute menace

He is against Ren's ideas and jumps at the chance to help the Resistance and he definitely isn't even the tiniest bit influenced by how extremely attractive Good Times is, no, not at all, he has no idea what you're talking about

Grian is on Ren's council and pretends to support him, only pushing back slightly and rarely outright opposing him

He acts as a spy for the resistance, giving them as much information as he can and doing his best to help if any of them get caught along with his two ladies in waiting, Pearl (who he grew up with, they're like siblings) and Lizzie (a noble woman and 'ex-fiancé' of Joel, an old friend of his who defected from the Red Army and joined the Resistance)

He is head over heals for Scar and won't admit is despite being constantly teased about it

Grian is childhood friends with Pearl, Joel and Jimmy

He is also trans and everyone supports him, no misgendering in my AUs

He is still almost always wearing a skirt, he just likes them and trans Grian in a skirt is just so perfect lol

Pearl and Lizzie

Both of them are Prince Grian's ladies in waiting

Pearl and Grian grew up together and are practically siblings, they live eachother and are very protective of the other

Lizzie is the 'ex-fiancé' of Joel, a lord who betrayed the Red Army and joined the Resistance, in reality they are still together but Lizzie has to pretend to have broken off the engagement in order to stay in the Royal Court

Both of them work alongside Grian to spy for the Resistance and help them out wherever they can

Impulse

Impulse is the castle craftsman/blacksmith, he basically makes all of their weapons

While he is fairly loyal to Ren, but is more loyal to the villagers and will put them before Ren if it comes to it

He sometimes creates weapons for the villagers and if he knows that some of those might go to the Resistance? That's no-one's business but his

He is on Ren's Council due to his skills in weaponry

Impulse is best friends for Bdubs, when he was just starting out as a craftsman he made them matching clocks

Etho

Etho is the Head of Ren's guard

He is known for being silent but extremely intelligent and deadly when he needs to be, he doesn't often say much at council meetings but when he does it's always with good insight

He is the most loyal to Ren aside from Martyn

He is childhood friends with Bdubs, Skizz and Tango

Etho is married to a villiager from Crastle named Bdubs and, though they live separately, it's a very happy marriage

Skizz

Skizz is one of Ren's closest guards

He is fiercely loyal and will protect the king at all costs which is what has led him to being on Ren's Council

He absolutely loathes Good Times and will often take lead in trying to take him down, especially if Martyn is busy

Skizz is determined and will follow orders at all costs

He will run to Ren's side to protect him at any sign of danger, he is almost like a bodyguard to him but not quite

He's very jovial around friends but brutal with his enemies

Skizz is childhood friends with Bdubs Etho and Tango

BigB

BigB is a particularly wise noble staying at Dogwarts who is loyal to Ren's cause

He will often give good advice to Ren and is one of his most valued advisers because of this

He gets on well with Prince Grian and will often agree with him on not acting too hastily and trying to protect the villagers in plans to take down Good Times

He doesn't agree with the Resistance but sometimes think they have a point, however, he is very against how they get it across

BigB gets on well with Prince Grian but is unaware that he is a spy

So, there you have it, the Royal family and the King's Court

[mochiwrites]

maybe…. just maybe….. some soft headcannons (treebark👀 , tangpulse or mumscarian) you have for the (insert name) mafia au ??? /Ih

ooooo, sure thing! :D

treebark

- ren and martyn do a lot of communicating through touch. they’ll squeeze the other’s hand if they’re visibly uncomfortable, or tap on shoulders when they want company

- they share a bed — way before they start dating. the agreement is for martyn to sleep on the couch, yet he somehow ends up sleeping in ren’s room

- ren is a very cuddly guy, and he will pull martyn into cuddles just because

- he also likes to rest his head in martyn’s lap a lot, and martyn will run his fingers through ren’s hair

- martyn helps out at ren’s restaurant quite often. he’s a great cook

- ren brought martyn along to meet his brother once. they got along great, and ren was a little choked up about it

- martyn is incredibly protective of ren, and sometimes it lends to him getting into a bit of trouble

- martyn playfully called ren “my liege” once and ren played into it. they bring back the bit every now and then

tangpulse

- it takes tango exactly six months to work up the courage to ask impulse for his phone number, but impulse is more than happy to give it to him

- they talk just about every day, and tango has definitely picked him up from his shops before

- let it be known that the day impulse starts flirting back at him tango feels like he could combust

- they work together a lot, surprisingly. cleo starts purposefully sending tango with bdubs to speak with impulse about his “very legal weapons stock.” (tango being there means a discount)

- outside of work, tango and impulse spend quite a bit of time together. so much so that tango eventually asks him out

- they try to keep things a secret at first, it’s at impulse’s request but uh. everyone figures it out pretty quickly, oops

- tango likes hugging impulse a lot, and peppering his cheeks with kisses

- did I mention they work great as a team?

- they also tease each other a whole bunch, which results in silly pet names, “sweetheart” “sugar pie”

- toooons of cheesy pick up lines

mumscarian

- scar and mumbo switch off between cooking while grian watches. they try to teach him

- at night time, grian leaves his hair down and scar and mumbo stare every time in awe. right before grian quite literally jumps into bed between them and they laugh

- scar and mumbo try to take as many photos with grian as they can, especially after learning that there aren’t many photos that exist of him growing up

- scar and grian have a whole operation they carry out when mumbo isn’t sleeping. hug attack him and wait for him to get sleepy

- why yes, grian can carry both mumbo and scar in a bridal carry buff grian rights he’s always got this big beaming smile when he does it too

- mumbo likes to brush his fingers through grian’s hair a lot. he also enjoys seeing grian melt in his hands

- whenever mumbo is gone for a long period of time, grian will sit around and mope (scar’s better at hiding it, but he mopes too) and when he does come back, grian clings to him like a koala

- jellie will sit and stretch across their laps whenever they’re relaxing. she almost always puts her head near grian and he holds it over scar and mumbo

[scitties-enjoyer]

Regarding this post so we're gonna get in to spoilers for Outer Wilds, a fantastic game best played blind.

It's also unlikely to make too much sense unless you've actually played outer wilds. (Not that that would stop me reading this if I hadn't played it yet.)

We're roughly lining up Cub as Chert because I think that works very well. Mumbo as Solanum, Joe as Gabbro, Iskall as Ramie and not mentioned but Doc as Idaea

--

Also we're entirely veering off course because I think that makes sense for Scar and Cub. Chert is never a part of the loop I just also have strong feelings about Chert and I feel like Scar would absolutely go to Cub with this.

"Cub!" Scar yelled, to get attention they definitely already had, crashing into Cub's camp with their ship like that.

"Scar." Cub let go of their telescope. Today would be a long and unproductive day.

But Scar didn't care for Cub's work apparently, they dragged Cub to their ship yelling about statues on Giants Deep and a time loop and the end of the... The end of the universe. Of course. That's why all the stars were dying.

In no time at all they'd crashed into one of the planets on Giants Deep (with Scar once again saying something inexplicable about the landing gear and how useless it is) and Scar was running around moving things with the kind of practiced ease they shouldn't have had this soon into their first ever space flight.

Actually, none of the others had come close to this level of familiarity with Nomai technology. Not yet.

Scar was also the first person to be sent out with a translator this effective.

Cub looked around after Scar until a statue - like the other one Joe had brought back to Timber Hearth from Giants Deep - turned and opened its eyes at them.

Scar grinned at Cub after that.

"See you in the next loop." they said and pulled Cub with them into an oncoming storm, killing them both.

Cub woke up on Ember Twin.

A dream?

Scar crashed in to the lakebed surrounding Cub's camp.

