#and cleo being gone again. and the WAY cleo went out…

[kraviolis]

i am…… really fucking sad about cleo. god. she became one of my absolute favorite characters on nopixel after i watched a single stream of her. it fucking sucks that people started sending saturn death threats over a fucking rp character and especially that it got to the point where she had to completely shelve cleo again bcus it was fucking with her mental health. im just. god. thats so upsetting. i genuinely wish saturn the best and i know she’s gotta do what she’s gotta do to keep her sanity as someone who does this shit for a living. im really really really gonna miss cleo. and the way she got shelved again also just hurts. man. fuck.

[dmwrites]

The End seemed safe. Cleo thought. Nothing was safe, therefore, the most dangerous place to be would probably be the safest. She knew it didn’t make any sense, but nothing did, with gravity losing its pull and blocks getting sucked up into the sky and the damn moon not so much setting anymore.

Cleo went to the End by herself, and she regretted it. Not just becasuse the endermen were agitated and began pulling her rotting corpse of a body apart, but because she was alone. But the endermen were annoying too. Cleo understood it, to some extent. The world was ending, and it was either pulling up the few blocks of endstone that made up the ground under their feet, or pull her apart. They tore at her, her skin and bones taken from her body with screams to echo her own. They stayed angry, even if she didn’t look at them.

Cleo stopped fighting after a while. As far as she knew, everyone in the overworld was probably dead or gone now, so what really was the point? She was alive, but in the hands of terrified endermen. Soon, surely, she would join her friends in the afterlife. At least, that’s what she hoped.

And when the end of the world came and went, what remained in its wake was everywhere. Cleo lay in pieces, watching the world around her fall apart in ways that didn’t even make sense. She tried to call out for death, but there was no sound. The very little bit of her undead consciousness that remained held on, watching in horror.

And then, there was silence. For a long, long time. And Cleo was alive. Well, she was dead, but she’d always been dead. Death, it seemed, didn’t want her.

Her body lay in pieces, unseeing, hurting, and she wondered, in thoughts that took eons of effort to construct, if she would remain in this vacuum of time and space forever- almost nothing, but painfully enough.

And then, something changed. It wasn’t obvious at first, as the pain consumed her constantly. But then something touched her cheek. Something smooth, soft, warm, so different from every feeling that had consumed her for so long. Cleo couldn’t see, couldn’t speak, was torn so far apart that she was hardly anything at all, and yet she felt the warm touch of a human being. And then, a touch on her eyelid. Then her bottom lip. Then her neck. Someone was putting Cleo back together.

The pain was still there, but lessened now, day after day, as her body was reconstructed. Nerves and muscle and tissue were woven into place, and Cleo became more and more aware. First it was touch, the tugging of string, the swipes on a hand. Then smell. The person smelled of flowers, of sun-soaked soil. Then she could hear, a gentle humming that soaked into her very skin.

And then, one day, Cleo could see. Hands pulled away from her eyes, and there was a face hovering over her own. Long brown hair curtained Cleo’s face from the outside world, wherever that might have been. Cleo blinked hard, and the face came into focus. A long, angular face and wide blue eyes. Familiar. Not here, not in the reality Cleo had been pulled apart in. But familiar.

“Hi Cleo,” Pearl said. “You can hear me, can’t you? Blink twice if you can- your voice box isn’t re-installed yet, sorry ‘bout that.”

Cleo blinked twice, and Pearl’s face lit up in a huge smile.

“Cleo! Oh, I’m so glad you can understand! Golly, I… I’ll keep plucking away at this- you! Just… stay with me, okay?”

Pearl sewed Cleo back together with strings of sunlight and moonlight, all intertwined together to make her skin whole again. Gentle touches as she moved muscle and bone back into place, somehow reforming Cleo like she was clay. Pearl talked as she worked, fingers flying with hesitant assurance over Cleo’s body.

“I just never expected my cousin to actually come to visit. Silly girl.”

“It was horrible, just horrible to fall into that hole and not know where we were going to come back out. My wonderful friends, each one of them popped out of existence, one after the other.”

“They’re safe now, though. I saw to that. You will be too, Cleo. We all will. I promise.”

“I knew I had to find the rest of you, bring us to our new home.”

And at some point, Cleo opened her mouth and spoke.

“Pearl.”

“Oh golly goo! Cleo! Oh my god! You scared the life out of me! Does it hurt at all, does everything seem right?” hands flew to Cleo’s throat, gently palpating and examining. Pearl had a huge smile on her face.

“It doesn’t hurt. Not at all,” Cleo answered.

Pearl laughed, a kind of choked up noise that was so painfully human, something Cleo thought she’d never hear again. For the first time in a very long time, Cleo felt hope.

“Oh, I’m so glad, Cleo. You don’t know how afraid I was. Still am, because you don’t exactly have all your bits back, now do you. There is still your legs, and more nerve endings…”

As Pearl went to put a hand to Cleo’s face, Cleo grabbed her wrist. “How are you doing this, Pearl? This shouldn’t be possible. What you’re doing is… I don’t know, magic?”

Pearl shook her head. “Cleo, please just let me work. It’s not… just trust me, okay?” She wrenched her hand out of Cleo’s grasp.

Cleo knew this was real. She could reach out, touch Pearl’s hair, her face, her hands. She could see Pearl work now, leaned against an obsidian tower, looking out over a vastness of endstone, and darkness beyond that. An end island she distinctly remembered watching fall apart into nothingness. But here it was. Whole. Here she was. Almost whole. And there was Pearl, finishing up the stitching on Cleo’s legs with golden string that seemed to shine with a light that came from within itself.

Cleo stood.

“Who are you?”

Pearl walked her, arm in arm, to the portal in the middle of the island.

“I’m Pearl.”

Cleo looked at her. Underlit from the swirling portal like this, she looked tired. Her sunflower crown was wilting. Her green dress was coated with endstone dust. She was Pearl, but Cleo knew she was someone else too.

“Are you coming with me?”

“No. I’ll meet you there. I have others to find,” Pearl reached forward and hugged Cleo tight before stepping backwards into the end portal and disappearing.

The End was quiet now. Endermen had reappeared at some point, strolling among the reconstructed pillars and paying her no mind. Cleo looked over the island in grim amazement, more questions in her mind then answers. She ran a hand down her arm, assuring herself once more that she was real, she was as whole as a rotting corpse could be, and all of this was real too. It was. She was. Despite it all, she was going to be okay. She was going to see her friends again.

Cleo jumped into the end portal and closed her eyes.

——

The first day on the Hermitcraft season nine server, Cleo found herself counquoring a woodland mansion (“who on earth does this first day?” Cleo asked herself multiple times) with Impulse, Gem, and Pearl.

Pearl and Cleo died to a creeper explosion at the same time, and ended up respawned in the bed they’d set just for that purpose.

“Hi.”

“Hi Cleo.”

Cleo looked at Pearl. She was dressed in a pair of shorts and a hoodie, hair thrown back messily. Cleo almost wouldn’t have believed that this was the same girl who had stood over her in a flowing green dress, with her magic needle and thread, if it wasn’t for the knowing smile Pearl gave her.

“I guess I owe you,” Cleo said.

“You don’t owe me a thing,” Pearl replied, shaking her head.

“But-”

“Cleo! Pearl! Impulse just found a library and I’m pretty sure he’s gonna get blown up by creepers! You gotta come watch this!” Gem interrupted, yelling at them from a broken window.

“Coming!” Pearl replied, and took Cleo’s hand. “Come on, Cleo. We’ve got much more fun ahead of us. The past can wait.”

Cleo followed Pearl, still with more questions then answers. But Pearl was right. They were all together again, and there was much fun to be had. Cleo pushed the memories of pain, of light, of hope, into a small corner of her mind, and went to watch Impulse climb a ladder. He did get blown up, as it turned out. And it was hilarious.

[izelthewashbear]

The one part of 3rd Life Renchantyn/Treebark we never talk about

Whenever we talk about Treebark/Renchantyn/Martn and Ren in context of 3rd Life, it's almost always about the beheading - the ultimate test of trust between them two, where Ren claimed his place as the Red King, and Martyn finally fullfilled his duty of being his loyal hand.

However, there's one part we don't talk about even half as much, while I think we should.

"On the 3rd Life server, there is a rule - that if Red attacks yee, yee may attack the Red back."

The second half of their test was to see whether they trusted each other enough to not attack each other despite being on two opposite ends of the spectrum - with Martyn being green and Ren being red. Ren passed the test with flying colors right away - despite pointing out the possibility that as a red, he could attack Martyn, he never did - he never even grabbed a weapon to attack him with.

And what about Martyn?

Immediately after Ren pointed out the rule, he was holding a cobweb in his hand - so that if Ren went on to attack him, he'd be able to trap him. He ran away and only came back upon Ren saying that he won't do it.

