#platonic cletho

[thesentientmango]

Made for @thereisabearonmyceiling for the @mcytblrholidayexchange!!

I made a fic too! (it's over on AO3)

Fic Tags and Image ID Below the cut

Chapters: 2/2

Fandom: 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: EthosLab & ZombieCleo (Video Blogging RPF)

Characters: ZombieCleo (Video Blogging RPF), EthosLab (Video Blogging RPF)

Additional Tags: Digital Art, Digital Painting, Mild Gore, Canon Compliant, Sort Of, Missing Scene, Zombie ZombieCleo (Video Blogging RPF), Zombie Apocalypse, Secret Life SMP: Session 7, Background characters - Freeform

Summary:

Based on ZombieCleo's Secret Life episode 7 -> especially the snippet at 40:56

Image desciption: A digitally painted scene from ZombieCleo's secret life series. ZombieCleo in the foreground, she is wearing late 80's colorful work out attire, she has green skin and orange curly hair in a bun. She looks upset and is pulling back a bow and aiming towards Ethoslab, a man wearing dark pants, with a green vest, and white hair. He is towards the background and is running towards ZombieCleo with his arm outstretched. he had a bloody cut on his chest and blood coming out of his eyes. The scene takes place at sunset ZombieCleo is standing on a cliff in front of a stone-brick tower, Ethoslab is near a evergreen tree with distant mountains behind him. There are words in the sunset that reads "Etho, I will kill you too." and in the shadow if the tower it says "I won't" [END ID]

[kyasunn]

Oh no I think I really like their ex-divorced besties dynamic I really do

[galaxyinacup]

Devil on their shoulder

[bed-of-ashes]

It's the Etho & Cleo dynamic in Secret Life man

It's the "hi Cleo! :D" & the "hey Etho :)". It's the "no no no, you can't have her, you try to rip her out of my hands" & the "we're besties now!" It's the "Grian, give your heart to Cleo" and the "Scott, give your heart to Etho." It's the "can we go for Cleo last? She's having a rough day" & the internal monologue "theres no way I would kill Etho for hearts." It's the "I saw Cleo but I couldn't kill her" & the "I know *we* would never kill each other." It's the "I'm gonna fail this, I'm just going to protect you" & the "I knew he wouldn't hurt me."

The way he was the only one that remembered her hot & cold task without them prompting him, the way she joins in on his Bdubs shenanigans and builds a bedroom. How he's the devil on their shoulder but she's already committing arson before he asks. She doesn't tell anyone about his bed shrine and he joins them in trying to trick Mumbo.

It's the "I just want to die in my home" & the "right, they've killed Etho, they're dead now."

[waytooobsessedwithmcyt]

Shipping characters not in a "I think they are together" way but a "I want to watch their relationship crumble as their love turns to hatred"

[theminecraftbee]

Etho's head is still strangely fuzzy, filled with something like a combination of cotton and bloodlust and hunger. He's sitting in the middle of their base. Cleo is tearing down the dripstone, complaining the whole time that Etho hadn't even built it right. Grian is fretting over his magma cube, even though his task is done. They both keep checking the door, and also checking on Etho as they wait nervously to find out if the apocalypse that had happened that past session was going to actually wear off now that the task was done.

Etho sits in the middle. The bloodlust and hunger is swirling around, sure, but the thing he feels most is the cotton. The fuzzy not-quite-there feeling. Something fuzzy and strange and slow, like his thoughts are made of syrup and death and safety, and...

And it hits him all at once what has happened, when Cleo puts a hand on his shoulder, tells him that they'll keep him safe until it wears off. The bloodlust and hunger are far away, replaced with that blank sense of safety. He leans into the touch. "Thanks, Cleo. That was all pretty wild, huh?" he says.

He doesn't really hear the responses. He feels Cleo's cold, dead hands, and even though they really shouldn't, they feel soft.

It hits him all at once. He'd say he's not sure how it happened, but he knows. He may have a reputation as cold, a loner, a survivor, but what he really is--everything he loves goes up in smoke, is the thing. Dogwarts, Bdubs, Joel, TIES--all of them, up in smoke around him, flames licking at his feet. It's nice if he can pretend he doesn't care. It's nice to pretend he's cold. That it won't hurt him this time. That he won't watch the smoke and fall apart this time.

Someone who doesn't know him, they might even believe it.

Cleo walks over to say something to Grian and Etho holds them in his vision and--breathes. The cotton isn't wearing off, but looking at them, he doesn't feel hungry at all. And he'd say he doesn't know how it happened, but he does.

It's love, all over again.

