erstwhilesparrow · 2 years ago
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unfortunately nothing else i could try to do is interesting to me at the moment. so now i am thinking about. cleo session 5. i mean i think an argument could be made that it's there from session 1 or 2 (what is it she tells martyn? she's a survivor?), but the red life bunker. the way she keeps talking about who might be coming after them, whether they should stay on the move. the fact that she even thinks to check the ranch for traps. she goes to talk to ren and bigb and goes out of her way to approach them from the side, with her sword in hand. i know i just said there's no real difference between cleo and scott deciding to stick together and tango and jimmy deciding the same, but. there is the fact that of every pair i watched, tango and jimmy were the only ones who didn't even try to communicate using the soulbound. (even bdubs + impulse, who also play their relationship as straightforwardly caring, don't totally have this -- bdubs jumps off ledges to take a tick of damage and goes "now he's thinking of me!") and there's something about. team rancher not really having to constantly think about soulbound damage as a concern. and tango spending his last moments alive looking around himself as if the danger is something he'll be able to see. and the idea that even if you can't stop someone from getting hit you can at least know where it's coming from if your partner's right in front of you. and something about if you stick with your soulbound that is... one less direction from which danger is unknown and unpredictable? and it's just annoying in session 1, but by session 5, with most of the server on red, that's just! another way things are scary! it doesn't matter if cleo builds up walls around her house or hunkers down in her panic room or stays away from big fights and steep cliffs, because there is always still a direct path from danger to her that she can't do anything about or even necessarily anticipate. and here she is, desperately trying anyway.
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solsays · 1 year ago
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Lifers x Crane Wives
I saw someone comment on a life series TikTok or something to try and pair all of the lifers to a crane wives song, without repeating songs. so obviously I spent an hour doing it
Grian—Tongues & Teeth (self explanatory if you’ve EVER heard this song)
Scar—Steady, Steady (this whole song is about how their partner is walking out but they still want to be “wild and free” which is just SO Scar coded)
Tango—Ancient History (he keeps teaming up with Skizz and I feel like this song vibes with that, it also just feels very Tango)
Skizz—Icarus (this man always gives himself up for his teammates I swear, and he fuels them to keep going. It also says “oh brother, brother” which feels like Skizz talking to any of his teammates to me)
Impulse—Allies or Enemies (Impulse has been very iffy on a lot of his alliances throughout the seasons, especially in third life and with the amount of playing all sides that man has done this songs feels right)
Cleo—The Glacier House (this. this is literally just her leaving Fairy Fort. The song is talking to/about her from probably Lizzie’s perspective, but like the last line is 100% as if Cleo was speaking)
Bdubs—Unraveling (Bdubs relies so heavily on his teammates, and when he doesn’t have that stability *cough* Etho *cough* he just kinda doesn’t know what to do so this song fits)
Mumbo—Keep You Safe (this man is by no means an aggressive/reckless player [see: Joel or Martyn] and he feels like he’s just here for the vibes and honestly? Love that for him. This song is about fear not keeping you safe and watching your friends run high risks, which just is very accurate to how Mumbo plays this series. I also feel like he could fit Rockslide when he goes red cause he goes from standstill to “drop dead sprint” in terms of aggression)
Lizzie—Shallow River/New Colors (Lizzie is the only one I put as two because both of these songs are just so fitting. Shallow river—“wasted all for the title, wasted all for the crown” reminds me of Lizzie trying to kill Scott and ending up dying herself instead. I also feel like parts of it could be dead Lizzie talking to Joel, the only person who is really mourning her. New Colors—“don't tell me that I can't, I need this“ and “I give up my air, to breathe” also feel very accurate with how she is trying so hard and just keeps failing )
Jimmy—Canary in a Coal Mine (no further context needed, we all know Timmy)
Scott—Little Soldiers (this is very flower husbands, but also just feels like Scott looking back on the last seasons including Pearl, Jimmy, Martyn, all his reluctant exes. Also this man is the watchers’ like least favorite person ever and this gives that vibe)
Pearl—Ribs (i changed this from New Discovery because Ribs is entirely about somewhat angrily protecting and helping yourself because nobody else would, and it really strikes me as Pearl with the some things having been good (Gaslight Gatekeep Girlboss) and some being bad (divorce quartet))
BigB—Not the Ghost (this man is so incredibly odd, he just constantly feels like he is being haunted by the watchers and just going about his life, he is the human personification of gaslight and we love that for him)
Martyn—The Hand That Feeds (he HATES the watchers with every ounce of his being, and with Ren gone I think this guy’s only purpose is just to spite them)
Joel—Sleeping Giants (go listen to it. That’s all there is to it, it just feels very Joel-ish, this lad is absolutely fucking mental)
Ren—Once & for All (this song feels like war and being betrayed, and Ren has been betrayed so much so it just fits. I mean come on “my blood’s forever on your hands” tell me that isn’t 100% something Ren would say)
Gem—Show Your Fangs (Girlboss moment, we love Geminislay. This woman is not someone to be underestimated and this song very clearly says that so it’s very Gem in my head. She doesn’t have enough lore yet to make it angsty but ONE DAY)
Etho—Never Love An Anchor (I can’t explain it, this song just has Etho vibes. I mean “It’s a secret I keep tucked inside my chest” just seems very him, I can’t really tell you why)
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salemoleander · 3 months ago
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lost in the dark (Hunger AU) webweave
Created as a tribute to the absolutely incredible fic @definitelynotshouting is writing, up to the current plot beat!
// Sources under readmore //
What is a webweave? Previous art: Third Life | Void Falling | Attempt 33 | Martyn | Limited Life | Nightingale Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | singing songs to the secrets behind my eye | A Hundred Things We Had Not Dreamed Of | solving counting sheep
Pt. 1: Flutter / Valerie Hammond ◆ Sanssouci Palace + The Black Ice Cream Song edit / @mountainqoats ◆ Excerpt from The Average Fourth Grader is a Better Poet Than You (And Me Too) / Hannah Gamble via @blackberryjambaby ◆ of course i bite textpost / @valtsv ◆ Lie Down / Ellen Jenkins ◆ 27 / Daniil Kharms trans. Matvei Yankelevich ◆ Embrace my Soul / Sergio Borga ◆ Color Changing Magic Potion / DirksenCraft ◆ Fragile Bird / @cocoabats ◆ Holding Onto Black Metal / Debra Baxter ◆ Excerpt from III. The Child / Quinn Newell via @voicedwords ◆ Crawler Pot / Rose Schmits ◆ Metamorph / Gunnel Watkins ◆ Untitled eye / Henrik Aa Uldalen ◆ tumblr guide for chad twitter users (real) / @arahir ◆ the best way to solve problems tweet / @wolfpupy
Pt. 2: Reoccurring Nightmare comic / @deep-dark-fears ◆ Knotted Serpentine / Hannah Russell ◆ Garden + Blues in Dallas edit / @mountainqoats ◆ The Watching Moth / Cady Shaye Poorman ◆ NOCTURNAL Series 11 of 20 / Santiago Caruso ◆ Watching Moth / Cady Shaye Poorman ◆ Afterglow / Pei Wang ◆ Sun in an Empty Room + The Young Thousands edit / @mountainqoats ◆ Study for "Mathematics," "The Sciences" / Kenyon Cox ◆ Hard to Swallow / Debra Baxter ◆ Molly Brodak / Molly Brodak via @kafk-a ◆ 02112022, S.T. / @ryebreadgf ◆ Woman with Red Hood / Alice Pike Barney ◆ Come On, Motherfucker, You Survived! / @selfhealingmoments ◆ Excerpt from The Blind Assassin / Margaret Atwood via @flowerytale ◆ Heirloom II / Cindy Rizza
Pt. 3: Excerpt from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock / T.S. Eliot ◆ i love you. i can't tell you / @/tturing (OP altered, original contents linked) ◆ Hope is the Thing - Sunset Flight / Erica Wagner ◆ Poppies + Nova Scotia edit / @mountainqoats ◆ Untitled (open/end) / Debra Baxter ◆ Excerpt from Alive at the End of the World / Saeed Jones via @geryone ◆ Weeping (Lamentacia) / Dezider Toth via @amare-habeo ◆ NOCTURNAL Series 7 of 20 / Santiago Caruso ◆ Fridge Funerary Epitaph / @catilinas ◆ Untitled (Trail of eyes) / @julialepetit ◆ Stained Glass Hellebore, California Poppy, + Poppy / Jessica Saunders ◆ 世界の声が聞こえるとき (When the voice of the world is heard) / Tomohiro Inaba ◆ Still from Don't make me do this again gif / @cibastion ◆ Excerpt from So I Locked Myself Inside a Star for Twenty Years / Jeremy Radin ◆ Excerpt from Invisible Monsters / Chuck Palahniuk via @quotespile ◆ Potion Bottles / Edited from Panel 1 Source
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jellieland · 11 months ago
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"Well, that was fun!" says Jimmy.
