#making this finally got me to start s9

[evilkermit1825]

Recently became obsessed with The Gold by Phoebe Bridgers and I just had to edit these two to this song. I remember watching the first scene and thinking “yeah everything’s going downhill after this.”

[shepscapades]

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [PART 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Don’t Let it Reach the Heart]

Part 4 is finally here!! The last few months got so busy, but I would be lying if i said i didn't spend almost every day daydreaming about/ wishing i could be working on this instead; this project has been such a fun break from work and i feel like each part makes me crazier and crazier as things gets worse and worse (better and better) LOL. The composition has been sooo fun to play with, and I've been having a blast trying to figure out how to write these guys in character despite the angst and chaos :] And, considering this comic project kinda came out of nowhere and disrupted some other comic plans i had for dbhc, finding little ways to rearrange how i'm presenting lore has been really fun >:3

[This comic is part of my dbhc au, following the chaos and panic that ensues after Doc and Xisuma try to get Etho back online at the start of s9 after a very rough s8 finale that leaves him a little. broken. It's set to the vibes of Joywave's Destruction!]

[riacte]

Big Terracotta and the "Let's overthrow Rendog" storyline

My knee jerk reaction to Ren saying they would be making minigames to fight over the permits because they wanted the plot to progress was "oh no NOT again". I initially thought of the minigames in the King Ren arc finale but I suppose it's also similar to the Mycelium War finale. I love minigames, but it's like another Ren vs Scar plot, which might very well (but not necessarily) extend into Neighbourhood vs Mountain plot (and I guess the Redditors will cry about a "civil war" because they've been anticipating it since the season began).

First of all: Big T is basically Ministry rebranded. It doesn't contain everyone from the Neighbourhood, but it's inherently linked. From what I remember of that stream from months ago, Ren's idea was for the Neighbourhood (at the time the Ministers) to band together and sell terracotta. To me, the Neighbourhood feels like it's become a conglomerate of its own: they live next to each other, they collab together, build farms and minigames together, and they have storylines together. The Ministry storyline pretty obviously formed the basis and set the tone. False's rivers permeate through the entire neighbourhood. They have a meeting spot and maps and roads and villager set ups and the bank of Iskall. It's not just "people conveniently live close to each other"— it's "people whose individual storylines intertwine". We got invested in the Ministry storyline. The minister roles felt fairly early season to me, so no surprise that it ended. Now we get Big T, which seems like an optimistic look forward with the idea of a "permanent" branded group because it's about selling a highly wanted commodity.

But what if it's not.... permanent? What if Short-T gets the permits? What then? Another rebrand? I have absolutely no doubts that the Neighbourhood, broadly speaking, will continue to hang out as a neighbourhood. At least until they run out of space / ideas in there. So it's not like they'll stop interacting if Big T ceases to become a thing, but that's exactly what it is— Big T gives them something to do. A common storyline. A collab opportunity.

Back to the Ministry storyline. It's a typical "Rendog seizes power" arc that we've seen before, prominently in S9 King Ren arc. But the thing is, it kind of fails at sculpting Ren as this awful leader who needs to be overthrown. (Partially due to Cleo's mic not working when they suggested overthrowing Ren, and there were also talks of people doing a coup, but in the end Ren decided to take the matters in his own hands.) Ren tries to be incompetent and bossy but they all end up indulging him. Because, despite everything, Ren is good at bringing people together, both in and outside of the game. He organises stream weekends (the others were thanking Ren on his shift during the last stream weekend, a while ago on another stream weekend Scar made Ren tear up with his heartfelt words). He "annoys" people into following him, and then he gets scared of the power, "annoys" people into overthrowing him, and BOOM Rendog kickstarts another plotline by playing the villain (again. And again).

(Arguably, Third Life also kinda followed this formula. I had a feeling Ren was trying to make the Red King unlikable by barging into people's houses and demanding them join the Red Army, and Martyn did "claim" he had "planned" to "betray Ren" from day one (looking at the camera with knowing but non-judgmental stare) but didn't do it.)

Point is, Ren has the personal charisma and thick enough skin to start groups and wrangle people into joining them. He's silly and the hermits love him, so they kind of bemusedly smile and let Ren drag them along. That's his first way of uniting people. Ren's second way of uniting people is by playing the villain, which he often employs and tries pushing it into this direction. In the Ministry plotline, the first way worked, but nobody cared enough to overthrow Ren (lol) so the second way didn't work that well.

... And I feel like Ren doesn't trust himself to play the role of a good leader. He has to be evil. Because he likes dramatics and being publicly humiliated (side glance) and killed. And also because he doesn't like playing the role of a good leader despite having clear visions of infrastructure / change he wants to achieve (S10 roads, S9 Hermit Quests). If anyone's dreaming big about community storylines and banding together to work on something, it's Ren.

So my fear for the Big T storyline is that Ren will seize power again and turn evil so they can overthrow him and Ren volunteers to be the villain for plot progression. I like seeing Ren being in the leader role. But to see him be overthrown again feels a little sad considering what they all went through so far. I don't want more self sabotage. I don't want Ren to go "yeah it's fine you can have it". I don't want Big T to lose the permits and disband. Obviously Big T isn't just Ren, but Ren is the main guy who does story and roleplay.

Good news: Big T contains competitive people who will no doubt enjoy defeating Scar and Bdubs. Bad news: those are the exact same type of people who like trapping Ren in pits. Even if Big T as a whole pulls through, I hope Ren doesn't do something stupid on purpose to set himself up. I want the power of friendship and neighbourhood solidarity to win. It's such a good overarching storyline and content.

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️ Ranking Richonne

#24: Family Fun Days (S9E03 & S4E15)

Grimes Family 2.0 has my heart eternally. 🥹 They are the best family to ever grace an apocalypse. And what’s so sweet is during their Family Fun Day in s9 and s4, it truly didn’t even feel like an apocalypse - that’s how much love and joy Rick and Michonne were admirably able to place in their and their kids’ lives. And while the fallen world turned Rick and Michonne into walker-slaying warriors, who they really are to their core are parents. (ours and their kids 😋) So the final Family Fun Day and the first unofficial Family Fun Day are a tie on this list for allowing Richonne to show why they're the greatest parents around...

Starting with the s9 Family Fun Day, one of my favorite parts is when Rick, Michonne, and Judith are walking hand in hand in ASZ. It’s so idyllic and so the type of rewarding happy life these three deserve.

I think back to s5 when Rick and Michonne were outside the gates of ASZ with Carl and baby Judith in the backseat of their car. I love that the leap of faith they took together in coming to this place has now turned into a stable home where they can fully enjoy being family.

I feel like words can’t fully even capture how much I love all this. Their smiles. Michonne cheering Rick on by saying, "come on, daddy." Judith skipping. Rick's countdown. And the way they lift her up and cheer Judith on. Somehow, I never noticed it until this rewatch, but after they lift Judith up, Rick and Michonne say “wow” at the exact same time. Always in sync those two. 🥰

And Rick and Michonne getting to just be parents is the best and so meaningful. After the devastating loss of children, the way Rick and Michonne have risen from those depths of despair and given Judith a beautiful cheerful life is so commendable. And, truly, it speaks to the strength of Rick and Michonne's impact on each other's lives that they can be this healed and happy now.

I’m choked up from just this initial moment and it only gets cuter with each of their activities. It’s clear that this is Judith’s favorite way to spend the day, but make no mistake, this is Rick and Michonne’s favorite way to spend the day too. And I love that Family Fun Days are something they seem to do often and look forward to. (also it's sweet that, throughout the series, we got several indicators that little Judith is a mama's girl 😊)

It was such a joy to see this side of Rick and Michonne, especially knowing we’d only have 2 more eps before Rick’s departure. I love that we got to see Rick just have so much fun as the best girl dad. He deserved to have so many more days like this with his baby girl. 🥲

Also, what I would give to have seen a family fun day that included Rick, Michonne, RJ, Judith, and Carl all together. 😭

The good thing is Rick and Michonne are going to do everything in their power to get home to Judith and RJ, and I have hope TWD's best parents will be able to have plenty more days like this to enjoy with their children whenever the four reunite.

(Side note: Since we're talking Grimes family in this post, can I just say I never understand the complaints about our sweet prince RJ being a regular kid doing regular kid stuff - like ??? To me, it's actually the biggest flex that Rick and Michonne's baby is living a normal life. A whole dang apocalypse hit the earth, and your kid is able to just read comics and ride bikes because, even in the most dangerous possible world, you managed to create some normal (as normal as it can be in that world) stability for your children - What a win. And rather than find him "boring" as a kid under age 10 just living life, I find it heartwarming that RJ Grimes got to be so normal. The mostly peaceful and regular way RJ is living is the very thing Michonne and Rick wanted and fought for. It's the very thing RJ's big brother Carl fought for too. How wonderful that they got what they wanted 🥰👌🏽)

And then the montage includes my absolute favorite visual with the three of them on a picnic blanket all relaxed, with a brief glimpse of Rick handing Michonne a pink flower as Judith seems to notice the way her dad loves her mom. Even in just a .5-second clip of Rick wanting to give Michonne that flower we see yet another example of how Rick so naturally shows love to his wife. 🥰

I love that in s9 especially, Rick was like if y’all don’t know nothing else about me, you’re going to know that I’m head over heels in love with Michonne. And he’s just so good at courting her even in their married era, and I adore how he’s always thinking of how to gift her.

Y’all, everything in this moment (& the deleted picnic scene where Rick expresses wanting more years like this with his wife and kids) gives me so much happiness and peace. Again, it’s so idyllic and tranquil and pretty. I wanted them to live in this moment forever.

The picnic shot is just beauty and I will always cherish it. It makes me think about Carl’s vision in s8, of their family playing hooky. I know Carl would be so proud to see the three of them essentially doing exactly that on this beautiful family fun day. Like this whole montage is truly what Carl wanted most for the three of them. 🥹

To this day, when I see Scott running over while the three are reading, I’m like damn it. 😫 Richonne deserved to have a day to be all about their family and nothing else and Rick and Michonne look like they really do agree with me in the way they both communicate with a wordless look lol.

They don’t want this family time to end, but they know the world is ready to start screaming again. I do like how Rick sees Scott coming but keeps reading tho. Like ‘maybe if we keep reading he’ll just jog past us.’ 😂 

Seeing Rick kiss Judith before joining Michonne and Scott is so sweet and so sad because it’s his final interaction with his daughter before he’s taken away for years. 😭

Rick and Michonne again wordlessly communicate upon learning about that murdered savior, and you can tell they’re both disappointed. And I'm disappointed that Family Fun Day was cut short too, but I also was like, I should've known...

But I adore that this scene, which ends up being Rick and Michonne's last time side by side in the present, does not end on disappointment.

Rick is quiet and looking at Michonne, and then he looks away frustrated and stressed, especially because this new development could jeopardize the unity and safety he and Michonne so badly want to build for their people.

It’s so clear how Michonne feels for him, knowing how much they both wanted to have this day to just be. And then the shot focuses on their hands with Rick’s fist clenched to further illustrate his frustration. 

But Michonne always knows how to offer Rick the exact right uplifting encouragement and so I love that she then takes his hand. The choreo of it is so good with her slowly sliding her hand into his. It’s symbolic for Michonne to be the one who could most help Rick release his fist, thus release the frustration, and hold onto what matters most.

And, of course, Rick is receptive and holds her hand. He can always receive the positivity Michonne instills in him. And so I love that Rick tightly holds her hand and allows that to be the note they can end on together. 

Richonne handholds are always a thing of beauty so I love that their final moment like this ends on that emphasized visual. Even when things fall apart, they’re still in it together. They’re still held together by their love.

Y’all, how do even their hands tell a compelling story? I mean they always have. From exchanging bullets in Clear, to passing mints and holding hands in their canon ep, and this significant final present moment between them. It really does highlight the strength, love, and unity of Richonne's relationship. 

It’s also sweet how Rick and Michonne's official romance began with a handhold, and their final moment ends with one too. And while their journey is about to devastatingly take them on separate paths for years, I really feel like this handhold right here actually never breaks.

In many ways, during their years apart, Rick and Michonne still embarked through life as though their true love was still with them, still holding their hand and supporting them because their love is neverending - as noted in both Rick and Michonne's sentiments during the TWD series finale.

(Side note: There’s this interesting contrast I think about - because with losing Lori, part of what made it so painful on Rick is knowing they never got official closure after they grew distant and their marriage fell apart. But then with “losing” Michonne after he was taken, part of what likely makes it so painful for Rick is that their marriage was in such a great spot. Rick and Michonne were so beyond close, happy together, and hopeful for their future just before Rick was taken away. And that’s a unique pain to just be abruptly plucked from the woman you were so longing to spend the rest of your life with. Where the Lori loss featured an element of mourning a clear closed door, the Michonne “loss” is an element of mourning all the doors he hoped he'd open with her. And I’m really curious to see how Rick has been dealing with that type of pain while away in TOWL)

This whole sequence of events in 9.03 is the definition of precious. And the song in the background pairs so nicely with this heavenly time. I love Grimes Family 2.0, and this was like a beautiful love letter to them.

It was a lovely reward for Rick and Michonne after all they've been through in this series. And I just appreciate how much joy was depicted in every moment Rick got with his girls in season 9. (their opening moment in the s9 premiere also gets an honorable mention cuz I absolutely adore it)

So I called this Family Fun Days plural because before Rick and Michonne so adorably had their day as mommy and daddy with Judith, they had another version of a family fun day out in the woods with Carl. And this moment, along with the s9 montage, are my all-time favorite Grimes Family 2.0 scenes.

This one in season 4 is so meaningful because during their s9 family fun day in ASZ they were enjoying merriment in the safety of their community - but here the golden trio of Rick, Michonne, and Carl are traveling while unsure of where they’ll get their next meal or where they’ll lay their head for the night…and yet they smile. 🥹 The levity found in this moment is so important and heartwarming to see. 

I love that Michonne was so effortlessly able to be a best friend to Carl and helped him have fun even in an apocalypse. I adore the opening of the scene as Rick talks about resources running low and turns around to see Michonne and Carl adorably preoccupied with their train track competition.

Rick turning around to see Michonne and Carl reminded me of the s9 premiere when the first thing we see of Rick is him opening the doors to watch Michonne and Judith.

I know Michonne’s bond with Carl and Judith means the absolute world to Rick. And I can only imagine how moved Rick would (and will) be to see her bond with their adorable son RJ too. 😭

(Again, I'll never get over the fact that Michonne really carried Rick's child. How extremely beautiful. 🥹And soon Rick is going to finally know all about the son he made with the love of his life. Won't He Do It! 🥳)

I always appreciate that Rick walks over to Michonne and Carl, letting them have the moment a little longer, and the way Michonne playfully tries to win their competition. Carl sharing the Big Cat because "we always share" is also just so sweet.

And, of course, you know I love the way that man Rick is grinning while watching and appreciating this wholesome family moment. 🥰The way he keeps sneaking glances at Michonne as he smiles - I forever stand by the fact that Rick has fallen in love with Michonne by this point.💯

Even despite their circumstances, the three seemed so happy in this moment cuz they’re together the way it was meant to be. And I love that Michonne and Rick both valued giving Carl a good childhood against all odds.

In Carl’s devastating final episode "Honor" he tells Michonne "Don't carry this - not this part," and I always like to think that this moment on the tracks is one of the parts of their journey Carl hopes Michonne holds onto instead. Cuz it was such a beautiful happy moment that cemented the three as a family.

And, clearly, she and Rick did choose to carry the good parts with Carl and even pass it on to Judith as they and their daughter so presently enjoyed a day of fun and games seasons later, where for a few hours they didn't have to be community leaders or fierce fighters. Instead, Rick and Michonne just got to be what they so cherished being - mom and dad. Grimes family forever. 🤍

[kinardsevan]

bucktommy proposal end of season 8 or start of season 9?

i mean what do I want? obviously sooner than later. I really do believe in the logic that we've seen stated about Bobby and Athena in relation to what Frank said in (I think) 702, that when who people work in the field, they understand the immediacy. I also think that you have two characters who have been through the wringer in their personal lives, and if this show is really going to let them have their happy ending, I don't see it being a long, drawn out process. For Maddie and Chim, it made sense. Healing from DV is a process, and she needed to be able to trust him. By correlation, Evan has always been seeking someone who would match his attachment style and not be turned off by how his abandonment issues affect him in relationships. Add to this the fact that I feel like Evan's highest love languages are physical touch and quality time (although quality time may also be competing with acts of service; we could argue removing physical touch, but I think that being a love language for him is clearest in s1 with his self-diagnosed sex addiction). Still, even in season 7, he's always touching people he cares about. His hand on Eddie's shoulder when Chris leaves; the hug with Bobby (both in 710), the kiss in the hospital in 706. Even the hands on Chris's shoulders in 709 from the stills.

