#jimmy solidarity angst

[gtwscratch]

Go Home

Summary: Tango and Jimmy are the first ones out in Double Life. They talk for a bit, and Tango says some things he’s going to regret.

This is inspired by @cramblm! She made a comic a while back about these two, and I was (FINALLY) motivated to write something again :D 

This is also part one of a two-part little story!! I’m not sure when part two will be up, but yeah! If you like this one, I hope you guys look forward to the next part!

CW: Team Ranchers angst, that’s about it

Word count: 1,203 words

[Part 1] [Part 2]

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Tango looks down at the server, floating above everything. He idly rubs his arm. He can almost still feel the phantom pains of the enderman ripping into Jimmy, and by association, himself.

Huh. So this is what it’s like.

It’s oddly peaceful. Obviously there's still chaos going on below him as the last of the server’s peace crumbles away, but this was… different. Tango had died before in these games of course, but never first. It’s weirdly calm. And lonely.

Tango then hears the sound of rustling fabric, and his heart aches. He doesn’t need to look to know who it is—no one else has perma-died yet. Tango doesn’t want to look; so, he stares forward. They float in silence for several minutes before Jimmy breaks the silence.

“Tango,” the half-avian starts, “I’m.. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean-”

“You’re still here.” It’s less of a question and more of a statement.

Jimmy glances away and fiddles with the necklace he’s wearing. It matches the one Tango wears, given to him by Jimmy after the first session. “... Well, yeah. I.. I don’t want.. I, uh, didn’t-” 

Tango cuts him off, his tone coming out harsher than he had intended. “Why are you still here?”

“.. I could ask you the same thing,” he responds quietly after a moment’s hesitation. He looks out at the server and then reaches for Tango’s hand. “C’mon, it’s rough to watch at the start sometimes, we should-”

Tango snatches his hand back, keeping it close to his chest. “We should what, Jimmy? We can’t do anything. We’re dead.”

“We can at least go somewhere that won’t see so much bloodshed.” Despite the tone Tango is taking with him, Jimmy’s own voice remains soft and patient. “We can go back to the ranch.” He sounds a little hopeful. Tango ignores it.

“And then what? Just wait around and welcome everyone as they die? Pretend that everything is fine and that we haven’t just come in dead last?” Tango’s tail flicks angrily back and forth, and the flames in his hair burn a little brighter. “There’s nothing we can do.”

Tango isn’t upset about coming in last. He’s never come close to winning before, and it’s never bothered him all that much. He doesn’t understand why he’s so angry all of a sudden. The blaze-hybrid hasn’t once looked away from the soon-to-be-destroyed landscape. He hasn’t once looked at Jimmy.

Tango releases a heavy sigh. “It’s over, Jimmy.”

They both know Tango is talking about more than just their time in the game.

Tango can almost sense Jimmy tense—can feel the faint panic and hurt spread in his own chest despite their link already being severed and fading. Maybe he just knows Jimmy that well. Maybe Tango doesn’t want to go through with this.

“.. What?? No, Tango, don’t- don’t say that..!” Jimmy raises his voice for the first time. “This isn’t-! I-it can’t be-!”

“It can be, and it is. We don’t know if something like this,” he gestures to the server in front of them, “will ever happen again, and if it does, I don’t see us teaming up again in the future.” What Tango fails to elaborate on is that he doesn’t think he’d be that lucky enough to have Jimmy on his team again.

Jimmy tries to reach for Tango again. “Please, don’t say that. We’re the Ranchers..!”

“NO! We’re not the Ranchers anymore!” Tango finally snaps his head in Jimmy’s direction, the flames in his hair and tail flickering and growing as his emotions do. “‘The Ranchers’ are gone! They were something that the psychos who created these games influenced and forced, and now they’re gone, Jimmy! That wasn't real!” 

But, oh, how he wants this to be real. Somewhere along the way, Tango found himself catching feelings for the half-avian. Despite their situation, he always seemed to be so optimistic and confident. Even when the ranch was burned down and Tango lost it, Jimmy remained (mostly) level-headed and helped get Tango to calm down despite getting burnt by his flames. And yeah, if it had been anyone else he’d accidentally hurt, he would’ve felt bad, but it felt even worse because it was Jimmy. Jimmy, who always found a reason to smile. Jimmy, who always put up with everyone’s crap. Jimmy, who apologized to Tango when they found out they were bound despite Tango being the one to lose their first life and being the reason the two found out they were bound in the first place. Jimmy, who didn’t deserve this kind of fate but received it for a third time now.

Ah, so that’s why he’s angry. Because this cruel, sick game has done nothing but take from and torment this saint of a player.

And maybe that’s why he’d been partnered with Tango. 

Because fire destroys everything it touches, and the expression on Jimmy’s face is proof of that.

Tango quickly looks away. He can’t bear to see the pain and betrayal in Jimmy’s eyes. “Just.. just go home, Jimmy.”

Jimmy’s voice wavers with one last attempt. “Tango, please-”

“Go,” his flames flare up once again, and even in death, their temperature rises. Tango’s arms are wrapped tightly around himself now.

Jimmy hesitates for another moment before floating off in the direction of their the ranch, leaving Tango alone like he’d requested. It isn’t until he’s sure that Jimmy’s gone that he slowly lowers to the ground, kneeling in the grass.