"Oh, was it?" says Grian, grumpily. He's on top of the mountain, assessing the damage from Martyn's end crystal. It's blown up part of the bed shrine, which might actually be more of a loss than the twenty-two hearts of damage it did to him. "You did seem to be enjoying making me do completely ridiculous stuff, don't think I didn't notice that."
"It was pretty funny though," says Jimmy. "Remember when you got Cleo and Etho to spin in circles for no reason?"
"...Okay, that was pretty funny," Grian admits.
"Ooh, and when you got them to do the zombie dance," says Jimmy.
Grian shakes his head. "I can't believe no one said anything." He frowns at the place where the wolf spawner used to be.
"Yeah, pretty crazy right?" says Martyn.
Grian spins round and flinches back, letting out a shriek.
Martyn is leaning casually up against one of the trees, watching him. "Honestly Grian, I think maybe you need to reevaluate your life if Timmy controlling all your actions didn't set off any red flags with anyone," he says.
"You couldn't have let me know that was coming, Tim?" asks Grian, exasperated, staring up into the empty sky.
Jimmy is quiet for a moment longer than Grian expected. "Say hello to Martyn," he says.
"You know I don't have to do what you say anymore, right?" says Grian. "I'm fact, maybe I'll do the opposite of what you say."
"Hey, no!" cries Jimmy.
Martyn makes a quiet noise, and Grian's gaze snaps back to him. "Oh no, don't let me interrupt," he says airily.
Grian clears his throat. "...Hey, Martyn," he says awkwardly.
"Hello, Martyn," says Jimmy softly, as though Martyn will be able to hear him.
"Hello," says Martyn. He looks around, up into the sky. "Timmy still about, then?"
"Maybe," says Grian. "Why? I'm not about to pass notes for your tearful reunion, if that's what you're here for."
"Aww," says Jimmy. "Why not?"
"No," says Martyn. "You need to get rid of him."
"Hey!" cries Jimmy. "Wait, what-"
"Whatever this is," continues Martyn, "it needs to stop."
"It's not up to me," says Grian, narrowing his eyes. "I don't see what you're so upset about, though."
"You don't?" says Martyn, coolly. "Look at you. Like you're dragging his corpse around to parade before the entire server."
"I am not!" snaps Grian. "And frankly I resent the suggestion!"
"Oh yeah?" says Martyn. "What do you think you were doing, then?"
Grian glares at him. "A task!"
"Right, yeah, course." Martyn glares back. "And why'd you think the session was so calm, huh?"
Grian frowns, thrown off. "I- Wait, what?"
"What do you mean, what?" snaps Martyn. "You're the one who brought the canary back to haunt us!"
"Haunt me, you mean! And anyway, he didn't even die first this time, that was Lizzie."
"It's not just about dying first," says Martyn. "It's about what comes after. He dies, and then it all goes wrong. Everything falls apart."
"I don't know, dude, I'm doing alright." Grian shrugs.
"And then he comes back," continues Martyn pointedly, "and on a server full of reds and yellows, not a single person properly dies. You don't think that's weird?"
Grian considers, but not for long. "I don't know," He crosses his arms. "I think you're just twisting the narrative to suit what you think it should be."
"Oh, really?" Martyn scoffs. "And what does Jimmy think?"
Grian rolls his eyes. "Alright fine, Timmy, what do you think?"
There is silence.
"...Tim?" says Grian.
There is more silence.
"Well?" asks Martyn, eventually.
"I think he's gone," says Grian.
"Gone," says Martyn flatly.
"Yep," says Grian, suddenly nervous.
"Gone?" Martyn raises his voice. He looks up to glare at the clouds. "Are you serious?"
"Look," says Grian. "I don't know what you actually wanted to talk about, but-"
"Really? I had one person! One!" Martyn shouts at the sky. "And you took him, too? He was dead before! He was already dead, and then you gave him to someone else, and then you took him, again?!"
Grian shifts nervously. He's not entirely sure that Martyn's talking to him, but- "I didn't do it on purpose! It's a task, Martyn, come on! It's random chance!"
Martyn turns abruptly to look back at Grian. "It's not random." He says. His hand goes to his sword, and Grian suddenly feels rather unsafe. "It's not random. It's never random."
"Okay," says Grian, slowly inching back and away. That doesn't sound right, but it doesn't seem like the time to argue.
"You think this isn't planned?" snaps Martyn. "You think this isn't just more and more ways to mess with us? Over and over and over again?"
Grian think they mess with themselves pretty well already, but he isn't about to say that right now. He opens his mouth to respond, and-
"Grian?" Cleo's voice—oh, thank goodness. Cleo's voice carries up from the base below. "You alright up there?"
Martyn and Grian make eye contact.
"I'm good, Cleo! Could use some help, though, if you want to come up?" calls Grian.
"Kay, be there in a minute!" Cleo shouts.
Martyn narrows his eyes. "I'll see you at the end," he murmurs. "This won't last much longer."
"Probably not," Grian replies, just as quiet. "It never does."
Martyn turns to go.
Before he leaves, Grian sighs. "Jimmy told me to say hello," he says, some foolish sense of obligation forcing out the words.
Martyn pauses, but doesn't look back. After a moment, he vanishes into the trees.
Grian looks at the aftermath of the exploded end crystal. The broken shrine. The scars on his hands.
"It never does last," he says again. "Not when people do stuff like that."
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theminecraftbee · 10 months ago
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Afterwards, they do a race. They don’t talk about it, but it’s there, between them still. Something settled between them. Cleo doesn’t know how to say it; they never know how to say things like this. Still, they need to, so they wait until Ren’s race is over and then hike through the jungle to go sit on top of Etho’s base and wait for him to show up as well.
He doesn’t. He’d gone to their base. Instead of just showing up for each other, they have to somewhat awkwardly coordinate over text which base to meet at. It forces everything to feel more real.
When they finally meet up, it’s in the shopping district, leaning against the button. A dangerous game in theory, but Cleo’s not fully convinced it can explode at this point, so.
Cleo breathes. They’re both quiet for a moment.
"Okay, so like, are we doing this?" Cleo says.
"I don’t really know, uh, what this is," Etho says, "but I… care about you. I think. So I think we’re doing that."
