#Soulbound Au Canons

[spiderziege]

A few questions about your 3rd Life Horse AU.

What happens to the horses after their player’s die, if anything? I like to think that the horses would just go back to their home base and live there until the last player dies, but we all know that The Watchers aren’t nearly that kind.

Does Scott SMajor not have a horse of his own, or did he give his horse to Jimmy to ride because he didn’t have a horse?

Not a question here though. I love your art style, and I adore this AU. 10/10. Thank you for existing.

Signed, @dreemurr00

the thing with the horse au is that i havent actually put all that much thought into it except for 'what if they all had horses?' :'D but the way i imagine it, once the player permadies the horse gets left behind and either it returns to the wild or it gets taken in by a team member (the watchers dont really exist in this scenario cause i dont like them lol)

also scott and jimmy share a horse (and technically scar and grian do to, but of course they also have pizza). mostly just cause i do like the idea of some of the alliances sharing a horse, and with scott and jimmy it just felt right. but if i had given each of them a horse then jimmy would get the Haflinger and scott would probably have a Lusitano or something

[goodlucktai]

gently in the cold dark earth

scum villain's self saving system word count: 2k canon divergent / no system au; sy transmigrates into an empty npc role; gray lotus binghe loves his shixiong more than life and he's ready to make it everyone's problem

title borrowed from work song by hozier

read on ao3

x

The first thing Luo Binghe does when he escapes the Abyss is return to Cang Qiong Mountain. 

With Xin Mo secured to his back, the way could be instant if he so chose—the journey of a thousand miles reduced to a single step—but he unsheathes the elegant jian at his hip instead.

Yong Liang sings sweetly for him, the snow white blade still shining and untainted even after years of helping Luo Binghe carve his way through hell. It has never once failed him, soulbound to the one person still on this earth who has never failed him. 

“Take it,” his shixiong insisted, low and urgent. The Abyss was behind them, an even deadlier threat was ahead, and Without A Cure clogging his meridians made Luo Binghe the best choice to wield the only unshattered spirit sword they had between them. “Binghe, take it.”

He pressed until Luo Binghe’s grip curled tight around the hilt, not hesitating to put his soul in Luo Binghe’s hands even with the rosy glow of an unsealed demon mark shining on his face. 

Luo Binghe flies at a pace best described as dangerously reckless, hardly smelling the fragrant spring air or feeling the sun on his face. His robes are a disgrace, his hair a tangled, matted mess, and it occurs to him that he could stop somewhere and clean himself up, make himself presentable, but it’s a brief, fleeting thought. 

Shen Yuan would be furious to find out that Luo Binghe wasted even a single second returning to his side. 

——

He passes through the ancient wards effortlessly, feeling them fall away from him like water. It’s a simple thing to tamp down on his demonic qi, to disguise the parts of him that those so-called righteous cultivators would scorn. He ghosts through the familiar grounds as eagerly as a starving animal bolting down a fresh game trail, but one by one, all of their familiar haunts come up empty, without even a lingering trace of Shen Yuan’s spiritual energy left behind.   

The head disciple’s room is dusted and undisturbed, as if its occupant might walk through the door at any moment, but the lack of clutter and the empty book shelf makes it very clear to Luo Binghe what the truth must be.

If Shen Yuan returned to the peak after the Conference, he didn’t stay. 

All at once, images crowd the front of his mind—his shixiong grieving, pulling away, turning his back on those responsible for his heartache. 

Yue Qingyuan, always only a step behind wherever his precious Xiu Ya sword went, promised that no one wanted to hurt them. They only wanted to help.

He looked so solemn and righteous that Shen Yuan reluctantly allowed himself to be convinced. Luo Binghe, who had gone to the man for help after a bloody whipping when he was a child, only to be given a walnut cake and turned away at the door, knew better. 

He wasn’t surprised when Shen Yuan was wrenched away from him, and shizun sent him staggering off the cliff with a spiritual dagger buried to the hilt in his chest, all of it happening within a matter of seconds—but it still hurt. 

Shen Yuan’s scream followed him all the way down. 

I’m alive, Luo Binghe thinks, with no one there to tell it to. I came back to you. Let me come back to you. 

——

Including time spent in the abyss, it’s three years before they meet again. 

Luo Binghe’s revenge is his second priority at best, but he is nothing if not efficient and knows how to kill two birds with the same stone. Huan Hua affords him ample resources and opportunities to scour the world for his missing shixiong while playing the role of earnest and diligent new disciple. He snatches up each mission that comes along as though  eager to prove his worth to the sect that so graciously took him in, but he takes every excuse to wander, to search, to make conversation with vendors and innkeepers and passing strangers. 

Have you seen my heart? It lives outside of me in the form of a beautiful young man and tends to wander. Very contrary, likes to fuss over people, could argue the stripes off a lushu just for fun. You’d know it if you met it. You’d never forget. 

The days blur together, meaningless and gray, but he doesn’t stop looking. Shen Yuan still exists somewhere in this world, because otherwise Luo Binghe wouldn’t. It’s the only thing that makes sense. The alternative doesn’t bear thinking about. 

And then, finally—an afternoon in Jinlan City, when Luo Binghe arrives in a throng of incompetent gold-clad Huan Hua disciples, to investigate a plague of all things—

He’s there. 

In dark, neutral colors and plain clothes, a traveling cloak with its hood resting down around his shoulders, as if his beauty could possibly be lessened by cheap, shapeless fabrics rather than effortlessly enhanced. His hair falls from its half-tail in glorious waves—he never did have the patience for anything elaborate, only wearing braids when one of his sticky shidimei cajoled and convinced him. Traveling alone, who could he possibly have to roll his eyes at and complain about and sit patiently still for?

A pale green ribbon is all that decorates his hair. Luo Binghe recognizes it instantly. 

“You should spend your allowance on yourself, Binghe,” Shen Yuan scolded him, not for the first time and certainly not for the last. 

“But I did,” Luo Binghe protested, widening his eyes and clasping his hands earnestly, the way he knew worked best. “I wanted it! And now that I have it, I want to give it to you.”

Shen Yuan was too clever by half to be truly fooled by the innocent act, but he always folded like paper anyway. He spoiled all of his shidimei but Luo Binghe most of all. Anyone on Qing Jing Peak would be hard-pressed to think of a single example of Shen Yuan telling Luo Binghe ‘no.’ 

Sure enough, after a second spent visibly wrestling with himself, he blurted, “Oh, fine! Hand it over.” 

He wore it every day since. He’s wearing it now. The wind catches the ends of it, sending it streaming behind him like the tails of a paradise flycatcher. Lovely. 

For a brief moment, Luo Binghe is frozen where he stands, finally faced with the very thing that he’s been missing for years, that he’s been living a miserable half-life without. 

And then he remembers himself and lurches forward. His voice is a tangle in his throat but he manages to choke out, “Shixiong!”

A strike of lightning couldn’t have jolted Shen Yuan into more perfect stillness. He stops mid-step, every inch of him as good as carved from precious jade. He doesn’t turn his head, and the sliver of his face visible from where Luo Binghe stands is very pale. 

Luo Binghe wonders suddenly if this has happened to him before—if Shen Yuan has heard a voice on the road or in the market that was almost familiar, that was almost the one he was hoping for, only to be disappointed when he turned to follow it and found a stranger. 

Luo Binghe shortens the distance between them with a few anxious steps and tries again. 

“Shixiong.”

The older boy whirls around abruptly, as if to get it over with. He’s bracing himself, but Luo Binghe barely has a second to absorb Shen Yuan’s painful-looking anticipation before it bleeds out of his face in favor of something else entirely. 

He looks like the earth has fallen out from beneath his feet, like he hardly dares to believe his eyes. Zheng Yang gleams golden at Shen Yuan’s hip, reforged and whole again.

“Binghe?”  

“It’s me,” Luo Binghe says softly. 

There’s a tableau he’s afraid to break, as if they’re in a delicate dreamscape and a move too sudden or loud might dissolve it. He wants to say I’ve missed you the way lungs miss air, immediately and needfully, I haven’t breathed at all since we’ve been apart. He wants to say you’re my light in the dark, I can only stand in front of you now because I love you too much to ever truly leave you. 

Instead, he tells his dearest friend, “This one made you wait. But your Binghe is here.”

Shen Yuan sprints the rest of the way to meet him, almost before he’s even finished talking, and they collide in a solid embrace that knocks the air from them both. 

His arms wind around Luo Binghe’s waist like steel bands, fingers digging into the back of his robes, precious face pressed into the crook of his neck and shoulder. Luo Binghe doesn’t hesitate to gather him up close, holding him as tightly and securely as he knows how, burying his nose in his shixiong’s hair and breathing in the familiar, beloved smell of him.  

Shen Yuan is a few inches shorter than he remembers. All the better to tuck him beneath Luo Binghe’s chin, to cover and surround him so completely that not even the heavens above can get a decent eyeful. 

He wants to grab and bite and pin Shen Yuan beneath him and never let go. His jaw aches with wanting it. 

“I’ve been looking for you,” Luo Binghe says, eyes wet. “I went home first.” Unsaid goes the obvious but you weren’t there. 

“How could I stay?” Shen Yuan bites out, managing to sound all at once strangled and bewildered and—charmingly—offended. He shakes his head without lifting it, an aggressive nuzzle against Binghe’s shoulder. “After what they did to you, I’d rather die than represent their stupid sect another minute.”

“Step away from it, Shen Yuan,” shizun said coldly. “I’ll put that beast back where it belongs.”

“No,” shixiong said in a voice that was smaller than usual, one that shook. He was frightened, clearly overwhelmed, but he didn’t budge from where he was plastered in front of Luo Binghe like a breathing shield. 

“Now.” 

“No, shizun.”

“Shizhi,” Yue Qingyuan said gently, offering his hand. “Come here. It will be alright.”

Shen Yuan said, “No. You can’t hurt Binghe. He’s not bad just because of who his parents are. He’s as good as he was yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. He’s hardworking and loyal and a sweetheart to anybody who gives him half a chance. He’s so good.”

Liu Qingge was behind the sect leader, sword drawn. Shen Qingqiu was quickly losing what little patience he had, face twisted into a sneer, dark eyes stabbing hatefully at Luo Binghe from over his head disciple’s shoulder. There were more figures rapidly drawing closer, the other peak lords following the flare of Yue Qingyuan’s qi. The standoff was becoming more and more untenable, and Shen Yuan was too smart not to see that, shrinking back against Luo Binghe as much as he could without crowding him closer to the edge. 

“You can’t hurt him,” he said again, the closest Luo Binghe had ever heard him come to tears, “he’s my shidi.”

Luo Binghe is unsurprised by his shixiong’s loyalty, because it’s already been proven to him over and over. It’s unremarkable at this point, which is an absolutely remarkable thing in itself. It makes him feel warm with gratitude and affection and ownership. 

Shen Yuan is clever and quick on his feet and always three steps ahead, more knowledgeable about flora and fauna than anyone else Binghe has ever known combined, and probably a force to be reckoned with as a rogue cultivator, where the only rules of conduct he has to adhere to are his own. 

But Luo Binghe hates to think of him on the road alone, without the little martial siblings who follow him like ducklings, without his Binghe there to make sure he remembers to eat all his meals and comb out his hair before bed. He’s a creature of comfort, made for airy rooms with too many cushions and an abundance of sweets and books to read. 

Luo Binghe has fantasized more than once about building a home for Shen Yuan to lounge prettily in. It was, in fact, his favorite flavor of daydream since he was about thirteen. 

If Shen Yuan wants to rogue cultivate, then that’s what they’ll do. But Luo Binghe thinks, if he constructs a palace that’s as comfortable as it is grand, and fills it with trashy romance novels and obscure beasts and his own hand-made meals, he can convince his friend to live in it with him.

Shen Yuan needs to be taken care of. Luo Binghe needs to be the one taking care of him. They’re together now and they’ll never be apart again and those needs can both be met. 

That possessive, proprietary feeling coils dark and deep inside him, undulating lazily like a serpent who’s fed enough for days, reminding him over and over what he already knows:

Mine. 