They made their way up to Cub and... Sat down to start roasting marshmallows over the fire.

"It wasn't a dream." Scar said, eventually, "We went to Giants Deep."

And then Scar went on to talk about the Ash Twin project, pointing out what the towers on Ash Twin were as the planet circled overhead.

The whole thing was completely insane. "What's the point of all this, Scar?"

Scar sighed, something miserable, "I'm in love. With one of the Nomai working on the project. Grian. He's..." Scar went on to rant about the Nomai they had become so fixated on. "And he spent his last minutes trying to save them all."

Cub... didn't know what to think. They asked Scar to show them Grian's work and (over several loops with many painful deaths) Scar did.

"I thought," Scar said, lying on the floor, looking up at the stars as Cub played their drum, "That if anyone had a solution it would be you."

Cub put down their instrument. "Yeah."

"You're my best friend and you're so smart, just like Grian was, and if any Hearthian could find a way to break time it would be you."

"I think Grian and Iskall beat me to that discovery." Cub said.

"I know, but you know what I mean. and even if you didn't I thought... telling you would help. But I'm just more in love with him."

"The amount of power needed to create our short loop is... immense. You'd need something bigger." Cub cut themself off, silence falling over them. Something like the end of the universe, but even now gathering that kind of energy was entirely unfeasible. Especially with the time constraint.

Scar sighed sadly. "I can't even carry anything of his, I just loose it at the start if the loop."

Cub wished they could help.

"I spoke to Mumbo, you know?"

"What?"

"Oh, yeah, he's alive. Kind of. Quantum moon, it orbits the eye of the universe too so Mumbo is alive and dead."

"Oh." Cub said, because that might as well be the case.

"He told me about Grian and... it just hurts. How can I miss someone I've never met?"

[pacificwaternymph]

Hello i come to ramble about last life uninvited in your inbox.

I have many thoughts about all of them. So i am writing about each of them. Yes.

Scar - oh many thoughts here. how he now has the most lives on the server when he was the first red in 3rd life. also that he is definitely evil aligned. much more. funky evil wizard.

Grian - oh you wanna murder someone so badly don’t you? seriously so far 3/4 he was involved with the boogy kill, he was veey eager to warch joel set up his trap and see said trap in action.

Mumbo - died to lava 2/2 times. Burn scars yes. Also i was very surprised to see how easily he would have betrayed the ahallience for a life. One of two people to have killed a boogyman.

Joel - absolutely feral. i love his talks with scar on the cobblestone bridge. He is trying so hard to be evil and everyone is so scared of him.

Lizzie - absolute girlboss. Nothing more to say currently. Oh! And her boogy kill. [chef‘s kiss]

Martyn - So far, rather drawn to ren. i am bot crying. not at all.

Ren - Speaking of: theatre kid (affectionate) he is so dramatic, but i am also very invested in the fact that he is sworn to lizzie to protect her while he made scar swear to him to not kill him

Etho - his thing in the last episode is either going to help him or bite him in the butt immensely in the near future. The boy who cried wolf too many times, but who is to say that this can’t come as a help.

I also recently saw a multiple headcanons for (boogy) kills. My favourites are that the victim gets a scar that won’t heal. Grian with a line around his neck when he was killed by bdubs. Mumbo with burn scars from getting a lava bath curtesy of scar. Pearl and Scott with wounds from being attacked by lizzie and joel respectively. But also the boogyman getting a constant reminder of their victim(‘s fate) in the form of a tattoo/mark.

Also i love how different people described the feeling of being the boogyman. thinking about the feeling being something that consumes your mind until you no longer can think of anything other than to kill someone. Which would also tie into the fact that if you don’t kill as the boogyman you automatically go red.

This is getting so long. I am so sorry.

- Bear

Excuse you, the fuck do you mean uninvited? Come ramble whenever you like, I don't mind!! I enjoy seeing other peoples' thoughts :D

Scar- I don't know that much about him but he seems like a really interesting character. Also I love how he just goes around absolutely scamming the heck out of people.

Grian - He's so feral and I adore him. He seems so ready to kill someone and I love him for it.

Mumbo - Absolutely burn scars, I love head canons about scars if you let me I will go on for hours (please for the love of god do not let me). Yeah that's a bit surprising, but then again considering he isn't very loyal to his faction on Hermitcraft either (from what I've seen), should it be?

Joel - Also feral. Also I love the whole thing he has going on with Lizzie right now. I am very soft for the couple because they're very sweet, but also there is so much potential for angst in there.

Lizzie - Lizzie and Cleo are both girlbosses and should be feared by everyone on the server. Those two together are going to take the server by storm. Her kill was so clean, and then she turned around and went "Still up for an alliance?" It was so funny

Martyn - Oh my GOD. Martyn's claim to fame on Tumblr so far seems to be that he still has a connection to Ren? Idk, I haven't seen much of him. But yeah no he and Ren are a pair a could easily see myself falling down a rabbit hole for.

Ren - REN. I didn't watch him before Last Life but my GOD. I'm a bit of a theater kid myself so I immediately latched on to his energy. I love how Lizzie responds to his dramatics. From his POV he's swearing his allegiance to a dark faerie queen. From anyone else's he's a dramatic, overenthusiastic puppy.

Etho - Yeah it could go either way to be honest. Fear will make people less likely to attack him, but also less likely to ally with him, which would leave him vulnerable SHOULD someone decide to attack him. Especially later on with red-lives running around.

YES the scar head canons! It kind of reminds me of the whole scars thing from Dream SMP that is widely accepted to be canon despite no actual evidence of that (to my knowledge. I think one or two may have canonized it). And I saw the tattoo one too, I really liked that one as well, it was a cool concept!

Yeah! Between itches and hazes and frustration it's amazing. I feel like Lizzie's is the most similar to actual bloodlust people get when they're red? That may have something to do with the fact that she's new to the server, and so hasn't experienced proper bloodlust yet.

NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR LEAVING A LONG ASK.

I. LOVE. RECEIVING THEM.

Thank you for your thoughts, they are greatly appreciated :D

[mayflowers07]

Continuation of this post for my Out-of-Character (or maybe better said as unexpected) DnD classes for the Hermits because I’ve come up with everyone else

Like Scar, most give Cub some form of magic to do with the Vex, making him a wizard or a sorcerer. However Cub is a sneaky businessman so I propose to you: Cub as a rogue that uses tricks and gadgets to fake having magic

It would make sense to give Cleo some form of magical alignment to explain her rising from the dead, probably a necromancer gone wrong or something. But I’ve been watching her play a lot of Fallout and Cleo with a gun makes my sapphic heart happy, so I’ve decided that she will be a fighter with the subclass of gunslinger

So initially I jumped on the idea of TFC as essentially an artificer dwarf, especially with a magical mechanical prosthetic leg. However I love the wise-old-man stereotype and after years of adventuring he’s probably a seasoned fighter and disciplined warrior. So how about TFC as a monk, probably following either the Way of Mercy or the Way of Tranquility? Bonus if he acts as a mentor of sorts to Bdubs the younger monk as well

Beef as a melee class? As something muscular and powerful to make sense of the blood on his clothes? Nah, lets make Beef a bard who builds and sells his own magical infused instruments and discs and can entangle spells in the stories he tells

Mumbo is most obviously an artificer because of all the redstone stuff. But Mumbo irl is actually pretty built, very tall, and was pretty decent at archery and axe throwing, so how funny would it be if he was a brawling fighter?