By relation, I think Tommy's similar, with acts of service and quality time being his top two. I'm less inclined at the moment to say physical touch is as high for him, because we haven't had enough of out, therapized Tommy to really gauge it. Still, the acts of service is obvious. He shows up for those he cares for (flying into a hurricane, showing up to the wedding even after fighting a fire all night and day). And we know he's not just showing up for Evan to sleep with him; we've seen dates, dinner together, actually showing up for one another.

Ironically it's both of these that get me wondering if we'll be waiting into s9 purely just because I don't think that receiving gifts ranks very high for either of them. I honestly think we'll see them moving in together with more importance placed on it because that directly correlates to quality time AND acts of service. Truth be told, I think when a proposal finally happens between these two, I think Tommy will be the one to ask, because it's something Evan wants, and as stated, acts of service are important to Tommy. Still, I think if we're lucky enough to see it happen, we might be waiting a while. Again, I could be wrong, given the discussion Bobby had with Frank in therapy about not putting off more time than necessary to be together when you know life is limited (and this will be another relationship with two first responders who are in dangerous positions). But realistically? I think we'll see moving in together in s8, and then maybe a proposal in s9. I legitimately could see B/T getting completely domestic with a home, an animal (maybe even a kid) before they even make it down the aisle.

(This was far more than what you asked, but it's how I got there 😂)

[lemotmo]

I just finished reading the ask you got sent earlier from Ali’s blog and how she mentioned essentially the show not dragging the Tommy of it all out and them not having the time to do so. And getting the boys into position for where they need, especially before Chris is brought back into the mix. I agree with all of that, especially I don’t see Tommy being dragged out to long. (For various in show reasons and out of show reasons)

I’m very curious on what your thoughts are for them doing buddie by the mid season finale. (Or both of yours if it’s something you guys have discussed)

I’ve felt for a while now that that’s when it will happen. Making it the season finale while yes would give them the summer to promo it, also runs the risk of alienating people by making it take to long to get there considering how long it’s been already. Not to mention I’m sure the time jump will be back in effect next season (I feel like it’s only not this season because of the nature of the stories and where they left off in season 7) so if it was the season finale we’d essentially lose out on all the beginning of their relationship stuff that people have been waiting years to see finally happen.

But with the mid season finale cliffhanger? It gives them the winter hiatus to pump out interviews, PR, gives them a nice cliff hanger to draw people back in for 8B which is usually when the show needs something big to draw the crowd in again. It gives us time to see them start navigating their new aspects of the relationship as a couple and as a family with Chris. And they will be able to ride that wave of press and Pr through the winter break, summer break and into season 9 because let’s be real. Being the network to have the first slow burn queer relationship launch? It’s gonna generate so much press. ABC would be dumb to not milk that for as long as possible.

And with the way certain things have been lining up like Max Gao saying yesterday or the day before, that Tim told him in the interview they just sat down for they are filming through episode 6/7 right now. With Ryan posting that Don Diaz photo which I think we all correctly guessed was him about to film the shaving scene which as we know from Tim was important, lining up with the episode 6/7 range.

The timing of when we found out Ryan was filming in the church mixed with him following the actor who plays the priest.

It’s all lining up nicely for that episode 4 (his 100th) through episode 7 arc range of things falling into place for Eddie leading into episode 8-10, which is the range for the 8A finale depending where they want the episode count to fall in terms of an extra episode on 8A or an extra on in 8B.

That's an interesting theory Nonny.🤔

I have to admit that personally I'm more inclined to the 'Eddie and Buck separately figure out they're into each other' arc by the end of 8A and in 8B we'll get the exploration of those feelings and it will eventually all culminate to the natural Buddie climax at the end of 8B. It would make for an interesting Summer hiatus. They don't have to start S9 with a time jump if they don't want to. I don't think that is set in stone.

I think midseason is probably too early for a true Buddie arc to begin.

Now, don't get me wrong. I like your theory a lot and I agree that it makes sense from a promotional point of view. But I doubt that they'll go that fast. They will want to milk this story for all that it's worth.

Let's just say Nonny, that... if it turns out I'm wrong and you're right? I won't be all that upset about it. 😋🤗😏

[quantumripple]

Figured it might be neat to give post-mortems of fics I’ve written (in no particular order)

Gonna call this Quantum’s Post-Moretem Mondays even though I’m almost certain I’m never going to post this again on a Monday (work was just suuuuper slow)

So to start off we’ve got Pen Pals: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51609454

Premise: in early 2010 Taylor and Sveta become pen pals (hence the name).

Very much the definition of a rarepair since there’s only one other Taylor/Sveta fic that I’m aware of and it’s not even tagged.

And honestly hot take: the reason it’s a rarepair is that it lowkey just does not work as a ship. Taylor and Sveta are just not compatible, Taylor is far too… her. Sveta deserves better honestly.

What I like about the fic:

The bits of humour always blindside me when I do a reread. This one definitely leans on the sort of online humour you sometimes get with lesbians. Particularly the meme of two girls commiserating you each other that they “wish they could get a gf frfr”

I also just stole some funny bits from worm and adapted them but idk if I should count those bc they were just yoinked from worm.

I’m pretty proud of the background plot that’s happening in the fic. It’s pretty fun to explore those through only the lens of texts between two people. Things diverge a little bit and we end up with Echidna happening early, but the fight goes a lot differently. Ends up being a much longer fight/conflict but upside is case 53 stuff didn’t get leaked. Taylor eventually ended it by tag-teaming with a few heroes, getting the right power combo. S9 shows up after and a while after they’re there Amy takes Victoria. Taylor, thinking the s9 did it went on the warpath, she broke into the prt hq and stole the Bakuda bombs which she used to take out a few members before she found Amy and Victoria, made Amy fix her, then just fully executed her.

What I don’t like:

Taylor is extremely out of character. She’s too like… it’s hard to explain but she’s too cutesy, or dorky in a way that doesn’t really fit with how she is in canon. Triple especially anytime they’re discussing feelings. Honestly the only parts of her that feels in character is latter on in the fic when it starts getting into the broader hero plot stuff.

Sveta is also pretty ooc but not quite as bad as Taylor. She’s a hard character to write because while yea she’s got a lot going on at the end of the day she’s just a really nice person and that’s hard to write out unless you want something super fluffy.

And speaking of: the fic is just way too fluffy for my tastes these days. Like I had to skim the final scene where they’re being all sappy and confessional bc it made me feel ill lmao.

What I would do if I were to redo/re-explore:

Honestly this might be one of my few fics where I’d just cop it and say that it kinda doesn’t work conceptually. Taylor and Sveta just aren’t really compatible without changing one or the other.

Honestly if I were returning to it I’d probably drop Sveta (sorry) and actually just focus on the Brockton Bay plot stuff. So it’d be Taylor joining the wards, getting frustrated and then leaving and teaming up w Victoria and the focus is more in them becoming friends. And the other changes with Echidna and the s9 could be fun to explore.

Or alternatively I keep Sveta and lean into the doomed nature of the relationship, have it be a much more deep exploration of their characters and how they could interact. Follow Sveta as she makes an online friend but slowly realise that this friend of hers is weirdly violent as a cape. Have that introduce a lot more friction with Sveta judging Taylors methods more and more and Taylor just getting really defensive etc. and like…. It wouldn’t even need to have a bad ending per se. It would just be them realising that they’re really not compatible and that getting this invested in each other was a bad idea. Or the super good ending where Sveta comes around to Taylor’s way of thinking and they wage bloody war against evil, that could also be p fun. And not entirely impossible especially if Taylor is literally Svetas only friend.

Final thoughts:

This is one of those fics that still gets the odd random comment on ao3 which makes me remember it more often than other fics despite the fact that I don’t really have much to say/think about the fic beyond what I’ve already thrown up. It sits in my mind as a firm “basically ok, has its moments”

Curious to know what others think of it because honestly I barely do. I think I just picked it bc it was one of my shorter fics and sfw so I could read it between waiting for stuff to happen at work.

[boykingscourt]

thoughts on spn s8

ahh... good old s8

though it's been a while since I've watched it all the way through (currently in s6 with my friend) s8 without a doubt brings out the most mixed feelings for me compared to any other season

fair warning this got kinda long

let's start with the good:

1 ) the sam and dean drama

if you can look at it objectively, shutting out the narrative's dean bias and the general fandom reaction, it's just delicious. I've seen it referred to as the samndean dual cheating arc, which I love rather you consider that romantic or just in the weird brothers way lmao.

I'm a big fan of benny and unlike most of the fandom don't mind the sam/amelia plot. I like it what it represents for sam's character, showing just how mismatched sam and dean's priorities are in the beginning of the season. and even though sam would cop shit from dean, the narrative, and the fandom at large, those rare moments where he stands up to dean feel like mana from heaven

2 ) TRIALS TRIALS TRIALS

this is the most important aspect of s8 for me and maybe what I should have led with, but I'm sure it's not surprising coming from a sam stan or just if you're at all familiar with my blog (hopefully you are <3)

the trials arc is one of my all-time favorite sam arcs. it has unique whump, deep and meaningful revelations for his character, and ends with one of spn's greatest season finales (to me, and I'm always right)

it also spawned one of the scenes of ALL TIME, 8x21's "I'm not clean" iconic 10/10

the trials arc is of course absolutely heartbreaking from a sam perspective, especially when thinking about s8 collectively. sam going from defending himself and his choices against dean's unfair criticism -> choosing to leave his life with amelia behind -> bravely undertaking the trials but wanting to come out on the other side alive -> not caring if it kills him in the end because of his feelings of unworthiness, guilt over his past mistakes, and (chiefly) dean's infantilization and constant reminders of all that sam has done "wrong" is one of the most sickening (affectionate) journeys I've seen a character go on. even if most of the fandom doesn't recognize it for what it is, at least the dedicated sam corner of the fandom does, and I will never tire of reading trials-related meta

3 ) very distinct arcs

this probably seems trivial in relation to the other two but I like how s8 feels like two or three different seasons mashed into one

now let's talk about the bad:

1 ) wasted potential

you could say this about a lot of spn seasons/plotlines, especially the later ones, so of course it applies here too. as much as I like benny, I think there's more they could have done with him, mainly giving him more interactions with sam! I feel the same about henry winchester too. I didn't need peepaw to stick around forever, but without a doubt they should've given him more than one measly episode. he and sam had serious potential to bond and grow close, making his death (ideally later in the season) much more impactful

2 ) too much angel crap

I really can't tell you how sick I got of angel politics, and s8 only gives us a taste of many more boring conflicts to come. the angel "trials" do nothing for me, I hardly remember anything that's going on with c*s once he comes back from purgatory minus that cringe ass swan song imitation they give him and dean (and it's memorable for the wrong reasons), and the angels falling, which seems to be a big deal at first, is extremely underwhelming once s9 rolls around (maybe it's not fair to pin that on s8 but whatever)

3 ) narrative bias towards dean/fandom reaction to sam

maybe this is also not fair to pin entirely on s8, but these things are unfortunately forever intertwined in my mind and color my view of the season as a whole. s8 sam is arguably the most misunderstood and slandered sam of the whole series. you could certainly make that argument for s4 sam, s9 sam, even s5 sam, but I'm sure you will agree s8 sam is up there no matter which sam wins that crown for you

the significance of the trials and what they reveal about sam's character is entirely lost on most of the audience. all we seem to hear about instead is how stupid and pointless they find the amelia plotline, how jealous and unreasonable sam is regarding benny, and (you already know it!) endless endless ENDLESS "waaaaaahhhh sam didn't look for dean!!" just one of the three of those is enough to drive me insane, and we are instead treated to all three and more!

couple this with the narrative's dean bias (and s8 just happens to be the moment where, in my opinion, this bias becomes fixed and permanent) you are left with some of the worst takes and most fuck ass sam meta you can imagine, some of it being so bad I've heard of many instances of sam stans taking a break from spn or just checking out entirely around this time

s8 my beloved and s8 my beloathed

although maybe this is all entirely too serious and I should instead just thank s8 for its greatest gifts: estrogen!jared sam with his beautiful tan and glorious long glossy chestnut hair AND sickly trials era bella swan sam, both of whom I want to abandon the silverware for and eat with my bare hands

thanks so much for this ask, and if you were expecting a succinct response instead, I sincerely apologize

[alitgblog]

okok finally caught up on litg s9

gonna try to summarize this neatly bc my game didn't save properly and I played volume 10 twice and sped through volume 11

Zeph is hot and thats a problem for me bc I'm so annoyed at the lack of branching and consequences in this game it has manifested into me making up story for fusebox about MC being upset that Stefan keeps acting like nothing is wrong when I personally am still upset casa amor got Chen dumped (ok that was my fault technically but only bc I wanted him to come back to drama). So now I'm like MC should have a summer fling with Zeph, why not

they're so wishy washy about how Kelly and Finn broke up and it just all feels like hearsay all the time. at the end of volume 11 they seem to decide Kelly thought it was all done pretty respectfully but her comments in volume 10 about movie night seem to disagree??? just asking for a little bit of consistency since I gotta track other people's drama other than my own

also so sorry to kelly who is actually interested in zeph and I am less so interested in him and more just annoyed at the bad writing for stefan

the writing has always been stilted and/or cringe but for some reason I notice it especially with Zeph, like it does feel like his dialogue was written by AI unfortunately. And it puts me off his character a lot, except, again, he's hot and so maybe I'm just like hey don't hurt your pretty head trying to think up romantic scenarios, Zeph. Something odd about him too is he doesn't mention any previous connection to Love Island, and I know he's a new character, but at least Henri and Chen talked about their last times on the show.

I'd like to apologize

I don't know what surprise we're getting next volume but for my own storyline I kinda want the guy dumped post casa to come back. like I'd go back to Chen easy. but this is my delusional ass still just hoping we get drama from casa bc they dropped the ball on it again this season. Curious about talent show but considering how they fucked up Mr Love Island I have little hope.

I forgot this meant we'd have to deal with eddie. hes there like Johnny/Nicolas to the point where I almost prefer if it was one of them around but at least his chaos run makes more sense than johnny/Nicolas just randomly deciding to stir shit out of nowhere after leading MC on and the game forcing us to couple with them.

Eddie pls stfu poor Kelly

said this before but if eddie was gonna show up for heart rate challenge why didn't he do a little dance? is it because he sucks as a bombshell??? YEAH. It makes so much more sense to switch him and Zeph, like yeah that would mean we have less time with zeph and more with Eddie, but Zeph could put on a good heart rate challenge performance and Eddie could be way more catty and start shit during movie night than Zeph who wanted to play nice.

I'm so sad to say goodbye to Finn because it felt like he didn't get a good chance (unless MC is pursuing him I guess). but compared to Hamish, who, even if he got dumped here, would've had a lifelong friendship with MC and Natasha and had multiple chances to couple with people, it feels sad to see him go without a good ending. I mean I guess he's got closure with Kat and Kelly, but he felt always stuck in those couples whereas Hamish tried to explore connections with Natasha, Uma, and Melissa. I just think we should've let him punch Eddie in the face after eddie was so mean to Kat and MC.