However, he was given a choice. Ren punched him, not even shedding any of his hearts - but as per that rule, Martyn could attack him back. He was armed with both his sword and Red Winter, he even started placing the cobwebs so that Ren couldn't run.

"Are you with Red King to the end, or will you take Dogwarts for yourself?"

He could very well slay Ren again at that moment. It would not break any rules - Ren attacked him first, so it would count as self defense. Ren was ready for that, maybe even expected that.

"No! I won't do it!"

But Martyn didn't do it. For that one moment, the guy who mostly travelled the server and didn't have the place to call home aside from Dogwarts, decided to trust his only friend and not take everything they worked for together all for himself. He allows the walls he built around himself to crumble ever so slightly, to let that one man in.

...

But what if he didn't?

I can't stop thinking about what would happen if at that moment, he hesitated. If at that moment, despite spending so much time with Ren, he still didn't trust him enough. If his survival instincts kicked in and he attacked Ren again, making the Red King the first fallen player. If he remained at Black Heart Altar alone, with Dogwarts all to himself. If he decided that if not many players trust him, it's better if he doesn't trust anyone, as well. The walls are not ready to be broken down yet.

And then imagine the rest of the games afterwards.

Last Life, where he teams up with Southlanders first - if he turns on them, he'd be outnumbered, so it's like forcing himself into submission. Him hesitating to join Shadow Alliance - he killed Ren last time, why is that man trying to put trust in him again?

Double Life, where he ends up separating from his soulmate either way. He would end up backstabbing Cleo, anyway, so it's better if he starts on his own. Ren still tries to get his attention, but why? What's up with this guy and his weird obsession with his first murderer?

Limited Life. Ren is suddenly gone, so there is nobody else around to pester Martyn. The walls gets thicker and thicker. Scott is nice enough to him, but that pisses him off even more. Reminds him of Ren. This time, he backstabs him with no hesitation, and that leads him to victory. Why trust people, when working on his own led him to his goal?

...

Anyways I have a new idea for a treebark fic, idk if you guys are interested?

UPDATE: It's here, chapter 1 is finished! Enjoy, and brace yourself :>

[oh-snapperss]

creature comfort

“We won’t win today,” Cleo says, and Etho knows she’s right. Knows their time has been running out since the first secret was whispered to them in voices all too familiar, has known that this day was coming, has known that all this time, it’s not been a question of if–it’s been a question of when. 

They’re going to die today. Distantly, Etho wonders if the domesticity they’ve worked for will die with them, or if it will follow them back home. 

Will his home ever be a physical place again? Home is where the hearth is, where the warmth is, where the world is shut out and it’s just the three of them. 

Home is where Cleo is. 

“That’s alright,” Etho smiles instead of voicing all of that, wishing, of all things, that he didn’t still have that awful cough that Cleo had insisted he rest over for a few days. “We’ll be alright.” 

They’ll be dead–and what are the dead, if not alright? The dead don’t have coughs, or pain, or fear. They’re just dead. Etho thinks he might not mind it so much, this time. He’s finally learned to spend his time wisely, and he’s built a home no flaming arrow could ever take down. 

Just by the cow pen, there’s a stupid little porch Etho had built a while back. They’re nowhere near it now, but every night he and Cleo had watched the sunset, drank a final cup of tea, and turned in to sleep over gossip and giggles only they could draw from each other this time ‘round. Before, Bdubs had made him laugh like that–now, Etho wonders how long before there’s a sword at his throat. 

Even so, while Cleo laughs and watches him set Scar’s porch on fire, Etho hopes he might have the privilege of watching the sunset from the porch one last time. He’d survive the day, if only for another sunset with Cleo. 

BANG. 

Tango’s gone–Etho knows it in his heart. Surely he should feel an ache for him, should ask how he went. Instead, it’s easy to accept it. 

The wardens are fun. That’s all they are, now. Before, they had been terrors, then the answer to a desperate prayer he and Grian had made. The carnage of those terrifying beasts feel muted compared to before, but with the wind flying through his hair, the elated cries of Cleo in front of him, Etho can’t care. Not this time. They lead two clear to the middle of the server before they’ve decided to finish having their fun, and Cleo’s just stepping up some rocks when she says it. 

“You’re my favorite, you know that? You’ve always been my favorite.” 

He does know, he does know now. He’d guessed it that first sunset, when Cleo sat down with a giddy smile to recount their day. He’d thought it, when she’d wrapped a blanket around his shoulders after his failures and rested her head on his shoulder without a word. He’d lived it, when she had shouted that she would kill him if he tried to kill her–but was reassured otherwise that night on the porch again, with the curse ebbing from his bones. 

Today, he knows it in the blatant rebellion against what’s supposed to be the end, the dread, the fear. 

“You’re mine too.” Etho grins back, and knows that they’ll see his smile even through the mask–knows they’ve come to recognize it in his tone and way his eyebrows scrunch together. . 

They wind up in the sky base with Grian–Grian, who hasn’t quite reached the same conclusion they have. Etho knows by the shadows under his eyes he won’t give up, that he’ll fight clear to the end. Once upon a season, Etho had been the same. 

Not this time. Never this time. 

Around ten minutes to sunset, Etho and Cleo set down their dripstone and bows, and sit on the edge of the cobblestone wall. 

“I don’t think we’re gonna make it back to our base for it this time,” Etho jokes, nudging his shoulder into Cleo’s. Cleo laughs, a carefree thing, and wrinkles her nose. 

“I don’t think we’re gonna make it back for it any time, if we’re being honest.” She leans back, one hand half behind her to support her weight. 

“I know,” Etho says. He brings his leg up to his chest, wrapping his arms around it. Behind them, cobblestone is placed–Grian, ever the survivor. “It was nice, though.” 

“It was nice!” Cleo beams. “Are you alright with this?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Etho hums. “‘s not so bad. Dying with a friend.” 

“It won’t be,” Cleo agrees. 

Because that’s just it, isn’t it? Etho’s never died like this–he’s died at the flames of an arrow shot while protecting his king, he’s died in fights after his allies were killed. Hell, he’s died hand in hand with a soulmate hellbent on killing him now–but he’d been in a frenzy then, a rage-induced thing meant to burn up the place that had never been a true home to them. 

He thinks he won’t mind dying with someone. 

The sun sets in brilliant hues of orange and pink, and they sit together, this final tradition not lost in the face of inevitability. Just as the first star twinkles, Grian comes over, hoisting them back to their feet. 

“They’re coming,” he says. 

It’s time. 

They shoot a few arrows, break some dripstone, all to no avail–but that’s alright, he’s got Cleo, and they’ve got him. 

But oh, the games are never kind, are they? Etho slips, his foot landing weird somehow–and he’s whistling through the air towards the ground at a speed too fast. It knocks the breath from his lungs when he lands–does he hit the clutch? Stars, he doesn’t actually know, because there’s arrows shot at him, shouts of glee from the hunters, and suddenly Etho’s not Etho, he’s just prey–and prey only know to do one thing. 

Run. 

Etho flies forward, dragging his sword out. There’s not many safe spaces left on the server–stars, Grian had even mentioned their base was but a crater in the hill. 

But the porch… the porch was intact. Supposedly. 

He enderpearls, and enderpearls again, and it’s still not enough. The screams behind him are closer, and closer, and then further–and oh, Etho knows it’s time. He’s dead, he’s gone, he’ll be but a wisp of the wind in a few minutes whether he likes it or not. 

And he won’t die by Cleo. 

Cleo, Cleo, Cleo. Oh, he’d not meant it to be like this. He’d meant to die with a smile, right by her side–just as they were meant to die by his. This wasn’t the plan, this wasn’t the plan. A sob claws its way up his throat, the beginnings of the blind panic he’d never meant to feel tonight. He’s going to die, alone, without the comfort of his Cleo. 

Home. He wants to go home. 

Home is in the air, a hundred blocks above him. He’ll never make it–but he can make it back to the porch, the one place of peace. Now, he can feel the twinge of something broken in his ankles, probably from the fall–and the cuts, the bruises, the blood scent thick in his nose. He’s so tired. 

He wants to die at home, he wants to die at home. 

“Oh, he sounds like a wounded animal… let’s put him out of his misery.” A voice said. Cold fear grips Etho’s heart, and he stumbles forward–the porch is in sight!

Let him die at home. Let him die at home. 

A shadow fills his vision, and Etho’s not even had time to lift his shield before blinding pain fills his stomach, and it’s over. 

He’s not allowed that creature comfort of dying at home. 

[blueishspace]

Scott says Pearl's memory is selective so I rewatched her DL pov.

And he's kinda right? But also is doing much of the same thing.

Part 1/3

Episode 1 p.1 Communication and Strategy.

Let's start from the basic thing everyone even non fans with friends that are into the series know. Scott abandoning Pearl.

...