Taking inspiration from other AUs, I bet Jevin’s squishy slime body would be very good at squeezing into tight spaces and sneaking into places he shouldn’t be. Of course Jevin being a neon blue slime doesn’t exactly help him with the whole rogue thing and going unnoticed but he somehow makes do

Tango is also quite good at redstone so again artificer is too obvious. But I headcanon him as a nether being, so why don’t we assume that nether beings have inherent magical abilities like dragonborn and that he uses magic to enhance his redstone, so that way he’s a sorcerer?

Similar to Tango, I think I want to give Impulse some magic. But he needed to practice to break bedrock and learn how to do it, plus I want him to be a foil to Tango’s naturally-achieved magic. Therefore I dub Impulse as a wizard

And how iconic is it if Zedaph of all people is the tough af melee member of the Team ZIT? If he’s the muscle? I love the idea that he is sworn loyalty to his friends and he wants them to achieve greatness and that’s his driving force (plus we stan Team ZIT in this house) so how about him as a paladin who’s taken the Oath of Glory?

Admittedly I don’t watch a whole lot of Hypno, so I was initially lost on him, but I have an idea. However I have been watching the past few episodes of him breeding the villagers to get better and better arrows, which is vaguely dark and horrifying when you think about it. So anyone for warlock Hypno whose staple move is charming/feebleminding/causing hallucinations (basically hypnotizing) people?

I definitely want Xisuma as something magical and powerful, but I feel like warlock or wizard is too stereotypical. We are talking about the appointed gardener of the shopping district, and he is the man who changes his skin to match an animals every season. I feel like druid is a good fit then

Keralis is definitely a tricky one, but he really loves his friends. He just seems like the type of man that would do anything to protect them, and I mean anything. How cursed is it then if Keralis is the world’s friendliest, most loving barbarian who would throw himself into any fight to protect the other Hermits?

Mr. xB 1) loves his dog quite a lot, 2) likes to build away from everyone else and prefers to be alone in nature over people, and 3) seems to take a distant, support role in most conflicts. Therefore xB is going to be a ranger. Basic? Yes. Fitting? Also yes.

Listen am I tempted to make this sneaky ninja man rogue or a samurai fighter? Obviously yes. Am I instead going to take inspiration from Critical Role and make Etho a cleric of the trickster domain because I think Etho as a cleric that hates/refuses to heal people and who worships his god by playing pranks and lying to people is hilarious? Also yes.

Finally we have Iskall, also someone who would fit most obviously a melee class due to his “hitman”/ “Iskallman” personas. But we are talking about the man who cheated death by winning demise. Therefore I propose Iskall as a Wizard from the School of Necromancy who is actually quite nice considering how sinister his powers may seem

TL;DR here’s a summary of everyone’s classes I’ve assigned in this AU

(If you don’t look at this list and go “wtf” at least once I did it wrong)

Artificer: Stress (Alchemist)

Barbarian: Grian and Keralis

Bard: Wels and Beef

Blood Hunter: False

Cleric: Scar and Etho (Trickster Domain)

Druid: Doc and Xisuma

Fighter: Cleo (gunslinger) and Mumbo

Monk: Bdubs and TFC (Way of Mercy or Way of Tranquility)

Paladin: Zedaph (Oath of Glory)

Ranger: Joe and xB

Rogue: Cub and Jevin

Sorcerer: Tango

Warlock: Ren and Hypno

Wizard: Impulse and Iskall (School of Necromancy)

[archetypal-archivist]

Xisuma and Evil X- A Hero By Any Other Name

So. This happened. You ever get the urge to write 9000 words of Evil X and Xisuma as brothers that in a Super Hero AU where the government is corrupt and runs all the heroes into the ground in the name of “protecting the most people possible”? With lots of Evil X making poor choices to help out his exhausted hero of a brother? And then have that story end up taking over your life for about a week until you can get it all out? Yeah. Yeah, glad I finally finished this but gosh darn am I double glad that I can move on to other projects.

Also on AO3.

__________

A story in which there are two little boys, a pair of twins by the names of Evil X and Xisuma. Xisuma is good and kind and responsible, everything that his mother ever wanted and more. Evil X was the mistake, the additional child their parents didn't want nor could afford to have. Their parents had run the math, knew the risks, knew that if they penny-pinched enough, they could afford to have the child they always dreamed of. Evil X threw their maths into chaos, and if they wanted one son, they had to take both.

Evil X and Xisuma knew that Evil X was a mistake, that his presence was why their family could never afford to go to the movies, why they couldn't buy school lunches like all the other kids, why their parents were so stressed and tired and cruel. Still, Xisuma was glad that his brother existed, even if it made his parents' lives harder. He wondered if that made him a bad son.

In time, Evil X and Xisuma were left alone by everyone in their lives and until all they had are each other and the void that their parents left them with when they had to look them in the eye and tell them that they couldn't take care of them anymore. Even now Xisuma thinks that the void raised them better than their parents ever did, teaching him and his brother to lie through their teeth, be sneaky, be cruel.

In the orphanage and the many foster homes that followed, Evil X did his best to take care of his twin as a sort of penance for screwing up the life Xisuma could have led. In return, Xisuma lied and lied and lied to the matrons and the well-meaning children about anything and everything he needed to. They don't need anyone but each other. (Truth.) They are happy. He is everything that Evil X needs, Evil X doesn't want a family. Xisuma is enough. (Lie.)

(Gods, don't take his brother away.)

Xisuma grew up with lies on his tongue and smiles in his eyes, warping himself into the golden child, larger than life. Evil X grew up in the shadows with bruised knuckles, a bruised heart, and eventually, scars across his face from a fight gone bloody and wrong. He was protecting Xisuma, the scars were worth it- his brother accepts them with an odd little smile on his face and a shattering in his eyes. It is a moment that stays with them long after.

---

Eventually, foster homes turn into streets and dumpsters, and long nights spent under the covers together are turned into nights spent up in the branches of trees in the park. Xisuma makes friends with the pigeons while Evil X pretends not to like their feathered neighbors. They curl up the same though, bodies fitting together like puzzle pieces high in their bower. Made for each other, quietly shaping themselves around their twin so as to better protect them and shield them from the cold.

Evil X comes home to their tree with stolen sweaters and wilted flowers and popcorn kernels from behind the movie theater so that the birds don't starve. Xisuma meets him with tears of wonder in his eyes and fire dancing on his fingertips.

Xisuma has magic. Evil X tries not to be jealous. As it turns out, he has very little to be jealous of when it's revealed that there are many other people who have magic throughout the city- or rather, "superpowers." It's like something straight out of a comic book, if that comic book resembled something like Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" or the Transformers IDW continuity.

People start dying. A lot of people. Those with powers that make them look monstrous are feared, hated, and eventually outcast. Those with powers that are useful are drafted to fight wars and heal people for hours and hours with no rest in the hospitals. Xisuma sells himself to the city officials behind Evil X's back and in return, he and his brother get a cold glass and steel apartment and food enough that they will never starve again.

Evil X begins to build up muscle, fleshing out and growing tall and strong. He hates it, hates his body, because Xisuma never becomes more than whipcord strength and whispered words- down-turned eyes, up-turned lips. Reassurances that he's happy, really, truly. So obedient, his brother, the ideal filial son to the system that Evil X could never bring himself to be. They train the civilian out of his twin and mold him into a leader, a real proper superhero.

They don't give his brother lunch breaks. They need his power too badly, they say. There are people dying and they need his strength.

Gods, it makes him sick.

Xisuma's slight figure hides in his brother's shadow when they are at home, and Evil X does his best to wrap around him until the "monsters" of the world can't get him. Evil X lets Xisuma's flames dance across his fingertips and tickle his face, their gentle warmth driving out some of the chill in their big empty apartment. On truly special days, they go to the park to feed the birds. The higher ups don't like that, of course, insisting that Xisuma under Evil X's care is like using his spark for a kerosene lamp, contained, stifled, unable to help anyone in any way that matters.

