#but others is just not for jimmy solidaritygaming's eyes

[loudgaybug]

occasionally I remember Jimmy was planning a video on fanfiction, and am struck by the alternate reality where Jimmy solidarity read The Alphaomegabeta Games and discovered trafficlife omegaverse

[raylaismad]

“Why did you take Him from me,” said Life and Death.

Chaos didn’t look and the other, “I didn’t take anyone from you.”

“You were supposed to die first. You’re supposed to be The Canary. You know that.”

Chaos sighed, “You know that’s not how that works,” the being spread its burning wings, “I was never going to stay a consistent pattern forever, that’s not how I work, You know that.”

Life and Death whipped Its head around, “It wasn’t supposed to be Him. You know how much He means to me.”

“You know about Your curse. If You really wanted Him alive, You would have stayed away.”

Life and Death glared at Its equal, “You don’t get to speak about curses,” It’s pitch black wings puffed out, “and You don’t get to speak of staying away from people You know You’ll only hurt.”

Chaos sighed, “This is just like You isn’t it,”

Life and Death tensed, “You know nothing about me.”

Chaos said, “I know that You always blame others for the misfortune You cause. I know You are over emotional. I know You hate not to get Your way,” Chaos rolled Its eyes, “but most of all I know that You hate to see me win.”

“I do not!”

“But You do! I know You do because You are trying to blame me for His death when I did nothing!”

“You laughed at His grave!”

“You laughed at Mine.”

“…”

“Do You hate that I survived? Do You hate that I tried and I managed to almost make it? Was that why You killed Me? Is that why You killed Her?”

“Jimmy..”

“Shes a better sibling than You ever were.”

“…”

“All I did was survive.”

“…”

“You were always the lucky one.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Leave Me.”

—————————

Zero clue what possessed me to write this anyways @solidaritygaming-fanblog, @grian-fanblog, @moss-moths-eyes-and-whimsy cry lmao

[mcytgaynessshowdown]

REMEMBER THIS IS BASED ON CHARACTERS NOT CREATORS! We are not calling straight creators gay!

Smajor

Number of submissions: 13 From: Life Series, Empires SMP 1 & 2, Rats SMP, Fantasy SMP, Pirates SMP, Witchcraft SMP, X Life , Origins SMP Headcanons: Gay, Demiboy Reasons:

he’s gay and he talks about it every seven seconds + he flirts with men and has an uncanny amount of ships

Content creator is openly gay, rainbow on shirt, the sheer amount of closet jokes in that hide and seek video, MCC PRIDE (need I say more)

They're gay irl and flower husbands ❤❤❤ (3rd life)

I mean he canonically he got married to solidaritygaming/Jimmy in Third life, you can’t tell me that’s not gay as fuck. They gave each other flowers and therefore are called flower husbands. They even lived in a damn cottagecore style place together and we all know cottagecore is pretty gay. Just an emphasis too that they are the only ever canonically married couple in all of life series. Also Scott smajor is gay irl lmao and loves to do quite a lot of gay jokes which adds a bit of gayness.

Jimmy Solidarity (lmao), OwengejuiceTV, Scott's entire brand is being gay lmao

I mean--- its Scott! His 'blue hair and pronouns' vibe, the rainbow stripe on his shirt, his MARRIAGE WITH JIMMY!!! (flower husbands!!!)

PearlescentMoon Numbers of submissions : 6 From : Hermitcraft , Life Series , Empires SMP s1 Headcanons : Bisexual , Lesbian, Pansexual Reasons :

Shiny duo… Gem once said she forgot Pearl was straight

She is cis, she just keeps hanging out with very gay people. One of if not her best friend (gem) being bi. She’s a token cis and that’s what makes her gay. (like really she cannot stop hanging around gay people)

Life series/Hermitcraft Shiny Duo is smth else

LOOK me in the eyes and tell me you didn’t immediately think she’s gay upon looking at her. she has such an impenetrable Vibe it’s almost miraculous she isn’t. she had to come out as straight to stop the madness.

Shiny duo lives in my head and I can’t get it out

[canary-curse-57]

At long last, I would like to present you all with a 2000+ word ramble about

WHY I THINK JIMMY SOLIDARITYGAMING COULD WIN THE LIFE SERIES

This WILL be long, this WILL be rambling, and I WON’T always get info correct, but I’m very passionate about the fact that Jimmy really is a good player, but happens to be an even better content creator (I’ll explain what I mean by this later!)

To start, I will analyze every death of his (although I will be excluding many from Limited Life for time reasons) because I believe that most of them can be categorized as some mix of Bad Luck, Accident, and/or Silly Decision. Then, in a different section, I’ll focus mainly on the Silly Decision deaths/explain why I don’t think he will win even if he could! I’ll also add in a TLDR section at the very end to try and summarize the big points I made. Anyways, let’s get into it!

3RD LIFE:

First death - Dare To Flare - Silly Decision

Ah, Jimmy’s first death. This is one of the Silliest Decisions of all, but it also demonstrates a characteristic of Jimmy’s playstyle that we see very frequently throughout the rest of the series: when presented with a high-risk high-reward situation, he almost always attempts the situation, even if the chance of success is negligible. There was never really that much of a chance to win Dare To Flare without cheating, and others had already died trying, but he still gave it a shot!

Second death - TNT Minecart - Accident/Silly Decision (I can't find yellow so I guess orange will do,,)

Our first multi-category death! To me, this one ultimately feels more like an accident than anything else, due to Jimmy not knowing how exactly TNT minecarts worked at the time, but I also have to qualify it as partly a silly decision because Scott did tell him not to touch it. 

Final death - Arrow - Bad Luck

This is honestly one of the more unlucky deaths for Jimmy across the whole entire life series! Ultimately, being unable to get down the ladder properly is what did him in, and I honestly believe that Jimmy might’ve been able to avoid dying first had he just not gotten unlucky with the timing of the shot/getting down the ladder. Oh, how different things could’ve possibly been,,,,

LAST LIFE:

Before I analyze the deaths for this series, I want to talk about why, to me, this is Jimmy’s best season ever in terms of results!! He was one of 5 people to start the season off with 2 lives, but unlike three of the others, he never gained another life (shoutout Ren, the other one who never gained another life!! I think this was his best season so far too!!!). Sure, he tried stealing one from Martyn, but he didn’t get to keep that one! Every other person (again, except for Ren!) that started yellow died more than 2 times over the course of the series, but not Jimmy!!! He also didn’t have his 1st death until the 6th session!! 13 other players had already died at least once before he did!! He also went to risky places where other people died (the Nether/a bastion where Mumbo died!!) and survived!! So while he had two rough deaths in back to back sessions and still went out first, this still remains his best season in my eyes, and it also is a great representation of the fact that he’s still a good Minecraft player!! He can survive really well when he minimizes Silly Decisions/doesn’t have to deal with bad luck, but minimizing Silly Decisions won’t be a frequent thing for him (more on that later) which is why I think that he could win but probably won’t. 

First death - Explosion - Accident/Bad Luck

While digging the dirt that set off the trap could add a Silly Decision category to this, I won’t be adding it because really, who would expect a random piece of dirt blocking an entrance to be trapped? (Not me, that’s for sure - I probably would’ve done the same thing) Honestly though, I feel like if this was a different type of death, Jimmy might not have gone out first. The explosion absolutely obliterating all of his stuff makes life much more difficult, and definitely impacted his season ending when it did. 

Final death - Fall/Grian - Silly Decision/Accident

The main reason that I categorize this one as a Silly Decision is because technically, Jimmy started it. Out of everyone on the server, Grian feels like the most likely to retaliate against a red, even if all they did was punch him, so it definitely wasn’t a good idea to instigate here. I also qualify it as an Accident because he says it (specifically falling off the edge of the building) was (*insert clip from Evil Anvil song here*). 

DOUBLE LIFE:

Before I start this section, I have something devastating to admit; I’ve never actually watched Double Life (I know, I know!! I’ve been meaning to for so long but just haven’t gotten around to it,,,,) I did go in and watch his deaths, so I at least know how they went down, but everything I know about the rest of this season is from the fandom.

First death - Soulmate - UNCATEGORIZABLE

Now, I know you could technically qualify this as a Bad Luck death, but I really really don’t think it fits at all!! Essentially every person in Double Life died because their soulmate died at some point, so saying that Jimmy just happened to have the Bad Luck to be paired with Tango doesn’t feel right. This death was totally and completely out of his hands, so it becomes the only one to truly not fit into any category. 

Second death - Falling/Hit By Arrow - Silly Decision/Bad Luck

Genuinely how did that arrow manage to hit Jimmy?? Bad Luck for him for sure, but ultimately standing as far over the edge as he was when people are firing up at you is a biiit of a Silly Decision. There’s also even more Bad Luck factored in when it comes to the timing of the whole thing - him and Tango just happened to be enchanting with Scar and Grian when the whole server decided to go after them! Jimmy wasn’t really even the main target here!

Final death - Enderman - Accident/Bad Luck

Ah yes, the Enderman death. I know I’ve said this multiple times already (and I’m sure I’ll say it many more), but this has gotta be one of Jimmy’s most unlucky deaths ever. With the combination of being low on food (so he can’t heal), the shield being about to break, and the tree he hides under not properly blocking the enderman, this was a recipe for disaster from the moment he accidentally looked into its eyes. Definitely a death that’s almost impossible to avoid.

LIMITED LIFE:

While I won’t be going through each and every death Jimmy had during this season (since Oh Boy there were a lot more than 3), I’ll focus on 3 that I want to point to that feel very very important to me!

Digging straight down with Joel - Silly Decision (Doing It For The Bit)

What’s this? A subcategory? Well yes, yes it is! This is a subcategory that we really only see in Limited Life, since people could die much more in that series due to the mechanic. So while this was still a Silly Decision, it was one made for fun and for The Bit! I’ll go into more depth as to why later, but this death is the ultimate example of why Jimmy probably won’t ever actually win a Life Series; he is in it 1000% for the fun!

Falling into trap because Grian pushed a button - Accident/Bad Luck

This is one of those deaths that is just so unlucky for Jimmy! Of course Grian didn’t mean to kill him, making it an Accident, but it really just feels like such Bad Luck overall! He honestly had a lot of these deaths the closer he got to the end of Limited Life; another one that comes to mind is the pufferfish death that happened while he was leaving the Nosy Neighbors’ base. These types of deaths are unfortunately completely unavoidable because they are almost completely unpredictable.

Final death - Falling - Accident/Bad Luck

This death is clearly an Accident, but it’s also an example of Bad Luck because of the placement of the minecart/the fact that he was shifting but seemingly un-shifted at the last second. Really though, this death feels like the world just making sure he died, since he should’ve been out with Etho’s boogie kill. 

SECRET LIFE:

First death - Drowned/Trident - Bad Luck

I’ll be honest, I had to go back and watch this death- but it really was another case of Jimmy just having the worst luck with this game! His health was already SO low (and sure, I could technically qualify this one as a Silly Decision in terms of him deciding to go outside when it was dark out while being so low on hearts, but it doesn’t feel quite right for some reason), & to have a trident drowned just decide to spawn in that area is awful luck! 

Second death - Ender Dragon - Bad Luck/Silly Decision

Ah, the Ender Dragon death. Yet another example of a high-risk potentially-high-reward situation that Jimmy went into despite a low chance of success,,, personally I think that if he avoided the End, his second death would’ve come much later & his chances of making it even longer would’ve increased drastically. 

Final death - Warden - Silly Decision/Bad Luck

While this death definitely has Bad Luck as a secondary factor, Silly Decision is the main one here by a MILE. Deciding to help fight/stay in the area of a Warden and a Wither while being a red life with just over one row of hearts remaining?? One of the Silliest Decisions of all! Anyways, this death also has a Bad Luck component to it because of the Warden deciding to focus on him instead of Mumbo even though they were both really close to it & also with some of the long distance shots from the Warden actually hitting.  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, I know that was a lot of rambling, but there’s a really big thing about these deaths that made me want to categorize them; very few of them have anything to do with pvp fighting! Most of them are environmental deaths (deaths to mobs/fall damage) or deaths indirectly caused by another player (traps that Jimmy himself had to trigger) instead of ones directly caused by a player!

Of course, every player in the life series has had environmental/indirectly caused deaths, but the winners/the people who place really high? They have more deaths directly caused by a player than anything else!

Take someone like Impulse, who consistently has a very high placement in the life series, but hasn’t won one (yet!!). A vast amount of his deaths are kills directly caused by other players! Same for most of the winners!! (Scar is the outlier here, although he only died due to direct kills by other players in the season he won, sooooo)

So, here’s what I’m getting at: if Jimmy can cut down on his environmental deaths, and avoid triggering traps/aggravating other players, I think he could survive much longer than he has so far! He would go from someone who dies without others needing to have much of an input, to someone that people would have to intentionally try to kill because he’s one of the final greens/yellows! We already know from Last Life that he can go a TON of episodes without dying, so if we combine that ability with more than two starting lives, then I think we have a recipe for a potential winner on our hands!!

However. Despite my belief that Jimmy is a much better player than anyone gives him credit for, I also don’t think that he will win a life series. And this is gonna get a little over-analyze-y, but I think that he won’t win because of who he is as a person and as a content creator.

He’s always willing to take risks for friends, do something for the bit (as seen by his lava death with Joel in Limited Life), and generally put himself in risky situations. He knows what makes a good video, but he also just genuinely is having fun with his friends! I think Jimmy could win a life series if he took it really really seriously, and put a ton of time and focus into staying alive and making it far, but I’m not sure that would be very fun for him. He seems like the kind of person who is just in it for a good time. And I’m not saying that he doesn’t want to win, or doesn’t take the series seriously at all - I think he definitely does, based on his reaction to his final death at the end of Double Life & Limited Life - but he’s not gonna go out of his way to win or do the ‘smart thing’ when he can just keep enjoying the series. 

(Eugh, that felt a little too personality-analyzing/parasocial and weird for me, but I do think it’s true.)

ANYWAYS, that’s about it! 

So TLDR: Lots of Jimmy’s deaths aren’t directly caused by players, and if he can avoid those types of deaths, he could survive long enough to have a real shot at winning! He also is much better at being able to survive a long time than we give him credit for, as we see in Last Life. However, while he still takes the life series seriously, he’s ultimately in it for the fun, making it less likely that he pulls off a win. 

Thanks so much for reading, and feel free to ask questions/share your own thoughts!!

[willow505breaker]

Ranchers reunion, Watcher Possessed Jimmy au

Tango knew something was off when he saw deep purple instead of soft brown eyes looking back at him.

What happens next? Who knows? Have ideas or wanna suggests something for the au? I love to hear others suggestions so please do tell or tag me in your own post about it!

@solidaritygaming-fanblog

Ima keep ating that blog in Jimmy content unless I’m told to stop lol

Now on the topic of Tangos Design, I decided to keep it mostly the same but just move the flames to float around him rather than be where a pair of horns might be.

This idea was given to me by @sunsetsongwind and I loved it so I’ve decided to take their advice. Hopefully no one is upset that I didn’t redesign Tango, I’ll post some other outfit concepts soon to hopefully make up for it!

