#They might have broken Respawn out too

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 308

Honestly, Damian is so disappointed in his father right now. And his so-called siblings. The friends allies he had made over the years and he had been swapping multiple times, and still they hadn’t realized. Danyal was as pale as a corpse, closer to Drake for Pit’s sake! Jordan had red eyes! Elena was a girl! Respawn had white hair! Surely someone noticed- thank fuck, hello Todd, no he’s not on patrol, listen, listen, he needs you to know that Father? Blind. An idiot! The others more so! Yes yes, they’ve been doing their single-person trick, but surely someone should have caught on yes? And they haven’t- Oh? What a wonderful idea Akhi, he shall inform the others of this idea, the Lazarus waters do make dna testing quite hard to do. 

[sculkapologist]

Was suddenly possessed with the desire for a lil set of profiles for everyone in the Corrupted World minecraft AU!! you can probably tell by their names that these guys started life in the Bendy fandom, but then we got really carried away with MINECRAFT LORE...

the Basic Premise of Corrupted World AU is that when a bit of code gets corrupted, or degrades over time, the world replaces that code with something similar -- a corrupted bit of grassland will be overwritten by the code of nearby grassland. This works fine for most things, but there's nothing else like a Player in the world of Minecraft.................... these little bits of encroaching mob data have been mostly benign, until Joey's curiosity stretches the world to its limits, and the world's corruption becomes more aggressive.

Some basic notes on everyone under the cut!

Jack is an old player whose code changed so slowly that he honestly can't remember a time when he wasn't a little sheepy. A peaceful, friendly guy who loves to explore and makes contacts wherever he goes -- moving from village to village, build to build, to bring items he's found in his travels to trade and sell, sounding his own broken goat horn to announce his wares. Thanks to Jack, the world's far-flung players might be able to start to connect again...

(design by Mochi and Shazz, character by Mochi)

Sammy is a grumpy and strangely cautious player who keeps to himself ever since he escaped from an Ancient City..... changed. He was once an adventurous builder with an exacting sense of aesthetics, but now he's just trying to survive quietly with his sheep. Afflicted with painfully sensitive hearing and infected with sculk, he hides in an underground, wool-insulated home out in the hills and lives the most pacifist life he can manage, avoiding any death that could spread the sculk in his body.

(design and character by Shazz (me!))

Henry was always driven to look out for others, and when he died defending a village from attack, the grateful villagers helped to revive him the only way they knew how. He kind of wishes they'd just let him respawn... not realising some glitching armour had scrambled his health too badly to come back normally. In any case, Henry's gotten attached to the village... becoming more protective of the people there... almost unwilling to leave.

(design by Maf and Shazz, character by Maf)

A bit of a loner with a strange sense of humour, Norman often lingered near the ocean and didn't notice the little changes like not needing air when his water-breathing potions should've run out... until the corruption of his code made it sort of impossible for him to return to land. That's alright; he's perfectly happy to hassle the others when they wander into his territory.

(design by Shazz and Boo, character by Thren)

Wickedly clever with a knack for experimentation, Susie was left stranded in the Nether a long time ago and was determined to thrive even in that hellish domain -- and thrive she did. Now she's gotten a bit of reputation even on the Overworld, both for a mastery of potions and magic, and a cruel willingness to take what she wants.

(design by Boo and Thren, character by Thren)

Ever since Joey defeated the Ender Dragon and heard that conversation between two mysterious voices, he hasn't been able to let go of the idea that there is something more beyond this world of blocks and code -- but this charismatic dreamer has been prying at the world's secrets well before that. He convinced Susie to join him as the first to explore the Nether, talked Sammy into delving into an Ancient City with him, and tried to get Henry to join him in his quest for the End, gifting him code-modified armour that was better than anything his old friend could get. For some reason, though, they all lost contact, and Joey found himself alone in the End, where more code experiments in a land where only one mob is really prevalent had... an effect on him....

(design and character by Boo)

Pete isn't a player at all, he's a villager... but one day he found himself outside of his village, suddenly realised how big the world is, and couldn't resist the urge to explore. He's close with Jack, and has joined up with him on some expeditions to aid his own work as a cartographer. Without the ability to respawn, though, it's significantly more dangerous for him, and the two of them MAY have poked into some evoker magic looking for an alternative...

(design and character by Thren and Mochi)

Linda is deeply interested in the world's history, curious what sort of people or ancient players must've once populated the ruins, and she's also an experienced crafter with a penchant for metalworking. While the world of Minecraft has no real concept of monogamous relationships, she's settled with Henry as her one-and-only... which works out now that he's partially made of metal. Linda hadn't experienced any code corruption until data replacement became more aggressive, and it's still subtle for now. But it's handy to be able to touch things that are burning hot without taking damage!

(design by Shazz, character by Thren and Maf)

Fixing Sammy should be easy enough, Joey thought. Some of his data was corrupted by sculk -- if they can find that lost data in the code somewhere, it just needs to be reintegrated with Sammy. Attach it to an eye of ender, replace one of Sammy's eyes with the eye of ender -- simple! A complete Sammy! ...the lost data itself had other ideas. This strange construct that collected around the eye Joey provided is a mix of Sammy's lost data, garbled junk data, and -- he claims -- the remnants of an Ancient Player from the days when end cities were populated, before everything went so wrong and Minecraft's world became so lonely. His speech is glitchy and garbled, struggling to describe a Game and Code and a True Player that he believes must reset a world that has been "running too long." In lieu of a username, this apocalyptic anomaly goes by "the Prophet".

(design and character by Shazz)

[varteeny1234]

MEMORIES

(ao3 link)

Summary:

Marm gets lost in her own head after finding an old photograph, from before everything fell to pieces. She knows Kittrix means well, but they both know that being near each other _hurts_.

Chapters: 1/1 (probably. i might write a part 2 in the future)

Words: 1651

Warnings: Marm does a respawn, and also has a cut on her finger from shards of glass

:DDD I love the mangrove and acacia friendship. too bad they all have tragedy arcs and have split up lolll *crying*

(full fic under cut)

Marm's fingers bled, cut by the shattered glass of the broken picture frame. She stared down at the little pieces of her reflection, faint images, a hundred different faces that were all her face. A sudden pain made her realize that she was biting her lip. 

She cried. 

It had been so long since all four of them had been together. Trog was acting so weird, not like themself at all, taking a complete 180 on the 'chaotic triangles' theme that they'd been working with. Tea had been missing for weeks... which wasn't really reason for worry, but still, she wasn't here in the Mangrove kingdom, wasn't there to keep Marm company on the rainy days or get up to mischief or run around the swamp together with her. 

Kitt hadn't... secluded herself. She just didn't talk to Marm all that much anymore- Marm was mostly sure that it was because she didn't want to get involved in any more void nonsense- after Trog went missing, even though they came back eventually, she'd been unsettled at what they said they heard and saw- so much so that if anybody brought it up around her, she would always make up some excuse to leave or change the topic. Trog's sudden personality change almost right afterwards had scared her even more. And since Marm was so tangled up in the void problems...