The city wants a bonfire. Evil X growls and tells them no, but Xisuma just smiles and his eyes shatter a little more as he goes with them willingly, offering himself up as kindling. His superhero name is Matchstick of all things, and Evil X knows his brother well enough to know that he picked it out himself.

A nod to the fact that he is destroying himself? An inside joke and an apology in one, maybe. It breaks his heart too much to think on it.

---

With time, the rules and roles become a little clearer and the war begins to solidify. Basic rights for those with powers is still in the works, but Xisuma is able to start eating a little more. Evil X makes him protein shakes to take with him to work anyway.

The heroes are this: Matchstick, Reaper, Ivy-Over, Xenon, Spatter, Shank, Krypton, and Trigometric. Xisuma, Cleo, Gemini, Tango, Vintage Beef, Iskall, Impulse, Cubfan.

The villains are this: Armistice, Zyon, Ooze, Clockwork, Poultryman, Valkerie, and Lumesce. (Welsknight, Etho, Jevin, Mumbo, Grian, Stress, Pearl- but our hero doesn't know this yet.)

Evil X sits on their shared bed and holds his twin in his arms, listening to him talk about work with troubled eyes.

Reaper. Cruel, with a tongue like a knife and teeth even sharper. She eats her enemies whole and seems to enjoy the taste of blood. Somewhere in the dark of the building is a man named Joe who whispers comebacks and threats to her for her to use in her next fight. She has not seen him free or unshackled in three years. Around his neck is a metal collar, an irony too bitter for her to speak of often. Xisuma hopes they treat him well.

Ivy-Over, blinded by the glitter and shine of heroism, still firmly thinking the best of her political overlords. Naive. Carefully herded off the battlefields as soon as her fights are over so that she never sees the casualties her massive vines leave in their wake. Xisuma worries that one day the illusion will be broken and with it her mind. She seems like the kind of person who could regress to using entrails as a skipping rope if pushed far enough. Evil X does his best to reassure him, but the lies turn to mulch in his mouth.

Xenon and Krypton, a duo that never let the higher ups split them up or force them to fight alone. Together they share a record for the fewest recorded injuries, as well as a certain fierceness in their eyes as they volley explosive balls of shadow and light between them, bouncing them back and forth to build up velocity before letting them loose on their enemies. Still, the people whisper about how much more help they could do if they were simply separated, able to cover more places at once. At night, Xisuma hears them crying, bundled tight in each other's arms and mourning their missing third.

Shank, their sniper. Supreme accuracy, a consequence of his self-built bionic eye and his special laser rifle. The higher ups are murmuring about what he could do if more of him was bionic. What improvements could be made to his body? How many more lives could be saved? (How many more "monsters" could be put behind bars?)

Splatter, their brawler. A sip of blood and he hulks out, his strength becoming all the greater the more he drinks, so the higher ups give him all the blood he could stomach and more. They never tell him where it comes from, and he's too afraid to ask. (He was a butcher before this whole hero thing, he had explained to Xisuma once. He knows what animal blood tastes like. What they give him is definitely not animal blood- and sometimes, it makes him feel sick. He always was allergic to steroids.)

Trigometric, who bent reality into fractals, who seemed just a bit more broken than the rest. He actually liked his job, and that perhaps made him less of a hero and more of a monster. (Mr. Goodtimes was a head of government of some renown, famous for his power plays and his campaign that favored brutal action against those that the city condemned. Trigometric called him "Scar" with affection on his lips and that was perhaps scariest of all.)

It's terrifying hearing about his twin's coworkers and their varying flavors of unfortunate and unstable, even worse when he has to stay at home and watch the news to see if his brother has survived to see another day against the violent protests and the drug rings and mobs and super villains.

Because there are super villains. He even meets one.

---

The pigeons need feeding. Life or death, whether Xisuma is around to remind him or no, the pigeons need feeding so every Tuesday and Saturday Evil X goes to the park with a bag of bird seed. It just so happens that one sunshine-filled summer day there is someone there before him. Crouched close to a few pigeons, at first he thinks the figure is just dressed in a purple cloak, but when the figure stands up and stretches, the cloak separates to reveal a pair of brilliant purple wings. Poultryman.

Evil X has seen his brother come back from fights and he knows that while Poultryman is a figure of some renown, his battles rarely cause collateral damage- that's more the hallmark of his partner Clockwork. So when Poultryman turns to face him, trademark white mask over his eyes and an odd expression on his face, Evil X just glares and walks up to him to dump the bag of bird seed on the super villain's feet.

"For the birds," he says tersely before spinning on his heel, preparing to walk away. The sound of bright, cheerful laughter has him pausing and the sound of wings meeting the dirt has him turning around. Poultryman is on the ground, rolling around in the bird seed and laughing his head off, clutching his stomach and flapping his wings wildly, which only makes even more of a mess.

"Pffftt- hahaHAhAHaH! Oh gods, your face! If I couldn't tell you were so pissed off to see me I wouldv'e thought this was the greatest prank ever!" Oookay? Evil X crosses his arms, unimpressed and left with a sneaking suspicion he is being made fun of.

"And?" Poultryman lets out a last few wheezing gasps before smoothly rolling to his feet, mask askew and utterly covered in dirt, grass, and bird seed. The local pigeons have, surprisingly enough, not scattered just yet.

"And that was brilliant! Tell me, are you the one who's been feeding the birds around here? The pigeons have been dying to introduce me to their 'friend' and I've been eager to meet them ever since. Well, the word translates more to family but there's some non-pigeon implications mixed in there, so friend works a little better. I don't think my feathered friends have quite yet figured out how to buy their own bird seed. You don't look like a pigeon anyway."

"No. I am not a pigeon," Evil X sighs, shifting his feet but keeping his posture defensive. If he remembers right, Poultryman never did any real damage but he apparently came off to Xisuma as a little unhinged and he'd rather not test the super villain's good mood. "And yes, I feed the birds around here. Can I go?"

Poultryman tilts his head to the side, going abruptly silent and still, all emotion wiped from his body language, expression, and voice. "That depends. Would you like to make Matchstick's life a little easier? I have a deal for you."

---

It goes a little something like this.

Clockwork and Poultryman schedule a raid on a local food processing plant, hoping to take their newest shipment of tin. Matchstick and Splatter are in the area and are called in to help. It's a poor match up to begin with, with Splatter's strength not doing much against Clockwork's robotika and Matchstick- while able to keep up with Poultryman in the air, barely- can't seem to land a solid hit on the villain. It doesn't help that he seems to be limited in how hard he hits, too conscious of what his flames might do to Poultryman's vulnerable feathers and of just how high they are in the air. Clockwork, meanwhile, is free to pilfer what he and his partner please from the plant.

However, despite the lack of damage the super heroes are able to do, the villains do even less. To Evil X, that is all that matters.

In another part of the city, a group of civilians meet in an abandoned railway car, dry docked in a train yard with its rusted frame resting on several heavy blocks of wood. The door is chained shut, but that means little when the underneath has a hole cut into it and if one is determined enough, crawling inside is easy. There, they exchange moth-eaten blankets, half-broken appliances, tattered clothes, and the tools to fix them. Money. Documents.

Evil X brings food. The government promised food unending to him and his brother, he may as well take advantage of it.