Here’s some extra sketches of the ranchers being happy! I made Jimmy too short in the second one

[lunarsands]

ESMP Fanfic: A Garden’s Path - Ch 4

In this chapter:

Characters: MythicalSausage, TangoTek, JimmySolidarity, ScottSmajor, Sir Carlos, Shrub, KatherineElizabeth, and introducing: The Children of Mythland

Relationships: MythicalSausage/Scott Smajor, TangoTek & SolidarityGaming, Shrub/Katherine Elizabeth

Tags: PTSD, adoption, fluff, wholesome

Chapter Summary: Sausage’s untimely dealings with a stray Warden interfere in spending time with Liana. She takes it in stride – there’s always time for more tea parties, right? However, something else haunts him… But Liana doesn’t believe in ghosts, after all! Who else would be better to help him move on from those whispers of the past?

(Also available on Ao3!)

[ Prologue ] [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ] [ Chapter Three ]

---

Chapter Four – The Parties and The First Dreams

Sausage shivered as he brought up the rear behind Jimmy, the stray Warden ahead of them and Tango at the front luring it along the tunnel with the sound of pops and sizzles from his fiery hair. With the need to keep the Warden moving as top priority Sausage hadn’t reattached his prosthetic yet, keeping it tucked through his belt on his right side for the moment. The lack of lava pockets in the area paired with the surrounding stone made the cold seep into his bones; within a few more minutes the chill began to draw out an ache in his stump. He reached over to rub at it but a sniffing noise from the Warden made him go stock still.

Jimmy noticed this from the corner of his eye – and he halted, too. He gave Sausage a single nod in acknowledgement. Only when the Warden uttered a dismissive grunt did the two allow themselves to breathe and continue forward. However, Sausage didn’t truly relax until the Deep Dark appeared ahead of them. He kept an ear out but there wasn’t even so much as a single squelch of Tango’s feet on the sculk due to the careful way the Blaze hybrid carefully tread on it. As soon as the Warden fully crossed over the deepslate bordering the sculk it dug downwards to return from whence it came.

A tense minute passed as Tango and Jimmy searched around the immediate area, but after signaling to each other that there were no shriekers in the vicinity, they ran at each other and whiffed a high-five – on purpose, which had become their custom congratulatory ritual to avoid injuring each other by mix of fire and water.

Sausage let out a sign of relief before turning to head out. He nearly jumped out of his skin a second later when a boom of thunder crashed through the tunnels. “Ohmygod! That shouldn’t travel like that all the way down here!!” He clutched at his chest in genuine distress.

Jimmy assumed the man was being overdramatic as usual. “Gee, Sausage, just be glad that doesn’t rile up Wardens, or Mythland would be overrun with ‘em!” He clapped Sausage on the back in a patronizing manner. “You’ve looked nervous this whole time, by the way. Has settling down made you lose your touch or something?”

A jumble of responses bounced around Sausage’s mind, then he made a point to grasp the end of his right arm and blurt out, “Yeah. This touch, Jimmy!” He twisted his face into an infuriated glare.

He was, however, only pinching his lips together to hold back a guffaw at his own joke, but the expression served to make the Codfather think he had severely offended the Mythlandian.

Jimmy hastily stepped back, reacting as expected. “Sorry, man. I – uh – kinda forgot about that for a second. You – You haven’t let it slow you down, y’know? F-From what I’ve seen you’re still good ol’ King Sausage, mighty ruler of Mythland!”

Tango popped up beside him to rescue Jimmy from his unintentional fumble, as well as to get them walking. “Speaking of, have the caves and sculk pockets and possible Ancient City under your kingdom been fully mapped out?”

“Uhh…” Sausage coughed to hold back his initial response of, ‘I already explored the whole thing in another world so why would I do it again?’ and instead said, “Well, there are some old maps that a previous ruler of Mythland drew, but obviously sculk spreads over time so they might be a little outdated and not one hundred percent accurate anymore – which, you know, actually might be why a Warden emerged here when no sightings had been reported before. Obviously I’ve been focused on my family lately, so updating musty old maps hasn’t been at the top of my list, and I’m not about to take the kids on an adventure this early in their lives, oh no!”

Tango cackled. “Relax, your highly-est-ness. What I’m saying is that we could do the mapping for you! Navigating the Deep Dark is like second nature to me, and my codly friend here has – obviously – been learning from the best!”

Following Tango’s lead Jimmy chimed in, “And – And you can look at it this way: we can make it safer for your kids by finding all the dangerous spots and blocking them off! Then you guys can have a family adventure without worry!”

Sausage spun around so he could regard both of them. He noted their eager smiles. “Are you guys just looking for an excuse to explore Deep Darks that you haven’t been in yet?”

“Yes,” Jimmy and Tango chorused in sweet tones.

Sausage turned to resume walking, surreptitiously slipping his prosthetic free and holding it by the forearm section with his left hand. He then tilted his head up and clasped his chin – with his prosthetic hand, controlling it remotely. “Hmm. Hmmm,” he uttered with drawn-out, thoughtful inflection. “Hmm…”

He heard eager and anxious squeaks from behind him. He grinned; at least their antics had helped to calm his nerves. “Hmm. Well…”

“Well?” Tango echoed.

“Yeah?” Jimmy asked.

Smoothly switching to walking backward, Sausage pivoted to face them again so he could show the comical position of his arms. Then he pointed his prosthetic at them – while pointing one prosthetic finger at them, as well. A brief giggle escaped him as he was amused by his own absurdity. He needed to remember to try this one on the kids. “You do seem qualified for the job, so I’ll let you do it! But I want you to start at the borders and work your way inward. Small villages and settlements need to be protected, too! I have enough guards and soldiers in the capital to protect the castle and close-by towns.”

By this time Tango was cracking up at the sight of the prosthetic hand waggling around, but pulled himself together a second later to respond, “Sure, sure, solid plan. We’ll get on it just as soon… as…” His voice trailed off as they reached an elevation high enough to hear the rain that had ended up accompanying the thunder from earlier. Tango emitted an irritated noise.

Sausage lowered his arms and looked at Tango questioningly. “What is it? Do you have other plans? You don’t have to do it right away. Mythland is huge! This is probably something that could take years, considering how out of date some of those maps are! And you’ve both got your own responsibilities I’m sure, and—”

Jimmy interrupted. “It’s not that, Sausage. Listen.”

Sausage stopped rambling and did as told, angling his head as if his left ear might be better at picking up on what had made Tango abruptly turn surly.

“Rain,” Jimmy said. “Tango hates the rain. It’s not exactly something he experienced in the Burning Dark.”

As if to emphasize the point, Tango let out an irritated growl before muttering, “Stupid water that stupidly falls from the entire stupid sky, rrr-gak!”

Sausage was puzzled, then he noticed the increasing amount of smoke coming off of the staves that encircled Tango’s head. An unintentional laugh burst out of him. “Oh, I see! Because of the whole Blaze thing! Wait, but wouldn’t it just evaporate when it lands on you?”

“Yeah,” Tango squawked, “If it’s a light drizzle! But it rarely drizzles! It’s always like that dumb sky of yours sees me and goes ‘Well, time to dump buckets full of rain on this guy in particular! Hoo-hoo, let’s show the Blaze man what the surface world is all about!”

Jimmy uttered an awkward sound. “Um, sorry, Tango. I kinda like the rain…”

Tango flailed his hands at the Codfather. “That’s because your fish brain thinks the droplets hitting the water are bugs! Fish food instincts! You fishy-fish… fishman!”

Jimmy now laughed softly at his friend’s incoherent rage. “Gee, Tango, maybe you should step out into the rain for a little bit to cool off!”

Tango’s rage subsided into annoyed muttering for the rest of the walk up to the tunnel that exited out into the larger cave where they had started. Sure enough, the view of the world outside featured a sky full of clouds and pouring rain. Tango risked a closer look, then meeped in distress and jumped backward as wind blew some raindrops onto him.

There was a flash of lightning that was immediately followed by thunder. The main storm was directly over them. Sausage took a peek outside for himself. “Hm. Those are some heavy, dark clouds. Looks like it will be storming for a while.”

Tango made yet another annoyed sound then meandered further away to the back of the cave to sit up on a ledge. Jimmy stayed near the cave entrance and even made himself comfortable in a puddle that had begun to form in a lower-lying spot. “Might as well get comfy, then. If you both want, I can go to the village to get food before it gets too dark and we can camp here until it’s over. We probably should have planned for that, but you were in a big hurry, Sausage. You can’t really rush a Warden wrangling session, my friend.”

“What do you mean, get food?” Sausage asked.

“Well, we were too busy to be hungry,” Jimmy replied, “But if the storm keeps up for that long, then we’ll want dinner at some point, right?”

“What?? But we should have plenty—oh, no.”  Sausage’s expression became mortified, then he began to look panicked, patting around his body like he was searching for something.

“What is it, Sausage? Wha—”

“I said I’d be home for lunch, Jimmy!! It’s going to be past dinnertime if I wait for the storm to stop! My little princess is missing her first full day with her new papa!!”

“Sausage, you—”

The Mythlandian whimpered indecisively. He took his prosthetic from his belt and looked from it to the cuff-covered end of his stump, wondering if it was worth the time it would take to get it reattached, or just leave immediately. Jimmy was about to volunteer Tango to help with it, since Tango had redstone knowledge, and it might distract the Blaze hybrid from his misery, but Sausage then shoved the prosthetic down the front of his shirt and rushed out into the rain without another word.

Jimmy blinked but made no attempt to go after him. Tango made a point to scrape his boots on the stone as he drew his legs up. “So, umm, hey. What’s this ‘princess’ thing, now?”

~*~

As soon as the rain had started Scott ushered the children in from the garden where they had been playing after their shopping trip and subsequent delayed lunch when Sausage hadn’t returned on time. There had been a brief protest from Liana, who was accustomed to mainly snow as precipitation and wanted to experience Mythland’s version. He had warned her that lower elevation storms could come with other dangers.

A lightning bolt that struck the weathervane on the tallest tower accompanied by a bone-rattling crash of thunder sufficed to send her wailing after her brothers, who had retreated to the dining room to decide on an indoor activity to pass the time. After checking on her Scott settled into his seat when the boys chose to do some individual reading; he offered to read a book with Liana but she fidgeted, then said she wanted to be brave and watch the storm.

She picked a window just outside the dining room – good for staying in Dad’s line of sight, at least – and cautiously looked outside. At first she peeked up over the windowsill, then she stood up to observe, and finally she dragged a chair over to sit. She was soon swinging her legs and leaning her upper body from side to side to match the motion while occasionally saying, “Ooh!” after a particularly bright flash of lightning.

Scott was glad she had so easily found a way to keep occupied and remain in one spot, since he soon found himself tending to reports that came in regarding a few rivers that had a history of overflowing in torrential rains. For the moment all was in hand, so he sent responses recommending to place a watch on standby and let him know when noted locations looked like they would become a risk. In the event of a breach, he could fly to the location and build up ice dams to prevent anything worse happening.

He explained this to the boys before he sent off the last responses, offering to train Elowen in flood mitigation procedures when the budding ice mage felt he was ready. He also gently requested for them to watch over Liana if he did have to leave, because Sir Carlos and Bubbles might also have to go out to assist citizens. He reassured them that the storm was unlikely to reach drastic proportions, but he wanted them to be prepared for his absence just in case. Obviously there would be plenty of guards and castle staff to help them with anything in these instances.

As expected, Azahar took on an air of assuming responsibility for his younger siblings. Elowen declined the lesson for the moment, and the two went over to join Liana. They patiently listened to her excitedly list how many lightning bolts she had counted in the sky compared to how many looked like they had struck the ground somewhere.

Scott had hoped a message from Sausage would arrive along with the reports, yet as time ticked by neither word of him or a message from him came in. Scott knew Liana would be disappointed, but it seemed like Sausage’d had the sense to take shelter to wait out the storm until it was safer to fly.

He was set on this belief up until Liana called out, “Daddy! There’s a giant bird flying this way!”

Scott looked away from the latest missive that had just been delivered, puzzled by how she could have seen such a thing from that window’s particular angle – then he saw that she was out of the chair and crouched down, her cheek against the windowsill and her head fully sideways to view what was apparently just enough of a sliver of the sky. He signed off on the scroll and let the attendant take it from the table themself while he went over to attempt a look.

Liana moved aside and pointed. Scott ducked down, trying to catch a glimpse of what she had seen, but he was too tall to find that same angle. He gave up and went to the doors of the garden. Maybe it was only a bird. On the other hand, birds usually find a place to roost during storms. He knew his husband wasn’t always as wise.

What Scott saw was definitely not a bird, but at least was someone in a reassuringly slow, planned downward glide. The danger of lightning still concerned him, though, so he lowered the temperature about half a meter from the ground to transform the rain into padded snow. He added an extra layer of snow for good measure – the softer the landing, the better.

He heard Liana’s delighted cry from the doorway; of course, the children would be drawn by his actions. “You said you did magic, but I didn’t know you could change a whole storm!”

“Not the whole thing,” Scott explained distractedly. “Just a small area right now.”

Liana merely giggled and began scooping up the snow that had fallen closest to the doors. “It feels like real snow!”

“It is real – Liana, I’m sorry, but now is not the time to play. I’ll make snow for you when it’s safer, okay? Please go inside.”

“Okay, Daddy. Make sure you catch Papa!”

“What—” He had been so intent on ensuring the snow would be deep enough that he hadn’t been paying attention to an exact trajectory of where Sausage might land.

His husband’s voice faded in to an audible range. “Innncominggg!!”

Scott looked skyward just in time to see Sausage lop-sidedly gliding directly at him. By reflex he did as Liana suggested and spread his arms; he caught Sausage, all right, and both of them tumbled through the snow for his trouble. Sausage grinned awkwardly down at Scott when they came to a halt, the elf ending up the one with his backside in the snow. “Nice catch, my dearest.”

Scott playfully shoved him off. “I love you, but it was dumb of you to fly in this.” He then noted how careful Sausage was about getting back to his feet, which is what made him realize there was a lack of prosthetic arm. He frowned. “What happened to your arm now?”

“Oh, heh, it’s fine! Mostly. Um. I didn’t have time to put it back on because I was in a hurry to get home. Do you know how easy it is to lose track of time when you’re purposely trying to find the Deep Dark? I figured it was better to just carry it home so you could help instead of leaving it up to slippery-fingered Jimmy, or lose even more time with Tango asking about every single little redstone detail that even I can’t explain—”

“I’m pretty sure you could have trusted either one of them, Sausage – even if it did take longer! They’re not the worst people to wait out a storm with, and maybe you should know more about all those little details. Anyway, where is your arm? You’re not carrying anything in your hand!” Scott began to look around the little furrow they had left in the snow. “Did you drop it? I’ll melt this so we can find it easier, hold on.”

“Oh, oops, uhh…” Sausage patted at himself.

Before he could play at theatrics again, however, Liana yelled from the doorway, “Papa, did you lose your metal arm? Don’t worry, I bet Daddy can make you one out of snow! Like he made all this snow!”

Sausage let out a forced hearty laugh, aware of how Scott’s shoulders went stiff. “He could maybe, but it would melt any time I ate soup! Fear not, though! I have it right here!” He reached under the collar of his shirt and pulled out his prosthetic – only to utter a long, “Uhhh…” upon seeing that the thinner struts around the inner basket had been warped by the collision and subsequent roll with Scott. “Ah. Heh. Hm. I, um, didn’t think that part of it was so… crushable.”

Scott eyed the damage and grumbled, “That’s because it’s meant to be held in shape by the rest of your arm.”

Elowen’s face appeared at the doorway next, seeming concerned by this news, but Sausage calmly said, “Oh, well. At least it didn’t get smashed by a Warden or anything like that. I’ll put on a spare and see if I can bend it back into shape by myself. If not, um, I’ll just send a little message to fWhip when the rain is over.”