[ravenwilds]

Merthur Soulmate Fic Recs

For my @merlinbingo square I3, soulmarks

Strangled by the Red String of Fate by @idlestories

Explicit; 9,971 words; posted 2020; canon era

Idlestories writes the best banter between these two idiots and that's absolutely the case here! If you like this you should also read Nicest Thing, which might be my favourite ever Merlin fic (not soulmates).

“It has its roots in a legend from the east, sire. I believe it’s called the red string of fate.” “Fate?” Arthur said incredulously. “What, is he going to be the one to kill me?” “Getting more likely by the minute,” Merlin supplied.  ...

The Rebel, the Prat and the Unfortunate Soulbound by Leandra @nuttersinc

Teen; 10,310 words; 2022; canon era

I loved betaing this fic. It is pretty darn hot for a teen rated fic, and very funny. Rebellious, sassy Merlin and pining Arthur <3 - another reluctant soulmates one.

When Arthur tries to prevent the escape of prisoners in the dungeons, he's pulled into a tussle with a mouthy, unapologetic and irritating magic user. Turns out the dark-haired stranger with the criminal streak and terribly kissable mouth is Arthur's reluctant soulmate...

Bare Your Soul by Polomonkey

Teen; 4,256 words; 2021; modern era

Delightful, funny and completely in character case of reluctant-soulmates, mixed with a classic bit of they-didn’t-realise-they-were-dating. Two sides of the same idiot. Loved Kilgharrah in this too.

An accidental soulbonding leads Merlin and Arthur into counselling to get it dissolved.  If, of course, that's what they really want...

Let it be you by Amithia

Explicit; 33,323 words; 2021; modern era

This is funny, and hot, and has a great cast of characters, besides the main pair. All the phone messages are brilliant. And it's a coffee shop au. Reluctant soulmates with great banter.

This is all Gwen's fault. Merlin never wanted a stupid smartphone in the first place. Now, he has a smartphone and a supercilious, posh git bullying him on Whatsapp. He really should block the prat.

True Love by platonic_boner

Teen; 6,927 words; 2016; canon era

Recommended to me by my friend Seth and I loved it. Such a great concept and leading to delicious mix of mutual pining, light angst and funny misunderstandings.

AU where soulmates can’t lie to each other. (That’s okay, Merlin wasn’t planning to lie to Arthur anyways! Haha.. ha.. ha…)

And finally...

Honourable mention to Gamut by Nahara - great world-building in a contemporary/future country at war au. It's hot - there's quite an age difference so mind the tags if that's not your thing.

Also for something seasonal, Seth recommended Santa ain't got nothing on tone-deaf carollers by headfirstforwaywardhalos, which is also funny and I loved the concept for the soulmarks, which behave like mood rings.

[ween-kitchens]

guess who forgot they can post writing on tumblr againnn anyway this was bribery so stiff would watch rtc HKFHD

(this is part of the sniflins au! idk if it’s canon or not but it takes place in that world! the sniflins is an au by myself, @angeart @loveroped and @stiffyck !)

jimmy can feel scar smiling against his neck, nuzzling closer every so often, and his stomach fills with butterflies. his chest is filled with a fuzzy glow—a wonderful mix of both his own and scar’s happiness. he can no longer tell what emotion belongs to who, and it’s wonderful. under the lazy warmth of the afternoon sun, it’s as if there’s no one else in the world aside from them, and jimmy couldn’t be happier.

that idea is very abruptly disputed, as joel snores loudly from across the picnic blanket. jimmy stifles a laugh, and he can hear scar giggling quietly in his ear (which, for the record, might just be the best sound ever). 

both grian and joel fell asleep a good ten minutes ago—grian almost fell face first into a cupcake, and joel dozed off midway through insisting that he was not going to fall asleep at all. scar and he have since concluded that it was the sniffer traits that made them so sleepy in comparison to them, and that they will never let either of them live this down.

“ruins the moment a bit, doesn’t it?” jimmy jokes quietly, if only to hear scar’s laugh again.

scar hums, the sound vibrating against jimmy’s skin. “well, I don’t know. doesn’t make you any less beautiful.” 

jimmy feels his face burn in a way that is entirely unrelated to the sun. “oh my gosh.” he buries his head in his hands.

scar is laughing again, sitting up with the sole intention of making jimmy even more flustered, it seems. “oh, but you are! look at you!”

“I will hit you.” jimmy says, muffled through his palms.

“I don’t believe you.” scar teases, sing-song. “you love me too much.”

“I absolutely don’t.” jimmy says. even to his own ears, it sounds laughably false. but right now, he’s proving a point, so.. shut up.

scar presses a kiss to jimmy’s neck, and jimmy feels his face grow impossibly warmer. “oh yeah? now, unless our soulbound broke in the last few seconds, i’m fairly certain you do, sweetheart.”

and- whilst jimmy may not usually be the most forward person in the world, desperate times call for desperate measures. the desperate times in question being his immense flusteredness, and the desperate measures- well..

jimmy takes his hands away from his face, shifts to face scar, grabs his collar and pulls him into a kiss. scar is surprised initially, but melts into it almost immediately—that wonderful glow growing in jimmy’s chest.

and- wow. jimmy somehow manages to forget just how happy scar makes him—not that he’s complaining; it’s something of a fantastic surprise every time he remembers again. like right now, for instance. because scar’s hands are at jimmy’s waist and cupping his cheek, and he’s leaning ever further into the kiss, and jimmy can feel the thin scar that runs through scar’s bottom lips and it’s bliss.

they pull away to catch their breath, giggling breathlessly all the while, and jimmy takes the opportunity for payback. he peppers scar’s face in kisses, delighting as he laughs, and occasionally giving scar’s lips a teasing peck.

“point- point proven!” scar is saying, despite the fact that jimmy has considered stopping at least twice and each time scar whined until he kissed him again.

“mm, no, I don’t think it has.” jimmy grins. “I think I might have to kiss you forever, actually.”

“I mean-“ scar says, and jimmy cackles at the abrupt shift in his tone. “I wouldn’t object, per say-“

“you’re an idiot.” jimmy says, fond as anything. god, he loves this man so much.

scar beams, as if he knows exactly what jimmy is thinking. “I know.”

[royallygray]

@periwinklepaint

Here is a scene I wrote for an au (that I really need a name for bc it dominates my thoughts).

Bit (a lot) of background on this AU: It's supposed to be a superhero/urban fantasy/soulmate au. Everyone has some degree of magic, they just have to learn to harness it. All soulmate pairs are the canon ones from Double Life.

Scar (Hotguy) and Gem (Fauna) are heroes. Grian (Chaos Sparrow) is a vigilante. Pearl (Scarlet) is a villain. Jimmy is just a civilian, but he's a victim of the prophecy (basically just the Canary Curse).

It was supposed to be Scarian mild annoyance to lovers and Gempearl enemies to lovers, but it has gotten more focused on the:

Scar & Gem besties relationship,

the Grian & Pearl chaos skyblings relationship,

the Grian & Pearl & Jimmy & Lizzie skybling/seabling relationship,

the Scar & Pearl depression villain arc relationship,

and Gem & Grian's sibling dynamic.

At this point in the story, our four main characters (Gem, Scar, Grian, and Pearl) have made a deal. The higher-ups at the Hero Corp want to interrogate Scarlet (Pearl) for information because she's not only the primary villain of the city, she's also the leader of the underground, who are presumably the people who want to assassinate Jimmy (if he dies, it's basically Ragnarok). Pearl does not have control over individual people or groups in the underground, she just runs the system.

The Hero Corp wants Gem and Scar to retrieve Pearl and bring her to them. So Gem and Scar set up a meeting, since there is mutual trust between the four of them.

The conclusion was that they could take Pearl, but Grian would take one of the heroes as collateral so that he could ultimately get her back. They decided to exchange Gem rather than Scar because they knew that Gem is the Hero Corp's precious baby and they'd be desperate to get her back, which ensures Pearl's release. Additionally, Scar's magic is incredibly strong since he's a fae. He has a natural advantage that bypasses some of Pearl's talent in magic.

So he places a curse on her that can only be broken if Scar chooses to break it. Basically it prevents her from flying (she's got wings, so does Grian), getting out of range of Scar, and the curse includes the ability to control whether the person the curse is placed on can talk or not, but Scar refuses to utilize it.

Also since Scar is a fae, he can't lie. But he does have a silver tongue that easily gets around the lying factor. Also he doesn't know that he and Grian are soulbound. Also Gem doesn't have a soulbound. Also I'm really insecure about posting this like I think it's cool but maybe other people won't think it's cool but an IRL friend really liked it but idk and I did write this all on discord because I needed to explain the scene to said friend and it was going to be easier to just write it and AAAAAA

okay here are some words of scar being a badass byeeeee

-- --

The Hero Corp keeps insinuating that Scar is working with the villains. They keep insisting that he break more and more of his morals to find more stuff.

And finally, he just goes "Do you want a villain? Because I can give you one.”

And it's dead silent.

No one says shit.

Gem's apprentice, Guqqie, is there with their jaw dropped.

Scar's usually green eyes are glowing red.

He's angry.

"It seems to me that you want a villain," Scar says, his voice echoing in the silent room. "I can give you one. Isn't that what you want?”

No one says anything.

Scar's red eyes burn into the side of [boss]'s skull. "I thought you wanted a villain.”

Some people are staring at him. Some are trying to get out of this room. Some are trying to ignore what's happening.

"Did you not want a villain?" Scar asks. "I don't appreciate lying.

"I can't lie," Scar says. "I'm not sure if you know this, but I cannot lie. I feel like maybe you'd extend the same courtesy for me.”

"Do you want a fucking villain?" Scar snaps. "Or are you just unsatisfied with me having boundaries? Not liking how you compare me to Fauna and wish I got taken instead? Realizing that Villains are people too?”

It wouldn't've been terrible to be taken by Sparrow (Grian, Scar thought with mild wonder. A beautiful name. His heart fluttered, despite the situation), but the thought still stood. [boss] didn't know that Sparrow wouldn't hurt him.

"Don't you want a villain?" Scar asks, quietest yet. "Don't you?" More silence. The clock on the wall ticks. Scar can hear his heavy breath in time with his heartbeat. "Well, I'll give you one." He rips his hero badge from around his neck and lays it on the table. "I resign.”

And he stalks away, the explosion of "no!"s and "why?"s and "HOTGUY GET BACK HERE!"s blocked out by his mind.

And he walks up to his apartment, his mild haven here, and sees Pearl and Jimmy. He snaps his fingers, lifting Pearl's curse. She looks up in alarm, and Jimmy follows suit.

"We're leaving." Scar tells them, leaving no room for argument. "And we're not coming back.”

[aquaquadrant]

from eden, part III

Word count: 7,972

Warnings: Nondescript death (in Minecraft), shipping (nothing explicit!)

Summary: When Tango agreed to join Double Life, he didn’t anticipate being soulbound to Jimmy- a player he hardly knows. And when their first meeting happens after he loses their first life, he figures the only way left to go is up. But he’s quickly proven wrong when feelings complicate the situation, and he finds that his greatest conflict might just be within himself.

A/N: I’m back with the next installment of my and @lunarcrown’s Hels to Pay AU! (more info and previous fics here) I really don’t know how these keep getting so long. I actually had to split this one up into two parts and it’s still almost 8k. This starts out following Double Life canon, but then diverges after session 1. Btw, I don’t use accurate Minecraft day/night cycles; I envision each session taking place over a normal 24 hour day, just so it’s easier to grasp the passage of time. Hope y’all enjoy, please reblog if you do! It means a lot <3 - Aqua

~*~

from eden, part III - babe, there’s something magic about you, something so tragic about you, don’t you agree?

~*~

Somewhere in Double Life, a player respawns in a tree.

He’s disoriented, an explosion still ringing in his ears as he blinks against the sudden sunlight. Leaves tickle his face- he jerks back instinctively, then his stomach lurches as he almost loses his balance, yelping in surprise. His mind is racing, rational thought struggling to surface against residual panic and adrenaline. Only a second ago, he’d been deep inside a cave fighting off a horde of mobs, and the next-

Clinging to a tree branch with one hand, he uses the other to pull up his communicator.

Tango was blown up by Creeper.

SolidarityGaming died.