I've decided to watch the hamish route vicariously through yall and I'll go for wither zeph or Stefan unless something else wild happens until the finale. so yall better tell me what happens it was such a hard decision when the game narrowed it down 🥺

I also think it would be great if we had chats with characters to decide who we're sticking with. like this season aside from maybe the beginning henri/chen/MC/Melissa thing, it feels like one of the other girls always asks you "who do you want to be chosen by" and then you tell her and that person picks you, but then you never address it or outright reject the other person face to face. it's always just like two sentences or just "a sad look" or a gem scene I'm not paying for.

one positive thing I've seen this last volume though is the mini date with your LI before Zeph's date. like its one of the better scenes they've written that isn't just someone outright saying I like you or just chatting. like its fun, and the only other moment I can think of that's similar that doesn't cost gems is the Hamish eavsdropping scene. now if only this was also tailored to your LI because as someone coupled with Stefan, low key unexpected, but imagine if I had picked Henri??

also a lot more choices this volume were worth 10 gems I think

that being said the amount they're asking for in the heart rate challenge is crazy for literally one scene because MC's outfit is like 14+ gems, then you van go for am extra 10 to see your male LI's outfit, and then another extra 10 for the female LI outfit. and this hardly changes the gameplay or gives you more info 🙃

[periwinklemoonlight]

I AM VERY INTERESTED I LOVE HEARING THOUGT PROCESSES AND ITS SO CLEAR HOW MUCH PASSION AND CARE WAS PUT INTO YOUR ZINE PIECE

AHH THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! i have so many thoughts i dont know where to begin LMAO ill start with the outfit designs first!!

to start things off, every design has one specific colour in mind to represent that hermit! pearl - blue, gem - green, impulse - yellow, doc - black/gray, and grian - red! (everyone's nails are painted their colour) every design was deliberately punk-inspired, since during the king arc the soup group was a force of resistance against the monarchy's tyranny :P therefore, the soup group are the main focus of the art and their designs are intentionally made so that they stand out more from the other two, though i made sure they were all unique in one aspect or another :] let's go character by character now! (i'm including all my initial design sketches + some inspo photos too)

pearl - she's the lead singer of soup group, along with playing the electric guitar! her design features a double tank top + low rise big pant combo, moon motifs of course, and two distinct shades of blue! The darker one is seen throughout her hair and outfit, while the lighter one in her moth antenna is reflected in her guitar. the main inspiration for her look was avril lavigne, which is also what influenced me to add those fun blue hair streaks :D on her shirt i wanted to have a sort of skeletal moth/butterfly design!!

gem - the keytar! i wanted to make sure that gem and pearl's designs looked very distinct from each other, so i went for a slightly different vibe with gem's! her design is based more off of the plaid skirts, big boots, and fishnet looks i found while looking through early 2000s lip service magazine scans (as well as some hayley williams looks!!) :D additionally, shes got vine tattoos over her body to call back to her nature elf vibe this season!

impulse - the drummer of course!! for his look, i wanted to go a little more anarcho-punk (since its a much older punk style and hes the oldest member of soup group LOL), so his vest jacket has got a bunch of diy additions like patches, pins, paperclips, and chains, along with a bunch of spikes!! in my mind, the back of his jacket has probably got a whole lot more patches, spikes, and studs :] beyond that, i made sure to give him lots of piercings (though my options were limited since s9 impy has a beard lol), and stretched earlobes for fun!! ideally his pants would also have a lot more patches and fun bits, but since his legs would be entirely covered by his drums in the final piece i went for something simpler

doc - an opener and feature on the song! since he's not part of the soup group, his design is quite a bit simpler than the others in terms of both look and concept :] his look is monochrome save for his robotic red parts and green skin, but still looks interesting thanks to that fun leather jacket :D his look is purposefully more reminiscent of a 50's style greaser, i wanted to go for an older fashion style to make him look more intimidating/mature, as well as set him apart from the look of soup group since the perimeter was an independent nation in the king arc!

grian - another feature/opener! design wise? hes literally just green day i can't even lie like the pun was perfect and also the black shirt + red tie combo is iconic and also fits his look so effortlessly it had to be done LMAO also, if you look closely in the final piece you can see he's wearing eyeshadow! this of course is again because hes grian day /silly. but to be real, i think this style also fits him really well since the tie + spikes & studs combo gives the look that sorta rebellious vibe that was all over his videos during the king arc :]

AND NOW FOR THE INSTRUMENTS!! this segment is thankfully much shorter

pearl's guitar is of course a nod to my design for her and her moth wings! butterfly guitars are harder to draw than you'd think LOL

gem's keytar has got a vine design all over it to match her tattoos

impulse's drum set has got the soup group punk band logo! the logo design may honestly be my favourite part of the piece, i feel like i really nailed what i was going for :D

and thats it! i'll edit this post or rb with any details i missed if they come to mind! thank u for reading anyone who has made it this far <3

[rvspecter]

ramble about each of ur suits ships for as long as u can (might result in a novel)

omg sweet anon asking about all my ships <3

ok so first i don't ship something because i want to see two ppl get married i don't do that. i'll ship it because i find it interesting/sexy etc

LET'S START WITH THE SEXIEST

jessica/harvey

-everyone sleeping on this ship makes me so mad. like they are so sexy!?!?!?!?!?? even when they banter they are sexy. THEY ARE TOTALLY FLIRTING?!??!?! anyways i particularly like when they fight for dominance which is basically every scene with them. oh and i like how she's taller than him in heels and how she stares him down like he's breakfast. SO WHY ISN'T THERE MORE FIC!??!? what i need is for someone to help me establish their backstory. like i know they fucked in a bathroom stall on the 53rd floor but i'm not sure when. was it when harvey was working in the mailroom? i feel like they are the hardest ship to write for actually and make believable. BUT I KNOW THEY FUCKED!!!!!

mike/harvey

-mike legit has harvey wrapped around his finger. if that boy said “hire me as a lawyer even tho ive only finished high school and then offer to go to prison for me when im found out” harvey would be like “how high”. i don't think anyone can argue that harvey loves mike

but to me marvey is an unrequited love story. idk what to say. mike doesn't love harvey. sometimes i don't even think mike likes harvey as a friend. that's how soured by s6+ i was. mike treated harvey like shit and harvey kept coming back for more. it was actually painful to watch. i read marvey and usually the stories i find believable r the ones where mike leaves with rachel and GROWS UP (even tho he's a 30 yr old man at the start of the show) and everyone's wounds have had time to heal. i can buy marvey getting together then. what i don't find believable are stories where mike is pining for harvey!?!??! i don't know what show that is. the guy literally couldn't get away from harvey fast enough. he gets out of jail and almost immediately fucks off to seattle with his wife and doesn't even tell harvey about it like??

when i first got into the fandom side of suits i really liked the romanticized version of marvey where they wud do ANYTHING for each other. but when i watch the show - this only goes in one direction

donna/harvey

-this is this ship i was rooting for when i watched the show the first time. the thing about them is their history and emotional connection. to me they are a single entity. they r partners and they have always been partners. u don't even get to talk to harvey without going thru donna - she is literally the physical border between him and the outside world

i love how they protect each other. harvey has never let anything bad happen to donna. it's a fact. he'd do anything to protect her and we see that. but here's the thing about their relationship - it's mutual. donna does INSANE THINGS for harvey like KEEP A DOCUMENT THAT SHE STOLE FOR OVER A DECADE ON THE OFF CHANCE THAT SOMEONE GOES AFTER HARVEY FOR CAMERON'S CRIMES. they wud do anything for each other and they both know it

i also love how highly they think of each other. we always see donna defending harvey. she defends him because she thinks he's a good person ("because ur worthy"). she's one of few ppl on the show who does. most ppl think of him as a dick and that group includes mike

the way harvey views donna is almost worshipful. he thinks she can do no wrong. “donna doesn’t make mistakes.” he trusts her completely. she's his compass. every success he has is a shared success. “we made partner.” he doesn’t even think he can be himself without her. and don’t get me started on how debilitating her moving 3 doors down the hall was for him

anyways tldr their relationship is a two way street. they love each other and they both know it. and i'm not talking about after they finally get together (let's not talk about s9). i'm talking about before. because even if they didn't know the other person wanted to be with them - they knew they loved them and would do anything for them

MIGHT AS WELL GO THROUGH ALL MY SHIPS

scottie/harvey

-s1 version of them was so fun! i wanted this to have been a long term friends with benefits type thing. when they became a couple i didn't like it because it was always her sacrificing stuff for him and not the other way around

sean cahill/harvey

THIS SHIP NEEDS MORE FIC. i was just thinking about them. sean tells harvey 'I MOVED HEAVEN AND EARTH FOR YOU ONCE BEFORE AND NOW THE WELL IS DRY' like sean was totally IN LOVE WITH HARVEY. it's crazy how much he did for him actually. like what did sean get out of it??!?!?!?!??! anyways they totally fucked while mike was in prison

travis tanner/harvey

they way i see them is travis is obsessed with harvey's hair and hands and generally thinks he's just a pretty girl he wants to get with. harvey is like eww no but also we know harvey likes fucking the competition. so i think they fuck on and off, after or before cases and it's very kinky because travis is a total freak in the sheets

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

cameron dennis/harvey

plz see this fic for details

[jimmycarterghostland]

I'm currently reading Plague 12.8 of Worm.

Man, the Slaughterhouse Nine are some ruthless, cold-blooded people. They're what fictional villains should be: terrifying. And their lack of a conscience makes them so much worse. Like, how can Shatterbird even do what she did? Shatter every glass in a city full of innocent people, wounding them or killing them? So brutal, and evil. The good thing about that is that I can take her and the other S9 members seriously as villains. They're genuinely scary. BTW, Bonesaw is annoying to me, though. I would like it better if she didn't have that stupid goofy, childish personality. I guess it's supposed to be uncanny because of the contrast of how violent she is, but it annoys me instead of terrifying me.

Jack Slash hurt Tattletale. Now you've gone too far, JS. She's my favorite character in Worm. I wonder if she will finally reveal her backstory soon, something I've already spoiled a bit for a myself at some point before starting this proper, chronological order read of Worm. On the bright side, it's good that Jack has hurt someone. Now we have even more proof that the S9's violent reputation is real. Their leader just cut a teenage girl's face just because she revealed something that he wanted to reveal first. Jack doing that isn't a surprise, though. After all, in his introduction chapter, he throws a baby at her brother. That made it pretty clear that Jack is a monster, if the S9's reputation wasn't enough proof.

I still want to see Crawler.

Also, before Shatterbird appeared in Hookwolf's chapter, I thought her power of shattering glass was the only thing she could do. But no, she also controls glass. Can do things like move it around. That makes her even more of a threat.

Mannequin is horrifying. It doesn't help that I've got a doll and mannequin phobia. And the body horror aspect of Mannequin only unsettles me more. Someone being able to turn themselves into a mannequin, with much of their flesh and blood missing, is hard for me to comprehend. Mannequin doesn't even have eyes. Even if someone could survive having their body modified in the way Mannequin did to himself, who would screw their body up that drastically? What Mannequin did to himself is worse than what happens when someone's face gets ruined by botched plastic surgery. The dude practically isn't even human anymore.

I did like how Taylor insulted him to try forcing him to attack her instead of that woman and her son. Mannequin wanted to kill those two and he wasn't going to let a stupid insult get in the way of that. A less scary villain would have gotten offended and turned his attention back to Taylor, falling for the bait. And the fact that Mannequin can't speak makes him scarier. The funny thing is that I feel more fear whenever he shows up than I did when Leviathan did. Maybe because there were a lot of capes fighting him, and it was easier for a single cape to survive, because there were so many of them. When Taylor fought Mannequin, all of his focus was on her. And there were no other capes to provide backup.

And a few people in the comments of some Worm chapters were surprised that no one has killed Jack Slash yet. They were shocked no one ever put a bullet in him, considering he's not invincible or nearly so. Well, the guy clearly knows how to pick his battles. You see how he went to Purity's home when he knew she might be too weak to kill him with her power. Plus he has Siberian as a deterrent, which he used to his advantage when he confronted Taylor and the other Undersiders. A lot of the time preventing your death is all about taking precautions. Jack isn't one of those villains in badly written novels where the bad guys get defeated because they don't use their brains. Jack is genuinely clever. Not being invincible doesn't mean you can't be unstoppable.

The S9 are well-written villains. And their introduction chapters show how menacing they are, and that they're a threat to be taken seriously. They give a great, villainous first impression. Wildbow is doing a good job writing them.

I'm really loving this arc. The stakes in Worm get higher and higher, which is a sign of good writing.

[shaddytheguyislazy]

I really like TheRealJims's youtube channel. He has this boundless well of positivity and curiosity for everything about The Simpsons and never fails to find something to say about an episode, even a bad episode, that I never noticed or that makes me look at it in a way I hadn't before. His analysis, his mysteries and histories videos and even his season reviews and top 10 lists are really even-handed with regards to what a "good Simpsons episode" even means, and it's inspiring. So much so that I decided to bite the bullet and finally watch into the middle years after staying in S1-S9 town for so long.

...And then I realized no, it really just starts sloping down at Season 10 then fuckin nosedives from S11 onwards. These episodes are borderline incoherent. Why does Mel Gibson get an entire episode. Why did those bikers turn into children for Marge to parent? Who thought putting Apu's children in a human zoo was a good idea for an episode. The Stupid Sexy Flanders episode has Lisa trick Homer and Bart into going to a leper colony?? Homer got fucked by a panda??? I feel like I've seen twice as many episodes because so many of them have entire first acts that are totally disconnected with the actual plots of the stories

There's still the occasional good episode that doesn't fuck anything up too bad but yeesh I wish this was as fun as my wholesome Youtuber made it sound

[heymacy]

hi! i haven’t seen mickeyless seasons so i wanted to ask if ian ever has issues about being bipolar like he did with mickey? like him breaking up in s5 for not wanting to see mickey hurt and s10 when he asks if he’s crazy for wanting to be with him! i think i read somewhere that caleb? maybe had a talk about self love or whatever to ian but that dude was horrendous ( not that trevor was best for what ive seen ) so im not sure that counts ahah

hi anon!

yes, ian grappling with his disorder is a very very big theme throughout seasons 6, 7, 8, and 9. in fact i would argue that aside from him becoming an EMT, the bipolar storyline is his most significant one (i typed out my response and it got very long so i'm going to put it below the cut 💛)

in s6 he is fresh off of the diagnosis, the breakup, and coping with mickey going to prison (and he was definitely trying to cope, he still loved him and seeing someone you love locked up is immeasurably hard. i feel like we don't talk about this enough). he feels very aimless and it isn't until an incident (he's a bystander to a car crash and rescues a woman from a burning vehicle) that he finds his new path (becoming an EMT, which he does by the end of s6). caleb was absolutely awful in so many ways but the one good thing he did do was encourage and support ian in finding a new life path, which is the only credit i will give him. there's also a deleted scene in s6 that is so, so important re: understanding how mentally ill people are viewed and treated in society and of course ian's monologue about how he's good at his job because of his illness, which is one of my favorite scenes in the entire show.

in s7, he's getting healthy again and taking his meds, but it isn't without struggle. there's a very poignant and important scene (part one, part two) with lip where he expresses his struggles with his disorder and how hard it is for him to cope with taking his meds and listening to the warning signs for episodes (he was behaving in ways akin to a hypomanic episode/showing signs of slipping into an episode just before the conversation happens). by the end of the season, after he leaves mickey at the border, he's still relatively stable, but the emotional triggers of leaving mickey behind + monica's death start to take a toll on him, which we see in s8. there's also the trevor of it all in s7, but that's a whole other issue. trevor did not have a positive impact on ian's self-esteem whatsoever and even went so far as to demand ian forgive monica and "move on" after knowing 0.1% of the history between the two of them. that scene in particular makes me unfathomably angry and i just know it was deeply, deeply triggering for ian to hear that from someone he cared about.

in s8, we have the gay jesus storyline, which i absolutely detest and hate to discuss, but it's part of his story and it needs to be acknowledged. he's taken advantage of a lot this season, propelled towards some sort of fucked up end goal with very little control over his circumstances, and it quickly spirals out of control. while the writers never explicitly state that ian is hypo/manic during this season, you can watch the progression happen if you pay close enough attention. despite not being given a lot to work with, cameron did a great job at playing the nuances of bipolar disorder this season, showing ian's descent into hypo/mania as the gay jesus movement grows and warps.

in s9, he's in prison for the first time and is noticeably manic. after being released, he starts seeking out meaning and purpose in religion. eventually he's forced to face the consequences of his actions and pleads not guilty to arson by reason of insanity, not only defying the wishes of the gay jesus followers (they feared him going public with his diagnosis and pleading insanity would delegitimize the movement) but also finally choosing to really acknowledge his disorder, reckon with it, and make peace with it, in a strange sort of way. it's a very important and pivotal moment for his character and cameron absolutely delivers during his plea monologue.

if you've see s10 you know how his self-worth takes a hit regarding the marriage storyline, and how he's so terrified of marrying mickey because 1) he doesn't know if he's capable of being a good partner because he doesn't feel like he had good examples of healthy marriage standards growing up and 2) he isn't sure mickey knows what he's signing up for re: his disorder and everything it entails. which, of course, is not the case, because mickey doesn't love him in spite of his disorder, he loves him completely, and his disorder is just a part of that. he wants all of him, always, and that's a huge plot point in s10 and s11 ("i gotta worry, you're my husband" scene my absolute beloved).

anyway. the short answer is that yes, ian spends a lot of time grappling with his disorder and the realities of life as a bipolar human. he deals with issues regarding his self-worth, his purpose, and his relationships. speaking as a bipolar individual, i can say with absolute certainty that coming to terms with your diagnosis is a long, arduous process that takes many years and a lot of commitment to achieve. it's not easy, and though the writers dropped the ball on a LOT of storylines in the show, they did a pretty damn good job of showing how hard it is to cope and live with the realities of bipolar disorder and everything that entails.

if you ever want to see more of his journey, gallavichscenes on youtube has playlists of all of ian's scenes in season 6, season 7, season 8, and season 9. i highly recommend watching the show in its entirety but if you don't want to do that, i recommend at the very least watching the rest of ian's storyline. it colors so much of his story and mickey's and it's hard to fully comprehend the extent of their relationship without understanding that storyline. i hope this answered your question! sending tons and tons of love 💛

[chrysochroma]

kept out of sight, sinister and cowardly

Rating: Teen And Up

Words: 16.4k

Fandom: Double Life, S9 HC x S2 Empires crossover

Warnings: MAIN CHARACTER DEATH, Mild Gore, Possession, Corruption, Angst, Death, Blood, Violence, Horror, Crying, Arguments, Manipulation, Trauma

this is my gift for the @mcythorrorgiftexchange for the lovely @yeaveragenerd :DD

Read on Ao3

~ A canary flies up into the wide blue sky, finally free from the darkness. His coal mine waits underneath, patient and understanding. The canary is free, but empty. For what is he without his coal mine? ~

Tango swung his pickaxe, digging it into the stone wall in front of him. He was in a cave he had found a bit away from spawn, gathering basic resources for the coming week. 

