#from someone who doesn't even know GRIAN'S NAME

[gourmet-trash]

everyone has been so blessedly nice about my eldritch horror but also just a little guy mumbo fic (thank you if you're among them!!), but i don't think anything beats getting this fucking message from my friend who knows nothing about minecraft much less anything in that fucking story

adventurer eldritch horror harvey is just an incredible description of mumbo tbh. but also. because i think this is the fucking funniest part:

BRIAN WITH A G

[bc-jpeg]

about the mumbo’s “I’m all the friend that you need”.

I remembered something from the start of hc s10.

mumbo: — tell me, why are you here? are you gonna k- are you working on behalf of someone? are you gonna kill me? is that-

iskall: — no! you said this yesterday as well- mumbo! you are like my best friend! and I don’t have many friends. and I would not kill my one friend that I have!

mumbo: — say that to grian! cause grian came over yesterday, he’s not even the red name and he tried to kill me.

iskall: — but he’s got lots of friends!

oh something happened. something happened there this season. something spiralling into mumbo’s brain there from the start.

mumbo rarely interacted even with his minimum of friends in the early seasons, preferring solitude and redstone. and grian completely changed that. he appeared at mumbo’s bases at any given time without a warning, gradually leaving more and more pleasant words about what mumbo creates and that he is generally missed when he disappears. mumbo has never encountered anything like this,

but you get used to good things quickly, right?

and then he disappears for so long that upon his return grian realizing that it was hard to live with a focus on only one particular person who was not around all the time. and naturally decides to devote more time to other people in order to drown out this sadness for the person. maybe he was too intrusive for mumbo? now he's going to awkwardly avoid him because he thinks that mumbo doesn't really need him that much because he leaves him so often?

meanwhile, mumbo thinks that he is letting grian down, or has already let him down completely, since grian decides to be with his other friends more than with him.

and mumbo does not yet know that the doc’s perimeter war in s9 began simply because doc dared to tell grian that he would never be mumbo's best friend. because grian keeps it close to his heart and hasn't told anyone. especially mumbo. the buttercups started because of «there can only be ONE (best friend) …and it is not YOU!”

[tubbytarchia]

Etho doodles in which I let my inner dinosaur nerd take over 😔 and also have no idea how to shade

Get it cause he's old and washed up haha... ok but actual raptor Etho hybrid justification below cut

To be honest the main reason was because I really wanted a hybrid in the mix who wasn't some furry creature and a reptile or amphibian or smth instead. Etho still ended up feathered but whatever it's close enough! But for ACTUAL reasoning:

He does feel damn ancient, like an old deity of the mcyt space that no one can dislike. Dinosaurs are the same!! They're old but still thought of with great fascination and fondness, everyone loves dinosaurs...

Dinosaurs are ever so mysterious, as many advancements as we make there's still so much we don't know. Just as we know jackshit about mister Kakashi skin man. Also, there are so many incomplete skeletons out there. I didn't have a particular species in mind for Etho, because where's the mystery in that? He can be one of those 5% skeleton 95% speculation dinosaurs like this guy!! Missing jaw and all

"I'm a runner, not a protector" - so, a raptor, or more specifically the Dromaeosauridae family, which literally has "running/runner" in its name

But! I'm always a fan of stuff going against its nature, especially in this case! Etho states he's not a runner yet protects his allies rather fiercely even in total silence. Eg refusing to kill Cleo in SL or to give away Tango's location during the LimL manhunt, same for Grian in SL. He was a bit flaky in 3L I think? And he only started to have genuine care for allies in LL with Bdubs? Though he is still very much a runner in many cases like during the LL Wither fight. Research also strongly suggests that most if not all raptors were solitary hunters, and the way I see Etho (through my shamefully limited watchtime of his POVs...) he feels a lot like someone who ultimately only trusts himself at the start even if he's pleasant and allying with others, and doesn't seem to think he can carry his weight in groups though he doesn't voice this a lot. That's just how Etho is, very composed, but it feels like there's an insecurity there, showcased especially in SL but again I haven't seen almost any of his POVs in full so maybe I'm talking out of my ass!! Sorry ethogirls I'm only a sidegig ethogirl myself... But yeah tldr to me he gives off the vibe of an otherwise solitary animal struggling to find 100% sure footing in a pack. In whichever ways he does go against his nature, its not usually made a show of

At the mention of a raptor, a lot of people will probably think of the glamourized Jurassic Park Velociraptors. But those awesome guys from the movies are actually the size of chickens. In general though, dinosaurs tend to be a bit.. exaggerated in media, despite how inherently fascinating they already are. And I think it fits Etho because we all know how the Lifers seem to fear and mancrush on him when he's just some dork with perfect capability to become pathetic at a moment's notice. Still, he's a clearly skilled player and still respected without question Etho's not some killer machine like some people make dinosaurs out to be. He's just a fellow creature fulfilling his role in the ecosystem 👍

dinosaurs are cool

The hook-like sickle claws on the feet... something something fishing rod

I swear I'm not turning all my Lifers into hybrids I'm not!! Still plenty normal humans in the mix I swear....... But Etho is such a radical dude, I really wanted to do something more for him. The whole Kitsune thing that I often see associated with him is really cool. I don't actually know the reasoning for it but I assume something something naruto, but also, him being this ancient mythical cryptid who people know so little about, you know? It makes SO much sense. So anyway I turned him into a dinosaur instead rawr

As a herbivore advocate I also considered stuff like the triceratops (known for how they protect themselves and their own) but nah the raptor symbolism...

[silvers-not-home]

rewatching double life right now but through jimmys pov and just realized how violently ill rancher duo makes me /aff

like there's no way there's a duo THIS healthy in this series. the whole fucking point of the life series is betrayal and deception and blah blah blah all that jazz but rancher duo never did any of that. they always told eachother their plans, ideas, schemes, where they were going. and even if they didn't cough cough jimmy going into the deep dark cough cough he still came clean and told tango anyways. we have someone who's death is such a staple in the fandom/series that it's become a whole thing and someone who's death you go "oh yeahhh i forgot about that one, how'd he die again?"

they're both so ignored and the fact that they pay so much attention to eachother literally makes me sick to my stomach /hj /aff

like i don't know much about flower husbands but like. i know it probably wasn't.. the healthiest of any of the ships so take my words with a grain of sand here. jimmy was practically invisible to scott no hate love him to death but c!scott IS on my hit list and tango is just so blatantly ignored by the watchers and other members sometimes i literally forget he's there and when i do my autism shoots up like a firework.

jimmy is mocked in a /lh way but we're talking abt their c!versions so that might not be as lighthearted as you think c!jimmy sorry bud so much to the point no one takes him seriously and tango is so forgotten that no one takes him seriously. though they might not be taken seriously when they're together they're still known throughout the server. jimmy has what tango doesn't: patience and less impulsive thinking. and tango has what jimmy doesn't: rage and more tactical thinking.

while tango is going absolutely apeshit over the ranch burning down and everyone is basically taunting him, making him even more upset as if either of them need that jimmy is the one to hold tango back. he doesn't want him rushing in not because they share health and trying to keep himself safe desert duo im looking at you, you toxic bastards /aff but because he genuinely CARES about him. because when they go after scar and grian they want to be prepared and logical about their attacks. he'll still listen and follow through with tangos plan but not when they don't have one, he was so excited to bring the warden to grian and scar because he genuinely believed that they would get revenge the safe way (as safe as you can get anyways)

and when the plan backfired he didn't get mad or upset at tango. he helped him through it with the knowledge they could both die just by one small slip up but damnit if he's gonna take them out he's standing tall next to him.

they never got mad at eachother. not when the plans backfired or when jimmy died and lost all his stuff and had to travel across the whole server just to not get his stuff back or when jimmy went into the deep dark, putting them both in danger or when tango got them both killed in the FIRST EPISODE, activating his curse again (i know it wasn't technically jimmy that died but he still lost a life so i'm counting it anyways shut up)

because grian would've been pissed (talking about character versions still stick with me here) at scar if the roles were swapped, probably would've kept him at their base for the whole damn season actually. but jimmy listened to tango, obviously he was upset but never at tango. he just wanted to know what lead up to that and from that they made a plan.

the difference between team rancher and desert duo is when scars falling grian yells out for him, not because he cares about scars safety but because he cares about his safety.

meanwhile when tangos falling jimmy jumps after him while screaming his name, making sure that if he's going to die it's tangos name staining his tongue and without the selfish intent of keeping himself safe.

because when grain looks into scars eyes he only sees himself. meanwhile when jimmy looks into tangos eyes he sees tango looking back.