He carefully uncrosses his arms and touches the charm on his necklace, a feather carved from iron. It won’t melt with your flames Jimmy had once said, nervously beaming as he handed it over and showed his own charm to Tango (a flame, also carved from iron). Tango exhales shakily, tracing over the ridges on the pendant. He stays there for a long time, just staring at the pendant and desperately wishing that this wasn’t how things had turned out.

Tango doesn’t know how long he’s kneeling there when the second lightning strike sounds, indicating another two members have fallen. He takes a deep breath and hides the pendant beneath his shirt before getting up and floating in the direction of where he heard the lightning strike. Did it come from the Box..? Yeah, that sounds close enough. 

As he makes his way over there, he risks a glance over to the ruined ranch and sees Jimmy sitting at their graves, leaning against Tango’s. Tango looks away quickly, but he stops, hesitating on continuing to the Box. At this point, his anger has subsided and has morphed to guilt and regret. He wants to go to Jimmy and apologize—to tell him he didn’t mean it, but would Jimmy take him back? Would he want to try for something that was genuinely real and not influenced by whoever put them into this mess? What would Tango even say to make up for what he said??

Tango decides to settle on the plan of giving them both some space. He needs to think about how he’s going to apologize, and, if the roles were reversed, he wouldn’t want to see Jimmy again so soon. 

So he continues on his way, scared to give Jimmy and the ranch another glance.

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Hope you guys enjoyed :) I worked on this instead of school work haha

[simple-seranade]

short little thing i wrote about Jimmy’s lore today, spoilers! (2/26/23)

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Jimmy is alone.

His deputy betrays him, leaving a horrible monster in his town that sends everyone but him running for the hills as he faces it, sword drawn.

Jimmy is alone.

Citizen after citizen files out of his town, hearts set towards brighter shores and more brilliantly shining empires.

Jimmy is alone.

The Hermits come in like a wildfire, leaving just as suddenly and leaving Jimmy craving the warmth of fiery hair and passion by his side.

Jimmy is alone.

A sheriff of long time gone gives him advice before being overwhelmed by the changes in the world, retreating back to the darkness of the caves.

Jimmy is alone.

All he was doing was sharing his excitement about how all the respect he craved was finally in reach, only to feel the cold sting of a blade and bolt upright in bed, heart pounding.

Jimmy is alone.

He sits in the ghost town, surrounded by chests upon chests of gunpowder he’s stashed away for himself, because he should be getting paid as a sheriff, right?

Jimmy is alone.

As smoke curls into the air, filling his lungs as screams fill his ears, he smiles, cold and calculating against the dancing flames from everywhere around him as the other empires burn to ash thinner than the desert sand.

Jimmy is alone.

[pentacle-artist]

Angsty canary!Jimmy thing

I imagine that after he dies first he wakes up in a birdcage for the watchers to fawn and gush over like a little pet. On top of that, he's stuck until the season is over.

The watchers saying how adorable he looks in his jacket and shades. Jimmy trying to hide in his wings in an attempt to not feel the eyes on him. Silently cursing himself for not being better.

[arc852]

Deserved

Summary: Jimmy feels like a burden and undeserving of being in The Bad Boys.

Warnings: self-deprecation, anxious thoughts, and feeling unloved

Word Count: 1591

Read on AO3

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 Jimmy looked back at the half ruined mansion behind him before continuing on. Night had fallen and most, if not everyone, was asleep. Times like these were the only times they were able to rest without the worry of someone coming after them. Not that many people had to worry right now. The early stages of the life series were always the most relaxed and with even more lives to spare this time around, it seemed even more so.

 So why wasn’t Jimmy taking advantage of this time to get some sleep? Well, the fact of the matter was he couldn’t. He felt tired but no matter how much he tossed and turned, his own thoughts kept him awake. So he decided he needed to go for a little walk.

 He found a little clearing among the dark forest and lit it up before sitting on a rock near the center. He took a deep breath.

 He loved being part of the bad boys. It was a fun little group, him, Grian, and Joel.

 But…did he really deserve a place in their group?

 No. The answer was no.

 The game had barely begun and he already felt like he was holding the others back. Just like with Scott. Just like with the Southlands. Just like with-

 “I had a feeling I would find you out here.” The sudden voice cut through Jimmy’s thoughts and he screamed, jumping in his seat. Turning, he saw Tango walk out of the trees, laughing at having scared him.

 “Tango! You can’t just do that!” Jimmy cried, placing a hand on his chest to calm his heart rate down.

 “Sorry, sorry.” Tango laughed, though he did at least seem a bit sorry. Jimmy huffed before taking in the circumstances. 

 “Wait, how did you know I would be out here?” Jimmy asked. Him and Tango hadn’t spoken much since the game started. Just one instance where Jimmy had hit him with a pickaxe when trying to get away with Joel.

 Tango sat down next to him and shrugged. “I don’t know. Just a feeling.” Jimmy hummed but understood well enough. Ever since double life, it seemed the soulbounds never quite broke all the way. They no longer felt each other's pain, of course, but there were…feelings. Echoes. None of them knew how to explain it but none of them did anything about it. It was kind of nice, to still be connected in some way.

 “So, why are you out here? Shouldn’t you be getting some rest for the next session?” Tango asked and Jimmy sighed, having dreaded the question. He glanced back toward the mansion before looking down.