A deceptively normal-looking man with glasses and a deactivated metal collar around his neck brings a stack of books in, most of them picture books for the children. Another man, this one with green skin and robotik prosthetics, brings a stack of battered but newly repaired mobile phones, gaze shifting around nervously, as if scared to be caught there. Evil X makes a quiet note of the men but moves on. Theirs is not a story he feels like tampering with today.

When Xisuma comes home to find Evil X laying face-down in bed, fast asleep, he just smiles and tucks himself in beside his twin. Today is the first day in a long time he had come out from a fight unscathed, and tomorrow he will share the good news with his brother. For now, he sleeps.

---

In time, Evil X becomes a staple of the Homeless Enforcing Principles, which quickly gets abbreviated to the rather unimaginative "HEP." He wonders in the back of his mind if a certain man in glasses had something to do with the name, but decides not to bother with that quickly enough. He has enough on his plate as is with his newly adopted duties.

You see, when you get a diverse enough body of people together from all echelons in the city, and then put them into a rather small space, they begin to do what every group of friendly strangers like to do on the train- start complaining. Sometimes it's about the new "neighborhood watch" starting trouble on the corner of 6th and Fruit, sometimes it's about the new increase in taxes their boss wants to implement, sometimes it's about the stock that slips through the gaps when the trucks come to restock the supermarket.

Between him and his twin, Evil X never really was the one for idle chit-chat, but he knew lies just as well as his brother did and public speaking was just lying with a pretty bow on top. Stock begins to get left off of inventory sheets and put into the hands of the needy. The "neighborhood watch" get pointed towards the parts of the city that actually need their help (conveniently drawing the attention of the local law enforcement, who can actually do something about the problem).

He begins to donate more and more food to the cause, waistline thinning in the process. He thinks he likes his figure better that way.

As Evil X puts more time into his new project, crime rates don't exactly go down, but the number of people arrested for stupid reasons certainly does. The other members of HEP begin to bring in their friends and family and the pool of resources and talents grows, expanding outside the walls of their train car and out into people's basements, gas station parking lots, metal trash bin bonfires in the park. Little pools of community, and for Evil X, wellsprings of information.

Clockwork and Poultryman are some of the first actual super villains to come to the meetings, this time under the names of Mumbo Jumbo and Grian, but they are not the last.

---

Armistice arrives hanging off of Lumesce's shoulder one night, his metal body forcing her to drag him along on the ground, shredded legs unable to hold his own weight. She cries steady tears of light, seemingly near-physically pained at being unable to further help him. Evil X watches quietly from the background as Grian looks up and over the bonfire from where he is tending the jagged gash in the unconscious Mumbo's leg.

"Wels. Pearl. Got you too, huh?" The carefully kept-up cheer is gone from the man's face as the duo settle down by the fire, sprawling out in a rough heap.

The woman, Pearl, nods wearily, pulling off her hood and wiping at her face, glowing tears staining her black jacket. "Yeah. Trigometric decided he wanted to come and 'play' for a bit, seems he finally caught on to the illegal clinic I was running down in Mr. TFC's basement. I was lucky enough to get an anonymous tip that he was coming, but Wels got caught in the crossfire for defending me." Grian nods back, eyes distant.

"Give Mumbo a hand with his leg, I'll go grab the last of our tin for Wels to eat so he can patch himself up. E-X?" Evil X straightens up at the winged man's attention. "Call up Keralis and see if you can't get some hew housing sorted for Mr. TFC. I doubt his house survived in the crossfire and you might as well fix it for him with my permission and funds rather than just sort it out behind my back and try to sell it to me as an 'investment' later."  With that parting remark Grian stands up stiffly and flies away, leaving Pearl to make her way over to his partner, healing tears already streaming down her face so that she can start to fix the wound.

On the other side of the fire, Wels reaches down and rubs at the sharp and twisted metal of the remnants of his left leg, expression lost and weary. "Things can't keep going like this, so many of us are running on fumes by this point. Something has to change." Expressionless, Evil X just turns away, pulls out his cellphone, and begins to make a few calls.

He carefully ignores the twisting of his heart in his chest.

The next day, Mr. TFC has a room in a decent hotel and Evil X sits on his perfectly white couch staring at his overly large TV, watching the news. Armistice and Poultryman are fighting against Matchstick and Ivy-Over, dashing in and landing a few hits before retreating to the shadows, then running up to repeat the process again. The fight ends with both sides retreating, the heroes to the hospital, the villains to skies with Poultryman straining to bear both Armistice's weight and the load of cash stolen cash in his arms.

Grian's going to pull a wing muscle again, Evil X just knows it.

Xisuma leaves the fight unscathed. Gemini isn't nearly so lucky.

---

The next super villain he meets is mostly on accident, a random encounter more than anything. Tired of lounging about all day, if you call making connections and surfing the internet doing fuck all, Evil X decides he hates himself a bit more than he usually does and decides to go job hunting. A quick internet search later and he finds himself standing outside an abandoned warehouse on the North docks. He and his brother never had much more than their birth certificates and social security numbers to their name, so shady suited him perfectly fine.

A man steps out from behind a corner dressed in a hospital mask, black pea-coat, and a sailor's breton cap as white as his hair. Evil X freezes, eyes going wide as the familiar-looking stranger goes bug-eyed to see him right back. Then the man shifts his weight to his back foot, crossing his arms and wincing playfully, very real trepidation lurking in his posture.

"Uh, you wouldn't happen to by Matchstick's brother, would you?" Evil X takes a careful step away from the man, who he now recognizes as Zyon from watching the news, one of Xisuma's more common foes. His own research proved that the fellow had ice powers to put an iceberg to shame, which was ironic considering that he was secretly the business mogul Etho, who ran a shipping company helpfully named "Titanic Inc." It was doubly ironic since "Zyon" was notorious for causing problems for "Etho," who then claimed the insurance payouts when the boats eventually sank.

That the boats that sank frequently carried weapons, junk food made with GMO ingredients, and weirdly enough, socks, was of little consequence to him, but he kept that amusing tidbit in his back pocket for later. (The sailors on board were... collateral. And a nonissue. Anyone who signed up on a ship run by "Titanic Inc." deserved what they got.)

(Their deaths were not his concern.)

"Yeah, that's me. And you're Zyon- or rather, Etho." Zyon chuckles nervously.

"Yep yep, that's me. And you're very firmly on the 'no touchie' list around here, so I'm just gonna gooo...." Zyon flinches as Evil X suddenly attaches himself to his wrist, expression steely.

"List?" It's more statement than question, but it has Zyon gulping back a frantic giggle anyway.

"Oh no, I'm not messing with that one. Let's just say you should take that up with your brother and leave it at that. Get too deep into that mess and someone's gonna end up regretting it- and I'm not that dumb, that's for sure!" With that parting remark, Evil X finds his feet frozen to the ground and Zyon running off, dropping the black pea-coat of Etho to reveal the icy blue Kevlar ninja suit of the super villain underneath.

Bemusedly Evil X watches Zyon vault up a stack of pipes onto a nearby roof, then off towards the city where he could better better disappear.

Hmm. Seems like he needs to step up his game.

---

He runs into Ooze at the supermarket. Apparently they both prefer the green grapes to the purple ones. The more you know.

---

It's his encounter with Valkerie that really sets things off.

Xisuma comes home one day, tears streaming down his face and his gloves covered in blood and dust. He crumples in a heap at Evil X's feet where he sits on the couch and drops his face into his twin's lap, trembling. His arms dangle at his sides, blood dripping from his fingers onto the sterile white carpeting.

"Four dead found in a park near here. All teenagers, just having fun. Just. Just fucking kids! She ruptured their ear drums and they bled out because they couldn't move to get to safety. Gods E-X, their eyes... They looked so scared..." Evil X stays quiet and runs his fingers through his brother's hair, heedless of the muck clinging to the ends. Xisuma shakes himself to bits in his hands. "They were just kids. We couldn't do even do anything but clean up the mess afterwards."