[chemdisaster]

secret life joel has seriously got me so fucked up

it's something about how in 3rd life he was all alone, he had his dogs and his all-consuming propensity for destruction and that was that. he had the taste of fire climbing up his throat, the smoke that clouded his vision and turned everything red, and that was all he ever needed, no alliance ever meant a thing to him beyond how it would eventually look when it went up in flames. then in last life he made attempts at something resembling genuine connection, but they fell through and so he fell back on what he knew, what was familiar. he made alliances that only went as far as the shared blood they could draw, willingly relinquished himself to the comfort of loneliness and death, and ended up being damn good at it. he had his fingers with the red dripping from them and not much more, and he never asked for more, either. all he really had was himself and the fire. and he was fine staying like that, everything was as it was meant to be, it was fine.

but then came double life and etho and the relation ship, and suddenly joel had something to fight for, a cause and a direction for the destruction, and when the relation ship burnt it was a conscious, purpose-filled decision to let his own blaze explode outwards and reduce everything else to embers and smouldering ash. joel said, "the ship burns, everything burns," and even when his words came true in the cruellest way possible, when everything burnt and he and etho followed, in the spills of swirling lava, amidst their sizzling remains that quickly dissolved into nothingness, something had changed.

and then came limited life and the bad boys, and at this point joel had known what it was to be wanted and to want, and maybe he never expected the bad boys to matter as much as they did in the end, but it happened before he'd even had time to notice, slowly and then all at once, and there was no denying now that he cared. and this time when he died, it was reckless and desperate and with one name playing on repeat in his ears until the sky came down and he heard nothing at all. he died wanting to stay alive, in a world where suffering and loss grew on you like fungi until it was all you ever knew how to feel, joel died with something to live for and something to die for.

and now here he is. in secret life. and you'd think someone like joel, someone who never really asked for connection, someone who knows how to stay himself with nothing but an army of wolves surrounding him, would get burnt once or twice and close himself right off, go back to doing what he knows and what works. but for someone so accustomed to loneliness that he wears it like a second skin, joel remains startlingly willing to put himself out there. he remembers the bad boys, screams when jimmy dies and gives grian hearts and tells him he would always help him out. he, despite the complicated nature of their relationship and the way they always seem to go for each other in fights, despite how he's made sure to put on an air of being unaffected when it comes to their memories, nevertheless gets in a boat with etho and openly tells him that he still cares, it's just - it's just. when pearl is green and he is yellow, he purposely throws away his guess to ensure that she is safe around him. joel, the character who you'd think would be most likely to spurn every alliance and go back to fighting for himself only because if he doesn't, no one else will - joel, despite all that, is actively trying to be more, more than what he is and what he already knows how to be.

you can see it in how he is as a red life, too. in every previous season, to the point where other lifers have made note of it, joel has become imprudent, excessively reckless and rash when he's gone down to red. in contrast to secret life, where he's more or less calmly completing tasks, gathering resources and preparing himself for possible eventualities. his actions this go around are step-by-step, organised and calculated in a way they weren't before. and obviously part of that is to do with the nature of this season, there isn't much room to be reckless when everything you do has to correspond with what's in your book. and tomorrow is life day, probably the last session, and who knows what's going to happen. but still, it cannot be denied that joel's demeanour has changed to be more collected this time - especially impressive if you remember that he's lost three people he loved already.

over the course of the life series joel has been learning what it is to love and be loyal and fully and unquestionably open yourself up to someone. despite getting hurt over and over again, something that by all rights should have warned him off from getting close to people forever, he's instead taken everything good about those relationships and carried it with him. in a world that pushes everyone to fall to the same character flaws, he's found space for growth and healing, and that is so beautiful it hurts.

[tibby-art]

Given how much Scar’s character knows. (From him connecting series that we don’t think he should know about to his character. And him knowing things he shouldn’t…) I’m on the band wagon that Scar is some sort of Eldtrich God.

Righttt like, my best guess is he's some sort of dimension-hopper or something... a traveling trickster god.. mentally i'm at a corkboard w/all the red strings connecting to different scars trying to piece it all together, holding my head in my hands

It's like. Okay. He had an encounter with s8 tycoon scar where he stole his hat, and he killed him (?) but today he said he simply broke a wheel on the wagon and stole the hat? He says each hat has a story. Does Jellie's hat also have a story. Jellie obviously travels with him across every universe. He seems not to mind when people don't remember who he is but he gets VERY upset when people don't know who Jellie is; just thought that was interesting

Did P!Scar travel to the hermitcraft season 8 universe? After the moon hit the server? Did tycoon scar travel to the pirates universe? Or are they the same person and it's just a lie? When he first spawns in Pirates SMP he makes it a point to mention a mysterious flower crown in his inventory. He says it's an important crown, and it's the only one on the server. Buttercups??? (Sidenote he also spawns with some blocks of cyan glazed terracotta. Not sure what that's about but it's dangerously close to being light blue glazed aka the vex magic. I would have lost my mind)

At the very beginning Scar says his ship was called the Flying Jellie. The Flying Jellie. What if it wasn't a boat. What if it was a space ship. He calls it a pirate ship but that doesn't necessarily mean a boat, ti could be a space pirate ship. (He's done loopholes with his phrasing like this before, like today when he sold michela a sword that was "nearly full" durability, only to later clarify it was "nearly full-y depleted"). He says he won an important battle with the ship, but he lost the ship and the crew. I've seen people say that the crew is supposed to have been boatem, not sure if that's canon? Is the ship story even true?

He made references to both Pearl and Grian today, are they his Pearl and Grian from the pirates universe or is he referring to the hermits? He mentions Pearl by name to Sausage, who says he doesn't know who that is (and yet Sausage goes on to casually mention the moon at the mention of Pearl, either Sausage is also a dimension-hopper and he's bluffing or he has a subconscious connection to his other lives). He doesn't say Grian's name but he talks about a man on his crew who sunk with the ship that's very obviously meant to be Grian (says the man's head looked like a loaf of bread, that he wore red, would have been a Kite). He doesn't seem too upset about the loss.

He greets Cleo, Scott and Martyn when he first sees them even though they don't know who he is. Cleo flat-out says "I don't believe we've met" after he greets her by name. Interestingly enough when he first calls Martyn by name, Martyn doesn't question it (I know Martyn also has some Lore going on, maybe he recognizes Scar too) Also I saw someone point out that his pants resemble mayor scar's pants. Possible season 7 reference, season 8 reference with tycoon scar and a possible? season 9 reference?? with that flower crown???

I literally can't tell if he has this planned-out intricate lore that connects all of his minecraft SMP characters like Martyn does or if he's literally just saying random stuff for fun. His character could be lying about his entire backstory, we don't know. i have no idea what's important to the lore and what isn't. this man is such a trickster god its not even funny. tldr WHAT IS GOING ON

[riacte]

Alright I love love love Skizz but why did people for FALSE & Skizz instead of False & H???? What???

It is because False gets overlooked even in a False centric poll. This is a pattern. Also sorry for using your ask as a vent post lol.

I love Skizz and his energy, I think he's awesome with people, he is certainly good at the whole "duo thing" buuuut this is not a Skizz duo poll. Or even a Hermitcraft duo poll. It is a False duo poll. I think people voted for Skizz because of Skizz, not False, or even Skizz-False. Like yeah it was funny when Skizz held False hostage in the charity event. But are people voting for moments like that or do they just like Skizz in general?

This was also what I was trying to see with the False MCC poll— 17 is of course iconic as a whole, and especially for Grian, and I would definitely rank it very high in a Hermit MCC poll (possibly right behind Blue9, sorry Orange10). But False had better performances in 29 and 10, and 9 had better chemistry than 17 because she didn't really get spoken over in 9. Or 10 and 29. (Whereas in 17 it was a Thing enough for Pete to mention it afterwards apparently.) 17 has cool False moments of course— SG the one I remember the most— but people don't really bring that up. So did people vote for 17 in a False centric poll because they liked False's performance in 17 and overall team chemistry (things related to and influenced by False) or because they like 17 in general?

It is not that deep but also seeing False's diminishing relevance in the mainstream HC fandom over the years is kinda... disappointing. Someone who's never watched a hermit on MCCReddit will mention False Supremacy. HBomb's chat loves False. Like I don't even know what happened?? False has been posting regularly, always have, she does her builds and collabs and pranks and infrastructure, she won the first event of the season, outsiders love her, and...? Like don't we love our slay cool #girlboss queen of hearts? Or does she need a different fanon archetype now? The mischievous prankster? The silly wet cat? The healer type who loves animals and gives them stupid names? The competitive warrior? Would you still love me when I'm no longer the designated girlboss of the group or whatever

Like ok yeah this is me being bitchy and a gatekeeper and False isn't even the most underrated hermit and she gets her share of love in fanart and stuff but yeah I've noticed the decline. You've got Redditors mentioning Empires people in the crossover in response to someone asking about Empires but not mentioning one hermit who was actually also in Empires. You've got people talking about "Hermitgals" but they replace False and Stress with Lizzie. You've got the fallout of Demise 2. You've got Redditors talking about Rendoc in relation to Ren like his only relevance is being Doc's friend/collab buddy when False exists and she's his favourite hermit. And you've got the False duo poll. Won't even go into the view counts/ sub counts because that's depressing for what feels like at least a third of the hermits (Cubfan you deserve way more). Doesn't feel good.

Back in 2020/21 she got shat on and her achievements ignored by some DSMP fans and now the same thing is happening but it's worse because it's from some HC fans. The call is coming from inside the house. And once again False isn't even the most overlooked hermit. For example Iskall STILL gets horrific hate comments about how he doesn't "deserve" to be a hermit because he plays VH more.

Hermitcraft is popular. I wish the other third of it is more popular.

[firequeenofficial]

He knew it was coming. From the moment he saw that warden running at Mumbo, who was running at him, Jimmy knew it was the end.

That didn't stop him from trying to run, of course. That didn't stop him from fighting to stay. That didn't tamper down the terror when the warden blasted him into the hole with a heart and a half standing between him and death.

It never really did, did it?

Cowering in the hole, Jimmy tried to block out the screams of his friends, the shouts of Mumbo somewhere nearby. He tried to block out every other sound, until only his gasping breaths and pounding heart remained, desperate to come up with a plan to make it, to get out of here, to live.

Too slow. He was too slow. His brain exploded with the warden's furious roar, and Jimmy couldn't hold in his scream as he curled in on himself, scrunching up his eyes and covering his ears, trying in vain to protect them.

No matter. He was dead before the pain even had the chance to settle.

Silence fell. A strange combination of warmth and cold brushed his skin, the whispering of still air soothing his still-ringing ears, the poignant scent of nothing filling his nose. Before he could relax, however, his skin pricked and all his hair stood on end, like he was caught in a lightning storm.

Slowly, hesitantly, Jimmy sat up and opened his eyes.

He was surrounded by bodiless shadows, all looking at him with eyes that glowed purple. Beyond the shadows, a harsh white light, or a tight black void, or a gentle golden landscape.

The shadows just looked at him. They didn't say a word: they didn't need to. Jimmy knew what they wanted.

He got shakily to his feet. One of the shadows held out its hand. It looked vaguely familiar, shorter than the others, with wings on its back and head, with eyes pure as the void Lizzie died in.

Jimmy reached out, ready to take the shadow's hand and follow it into what comes next, when a different hand grabbed his and shoved him back.