“He’ll be happy to hear from you,” Scott said wryly. He then pushed Sausage toward the doorway. “Now let’s get you inside and dry you off. You’re soaked and you are very late for lunch. If you’re lucky, we can fit in an afternoon tea before dinner.”

Liana and Elowen giggled at the sight of their papa being scolded. Everyone headed upstairs since Scott was now also soaked from the rain – and Liana had managed to sneak snow into her skirt pockets which, of course, promptly began to melt.

~*~

Scott lightly scrubbed Sausage’s hair with a towel then moved to dry his bare shoulders as Sausage sat on a sturdy footstool, dressed in a fresh pair of trousers and house slippers. He was inspecting the four spare prosthetics laid out on a cloth-covered table at the side of the room, away from the window where rain water might get on them. fWhip currently had two other previous models that he was tinkering with, intending to improve them so there would be proper spares, but for now the choices were limited to the non-so-perfect versions.

The very first model was there for sentimental value, at this point mostly good for use as a paper weight and probably should have been stored in the treasury. There was one with sketchy redstone connections, and one with very sketchy redstone connections. Then there was the fully plated one with minimal moving parts for diplomatic emergencies if his regular prosthetic failed right before he needed to deal with foreign dignitaries – or very particular Mythland nobles.

At the moment Sausage was trying to remember which of the middle two had the most-sketchy redstone. They looked very similar and he hadn’t thought to mark them – or flat-out return them to fWhip to repair or scrap. The answer was obvious to him: try them on and find out.

He picked up one and tried to make himself memorize the slight dent on top of the forearm casing. As Scott went to pick out a shirt for him, Sausage slipped the upper part over his stump. He felt a zap as it made contact with his skin. “Ow. Heheh, that kind of tickled.” He tested the finger movement and found it stiff. “Hmm. Not as flexible as I remember.” He slipped it off and placed it on the opposite side of the fully plated one to distinguish the two.

Then he picked up the other dubious one and eased the slightly patina-coated copper basket into place. “Ow! Well, that was more than a tickle.” He eased it away in case he had merely pressed it on too tightly, then tried it again. “Ow. Nope, definitely not this one.”

Scott shook his head in amused exasperation as he returned with a gold-embroidered, violet shirt that had no sleeve on the right side, ideal for accommodating older versions of the prosthetic. “Dear, I’ve encouraged you not to do things like that.”

Sausage laughed. “Okay okay okay! I was only kidding around!” He cleared his throat as he lowered the definitely-malfunctioning prosthetic onto the table, now putting it on the far side of the prototype. “But, honestly, the choices aren’t great. I’m going to have to insist fWhip finish those other backups.”

“You could also be more careful with the one you have. You should have just taken the few minutes to ask for help to put it back on. …Come to think of it, why did you remove it in the first place?”

“Well, you know I can control it remotely, and so why risk ourselves when risking my arm is only a minor inconvenience compared to, say, one of us being smashed to pieces by a Warden?”

“WHY were you using your arm as Warden bait in the first place?!”

“It – It – listen, listen listen. It seemed like a good idea at the time! We improvised a noise machine, and—”

“Nope. Stop right there,” Scott commanded. He had caught sight of motion by the door. Azahar was signaling him. Scott nodded. The boy grinned and disappeared from view. Scott draped the shirt over Sausage’s shoulders before sweeping around to the other side of the table. “I’m going to have strong words with those two next time I see them, but for now—” He picked up the fully plated prosthetic. “Just go with this one. The elbow bends, you can hold it out well enough, and you don’t need it to eat. You can still have a nice meal with our new daughter without a fully functional arm.”

“Fine, fine.” Sausage sighed in mock-resignation, slouching down. “It’s not like I wanted to run around to play in the garden and carry her on my shoulders or anythi—”

Scott gestured emphatically toward the window. “Sausage! It’s still pouring rain!”

“I know, I just—”

“Shush already and finish getting dressed. You can always read stories by the fireplace,” Scott suggested.

Sausage perked up. “Oh, yes, of course! I have endless stories of my own to tell! Like how I single-handedly defeated a Warden today!”

Scott conjured a snowball to fling at him. “You get one – one – joke to tell the kids a weeks – tops! Don’t encourage them like you do my brother.”

“Deal. But they get to make all the jokes they want to, because I want them to have fun with it! You’re so mean, though.” Sausage pouted at him before pulling on the shirt. “If I had to go and cause myself to lose an arm I want to be silly about it with my children. That was an unspoken part of the deal.”

Scott switched to giving him a patient smile. “Very well. Don’t worry, there is plenty of time now for all the silliness you can fit into a day.” He let Sausage arrange the shirt to his liking, then helped him don the less-familiar prosthetic. Scott finished by hooking Sausage’s dress cape across his shoulders, then retrieved his own cape from his wardrobe. “There. No reason to not be a bit fancy. We did find some nice new clothes for everyone, after all.”

Sausage grinned brightly. Scott then had to make it not seem too obvious that he was trying to stop his husband from running the whole way down the hall – but at least he took the stairs slower, with Scott tugging on his left arm once reaching the bottom step. Scott smile and hooked his arm around Sausage’s, ensuring a calm walk to the dining room.

Sausage gave him a befuddled look after the tug but followed it with a small shrug and accepted the hint to carry himself with kingly dignity rather than new-father enthusiasm. As they rounded the corner, however, he was befuddled again by the sight of Azahar standing at the doorway with his hands behind his back, wearing a herald’s tabard and cap. The latter sat oddly on his head as if covering something else. Within the dining room, the table was set for dinner with the addition of tea cups at each place. The chairs had been rearranged so that there was one at the head of the table facing the doorway and two to either side, instead of one at each end.

Azahar called out loudly in a fake deep voice, “Now welcoming the wonderous and kind Dad and Papa of Mythland!” From behind his back, he produced his violin. He played a few notes in imitation of a trumpet’s fanfare. “Please, my lords, be seated,” he directed in a less-booming voice.

Scott nodded to him. “Thank you for the introduction, good sir.” Sausage continued to feel confused, but a goofy smile rippled across his face as he and Scott headed inside. He reflexively went to the head of the table, but when he pulled out his chair he realized he wasn’t meant to sit there this time. He nearly giggled as he sat next to Scott instead.

Azahar then announced, “The Princes of Mythland shall join us shortly.” He played another short fanfare. “I shall now introduce our hostess, the beauteous and imaginative and loquacious and optimistic and—”

A voice hissed from somewhere to the side. Azahar politely cleared his throat. “And many other such things that she may be known for. I present to you: Princess Liana!” He played a longer fanfare as Liana appeared, accompanied by Elowen who was dressed in an oversized blue robe and matching cap that also seemed to be covering something else on his head. He was one step behind her with his hands held out over her head. She wore a long purple dress with ruffled tiers down the skirt. A lighter shade of lace was strung along each tier and on the short, round puffed sleeves. Atop her head was a slightly-uneven tiara made of ice, which Elowen was obviously trying to hold into shape.

When Liana reached the chair at the head of the table she curtsied to Elowen. “Thank you, High Wizard of All Ices. You may go now.” Rather than immediately leave, Elowen helped her climb onto the cushion that had been occupying the chair.

He then carefully bowed, keeping a hand on his cap to stop it from falling off, then he shuffled backward until he had made it out the door. Azahar followed until they were both out of sight; a few seconds later he used his herald voice again. “Our tardy guests have arrived! Welcome, Azahar the Musical and Elowen the Chilly!”

The boys ambled into view, tugging their clothes into place: the very outfits they had worn to their debut gala, which they clearly had been wearing under the tabard and robe, along with having been wearing their crowns under the caps. They entered the dining room and bowed low. In his normal voice, Azahar said, “So sorry for the delay, Lady Princess.”

“Our carriage was set on fire by a fire-breathing elk!” Elowen provided.

Liana tutted at them, waving a dismissive hand. “All’s well an’ good, Princes. These things happen. Please be seated.” The boys did so, with Elowen sitting closest to her so he could subtly reach toward Liana’s head to stop the tiara from melting.

Sausage had a beaming smile by this point, having put his elbows on the table and carefully interlaced his fingers to rest his chin on the back of his left hand. “You look very lovely, princess Liana. That dress is perfect for you.”

Liana’s pretend airs almost fell apart when she noticed the difference in his prosthetic. “Papa, your—” She hastily stopped herself with a little cough. “’Scuse me, Papa of Mythland, I can’ts help but see how fancy your metal arm is today. It’s interesting that you gots diff’rent ones.”

She was keeping her tone calm but her eyes sparkled with an obvious question of being allowed to see the possible others later.

Sausage replied suavely, “I wear this one for the most special of events, such as dining with very important people, like yourself.” Liana’s face lit up with a grin. Sausage’s smile quickly matched it. “I can tell you more about it this evening – perhaps after we eat? I wouldn’t want to take time away from what you have to tell us about your day, dear Princess,” he said, indicating his own interest in what he had missed.

The day’s exploits were described and the family continued with the somewhat-theatrical game up until the kitchen staff started bringing out food. Liana suddenly became quite focused on taking extreme care with how she ate, not letting a single crumb fall onto her new dress.

Her efforts continued through to dessert, although it was obvious how her façade slipped as her eyes widened and an excited smile overtook her face when presented with a piece of cake. Somehow she reigned herself in. “Why, I do says, the castle baker has outdone herself today. A very y— lovely cake is before us. Ev’ryone should enjoy it!”

A chuckle escaped Azahar. Liana’s gaze darted to him; a tiny frown twitched at her lips, either a warning or precursor to a pout if he went out of character. He salvaged the moment by saying, “Pardon my amusement, Princess Liana. I had allowed myself a thought toward the fashion of these days, and an amusing memory crossed my mind. Do you know of the shop off the main thoroughfare? Perhaps a maid has brought word? Well, they had on display a gown of the most garish shade of green that you can imagine!”

Scott was impressed at the cleverness as the conversation that followed segued back into a recounting of the shopping trip and the items they had each picked up. Elowen was more direct in his list, technically dropping his pretend act but Liana didn’t call him on it because she was just as excited to tell Sausage what she had seen and found that day.

The pretend game came to a natural end, with Liana now excited to show Sausage all her new clothes – and show him exactly what Azahar and Elowen had gotten. While Scott and the boys opted to take their time relaxing after dessert, Liana led the way up the stairs, exuberant yet careful not to trip or catch her dress on anything. Her attention slipped at the top step, however; thinking that she had reached the floor, she turned to ramble about her fitting at the tailor’s shop, only to trip.

Just as she began to fall backward, Sausage caught her by the waist and lifted her up with a grin, then set her onto her feet. “Careful, little princess. Even a pretty dress is replaceable. You are priceless.”

Liana grinned back at him. “Thanks, Papa!”

The incident didn’t stop her from running to her room, leaving him behind. By the time he caught up she was in the process of changing into a casual dress that was a shade of green close to Sausage’s usual royal robe. “I still wanna keep it nice, though,” she explained in a serious tone. Sausage nodded and hung it up in the wardrobe for her alongside other new dresses. He smiled about how they had replaced her tattered old ones.

By that point Azahar and Elowen had come upstairs to also show their new clothes. Sausage sat on the floor of the shared room with Liana hovering behind him, while Scott stood in the doorway, glad that Sausage was still participating in some way. Elowen held up a new shirt and showed how his new leggings reached below his ankles where his old ones had started coming up short. Azahar spoke of how his new shirts were more comfortable, less tight against his broadening shoulders.

Sausage offered compliments on color combinations and applauded the choice of embroidery designs on items they had picked out themselves. He then helped to swap out the ill-fitting clothes for the new.

This is where Liana pointed out how Azahar could give clothes that no longer fit him to Elowen to play in, and she could take some of Elowen’s clothes because she didn’t mind wearing things that weren’t dresses, clothes were clothes after all, and what if she did want to climb trees or run around in the mud sometime – you can’t do that in a pretty princess dress, or her new dresses, but maybe in her really old clothes, and—and—

Scott smiled throughout her motivational speech, amused yet again at how she was the perfect match for Sausage’s verbal energy, which brought about a mental image of Sausage as a young child. It came in contrast to the disquiet air hovering around Sausage at the moment despite his own delighted smile at Liana’s rambling. Scott couldn’t put a finger on what it was. If things had gone poorly with the Warden he was certain Sausage would have said something. The way his husband was caught up in the children’s enthusiasm made it seem it wasn’t the morning’s incident nor missing the day out with them that was the cause.

He would have to keep an eye on that.

~*~

The rest of the week was spent on little tours to help Liana familiarize herself with the castle grounds and the city, where she continued to charm pretty much everyone she met. She invited castle staff to tea parties, although most of the time the invitations had to be politely declined due to the already scheduled work, but Liana would find other toys visiting her to join instead. Even Bubbles would find a seat at the low table allocated for playtime.

By the following week, however, Sausage had begun to excuse himself from participating, too – briefly explaining to Liana that he had some very important kingly matters that needed his attention right away, like the one on her first full day in Mythland. His tone was regretful; he truly wanted to spend time playing with her, but the thing he couldn’t say was that in the back of his mind he had something else gnawing at him, and work was a needed distraction.

Regarding the schooling he would be missing out on in Liana’s case, Sausage had Sir Carlos direct her lessons more toward reading and language skills as agreed on with Scott, leaving more in-depth topics like math, magic, and Mythland’s history for later months. This did make Liana’s school sessions shorter than her brothers’, giving her enough free time to cheerfully play her favorite pretend games with plushies while waiting for her dads and brothers to join her.

On the fifth consecutive day of Sausage being unable to attend, however, Liana was quiet as she slowly circled the extra table in the library – now designated for tea time, since it was the easiest place Scott could keep an eye on her while also supervising the boys. She set six places instead of the usual five, going so far as to lower the cups onto their plates extremely carefully so they wouldn’t clink too loudly. Not that she lacked care the previous times, but usually she would hum to herself or talk out loud about which flavor tea she would serve and which flowers she would arrange together for a centerpiece, as well as patting at the cushions lying on the floor to make sure they were soft enough for everyone to sit on.

This time when she was done she sat in one of the big armchairs by the fireplace to wait. She swung her feet and seemed to be trying to refrain from humming, although a note slipped out every now and then. She would hastily silence herself. Scott glanced over during these moments and noticed how her head moved as her gaze would go from the hearth to the empty fireplace.

Scott had been walking behind the boys to check their progress on a history test Sir Carlos had written for them. They were both sailing through the questions with little hesitation, so he leaned between them to whisper that they could call him back over if they needed anything. Then he went over to Liana and knelt beside the chair. “Do we have a new guest today, Liana? I saw you didn’t bring your bunny to read to him while you wait for us. I heard Sir Carlos say he would be back in time to join us. Did he say he would bring a friend?”

Liana squirmed slightly and continued to look at the hearth rather than at him. “No. I just wanted to have a place for Papa so’s he could have some tea, too. Maybe he cans finish work in time today…”

Scott patted her arm. “He has been trying. I am sorry about this. We had expected to have a lot of free time for both of us to spend with you, Elowen, and Azahar aside from breakfast, dinner, and story time before bed. Sometimes unexpected things happen, and kings have to make sure every family in the kingdom is protected.”

“Mm-hmm,” Liana quietly agreed. “I know. But… kings should gets af’ernoon snacks, too. An’… an’ he didn’t come to lunch, neither. Are kings s’posed to not eat lunch when they gots a lotta work??”

Scott chuckled. “I assure you he eats while working.”