The memory comes rushing back; fending off mobs, backing up beneath an overpass, the sudden appearance of a creeper in front of him as the air filled with the sound of hissing-

“No!” Tango wails, the drawn-out cry devolving into hysterical laughter as realization sinks in.

He’s just gotten himself- and his soulmate, because oh right, soulmates are a thing here- killed by a creeper. The first deaths of the newly generated world, in which the goal is to be the last pair standing. And it was a creeper, a stupid creeper of all things! Oh, what a horrible start.

Tango feels the flames of rage licking at him- the blaze rods around his head burning with fire- and forces himself to take a deep, calming breath before he sets the whole forest ablaze. He exhales slowly, closing his eyes for a moment.

“Well-”

“What happened, Tango?”

Tango’s ears prick at the sudden voice. Startled, he whips his head around- and nearly falls out of the tree in the process. He recognizes the voice, though he isn’t as familiar with its owner as he is with some of the other players in this world.

SolidarityGaming. Also known as Jimmy. Also known, now, as Tango’s soulmate.

And the guy Tango just got killed.

There’s something almost familiar about this. Their first real meeting, back on Third Life, involved Jimmy losing his life to Tango’s game of risk. They’d hardly spoken before that, and have hardly spoken since. And here they are now, reeling from the revelation that they’re soulbound and fresh off a death that Tango caused.

The Universe just loves messing with Tango, doesn’t it?

“Oh, hi! Hi!” Tango stammers out, disbelief still coursing through him.

“Um…” Jimmy sounds like he’s in shock, too. His voice isn’t far off. “Wait, where are you?”

Tango glances around. “Are you- are you here?”

“Yeah…”

Peering through the leaves, Tango’s gaze falls on a figure standing just across from the tree; a man with large golden wings. His wide brown eyes scan the little mountaintop forest, one hand raking through his dirty blond hair.

Tango carefully pulls himself up into a sturdier perch, poking his head out from the canopy. “How- what are the chances of that? I die, and now we’re linked, and now I- oh, cause you died too, I’m so sorry…” His shoulders creep up by his ears as guilt sweeps through him, his voice climbing a couple octaves. “I’m so sorry.”

Jimmy blinks up at him, looking stunned. And surprisingly, not angry. “How- take me through it,” he says, holding out a hand. “What’s- what’s happened there?”

“Uh, there was some caving…” Tango explains sheepishly, feeling his face heat up. “And then there might have been… about seven zombies and a spider, and a-”

Pain suddenly jabs Tango in the side; Jimmy’s just been rammed by a goat.

“You’re being butted!” Tango exclaims, scrambling down from the tree. 

“Yeah, lemme…” Jimmy is already backing away from the goat, eyebrows raised as one hand absently rubs his side. The goat, for its part, seems to have made its point and trots off into the forest. Shaking his head, Jimmy turns away from it.

Tango, standing in front of his soulmate for the first time, feels his stomach lurch with nerves. Jimmy’s a few inches taller, though his broad shoulders and well-built arms make him feel a lot bigger- as do the wings poking up behind him.

What an introduction.

Belatedly, Tango realizes they’ve both lost everything, and covers his face with his hands. “Oh no…” he groans. Oh, Jimmy must hate him already-

“So,” Jimmy continues, his voice still neutral even as he starts pacing around the clearing, “you just… you got blown up by caving?”

Tango nods vigorously, rushing to explain. “And then- and then I was focusing on the army approaching me from one direction, and uh… yeah. The ol’ ‘creeper from behind’ trick.”

“Oh… my gosh,” Jimmy breathes, his wings ruffling behind him as he paces.

“I am so sorry,” Tango murmurs anxiously. He scans Jimmy’s face for any indication of anger, but it’s still markedly absent. In fact, his expression is almost reminiscent of a smile- that same incredulous humor Tango was feeling, where all he can do is laugh at the situation.

“Right,” Jimmy says, stopping to face Tango. He sounds like his mind is going a mile a minute. “Let’s meet up in a bit- I need to go get my stuff before it- before it despawns.”

And just like that, they’re straight to business.

Jimmy’s surprisingly easy to talk to. They discuss how to proceed with getting geared up again- with only minimal scrambling and panic (which they even end up laughing about). Jimmy thinks he knows where he died, while Tango is, of course, clueless (should’ve been paying more attention, stupid). Jimmy doesn’t admonish Tango for killing them, brushing off his apologies and self-deprecating comments about it (“No, no, it’s gonna happen all the time today.”), gently redirecting whenever Tango’s frustration seeps through. And the only time Tango sees him truly upset is at the revelation that Tango’s lost his goat horn.

Which, all things considered, is a stupidly endearing reason to be upset.

By the time they split up to gather resources, most of Tango’s frustration has ebbed. He’s still mad at himself for being so reckless with their lives, and he isn’t looking forward to starting from scratch again, but he’s… cautiously optimistic.

Sure, they haven’t gotten off to the best start, and they don’t really know each other all that well. But nevertheless, it doesn’t feel like he and Jimmy will have any problem getting along.

And in a game like this, that makes all the difference.

~*~

“Should we…” Tango hesitates, looking down at Jimmy as he crouches by their furnace. “Should we- I mean, given that we’re linked… should we maybe make a little happy house together somewhere, and call it base?”

The light from the furnace’s flame flickers warmly across Jimmy’s face. “I think so,” he replies thoughtfully, tossing Tango an iron sword and a pickaxe.

~*~

“I’m not good with building at all, Tango,” Jimmy warns him, “so um-”

Tango pauses, crafting table in hand. “Oh, I was hoping you would say you were!” he exclaims, spinning around to look at Jimmy. “You’re not the builder?” For some reason, he’d just assumed Jimmy would know more about building than him.

“Wh- wait, you’re not the builder?” Jimmy repeats, a bemused grin spreading across his face as he realizes they both seem to have made the same assumption.

“I’m not a builder, no!” Tango laughs, smacking his forehead. “Oh, well. We live in a dirt hut.”

Jimmy’s laughing, too. “We might be in trouble, here…”

~*~

Tango pauses in the middle of the cave’s passage. “You don’t- you don’t have any piece- you don’t have anything, do you?” he murmurs, a sudden pang of guilt seizing him.

“No, no, I’m bare bones,” Jimmy says good-naturedly, stopping to glance back over his shoulder.

Despite the utter lack of accusation in Jimmy’s tone, Tango winces. “Here,” he tosses Jimmy his iron boots, “here, here, take some boots, at least. Because if you die, I die, so...”

Jimmy scoops them up, quickly pulling them on. “Thank you, thank you,” he murmurs gratefully.

“We’ll share whatever we’ve got,” Tango says, following Jimmy as he leads the way out of the cave. “It’s pitiful, but…”

Jimmy’s wings ruffle as if in silent agreement, scattering a trail of golden feathers behind him.

~*~

“My man said he couldn’t build!”

Jimmy’s sudden voice is filled with pure, undisguised admiration. Tango immediately feels himself flush at the compliment- plus the denotation of ‘my man’- and quickly laughs it off. “It’s a box, it’s a box, alright,” he says dismissively, dropping down from the wall- then sheepishly ducking his head when Jimmy yelps at the damage. “It’s not much…”

“This is good!” Jimmy says earnestly, patting him on the shoulder as he passes.

Tango huffs a laugh. At least Jimmy has a good sense of humor. “Thank you!” he says with mock pride.

“Crafting table for the step, look at this!” Jimmy excitedly hops up into the threshold of the house, his wings fluttering behind him.

Tango chuckles to himself as he follows Jimmy inside. “Oh, I know,” he drawls, putting on airs. “Super fancy, right? Look at this- multi block usage… I know, I know.” As if this silly little wood and cobblestone shack could even hold a candle to what the other people in this world are capable of building-

“It’s looking great, dude,” Jimmy says softly, his voice completely genuine as he stands back to look at the house. “It’s looking amazing.”

Tango rubs the back of his neck, his laugh suddenly a bit nervous as he realizes Jimmy is being sincere. “Feel free to uh… help out,” he says, pulling a face. “It’s a little bit uh, you know…” He trails off into some incoherent noises that more or less reflect his feelings about the current state of the build.

Jimmy just smiles and shakes his head. He hops back off the front step and pulls something from his inventory. “Look at my hand,” he says, watching Tango eagerly. “I got it.”

It takes Tango a second. “What’d you- oh! Look at you!” he exclaims; Jimmy’s returned from his travels with a bucket of water, which they need for farming. Tango breaks into a grin, putting his hands on his hips. “You go out on a mission, and you come back with goods. This is what I like to see, this is what I like in a partner. Well done.”

Jimmy looks rather pleased, ducking his head. “Thank you.”

Warmth blooms in Tango’s chest, reflecting the heat from his blaze rods. This day isn’t turning out half bad, after all.

~*~

“Tango?”

Tango’s ears prick at the sound of Jimmy’s voice, straining to make it out above all the clucking. “Yes?” he calls, starting to climb out of what he’s affectionately dubbed ‘the chicken hole.’

“Um…” Jimmy doesn’t sound too far off.

“How’s it goin’?” Tango prompts, climbing the ladder back up to the main floor of their house. He thinks he might see the top of Jimmy’s head through the door’s tiny window.

“Where are you?” Jimmy asks, his voice humming with anticipation.

“I’m in the house…?” Tango finally reaches the door and pulls it open. Then he gasps.

Jimmy is standing outside with four cows.

“Oh! You’re amazing!” Tango cries excitedly, jumping down from the front stoop as Jimmy starts laughing. “Oh, you are so- look at you! You have a beef army- look at this!”

“I have a family!” Jimmy beams, patting the nearest cow on the nose as it starts sniffing after the wheat in his other hand. “Welcome to the family!”

Together, they start the process of moving the cows inside- since they don’t have any kind of barn or paddock to put them in just yet. Tango eagerly informs Jimmy of his success with the chicken operation, which Jimmy is delighted by.

“We’re just raising animals now,” Tango laughs. That combined with the budding farm outside almost makes this feel like a normal survival world, like they’re just taking care of all the early game things rather than preparing for a death game.

“We’re good for something,” Jimmy jokes. “We’re good for something…”

“Ranchers,” Tango agrees. “Team rancher.”

He rather likes the sound of that.

~*~

By the end of the day, Tango can safely say he’s happy with their progress.

They’ve got a respectable wheat farm growing outside, right next to their mineshaft entrance. The cows have been moved to a little enclosure next to the ranch that Jimmy built, and the automatic chicken farm is chugging away collecting eggs.

They haven’t had any more mishaps, aside from Joel coming by to antagonize them and incidentally taking them down to two hearts. Jimmy was unsuccessful in his bid to get a goat horn from Grian, but Tango has promised they’ll work on that tomorrow. The chorus of horns going off every ten minutes is a potent motivator- Jimmy gets more and more distressed every time it happens because he can’t join in. Privately, Tango wonders if that’s an avian thing or just Jimmy’s dislike for being left out.

But it isn’t until the sun sets and they’re both standing inside the ranch, bidding each other good night, that Tango realizes there’s one very important thing they’ve neglected.

They have only one bed.

In all their travels during the day, neither of them happened to pick up enough wool to make a second bed, too preoccupied with cows and chickens and begging for resources to think about finding sheep. The single white bed pushed up against the wall suddenly looks blatantly, painfully small.

There’s an awkward pause as the realization settles over both of them.

Tango clears his throat. “Uh, I’ll just-”

“You should take it,” Jimmy says, at the same time.

They both stop talking, looking at each other expectantly, then letting out sheepish laughs.

“No, no,” Tango says, waving his hand, “go ahead and take the bed tonight, I’ll just- I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“Uh, no, it’s okay,” Jimmy insists, “I’ll take the floor. You spent all day building this house, it’s the least I can do-”

“Nuh uh,” Tango cuts in firmly. “Look, I don’t really get cold, alright?” He gestures absently at the blaze rods floating around his head. “Just take the bed, okay, we’ll find some sheep tomorrow.”

Jimmy hesitates for a moment, clearly wanting to argue, but Tango’s expression must deter him. “Alright,” he relents finally. He glances away, rubbing the back of his neck. “Uh, thank you.”