This was Tango’s third time participating in this tournament, so early game preparations were somewhat of a routine to him. He suspected that most of the other players were doing similar things, just getting geared up for later. These first few hours were usually pretty slow. Still, though, there was a bit of hesitance in the back of his mind. According to the overseers of the games, a new feature had been included for this series, and a few of the players had already found out about it. 

Impulse had found his soulmate, Bdubs, first, barely 20 minutes into the game. Tango was there when they both realized that the other had been responsible for the random sparks of pain in the back of their mind. Still, both were grateful to have found each other. 

A few minutes after that, though, Tango decided that he would really test how well the soulbonds worked, just for fun. It was a spontaneous decision, and in his defense, what else was he supposed to do with Etho standing so close to a cliff? It was barely a drop, only about 6 blocks, but it was still enough to induce a shriek from Etho and a punch to his arm from Joel, who had subsequently realized he and Etho were soulbound. 

Tango could feel the echo of another life attached to his, however faint it was. He had no idea who his soulmate was, and honestly, he was a bit scared to find out. Most of the other players had found theirs already, and at this point, there weren’t many others he could be paired with. He almost felt as if he didn’t have a soulmate at all. 

Tango sunk his pickaxe into the stone in front of him, slowly chipping out a tunnel deeper into the ground and filling his inventory with stone. About an hour had passed, and he was now comfortably kitted out with mostly iron, and even a couple diamonds, so he started to retrace his steps through the cave he was in. It was quiet underground as he walked, just the faint sounds of running water and his shoes tapping against the stone floor, but it still took him a minute to hear the other footsteps behind him. 

Tango froze. The footsteps continued. Tango turned to look back at the path he had come from, and his eyes caught the faint gleam of a torch casting light on the cave walls. Then a voice echoed through the cavern.  

“Hello?” It was Etho, presumably with Joel. 

“Yeah? Over here,” he called back. 

The torchlight got closer, lighting up what had previously been darkness due to Tango’s lack of supplies. Then Etho and Joel walked out from one of the tunnels leading into the cave, each of them decked out in iron armor. 

“Tango, there you are,” Etho said. 

“You find your soulmate yet?” Joel asked. 

Tango shook his head. “Nope. At this point I’m starting to think I don’t have one,” he joked. 

Etho shrugged. “You aren’t exactly out looking.”

“I’m sure I’ll find them eventually.” 

“You could always die,” Joel commented. “Then you would definitely know.”

Tango laughed, although a bit hesitantly. “Yeah, that would work, huh? And it would be easy, too–don’t really have any armor. I feel so naked,” Tango said. “Like I feel like anyone could just come by and murder me-” He snapped. “Like that!”

“I miss being enchanted,” Joel commented. 

“Yeah, it just makes things so much easier,” Tango agreed. 

“But the only table is in the City,” Etho reminded them.

Joel shrugged. “I mean, eventually someone will steal it, and then we won’t have to go all the way down there just to enchant.”

“How much do you wanna bet it’ll be Scar?” Tango asked. 

Etho scoffed. “It’s always Scar.”

“Exactly!”

Etho hummed in response. 

Tango continued to mine, and the other two started to venture into a different section of the cave, informally ending their conversation. Tango could still faintly hear them though, breaking blocks and talking. For a minute, they went quiet, but Tango didn’t pay much mind. He stepped back out into the larger cavern, which was still shrouded in darkness. 

From above him, he heard the swipe of a sword making contact with something, then a sizzle. Tango looked up just in time to see a creeper fall down on top of him, already flickering. A hiss filled his ears as his muscles tensed up, trying to save himself from the coming blast. He pulled up his shield, doing his best to hide behind it, to protect himself—to protect his soulmate—when an explosion rocked the cavern, roaring through his ears and flooding his vision with burning embers and a cloud of gunpowder. Fear surged through his heart, a mixture of his and his poor soulmate’s. There was fire all around him, burning white-hot, and then it was gone. 

Tango gasped. The forest was strikingly quiet, aside from some faintly chirping birds. His breathing was shaky, but whether it was from what had just happened or what was going to happen, he didn’t know. 

Another voice came from further in the trees. “Tango!” He recognized it a second after. 

“Jimmy.” Tango’s voice was much quieter, barely audible. 

He and Jimmy had only met once before, in the very first of these games, when he had died to Tango’s challenge/poorly disguised trap. And now they were soulmates. Not exactly a great first impression.

“Tango?” Jimmy yelled again, his voice getting closer. 

“I’m over here,” Tango replied, loud enough for Jimmy to actually hear him. 

Tango’s eyes caught the bright blond of Jimmy’s hair as he made it through the trees. Then they met each other’s canary yellow eyes. Tango froze. Jimmy strode towards him, closing the gap between them. 

“What happened, Tango?” His voice was forceful, demanding, and it made Tango grimace. 

“Uh- hi! Hi.” He paused for a split second. “I’m so sorry.” 

Jimmy sighed, and Tango held his breath. “Take me through it,” Jimmy said.

A rush of air escaped Tango’s lips. “Etho and Joel, man, they’re insane. I was caving, and they were with me—I think they were mad because I almost killed them at the beginning, and they just-” Tango cut himself off with another exhale, then met his soulmate’s eyes. “God, I’m so sorry.” He was frozen in painful anticipation, waiting for any reaction that Jimmy cared to give, and hoped that he could at least salvage their relationship enough to keep himself alive. 

Along with Tango, Jimmy had been a participant in every one of the past games, and every single time, he died first. First deaths were a big thing in these games, even more so when it was one person who died first consistently. To say that he garnered a reputation for it would be an understatement. It was almost expected at this point, for Jimmy to die first. He became the canary of the death games, forever fated to alert the rest of the players to the toxin that was this tournament, and whose warnings were mocked rather than heeded. And now Tango had been the one to doom him, like his own personal coal mine, with which he shared a soul. Jimmy couldn’t escape the dark, and Tango couldn’t pull him out of it, no matter how much either of them tried. 

Jimmy kept his eyes locked on Tango’s. There was a hint of a solemn smile on his face. “It’s okay.”

Tango blinked. 

“It’s okay,” Jimmy repeated. “We just need to pick ourselves up, get new gear, get some supplies, and we’ll be good.”

“Yeah.” Tango hesitated. “Yeah. We can do that. That’s a good idea. I’ll-“ He went to retrieve a pickaxe from his belt, then realized it was empty. “Right. Um…” He closed his fist, clutching the empty air, then took a breath and walked over to the nearest tree. “Guess we’ll just have to start over. I’ll go get us new stuff right away, and maybe you can get us some food?” 

“Yeah, that works. Are you sure you don’t want help with getting gear, though?”

The thought of himself back underground, in the dark, alone, almost made Tango reconsider, but he still shook his head. “I’m fine. But thank you," he added. 

Jimmy nodded. “Alright. I’ll go work on getting us stuff to eat, then.” 

“I want to enchant today, too.” Tango said. 

“Isn’t the table in the Ancient City?” His eyebrows furrowed. 

“Yeah, but I think it’s worth it. I really want us to be enchanted as quickly as possible.”

“Okay, yeah, we can do that. That is probably a good idea,” Jimmy agreed. 

Tango nodded, but didn’t say anything. 

Jimmy paused for a second, took a step away, back towards the trees, then stopped. “Y’know, I was starting to think that I didn’t have a soulmate at all or something,”

“Yeah. Me too.”

He nodded. “Nice meeting you, Tango.”

Tango felt himself relax just a bit. “You too.”

“Meet back up here?”

“Yeah. In an hour, probably.”

“Okay.” He started to turn away.

“And Jimmy?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry. Again.”

Jimmy smiled. “Don’t be. It’s just life, and we’ll get through it together.”

Tango’s heartbeat was dull in his ears as he mined through dark gray stone, making a staircase down deep into the earth. Jimmy was following behind him, staying quiet, although he didn’t really have a reason to—not yet, anyway. 

For hours before, Tango had spent his time mining similar tunnels through stone in an effort to restore at least some of the supplies he had before getting blown up, in addition to acquiring some new materials that would come in handy in about a few minutes. His inventory was filled with premade armor pieces, as well as weapons and tools to enchant, and a bit of an outlier among the rest of his items: some snowballs. He also had plenty of torches on hand, deciding that he would prefer to keep out of the dark if possible. 

He broke a section of stone out from in front of him, revealing a huge cavern, covered in so much sculk that it looked like a night sky. Their tunnel had left them suspended well above the city, glowing dimly below. Tango could see the faint gleam of blue soulfire through the ruins of whatever structures had once been there, in addition to the ever-vast sea of stars. 

Completely silently, Tango carved a staircase out of the wall, down to the city floor. Jimmy followed close behind him, not making a sound. The city was silent, too, like it was waiting for them. 

Finally, Tango set his feet on the old stone tiles that made up the city streets, and stared out into the darkness before him. It was like there was nothing there, regardless of the dim light scattered throughout. It seemed cold, empty and completely abandoned, but he supposed it being abandoned was better than not.

Almost immediately after stepping off the staircase, Tango picked a torch from his inventory and held it up, letting its light drive away some of the darkness. It was much less effective than Tango would’ve liked, only lighting up a few feet in front of him, but it was better than nothing. He considered placing torches throughout the city as they went, but kept himself from doing so in fear of drawing something else towards the light. 

He held his torch up a bit higher, then motioned for Jimmy to follow him into the depths of the city. He managed to guide the two of them towards the center, where he could see the faint shine of an enchanting table. He traced a winding path through the ruins, all of his movements silent and precise, desperate not to awaken what he knew lurked in the shadows. Then another light snagged his eyes. He turned to see where it was coming from and found it immediately after: Etho and Joel standing at the base of the staircase he had made. 

Tango let out a slightly shaky breath, then looked back at Jimmy. “We might need to hurry up,” he said, his voice barely even loud enough to be a whisper. 

Jimmy responded with a quizzical expression, and Tango gestured back to the staircase. Jimmy’s eyes darted over to where Tango had pointed and stayed there for a second, then back to him. His nod was a bit hesitant, but understanding. 

They continued through the city, still silent as ever. He could hear Joel and Etho’s footsteps across the city, seeming to Tango like gunshots in the silence. There was a sense of panic deep seated in his heart, and a barrage of thoughts were cycling through his brain. 

They’re so loud, it’ll hear them, we’re so close, can we make it, we need to be careful, it’s so dark here, we’re gonna die-

Something grabbed Tango’s shoulder from behind and he spun around, sword in hand, to see Jimmy. His soulmate jumped back, startled by the sudden movement, but his gaze was still focused on Tango. Tango could barely see Jimmy—he had traded his torch out for the sword, plunging them into darkness—but there was concern in his eyes and a hint of pity in his heart, he could feel it. Then he remembered the fear in his own mind and forced himself to relax, replacing some of the terror with a twinge of guilt. 

“Sorry.” He only mouthed the word, still too scared to put any sound behind it.

Jimmy nodded and smiled, then responded by mouthing “It’s okay.”

Tango forced out a small nod, then turned back towards the enchanter and kept moving. 

On the other side of the city, Etho and Joel were working their way towards the table, too, albeit a bit more quickly than Tango and Jimmy. They were louder, though, less careful, less protected, less mindful of the dangers that lie in the darkness. 

An iron plated boot hit the hard stone tile, sending a crack echoing through the cavern. Tango froze. A second passed. A wave of light and spine-chilling clicks gleamed across the floor of the city as sensor after sensor lit up, all triggered by that one sound. Eventually, the wave subsided, but not before sending a shriek screaming into the air and drilling deep into Tango’s bones. 

Tango’s eyes shot to where Etho and Joel were standing, giving them a wide-eyed glare, a mix of terror and fury. Joel shrugged in response, which made Tango cock his head to the side. Joel nudged Etho and whispered something, then took his bow off his back. Tango stepped back as his eyes got even bigger in disbelief. Next to him, a flicker of confusion passed through Jimmy’s face. Then the two of them watched as Joel nocked an arrow, then pulled back the string. Tango shook his head sharply and Joel let go of the string, sending it snapping back with a twang. 

“No!” Tango shouted. He clamped his jaw shut just after the sound escaped his mouth, but it was too late. 

Ripples of glowing cyan expanded from around each set of soulmates, bringing piercing shrieks and waves of midnight along with. The arrow Joel had fired landed just in front of Tango, sticking into the stone with a crack, but he barely noticed. Instead, his eyes were on the ground between the pairs, and what was climbing out of it. 

Bone white claws were stabbed into the sculk-coated tile, piercing through the deepslate like it was gold. A pair of horns were reaching up into the air, dripping in fungi and shining almost like they were wet. It brought a frigid rush of air rushing through the cavern, icy enough to make even Tango feel as though it was ripping through his skin and tearing muscle from his bones. The ground was shaking, almost like it too was shivering from the cold. Worse, though, was the heartbeat. It pounded its way into Tango’s skull, drowning out all of his other thoughts and replacing them with nothing but dread. The wind had ripped the fire from his torch, leaving them in darkness again, but it seemed even more gloomy now. The shadows were creeping up on them, surrounding them from all sides. The dim light from the soul fire was gone now, too, leaving only the glowing, pulsing souls locked in the chest of the creature in front of them, and the luminous pages of the enchanting table’s tome. 

It roared. The sound was deafening, leaving a ringing shock in Tango’s ears. He was frozen to the spot, staring at it in horror. The table was right there, but so was the creature. Jimmy grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, away from both of them. They stumbled back into the pitch black ruins, filling the halls with their frantic footsteps. 

Tango took a quick glance over his shoulder, back into the center of the city. It was still there, and it was looking right at them, staring right at Tango with the eyes it didn’t have. It opened its mouth. A growl echoed through the city. Then a sound like the ragged inhale of broken lungs came from behind, right before an ear-splitting shriek screamed through the air, driving itself like thunder into Tango’s brain.

His mind was pounding, his heart was racing, his lungs were screaming, maybe he was screaming, too. He was stuck. The boom echoed through his head, ricocheting in his mind and building in his ears. To him, there was nothing else. Nothing but the blasting roar, like an explosion. 

There was something in the air all around him. Small particles that got sucked into his lungs as he heaved for breath, taking short inhales and even shorter exhales. He coughed, driving some of it out of his throat, but most of it was still stuck. His hack was echoed by another three from behind him. Jimmy’s coughs were sharper, though, as he tried to clear his throat of the spores. 

Tango reached out into the dark, then latched onto Jimmy’s hand. He held it tight, trying to steady both of them. The fear was creeping back into his head, and he was painfully aware of the noise they were making. Jimmy was still coughing, and Tango was breathless, and it was getting closer. He squeezed Jimmy’s hand. 

How could he fix it? How could he save them? They had to make it out. They couldn’t lose another life. But how?

He reached into his inventory and grabbed a snowball. He pulled his arm back and chucked it across the city, over the creature’s head, right at Joel and Etho. It hit the ground and sent snow scattering over the sculk coated tile. The Warden stopped. Tango threw another snowball. It turned away from Tango, then faced where the snowballs had hit. He threw another. It started to walk towards them. Etho and Joel both froze as another snowball hit the stone. It charged forward, and Tango ran, towing Jimmy behind him. 

He was moving as quickly and as quietly as he could, retracing their path through the city. It was still dark, and he could feel his snare drum heartbeat on his ribcage, but he continued. His hand was still holding Jimmy’s and he could still hear him coughing. A millisecond of worry flashed across his mind but was quickly drowned out by the stress. 

Even further behind them, he could hear Etho and Joel screaming. It was roaring, and shaking the ground, the sculk around it lighting up at its movements. He could hear the clangs of swords against something much too tough to be cut, and the thwacks of arrows hitting their target but doing nothing, and the creaking of the wood of a shield as it failed to protect from the dangers around them. 