Xisuma pauses, hesitant, before choking out- "That could have been us. Had we still been on our own, that could have been us." Ah. So that's it.

"We're safe, you know. Whoever Valkerie is, she won't get us here."

"But we don't know that! What if you're out shopping and she's at the market, or if she gets on the news and her scream works through the TV? What then?! I can't-" The words die in his twin's throat and Evil X gulps back his own.

I can't lose you. It's a phrase that's crossed his own mind more than once.

"Okay. Okay. I'll stay home until she's caught, okay? Get delivery or something, I don't know. And I'll keep the TV off, the radio too. Shhh. Shhhhh. I'll be okay." Xisuma struggles closer, shoving his face into his brother's stomach and getting snot and tears all over the both of them. Evil X doesn't complain. It's a lie and they both know it, but they've lived lies before, are used to it. What's one more, in the face of that?

To be fair, Evil X gives it a few weeks before he makes his move, and he knows he'll be fine so really it's only half a lie anyway.

---

Feet crunch against gravel as Evil X approaches the woman kneeling in the center of the abandoned construction site, hands over her mouth, eyes scrunched, biting the flesh of her thumb to keep her sobs held in.

"Hello Ms. Valkerie. Grian's told me about you."

The woman whips around, eyes wide and bloodshot at his sudden appearance, before she shakily lowers her hands from her mouth to clutch at the fabric of her pink cardigan. "I'm- I'm not some monster, got it? I'm just Stress, j-just- I'm just me! I don't want to hurt anyone!" Her voice goes shrill and thin towards the end and Evil X hides his wince, although apparently not well enough because she immediately slaps a hand over her mouth again, eyes watering anew.

"Okay. It's okay, Stress. I'm here to help," he placates, lowering himself down to sit next to her in the dirt. Around them, rusted I-beams and concrete pillars rise, giving them some semblance of privacy. The full moon lurks overhead, casting them both in a silver glow. "You're life must be very hard, hm?"

Stress nods, expression wary.

"And retail is very- ha- stressful too, I imagine?" Here a little grin leaks out from behind her hand. "All those customers whining on and on about discounts. 'Oh, I have a gift receipt why can't I return this?' Like, lady, you opened this box. 'I'm gonna talk to your manager!' Lady, he's just gonna say the exact same thing."

A stifled giggle and a whispered "Worse! I work in the women's clothing department." Evil X gives a mock gasp, face going wide and shocked.

"So you don't just have to deal with fussy customers- you deal with fussy suburban soccer moms!" Stress tips forward with the force of her muffled laughter, tucking her damp face into the curve of his neck and putting her full weight on him. Hesitantly she clutches the tail of his shirt with her freehand, then a little tighter when he makes no move to shove her off. Evil X just wraps a gentle arm around her shoulders.

"Some of those customers must make you want to go home and just scream, huh." Her laughter tapers off, but she nods, quiet. "So you go somewhere empty and abandoned and scream your heart out so you don't kill someone." Another nod, a little hitch in Stress' breathing. "And you scream and scream, so glad to release some of your pent-up feelings, but oops. It turns out there are people there anyway. And your screaming just killed them. You've become a murderer and the police brands you accordingly."

The hand in his shirt tightens, tugging. "I- I didn't want to hurt them! I didn't want to hurt anyone! But- but it just happened and then I was running, and no one saw me so I had to just go to work the next day, a-and. And-"

"And now you're the wanted super villain Valkerie." His hand smoothes up and down her back as her breath hitches again, once, twice, and then wetness against his neck.

"Valkerie is such a stupid name, anyway. I'm not escorting anyone anywhere, let alone to Valhalla. I just scream and. And they're dead."

Evil X hums quietly. "You must be very tired."

"...Yes. Yes." The moon slips through the sky for a while and they drift with it, lost in thought. Evil X stares up at it, squinting against its light to try and figure out what time it is, if Xisuma is likely to be home yet. The gravel is harsh against his knees.

Then. "Things can't keep going like this. I'm so tired, all the time these days. It's just work, day in and day out, and all this stress." She pulls away then and Evil X watches as Stress scrubs at her face, expression going cold and determined. She stares him straight in the eyes, but something about her still seems lost, like she's gazing through him. "Something has to change or else someone is going to get themselves killed."

He tilts his eyes head, considering, thoughtful, with a well-hidden edge to his voice.

"I think I could help with that."

---

The morning news. Four calls placed, a frantic brother reassured, Stress is sitting a cafe on the corner of Elm and 5th. Her gut flutters with nerves but Evil X can see her expression is calm from her position in the background of the shot. The news anchor is a pretty blond-haired, blue-eyed young woman blathering on about how the cafe apparently is the oldest one in the city and some other historical nonsense. Out of shot of the camera, a desperate, dog-eared petty thief is running for his life down 6th street, the hulking figure of Spatter hot on his heels.

They round a corner, onto 5th. Past the cafe, the startled reporter, the public shrieking as their morning is disrupted. Stress nearly throws up as her heart launches itself into her throat but she's... There's a plan and she's going to stick to it.

So she stands up, small and in the background of the shot, but her bright pink jacket makes her stand out. She opens her mouth, expression going scared like a civilian's, and screams just as she had been told to. It's not for long, barely a second or two all told, but it's enough to have the people near her cringing away, blood trickling from their eyes and from where their fingernails dig into their skin in trying to cover their ears.

Spatter freezes in his tracks, pupils mere pinpricks as the sudden outpouring of blood triggers something deep and wild in him. The camera shakes, the frightened camera man ducking down to avoid notice but carefully recording what's about to happen, as if sensing that whatever happens next is about to be important.

The hero turns towards Stress, eyes wild, and although she's scared out of her mind, she stands her ground. Her voice barely even shakes as she speaks.

"S-stop. Stop running, can't you see you're scaring people? You nearly ran me over!" In the eyes of the camera Stress looks like a frightened civilian gone civil defender in pink, the morning light casting her in gold and the cafe's shadow creeping over Spatter's massive, muscled-out form to cast him in darkness and grey. The lack of harsh lighting makes it even more obvious when he starts sniffing the air, darting eyes pausing on all the bloodied hands and finally resting on the woman who caused the damage.

The world has insisted, long and loud, that he is a hero and with that comes certain ingrained responsibilities. Stress is Valkerie. Splatter fixes his gaze on her and with a snarl, he moves.

The camera catches it in perfect, awful clarity when his arm goes through her stomach and her blood starts pooling on the floor. Her expression is so betrayed.

From his place on his clean, white couch at home, Evil X turns the TV off.

---

Stress is buried with honors and all media depictions of Valkerie as a monster cease as the streets are made "safe" from the super villain. Instead, news programs and talk shows take up a new crusade, this one against the "heroes" that protected the city and the governing bodies that controlled their movements. Mr. Goodtimes has his name dragged through the mud, and each day his brother comes home with stories about how frazzled Trigometric is, Evil X has to hide his smile.

Seeming to pick up on the way things are turning, Clockwork disappears from the public eye while Poultryman steps up the showmanship, making more appearances in public spaces to egg government buildings and steal petty amounts of scrap metal from junk yards and factory scrap heaps. The heroes that give chase, usually Xenon and Krypton, end up causing more damage than they actually prevent.

Ivy-Over- shocked at the public outrage about the apartments left in shambles after her particularly brutal battle against Zyon- rather predictably ends up snapping, although not in any way Evil X expected.