 “Tried. Couldn’t sleep.” Jimmy said, keeping his answers short and not necessarily untrue. But Tango wasn’t deterred.

 “Come on rancher, you can tell me.” Tango said softly. “We might not be teamed this series but I’m still here for you.”

 Jimmy hated Tango for knowing how to get him to open up. But he also loved him for the same reason. Jimmy slunk deeper into himself, eyes still trained on the floor.

 “I’m not good enough to be on a team with Grian and Joel.” Jimmy said and there it was, out of his head and into the open. 

 “What? Did they tell you that?” Jimmy could feel the heat coming off of Tango in waves all of a sudden and Jimmy shot up and put his hands up in an attempt to calm Tango’s anger. 

 “No! No! They haven’t said anything like that.” At least not to his face. He wouldn’t blame them if that was what they thought though.

 Tango’s anger cooled, as did his flames, but now he looked confused. “Then why do you think that?”

 Jimmy shrugged and looked back down. “Because it’s true? Grian and Joel have always been good at this game, always making it near the end or even winning in Grian's case. But I’m…well, everyone knows about my curse. How I’m always the first one out. How I…always drag people down with me.” He said that last part with a glance towards Tango. “I mean, it was my fault we were out first last time. You were doomed the second the game paired us together.”

 There was silence, to the point where Jimmy would have thought Tango left if not for being able to feel the heat coming off his rancher. But he could and he was still there. Just…silent.

 “Jimmy.” Tango spoke after what felt like hours. “Can you look at me?” Jimmy hesitated for only a moment before looking up and meeting Tango’s eyes. “There we go.” Tango smiled but the expression turned more serious a moment later. “It was not your fault.”

 Jimmy frowned. “But-”

 “Nope, let me finish talking.” Tango cut him off, not unkindly, and Jimmy closed his mouth, letting Tango continue. “It was not your fault. Us dying last season was not your fault. You aren’t cursed Jimmy, I don’t care what anyone else says. You deserve to have a good team. You deserve people who care about you.”

 Jimmy tried to swallow but his throat felt dry. Tears pricked the corner of his eyes. “I don’t feel like I do.” And it was, unfortunately, true. Even with Tango being so nice to him back in double life and now, his time throughout Empires rings in his ears like a broken song. He knows it's all just jokes and for lore and all of that. He knows that. But… “I don’t think I have in a long time.”

 “Jimmy…” He felt a hand cup his cheek and lift his head so he now met Tango’s eyes. He hadn’t even realized he had wandered away from them. “You do. You deserve just as much as anyone else. You were never a burden to me and you aren’t a burden to Grian and Joel either.”

 Jimmy blinked and thought back to earlier in the day. Joel hadn’t hesitated to keep Jimmy with him once they met up. And Grian had said nothing about it either when he joined them. In fact, Jimmy felt happy when thinking back. They had fun being The Bad Boys.

 But his happiness soon turned to anxiousness and dread. Because he didn’t deserve it.

 “I feel like I've always been a burden to them especially.” Jimmy spoke softly.

 “Jimmy, you idiot. Why on earth would you believe that?” Another sudden voice, not Tango’s, exclaimed. Jimmy once again found him jumping in surprise and turning to find Joel in the clearing. Not far behind him was Grian. They both looked…more than a little concerned.

 “How-How long have you two been there?” Jimmy stammered out, suddenly feeling ashamed for how they found him.

 “Long enough.” Grian said, and oh, Jimmy hadn’t seen him look like that since after 3rd life. Grian glanced over to Tango. “Thanks for letting us know.”

 Jimmy blinked and then looked back at Tango. “Wait, you…?”

 Tango nodded, an apologetic smile on his face. “Yeah, I messaged them a few minutes ago. Sorry rancher, but I've told you all this before. You need to hear it from them now.”

 Footsteps came up behind him and a gentle hand was placed on his shoulder. “We’ve got it from here. Thanks, Tango.” It was Joel.

 “Anytime.” Tango said and then met Jimmy’s eyes again. “I mean it.” Tango stood up and at the same time, Jimmy was also led to stand, Joel’s hand never leaving his shoulder. The grip was gentle but unmoving.

 Tango left, as silently as he had come and Jimmy was led in the opposite direction, back toward their base. They were all silent as they made their way back, which only made Jimmy feel worse. What if Tango was wrong? What if they were about to kick him out of The Bad Boys?

 As soon as they made it back up to the roof, however, Jimmy was suddenly pulled into a hug from both Joel and Grian. “We’re so sorry Tim.” Grian said, his voice muffled from having his face pressed into Jimmy’s shirt. “We’re so sorry we ever made you feel like you didn’t deserve anything.”

 “You’re not a burden.” Joel spoke. “Not here, not on Empires, not ever.”

 Jimmy couldn’t keep it in any longer. He broke down, falling to his knees and taking Grian and Joel down with him. But they didn’t seem to mind. They just held on tighter. And Jimmy held them back.

 They were there for what felt like hours but eventually they made it back to their beds, which they had pulled together. Jimmy laid in the middle, hugged by Grian and Joel on either side. He felt a lot better. Not all the way. But better.

 “We still have a lot to talk about.” Grian murmured, not wanting to talk too loud, as if he would break the peace if he did.

 “I know.” Jimmy said.

 “Us too, on Empires.” Joel said in the same tone.