Still, they kept moving. They kept going, finally making it out of the darkness. To the tunnel. Out of the city. To the surface. 

A message in bright, sunny yellow flashed across his vision.

Smallishbeans was obliterated by a sonically-charged shriek

Then right after it:

Etho died

They kept moving, and Jimmy kept coughing, and they kept their hands intertwined. The deepslate around them shifted into stone, then dirt, and then air. They were out. The sun was on their faces, and the breeze was in their hair, and their Ranch was on the horizon. And Jimmy was still coughing. 

His mind finally clear of darkness and panic, Tango was finally able to help him. He rushed over to the nearby river, pulling his soulmate along with him, and leading his soulmate to take a drink. Jimmy cupped his hands under the water, collecting a little puddle of it before raising his hands to his mouth and taking a sip.

Tango could feel a bit of an itch in his throat, but nothing that could cause a cough like that. He figured that he could feel a bit of whatever Jimmy had through the soulbond, which worried him even more. Had he caused it? He could still feel some of those particles in the back of his throat. 

Jimmy gulped down more water, his cough finally subsiding for a moment. 

“Do you think you’re ready to get back to the Ranch?” Tango asked. “It’ll be easier to figure out what’s going on at home.”

He took another sip, then nodded. “Yeah.” He stood, and then the two started walking in the direction of their house. 

The journey didn’t take long, but about halfway through it, Jimmy’s cough returned. He stopped and brought a hand up to his mouth to try and stifle it, but was unsuccessful. Tango stood next to him, his expression made of pure concern. 

“What is this?” Tango muttered to himself. 

Jimmy choked down a cough. “I’m fine,” he said. “Let’s just keep going.”

“Okay.” He didn’t know what else to say.

After another couple minutes, they reached the walls bordering their Ranch and made their way inside. Jimmy sat down on the bed as Tango went to get more water and some food from their storage. He returned with a few loaves of bread and some bottles of water, which he handed to his soulmate before sitting down next to him. A couple minutes passed in silence as Jimmy ate and drank, until Tango asked a question. 

“Has something like this happened before?”

Jimmy hesitated for a second before shaking his head. “I mean, my lungs have always been kind of bad, but nothing like this.”

Tango nodded. 

The pair fell back into quiet, both lost in their own heads. 

At least they were alive. Whatever this was, they would figure it out together. 

At least they made it out. They didn’t get what they came for, though. 

“I’m gonna go back down.” Tango said. 

Jimmy frowned. “I don’t think we should go right now, we should rest for a bit.”

He paused. “I think it’s better if I go alone.”

“What?” Jimmy turned to Tango, his eyebrows scrunched. “No, you aren’t, we go together-“

Tango shook his head once. “Whatever you have started down there. There is no way you’re going back, okay?”

“No,” Jimmy repeated. “I am not letting you go back down there alone, we barely made it out with both of us.”

“I’ll be fine,” Tango reassured him. “We need enchantments.”

“Do we? I mean, none of the other players have them," he argued. 

“Yes, we do.” Tango’s voice was firm. “It never hurts to be prepared.”

“Yeah, I guess, but can you at least wait until there are other people?”

“I can handle it,” Tango said, ignoring his still-jittery heart.

Jimmy paused, looking at Tango. “Are you sure we need it?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Jimmy sighed. “Please be careful. Please don’t die-“

“I’m not going to get us killed again.”

“I- okay.”

There was a quick pause. 

“Can I have your armor? And any tools you want enchanted.” Tango held out his hand, and Jimmy gave him his armor, along with a sword, bow, and pickaxe, however reluctantly. “Thank you.”

Tango put all of the armor pieces away, then put his hand in Jimmy’s. “I’ll be careful,” he said, looking into his soulmate’s eyes. His gaze darted away to look out one of the windows, then back to Jimmy just as quick. “I promise.”

“Okay.” There was some kind of reluctance on his face, so subtle Tango couldn’t place it. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked. 

Jimmy frowned a bit. “I’ll be fine. Are you… Can you tell?”

“A little,” Tango admitted. “But not much. I’m feeling more… emotions.”

“Ah.”

The candlelight flame of fear in the back of Tango’s heart grew, then was snuffed out. 

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I’ll get this stuff enchanted, and then I’ll come back home, and we’ll be safe.” He squeezed Jimmy’s hand. 

He sighed, then nodded. “Yeah.”

Tango let go, and Jimmy watched as he walked back outside and started in the direction of the tunnel he had made. He was keeping his breathing steady as he descended into the earth, holding a torch out in front of him as he walked, regardless of the ones already placed on the tunnel walls. He ventured back into the darkness, into the city, so slow that he was barely moving. He crept through the ruins like the darkness itself was preying upon him. It felt as though he had to force his heart to keep beating, like it would suddenly stop just so he could be quieter. He could feel the extra weight of Jimmy’s armor in his inventory, and the extra fear from Jimmy’s mind in his heart. Both were ever-present, a reminder of what he was here for and why he needed to make it back. 

He made his way to the center of the city, then stopped. In front of him, framed by an ancient portal covered in sculk, was a red-draped altar and a gleaming book floating atop it. He stepped up to the table and set down a chunk of lapis lazuli, then turned his gaze to the tome. His eyes were scanning for Protection and Unbreaking, Efficiency, Sharpness, Mending, anything that could help. He paused for a split second after seeing the enchantment for Blast Protection, but continued. He kept his mind alert as he read through the enchantments they required, blessing each of the objects in turn. He enchanted Jimmy’s gear first, then his own, slowly burning through the lapis he had brought. 

He set his chest plate on the altar, then started to flip through the pages. Once again, his eyes caught on the enchantment for Blast Protection. It took just a second of hesitation before he read the enchantment, crushing a small chunk of lapis over the armor and imbuing it with magic. A gleam of iridescent purple slid across the iron, and something in Tango’s mind calmed. 

A drop of something wet hit his forehead. It was dark turquoise and cold, leaving a trail of its path as it rolled down his face. He looked up to see where it had come from and another drop fell, coating the surface of his eye. 

Tango gasped and stumbled back, blinking furiously. He rubbed his eye, pressing hard with his thumb—a bit too hard. The darkness spread, flooding across his other eye and blocking out his vision. His heart hammered in his chest and his movements grew panicked, frantically trying to get the substance out of his eyes so he could see again. Then he stilled. His mind calmed down, his heartbeat slowed, and he let his hands drop to his sides. Darkness still coated his eyes. He stood still for a second, before a shimmer of aqua flitted across them. 

Tango grabbed the pickaxe from his belt and watched a wave of glowing purple slide across it. Then he swung the pickaxe, digging the tip of it into the base of the table. After a couple more strikes, the base of the altar was destroyed, leaving the tome sitting atop the rubble, its light now dimmed. Tango reached down and picked up the book, snapping it shut and tucking it into one of his pockets. 

He blinked, and the darkness leaked out of his vision. He gasped and tried to steady himself, unsure of what had just happened. His eyes were darting around the city, looking for any sign of a threat, but found nothing. Then he looked back at his pickaxe, and the purple shine it had. He took a breath, then started back towards his tunnel in silence.

Tango stepped back onto grass, on the surface once again. The sun was starting to set, glowing orangey-red and painting the sky with tints of yellow and pink. The Ranch was casting a shadow on the ground in front of it, the torches mounted on its walls letting off pinpricks of light. Seeing it again made him smile, knowing that he had made it back okay. He could feel Jimmy’s mind fill with relief in response. Although Jimmy didn’t quite know what was happening, Tango smiling was enough for him to know that things were okay. 

He stepped up to the doors to their house and reached down to open one when the handle moved away from his hand and the door swung open. He was met with Jimmy’s smile, gleaming like he knew everything was okay.

“Hi!” Jimmy exclaimed. He walked towards Tango, going to wrap his arms around him in a hug, but as he did so, he pulled his hand up to his mouth and coughed into it, half stumbling into him in the process.  

“H- oh, are you okay?” Tango asked.

“Yeah, I’m just-” He coughed a couple more times. “It’s just a cough.”

“You weren’t this bad when I left,” Tango noticed. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Tango led Jimmy into their house, both supporting him and pulling him towards the table in their kitchen. Jimmy pulled his arm out of Tango’s grasp and held his hand instead. 

“I’m fine, really. Hey, and you’re fine too! Did you get everything that you wanted enchanted?” “Yeah, we’re all set!” Tango pulled all of Jimmy’s tools and armor out of his inventory and set them on the table. Each one had a rippling amethyst sheen to it, imbued with power and magic. 

“Wow,” Jimmy said. He picked his sword up off the table and held it up, tilting the blade and watching a sparkle of light shine across it. Then he picked up the rest of his gear and stowed it away, admiring the luster to each of them before putting them away. “Y’know, I really do feel safer with all of these enchants.”

“Yeah, they’re definitely going to come in handy,” Tango responded, slipping his hand back into one of his pockets. Then his finger brushed against something unexpected: the leather cover of a book. 

He ran his thumb across the material, feeling the details engraved into it. They were intricate and elegant, as far as Tango could tell. He grabbed onto the book and pulled it out of the pocket just enough to catch a glimpse of it. It had a brown leather cover with gold framing the edges and filling in the carvings. There was text carved into it too, but the words didn’t seem to have any meaning to them. 

Snuff, galvanize, imbue, self, creature, fresh, ignite, free.

Tango let the book fall back into his pocket, electing to ignore it, then pulled out his own sword, its violet gleam reflecting in his eyes. “Now that we have this, we’ll be safe,” Tango said. “And we can figure out how to heal you.”

Jimmy nodded. “Yeah.” He paused for a moment. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Yeah, me too. I mean- I’m glad that you’re okay, not that I’m okay-” Tango grimaced. “Well I’m glad that I’m okay too but what’s more important is that you’re okay, which you are, and I’m glad.” He paused, took a breath, then looked at Jimmy. “I’m glad that you’re okay.”

Jimmy laughed, poorly disguising it as a cough, then actually coughed. Tango moved closer, concerned, but Jimmy recovered before he could do anything. Jimmy recognized the fear in his heart as not his own, then pursed his lips. “It’s fine, you said it yourself, we just need to figure this out, and then we’ll be okay, right?’

The reluctance on Tango’s face was clear. “Yeah.”

“We can do it.”

“Yeah. We’ll fix it.”

-

Rays of sunshine shone into the Ranch, marking the second day of the games. Jimmy could hear birds quietly chirping outside as he blinked himself awake. Tango was still asleep next to him, his expression more calm than Jimmy had seen. Something like sadness, or pity, or guilt flashed in his heart, which he solemnly acknowledged.

The blaring sound of a goat horn’s call trumpeted through the arena, and it was subsequently answered by two others right after.

Tango groaned, woken up by the noise. “Come on,” he muttered. “It’s too early.”

“We need to get some of those,” Jimmy decided. “I cannot stand them just sounding their horns all the time, and how they all respond to each other-” He cut himself off with an exasperated scoff. “We just need to get some.”

“Can’t it wait a few minutes?” Tango asked, half mumbling into his pillow. “And you’re supposed to be the sick one, how are you so energetic?” Jimmy waved him off. “I’m fine, see? It must’ve gone away already!” Then, almost as if on cue, a cough erupted from his throat, making him double over in pain as the hacks continued.

“Woah, hey,” Tango reached out a hand and put it on Jimmy’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

He nodded, his hand still up to his mouth. “Yeah.”

Tango raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. He climbed out of bed and walked over to a chest on the other side of the room, picked out some steak and more bottles of water, then walked back over to the bed and sat down next to his soulmate, handing him the items. 

“Thanks,” he said, then took a long drink of water. 

Tango gave a small smile in response. “If you really want to get some horns, I think I know where we could get a couple.”

Jimmy’s eyes lit up and Tango felt a surge of happiness in his heart. “Really?” 

“Oh, yeah.” Tango smiled. 

It took them a couple hours and some much needed help from Pearl, but they finally had their horns. 

Tango was studying his, spinning it slowly in his hands, his eyes following its grooves.

“We should blow them at the same time!” Jimmy was practically jumping up and down holding his new goat horn.

There was a second of silence before Tango responded. His eyes darted away from the horn and up to Jimmy’s. “Huh?”

“Hey, you knew what I meant,” he complained, giving Tango a playful smack on the arm. 

“Oh, right,” Tango forced out a quick laugh. “Yeah, let’s do it together. Ready?”

Jimmy nodded, and then the two of them each brought their horn up to their lips. 

A pair of four quick notes sounded through the arena, ringing through the air like chiming bells. Jimmy squealed and Tango laughed, both followed by those same four notes once again.

Jimmy was grinning ear-to-ear. “Oh, I love it!” 

“It’s amazing!” Tango agreed.

“And now, we can-” He cut himself off with another call of his horn, which was followed by a different call from across the map, answering his. “Yes! They’re answering!”

“And ours match, too, so we’ll always know that it’s us!” Tango beamed. “Oh, I am so glad we did this.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Hey, Scar,” Joel called. “Where are you?”

“Just over here,” he replied, coming from somewhere behind a wall of bamboo. “Would you like to come see the pandas?”

“Sure,” he replied, following Etho towards the Sanctuary.

The pair let themselves in through the gate and walked up to Scar, who was feeding one of the animals. 

Scar turned to look at them, then smiled. “What can I do for you two gentlemen? There’s some bamboo in that chest over there if you’d like to feed the Jellies, no cost although donations are very much appreciated-”

“We came to ask about the enchanter,” Etho interjected.

Scar gave a quizzical expression. “Well what about it?” “Where is it?” Joel demanded, his voice blunt.

“It should be in the Deep Dark, is it not?”

“No. We went down there to enchant yesterday and got killed by the blummin’ Warden, and when we tried to go back today, the table was gone. So where is it?” He asked again.

“I don’t have it. I haven’t even been in the Deep Dark yet, Grian banned me from going,” he frowned. 

“Are you sure about that?” Joel pressed. 

Meanwhile, Etho had started to drift away from the other two and was studying the base of the Sanctuary’s walls, searching for any seemingly out of place dirt.

“Why, yes, I’m sure,” Scar huffed. “Does it look like I have the enchanter? If I did, I would be all shiny, which I am not. Sadly.”

Joel scowled. “Do you know who would have it, then?”

“No idea. Do you?” He paused for a second. “Well we did follow Tango and Jimmy down there, but they didn’t even get to enchant. And there’s no way they would steal the enchanter.”

Scar shrugged. “You never know. Maybe one of them decided to be a bit rebellious.”

“Yeah, no way,” Joel scoffed. “Not the Tango and Jim I know.”

“Hey, Jimmy?” Tango called from across the house.

“Yeah?”

“I have an idea of something I think we should do.”

“Alright,” Jimmy responded, walking towards the source of Tango’s voice. “What is it?”

Tango was leaning against their table, holding his pickaxe. “I think we should move underground, at least for a little bit.”

“What?” He looked a bit confused, caught off-guard by Tango’s idea.

“Just for a little,” he repeated. “I hate to leave our beautiful Ranch, but I think this is safest right now. I found a cave that we could use.”

Jimmy’s eyebrows scrunched up. “I thought you didn’t like caves.”

“Well it’s not that I don’t like them, I just don’t like when they’re not safe,” Tango said. “Besides, this will be better in the long run. As much as I love the Ranch, it’s a bit flammable.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I mean, I guess if you think that’s best, then sure. You are sure though, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” Tango nodded.

“Alrighty, then.” Jimmy sighed. “It’s a shame we’re leaving the Ranch, though.”

“Yeah, it is. I’m gonna miss it.”

“Me too. But it’s just for a little while, we’ll be back,” Jimmy figured.

“Yes, we will,” Tango smiled. 

Jimmy let the blade of his scythe rest on the ground among the wheat he had harvested and lifted his hand to wipe the sweat off his brow. The midday sun was beating down hard on him, but it seemed less harsh than normal. 

He had been outside farming and tending to the animals for a few hours now, to Tango’s reluctance. According to him, it was a much better idea to stay inside and underground, but Jimmy would’ve been lying to his face if he’d said that he agreed. The darkness and the cold seemed so suffocating to him, he could barely stand being down there for long. He knew that he agreed to hide out more, but his lungs were aching just thinking about being underground. He hadn’t even coughed that much as he was outside, in the warmth of the sun’s rays. It was calm, and there was a light breeze. It was nice, which made him even more adverse to spending all his time in a cave. 

Tango seemed to be doing the opposite, though. The last time they had even seen each other was when he said they should stay underground more. Since then, he had been dutifully sticking to his own direction. Jimmy doubted that Tango had seen the sun since it rose. He had no idea how he could tolerate the cold for so long. 