Functionally, that left Marm on her own.

Maybe if she just looked harder, looked in the right places, she could figure out how to fix everything. She could learn what had happened to Trog, find Tea, and help Kitt handle her uneasiness. Maybe then they could be their little quartet again. Marm, Trog, Kitt, and Tea. 

The smiling faces in the photograph sent an ache running through her chest every time she saw them, so she let it drop down onto the ground. It hit the floor with a sound that, quiet as it was, rang out louder than anything else nearby. Nighttime tended to be like that. Marm clenched her fists as she turned away, intending to head up to the top of the island and go to sleep. Then, her hand felt like it was on fire. 

Shards of glass must have gotten stuck underneath her skin, she realized. (She was still bleeding)

Marm considered her options. Leaving the injury as-is would be both painful and leave a mess, and she doubted her ability to pull the tiny pieces out herself. It was far too late at night to call anyone else over...

That left respawn. 

Sigh. 

It wasn't like it was hard or anything, it was just annoying to deal with! Any method was painful, even if the feeling only lasted for a few seconds at most; respawning was usually left as a last resort for a reason. But sometimes, even last resorts had to be used, and now was unfortunately looking like one of those times. 

She wasn't carrying anything valuable on her, so it was only a moment before she had let herself fall through one of the holes in the very bottom of the island. Void suffocation always felt the same, and Marm was one of the most familiar with the experience, so she always had the phantom sensations of leaving the atmosphere and falling down into a nothingness that wrapped itself around her body like a cold blanket before she even left the reach of the vines that grew nearby. 

When she respawned, however, instead of landing nicely on her bed like she thought she would, she ended up at the shopping district's center island. 

She swore, and let out a shout of frustration. Why didn't she check to make sure she'd respawn at her bed, or at least at her base?! It would have taken all of a minute at most! And now, she had to walk all the way back to the Mangrove kingdom in the middle of the night. At least no phantoms had shown up yet. Silver linings, silver linings. 

Marm decided to start the long trek back as soon as possible, so she began to walk towards the bridge leading to her island. But before she got very far, the sound of firework rockets and an elytra came closer, and a person landed a little ways behind her. Had they come to check on her? There wasn't any reason for them to- she didn't need anyone's help. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve, thankful it was dark enough that whoever it was wouldn't see her red face. 

"Marm? What's going on with you? You need help?" Asked the person. 

Their voice was a familiar one- very familiar. And the last one that Marm had expected to hear. 

She turned around, incredulous. 

"Kittrix?" 

"Yep, that's me!" Kitt smiled, the flames of her hair glowing brighter. "Hello, Marma1ade. Why'd you die?"

"Um..." Marm looked away. She didn't actually need Kitt's help with anything. 

"Marm. It's the middle of the fucking night, even you don't randomly die at this time. So, why'd you fall?"

"I needed to respawn, and that was the quickest way to. I'm just-" Marm yawned. "-heading back now." 

Kitt frowned. "You didn't set your spawnpoint beforehand? That doesn't seem like something you'd do, you're way more careful than that."

"I'm fine," said Marm. She internally grimaced at how snappish she sounded- but she was beginning to feel quite irritated. "Just... leave me be."

"Nah. You don't sound fine, and I'm worried about you."

"No! I'm going back to my swamp, and I'm going alone! Don't follow me," she turned around, only to have the world start spinning around her. She tripped, and nearly hit the bridge, but Kitt grabbed her before she did, helping her back to her feet.

"Look, Marm, you're my friend, okay? I-"

"You're my friend, Kitt? Really?" Marm spat, a bitter taste in her mouth. 

Kitt stopped, simply staring at Marm. Marm couldn't read her face. 

"Yeah, I'm your friend- I am, right?" She whispered. 

"Then why did you leave me all alone? I know you're hurting because of what happened to Trog, but you're the last person I have left to talk to about anything! And you left me all alone! Friends don't abandon friends, Kitt. I- I need you!" Marm choked out. She fell to her knees, collapsing from the flood of emotions overtaking her- anger, mainly.

Kitt stood still, falling silent. Her hair dimmed, going from a wild, bright flame to a gentle flicker. 

"I'm sorry, Marm," she murmured. She crumpled, sitting down next to her and bringing her knees up to her chest. She buried her head in her arms. "I was just so scared. I know Trog's still here, but they're not themself, and I hate it. I hate it so much, why can't they just go back to normal? Why can't we all just go back to normal? Where did Tea go, and why hasn't she come back? Have you had any contact with her at all?" She peeked out at Marm, who could now see her grey eyes had filled with tears. 

Marm took a steadying breath. "No, I haven't. I'm sorry... I'm just as lost as you are. I miss our old group," she cried. "I miss us!"

Their quiet sobs were the only noise that could be heard. 

"...Marm?" Kitt spoke up, a few minutes later. Her voice was raspy. 

"Hm?"

"Can I stay at your place tonight? I don't want to be alone." 

Marm considered it. "Alright... I don't see why not." She shrugged. Kitt breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Thank you. I... I'm still sorry I stopped talking to you. I know I already apologized, but I still feel bad. I know you don't mean any harm with all the weird magic you have and stuff, but, well..." she trailed off. 

"I'm a walking reminder of what happened to Trog?" Marm finished for her, wiggling her fingers. Kitt nodded. 

She pushed herself to her feet. She held out a hand to Marm, who took it gratefully. They started walking back, Marm somewhat leaning on Kitt for balance. 

"Does this mean you'll tell me what happened to you?" Kitt asked, after a couple of minutes of walking. "Like, why you decided to respawn at this disgusting time of night?"

Biting her lip, Marm decided that it couldn't hurt to tell Kitt. She said, slowly, "I accidentally cut myself on some shards of glass. I didn't think I could get them out of my hand by myself, and I didn't want to ask anyone to come over and help me. I forgot I hadn't set my spawn at my bed, and wound up at spawn instead." 

Did she omit some of the specific details? Maybe. Kitt didn't need to know why she hurt herself. But that was essentially what had happened, anyways, so she wasn't lying. 

"I see. I guess that that's not the worst thing that you could have done, but Marm, next time, anyone on this server would have been plenty willing to help you! Even if it's the middle of the night. No one wants you to suffer," Kitt replied. "I was awake. I could have gone over."

"Still- I didn't want to make you come over. Also... I wasn't exactly in the right headspace to talk to anyone." 

Now, Kitt most likely suspected that Marm still wasn't telling her everything. 

That would be fine. She might choose to tell her in the morning, when she was less tired, or she might not. 

"Hm. Well, it'll be alright. We're talking! Also, we're cool, right?" Kitt sounded so hopeful, Marm couldn't bear to say no. And if she was being honest with herself she desperately wanted them to be cool as well. 

She'd figure everything out in the end! 

After all- she still remained the only one who could. 

"Yeah- we're cool."