 “I know.” Jimmy said, with a bit more of a wince. But if this moment taught him anything, it was that he needed to speak more openly about his feelings. Lest he find himself dug into the anxiety ridden, self-deprecating hole he found himself in earlier.

 And if this moment taught Grian and Joel anything, it was that they needed to be much more open about their love for their friend.

 “We love you Jim, please don’t forget that.”

 And Jimmy, for the first time in a long time, believed that to be true.

[ieatstardust]

Your legacy's not yours to see, nor is your eulogy

Empires was over. Corrupted. Destroyed beyond recognition. A weird feeling of deja-vu came over him as he sat on the only cliff in Rivendale not covered with debris. Memories that he had pushed far back into the corners of his mind came flooding in with new ones, all of them drowning him in a sense of guilt and sorrow

He remembers watching the sunset on a cliff much like this one, before logging off of a long-forgotten server for the last time. 

The sunset was beautiful. Too beautiful for all these terrible and morbid feelings swirling inside him. Even with all the mesmerizing pinks and oranges, he could not forget. Not like the others would. His grip on the cliff’s edge tightened, the rough rocks and pebbles digging into his palm, and grounding him into reality.

He felt his grip loosen soon after, too loose to be safe this close to the edge. But maybe that was the point. With an empty feeling in his chest, he brought his attention to the sky once more. The color of the sunset was now a deep orange at this point, with twilight making its way onto the horizon.

He let go. 

He hit the ground.

The arms of death embraced him, and now it seemed they would never let go. 

—

He remembers it all being his fault, just like this time and the time before that one.

—

      There is a soft smile on his face as he stands next to Fwhip, as Jimmy places both his hands on his hips. (he snickers to himself when he notices that it rhymes) 

“I’m glad that we’ve finally come together Fwhip! Seems things are finally looking up”. He says, with a turn of his head and a slight chuckle. Fwhips face looks calmer than it's been in a while. With all the Xornoth stuff going around, and him getting possessed- Today seems to be looking better than the past weeks.

Fwhip Chuckles a bit at that. “Yeah... Yeah, we have..” He Pauses for a second and looks at the machine that's supposed to make a Salmon-Cod Hybrid. (Jimmy's mind wonders if calling it a Cod-Salmon Hybrid is still on the table.) Fwhip Turns to look at Him again and Jimmy almost notices an uneasy feeling in his chest starting to grow.

“Time to get this party started!” Fwhip says with a devilish grin on his face and goes to flip the switch that would start the machine.

“Oh come on-” Jimmy starts, wanting to flick the switch himself, but is he then interrupted by the start of the end of the world.

[eclipsedechoesofmywords]

It's funny because they wanted to keep living y'know? After Scar died, they immediately went to the bunker. They wanted to keep surviving, maybe even avenge him. They had no intentions of dying together. But they were comprised. Grian knew where the bunker was and took advantage of it. He betrayed them.

"It was always gonna be like this."

That was the last thing Jimmy and Lizzie heard before they died in the explosion, in the safe place they had created, only minutes after they had seen their friends death in the chat, heard the lightning that declared he was out.

It was always going to be like this.

Of course it was always going to be like this. The widows curse had struck again, and it broke the canary curse, but death always comes back for the canary. And sometimes, that canary has friends. Sometimes that canary sees his friend die and tries to run away with his other friend, but they can't escape the coal mines because that pocket of air, the one they thought was safe, wasn't really safe.

They didn't mean to die together, didn't mean to follow Scar so quickly, they meant to fight to the death, but the widow had struck to their surprise, and he killed.

[barnacles-and-brimstone]

OKAY JIMMY SOLIDARITY IN THE LIFE SERIES (i haven’t seen his last life pov but i have all his others & saw grian’s last life who he was allied with) MAJOR SPOILERS UNDER CUT. long text post incoming

3rd life- Flower Husbands. Not my favourite duo/ship but they’re decent ig. He teamed with Scott and they had a really cute base but their interactions were few and unstable, it felt like an alliance of convenience really. They were on the side of the desert during the main battle, and Jimmy died to an unlucky shot *through a half slab*?! Other examples of his poor luck this season involve him thinking he had the only cow, the walls burning down, his typo on the pufferish of peace. Died first. Wet cat energy. (affectionate)

Last Life- Jimothy was a member of the Southlands, as i said i haven’t seen his pov yet. I know he started on 2 lives and died first yet again. His alliance was unstable, and he got backstabbed after a joke hit on grian. mumbo died seconds later iirc

Double Life- RANCHERS!!! possibly my favourite series for these guys alone. They died first, but this time it was *Tango’s* fault! I would say he was second most unlucky in the life series only to Jim, due to his failgirl energy at pvp (he’s self aware at least). They are so domestically in love your honour. They own a farm together. Love wins. AND THEN THEIR RANCH IS BURNT DOWN??? AND CANT REMEMBER THE EXACT ORDER OF THE REST BUT TANGO RETALIATES WITH “RANCHERS REVENGE” THE WARDEN AND THEN THERE IS… a huge misunderstanding. They go to find the enchanter and end up being targeted by hitmen and assumed to be in an alliance with their enemies. And they die </3. And their final death is caused by jimmy. The first perma-death of double life (again), to an enderman. At the end of Tango’s final dl video there is a black screen for a while and then one at a time these sentences appear and it breaks my heart: You’re still here? It’s over. Go Home.