Technically, Jimmy was only supposed to be “preparing” to stay in the cave Tango found, stocking up on bread and meat so they didn’t have to go outside as much. He knew that he promised Tango he would stay safe, but he could never bear to part with the sky above him. 

A voice jolted him out of his thoughts. “Hey, Jim.”

Jimmy looked up to see Joel and Etho crossing through the gates into the Ranch, both holding swords. He instinctively stepped back, tightening his grip around the scythe. “What do you want?” Something scratched at the back of his throat and he coughed to try and stop it. Shortly after, though, the feeling returned. 

“Woah, no need to be so aggressive,” Joel joked.

“We came to ask about the enchanter.” Etho said.

Jimmy hesitated. “Okay?”

“Where is it?”

He looked confused. “I don’t have it.”

“Well then who does?” Etho questioned.

“Isn’t it still in the Ancient City?”

“Nope. Someone stole it, and we’re trying to figure out who.”

“And you’re asking me?” Jimmy raised his eyebrows. “You really think I stole the enchanter?”

“You two are the only players with enchants,” Joel said, gesturing at his and Etho’s dull armor. “So, yeah.”

“Well, I don’t have it, so you’re gonna have to look elsewhere, mister.”

“What about Tango?” Etho interjected.

“Yeah, where is he, anyway?” Joel glanced around the Ranch. “You two are soulmates, shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, together?”

“He’s mining,” Jimmy shot back. “And he doesn’t have the enchanter, either.”

Joel just squinted at him.

“Oh, come on, do you really think either of us would steal it? That’s Scar’s job.”

The three of them stared at each other in suspenseful silence for a minute, before Joel finally spoke.

“I know when you’re lying, Jim, and you’re not.”

“See? I told you we don’t have it,” he smiled. “Now go away, I have some farming to do.” 

-

The next day, Jimmy still found himself outside, farming wheat in silence. The afternoon sun was once again showering him with its warmth, and he found himself giving up on keeping the sweat off his brow as he swung the scythe back and forth, cutting down swaths of wheat in an arc. The day was different, though. It seemed a little bit darker and a little bit colder than the previous two, like the sun was trapped behind an ever-growing cloud, regardless of the fact that the sky was completely clear.

A chill ran down Jimmy’s spine. He paused for a second, still comprehending what he had just felt. He was cold. Not in the sense of a passing breeze that was stronger than you’d expect, moreso like the constant throbbing of frostbite on your hands and feet. But he was never cold, or at least Tango wasn’t. Usually, Tango had more than enough heat to keep both of them warm, but recently that hadn’t been happening. It almost felt as though he hadn’t felt warm in a while. 

Jimmy was standing in front of a row of chests, stowing all of the wheat he had harvested when he heard footsteps coming up from underground. Tango joined him at the chests, putting away various stones and ores. Neither acknowledged the other for a second, until Jimmy paused. 

“Hey, Tango?” He asked. “Are you... cold?”

Tango raised an eyebrow and repeated his question. “Am I cold?” 

“I mean like when you’re mining.” Jimmy added. 

“I mean, sometimes. Why?”

“Well, when I was farming earlier today,” he ignored Tango’s slight frown. “I felt this.. I don’t know, shiver, through our soulbond. And I know you don’t really get cold or anything, but I was just wondering if something was going on.”

“What? No, I’m fine, it just-” There was a split second of hesitation. “-gets a bit cold down there sometimes.”

Jimmy nodded, even though he didn’t understand. “I see. So everything’s alright, yeah?”

“Yeah, of course,” Tango said.

“That’s.. good.”

Tango nodded, then disappeared back down the tunnel into the mines. 

Jimmy sat on their bed, still awake, lit only by the glow of a lantern. The moon was out, shining a subtle glow through the windows. As much as it was beautiful, though, Jimmy’s mind was in other places. 

Tango never took this long to come back. Usually he would be back in the house by now, preferring to avoid any mob that spawned rather than fight them.

Then a blood red message flashed across his vision, disrupting his train of thought.

Smallishbeans died because of Enderman

Followed by:

Etho died

They died again. Jimmy nearly gasped at it, even before he realized. They were reds now, the first pair in the game, meaning they could kill whoever they wanted, and that was not good for the two of them.

Jimmy tried to see if he could feel any reaction to the death through the soulbond, but came up with nothing, surprising him a bit. He expected Tango to be a bit more panicked about it—or at least excited. Instead, their soulbond felt empty, with almost another tinge of that same cold. 

Jimmy frowned, and he blinked. His eyelids were getting heavier as the moon made its way into the sky. There were dozens of questions in his mind, none of which he could answer.

He blinked again, then closed his eyes. 

-

Jimmy groaned as he slowly woke and stretched out of the awkward position he fell asleep in. His muscles were aching, as if punishing him for his lack of caring, and the air was scratching at his lungs, making him cough a couple times. He looked around, but saw no sign that Tango had even been out of mines since he last saw him. He sighed, then laid back down and tried to make himself comfortable. 

Something had to be going on, he thought. He started to search back through his memories, trying to identify anything that could’ve caused this. He remembered when they had first met, and the creeper explosion that caused it, and then the pair of them going into the Ancient City, and- 

The shriek. It was dark when it happened, but he remembered feeling those particles in the air and in his throat, like dust kicked up from the explosion. It was probably the reason for his own cough, he realized. But whatever Tango had was worse somehow. He didn’t know why, and no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t figure it out. He was digging through his mind, seeking out every speck of information on the substance he could remember. 

It was called sculk, and it was like a fungus, and it spread when things died around it. It thrived in places like the Ancient City—dark, cold, and far underground. There were shriekers, and sensors, and Wardens, all made of the stuff. And it could hear you. It was dangerous, and not good to be around. 

Then something else popped into his mind. A while ago, outside of the games, someone he knew got… infected. Cub. Jimmy didn’t know exactly what happened, but he knew that, while he was infected, Cub was different, changed, like he was possessed. He was distant, and obsessive, and almost manipulative. 

Then Jimmy started to get worried. He was pretty sure Tango had been infected, too. He could still feel the ever-present chill in their soulbond and the absence of his soulmate in the rest of his heart. As soon as he had thought of the idea, it was like a fuse had been lit in his brain, making it blow up into a million questions. 

If that’s what happened to Tango, how would he fix it? What would he do? Could he ask anyone about it? Who could he ask? Who would know? Who would help him? 

His mind was frantically searching through every possibility, and crossing each name off the list a second after he thought of them. Then he hesitated, caught on a name bright in his mind among hesitance, fear, and desperation: Scar. 

Scar was Cub’s old business partner, and he was there when Cub was infected. Out of all of the players, he would be the best one to ask by far. Still, though, there was no way he would actually help him. He would want something in return, that something being the enchanter, which he didn’t have, and there wasn’t much else he could offer. So, practically all options were off the table. Unless… 

“Scar?” Jimmy called. 

“Yes?”

“I have to ask you about something.”

“I see.” Scar set something in a chest and closed it, then turned to Jimmy. “Well, I’m happy to answer any question you have to the best of my abilities, but I’m afraid I’ll need something in exchange.”

“Yeah. See, I know you want the enchanter, but I don’t have it. I swear. I…” Jimmy hesitated, and his eyes darted to the side for a second. “I do know where it is. And I’ll tell you, if you can help me.”

Scar smiled. “Fantastic, I am very glad to hear that. Now, good sir, what can I help you with?”

“You know Cub, right? And you were there when he got infected with that stuff a while ago? Out of the games,” Jimmy asked. 

“Ah.” Scar paused. “Yes, why do you ask?”

“I-“ He started, then cut himself off. “That’s not important. What can you- What happened?”

“Enchanter first.”

Jimmy frowned, then exhaled. He grabbed a piece of paper, jotted a series of random numbers down on it and handed it to Scar. “There’s the first coordinate, I’ll give you the other after.”

Scar tucked the paper in his pocket, then thought for a second before starting to speak. “Honestly, I don’t really know,” Scar shrugged. “I think he went to help Shubble with something at her swamp and got infected there. The infection itself only lasted a few days, but a lot happened. He went around spreading sculk everywhere, and got, like, possessed and stuff. Eventually, Shelby and a few others were able to get rid of it, though.”

“How did they cure him?” Jimmy spat out the question like it was freezing on his tongue. 

“Potions, I think?”

Jimmy’s heart sank into his stomach. Potions, of course. The one thing he couldn’t make. “Are you sure?” He pressed. 

“Yes, I am. Now, if that’s all you wanted, I believe I’m missing a coordinate,” he reminded.

Jimmy huffed impatiently and looked for another piece of paper to write on. When he couldn’t find one, let out a short groan and held out his hand. “Give me it back.”

Scar hesitated for a moment before complying. Jimmy snatched the paper out of Scar’s hand, scribbled the other coordinate next to the first, then shoved it back at him. He opened his mouth to give a quick ‘thank you,’ but was cut off by another voice. 

“Hey there, Jim.”

Joel and Etho were walking out from under the cover of the forest towards them, their eyes shining blood red. 

“Ah, gentlemen, nice to see you again,” Scar smiled. 

Immediately after, Jimmy spun on his heel, his boots digging into the soft ground as he sprinted away, bushing through branches and leaves. He could hear the pair give chase, their footsteps pounding. The creak of a bowstring cut through the monotony, followed by the thwack of an arrow burying itself in the trunk of a tree next to him. Two more arrows followed it, each getting closer and closer to him, but never quite hitting their target. Then the forest gave way to the desert, open and plain. He kept running, pushing himself through the sand as arrows whizzed past him on either side. 

“C’mon, Jim, die already!” Joel yelled. 

Etho stopped and drew his bow back once more, carefully took aim, then let the arrow fly. This time, it sailed through the air in a perfect arc and landed in the meat of Jimmy’s shoulder. Jimmy gasped as he felt piercing metal dig deep into his muscle, the arrowhead planting itself right next to his bone. He stumbled but kept running, slowly making his way across the field of sand. He could feel Etho’s eyes following him as he ran, watching him before lining up a second shot, but another never came. Their footsteps faded from view as he finally left the desert, clinging onto the life that remained. 

Jimmy pushed through the front door into the Ranch, breathing quickly. There was blood soaking his shirt now, draining out of the puncture wound left by the arrow, which was still stuck in his shoulder. He could feel his heart shaking and his shoulder throbbing as he pulled the arrow out. After he got it unstuck, he set it on the table next to him and began to clean the wound. As he did, he searched through the deeper parts in his heart, looking for anything through the soulbond, but found nothing. No panic, no worry, not even pain. There was no evidence of Tango even noticing he had been shot.

For a split second, Jimmy wondered if something had broken, if the game had glitched or something. Because what else would it be? There’s no way Tango wouldn’t at least be able to feel the arrow. He had lost nearly 5 hearts after all, and that was hard to ignore. Still, though, there was nothing. 

Jimmy tied the ends of the bandage around his shoulder, then stood. He walked over towards the bank of chests on the wall, but paused at the entrance to the mine. What was he doing down there? There was no way he was still actually mining. If he was, he would’ve gone through dozens of pickaxes at this point, and for what? It’s not like they needed that much. Gods, it seemed like forever since he had last seen him. He could barely feel him, either. Another couple of coughs escaped his lungs. 

He was staring down the tunnel into Tango’s mineshaft, blood now soaking through his bandages, nothing but confusion in his eyes and a lump in his throat. 

Jimmy was sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall, almost completely unmoving. He was seated right next to the entrance to the strip mine, just sitting there, thinking. Originally, it had been a decision of whether he should be worried, but now it was more along the lines of whether he should go look for Tango or just leave him alone. He was worried, there was no debate about that, but deciding what he would do about it was what troubled him. 

He was thinking about what Scar had said, too. They used potions to cure him, which was impossible here. So that wasn’t it. Whatever Tango had was different, he told himself. Something else. Maybe he didn’t even have anything at all, who knows? Besides, Scar said that Cub got sick from Shubble’s swamp, which Tango definitely didn’t go into. So that wasn’t it. Maybe it was just the games. They changed people, he knew that. After all, it’s kind of hard to kill your friends in cold blood for sport one day, then go back to being buddies the next. To avoid that, most players acted differently in the games, like they were playing a character instead of being themselves. For all he knew, that was all that was going on. Everyone was fine, including Tango, and so was he. 

Something hard struck the wood of their front door–the pommel of a sword. The sound it made was sharp and deliberate, with an air of impatience to it. It was a knock, but not a question: a demand. 

Jimmy pushed himself off the floor, grabbed his sword from his belt and walked over to the door. One hand clenched the grip of his sword and the other reached out for the doorknob, the rest of his muscles tense. 

He opened the door. Standing behind it, as he expected, was Scar, Etho and Joel on either side of him. 

“Hi,” Jimmy started. 

“Hi Jimmy,” Etho replied, his face blank. 

“I assume you know why we’re here,” Scar said, holding the piece of paper Jimmy gave him between his fingertips. 

“Okay, yeah, look, I don’t know where it is. I just needed some info, that’s all. And it didn’t even affect you!” Jimmy defended. 

“Well, you did lie to me. And after I placed my trust in you, Jimmy,” Scar tutted. “I can’t believe it.” He closed his fist around the paper, crushing it into a tight ball before dropping it. 

“Hey-!” Jimmy took a step back and scowled at Scar. “Okay, I might’ve lied to you then, but I’m not lying when I say that I don’t have it. Neither of us do.”

“Then I guess it’s magically disappeared, huh, Jimmy?” Joel interjected. “You’re the only people that could have it.”

“No-“

“Speaking of, where is your soulmate?”

“He’s mining.” Jimmy said sharply. 

“Still?” Etho laughed. 

Joel smiled. “Trouble in paradise, huh, Jim?” 

“No, hey-“ Jimmy stopped himself, then sighed. “Look, how do you know someone else doesn’t have it?”

“You’re the only players with enchanted gear.” Scar shrugged, tapping his knuckle against Jimmy’s chestplate. “It’s simple, Jimmy.”

“Yeah, look at you, all shiny,” Etho added. 

“Well they could be framing us!”

Scar raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think that, Jimmy?” His voice was full of venom, so much so that it almost surprised him. 

“Yeah, well,” He trailed off. 

“Just tell us where it is and we’ll leave you alone,” Etho offered.

Joel grinned unsympathetically. “Yeah, and we won’t even kill you.”

“Great, thanks.” Jimmy replied dryly. In his head, though, sirens were blaring loud and clear. 

Gods, where was Tango? He needed someone to back him up on this, there was no way he could just get them to leave by himself. If Tango were there, maybe he could convince them that they didn’t have the enchanter, because they didn’t! The situation was infuriating, but that didn’t stop him from being terrified. 

“Hey guys, how about we settle this later, alright?” He started to pull the door closed when Scar stepped forward and braced his arm against the door, keeping it open. 

“Well, actually, my friend, I think I’m gonna need something in exchange for my troubles. How about that shiny armor of yours?” Keeping one hand on the door, he held out his other expectantly. 

Jimmy shook his head and stepped back. “Uh, yeah, no, you can go get your own armor.”

Scar paused, silent. Jimmy could tell that the gears in his mind were turning, but he couldn’t tell why. 

“Okay, fine.” He stepped back and took his hand off the door, which Jimmy immediately slammed in his face. 

His heart was racing, pounding against his chest as he retreated back, farther into his home. They left. Never in a million years did he think they would actually leave. But they did, and it was going to be okay. He felt as though the sun was actually warm again, beaming in through the windows and freeing him from that cold in his heart. It was finally warmer, he could feel it. Everything was back to normal, and it would be okay.

Then the scent of smoke caught his nose. He heard laughing from outside. Jimmy froze. He looked out one of the windows. The light seemed… red. Then the first plank gave away. Flames were burning bright, licking along the edge of the wood, and smoke poured in through the hole as more and more of the wood gave away to the blaze. 

The Ranch was on fire. 

Jimmy was breathing quickly, inhaling what seemed like equal parts smoke and air as he rushed to the mineshaft entrance and screamed for Tango to come up, both for help and to make sure he was okay. He waited, but there was no response. He started to call out again but was overcome with a fit of coughs as pain wracked his lungs. The room was filled with dark gray smoke now, making it impossible to even see how bad the damage was getting. He choked out another cough, then inhaled more smoke, then coughed again. He shut his watering eyes tight and turned back to where the door had been, then stumbled towards it. He pushed himself through the doorway and onto the grass, into open air. He fell to his knees on the still dewy grass and forced himself to breathe, pumping oxygen into his lungs and pushing the smoke out. His mouth was dry like it was coated in sand and his throat was raw like he had swallowed those same particles.

As his lungs were still recovering, he turned back to the Ranch—or what remained. The fire had traveled fast, completely coating the entire structure and engulfing it in flame until there was nothing left to burn. Now, charred wooden boards were scattered across the ground among shattered glass and cracked fence posts, leaving the stone entrance to the tunnel that led deep down below almost completely unharmed. 