Cleo nods once. "You know I don’t fall in love, right? I’m not going to fall in love with you, I don’t do that. Might say something about loving you, but it’s not the same thing. Different sense of the word. It’s different, loving people and falling in love, got it? And I won’t do that second thing. I’m never going to do that second thing. I don’t--"
"Okay. I know," Etho says.
"Do you?" Cleo asks.
"I mean, not entirely, but I’m frankly surprised we’re having this conversation in the first place. I never expected you to be in love with me."
"But I’m not," Cleo says. "I’m attracted to you, and I love you as like, a companion and friend or whatever, but I’m not in love with you. I’m. Ugh. I wish I knew the right words. I just--I also don’t let go of things so if we’re doing this you’re going to have to get used to that real fast. Me not being in love with you but me not letting you go, both of those things."
"You're attracted to me? Aw, Cleo," Etho says.
"Don't be an ass," Cleo says.
"Sorry, sorry. It's just, geez, this is--a heavy conversation, huh?"
Cleo sighs. "We'll work on the deflection."
Etho rubs the back of his head and looks away. "Uh, in that case. If I'm maybe a little in love with you--"
"I can't--I can't reciprocate that, Etho," Cleo says, and their voice cracks as they do.
"I know," Etho says. "I just want to make sure it's okay, then."
"You can't help that, can you? Just like I can't help that I still sort of want to kill anyone who hurts you."
Etho seems to think about it for a while. Cleo resists the urge to fidget. She's a zombie. She shouldn't have the urge to fidget; she should be too dead for that. Besides, it's hardly like it's a secret she doesn't fall in love, exactly. It's just... it's only relevant sometimes. Feeling like, as she watches Etho and Bdubs dance around each other, she's on the outside looking in. She'd kill to hold their hands, to protect them, hell, even to kiss them--but that's different. She just can't summon the same emotion of... she doesn't know.
Martyn had almost gotten it, for all he didn't get anything else, in the end. Scott was never going to fall in love with her in the first place, for obvious reasons. Whatever attraction she and Pearl have going on, it's definitely not love.
But this...
"Okay," Etho says.
"That's it?" Cleo says.
"I mean, does it need to be anything else?" Etho says. "It's not like we can just... not do this. I think it's too late for that. Whatever 'this' is. I'm in love, and you aren't, but we'd both be pretty upset to lose this, right? So I'll... figure it out."
Cleo swallows. They feel small. "Will you? Do you understand?"
Etho shrugs. "I understand that it's you, and it's you that this happened with, not anyone else."
"Okay," Cleo says. "Okay."
"Is it okay if I kiss you? Just to try it, I mean. Not like, as a--this is a bad time, actually, I don't want to try to make any kissing we do romantic, I mean, you just told me this won't be romantic, I--"
"Yeah, sure, you can kiss me," Cleo says, and he leans in to kiss them. It's nice. A little soft for what they'd want, really, but nice. He leans back. He looks them in the eyes.
"I get it a little more now."
Cleo is baffled. "How? Kissing is just like, a thing we did? How does that have anything to do with any of the rest of this."
Etho laughs. "I definitely get it a little more now. What do you want to tell the others? I know they're definitely gossiping."
"Ugh. Can we just, like, not?" Cleo says. "I don't want to have to explain it."
"I'll just be confusing then, got it," Etho says, and Cleo can't help but laugh themselves.
"This is why you're my favorite," Cleo says, and they think maybe this will work out okay, after all.
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solargeist · 3 months ago
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"What are you even doing here?" Grian grabbed Martyn's shoulder and dragged him to the side into an alley way.
"Don't worry. It's a rescue mission. We're here to rescue you!" Martyn let himself get yanked off the main square full of other Watchers. Grian was fully aware that there was no way the Watchers didn't already know that there was a Listener out and about in their streets.
"Rescue mission? We?"
"Yeah? Me and Jimmy mostly, but Pearl managed to get her hands on the uniform." Martyn says with pride, giving the outfit a little spin for a very stunned and disbelieving Grian. "Not sure about the holes in the back though. Seems like an odd design choice from such a conservative group."
"It's for your- our wings-" Pearl knew about Grian going to this Warcher conference. He had been formally invited to attend and even speak on some topics that he and the Watchers still agreed on. He was almost sure that this was Ather's idea. An olive branch of sorts.
Of course, Pearl would cause trouble about this.
Grian took a deep breath and raked his hands over his face as the Listener thought about his words. "Oh. Oh! That's what these are for then?"
To both his horror and amazement, Martyn leaned own and hiked up the skirt of his stolen uniform. There was a bag that was hidden by the long fabric. He undid the zipper and pulled out the cheapest wings Grian had ever seen. The elastic tool was caked in more glitter than there really had any deserving right to be on an article of clothing. Grian genuinely thought the rubber bands used to hold that thing to anyone's back would cause them to snap.
"Who gave that to you?" Grian really couldn't hide the almost horror from his voice.
"Jimmy said he had Heard Warchers have wings, right? I geuss he picked these ones out."
Grian wanted to rip his scalp off his head. "Of course."
"Don't worry." Martyn said again, trying to sooth as he put his bag away and attempted to put the wings on. "Like I said, I'm here to rescue you. We'll get you out of here in no time!"
"I am here of my own volition." Grian felt himself say distantly as he watched Martyn struggle to get the bottom of the shawl unbuttoned without taking the whole thing off. "I- Martyn that isn't going to work."
"Course it will!" He said cheekily. "Besides, I'm sure they won't even notice you gone. You don't have to pretend to want to be here."
Grian took a deep breath before stepping forward, undoing the back button that kept the shawl flat agaisnt a Watcher's back over their wings. He helped Martyn slip the restrictive cords over his arms before getting them situated back into the long sleeves.
"Okay, Look, I mean, look, Martyn. I can't leave just yet. I actually got somethings to do before we go."
"Do you have to?"
"Martyn, I was Invited here."
He pauses. "You were?"
Grian rolled his eyes. "For a Listener, you are very bad at paying attention."
"What do you expect me to do right now then?"
Grian stepped back and tried not to look at the glitter on the wings. "I geuss you walk beside me and we pretend I don't know you while I do all of the talking until we can both go home."
"Why are you here willingly on a Saturday?" Martyn asked, baffled.
Grian suppressed another eye roll. "I'll explain later, as of now... well, lunch starts in half an hour. I hope you can actually can pretend to be mute and only listen, er, Listen for now. Because if you cause any problems, I'm not gonna come back for you."
This was a lie and theh both knew it, but Martyn folded his arms and looked down at Grian. "Sure. Fine. Whatever."
"Good. Let's to. Keep your mouth shut, Martyn." The two stepped out of the alley, the taller 'Watcher' following behind the shorter.