Cue the canary curse!!! At this point (i think, could’ve been around beforehand though) Jimmy’s fans are brewing up a beautiful curse for him, and they call him a canary. This inspires a whole load of gorgeous animatics i’ve found on youtube and will include at the end of the tags. The idea comes from the phrase “canary in a coal mine”, referencing when miners would take canaries (known for their singing) into the mines, and when the bird stopped singing and would die is when the mine became unsafe as the air quality was too poor, and they would know to leave. Jimmy has been the first to be out of the series, first to *fully* die 3 times in a row. The fanart now includes a lovely pair of yellow wings. When Jimmy dies, the mine(craft world) is unstable and the other min(craft)ers will soon die too. He is an omen. He is a warning. He is like Icarus, always trying to beat it, always reaching for the sun, always burnt and quiet and no longer singing.

sidenote: i like the idea that Tango is a phoenix to contrast this. to quote myself, “the canary is the curse but the phoenix is rebirth”. not anywhere near as popular i just think it’s near

Limited Life: The Bad Boys Bread Bridge. this season was so chaotic for so many reasons!! ranchers fans (myself included) went feral over one (1) scene. one. grian, joel and jimmy were the powerpuff girls in their punk teen phase! and they decided to bake bread for some reason? anyway as for Jimmy he had a brilliant, amazing, totally overlooked by everyone, yes we do care grian, story arc about a frog. BigB gave him a grey frog, and Jimmy named it “Judge Judy and Executioner” (a Hot Fuzz reference). However, BigB and Pearl realised that the grey frog was rare or something and stole him back, making Jimmy retaliate by *stealing BigB in return*. Pearl was not happy about this and un-kidnapped her fellow neighbour. Scott and Grian try to convince Jimmy that nobody cares about this frog, and when Jimmy goes to rescue it, Pearl kind of maybe accidentally on purpose kills the frog. Oops. Jimmy builds him a grave in his hideout. Scott and Jimmy have a bunch of tense interactions, one including a deal for Jimmy to kill Scott for more time when necessary, and Scott replying “how about you kill Tango instead?” to which Jimmy says “you have 10 seconds to run” or smth on those lines. Scott says I love you, Jimmy says “you have 10 seconds to run.” Scott says “say it back” and Jimmy says “10 seconds.” Badass if you ask me. Cut to the end of the season ➜ Jimmy is first to die AGAIN, this time acknowledging the canary curse himself as a cc in the episode title, by falling off the skynet when trying to push a tnt minecart after Grian told him to in order to get more time. another sidenote there was a really emotional scene before this with Jimmy asking where Scott was cause he needed more time, and Bdubs practically begging Jimmy to kill him instead, which he did. Anyways the remaining bad boys build Jimmy a grave next to Judge Judy’s (in Solidarity. sorry i’ll stop).

another important note is that of Listener Jimmy. i won’t get too into the evo lore in this post (ask if anyone wants that post though, i haven’t watched evo or martyn’s lore but i can explain the basics) but the Listeners are essentially lesser parallels to the Watchers. I see them as lesser gods, or angels. Listener Jimmy adds a whole ‘nother layer to the canary curse, because of the singing thing. He’s always listening for silence. The world is so loud to him. The silence only comes when he has gone.

SO WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT?

Jimmy Solidarity is a wet cat failgirl of a block man and i love him. He is cursed and has both a husband and a soulmate canonically. He dies first every season and the only narratively satisfying way for this not to be the case in s5 is for him to win. Dead last or dead first. anyways hope you enjoyed my rambles etc etc have good day if you want any more please ask! i’d love to! :D

HELLO PEOPLE

YOU. TRAFFICBLR.

FEEL FREE TO INFODUMP ALL YOU WANT ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE DUO/GROUP OR CHARACTER HERE ON MY REPLIES AND RTS !!!

I DONT MIND HOW LONG IT IS OR IF MY NOTIF DIE GO AHEAD

TELL ME EVERYTHING IM ALL EARS

[tubbytarchia]

I hate this stupid screenshot for making me emotional. ?? this sucks

[ceratedfish24]

I would like to start this post by saying that I am not villainizing Jimmy. In my headcanon, he took Scott for granted, and that is a mistake that people make. It is forgivable with time and effort. People learn and grow and prosper, and it makes our relationships all the more meaningful to us.

Every time I think of Flower Ranchers, I think of Jimmy breaking up with Scott seemingly out of nowhere (that is how I translate Jimmy suddenly acting like he and Scott were never together after Third Life and refusing to say “I love you too” in Limited Life because cmon bro) and Scott moving out of their apartment.

Some time later, Jimmy and Tango are together, and they ask Scott to join them. He agrees, because why wouldn’t he? He still loves Jimmy, and Tango is wonderful, and Scott’s heart could be broken all over again without so much as a warning, but he will take that risk as many times as it takes, and that’s not healthy of him, but he can’t bear it any longer. Maybe seeing Jimmy and Tango together more intimately will tell Scott what it was that he did wrong.

They invite him back to their house for dinner and a movie. Of course he says yes. He has an anxiety attack the night before. Why did he say yes? He’ll have to see it all, now. He’ll have to see all of the ways Jimmy eradicated any and all evidence of him. He’ll be a stranger in this place he used to call home. He’ll be a guest to the man who his ex left him for, but Tango is trying so hard to accommodate for Scott because he’s Scott. He’s wonderful, wonderful Scott, and Tango loves him and Jimmy loves him too, and none of them know how to go about the healing process to this but they’re trying, so Scott has to try too.

