#martyn is a listener and NOT dealing with it well | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

m4delin · 20 days ago

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An oath reinfored

This is from a dnd AU I shared with @lythecreatorart and @a-magical-boy , and then Ly drew art of it and shared it in a discord server that forced me to talk more abt the au and then people added more and more things to it and I kept adding more things to it and then we ended up here-

Idk if I will be able to write the whole au from start to finish, but I so wanted to write this, both bc of how much I love this au and as a thank you for everyone induldging me askdjbaksd

So thank you a-magical-boy, Ly, @mayashesfly, @autumnwhistles and Sunnday! (all from Lew's lamplight discord server)

The premise of the au is that Ren is a weak god and has stepped into the mortal realm to look for his missing paladin, False. By pretending to be a paladin, he joins Martyn, Skizz, BigB and Etho on their journey. Stuff happens, Martyn starts to pray to Ren's god (aka Ren himself) abt how hot and good looking Ren is but bc of rules does nothing abt his own growing crush on Martyn. Ren has to sacrifice himself to save the world and that leads us to this situation!

Enjoy!

The fire warms Ren’s face, chasing away the evening chill trying to settle on his skin even though it hasn’t been truly able to do so this past week. Cold hasn’t been able to cling to him lately, even Etho has made a remark about how warm he’s been and Skizz checked him for a fever at that, insisting that it’s better to be safe than sorry after Ren’s fainting episode. But he’d been fine, no sign of sickness anywhere. He was just. Warm.

But Ren knows. He’s feeling great, never better in fact.

And isn’t that the problem.

Skizz asks him something, and all Ren has it in him is to give him a hum as he stares into the flames, watching them dance to their full extent before they’ll be extinguished, its life gone forever. Not unlike what was supposed to happen to him.

He doesn’t listen as Skizz returns to his discussion with BigB, but they speak in a lower tone than before, making it much easier to hear the cracking of the fire and the wind rustling in the trees. At least when you’re focusing on anything other than their discussion.

It’s thanks to that that Ren’s ears catch the sound of two pairs of footsteps approaching their small campsite, just before a small ember of warmth starts to spread through his chest.

Ren’s head snaps up towards the people arriving, ears perking up and tail wagging, and gives Martyn and Etho a small smile. “Welcome back,” he says, ignoring the giggle from Skizz that he’s sure is from his sudden change of mood. He honestly can’t help it.

Martyn seems to almost glow in evening light, and immediately a sour taste fills his mouth as guilt worms its way into his stomach.

The ember sits uncomfortable in his chest now.

“Caught anything good?” BigB says, snapping Ren out of his head. Martyn lifts his hand holding a piece of string with three fishes attached to it, a proud grin on his face. Etho copies Martyn’s movement, but instead of three fishes there’s five, albeit slightly smaller, fishes on his string.

“Yes!” Skizz says as he jumps up from his seat, hurrying over to the two men at the promise of a non ration dinner tonight. “Oh, I can’t wait!”

“Hey now,” Etho says, a smile on his voice, as he pulls his fishes out of Skizz’s range. “Let us deal with them, we don’t want the black mess from last time.”

Ren can’t help but to join BigB’s and Martyn’s laughter as Skizz splutters and protests against the accusation, even though everyone knows the truth in Etho’s words. It helps to ease the suffocating feeling in his throat, making it easier to breathe. Even just for a moment.

Teasing fills the air as Etho and Martyn start to prepare the fish for the fire, it being a quick work as the fish had already been gutted by the riverbank. BigB joins Etho and Martyn with dealing with the fishes, and Ren would’ve loved to help as well, but just like Skizz, he’s been banned from making fresh food. Making mortal food is surprisingly hard. He’s gotten better at it, the others have been teaching him since he joined them and they’ve realized he sucks at feeding himself, but it’s still a far cry from them trusting him to actually make edible food for the whole group. Ren doesn’t mind.

Ren settles with watching them prepare the food, and he tries to avoid watching Martyn work, but when there’s a pull at the ember in his chest his eyes immediately fall upon him.

Martyn doesn’t notice it, he hasn’t for the whole week, but Ren can see how Martyn subconsciously purifies the fish, making it safe to eat raw.

Any sort of appetite Ren might’ve had is gone now.

With a deep breath, Ren turns his head away and closes his eyes. But all it does is to pull all of his attention to the warmth in his chest, to the ember sitting there cozily, small but not on the verge of flickering out. A contrast to how it had been a week ago. A contrast to how it was supposed to be.

He can’t go on like this.

“Martyn,” he hears himself saying, and when he opens his eyes he finds the man looking at him, smile bright and soft. Caring.

“Yeah?”

Ren swallows against the lump in his throat. “Can we talk?”

“Sure.”

“Privately?”

Silence settles over the camp as everyone takes in Ren’s request, and the nervous sway of his tail. But Martyn breaks it as he hands over the fish he’s holding to Etho, and turns towards Ren, a wet rag in his hands to clean them off. There’s a worried expression on his face.

“Lead the way, boss,” he says as he wipes off his hands, chucking the rag back to the small bowl of water. Ren notices how some water spills over the edge, but pulls his eyes away and gives Martyn a nod before standing up and walking away from the comforting heat and light the campfire provides.

Evening light envelops them as Ren takes them out of earshot of the camp, and Ren can’t help but take in how beautiful Martyn is looking right now. The low sun catches his hair and it frames his face neatly, and his eyes draw most of Ren’s attention.The sleeves are still rolled up from dealing with the fish, and it shows off his arms and the muscle in them as they move. (Oh, he’s rolling them down.)

“So,” Martyn says as he crosses his arms, eyebrow raised, but worry still present.

And how was Ren supposed to go about it? About what he is, and what he turned Martyn into? About the lies?

‘Dear God,’ comes a prayer from the man in front of Ren, ‘Whatever that ailes your paladin, please help him through it.’

It makes Ren’s breath stutter as the warmth in his chest grows and guilt wreaks through his body in response, and he swallows heavily.

“Martyn,” Ren begins, his name almost like a prayer on his lips with how precious it is to him. “I- I’m not what I told you I was.”

The frown appearing on Martyn’s face almost ties Ren’s tongue down, making it hard to continue to form words, but he pushes through it. He has to. “I’m not a paladin.”

“Then what are you?” The question comes out quickly, and there’s no real judgement in Martyn’s words, but Ren still feels the ember flicker, more akin to how it behaved since he first stepped down to the mortal plane. All the time up until a week ago. And yet it’s too strong to be back to what it’s supposed to be.

All thanks to the man in front of him, who became something else without realizing it just to save his sorry ass.

Ren’s ears press against his skull, tail slotting itself between his legs and he closes his eyes. “I’m a god.”

It’s not exactly silence that greets him, as the sound of the nightbirds getting active fills the air as well as the soft rustling of the wind through the trees occupies it, but he hears nothing from Martyn. No change of breathing, no movement of clothes, no speaking. So Ren opens one eye to peek at him, and takes in Martyn’s slack faced expression.

“You’re a god,” Martyn repeats slowly, almost disbelieving, as Ren properly opens up his eyes, straightening his back ever so slightly.

“Yes.”

Ren can’t help but notice how Martyn’s adam apple bobs as he swallows.

“A god of what, exactly?”

“Community.”

Martyn’s cheeks start to darken. “You’re God of Community?”

“Yes. It’s- it’s a long story, but yes, I’m God of Community.”

Martyn raises his hands up in front of him as he takes a step backwards. “Hold up. Does that mean you’ve been hearing my prayers this whole time?”

A small blush makes itself at home on Ren’s cheeks at the reminder of what Martyn usually prays about. “Yes.”

The redness of Martyn’s cheeks intensifies tenfold as his hands fall to his sides. “Oh.” Then he spreads his arms out and does a small bow. “My Lord, please smite me down.”

The prayer startles Ren, warmth increasing in his chest, and he quickly raises his hands in an attempt to stop Martyn from doing what he’s doing. “Martyn, I’m not going to do that!”

“Do it for my sake, please.”

Ren grabs Martyn by the shoulders and pulls him up into a straight position. “I’m not doing it!”

Martyn lets himself be pulled, blush not diminishing at all, and groans. “Why do you have to be so cruel, my Lord?”

A small chuckle leaves Ren, the ember feeling more at home in his chest than it had been a moment ago. “It’s not really my thing, dude. Besides, it would be rather counterproductive if I did,” he says as he let go of Martyn.

Martyn sighs as he rubs at his cheek, blush slowly dying down. “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

Ren scratches the back of his neck “It’s… Complicated. There’re rules that I’m not really supposed to break that prevents me from. Well. Being here, really.”

Martyn tilts his head. “Rules? Gods got rules?”

“Of course,” Ren says with a nod. “It’s quite like how you mortals have rules. Like, there’s nothing really preventing us from breaking them, but there are consequences. Not just for us, but for the world too. Makes it more important for us to not break them, you know?”

A frown appears on Martyn’s face. “Then why are you telling me this now?”

The fear, something that had eased when Martyn had seemingly accepted Ren’s words, returns. Making his breath stutter and words heavy on his tongue. “A week ago,” he starts, thoughts whirling, “when I fainted after breaking the barrier, did something strange happen?”