-Lunar, who is typing this out on a new phone and is having a fucking nightmare of a time doing it
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they are so ridiculouS
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omegamoo · 11 days ago
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i genuinely feel really really deranged about the scott cleo pearl teamup with impulse hanging out. like. like
okay i think that, from the perspective of a guy who mainly watches scott, one of the fascinating things about the life series is his relationships with the divorce quartet. while ofc theres a ton of fandom focus on the flower husbands, and lots of in-series references and a huge impact on both of them, cjimmy and cscott have largely gone their separate ways.
but scott, pearl, and cleo? GOOD GOD. the life series for c!scott is this revolving door cycle of loving and hurting between those three - and martyn but thats another post. scott and pearl do everything for each other in Last life. they are the dynamic duo of all time. they're strategic, they're strong. and they do the same thing with cleo when she joins the group. scott is would do anything for them - the boogeyman curse is RIGHT THERE. this: the loving.
i think in some ways double life can be understood by the widow's alliance in third life. when neither scott or cleo can find their soulmate, they choose each other. when their soulmates finally appear, it's too late, because there's nothing there except the echoes of teaming in last life. they're not an alliance right now, there's no reason why they should be. and scott just won, just dealt with killing everyone he knows and having that blood on his hands. he is at the most toxic part of his arc, and he is not afraid to hurt pearl and justify himself when she hurts him. he loves cleo. he is hurting pearl. he loves pearl, still, though i think - he hasn't forgotten last life. i just think he doesn't know what to do with that.
you can dig into all kinds of compartmentalization of scott's feelings here - he kills ren to win in last life but also in revenge for ren killing pearl. he was terrified when he thinks about what happened in third life with jimmy - when jimmy died, he was catatonic, a shadow of his usual self. i think there's a lot of what he does to pearl in dl that stems from this - he can't allow himself to do that again. he can love and love and love, but not if it means he's weak. this is the hurting, and it never stops.
and of course scott's self sacrificial tendencies... i think he still loves pearl at the end, and for him, the biggest show of love is to give up everything. so he gives pearl the win! done and dusted. surely that will fix everything, except it DOESN'T, because pearl doesn't need that from scott. she doesn't need him to kill himself for her - she wants to be able to take back all of that hurt from the season by killing him, even! but she says she forgives him, because she recognizes what that means and what he just did. or because she wants to win, or because she loves him, or whatever. or all of it.
i think the end of secret life showcases that very well. when pearl chases down scott in the finale, she shouts that they have unfinished business, that he still owes her something that he took from her in double life. she says she forgave him at the time, but she didn't really - they haven't talked. that hurt still lingers, still aches, is still festering.
and now they're TEAMED UP AGAIN. because they love each other. because they don't know what to do without each other. because scott and cleo will choose each other over and over and over again, because scott loved pearl infinitely and endlessly in last life and was still willing to give her the win in double life. because out of everyone, at this point, they know each other best. AND THEY EVEN SAY THAT. "out of everyone, you know what we're like." is it a healthy decision? no. they can't communicate anymore, they have all of this festering between them and scott and cleo are pretty toxic and unlikely to apologize... and they can't stop bringing it up, because it's this elephant in the room.
it makes me sick. these guys are bound by the red dog chain of fate. they can't stop loving each other and because of it they will never stop hurting each other. what the FUCK
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watarfallar · 3 days ago
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*throws this at you and escapes out the window of a ten story building*
Ren: What are you two arguing about this time? Grian: They’re always using common phrases incorrectly! Martyn: Cry me a table, Grian.
Mumbo: Which country has the most birds? Mumbo: Portu-geese! BigB: That's a language. Mumbo: Portu-gull? BigB: Good recovery. Lizzie: I think you mean good re-dovery. Grian: TURKEY. HOW DID WE MISS TURKEY?
Bdubs: So the other day I sent Joel out to get us some gas. Bdubs: And instead of getting gas, they got us novelty cookie cutters. Bdubs: Now everything we eat is shaped like a dinosaur. Bdubs: … Bdubs: I love them so much.
Cleo: When I said bring me something back from the beach I meant like a conch shell! Joel: *Struggling to hold a seagull* Fucking say that next time!
Martyn: What do you want then? Cleo: Er… something work related. Martyn: What department is this? Cleo: Sorry? Martyn: Well, if it’s work related you’d obviously know what department this is. What department is this? Cleo: *looks at Joel and Etho* Some sort of homosexual department? (<- bro this one is too perfect lmao)
Skizz: I can never give Bdubs shit because I’m jealous of them. They look at their life and say, “Sweet! This is perfect!” Skizz: I look at my life and say, “Welp. Time to get drunk.”
Pearl, to The Squad: You should change your passwords to “incorrect”. Then, every time you forget it, the system will remind you, “your password is incorrect”.
Scott: Well, Joel, is there anything you would like to say to Etho? Joel: How do I put this delicately? You’re a horrible roommate and nobody likes you. Scott: How about we frame our statement with “When you do this, it makes me feel this”? Joel: When you live here, it makes me angry. Because you’re a horrible roommate and nobody likes you.
Jimmy: As usual, Jimmy has to save the day! Tango: As usual, Tango has to hear about it.
Ren: If I ever had a child, I imagine they would be a lot like you. Gem: Aww, thanks— Ren: Which is probably why I’ve never reproduced.
Mumbo: Don’t mansplain this to me! Gem: Wh- I’m a woman! I can't mansplain anything to you! Mumbo: …Well, I’m a feminist, and I believe a woman can do anything a man does!
Scar: “Struggle with depression” would seem to imply that I am bad at being depressed when I am, in fact, very proficient at being depressed.
Impulse, looking at their watch: It has been 2 hours and sixteen minutes since I’ve been insulted. Impulse: It’s been about 5 seconds since I’ve been assaulted, but let’s not talk about that.
Skizz: *mixing different alcoholic beverages together* Scar: What are you making? Skizz: A mistake.
Impulse: Some of us are still ‘it’ from a childhood game of tag. Lizzie: Way to just fuck me up on a Tuesday.
Martyn: Joel taught me to think before I act. Martyn: ...So if I smack the shit out of you, rest assured that I thought about it and am confident in my decision.
Scott: Assert your dominance over your friends by kicking them in the face, and then giving them a little smooch on the forehead!
Grian: Have you heard of Murphy’s law? The one where if something can go wrong, it will go wrong? BigB: Yeah, I have. Grian: Have you heard of Cole’s law? BigB: Is this a joke about coleslaw? Grian: …maybe.
Pearl: I am free of all prejudice. I hate everyone equally.
Grian: *walks into the room* Lizzie: They’re covered in blood again. Why is it they’re always covered in blood? Pearl: Well, it looks like it’s their own blood this time.
Bdubs: As a responsible adult- Scott: *chuckles* Bdubs: … As a responsible adult—
Cleo: Fun Fact! The average person will walk by 36 murderers in their lifetime. Martyn: I like how this is a "fun" fact. Etho: It's fun because they didn't decide to murder you.
*crawls back into the room after jumping out of the window and dragging myself up ten flights of stairs*
HOPE YOU ENJOYED!
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mielkae · 4 months ago
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Flower ranchers has my whole heart but consider
Scott and Tango becoming besties over a shared love of Jimmy
like, they start out awkward. They've never shared a server, never even teamed during the death games. They know each other purely through reputation and the chance of being a part of the same giant friend group. To tango, scott's the husband jimmy was always talking about during double life, he won the second death game and has been a consistent finalist. On top of that he has a reputation for loyalty, he's carismatic, genuinely a nice guy and did he mention the part where he's jimmy's husband???
to scott, tango is a friend of a friend. Apparently a brilliant redstoner, though he always came off as humble to him. He's the guy whose hair sparks when he's excited who's always hanging around impulse and skizz. scott's pretty sure they've never had a one on one conversation until this point.
Then double life happens.
And suddenly tango's the soulmate. the guy his husband hasn't been able to shut up about, not that scott minds. and he learns things about tango he never would have known otherwise, how he's sweet, and considerate, and really, really funny. How he has such a nice laugh, and yeah, scott's never really noticed it before but it's bright and kind of contagious and so evidently tango.
and scott tells jimmy to go for him.
I don't think tango and scott would interact much even after they're both dating jimmy.
Like they never saw each other outside the death games, and besides those times when scott walks jimmy to the hermitcraft portal where tango is waiting to guide him through, they still don't really see each other.