“No problem,” Tango replies, relieved to have convinced him otherwise. He already cost Jimmy a life today; it’d feel wrong to rob him of a warm bed, too. Besides, Tango is more than used to going without one.

Jimmy flutters about the house, blowing out their torches as Tango gets settled in a corner. “Good night, then,” Jimmy offers, climbing into the bed.

“Night,” Tango says, folding his arms and tucking his chin to his chest.

The ranch lapses into silence- aside from the near constant mooing and clucking, of course. Tango figures he’ll learn to tune it out eventually- that is, assuming they stay here a while. This is a death game, he reminds himself. Even if things go well, they might not be here all that long.

In spite of the mild discomfort of Tango’s position, he feels himself nodding off fairly quickly, his blaze rods starting to dim. It’s been a long day of hard work, and he’ll need all the rest he can get for whatever tomorrow brings…

A creaking sound reaches Tango’s ears.

Tango’s fully awake in an instant, eyes flying open. His vision rapidly adjusts to the dark- a perk of being part nether mob- and he can just make out the shape of Jimmy, tossing and turning in bed. His wings are fanned out and tucked tightly against his body, like a massive blanket. Beneath the rustling sound, Tango can hear what sounds suspiciously like shivering.

“Jimmy?” he whispers.

The shuffling stops. Jimmy’s sheepish voice comes after a moment.

“... yes?”

“Are you cold?” Tango asks, sitting up.

Another pause. “... no?” Jimmy says, unconvincingly.

Tango frowns. The bed is against the wall that’s right next to the fence of their cow enclosure- and as a result, not fully sealed against the outside. Even the cows are huddled together in the corner, keeping each other warm with their shared body heat as wind blows through the holes in the outer walls.

Tango feels a cold prick in his own chest, the sensation taking him by surprise. Is he feeling Jimmy’s coldness through their soulbond?

“Uh, okay,” Tango says, knitting his brows together, “it’s just, you seem kinda cold.”

“I’m fine,” Jimmy says meekly. “Sorry to keep you up, I’ll be quiet-”

“No, no, it’s alright,” Tango reassures him. “I’m just wondering how we’re gonna stop you from turning into a popsicle overnight.”

Jimmy huffs a soft laugh. “Really, Tango, it’s- it’s alright. I’ll just suck it up.”

Tango chews on his lip, hesitating. “You know, I uh… I happen to function as a portable heater, myself,” he ventures, trying for a joking tone. “If you are in need of such a service, I mean…”

“Oh no, no, I don’t wanna impose,” Jimmy says quickly, sounding flustered.

Inexplicably, Tango feels himself blush. “Hey, it’s- it’s no problem,” he laughs, hoping to brush off the awkwardness of the situation. “I mean, it’d be more of an imposition if I woke up in the middle of the night taking damage from hypothermia, right? We’re soulbound, after all.”

“We are soulbound,” Jimmy murmurs, wavering.

“It’s not a big deal,” Tango insists. “Plus, neither of us will get any rest if you’re over there shivering all night. I can uh, I can sort of feel the chill, through our soulbond.”

“Oh.” Jimmy sounds taken aback. “Well, um, alright then-”

“Only if you want!” Tango adds hastily, not wanting Jimmy to feel pressured. “I just- you know, there’s no need for you to be freezing when I’m basically part furnace.”

That gets another chuckle out of Jimmy. “Yeah no, it’s alright, I…yes, that’d be nice, thank you.”

“Cool.” Tango rises to his feet and wanders over to the bed, fighting back a wave of awkwardness. “Um, hi. So- so how do we…?”

“Uh, here.” Jimmy shifts over to one side of the bed, tucking his wings close against his back. “Um… come on in? Oh- oh my gosh, sorry, that’s weird.”

Tango lets out a nervous laugh. “Right, here I come.” Then he immediately cringes.

What is wrong with him? They’re just two players, sharing a bed for warmth. And they’re soulmates, no less. They already share hearts, hunger, and actual lives- what’s a bed, compared to that? It’s fine, it’s nothing.

With that final thought of encouragement, Tango eases himself onto the bed. His knee bumps against Jimmy almost immediately, which leads to mutual whispered apologies and further readjusting, the bed creaking under their combined weight. As Tango moves to turn onto his side, he accidentally elbows Jimmy in the ribs- they both freeze and inhale sharply at the shared pain.

After what feels like an eternity, they finally get settled, laying back to back. The feathers of Jimmy’s wings tickle the back of Tango’s neck.

“Well, g’night,” he breathes.

“Night,” comes Jimmy’s soft reply.

They fall into silence.

Tango stares at the opposite wall. Where only minutes ago he’d been half asleep, now he’s wide awake- hyper aware of Jimmy breathing next to him, not daring to move. Jimmy seems to have stopped shivering, at least, which is good. That was the whole point, right?

The minutes pass like this, in silent stillness, until Tango’s exhaustion starts to win out over his nerves. His eyelids droop, blaze rods fizzling out and settling on the pillow. They tend to extinguish when he’s asleep, so he usually doesn’t have to worry about starting fires in the middle of the night- except for when he has nightmares.

But Tango has a feeling that won’t be a problem tonight. He just hopes Jimmy is able to get some rest, too, as he finally drifts off to sleep.

~*~

Morning comes soon enough, rousing Tango from a deep, dreamless sleep.

The animals are already clamoring to be fed and there’s light behind Tango’s closed eyelids, but he isn’t quite ready to get up yet. He’s pleasantly warm and well-rested, and surprisingly comfortable. For a moment he simply lays where he is, letting awareness slowly trickle back to him, soothed by the steady rise and fall of his pillow-

Wait. His pillow is breathing?

Tango cracks an eye open, and then he stops breathing.

Somehow, at some point during the night, he’d ended up curled against Jimmy, resting his head on the other’s chest. Jimmy’s wings have come up to cradle them, one arm awkwardly pinned under Tango’s shoulders while the other one is splayed above his head, across the pillow- and his hand is curled loosely around one of Tango’s blaze rods. He looks to still be sleeping deeply, his expression smooth and peaceful, eyelashes casting shadows across his cheeks.

Oh, they are way too close.

A million different thoughts and emotions rush through Tango, culminating in a feeling like an alarm going off in his skull. This is- how did this happen?! Oh, how embarrassing- when Jimmy agreed to share the bed he probably hadn’t anticipated cuddling. Tango can’t think of a time he’s ever been this close to another player, much less someone he doesn’t know very well. Soulmate or no, it’s not- he shouldn’t- 

His distress must be reflected in his blaze rods’ temperature, because Jimmy’s hand suddenly twitches. He lets out a soft groan, eyelids fluttering- he’s waking up.

Panic seizes Tango. He quickly closes his eyes, taking a slow, deep breath through the nose as he wills his blaze rods to dim, so as not to give him away. He manages to keep his breathing steady, despite how madly his heart is pounding, and desperately hopes none of his current anxiety is visible in his expression.

Tango feels the moment Jimmy finally stirs. He starts to roll onto his side and then freezes- his chin must be right above Tango’s head, because he actually hears Jimmy gulp. A shiver runs through his wings before they slowly lift away from the bed. Jimmy shifts in place, carefully slipping his arm out from under Tango at a snail’s pace.

Tango, for his part, pretends to be dead to the world. He does not want to confront the awkwardness of this situation if he can help it.

After a couple painstaking minutes, Jimmy manages to free himself. The bed creaks as he moves to get up- which makes him freeze, breath catching- before he finally gets a leg up and over the side. Tango feels the moment his weight leaves the bed, and then soft footsteps wander around the ranch. The cows start mooing with renewed insistence.

“Shh,” Jimmy whispers, his voice coming from over by the cow pen. The mooing stops as the air fills with the sound of munching. With the cows satiated for the moment, Jimmy’s footsteps move over towards the wall of chests. The slow creak of a chest opening and closing echoes through the room, before Jimmy’s footsteps disappear down the ladder to the chicken farm.

Relief sweeps through Tango. Well, he pulled it off. And if they don’t have to confront what happened, then it’s like it never happened at all.

He waits until Jimmy comes back upstairs and has been rummaging around for a few minutes to finally turn over in bed, sluggishly stretching his arms out. He makes a big show of yawning as he sits up, rubbing his eyes before looking around.

“Mornin’,” he greets Jimmy with a perfectly casual smile. “Sleep alright?”

Jimmy’s face reddens. “Yup,” he says stiffly, turning back to the chest he was sorting through. 

Tango hums his assent, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. There’s an uncomfortable tension in the room, but that’s to be expected. Once they get going and start the day, he’s sure things will go back to normal. 

A familiar sound rings out in the distance, making Tango groan. “And already, the horns- with the mocking- continues, as always,” he sighs, tossing the covers off.

Jimmy pauses for a moment, his shoulders hitching up, before he makes a noncommittal noise and goes back to his business.

Tango blinks. “So uh- whaddaya say we make that the quest for today, then?” he prompts lightly, sliding out of bed and onto his feet. “Acquire some horns?”

“Um- actually,” Jimmy says, without turning around, “I was thinking- I figured we could use some more iron, you know? So I was gonna do some caving.”

“Oh.” Tango feels his smile drop off his face- and quickly summons it again. “Uh- right, yeah, no worries. Just uh, hey- watch out for creepers,” he jokes, crossing the small distance to Jimmy’s side.

“Alri- agh!” Jimmy yelps when he turns to find Tango right beside him, feathers flying through the air as his wings flare out in surprise. He quickly tries to cover up his reaction with a laugh that sounds incredibly forced, sidestepping around Tango towards the door. “Right, right, yeah- I’ll be careful. Um, back in a little while, then.”

The door closes behind him with a jarring sense of finality, leaving Tango in abrupt silence.

Exhaling slowly, Tango pries open a chest to find himself some breakfast. This is fine. Jimmy’s probably just a little embarrassed about what happened last night, and needs some space. As long as Tango doesn’t bring it up, it’s sure to pass, and they can get back to business.

After all, he reminds himself, they’ve got a death game to win.

~*~

In Jimmy’s absence, Tango decides to make himself useful.

The ranch is in dire need of an upgrade. He starts construction on a second floor- a wonky watch tower hardly deserving of the name- and extends the wall past the cow’s pen a little more, to help with the draft. Dipping below ground for a bit, he gathers up enough cobblestone to build a perimeter around the ranch, carrying it right towards the edge of the cliff overlooking the ravine. And finally, he ventures out into the forest and searches until he finds a sheep.

(The second bed goes against the opposite wall from the first one.)

All the while, he stays on top of their wheat farm, making small but frequent harvests. He breeds enough cows to start harvesting beef and leather- which he uses to fashion himself a leather chestplate and a pair of boots to go with his iron leggings. Deciding to run with the ‘poor’ look, he stashes a secret barrel underneath their wall of chests to keep the majority of their resources in, leaving the chests quite barren for anyone who happens to come by to snoop.

And once he’s at a loss for anything more to do, he takes an axe out to the neighboring birch forest and collects some logs- without straying too far from the ranch, of course. He’s got a feeling the cows are going to be a target- most of the lifers spend the first day slaughtering any animals they come across- and with Jimmy in the mine, it’s up to Tango to protect their livelihood.

He’s about to put a sign up on their main gate when a new voice reaches his ears, a low muttering not far away.

“Although there is no-”

“Hello?” Tango calls, whirling around.

“... hello?” comes Ren’s hesitant voice.

“Hello, good sir!” Tango says brightly, scanning the surrounding fields.

There’s a big exhale. “Scared the living heck outta me…” Ren’s head finally pops up over the hillside, breaking into a wide, fanged grin. “Tango! Hey man! What’s happenin’ baby, what’s happenin’?”

“How are you?” Tango greets him, waving a hand. “Welcome to Team Rancher!” 

“Oh, hi!” In just a few strides of his long digitigrade legs, Ren’s come to stand beside Tango- towering over him, as usual. His ears perk up as he takes in the ranch. “Ooh…”

“I’m just- I’m just putting up the sign right now,” Tango says, scrawling ‘Team Rancher’ on the birch sign.

Ren hums, glancing back towards the forest. “Have you explored all these caves around here?”