Just like that, the calm seemed to shatter, and his still mind started running as Grian stepped in front of him, looking a very Grian-like combination of angry and terrified. He was wearing a black leather jacket and had sunglasses rested on the top of his head.

"Stop this, Tim," Grian snapped.

Jimmy opened his mouth to gasp Grian's name, reaching out to take his arm, but his voice refused to work. No sound came out. His voice wasn’t working. Why wasn’t his voice working?

Grian went on, "Leave them alone. You can go back! You don't need to go with them."

Back. Back to Secret Life. Back to the fighting, the fear, the lying, the desperation. He could go back. But what for? The shadows were still watching him intently, silently inviting him to go with them. Something about them started to calm his mind again, despite his body’s initial reaction to them. It would be so much easier to move on. He couldn't win, anyway. What was there to go back to?

"People love you, Jimmy!" a new voice said, shattering the calm even before it took root, and Jimmy turned to find Tango standing to his right.

Tango was wearing a sort of cowboy outfit, or... or a rancher outfit. Yes, that's what it was. Why did he know that? Why was Tango here, too? Why was Jimmy so damn happy he was? What was going on? Why couldn’t he speak?

"Admittedly, some love you more than others, but-" Tango was glaring at someone behind Jimmy, and he turned to see Scott, who was holding a poppy in both hands like it was the only thing keeping him tethered to the world, just as he interrupted Tango. 

"I may not always be the nicest to you, Jimmy, but that doesn't mean I don't want you around!" Scott said. 

Jimmy swallowed. He had no idea what either of these two were talking about, or why he couldn’t ask them, or why they were here, or why he so desperately wanted to stay with them. But...

Again, he felt his gaze pulled to the ever-watching eyes of the shadows. The shorter one still had its hand outstretched, patiently waiting for Jimmy to make the choice it knew he would.

"Remember what you were fighting for, lad!"

Jimmy jumped and looked back to Grian to find Joel standing beside him in a matching (but sleeveless) leather jacket, his sunglasses resting on the tip of his nose.

"They-" Joel gestured at the shadows behind him "-want you dead. But you don't have to listen, lad. You hate them, remember? You have to remember!"

He hated them? That didn’t feel right! They were so calm, so safe. It was these guys, Grian and Tango and Scott and Joel, that were flooding his mind, making it difficult to think clearly, making any sort of decision-making impossible. If only he could-

He turned, not fully knowing why but somehow knowing who he would find, and saw Martyn standing behind him, his Big Dog ears pulled back. "The way back is obvious, Jimmy. It's easy. You could come back to me."

"Just... humour us," Grian pleaded, and Jimmy whipped around to see him holding out a hand, his pose identical to the shadow behind him. Jimmy shook his head, trying to clear it, feeling like he was seeing double, struggling to keep his mind together. "Come back with us. You don’t need to die"

People died every day. Jimmy knew this. He was very, very familiar with this fact. Some, because they simply do not see any other option.

He glanced at the shadows, and for just a second he saw Scott kneeling at Gem's feet, a desperate sacrifice.

A blink, and time flipped on its head and turned inside out, and he could see a different dog-eared man kneeling in an identical position at Martyn's feet. He didn't know the man, he didn't know the circumstances, he didn't know if it was the past or the present or the future, but he knew what was happening. A sacrifice just the same, but made out of determination rather than desperation, strategic rather than impulsive.

The scene changed again, and next thing he knew, he was looking at Scott and the dog-eared man caught in battle, sword against sword, both blades blood stained, both men splattered with the stuff, not fighting to the death, but fighting for life, both for the exact same reason they let themselves die in the previous images: to win. Victory was a cause worthy of both life and death.

Maybe... maybe it was also a cause worth living for. Maybe it was something he could reach for. Maybe he could… maybe he could fight for it like the others. Maybe, just maybe…

Or maybe it was something he could die for. If he was dead, that was one less person standing between Martyn and a win. If he took that shadow's offer, his Big Dog could win this game for the both of them.

Jimmy turned around to meet Martyn's eyes. The other man could see his decision in his eyes, and shook his head.

"No. No, you do not mean so little that this is all you have to offer. You may not be perfect, you may not be whole, but that doesn't mean there is nothing you can do."

"Mate, if you die, I'm going with you," yet another new voice said. Jimmy didn't have to turn far to see Mumbo standing between Martyn and Tango before Mumbo gestured at the shadows. "They don't just want you - once they get you, they will take all the rest of us too. And I'll be first in line."

"And what about me?" Tango asked. "What am I without my Rancher buddy?"

Jimmy turned to him and tried again to speak, to say something, anything, because Tango looked so afraid, so desperate, and Jimmy hated it, hated seeing Tango like that, though he couldn't remember why, but he couldn't so much as hum!

It was Scott, ever the call to action, the one who seemed permanently unsatisfied, who ordered, "Keep fighting, Jimmy. Don't give up like this! This is the coward's way out."

Maybe he was a coward. Maybe he was scared, and tired, and ready.

This time, when he turned his attention back to the shadows, he recognised the big one behind the shortest one in the front: the Secret Keeper.

He hated that thing. He hated the way it had turned all his friends against each other. He hated… he hated the way they had all followed its every order, practically tripping over themselves to fulfil its wishes, like it was some kind of-

"You may hate it," Grian said, like he'd heard Jimmy's thoughts, interrupting their already shaky flow, "but it gave you direction. You don't have to like it to go back. You can go back raging if you want! I don't care. That thing gave you direction, it gave you reason, it gave you something to connect over. And you can like that! You can use that."

"You're not alone, Jimmy," Tango reminded him in a voice that managed to smile even as it was tinged with sadness. "If you grieve, grieve with us. If you're scared, be scared with us. If you hurt, hurt with us."

Joel added, "If you're hurt, use that hurt, lad. Make it a weapon. Make it dangerous."

"Love can be just as dangerous," Scott mentioned.

"Love can heal, too." Tango was glaring at Scott again. "You shouldn't be afraid of that." He nodded in Martyn's direction, and Jimmy turned to his fellow Big Dog, who was grinning at him and nodding along. "It can lift you up, carry you. And you know what? You're actually the one who taught me that."

Jimmy lived in grief, these days, even if he didn't know who or what he was grieving, just that he was. Every day, every hour, he could feel it changing him, weighing on his every decision, making him doubt every thought and feeling, and he was ready for it to end, ready to stop feeling anything at all.

But others' words... Could Martyn really help carry him to a win, or at least a better position than second last, and could he really trust his friends to help him with this unexplainable weight and let them heal him, instead of tear him down, and could he learn to use his fear and pain to his advantage and could he-?

It was a nice idea, the thought of that connection, that warmth, among the chaos, it felt... perfect. It felt really, really amazing, and he wanted that, he wanted it more than he could put into words.

That was when the shadow said its first words, bypassing speech and throwing its voice straight into Jimmy's head. Its voice seemed hauntingly familiar.

TAKE MY HAND.

The voice was emotionless, and yet the air simmered with the sort of quiet rage that refused to be weathered. The others showed no sign of either noticing the fiery electricity in the air or hearing the shadow's quiet, booming voice, even when Jimmy whipped around to face the figure again to find its face just as blank and its form just as motionless as before. 

YOU HAVE NO REASON TO STAY. IT IS FEAR THAT HOLDS YOU TO THAT PLACE. YOU LIE TO YOURSELF AND YOUR FRIENDS AND THEY KNOW IT. THEY DO NOT WANT YOU. THEY WANT YOU TO SUFFER AND YOU ALLOW IT BECAUSE YOU CRAVE THEIR APPROVAL AND PRAISE. YOU HIDE AWAY WHEN THEY LOOK AT YOU AND WAVE YOUR ARMS WHEN THEY DO NOT. WHY FIGHT THIS. WHY CLING TO FRIENDS WHO NEVER WANTED YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE.

TAKE MY HAND.

Jimmy thought of his friends. He thought of the way Martyn constantly sought out others. He thought of the way Grian always leaned toward Scar rather than him. He thought of the way Joel would shower Lizzie in gifts and scoff at him in exactly the same breath.

Slowly, Jimmy's hand reached again towards the shadow.

"Jimmy, mate, stop!" Mumbo shouted, putting a hand on Jimmy's shoulder to stop his movements as Grian ordered, "Don't listen to them, Tim! Just think about this."

Jimmy didn't know what to think. There was so much, far too much, and it was all building up and it was all fighting for his attention leaving his mind lost and confused in the chaos and he just wanted it to stop and it was too much and-

"Do not give in!" That was Joel, though Jimmy was struggling to keep up with way too many voices coming way too fast from way too many directions and it wasn’t stopping and he needed to think!

Joel was still talking. "Don't let them win. Whatever they've told you, it isn't true."

"You may not be able to see any reason to keep on living, but that's not true!" Was that Scott? He didn’t know, he couldn’t tell, he could barely see straight

Beside him, Tango took Jimmy's still-outstretched hand and turned the canary to face him, forcing his gaze away from the shadows. Jimmy noticed his vision was blurred, and he struggled to focus. His world tunnel visioned, until Tango was all that existed. Jimmy's hand was placed over Tango's beating heart. Tango's burning red eyes refused to leave Jimmy's. "If you don't see any reason, then find one. Find one, and hold on tight."

Unconsciously, Jimmy's fingers curled up in Tango's vest, clinging to it. Tango's lips twitched.

And then another new voice spoke, shattering the moment of calm, of safety.

"If you die now, then I died for nothing!"

Jimmy whipped around to see Lizzie standing on Joel's other side, arms folded, just barely recognisable by her pink hair. As soon as his eyes left Tango's, the cacophony of sounds and colours returned and threatened to slice through his brain and shred his ears and crush his eyes and, and, and. 

"I was trying to help people like you, like Scar, like Joel, get further by taking out Scott! When I died instead, I thought at least there was one less competition for you. Are you really going to waste that? Are you really gonna waste my death like this?"