[autisticlalna]

An Analysis of Loft Theory, or "Leo Briefly Loses His Mind About 'Dark Oak Death Laser' Before Remembering He's Writing An Analysis"

Skyblock Kingdoms. bottom text. it's a series where like a third of the players have some sort of storyline going that's revolving around the void below. as things progress, it's getting more clear that the void is alive and can grant some sort of power to those that feed it (if Trog's void magic is any indication), and a major conflict is between those that appease the void and those that stand against it.

obviously this is going to spark theories. i've been tossing things around with solar and the dnerds, and some of it has been shared on here, but we're far from the only ones taking a guess at where the story might go. someone in Avid's youtube comments has written several paragraphs of ideas, and it's something i keep coming back to for various reasons.

let's talk about Loft Theory.

The Theory:

Avid's Episode 5:

The Void vs Avid’s Patron. Hmmm… I think I know who that is, and why they want him to run OSSHA. I think it’s another entity, like the void, which I’m filling The Loft. Essentially, the sky vs the Void. I think it’s like a Yin-Yang type balance, and they both want control of the new realm. The Terra, or ground in between them. It’s a battle for No-Man’s land, and they’ll each choose Avatars among the poor mortals caught in their struggle. Being so close to these entities is also why they can bend the rules of reality, such as respawning. Little do either the Void or the Loft know, there’s a third entity. The Terra itself. Every single block is imbued with the power of the third entity, the Terra. And it’s none-too happy with these entities fighting over it. So it is choosing its own Avatars. Viking and Fix for some. They’re even building a massive wall that spans Loft and Void. It’s still unknown if they have servants who don’t know they’re being influenced by these entities. Ruby or Viking could be some of those, where they don’t even know they are working with these entities, but that remains to be seen.

Avid's Episode 6:

Alright, new prediction. Seeing its weak state through Avid’s eyes, the Loft is going to try to rally its servants, and kill the Void, likely using the satellite. Mangrove will try to fight back, and I think Avid will be caught in the middle, as he now has sympathy for the void. Then, it splits two way. Theory 1) They fail, but the server is divided. The Void is angry, starts to lash out, and more seemingly random void deaths start to happen. Meanwhile, The Terra continues its rise to power, as the more blocks that exist, the stronger it gets. And with Moss farms and tree farms, it starts to grow. Theory 2: They kill the void. Right as Avid seems able to Deescalate the situation, stressing the need for balance, the Terra reveals itself. Viking and Fix suddenly jump in, blasting a beam downwards from their kingdom, maybe even blowing up OSSHA, as the Terra Laughs. The void, (bottom half of the sky.) turns blood red, and Mangrove is broken. Then, Avid slowly starts losing it. The Loft rejects him, and his best friends helped kill the Void, who he now believes was innocent. The episode ends with a really touching scene between Doovid and Avid.

Avid's Episode 7:

New lore! 5:04 shows a white and black skyline, with the camera (presumably Avid) starting mostly white (sky), and transitioning down to black (void). This seems to suggest Avid is turning away from the Loft, towards the Void. Of course, the Terra is represented by the trees. Doovid transforming into a monkey person is interesting, as it seems to indicate the influence of the Terra. But the Loft also used the Phantoms to try to strike down Doovid and wipe his elytra, perhaps realizing with his fascination with structures like the Trail ruins, as well as his dominance over the sky with his flying machines, that he’s influencing Avid away from the Lofts control. Now, with Avid aligning with Mangrove, the void’s servants, as well as gaining power to fly, not given by the Loft, it’s on its back foot. Interesting.

that's a lot of words! let's break it down into the bare essentials.

The Summary:

the entity behind OSSHA that Avid is working for is the sky, aka the Loft

the Loft and the Void are supposed to be balanced, but are fighting for control

they are choosing specific players as avatars, which lets them respawn

there's also a third entity, the Terra, which is the actual islands themselves

the Terra is in the middle of the power struggle and is choosing avatars as well (Viking and Fix)

Loft, Void, and Terra might have players working for them unknowingly (Ruby and Viking)

the Loft is going to kill the Void with the OSSHA research satellite

either it fails and the Void is going to retaliate by killing more players, or...

...the Terra interrupts Avid's peace talk between Loft and Void to blow up OSSHA and kill the Void with a death laser

the Loft rejects Avid for trying to bring balance and the Void is dead, so Avid starts going insane

monkeyification is caused by the Terra

the Loft is sabotaging Doovid to stop him from bringing Avid closer to the Terra (?)

these were posted on Avid's videos, and i'm not sure who else they watch besides Avid, so i can't expect them to know everything that everyone is doing on SBK-- there's 20 people now and over 50 episodes between them, it's a lot to catch up on. however, as the person that is watching every POV and episode for some godforsaken reason, i know Way Too Much and can try to address this theory point-by-point to figure out what's cool or plausible, what's unlikely, and what's just... bizarre, to me.

(there will likely be gaps in my own analysis, though. again, over 50 episodes. im planning to jot down notes on every story-related thing that happens, but that project hasnt been started yet so this is going off of memory. ill keep "information from after the theories were posted" to a minimum, though, because obviously that info wasnt even there at the time.)

Entry 1:

the concept of the Loft itself is interesting. Avid is clearly working for someone-- he's told Marmalade as much, and he's also described his role in OSSHA as an enforcer, rather than the head of it.

there's also a bit more about Avid and his role as a pawn to forces greater than him, but i'll tackle that in another section because it's more relevant there. but, for now, we can say with confidence that Avid has a history with being used to carry out a deity's will.

however, it's that history that makes me unsure about the Loft being Avid's patron. again, i'll go into it a bit more later, but it's likely that Avid is working for somebody we have seen, just... not yet in SBK.

the Terra is.. a bit shakier. again, cool in concept, but the likeliness of being an actual element feels low. the closest we might get so far is the Birch Kingdom being Cursed Lands and a cause of that being "the Terra just really hates these guys", but Fool also made a joke about his pre-established god Atium not liking birch, so.

however, the entire rest of the theory is built on these foundations, so let's follow the premise of there being two other entities and go from there. why are Viking and Fix Terra? sure, they have the Ant Farm, but you could argue that as being more of a bridge between Void and Loft considering it goes from buildheight to the bottom of the world. Entry 2 mentions that the Terra's power comes from the blocks placed, and Fix definitely places a lot of blocks (as well as Dark Oak having the cobble/basalt/deepslate mega-generator), but you could argue that Spruce would be a better fit because they're the kingdom able to mass-produce dirt, and were also the original source of moss. i love Dark Oak, but this feels out of place.

namechecking Ruby and Viking as potential unknowing servants is fun, though. again, i don't know what POVs besides Avid they watch, but Ruby and the status of the timeline are under observation by something (R.C.) and are, as far as we know, oblivious. this also normally applies to Viking and his mysterious observer V.P., but we haven't actually had any V.P. sightings in SBK and instead have been dealing with someone else.