He wonders how much it'll hurt this time when it's done, but right now, he feels blessedly safe again. Grian and Cleo get into an argument. He watches the red of Cleo's hair and decides he made an okay choice, this time, for the thing that's going to kill him in the end.

Her hair already looks like fire.

He rubs his head and leans back where he sits. He should keep his mouth shut while he's still half-zombie, so that he doesn't say anything stupid like that out loud. He's pretty sure Cleo wouldn't appreciate it. Or maybe she would. You can never know, with a zombie like that one. That's part of what makes her perfect.

[iknowiknowiknowtheend]

hello all today I offer cletho :>

[jestroer]

honestly a crime there isn’t more cletho content on this fking webbed site

[greeenchrysanthemums]

Etho Goes Home

@terracottakore gave me permission to turn this beautiful art of theirs into writing, and so here it is. Thank you for the opportunity!! 💚

Words: 886

Cw: Blood and death

❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀

He knew he wasn't going to make it. In fact, he had known from the beginning that he was nothing more than a dead man walking. He had never stood a chance, especially not against the threat that was now advancing on him.

He felt like a wounded rabbit fleeing for it’s life, and Scar the hungry wolf. Outnumbered, outskilled, and entirely out of options, It was all that Etho could do to push his legs a little harder to try and cover the distance between him and his home before it was too late.

Home.

And wasn't that a beautiful word? Home.

Home was where his hand was held in a warm grasp by one who he loved and who loved him in return as they ran through the tall grass in search of constellations and shooting stars to make wishes upon. It was where he was never alone. Where he woke up each morning without fear. Where a warmth blossomed in his chest and his cheeks ached with the smile that graced his seldom shown face. Where he could breathe freely and laugh openly.

Home was that and so much more.

If Etho was to die today, he would not do it on unfamiliar soil. He would do it on the grounds of his own home. That is where he will make his final stand. Not at the bottom of a stone tower that had always been a beacon of death. Not in some dirty, blood soaked lake. And not in the woods where no one would see it. No, he would die in his home.

His breaths came out in uneven pants as he climbed the hill, where the remains of his ransacked home sat on the crest. His side ached, his legs even more so. His wounds throbbed, his heart pounding against strained ribs. His head felt impossibly heavy, as did his limbs, but as he finally breached the property line, his foot touching down onto that familiar grass at last, he couldn't help but feel relief.

He had made it.

And just in time, he thought, as an ender pearl hit the grass in front of him with a deceptively gentle thump. Only moments later, Scar appeared in the pearls place, a terrifying grin on his face as he raised his stained sword over his shoulder with both hands.

"Hello, Etho!" He said in a voice far too cheerful for the situation.

Etho tried in vain to raise his sword in defense of the blow, or to possibly even return it, but it was of no use. He knew it wouldn’t be. He was too weak, too slow. His sword was knocked from his grasp in one motion, and in the next Scar’s own sword was being plunged into Etho’s abdomen.

The diamond blade sank through the flesh of his stomach like he was made of soft butter. He gasped as it was ripped carelessly free, warm blood spraying from the new wound in an almost impressive arch. With trembling hands, he reached up to try and stem the new flow of blood as he stumbled away. He ended up losing his balance and pitching sideways, landing sprawled out in the grass with his arm crushed uncomfortably under his own weight and cheek pressing into the wet grass. Moister rolled down his nose and temple to join the dew - he couldn't tell if it was sweat or tears.

A loud clap of thunder could be heard, signaling that he had no more fight left in him, and that this was well and truly the end. There was no coming back from the grievous injury. His ears rang as he watched Scar leave him to die, that wide, wide grin never leaving his blood-stained face.

Etho squeezed his eyes shut tight against the pain, breathing rapid and laboured as he forced himself to turn over onto his back, a hand uselessly clutching his stomach in an attempt to hold himself together just a little bit longer.

Blood bubbled up past his lips, soaking into the fabric of his mask and making it impossibly harder to breathe. He forced his eyes open to stare up at the twinkling stars. There weren't many in the sky, the sun had just barely begun to set after all, but there were enough.

His tired eyes were already beginning to blur, leaving the stars nothing but fuzzy balls of light that blended together until they were all but one image.

As he lay there in the grass, its cool temperature now warmed by his spreading blood, he could almost pretend that everything was alright. He could almost imagine the warmth was from the tender embrace of the one he loved. If he tried hard enough, he could feel the weight of another hand in his own. In his ever ringing ears he could just faintly hear the sound of her infectious laughter.

He couldn't even bring himself to feel the fear of a final death as his body grew numb and black creeped into his vision, blinding him to the stars above. He could only feel contentment and love. He had a good run, hadn’t he? It certainly felt like it.