“No, I haven’t.” Tango snorts. “I mean, just- does it look like I have explored caves? Just look at me.” He does a little spin to show off his mostly leather armor.

Ren laughs, ducking his head. “No, no, yeah…”

“That’s actually where Jimmy is right now,” Tango says, smoothing over his chestplate. Hopefully Jimmy will have found enough iron to get properly geared up-

“Oh, oh, alright, I see.” Ren tilts his head to the side. “Uh- you didn’t go with him?”

“... no?” Tango raises an eyebrow, forcing a laugh. “What, it takes two players to mine for some iron now? What’s- what do you mean?”

Ren holds his hands up. “I’m just sayin’, caves are dangerous, man. Though, I guess you’d know that better than anyone.”

Even though his tone was light and teasing, Tango bristles. “Oh, yeah? Well- well where’s your partner, huh?” he demands, putting his hands on his hips.

Ren gives him an odd look. “Bigb is back at Box, perfectly safe, thank you,” he replies. “You alright, man?”

“I’m fine,” Tango says shortly. “Why don’t you just run back to your soulmate, then? If everything’s so wonderful.”

“Um…” Ren blinks. “Okay, I’m gonna level with you, my dude. I came here to see if I could get ahold of some cows but clearly, there’s somethin’ else going on here that’s a bit more urgent.”

Tango squints at him suspiciously. “Wh- what?”

Ren gives him a knowing look, peering over the brim of his shades. “You havin’ soulmate troubles, dude?”

Tango isn’t proud of the squeaking noise he makes. “What? No!” he insists quickly. “No, no, not at all!”

“Really?” Ren asks, dubious. “Cause it really seems like you are.”

Tango exhales slowly, closing his eyes for a moment. “It’s- it’s nothing, alright? I’m sorry I snapped,” he says, his voice calmer. “Look, if you wanna trade for some cows, I think we can arrange something.”

Ren hesitates. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I…” A sudden thought hits Tango. “Actually, do you have any goats?”

That redirects Ren’s attention. “Uh, there’s some goats hangin’ out near Box, yeah?” he says, looking taken aback.

“Oh! Oh, good!” Tango exclaims, clapping his hands together. “Okay, uh, how about- how about two cows for two goats?”

“Yeah? You mean it?” Ren asks excitedly, his tail swishing side-to-side. “That’d be amazing, dude.”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s do it.” Tango waves for Ren to follow him as he turns back towards the ranch. “Right this way, sir.”

If this doesn’t cheer Jimmy up, Tango doesn’t know what will.

~*~

Once Tango brings the goats back to the ranch and gets them settled in a new enclosure, the rest of the day is fairly uneventful.

Martyn wanders by at some point, lamenting his and Pearl’s rejection by their soulmates, Cleo and Scott. He asks where Jimmy is- probably looking to antagonize him- so Tango just shrugs and says, “Out.” That earns him a look with far too much sympathy in it for his taste, so he tells Martyn to take a hike.

Scar rides in on a beautiful dapple grey horse, inquiring about leather. He claims some kind of debt that Jimmy owes him, which Tango conveniently can’t confirm nor deny. Ultimately, Tango gives the leather to Scar just to make him leave, because he knows by now that Scar and chaos go hand-in-hand, and it’s not like they can’t spare it.

Then Pearl, inexplicably red despite having yet to lose a life, comes across the ranch to see if Tango knows where a dog is. He doesn’t, but she spots his goats and offers to tell him how to get horns in exchange for food of the cooked beef variety- of which he now has plenty. He agrees, and she informs him he needs to make the goats ram stone.

Tango files that information away for later and bids Pearl farewell. The horns still go off frequently, tempting him to try and get one of his own, but he restrains himself. It’ll be better to do it when Jimmy’s back.

It’s nearly dark when Tango finally hears footsteps coming up the mineshaft. He drops what he’s doing and rushes outside, jumping around the corner of the house.

“Heya, partner!”

Jimmy lets out a high-pitched shriek, sending up a spray of feathers. “Oh my gosh!” He clutches his heart, face flushed. “You- you scared me.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Tango chuckles. He bounces on his toes. “So, how was the mining? Did you get all the good stuff and things?”

“Uh, well…” A bit shyly, Jimmy pulls his inventory up. “Only… a stack and fifteen iron ore.”

“Woah!” Tango gasps. “Oh, that’s amazing! Look at you!”

“Thank you, thank you,” Jimmy says, bowing his head. Then he takes a look around, his eyes widening. “Oh wow, look at you, you’ve been busy!” He cranes his head up at the ranch. “You even added a tower!”

“It’s not pretty,” Tango admits, “but hey, it’s something.”

“And does this wall go ‘round the whole perimeter?” Jimmy asks, raising his eyebrows.

Tango nods eagerly. “Uh huh, uh huh- and that’s not even the best part.” He grabs Jimmy by the wrist, tugging him around to the front of the ranch. “C’mere, c’mere!”

Jimmy laughs as Tango pulls him along, then they come to a stop in front of the goat pen. He blinks at it in confusion before a goat happens to spring into the air, high above the wall. His mouth falls open. “Oh… my gosh.”

“Mmhmmm!” Tango hums, quite pleased by the reaction.

Jimmy gives him a shocked look. “No-”

“Oh, yes,” Tango grins.

“You got goats!” Jimmy exclaims, clapping a hand to his forehead.

“I got goats!” Tango agrees proudly. “We’ve got goat technology!”

Jimmy rushes over to the front gate of the pen, wings flapping excitedly. “Oh my gosh, look at them! There’s a whole family!”

“Pearl came by earlier and explained the process to me,” Tango says, walking up next to Jimmy. “We’ve gotta get them to charge at us and then jump out of the way, so they hit that stone wall back there. And then- and then we’ve got horns.”

Jimmy pauses, giving him a sidelong look. “You- wait, you haven’t got one yet?” he asks, knitting his brows together.

“No, no, I waited for you!” Tango assures him. He sweeps out an arm. “Would you like to do the honors, sir?”

Jimmy stares at him for a moment, an unreadable expression flashing across his face as his cheeks turn red. “Um… actually, I- I’m kind of beat, you know?” he says, his tone far more stilted than it just was. He takes a step back from Tango, glancing away. “I was thinking about just… turning in for the night.”

The abrupt change in demeanor throws Tango for a moment.

Guess they haven’t moved past the bed incident.

“Oh.” He shakes himself, forcing his tone to stay upbeat. “Oh, yeah, sure! Sure thing. You’ve been mining all day, I bet you’re exhausted…”

He follows Jimmy into the ranch- though he keeps his distance. Jimmy pauses, his gaze falling on the second bed almost immediately.

“Ah, you got another bed,” he says, his voice a bit wooden.

Tango shrugs as he carefully steps past him. “Yeah, yeah,” he says, trying to sound nonchalant, “I said I would.”

“Right. Good.” Jimmy hesitates, fidgeting with his hands for a moment, before he seems to make a decision. “Um, Tango-”

“There’s food in the barrel under the chest,” Tango says as quickly as he can while still remaining casual, pretending not to have heard Jimmy. “If you’re hungry.”

He has a sneaking suspicion that Jimmy was going to tell him about the bed thing- which, unbeknownst to him, Tango is already fully aware of. So really, there’s no point in discussing it. The longer they pretend it didn’t happen, the faster they can just move on.

“Oh.” Jimmy sounds taken aback, glancing over at the chests. “Alright, great. That’s- that’s pretty clever.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Tango says, turning towards his bed. Normally, the compliment would’ve made him quite pleased, but right now he just feels empty. “Well, g’night.”

“Night,” Jimmy echoes.

~*~

Tango doesn’t sleep much that night.

Jimmy’s the first to rise in the morning- which is starting to look like a habit of his- while Tango remains stubbornly lying in bed for a while longer. He has one arm flung across his face to block out the sunlight, listening to Jimmy’s quiet footsteps as he shuffles around the ranch, taking care of the animals.

Eventually his guilt wins out over his stubbornness- it’s not fair for Jimmy to do all the work around the ranch. But just as Tango sits up, his communicator goes off, an identical beep ringing out from Jimmy’s comm.

<Grian> hey everyone, group meeting at spawn? 

<Renthedog> Feels kinda sus…

<Grian> no tricks 

<Grian> time out ok?

<impulseSV> Everything alright?

<Grian> yeah yeah don’t worry

<Grian> just need to talk about some things 

Huh. That’s interesting.

Tango clears his throat, looking over at where Jimmy is smelting up the iron from yesterday’s haul. “You seein’ this?” he asks.

Jimmy doesn’t completely startle this time, though he still jumps a bit under Tango’s gaze. “Yeah,” he murmurs, “weird…”

“What do you think, should we- should we go?” Tango asks, shifting to sit at the edge of his bed. “Could be a trap.”

Jimmy shrugs a shoulder. “Well, he said time out, didn’t he?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess.” Tango sighs, rising to his feet. “So uh, shall we get going?”

Jimmy nods, strapping a freshly made shield to his arm. “Yeah, let’s go.”

~*~

It’s an uneasy walk to spawn.

Tango is already on edge from the possibility of an attack, and Jimmy’s cold shoulder doesn’t help. His senses are on high alert as they make their way through the mountaintop forest, coming to a stop at the peak. 

They aren’t the first players here- Grian and Scar, of course, are waiting expectantly, speaking to each other in low tones. Impulse and Bdubs are also present; they’re holding hands and laughing about something, Impulse’s forked tail curled loosely around Bdubs’ waist. Impulse catches Tango’s eye and lifts a hand in greeting, which Tango returns with a nod.

They settle in to wait. Tango leans against the nearest tree, folding his arms across his chest, as Jimmy stands awkwardly beside him. Being at spawn is bringing back memories of their death- something Tango might’ve looked back on with fond humor if Jimmy didn’t seem so uncomfortable.

The rest of the players trickle in over the next few minutes. Scott and Cleo don’t seem particularly enthused to be here- nor are they pleased by the way Pearl slinks after them, a dog at her side. She keeps her distance, but her gaze keeps drifting towards them, clear yearning in her eyes.

Etho and Joel splash down in the middle of the clearing, leaping from the treetops to land the silly little water bucket trick they’re so fond of. Bdubs immediately brightens at their arrival and strikes up conversation with Etho, which Impulse contributes to good-naturedly as Joel eyes them suspiciously.

Ren and Bigb are the last to arrive, their base being the furthest from spawn, with Martyn having tagged along with them at some point. He seems content to remain on Ren’s other side, though he casts a not-so-subtle glance in Cleo’s direction.

“Alright, we all here?” Grian starts, scanning the little circle they’ve formed. “Okay. I guess we’ll get started. Uh, thank you all for coming on such short notice-”

“What’s this about, Grian?” Joel asks bluntly.

Grian gives him a look. “Right, we’ll get into it straight away,” he huffs. “So, I’ve noticed over the last several days that uh, bloodthirstiness seems to be at an all-time low. Now, I know it sometimes takes a while for these things to get started, but the general consensus I’m getting is that… most of us are pretty happy where we are.”

Martyn makes an outraged noise. “Well, that’s easy for you to say!” he exclaims, throwing his hands up. “You got paired with Scar, and I’m over here soulmate-less!”

“Who’s fault is that, Martyn?” Cleo calls pointedly.

“Alright, alright, settle down,” Grian chides them. “My point is that this season doesn’t feel like the other ones. The only deaths we’ve had have been from mobs- and we didn’t even have any at all yesterday. Theft and sabotage are way down, and I have yet to see a single trap being constructed.”

Bdubs makes an incredulous noise. “Wh- hey, is this- is this just a lecture about us not killin’ each other fast enough?” he demands, crossing his arms. “Cause uh- I mean, you better be careful what you wish for! I can- I’ll go nuts, if you want,” he threatens, his expression darkening.

The effect is somewhat diluted by Impulse chuckling and putting an arm around Bdubs’ shoulders. “Oh, he will,” he says, voice full of affection, “gotta watch out for this one.”

“It’s not a lecture,” Grian insists, exasperated. “I was just thinking that maybe we should change things up.”

“Wh- so you mean like a restart?” Pearl asks, not quite able to mask the hopeful note in her voice. Tango can see why that would be particularly appealing to her, as someone who had a falling out with her soulmate. It’d be a second chance, a chance to start again and not mess up this time.