Martyn looks at Ren’s face, studying him and Ren doesn’t know what he’s looking for but he does turn his head slightly to the side, so as to not look Ren in the eyes.

“Yes.” It takes a couple of moments of silence between them before Martyn continues. “When you fell, I got the overwhelming sense that you were dying. I ran over and when I touched you, everything disappeared.” He looks back at Ren, and his voice turns soft. “There was a small flame in front of me, and I just. Reached out, gathered it in my hands and pulled it close. It felt like it warmed my chest, and then I was back in the cave. I dunno why, but I knew you were okay after that.”

Ren sucks in a breath and it comes out shaky. “Okay,” he says as he drags a hand over his face, tail unmoving. He tries to keep his hands from shaking, and he’s not sure if he succeeds. “Martyn, I’m a very weak god. I’m nothing without False, she’s the one who keeps me alive, and that cave… It cut off any outside contact. It cut off my bond to False, properly. I was strong enough to stay alive, but any energy I spent there wouldn’t regenerate.”

Martyn is staring at him, an eyebrow raised but attention not wavering.

“Breaking that barrier took everything I had, every fiber of my existence. It should’ve killed me. I should be dead.”

“But you’re not.” Martyn’s voice is low, almost a whisper.

“But I’m not,” Ren agrees, warmth spreading through him and he tries to pull it back to the small ember it was supposed to be. He can’t get comfortable with it, not when it wasn’t intentional. “And it’s because of you.”

“Me?”

Ren’s eyes fall to the ground briefly before he takes Martyn’s hands in his and looks him into his eyes, ignoring the small blush growing on Martyn’s cheeks. “What you did in that cave… Martyn, that was a paladin’s oath. Perhaps a bit orthodox, but an oath nonetheless. You swore yourself to me, to serve me until your own life gets extinguished. Your belief is what saved me.”

Martyn’s eyes widen as his mouth falls open. “Oh.”

There’s a lump in Ren’s throat, and he struggles to swallow around it. But he does so anyway and he can’t stop the shake in his hands, even as he squeezes Martyn’s in an attempt to comfort himself.

“That oath… You didn’t know what you were agreeing to.” The next breath is more shallow than the ones before, and his sight blurs ever so slightly. “It was unfair to you. You can…” Ren swallows again, the warmth threatening to overtake him and disappear at the same time. “You can take back the oath if you wish.” His voice cracks at the end and his whole being wants to take back the words. Oaths aren’t meant to be broken (nor is it meant to be invoked unintentionally), it’s a bond for life (he can’t do that to him), it’s an assurance that they will care for each other (surely Martyn hates him now). It’s a promise to always return to each other (he don’t want Martyn to leave)-

Something is giving his hands a tight squeeze.

“Ren.”

Ren blinks away the blur in his eyes to the sight of Martyn giving him a serious expression, and Ren gives him a watery smile in return, trying to put on a brave face for the acceptance of the offer. “Yes?”

His breath gets caught in his throat as Martyn lifts one of Ren’s hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to his knuckles, before he goes down on one knee and presses his forehead against the place he kissed.

“Ren,” Martyn says again and Ren can barely hear him over the sound of his heartbeats, a blush working its way to Ren’s cheeks and his tail starting to wag. The ember rapidly grows in size.

“I might not know how to do a real oath, but I swear on my life that I will serve you for as long as I can.” He lifts his head just enough to lock his eyes with Ren’s. “You’ve done so much for us, for me, and never asked for anything but for help to find False. You’ve fought for us, healed us, kept us safe from who knows how many monsters. You’ve given so much of yourself for us, and so will I give all of me to you. I’ll stay by your side for as long as you allow me.”

The small flame becomes a fire, spreading through all of Ren, and this time he allows it. He allows it to settle in by his heart, to be warm as it’s supposed to be.

Martyn tilts his head down, pressing his forehead against Ren’s hand again. “Thank you, milord, for letting me to keep you safe for once.”

Ren has had many paladins swear themselves to him ever over the many years he’s existed, all with varying convictions about the beliefs. Some took the oath because it was expected of them, and some with the utter dedication of what Ren stands for, but they bound themselves to him nevertheless. A priest always oversaw it, saying parts of the oath for the new paladin to repeat, and later the paladin would make a private oath with Ren to reinforce the formal one. It would always be a small one, one to show what the new paladin would fight for. False was no exception from that, as she was sworn in by Ren’s last priest, even if she was far younger than what was normal. She’s Ren’s best friend, but she swore herself to God of Community, just like the previous paladins.

No one has sworn themselves to Ren before.

Tears threaten to fall, but for an entirely different reason compared to before. “Martyn-” Emotions run wild in Ren and he doesn’t know where to begin. He wants to scoop Martyn up in his hands, he wants to drag him into a dance, he wants a part of his being to nestle up right beside Martyn’s heart, he wants to hold him close, he wants to-

A wet laugh leaves Ren.

“If- if you want to make it more formal, you gotta say your name.”

Martyn looks up and gives Ren a deadpan look, and Ren can’t help but to laugh. He doesn’t know what else to do, this is the first time someone has ever taken an oath to him in person.

A tug on his hand makes him look back at Martyn, and there’s a teasing, but fond, smile on his lips.

“I, Martyn Littlewood,” he begins, and Ren’s breath gets caught in his throat. It’s dark now and yet Martyn seems to glow to Ren. “I swear my life to you, Ren, the God of Community. I’m hereby your paladin.”

“Welcome, Martyn Littlewood,” Ren says with a smile and tugs at Martyn’s hand to make him stand. “It’s my pleasure to have you.”

They’re standing close to each other, Ren can feel the warmth radiating from Martyn and he can’t stop staring at him. Ren doesn’t know what to do, but he knows he wants to pull Martyn closer, to hold him and bask in the heat. The flame of Martyn’s belief, his oath, is already prominent in all of Ren’s being and yet Ren wants more-

Martyn’s eyes flicker to the side, cheeks dark with a blush, and he clears his throat before taking a step backwards, his hand slipping out of Ren’s. “We, uh. Maybe should go and tell the others?”

Nervousness settles back into Ren’s stomach, but it doesn’t turn into dread. Not when Martyn is right there, a steady presence. “Yeah, let’s.”

They walk back towards the fire side by side and Ren can’t help himself but brush against their bond with fondness, and he knows Martyn feels it the moment he raises a hand up to his chest and grabs the fabric, his breath hitching. Ren has never answered a prayer before, never brushed against Martyn’s essence in fear of him recognizing what Ren truly is, but now Martyn knows and Ren couldn’t be happier. If the smile that Ren spots on Martyn’s lips is anything to go by, it seems like Martyn is pretty happy about this too.

When they finally step back into the light, Skizz stands up with his arms out, giving them a bright and hopeful smile. “There you are! How did it go?”

Ren blinks and furrows his eyebrows. “How did… what go?”

BigB and Etho shares a look behind Skizz as Skizz look between Ren and Martyn. “Uh. Your talk?”

“Oh, right.” Ren clears his throat and takes a deep breath.

“I’m here with you,” Martyn says through a prayer and Ren relaxes his shoulders, giving him a small smile as he reaches out with his soul and brushes against Martyn’s in comfort.

Ren exhales and steels his nerves. “I have something to tell you.”

Ren can’t tell why, but Skizz looks very excited at his words and he keeps glancing between him and Martyn.

“I’m not a paladin. I’m a god.”

For some reason disappointment flashes past Skizz expression before the words settles in, and he opens and closes his mouth in shock.

“What?” Etho and Skizz says at the same time while BigB crosses his arms and closes his eyes while leaning backwards a bit.

“That explains it. Makes sense,” he says with a nod before opening his eyes to look at Ren. Ren frowns slightly while Skizz spins around on the spot and Etho snaps his head towards BigB.

“What do you mean ‘makes sense’?!” Skizz splutters, flailing his arms around as if trying to explain his every thought through them.

BigB blinks at them as if surprised by everyone’s reaction. “I mean, every now and then Ren just kinda glows and has no face, you know? Him being a god explains why.”

“He was glow- BigB, why didn’t you tell us?” Skizz says in a scandalous voice as Ren blinks in surprise. Oh, BigB has seen parts of his godform.

Etho is laughing as BigB explains that he thought it was a trick of the light, and Skizz continues to act as if this is the greatest betrayal of all times. It’s just for show and Ren knows it in his heart, so he just laughs along with Etho and Martyn, fear dissipating completely.

There will be questions, and he will have to answer them, but for now he can laugh. And Martyn is by his side, hadn’t hesitated to enforce the oath he had unknowingly made.

Everything is okay, and for once, Ren fullhearted believes it.

#treebark #m4ds writing #trafficshipping #3rd life #dogwarts #gonna put it on ao3 eventually #might fix up a few things first but wanted to share this now sajdbkas

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xelqua-the-jester · 3 months ago

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Hi there 👋 I thought the little thing about your Creature Feature Au sounded cool and wanted to know of you had anymore info you wanted to share? I love it when people do messy timeline stuff and traveling between worlds and all that, makes my little lore brain happy (:

WAAA this ask made me smile so wide omg. I'd be more than happy to share more about it!!! (my apologies for the shortage been busy in life lol)

CREATURE FEATURE!