(there's also a lot more going on with Ruby and Viking below the surface, but most of it is from series outside of SBK and has been somewhat acknowledged, but not enough for me to confidently go on a tangent. TL;DR they're the incarnations of time and space respectively and some versions of them know about it and have power over their domains. although if Viking is space incarnate, then maybe that would be a point to him being a Terra avatar?)

Entry 2:

i'm going to be very blunt, this comment is the one i take the most issue with. this entry is the reason im making this post. this entry is the reason why Loft Theory haunts me. but im going to skip over the "did you just write a whole-ass alternate universe fanfic in avid's comments and package it as a theory????" thing and focus on actually addressing the theory.

killing the Void with the satellite is... um, ridiculous. sorry. Avid has been very clear that it's a research satellite meant to listen to the Void, which is what happens in that episode. and, speaking of that episode, does Avid have sympathy for the Void? he hears a voice pleading for help, but he's more shocked than anything else after being skeptical of Marmalade hearing the Void. (we do find out later that the satellite is capable of doing more than just listen, but that was after this episode and definitely not something Avid was aware it could do.)

what does sound likely is the idea of more random void deaths as the Void gets more uppity. even if it's not in response to an OSSHA-powered murder attempt, the fact that OSSHA are continuing to stand in the way of feeding the void means that the Void is going to have to get what it needs some other way. we've seen this already with the Void destroying the bridge to Mangrove. plus, as mentioned, the server is now at a state where island expansions are happening fast (just look at Elffe!), so the Terra gaining a foothold would make sense to start around here. out of the two forks in this entry, this is the one that makes the most sense of me.

okay. we now need to talk about the Dark Oak Death Laser.

Right as Avid seems able to Deescalate the situation, stressing the need for balance, the Terra reveals itself. Viking and Fix suddenly jump in, blasting a beam downwards from their kingdom, maybe even blowing up OSSHA, as the Terra Laughs.

where do i start

okay. as a reminder, this is a theory. it's presented in story format at this point, but this is a theory of what will happen next. they call it a theory. so i am going to do my best to address this as a theory and not completely lose my mind. mission failed, mind lost

so the idea here is that Avid is going to change from being OSSHA's enforcer to instead mediating between OSSHA/the Loft and the Void. (why? i dunno.) he's gonna rally the Loft and Void avatars (so, Mangrove and... uh. whoever else would side with the Loft besides Avid, i guess. not specified. Cherry, maybe, because OSSHA?) and get them to realize that they need to restore balance (...isn't that what Mangrove is trying to do with the Void in the first place?)

...and then Viking and Fix are going to blow up OSSHA with a laser beam and kill the Void in the name of the Terra.

how

why

What?

are they going to... build a laser beam? for the purpose of Void annihilation?

why is it a death laser

have they just been kicking it watching everybody slapfight before going "alright, hit the big red button"

why Fix? i can kinda see Viking deciding to do something this level of reckless, but Fix is a chill dude (ignoring the part where Fix isn't actually involved in any storylines so far besides having a Birch Box subscription)

how do you kill the Void? the avatars, maybe (RIP Mangrove), but the Void is literally the bottom half of the world. it's the nothingness below the islands. it's the infinite abyss. how is a laserbeam going to kill the void

why is it a death laser

it's Skyblock, i'm pretty sure somebody would notice Viking and Fix building a death laser pointed at the void in their kingdom

is this supposed to be a season finale kinda thing? the whole comment is phrased like it's supposed to be Next Time On Skyblock Kingdoms. im so confused

...how would it even hit OSSHA? isn't OSSHA HQ between Jungle and Cherry? are they gonna do a sick laser trickshot? i'd love to see that, actually, that would own.

please understand. every time i talk about Loft Theory with solar it devolves into me going "dark oak death laser?????" over and over. this freaking thing is haunting me. i cannot take loft theory seriously because of dark oak kingdom killing the void by firing a beam from their kingdom and blowing up OSSHA. although im sure doak wouldnt be too opposed to blowing up OSSHA, actually. lmao

OKAY. MOVING ON. Mangrove is broken. kinda weird how Mangrove, despite being namedropped frequently, doesn't do anything in this theory. youd think Marmalade at minimum would have things to say about Avid starting to be swayed over to the Void, or the potential of the research station as an anti-void weapon, or the dark oak death laser. void turns blood-red, cool visual (especially if this happens at nightfall).

if solar was writing this post with me (they arent), they would probably point out around now that saying Avid slowly starts losing it implies he hasn't already been losing it this entire time. which is very funny but im going to meet this where it is and go, yeah, Avid accidentally having a hand in the murdering of an entity (especially after his past-- we're nearly there) would probably mess him up real bad. maybe even cause him to revert back to the "Low sanity will set us free." state he was in pre-SBK.

sure, okay, the entity that does not yet canonically exist is actually a petty jerk that dumps Avid at the side of the road. (okay, that's a bit harsh, but another thing that rubs me the wrong way is that how further installments of the Loft Theory treat it like the Loft already 100% exists to the point of having a personality that can develop and have surprise twists. we're speculating that the Void has a personality and goals because we have actually seen evidence to that in the series. the Loft, at this point in time, is purely theoretical.)

wait what is Doovid going to be doing through all this. he has a touching scene with Avid, i guess, at the end of the episode (because this theory is framed like an actual episode plot going beat-by-beat this bothers me SO BAD.)

okay. uh. obviously that's been mostly-debunked by the episode right after, even without me poking at it. so let's put the Dark Oak Death Laser behind us and pretend my sanity levels are a little bit better than sbk!Avid's.

Entry 3:

okay, now we talk about who i think Avid's patron is.

a white and black skyline, with the camera (presumably Avid) starting mostly white (sky), and transitioning down to black (void). This seems to suggest Avid is turning away from the Loft, towards the Void. Of course, the Terra is represented by the trees.

what they are describing here is a brief flicker of another place in Avid's episode. Ruby tells Avid that he's an open book and everyone knows everything about him, and then there's a jarring noise and we see this.

this is not Skyblock Kingdoms. this is from 100 Days in a Minecraft Nightmare.

to recap: that's a three-part series where Avid plays with a bunch of horror datapacks and has just, like, the absolutely worst time. "the absolutely worst time" includes him spiraling into selling his soul to the Dark Lord and doing sacrifices in his name and spending a lot of time at low sanity. this escalates until he's stuck in Incendium, with a new voice telling him to find a sanctum if he wants to survive. once he's reached that goal, the new entity is revealed as the Nameless King of Incendium and task Avid with killing the Dark Lord. however, following that order has the regretful consequence of Avid falling into Limbo.

that... looks familiar, doesn't it?