Which is something he doesn't do, not really at least, that would imply that they were allied in some way and he left. He might be her soulmate but that does not mean he has to team with her. By all counts It's simply a game mechanic and nothing more, she isn't entitled to an alliance with him. Sure there's an expectation for it to happen but it is not a rule, you can't abandon something you never had.

What about Last Life? It doesn't matter, not when it comes to Pearl, alliances almost never stick trough different seasons. It matters to Cleo and Scott: One of the reasons Scott and Cleo teamed up was because in Last Life they didn't have the chance to be in the alliance for as much as they wanted since Cleo had died and gone to red and then Scott went to red soon after Cleo went back to yellow. It was an alliance decided and agreed upon based on the fact they both felt robbed by the previous season. But the same doesn't apply to Pearl, it could have had she met them and talked to them about it but she didn't and so they likely interpreted it as her not caring about it.

Pearl interprets it as abandonment because ahe came in late, she doesn't understand the way the life series works yet. She expected the alliance and friendship to last from the previous season, it is not her fault either. It is entitlement born not out of selfishness but by a lack of communication.

Pearl THINKS Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss has value because she sees Scott and Cleo together but she lacks the context for that and ends up using it as a reason fro Scott to not reject her, at the same time Scott feels that Pearl doesn't care and is expecting his loyalty because of a game mechanic neither has control over and even worse, at least by his standards, an old alliance. He has a very weird definition of what loyalty is but it's something he cares about strongly and it something vital to his character.

And Scott is definitely is hurt by Pearl's actions and It's really really obvious: Scott is a man of logic, he is rational, he sees he only has a life left and decides not to do a boogie kill because he might just die and go to red anyway, he sacrifices himself again and again to give his teammates better chances, ge does not care... But there he does something strategically stupid, not teaming with the person who's health he shares. He is emotionally hurt by what he percieves to be Pearl's lack of care, this is the first time since third life he acts out of emotion over logic. From Cleo's pov we see how much he panic when he realizes he's bonded to Pearl and that she is in the nether.

And even when Scott comes back to say something extra he doesn't target Pearl, he uses the horn to annoy Martyn. From his pov it is Pearl that betrayed him but he decides to be mean to Martyn instead of her. I think this says a lot more then words van about how he viewed this thing.

Episode 1 p.2 Cleo and Martyn are assholes.

Oh boy, those two on the other hand made everything much worse for Pearl.

Martyn ACTUALLY betrayed and abandoned Pearl, unlike Scott he wa working together with her. She had reason to expect him to stick with her especially after they were both refused by their soulmate partners. But he doesn't, despite everything, despite knowing she didn't take Scott's rejection well he still leaves her alone. Pearl does not actually begin to spiral when Cleo and Scott choose eachother over their soulmates, she begins to spiral only once Martyn decides that's it better to leave, when he decides being alone is better then being with her.

And Cleo... she eggs them both Scott and Pearl on so much. Like at least Scott tries to be civil and explain himself at the start but Cleo... well she is ruder during the entire conversation.

Even worse, most of the escalation is done by Cleo and Martyn getting louder at eachother and drowning out Scott's and Pearl's arguments. If the previous part was about how Scott's and Pearl's situation happened because of miscommunication then this is to say that it happened because Cleo and Martyn made it virtually impossible for communication to actually happen.

Episode 2 p.1: Snow and Scar(s)

I think everyone knows how it wasn't Pearl that came up with the powdered snow bit, it was started by Scar as a way to mess with Grian...

And not only that. Everyone usually thinks about the homewreckers during Double Life but Scar during the season does a lot of things towards making other soulmates pair distrust eachother, he's the one that makes the chicken games and I think he knows full well what he's doing. He knows what happened to Pearl and gives her a way to make it worse knowing that she is going to use it. And she does.

It does take a bit for Scott to notice, after at first he assumes she's just walking into powdered snow by accident... it takes a bit for him to suspect but what sticks with is so much she damages him. Also Scar actively searches for him to give him the snow too which makes things way worse.

And she does a lot of damage. First 4 hearts, then another 6 hearts. She does not eat to spite Scott but this only justifies him in his mind. She justifies herself saying that he has been taking damage so It's fair. Yet when she takes a bunch of damage getting goat horns and he steps in powdered snow using THE SAME EXACT LOGIC as her she takes it personally... And that It's because It's not actually logic, It's both them justifying their actions to themselves over admitting their mistakes and doing so in the same way...

Episode 2 p.2 How it could have been resolved and yet wasn't.

Still when Scott approaches Pearl soon after he's...civil. They aren't mean to eachother, sure Pearl says she's broken hearted but she's the only one that is antagonistic about it Scott actually feels bad about Tilly dying and he tries to explain himself and tries to make small talk... And he manages it, they talk and both of them still think they are in the right but things are fixable at this point in time. Scott explains the damage he's taken and while Pearl doesn't fully believe him It's a start.

And especially Scott says that he and Cleo had bonded the last session and when Pearl says that he can bond more he says that's It's going to take time. This means Pearl still wants a chance to be on a team with Scott and Scott still doesn't hate such an idea. They are still stuck blinded in their own head but in another timeline they are on a team already from the next session.

Except Scott accidentally says "Mine and Pearl's" instead of "Mine and Cleo's" when talking about his base. And Pearl starts manically claiming their base as her own... And CLEO is the one to first say that she's insane. (Cleo: I think she's lost it. Scott: I don't think she ever had it.) And this insane thing is going to stick with Pearl for the rest of the series.

Cleo is a big part because of how she deals with both Scott's and Pearl. She is probably the person Scott trusts the most other then himself and she completely supports him, she completely agrees with him on everything he says. Scott is functionally in an echo chamber in this season. A very sassy one considering their personalities.

Cleo also worsens Pearl this session...surprisingly while trying to help. She genuinely seems to be trying, she's careful and deliberate, subtly implies she should less alone and then states that just because they aren't on the same team doesn't mean Pearl can't be with someone else. She lacks the sarcasm that's usually in her voice and she seems to be genuinely trying to get Pearl to find allies for herself and not be alone...Since her and Scott chose eachother outside the bonds she too could choose to be with who she wanted. But Pearl doesn't listen and all she gets from it is convincing herself to be even more isolated.

The last nail in the coffin has to be Ren and BigB though, they die and immediately accuse her of being a villain a demoness and sorrounded by misfortune. Scott was defensive and Martyn was evasive and Cleo was sarcastic and Scar was manipulative but out of my entire rewatch of Pearl's pov this far it was the worst moment from Pearl's perspective. The most damage done to Pearl in Double Life was given by Ren.

Episode 3 Why is it Scar again, doesn't he have better things to do?

So we have found that Pearl's spiral was started by Martyn and worsened by Scar and then cleo and then Ren and bow It's Scar's turn again. Because session 2 ends with Pearl saying she was just wanting to help and session 3 starts with Scar convincing her to be actively a threat. He manipulated her into ruining the relationship with Scott once and now he's making her become what Ren said she was. So he can sell her stuff.

Now she meets again with Cleo and Scott and well... Nothing of particular importance happens in this one. Except one thing that Scott's says. (Scott's very infamous line "It's hard but once you widdle him down to nothing it works" about Jimmy is given It's actual context and it seems to not refer to Jimmy's self esteem at all so I don't know where that came from. ) Which gives Pearl the idea to annoy Scott even more.

Also important thing that happens soon is Scott saying sorry to Pearl without any sarcasm for taking damage as an olive branch and then suddenly shutting up as he processes that Pearl just created a dirt hut on his bridge. Even he doesn't tell her to take it down but suggests talking to Cleo about it since they build it. Pearl then suggests killing Cleo and even then Scott tries to calm her down by saying she can't because she is green. Pearl actually in canon comments that Scott is really nice to her and then Ren and Martyn fake burning down her base to get her attention.

[hmshermitcraft]

After Limited Life Grian passed on the message that the games were over, The Watchers were bored of them and their suffering, and wanted a new meal.

Now the players were free, but what is freedom when you’ve been living in a cycle of violence for years? What’s freedom when you’ve spent so long murdering those you once called friends, gaining and losing pets, experiencing death over and over again.

Cleo isn’t sure, but she tries to remember what she did before. They used to make statues, beautiful statues and sculptures of a variety of things, sometimes it was a gift for a friend, other times it was something they had been commissioned to make. So she starts that up again, crafting their feelings into art and creations, trying to process the trauma.

When Martyn had rocked up on her door in the middle of the night, months after Grian had set them all free, she’d been in the middle of a statue. They left their basement and opened the door, surprise covering her face as she saw Martyn. He looked worse for wear than she remembered, his phantom wings more torn than usual and his hair a mess, but most noticeably was the emptiness in his eyes.

Martyn took a step forward before collapsing against them, and her arms instinctively wrapped around him, holding him close to her. He let out a whimper and buried his face into their chest, tears streaming down his face.

“Hey, hey,” Cleo spoke softly to him, wrapping her arms around him tighter. “It’s okay,” she hummed, “what’s wrong?” Martyn said nothing, only crying harder.