1.) Setting

It takes place in Hermitcraft Season 10 and Evolution, specifically during the midst of Watcher Obelisk trials. This AU does not contain Real Life or Wild Life as a part of its narrative (simply because of continuity / conflicting date reasons lol. Third Life - Secret Life are canon!). When Gem crosses over, it's basically like she's walking straight into a town going mad. The "portal" is actually a Watcher's Update Portal (the ones that the Evolutionists would use in order to jump from version to version). Nobody knows how it got to S10, but it sure isn't going.

2.) "Why Gem?"

Why not! Honestly, she just happened to be the first person I thought of when I was originally thinking about this AU and the pieces sorta started lining up soon thereafter. Considering her performance in Secret Life with raising the Boogeyman Army, her connection with the Watchers seemed like it would be strong enough for her to be the one to find this path.

3.) "Centaur...?"

YES!! I'm a huge fan of Hermit designs with fun and wacky headcanons. This AU is no different and follows a lot of the fanonly accepted tropes (Grian -> Bird/ Harpy Hybrid, Mumbo -> Vampire and/or Robot Hybrid, etc. I'll show off all my designs in due time LOL). That being said, these developments and hybrid changes are not present in the Evolution world. This is because of a few reasons. a.) As stated before, none of the Evolutionists have had these events occur to them yet. (Grian has yet to become a Watcher and gain his Watcher-like abilities, Pearl has yet to become "5 AM Pearl" and gain her moth-like abilities, Jimmy has yet to become "the Canary" and gain his bird-like abilities, (at this point) Martyn (and BigB in this AU) has yet to become Listeners and gain their Listener-like abilities). In Season 10, these events have already happened. b.) Due to being in such an early stage of humanity, Evolutionists haven't had the chance to literally evolve into these hybrid / abnormal beings, hence why they're all so surprised when a centaur shows up!

4.) "EVO!Martyn and EVO!Pearl. What's their deal?"

Well am I GLAD YOU ASKED!

In this AU (and in my own personal view of Evo), EVO!Pearl is a spy sent by the Watchers, specifically to keep EVO!Grian in line. Though not a Watcher, she does derive from the same plane as them, making her highly omniscient in the timeline of her life, including her future. Due to this fact, EVO!Pearl is aware that, at some point after Grian is taken by the Watchers, Grian creates the Life Series.

(Side tangent: In this AU, the Life Series is a seperate universe initially created by Grian, who does indeed have Watcher abilities at the time. After dying at the end of Third Life, however, he is greeted by the Watchers in the afterlife, who basically highjack the Life Series and starts taking control. They manipulate and force Grian to continue the games, even though he knows that it will only result in the cycle of watching his friends kill each other over and over and over again. As a way to try and compromise, Grian asked the Watchers to allow him to "split the universe", AKA live in another universe where his friends don't remember the Life Series (this universe being Hermitcraft) whenever the games weren't in session. The Watchers agreed but reminded Grian that the versions of his friends stuck in the Life Series universe will forever be tortured and exist in a limbo-like state in between the games (Eyes and Ears AU). This haunts Grian in modern day, but he pretends like it doesn't.)

EVO!Pearl resents Grian for the decision of creating the Life Series, considering the fact this means she is aware that he will eventually create a universe where she and all the friends she will make in the future will never escape a cycle of killing each other. This information drove EVO!Pearl basically insane, causing her to lash out towards the Evolutionists (Grian especially who, at the time, didn't even know what she was mad at him for) and distanced herself from them "out of safety". Eventually, EVO!Pearl goes missing entirely (but it doesn't stay that way once Gem starts coming along...)

EVO!Martyn has a similar tale, albeit a bit more complicated. At the end of EVO (which is when I believe Martyn becomes a Listener), he is also gifted with omniscience. It's a bit difficult to explain: Because end-of-EVO-Martyn has this ability, it retroactively makes AU-current-Martyn aware of his eventual fate. Unlike EVO!Pearl, EVO!Martyn is practically unbothered by this knowledge. Knowing that there is a future in which he wins with such glory! (Limited Life) Knowing that, someday, he will fight to bring down the Watchers that currently terrorize his town! It makes him PROUD! There's no shame in what the future holds for him. In fact, he makes jokes with/towards EVO!Grian about murder & betrayal frequently, something that angered EVO!Pearl prior to her disappearance. Simply put: He did not care!

("What about BigB?" because BigB's relationship with the Watchers doesn't start to truly bloom until the Life Series starts up (in a different universe entirely), he does not have the same retroactive powers (in the EVO timeline, at least).)

5.) "...So EVO!Grian and EVO!Jimmy don't know about the Life Series?"

Nope! Not at this point. Though Grian gains omniscience, he does not gain the retroactive abilities of a Listener, like Martyn. In fact, Hermit!Grian struggles to remember much of his time as an Evolutionist at all due to the fact the Watchers screwed him over so bad when they took him. Jimmy's situation matches BigB's, in which his connection with the Watchers started in an alternative universe, so he has no connection to it during his time as an Evolutionist.

6.) "How can Hermit!Pearl remember EVO, but not the Life Series?"

More Watcher manipulation babyeeee. Because Hermit!Pearl lives in a world where she does not remember the Life Series, her "memories" of Evo are warped. Though she knows she was (and still is) a spy for the Watchers, she has no recollection of ever getting "going crazy" (basically, she remembers EVO as how it actually happened OUTSIDE of this AU lol). Hermit!Grian knows that Hermit!Pearl doesn't remember the Life Series and does his best to prevent her from ever figuring it out due to the fact he fears that, if she were to learn about the fate of herself in the next universe over, it would trigger basically a sleeper agent emotion in her and cause her to end up like how EVO!Pearl did. And Grian does not want to see that happen again.

WOW that was a lot. I've been typing for at least an hour now LMAO

I could ramble about Creature Feature forever, honestly. I'm so grateful to hear that other people seem to be interested in it! If there's any more questions or comments on the AU, please don't hesitate to jump into my inbox!! I'm always so happy to answer them!! 💜

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life-series-school-blog · 3 months ago

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..Server rebooting complete! 100%

:Ping! You’ve received Mail!

•Welcome to Life Academy! I am your principal(and author) Lumy! As the number one academy of the country we offer many things but this year we’ve decided to be generous and make a reserve program! But of course you already know that. You’ve applied after all! This is your acceptance note.

But before you start to get too happy we have a few rules and things you need to do before entering! State your (characters)Name, Age, Gender and we will review it before sending you to one of our amazing student council members! They will tell you everything you need to know and get you situated in your required dorm and club!

Now for the rules:

1, None of those racist homophobic people or slurs here

2, No brain rot or politics please!

3, no nsfw

4, Please respect everyone's opinions and beliefs

5, No spamming asks or any ai whatsoever

6, And have fun but be mindful!

That being said now we’ve got a bit of an intro of our amazing student council!

Grian/Desert -About: Our Amazing and quite dedicated student council president! He takes care of all school events and runs the social media team! Quote: [Student did not provide a quote]

Scott/Light - About: Our special director of business! Scott is our vice president of the student council and takes care of every important test or issue with studies! Quote: [I’m glad to be here another year! If you ever need help don’t be afraid to ask!]

Pearl/Crescent - About: Our fantastic head of security! Have problems with bullying or don’t feel safe? Come to Pearl! She’s willing to do anything to help you if you’re in need! Quote: [Don’t come to me for something stupid. I will help if your being truthful though]

Martyn/Siren - About: Our interesting head of sports. Want to become a superstar at a sport? Then go to martyn!just be aware that his training isn’t exactly easy.. Quote: [Fuck off] (who allowed that in the intro?!?) (it’s authentic!!) (Grian!!!)

Scar/Sunflower - About: Our kind nurse apprentice! Got hurt or have any anxiety? Go to Scar! He’s willing to help in anyway whether it’s mental or physical! Quote: [im supposed to say something? Um… I’ll listen to you if you need it!]

Joel/Chariot - About: Our newest addition and wonderful head of Clubs! You can go to anyone for club help but Joel specializes in it! He’ll help you if you have any problems with it! Quote: [Its all about Family you know? Except Scott, none of them are my family] (I helped you!! Come on!)

-Clubs!-

Part 1

Part 2

Warnings!:

This blog will contain-

•Swearing

•Trafficshipping

•Violence

•mentioned su1c1ce and etc

-everything more dark will be tagged accordingly!!

-That being said nothing in this blog is real!!! It’s all roleplay so please remember that!! Also author is a real person that has a busy life. I will not always post and that’s okay!! I have two other rp blogs, a fanfic, and a main blog to deal with. Not to mention school. This blog will also be a lot more art heavy so yea!

Thank you for reading! Hope to see you soon :)

-Your principal(and author) Lumy!

~~~

#%Well this will be fun..%#

^We’re back baby!!!^

:Yes indeed we are… but with the world reset.. everyone is um.. different now:

#%Yep. Well let’s enjoy it while it lasts%#

^Yea!!!^

~~~

Other!

-old Story~

-music playlist!

-nicknames 1

Art!

-Art masterpost on main

-minor gods

Intros!

-Goldie!