“But we’re s’posed to only eat at the table!” Indignation rose in her tone, which actually made Scott feel better – it meant she was returning to her feisty self. “We eat lunch at the big table, an’ have tea on this table, an’ there’s a table in the garden for snacks when it’s not rainin’! I wanna have a tea party in the garden one day, but ev’rybody has gots to be there!”

“Well, I’ll check with Papa before dinner and find out for you how much work he has left. We’re still waiting for that special order tea set for you, after all. We could make a garden tea party the special event when we get to see how it turned out.”

“Okay.” Liana went back into a sulking mode. “But only if Papa cans be there.”

“I’ll make sure of it.” Scott stood up and smiled down at her. “I’ll go see if your brothers are done and then while we wait for Sir Carlos I’ll tell you a story about my first lessons learning ice magic.”

As he started to turn, Liana’s hand caught his sleeve. “Daddy, cans I learn magic, too?”

He smiled gently back at her. “You can definitely give it a try. Just remember, not every elf can use magic. That’s why Azahar and Elowen have different studies at times.”

“I know,” she replied with the level of seriousness small children have. “I prob’ly don’t wanna do ice magic, anyway.” She let go of his sleeve and promptly went back to staring at the fireplace.

She had managed to convey a finality that stopped Scott from asking which other type of magic she would like to try. He found himself turning away, taking two steps toward the other table, then glancing at Liana again.

Now there was another feeling in the air he couldn’t put a finger on.

.

When Sir Carlos returned he was accompanied by a member of the kitchen staff who carried a covered platter for him. “Dear Lady Liana,” he clucked, bowing to her as she hopped down from the armchair. She curtsied in return. “Upon my way to the castle I was entranced by the scent of fresh pastries. I procured a number of them so that we might enjoy them with our tea.”

The staff member walked forward after a nod from Scott to set the platter down in the middle of the tea cups. Liana’s eyes widened. She ran over to crouch down until her gaze was level with the edge of the table, staring with anticipation at the platter. Lifting the cover revealed a dozen mini tartlets filled with a red jam. Liana tilted her head. “What flavor is that?”

“Raspberry,” Sir Carlos replied, his tone bright. “A fresh shipment came in from our southern allies.”

Liana did not seem enlightened. “What does ras’berry taste like?”

Scott chimed in since he could guess the best comparison she might be familiar with. “Raspberries are similar to cloudberries. Depending on how they’re prepared, they can be a little tart or made sweeter.”

Liana scrunched up her face. “That’s kinda confusin’. Cans I taste one to find out, or do I hafta wait until tea?”

“You may taste one,” Scott said. He was curious how she would react.

Liana’s hand hovered over the platter as she attempted to choose the best one for sampling. She started to reach for the one that looked the smallest, then seemed to consider picking up the biggest. However, she ended up stepping away to run over to the boys instead to ask, “Have you tasted these before?”

Azahar offered a thoughtful expression. “I’m pretty sure we have.”

Elowen nodded. “Yeah, I remember Uncle Xornoth gave us some at our gala.”

“What gala?” Liana asked, momentarily distracted from the matter of tarts.

Elowen answered, “The one where we first met Uncle Xornoth and when we got our crowns, remember?”

“Oh, yeah, I ‘member now.” Liana just sort of blinked as if now overwhelmed by imagining a gala’s worth of tarts. “Maybe Uncle Xornoth cans come to my garden tea party so’s I can meet him soon.” This new thought distracted her further.

“Maybe,” Azahar replied. “He’s a busy king like Papa and lives, well, far away as you know. But anyway, you can have one all to yourself right now to make up for us already having some.”

“Okay.” Liana went back over to the tea table, although it was another few seconds before she selected one. She carefully picked it up as if afraid it might crumble, then put it down on one of the plates. She glanced toward the door, then toward Scott, then at the door again. She inhaled loudly, then announced, “I’m gonna go ask Papa for permission, too!”

She grabbed the plate and raced out of the library before Scott could stop her. Sir Carlos clucked in alarm, “Sire, she—”

Scott shook his head. ”I think it would be worse to stop her. She might slow down if no one is following her.”

Sir Carlos clucked more quietly. “As I recall… Yes, that is a sound strategy for overly-energetic children.”

.

Despite her haste, Liana was holding the plate with care to avoid damaging the precious treat. An idea had possessed her that had little to do with getting permission. She made her way through the halls, remembering on her own the way to Sausage’s office.

There were guards stationed to either side of the closed door. One remained on watch as the other looked down at her curiously. “Good afternoon, Princess. All is well with your father, but he is busy right now.”

“I know!” Liana proclaimed, “But I wanted to bring him a – a ras’berry tart. Even kings should gets a snack when they’re busy, an’ he’s too busy for tea right now, too.”

The guard smiled patiently, and even the other paused his eagle-eyed gazing along the hall to give a nod. “Very well, Princess. Please enter.”

They opened the door for her. Liana gave a careful curtsy, a firm grip on the plate. “Thank you!” After she entered, the guards closed the door again.

Liana made her way past displays of armor and ignored the assorted curios on the bookshelves, marching straight up to Sausage’s desk, where she found him not scrawling on a thousand scrolls but lightly snoring as he slept, his head resting on his left arm with the metal fingers of his other hand sitting in a small pool of ink that had spilled from a knocked-over bottle.

Liana huffed. She set the plate down on a nearby chair then turned with her hands on her hips and declared with exasperation, “Papa! If you needed a nap instead of wantin’ tea, you coulda just said so!”

Sausage’s latest snore turned into a startled snort. “Hm? Huh? Wha—? Oh. Oops.” He blinked down at the spilled ink, then realized who was there. “Li-Liana. Sorry, am I missing tea time again?” He rummaged around the desk until her found a handkerchief to wipe his hand. “And well, I should be working instead of napping, but I didn’t sleep well last night, so my body decided I should have a nap!”

“Well, that means you should has a snack so’s you’re not too sleepy. Sir Chicken brought—”

“Sir Carlos,” Sausage gently corrected.

Liana nodded. “He brought special tarts, an’ I wanted you to have one!” She held out the plate and nudged it onto the side of the desk. She peered at the scroll Sausage had fallen sleep on, her eyes moving across to the puddle of ink. “I don’t think that’s gonna be accepted-ible as a message from a king. Do you wants some help, Papa? Daddy said he helps you sometimes. I’m a princess, so’s I should be able to help, too!”

As he picked up the ink bottle, Sausage was about to suggest she return to the library, then he smiled and carefully picked the scroll – with its ink pool – up. “I think there is something you can do for me, actually.” He folded the scroll and tipped it so the ink would run along the crease into the bottle in an effort to save what hadn’t started to dry. “I’ll give you this to write and draw with, and then I’ll tell you what the rest of my work here needs to be done, and then we’ll have tea – but I’ll be able to eat this delicious-looking tart while you take over for me.”

.

The library group’s awaiting of Liana’s return was punctuated by the quiet clucking of Sir Carlos as he graded the quizzes taken earlier and the occasional sound of a page turning as Elowen flipped through his spellbook. Across the table Scott stretched himself taller to get a glimpse of the pages, interested to see which spell Elowen might chose to practice. Azahar sat with a tea cup in hand and now sipped his pretend tea while also watching his brother from the side.

Azahar lowered the cup and said, “School is supposed to be over. Let’s not let this delicious tea and tarts go to waste!” His tone and volume indicated he was perhaps trying to summon their little sister simply by saying it.

Elowen peered over at him. “Liana isn’t back yet. Why play tea party if she’s not here? It’s her game,” he stated matter-of-factly.

Azahar smiled over the rim of the tea cup. “Well, I want to practice violin when moving so I can do that if we go look for her.”

Scott had a reasonable guess as to where Liana had gone, but he wouldn’t dissuade Azahar’s idea by mentioning it.  And so, a short time later he and Elowen were following Azahar through the halls as he played a simpler tune than he had recently been practicing. Since there was the added complication of needing to avoid walking into a wall he figured he should stick to the basics.

The tune only wavered once or twice when he mistook a tapestry for a doorway – likely due to seeing it out of the corner of his eye, his brain too occupied by striking the correct notes to process the difference between rectangular shapes.

They saw no sign of Liana until they neared Sausage’s office. They came to a halt about six steps shy of the door when she stuck her head past the guards and yelled, “Cans you please go play somewhere else? Papa an’ I gots work to do!”

Azahar stilled the violin’s strings. “We were looking for you – you forgot to come back to the tea party, and we didn’t want to have it without you.”

Liana stepped fully into the hall with her arms folded over her chest indignantly. “I’m not havin’ it without Papa! Maybe if you princes helped, too, he’d finish work faster!”

The guards stepped aside, letting the whole family enter, unsure what else they were meant to do in this situation. Scott and Azahar looked over Liana’s head while Elowen peeked past her to see a scattered pile of drawings on the floor while Sausage had a tidy pile of scrolls on one side of his desk. He gave them all a sheepish look in return, having heard Liana’s comment. “We’re almost done. I did tell her a minute ago that it was okay to go ahead to the library. Didn’t I, Liana? Your brothers don’t have princely duties aside from their lessons, which means you don’t have princessly duties aside from your lessons.”

“Then Daddy should help you! He don’t gots lessons!”

Scott stifled a chuckle. Sausage, meanwhile, laughed loudly. “He helps already by being a teacher. That’s his job now. He used to help me all the time with things. But you have a point.” Sausage tapped the quill he had just picked up against his lips. “Maybe we should start sharing paperwork. And I can teach lessons like running through the garden, how to climb trees, and fetch with Bubbles!”

“Papa, that’s playtime!” Liana protested in a scolding tone. “Lessons are for readin’ an’ learnin’ hist’ry, an’ how to do magic, or how to make pretty songs! Those are things princes do!”

Scott asked, “Out of curiosity, Liana, which of Papa’s paperwork have you been doing?”

She scurried over to her mess of papers to show examples. “Well, Papa was readin’ out requests from townsfolk. Like, he said the farri-ri-er needs iron for horseshoes. So’s I drawed some horsies that already gots shoes so’s she won’t need so many yet.” She held up two pieces of paper containing three drawings each of a six-year-old’s approximation of horses wearing iron boots on all four hooves.

She searched for another piece of paper then continued, “An’ the shipsmaster wants iron for bands on shippin’ barrels, so’s I drawed iron bands for him!” She presented a paper where nearly the whole thing was taken up by circles. She uttered a child’s long-suffering sigh. “Ev’rybody sure needs a lotta iron!”

Azahar volunteered information to her. “We learned in our lessons that iron is the main export of Mythland. But that doesn’t mean we send all of it away. People across our own kingdom use plenty of it.”

It was now that it occurred to Liana to ask, “Where does all that iron come from, anyway? Sheeps grow back wool! Shiny gold comes from the ground, but it runs out when it gets dug up!”

Sausage saw an opportunity to finally move the conversation elsewhere. “Sir Carlos can tell you. He’s the one who knows the most about Mythland’s history – even more than me!”

“And,” Scott said, “He’s probably done grading those tests by now, so he’ll be free for you to ask him. You should hurry before he becomes too busy with the next lesson plan. I’ll help Papa put all these drawings together with their requests and send them off. Just like you said to, Liana.”

He waved the children off as Azahar led the way back to the library. Then he turned to Sausage. His tone switched from light-hearted to serious. “You’ve been very focused on work lately. Too focused. We were supposed to be delegating some of the less essential things so we could have time with the children. Isn’t the foreman at the Iron Castle supposed to be handling requests?”

Sausage stammered the excuse, “I’m just reviewing the summaries. It made Liana feel helpful since, you know, there’s not much to actually do here except sign my approval.”

“No, this is different. I noticed when Azahar took up the violin – which meant less sword training on the schedule, but you really threw yourself into it after that warden incident two weeks ago. Is there something you need to tell me? Did Jimmy say something and it set off something like that wall-building competition, like the old days? If I’m wrong, you know you can tell me anything.” He tried to sound encouraging rather than just sound worried.

Sausage put the quill aside and stared at the top of the desk for a moment. Then he reached his left hand over to hold his right shoulder. “It was the thing with the Warden, you’re right. No one said anything in particular, although Jimmy did accuse me of going soft. Which, I mean… He’s right, but that reason isn’t why. It was the… well. You know how it is with caves, when you’re underground and there’s… Just darkness and… stone all around you where there’s not much room to move…”

Scott could tell Sausage didn’t want to be exact in his word choice, so he said it for him. “Cold.” He walked behind the desk and started to massage both of Sausage’s shoulders, hoping he would only feel warm comfort in the gesture. “I get it. You want a distraction, and working has always been your way – and you don’t get to do as much architecture as you used to. But I think you should stick to delegating, and throw yourself into raising our children instead of dwelling on what you need to fix.”

Sausage nodded, his expression slightly crestfallen. “I know. I was trying to limit it to, you know, a time when they would be with you anyway. Sort of like shoving all my, uh, worries into scrawling on scrolls so it would be off my mind for the rest of the time.”

“That makes some sense – up until you’re late for tea,” Scott gently teased. “Liana will just keep refusing to start without you, so you might as well schedule a break for her sake, at least.” He earned a sigh in response. He leaned further into the shoulder massage then added, “They’re waiting right now. You can leave these, or I can take over. Or… even better…”

Scott reached past Sausage to the desk and, grinning, swiftly began picking up the remaining unrolled missives before Sausage could stop him. “Bring your work with you! Then Liana and the boys can help with illustrations and—”

He stopped, hand poised above neatly cut out squares of paper that had designs drawn along the borders. One had swirls, one had flowers, and one had precisely shaped rabbits. Scott’s smile softened.

Sausage’s face flushed a little. “I – I thought it wouldn’t hurt to start thinking of invitation designs, even if it’s a few years away.”

Scott set down the missives to hold up the cards for a better look. “No, you were on to something when you said we should make our own tradition. Why wait until she’s ten? We can just hold it on her upcoming birthday. That gives us about four months to plan everything. Which also reminds me that Elowen’s birthday is coming up soon. Let’s not overshadow that.” Sausage nodded in agreement.

“But right now…” Scott gathered the sample invitations and tapped them into line with each other. “…we should attend today’s tea party. No excuses. I’ll help you make up the time whether we bring this stuff to the library or not.” He took Sausage by the arm to pull him from the chair.

~*~

Elowen’s birthday began with a bumpy start: that being the bouncy motion of someone jumping up and down on the end of his bed. This was followed by Liana’s voice calling out, “Elowen! Elowen! It’s birthday time! Happy birthday!”

He stared blearily over at her. She jumped up and down exactly one more time. “Liana,” he mumbled, “I can sleep more on my birthday if I wanna…” He tried to pull the blanket up while turning onto his side; her weight kept it from moving far enough, although she shuffled her feet from one to the other to avoid falling off.

“But you’re s’posed to be excited for birthday breakfast! It’s the best thing about birthdays!”

Elowen tugged the blanket again, then gave up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He now got a better look at her. “Liana, why do you have powder all over you?”

“I was helping!”

“It’s in your hair. What were you helping to do?” Elowen sounded doubtful of any skill she might have been lending, having become familiar with her way of involving herself in things during the past month and a half since her adoption.

“Birthday breakfast! Come on!” Liana hopped off the bed. She failed to stick the landing and so ended up on her knees, but she picked herself right up and ran out of the room.

Azahar, awoken by the ruckus, commented, “There’s really no stopping her. Might as well get up now.”

As they started to take out clothes for the day they heard Sausage call out, “Liana, come back! Why are you covered in flour?!”

Another voice that the boys recognized as one of the castle cooks said, “Sorry, Your Highness. We’ve been trying to catch up to her to clean her up, but she’s, well, quite fast.”

“It’s fine. You may return to your duties. I’ll handle this.”