She ends up going to the news and telling them everything. Public outrage rises anew.

There's a riot in town square and Matchstick and Reaper are sent in to stop it. Thirteen people die, kindly Mr. TFC one of them. Xisuma comes home, collapses into Evil X's arms, and cries.

Things have to change. And so they do.

---

Midnight and two figures meet on a roof top somewhere overlooking the domed silhouette of city hall. The first wears a set of armor shaded in green and grey, a purple visor over his eyes and an oxygen-filter over the lower half of his face. The second figure has wings, stretched wide to block out the light of the crescent moon above.

Matchstick. Poultryman.

Xisuma. Grian.

Matchstick tilts his head to the side, drawing himself up to his full height to loom over the far shorter villain. "The status quo is falling apart, Poultryman. Does the deal still hold?"

Poultryman rolls his head to make it clear he had just rolled his eyes, the purple insignia on his mask flashing to display his annoyance. "Yeah yeah, I've spread the word to the others and they're not as crazy as the news likes to make 'em out to be. No one has hurt your precious 'E-X,' nor do they have any plans to. Too much trouble to mess with beyond trying to keep him out of whatever crime scene we'll be making, and that's hard enough as is. Your brother has a habit of making himself hard to track and it's getting... troubling."

The hero's posture suddenly goes as stiff as his namesake, smoke starting to hiss from the vents carefully built into his suit. "Troubling?"

Violet wings flap once, twice, before pulling tight against Poultryman's back and not for the first time, Matchstick curses himself for never bothering to learn what his various wing positions mean. The villain in question just rolls his shoulders back and settles into a careful parade rest that gives nothing away, expression pensive.

"Xisuma..." Matchstick flinches back, the careful line between them wavering at the name. "What exactly do you about your brother?"

A hesitant head tilt and he taps his fingers along his leg, thinking back to when he had last spent more than a few fleeting hours with his twin at a time.

"He likes sweet foods, even if he pretends he doesn't. Has more money invested in Derp Coin than he probably should. Likes red and black but gets fussy if anyone calls him a goth. Never seems to sleep, or eat regular meals, but he never seems to forget anything either. Best brother I could ever ask for- he loves me, I know that for sure. All the important stuff. Why?"

A wisp of cloud drifts overhead, casting a brief shadow over the pair, and in the sudden darkness Matchstick could swear that Poultryman had pulled a frown. Then the moment passes and the villain is back to his usual inscrutable self, the only emotion in his body language being what he had put there intentionally. His wings remain tight to his back.

"Then I think you might be in for a bit of a surprise one day, Matchstick. Here's to hoping you can roll with the coming storm."

---

Evil X is beloved by the HEP network. Regardless of Grian's intention in putting him in contact with them- or even why the villain knew of the group to start with- his repeated contributions to their food stocks made him an opening among them and his ability to make and exploit connections made him their hero. If you were desperate, hungry, in need? Evil X could get you whatever you needed at the cost of a simple favor.

When it came to the price of a life, a favor is a small thing to ask indeed. Is it any wonder that they became so loyal to him? So when Evil X began asking questions about some of the city's more sensitive secrets and its shadier underbelly, it was only natural that they told him.

From the tall man with green skin, he learned the best places to dump things so that they disappeared. From a sleepy-looking fellow with a bandana, he learned the locations of the best drug dealers, and from those dealers he learned of their suppliers, their manufacturers, the places where heroes never walked. From the man with glasses, he learned about the back doors and hidden routes through the biggest, most important buildings, the places where they held people until they could make them disappear.

And with this information, Evil X's services expanded even further. Drugs for the addicts, as contaminant-free and trust-worthy as he could find them. Ways to make people appear and disappear in the eyes of the law (and the occasional abusive spouse). Alcohol, cigarettes- and most importantly, information.

Or rather, black mail. If you wanted to know something on someone, Evil X became the person to go to. Months of careful manipulation had spread his name and his reach through all levels of the city and people from all walks of life took advantage of her services, although usually all meetings were held over the phone and through a voice changer fashioned to look just like his twin's mask. The secrecy only increased his popularity, as people just love a good mystery and a grey-shaded crime boss made a lovely story indeed.

And soon, this caught the intention of another of the city's fabled figures- the mad scientist who lived deep in the underbelly of the city, a place where no light shone. The man, the myth, the legend... Void.

But then, myths never were all that accurate, especially with things like names.

---

Curly blond hair, brown cardigan, a ripped white lab coat. Calculating purple eyes and a wide, wide eerily white grin. Short and stocky with a complexion like a ripe peach, the blue light coming off the lights overhead casting hazy shadows over his form, everything about the good doctor is simultaneously creepy and a soft sort of handsome- he has to say, he's impressed. The mythical Zedaph lives up to the city's dark rumors of him and he says as much, which prompts that grin to grow all the wider.

"Ah, hello Weaver! Y'know, I kind of thought you'd be shorter. And down here a lot sooner, I almost could say I missed you~!" Evil X balks as the scientist steps forward and grips his chin to tilt his head down, purple eyes wandering over his scarred features.

"It's not like you make yourself easy to find- and that's not my name." Zedaph shakes his head, leaning his face up with just scant inches between them.

"Little spider, you might be pretty good at hearing things but you're awful at listening. If you have large enough ears, you'd find you're just about the most talked about thing in the underground these days-"

"Do spiders have ears...?"

"-so like it or not, your web is big enough that people have been spotting it in odd places, which means your twin will probably catch on soon. Which means..." Here Zedpah spins away to walk to the opposite wall, pressing a few buttons on his tablet which make the underground laboratory brighten considerably. Evil X tries not to feel bereft at the sudden loss of contact. "Your plans are gonna have to hit double time. And I love me a good speed potion!"

Speechless, Evil X just nods as the scientist opens a previously hidden door and pulls out a laptop case from inside, turning to present it to him with a fiercely proud expression on his face.

"Knock 'em dead darling. I can't wait to see you rock their world~!"

---

What does the end of an era look like? It's not a sudden collapse of civilization, people screaming and running through the streets. It's not the violent murder of the governmental leaders or riots against the past order. It's not as clear cut as all that. Nor is it so subtle that people look around one day and go huh, as the world around them had shifted beneath their feet without their notice. Indeed, there are many who saw the tide rising and were all too happy to watch the waters sweep in and away.

It goes like this.

The super villains go missing. First one week goes by with no wild scheme or dangerous incident, then two, then three. The higher ups are frantic with worry, running constant meetings and keeping the super heroes out on the streets for as long as they could without the heroes themselves rioting. It keeps Matchstick out of the way of Weaver, and at the moment, that's all the thought he can afford to spare his twin. It's for the best, really. The next step is important.

Across every government-issued computer in the city, an email is issued out. Personalized, first middle last name, parents' names, chidlrens' names. An alphabetical list of every law the person in question had broken in the last ten years, the number of witnesses who saw them do it, sometimes video footage or photo-copied documents if the crime was serious enough to warrant more concrete proof. What the punishments for those crimes would be. What could be done, if those punishments were waived for money or fame.

Nearly a thousand people get an email in the span of 24 hours. (Evil X never wants to write another email ever-fucking-again. None. Ever.) The heroes also receive an email detailing what laws were broken by denying them rights, food, decent living conditions and overtime pay, as well as the names of several lawyers who would work for them for free if the email was shown to them within three days time.

Every email is emblazoned with a web-like logo with a bright red "X" sitting in the middle like a bloody spider. Though some plucky tech people attempt to track the emails back to the sender, their every attempt is rebuffed by the impossible firewalls built into the computer the messages were sent from. As imagined, chaos in its most understated form ensues.