-Milly

-jay

-lazy

-mollys characters

-zeph

-naomi

-calane

-saph

~~~

Lastly but not least, this rp blog is inspired by @life-winners-liveblog and special thanks for botanicalbard and ??? For the motivation.

#we are back for season two everyone!#after being requested it’s back #If you’ve been looking at my main you would’ve noticed the Grian art #it was a small hint #anyway hope you enjoy!!#trafficblr #traffic series #author #ask blog #Lifeseason 2 #season 2

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blueishspace · 2 months ago

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(Something old and new, borrowed and blue p184)

Jimmy: Alright alright, understood.

Scott: Good. Now, all we need is a gameplan.

Jimmy: A gameplan?

Scott: To deal with Ren and Martyn.

Jimmy: You mean, what do we do with them?

Scott: Right now we are meeting up with them, we want information and to convince then to help us but they'll likely want our help as well... But they might get violent jf we push too far...AND they might get suspicious if we are either too active or inactive in the conversation.

Prev Next First

#trafficblr #traffic smp #jimmy solidarity #scott smajor #Something o.n.b.b au

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stargazostli · 1 year ago

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Right so solargeist's really fleshed out watcher headcannons/ au got me thinking

and an idea that's been floating in my head for a while now is 'Grian was always a watcher'. Honestly it was probably originally inspired by the "He was only ever meant to watch", obviously it's about Grian being a watcher as of the end of Evo but also "only ever" made me think.

So we know the watchers thrive off of entertainment and bad emotions, and probably also chaos (aka Grian incarnate). So in my headcanon they 'recruit' young players to go onto servers and worlds and inspire chaos or entertainment that would please the watchers to, well, watch. These recruits would be taught skills/ powers like shapeshifting and other typical fanon watcher abilities to help them stay under the radar on the servers they go to.

So what if Grian was one of these recruits and was sent to worlds like yhs and any other worlds he was on before Evo to create entertainment for the watchers. He enjoys the chaos, likes having the friends and storylines he makes on these servers, and definitely likes the powers that come with the job. Soon Grian's one of their best recruits and possibly one of their most powerful, mastering shapeshifting almost immediately.

And Evo is the big one. Grian is properly undercover, pretending to not know who the watchers are and adding more people to the server (Taurtis and Pearl who both joined late) for them to feed off of. It's also Grian's world, which adds a lot of responsibility but also alot of power. The watchers originally just watched and kept an eye on Grian but started meddling when they realised "Hey, the admin isn't going to stop us or look into it, we're his boss!" and when they realised the entertainment that would come with players dealing with god-like beings they don't quite understand.

Grian's all up for this, he of course knows what the watchers are. And while he's a bit miffed whenever they punish him for something (see putting obsidian on his chests and making a clay statue he isn't allowed to mine), He plays along and enjoys being able to do his own thing on a world for the most part.

Then Grian joins Hermitcraft. Maybe the watchers sent him there too, or maybe it was him trying to get away from the responsibilities of his job. Either way, Grian being on two servers at once means the chaos is more spread out and less noticeable, so the watchers recall him, pretending to the other evolutioners that they are making G one of them (end dragon fight on evo). Evo sort of fizzles out and the watchers become bored of it. Most people escape to other worlds or servers, Martyn gets plucked out by the listeners, and the world is forgotten and overgrows again.

Grian continues to make chaos on Hermitcraft. Again, either the watchers telling him to, old habits dying hard, or just because he wants to.

Anyways, from then it's basically what you actually see happens, plus Martyn's lore, and anything that makes more entertainment or chaos is either the watchers or Grian. Grian if it seems harmless just fun and interesting, ans the watchers if it seems a bit more extreme (boogeyman and red bloodlust) or is obviously watcher-y (secret keeper)

I might flesh this out further, but yeah this is basically what I've been thinking about for the past few days

#text #stargazostli #grian #life series #hermitcraft #hermitblr #trafficblr #watcher grian #watchers #evo watchers #evo smp #martyn littlewood #grian headcannon #watcher headcannon #if anyone has anything to add please do!

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applepixls · 8 months ago

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hey guys. have you heard of hadestown.

(its a musical that meshes the myths of orpheus & eurydice and hades & persephone)

orpheus is a naive (sorta sheltered?) bard who acts on his whims while eurydice is a realistic and tough girl who's doing all she can to survive

hades is king of the underworld and keeps persephone there a lot of the year meaning there's a lot of winter up above

now hear me out.

3rd life.

scar as orpheus, grian as eurydice.

wedding song as scar proposing they take over the desert, the second verse being grian suggesting they take the dark oak. now, imagine all I've ever known as a dark night dancing in the desert not to mention, "its a sad tale, its a tragedy" (bonus: in a gathering storm eurydice calls for orpheus and he isn't there because he's off writing his song, narratively similar to grian calling for scar in double life when everyone was digging around for their sugar cane while scar was off accidentally lighting the place on fire and petting the jellie pandas)

extra bonus ideas:

persephone sounds like bdubs? like, listen to livin' it up on top. the gritty voice/singing and all her attitude (/pos) and some of the lyrics "who makes the summer sun shine bright?/thats right! persephone!" (he was the esmp2 sun god!) she sort of reminds me of the vibe bdubs gave off when he was ren the king's guy in s9 (my impression was he was kinda frantically running around at ren's whim, its not at all the same with hades and persephone but there's the sort of obeying a king thing)

leading me to my next thought of ren as hades. someone i was listening with said "winter has come" which made me think of "red winter is coming" dfhj

but another thought is just the last life ethubs divorce? seems very relevant with bdubs persephone parallels

also in hey little song bird hades refers to eurydice as a canary and we all know whos a canary

hermes (conductor of the train on the road to hell) and the fates play a narrator type role except hermes is more explicit while the fates are the humming in the back of your head they weave the path of how everything goes and you cant defy them

martyn throughout all the series is a sort of nomadic no solid home kinda guy and always self aware (he makes the lore-) which connects him to hermes for me but at the same time the fates are very much watcher/listener things so like bigb and martyn? (i don't know the lore sorry lol) i'd also say that somehow impulse's littlefinger flip floppy triple double agent character in third life gives a vibe like he knows whats going on in all the groups also connecting him to them for me

(i will say scar could fit hermes as well in being a sort of travelling sales person in last life and a bit in double life? also I've read dirges in the dark which means i see him and the devil and making deals with complicated clauses as very interconnected)

my final note (and being a devils advocate)

scar could also parallel hades.

if you watch his perspective he's very happygolucky and doesn't seem to get the real weight of the situation and such but from other perspectives his and grians deal seems kinda like he's had grian sign away his soul or he's kidnapped grian and there's some stockholm syndrome happening (its actually grians guilt but i digress)

hades convinces eurydice (scar is a silver tongued man) to sign away her soul to him and also the story of hades and persephone is that he kidnaps her and she eats some pomegranite and has to stay in the underworld for part of the year

sooo yeah. paralells between hadestown and 3rd life/life series. enjoy.

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clockwards · 5 months ago

Note

the people demand lore of your fic!!!!! :D

fic lore fic lore!! for reference, here's the fic:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/61166887

just going to dot point dump information so here you go! I'm also planning on writing a longer fic thats superhero AU based with some of these concepts, so look out for that :D

Every "smp" is a different timeline/universe, and they are all technically happening at the same time

Watchers are capable of "slipping" through these universes and experiencing them at will, while maintaining knowledge of the others

Grian, as a Watcher, sees people he likes and goes "you're with me now <3" and inflicts this power on them (without asking or telling)

Watchers are not evil, but their morals are skewed a little due to not seeing their people and deaths as final

When dead in any timeline, a character has their memory restored of all timelines. They are, technically, momentarily on the same level as a Watcher, but without the power to move into their other worlds. Similarly, they do not particularly care about death bc they are aware they will reawaken alive in another timeline (although they don't know that when alive)

"Slippage" refers to Gem’s knowledge and memory of her friends blending together over multiple universes (in this, mainly hermitcraft and wild life, but also some neutral worlds and a superhero one)

The water thing is about her base in hermitcraft s10!

Martyn as a Listener is aware of other timelines and can basically glean knowledge of them by listening into the communal stream of consciousness. He does not have a good time with this and pities Gem immensely for getting caught up in it all

Grian doing all this makes him basically the serial adopter of Watchers. You have no choice, you are Family now. This consists of himself, Gem, Cleo (i have my reasons), Jimmy (well not quite, but he's getting there), and Martyn as a kind of estranged cousin who does not want to come to family dinners

The red light at the top of the skyscraper is blinking at the rate of how many people have died so far. The third blink after her conversation with Martyn symbolises his death, and the nearly constant light at the end shows that everyone has died (bar Joel)