Tango can relate.

“I would welcome that, actually,” Etho says, his motivation obvious as one of the only other yellow names.

But Grian shakes his head. “No, more like a rebranding,” he explains. “I propose that we end the death game. No more trying to kill each other.”

The group is silent for a moment.

Tango isn’t even sure what he’s feeling. “So… what would we be doing here, exactly?” he asks, frowning.

“Whatever we want,” Grian says with a grin. “For starters, I’d take down the world border. We could build wherever we want, make farms, go to the End. And most importantly, all our lives would go back to being infinite. No one gets eliminated.” His expression softens. “We just… live. Like it’s any other world.”

Scar subtly nudges Grian in the ribs, and Grian sighs.

“I’ll also unlock the enchanting table recipe,” he says, rolling his eyes. “So we don’t have to go to the Ancient City anymore.”

The clearing fills with chatter as pairs murmur to each other. Tango’s mind is spinning- he’s always loved a good death game, and was quite looking forward to this. But with the current state of things between him and Jimmy, he’s not sure it’d be worth it.

Jimmy leans forward, half-raising a hand. “Would our damage still be linked?” he asks, brows pinched together with concern.

Tango manages not to flinch. Of course Jimmy would want to know that, being stuck with the guy who got blown up by a creeper on day one.

Grian nods. “Yeah, it comes with the soulbond. I can give us back infinite lives, but we’ll all still be linked with our partners.”

“I dunno,” Etho drawls, his mismatched eyes utterly unreadable. “All the deception and murdering is pretty fun… and I’ve already got a survival world back home.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Grian says, holding up his hands, “if we did all agree to end the death game, no one would have to stay. We’d all be free to leave whenever we wanted, and travel back and forth between worlds. The bond only exists when you’re here.” He shrugs. “So leave if you want, I’ll ring you up when the next game comes. But don’t you think it’d be nice for us all to share a world without trying to kill each other for once?”

Cleo snorts. “Who are you,” she demands, folding her arms, “and what’ve you done with Grian?”

“Domestic life has changed you, Grian,” Scott drawls, shaking his head in mock disappointment.

Grian’s wings flare out in what might be embarrassment. “Wh- oh come on, I know I’m not the only one who feels this way!” he protests, his voice a bit higher than it just was. “Scar, back me up, here.”

Scar’s eyes light up. “Yes! Yes, I think it’d be a wonderful opportunity to get to know each other better,” he says, clapping his hands together. “You know, us Hermitcraft people don’t really know the rest of you that well outside of trying to kill each other.”

“That’s a good point, actually,” Ren chimes in tentatively, scratching the back of his head as he exchanges a look with Bigb.

Bdubs clears his throat. “Uh, I, for one, would love to spend more time on this world, with my beloved,” he says, glancing up at Impulse with a broad smile. “I’m buildin’ a swimmin’ pool, and we’re gonna host a lovely party at our beautiful house!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m all for staying!” Impulse agrees readily, gazing back down at Bdubs with a similar fondness. “I think it’d be nice.”

Etho makes a show of rolling his eyes. “Oh come on, don’t ask the newlyweds,” he complains, his voice dancing across that line between teasing and actual annoyance. “Of course they’ll wanna stay.”

“You don’t, Etho?” Joel asks, sounding affronted.

“Look, we don’t have to decide right away,” Grian cuts in swiftly. He spreads his hands. “Take a couple days, talk it over with your partners, and then we’ll take a vote, alright?”

Mumbles of agreement filter through the group as they slowly start to disperse, going their separate ways. Tango catches Jimmy’s eye, only for the other to quickly turn away.

Well. This is gonna be a fun conversation.

~*~

Somewhere in Double Life, two soulmates walk in silence.

Tango can tell Jimmy’s thinking a lot about what just happened- his wings ruffle unconsciously every minute and he’s picking at his fingernails. He’s probably trying to think of a nice way to tell Tango he doesn’t want to stay and be soulmates with him, because he’s a nice guy.

Tango supposes it wouldn’t be so bad to just go back to Hermitcraft. Focus on his builds for a bit. Another season will come along soon enough, once the rest of these lovestruck fools get tired of playing house. It’s not like he’s lost anything more than a couple day’s time.

So why does the idea of leaving sit so wrong with him?

When they make it back to the ranch, Jimmy stops in front of the door. “Um, Tango-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tango says, managing a tired smile. “I suppose we should discuss-”

“Can we talk about this later?” Jimmy asks, his voice pleading. “I just- I need some time to uh, think about some things.”

Tango’s voice dies in his throat.

This is torture. Why can’t they just get it over with? Clearly, Jimmy doesn’t want to be around him anymore. Whatever day one warm fuzzies he might’ve harbored have obviously faded. They should just rip off the band-aid now, instead of prolonging the inevitable-

His communicator beeps.

<impulseSV whispered to you> Hey, can you come chat for a minute?

Tango puts his communicator away, exhaling slowly. “Yeah, no, no problem,” he tells Jimmy. “Take all the time you need. I’ll just uh, I’ll give you some space.”

He leaves without another word, and Jimmy doesn’t call after him.

~*~

[wincestreversebang]

2024 Master Post

Title: Soulbound Enchantment Artist: midnightsilver Author: masoena Other Pairing: mention of ofc/omc Rating: Explicit Warnings/Spoilers: Non-consensual groping, explicit canon-typical violence, non-consensual body transformation Summary: Sam and Dean wake up in a lush, green landscape; a world decidedly not where they remember being before. Sam also realizes he is no longer human as they embark on an adventure to figure out where and why they are in this place. The path to solving this case is dotted with tender, angst-filled, violent and scary moments as the Winchesters work together to figure out how to save themselves in more ways than one. Art: Ao3 Story: Ao3

Title: You Circle Me In the Night Artist: morokollisyo Author: theteacupunicorn Rating: Mature Warnings/Spoilers: Canon-typical violence, violence happening to a sixteen-year-old Sam Summary: Dean plopped down next to Sam. “Guess I’ll be taking the cot tonight, huh?”

“You don’t have to,” Sam said at once. “I don’t want you to get kicked out of your bed because I couldn’t dodge some ghost.”

Dean smiled. “Well, can’t say I’m complaining.” He got comfortable in his bed, only a couple inches from Sam, and promptly shoved his pillow in Sam’s face.

“Dean!” Sam sputtered, whacking Dean with the pillow once he could see again.

Dean cackled, but they both froze when John’s stern voice resounded. “Boys, settle down.”

Dean took his pillow back from Sam and tucked it under his head. “Sorry,” he said in a small voice. He looked confused again, like he had in the car when John had told him not to worry about Sam’s injury. Art:Live Journal | Ao3 Story:Ao3

Title: Fixing a Hole Artist: i-already-know-im-going-2-hell Author: amypond45 Rating: R Warnings/Spoilers: Season 2 AU, Wincest (explicit at times) Summary: This story is a retelling of Season 2, starting when Dean reveals what Dad said to him in the hospital at the beginning of “Hunted”. Instead of running off, Sam confesses that he’s had a premonition about this very moment. He already knows what Dean’s about to tell him, as well as their entire, bloody future until the moment Sam jumps into the pit. As he reveals his visions to Dean, it soon becomes clear that they need to find a way to prevent the death and destruction laid out for them in those visions. One thing leads to another, with revelations of feelings long buried deep. Can Sam, with Dean’s help, find a way to avoid the coming apocalypse, just by falling in love? Or are they destined to retravel the road to distrust that leads to their own demise and the end of the world — or the saving of it after years of loss and sacrifice? And if they stop it from happening, what does that say about them as men, as brothers, and as heroes? Art:Ao3 Story:Live Journal | Ao3

Title: Ubi Amor, Ibi Dolor Artist: deeranger Author: hello-starlingfics Other Pairing: past Sam/Lucifer Rating: E Warnings/Spoilers: Rape/Noncon (described and in the past), Violence, Torture, PTSD. Sexual activity between the boys with consent from neither. Summary: While investigating a possible coven, Sam and Dean get a lead: an abandoned factory just outside of town. When they check it out, things go sideways fast. Art:Twitter | Tumblr Story:Ao3

Title: Crafting Happiness Artist: StepicliffeGrey Author: SamandDean76 Rating: Explicit Warnings/Spoilers: Canon-Typical Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Series, Men of Letters Bunker, Canon Compliant, Story Runs For The Duration Of The Series, Pre-Series Sam, Dean, & John, Hurt Sam Winchester, Protective Dean Winchester, First Time Summary: Nine-year old Sam had fifty cents and a mission. To find a hidden treasure in the thrift store that he could make his own. It would end up taking him his entire life, but what he found at the bottom of that dingy bin became a lifeline that helped to guide him on a journey that few others could even begin to imagine. Through all the ups and downs, and with Dean ever by his side, Sam did his best to craft some happiness for not only himself, but all those he cherished. Art:Ao3 Story:Ao3

Title: I Was Born To Press My Head Between Your Shoulder Blades Artist: MidnightSilver Author: TheyDraggedMeInNowIAintLeaving Rating: Mature Warnings/Spoilers: Canon divergence, soulmate identifying marks, reference canon up til season 5, John Winchester’s A+ parenting, description of canon level violence, djinn, allusions to dying of dehydration, pining, men kissing, sappy ending Summary: In a world where only soulmates can see their soulmarks, Dean has one curving around his finger. His soulmate on the other hand doesn’t have one.

Except maybe he does Art:Ao3 Story:Ao3

Title: Vampire Cotton Candy Artist: Bluefire986 Author: Masoena Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Spoilers: Rape/Non-con (not between Sam/Dean), explicit violence, temporary character death (transformation to creature) Summary: In this story Sam hits a wolf at the outset of season 8 causing him and Amelia to meet under different circumstances as he transforms into a werewolf later on. Dean returns from purgatory and immediately figures out what Sam is, together they try and work out this new normal. Dean being kidnapped by vampires turns their already crazy upside down once more as they are both hurt in the process and must fight to be free once more. Art:Live Journal | Ao3 Story:Ao3

Title: Pain In My Heart Artist: bluefire986​ Author: hello-starlingfics​ Rating: Mature Warnings/Spoilers: Canon-typical torture and violence, non-consensual touching and kissing. One mention of offscreen suicides early in the fic. Summary: Post-4x16 On The Head Of A Pin.

Dean stomped back to their motel room alone. This hunt was a bust and Sam had disappeared as soon as they’d realized that it hadn’t been a pair of witchcraft-related murders, but a suicide pact between two people with a history of mental health issues longer than even Sam’s arm. It had been a depressing and frustrating day, and Sam bailing on him made everything worse. Art:Live Journal | Ao3 Story:Ao3

Title: Hollow Pursuits Artist: MidnightSilver Author: Kestra_Tori Rating: M Warnings/Spoilers: Public Nudity, Weirdcest, Incestuous Thoughts Summary: Odd deaths bring the boys to a placed called the Happy Hippie Hollow. To Dean’s chagrin it’s a nudist colony. Sam rolls with it. Art:Ao3 Story:Tumblr | Ao3

[definitelynotshouting]

thinking on the fact that vex 'despawning' is them dying of starvation damage. thinking on the fact that the conVex (scar and cub) canonically ate the nHo. thinking on double life soulbound painsharing. thinking on the fact that you described hunger AU scar as intimately knowing why grian did the life games.

Ohhhh you could do so many cool things with a vex!Scar interpretation of hunger au. There really is something to be said about scarian sharing their respective hungers together. Something something the intimate act of feasting together something something food as both love and a weapon something something the raw animal will to survive something something understanding someone down to their most basic, unfiltered core. Idk is this anything can anybody hear me

[hermitfic-ao3]

smalletho,,,,,,, AUs / canon divergent! thanks a lot guys!!

oooh a challenge, i like that!

here’s some smalletho AUs/canon divergent fics i have bookmarked <3

Don’t just watch me go, you fool

Rating: T

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Summary: Etho and Joel are hesitant to leave each other for their new soulbounds after the reroll, but they do it anyway, hopeful they'll still be friends, only to be obliviously unaware that they still are soulmates.

this is a AU where the double life cast rerolls their soulmates, and this is etho/joel’s thoughts on it :)

Tightrope by BlueInkScribe (this is a private fic on AO3, you need an account to read!)