"Listen to what's happening in your heart!" Tango was trying to get his attention again, but it was too late, the damage was done and there was no going back, so his words struggled to register on Jimmy's scattered brain. "Listen to that call to life! To love!"

Someone else picked up the slack, following Tango’s line of thought, and Jimmy decided it was probably Martyn, and he had no idea what was up and what was down. "You are breathing, Jimmy. They want to steal that from you - you just need to keep fighting them. Are you just gonna let them get away with this?"

Scattered memories were filtering in, screaming bright colours, making it all the worse. A flash of red petals, purple jewels, orange flames, golden wheat. And each memory brought with it a rush of emotion: fear, hope, betrayal, joy, guilt, love, grief, triumph, all flooding him at once, making it all that much harder to focus on anything at all.

A flash of light shone from the direction of the shadows, and Jimmy's gaze was pulled, irrevocably, towards them.

Five people were standing there, their colours muted, each with the outline of a crown surrounding their heads like shattered halos.

Grian, a poncho thrown over his usual sweater and blood on his curled fists.

Scott, with a pink axolotl curled over his shoulders and a sword held high above his head.

Pearl, with a red cloak clasped at her throat and a pair of hoes hanging at her sides.

Martyn, a red-and-white flag hung from his belt and coral growing over his skin and hair.

The fifth was cast in shadow, almost resembling the figures still beckoning Jimmy towards them, but Jimmy could make out a black cloak lined with red and purple flowers, and a bow hung loosely from scarred hands.

In unison, each of them held out a hand towards him, perfectly echoing the short shadow's pose.

The others started speaking over each other, haggling for his attention, and he couldn't think, he couldn't hear, he wanted it to stop, he had to make it stop, why wouldn’t it stop!

And then the shadow spoke again, mixing in with his friends instead of drowning them out, just another voice shouting at him and blocking his thoughts and making any kind of rationality impossible.

YOU WANT FAME AND ADORATION.

"It's not worth it, Jimmy!"

YOU WANT MORE THAN ATTENTION, MORE THAN LOVE.

"Lad, don't listen to it!"

BUT YOU KNOW BETTER THAN THIS. TAKE MY HAND.

"You're worth so much more than you think!"

STOP TRYING TO BE MORE THAN YOU ARE.

"You're my Rancher! You mean the world to me!"

YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I THINK. I THINK-

"No one asked you!" Grian shouted, directly at the shadow.

That was the last Jimmy heard before everything finally built up to be entirely unbearable. With a silent shout, he dropped to a crouch, hands over his ears, but if anything the racket just got louder, more painful, and he couldn't breath, couldn't think, he just wanted peace, he just wanted to feel safe and warm, he just wished all these voices would GO AWAY-

The world went quiet. Every single voice became background noise. Every ounce of terror faded. All that was left was a cheerful whistling from above.

Shaking, Jimmy looked up, past his friends, past the shadows, past the crowned figures. There was a yellow bird, a canary, flying overhead, swooping in a sky that barely existed. It soared over each of his friends in turn, and as it did, memories rushed in.

The canary flew over Grian and Joel, and Jimmy remembered golden wheat and a pathway in the clouds and endless encouragement.

The canary flew over Lizzie, and Jimmy remembered a thick ring of trees and a triumphant prediction and a fairy queen.

The canary flew over Scott, and Jimmy remembered flowers and home and a treasured peace offering.

The canary flew over Martyn and Mumbo, and Jimmy remembered laughter and spyglasses and statues.

And finally, the canary flew over Tango, and Jimmy remembered. He remembered love and support and warmth and loyalty. He remembered goat horns and horses and a ranch and a warden that didn't want him dead. He remembered Tango at his side, in his arms, watching his back, petting his hair, preening his wings. He remembered days when the sun shone and tinged the world in gold, days when it rained and the world was alive with the water's singing, days when it snowed and the world sparked, and at the centre of it all, turning the dreary into beauty, was Tango. He remembered his ranch, and he remembered his Rancher.

He wanted that back. He wanted his Rancher back.

But his Rancher died with him, back then. There was only one way he could be with him forever.

It was a strange sort of paradox, this desire to live in a whole new way, coupled with the need to die. But he saw the truth: he knew what he wanted, and he knew how to get it. He didn't want a pounding heart or gasping lungs or running legs or fisted hands. He wanted peace. He wanted rest. He wanted safety. He wanted his Rancher. And to get it, he needed to give up everything he knew.

Most people could go their whole lives without experiencing that clarity, without seeing the certainty in the paradoxical. So many die without reaching this conclusion, still questioning if there was any meaning to life and death. Still more act like they did see it, like they knew what they were living for, and kept that uncertainty to themselves, where it hid away and festered forever.

Jimmy was grateful he had the chance to see, and to make a decision.

THROW AWAY THE FEAR.

Jimmy stood up.

REACH FOR WHAT COULD BE.

He walked forward.

WHAT AWAITS IS BEAUTY.

He reached out.

THE WORLD HAS NOTHING TO OFFER YOU.

He paused to look back at Tango.

YOU HAVE NOTHING TO OFFER THE WORLD,

And, with a smile on his face, Jimmy took the shadow's hand. 

[nenestansunsthings]

"Hey. You're Joe Hills, right?"

The man who turns to him to looks far too normal, a casual guy with long hair and green glasses and gloves. Quackity can't imagine why they beat Wilbur. Why her people campaigned so hard for him, why they had hundreds in the lead for hours upon hours until the polls closed and Wilbur lost to her. When the guy smiles cheerfully towards him, the question only becomes more poignant.

"Yup! That's me! Joe Hills, from Nashville, Tennessee." He offers their hand to shake, and in a flash Quackity takes it. Her grip isn't strong, and he blinks in surprise when Quackity's own is firm. "And you're Quackity, right? Good job with your poll!! That was a real close win, but your people pulled through right where it mattered!"

Quackity waves it off. "I never had a doubt. Of course my fans wouldn't let me lose! I'm the sexiest red bird around here, after all!" Unbidden, his wings flutter. "But heyyy, that's not what I came here for. I came here for you! We had an alliance, didn't we? Come on, hi-five, amigo, we did well today!"

Joe blinks. "We had an alliance?"

"Uh, yeah? What, don't tell me you didn't know." He scoffs. "Your fans didn't tell you? I heard you were out there campaigning yourself. Posting shirtless videos and everything! Just my kinda guy." Cheerfully, he slings an arm around Joe, pleasantly surprised when the guy doesn't even flinch. "I thought you agreed to the alliance yourself!"

"... Oh, that alliance!" Their eyes light up in recognition. "Yeah, I saw a few people talking about that. People get really excited in my chat, y'know? Though they were pretty torn." He shrugs. "I mean, Grian's a friend of mine, even if I have no clue how he thinks. But yeah, that was all them!"

Quackity can't help but stare. "You didn't know they were allying against a friend of yours?!"

"Nope! They just kinda do what they want." Joe laughs, the sound tinged with fondness. Something in that makes Quackity's gut churn uncomfortably. They just… do that? Ally against friends? Work with people who they think will stab them in the back later? And all in the name of someone who doesn't even know what they're planning? "I think it's great that they all got together to support you! But hey, there's only one person I'm hoping will win, and you know who it is! I wouldn't be campaigning for myself if I didn't want that win."

"Ha! Yeah, I know how it is." He grins back, golden tooth gleaming brilliantly. "Don't feel too down when I thrash you, alright?"

"We'll see about that!" Normally, Quackity would be on edge from that kind of declaration, but there isn't a shred of hostility in her vice. There's only delight, friendly competition. "I have faith that my viewers will pull ahead, and that I can campaign hard enough to convince people! I've been working really hard, after all. Even bought some new rainbow eyes, just for the occasion!"

"Wait, what."

Joe blinks, and when their eyes open again they are joined by a hundred others, flickering with a thousand colours and all seeing- staring- beholding. Just before he can think the word watching, they flutter shut.

"That's not the right word for me, just to be clear," Joe chastises him. "Watching. I'm not a part of that group."

Quackity has no goddamn idea what she means. So after a moment of stunned silence, he continues.

"... Do your fans think the eyes are hot?"

"I think they're sexyman enough to win the contest," he says, which clears up nothing. "But, most importantly, I think they'd vote for me anyway! Even without my beautiful, glowing, rainbow-checked eyes. Which are, by the way, divinely beautiful, and should be appreciated."

"Hey, man, if you're the kind of guy to buy new eyes for a competition, they'd better vote for you." Quackity shakes his head. "What, did they bribe you for it? Say they'd vote for you if you blinked in rainbows? That's not a healthy relationship, man, you gotta get out of there."

Joe snorts. "No, this is all for me. But thanks for worrying! If my people ever start demanding I grow new eyes before they tip me, I'll just find new people." He waves a hand nonchalantly. "I don't think my viewers would do that, anyway."

"... Hm." Quackity hesitates, settling a few feet away from Joe. "... I dunno, man. I mean, they made that alliance without you, didn't they? Hard to think you could trust 'em after something like that. Not a lot of unity in that kind of campaign, especially if there was some kind of in-fighting about voting me over your friend."

Some tiny, tiny part of him feels a little sick at the thought. But it dies down quickly enough. This isn't the first time he's brought people to blows over loyalty, after all.

But Joe looks unbothered. "They're good people. They'll figure it out for themselves. And they understand why people would vote you over Grian, or why their friends would support you."

"Oh?" Quackity raises an eyebrow. "You talk like you've seen it yourself. Did they shake hands and make up and write songs about their reconciliation? I'd love to see that- you encourage their poetry, it looks like. They've gotta have some skills."

"Nah, nothing like that. You're thinking too big, Quackity HQ." Their sunny smile shifts, softening at the edges. "They're just friends. They don't hate each other for wanting a different person to win. If this was something important like politics- which is very important, remember to vote on both a local and national level to support what's best for your community!- then it might be different. But this is fine."

He scoffs. "Please. I've seen the posts. Some of those guys came out swinging against me."