Cleo pulled him inside, setting him on the couch next to them, his head on her lap. Martyn was still crying, but after a few minutes he calmed down enough to speak. “I can’t find Ren, anywhere. I thought since we were free he’d be back but I can’t find him anywhere. I’ve gone across the entire country, I’ve spoken to authorise, I’ve even asked Grian to ask the Watchers for help. But they refused, and now I have no hope.”

Martyn sobbed through the words, but Cleo understood, running their hands through his hair. “Hey, hey, it’s okay.” She hushed him, playing with his hair as they spoke. “Can you walk? I have something to show you.”

To Cleos surprise, Martyn nodded and sat up. She smiled at him, and grabbed his hand before leading him towards the basement. He trailed a little behind, but she kept the pace slow so he could keep up despite the clear stress and anxiety.

Once the two descended the stairs, Cleo’s current work came into view. It was a collection of statues, hearts all lined up in a row. Each heart had a line down the middle, each heart showing a double life pairing. Theirs was the one currently being worked on, and while her side was covered in stitches, Martyn’s had a phantom wing attached to his.

Martyn’s eyes widened at the sight, letting go of Cleo’s hand as he approached the heart statue. “It’s beautiful…” he said in surprise, and Cleo snorted at his tone.

“You don’t need to sound so shocked,” she said with an eyebrow raise.

“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that. I just, I thought you hated Double Life.”

“I hated the betrayal,” Cleo corrected him. “I hated the feeling of loneliness, I hated the fact I couldn’t feel like I could trust you. But you made it up to me in Limited Life, and even Pearl and Scott managed to reconnect at the end. When I was first freed, I went to the old school I taught at and I realised it wasn’t the same anymore, that I wasn’t the same anymore. The life games were predictable, we always knew how it would end. There was comfort in it, in a strange way. So when I was trying to figure out how to move on, I first wanted to make a tribute to my favourite season.”

Martyn turned his gaze to her, tears beginning to stream down his face again. “Cleo…” he trailed off, unable to speak.

“We’ll find Ren,” Cleo promised, “wherever he is. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but we’ll find him. We can find everyone, I’m not sure we can heal alone.” They paused for a moment, before smiling. “I’m glad you came to me Martyn.”

Cleo can't offer a magic solution. But then, they both know Martyn didn't expect that of her. There is no magic wand that can be waved, but there is understanding and a burden shared.

There is also rest. Forced on Martyn, of course, because he's a stubborn prick and would keep working if they didn't drag him to bed themself.

Cleo won't go back on their word. They'll find Ren. And they'll find the others. And they'll heal. Just like Martyn, now, sleeping soundly for the first time since the games began.

[walnut-tries-too-hard]

Session 6 double up info dump

Ok, so I'm obsessed with this idea. So it's time to share all of my thoughts on this headcannon.

There was a lot of panic, naturally. For one second, they're humans. The next, they're all knew hybrids.

Grian

-Grian had no idea that people's hybrid traits would be affected by the wild card.

-He knew that the animals would all be swapped but, when everything died, Skizz and Scar started freaking the fuck out because Grian all of a sudden didn't have wings.

-There were they dots, and then boom. He's a creeper like Doc.

-How Doc never exploded was an absolute mystery. Just the stress of Skizz and Scar alone nearly made him explode.

Renchanting

-Ren didn't immediately notice that he wasn't a dog. It was after Martyn started to freak tf out that he realized his hearing was VERY different. And he didn't have a tail.

-That was a fairly easy adjustment aside from this new strange instinct to fly??

-For Martyn, he suddenly had to keep himself very chill, lest he burn down their base. Again.

-Everytime Ren was a different hybrid he changed up his full title. Rather than Rendog; there was Renmoth, Rensheep/Renram, Renbird...ect.

-Those are actually all the differnent versions of Ren I went through trying to draw him.

-Martyn spent a lot of time with Tango trying to figure out how to handle the fire.

General/misc.

-Scott went from creaking, to human, to siren. Lovely whiplash. No flashbacks to limited life, what do you mean?

-Tango was struggling the whole session. He was already cold in the overworld but that was helped with jackets and all that. Now he was physically cold and he didn't know how to fix it. Why were overworlders so cold?!

-All of the lifers were used to being red with their typical hybrid traits. The red lives were a little more out of control than usual.

-Many people, such as Tango had to get used to not having a tail. His balance wasn't as bad as say...Impulse. He's a big guy, who'd depending on his tail far more than he thought.

-The very first change up Cleo got was being a dog. I guess you could say...DoggyCleo? (I'll see my way out). Scott jumped at the image of them as a human, as is. As a dog like Ren? Yeah, that was a surprise.

-Joel was just chilling then there was a poof around him and his ogre traits were gone. Not like he noticed. His wolves were dead.

-It was the same case for Bdubs. He was more focused on his horse. three dots and then it felt wrong to be in the sun. It even hurt a little bit. It took Joel looking over to realize he was looking at a phantom hybrid.

-People were willing to help each other to understand being a certain type of hybrid, like I said with Tango helping Martyn, and Scar definitely giving helpful advice to Joel.

-Sheep Ren at some point got stuck with goat Scar and bull Bdubs. They couldn't help from bonking into each other. Explained Zed, Beef, and Doc.

I'm obsessed with this idea, if you can't believe it.

Feel free to leave questions or request about this

[sunshine-daisies-library]

Request for John b routledge: reader and John b slow dancing while talking about their future together.

older | john b. routledge x fem!reader

summary: you and john b are the only ones that remain on the dance floor. the both of you can't help but reminisce on the past and look towards the future.

warnings: she/her pronoun usage, mentions of drinking and weed, partying

You weren’t sure how much time had passed by since you started swaying in John B’s arms. All you knew was that Sarah left a little after midnight with Kiara following suit, and Pope and Cleo went home soon after. JJ, ever the partier, continued through rounds of drinks and chasers until he ultimately ended up passed out on the couch. However, you and John B. remained awake, dancing along to the soft music playing from JJ’s speaker. You were grateful JJ was too far gone to complain that you connected your phone to his speaker and played something calmer for the end of the night. 

“What’s on your mind, pretty girl?” John B. whispered softly in your ear, his hand just barely grazing your hip. 

“Nothin’” you hummed. You allowed your fingers to loosen to play with the hairs at the nape of his neck. The mere sensation sent shivers down John B’s spine, delightful and exciting all at once. 

John B. pulled away to twirl you, your giggles filling the air and drowning out the soft melody playing in the background. “Don’t lie to me, y/n,” he says with a chuckle. The conversation was light, no harm or accusatory tones being displayed. He was merely curious about what was going on in that little head of yours. “You can talk to me, always.” 

“I know,” you relent, joining back together with him. “I’m just…content, is all.” 

John B. raised an eyebrow at you, a smirk dancing along his lips. The smell of cheap beer could be smelled from his breath, and his corny Hawaiian shirt reeked of weed. You weren’t any better, though, with your bloodshot eyes and racing heart from one shot after the other with JJ. Your Converse were matted with dirt and spilled White Claws, squeaking against the beer can littered floors of his living room. It was your perfect paradise, despite everything working against the two of you. Anything was paradise with John B. and your best friends at your side. 

You finally gave into his magnetic stare, his eyes your weakness. “I don’t wanna get older,” you sighed. “I don’t want to lose all of this.” You gestured to his small shack, complete with its unwashed dishes in the sink and sticky counter covered in God knows what. 

John B. could only laugh softly at your confession. “So you want JJ to stay on his drunk ass on our couch for eternity?” he joked, swiftly dodging your punch. 

“Not that,” you whined, but you couldn’t stop your heart from flipping at the way he called this place “ours.” That is what you didn’t want to lose. “I don’t want to get all old and wrinkly to a point where you don’t wanna love me. Or too old to go on adventures with the group and dive for random shit that tourons leave behind. Or too–” 

“Slow down, n/n,” John B. cut you off. He reached for the sides of your face, his thumbs grazing your cheeks to wipe away the tears that began to form. “None of that is gonna happen,” he reassured you. “Yeah, we’re gonna get old and gross, but that’s not going to stop us from doing stupid shit.” You choked out a wet laugh at his wording. “We’re still going to take the boat out any chance we get. We’re still going to try and fail to prevent JJ from cliff diving. We’re still going to go on adventures together, and we are still going to be in love, no matter how old we get, you hear me?”

You nodded, but a pout still remained on your lips. John B dropped one hand to grab yours and kiss it softly. “We’re gonna get old,” he whispered. “And you’re gonna be my girl forever. You’re gonna wear that cocaine colored wedding dress and walk down the aisle, and I’m going to cry like a baby through it all.” 

John B. pulled you in and began swaying again. Like clockwork, you rested your cheek against his shoulder. “I’m going to get a job, and we’re going to buy a house on a hill so we don’t have to worry about our basement flooding after hurricanes. We’re going to have three kids -no, four- and you can take care of them in that house.” 