(Watching the loves of his life awkwardly wave as he passes between them, jimmy feels a bit like a kid with divorced parents before his weekend at Dad's.)
Then they're in limited life.
the funny thing is, it isn't even jimmy who brings them together, not intentionally at least.
Tango tries not to be mad about it. its just that the Lore latches onto Jimmy's "bad boy" bit, and he knows it's not his fault. He's part of a story right now, and his mind's not entirely his own.
it still hurts like hell though.
And it's a stupid idea. They aren't even allies, but tango's angry and hurt and his boyfriend won't even look at him. But there's one person on this server who might get it.
And right now that's what he needs.
There's a possibility, he knows, as he approaches the Mean Gills' island, that someone (probably martyn) will kill him.
He can't really bring himself to care. He wants out of this game, has since Jimmy first started giving him the cold shoulder.
To his credit, Scott doesn't even look surprised to see him.
They end up talking for hours.
"he wouldn't-" Scott swallows roughly, "he wouldn't say "i love you" back"
"i know," tango says quietly. "he wouldn't say it to me either."
Scott looks at him for a long moment, then swipes at his tears and turns his head. Tango's never seen him look so lost.
"the sun's gonna be up soon," Scott says. "the session will be starting. You should get to TIES tower. I can't promise you'll be safe here much longer."
He nods. The others will be worried for him. They know how badly he just wants to go home.
"Come visit me again?" Scott asks. And there's something there. Something there hadn't been before.
"yeah," he says. "yeah, sure."
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mambodork · 8 days ago
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Hi, me again! In the buttercup HOA au, does Grian need to eat in his code bodies? Or is he like one of Martyn's lore Watchers where he only feeds off of emotions? Or maybe every time he makes a new body, he cannibalizes the code of the old one if Scar doesn't need it for snacking? I assume Scar eats normally with the exception of occasional flesh, and Mumbo, being a sort of parasite, either can make his host eat to sustain himself or just slowly eats the host and changes them every once in a while.
Also is there a reason Grian needs to keep making new bodies, like the code can only hold itself together for a short while before it starts decaying, or maybe because he can't eat it starts to die and that'd why he builds new ones?
I did not, in fact, find motivation to write anything today because my roommates distracted me with watching pirates of the carribean, but the ideas have been bouncing around in my brain all day long.
Anyways, sorry for the ramble can you tell I'm obsessed with your aus <3
In concern of Grian eating... I really like Martyn's interpretation of it with the watchers feeding off of emotions. Would also explain why Grian loves to make games and pranks all the time since he primarily feeds on positive emotions. Although I do believe his primary reason is always to make his friends happy, the benefit of being able to absorb their happiness for his own gain is an added bonus. I like to think the more emotions he gets, the more powerful he can be. Meanwhile, if he doesn't get enough to feed, he'll just dwindle out and fade back to become part of the universe.
My headcanon for the Watchers are that they're the main force to drive the world so it can continue living by making things interesting. Consider it like a book or a movie or even a game. Nobody would play it if nothing good happens, and if they stopped playing, the world within that game would just stop altogether. This is the primary worldbuilding I use when using the concept of minecraft inherently being a game as their actual world. The watchers are creatures created by the universe to keep it going by rousing powerful emotions like sadness, grief, or happiness. In this note, I am also a firm "the watcher's are morally grey" believer. They simply have their own goals and do what it takes to get it.
I think you're quite spot on with Scar and Mumbo's way of feeding! Mumbo is definitely a parasite and I agree with the fact that he makes his host eat for him to eat aswell.
As for Grian's body, my current headcanon of it at the moment is that unlike normal players who treat the world as real life and bodies, etc, as organic, Grian has ascended when he became a watcher and could see the world as what it truly is (code, for simplicity). As such, he treats his body and how he uses it more like an actual minecraft skin. Normal rules of real life and logic that ground a player also don't really apply that much to him now.
For why he has to change it every few days or so... I just think that Grian is just too weak or simply doesn't know that much about code yet to make a sustaining body (think of him like a highschool intern developer that's still learning how to code). I like to think that Grian's current bodies are being held together by duct tape and glue 😭 he doesn't really know what he's doing yet, hence the body malfunctioning or just simply disintegrating back to the universe's code (at this point, he would just give the body to Scar for him to snack on. Just because it's all useless code to him doesn't mean that it's not organic fresh meat for Scar). I also like your suggestion on the body decaying because it couldn't eat... maybe this can also be integrated since the entire organic world & code stuff is separated much like the 4th and 5th dimensions. It would SEEM that the body is rotting due to lack of nutrition, but it could also be a code error on Grian's part, who knows :3
Tysm for the interesting questions and ideas !! These are all just my headcanons atm and you're free to take anything you want from it, or not use them at all ! Again, I really appreciate it that you're willing to expand on this world lol <3 take your time on it !
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grimm-the-tiger · 3 months ago
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Misadventures with Google Translate
I put Life Series quotes through Google Translate too many times. Please help me, I can't stop.
The Names
Bdubs -> Bduby
BigB -> Capital B
Cleo -> Language
Etho -> line
Gem -> Decoration
Grian -> Shooter
Impulse -> Road
Jimmy -> Jimmy
Joel -> Hurrah
Lizzie -> Lizzie
Martyn -> Martyne
Mumbo -> Explosives
Pearl -> Beer
Ren -> Ren
Scar -> Right
Scott -> Scott
Skizz -> Writing
Tango -> Background
The Watcher -> Inspector
Some highlights
Scott: this house Jimmy: And street. [Original line: "It's home?" "Home."]
Language: Be good to me: die for me. [Original line: "Do me a favor: Die for me."]
Lizzie: And I left this world the same way I entered it: troubled. [Original line: "And so I left this world just as I had entered it: confused."]
Shooter: Scar, I think we are spirit descendants and you are too busy catching fairies!! [Original line: "Scar, I think we're soulmates and you're too busy chasing fairies!"]
Scott: They tear up carpets and kill farm animals. It immediately burst into lava. [Original line: "They break carpet and kill cows. And they mine straight down into lava."]
Language: Look, if you have a lost father, you might lose it? [Original line: "Look, if you're gonna be an absent father, could you be at least absent?"]
Scott: Our theme is ABBA's summer house, is it there now? Dead metal?! [Original line: "Our theming was once Cottagecore ABBA, now it's what? Death metal?!"]
Martyne : Tell me something before you go. Why are you attached to the sun? Inspector: Hmmm... HE. It was never meant to be. He just wanted to look. [Original line: "Just... tell me one thing before I go. Why were you so set on Grian?" "Hmph... HIM. He was never meant to be there. He was only ever meant to watch."]
line: I'm a good person to have someone light my tree. [Original line: "I was a good person till somebody burned down my tree."]
Decoration: God, that seems like a recipe for anxiety. Yes I am. [Original line: "God, that sounds like a recipe for angst. Yeah, I'm in."]
Lizzie: Follow it! No friends! [Original line: "Ha! You've got no friends!"]
Beer: Something bad is happening here. [Original line: "Something wicked this way comes."]
Shooter: Here we show our true truth? For yourself or for someone else? Are we all excited? [Original line: "Is this where we show our true allegiance? To each other, and no one else? We turn on everyone?"]
Background: It's not fair, it's not fair, I'll come back to it. [Original line: "This is unjust, it's excessive, and I will return."]
Capital B: No holes! [Original line: "There is no hole!"]