Avid himself has confirmed in both his own discord and the SBK Community discord that these are the same character, but it wasn't until now that we got that connection in an episode. even then, you'd have to have seen Nightmare to recognize it, which is probably where that idea of it being another Void/Loft/Terra reference came from.

the theory that i myself am gravitating towards (until we get more information) is that Avid's patron is still the Nameless King. they seem to have the same relationship, and it's possible that the NK fished Avid back up out of Limbo and into the kingdoms in return for him continuing to do his bidding. we dont know! but this is the one part of Loft Theory i can say with 100% confidence is not true.

anyway. the Terra being responsible for Doovid's monkeyification is... also somewhat strange, because obviously that happened to Avid after he fell into the Void. we still dont know why that happened, but Avid has hinted that it's another "you don't really leave superhell" moment. also at this point i think the universe just hates Doovid in particular

plus, i'm not sure you could describe Avid as "aligned with the Void's servants" just yet. he's starting to come around on Mangrove, sure, but it sounds like it's an attempt in spite of their Void worship. especially because it wasn't the Void calling for help, it was Leon.

...speaking of Leon, kinda weird that this doesn't even acknowledge End Kingdom at all? it was Leon's voice that Avid picked up with the research station, the fact that there's been another kingdom out there this entire time is a whole thing, you'd think that would come into play. instead they're not referenced whatsoever. i dunno, it just bugs me.

uh. anyway. so that's what i think of Loft Theory! why did i do this

[ayaaato]

Painted with sunsets

Summary. In which, Gojo Satoru sees death from up close yet again, but for all the wrong reasons this time around.

Word count. 1.6k

Genre(s). friends with benefits but Gojo fails to fathom the whole concept as whole, feelings and just 1.5k words wasted on a singular unholy makeout sesh, crack do not take it seriously

Warnings. MAKING OUT!! -15 DNI, suggestive content ofc, Gojo just wants to be gojover like a normal person but his thought process isn't even normal to begin with, thoughts about death and killing, Shoko would canonically kill him for such shenanigans, open ending ☹

GOJO SATORU HAD always imagined how he'd die.

Death was a luxury for him, having already died and coming back to life once already. But he liked to think of all things impossible, his death included as he was too sure he could respawn almost immediately like those mmorpg bosses from the games kids these days loved to play, and so, he still had carefully taken his time to picture rather ideal and possible deaths. A heart attack at the tender age of 59? Check. Owing to the to the shame Megumi would cause by asking his body count (which was, for a fact, zero) any day now (but such incident was also highly unlikely, according to Nanami, for the former had long forsaken all shame he had in himself) check. Crushed under the weight of all the hearts he'd broken, high blood sugar left unchecked? Of course! Heck, he had even considered being rat poisoned by a sickly 90 year old lady once, but that was a story for another day.

But what he hadn't actually taken into account at all, was being dispersed into dust by the humble doctor of the Tokyo Jujutsu High, one of his most formidable friends- of all people. 

Maybe he should have, considering the fact that it would be inevitable after whatever the fuck was going on inside her treasured infirmary right now. 

A small gasp escapes the sorcerer's lips as his back hits one of the metal closets with a small thud, chest against yours. You, unaware of the fate that might await him if Shoko caught the smallest whiff of this rather unholy deed, pressed closer in haste. And something in the back of Gojo satoru's consciousness dissipates. The curtain you hastily closed cloaks your existence as well his rationality, but he pays no heed.

"Well, aren't we a little too eager today?" He hums (he honestly didn't know where he suddenly got all this confidence from, but oh well). 

Fuck Shoko, Gojo Satoru thinks the very next moment. If this is going to be the last day of his life, he'd rather spend it frenching his favourite officer.

He stares back down at you, your eyes travelling around the space; probably too embarrassed to meet his. And he notices a few things. Just a few unnecessary things; like how you smell like vanilla and bergamot mixed with sweat, how the silver pendant around your neck was worn a little higher today and just how pleasant the rustling of your chiffon shirt sounded against his own. 

His eyes had found residence on your breathtaking features again.

And oh shit. He'd also have to remind you to button up the few upper slots that came undone while trying to corner the strongest sorcerer (although he had a tendency to become a little weak at the sight of you) to a safer spot, somewhere the authorities and the above all, his students wouldn't imagine to find the two of you.

"Shut up, Gojo," you scoff, hands fisting the collars of his uniform- smirking. Gojo satoru's breath hitches at that, heart almost too eager to jump out of his ribcage. "And quit staring."

He wasn't the biggest fan of silence, like the one right now. It was painful, even more so with your hot breath brushing his face, hands resting on his chest. The captain doesn't dare to blink, tracing your features that were now being bathed by the setting sun. 

"What are you even looking at?" Gojo Satoru, a formidable teacher, a great friend and a complete menace to the society- laughs at that, his thoughts yet again dragged away by you. His arms find solace around your waist, squeezing your form a tad bit closer.

"Ah," he says, eyes twinkling as they land on your lips. "Just the cuisine in front of me."

And you can't help but feel a laugh bubble up in your throat. And when you let it out, a puff of delighted, airy laughter- warm and enticing- more than just enough to devour his remaining sense of rationality.

"Want a taste?" You' wished to retort, he supposes- but he was never one to wait for an offer. And thus, the taunt dies an untimely death in your throat as his lips moulded into yours. Moving painstakingly slowly against yours- blurring the line between pleasure and torture. His hand rests against your waist while the other gently grabs hold your wrist- just to pin you against the shelf. 

Gojo Satoru, 27 and very much drunk on the sweet warmth the setting sun filled him with, takes his time to let go of your wrist and web his hand through yours. Your fingers curl around his, giving it a gentle squeeze. And at that- his eyes fluttering open wide, stares at it for a while, hoping it's just as warm as he imagines.

He nibbles on your lips, smiling when he feels your nails dig into his shoulders. He bites your lower lip, smirking when a whimper escapes your mouth and seizes the opportunity to slide his tongue inside. Another whimper and he feels the need to pick up his pace. And he does.

You pull him closer almost greedily and with a swift motion of your hand you lift off the sunglasses out of your way. And so his bare eyes watch you, painted red, yellow and fuchsia with the sun's last moments of glory. Closing your eyes, you let him reforget and explore every cavern of your mouth. 

Heat rose from the pit of Gojo Satoru's stomach to his chest. And then it spread everywhere else like a wildfire- too fast to tame. And so he thinks it's a good idea to press closer again, and again- until his heat consumes the both of you as whole.

The hand intertwining yours lets go, travels down to play with the perfectly tucked in end of your shirt. A heartbeat, and the cavalry captain feels your back arch at what was his rather rough, gloved hand grazing against your skin that hid underneath. You shakily groan into the kiss as he draws comforting circles on your exposed skin-shivering every now and then at the sensation.

It was as if time had stopped for Gojo Satoru, the divine manipulator of space and time itself, as you both stood there enjoying each other's warmth, pressed together. The otherwise silent infirmary was in chaos with your heavy breaths resonating around. It was as if no one else existed, nor was there any risk of the strongest sorcerer's soul was to be eviscerated from his body by Shoko the moment she barges in.

For now, all Gojo Satoru could think of was you, your forehead, beaded with sweat resting against his. His mind was fixated on your dewy scent and the softness of your hand on his jaw- pushing him apart for a much needed breather and then, smiling. 