Rating: M

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply (Please heed specific AO3 tags)

Chapters: 4/?

Summary: "I can't tell anymore. I fell so much into the act that I can't tell apart anymore who I am. I can't tell if I'm him, that character I played, or me. I don't. I just don't know."

Ever since Double Life, Joel has been struggling to separate himself from the character he played. He tries to distance himself from Etho to sort out his emotions, but after that doesn't seem to help, one night, he caves in and calls, and they talk until he falls asleep.

Joel is walking a tightrope between what he wants and what he needs. On the other side is Etho, just as unsure about where they stand.

OR

Seems like double life messed them both up quite a bit...

like comets, we intertwine by flowerboy (series)

Rating: Shifts between T and E

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply (heed AO3 tags)

Series Summary: Smalletho. Boat Boys, College AU. Many Boat Boys and the Life Series people too. And they're basically all gay.

this is a smalletho college AU! i personally haven’t read it but the reviews for it are pretty good. please be mindful of the explicit tag on a few of the fics and heed the archiveofourown tags :)

Birb’s Deep Dive of Smalletho (series) by FoolhardyBirb

Rating: G to T

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence (on one of the works)

Summary: Author FoolhardyBirb takes a deep dive into studying the intricacies of Boat Boys in several different settings and AU’s (college, urban fantasy, etc.)

i’ve actually read this one! i enjoyed it a lot and i usually am not one to enjoy aus all too much!

anyways, if you want more recommendations just let us know and we’ll gather some more for you <3

[emseebeans]

Make Me Write Tag Game

Thanks for the tag @the-ace-with-spades!

Here is a mix of Star Wars and Top Gun WIPs:

Whoever else would like to do this should do it and tag me so I can vote in your poll, too. :)

[rhyme-thinks-stuff]

Fractured Life: A Life Series Crossover AU

(I've had this post in my drafts for almost a month now, hopefully it makes sense! i put a lot of work into it)

An AU where I put characters from my various different fandom interests into a Life Series game and shake them about >:]

Features characters from Homestuck, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Legend of Zelda Tears of The Kingdom, Hollow Knight, and all the regular Life Series members, with a total of 44 players. I might add more if I feel like it, Hades and ATLA are especially tempting me, but then that might me too many characters.

This AU is mainly just a concept/outline for now, a little sandbox I can think about and play around in. It's ment to be self indulgent and fun. I've made a whole lot of notes and a few bits of drabbles and oneshots, a bit of art, and a Minecraft World!

Below is an explanation of the rules of the game, a complete list of characters, art I've made, screenshots of the Minecraft world, and some extra ramblings about it.

RULES

Fractured Life has the same basic rules of any Life Series, with some bits of added worldbuilding for the story. This season's gimmick is that it's a mix of every other season, both in the rules of the game and the world itself.

Backround Setting

Players don't choose to be in the games.

Players are sent signs a couple weeks before a game starts, generally in dreams.

Players have all their memories intact when they start their first game but they may grow foggy over time.

When a player loses their last life, they're made a spectator ghost until the end of the game.

Ghosts cannot talk to living players (most of the time) but can talk to each other.

All players are sent home at the end of the games.

Basics

Limited amount of lives

Lose enough lives and you turn red, and hostile

You're out when you lose your last life

You can give another player one of your lives

Each session some of the players will be boogeymen, and will have to kill another player or be sent straight to red

Each player has a “Path” that gives them additional mechanics they have to use to play the game

Each session is 72 hours long, with 24 hours off time in between 

During the break players aren't allowed to kill each other, and timers are paused

Each character is assigned a “Path” which determines which past game’s mechanics they use. Last Life mechanics are spread across each, most players use mechanics from Double, Limited, or Secret Life in addition to this. Winners get the same mechanics they had in the game they won.

Limited

Each Limited player has 864 hours to live (1 canon hr = 36 AU hours)

Normal deaths take off 36 hours

Boogey deaths take off 72 hours

Normal kills give 18 hours

Bogey kills give 36 hours

576+ hours = green

576-288 hours = yellow

under 288 = red

36 hours = 1 life (for trades)

Limited yellow lives can kill green lives of any path

Double

Double players each have a soulmate, with whom health and lives are shared

Boogey consequences are shared but only one player has the curse

A Double player doesn't need permission from their soulbound to trade lives away

Secret

30 hearts as usual

trading lives doesn't change heart amount

regular rewards and penalties

Secret Keeper is in a more hidden location

Red lives are given 1 task to harm someone each session and gain 10 hearts from completing it

Reds may attack players outside of their task, and get hearts from kills

3rd

starts with 3 lives, cannot interact with any extra mechanics

CHARACTER LIST

There's 44 players total in Fractured Life! The total cast of the Life Series is 18 people, it's a bit more than doubled because I couldn't bring myself to cut anyone, and I might add more if the whim takes me. I'm probably not going to come up with full stories for each and every one of them, but I want them here in my sandbox anyways.

Life Series OGs

Grian

Scott

Pearl

Martyn

Scar

Gem

Jimmy

Mumbo

Lizzie

Cleo

Etho

Bdubs

Joel

Rendog

BigB

Tango

Skizz

Impulse

MLP

Twilight

Pinkie Pie

Rarity

Apple Jack

Rainbow Dash

Fluttershy 

TOTK

Link

Zelda

Hollow Knight

Hornet

Quirrel

Hollow

Ghost 

Homestuck 

John

Rose

Dave

Jade

Roxy

Jane

Jake

Dirk

Karkat

Vriska

Kanaya

Terezi 

Nepeta

Feferi

ART

Terezi pushing Quirrel off a cliff because what i even the point of making a crossover AU set in a death game without making characters you like push each other off cliffs. I came up with this idea by choosing two characters at random to write a drabble of an interaction between them, and said interaction ended up being an attempted boogey kill. Quirrel has a sunhat because it'd help keep the sun out of his eyes while he explores, Rarity made it for him!

Another random pairing! Zelda and Applejack's bases are fairly close together, and I think they'd get along pretty well! Zelda has diplomacy skills and AJ has friendship skills. Here Applejack is giving Zelda bread, in the early game before everyone gets stable food sources.

My twin suggested that Fluttershy and Mumbo be soulbound together because it'd be funny. So here they are being disasters together :D

Zelda and Hornet are two of my favorite video game characters ever, the thought of pairing them popped into my head and wouldn't leave so here we are <3

Hornet and Link are soulbound. They agree to team for practical reasons, and then Hornet slowly finds herself caring for both them and Zelda. Meanwhile Zelda is a Limited Player, which means she has a timer ticking down instead of lives. Link and Hornet try to keep her alive for as long as possible.

Bases from this post vvv

I love my silly crossover crackship throuple <33 I think Link and Zelda are in a QPP, Zelda is bi and polyamorous and Link is demiromantic and acespec. Hornet hasn't had much chance to be in a relationship like this before, she's still figuring herself out.

MINECRAFT WORLD SCREENSHOTS

Parts of builds from past games are scattered throughout the new map. I did the replicated bases in creative, and the original ones in survival!

Scar's base was torn out of the ground and put up in the sky which he's a little bit annoyed about since he didn't even move out of it. I spent way too much time on trying to get the path blocks here exactly correct!

I built Pearl's tower first, it was very fun! I had difficulty finding reference for the roof but a Scott thumbnail came through for me.

The Scottage, it's at the edge of a town. This one's pretty unfinished

Desetduo home. It's a bit torn up, not exactly in the same way as in canon though. I think the older builds are somewhat built on memory, rather than being the exact same places just moved to this map.

Original builds time! Here's a bridge I built.

This is where Zelda, Link, and some amount of the HK bugs live. It's dimmed so the bugs have a place to hide from the sun, but still spawnproof.

Aplejack's farm area! I just like making big wheat fields. And I think AJ'd want to make sure no one starves to death, even if they are in a death game.

Side note, I wanted to add more images but hit the limit D:

Bonus ramblings!

If you got this far then thank you, that's very cool!! PLEASE ask me any questions you have I'd be happy to answer them, and feel free to suggest ideas for character interactions and things like that :D

I've been working on this AU in bits and pieces since January.

Planning this AU is what made me finally get around to reading the last half of Homestuck.

It's also a large part of the reason I'm currently rewatching MLP:FIM

I haven't been able to watch anything since this without considering adding the characters to the AU. 

Revolutionary Girl Utena, Delicious in Dungeon, and Avatar TLA have all tempted me with this, however I have 44 characters already I really shouldn't. 

I've also briefly considered adding Genshin and She-Ra characters to this AU but I just don't have much the fixation on either of those right now.

Also considering Hades characters that would be so fun. Hmm. but again 44 characters. I'd have to expand the world border.

I've ended up shipping Zelda TOTK and Hornet HK because of this AU. My idea is that Link and Hornet are soulbound together and Zelda is Limited. Hornet sticks with them for practical reasons at first but ends up bonding with both of them and she and Link try to protect Zelda and keep her in the game as long as they can. 

I think this is a post canon AU for the Homestucks, they're probably in their early twenties. I was originally going to have them still be kids because there's something very funny to me about the idea of the other characters being concerned about the teenagers in this death game only to find out they're all very used to death and carnage, but I decided I'd rather they be a bit closer to the other characters so things are a bit better balanced. 

Also all the trolls survived because I wanted Nepeta and Feferi here. I don't think I'm going to include the other six, because again the cast is large enough, but I might change that later if I get more invested in them all. And then I'd probably also add Calliope because I like her and I might as well! 

The ponies are somewhat humanized, but still have their pony ears, coat colors, tails, hooves, and horns/wings. None of them can fly or do magic.

I've done most of the work on this before Real Life came out, I'm not sure yet if I'll find some way to work it in or just say it happens afterwards.

it took me a couple hours to write this post.

I have 37 separate documents for this au in a folder, including it one I used to write this post in.

I have 15,000 words worth of notes and planning

in addition to notes I have ~6000 words worth of drabbles and one shots, and bits of a possible first chapter from Twilight's POV

this post is ~1500 words long and I think I spent over 6 hours putting it together somehow!

[deityoftherain]

50 fics: Empires SMP

I forgot to make this post when I hit 50 overall fics and 20 Empires SMP Fanfics! This is just a list of all the fics together ^^

Link to a Tumblr post with information about the fic: the ao3 link

all is fair in love and war*: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52699816

blood is thicker than blood*: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51211618

five attempts: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55651918

i really missed you, dumbass: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52482646

i'm just me*: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55474714

isn't that jimmy's hat?: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51797311

looking in the mirror*: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51759118

(not) a boy in a princess dress: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53026171

silver sanctuary: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55708342

silver wounds: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55381876

soulbound enmity, spare me dignity: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55516318

strangers to fighting buddies*: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51013171

strawberry tears*: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54354559

the cold is nothing compared to your warmth: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51345556

water & art: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52905865

The ones with asterisks are a part of my tales of the empires canon divergent AU :D

[sfiolumi]

♡ current fics list

hi, sfio here!

in lieu of posting a dozen separate image posts, i have gathered my currently published fics into the below list for ease of reference. i hope this helps any new and old friends and readers!

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

(listed by ship and in alphabetical order)

ALHAITHAM X LUMINE:

art of elusion (rated t, modern band au) - wip, multi-chapter link here ✦

business before pleasure (rated e, idol au) - complete, part 1 of 2 link here ✦

pleasure before business (rated e, idol au) - complete, part 2 of 2 link here ✦

ALHAITHAM X LUMINE X KAVEH:

edging into insanity  (rated e, canon-divergent) - complete, one-shot link here ✦

CHILDE X LUMINE:

stripped down to the core (rated e, stripper au) - complete, two-shot link here ✦

the value of sweetness (rated t, canon) - complete, one-shot link here ✦

until the sunrise (rated e, university au) - wip, multi-chapter link here ✦

winter's caress (rated e, canon divergent) - complete, one-shot link here ✦

CYNO X LUMINE:

the princess's consort (rated e, royal au) - wip, multi-chapter link here ✦

SCARAMOUCHE X LUMINE:

chasing euphoria (rated e, modern au) - wip, multi-chapter link here ✦

paro (rated e, a/b/o au) - complete, one-shot link here ✦

TIGHNARI X LUMINE:

dreams become you (rated e, canon-divergent) - complete, one-shot link here ✦

XIAO X LUMINE:

soulbound (rated m, magic/royal au) - wip, multi-chapter link here ✦

ZHONGLI X LUMINE:

killing butterflies (rated e, courtesan au) - wip, multi-chapter link here ✦

[hoziernaturalevents]

Week Three Update!