He shows up that night, but only after hours and hours of overthinking every little thing.

Jimmy had replaced the oven that they picked out together. Scott used to love that oven. He baked their 1 year anniversary cake in that oven. When Jimmy was sick, he would make soup on its stove.

Jimmy changed the wallpaper in the master bedroom. Scott had picked out that wallpaper. Had Jimmy hated it the whole time?

Jimmy had removed the desk Scott hadn’t been bothered to take with him when he moved out. Scott’s initials were carved under that desk.

Jimmy had new mugs. They were Tango’s mugs. Tango’s mugs were sitting where Scott’s used to be.

Jimmy had candles in the bathroom cabinet. Scott didn’t recognize them. They were Tango’s candles.

Tango likes Scott’s old spot on the couch. Loathing the thought of bothering Tango in his own home, let alone so early in their relationship, Scott doesn’t say anything about it. He finds a new favorite spot on the couch. He never tells Tango about this, nor does Jimmy ever bring it up.

The bedsheets are different. That wasn’t a surprise. Scott probably would’ve been a little more disturbed if they weren’t different. Will they change again now that he’s here, or will Scott force himself to sleep under sheets that Jimmy and Tango had bought without Scott in mind? Would he be called overdramatic if he got emotional about bedsheets? He was so grateful to have been invited back into this home and into this relationship, but he was a visitor. He felt like he was one misstep away from becoming an intruder, something unwanted again.

The fridge’s contents are very different. Tango has a different diet. Scott becomes set on learning new recipes. The grip of the cooking utensils aren’t the same as the ones he used to have here.

All of the photos of Scott had been taken down. Again, not a shocker, but it made Scott teary-eyed. When he noticed, Jimmy and Tango were making dinner for him. He had gone to use the bathroom. He noticed the wall of pictures that used to be of himself and Jimmy was now covered in pictures of Tango and Jimmy. He was immediately distraught, but, more so, he felt so ashamed that he was distraught, that he hadn’t mentally prepared himself to find every picture of himself having been replaced. He doesn’t know how long he must have stood there, just staring at every picture. It was long enough that Jimmy came to check on him, but Jimmy ended up just staring at Scott in that hallway, neither of them knowing what to say. Scott would have cried - out of embarrassment or grief, he still doesn’t know - if he wasn’t already so ashamed of himself just for being there, even though it had been Tango and Jimmy who had invited him over. Even though he still didn’t know what made Jimmy pick Tango over him. Even though he doesn’t know where else in the world he would’ve been remotely okay with being at that night. Even though he, in all honesty, would’ve been more upset to have seen the pictures of him and Jimmy. He only knew that he was intruding. He didn’t belong there anymore.

The kitchen floor had been renovated. Did Jimmy hate the way it was before, or did he hate it after he had broken up with Scott? Did he not hate it at all and just found something better? They used to dance in that kitchen. Since then, he’s danced with someone who Scott assumed must be better.

Scott can recognize that there’s a smell to the apartment. Not at all a bad smell. It’s just one he hadn’t smelled here before. He doesn’t know if it’s a new smell or if it’s always been there, and he’s just no longer accustomed to it.

Jimmy got a new laundry basket. Surprisingly, it looks like something Scott might’ve picked out. It’s blue and everything. Scott wonders if Jimmy thought of him at all when looking at it.

Scott had designed a bookcase himself, and he and Jimmy had put it together. It had been too big to be moved into Scott’s new apartment, so he had to leave it in Jimmy’s. It’s gone now. Scott’s terrified to ask what happened to it. (He asks about it a year and a half into their relationship, when he’s more confident in their relationship. Jimmy startles at the mention of it, recalling how having it in his home stirred up too many memories of Scott. He had had it moved into his parents’ house. He gives them a call to ask for it back and surprises Scott with it a couple days later.)

There were some small things that, when Jimmy and Tango had invited Scott to try being a part of their relationship, Scott had thought about moving back into Jimmy’s apartment. He finds that many of them had been replaced. That makes sense, but it doesn’t make the ache in his chest feel any better.

Tango’s towels are where Scott’s used to be.

Scott’s succulents don’t sit on the windowsills.

The curtains are different. They had been yellow, before. They’re red, now.

Scott has never felt so embarrassed. He has no reason to be. He had been told to pick a movie, but he’s been staring off into space for who knows how long. Something warm is on his arm. It’s Tango’s hand, and, suddenly, they’re making eye contact. Tango doesn’t know how things are different. He doesn’t remember how things looked when he moved in. However, his pretty new boyfriend is distraught, and that is unacceptable. He holds Scott close. Scott doesn’t cry. He can’t. Tango had worked so hard for this to be a nice night for the three of them, and Scott wasn’t about to ruin it. He already feels like he has, but Scott would never forgive himself if he let Tango get tangled in the grief of Scott and Jimmy’s past.

Jimmy just watches them. He doesn’t know why he ended things with Scott. Scott had been wonderful. Scott had been everything, and then he wasn’t. Jimmy had gotten distant. He thought that maybe being with Scott had been too wonderful. Maybe the brightest stars really did burn out the fastest. But then he left Scott, and the look on Scott’s face had torn his heart in two. He left Scott, and nothing filled the void in his home, not even Tango.