The city officials scramble to keep their sinking ship from falling apart and the little people kept cooped up in square offices and cell blocks come crawling out of the woodwork to jump ship. Some of the heroes, such as Xenon, Matchstick, and Shank try desperately to hold things together, but others like Reaper head for the nearest legal office and hole up with a team of vicious prosecutor attorneys. Meanwhile, the civilians go about their business, unaware of what is going on in the ivory towers far above their notice.

Xisuma comes home to fin their apartment empty, and although betrayal sits like a rock in his gut, his guts still squirm with desperate, aching fear. (No... please, no.)

The super villains make their reappearance with flair, setting the stage for the next act. Each one takes to a corner of the city, working in pairs to capture civilians and hold them hostage en mass, their efforts to wide spread for the remaining heroes to deal with in one go. From here, walking along a quiet street and watched by hundreds of frightened eyes- a captive audience- Weaver makes his debut as he makes his way to the city capital.

Tall, whip-thin enough to make his proportions lean more towards slenderman than super model, and dressed in red and black armor with a matching helmet and visor, Weaver cuts an imposing figure as he makes his way up the white marble steps of the capital building to where a nervous-looking reporter stands. She straightens up at his approach though and with a nod to her camera crew, she starts asking questions just in time for Poultryman to swoop in and land beside the newest super villain, expression stern but a clear presence of support.

In his hands a laptop is clutched.

---

The demands are simple in theory, but Xisuma feels his heart thunder in his throat at every point on the list.

The week would be split into three types of days. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays would proceed as normal and the heroes and villains could go at each other as they pleased. Fridays would be reserved for the villains to do as necessary without hero interference under the caveat that no blood would be spilled, and Sundays heroes could have the same. Tuesdays and Saturdays, no one would fight, a proper break for everyone.

The villains would keep to their side of the bargain, Weaver says darkly as he stares directly into camera, just so long as the heroes kept to theirs. And measures would be taken for anyone who chose not to comply. Xisuma's brain goes fuzzy with static as the super villain makes a few other demands, something about fair wages and from when to when each group could operate, but his gaze remains locked to where he can just barely make out his twin's face through his visor. The words filter through him, dismissed into a soft numbing blur.

The air suddenly feels chilled on his skin, fingers twitching in his lap, a rough, twisting feeling in his gut like the bottom of his stomach just dropped away. He feels trapped, unable to move from the couch, from the wrong side of the screen. Oh, he thinks hazily to himself, he's about to be sick. Hmm, ought to do- something. About all of- of this.

Gods... What did his brother do?

---

An era ends like this- Poultryman sweeps Weaver away in his arms and in his place, Evil X comes home. Xisuma watches his brother come through the door, eyes glued to his brother's face even as Evil X places his keys on the table by the door and takes off his shoes. There's a gentle realization bubbling up that this is the first time he's seen his brother's bare face with his own eyes, without the tint of a visor between them, in far too long. His twin's got paler as of late, making the eye bags and scars stand out all the more.

"You're home." The words hang in the air and Evil X sags at their weight, leaning against the door as if to prop himself up for the conversation to come. His arms hang behind his back, a laptop case dangling in his grip.

"You know this isn't home any more than the tree was."

"We- we were supposed to be safe here. This was where we were going to stay!" Xisuma is going red now, rising up from the couch in his anger, and Evil X watches him with the dredged-up calm of a man resigned to drowning. Good, anger he could handle.

"You thought this was where we would stay, got us a nice, normal apartment that looks like it's out of a fashion plate without asking me. You think I like staying in this pretty white bird cage that you bought by selling yourself to the most corrupt people around? This place isn't any safer for us than the tree was, and at least in the park we had company!"

"Says the one who fell into bed with the literal bad guy! At least here you weren't getting into fights every other week."

"No, now you're the one doing that!" They're shouting at each other. They never do that. An acrid taste fills Evil X's mouth and he gulps it back, along with a few words he just knows he would regret if he said them. A deep breath, a slow in and out. "Look, just. Don't be a hypocrite, okay?"

Xisuma pauses in his wind up for a proper tirade, eyes wary and wet. "What?"

"You aren't the only self sacrificing moron here."

"...Oh." Yeah. Oh.

Here Evil X takes another breath, resisting the urge to hold it, then extends his arm to show his twin the laptop case. "Hey."

Xisuma folds his arms behind his back, looking at his feet and then up again, shuffling back a step. "Yeah?"

"Got you a present. You always were the best of us, so. Here. It was the last part of the deal I kinda set up, a kind of fail-safe slash card to add to your deck. This laptop has evidence of my entire operation, every backroom deal, every piece of black mail, every person I've had killed or vanished or what have you. Everything I've been up to for the last however long. And... it's for you to read. It's not gonna be fun, but like, I trust you so it's okay. If you read this and really, honestly think I've crossed a line you can't forgive me for, you can turn this into the police and... I'll deal with whatever you choose to do with me. No loop holes, no take-backs."

Here Evil X leans his full weight against the door and lets his arm swing back down to his side, gaze sliding off to the side and a melancholy smile curling at his lips and pulling at his scars. "I trust you. I trust you. It... It'll be okay, yeah? Just make whatever choice you need to. Don't hesitate." He doesn't promise anything, keeps the words 'I'll be okay' from spilling into the air between them, but instead allows a careful submission to enter his posture, head bowed and figure loose and hanging.

It... might not be alright, but it will be right and that will have to be good enough. (It has to be.)

Xisuma chokes, a sob rising in his throat as his brave, strong brother gives up before his eyes. The air in his lungs freezes solid at the thought of having to choose whether or not his twin lives or dies, because that's what this is, he can't pretend that the city wouldn't execute him at the slightest chance, agreements be damned. His gaze tracks wildly from the laptop case to the top of his brother's head to the window, as if trying to see if anyone could be watching, could make the choice for him.

It's not fair. It's not fair, why him, why? He was so good, tried so hard- his heart is loud in his ears, breath rattling in and out in wheezing gasps- sobbing now, utterly sobbing. Evil X doesn't look up, doesn't try to comfort him. Won't even move, gods.

Fuck it.

Evil X startles, back banging against the door as Xisuma rushes forward and rips the case from his hands, only to chuck it into the far corner before throwing himself into his arms. On instinct Evil X catches him and holds him close just in time for Xisuma to bury his face in the crook of his neck and burst into messy, tearful sobs. They shake together and Evil X lets his head thump back gently against the door, eyes hazily gazing up at the ceiling.

"It's not- *hic*- it's not fair! I didn't want this!"

"I know. I know." He runs his hand over his twin's back, his taller form bowing forward to shelter his brother's smaller one. Somehow, even now it feels like Xisuma is the larger one between them, solid and warm in his arms.

"Why do I have to choose? I never wanted this! Why?! Why would you do this for me?"

"You're my brother. I love you." A gasping, wet sob against his neck and his twin lets out a moan like a dying cow, low and agonized. Evil X focuses on a soot mark on the white ceiling, tears stinging his eyes and running down his face to plop softly into his brother's hair.

"But why?!" Screaming. Gods, he can't-

"I love you. I love you." Rocking now, back and forth, gentle, just as he had when he had come home from beating up the men who had tried to lay stomp out his brother's heart, scarred and beaten and bloody. I love you, he had said then, and he repeats it now.

Later, much later, Xisuma will have to boot up the laptop and read through its contents. He will try to burn it, first, but Zedaph's work is more durable than most and Evil X will watch as his twin will dump his emotions into his flames, desperately trying to stoke them hotter and brighter. Later, a choice will have to be made.

But for now, Evil X will hold his brother, warm and safe, and let him cry.