"And they know it's an exaggeration!" she assures him. "Just look around. All across this great land of Tumblr, there are people reminding each other to be kind. To be civil. To watch whether their feelings are turning into hate, and to take a step back and breathe if things go too far. Sure, things have gone too far. But that happens in all kinds of events, not just this one. And mostly, our viewers want to be kind."

"Man. You're a real ray of sunshine, aren't you." Quackity looks away. "But that's not really what I mean. It's more…"

He's not sure the words are right on his tongue. He says them anyway.

"They're supposed to be united," he tries. "I know you all wanted a Hermitsweep. Your people rule the polls. Doesn't it scare you, that they can split so much behind your back? Isn't it weird, to trust them with this?"

For a second, Joe is silent. Quackity grits his teeth, turns- but the faint green glow of his checkmarks is dim, and there's a twinge of honest fear in his eyes.

"... To be honest, it feels weird." He rests his head on their knees, fingers wrapped tight around her arms. "Just a little bit. I didn't expect this much. And the competition last round was a lot, let me tell you."

Quackity snorts. "I was there, man. No need to tell me. So much voter fraud…"

"And bribery! Don't forget bribery." Joe laughs. "But I do trust them. Whatever they do. I'll be disappointed if I lose, obviously, but it happens. It's hard to really be angry when you think about the core of all this."

"Popularity?" he jokes.

"Well, a little. I've been told Scar is not a sexyman, just a sexy man. Still not sure what criteria people are voting by. But mostly, I think it's love."

"Love?" Quackity raises an eyebrow. "What made you think that?"

Joe sighs. "I dunno. It's just… it's the only thing that it could be, really. This contest doesn't mean anything. There's no prize. All it is is just people wanting the entertainers they love most to win. And look at everything they've created for that goal."

Quackity knows. He's seen the swathes of art, the stories, the people getting out drawing tablets or phones or paper and camera to thank people who voted in their favour. He's seen old artworks shared years after their making. He's seen silly powerpoints, walls of text, analysis and promotions of videos from the starts of careers. It's a little terrifying, really, in the same way angels are.

He's pretty sure Joe would know, too.

"Yeah, not every one of my viewers joined your alliance. Even with my personal campaigning, none of them brought it up to me. But whoever they voted, whether it was Grian because he's someone they fought to see this high up or you because they wanted to share the support your people offered me, they voted out of love. Because they love me, or they love you, or they love whoever else they wanted to win."

"... They love you, huh?"

It's an odd thought. Quackity's well used to heartbreak, to abandonment. To people only staying because he had something to offer. But in this silly contest, with tens of thousands of people cheering for him…

"They love you too," Joe says with a smile. "So I'm happy you won. I'd say you're a pretty worthy opponent."

Quackity barks out a laugh, turning to Joe with fire in his eye. "A worthy opponent? You'll be taking those words back when I win. My people love me, don't they? So I'm sure as hell they'll put their money where their mouth is."

"Oh, we'll see." A thousand eyes open, turning a rainbow gaze upon him. He meets their stare head-on. "After all," Joe Hills says, "You were right about one thing. We want a Hermitsweep."

[pixiemage]

So do you ever, like - accidentally get inspired to create a whole AU based on an old Tumblr text post, and you know you can't add it to your actual fic list because your existing WIP's are waiting for you, but you end up writing a snippet of it anyway? Yeah. Yeah, me too.

Jimmy knows he's not fully with it when he walks into the villains’ bar this time. He has a new name on his list from Make-a-Wish - Supreme this time - and he's only halfheartedly searching the by-now-familiar faces for the person he needs to talk to. He's not registering much of anything though, and it becomes apparent when two people step in his path and he doesn't notice until he's almost running into them. It's Joel, and it's Tango - Trickster and Phoenix - and the expressions on their faces are different flavors of the same thing. Anger, maybe, but not at Jimmy, simmering below the surface in Tango's case and being held back by a tense jaw in Joel's. And concern too, he thinks, concern and sympathy and- "Hey Songbird," Tango greets him, sounding just to the left of the normal fond tone he uses when he sees Jimmy. "How're you holding up?" "I...sorry?" Jimmy blinks, not quite understanding, and Joel casts a glance around the bar before settling back on Jimmy. "We heard about Mercy." Mercy - oh. Mercy Children's Hospital. Susie. Jimmy's chest goes tight and he swallows past a lump in his throat. A warm hand settles on his shoulder and he's steered over to a booth in the corner, Tango sandwiching him in on one side and Joel taking a seat across the table. Jimmy sucks down a shuddering breath. "...you heard?"

Joel scoffs. "We've been trying to find that bastard since the news broke this morning," he bites out. "The minute the Count gets back we'll know where he is." "You - what?" Jimmy stares, surprised. "You're trying to find him?" "Absolutely." Tango, this time, his arm around Jimmy's shoulders emanating a warmth that he hadn't realized was helping to calm him down. "We're going after that jerk the second we have the chance. The guy crossed a line, big time." Oh. Oh, gosh. Jimmy's vision just barely begins to blur with tears, and he feels Tango's arm tighten around him. There's quiet murmuring around him but he can't bring himself to listen. They're going after Vortex. Jimmy's biggest mistake in his life, and here Tango and Joel are ready to help fix it the second they have the chance. And Grian always said villains weren't to be trusted... "There's a bunch of others who signed up for the mission," Tango is saying, and Jimmy tunes back in. "Supreme and Iris and  Worm Man and some o' the others. They were pretty pissed when they found out-" "And we'll keep your name out of it, o' course," Joel goes on, and Jimmy blinks away tears to focus on him better. Joel rakes a hand back through his green-streaked hair and shrugs. "You're not involved. Keep your record clean, all that-" "No."#Jimmy is almost surprised to hear himself say it, and Joel looks surprised too, his eyebrows flying high. "What, you want us to leave him alone? Dunno if I can do that, Jim-" "No, I mean I want to be involved," Jimmy insists. "I want in." This time it's Tango who's surprised, ducked forward to catch Jimmy's eye. "You sure, sweetheart?" he murmurs, his hair licking with tiny flames. Concerned, probably. "It's not gonna be pretty." "I'm sure." And he is. He's seen fights before, and he's been in even more. He's fought criminals on the streets who were going to hurt people, and he's not about to balk at going after someone who already has. "I can handle it." "You're gonna need to hide your identity," Joel drawls, his voice low. "Wouldn't want our favorite civilian going to jail on our account." "I know," Jimmy nods. "I've got something I can wear." He's already picturing the yellow-and-black costume currently hanging at the back of his closet, of the feather-trimmed mask in his top dresser drawer. The suit and the mask that even Tango doesn’t know exists, not yet. Jimmy ponders for a moment before making a decision. His eyes catch Joel and Tango's in turn. "Actually...I think there's something I need to show you."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The arrest had gone far smoother than expected, in Grian’s opinion. It’s not often that a high-priority villain is found bruised and bloody and practically gift-wrapped right where an anonymous tipper said he would be. Sure, vigilantes were kind enough to help them take down bad guy when they were able, but this time was different. This time there was no masked wannabe hero trying to take credit for a takedown, no signature calling card or note beyond the unsigned “He’s all yours, boys” that had been scribbled on cardboard hanging around Vortex’s neck. It had felt odd, is all, though Grian had agreed with his partner when Scar had said he was just grateful to have the guy off the streets. As Grian slips into his apartment through the bedroom window and shoulders open the door to grab some food, he has to force himself to brush the buzzing thoughts aside. He can ponder oddities later. It was a long shift, and he’s about ready to crash the second he gets some fuel in him. It's only when Grian is tugging off his mask and setting it on the table by the bedroom door that he realizes he's not alone. Familiar yellow wings catch his eye, and when he turns, he spots Jimmy sitting on the couch in the middle of the room. He looks exhausted, his Canary costume on and his mask hanging around his neck, and his hair is a wreck - like when he's anxious and has been running his hands through it constantly. "...heya Tim," Grian greets him slowly, not sure what his brother's presence here means just yet. He drops his crossbow on the table and crosses the room, sinking onto the coffee table in from of Jimmy so he can see him better. His expression is one of a man worn and run down, something shadowed in his eyes that has a frown tugging at Grian's lips. He almost opens his mouth to ask what he's doing here - but then he spots the dark stains on Jimmy's fingerless gloves, and the patch of red that's barely splattered across the yellow parts of his suit's design.  It clicks, then. The timing of it all, the villain - Vortex - that Grian and Scar had been called in to take care of tonight. The man who Grian also knew had been spotted at the Mercy Children's Hospital a few days ago, where that little girl had- "You were there," Grian says, not a question, just a fact. "Tonight. You went after him." Jimmy sucks down a shaking breath and nods. Grian would almost say he looks guilty, but he doesn't think Jimmy would feel guilty about going after the person who hurt one of his kids. Perhaps he feels guilty that a kid got hurt at all. "They helped," he says shakily. "All of - you know, the ones who said yes to visits with the kids. They've been trying to do better, and when Vortex-" He trails off, and Grian shifts over to the couch, tucking his brother under one of his wings and letting Jimmy slump sideways against him. "He's locked away, Jimmy," Grian tells him. "I promise. You did good."

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[hopepetal]

@gremnda since you wanted to see the larger wip from my boatem apocalypse fic!!

--

The light in the sky pulses green, neon against the black night. Radiance oozes from it, taints the air, makes the sky look sickly. Even the stars shy away from it, repulsed by the unnatural force that occupies their home.

Pearl can't bring herself to look away, mesmerized by its awfulness. She finds herself falling forward and stumbling into a step, her heart drumming a frantic rhythm in her chest. Every instinct in her body tells her to run, to hide, to look away, but Pearl discovers with rapidly fading horror that she doesn't want to.

The light is actually quite beautiful, she has to admit. Stepping through the gathered crowd, Pearl hears herself murmuring apologies as she pushes forward. She can't be bothered to check if others are doing the same thing– looking at the crowd would mean taking her eyes off of the Light.