“Like a housewife?” you snorted, shaking your head in disbelief. 

John B.  dipped you carefully, a boyish smile on his face. “Well, you can do whatever you’d like,” he reasoned. “If you don’t want that, we can be a team and raise them together. I can..can be a mechanic or engineer, and you can be a teacher. Or nurse, or doctor, or whatever you want. I just want you to be happy and never stress.” 

“We can cross that bridge when we get to it,” you decided, tears dried and frown replaced by a smile. “I guess getting older isn’t too bad, then.”

“With you?” John B. questioned as the song came to an end. “It’ll be worth it all.” 

[shakytailstudios]

Savate Syndicate AU Chloe!

Sometime after her banishment Chloe would fall in with the Savate Syndicate a New York gang of martial art using criminals who saw potential in her skills and her a means of escaping her abusive circumstances as she donned the new name Cleo.

Her hair prematurely began to grey due to stress related to her parents, it actually stopped doing so after joining a gang. Apparently deadly fights to the death are less traumatic than her family.

Note, she should be older here, 18 at least, but I only had so long to spend on the model so I mostly sharpened up the face somewhat and couldn't expand the arms as I wanted too for shape key reasons.

I wrote a snippet covering these elements and shared it with @princess-of-the-corner but it can now be seen here!

This song also fits.

Chloe's life... Had not gone the way she planned.

Then again, she'd never had much of a plan, not really. She let other people plan for her, trusted them, believed in them.

Letting the likes of Lila and Hawk Moth lead her along with their machinations and grand promises. Trusting Andre decide what was "Worth" learning, like reading, or trusting that once she met her mother's standards things would just work out. Or believing Ladybug thought she could be something good and worthwhile.

Queen Bee was the closest she'd come to a real plan, be a hero.

As Chloe wiped another person's blood off her knuckles and glanced around the human ruin she had made of the man's & his guards she chuckled.

'I'm about as far from hero as one can be.'

"Having fun, Cleo?" A pleased, authoritative voice intoned.

Turning, Chloe saluted the head of the Savate Syndicate, "I think its important to enjoy what you do, sir."

That drew a genuinely amused chuckle from the man as he clapped her on the shoulder and intoned. "Good work here, just what I have come to expect from you."

& there it was, just a simple thing really, they didn't linger or laude her further, she'd just been given a job, done it well and was praised.

It wasn't much, but it also was something clear and real and easy to understand. Just like the money she got which was as good as the other enforcers at her rank.

It was just meeting a sets standard and getting a set standard reward, but it was, if not something that made her happy. At least something Cleo understood and could be satisfied with.

"Package secured," Intoned their leader, "& I imagine whoever replaces these imbeciles will know to deal with us more respectfully next time. For now, kick up some dust."

Like a switch being flicked, the room was for a single moment flooded with subtle sound and motion as the Savate Syndicate shot through windows, vents and doors. Blurring onto roof tops and streets, scattering through New York. If all went as usual, they'd reconvene at headquarters, be paid for a night work and... Well that was it.

Just another day in the rest of her life as a Savate Syndicate enforcer.

Chloe still didn't know how to feel about that.

Cleo was at least satisfied.

[krashlite]

Opinions on secret Soulmates? (Saw you made the millie animatic so im curious) /light hearted

(Bass boosted sigh)

Short answer, I love this duo and they’re one of my favorite toxic yaois in this fandom however comma during DL they’re definitely unethical and I’ve already gone through all the the intricacies of how DL went badly

Long answer

I think they’re fascinating because they both tend to idolize the other while both using the other as an excuse to avoid their problems and dooming the both of them in the process. When they’re around each other they’re usually only Positive and any Negativity is very jarring (especially from Grian’s perspective, who sees B as a safe person). Introducing negativity there is like being tagged when you’re on base- it shouldn’t be allowed they don’t know what to do with it

Except it’s somewhat unbalanced

BigB keeps finding himself in situations where he’s the failsafe for Grian’s poor decisions. In 3L the Blue Sword Boys were all but planning a rescue mission for Grian midway through the war. In DL obviously Grian ran away to BigB when Scar was his soulmate, then again in LimL Grian ran to him when the other two Bad Boys died

In all three of these seasons, you can argue having this connection got BigB killed! In 3L BigB was still reaching out to Grian as Scar and Bdubs cornered him (then he turned on Grian but shhh), in DL Grian killed Ren, BigB’s soulmate, and in LimL Grian got the Nosey Neighbors into SEVERAL scenarios that cost them time

Again, they idolize each other but BigB has the understanding that Grian brings danger into his life. Yet he still ultimately views Him as a positive thing. In fact, I’d even argue that the added danger is what BigB idolizes him FOR

And that’s because BigB is scared of getting into dangerous scenarios. He usually bases alone, he develops an alter ego to run from the consequences of killing Cleo, he has to psyche himself up for Any type of physical attack on someone and when he does strike he’s screaming “AAAAAAA” the whole time!

Grian doesn’t need to do that, it comes naturally to him

Then on Grian’s side of things- he’s a coward too! Except he’s constantly masking it with his thrill seeking, trying to be the scariest thing in the room not just to feel strong but so that everyone else Leaves Him Alone. In fact, Grian ALSO tends to base alone! Or at least he tries to, until some group comes along and tosses him over their shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He makes secret alliances to save his own skin (yes, alliances plural, there were Several), and is usually the first to run when trouble comes his way

And all that running is Tiring.. it’s so, so tiring

So him idolizing BigB is him idolizing that “safety” he sees BigB having. Grian has never had a direct interaction with one of BigB’s risks, nor does he have any reason to see BigB as a threat in the same way other people are “threats.” He runs off to BigB over and over again because he sees BigB as someone that can save him, maybe even the Only person that can save him

Except again, what ends up happening is Grian gets BigB killed

Also couldn’t find a way to fit it in here but iirc BigB is the first person Grian actually built a grave for and I’m so normal about that

[hermitscratch]

6., and Scarian please!

Send me a pairing + a number! || Accepting

6. A desperate kiss, Scar/Grian, 639 words

Grian hailed Double Life as one of his greatest ideas yet.

The concept presented so much potential: bind the players in randomly generated pairs and make surviving a them problem. Sharing a life so completely opened doors to new strategies, new necessities, and most importantly, new collaborations. Grian had worked out the odds. With their group of fourteen, the likelihood was that most of the pairs would be between people who had never before teamed in the game, or in some cases, never really spoken outside of it.

Joel and Etho were a great example of the former. They'd both flown the Dogwarts banner, back in Third Life, but their interactions were brief and non-committal. The only unified front Grian can recall them ever posing was when a TNT cannon had been involved. They shared a common goal now, and it didn't take long for them to fall in step with each other, especially when they wanted to drum up some mischief.

On the other side of things, there were Tango and Jimmy. The only pair to be united in death, and as much as Grian would like to write them off, once the dirt of their explosive meeting settled, they took to being soulmates like fish to water. Losing everything would do that to you, Grian supposed; Tango and Jimmy returned from that respawn with nothing gained but each other, and that was enough.

Grian probably wouldn't break up those pairs. Maybe some of the ones that weren't as enthused about their matches, like Scott and Pearl. Or the ones that didn't seem to click at all, like Cleo and Martyn. In the long run, it didn't matter much. Grian would take anybody, so long as it wasn't Scar.

Scar, who went the entire session thus far laying claim to other soulmates.

Scar, who misconstrued Grian's concern for his wellbeing as plain early-game kindness.

After the second failed attempt at telling Scar that the universe's sick sense of humor had seen it fit to tie them together, again, Grian started to wonder if the ignorance was willful.

They didn't have much longer before session hours ended. At least Scar was easy to find, sat at the edge of the jungle and surrounded by the odd, cat-like pandas he'd taken a liking to.

The first try was a bust. Scar looked away when the pandas followed him, the flash of damage shooting through them both going entirely unnoticed, and Grian made a frustrated sound. Four hearts gone, for nothing.

They could only afford one more hit. Grian reset the dripstone, repositioned Scar beneath it, and told him firmly, look at me.

Scar looked up.

The dripstone's point nailed him between the eyes and crumbled. Scar yelped, brushing blood and residue from his face, not even noticing Grian in the same position. They were down to two hearts. They were too hungry to regenerate.

Grian felt a hair's width from losing his mind. He took Scar's face and forced them to locked eyes. It's me, He wanted to scream, Not the allay or the stupid pandas, me. It's always me, always us, don't you see that?

It's been that way since the desert, back in Third Life. Together in the beginning, together in the end. Scar was flippant, clumsy. He was also strong, and clever, and fiercely protective of what he valued. Resources, bases, allies.

Grian.