Well, we've cleared three weeks of sign-ups for the Hoziernatural Multi-Ship Bang!

We've already talked to you about all of the variety coming in with the favorite characters and ships, but let's talk about favorite tropes!

(below the cut, in alphabetical order)

2-Person Love Triangle

A/B/O

Accidental Pregnancy

Adventure

Age Difference

Ambiguous Relationship

Americana

Amnesia/Memory Loss

Angel/Demon Relationship

Angst/Hurt

Angst & Fluff

Angst w/ Happy Ending

Anything Cheesey

Apocalypse

Atypical Relationships

AUs

AU - Coffee Shop

AU - Crossover

AU - Fantasy

AU - Historical

AU - Human

AU - Mafia

AU - Magical

AU - Modern

AU - Soulmates

AU - Space

AU - Western

Awkward First Time

Blood/Gore

Break Up/Reconciliation

Canon Adjacent

Canon Divergence

Canonverse

Case Fic

Character Studies

Cheating

Childhood Friends

Childhood Sweethearts

Co-Dependency

Comedy

Crack

Creature/Monster Fic

Cuddling for Warmth

Darkfic

Dead Dove

Dean - Trans!Dean (ftm)

Dean - Stanford Era!Dean

Different First Meeting

Dimension/Universe Travel

Domestic Fic

Dreamwalking

Early Seasons

Empty Fic

Endverse

Enemies to Friends

Enemies to Friends to Lovers

Enemies to Lovers

Episode Fic

Epistolary Fic

Everybody Knows (But Them)

Everybody Lives/Nobody Dies

Fake Dating/Marriage

Fix-It

Fluff

Forbidden Romance

Friends to Lovers

Friends with Benefits to Lovers

Fuck or Die

Gen Fic

Gender Exploration

Glasses!Character

Guilt

Happy Ending

Hauntings

Heaven Fic

Hijinks

Holiday Fic

Horror

Hurt/Comfort

Incest

Introspective Fics

Kid-Fic

Magic

Magical Realism

Metamorphosis/Transformations

Misunderstandings/Miscommunication

Missing Scene

Mutual Pining

Mythology

Non-Con/Dub-Con

Oblivious!Character

Only One Bed

Open/Ambiguous Ending

OT3s

Outcasts/Outsiders

Pining

Platonic Relationships

Platonic Soulmates

Poly Ships

Porn Without Plot/Plot What Plot

Possession

Post-Canon

POV - Outsider

Pre-Slash

Protective!Character

Psychological Horror

Purgatory Fic

Religious Themes/Imagery

Reunion

Romance

Sam - Boyking!Sam

Sam - Demon Blood!Sam

Secret Relationship

Self-Cest

Serial Killers

Sex Magic

Sexuality Exploration

Sick-Fic

Single Parent

Slow Burn

Small Town

Soulbound

Southern Gothic

Stanford Era

Strangers to Lovers

Switching

Tattoed!Character / Tattoos

Thriller

Time Travel

Tragedy

Trans!Character

Trapped Together

Undercover

Voyeurism

Whump

Wing-fic

(Side note: If you don't see your favorites exactly as you listed them, they probably got combined with similar/similarly worded ones. Your mod Rauko has never had so much sympathy for the AO3 tag wranglers as they have today XD)

We are only just over a week from the end of sign-ups!

See your favorite tropes in the list? Follow us and watch for the content! Maybe even come join us! You can sign up as an author, artist, beta reader, author pinch-hitter, or artist pinch-hitter, and we will match you with a partner based on the preferences you put on the form.

Don't see your favorites yet? Come join us and bring your friends! Worried your favorite is too rare? We have a really eclectic group and a lot of people who've said they're down for just about anything. If you're still worried, share our event with your followers! The more you do, the more we'll be able to reach people with your similar tastes!

Also, for those of you who've already signed up, if you see something in this list that maybe you didn't think of and makes you go "oh yeah, I'd like that!" feel free to edit your form to include it (you should be able to assuming you signed in). They'll remain unlocked until the end of sign-ups (March 31st). When you do, shoot @rauko-is-a-free-elf a message and let them know to make sure they notice the change.

(Full Schedule and Info) (Sign-Up Form)

[mushiewrites]

*jumps into the spotlight* Yes please, me! (Writer's block has mowed down my will to write)

Mean and intense, as wished:

I have an AU (I call it the Soulbound AU) where gods and mortals are connected by souls, and can feel and detect each others tickle spots, so they can happily tickle each other, but not without tickling themselves too. Imagine George just asking someone to wreck him to high heaven in order to get back HD, nervously giggling at the fact he's willingly subjected himself to this just for payback on HD's own antics.

DreamXD tickle book. Whoever's name goes in there gets some seriously intense tickles, digging right into that one spot that is known to make them scream >:D

4K in general. I mean, seriously... he's a mean one, Mr Grinch. *ba dum tss*. In all seriousness, this guy is the tallest of them all *thanks @covenofwives* and he can easily lift someone off the ground to just claw at their ribs without mercy.

And finally, my boy Sam :D this guy's a canon redstone whizz. So I can imagine him in a serious ler mood, and plus Dream has gotten on his nerve a little too much one particular day. Annoyed warden + redstone knowledge = tickle machine programmed to hit all of Dream's spots that will get him screeching in mirth, one after the other >:)

I hope these were okay <3

holy shit okay here we go I’m kind of sick and loopy but hey why not answer now 🤪

1 - firstly, this AU is absolutely incredible, I absolutely need to hear more about that whenever you post more details!!! but……george asking someone to wreck him so he can get back at HD??? okay this is amazing for multiple reasons. the first being that we’ve all pretty much established george has such a hard time asking for tks anyway, but asking someone to wreck him? that’s just unheard of. So he goes to someone he knows will tear him into a million teeny tiny little lee pieces - XD 😵‍💫 and oh boy does XD know george’s (and HD’s) spots like the back of their hand 🫠 by the time XD is done, george is completely exhausted and HD has kicked around the blankets on his bed so much that he’s simply left in a huge hole of clouds

2 - it’s funny bc @emmadoodlewrites actually had a similar idea!!! (i drew it 😎). but holy shit. imagine dream is just minding his own business, going around collecting resources and food and materials. XD is feeling rather devious and decides that dream needs to pay for all the times that he’s pranked them, and so they write dreams name in the book. Dream fucking convulses, the wood he was carrying dropping to the ground, followed by his own body as he arches into the air because his tummy is being relentlessly tkled by seemingly no one. this goes on for minutes, agonizing tkly squeezes and strokes to his poor poor tummy until XD poofs before the panting boy, scooping up the pile of lee and helping him back home (all while giving him cute lil head scratchies and telling him how good he did)

3 - don’t even get me started on 4K. First of all yes, all of the bravos go to @covenofwives bc the way coven writes 4K is just…..insane in the absolute best way. 4K is one of my favorite lers to read and write for, because he’s just so playful but he also knows what he’s capable of. If he wants to be nice and let someone giggle and squirm, he will :D! …..but if he decides he wants to be cruel? with his strength? size? claws? the lee doesn’t stand a chance.

4 - tk machines Tk Machines TK MACHINEEEEEES!!!!!!!!! hello yes hi hello i LOVE tk machines. now i don’t know a lot about lore but i know sam and i know he invents shit and holy cow can this guy invent a tk machine. something that randomly popped into my head was just a false sense of security. dreams most tkly spots are his tummy and bellybutton and his back. (he has more than just those but, those are the ones that stand out to me). Sam tells dream he made a machine that can help mend scars and muscle, and he needs someone to test it out. little does dream know that this is 100% a big fat lie, and it’s literally just a tk torture device for dream.

(okay I didn’t mean to write everything under this but I couldn’t stop rambling so…. warning bc intense tks / tk machine / kind of small spaces?)

the machine looks like a thin square box made of some sort of glass or plastic material. it’s see through, and he can see all kinds of hands, rollers and gears in the front and back of the walls. sam unlocks a latch on the side and suddenly the box is opening, sam motioning for him to step inside. there are two little outlines of where his feet should be and sam guides him to stand in place. the box ends just above dreams shoulders, and sam pushes him back until his neck is slotted against a curve at the top of the box, no doubt made for where he would be held in place. on either side of the neck hole, there were two more dips, one for each of his wrists. sam closes the box and latches it, leaving dreams neck and wrists stuck in place, unable to pull them down or push them out. the box is thin, so dream can’t kick, he can hardly bend his knees before they hit the glass in front of them. sam smirks and hits a button, setting off a series of clicks and gears turning before suddenly rollers with tiny bumps and grooves are slowly making their way up and down his back, making him arch forward slightly with a squeak. he looks at sam with wide eyes and realizes sam knows exactly what it’s doing to him. he realizes that’s what the purpose of this machine was for. and when dream goes to open his mouth, he instead lets out a shriek before falling into helpless laughter as a same type of roller now is making its way up and down dreams tummy, the little grooves somehow always managing to push their way into his lil bellybutton and make him squeal. sam just giggles and walks over to dream and goes “sweetheart, you haven’t seen anything yet.” and with the push of another button, mechanical arms extend, only adding to the excruciatingly tklish feeling…

star u have officially released my demons i hope ur happy (i am very happy thank u i adore u)

[themerlinlibrary]

Favourites Friday (June 2023) – Enemies to Lovers

TML Favourites Friday round-up! June 2023 round 1

What is Favourites Friday? – The Basics

a different theme is announced on Friday each week; FF recs must match the theme of the week

only one FF rec per person per week/theme

FF recs must be unique within that week/theme; no double-posting the same fic for one theme!

no self-recs during regular rounds

only self-recs during self-rec rounds (last Friday of each month)

Theme for week 1: Enemies to Lovers!

Set in Stone by midnightwildcat T, 125k, Merlin/Morgana Canon Era

Rule Number Four by orphan_account E, 47k, Merlin/Arthur Modern AU

Lights Out, Away We Go by Imagined E, 90k, Merlin/Arthur Modern AU; Formula One

The Rebel, the Prat and the Unfortunate Soulbound by Leandra T, 10k, Merlin/Arthur Canon Era AU; Soulmates

The World Will Follow After by sassafrasx E, 4.5k, Merlin/Arthur Modern with Magic AU

Love In A Cold Chalet by Clea2011 T, 18k, Merlin/Arthur Modern AU

[Art + Fic] Kings and Vagabonds by schweet_heart M, 1k, Merlin/Arthur Canon Era/Divergence

Fundamental Imperfection by Starlingthefool M, 12k, Merlin/Arthur Modern AU; Authors

Pax Albionis by Saga_Thorn E, 27k, Merlin/Arthur Canon Era AU

A masterlist of all round-ups can be found here.

If you want to make sure you never miss a FF rec, or would like to participate and share your own favourites; join us on the Discord TheMerlinLibrary! Happy reading!

About the FF round-up lists:

Recs are listed in the order they were posted on the Discord; the order does not imply any sort of ranking.

The pairing given in this list is the main pairing of each respective fic – please read the tags for any possible minor or side-pairings, as well as any potential warnings or triggers.

Pairings and Eras are given as tagged in each respective fic. (?) signifies that the tags were unclear and I do not know enough about the fic to fill the gaps.

Round-ups are compiled on the weekend of the week after the respective theme of the post (when the new theme has already been anounced), to avoid omitting potentially belated FF recs.

Since I am running FF alone, it is not always possible for me to have the round-up list up immediately – please be patient.

The weekly round-up is not a guarantee! Again, I'm running this alone, so it can only be posted for weeks when I have enough time on my hands to compile a list. If you'd like to help out, feel free to contact me on Tumblr ( @zaharya ) or Discord.