Some notes
I thought it'd be funny if the translations I used were all into languages I either knew off the top of my head that the creators speak or are official languages where they live. This got really convoluted really fast, because Ren was the only person I could think of who speaks a language other than English and I completely ran out after French and Scottish Gaelic, so I added languages spoken by Hermitcraft members instead, then threw Maori on for good measure because New Zealand's close enough to Australia (sorry, New Zealand) and I couldn't find any aboriginal Australian languages on Google Translate. So the translation order roughly went Afrikaans -> French -> Scottish Gaelic -> German -> Swedish -> Polish -> Maori -> English.
Ren's line "Red Winter is coming, me laddie" line got translated as "The red winter is coming, my lady." Honestly, it still kind of works?
"Watcher" got translated as "Inspector", which gives me the mental image of Inspector Gadget in a Watcher costume.
I don't know where the extra e at the end of Martyn's name came from.
I don't know why Etho's name is the only name that got translated into lowercase.
The fact that Mumbo's name somehow got translated as "Explosives" made me start cackling as soon as I saw it.
There were several points where Grian's name got translated as "The Sun" instead, probably because "Grian" is the word for "Sun" in Irish and Scottish Gaelic is from the same language family, so they probably share the same or a similar word.
"Soulmate" somehow got translated as "Spirit descendants". I'm pretty sure it's because it got split up into its component words; "Soul" corrupted into "Spirit", and "Mate"...I honestly don't know.
I translated a grand total of one line from Bdubs, and for some reason when I translated the document back to English, that one line stayed stuck on what I'm pretty sure is Maori except the word "Boogey", which stayed exactly the same.
I'm genuinely surprised by how many lines stuck remarkably close to the originals. Aside from his name, one of Joel's lines ("Where's the fun in that?") somehow survived perfectly intact, and one of BigB's lines ("There is no hole!") got pretty close ("No holes!").
I think the best part about this is that you can tell how and why Google translated some things the way it did, and then others you're just left completely stumped about how the hell it happened.
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whereispearlescentmoon · 1 month ago
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Adding to my Nosey Neighbor thoughts from earlier:
(@bigb-enthusiast and @mapleejay pspspspspsps)
Imagine it begins to snow on the server. Pearl lets it fall on her, still, watching from atop their tower. She's shivering, but doesn't really notice, hands stiffening slowly on her spyglass as she stares at the Mean Gills chatting. She says nothing, but it hurts. Somehow it feels like a betrayal to see Martyn and Scott getting along so well. She starts to lose circulation. She still does not move.
BigB sits on the opposite side of the tower, though indoors, clutching his own spyglass. He doesn't really need it to look down and see the Clockers. Scar is waving around a sword as he talks for emphasis. Cleo doesn't even flinch. Cleo turns her back to Scar to talk to BDubs. Cleo will never turn her back to BigB again.
(Pearl will. She will turn BigB's sword towards her and look away from him, begging him to kill her so he can live. He won't anyways, even with the extra time. Neither will she. Both of their blood will mingle together on Scott's sword.)
BigB can't watch anymore so he turns back inside. It's only then that he realizes Pearl isn't inside. He climbs up to meet her but she doesn't respond to his greeting. He sits down next to her and pulls her spyglass away.
"A little cold, huh?"
"Oh, yeah. I guess,"
The snow has started sticking in his hair, but it's already piled on her shoulders and hood. He fights the urge to wipe it off. Pearl's reaction to touch is...unpredictable. She forgets shes not alone sometimes, even if you're right next to her. He tries not to think about what it means that she doesn't think the people talking to her are solid enough to touch.
"I'm going to head inside, I think Jimmy's heading over to ask about Judy again,"
The aforementioned man is loitering on the bridge outside their tower, being way too loud if he's trying not to be suspicious. Grian shushes him and BigB is reminded of late night meetups that felt like betraying Ren and freedom in equal measure where both of them spent half the time shushing the other and the other half giggling.
He begins to climbs down and trusts that Pearl will follow him. The inside of the tower is warm and what little snow was clinging to him begins to melt.
Pearl won't come back inside until Jimmy has come and gone. Falling snow doesn't have the same bite as sitting directly in powdered snow, but she is tinted blue all the same. BigB will place a hand on her, fingertips first to warn and then the rest when she has acknowledged that he is real, and guide her towards a furnace. She will hiss in pain as the blood returns to dying nerves and feeling returns to fingers that are scarred from the frostbite of a previous life. They will never talk about it.
(In the next life she will drop dripstone on his head and he will be reminded of his skull splitting open in time with Ren's. And he will feel like he's speaking with Ren's voice as he banishes her from Love Island. They are back in the Box and she is a demoness who has brought death with her. But she will tilt her head and ask "Nosey Neighbors?" and he will sigh and forgive her, remembering how the time he took from her tasted.)
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tubbytarchia · 10 months ago
Text
In my head I'm constantly rotating around the idea of Ranchers and Pearl... This is largely unfounded but I just. can't help it... I just think they'd make such a cute trio and it's what all of them deserve in DL especially. Further thoughts below but please also have this from Pearl's POV
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I have never been able to stop thinking about how Pearl was the first person to genuinely help the ranchers when they requested it, and the way she only asks for food in exchange because she's hungry, gets some steak thrown at her and she immediately gobbles it up. Then Pearl watching them try their best to get goat horns, doesn't even judge them for their complete incompetence (does snicker to herself a little but that's just cute), offers to try it herself, gets it immediately followed by Jimmy's unbridled joy and Tango's unbridled praise
Then Jimmy went and broke my heart by shooing Pearl away in session 3 like everyone else </3, but then pearl comes back later offering him a horse and this time she only asks for friendship in exchange <3. But then she HAD conversed with Scott before and Scott basically just said "I've emotionally reduced Jimmy into nothing before and you can too". In the end Jimmy gives her the horn that she got for him in the first place </3 Then Pearl and Martyn steal the horse back but Pearl pretty quickly feels remorseful and returns to Jimmy to once again ask for friendship in exchange for the horse. Jimmy refuses but Pearl gives him the horse anyway and RAHH Jimmy being genuinely surprised like, baby... he just doesn't expect much at all from anyone at this point does he lol. And Pearl all "No, that's not me, I felt too bad" and Jimmy still asking for reassurance "You sure? Are you sure?". Then they kind of established a friendship before parting ways when Pearl admitted she no longer had Jimmy's horn (had given it to Martyn already)
So obviously that didn't amount to much, they didn't interact a lot before Tango and Jimmy died but COME ON THEY'D BE SO CUTE... The ranchers who are most everyone's laughing stock and Pearl who has been largely ostracized for not even doing anything wrong, and completely alone. Except she does have Tilly, she loves her dogs and she also ushers a donkey into her tower all "here you go my little lovely", ALSO housing Oreo, the very horse that'd been traded back and forth and that the ranchers had so desperately wanted. Oreo WAS left there by Scar because he had to make a swift escape from the top but... you know. Anyway point is I think her and the ranchers have a little bit in common in that, I could totally imagine Pearl enjoying taking care of the animals. Also don't forget how she was struggling for food in the beginning just like the ranchers. But they managed to make do because they had each other, unlike Pearl. So the ranchers could give her supportive company!! Can you imagine how delightful they'd be towards her... The same way Jimmy would usher Tango into the ranch as he fled from mobs, scared and starving
That's about it but PLEASE. SURELY I'm not the only one who can see this. Ranchers housing Pearl would be the absolute cutest, they don't judge each other etc... Imagine an AU in which she does score a proper allyship with them, finally finding happiness in some human company only for them to die first and Pearl being left all alone again with all the other Lifers who considered her crazy
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mellozheist · 4 months ago
Note
Hi guess who got no sleep last night (thanks doctor's appointment) and decided to watch your animatic again
I quote myself about 1 hour ago in a treebark channel on a discord server my friends and I made (to anybody that reads this i am so sorry):
(Also I'm sorry if somebody's uncomfortable with swearing :'D)
"[Link]
I'm sorry I still can't handle this animation's existence peoples
I can't with it
I'm crazy
Like REN PUTTING HIS HEAD BACK ON AND CALMING DOWN MARTYN WHO'S PANICKING?????