Tango doesn’t prefer the same side of the bed as Scott.

Tango likes to shower in much hotter water than Scott did.

Tango doesn’t watch movies or shows in his spare time. The background noise of Scott’s shows while Scott cooked or cleaned or worked was gone.

Scott was a neat freak. Tango is an organized mess.

Playfully, Tango and Jimmy always argue over whether cats or dogs are better pets. Scott had always agreed with Jimmy that cats were better and that had been that.

Like Jimmy, Tango rolls his eyes at romantic cliches. Jimmy finds himself missing looking over and seeing Scott all starry eyed during cheesy romance movies. He wonders if he should’ve set up more cliches for them.

Tango is just as awkward as Jimmy is. He giggles and shrugs when Jimmy trips over his words in front of people. He’s as oblivious to pop culture as Jimmy is. Scott was never that way. Scott could smooth social interactions over for Jimmy like butter on toast. Scott could list ten facts about every celebrity Jimmy couldn’t so much as name. Scott’s charm and charisma was unmatched.

Tango can’t keep a cactus alive for five minutes. Scott practically had a garden in their home.

Tango and Jimmy tend to be pretty equally matched at games. Scott was always good at games, which meant he would sometimes let Jimmy win. Jimmy aches for it. He enjoys competing against Tango, but he yearns to look up from winning and cheering and teasing to see Scott staring at him silently with so much fondness that Jimmy would stop immediately. You just can’t tease a pretty man when he’s looking at you like he just watched you rip the stars from the sky, even if you both know it was him who allowed you to do it.

Tango flirts with Jimmy. He calls him teasing nicknames and will take on any excuse to call him “handsome”, but he never touches Jimmy during it. Scott was handsy. He would call Jimmy “handsome” while he adjusts Jimmy’s already perfectly fine tie. He would joke that Jimmy’s “attention seeking” while his hands were all over Jimmy’s shoulders. He would ask if Jimmy finds him pretty while he runs his hand down Jimmy’s arm. He would call Jimmy “Petal” with his nose pressed up against Jimmy’s jaw.

Jimmy takes down all of the pictures of Scott and puts them in a box. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever be able to bring himself to open it again. (He does, when Scott finally, and Jimmy means finally, moves back in. He opens it when Scott finds it during spring cleaning. Scott, voice breaking and eyes watery, admits that he never thought he’d get to see these pictures again, and Jimmy can’t say or do anything except press his lips to Scott’s temple and apologize for the millionth time. Some of the pictures get to fill frames again.)

Tango is fantastic. Tango is bright and fiery and loud and incredible, but Tango is his own person. He’s not Scott, and he’ll never fill the space that Jimmy had made in his own life. Tango just made more room for himself around the empty space in Jimmy’s heart. Tango is fire and Scott is ice and one can never do the job of the other and that’s how it always will be. Tango was energy and passion and warmth, and Scott was calm and soothing and refreshing. There was no comparing the two. There was no comparing anyone to Scott, because no one was Scott except for Scott. Why had Jimmy gotten so distracted?

He missed Scott. He missed his angel. He missed his snowflake so much.

Winter comes around, and it’s Scott’s favorite season. Tango comes home complaining about the cold, and Jimmy realizes that Scott was celebrating the season with no one that year for the first time in forever. He wants to throw up over the balcony.

Then, Tango mentioned that he might like Scott too, and it was an internal battle all over again, wondering when might be a good time to ask Scott out if there was any. Except, it was worse this time, because Jimmy had broken his heart. He couldn’t muster the courage to beg Scott to let him try again. Jimmy didn’t think he deserved a second chance.

But Scott did.

[agni-ashes]

i’m. im going insane over this.

transcript under the cut!

martyn: "i talk about my fears to- so that i can face them! well, get rid of them at least"

jimmy: "you're gonna have to face it now! *laughs*

martyn: "well i'll tell you now, what i'll do, is once your build exceeds this build by one block in terms of height, i will come and slaughter you and push you down to third life and then, we'll just stop proceedings"

jimmy: "we're on- we're on new life. i don't- that was two years ago, martyn! get over it, it was two years ago! third life was two years ago!"

martyn: "... third life never ended for me."

[smallidarityfan]

smallidarity highschool au

came up with this au like actually 2 years ago where it's mainly empires 2 smallidarity centric, with Jimmy as a student council member and Joel as an honours student who doesn't like the way Jimmy runs things around the school.