The boys stopped what they were doing and covered their ears. The cook hurried past their door. Sausage then bellowed, “LIANA! GET BACK HERE AND CLEAN UP, YOUNG LADY! THIS INSTANT!!”

The boys lowered their hands and went back to changing clothes. A giggling Liana came running past again. “Sorry, Papa. But it’s Elowen’s birthday!”

“I know it is, but you can’t just make a mess of yourself. You need to look nice for his birthday, too.”

“Okay, Papa!”

They heard her run past again on her way to her room.

“Hold on, I’ll help you get it out of your hair.”  Sausage paused at the doorway to glance in at the boys. “Good morning! Birthday Boy, Azahar,” he greeted with a smile. “Getting ready to see what your sister has cooked up this time?”

“Looking forward to it,” Azahar replied as he buckled his belt. “I’ve never known someone to get so excited about breakfast like that.”

“Hmph. Yeah,” Elowen mumbled, making it clear that he would have preferred to still be sleeping.

Sausage gave a nod of agreement. “Well, I’ll see you downstairs. This, ah, this might take a few minutes…” He disappeared from the doorway, although they could hear him light-heartedly scolding Liana.

Within those few minutes Scott appeared. “Good morning, boys. Elowen, would you like me to braid your hair for your big day?”

Elowen patted at his shoulder-length hair thoughtfully. He realized it was still unruly from sleep. “Maybe one braid. On this side.” He pointed to the right side of his head, then sat down on the corner of his bed. Scott picked up a hairbrush and length of gold ribbon from the dresser then sat sideways on the bed behind him.

“What would you like to do today?” Scott asked while carefully brushing the tangles out of Elowen’s hair. “Papa’s whole day is free so you get to decide how we spend it.” With expert motions he gathered up just the right number of strands for braiding, mindful of Elowen moving his head when he talked.

“Can we take some of Bubbles’ troops out for a long walk in the forest? We haven’t gone out really far since Liana came home.” A mischievous smile crossed his face. “The troops are for watching her, then we can climb some trees without her running around all crazy.”

Azahar let out a laugh in agreement. “Good idea! Maybe we should post some around the castle to do that, too!”

Scott tied off Elowen’s new braid with the ribbon. “Particularly the kitchen, I hear.”

“At least on birthdays,” Elowen said. “So everyone can sleep as late as they want that day.”

Scott stood and put the brush back. “We’ll let you sleep late on her birthday to make it fair.”

Elowen looked aghast. “Dad! She’s gonna have everyone up at dawn probably!”

“I’ll tell her that birthday breakfast will be served late. Now let’s go find out what that even means.”

After collecting Sausage and a slightly-less-dusted-with-flour Liana, the family headed to the dining room. Liana, of course, insisted on running ahead so she could gesture to Elowen’s seat with a beaming smile on her face as the kitchen staff, attending the dining room for the special occasion, moved to the walls to await their cues to lift the covers on the platters in front of each person. “Look! Look! For you! It’s the best!”

Elowen put his hands on the back of his chair, contemplating more mischief by waiting, but yielded to his sister’s bright, expectant eyes and sat down. The staff member behind him stepped forward to lift the cover, releasing a waft of steam and revealing a stack of five fluffed up, round foodstuffs on his plate that were decorated in a cascade of different berries in fruit syrup. He knew what they were and was pleased to see them, but Liana’s hyper elation about it seemed a little unwarranted.

“Pamcakes and berries!” Liana crowed.

“Pancakes,” Scott corrected.

“Yeah!!” Liana pointed to Azahar’s place. “I made some like that for you, too, ‘cause I missed your birthday! But there’s less berries because it’s not your birthday.”

Azahar sat and offered her a gracious look. “Thanks for thinking of me, Liana. You’re awfully excited about these. Did you not have pancakes very often at your old home?”

“Not super big ones like these! Even when I spilled batter on the pan and there were only a bunch of tiny ones they still came out huge!” Liana hopped up onto her chair.

Scott, having a suspicion about her comments, asked, “By huge, do you mean how high they rise up when they cook?”

“Yeah!! I didn’t know pamcakes could be so tall an’ fluffy!” Liana replied. “I only ever saw flat ones! Like really, really flat! I don’t think those were actually cakes at all!”

Scott chuckled. “Elven pancakes and Mythland pancakes are made differently, Liana. Elven ones are meant to be thin and flat. The ones here are what is referred to as ‘hearty’. Humans like hearty food as fuel for their work.”

“Heart-y?” Liana pronounced the word with uncertainty. “But there’s no hearts in them! There’s eggs an’ flour an’ van-il-la! An’ sometimes berries! The cook ‘splained it to me when I said that if one berry is tasty, then putting all the berries in should make it more tasty! But if you put in too many berries, they get messed up! So’s I put the berries on after the pamcakes were done.”

Sausage seemed stunned by the whole conversation. He abruptly asked, “Wait, have we not had pancakes since she got here? That is unacceptable! I’ll make sure they’re on the menu regularly from now on!”

“Papa!” Liana’s voice took on a whiny edge. “They’re for birthday breakfast! Y’know, special!”

A gleeful look entered Sausage’s eyes. “Well, it’s got to be _someone’s_ birthday on whatever day we have them! We can have pancakes in their honor!”

Liana didn’t seem sure what to make of his reasoning. She sat down and scrunched up her face in thought, remaining that way as the food was presented to everyone else at the table, and she stayed in quiet contemplation as she ate.

Elowen wouldn’t say it out loud, but that was a pretty good present.

Finally, after the dishes were cleared away, Liana announced, “I wanna know everyone in the castle’s birthdays so’s we cans have pamcakes on those days!” She pointed to the door the staff had exited through.

Sausage uttered a laugh that sounded like he was partially crying. “Okay, okay. We’ll do it that way from now on!”

.

The family was soon on their way for a nice walk along forest paths, enjoying the fresh air and being away from responsibilities. As requested, a half dozen of Bubbles’ spare troops accompanied them. The children had fun running along the paths, throwing sticks scavenged from the ground for the dogs to fetch and letting themselves be chased around giant mushroom stems. Sausage and Scott strolled arm in arm behind them, smiling at the joyous hollering.

At one point they all stopped at a tree with particularly large, low-hanging branches which Elowen and Liana wanted to climb on. Elowen managed by himself but Liana needed extra help up, so Scott went over to help her find the right hand holds.

Sausage meandered away when one of the dogs went sniffing into some underbrush, curious – and in some ways wary – of what the dog had caught wind of. He followed for a minute or more, going further off trail, until he saw the brief twitch of a fluff gray tail. The dog took off running, panting excitedly. Sausage shook his head at the lacking of training but smiled in relief. No actual danger; merely a squirrel.

He turned to go back to the trail but didn’t see it right away, underestimating how far he had gone. Should be easy enough to find, he figured. Just wait to hear Liana shouting about something. He walked in what he figured was the general direction. If anything, the dog would return to his side and he would ask it to sniff out his family.

Presently a gust of wind rustled the leaves. Sausage looked up and noted how densely packed they seemed in the area, making it impossible to see the sky. It was chilly in all this shade. He hugged his arms over his chest without thinking about it, gaze still turned upward for a glimpse of the sun. In doing so he wasn’t paying attention to what was in front of him and he strode right into an oak tree’s trunk. It set him off balance, so he instinctively threw out his right hand to catch hold of it and steady himself. The bark split and came loose under the hard metal of his prosthetic fingers, costing him the anchor point and putting him further off balance. He stumbled in response, fetching up against a larger dark oak tree. His gaze went to the branch that he had narrowly missed hitting his head on, directly above his crown.  The trunk at his back felt so cold from perpetually being in the shade. He hastily turned away from it, moving backward while keeping his eyes on the tree as if something felt wrong about it.

This caused him to bump right into another of the thick, looming trees. They were so close to each other. The world was so dark under them. There seemed to be no other world beyond them, it was only him and walls made by the trunks. The shade was so cold. …So cold…

He heard Scott’s voice calling as if from a distance. From the other side of that wall…

It was the sound of dogs barking that snapped him out of it. He saw the small pack come charging between the trees, tails wagging and tongues out to lick at his left hand. Instincts kicked in again to get him moving as he gently patted them on the head in turn.

“There you are!” a relieved Scott called out, pushing a small branch out of his way as he passed between the trees just fine like the dogs had. The children followed behind him. “And here we had worried about Liana wandering off.”

“I— sorry— I—I was just keeping an eye on the little guy who ran off after a squirrel,” Sausage explained, casting a glance over the dogs to find the one in question. He couldn’t really pick it out from the pack swarming around him.

Scott was studying him intensely but only said, “We should head back home anyway. Elowen scraped his arm on the way down from that tree we were at.”

“O-Oh no!” Sausage turned his attention fully to his younger son. “How bad is it? You sure it’s just a scrape?”

“Yup,” Elowen replied, sounding proud. “Look, I already covered it!” He held up his left forearm, where his shirt sleeve had been torn all the way to the elbow but the injury in question had a layer of frost over it, preventing any bleeding. “Ice bandages are cold, but I did it myself!”

No one saw the spot over Sausage’s right eye twitch. “That’s really impressive. Good job! But we’ll still go home. Maybe have a snack and then we can run around in the garden instead. We should also practice tree climbing there so that doesn’t happen again!”

~*~

Whether from too much syrup in his stack of pancakes or from the experience out in the forest, Sausage found himself tossing and turning in bed, half-aware of his discomfort but asleep enough to have flickers of a dream dancing through his subconscious.

The whispering. Quiet, insidious. His right hand, reaching out. A dark blade within his grasp.

A smile. All teeth, no joy.

Two figures stepped forward, blocking his way. Their auras were bright and he squinted against the glow, but he was stronger. He would not be stopped.

They fell, revealing his goal behind them. A sword of ice held ready to meet him.

So cold, like the look in the eyes of the wielder. A look of betrayal and no forgiveness.

The whispering spoke to him again. “So, this was how you chose to get what you wanted?”

Pain ripped through him – not from the ice sword, but from the look in those eyes. Sausage was poised to strike in return, right arm raised. He forced his body to halt. “No. This isn’t what I wanted. Take it back. Take the power back!”

“It is yours to keep. It is a part of you now. Go on. Finish what you started. There is only one way to end it.”

“No!”

“But it suits you; so it does now as it did then. You brought it with you. You could no further cut it away from yourself than you would your own heart. Grasp it. Embrace it. Hold it in your hand.”

His hand. His  h a n d.

Sausage bolted upright and reached out with his right hand, grabbing onto empty air—

—Except he didn’t. Because he couldn’t. Because he had no right hand. Yet he could swear he felt it…

He darted a glance over to Scott to make sure he hadn’t awoken him. Making sure that his husband remained undisturbed, Sausage left the bed and padded out of the room, foregoing a robe over his night clothes in his haste. Not wanting to disturb the children, either, he silently made his way to the library where the layers of books would dampen sounds like whispers from echoing off stone walls. Once there he stoked up a small fire in the fireplace to ward off memories of ice that were making him feel cold.

He sat in the armchair closest to the hearth then undid the buttons on one side of the cuff covering his stump. He rubbed his thumb over the scar that ran along the end. He used the change in texture to remind himself that the arm was, in fact, gone; it was merely a phantom sensation that had him imagining something was there.

He pressed his fingertips into his skin closer to his shoulder. That was a real feeling. He wasn’t able to hurt anyone like this…

And yet the mix of memory and dream played through his head over and over, continuing to haunt him. Maybe he shouldn’t have gone into that cave. He should have just left it to Jimmy and Tango. He shouldn’t have gone with them to where it was so deep and cold and closed in, where it was dark and isolated and away from everything where no one could reach—

The impression of a small hand on his knee brought him back to the present. Liana stood beside the chair in her nightgown and bare feet. Indigo eyes looked up at him in concern. “Papa, are you okay? I was gettin’ water an’ saw the fire in here, an’ there’s not s’posed to be fire in here without anyone! Aren’t you sleepy?”

“L-Liana, hi,” Sausage stammered, though to his own surprise he kept his tone gentle rather than awash with the turmoil that had been on his mind. “I had a bad dream and I just wanted to sit for a while without bothering Dad, so I came here. I’m – I’m okay. You should go back to bed, though. Little princesses need their rest.”

“But you’re gonna need a nap when you’re workin’ again if you don’t sleep! A princess cans take a nap whenever, but it doesn’t seem like a busy king can! ‘Specially when…” Her gaze drifted to the loosened cuff. She continued in a soft voice, “…when he only gots one arm.”

For a moment Sausage felt self-conscious and couldn’t remember if he had told her that he didn’t sleep with the prosthetic on. He then wondered what her perception of him might have been while he was sitting there zoned out holding his stump. He pushed a smile onto his face. “Well, I might need a nap every so often, but I can still do plenty of things with one arm. Like… I can still pick up little girls who should be in bed!” He shifted his weight in the chair so he could lurch to the left and scoop her up with his arm, then shifted to sit back with her in his lap.

Liana giggled and hugged him with all her tiny might, then crawled to the side and placed a kiss on the end of his stump. “I kiss it and make it all better, okay, Papa?”

Sausage’s eyesight blurred with tears. He suppressed a small choked sound then stammered again. “Th-thanks, Liana. I think that’s just what I needed.” More than you know, he added to himself. He returned the favor by making a show of noisily trying to kiss her on the forehead, inspiring another giggle as she fended off being tickled by his beard. Eventually he did land a kiss somewhere in her hair. “All right, back to bed for both of us, my little princess.”

Sausage gently hugged her and moved to put her down so he could more easily get up from the chair, but she clung to his left arm. She didn’t seem upset about anything despite her face being pressed to his shoulder, but Sausage settled into the chair again anyway. He instinctively moved his right arm to hold her across the back – a different kind of forgetting the lack of arm – and instead leaned his head against hers. He let her snuggle up to his chest for a little while, although at some point they both fell asleep, leaving the fire to die down on its own.

The library seemed warmer by then, anyway.

~*~

The sound of Scott’s voice quietly saying his name, along with the shaking of his shoulder coaxed Sausage awake. He didn’t respond right away since he felt the weight of Liana on him. The little girl was still fast asleep. Scott, sensibly having a thick robe over his night clothes, stood over him and upon meeting Sausage’s eyes he whispered, “Did she have a nightmare?”

“No,” Sausage said, his voice gruff from sleep, “I did.” He tried to shift a bit, intending to get up while still holding Liana, but the leverage to do so eluded him.

Scott stepped in, reaching to pick her up, but then she awoke with a yawn. “’Mornin’, Daddy! Papa was sad about his arm, so’s I kissed it an’ made it better!”

“Oh?” Scott replied. He went ahead and half-picked her up, half-helped her down from the armchair, guiding her far enough away so Sausage had space to use his left arm to get himself up. “That was wonderful of you to do, Liana. Did you follow him all the way here just for that?”

“No, I was gettin’ water. But I forgot it when I saw fire in here!”

“That explains the cup in the hallway,” Scott said, clasping his chin and nodding at the solved mystery.

“Yeah, I saw Papa an’ wondered why he wasn’t sleepin’. See, that’s why he needs a nap when he’s workin’!”

Sausage laughed awkwardly as he stepped over beside her. “I guess you’re right. I’ll have a chat with Dad about it later. Or maybe right now,” he amended when Scott shot him a stern look. “But you need to go get dressed before breakfast. No hugging as an excuse this time! We’ll be along soon.”

“Yes, Papa.” Liana hugged him anyway, then hugged Scott, and finally scurried out of the library. Less than a second later they heard her announce, “I forgots my water again! It’s spilled on the floor now!”