Grian recalled a handful of lilacs and poppies, and an uncharacteristically small voice asking if they could still be friends with the same look in his eyes that Grian was seeing now. Cautious, hopeful.

He pulled Scar forward. It's us against the world again, He thought desperately as he stole Scar's very breath. When Scar kissed him back, hands holding his waist and pressed chest to chest, Grian thought Scar might have finally understood.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Chloe's life... Had not gone the way she planned.

Then again she'd never had much of a plan, not really. She let other people plan for her, trust them, believed in them.

Be it the likes of Lila and Hawk Moth with their machinations and grand promises. Trusting Andre decide what was "Worth" learning, like reading, or trusting that once she met her mothers standards things would just work out. Or believing Ladybug thought she could be something good and worthwhile.

Queen Bee was the closest she'd come to a real plan, be a hero.

As Chloe wiped another people's blood off her knuckles and glanced around the human ruin she had made of the man's & his guards she chuckled.

'I'm about as far from hero as one can be.'

"Having fun Cleo?" A pleased, authoritative voice intoned.

Turning, Chloe saluted the head of the Savate Syndicate, "I think its important to enjoy what you do, sir."

That drew a genuinely amused chuckle from the man as he clapped her on the shoulder and intoned. "Good work here, just what I have come to expect from you."

& there it was, just a simple thing really, he didn't linger or laude her further, she'd just been given a job, done it well and was praised.

It wasn't much, but it also was something clear and real and easy to understand. Just like the money she got which was as good as the other enforcers at her rank.

It was just meeting a sets standard and getting a set standard reward but it was, if not something that made her happy. It was at least something Cleo understood and could be satisfied with.

"Package secured," Intoned their leader, "& I imagine whoever replaces these imbeciles will know to deal with us more respectfully next time. For now, kick up some dust."

Like a switch being flicked, the room was for a single moment flooded with subtle sound and motion as the Savate Syndicate shot through windows, vents and doors. Blurring onto roof tops and streets, scattering through New York. If all went as usual, they'd reconvene at headquarters, be paid for a night work and... Well that was it.

Just another day in the rest of her life as a Savate Syndicate enforcer.

Chloe still didn't know how to feel about that.

Cleo was at least satisfied.

OHOHO

[flamingspud]

“Etho makes some… questionable decisions when he finds his nephew’s missing hamster.”

So I’ve written another Clocker Family oneshot (feat. The Badboys) !!!

Please accept my offering Clockers enjoyers

Fic under the cut

It had all started when Etho had come to couch surf on Cleo's couch.

Well, it was technically six months prior, when Grian had brought a pair of hamsters back from school without consulting Cleo or even Jimmy first, explaining that one of his classmates' were trying to find homes for their hamster's babies. 

He had affectionately named them both Etho's Dishwasher, much to the confusion of the rest of the family. However, he was allowed to keep them, and it wasn't long until they had themselves a nice little cage in the room which he was currently sharing with Bdubs.

Which leads us to today.

"He's gone!" Grian cried. 

"Who's gone?" Cleo asked, sticking her head into the room as she was walking by.

Her nephew pointed to the hamsters' cage. "Etho's Dishwasher! He's gone!" 

"Ok, no need to panic; he couldn't have gotten far. We'll find him."

Grian nodded, Cleo's words having calmed him down a little bit, though in no way did that mean he wasn't still distraught. 

Cleo wasted no time in gathering everyone who was currently in the house. They instructed everyone to make sure the windows and doors were all closed, and for goodness sake to watch where they stepped. It wasn't long until everyone was on the hunt for the eleven year old's beloved hamster.

In the midst of the search, Cleo pulled Scar to the side. "Hey, I think it'd be best if you kept Jellie in your room for the time being."

"Why?" asked Scar.

Cleo paused, her eyes drifting to Grian who was in earshot. "I just think you should, she reiterated.

Scar's eyes went wide after thinking about it for a second, realising what his mom was implying. "Oh." 

"And make sure Etho's Dishwasher isn't in there first!" She called after the thirteen year old as he left to round up his cat.

The rest of the day was spent searching for the hamster, but to no avail. Eventually, Cleo had to send everyone to bed, assuring Grian that they'd look again in the morning.

The next day, the search continued. Grian had gotten up early so he could look before school, and as soon as he'd made it home he was right back at it. 

As the day came to an end, with still no sign of the missing rodent, Grian put together a small pile of treats, and surrounded them with flour.

"What are you doing there, kid?" Asked Etho as he watched the boy put the bag of flour down on the counter. 

"I'm laying bait," he explained. "And after he steps in the flour, we'll be able to see where he goes!"

Etho nodded. "Clever."

With that, everyone went to bed, leaving the search until the next morning.

"He was here! Look!" Grian was pointing to the bait, that now had far less treats stacked there and had a trail of white, powdery footprints walking away from the treats.

Everyone hurriedly followed Etho's Dishwasher's tracks, but to their disappointment they faded away before leading them to where the hamster was.

That night, after setting up more bait, Grian approached Cleo. "I need to stay up late tonight so I can catch Etho's Dishwasher," he told her decisively.

"Grian, you know it's a school night," Cleo told him.

"But what if he comes back?" The boy countered.

"Look; tomorrow's Friday, so you can stay up late tomorrow," they compromised.

"But-"

"And tonight, Etho will keep an eye out."

Etho looked up from his book. "Huh?"

Cleo shot him a glare.

"Oh- yeah, of course I will, kid. You can count on me," he assured him, giving him a little salute.

Grian considered this for a moment. "Fine," he agreed, "but you need to pay extra attention, ok?"

Etho gave him a thumbs up. "Sure thing."

Grian found this answer satisfactory, and let Cleo herd him up to bed along with everyone else. It wasn't long until it was just Etho left downstairs, quietly reading his book.

He kept the bait at the edge of his eyesight, but so far, the Dishwasher was a no-show. Whatever, he'd show up in his own time. 

After a while, Etho grew peckish, and decided to nip over to the fridge for a snack. As he made the journey over, he cast a glance to the stack of treats. Nothing.

Etho opened the fridge. He took some string cheese out. He closed the fridge. Turned around. Crunch.

Etho went wide-eyed, feeling as if he was moving in slow-motion as his head tilted downwards. Beneath his foot was the crushed form of Etho's Dishwasher, dead and unmoving. 

He lifted his foot off of the ground, but it didn't improve the sight, the hamster's dark fur coated with blood. A small puddle of the stuff was beginning to form around the corpse, and Etho snapped out of his daze, realising he needed to act quickly.

First, he took off the shoe that did the deed, in order to not track blood through the house. Next, he grabbed a bowl from one of the cupboards, scooped up Etho's Dishwasher's remains and gently placed them in it.

He then cleaned the floor and his shoe with bleach, (he'd seen crime shows), until the room looked like it had before: a perfectly average kitchen with a pile of hamster treats and flour in the middle of it. 

But Etho wasn't out of the woods yet, he still had the hamster itself to deal with. He found a practically empty box of matches, and emptied the remainders into a new box. He then put Etho's Dishwasher in and slid it closed. 

Etho walked out into the back garden, only the lights from the house illuminating him as he grabbed a trowel and walked to the back of the yard. He knelt down, and dug a small hole. He gingerly put the matchbox down, staring at it solemnly before covering it up. 

As he replaced the last bit of dirt, he felt a grim wave of relief wash over him. Grian would not know of what occurred tonight. No one would.

He stood up, dusted his hands and turned back towards the house, ready to turn in for the night. 

However, to his horror, he saw a figure watching from one of the upstairs bedroom windows. 

Joel had a wide-eyed look on his face as he looked down at him. Etho rushed back into the house, and seconds later his nephew had made it down the stairs, empty water glass in hand.

"What were you doing outside?" The fourteen year old asked. "And why does it smell like bleach?"

"I- I was doing some gardening," Etho said flimsily, earning narrowed eyes from Joel. 

The teen glanced at the clock. "At eleven o'clock at night?" 

"Um..." Etho couldn't think of an excuse fast enough.

"You found Grian's hamster and it was dead, didn't you?" 

"Well..."

Joel went wide-eyed once more. "You killed Etho's Dishwasher???" He asked, incredulously.

"Not intentionally...!" Etho told him. "I didn't see him and I sort of..."Joel looked at him expectantly. "...stepped on him?"

Joel ran a hand through his dyed hair. "Blummin hell," he cursed. "Grian won't ever forgive you..."

Etho panicked. "You can't tell him!"

"Why not?"

"He'll hate me!"

"He's my baby brother."

"I'm your uncle!"

"Who divorced out of the family five years ago." 

Etho was getting desperate. "I'll give you ten bucks."

"Twenty," Joel shot back, almost too quickly.

"Fifteen."

"Thirty."

"Twenty it is then...!" Etho declared, clapping his hands together. He took out his wallet, and handed Joel the money. 

Joel smiled. "My lips are sealed." He accompanied the promise by miming zipping his mouth closed. 