He smiles too, just to realise how much his facial muscles hurt. Satoru doesn't know if it's from all the kissing or how wide his grin was stretching. He doesn't feel the need to, somehow. 

"How was the taste, Oh honoured one?" You tease. It came out as a low, airy whisper (thanks to all that kissing, he supposes), several octaves lower than your usual tone of speaking. Something very out of character for you. And it drives Satoru crazy, leaving him wanting for more. 

He hums, tilting his head. "It was good, I suppose-" and realises how low and equally kiss bitten his voice was, "-but I would like to reassess."

"Oh really?" You muse, one hand still lost in his silvery white locks while the other rested on his jaw in peace. "I see we have to run the quest again," pause. "-Can't disobey the boss here, can we?"

And the next thing he knows is your lips hovering over his, hot and ragged breaths ghosting over his face. The keen sense of rationality the greatest sorcerer took such a great pride in, dissolves again as he pushes himself closer to your warmth. You take a deep breath before letting your lips meet his, and when you do, Gojo feels a smile pressed against his. He smiles back, inhaling your soul as the hand on his jaw brings him closer- deepening the kiss.

And at this very moment, he worries about neither Shoko nor his impending death that might be awfully near. All that mattered, as of now, was the maddening symphonies of your hearts rapidly racing, a foreign sound rushing in his ears and an unfamiliar yet soothing wave of comfort washing over the shore of his chest.

And it is when he realises. 

Gojo Satoru was falling in love with you.

Shit.

ayaaato, 2023. All rights reserved.

[pixiemage]

My Fate Is In Your Hands - Entry 4

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[A/N: This is a story entirely guided by you guys, by the readers. Be sure to vote at the end of each entry! ALSO, if you'd like to be added the tag list, please let me know and I'll be sure to add you next time!]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

➤ Right? Left? Unclear! It’s a tie!

Jimmy can’t make up his mind and stands there in the actively burning ship like an indecisive fool. He stays there for SO long that the fire overcomes the part of the ship he's in and a piece of heavy metal interior panelling dislodges and falls on his head, squashing him instantly. He respawns in the Sheriff's office in a panic and has to make the trip all the way back to the spaceship, by which time he's beginning to wonder if he should have just asked Pixl for help instead. Hopefully the pilot survives without him! :D

[...just kidding. But honestly, you’re lucky I love you. I’ll give you the better option despite the tie, as a treat. I might not be so kind next time!😉]

➤ Right

Jimmy turns right and clambers over rubble, ducking under hanging hoses and wires and being ever-mindful of his wings. He’s not sure where the cockpit is exactly, but he’s fairly sure he’s going in the right direction. Before long he’s rewarded for his quick deduction work when he comes across a damaged door. It’s just as white as the rest of the ship with a red stripe running across it, and it’s jammed halfway open by debris and fallen supplies from a nearby storage locker. It takes a few minutes to try and clear the mess, and a bit of brute strength with the pickaxe from his inventory for Jimmy to pry the door open far enough for him to get inside.

The cockpit. He guessed correctly after all.

The cockpit is in just as much ruin as the rest of the ship. Sparks fall from torn wires in the ceiling, and the control panel is missing a large chunk off its right side. The front window is shattered and broken glass litters the ground like ice crystals. There’s a lone sturdy chair mounted in the center of the small space…and though Jimmy had expected to find the pilot there, that’s not the case. There are unfastened buckled straps hanging free from the seat, and Jimmy almost wonders if the pilot had gotten out of their own accord…

Jimmy's eyes fly wide and his breath hitches as something catches his eye in the corner of the room. There’s a person. There, half-buried beneath rubble and too close to fire for Jimmy’s liking, is a person. Someone in a white soot-tarnished spacesuit is trapped and seemingly unconscious in the corner of the cockpit, and the moment Jimmy spots them his pulse skyrockets. Oh gods.

He darts forward in an instant, keeping low to avoid the growing smoke, and he begins prying heavy panels of metal and tangles of other debris off the stranger on the ground as carefully as he can. He has to cut away a few cables with his pocketknife to finally pull them free, and the moment they are Jimmy loops his arms around their torso, all but dragging them out of the rest of the mess to the only clear spot he can find in the tiny room. He moves quickly, almost frantically, rolling the stranger onto their back to check for vitals.

Their helmet is broken. His helmet is broken, Jimmy realizes, eyeing the pale face behind the broken glass with ever-mounting concern. The man he's looking at has narrow, pointed features and he looks human enough, though Jimmy has had enough experience with human-ish people on the Empires server to take that observation with a grain of salt.

(And the man had crash-landed out of the sky in a spaceship of all things, so for all Jimmy knows, he could be an alien. He shoves the thought aside to ponder later.)

More importantly, it looks like some of the glass from the helmet caught the pilot's face on impact, tiny cuts just barely bleeding...though there could be more he can't see. It’s difficult to know how extensive the damage from the crash is while the man is sealed in his spacesuit, but moving him without checking first could do more damage. Jimmy squares his jaw and takes a breath. He can't waste time. He has to make a choice, and fast.

He could pull the astronaut from the wreckage first, injuries be damned. The fire is still roaring around them, and though the cockpit seems stable for now, Jimmy isn’t sure how long that could last. But at the same time, the fire isn’t spreading fast, and he can’t possibly know how injured the pilot really is without taking the time to check. Trying to haul him out of the ship without stabilizing injuries first might make them worse…and might even cause the astronaut to respawn. (If he even can respawn. It’s a painful thought.)

Jimmy’s fingers fidget at the helmet’s seal, pondering whether he should be taking it off yet or not.

Does he stay or does he go?

[Tag List] @firefly124 @mellioops @beaversuenightly

Let me know if you'd like to be added!

[melishade]

I love how careless Marley is handling the literal blood of Satan when one wrong move means imminent death lol. Them mfs are going to be responsible for the fuckin' zombie/terrorcon apocalypse and the best excuse they can give at this point is "we did a lil oopsie". This is not even that far-fatched too when you remember how zombie like Berthold was before his death and take the episode "Thirst" into consideration. It also makes me wonder, is a human terrorcon possible? Like in theory it should be since it's just dark energon possessing a corpse. If Dark Energon can bring even Ratchet's broken tool and Skyquake's arm to life what's stopping it from doing that to alien lifeforms? An Outbreak AU with Megatron going "I TOLD YOU SO!" every 5 seconds would be fun to read lmao.

So...we're having a Zombie AU now? Okay, I guess.

I mean, it's highly possible for that to happen with how reckless Marley has been depicted to be in the show and how dangerous dark energon is. It did turn Cylas into a terrorcon, even though his circumstances were extremely different from a regular human. But he was still a human who had succumb to the effects of dark energon.

Not to mention Raf has nearly died from it, but we've never seen what would have happened if he had died from it. Would he have respawned as Unicron's minion? We'll never know.