There's someone beside her, someone important. He doesn't look at the Light, unlike her. A shame, really. The Light is so beautiful. She can't imagine not wanting to look at it, not wanting to stare into the everlasting glow.

She doesn't hear anything anymore, because everything is blocked out by the Light's faint humming. It reminds her of the faint whir of machinery, but it is somehow more. It is the sound of many voices humming at once, and yet impossibly inhuman. She takes another step forward.

He is beside her again, shouting what might've been her name. She hums in displeasure, joining the Light's song, still keeping her eyes glued to the angelic radiance. Such a shame indeed, that he doesn't wish to bathe in the Light's glory. The girl she once was would be sad when they'd have to get rid of him.

Wait.

Pearl blinks, then lets out the breath she didn't know she was holding. The tension flees from her body as she gasps in air, her senses crashing back into her as she is finally able to tear her gaze from the light.

Grian is standing in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders. His dark eyes look up into hers, concern and fear brewing a storm of emotions on his face. “Pearl?” he asks, then cracks a smile when her eyes meet his. “Hey, there.”

Pearl blinks again and smiles back. “Hey, mate. Guess I got a little carried away, huh?”

Grian snorts, rolling his eyes. “A little? Goodness, Pearl. Next time I'm just going to punch you.”

Pearl gasps in mock horror, clutching her hands to her chest. “You would never.”

Their conversation is interrupted by screams from the crowd around them, and they know enough by now to grab each other's hand and start running.

The light explodes, and the two throw themselves around the corner, pressing back against the sturdily built wall that only shakes slightly from the force. As soon as the wave of light passes them, they're immediately running again, though not from the light.

This time, they run from the monsters the light created. —— “That's on you, for going into such a heavily populated area,” Impulse scolds Pearl and Grian, with no real bite behind his words. He's just relieved they made it back– everyone is. “I told you both. I really did try to warn you!”

Grian finishes wrapping his wound, looking up with a smile. “We're adults, Impulse. We can make our own decisions.”

Impulse laughs, shaking his head. “I'm not saying you can't, man! I'm just saying they're stupid decisions!”

“Says the man who wants to go to the city,” Pearl shoots back in a teasing tone, pulling her hair out of its braid.

Impulse splutters, trying to find words. “That's hardly the same thing! We need supplies! Mumbo needs stuff to fix communications in the bunker!”

The mustachioed man looks up from where he's playing cards with Scar in the corner, eyes wide. “Oh, don't blame this on me, goodness gracious!”

Scar laughs, setting his cards down and leaning back. “Yeah, I'm pretty sure Impulse is just cooped up in here. He needs to spread his pretty little wings and fly!” He makes a grand sweeping gesture with his hands, smiling widely.

Impulse buries his head in his hands. “You're all awful. Out of everyone, I just had to spend the apocalypse with you four.”

Pearl leans on Impulse's shoulder, grinning. “Love you too, Impulse.”

[theminecraftbee]

just revisited scs, and was wondering if pearl still joins hermitcraft in season 8 as she does? and if so, what are three's thoughts and feelings on this? if we go by hermitcraft rules, it'd have to had voted her in, and it does care about pearl in some capacity due to her link with martyn and jimmy so it'd want her somewhere safe, but is their relationship still rocky at that point? has it gotten better? and how does it evolve through their time on hermitcraft? is boatem still a thing, or do three and pearl give each other more space?

sorry if you've answered something like this before, but i'm curious

so here's how it goes in my head, although as always, anyone is free to have their own headcanons for it:

so by season eight, given the messy timeline i've created, three has had some time and distance. additionally, i like to think that it and everyone else DID keep up their promises to stay in contact. pearl and three's relationship will probably never be as close as pearl and grian's, but pearl is TRYING and three is willing to give her a shot when they're not standing right next to each other and she isn't in the middle of grief as much, so they form a tentative bond.

pearl doesn't join season eight because of three; three doesn't invite her. however, i'd like to think that pearl, maybe on the prodding of "her friends are actually talking to her again", has tentatively started doing her own builds again and showing them off and something like that dragon build of her blows up. so when names are being floated for season eight, and someone's already floated gem as a possibility, someone says pearl's name. and three doesn't know. three doesn't know if they'll be able to handle each other living on the same server. but it's now been at least a year and a half since scs and with scs's messy timeline probably longer, right. three is much more self-assured and has a better idea of who it is. and like, it thinks about it, but maybe pearl gives away she's still living on evo in a call, and three thinks about it, and...

the thing is: three had needed someone to say "you can come here when you run away" two years ago about the same thing. it can at least try.

this is to say: pearl joining hermitcraft is not three's idea or three's invitation. but three gives her its endorsement, and eventually its vote. pearl joins in season eight. three and pearl then proceed to try to completely avoid each other for like, at least a month. i don't want to take pearl and impulse bonding away from the world, so i think maybe pearl still bases near there, but the friendship groups in three's timeline are a little shifted ANYWAY, even if they're similar, so we can shift people around a little. maybe three drags mumbo off to go follow iskall and etho into the shattered savannah. god, can you imagine, actually, that would be hysterical.

but the thing is, even though the hermits spend a lot of time alone, they also spend a lot of time together, and like... three IS friends with impulse. and it is Conspicuous that they're avoiding each other, and they can't do it forever. it's pearl who screws her courage to the sticking place first and invites three to help her with an interior room of her build. three, not actually quite good enough at emotions to recognize "here come do an interior, thing i know grian hated but you like" as the very deliberate olive branch it is but good enough at emotions to know it probably shouldn't avoid, accepts.

and it goes... well. it surprises both of them how well it goes, actually. maybe it shouldn't; they've been in contact after all, and they've had time to soothe and process their relationship. they part back to their own bases again with the promise to do it again, and they do not avoid each other for the rest of the season. they don't seek each other out, often--they're not quite ready for that--but they don't avoid each other, either.

it's not perfect. pearl still sometimes looks at three like she's looking at a dead man. three still sometimes wants to scream when she does.

but there are many times, now, when they can forget how they met in the first place, and just chat about build pallets and pranks and shapes and llamas and everything else together.

that's close enough to healing.

[blueishspace]

Looped Sun 8

Loop #282

Scott knew that he was lucky, he had so many bits and storylines that the world tree wouldn't typecast him like he did loopers from other loops... Still, sometimes he could forget how repetitive could be. He definitely wasn't forgetting it any time soon, not after 4 loops of straight up just being a skeleton.

Loop #285

This version of Double Life was going to give Grian a migraine... Or Grain he guesses since everyone's names were just wrong... Jimmy was Timmy, Ren was Ron, Etho was Efo and the worst offender... Martin. Grian was tempted to just die and go to Hermitcraft but was deathly afraid of what the rest of Hermitcraft will be called in this loop.

Loop #287

Pearl loved this loop... at first, she got to be a coffe shop barista without the annoying customers that usually come with the job, she didn't mind the coffe shop au fanfic-ness of it as long as she got to have fun. Then a genocidal villain crashed into the windows and she realized exactly what kind of loop this was. Listen, that villain wasn't even a good one (she was one a few lopps ago and she was way better at it) so ahe didn't really care about them. The most entertaining part of the loop was ignoring the plot every time it appeared, even when the story actively twisted to bring her towards it.

Loop #289

Scar ... Well he was a bit offended? He didn't usually get offended easily but being treated like he wasn't capable of stuff wasn't really nice... So of course he woke up in a loop were he truly was unable to do most thing he normally could do. He was used to being unable to use his legs, it was like 30% of the loops, but guess he upgraded to just not being able to do anything... He didn't even get a motorized wheelchair this time around.

... Unlucky for the loop he always carried one of those in his pocket but still.

Loop #292

Mumbo was a bit miffed by this loop... a bit unchuffed even. He knew that spoons were a bit of his thing... everyone knew that. But looping in a room full of spoons...and only spoons seemed a bit unoriginal to him? It wasn't just him that saw the problem, right? ... Hopefully someone was going to come soon.

Loop #295

Grian: Mr. Strange Sir?

Doctor Strange: It's doctor Strange.

Grian: Right... you have the time stone here...right?

Doctor Strange: I do. Why?

Grian: Right, uh in my loop as long as the loop starts before a certain point I get access to an infinity gauntlet... Back in baseline it was just a game but in some variants they are actual infinity stones. Could you teach me how to use the time stone?

Doctor Strange: Perhaps, the time tone is very dangerous you must understand. You will need be patient if you don't want to destroy the pillars of reality.

Grian: ... ...Understood.

Loop #297

Scott: Be not afraid.

Pearl: Scott?!? Why are you glowing.

Scott: Last Loop I was in Marvel and accidentally fused with the Tesseract last loop.

Pearl: ... Mate...

Scott: Yes?

Pearl: HOW DID YOU ACCIDENTALLY FUSE WITH THE TESSERACT!??

Scott: ... I wish I could tell you but I don't know either.

Loop #299

Mumbo liked spiders well enough, he understood why people didn't like them but he found they weren't too bad.

*knock knock, who is it mr.spider? It's ms. fruit and she brought you some flowers. Mr spider doesn't eat flowers*

Mumbo feels he's going to be forced to change his mind soon.

*knock knock, who is it mr.spider? It's mr. Horse and he brought you his son. Mr spider wants more*

Call it a gut feeling.

Scar was alone... He had been alone for a while. A long while. He didn't know loops could last this long...or maybe he was just stuck there. He had started crying at some point a while ago, his tears turned into mist which was kinda weird. He felt like he should like this for some reason, like somone was whispering to him that this place was good...but...he hated this so much. He wanted Grian and Mumbo and Pearl and Scott. He didn't want to be alone. He never wanted to be alone. And maybe it was this realization but the mist slowly settled away.

Pearl had looked at the incoming mist and she became angry, truly angry, she wasn't going to be alone again. If this loop really wanted a Double Life Pearl then it will get what it wants. Running in the woods with her pack of hunting wolves, creeping and stalking behind her pray is the most fun she had in a long while.