Jimmy just stared at that arch, unmoving as wisps of smoke continued to rise. His throat was dry, and his lungs were dry, but his cheeks were wet. He hacked out another quick cough then pushed himself off the ground, staggering for a couple steps before he caught his balance. He strode through the broken framework of their house and stormed down the stairs. His boots were catching on loose stone, but he continued unbothered. It got colder and colder as he descended into the earth, and the walls around him changed from stone to deepslate, driving the world into shadow. There were much less torches on the walls as he went further down, so much so that when he reached the bottom, he could barely see. He could tell Tango was there, though. 

“Tango!” His voice was cracked and hoarse, and it hurt, but he yelled a second time anyway. “Tango!”

He stepped out of the darkness, holding a pickaxe in one hand and a sword in the other. “Ye-“

Jimmy grabbed Tango’s arm and pulled, ignoring his protests, and dragged him up through the tunnel. His grip was unrelenting, forcing Tango to follow him. Finally, they made their way all the way out of the mines and into the sunlight.

It seemed to take him a second to notice the absence of their house. “Um.” Tango said. 

“Um? That’s it? Our house has been burned to the ground, and that’s all you have to say?” Jimmy’s voice cracked. 

“What else do you want me to say?”

“Uh, I don’t know, maybe be a little sad about it? C’mon, we made this house together, and now it’s burned to ash, and you’re not even sad? What’s happened to you?”

There was a shift in Tango’s tone. “What happened to me?”

“Yeah- back when we first met, the Tango I knew would’ve killed anyone who did this, and now, all you say is um.” He put an emphasis on the final word, distaste in his voice. 

Tango sneered. “Yeah, well, it’s not like you haven’t changed too.”

“Yeah? How have I changed, huh?”

“You don’t trust me.”

“I don’t-“ Jimmy gaped. “I don’t trust you? When have I ever not trusted you? This whole time, I’ve been willing to follow what you say, I’ve agreed, I’ve helped you- I forgave you, and you’re saying I don’t trust you?” He gestured wildly as he defended himself, red-hot anger flaring up in his heart. 

Tango stared at him, his face set. “Yeah. You have agreed, but you haven’t actually followed through. Every time I say we should do something, you go along with it at the start, then leave and ignore me.”

“I- yeah, okay, fine, maybe I do, but that’s not because I don’t trust you.”

“Are you sure about that?” He tilted his head to the side. “We’re supposed to be soulmates, Jimmy, and you act like I don’t exist.”

“No. I look out for you, I defend you, I’m trying to help you, and where were you when Scar burnt our house down?” Jimmy threw his arms out to his sides like he was reveling in the ruins around him. 

“I was mining,” Tango shot back. “Gathering resources for us, so we don’t die.”

He scoffed. “Oh yeah? And what do you have to show for it?”

Still holding eye contact with Jimmy, Tango reached out to a chest next to him, grabbed its latch and pulled. The chest tipped from its shelf and fell open, scattering its contents on the floor. A wave of diamonds and iron and gold swept over the tiles, surrounding the two of them in a puddle of riches. The sunlight from above reflected off the shining metals and gems, covering both of them in specks of light. 

Jimmy froze, staring down at the sparkling gemstones covering the floor. Tango stayed silent, too, in satisfaction. 

Then Jimmy looked up at him, into his dark eyes. “Fine. If you wanna keep mining, do it. Just don’t expect anything out of me.”

“Sounds fantastic.”

Jimmy barely spared him a second glance before spinning on his heel, sending a few of the gems skittering across the floor, and walking out through the remains of the doorway. 

Jimmy’s jaw was clenched as he swung his scythe through the new growth of his fields, accidentally clawing a gash in the dirt and uprooting some of the plants. He stopped himself from taking another swing and frowned at the exposed roots, then squatted down, sighing. He let his scythe rest on the ground next to him as he pushed the roots of the crop back into the ground and patted some dirt into place on top of it, then worked on filling in the rest of the divot. 

Around him, night was falling. The sun had dipped behind the treeline minutes ago, so there was no point to him still standing amongst the wheat, but that didn’t stop him. He might as well—what else would he do?

He closed his eyes and bowed his head like he was praying to the dirt, silent and thinking. The argument still rang in his mind, even as he tried to push it out. He couldn’t tell if he regretted anything, though. He could still barely feel their soulbond, which was now just a faint echo of what it had been at the start of the game. 

He didn’t regret anything. He was right to be mad. When nothing was left, when they were supposed to still have each other, Tango left. Well, they had both left. 

Jimmy stood, grabbing his scythe, and walked over to the oak tree towering over what would’ve been their front lawn. He leaned the tool against the trunk of the tree, then sat down beneath it, tipping his head back until it rested on the tree’s bark. The air still stunk of smoke, and it reeked on Jimmy’s clothes and in his hair. He did his best to ignore it. Jimmy folded his hands in his lap, intertwining his fingers together and holding on tight, then closed his eyes as the moon rose high into the sky. 

-

The shining white sun peeked through the trees once more, bringing about the fifth day of the games. The players were starting to get tired now, which pushed them further into desperation. The games were starting to weigh down on them as their lives were ripped away one by one.

Etho and Joel, of course, were red—the first to turn. Ren and BigB had died to an enderman first, then a creeper, both mistakes but they were on their final life nonetheless. Scott and Pearl were the other two reds, their demise brought about by their own disagreement. Grian and Scar, and Martyn and Cleo were both yellow, in addition to Tango and Jimmy. Most of them had died to mobs of some kind, bringing them into the danger zone between safety and freedom. Bdubs and Impulse were the only two who hadn’t lost any of their lives, the bright, healthy green still shining in their eyes. And unfortunately for them, the reds wanted nothing more for that life to be gone. 

Between the reds, there was talk of a hunt to knock Bdubs and Impulse down to their second life. It was supposed to be a secret, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the pair of them knew already. That meant time for them to prepare, which meant a more entertaining fight, which was always welcomed. 

The battle cry of a chorus of horns rang through the arena, announcing that the hunt for the greens’ heads had begun. Jimmy winced sympathetically. He did not envy the position the two of them were in. It wasn’t his business, though, so he continued about his day, preparing for when he and Tango would be the target of their swords. 

He still couldn’t tell if he regretted what he’d said. If he was honest, it didn’t even matter to him anymore. If they couldn’t agree on anything, there’s no way they would make it in these games. He tried to see if their soulbond held any hints of what Tango was feeling, but there wasn’t much. Not like yesterday, when both of their hearts were teeming with anger. Now, there was much more… nothing. But nothingness was better than anger, right? He had been less cold throughout the morning too, he realized. And he was coughing less. Both good signs. It was like, as Tango calmed, Jimmy got better. He hoped that’s what was happening. 

So they were okay—or at least better—and that was good enough. 

The two of them met, once again, at the rows of chests against their wall. They were starting to run out of space to store things. 

As Jimmy was filling yet another chest with bundles of wheat, a string of yellow text appeared in his eyes. 

Bdubs fell from a high place

Followed by:

Impulse died

Jimmy took a pause as he acknowledged what he had just seen. “They got them,” he muttered. He closed the chest and turned his head towards Tango. “You know they’re gonna go for the yellows next, right? And Etho and Joel already don’t like us. They and Scar think we have the enchanter for some reason, and they think I’m lying to them, so-“

“Oh, yeah, the enchanter? About that…” Tango’s sentence trailed off as he stopped what he was doing and reached into one of his pockets, then pulled the book out for Jimmy to see. 

“You- what?” He shouted in disbelief, snatching the book out of Tango’s hands to inspect it. He ran his fingertips over the gilded detailing, tracing the engraved lines and text. He ripped it open, then flipped through the blank pages, his mouth still hanging open in shock. “It’s real. You really-” He looked back up at Tango, a glower on his face. “You actually stole it, and you never thought to tell me?” He paused for a second, as if waiting for him to say something, but continued before he could. 

“Y’know, to know that everyone was actually right to harass me all the time would’ve been great to know,” He seethed, then snapped the book shut and thrust it back at Tango. Before he was able to grab it, though, Jimmy let go and it fell to the floor with a smack. Jimmy took a second’s glance at it before scoffing and walking in the other direction. Tango stared at him for a second, then at the book before bending down and picking it up. He tucked it back into his pocket, then returned his gaze to Jimmy, expressionless. 

“Right, we’re gonna need to deal with them at some point,” Jimmy huffed.

“Don’t worry about that. I have the perfect idea.” Tango promised. The shadow of a smile spread across his face. 

A shiver ran through Jimmy’s bones. He was perched up high on a ledge, watching all that happened below. 

Tango was sneaking through the ruins of the City much faster than Jimmy could have ever bared to imagine. He could barely spot him moving so quickly in the dark, like a predator on the hunt. It was like he belonged there. 

He was working his way towards the City’s center, occasionally pausing to set something on the ground behind him, sometimes even chipping into the stone tiles to hide it. 

When Jimmy first saw the shiny purple glint of his pickaxe swinging through the air, his heart seized up. He was going to die, there was no doubt about it. Then he watched the tip of Tango’s pickaxe crack the stone. An audible, heart-wrenching snap sounded throughout the city. Nothing happened. Tango placed a small red bundle in the hole, then placed a fragment of stone on top to conceal it. 

Jimmy let out a shaky exhale, equal parts confused and relieved. How? As much as he was afraid to admit it, Tango shouldn’t be alive right now. And yet, he continued through the city, completely unbothered. 

When he finally reached the center, Tango took a quick pause to look out on the City, his face solemn like he was the one who built it and was now regrettably putting it to waste. Then he pulled out his communicator. 

<TangoTek> scar, etho, joel, i think theres something you’re gonna want to see

He looked up at Jimmy and nodded. Jimmy nodded back, then turned around. 

Behind him was an incomplete altar, missing just one thing. He took the book out of his pocket, along with a chunk of lapis, and set both on the table. He pulled his scythe off his belt, flipping through the book’s pages and eventually landing on the incantation for Efficiency. He gave a little shrug to no one but himself, then whispered the enchantment and crushed the lapis over the blade, his hands shaking. 

SolidarityGaming has made the advancement [Enchanter]

<GoodTimeWithScar> I KNEW IT

<Smallishbeans> jim you dirty little liar

<Etho> hey jimmy where are you?

<SolidarityGaming> nowhere

<Smallishbeans> yeah uhuh

Now all they had to do was wait. 

Soon enough, Jimmy spotted a light at the base of the staircase, signaling that someone was here. He looked at Tango, who had noticed the same thing as him and was pulling out his sword. 

Even though Jimmy was safe high above the City, well out of blast range and almost completely hidden, he couldn’t stop a bit of fear from bubbling up in his heart. He trusted Tango, enough anyway, but this was still going to be a three-on-one if everything went to plan, and Tango had never prided himself on his fighting skills. He’d known that since the very first day. 

Maybe he had been practicing or something. A bit unusual for him, but he figured that Tango hadn’t been usual at all recently. Did he even know what ‘usual’ for him was? They had never really gotten to know each other since the games started, with him farming and Tango in the mines all day. Not like all the other soulmates, who relied on each other, and knew each other, and helped each other. Maybe Tango was right about staying underground more. He’d hate it, but he and Tango would be working together much more. He decided that, if they made it out of this, that’s what he would do. 

An explosion rang through the cavern. An explosion? Had they brought firework rockets or something? 

Another explosion. He paid more attention this time. A cloud of white smoke and dust covered one of the paths, but there was no sign of any firework stars in the air. So what was it? Had they- no, Tango did. That’s what he was doing. Planting TNT. 

Jimmy’s eyes widened. There was no way. He would never. He never wanted to do anything with TNT or explosions, and now here he was, laying dozens of TNT powered traps, in an Ancient City, no less? He was out of his mind. 

Tango cocked his head to the side, watching the events in front of him unfold. Explosions continued to rock the City from below, blowing craters into the paths that led to the center. He still simply stood inside the portal frame, sword in hand but completely at ease. Around him, the sculk was screaming, singing, calling forth a Warden to solve the problems the City faced. Shrieker after shrieker went off and waves of darkness pounded across the ruins, which made Tango do little more than change his stance. 

Joel and Etho and Scar were scared, Tango could tell. They were panicking, a completely reasonable reaction to the events taking place, but nonetheless entertaining. And he could use it to his advantage. 

Tango stepped off the platform in the center of the City, heading straight towards the unlucky three. He moved effortlessly through the cratered ruins, not at all acknowledging the darkness all around them. Waves of aqua light from the sculk rolled past him as he walked, almost like they were showing him the way towards his prize. A Warden was on the surface now, several actually. He didn’t know exactly where, but he could hear their screams echo through the City towards him. He continued, paying them no mind. 

A bolt of lightning struck the ground, shooting through the layers upon layers of stone between them and the surface, bright white light flaring across the area. 

Etho blew up

Smallishbeans died

They were out. Gone completely. Finally. One less problem he had to deal with. He continued, though, still on the hunt for his final target. 

He could hear Scar’s frantic breathing as he rushed back towards the exit as fast as he could, fumbling in the dark. He wasn’t moving fast, though, and he couldn’t tell Tango was behind him. Tango doubted that was one of Scars priorities at the moment. Oh well. 

The heartbeat booming strongly in Tango’s ears was like a war drum pushing him forwards and the chittering of the sculk was like the snare that accompanied it, together making a battlefield’s symphony. 

He was right behind him now. Tango raised his sword without even a second of pause, then brought it swinging down. 

GoodTimeWithScar was slain by TangoTek

Grian died

Jimmy breathed out a shaky sigh, partly of relief and partly of morbid amazement. He did it, and he managed to not die. Not like Jimmy didn’t have any faith in him. Just slightly unexpected, that’s all. 

Jimmy slowly climbed down from his little cutout high in the cave wall to meet Tango, who was making his way towards the exit. He kept his head on a swivel, constantly looking out for the Wardens that had spawned during the fight, but there didn’t seem to be any around. Weird. 

“Tango!” Jimmy whispered as enthusiastically as he could. “You did it!”

“Yeah,” Tango smiled, talking at a normal volume.

A speck of concern passed through Jimmy’s mind. “Hey, quiet down a bit, we’re still in the Deep Dark.”

Tango waved him off. “We’ll be fine. Can I have the book back?”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Jimmy nodded, speaking slightly louder. He retrieved the book and handed it back to Tango, who quickly stowed it away. 

“Hey, you know he’s gonna come after us again, right?” Jimmy asked.

“Who, Scar?”

He nodded. “And now that he’s red and knows we have the enchanter, there’s no way he’ll stop.”

Tango tilted his head to the side. “Not unless we kill him first.”

Jimmy scrunched his eyebrows in surprise. “Woah, hey, we might want to lay low for a bit first.” 

“Why? What’s the point? We know that he wants the enchanter and that he’s not gonna stop trying to get it, which will be a pain, so might as well get rid of the problem.”

“I mean, yeah, but don’t you want to relax a bit or something. Killing a guy two times in a row seems a bit hard,” he laughed awkwardly. 

“Does it, though?”

“Uh, yeah. C’mon man, we aren’t even red yet,” Jimmy reminded him. He was a bit concerned about Tango killing someone else as a yellow, but Tango didn’t seem to notice the issue at all. “Let’s get back up to the surface, it’s cold down here.”

A couple seconds passed before Tango responded. “Alright.”

Jimmy gave a small smile, then started up the staircase out of the City.

Now comfortably in the sunlight once again, Jimmy was free to simply watch as more and more deaths happened. 

After the double kill down in the City, the rest of the players had been understandably confused about what had taken place, but neither him nor Tango offered any explanations. Eventually, people stopped asking. Now, it was almost like they were avoiding him. Still, though, the games continued. 

Following what she said was a betrayal on Martyn’s part, Pearl decided that she was due her revenge. 

ZombieCleo was doomed to fall by PearlescentMoon

InTheLittleWood died

Just hours later, a second bolt of white-hot fire struck as Ren and BigB were ripped out of the games by Grian.

Rendog was skewered by a falling stalactite

Bigbst4tz2 died

And apparently Martyn also felt as though Pearl’s killing Cleo was somewhat of a betrayal. A third bolt of lightning crashed towards the ground.

PearlescentMoon blew up

Smajor1995 died

Too bad he got caught in the blast. Lightning strike number four. 

InTheLittleWood blew up

ZombieCleo died

There were just three pairs of soulmates left now: Jimmy and Tango, Impulse and Bdubs, and Grian and Scar. Grian and Scar were the only reds left in the game, and unfortunately for the yellows, they were out for blood. Unfortunately for Grian and Scar, Tango was, too. 