Etho nodded, and watched as he got his water and walked back upstairs. He exhaled a sigh of relief. That was close.

The next day Grian hurriedly ran over to his bait trap, only to be disappointed by the lack of change this time. He turned to Etho. "Did you see him?" He asked.

Yes. "No, it seems he didn't come out last night," he said, apologetically. 

Grian's head lowered disappointedly. "Oh."

Etho ruffled his hair. "Hey, don't be so down, he'll probably come out again tonight," Etho told him. 

"Why does it smell like a swimming pool down here?" Scar asked as he entered the kitchen.

"Yeah, why does it smell like bleach down here?" Cleo asked her ex-husband suspiciously.

"Well- I was, uh, up keeping an eye out for Grian's hamster, and decided, hey, I could give the place a little clean, it's the least I could do since you're letting me stay here," Etho explained. 

"How generous," Joel commented, and Etho shot him a look.

Cleo didn't seem to buy it, giving Etho a hard stare, but they didn't say anything either so Etho counted that as a win. 

That night, Grian stayed up, perched on an armchair next to the couch, staring at the bait. Seeing as Etho was sleeping on the couch, there wasn't much he could do to avoid the sight, knowing that Grian was waiting for a hamster that would never come.

He almost caved, wanting to tell Grian what had happened and that this was a fruitless endeavour, but he'd already covered it up and payed Joel off, he was in too deep. 

Eventually, Grian fell asleep, and Etho decided he'd stick it out until Grian hopefully moved on on his own.

But that's not what happened.

Over the next few days he searched relentlessly, before and after school. He'd stay up as late as he could each night waiting for him, and he didn't show any signs of slowing the search, if anything he was becoming more determined.

It was a week later when Cleo finally approached him.

"You need to tell him."

"Tell him what?" Etho asked, trying to play it cool.

Cleo frowned. "That you killed his hamster."

Etho jumped. "How did you-"

Cleo rolled her eyes. "We were married for ten years, you hardly cleaned the kitchen, with bleach, out of the kindness of your own heart."

"I-" Etho struggled to come up with something to say.

Cleo sighed. "You don't need to tell him how it happened," they assured Etho, "god knows he's been through enough already, but he deserves to know he's not coming back."

"...why don't you tell him?"

"You're the one who killed it!" 

Etho sighed. "Fine."

Cleo gave him a look as if to say 'go,' so Etho trudged up the stairs to his son and nephew's room. He knocked on the door before carefully opening it.

Luckily, it was just Grian in there at the moment, who was watching Etho's Dishwasher running around in the hamster wheel, (the other one, not the dead one.)

Etho still didn't understand why they both had the same name, but that wasn't important right now. "Heyyy, what's up, buddy?"

Grian shrugged. "Etho's Dishwasher is missing his brother," he explained, keeping his eyes on the hamster.

Etho exhaled. "Yeah, well, that's actually what I'm here to talk to you about," he said.

It hurt him to watch as his nephew jumped up from where he was knelt. "Did you find him? Is he ok?" He asked excitedly. He must've seen the grim expression on Etho's face as his face fell pretty quickly.

"Sit down with me kid,” he said, sitting down on Bdubs’ bed, patting the space next to him for Grian to take a seat. Grian obliged.

Etho took a moment to gather his thoughts. “To answer your question, yes, I had found Etho’s Dishwasher,” he told him, “but when I found him-”

“-he was already dead…” Grian finished for him.

Etho nodded. “Right.”

Grian let out a little sniffle. “How- how did he die?”

“How did he die? Well-” Etho scratched the back of his neck- “he must’ve gotten up on the counter and fallen off.”

Grian took this in. “…So it’s my fault?”

Etho practically jumped. “What? No, of course not-”

“Well obviously it is if he was so unhappy that he’d rather kill himself-”

“He wasn’t unhappy…! I’m sure he just slipped!” Etho insisted.

Grian shook his head. “Etho’s Dishwasher was very light on his feet.”

When Cleo had told Etho to tell him the truth, he didn’t think this is what she had in mind. So he tried again.

“Ok, Grian, I wasn’t fully honest with you before.”

“Huh?”

“Etho’s Dishwasher didn’t fall off the counter,” he explained. “I had told you that because I didn’t want you to think of anyone- any of the family, any differently.”

He continued, “and I need to preface this by saying it was an accident, and that no one had meant for Etho’s Dishwasher to get hurt, but-”

Grian was staring at Etho intently, and Etho’s guilt consumed him, and he’s not proud of what he did, but in his defense he panicked.

“Joel killed your hamster.”

“W-what?” Grian didn’t understand.

“And Grian, you need to understand it wasn’t his fault, but he had come down for a glass of water and saw him skittering about, so he picked him up, and he was excited to show you, but then Etho’s Dishwasher got nervous and he- he dropped him.”

Grian was speechless, silently staring into his lap. 

“Grian…?”

Grian was on his feet in an instant, and before Etho could react he was out the door. He quickly followed, and Cleo, who was standing out in the hall, gave him a questioning look. Etho merely shrugged.

Grian slammed Scar’s bedroom door open. “JOEL!”

His brother looked up from where he was playing cards with Scar. “Oh, hey G, what’s up?”

“Etho told me everything!” Grian shouted.

“Oh, yeah, sorry I didn’t tell you man-”

“How could you???”

A confused expression came over Joel’s face, and he glanced at Etho, who was standing right behind Grian at this point before looking at his brother again. “I’m sorry? If you want I can split the money with you-”

“How- how dare you try and- buy my forgiveness after killing my hamster?!”

Scar’s jaw dropped, and he looked at Joel whose eyes were as wide as saucers.

“What??? No, Etho killed your hamster! He stepped on it!”

“Yeah right! As if I’m going to believe you over Etho!”

Cleo, by this point looked about ready to kill Etho, who at least had the sense to look sheepish.

“He told me how you dropped him without remorse…!” Grian said through tears.

“Not what I said, kid…” Etho muttered.

“No. I won’t take this. Etho killed your hamster and I can prove it!” With that, Joel stood up, and made his way out of Scar’s room and down the hall. 

Grian hesitantly followed, still sceptical.

“How is he going to- oh no,” Etho realised, hurrying after them.

“Grian, honey, Etho killed your hamster, Joel you don’t need to do this-” Cleo said, also having pieced together what Joel planned to do.

However, Joel didn’t slow down. “No, I need to do this, or Grian will always have doubts in the back of his mind…!” He said decisively.

So Cleo, Etho, Scar and now a curious Jimmy watched in horror as Joel dug up Etho’s Dishwasher’s grave, and took the hamster out of its box. He held the corpse up to Grian.

“Now, tell me Grian, does that look like a hamster that was dropped, or squished?”

Grian’s voice was small. “Squished…”

“And there you have it!” With that, Joel put Etho’s Dishwasher back into the matchbox and put him back in the grave, before walking back towards the house.

All was silent for a few moments, as everyone processed what just happened, and what it meant.

“Hey, kid…”

“Leave me alone!” Grian cried, pushing past Etho and running back to the house. 

Jimmy and Scar also left, but not before giving Etho horrified looks.

Cleo, however, wasn’t surprised. “Congratulations, I didn’t think you’d be able to make it even more traumatic than if you’d just told him the truth flat out.”

Etho glared at them. “Shut up.” She didn’t need to remind him.

Cleo walked back inside to go make sure everyone was ok (or, as ok as they could be,) leaving Etho outside on his own, left to bury Grian’s hamster for the second time.

Etho wasn’t invited to the funeral.

[thetismcave]

Another dramatic drabble with some more headcanons

Session 7 spoilers :)

It really is an apocalypse, Scott thought, watching the carnage from atop the cliffs.

The world had gone mad. The plateau below was splattered with blood, and death was spreading like an infection through the ranks of the players.

He was hiding in his own base, from his own teammates. Maybe it was stupid to keep hanging around, but he knew this place well, and he was pretty sure they didn’t think he’d come back. He’d nearly been killed getting chased out by his own teammate, for fucks sake.

He’d gone to ground after that, but he knew that without info he was a sitting duck. So, here he was, on one of his increasingly rare ventures to the surface, crouching in a tree and watching the grasslands below.

When Cleo dug through their wall, he couldn’t help but be relieved. His instinctive reaction was affirmed when they, treading just as lightly as he was, showed no signs of hostility or of alerting the hunters.

“Hi,” he grinned at her.

“Hi, hi!” They replied, a stressed little laugh in their voice as they creeped through the new opening.

“What’s happening? Why is there a Warden now?” Scott asked softly as she filled in the wall behind herself.

“They’re trying to get me,” she grimaced, easing into a crouch beside him, sheltered under the trees. “As the last- the last green.”

Scott hummed a tense reply, leaning against the rough bark of the oak, slowly creeping further into his- the base.