As payback for the regulations Jimmy put up that Joel thought was stupid, Joel does these elaborate 'The Office' style pranks on Jimmy (specifically) while Jimmy retaliates by trying his best to dig up dirt on Joel. This banter goes on for a while— however Joel ends up doing the pranks less as a statement, and instead more just to see how Jimmy would react... with his comical, cartoony villain yells, and... weirdly cute face....? (YAOI YAOI YAOI YAOI)

very very old au drawings below:

from July 2023

😭😭 joel does NOT look like a highschooler here 😭😭😭😭 (i also wanted to draw angst in the first two ig idk a year later it's pretty cringe [i am still cringe]) (also partially inspired by when I read "Go for it, Nakamura!" and the mc reminded me of joel for no actual reason. or maybe i was just thinking about that manga while drawing smallidarity. idk)

from November 2022:

I think these doodles were genuinely the first instance of me converting from being against mcyt shipping to for shipping LMAOO

[mellioops]

@pancho-pinto get android rancher’d

based off of this

[chipperchemical]

c!Tango has two major rage moments, one in Last Life after the Bdubs boogie kill and one in Double Life after the ranch burns down, and after both, his behaviour changes drastically.

first, there's the obvious, the part that everyone can see: he's fucking angry. everything he does has this air of pure rage surrounding it. even after the incident actually happened, for the rest of the season, he is just furious. it leaks through his voice and his constant gritted teeth. others can move on, others can forgive; Tango cannot. Tango cannot let go.

then it's the... well, the untrustworthiness. he starts slinking around in the dead of night, sitting in trees or on cliff edges. often, players just feel his eyes on them, watching from the forests or outside their windows. they don't know what his intentions are but he isn't hostile, he just... watches. sometimes he goes missing for hours at a time and is found just sitting there, staring. it's like he's absent in his own mind.

but most of all, it's the recklessness. no-one wants to say that he's suicidal, but, you know. the leaps he takes down cliffs as he's following his friends, how dangerously close he comes to lava, the little scrapes and bruises that he never would've gotten before. Jimmy notices it more than anyone as his soulbound -- waking up in the night to see his partner gone and a brand new tingling pain in his ribs.

Tango feels rage so much deeper than everyone else. some would say it's in his nature

[nitpick7]

i feel like the life series fandom has not properly utilized the angst potential of the wildcards yet. and maybe i just haven't read enough posts or fics yet, which is definitely possible, but i'm gonna ramble anyway. (disclaimer: i've watched every pov but probably will get details wrong anyway.)

session one. pearl goes off, alone, away from her group for just a bit. just to mine a little bit more, get some iron. she's crouching at the edge of a cliff to get a better look at the cave, when suddenly the ground isn't underneath her anymore. she doesn't even slip, doesn't have time to react, she just falls.

session two i've thought about so much that i started writing a oneshot (unfortunately still a wip). everyone having to eat rocks and ores and wood and just so many things that they are not meant to eat... but they're all literally starving and real food doesn't fill them anymore. so they're biting into anything they can get their hands on, just hoping and praying that it fills them and doesn't poison them or make them float away... the terror every time the food changes? scrambling to find the next items to eat. ough.

the SNAILS. god. the snails. those things are cute but deadly. bigb, start of the session, seconds after the wildcard activates, hearing something and seeing something and then he's dead. gone. he's gone from peacefully mining to dead in seconds flat and everyone instantly knows just how deadly this one will be.

the speed one... has less angst potential. it's more just the constant fear, being constantly on edge, not used to the speed everything is moving at. they're frustrated at being too slow or their brains aren't moving as fast as their legs, or it's the very start of the session and they're frozen in time with no idea what's happening.

triviabot is less about the trivia itself and more about how it makes everyone act. sabotaging their friends and enemies alike, hiding bots, feeding people false information. they can't trust anyone in that session. but the moment they can trust someone, they latch onto them. someone gets a question about an ally and books it across the server to ask them about it, hoping their bot is still there when they get back.

more on triviabot: there's also the effects if they get something wrong. the robot voice is crazy because to themselves, they sound perfectly normal, but no one can fucking understand them. they're just unable to communicate and don't know for how long. or they're knocked down a few hearts, unable to be fully healed. constantly hurting at least a bit. being equipped with leather armor that they can't take off, unable to protect themselves. tripling in size, not being able to fit anywhere or do anything because they're so big. or their snails coming back, slower but still terrifying.

the mobs one... the very first thing that happens is everyone's beloved pets being killed. unless they happened to have the resources for a nametag beforehand. bdubs almost lost his horse! lizzie spent forever trying to collect mobs just for them to be murdered again! and the trial chamber. grian, joel (who didn't even want to be there), etho, scar; already in the midst of battle, and then all the fucking mobs change? they were terrified in real life, do you know how good that could be in fics?

you may think that there is little angst potential from superpowers. you would be wrong. again, it's less from the wildcard itself and more from how it makes people act. impulse teleporting ren into an obsidian box full of water in order to prove ren was lying about his power? that shit's CRAZY. WHAT THE HELL. impulse literally tried to drown ren to prove scott's point! and like good for him but!!! holy shit!!!!! or grian, who should know what he's doing, losing pearl's ability mid-air and falling to his death - grian falling to his death? (and obviously the listener symbolism with martyn and jimmy. we know we can do stuff with that.)

the final session is just. all of that. but combined. and more wild. it's everything all at once, randomly activating and deactivating, no one knows what's going on and it's a mess. just confusion and chaos.

so. yeah. there is my ramble, i might do smth with this but i might not. please add to this if you have more wildcard related angst, i will love you so much. Ɛ:

[sleeplesssilverstream]

oh god i just realized something. (spoilers under cut)

jimmy and lizzie had no time to properly mourn scar after he permadied because grian killed them while they were grieving in the bam bunker.

and this is jimmy’s first time experiencing grief…

the angst potential…

[theghostlyunknown]

Love the idea of jimmy possessing Grian just so he could bark at Martyn one last time. He didn’t get to say goodbye so he physically fucking manifested in the watcher so he could say bye to his big dog.