-

“Timmy!” A voice yelled. 

Jimmy wasn’t at all surprised to hear it. Both he and Tango knew that this would happen the moment Tango had said anything about his idea. Still, though, that didn’t mean he was entirely prepared. 

“Yes?” He called back.

He turned and Tango did the same, both now looking towards Grian and Scar. They stood in front of the others, their gleaming armor somehow giving them an air of power. 

“We know you know why we’re here, so let’s just make this quick, yeah?” Grian stepped forward. “Give us the enchanter.”

This was going exactly how the two of them thought it would. They had expected this, and had planned for it, so Jimmy knew what would happen next.

“No.” Tango said.

“What?” Jimmy’s eyes widened. That wasn’t a part of the plan. What was he doing?

Scar took a quick step forward, too fast for either of them to react, and brought his sword up to Jimmy’s throat. “What about now?”

Jimmy’s muscles tensed up, his mind filling with fear. “Tango, what are you doing? Just give it to them!”

“Why should I?” He shot back. 

“Because this is what we agreed on!”

“Since when do you follow agreements? Why should I have to?”

“Because my life, and therefore your life, is at stake here,” Jimmy gestured at Scar, who was sharing a quizzical look with Grian. 

Tango barely acknowledged Jimmy’s words before looking back at Grian. “I’m not giving it to you.”

“Tango, just do it! Please!” The edge of the blade was cutting into his throat now, drawing blood. 

“No.”

“Fine,” Grian said, and Scar swung his sword clean through Jimmy’s neck. Almost ten seconds later, Tango dropped to the ground beside him. 

Jimmy gasped. His heart was racing in his chest, and his neck was aching sharply. He was in the center of where their house used to be, sitting on the ground.

“Tango-” he started, then looked to the side of him. Tango wasn’t there. “Tango? Where-”

Tango shot awake next to him, breathing quickly. He was clutching his chest like he was scared, or missing something. He turned and saw Jimmy next to him, a weird expression on his face.

“What happened?” Tango asked.

“What do you mean ‘what happened,’ you got me killed! Again.” He added, spite in his voice.

“Wait, I what?” Dread filled Tango’s eyes.

Jimmy scoffed in disbelief. “I can’t believe you. After all of that crap that happened earlier, and you literally not caring whether I died or not, and you’re trying to act like it never happened? What’s wrong with you?”

“No, wait, what?” Tango was fumbling through his words, overwhelmed by Jimmy’s reaction. 

“I cannot believe I ever trusted you.” Jimmy sneered. “Something’s always been going on, hasn’t it? What is it?” 

“I- I don’t know. I’m sorry,” Tango tried. He was confused and he was hurting but he tried.

Jimmy paused, looking at him. “No you aren’t. I’ve learned that well enough already.”

He pushed himself up and walked through the still standing doorway into their garden. A message popped up, written in red.

BdoubleO100 was killed by Grian

ImpulseSV died 

Jimmy didn’t even flinch at the words, but Tango made an audible gasp as he followed Jimmy.

“Bdubs died! And they’re red, too? Already?”

“What do you mean ‘already’? The game’s nearly over,” Jimmy responded, annoyance in his voice. “It’s just us, Bdubs and Impulse, and Grian and Scar left.”

“What? What do you mean it’s only the six of us? Did something happen?” Tango sounded genuinely concerned, and that only made Jimmy more irritated.

Jimmy spun on his heel to face Tango. “Right, cut it out with this not remembering crap, will you? It’s getting annoying.”

“Wha- oh, I, uh, I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I just-“

“What is going on with you?” Jimmy pressed. “Did you hit your head or something?” He let out a dry laugh. 

“I don’t… know.”

Jimmy scoffed. 

“Did something happen?” He asked.

“You tell me,” he replied in mock confusion.

Another message, this time gray. 

ImpulseSV tried to swim in lava

BdoubleO100 died

“And there goes those two,” Jimmy commented absentmindedly.

Tango blinked at the words in shock, gaping at Jimmy. “How are you being so casual about this? They just died- like died died, and you don’t even care!”

“You get used to it.”

“No, you don’t,” Tango argued. “It’s only been a day and you’re saying that us, Grian and Scar are the only people left alive?”

“Are you joking?” The fire in Jimmy’s eyes and the anger in his voice shocked Tango into silence. “You must be joking. Because we both know you aren’t telling the truth.”

“I am,” Tango protested. 

“And you think I’m gonna believe you? Now? After you betrayed my trust I don’t even know how many times?”

“Look, I’m sorry for whatever I did, but I really don’t know what’s going on.”

Jimmy just rolled his eyes pointedly, his nostrils slightly flared. “Very funny.”

“Jimmy, humor me. Tell me what I did, or at least what happened to everyone.”

“They died,” He deadpanned. “What else could it have been?”

“Okay, yeah, I guess, that would make sense, but how?”

Jimmy let out a sharp exhale. “Look, if you’re gonna be a pain, at least be helpful for once.”

“I-“ he started, then stopped. “For once?”

“Yeah. Make us some new armor or something. Use some of those diamonds. I’m sure there’s plenty, seeing as you never touched them after you put them away.”

“Some of those…?” His eyebrows furrowed as he walked over to the chests and opened one. Piles of sparkling ores and gems filled the chest to the brim so much so that it was almost overflowing. “Wha…” Tango stuck his arm into the chest, digging through the pile of minerals. “I found all these?” He seemed amazed at himself. 

“Yeah, and it was all for nothing since but we died anyway. They have the enchanter now, too. And our armor, and our tools, because you just couldn’t bear to give up your precious book.” He turned to Tango. “It was all a waste. All of your paranoia, all of your mining, even the enchanter was pretty much useless, you know that right?”

“Wh- I, uh…” Tango stammered, caught completely off guard by his soulmate’s bluntness. He could feel a lump forming inside his throat, clawing at his flesh. “I-” Something was welling up in his eyes, and before he could notice, a drop of it rolled down his cheek and fell onto his arm. It was dark turquoise, almost black, and it seemed to dry out instantly, leaving behind small black particles. He stared down at it, confused. Then memories came rushing back to him. Not all of them, but just enough. 

“No.” He said, but he wasn’t talking to Jimmy. “No, no, no no no-“

“What?” He snapped. “What is that?” Jimmy strode back into the ruins of the Ranch, towards Tango.

Tango held his hands up defensively, gesturing for Jimmy to stay away. “Hold on, just wait a second, okay?”

“And why should I?” He stepped forward again. “Tango, what’s going on?”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what caused it, but I am so sorry.” There was something in his eyes that Jimmy had seen before, the very first time they’d met. That same expectant, apprehensive guilt as the first time he had gotten the two of them killed. He was breathing quickly, too, his hands still held out as if he was trying to protect Jimmy from himself.

Jimmy stepped back. 

An arrow stuck into the ground between them. Jimmy’s head shot to where it had come from, his eyes scanning the trees for signs of the only other two players left alive: Grian and Scar. Reflexively, he pulled up his arm to take cover behind a shield, only to realize that he didn’t have one. No sword, ethier. He rushed over to a chest and fished out one of his old, chipped swords from the beginning, as well as an equally beat up shield. He raised the shield just in time for another arrow to pierce the wood, the tip of the arrowhead making its way completely through before getting stuck. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tango rifling through chests too, presumably looking for more old weaponry that he could grab. 

Scar and Grian moved in closer, out of the cover of the forest towards their targets. Their armor was shining purple, the same sets Tango and Jimmy had been wearing earlier that same day. Jimmy scowled at the sight, holding his sword up higher. Behind him, Tango was also holding a sword and shield, both rather damaged. His hands were shaking, though, and those spore-laden tear tracks still coated his cheeks. 

A flash of violet swung through Jimmy’s vision as Grian closed in on him. The sound of iron clashing rang through their ears as swipes and cuts were exchanged between the pair. 

Next to him, Tango was backing up, out of their house as Scar pursued. A crossbow appeared in Scar’s hand just a split second before it fired, shooting a rocket straight at Tango. He froze when he saw it but managed to duck out of the way just in time. It hit a tree behind him, exploding on impact and showering him with burning yellow sparkles. 

Tango’s muscles seized up. The boom from the rocket still echoed in his ears. He was breathing hard again, and his sword was loose in his grip. 

Grian’s eyes locked onto Tango and a hungry smile passed across his face. He dove towards Tango, eager to take him out of the game for good. Jimmy followed Grian, launching himself through the air and just managing to block Grian’s strike before it hit Tango. He hit the ground hard, open and vulnerable, almost ready for a final blow to finish him off. 

Tango’s eyes shot to Grian as he pushed himself forward and thrust his sword forward into Grian’s chest. Lightning seared through the air right in front of him, burning a mark in the grass. 

Grian was slain by TangoTek

GoodTimeWithScar died

Jimmy still lay on the ground, breathless. A smile was creeping across his face as he stood, slowly but surely. Tango had stumbled over to the tree that remained on their property and was leaning against it before he sunk down to the ground. His hand was on his stomach, clutching it. It took Jimmy a few seconds to realize that something was wrong, though.

“We actually did it,” he laughed, the quarrels of their past forgotten. “We- Tango?”

Jimmy moved closer to the other, kneeling down in front of him. He dropped his sword next to him and leaned forward to inspect the wound. 

Tango’s blood was flowing out onto his hands, which were wrapped around a small dagger embedded in his stomach. 

“No,” he whispered, staring at the blood coated blade. Then he looked back at his soulmate. “Hey, we did it. We made it. We can die now, it’s okay,” he promised. 

Jimmy reached up to Tango’s shoulders, his hands resting there for a second. The sculk still covered his cheeks. Jimmy cupped Tango’s face in his hands, then brushed some of the particles off. 

Darkness flooded Tango’s eyes and a ripple of bright aqua pulsed through them, flowing out from the center like a bullseye. Jimmy flinched back, snatching up his sword and holding it at the ready, even though there was no intention behind it. He backed further away as the shadows seemed to leak into Tango’s blood, the red covering his stomach turning a deep, star-speckled turquoise. The substance seemed to eat away at his blood and flesh, transforming it into something new. 

Tango seemed frozen in place for a second, his muscles clenched like he was trying to restrain himself. Then, unblinking, unflinching, unmoving, Tango pulled the dagger from his stomach with a squelch. The blade dripped with sculk instead of the blood that should’ve coated it, forming a small puddle on the ground before he dropped it, uninterested. Tango stood, the sculk now completely coating his hands and stomach, creeping its way up his neck and down his arms. Behind him, the ground where he stood turned almost black as well, like he had coated it with ink, and the pulsing stars were climbing up through the bark of the tree he had been leaning on.

“Tango?” Jimmy called. He got no response, not even a blink or a mere twitch to signal that Tango had heard what he said. “Tango, buddy, are you alright?” He tried again. The tip of his sword was slowly falling from a defensive guard—Jimmy was letting it. 

Tango was simply standing in front of him. Around him, pure black night started to fill the air, blocking out the sun. 

Jimmy kept backing away, his face filled with concern. After a second’s thought, he tossed his sword and shield away, not wanting to seem like a threat. “Tango?” He repeated, a bit more forcefully this time. 

The darkness flashed into full opacity around the pair, enveloping them in a blank void. It held steady, unwilling to let him leave. Jimmy stumbled back, but the blackness was unrelenting. 

His mind froze. So much darkness. An inescapable void where he could do nothing but hide in vain as his flesh, and his mind, and the world around him were ripped away into nothingness. Endless seas of sparkling stars blinked at him like glowing eyes in a forever dark forest. They creeped up onto his arms and legs, dragging him down deeper and deeper. It had stolen his voice from his throat, but he wasn't going to use it anyway. The nothingness was all around him, in the distance yet so close, leaving him waiting in the darkness, in the decay, in cold and clammy suspense, in silent, petrifying fear. Alone. 

Tango locked eyes with him—or what used to be Tango, with what used to be his eyes. There was nothing there, the space where they were now barely existent. Jimmy’s mind was frozen, by his eyes or his lack thereof he couldn’t tell. 

“Tango.” He shouted once again, running out of ideas. His thoughts were racing through his brain but none of them helped, instead just proving to be a distraction. What could he do? How could he help him? 

In a last-ditch effort, he darted forward and brushed the fungus on Tango’s arm, hoping that it could change something like earlier, but to no avail. Tango swiped at him, a newly formed claw tearing through Jimmy’s arm. He let out a cry of pain, which only made the sculk light up aqua once more.

Jimmy jumped back clutching his arm, eager to avoid another hit that he knew he couldn’t take, and as he did so, his heel hit something on the ground. He looked to see what it was, quickly realizing that it was the handle to his scythe. He paused, his foot still touching the wood, then looked back at Tango.

There was nothing. Nothing there, nothing to suggest that he was even alive. Tango was gone, he told himself. There was no getting him back. Even through all of their disagreements, Tango would never hurt him, he was sure of it. He was gone for good. 

Tango charged forward with a deep, guttural snarl. Jimmy pulled his scythe into the air with the toe of his boot, then grabbed it and swung. Shining violet glinted through the air is the iron of the scythe shot through the air with an almost unnatural efficiency. The blade cut clean through Tango’s neck. One final lightning strike.

TangoTek was slain by SolidarityGaming

[hottakehoulihan]

Evolution

Characters behave recognizably canonically: Not really, but I had fun Not abandoned incomplete: Yes (Complete. Enough.) Engaging (Funny/cool/thoughtful/feels): Often enough. Do I recommend it: Not really, but I had fun

Premise: Zerg Queen Taylor; her trigger was augmented by Sarah Kerrigan against future need in another galaxy, but first Taylor's got to deal with stuff in Brockton Bay.

A recent post quipped (can't find it now) that the two most populated categories of wormfic are romance or curbstomp.

This one's more curbstomp. The author hadn't read Worm during most of the writing, and the hinted at future relevance of the Starcraft (and the teasered visit by S9, or the not-teasered Levi, or anything GM) never came to pass. The author finished reading Worm and decided to wrap the story up neatly and I guess someone could write the next arc/chapter if they wanted.

Taylor's growing capabilities have her with Crawler-level ability to become invulnerable, Esper powers, and the ability to boost the skills of her colleagues?

The author's newness to writing, incomplete familiarity with both Worm and--I suspect--Starcraft, and the fact that the fic feels like arc one of at least four? Means I can't recc it at all.

...but I did laugh out loud and kick my feet. If you're a fan of Starcraft or at least Sarah Kerrigan (I'm more the latter; esp. as she was in SC: Brood War) and if this sounds super interesting to you, you've probably already started reading

Spoilers down here because I don't think you'll read the story

I don't hate Starcraft 2, but I haven't finished it. ...and I kinda hate Blizzard nowadays (the character designs in Diablo 3 are unconscionable and the plot pissed me off and they seem to be leaning into everything 'problematic'. If their execs start openly using 'woke' as a pejorative I will be not at all surprised.)

But I do love the Sarah Kerrigan in my head, and I spent chunks of my childhood fantasizing about getting just one little larva and starting my own Zerg hatchery on some blasted unwanted land (there are places on the big island of Hawaii where land is like $3000 an acre because it's all just dried lava, and probably there are places in Death Valley or Chernobyl or something I could use)...

The story was fun in a few ways.

The author was team Wolfspider, and wrote Rachel to be almost instantly ready to lapdog for Taylor because Taylor was so strong and--with her empathic powers--good at understanding and making herself understood. Alec weirded Taylor out because of his sociopath emotions. Nazis were bad and got curbstomped. Lung got a little maternal fight-crush on Taylor after she fought him to a standstill, Danny triggered as a Starcraft:Terran tinker with reproducible tech, and oh yeah; being friends with Taylor means your powers get permanently boosted a little every day. And there's more.

The "wrapping things up because I'm done with this story" finale had Taylor get amnesty and pardons for all her friends and herself and also Canary.

If the story had continued,

the S9 would have showed up (TinkerGirl was chatting with Greg on PHO and also messaged Taylor about her upcoming visit...and was clearly Riley) but Taylor--not actually being shard-driven or having the Corona Matata in her head--would have no doubt won handily and taken big bites out of various S9 people and...well when she tastes capes she gets additional growth (the bite she took of Lung made a big initial difference.)

Gold Morning would have somehow been averted/accomplished. No idea what would have helped make that easier. Maybe Raynor and Kerrigan would have showed up and helped solve the problem? Or some Dark Templar Protoss?

And then Taylor and co would go visit Kerrigan's neck of the woods and solve whatever the major conflict is with the Starcraft 2 storyline I don't actually remember it was kind of boring me and I haven't looked at it in years.

But none of that happened.

But hey; it was a nice few hours of reading.

By my scoring, the story gets 1.5 or 2 stars out of four. ...but if it kept going I would keep reading it. I'm a slut like that.