“Gem also has no band loyalty anymore,” he said nonchalantly, not looking at Cleo, “Because she died, came back as a red, and tried to kill me. So, I had to flee. I’ve been skulking around my own base all day.”

He said it offhandedly, like it was just another anecdote. Like it was an interesting tidbit instead of a near deadly betrayal.

He knew they could see right through him.

She knew what was genuinely laidback and what was a coverup. She knew how much he hated this, how deeply his loyalty ran.

“Widow’s Alliance?” She offered, holding out her arm. The shifting moonlight hit a tattoo, a blue rope winding down the inside of her wrist, its end frayed and orange. He’d known it was there. It’s partner was on his arm, after all. He could barely see his own now, however. The lava from his latest capital ‘D’ Death had burned away most of the skin on his arms. It was there though, the orange strands twisting along his forearm, just a little buried by scar tissue.

(The care was still there too, even though at the start they’d promised to go their separate ways. Even though their bond had been tried by nearly five of these damned games.)

If there was one constant in this mess, it was Cleo, and he could really use a damn anchor right now. He trusted her, and he hoped the feeling was mutual.

“I guess so.” He took her forearm, and the frayed ends of their ties met.

Later, after they joined up with BigB, the infected began closing in again. As they took shelter behind the walls, Scott let the other two know about his makeshift bunker, the one not even his teammates knew about.

“You know me, I’m not gonna go after you.” Cleo said, casually, as if it was a given, a law of nature that he could show her his secrets, his backup plans, without fear. And really, it was, wasn’t it? Even if Cleo didn’t have clear memories of the games before, they knew, somehow, that they could put their back to his and be defended.

He’d wondered sometimes if Cleo, ever the survivor, trusted him as implicitly as he trusted them. As they descended into the mines, he realized that now he knew. Even if neither of them realized it, they were each other’s safety net, a soft place to fall that went beyond alliances, or games, or even memories.

And even though they were being hunted, even though the rest of the world was baying for their blood, Scott felt, impossibly, like they could weather anything this apocalypse could throw at them.

[trafficdivorcedbracket]

Ok hear me out: Desert Duo isn't divorced. They're widowed. They're each other's widow.

I remember that in 3rd Life Scott said something along the lines of "once our husbands die in the war, we can be free". But Grian was never freed, was he? Even after he lost his first life, he still stuck by Scar's side despite no longer being indebted to him. Their relationship didn't end because they divorced, it ended because they were forced to kill each other in the end.

You could argue that the next seasons have them trying to move on from the desert. It doesn't really work when they try to work together in Last Life, that relationship ended before it even started.

In Double Life, they are tied together, and neither of them really wants to be there. Scar wants to wander around with his Jellie pandas, and Grian drags him around while simultaneously cheating on him with Big B. But they were still together in the end. They could have divorced, could have gone their separate ways like the Divorce Quartet did, but they still stuck together. Yes, because Grian was afraid Scar would just kill them if left to his devices, but my point still stands: they never divorced. If anything, they ended as a bitter couple that was only still married for the sake of convenience. It was death that did them part.

And then they were cousins in Limited Life, no one really knows what was going on there—

Yes, they are iconic. Yes, they are tragic. But I'm afraid they're not nearly as divorced as Divorce Quartet.

Regardless of the name the group gets, it is undeniable that their whole story in Double Life is about divorce. They were tied agains their will, and Scott and Cleo openly decided to cut those ties. In episode one.

So you have Martyn as the desperate ex-husband trying to get his soulmate back, killing her and eventually ending up in some sort of bitter alliance. Not forgiveness, not a return to what their relationship could be, but more like divorced parents begrudgingly reaching a truce to attend their child's school play. Or in this case, to defend themselves from a common enemy.

And then you have Pearl. Poor, poor Pearl. She went deranged in her loneliness. She sought revenge rather than reconciliation. She and Martyn joined the Broken Heart's Club because they literally had no one else. To her soulmate, Pearl was just a crazy wet cat of an ex who kept sending drunk messages only to be left on read. When the bitter alliance came, she was so hopeful, but it didn't mean anything. In the end, she killed Cleo, and she was ready to fight Scott for that first place.

She forgave Scott, yes. They were allies for a short period of time in Limited Life. And then Pearl decided to spite him and his new partner just for the sake of it, ending that alliance as well. Friendship divorce. No one else does it like her, I'm telling you.

So there you have it. Tragic for different reasons, but only one group may prevail as the most divorced. And that is the Divorce Quartet.

Thank you

RAHHHHH! ! Speak your truth to the masses ^_^

[marzghost]

⚠️ Spoilers if you still haven't seen the final limited life episodes⚠️

Guys guys guys I have a vision hear me out I love the clockers and it's a tragedy the way they went out but guys Cleo out lived her sons and like imagine if you will an animatic of Cleo singing After All by Christian Ebersole to either Grian or Etho! Like listen to the song and tell me you can't see what I'm about to describe to you.

It opens with Cleo as a ghost walking through the clockers base before stopping at a family picture of her and her sons with Ethos face either cut out , burned away, or marked out before she closes her eyes and opens them again but this time she's standing in front of either Grian or Etho, heck maybe even both of them, as she looks down at them with a burning hatred in her eyes. Circling them as she begins to sing "What would a mother not do for her child what lengths would a mother not go there’s a bond that exists between mother and child with no end to how strong it can grow." and at grow she's standing in front of them again looking at their eyes with a sneer on her lips and tears begining to form in her eyes. Then the next verse starts and it's a flash back to her in the clockers tower holding a baby Scar with little five year old Bdubs looking down at him as Etho holds Bdubs up in his arms and smiles over at Cleo and as it gets to "and find you're looking in your own" it shows baby Scar opening his eyes and looking at Cleo with Bdubs also looking up at her before cutting back to Cleo with Grian/Etho this time with her sneer gone and her full on crying. The next verse starts as she clutches her chest and looks down before sings "And there’s a pain you can’t imagine. A special kind of torture you can feel ,a cut that bleeds from somewhere deep inside you, a past regret you cannot heal." And at a past regret you cannot heal it shows Bdubs dying and scar in shock on his knees holding his older brother trying to wake him up despite himself being hit with arrows before it changes to Cleo blocking Grian from hurting her last remaining son anymore than he's already done.

"And no one guesses all the while you’re praying The little screaming stranger in your arms Might just grow up and save you after all. Might just grow up and save you after all." At this part it's just a flashback of Cleo holding baby Bdubs before changing to ten year old Bdubs and five year old Scar hugging Cleo as Etho walks out on them.

"What would a mother not do for her child?What heights would a mother not climb?" Shows her going to the deep dark before climbing out with the shriekers in hand with Scar and Bdubs helping her out of the hole and back into that little room they were in, you know the one.

"There’s a bond that exists between mother and child and it only goes deeper with time." Could be a close up of Cleo's eye with her timer in it ticking down before she blinks and it flashes zero as the next part is sung "It’s a promise for life between mother and child and to break it there’s no greater pain" this part is sung as she glares over at Grian as Scar's smiling figure is flashed behind Cleo before quickly changing to him crying out in pain with a sword going through him before disappearing "and you’re shaken to your soul With an ache that can’t erase like the tears you never cried but still keep scrubbing off your face." Shows Cleo running over to scar with shining eyes as she tries to avenge him only to be killed by pearl before going back to singing Cleo who is looking down at her hands as they slowly start to turn clear before she looks up and turns her attention to Etho now singing with a sort of defeated and mocking look to herself as if mocking herself for what she couldn't do despite promising she would protect her boys "Cause there’s a pain you can’t imagine. A little talk that keeps you wide awake. That somehow turns to bold determination that you’ll never make the same mistake." With a background of her trying to protect Bdubs to her left and her fighting with scar to her right before lightning flashes them both away as she falls to her knees and sings the rest.

"Some dreams die upon the vine"- a picture of a poppy and a lilac is shown with a heart string tying them together before disappearing with a blue sound wave from a warden or a sword

"Some they never have a chance"- an image of a broken clock with a picture of impulse and Bdubs inside could be seen before it gets blown up

"Sweeter than the sweetest wine"- an alternate future where Cleo wins with her sons by her side flashes before going back to regular Cleo whose arms are now even clearer than before as she screams the next part with a smile on her face and tears continue to fall.

As she starts to sing the next part she slowly gets back up to her feet whipping away her tears as she continues to turn clear and the more she turns more ghostly the more scar and Bdubs come into focus behind her and at the very last save you after all she is completely ghost like and is holding the hands of a young ghostly Bdubs and Scar as she once again glares at Grian/Etho and sings the very last verse.

"What would a mother not do for her child what lengths should a mother not go there's a bond that exists between mother and child, ah but then again, how would you know?" She sings as the focus changes over to Grian/Etho who both in their own way wouldn't understand the bond between a mother and child with Grian being taken by watchers at a young age and Etho being the father that walked out on his two sons.

It would be so flipping heart breaking guys I wish I can animate sometimes