“It’s fine, Liana,” Scott called after her. “We’ll take care of it! Please go upstairs!” He waited a moment before turning to Sausage with what was now an imploring look.

“I – I’m okay, I promise,” Sausage assured him. “It was just one little dream. I just needed to walk for a bit, a-and needed to sit for a bit and… and needed to be by myself for a bit…”

Scott’s gaze went to Sausage’s right side, eying how the cuff was hanging open.

Sausage covered it with his hand. “I just… um…”

Scott stepped up to him and enfolded him in an embrace. Sausage lowered his face to Scott’s chest and sighed; he let his shoulders go slack as Scott said softly, “You don’t have to tell me about the dream. But you don’t have to sneak out or be alone. I know it’s not easy if something reminds you of what happened. And I know we can’t predict what might be a reminder. And… I know you, when you’re left alone with those thoughts. I’m glad Liana happened to be there. Remember, you and I are here, we’re here for our children, we’re here for the future.”

“I know,” Sausage mumbled into the front of Scott’s robe. He allowed the elf his own moment, recalling how things got dicey even after the loss of his arm. His left hand moved upward to embrace Scott in turn. After another second or two Sausage again spoke through the fabric of the robe. “Um. We should get going. Before the kids walk by.”

Scott drew back. “Right. Sorry. I just—”

Sausage cut him off with a smile, “We both just want a lot this night – morning – whatever time of day it is. You know what else I want? To start planning the biggest tea party the empires have ever seen!”

~*~

It was a lovely day in The Undergrove, with a sunny view from one of the outside balconies on the rainbow mushroom castle where Katherine and Shrub were having a picnic together. They could hear the chirping of numerous local birds – although, presently, they heard a deeper croak and a jet-black bird glided down to land on the checkered blanket.

It croaked again and danced closer to Shrub so she could see the scroll held in its talons. “Guardian Shrub! Undergrove!” the bird announced.

Shrub leaned to take the scroll. “News from Mythland, huh?” She unrolled it and scanned the words.

Katherine scooted over. “Is it private, or general news?”

A smile spread across Shrub’s face. “Nope! One probably went to the Overgrown, too! It’s another debut gala invitation!” She held the missive up for Katherine to read as she looked over Shrub’s shoulder, consequently nestling closer to the gnome. They took a second to smile softly at each other, then Katherine skimmed the words on the scroll.

“Aww! Scott and Sausage decided to adopt a little princess! How sweet! So, she likes bunnies and playing tea party? She sounds adorable!”

[To be continued in Chapter Five: The Twins and Them ]

[fountainpenguin]

"And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem... but if I know you, I know what you'll do..." (x)

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New Dog's Life chapter today! ~ 3rd Life series fan-season

Chapter 29 - “Melt (Jimmy, Pearl, Sniff)”

❤️ Read on AO3

💛 Start from Chapter 1

💚 More Pixels Imperfect fics

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Jimmy's NOT about to lose this game. He takes the slimes' turf war banner where no one will ever find it... outside New Star Station's perimeter. Meanwhile, Pearl and Rhetoric visit Mumbo's flat to borrow his llamas. Scar and SnifferMyFeet unwind after a long evening of glitchy code.

(First 1,000 words under the cut)

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SolidarityGaming - Canary (Ex-Cockatiel)

Status: Not losing

Event planner & health teacher at New Star Station Education building

🖤  🧡  💚

They'll never find him. Never, ever, in a billion years. Jimmy muffles his giggles in the crook of his sleeve, snuggling up in the sky blue wrinkles of his jacket. Overworld's sky, anyway. Voices echo outside the cave, half drowned in the noise of the moat from up the hill…

This is fun. Everyone's looking for him. They think they'll catch him - think he'll make a mistake - but they're not going to win. Nah, not him. It's like playing Decked Out all over again, except this time he's without Tango or Etho shouting encouragement in his ears. Jimmy wedges his shoulders back against the bedrock blocks, keeping every breath slow and even. His fingers curl more tightly around the banner in his hand. It's blue and green, marking slime territory. It's not a real rule about borders and where different species can go. Everyone's just having fun. It's a game. It's a point system. It's currency. It's play.

And I'm winning. He's staying alive. He's not getting caught; he's not the first one out. He hunkers in his long-legged ball of limbs, fluttering his wings, and listens with a tight-lipped smirk to the people walking around outside.

"Do you think he's hiding in Tango's room?"

"They'll be exes by morning, then. Can you imagine walking in on your blaze boyfriend with a slime border flag? What do you do- Thump it in front of the toilet so he can't use it this month? 'Babe, c'mon! Don't be like that!'"

Uproarious laughter. Jimmy breathes softly in his sleeves, smiling only to himself. It's not his place right now to correct them on the whole "boyfriend" thing. See, they'd catch him then. That's how he'd lose the game. He stays on the other side of the bedrock wall, rolling his thumb across the banner wool.

"Maybe they had a fight," chimes in a third voice. "Maybe Jimmy wants to bother Tango. Maybe he's breaking up with him."

"Didn't see him with a token tonight."

"I don't think he's seeing anyone."

New voice: "Yeah, he- I guess he thinks he'll be waking up betrothed any day now. Urges must be getting pretty serious. Not sure why he bothers, though. The chances his partner's in New Star must be astronomical."

"Didn't he use to date the mayor?"

Jimmy's fingers twitch. He doesn't open his eyes. Doesn't answer. He is winning this game, no matter what they say about him. It's the most important thing in the world. Everything pulsing in him is screaming for it. To burrow. To win. To stand up and fight, though he's trying to keep that urge tamped down.

"I think ZombieCleo's dating him now."

"Yeah, what happened to his ex? Wasn't he married to a bat girl?"

"I think so- I heard they divorced." The voices start moving away, heading farther along the border road. Someone kicks a rock. It bounces, smacking, and the last speaker lifts their voice again. "Say he is in Tango's room. Does that mean we own the turf all the way out here?"

"If it does, he's wrecked the borders. It's going to be a pain to manage a huge spike in the path."

The words fade out. Jimmy loosens his grip on his limbs, breathing deeper breaths. His foot comes down with a thump, heel pressed tight to bedrock. He unfolds his wings. The banner's soft and squishy in his hand. He gets off the block he's been sitting on and starts to stretch. It's dark in the cave, even with his brightness settings turned all the way up. But…

… It doesn't look so dangerous. Scott always made it sound, well… like this place was a death pit crawling with mobs. Jimmy turns his head, gazing farther up the path. He's definitely win the turf war if he took the slime flag all the way up there. The other slime hybrids are fussy tonight, but they'll appreciate this when everything is said and done. War isn't about who's right, but about who's left, isn't it? And there aren't any mobs. Jimmy pulls his britches up a little higher for the show of it, sticking his thumbs in the waistband. He's got the belt, though he could really use a cowboy hat and some boots with spurs. It's too bad Ranger's off the clock tonight. It'd be fun to get a little recording done.

Every step he takes up the bedrock path sends a shower of bedrock down behind him. It isn't steep, though sometimes it's easier to grip the walls and pull himself along that way. Luckily he has wings. His aren't too big. The tunnel's narrow, but flapping them helps him keep his balance. He wrinkles his nose, crumpled fingers pinching, and moves step by step up the path. At one point his foot skids. His hand scrapes the wall- he nearly lands on his wings. Jimmy hisses. He adjusts himself, bracing his palm against his knee, and starts moving again. And you know why?

"I'm not going out first. I have to do this. They're never going to find me now."

The cave doesn't smell damp or moldy. It's quite dry, actually. Almost unnaturally so. No dripstone. Jimmy listens for throaty witch cackles, ravager grunts, or passing wardens. None echo back at him. Maybe they're not real. Only the whirr of the bullet path. It hums and crackles with snapping white energy. Leaping. Guzzling. I didn't know the bullet path reached all the way out here. Is this a different one?

It only takes a minute or two of walking before he's at the top of the bedrock path. The ceiling's not as high as he'd like it to be, but it's high enough. The cave glows. The bullet path gushes, spraying data stream particles in the air, and rubs against its banks. There are no rocks in its center. Nothing but pure, empty energy. Jimmy takes every step with smothered breaths, dangling the slime flag from his hand.

[Full chapter on AO3 - Links at top]

[theflippedpages]

The Chiseled Catastrophe - 0 (EtN + MCYT)

(This is the start of my new hyperfixation fanfiction. Blocky YouTubers are stuffed into a death-game escape room and have to try and escape while their friends die around them. How fun. :D)

(Also, if there's any other old fics ya'll want me to update, let me know! I got nothing else to do but write this summer break, so I might as well!)

-----------

Episode 0 - The Wax Seal

-----------

"Hello?"

"Hey, Tim," Grian's familiar voice crackled on the other side of the line, "I know you're busy with real-life duties, but I thought I should mention…" 

"Yeah?"

"...Tumble Town blew up.” And quickly added, “It’s not a joke, I swear on my life." 

Jimmy had been planning to take a couple of days off from Empires, but never once had he opened up Minecraft so fast. 

Before he could click onto the world, he spotted his web camera clutching the edge of his monitor, and he was instantly reminded of his duty as a content creator. Running a hand through his slightly damp hair and ruffling it to partially dampen his bedhead, he pulled up his recording software and sighed. 

"I was honestly planning to take a couple of days off of Minecraft to get creativity again, but," he raised his phone, "one of my friends just gave me quite a call… telling me that Tumble Town… blew up." He forced a chuckle as he began to record his screen. "Now, this could all be another bad prank to get me back into Empires… or all my months of work are actually gone."

Jimmy didn't force an emotion for a camera this time as his eyes shifted to the small sheriff plushie sitting on his desk. His heart was racing much more than usual, and he couldn't stop his eyes from blurring. He bit down on his cheek. It's just a game, Jimmy. It's just a game. He told himself, his mouse once again hovering over the 'Empires SMP' slot. It's not life or death. It's just something you do for fun. It's not actually life-threatening. In fact, this would be a great thumbnail and title. 

Blowing out his held-up breath, he clicked in and logged on. The world spawned in little sections as the white sky –wait, white?– filled his screen. Loading in doesn't usually take long… there must've been a ton to update. While he waited for it to load, he paused his recording and casually checked who was online. Some of the Empires' creators were there; himself, Joey, Scott, Marytn, Lizzie, and Joel; as well as some of the Hermitcraft players from the concluded crossover; Grian, Mumbo, Tango, and Ren. Though they had stopped recording about the ‘rift between the two servers’, the players were still interested and intrigued by the buildings and often came to visit off-camera. That's why he hadn't found it strange that Grian had been the one to call him, as he and Scar usually helped tidy and terraform the place when Jimmy was off recording 'lore' with the members of Empires. 

The name tags were less of his worry as he saw a new one join. 'Time_Is_Up joined the game.' He glanced over at his recording software, making sure it was paused. The worst thing I could do is ruin the magic of someone else's lore by showing a camera account. He looked back at the game, noticing the chat light up. 

SmallishBeans: who's that? Smajor1995: I thought it was a camera acc. InTheLittleWood: same here!

Jimmy's eyes narrowed. Was this also part of the story? No.. Someone usually mentions if they're adding an account in our group chat…

SolidarityGaming: you mean this isn't any of ours? LDShadowLady: nope, not mine Mumbo: I thought it belonged to one of the Empires members. Grian: I don't have an account named like that SolidarityGaming: Surely this isn't another ‘Xornoth’ thing, is it, Scott Smajor1995: it's not me this time, I swear!

Either someone is playing a strange prank or… wait, my empire!  He dragged his mouse down to check on the progress of his chunks loading in, reaching over to continue the recording and slipping in his headphones. Once he saw Tumble Town fully come into view Jimmy's heart nearly stopped. 

The once-thriving Wild West town now lay in ruins, its wooden structures engulfed in roaring flames that billowed smoke into the air, and deep craters dug into the red sand below. This town, which had once epitomized the rugged spirit of the frontier, was now a ghostly landscape of destruction. And to his surprise, the sky was still white…

Jimmy, the ‘Sheriff’ who had dedicated months to building up the town and establishing law and order, walked through the chaos with heavy steps. His heart weighed as heavily as the town's buildings, now reduced to smoldering piles of debris. The saloon, wagon, and jail that had once echoed with lively chatter and the jokes of his friends were reduced to ash and charred wood.

Jimmy remembered the countless evenings he'd spent on the top of the sandy crater, looking out over Tumble Town with a sense of pride. He recalled the laughter of Scott as he flirted with him, Joel playing by the TNT wagon, and the harmony that had thrived in this rustic settlement. As he walked, he stumbled upon the charred remains of the large train Scar had built, the ornate timepiece forever frozen in time at the very moment when chaos erupted. The destruction was surreal and heart-wrenching.

“Jimmy!” He instantly recognized the voice as it loudened with each yell. “Jim!” A pair of wings were flying above him, pulling back to land. “Jimmy, what happened here?” It was Scott. “Did your stash of TNT go off? Did someone…” His head moved in a circle as he took in the immense amount of damage. “...Spawn 10 Withers here? Why is Tumble Town so destroyed?” 

“I… I don’t know.” Jimmy admitted, turning to face him. “Grian called me, saying Tumble Town blew up. So I logged in… and…” He looked back into the mesa. “It’s all… gone.” The tragedy left Jimmy with a profound sense of loss. His duties as sheriff had been rendered powerless against the unstoppable flames that devoured the wooden structures. He couldn't help but feel responsible, wondering if there was more he could have done to prevent this disaster.

Smajor1995: Grian, could you come to Tumble Town pls Grian: sure

Jimmy heard the yelling of his fellow Britishman as the brunette landed beside him and Scott. “Grian, how did you know Tumble Town was destroyed?” Scott began asking before Jimmy could even say hello. “Did you see anyone or anything that blew up?” 

“No, no,” Grian shook his head, “I was actually here to steal some gunpowder for fireworks. But when I came by… your TNT wagon was lit up, and it caused a bit of a large crater. I thought it was just a silly mistake, and I turned to leave with my two stacks, but I heard more explosions…” He sighed. “And when I looked back again… there was TNT everywhere, and it was flying, and there was just… so much smoke.” 

“Could you catch any name tag?” 

“Yeah, actually, I think I saw-” Grian’s voice withered as he checked the chat. The messages flew quickly in succession.

Tango: Guys, I got a letter Grian: What letter?  Mumbo: I got one too Smajor1995: you mean, your internet bill?  Tango: no, no, like an invitation Tango: It’s like Minecraft themed RenDog: as I as well

“If you’d like, Sheriff, you could stay in my Inn back in Chromia for now,” Scott flirted, hoping to lighten the mood. Jimmy would usually push the woo away with a laugh and an assurance he’d do it on his own, but now, accepted it with a kind nod. 

“That would actually be very nice, Scott. The more I look at this, the more I feel absolutely enraged.” Jimmy tried to keep his eyes away from the destruction and toward the chat, but the flames and smoke distracted him quickly. “I’m just going to diffuse the fire… I don’t want it to expand and destroy more than it already has.” The blonde slowly trudged toward the fire as Grian monitored the lines on the screen, curious about the conversation.

Mumbo: I thought it was something from Mojang Tango: That’s what I’m thinking Grian: ooh, if it's from Mojang, have fun Mumbo: Grian, check if you got one too, the letter says 10 members Tango: 10 members from ALL over Minecraft, i don’t think they’d invite all from hermitcraft  RenDog: the letter doesn’t say ‘all’ though Mumbo: Wait, it says we shouldn’t talk about this… Tango: oh RenDog: pretend this never happened, guys. there was no letter.