The last star he could see in his tunneling vision finally faded out, and Etho along with it.

[if-loki-was-a-fox]

Thinkin' 'bout a transfem or at least genderqueer or experimenting/questioning Etho wanting to try on feminine clothes for the first time, and Cleo who's more familiar and confident with queer stuff cheering it on and helping Etho get clothes the right size

[michaelemon]

“All dolled up” by Orion sound

Cletho

DO YOU HEAR ME

[cicutagreninja]

Please rb for wider results!! >:D

[tibb1ts]

Lost Family AU

Ive had this AU rotating around in my head for a while, its a clockers centric family AU thing. Its basically how I interpret the series surrounding their POVS.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

before limited life cleo and etho were very close. At somepoint they find two weird creetures in a garbage can or something and take care of them. Etho starts showing up less and less but every time he comes around they are less creature and more human.

One day etho comes back from getting milk and there are two fully fledged human being in his living room and cleos just like yep these are our kids 🙃 and etho straight up dips because emotional vunurablility and commitment is for nerds

Not as important to the AU but I HC that all of the life series members started out as ameba creatures they just dont remember it lol

Also age wise bdubs and Scar arnt kids cus i think its funnier that way they are just guys

Anyway heres the timeline beyond that: (zoom in or open in new tab)

And a relationship chart :)

high res: https://files.catbox.moe/42cs7o.jpeg

All I ask for this AU is to not tag/depict it as romantic ethubs because I see their relationship as very father/son or mentor/mentee here. Im not a hermit shipper anyway so nothing is meant to be romantic. I guess you could interpret cletho that way in this AU, but i think they work just as well as platonic soulmates.

[auriidae]

secret life roommates or galactic duo(scott and pearl no ship. is that what they are called?) please! (for the ship bingo)

roomies!! :]

i love the concept of secret life roomies but they are p solidly an ephemeral and platonic group in my mind. partially because cletho is such a particular Thing to me that their brand of weirdness isn't super compatible on a deeper level with anyone else, partially because gritho is a beloved crackship of mine, and partially because the lack of bdubs makes me sad FHJSHF. that's just my own interpretation of them though! i can for sure see them as being instrumental in each other's development. they WOULD help each other through the horrors (whatever the last few episodes of secret life were) and die with each other on their minds <3

[bed-of-ashes]

sooo I made a whole post about SL cletho and I've just watched all of Cleo’s LL and I'm having Thoughts so you're all gonna suffer for it

They've got this "you're good with me and I'm good with you" thing going on. Every season as I can recall they're never actively hostile toward each other beyond teasing jokes. They default to allying with each other when their main alliances fall apart, and they both just sorta know they won't be hurt by the other. They never discuss this on camera, but it's always true. Cleos always welcome in the white castle and they go there just to chat with Etho sometimes, she didn't want to let him get boogey'd by Pearl, he helped them on red life.

"I know you enjoy that kinda thing" "what, I enjoy rudeness?" "Don't you?" "I mean, don't *you?*"

Also just him betting on their life is so funny 💀

They are The last nonred alliance in the server, despite not being allies the entire season

He tells them AND other people that he's scared of her. Like?? Etho the minecraft man himself genuinely does not want to get on their bad side, to the extent he makes deals with her that are just "here I'll give you potions if you don't go after me for just this episode"

Etho’s panicked "BACK AWAY EVERYBODY IM DANGEROUS- oh, Cleo. Cleo, come with me." Man calms down IMMEDIATELY realizing it's them.

When they're ghosts, Cleo goes "oh Etho! I didn't see you die!" and he says "I got killed Cleo, I didn't survive :(" stuck out to me for some reason

He is the only one she takes compliments from. They don't even accept compliments from Scott or Pearl, but Etho keeps going "ooh that was good Cleo!" and "nice job with that one Cleo!"

bouncing off that he goes so far out of his way to make Cleo feel like a useful member of the team I'm. crying

"I thought I ran into lava but it was Cleo’s hair" I laughed so hard

Theyre just such good friends, like. In general they're very similar people in that they click really easily, they tend to gravitate toward each other in these Life series because they just generally trust each other. they have such a good foundation that you can put them in any situation and they'll still be rock solid. Cleo & Etho, man.

[life-winners-liveblog]

For the author- are there any relationships intended to be romantic? Which ones are meant to be platonic? I'm curious of your opinion on it :D

(I am a multishipper at heart and having multiple of the same person has made that a lot easier... At the same time everyone having a romantic interest would be too much so I tried to have a dose of both.

As of now the only canon romantic relationships are 3LFlower husbands, DL Ranchers, Dl Desertduo, 3L treebark, SL!Cletho and SL!Jizzie)