Scott was in space? Scott liked space despite all the times he saw it. It was giant, ever changing, immense, vast. He was just a point floating in a black void filled with stars and comets and so much there is still to discover. It is truly beautiful. He doesn't mind staying in space a bit more... But he should bring other to view this beauty with him.

Grian... well... Grian didn't know how to feel he imagined he would loop in this world eventually considering his status as a watcher... But he expected to loop into the world not... He didn't expect to loop as "The Ceaseless Watcher". It was weird, it was like being a sea connected to other seas, he could feel the other dread.gods melding and mixing in points of his being... He couldn't wait for this to end.

Loop #302

A band? And Pearl got synth? Oh this was going to be fun!

Mumbo: I don't know about this...

Mumbo was at the drums, he had taken a few lessons with Impulse a while back but he didn't... he was worried about performing.

Scott: Come on Mumbo you are going to do great!

Mumbo: I just-

Scott: Scar and Grian agree with me.

Mumbo: They do?

Grian: Of course! You got this Mumbo!

Scar: Yeah!

Mumbo: A-alright!

Loop #305

Grian had already stated what he tought about all the dsmp loops lots of time... Still, getting to rescue Tommy from Dream had been nice, it just took going sun titan mode with a hints of dread god and the green hooded man ran away. Now come the issue, he couldn't exactly adopt Tommy.

...

That's exactly what he ended up doing, to be fair it was hard to say no to him considering the context. Still, it wasn't like bad, despite the swearing Tommy was a good kid.

...

Grian might have gone full sun titan again and got Tommy's disk back... it was his birthday and Grian knew that the loop was close to ending.

Loop #307

The newest vote had made everyone's head giant, they looked like enormous babies... It was really unsettling the longer they looked at it.

Grian: Mumbo! Your head is so big!

Mumbo: Wha-

Scar: ... That's what she said.

Grian: SCAR!

Mumbo: Oh-

Scar: Wait no I'm sorry!

Loop #310

Grian: Are we siblings Pearl?

Pearl: ... What do you mean mate?

Grian: Sometimes we are twins, sometimes we are siblings, sometimes we are cousins, in this loop we aren't related at all...

Pearl: Yeah?

Grian: So do you see us as siblings?

Pearl: I mean, I never tought of it really... do you?

Grian: Yes? No? Maybe? It's complicated, that's why I was asking what you tought.

Pearl: Do you want to try?

Grian: Try?

Pearl: Try being siblings, see if it works?

Grian: I... alright. Siblings it is.

Pearl: Siblings.

...

Grian: Akward sibling hug time?

Pearl: Yeah, watched Gravity Falls recently mate?

Grian: It has a lot of eye imaginery, just preparing for the inevitable.

Prev Next First

[tubbytarchia]

Traffic/Life series roster as dinosaurs

A lot of these don't make for very good hybrids unless you wanna get into freaky territory or full on centaur but... Hope it's a fun scroll nonetheless!

Grian - Novialoidea

A small birdie... The name also means "New wings" which I find fun. New lives and death games to be part of, new wings to accompany him... (Honorable mention to "Shuvuuia" the "desert bird" who unfortunately is not a pterosaur (doesn't fly)) (Yes we're including pterosaurs! Just using "dinosaur" as a conveient blanket term)

Tango - Aratasaurus / Pyroraptor

Fire raptor! Either works just fine and Tango as a skittery little raptor is perfect for a creature like him

Scar - Apatosaurus

"Deceptive Lizard" harkening back to Scar's scamming tendencies. Though I've always liked the idea of him being some larger gentler animal in any hybrid scenario and a long-neck fits the bill well. He can poke his nose into people's conversations easily to start marketing something useless to them and swishes his tail to ward off anyone who's about to stop him

Impulse - Nasutoceratops

Ren - Regaliceratops

Horns. COOL horns. I don't know what else you want from me ceratopses are just way too awesome. Nasutoceratops is a wicked cool dinosaur for having its horns point so forward much like a bull and I for one can jive with some Impulse bull symbolism. Bulls are often viewed as strong, sturdy and loyal, traits also assigned to Impulse a LOT of the time. But though he IS intensely loyal in many cases (+ Ceratopses are also known for how they defend their own!), and he's not very outward about the following traits, he can get quite petty and bitchy and hold grudges. Still, you don't think of that when you look at him and he seems to agree! Eg him feeling like he should be accepted into Cleo's alliance in 3rd life without actually proving himself when Cleo was rightfully hesitant, at which Impulse more or less rolled his eyes. And him proclaiming "betrayal!" when killed by Bdubs when their alliance was as firm as a rat's tail

(And I feel the need to point this out too just in case: "bulls are also known for their temper" yeah but they're not like that! Bulls like many animals become defensive when exposed to aggravating behavior or movement! Which you could work into Impulse's grudge holding and intense loyalty...? I don't know enough about him sorry but do with that what you will)

Regaliceratops! Regal!! Crown shaped frill!!! Need I say more?

Gem - Therizinosaurus

Theris are so bad bitch coated to me and I would love to have one as my wife I mean um I couldn't decide on a less generic specimen so Gem can just be a Theri! A herbivore - often associated with the belief that herbivores are gentle passive creatures, but far from it, especially with Gem! She bares her claws like it's no one's business

Martyn - Stygmoloch

A Pachy with a tough head and a tendency to bonk people - I think it fits Martyn's tendency to perpetuate drama haha. The Stygmoloch's name though more or less translates to "demon of the styx river", the river of the underworld representing loathing of death. To me this makes sense with all the watcher lore (that I have a hard time understanding but whatever!!) especially with how Martyn became in LL. The watchers themselves don't loathe death (??) of course. They're death games. But someone within the game trying to stay alive and win? Probably loathes the idea of themselves dying. I have no clue what Im saying

Pearl - Carnotaurus

Ok maybe a hot take not to make her into a pteradon or even a raptor with wing-like features but those just didn't fit that well in my opinion. Rather I wanted her to have some kind of horn motif in place of her wings as visual symbolism for her character. I'd like to imagine her having fine horns, to then have them damaged (one broken off) and simultaneously the other more grown out. Think of how domesticated goats for example have their horns trimmed. I think human hybrids with horns would do the same to keep them from becoming a bother but Pearl would neglect to after her heartbreak in DL. I was heavily considering the Diabloceratops for this, especially because of the name (Devil horned face - good ostracizing material) but Pearl strikes me a lot more as a carnivore and there are only two horned carnivores out there so... Carnotaurus it is haha. And even now I'm making her horns unrealistically big but.... We can suspend some belief

BigB - Oryctodromeus

"Digging Runner"! I've already talked plenty of why BigB is very rabbit behavior to me and my reasons for assigning this burrowing dinosaur to him are similar. Tldr he is fidgety and cautious yet clever and constantly buries himself underground

Lizzie - Anurognathidae

I don't even fucking know man it made me think of Lizzie and then I wasn't able to assign anything else to her. Lizzie often claims to be confused and if any dinosaur looks to be in a perpetual state of confusion then its this one. I know a lot of people like to portray Lizzie as a butterfly also so there you go, wings!!! And it's quite cat-like too for those who like to draw her as a cat

Mumbo - Leinkupal

I really struggled with Mumbo... So many different dinos fit him imo but I figured it should be at least something moderately large (so "Technosaurus" was out of the question lol). Then I rediscovered this dinosaur whose name translates to "vanishing family" and then I thought about LL and SL and how Mumbo went out quickly after the initial death/s and left a very felt absence in someone's alliance and then I became really emotional and forgot what I was doing

Joel - Nodocephalosaurus

Bdubs - Psittacosaurus

"Knob Headed Lizard"

Joel as an Ankylosaur has been stuck in my head from day one of assigning dinosaurs to the Lifers and I'm frustrated that I can't truly explain why. You'd view an Ankylosaur as a slow and docile creature, even compared to other herbivores, but...

1. Maybe not so much nowadays, I don't know what non-dino nerds think, but I feel like ankylosaurs were largely believed to be HUGE back in the day, much like velociraptors, when in reality they're not that big. The Nodocephalosaurus is especially small even among other ankylosaurs. But, well, we all know what Joel loves to say about himself

2. Joel is or likes to make himself look well in control, just as ankylosaurs have little to worry about as far as predators go. Especially in earlier series where he was content basing mostly by himself. It's always when things get dire and he enters his red life that he becomes very impulsive and erratic like an ankylosaur flipped on its back

3. I know there's a distinction between Traffic Joel and Empires Joel and whatever other Joel but... Even in death games his more charitable traits shine through here and there. He really becomes a dangerous rascal for a large majority of the time and he's very good at it, he's not putting on a mask or anything, but I like to remember that underneath that tough spiky armor is gentleness and caring. His care towards Lizzie and Pearl and Etho etc etc

4. The image of Joel as a hell of a spiky creature is just really fun to me. Yet heavy and blunt ones! And someone once proposed the idea of him having a club tail but having chiselled it to be sharp to mirror him being a menace. (Added benefit also that it's lighter that way haha) To me he's always been an obvious heavy hitter rather than stealthy or particularly creative etc. Him as a carnivore just doesn't work as well for me

The name bares no fitting meaning but when I look at Bdubs I think of Psittaco. All other species close to it in looks are already ceratopsians and we have like... 3 of those already lol. Im sorry Bdubs you look so stupid

Cleo - Lythronax

There's so few predators in this roster lol oops, but Cleo deserves to be an apex one! The name translates to "Gore King" because you know, zombies... and you know, Cleo is very king so true. If any of the Lifers should be able to boast rows of razor sharp teeth to gore others it should be ZombieCleo