Deer Gem, mountain goat Joel (siblings), not-quite-avian-anymore Grian, moth Pearl, candlestick lookin' ass Tango, Etho is actually made of stone (homunculus type deal), extremely normal boy Martyn, bunny Lizzie

Important for you to know that a female rabbit and deer are both called a doe, so Joel fondly refers to his sister and his wife as his does (little guy standing between two very protective women)

Feel free to ask me any more specific questions!

And now you may have a bit I removed/changed for the ending

At the top of his dinky little tower, Gem watches as Grian prepares for a funeral. She’s not sure who died, but he doesn’t seem too upset about it, so she doesn’t ask. Sanctity of death, and all. He tosses clothes to the side, muttering to himself. Without his shirt, she can see the tattoo on his back, the skeletal remnants of his wings poking through the skin. She can tell where his hands would have to lay to line it all up, squares inked on his palms like supplication.

Next to her, Mumbo swings his legs like a child.

“Think he’ll say anything? He’ll be mad when he comes back if Grian doesn’t.”

“What, like a eulogy?”

“Yeah, you know, honour the dead.” He elbows her side, cracking a grin. She smiles back wryly.

“I don’t think you’re honorable at all, Mumbo.”

He laughs genially, mock-bowing as far as he can while sitting on a bed.

“Dead or alive,” she adds for good measure, lips twitching as his giggles taper off.

Grian’s got a black blazer on, shirt unbuttoned, no tie in sight. He’s running his hands through his hair, peering out the window every time he passes, as if he was expecting to see some parade of chaos happening way down below the skyscraper.

“Which are you, Gem?”

“I’m always honorable, you know that.”

The elevator dings brightly, and Grian runs in, somehow looking worse for wear every second.

“Not exactly what I was talking about, but sure.” Mumbo smiles at the closing doors. “Want to see who turns up and cries?”

“Nah.” The ceiling is blurring slightly. “I should go to bed.”

“Aren’t you already?”

Stone slips to hardwood. It blurs together every time she blinks, like she’s drunk, like she’s floating. She remembers dying like this, once.

She’ll do it again one day.

For now, she rests.

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thecoolerliauditore · 7 months ago

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pearl needs to run away from Scott. let him GO!!! I promise Pearl, i promise, he doesn't love you. he loves the idea of you. he loves who he thinks you should be. not the real you, not the one with flaws, not the one he traumatized and broke into a million little pieces and had to learn to pick herself back up again, with the help of the very few people who would help her bandaged hands sort through those glass shards. he wouldn't help you then!! he doesnt deserve you now!!!! please girl, LEAVE HIM!!!!

and look. I know she's loyal. I know she'll probably never leave, because she loves the idea of him too, not the person he really is. she loves the memory of her best friend from a past life, not the man who would hurt her and pretends its all her fault. but. BUT hear me OUT.

gems right there. gem, who she wanted to ally with so bad last season. gem who was excited to see her, who welcomed that broken piece of her with open arms and wasn't scared when she met the scarlet pearl. gem, that killed pearl twice, that pearl was still willing to fight a final time, in what would have likely been a third death for pearl. she can go to her. she can GET OUT!!! she can get help, she just has to take that first step. she has to leave herself, but there's someone there she wanted to be friends with last season so bad, she can take that step now!

the only thing holding her back is her own loyalty. she's a dog on a leash of loyalty and now Scott and cleo have the other end. it's just a matter of if she can chew through it to run away or if it'll strangle her first

HELLO anon this is the anon ask that made me lay face up in my bed staring at the ceiling listening to when she loved she from toy story 2 on repeat fyi (it slowly morphed into nonsense speaker the rachie cover specifically over time. always been a pearl song to me but it was a bit melodramatic before this point. if it gets worse i might have to. i might)

It sucks so much it literally it literally sucks. What you said about them both loving ideas of eachother is so on point, they're both chasing something within the other that is innately self-contradictory.

Pearl wants to forgive him, but her version of "forgive" is to forgo her own feelings of spite and not challenge his view on things, which means she can never get the closure she needs to truly forgive him or get back the Scott she knew in LL.

Scott also wants Pearl back, the authentic one he knew in LL, but he also needs to whittle her down (cough) to something acceptable to him (in this case, shamed for her actions during DL) so his narrative doesn't get challenged. But that's not quite the Pearl he knew either! He can't have both a genuine connection with Pearl and have her exist solely as the concept of her he's created in his head, but he needs both and I really can't wait to see how that pans out. This paragraph is insane copium btw I do know I think you're a lot more correct than I am when you say he never actually loved her but I'm delusional. Logical side of me definitely thinks he's comfortable like this and if anyone's going to challenge this dynamic it's gonna be Pearl not Scott but what if man. What if.

Anyway I've seen so many people begging Gem to take Pearl in and I do get it I do. I personally have like one million fantasies about something like that as well. However I am calling on my Martyn Inthelittlewood clause and saying that I also do want to see Pearl deal with the consequences.

I'm so happy you said that she needs to leave herself because goddamn yes she does!! If Gem just kidnaps her that's just taking away her growth! If she does fuck off and join Joel/Gem btw this will be like. an absolutely hilarious parallel to Last Life. Fairy Fort welcome back none of us missed you. Would be fitting for this season.

The collar/leash imagery is so messed up man thanks. Reminds me of this Scott/Cleo fanart I wanted to draw at one point where they're cosplaying as Denji/Makima but in that halloween costume way where they don't know the characters or the implications. Sorry just had to throw that in there.

#asks #wild life spoilers #traffic spoilers #galaxy duo

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jettboat · 6 months ago

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CHAPTER 3 - NEW INFORMATION AND COOKIES

"Dude! That's so cool! Are you like invincible right now?!" Bdubs stood up from his chair in excitement, making Etho jump.

"Yeeess... Until someone hits me and finds my heart-" Etho stopped before looking back up at his friend. "You're not going to hit me to find my heart, are you?"

"What?! No!" Bdubs sat back down and crossed his arms. "I don't want to hurt you!"

Etho's shoulders seemed to relax, which made Bdubs's heart sink.

Did Etho think he was gonna hurt him? Why would he ever do that! Did someone he trusted hurt him?

Before Bdubs could follow that train of thought, a knock on the door rang out through the house.

Etho and Bdubs froze, Etho pulled back up his mask. Bdubs immediately looked down at his cocoa to let Etho stand up.

He heard Etho walk towards the door and creak it open. Then he heard a sigh of relief before a familiar voice made it's way to Bdubs's ears.

"Etho! I heard what happened!" BigB said before dropping his voice to a rather loud whisper. "Is he causing you trouble?"

Bdubs heard Etho close the door. "No BigB, he's fine. Better than I thought, actually. Oh- You can look up now, Bdubs." Etho said.

Bdubs looked up and nearly jumped out of his skin.

BigB was part wood! He was a creaking like Etho??

"Don't be scared! I can only hold my human form for so long and I can't transform right now!" BigB explained hastily while wildly waving his arms, nearly whacking Etho in the face.

"Human form?" Bdubs asked.

"Yeah! I can only keep up my human form for an hour. Etho, here, can hold his all day." BigB explained.

"Until I need to go to sleep." Etho chuckled, taking off his mask.

"Yeah, until he needs to sleep. You still need to tell me how you managed that, dude!" BigB responded.

"Not right now, do you want a hot cocoa?" Etho asked pointing his thumb towards the kitchen.

"Sure. I wanna get some info outta Bdubs." BigB explained.

"I'm still here, you know!" Bdubs yelled before looking back down at his cocoa so the others could move.

The two creakings moved around the house, BigB to the couch (Bdubs only knew that because Etho started telling BigB to not get splinters and leaves all over his recliner chair again) and Etho to the kitchen.

Bdubs heard Etho pour a mug of hot cocoa and give it to BigB before making his way back to his spot across from Bdubs.

"So, what type of creature are you?" BigB asked.

Bdubs took a long sip of his cocoa. "I'm just a human." He mumbled.

"What's wrong with being a human?" Etho asked.

Bdubs looked at the two creakings for a moment. "You guys aren't gonna be like 'arg he's a human! I'm gonna kick him outta my woods!' or something like that?"

The two creakings now looking very confused.

"What?? No?? Why would we do that?" BigB asked.

"My old village didn't have a lot of humans in it, I got bullied a lot, got into a few fights... So, you guys... Aren't angry?" Bdubs asked.

"No! Of course we aren't!" Etho said. "We thought you'd be angry at us!"

"Well. This is one confusing night." Bdubs laughed, making the other laugh as well.

The laughter was interrupted by Bdubs's growling stomach.

"I'll find some food." Etho said before Bdubs turned to look at BigB.

"Any other questions?" Bdubs asked as he heard Etho rummaging through a chest in the kitchen.

"Yep!" The creaking responded. "Why'd you come into the garden anyways?"

"Oh! Grian and Martyn wanted me to find out what Etho was in exchange for a life." He explained.

"Those two are trouble together. Wasn't it Grian first, then Martyn joined in the shenanigans later?" BigB asked.

"Yeah! It was weird, Grian was giving me the details of the deal and Martyn was just standing there listening." A chill ran down Bdubs's spine. "I don't like what they're planning."

"Me neither." Etho had sat back down at the table.

The creaking tossed one cookie to BigB and handed one to Bdubs.

BigB gasped happily before immediately munching on it.