Grian laughed. 

Grian: Letter? What letter? 

And the chat fell silent again as a few people began to sign off. 

Smajor1995: Btw, Jimmy’s place has been blown up, does anyone know who did it? LDShadowLady: like, in roleplay, or actuality?  Grian: Tumble Town was absolutely destroyed  JoeyGraceffa: no way

Grian frowned. 

LDShadowLady: oh my, Jimmy do you need resources to rebuild? SmallishBeans: we’d love to help, Jim Smajor1995: I’m gonna get him to stay in Chromia for now InTheLittleWood: who would do such a thing?

〰〰〰〰〰

Grian's room was dimly lit, the only illumination coming from the glow of his computer screen. The sounds of the faraway flicker of fire from the destroyed Tumble Town was an eerie, yet peaceful sound to listen to, paired with the quiet hum of the Minecraft soundtrack. But then, amidst the digital noise, he heard it – a gentle chime, like a distant doorbell. His head snapped up, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Nobody ever rang his doorbell while he was gaming, and he wasn't expecting any visitors.

Pushing himself away from the desk, he rose from his gaming chair and padded softly across the room. The brunette reached the door, hand on the knob, ready to fling it open with a playful grin. However, when he swung the door wide, he found no one there. Instead, a simple envelope lay on the welcome mat, just inches from the threshold. He bent down, plucking it from the ground.

Is this the letter they were all talking about? The Minecraft one?

Examining the envelope, he noticed that it was old-fashioned, sealed with a wax stamp that bore an intricate design. His curiosity piqued, he carefully broke the seal and withdrew the letter from within. Grian's eyes scanned the handwritten words on the paper, and his brows furrowed with surprise as he read the unexpected message.

Dear Charles (Grian),

You are cordially invited to a Minecraft-themed party that promises to be an unforgettable experience. As you know very well through your years of continuous playing, Minecraft is a world of endless possibilities, and this event aims to bring that pixelated adventure to life. We've prepared a world full of surprises.

The location of the event is a remote area, isolated from the hustle and bustle of the city, surrounded by dense woods. Don't worry; it's far from the distractions of everyday life. You will also not be allowed to vlog through any other means, as this is meant for you and the 9 other invitees. 

This also means that this invitation cannot be talked about to anyone, whether they be of relevance to Minecraft or not. If we find out that this has been discussed, your offer will be rescinded and all your Minecraft accounts erased. I'm sure you wouldn't want that… and neither would your other invitees.

The environment may challenge your understanding of the real world and the digital realm. But remember, it's all in the spirit of fun and adventure.

Don't let the absence of exits concern you; the event will run through the night and into the early morning, with all food and hospitalities cared for and on the house. 

We understand this invitation might seem strange, but rest assured, it's all about transporting you into the Minecraft universe and creating lasting memories. We kindly request that you bring a sense of adventure and a willingness to embrace the unexpected.

Please be prepared for a night filled with enigmatic challenges, engaging experiences, and the thrill of the unknown. It would be recommended you dress up as your player skin to be recognizable to others. 

We look forward to your presence at the Minecraft-themed adventure. The date will be revealed shortly, and your transportation will also be taken care of.

 It will be an event to remember, and we hope you will leave with stories to share.

"Grian?? Oh, is he AFK?" He could hear Jimmy from his computer back in his room. He slipped the letter back into its casing and walked back upstairs. 

"Sorry, sorry, I'm back now," he blurted out, dropping the envelope beside his desk. "What's going on?" 

"Jimmy's 'bout to continue recording, we were hoping you could hide?" Scott asked, looking back at the still nametag of Jimmy's that had disappeared into the wooden ruins. 

"Oh, yes, sure." Grian was quick to murmur. "I actually think I might just head off right now." 

"Okay, yeah, have a good rest of your day then," Scott spoke as he crafted new rockets with the help of the half-broken gunpowder farm. He had to make his entrance in style, after all. How else was he going to take the spotlight in Jimmy's video?

Once he saw the brunette's name tag flicker out, Scott muted his mic and flew himself a distance over. He still kept himself within earshot of Jimmy's mic so he wouldn't create dead space in his recording. 

Speaking of, I have to start my video soon, if I plan on benefiting from Jimmy's destroyed empire. After all, this is a huge event. I have to get the first scoop before everyone else knows about it. Scott turned on his recording software and tested his mic before waiting in silence. He knew that there would be dead space in his video, but he didn't mind, seeing as he'd have to record himself in Chromia first so it didn't seem suspicious... And then get a message from Jimmy. But he can work out the kinks later once Jimmy's done with his initial panic. 

Grian said he knew who it was… While he heard the Sheriff mumbling about all his hard work gone, Scott's mind couldn't help but wonder who could've done something like this or why someone would do it if it wasn't for any story-based arc. Surely someone would've let Jimmy know before destroying his entire empire… it wasn't even a prank that could be fixed easily. Scott focused on Jimmy's words as they grew farther and farther away. 

"Oh my gosh, Norman!" Scott's eyes widened. Norman? Oh god, is he okay?

"Thank god you're safe!"

And Scott breathed out a heavy sigh. Even if it's just a few pixels, a pet in Minecraft is still a pet. 

"I better tell someone about this… who could've done such a thing! I've been nothing but nice to everyone– even if they call me a toy." 

SolidarityGaming: Is anyone nearby? Please come to my empire.

Scott took this as his cue.

Smajor1995: Anything for you, sheriff. I'm on my way.

He could hear the blonde's flustered sigh, and he couldn't help but grin at that awaited reaction. He instantly shot a couple of rockets into the sky, pulling back from the mesa only to fly in the direction of it, landing close to where he last saw Jimmy. 

"Scott, I'm so glad you're here!" 

Scott made a long motion of looking around the destroyed empire. "Jimmy, I thought this was something sweet, what on earth happened to Tumble Town?!"

"I'm asking you the same thing! I took a couple of days off, and went back to see everything in ruins!" 

"Gosh… maybe it was a stray lightning strike on TNT?" The cyan-haired tried to reason. "Maybe someone brought flint and steel a bit too close to your saloon?"

"Scott, there is barely a half-stack of TNT in Tumble Town. All my stock for trading is all in the form of gunpowder!" Jimmy grew more and more upset with each sentence. "And last I played Minecraft, gunpowder doesn't explode unless it's in a creeper, in TNT or fireworks! And two out of three of those can't create a disaster this big!" 

"Listen… being here is only going to get you further upset. Let's get you to Chromia where you can spend the night. Next morning, I'll call up the other empires and we can discuss what just happened." 

Jimmy hesitated for a moment. Scott didn't know whether it was a show for the camera or not. "Yeah… yeah, okay. I'll just… gather a couple of my belongings." 

Scott nodded, turning to fly back to the top of the crater. "Good, and make sure you grab everything valuable to you."

"Tumble Town is valuable to me." 

At that, Scott nearly broke character. This wasn't the 'Sheriff Solidarity' speaking, it was Jimmy. There was actual emotion in that short sentence. "You'll be okay, Jim. We'll find out who did it." He assured gently, slipping back into his actor-self. 

The cyan-haired didn't have to wait for long as Jimmy came back holding an Enderchest and his sheriff badge in his offhand. "Let's go." 

[rosenicarus]

“You have to say it back.” Scott’s voice strained. Forcing any emotion down to keep the smug expression across his scaled face..

But Jimmy knew better, knew Scott better than that. He knew he was breaking and there was nothing he could do.

“You have 30 seconds. Before I hunt you down for sport.” The threat was empty, Jimmy knew it was. He prayed Scott knew him as well. Prayed that he wouldn’t have to make on it.

29.

“I gave you a pufferish, Jimmy!” Scott stared, Jimmys heart shattered at the break in them.

28.

“I lost it.” Jimmy lied, the bucket sitting safe in his inventory.

27.

“You… lost it.?” Scott parroted, the fins on his ears sinking slightly. His face now matching, Jimmys hand remained rested against the hilt of his sword.

26

“Someone must have stolen it. I don’t have it anymore.”

Another lie.

25

Another heartbreak.

24

Blue met a shaded brown and there was a fire burning under the seas Jimmy once felt so safe in.

And yet Jimmy can feel the storm brewing

23

Jimmy heard the search parties voices getting closer. He knew Scott did too by the way he flinched when the shouts started. The faint tick of Jimmys heart echoing in his ears.

¨The others will be here soon¨ Jimmy said, trying so hard to urge Scott to leave. To run.

22

¨Im well aware of that,¨Scott stared at Jimmy, once upon a time Jimmy would be running into his arms. But instead the two stood on the roof of the mansion, the wind ruffling through Scotts hair, Jimmy forced his heart to stop racing.

21…. 20

19

18

17

16

15…

¨Jimmy!¨ Grians voice called, Jimmy peered over the side of the ledge, heart stopping as he looked between Scott and Grian. Grian stood on the grass nearly 50 feet below.

14

¨Are you coming?!¨ The avian shouted, making a waving motion.

¨Yeah! Give me a moment to get down there!¨ Jimmy felt his hand insitictually tighten around the hilt of the blade that still remained sheathed. He flashed a pleading look to scott, silently begging him to run. Before he remembered the glasses that covered his eyes.

13

But scott was stubborn.. It was a part of him that Jimmy loved with his entire heart.

12.

… 11

¨Ten.¨ Jimmy´s voice shocked himself, it was quiet and unexpected as he straightened his posture.

¨Nine.¨ The canary took a step forward. Carefully pulling the blade from the sheth. He had a role to play, He was a bad boy. Emotions cant get in the way.

¨If youre serious about it just go on with it.¨

¨Eight.¨ Scott.. Move. Please. ¨Seven.¨

Creatures of Sea and sky. How could they ever mix. That realization made his heart ache more than the look of a sea sea storm that Scott gave him.

¨You left off on six.¨ Scott glared, Jimmy hadnt realized he´d paused. Scott takes a step forward towards him.

¨Five.¨

¨Four.¨

¨Three.¨

Jimmy raises the blade as the sound of a bird take off echoed. Grian was coming.

¨Two..¨

¨One.¨ The two said in unison, Scott stepped forward, hissing against the shaking blade. Crimson blooming across his chest. The merling lifted a hand carefully removing the shades that blocked part of his face.

¨Theres the eyes that haunt my dreams..¨ He coughed, a small trickle of red streamed from the corner of his mouth.

¨I love you..¨ Jimmy whispers,carefully leaning into Scotts touch.

¨I know…I know..¨

Smajor1995 was Slain By SolidarityGaming.

[roxie-roo]

PROMPT!!

Solidaritygaming: I'd like to call a group meeting at spawn

Most of the rulers rolled their eyes at the request. Some felt something bad churning in their gut. Jimmy didn't usually call meetings, meetings were usually called about Jimmy.

Regardless of their level of concern or intent, they all equipped their elytras and took off.

Jimmy was already at spawn. He was sat in his seat around the campfire, legs crossed and arms folded on his chest. Hit hat cast a shadow over his face and made whatever expression he may be donning unreadable.

Under the brim he watched all the other emperors swarm in the skies. They all landed with their own varying levels of grace and crowded around the campfire, seemingly sneering at him already. And he hadn't even moved a muscle.

"Well, we're here." fWhip speaks for the group.

Jimmy stands up, "Glad y'all could make it." He flicks the brim of his hat and it sits higher up, revealing his face. He.. He looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep. Dark bags under his eyes that no longer held a playful shine to them, making them look dull. Maybe even lifeless. His beard is untrimmed and unkempt, making him look even worse for wear. The hair under his hat must be just as messy and greasy.

Jimmy takes a flint and steel out of his pocket, "This won't take long." He sort of smirks. It's tired but wicked.

He strikes the steel against the flint and sparks fly, landing on the grass at his feet and creating a free inferno. It was wild and tall and hot, unlike the contained fire under the charred roast at spawn.

The group yells and stumbles back, shrieking at Jimmy for his recklessness. The blond simply rolls his eyes and puts the flint and steel away.

"Don't worry. Ya can put out the fire after I leave and y'all won't hafta hear from me ever again." He takes his hat off his head, holding it over head heart and staring dead at the group in front of him.

"But I wanted to make sure all o' y'all were present fer this."

Maintaining his eye contact, he drops his hat into the fire between them and lets it burn.

"I'm done."

Scott surges forward first, pushing past everyone to get to the front. "Whoa whoa whoa! What the Hell?!" He shouts.

Before Scott can pull up his inventory for a water bucket Jimmy rips the badge off of his vest and also tosses it into the fire. That makes everyone else start yelling.

"Oh shut yer traps!" Jimmy yells above everyone. They pause, never having heard such genuine anger from the man.

"Quit actin' like ya actually care now! Yer all free o' me forever, ya should be celebratin' or whatever you had in mind fer when the day came." His voice cracks and quiets down at the end.

"Why would we celebrate? You're our friend!" Joel says. Jimmy gets angry all over again.

"Oh so we're friends now? Was I yer friend when I was shrunk and tossed 'round like a toy? When the one person I trusted turned 'is back on me an' started tellin' lies!" fWhip shrunk back at that one.

"Or how 'bout all those times I was killed an' had my shit stolen for the pettiest reasons! Was that all outta friendship, Joel?!" He was yelling again. But he had good reason to be. He was angry, dammit.

"Or are y'all upset I gave up an' none o' y'all was able to take me down yerselves?" Jimmy was gonna start crying if he stayed around any longer. He didn't want to cry around these people. He wanted their final memories of him to be angry and unforgiving.

"Jimmy.."

"I'm done. I'm leavin' and y'all won't have to deal with me yellin' for respect anymore. Enjoy the peace n' quiet." Jimmy turns around, not even bothering to see who'd started to call his name. He kicks off the ground and fire off a rocket to propell him through the air and away from spawn.

But the direction he was going was away from Tumble Town.

SHADOW. SHADOW I AM TAKING YOU BETWEEN MY TEETH AND SHAKING YOU AROUND LIKE A DOG. HOLY SHIT I'M ABOUT TO START CRYING AND I HAVE TO LEAVE IN FIFTEEN MINTUES YOU BASTARD- OH MY GOD THIS IS SO GOOD?????? I LOVE THE TOUCH OF THE ACCENT AS A SOUTHERNER I COULD HEAR IT PERFECTLY AND *MWAH* CHEF'S KISS HOLY SHIT

I AM, I AM INCONSOLABLE

[harley-the-pancake]

This is just a post to try and keep things organized on my blog. If you want to know my pronouns, name I go by, age, etc, just look in my bio. I just reblog and post whatever I want.

I don’t have an official dni, I just don’t give a fuck half the time, as long as you aren’t a dick to others, you can stay

I also don’t mind people using ideas that I have, making things off of the ideas or fics I have, or tagging me in silly @ games.

I also have a second account I occasionally use as a studyblr, which is Pancake-tries-college.

My AO3 is Pancake_Overlord

I have two side blogs:

@pancake-tries-college is where I keep my adulting stuff

@bite-sized-pancakes is where I keep my little stuff cause I think I may be an age dreamer 👍

My pfp is made by a picrew from @wervty

Dragons from @blu3b3rryj4mp1r3

Important sorting tags & glossary:

#vent chai latte - posts that are vents or emotional (I don’t always use it I am gonna be honest)

#diary posting - a new tag I’ll be using when I ramble about emotions, meds or just more personal things that are not about my school or friends (LATER HARLEY UPDATE: It is also becoming a bit of less fun school stuff tag, eg talking with professors, getting homework done, etc)

#Into the datemate pile - a tag that I use just to save & share things with my datemate, who does not have an active tumblr

#ph anon of the opera - my ask tag. It does not matter if you are anon or no, you are all ph anon in my eyes hearts (I also have a tendency of hoarding my asks but be free to still send me asks)

#ask game - just replies I’m saving from like descriptions of me or ask games

#my wife saga - my datemate is studying abroad then researching in idaho so I’m being dramatic. This will be happening for 3 months.