REN BEING SO CALM AND THEN FUCKING CRAZY IN THE NEXT SHOT?????
FUCKING HELLO????
THE VERY FIRST FEW SHOTS WHERE MARTYN IS LOOKING AT REN BEING ALL EXCITED AND BLUSHING??????
THE END????????
THEM HAVING THEIR PINKIES WRAPPED AROUND???? I EVEN SENT MELLOZ AN ASK ABOUT THAT AND THEY TOLD ME "oh yeah they indirectly promised to see each other in the next life series :3" MELLOZ IS SINGLEHANDEDLY KILLING THE TREEBARK SHIPPERS WITH THIS ONE
MARTYN HOLDING REN'S HAND AND KISSING IT BEFORE DYING ALSO
GUYS I BEG
I CAN'T WITH THIS
I CANNOT
I AM UNABLE TO
Oh my gosh FCUKING REN PUTTING HIS HEAD BACK ON AND LOOKING AT MARTYN WITH THOSE DANG EYES
Guys I need to resist spamming this thing in here
But at the same time IT'S SOOOOOO TEMPTING
FUCKIN
LOOK AT IT
[Link]
GRIPPING MY HEAD FURIOUSLY
THIS WHOLE BEHEADONG SCENE
I JUST NOTICED REN'S NECK DOESN'T LIGN UP PROPERLY IN THE SHOT WHERE MARTYN KISSES HIS HAND
GUYS I'M INSANE
GIYS I'M INSANE
LOOK AT THISSSSSSS
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Furiously rattling the bars of my cell is that what it's called
Honestly I never thought I'd go insane over a ship called treebark
IT'S FUCKING BAUMRINDE IN GERMAN
BAUMRINDE IS SUCH A SILLY SHIP NAME ISTFG
I don't think I've ever loved an animatic thid much
I'VR NEVER LOOKED AT AN ANIMATIC SO CLOSELY
THE FACT THE FIRST SCENE IS SO SWEET AND THE SECOND ONE IS ALREADY REN BEING BEHEADED
I wish they won. I wish Ren or Martyn was the winner of 3rd Life
CAN'T I HAVE L8KE
A LITTLE FAIRY THAT MAKES MY WISHES COME TRUE?
C'MOOOOONNNNN [insert a bunch of screaming emotes here]
AGH I CAN'T
...what if i copied every single message and sent melloz this as an ask to show my appreciation
CUZ I SURE DO APPRECIATE THIS ANIMATIC
[Link]
WATCH THIS. WATCH. OBSERVE. NOW. I BEG.
I'VE WATCHED THIS FOR 5 TIMES IN A ROW NOW
I'M VERY SANE
I STILL CAN'T GET OVER REN'S NECK NOT ALIGNING PROPERLY
also the feather and the poppy but this is the treebark channel
Not
Not desert duo
I CAN'T
.........do i send this as an ask i am very sane i promise
One of my very favourite scenes though is the beheading scene, funnily enough
Me literally passing out when I see gore but not here cuz idk baumrinde <333333
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Also here
HIS NECK.
IS NOT.
ALIGNING.
Or what if it's his head falling off after death cuz he died and that determination is no longer there to keep dogwarts, causing his hesd to fall off
New headcanon i think
And I just noticed I watched this like 6 times now DESERVED THOUGH
Gonna watch it again
I love them so much
I love this animatic so much
Guys I can't
WAIT DID MARTYN'S EARS TILT DOWN IN THE REN DEAD SCENE
HOLD
WAIR YEAH
HIS EARS TILTED DOWN
I CAN'T
Somebody stop me
Actually no
Oh also the song choice IS PERFECT????????
WAIT REN'S PONYTAIL IS GONE IN THE LAST SCENE HIS HAIR IS OPEN
YAAAAAYYYYYY
Anywhoozles
[Link]
WATCH THIS.
I BEG
EVERYBODY THAZ DOESN'T IS MISSING OUT THIS IS SO COOL"
And with that, Melloz you're amazing, EVERYBODY WATCH THE ANIMATIC EVER >:D
I have so much fun reading this, It's like I'm in a theater seat watching this happen with 4D sound surrounding Lmaoooo
Thank you for sending this to me I really appreciate this <3333
I'm so happy you eating all the details I put in hehe
though the part where you describe Ren's neck as not aligning is probably just my error in art but that's also a really cool headcanon!
I might adopt that headcanon :d Like drawing Martyn carrying Ren's head
you really made my day Thank yooou :D
hope you get a good night sleep bud
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jellieland · 1 year ago
Text
It's just like them, thinks Martyn, miserably, To want to make these things stick.
He's always been an "act first, weasel your way out of any potential consequences later," kind of guy, so immediate, painful and permanent consequences to his recklessness strike him as unfair, unwarranted, and quite possibly a personal attack.
But, well. Here he still is anyway. What's he going to do about it?
His ankle burns where the baby zombie clawed at it. His legs ache from the dripstone, and the dripstone, and, yes, the dripstone again, and also walking off Mumbo's house and perhaps slightly misjudging his landing.
His ear keeps ringing and most of his right side stings from the creeper that decided, quite rudely, to sneak up on him and then blow up directly in his face about half a second before he could raise his shield. And the gravel later on, that he'd seen falling but still not managed to avoid, hadn't helped with any of that either.
He can feel blood dripping down his back in no less then five separate places, along with his arm, his shoulder, and the side of his head—that last one bled a lot and got onto his bandanna which was pretty annoying, actually—all from his many encounters with what he thinks were probably, at a conservative estimate, about a billion skeletons.
He doesn't quite glare up at the Secret Keeper. The healing they'd given him had been too much of a relief for that; his vision had stopped swimming, that head wound had stopped bleeding so much, and it was significantly less painful to walk. But the look he gives them is certainly glare-adjacent.
"You do know injuries aren't supposed to stick around like this, don't you?" he mutters, bitterly. "I know you like twisting stuff, but this is ridiculous. It's unnatural, is what it is!"
Someone snorts behind him.
He turns, and he sees Cleo. Neat, meticulous stitches are visible across their skin. Martyn hasn't met many people with scars before, but she's one of them.
The only new one is what looks, ironically enough, like a zombie bite on their arm, entirely healed over.
"It's really not that hard to deal with if you're just patient," she says.
"Ah," he says. "Well. That's my problem right there, then, isn't it?"
"It certainly looks like it," they say, amused. They're laughing at him again. He can't even be mad, since all in all, he totally deserves it.
"Yeah, alright," he says, a bit indignant just for the sake of what remains of his pride. "No need to rub it in! I hope you realize that if healing just worked normally, I'd be doing really well, actually."
"Hmm. Right, you do tend to throw yourself off of cliffs, and then try and work out how you'll save yourself on the way down, don't you?" She gives him a knowing look. "But look on the bright side—when you do die, you'll get to be perfectly healthy again for... I give it ten seconds. After that, you'll start making decisions."
"Hey, I'll have you know I went to the Nether for ages, and got out without a scratch on me that I didn't have when I arrived!" he retorts.
"Oh, so you can be careful, you just choose not to be?" They raise a judgemental eyebrow.