Etho nibbled on his, Bdubs usually saw him eat by raising his mask a bit so he could eat and no one could see his eye, and that was when he rarely ate around others.

As Etho ate his cookie, his two eyes stared down at his snack as if inspecting it, but his third eye scanned the room of any dangers. It landed on Bdubs for a split second before quickly looking away. Bdubs guessed Etho was still getting used to his friend knowing his secret.

Bdubs dunked half his cookie into his cocoa as BigB made a muffled gasp as an idea struck him.

"I heard about this new biome! A kingdom of sweets! We should totally go tomorrow! It might have answers on the two mischief makers!" BigB exclaimed.

"How will sweets help us get Grian and Martyn off our tails?" Etho chuckled.

"Grian's a sugar plum fairy. Duh!" BigB raised his arms in the air, sprinkling crumbs all over Etho's couch and rug. "It will definitely have answers to what their up to."

"I like the sound of that!" Bdubs said.

The two looked towards Etho with goofy smiles on their faces.

Etho sighed. "I'm out numbered, aren't I?"

"Yep!" The two yelled in unison.

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

"Martyn? Where are you going?" Ren asked as he watched Martyn fold and tie a rope around his dress so it wouldn't drag on the ground.

"Going on a quick trip with Grian, will be back soon!" Martyn explained before looking up and smiling at his snail-dog friend.

"Can I come?" Ren asked, his tail wagging a bit.

Martyn bit his lower lip, he looked torn.

"I'm sorry, you can't. You need to watch the base, I'll be gone for a few days at most." There was a crack in Martyn's voice when he spoke. Plus, I... It might be dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt. Not when you're on yellow."

Ren was quiet for a moment before walking up to Martyn and giving him a tight hug.

"Then be careful. Please." The snail-dog said softly.

"I will... I will..." Martyn mumbled as he hugged Ren just as tightly.

Ren wasn't sure why Martyn needed to go with Grian, but he knew his friend would be okay.

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

Martyn broke down into tears when he left Renwood.

He was tired. Tired in general and tired of being forced to follow Grian around... Or what was left of Grian...

The watchers were awful beings. Martyn knew that well. And if he wanted to see Ren after this night, he'd need to keep following Grian.

And so, he walked off towards the Sub 1 Club's base to find the watcher.

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I'm so glad you guys are loving this au as much as I do!

So sorry for the long wait! I've been super busy! Have this really long, lore filled, chapter as a reward for your patience!

Also, I haven't announced this but I changed Bdubs to a human! He gets ✨lore✨!

After the main plot is finished, if you guys want, I can make one shots and qnas in between the mer au!

Thanks for reading this really long chapter! Have a great day! And a cookie from Etho! 🍪

#deep in the pale garden #wild life #wild life au #bdubbleo100 #ethoslab #bigbst4tz2 #grian #inthelittlewood #rendog #I looked at big bs wild life videos to see how long he can remain human LOL #hes got hour long videos so hour long transformation #getting to the good part!

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deityoftherain · 2 months ago

Text

come back to me - ahasbands + southlanders

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63647401

Rating: Teen

Relationship: M/M, Gen

Archive Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Status: Completed Oneshot

Word Count: 4,002

Summary:

The Southlanders are stuck in this world with no respawns, warring against excessively hostile Mobs infected by the parasite they've come to known as The Mob Mother. Martyn and Mumbo set out to destroy The Mob Mother's core for good, rigging it to blow and thinking they were in the clear, but then... then Mumbo's detonator didn't go off when it was supposed to. Fuck.

Full oneshot is posted under the cut if AO3 is down o7

This is an ahasbands gift for @v1neyy for they are who got me hooked on this ship to start with lol (yes, I blame you bahahaha)

“Please work, please work, please work–” Mumbo murmured prayers to whatever higher powers were out there as he fiddled with the redstone device in his hands, clicking buttons that Martyn couldn’t even start to understand.

Mumbo cast a glance over his shoulder and around the rock pile they were hiding behind, sweat glistening on his brow, tie undone, and button-up shirt ripped halfway off his shoulder. Martyn would say it was hot under any other circumstance, but–

Well–

…

Okay, fine! It was hot; Mumbo was very attractive.

At least, Martyn thought so, as much as he was biased as Mumbo’s husband. Regardless, despite the extent to which Martyn very much wanted to acknowledge the fact of his attraction to his husband with actions, they weren’t exactly in a position to do so at the moment! They had more important issues at hand!

Besides, Martyn didn’t look too good himself! He looked worse even, between the dried blood and the smeared mud on his skin and clothes. His long hair was messy and tangled regardless of the fact that Mumbo brushed it nightly for him, the blonde locks held back with his signature headband. He bit off a piece of beef jerky he had taken with him, hoping protein from the jerky would help encourage his body’s natural regeneration now that they had maybe twenty seconds of downtime at best.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins and paranoia heightened his senses, preparing Martyn to strike down anyone who came too close to either him or Mumbo for comfort. His leg throbbed and ached from where it was snagged by a spider’s fangs, making him wish he had worn something longer than shorts despite the humid heat.

Even with its angry terror on his body, Martyn ignored the bite, allowing the situation’s adrenaline to aid his efforts. He’d deal with it later when he could actually afford to, when they weren’t in active danger. “Mumbo, where’s that explosion?”

“I’m working on it!” Mumbo snapped in return, though any anger that may have once been behind it lost its power when his voice cracked to show his true emotions. His lower lip was chapped and bitten raw as a symptom of his anxiety. Martyn admired how brave he had been acting despite it. “Just– I don’t know why it’s not going off! I must have messed up the circuit somehow, or maybe one of the Mobs knocked something out of place after we left, which is rather pantsed of them to do–”

“It’s fine; it’s too late now,” Martyn grunted as he deflected a skeleton’s arrow before lunging forward to slice the archer of bones that had followed after them down. “We gotta fall back.”

He didn’t want to admit it aloud, but their hazardous mission to take down The Mob Mother had failed. What they risked had been for null, but they could always try again another time. There was always another attempt, as long as they didn’t give up.

Assuming they made it back to the Southlands alive, anyway.

Mumbo wasn’t listening to him, too fixated on his redstone, so Martyn took his husband’s hand, urging him to follow him back to the Southlands’ base. “C’mon, mate, we should– fuck, ow– we should regroup with the others.”

We should go see who made it back alive,��were words that went unsaid. Words that they didn’t want to acknowledge. Words they didn’t want to consider, let alone think about.

But… who knew if Impulse and Grian weren’t withering in agony somewhere in these woods? Who knew if Jimmy actually made it back to the infirmary to receive the care he needed in the first place? Who knew if The Southlands was still a safe and secure base?

Problem was, they didn’t, as much as Martyn tried not to think about it.

What they were facing was more than just a game; it was life or death– permanent death. Death could come for any of them at any moment, and there was no known way to come back from that. Not when The Mob Mother’s corruption had somehow turned off respawns, something they could each sense intrinsically all the way down to their codes.

None of them knew what would happen if one died while respawns weren’t working, and Martyn wasn’t exactly keen to find out. There were many risks Martyn was willing to take, but tempting a perma death wasn’t one of them.

Ever since The Mob Mother took root into the soil, corrupting all the surrounding Mobs and making them much more hostile than before like the parasite She was, they’ve been fighting for their lives. She disrupted the balance, forcefully altering the world they inhabited with forbidden tactics. They were stuck here; they couldn't leave.

Mobs and Players have always lived alongside each other in the closest thing their harsh world knew as “peace” before She took over. They had disputes, sure, but there was an unspoken agreement when it came to territory and rights over the world they spawned into.

Players got where the light touched while Mobs existed in the shadows, where they thrived best. Both Players and Mobs were happier that way! It wasn’t like their agreements meant they couldn’t target and fight each other just like any other rivaling groups could, slaughtering each other for their own benefits.

What they had was normal; it was expected.

The Mob Mother disrupted all of that, and She needed to go down. Life could never go back to how it was without Her death, without destroying Her at Her Core. They had been so close…

Mumbo swallowed back hard, tears welling in his eyes as he lifted his gaze to meet Martyn’s. “You should go. I need to go back. I need to fix what I failed. We were too close to finish this for me to not try.” “Wha– no!” Martyn protested furiously, shaking his head. “We failed, yes, but we’ll try again later. You can’t– Jimmy took a hit for you! And, and you know he’s in the infirmary waiting to hear that his efforts hadn’t led to your death. If you won’t go back for me, go back for him.” “I’m doing this for him, for you– for all of us! The Mob Mother needs to go down, and I swear I was so close… if I go alone, I won’t draw as much attention, and your leg needs to be checked out.” Mumbo detached the spyglass that hung by his hip, replacing his hand in Martyn’s grasp with the copper and amethyst tool. “I’ll be back for this… Jimmy would have my head otherwise.”

“You have lost quite a few of them,” Martyn chuckled weakly, resting his forehead against his husband’s. Mumbo joined in, almost melting into his hold, but not quite.

They stood for only a second, but Martyn longed for it to never end. He allowed the contact to distract him from Mumbo’s play, which was admittedly foolish of him. Despite the extent of Martyn’s pleas, he didn’t get his wish. He knew better than to hope for such a thing. They didn’t have that kind of time, not out in the open like this. They haven’t had that kind of time in a while.