Scott - Theiophytalia

I've been really struggling with Scott but how about the dinosaur whose name translates to "Belonging to the garden of Gods". There's only one known specimen of this species and it's an Iguanadon looking dinosaur which I think a lot of people would regard as the most basic, possibly boring type of dinosaur (if it weren't for the Allosaurus which already takes the title of "basic straight white guy") but that further fits Scott imo. It's always been a strong point of appeal to me how MUCH there is to his character that so often goes under the radar or unexplored, and how he's very often portrayed as just some handsome looking guy as opposed to a hybrid etc. He's not at all extravagant yet has mastered his craft of bending fate in his favor, he so often has things perfectly under his control just as he wants them, etc... reflective of the name "Theiophytalia" even if you wouldn't think such a dinosaur to sport one of the most prolific names a dinosaur can have. Also garden something something flower husbans. Basically whatever Bree's take on Scott is lol. I don't wanna blab for 5 paragraphs about that blue mf here but. I hope this makes sense

Jimmy - Yinlong

I struggled with this mf the most because he's another very hashtag deep character. I felt really bad to remove his bird motifs completely because the canary is so essential to him, but a raptor nor a pteradon fit my image of him at all. I spent so much time looking into various species but it just aint it, but Yinlong was possibly quilled and we can still cover him in feathers, even if he has nothing close to wings haha... BUT ANYWAY. Yinlong is a small kind of pathetic looking dinosaur, and Jimmy definitely isn't small but he'd sure be made to feel that way. Yinlong translates to "Hidden Dragon" however, a rather thought-provoking name for such a dinosaur. Given his character, it sure does feel like there's a soul of a dragon laying dormant somewhere in him, buried by all the self deprecation and curse labels. Honorable mention to Tianyulong, a very similar dinosaur who was named after a museum, but "Tianyu" also translates to peace and content. Something that Jimmy can't yet but deserves to be

Etho - undefined raptor

Already made a loong post about raptor Etho haha which I assume yall have seen since the support towards that post is the only reason I'm even making this post

Skizz - Olorotitan

"Titanic Swan" close enough to an angel right. I feel the whole angel thing is a bit overdone when Skizz can become a malicious little creature every now and then, but swans much like angels do get viewed as beautiful and taken as symbolism of love. Much like Skizz is largely viewed as an angel and often as someone who can do no wrong. But mostly I wanted Skizz to be a hadrosaur/duck-billed dinosaur, because those are dinosaurs known for their speculated vocalizations. And what is Skizz good at? Talking and voicing his love and appreciation? Yeah? Yeah... I'm so sorry Skizz btw this hybrid idea does not work out

Again, a lot of these don't work so well as hybrids... Some like the long-neck ones I cant imagine to have more than a spiky spine back and a tail, but! These picks aren't based on hybrid potential but rather what I think genuinely fits. I did really work on this all day looking through a bunch of dinosaurs and research haha, but I do love dinosaurs a lot... If you disagree with any hey thats cool! Feel free to give me your opinions if you've any and I hope this was fun to scroll through regardless

[cm-lily]

“. . . We'll be taking Grian with us.”

And just like that, Jimmy remembers knowing someone named Grian.

The memory resurfaced slowly, like a crack on a dam. The longer he walked on the ruins of what was once “Spawn Area”, the bigger the rift is. Grian is their friend, Grian is their admin. Or was their admin. Grian is taken by the watcher, and, Jimmy... Doesn't know what to make of that.

He knows he should be sad, that was their friends who was taken by these beings! But everything is so foggy, Jimmy couldn't think past that fog. He's just numbly walking and looping back to the same place. (That confusion where Grian's face is blurry... He struggles to hold it, like water cupped on his palm. Every image distorted.)

He found a journal. It belong to Grian, obvious by the name of writer in every page. Jimmy doesn't know why it's in his backpack. He didn't remember picking it up, hell, he didn't ventured that deep to the Grian Empire when the rest of Evolutionist is paying their respect to Grian. The Journal changed than what he remembered, the small evo logo was reshaped as a spiral.

The content is normal, the journal was mostly used to keep track of his building idea. There's reference of people he doesn't know. Even though it felt like intruding a privacy of his supposedly good friend, Jimmy need to know. Maybe knowing about Grian can lift the veil... To whatever mist of mystery that been keeping him all night and paranoid.

He found the two last page. The other looks like an ink was spilled over it, and then the paper was hastily scribbled. Jimmy knows it shouldn't be the two last pages, there's a hint of someone ripping a few pages off. But that's not where his mind focused at. (If he were more calm he would've notice and recognize his brain's attempt to remember something, someone. Aside from Grian who's also went missing, who everyone forgot their existence.)

And scribbled on the last page of the journal, the day before their big fight with the Ender dragon, is a word hastily written over and over again. That Jimmy feared the ink could bleed from the paper.

THEY ATE HIM

THEY ATE HIM

THEY ATE HIM

THEY ATE HIM

THEY ATE HIM

[fountainpenguin]

#Riddle watches Traffic

Doing my best liveblog of Jimmy at the moment. He's my first POV for Session 6 Secret Life and I pulled up his name without looking at anyone else's video titles. Some thoughts:

Something has happened that is very similar to something I have drafted in a future Dog's Life chapter I wrote before Secret Life even began. I am rubbing my forehead... if this ends the way I suspect it will end then I will just have to stare at a wall I suppose... sweet goodness.

Jimmy and Martyn really did not expand their single bed situation this entire time, huh? I kept waiting for them to but what am I supposed to do with this.

Joel: I want a cool nickname. Call me "The Florist."

Jimmy, who just agreed to attack his own flower husband and tell them that the florist sends their regards: ...

Holy cow he's 14 minutes into a 44 minute video and he has like 4 different tasks he's trying to do simultaneously because people keep rushing up and telling him they need a deadly favor. It's good to be Red.

Lizzie (about Scar avoiding her trap): He came around the other way! He just smacked me in the butt.

Jimmy, about his dog-shaped house: Red tongue, representing the Red Dogs. Tongues are that color, so you know what I'm saying.

Etho: ??? You like to lick things?

/Puts my head in my hands

Jimmy, inviting Etho into his and Martyn's house: You can sleep in our one bed. There's two of us. We share. You might have to squeeze in as well.

Thanks, Jimmy.

sldfj Etho asking if one of them sleeps at the end of the bed like a dog. I recently wrote a scene of Impulse doing exactly that on Etho's bed.

It's way too funny to me that when people were roleplaying soulmates on Double Life, they [at least Bdubs and Impulse, Joel and Etho] made an active effort to include two beds in their bases, side by side, even though that serves no functional purpose. Even in Limited Life, the Bad Boys made 3 beds for some reason and put them next to each other. Now when they're not roleplaying, all that is out the window. You share a bed and you'll like it.

Love Etho throwing 17 pieces of steak on the ground and asking "Do dogs like steak?" and Jimmy just grabbing all of it while looking at the ground. That's also the same thing he and Tango did when Joel threw them potatoes or whatever back in Double Life and they claimed to be eating off the floor.

skldjfsldj Jimmy and Scott

Jimmy, screeching and tearing across the grass with his enchanted iron sword: The florist sends his regards!!! He sends them!

Scott, riding away on a horse, tripping over himself in laughter: Can you return them?? Does it come with a receipt?

Martyn: I'm on my 5th red task

Jimmy, still on his 1st: ...

Red Mumbo in Last Life: /desperate for friends, constantly trying to explode people and leave without elaborating

Red Mumbo in Secret Life when Martyn and Jimmy approach: Just because I'm Red doesn't mean I'm joining your stupid gang

Jimmy: Stupid gang? Have you seen your mustache, mate?

Mumbo, running forward: Hey hey hey!

Martyn: ???? Ooh, yeah, that was kind of harsh.

Love how Scott brought up the flower husbands comment, actually. Same brain, even though it was Joel's suggestion.

slkdjfs Scott invited Jimmy to his own preemptive funeral and his expression is sending me.

They buried rotten flesh in the coffin... that's amazing.

sdlkjf They invited Grian to attend the funeral and he shows up, looks at Jimmy, and says "I checked the tab list, like... Did I miss something?"

Jimmy, with unreasonable venom in his voice: You're not supposed to attend funerals if you're still alive.

They buried him alive in dirt above his own coffin... This is my first POV for Session 6 and all I can say right now is... whoever is the reason that Jimmy's episode is titled "The curse has been broken" has the opportunity to do the funniest thing right now.

Jimmy had such a difficult task... replacing water with blue glass and convincing someone to jump on it, from a specific location? Which has a ton of water? Geez, that's rough. He is struggling.

I am astounded at the amount of confidence Jimmy had to run up the stairs to the Gem and the Scotts base and charge in, mere minutes after Gem showed him the "doorbell," and while he's in the midst of telling Pearl that he hopes they haven't rigged TNT up to it. Jeepers, dude.

slkdjflsdjf everyone is freaking out over an explosion. No death message came up in chat, but after a minute, Joel starts frantically typing and screaming "Lizzie? LIZZIE?????" and I have a feeling...

Of course Jimmy wouldn't know what the death sound sounds like and assumes someone's trying to explode stuff near him.

Watching this chat with no context is amazing because it's Jimmy cheering that he's not out first for the 5th season in a row, it's Grian wailing LIZZIE IM SORRY and Joel shrieking HEY THATS MY WIFE. Amazing.

slkdjfsd Jimmy that was so close... Jimmy, if you had died because you hit your own glass trap at the bottom of the lake while doing a celebration dive for not being out first, that would have been the funniest thing.

Jimmy, snatching up his red task and reading in monotone: Punch another player into lava. It cannot be lava you've placed. Fantastic. Great.

[It can be lava he's placed]

Jimmy, to Martyn as he dumps his lava: Have you got another or not?

Martyn: No? I'm not made of lava- what? Come on. You're sounding hella ungrateful right now.

slkdjf Jimmy on Martyn betrayal!! Martyn is furious, Jimmy's literally roleplaying that he's a pathetic puppy with a broken leg, Martyn's ready to swing like "Hey, you won't be the first out, this is fine-"

Betrayal drama at the Big Dogs on the hill...

Geez, the swivel from that to the immediate, simultaneous warden and wither is nuts.

HE'S DOWN! HE'S DEAD, THE CANARY IS DEAD! Still out the first episode of perma-deaths, even if not the first out.

Jimmy Session 6 POV complete!