As for the Zombie AU

TW Violence TW Death

Let's say during the skirmish of Bertholdt scumming to dark energon, instead of beating a scientist to death, he bites a scientist before he gets shot by Magath. The scientist starts feeling unwell and he's kept under quarantine to be checked over. A day later, the scientist gets worse before straight up dying. One of the scientists checks the bodies and the scientist's corpse respawns before biting into the neck of another scientist.

Basically it's an infection frenzy. But it becomes worse with Eldians. Because while non-Eldians fall victim within a day, Eldians fall victim in a matter of hours. So you can imagine just how fast shit hits the fan once Eldians start getting infected. Megatron starts feeling a weak pulse of dark energon, which gets stronger in a matter of hours. He informs Optimus and Hanji about it before going back to the mainland...and is literally met with everything being in shambles. Non-Eldians are slow walking zombies. Eldians unfortunately sprint.

So now just picture Megatron running in holoform away from the horde to get answers.

Megatron ends up finding some Warriors and Warrior Cadets, but it's not looking too good. The Warrior Cadets are screaming for their lives as some infected Marleyans and Eldians are trying to grab at them. Pieck is doing her best to fend them off but they are climbing all over her titan form. Megatron manages to grab the Warrior Cadets and pull them to safety, but Gabi ends up getting bit in the leg during the skirmish.

Megatron demands to know what the hell is going on. But the Warrior Cadets are in complete confusion. Megatron demands to know where the Warriors are, but they don't know. Porco speaks up hearing rumors about a titan ritual happening and says they might be in the science division. Megatron tells them all to stay outside of the science division as he ventures there alone to figure out what's going on. He somehow manages to find an unconscious Annie in her cell. No one even bothered to go in, and quickly makes a move to grab her and run. Whatever was happening, he wasn't going to let a titan shifter get infected. It looked like it was too late for the Cart Titan anyway.

Megatron then spotted all the Marleyan soldiers, including Calvi, huddled in a bunker and ignored them for the time being. He then finds Zeke and Magath gathering weapons and Reiner begging the both of them to go get Bertholdt out of here. Megatron ends up speaking in his regular voice demanding what the hell happened, causing Reiner to understandably freak out and for Magath to be on the defensive. Zeke has no choice but to explain what happened and Megatron can't help but chew all of them out for being so careless with dark energon in the first place. Megatron immediately hands Zeke Annie and goes to look for Bertholdt. Megatron sees patient zero spazzing out due to the dark energon. Megatron tries to kill him, but there's a cave in that causes him and Bertholdt to be separated from each other.

Megatron and the others realize that Pieck has completely succumbed to the infection and is wrecking the compound. Pieck ends up killing Zofia in the process and Megatron has no choice but to reveal his titan form and crush Pieck, killing her, and any other people who have become infected. He could feel the pull of dark energon in him but he refuses to utilize it. He refuses to succumb to its alluring call.

Megatron then tells them all he's taking them to the island. Some try to retort, but Megatron proclaims that the entire world is no doubt going to hell and the island is the safest option. He has to transport them two at a time, and as he's getting them to the island and having to explain what's going on. Gabi succumbs to her infection and starts going haywire. She starts attacking people, and ends up biting Jean's hand. Optimus in holoform quickly subdues him, and as she's thrashing in his grip, Optimus notices the really nasty bite mark on her legs. Optimus remembers the horror movies that the kids on Earth used to watch and quickly explains that infection spreads through bite marks or bodily fluids. Jean is staring at his bitten hand in horror, but Mikasa ends up thinking fast and cuts off his arm, causing him to scream in pain. Everyone's yelling in frustration at her but Hanji quickly gets to work to stop the bleeding.

Optimus and Megatron are arguing in holoform about Gabi's condition and Megatron is proclaiming they need to kill her. Optimus is trying to retort but Megatron reminds him that she's not coming back. Optimus tries to retort, but Gabi ends up biting Optimus and distorting the holoform arm. Gabi bolted for Megatron, but Megatron grabs Mikasa's sword and decapitates her. Reiner is obviously devastated, and now Optimus and Megatron are arguing in their bipedal mode about what Megatron just did. Because the conversation can go any further, Megatron's optics turn purple due to the amount of humans that got infected with dark energon, and the strength is starting to fuck with his head. On top of that, Megatron didn't check if Bertholdt was dead, so now there's a Colossal Titan infested with dark energon. So Megatron is kind of dealing with that.

So plot points for the Zombie AU:

-Bertholdt is undead. Has dark energon in his system. Colossal Titan with dark energon. But he still has some conscious thought. He ends up climbing out of the rubble of Liberio, but his mind is so warped that he thinks Paradis attacked and wants revenge.

-There's discussion about how to proceed with this information. Majority are suggesting that they bar themselves off from the rest of the world. Hanji is the one advocating that they fight to help the world and cure the populus. Because it could only be a matter of time before this infection comes to their shores. It almost did. And their complacency left them unprepared for the Colossal Titan attack. They need to find a solution.

-Megatron's optics are purple now due to the high rate of infection. Megatron hates it. Hanji has to consistently ask about Megatron's experience with dark energon in order to come up with a solution. They're trying to come up with a cure.

-Jean ends up dying due to the blood loss and the dark energon still in his system. So when Jean respawns, Mikasa is ready to kill him, but Hanji asks to keep Jean alive so they can study him. He could be help for a cure. Everyone else thinks its inhumane for obvious reasons, but Hanji reminds everyone that they could ultimately be facing trouble.

-There's a lot of drama between the Warriors Cadets, Warriors, Magath, and the island, but some are won over by Optimus and Hanji's integrity. However they hate Megatron for obvious reasons.

-Annie wakes up to a whole nightmare.

-Marleyan officers are still huddled underground. Haven't decided if they live or not. We'll see.

[crabbunch]

For the ficlet thingy, 15. Dearest ache

15- dearest // ache

There is a ravager behind him. There's also a ravager in front of him- Etho sucks in a quick breath and sprints a little faster. The hallway is too small to squeeze past either ravager, but he does have a rusty repair kit, and the ladder to the library is in sight. He can wait down there for the ravagers to forget about him and then sneak back out once they've wandered off.

Etho jumps onto the ladder, but just as he's about to start descending, the ravager who was chasing him manages to clip his arm with a tusk. He yelps, and tumbles the rest of the way down the ladder- his com falls out of his hand and bounces onto the floor beside the ladder.

He lands hard, knocking the air out of himself and probably breaking some ribs, if the shooting pain running through them every time he breathes in is any indication. Etho just lays there for a while, listening to his cards run out and his stumbles build up until his clank and hazard are both at max.

The artifact wasn't that good, anyways; it was just 30 embers. He still has three keys left. He's not terribly disappointed by the failure. He lays on the ground and tries to breathe as shallowly as he can and waits for a ravager or a vex to find him and finish him off so that he can respawn.

...except they can't get in here. The library is a safe place. Etho turns his head slightly to look at Rusty. He can't die in here. If he wants to die, he's going to need to get out.

He's not sure he can do that.

He can't just message Tango, either, because Tango's not even online, and he doesn't have his com.