Mumbo pressed a chaste kiss against the corner of Martyn’s lips, his mustache tickling Martyn’s face. Martyn chased his lips as he pulled back, but Mumbo didn’t grant the silent ask. Instead, he breathed out, “I’ll give you a real one if I get back– when I return.”

“Wait, Mumbo, please–” Martyn begged, reaching out for his husband’s touch as Mumbo stepped backward in the direction they just came from. Unfortunately, Martyn’s leg hindered him, and Mumbo’s strides have always been longer than his, even as he reached out to his husband. “Don’t do this! Don’t go back there, not without backup! If you won’t let me accompany you, then let’s go back, and maybe one of the others will go out with you!”

“The others wouldn’t let me take this risk again if I went with you all the way to the Southlands again, you know that. I– I’m sorry, Martyn,” Mumbo apologized, tugging on his long and nimble fingers. He averted his gaze, unable to look Martyn in the eye as he turned to disappear into the shadows of the forest.

Martyn cursed loudly under his breath, and then cursed again when he tried to take a step after Mumbo. The gash caused from the spider bite shot pain up and down his leg in a web-like structure, each movement agony now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off from their run in with The Mother Mob.

As much as he wanted to assist Mumbo on the suicide mission, it didn’t look like he had much of a choice. He could either run after Mumbo and die, potentially being the reason they both met their doom, or he could make his way back towards the Southlands and potentially live. Martyn didn’t like his options, but letting Mumbo go alone was their best chance at this point, and Martyn was nothing if not a survivor at his core.

Martyn’s grip tightened around Mumbo’s spyglass, knuckles turning white from how tight he held it. He bit down so hard on his tongue that he could taste the red that trickled out of the punctured spot. Martyn could practically hear blood rushing in his ears as he picked up his pace, hobbling back toward the Southerlanders’ base as quickly as he could. He wanted to make it back before nightfall, knowing more monsters would emerge from the darkness.

As he approached the Southlands base, the discreet shrill of Grian’s alarm caw reached his pointed ears, alerting the other Southlanders of his approaching. When Martyn turned his attention upwards, he spotted the outline of Grian’s short figure with his macaw-banded wings folded into a heart behind him and a Southlanders matching spyglass held up to his eye. “It’s Martyn, don’t shoot! And he’s injured– Impulse, let him in, and then get some first aid!”

“On it!” Impulse called back, preparing the barricaded entrance for Martyn’s arrival as Grian surveyed the area outside the gate for any Mobs that could be nearby or tracking after Martyn. “Do you see Mumbo too?”

“No,” Grian reported grimly, not bothering to say much else. They all knew where his mind went– it was where all their minds went! The worse case scenario had played on repeat in his mind like an unnecessarily tragic song. Though, Grian probably hoped Martyn had better news to share than that. Martyn wished he had better news to share as well.

Dread dragged his heart lower, burrowing deep in his gut. The stench of creeper gunpowder remains, sliced zombie flesh, and squashed spider juices did not help the nausea that threatened to bubble up from his throat with each agonizing step. The taste of vomit and acid did not mix well with the blood from his tongue.

Martyn staggered, barely able to keep himself upright. Luckily, Impulse was there to catch him before he unwillingly ate dirt and rubble, adding the textures to the already nasty meal on his taste buds. Impulse reoriented Martyn in his grasp to help him maneuver Martyn’s limp body properly. He set Martyn down on a nearby barrel filled with extra supplies and leaned him against the stony structure it sat beside.

“I’ll be right back,” Impulse promised, turning on his heel to visit the infirmary tower. “I need to grab some things that should help–”

“I got it,” Jimmy cut in, rushing out of the infirmary tower prepared to aid Martyn with his predicament. He must have heard Grian and Impulse communicate Martyn’s arrival. His torn shirt had been removed since Martyn had last seen him, bandages speckled with dried blood wrapped tightly around his torso as proof of his previous injury.

“Tim, you should be resting.” Grian frowned at his brother as he spread out his wings to glide down to the ground level. “Impulse, get him back–” “I’m fine, Gri!” Jimmy snapped in return, canary yellow feathers bristling for a moment. He ignored his brother’s worries to continue further, shouldering past Impulse in favor of opening the dufflebag of first aid and spare healing potions. “I got hurt, but I’m not useless. ‘Sides, I’m better at this stuff than you two are. I have enough experience, anyway.”

“That’s not what Grian is saying,” Impulse tried to help mediate, but the situation was too tense for that. Neither avian paid Impulse’s attempts any mind, continuing their stressed concern and annoyance ping-ponging back and forth.

Martyn did his best to tune out the brothers’ protests, which wasn’t too difficult within the pounding against his skull. He didn’t voice it, but he disagreed with Grian’s sentiments that Jimmy should recover instead of tending to his leg. Jimmy might be accident prone, but they all were at times, and it just made Jimmy kind of good at what he did– but don’t let Jimmy hear him say that. Last thing they needed was to stroke each other's ego until it was so inflated idiotic choices were made.

He leaned his head backwards to rest it against the wall after Jimmy had him down a healing potion, letting his eyes flutter close. The angry bite on Martyn’s leg had already started to ease as Jimmy worked his magic. Martyn idly brushed his fingertips against the spyglass, a movement Jimmy must have caught sight of.

“Is that Mumbo’s spyglass?” Jimmy inquired, tone sickly flat and mixed with far too many emotions for Martyn to even know where to begin to decipher.

Martyn huffed out a displeased chuckle, letting his chin hit his chest in order to gaze down at the tool made of copper and amethyst. “Yeah, it is. I’m surprised you can tell them apart, they all look the same to me, but I s’pose you’ve made enough of them.” “Damn right, I have,” Jimmy mumbled under his breath as he refocused on the task at hand. If Martyn was a better friend, or, y’know, not in agonizing pain, maybe he would have prodded more. For better or for worse, Martyn couldn’t bring himself to check in on Jimmy’s mental state.

Safe to say, none of them were exactly the most sane. Mental health could be examined more closely when they weren't in peril.

Right as Martyn feared he may pass out, a huge explosion shook the ground around them. Debris was tossed into the winds, the air quality plummeting within seconds. And, well–

He certainly wasn’t going to pass out now, the explosion more than efficient as a wake up call.

Martyn ducked where he was sitting on instinct, arms flying up to protect his head and neck. The other Southlanders mirrored his actions, likely also on instinct, hearts beating out of their chests as they waited for the explosion to settle. None of them risked breaking the bubble that seemed to encapsulate them, scared to speak and find out something was deathly wrong.

“That’s too large to be a creeper,” Impulse offered hesitantly, popping that bubble, and it took everything in Martyn to not grumble back a yeah, no shit, dude.

“Did–?” Jimmy started instead, hesitating on if he actually wanted to continue through on the sentence. “Did Mumbo’s plan work? Do you think he made it out in time–?”

“Tim!” Grian hissed, smacking his brother’s arm with his wing in retribution. “Mumbo’s husband is right there! Don’t say stuff like that with no real proof.”

“Sorry!” Jimmy squeaked back, head wings flicking to cover his face, but Martyn had long stopped paying attention to their banter.

Martyn staggered to his feet, ears ringing furiously as a byproduct of the explosion. It was like he could feel every internal function of his body as he stared in the direction the noise came from. He could barely see, tears flooding his vision.

Still, he continued to the walls’ ladder, ignoring the pain of his wrapped leg as he climbed up. Martyn could vaguely recall the shouts of the other Southlanders, but their voices were drowned out by the ringing as they morphed and contorted together.

Once at the top, he brought Mumbo’s spyglass to his tear-filled eye to peer through it the best he could. He didn’t care if it took all night, or how long he had to look… he needed proof that Mumbo was still alive. He needed proof that Mumbo didn’t get caught in that explosion.

You better come back to me, Mumbo, Martyn pleaded, projecting the thoughts into the universe to hopefully make their way to his husband. I’ll never forgive you if you don’t. I’ll hate you forever.

Martyn could never hate Mumbo. He couldn’t hate the man he was more than prepared to trade his life for. He couldn’t hate the man he held in his arms at night as they shared a bed. He couldn’t hate the man who never rejected Martyn when he sought out the physical affection he craved so intensely, whether it be hand holding or slinging his arm over his shoulder or sitting so close their legs overlapped with one another.

Oh, Mumbo, he wailed. Please come back to me.

Hours seemed to pass, leaving the Southlanders holding their breaths. None of them knew the state of their world now; none of them knew if the rules had changed. In fact, they didn’t see a single Mob try to breach their base, but still, Martyn was outvoted on leaving the walls until they had sufficient time to recuperate.

Martyn obviously disagreed, but whenever he tried to leave to search for Mumbo, one of them always managed to hold him back, no matter how much he fought and protested. They claimed that it was for his own safety but Martyn called bullshit and… and a lot of other much more foul terms and phrases.

He said things he shouldn’t ever say, not to his team, not to his friends, but he couldn’t help it! At least, that’s what he told himself in order to quiet the guilt. They didn’t deserve his hatred; they were just trying to protect him. He was in no state to look for him, mentally or physically. Plus, the spider’s bite was deep and, while Jimmy had helped it a lot, it still needed to be watched to ensure it wouldn’t get any worse.