#holly on the wally - my tag for my dog Holly! You can block this if you want or if you don’t like dogs

Datemate, mice, jesus, ferret, random trans woman, my friend J, and last remaining cishet: all my irl friends codenames

Tell me if I need to tag anything for you

From @hee-blee-art

Posts that I feel like sharing:

A post I made about saving Rats SMP vods and led to some decent archives. I did nothing, but it has the link to the document that has a whole lot of links so!

A post I made with a document that I use to save a whole lot of MCC vods and a few VODs I have saved myself

Not an important post, however it’s a post I love and I want to keep on my pinned for when I want to see. It entails some games of One Night Ultimate Werewolf for my datemate’s birthday

This isn’t a post of mine, but I wanted to save Tumblr fairy tales

A ramble on the life series from my datemate. Read it. This is a threat /silly

A list of things to cheer anyone up ^-^

Candy for any trick or treaters who don’t want to send an ask

Best video ever

Datemate poll

[all54321]

Trait Sharing on the Empires Side

[AO3]

Been having Flower Husband thoughts so here’s something small from the trait sharing. Sorry if this is messy, the idea just came to came and I had to write it. In other news I’m kinda inspired to go back to working on some more Scarian post Scar gaining wings stuff. One having a really good example of just how much the soul bond is effecting everyone.

—————

Jimmy wakes to the sound of his communicator beeping, groaning as he sits up and stretches his wings. He’ll need to investigate what caused the pain now that he’s fully awake. But first, he pulls out his communicator, opening his chat to Pearl.

SolidarityGaming >>> PearlescentMoon

Pearl: Scar and Tango grew wings, you should go check on Scott.

Jimmy: What???

Pearl: I don’t know how or why, but Scar and Tango have wings now.

Pearl: I felt pain similar to what Grian felt when Scar grew wings so I’m assuming that’s from Scott.

Jimmy: Why do they have wings?

Pearl: Only idea is that we have wings.

Jimmy: That explains nothing.

Pearl: We can talk about this more later, you should go find Scott.

Jimmy: Right.

Pearl: Have fun teaching him how to fly!

Jimmy: ?

Pearl: It’s really fun to watch Scar and Tango attempt and fail.

Jimmy: Of course it is.

Jimmy: I’m heading to Chromia now.

Pearl: Alright

>>>><<<<

Jimmy pockets his communicator and begins to make his way toward Chromia, knowing that this takes precedence over everything else currently. He takes flight the moment he enters the nether, pushing himself to fly as fast as he can without hurting himself. Once he sees Chromia’s nether portal, he dives downwards, slowly. Jimmy’s always been the slowest to land, having thought his siblings crazy for diving as fast as they do. He doesn’t linger on the thought and quickly makes his way toward the house where Scott lives. Jimmy knocks on the door and waits anxiously.

The sound of something being knocked over reaches his ears just moments before the door opens. A rather disheveled Scott stares at him, snow-white wings partially spread behind him, feathers askew. “Jimmy?” he asks, confusion tinging his voice.

“So you did get wings,” he mumbles, eyes drawn to them.

Scott glances over his shoulders before meeting Jimmy’s eyes again, now even more confused, “you knew?”

“Pearl texted me that Scar and Tango have wings and that you probably do as well. So I’m here you make sure you’re alright.”

“Pearl said to?” Scott asks, voice sounding strange.

“Well, yeah? I didn’t know you would have grown wings otherwise.” Jimmy replies, now the one who’s confused.

“I see,” Scott murmurs, a look flashing in his eyes. It’s gone too quickly for Jimmy to be sure, but it looked like disappointment. Scott steps back, “come on in, pardon the mess, the wings are… unruly.”

Jimmy laughs lightly, stepping inside, “yeah, I bet.” He pauses as he looks around, noticing how much of a mess it is.

He turns around in time to see Scott grimace, “I’ve been working on it.”

“I guess first on the list of helping you adjust is that,” he replies with a small smile.

“That would be great, thanks.”

“It would be easier to start outside.”

“Right,” Scott says, opening the door again and stepping outside. “I’ve been trying to get them to cooperate for a while now.”

Jimmy follows him out, “it will probably go better with my help, and then-“ the words die on his tongue. His first instinct is to offer to help Scott preen his wings, but they’re not that close anymore. The only time they were intimate enough for that was in 3rd Life, and that was ages ago. Is it so far enough back to not matter anymore? “And then we’ll go from there,” Jimmy finishes lamely.

If Scott notices his hesitation, he doesn’t say, “that works.”

[mcytgaynessshowdown]

REMINDER THIS IS ON THE GAYEST CHARACTER!

Smajor

Number of submissions: 13 From: Life Series, Empires SMP 1 & 2, Rats SMP, Fantasy SMP, Pirates SMP, Witchcraft SMP, X Life , Origins SMP Headcanons: Gay, Demiboy Reasons: - he’s gay and he talks about it every seven seconds + he flirts with men and has an uncanny amount of ships - Content creator is openly gay, rainbow on shirt, the sheer amount of closet jokes in that hide and seek video, MCC PRIDE (need I say more) - They're gay irl and flower husbands ❤❤❤ (3rd life) - I mean he canonically he got married to solidaritygaming/Jimmy in Third life, you can’t tell me that’s not gay as fuck. They gave each other flowers and therefore are called flower husbands. They even lived in a damn cottagecore style place together and we all know cottagecore is pretty gay. Just an emphasis too that they are the only ever canonically married couple in all of life series. Also Scott smajor is gay irl lmao and loves to do quite a lot of gay jokes which adds a bit of gayness. - Jimmy Solidarity (lmao), OwengejuiceTV, Scott's entire brand is being gay lmao - I mean--- its Scott! His 'blue hair and pronouns' vibe, the rainbow stripe on his shirt, his MARRIAGE WITH JIMMY!!! (flower husbands!!!)

Solidarity Gaming

Number of submissions: 13 From: Life Series, Empires SMP, SOS SMP, Evo SMP, Afterlife SMP Headcanons: Bi, Gay Reasons: - Character reasoning- he has big brown eyes and a sweet fem voice and he has an ex boyfriend, and ex husband, and 3 more boyfreinds, and is the third wheel of his ex bf's straight marriage. - He acts very gay in each of his smps with at least one of his friends, the amount of ships and fan content is crazy like flower husbands, ranchers, him and sausage, and quite a few more - Literally there is 3 different people he acts EXTREMELY gay towards. In 3rd life his ally is Scott/smajor and they CANONICALLY GET MARRIED.Their duo is called flower husbands.In double life he gets paired with Tangotek and while I have not watched this pov I’ve heard that he acts VERY zesty with him. Their duo is called the Ranchers. Then in game at random times and sometimes even on different servers he and smallishbeans/Joel call each other “babe” and sometimes “babygirl” keep in mind Joel has a wife ON THE SAME SERVER! I say he is bisexual because irl he has a girlfriend too. Thank you for reading my rant. - every season of any smp he’s in he collects a new man like there pokemon. , literally married Scott smajor in third life , went on a date with Scott smajor in empires SMP season , was canon soulmates with Tangotec in double life , gayest straight man you’ll ever meet.

[thesnailkiwi]

Jtsnyeyru6wjtjts6ieu6ri6ejtyrqdgahtstruri6eheg24tgjjg

Augh the way you guys can tell how my brain works and what gets it buzzing is terrifying

Alright alright so so I'd cast:

Solidaritygaming as Jeremy. He's a pathetic wet paper bag and honestly? Same vibes.

Grian as Michael. Now, this doesn't make much sense, right? But a) goes with the red and blue and b) grian lore is fuckin crazy bro. He's a silly guy, a funky fella, tricky prankster, but also the whole watcher thing and his character 100% has some kind of mental health issues but covers it up with silliness.

Smallishbeans is Rich frfr. A stripe in his hair? Check. Short? Check. Absolute carnage? Check. Innuendo? Check. Stupid references and jokes to the dumbest jokes, like Shrek? Check.

ImpulseSV gives off heavy Jake vibes. I dunno, man, but he's a silly guy who can be the mother friend or absolute batshit crazy.

Katherine Elizabeth or ShubbleYT as Christine. My bad, I meant "Christiiiiine!" But they're both really nice, talk fast when excited, and probably theatre nerds.

Pearlescentmoon as Jenna. With the whole "Nosy Neighbors" bit in Limited Life, how she was always spying on everybody and knew all of the gossip going on the server. Need I say more?

ZombieCleo or Smajor as Chloe. They're both gossip girls/mean girls and it's wonderful.

Stressmonster as Brooke. Explanation? Who's that?

I have an alternate version for the other side of MCYT such as Slimecicle, Sneegsnag, and those guys, but this is the main version. Doth thou agree with this list?

And then, misc questions:

I do have pets! A lot of cats, actually. Well, I have one actual cat who lives inside the house, and then the others are outside neighborhood cats who technically everyone takes care of, but I still count them considering they try and run into the house and cuddle. There's five of the little assholes and I love them. I'll provide pictured tomorrow when it's not 4 in the morning lmao

Alright, so there's levels to this question. Insane? Too long to recount. *browsing* tumblr? Two years? Maybe? I dunno. And I've actually only had a real account for about 6 months. Crazy.

HmMmM... perhaps I shouldn't give away spoilers for the A&D au, but screw it! There's a part where one of the characters is drowning/burning (demon + water = not in this au lolz) and the other jumps in to save them. It's morbid, but writing intense pain is fascinating and I enjoy it. And since it's enemies to lovers, the demon character (scott) still hasn't gotten to know Jimmy, who's the angel character. So the immense fear and anger he feels after waking up from being saved followed by panic is just so ough, yknow? The change in emotions is just so blissful to write.

And then - this isn't a specific chapter - but the way Scott keep trying to push down and deny his feelings. He won't let himself admit love. It was pounded into him since the beginning that it was wrong since he's a demon. That, combined that he doesn't know what the feeling is because he doesn't know what love feels like. The struggle to accept that he loves the other is another thing that I loved to write for it.

And then for my superpower/soulmate au, the panic that sends Scott spiraling when he realizes that jimmy knows his identity and that he is soulmates with his arch enemy and rival.

If you can't tell, I love writing intense emotions

I've been thinking about starting up a bmc au - or at least having it but not writing it yet since I already have like, 3 ongoing aus I'm writing. But I dunno man, a sailor/siren au sounds great :eyes: might develop that. Yes, it's so basic but it fits so well. Also all the ones on ao3 are unfinished, so, gotta make it if I can't find it.

Thank you for attending this speel disguised as a TEDtalk and asking questions it took up 30 minutes of my day that I had nothing to do

This is why I love you guys (my mutuals) you're great <3

Pspspspsps guys I'm bored.

You should send me stuff. Like, ask random shit, or about my aus, or an art request (only gonna do a certain amount)

But you should totally ask me about my hyperfixations or random bullcrap

[oh-snapperss]

<Join Game?>

Etho stares at the message on his communicator until his eyes are nearly blurry. No. No. No. No. If he thinks too hard, his very blood is in flames, burning away himself and Joel. If he thinks too hard, Joel’s triumphant scream pierces the air along with the axe buried in his chest. If he thinks too hard, the scars on his arms turn back to the flame they once were, setting his clothing alight as he screams in agony. 

But They want blood, and who is he to deny Them? Who is he to deny protection to those he couldn’t save before? (He knows he’ll betray them to live anyway.) 

<Ethoslab joined the game>

--------------------------------------

<Join Game?>

“They want blood… gladly,” Grian’s lips twist up into a sick grin. He’s far beyond caring, and has been since he scrubbed the blood of his lover from his fingernails under the desolate, unforgiving desert sun. 

“Grian?” 

The sick smile disappears as he’s faced with the ghost that has haunted him daily since the beginning. 

“Scar.” 

“One more time?” Scar wears his own tired grin, just as sick as Grian’s, and far more bitter. 

“One more time.” 

(Is this the last time?)

<Grian joined the game

<GoodtimeswithScar joined the game> 

--------------------------------------

<Join Game?>

“Wh-now? Are you serious?” Jimmy drops the pile of wood he’d been carrying through the doorway of his empty town. “Right now?” 

There’s no response–there never is, and hasn’t been in months. All that’s left to keep him company are the tumbleweeds, blowing past him, and the mocking, empty vacation houses he’d invited the others to build in the hopes someone would come keep him company.

“Least I won’t be alone, if I go…” Somewhere, there’s laughter, a call from his rancher and respect he’d forgotten he could have. 

That’s all it takes. 

<SolidarityGaming joined the game>

--------------------------------------

<Join Game?>

“Oh, for goodness sake!” 

He tries to ignore the message for several hours, although it taunts him with every glance down to the communicator, seeing others log off Hermitcraft. Etho. Grian. Scar. Tango. Cleo. Ren. Impulse. 

No, no, not this time. He doesn’t want to go, not when he’s sure Impulse has a matching scar through his chest where Bdubs’ sword betrayed him twice-albeit, on accident the final time. Etho’s long gone–of course he’d go–and Cleo, for reasons well beyond him. Far more hours pass, before he breaks–

“...fine!” 

(He never really had a choice. He’s not proven himself beyond failing those he swore loyalty to, and he won’t rest until then.) 

<Bdoubleo100 joined the game>

--------------------------------------

<Join Game?>

Sharp laughter fills the air, like electricity buzzing, and then-

<SmallishBeans joined the game>

--------------------------------------

<Join Game?>

“No thanks, I’m good mate!” Mumbo shakes his head, already turning back to the flooring of his definitely full vault. 

(Although…) 

…

--------------------------------------

<Join Game?> 

“Of course, of course..” Scott chuckles slowly, as if in on some joke that nobody else could ever understand. Like others… he’s far beyond caring, and has been since the lightning arched through the trees to take him despite his supposed victory. But first… he takes his time. Makes himself a drink, watches the sun set orange. After all… the next sunset could be red. 

As the sun dips below the horizon, he turns away. 

<Smajor1995 joined the game> 

--------------------------------------

<Join Game?> 

It’s as if the fear and rage she’d felt for weeks before comes back in an instant, electrifying her. She’s typed her answer before she can even think twice about it, half blinded. Why? Why? Why did he do that? 

<PearlescentMoon joined the game>

“Hello, Scott,” she grins up at the rising sun, at the unmarred landscape around her. “Would you like to play a game?” 

[mallowbees]

hiii :] could i have a jimmy for drawing requests pls...... thank you

Oh no. I knew I had an request for Jimmy in my asks but I didn't realize how happily and polite you had requested so I just drew and now I've given you a sad Jimmy instead of a fun times guy, I am So sorry,, I will rectify this by drawing a happy Jimmy later I promise.

[ID: A full body colored drawing of SolidarityGaming from Double Life. He is a pale, dirty blonde haired guy, with dark eyes. He is wearing a light blue jean jacket, white t-shirt, dark grey jeans, and white tennis shoes. He is floating with one arm resting on his legs that are partially floating like he's sitting. The other arm is dangling down with a yellow string that fades to red tied to his finger. It is being broken through with purple streaks. He is looking down with a sad look. He is surrounded by a faint green glow and is lit from the bottom with yellow and red. Behind him is a long black rectangle. End ID]