"Well... I mean." He half-shrugs, then winces. "I mean. Yeah. Yes. You know this about me."
There is a brief pause. She gives him an unreadable look, eyes catching on the blood seeping through his shirt. "...Yeah. I guess I do."
He glances over at the Secret Keeper again, bold and unmoving against the unnaturally darkened sky.
When he looks back, Cleo is still watching him. "You didn't even bandage those, did you?" they ask, with a touch of what most people would think was disdain. "Let alone stitch them up."
"I mean, no? It's not like it'll do anything, is it?" he asks, taken aback. "The good old 'Powers That Be' want us to bleed, and they want us to keep bleeding! Who am I to argue?"
She narrows her eyes as though she doesn't quite understand his point. "I'm not saying that would fix it. I don't think any of us are going to live long enough for that method of healing to work." They shrug. "Would make it hurt less, though."
Now it's his turn to narrow his eyes. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah," she says. "At least, so I've heard. For me, it's mostly about making sure I don't start physically falling apart, because it's really inconvenient when that does start happening."
He nods in acknowledgement. "Well, maybe I'll give it a go if I have the time." It all sounds a bit far-fetched to him. Much better to spend time working towards completing the next secret task he gets, or persuading people to give him the healing they have to spare, rather than losing hours on something that wouldn't actually help him in the long run.
(Maybe it's an echo, maybe it's just who he is, but Martyn's time is precious, and he is not giving it up for something so monotonous. Who would find that interesting?)
"Alright," they say. "If you're sure. But no one else is going to do it for you, you know."
He snorts. "Cleo," he says. "You're funny." She, of all people, should know he's already well aware of that.
"Right," they say, dryly. "Well, unless you want anything else I think I'm done here."
"Nah, not really." he says, then pauses. Frowns.
As unconvinced as he is, she really didn't have to say that to him. She deserves at least something in return.
"I will say," he says delicately, "if that advice really does help. You should probably keep it to yourself. You know. Death game, and all that."
All at once, their expression turns cold. "I think it's my business what I choose to give up, actually," she snaps.
Martyn's eyes briefly flick over to the Secret Keeper. "I mean..."
"No. I meant what I said." They cross their arms. "It's up to other people what they choose to do with it. But what I give them is up to me." She glances at the Secret Keeper, and then back to him. "No one's ever been able to tell me what I owe, or don't owe, to anyone." They smirk, and give him a piercing look. "You know this about me."
"...Yeah," he says. "I guess I do."
There is a short silence.
"Well!" He claps abruptly. "I won't keep you!"
"No, you won't," she says. "I'd best be off. This might come as a surprise, but I do actually have better things to do than hang out around Grian's creepy rock all day."
"Fair, fair." He chuckles, and raises a hand in farewell as they leave. "See you around."
Once she's out of sight, he goes back to staring at the Secret Keeper.
It's quiet.
"They're doing pretty well this time, huh?" he says. "If she keeps going like this, she probably won't get another happy ending, will she."
The air is very still, here. It's as though the place is trapped in night, even when he can see the sun in the sky.
The Secret Keeper does not answer him.
"I know you, though," he says. "You won't let it be all about being careful. That would be boring."
The thought nags at him that Cleo hasn't sounded as though they'd found any of this boring. Surely there had to be more to it than what she'd said? There had to be.
If there wasn't, then what was the point of all this pain?
He shifts, and his shoulder twinges, and he hisses quietly with frustration.
"Things already stuck," he says, unhappily. "They already stayed. I thought that was obvious."
The rock just stands there.
Judgemental. Impartial. It's impressive how it can manage to be both.
Martyn sighs heavily, and winces, and turns away. He looks towards his extremely small, entirely copied base, and a place where the sky is capable of letting in the light.
He pokes gingerly at his head wound. It's shallow, but painful.
"Maybe just this one," he mutters. "Could repurpose my bandanna. Although I guess I should probably wash it first. That would be smart." He wipes at his face. "If I don't then blood's going to start getting in my eyes. But not in a cool way, just in a way where I'll fall in a ravine by accident or something."
Nobody responds. That's ok. He hasn't exactly endeared himself to anyone, recently.
In a game that's even more about trust than usual, there's a part of him that doesn't mind being a lone wolf, as it were. At least for now. Harder to stab someone in the back if you don't let them get behind you, right?
He can make this work. He'll just have to adapt. He's good at that, usually! He just has to find the angle.
After all, he may not be patient, but he is persistent.
And he suspects being a liar will come in handy, for this one.
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life-winners-liveblog · 5 months ago
Text
Watching Double Life session 2
P5
Martyn: Phrasing????
Pearl: ...
Grian: And I tought that Scar waa bad.
Pearl: It wasn't phrasing, just... thinking of Ren made me think about taming wolves.
Scott: You made it sound like you wanted to tame Ren.
Pearl: Details.
~~~~~~
Grian: I'm sorry, did Ren really?
Scott: He saw you go into powdered snow and he just assumed you were ...what was it again?
Cleo: Sacrificing herself to a dark spirit!
3L!Scar: ... Our Ren did call us hippies and that didn't really make any sense either thinking about it.
Grian: ... Wait yeah, that does make zero sense.
Martyn: What do other me's even see in this guy...
Scar: Anyway, I think that sounds like a fun activity!
Pearl: Hmmm...
Scott: No! No evil spirit summoning! We aren't letting any of that here, nope!
~~~~~
Scott: Really trew other me under the bus there Pearl.
Pearl: It was Tilly! Of course I did! Not like he didn't diserve it.
Scott: ... Jury is still not fully decided on that.
Pearl: Scott-
Scott: ...
~~~~~
Martyn: You know , you repeatedly saying you are doing great to the air surprisingly makes it seems like the opposite.
Pearl: I did went a little bit crazy, not like you can talk, not the way you were when you first arrived.
Martyn: Oh don't you-
Pearl: What? So you can say whatever but I can't? What's this mate?!?
Martyn: I...
Pearl: What? I can't hear you.
Martyn: It's...different.
Pearl: Is it? How?
Martyn: ... I...you're right.
Pearl: Uh eh what?
Martyn: Still going to be petty about it ...just, tell me if I go too far.
Pearl: Uhhhhh... works...for me...
~~~~~
Cleo: Well other me is terrified.
Scar: Oh yeah!
Cleo: Huh.
~~~~~
Scott: ... That was akward.
Grian: And kinda sad...
Scar: Being alone for a long time sucks.
Martyn: But that fake pity? That fake pity is the worst part, it wasn't towards me but it was so infuriating.
~~~~~
3L!Scar: Boat Boys! I was there when they first arrived in the loser void!
Pearl: Really? Nice.
~~~~~
3L!Scar: Well, that death was... something.
Cleo: It only took an enderman, wooow.
3L!Scar: They are more dangerous then they look.
Pearl: ... I'm going to look away for this last part of the session...
Scar: Uh? Are you ok?
Martyn: Is this the Ren thing?
Pearl: Yes...
~~~~~
Grian: ...
Scar: ... something...wicked? ...*he flinches*
Cleo: ...excuse me? ... Even I'm very confused, I'm not used to being confused.
Scott: What!???? Huuuuuuh?!?
Pearl: ... yeah...
Martyn: What the fuck is wrong with this stupid ass looking guy?!?
Cleo: And I oop.
3L!Scar: Martyn defending Pearl? This is...
Grian: Unheard of, Impossible?
Martyn: I never understood why other me's like this bufoon so much but this is a new height of stupidity.
Scott: I'm having a fever dream, that has to be it.
Martyn: I just... made me angry.
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