The sun was starting to dip below the horizon, and Mumbo still hadn’t returned. The sky was painted with stunning hues of pinks and oranges, a sight Mumbo would have appreciated. Martyn wished he was by his side then, cuddled close to each other as they watched the changing colors high above them.

But Mumbo had to play hero when he should be anything but! Martyn should be his hero, not the other way around! Martyn should be the one going out in a blaze of glory, especially if it meant Mumbo got to live.

Mumbo was far too smart and far too good for this world, which meant he was needed and he deserved to live to see a head full of grey. Martyn wasn’t; Martyn was simply a soldier. He was disposable at the end of the day, he knew that. He had made peace with his role, even if his sense of self-preservation fought him every step of the way. That internal war within himself was his cross to bear.

Martyn idly combed his fingers through his blonde locks, not daring to touch the brush that was usually equipped to tame the nest on his head. The use of the hairbrush was reserved for his husband, not for him, and Martyn would sooner cut it all off because of how matted it became than fulfill a role that belonged to Mumbo. Martyn relished in the attention and care, and Mumbo enjoyed the repetitive peace that came with the affection. He couldn’t brush his hair without him, he just… he just couldn’t.

The ladder creaked with the weight of another person joining him, but Martyn didn’t bother to glance behind him. He stayed quiet, and so did his guest as he sat down beside Martyn. He noticed dark sandy blonde and red in his peripheral vision, tipping him off that his guest was Grian long before he even spoke– not that Martyn understood why Grian would use the ladder when he could have flown. “You should come join us for dinner.”

Martyn didn’t bother responding, not sure he was physically capable even if he wanted to. His mouth was dry, and his throat was scratchy from sobbing and sweating out most of his hydration. He scrunched the fabric of his shirt over his stomach tightly, ignoring the protests of hunger pains from his body. How could I eat if I don’t even know if Mumbo is alive?

“Martyn, I–” Grian tried, struggling to come up with the right words to say. He flicked his head wings forward and clicked his tongue a few times as he averted his gaze, unprepared for the conversation he was trying to start.

Before Grian had the chance to get anything more out, Martyn straightened up, spotting something dark and tall in the shadows. Sure, it could be an enderman teleporting around, but Martyn couldn’t help but hope–

“Mumbo!” Martyn called, voice straining as he scrambled to his feet and tugged Mumbo’s spyglass from its designated belt loop. He closed one eye to better look through the spyglass, trying to pinpoint his husband and definitely not an enderman in the zoomed in perspective.

His heart thumped faster as his vision settled on the pale lanky man he loved so much. Mumbo was covered head to toe with smoke, redstone, and gunpowder residue, but Martyn couldn’t care less. He practically leapt off the tower walls, stumbling out of the gate to greet his husband with open arms as he grew closer.

Martyn didn’t give Mumbo a chance to say anything as he wrapped his arms around Mumbo’s practically nonexistent hips to hoist him up with a spin. A surprised and shuttering laugh left Mumbo’s lips as Martyn spun his husband around in a series of circles, fingers clenching the fabric of Martyn’s shirt collar to help stabilize himself.

When Martyn let Mumbo’s shoes touch the ground again, he couldn’t help but beam up at his husband as he reoriented himself. “Mumbo, you’re alright! You– you’re here! Did you do it?”

“I did it,” Mumbo confirmed with quiet yet clear pride on his features. “I– The Mother Mob is gone, and, I, I–”

“And you’re chuffed to bits?” Martyn guessed, raising a playful eyebrow as he refused to let Mumbo go now that he had him again. He felt alive again, here with Mumbo in his arms. He didn’t know how he even managed without him for so long now that he was reminded of what he had feared he lost.

“Yes, exactly! I’m chuffed to bits, indeed!” Mumbo chuckled, airy and a little dizzy from their spin still. He raised his hands from Martyn’s collar up to Martyn’s cheeks, sheepish but not shying away. “And I, and I believe I owe you something.”

Martyn’s breathing hitched in his chest, eagerly leaning in closer as an invitation, as a way to let Mumbo know he wanted to collect his reward. “Please.”

Mumbo, the gracious man he was, didn’t leave Martyn hanging nor let Martyn beg for long. He closed the gap between them, pressing his anxiety-bitten lips against Martyn’s dehydrated chapped ones. It wasn’t necessarily pretty, and Mumbo had a lot of explaining to do later, but none of that mattered to Martyn at the moment. All of his worries faded into the background, their kiss picture perfect in Martyn’s mind as they loved each other under the setting sky. Martyn was confident that, as long as they were together, they would be okay.

If you got this far, please reblog, kudos/like, and comment <33

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goldstargloww · 1 year ago

Text

thinking about c!martyn and selfishness

(every name from now on is character unless specified otherwise)

from his perspective, it makes sense. i mean, none of them are real, right? they either aren't real, or they are and they're out to get him. and we don't know if that's true or not, either

and if they're not real, why should he care about morality? just to get an advantage, really. the only reasons he has to be nice to people is if doing so would benefit him. because they don't care, they aren't real. they're just coded to seem as if they do, as if they are. and maybe sometimes it works and it feels painfully real, but they aren't, in the end—they're all just code. it's all a façade, it's all fake, it's not real.

and yet—

graecie: yknow.. maybe.. it's because it matches the energy that you give to it. d'you ever think about that?

graecie: do you ever think about how a little bit of kindness can go a long way, in these seas.

martyn: we've tried that, it doesn't get us anywhere.

gracie: have you? have you tried that? have you tried that, really? have both of you tried that?

martyn: from day dot! first thing that happened when i got here was i got swindled by scar!

martyn: then there was all this factioning business, we saw aimsey literally perish, and everyone was just "ohhh i think we'll listen to the robed figures and we'll just leave"! nobody's tried anything to save one another here, it's just all been selfish, me me me me me, gold gold gold, glory glory glory, HONOUR HONOUR HONOUR!

kuervo: maybe you shouldn't've joined the kestrels if you cared about something that wasn't glory, and money, and selfishness.

—he doesn't like it when others are selfish. because they're supposed to behave like everyone is real. they should be nicer people, they should be better, they don't have an excuse like martyn's.

sausage: wait, what do you think it meant that we have to give up something?

martyn: oh, i don't even know

graecie: i don't know...

martyn: i don't love anything, so good luck finding what i like

(acho, graecie, and sausage laugh,, nervously? sympathetically?)

acho: that's not very good!

martyn: well, it's not good, it's just- i'm doing it for my own protection

acho: that's not something to be proud of!

martyn: i wasn- i wasn't bragging about it, i was just stating a fact!

acho: ah, okay yeah, fair enough, fair enough... ^^"

and he's tired of trusting people without reason, of getting taken advantage of, of being nice just to end up worse off in the end.

and he doesn't get attached to anything or anyone, because there's a very real chance he'll lose it, especially in his circumstances. and feeling any sort of attachment is dangerous.

(apo places lava on graecie and then removes it)

apo: oh, i'm-

graecie: ...

apo: water, water, water-

martyn: why should i?

apo: water, water, water, water, WATER!

martyn: there's plenty of water all around this island!

kuervo: i don't have water. are you gonna be okay?

graecie: yeah. i'll be fine

apo: i'm so...

apo: i'm so sorry.

graecie: are you?

martyn: you can stay with them, apo, if you're gonna be like that.

(martyn goes to and gets on his boat and sails away)

martyn: i don't have to deal with this.

martyn: i've got the stone. i've got a lead. i know cruppy's trigger word now, so if it ever decides to come near me again... can easily get rid of it.

martyn: idiots. all of em.

and he's happily petty and stubborn about things. he happily takes advantage of others' discomfort to get them to do what he wants or at least lower their confidence in doing anything else.

martyn knows how to trigger cruppy, even, and has no problems with utilizing cruppy's triggers (and what is very possibly trauma) to get what he wants.

and as much as cruppy may have done some shit, as much as cruppy is a perfectly reasonable thing to worry about—cruppy doesn't act out of pure unprompted malice, and definitely doesn't deserve to be tortured and triggered over and over again.

and i don't doubt that martyn knows this. he's able to identify trauma responses—both others', and his own:

martyn:

she's dead?

...wait, hold on. what?

when did marnie die?

how did marnie die?

.. was i there when that happened?

.. i don't think i was there when marnie died..

...

oh my god, you're right, yeah- oh, my god, i can't believe i forgot about that

yeah, she was in the hole, wasn't she? she was in the hole and she was a statue in the hole

ohhh, you're right

god, i completely repressed that

that was clearly too much for me, jeez...

—he's able to effectively utilize that knowledge to get what he wants. i think martyn is aware that what he is or at least was doing is wrong.

i just think he doesn't care that it's wrong. because if nobody else is real, if nobody else is actually experiencing any of this, then it isn't wrong, right?

martyn knows he's manipulative, he knows how to gaslight and knows he's good at it, and he's not afraid to utilize that.

martyn is his own top priority. he'll do what he has to to get what he needs. it isn't actually harming anyone, from his perspective. it just looks like it is. they aren't real, it doesn't actually cause harm.

(it's what martyn tells himself, at the very least. it's not like he can concretely tell, it's not like he can confirm. but he'd rather believe they aren't real than are, because if they are... well, he's a bit too deep into this mess to worry about that now, isn't he?)

#inthelittlewood #itlwlore #itlw #scurvyblr #pirate martyn #pirates smp #pirates smp martyn #pirates smp spoilers #into the datastream #c:/sgos/users/gold #c:/sgos/talking #general cw #c:/sgos

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