Etho only has one berry left- no where close to enough to heal with. He sits up, gritting his teeth and ignoring the ache that only deepens in his ribs. He just needs to climb up the ladder and let something maul him and then he can go home, or maybe just run the dungeon again.

He can barely sit up, though. Etho breathes in shallow gasps, but it doesn't do much to lessen the pain.

He's stuck. He's stuck in a safe place, and that means that nothing can kill him, and he's stuck. None of the other hermits were even online, last time he checked- they won't know to come looking for him.

Etho keeps his breathing even, and listens to the distant rumbling of ravagers. His ribs ache so badly.

He can do this, though. He just has to get to his feet and then take a step and then maybe another step and then one more step and he'll be at the ladder and then he only has to climb up 25 rungs until he'll be at the top where he can lie down again and wait for some ravager to hear his pathetic gasping and finally finish him off.

So it's basically impossible.

S-stumble! the dungeon stutters. Etho didn't know it could do that. He pats the floor next to him reassuringly, and then slumps back to the ground, trying not to inhale too sharply when the movement jostles him.

Ssssstumble! the dungeon says, sooner than it should, probably. Etho blinks at the ceiling. Either the dungeon is broken or he's spacing out- he sort of hopes it the second. If it is, he might just die of like, a punctured lung or something. That'd be nice.

S-sss-sss-sss- the dungeon says again. Darn. Just broken, then. He'll be waiting here for ages until someone notices he's missing.

Eeet-ho? the dungeon says. Maybe. He might just actually be hallucinating. That's a little worrying.

Etho? the dungeon says again. Concerning. Etho blinks at the ceiling. His ribs ache.

Etho! the dungeon says.

"Huuhhh," Etho says. "Weird. Is this actually happening?"

Yes! says the dungeon. Yes!

"Cool," Etho slurs. "Hey... why?"

Worried... the dungeon says.

"Yeah, I get... wait, no I don't. Aren't you supposed to kill people? For fun?" Etho blinks.

Kill. the dungeon says. Not this.

"Oh yeah," says Etho. "Cool. Could you- get something down here to do that?"

Can't, the dungeon says with a distinctly mournful note.

"Oh, that's okay," Etho says. "Thanks anyways."

Okay? the dungeon asks. Be okay?

"I'll get there," Etho says. "Just... gotta respawn. Someone will notice I'm in here eventually."

Help? the dungeon asks.

"I don't know how," Etho admits. "I'm just- waiting. Wait with me?"

Yesss, the dungeon agrees. Wait with you.

"Thanks," Etho says. "Yeah... let Tango know I'm here when he gets online? I'm gonna... nap..."

Okay, says the dungeon. Wait with you. Bring Tango.

"Great," Etho says, blinking his eyes shut. Man, but his ribs ache. Maybe he'll be dead by the time he wakes up. Hopefully.

Sleep, dearest champion, the dungeon says, almost tenderly.

"Whazzat?" Etho asks, squinting his eyes open to stare at the ceiling, but the dungeon has gone silent again accept for the occasional distant jingle of treasure and screech of vex. "Okay. Whatever." He passes out.

[blue-rose-soul]

So, how would the Vees be reassessing their potshots on Alastor once he's publicly revealed as the Devil's Bastard? If Al is feeling smothered is he likely to do something reckless? And what would likely get Al to accept the wound being healed? Perhaps his Maman's intervention?

Their initial reaction is to pull back and keep quiet. The way they learn is through Vox's spying, so they know that Alastor and Lucifer aren't exactly on friendly terms. However, the scope of what they are able to see is limited, since Vox can't get any cameras inside the hotel and has to settle for having his drones linger at the windows. And Alastor does seem to have a sixth sense for when Vox is watching him. This means the Vees aren't sure whether the hostility they've observed is genuine, or part of some act to maintain their cover. For what reason, they can only speculate, but when they release the rumors to Katie's news network through a low level employee, they spin it as the Morningstars pulling this grand gambit to incite a war between Heaven and Hell. The Vees kill the employee they used as their go-between in such a gruesome manner that their memories are scrambled upon respawn. Then they sit back and let the news cycle run its course while the jerks that populate the Pentagram are all too happy to come up with theories of their own, each less flattering than the last. Vox isn't too happy that he has to follow his own advice for once and do nothing, but Velvette is able to keep him in check. And they do still have eyes and ears inside the hotel; Angel Dust. Not that he's intentionally spying for them. It's more that he'll complain about the shit show going on at home to some of his coworkers between sets, and then Valentino hears his complaints through the grapevine.

And yes, Alastor is feeling very smothered. He's not exactly used to having people acting concerned over him. Concerned about what he might do to them? Sure. Concerned about his plots and schemes? As they should be. Concerned over his well-being? Nuh-uh, no, stop this right now. Sure, he can tolerate it in small doses, but Rosie's never tried to tell him where he could go or what he could do. The closest she's come is asking - not demanding - that he drop in a bit more often. And Mimzy and Niffty know better than to worry about him at all. From Alastor's perspective, Charlie's well-meaning care is demeaning, and Lucifer's is just plain hypocritical. And yes again, this has Alastor doubling down on doing as he pleases heedless of their worries. This means he's spending greater periods of time outside the hotel - he won't leave it entirely, he still has work to do there - and responding to every overconfident demon now emboldened to challenge him as though his cane isn't broken and an angelic wound isn't searing his chest. To be fair, he is more than a match for most threats, even weakened, but being constantly swarmed by these glory hounds constantly is draining. On top of which, acting out in public like this allows Vox to once again watch Alastor from afar and see how he's being gradually worn down.

If there is someone who can get Alastor to act more carefully, it's Nicaise, but only grudgingly. As much as he loves and respects his maman, Alastor's still a grown ass man. On top of which, he's been more or less on his own for a century. Even her expressing her concern for Alastor grates on him, and he hides the presence of his wound as much for her sake as for his own.

[some-pers0n]

i watched emesis blue, very good, please ramble about it to me

You watched it??? That's so cool!! I'm so glad I was able to infect you and harass you into watching it by reblogging every single thing even tangentially related to it.

So, for the rambling part. Yeah. I'll probably just say first and foremost that Emesis Blue is probably my favourite thing to come out of this fandom. I can barely even begin to describe my love for this movie. It's something I wish goes down not just in TF2 history, but fandom in general as an example of how great fan content can be. It takes the mercs and throws them into a situation that I can only describe as 'nightmarish'.

That's another thing too. I remember once seeing a person describe the movie as a nightmare. I can't honestly think of a better description. It radiates this nonstop uneasiness and dread. No joke, the entire time I watched it I had this constant feeling of pressure in my chest. Even just thinking about Emesis Blue or the scenes in it brings it back. It's harder to breathe and I'm more alert.

I'm a horror enjoyer. I love horror. I've consumed a lot of horror.

Never has a piece of media created a feeling like that for me. The only thing that comes close is 'The Descent', which uses a similar tactic of darkness and constant dread.

But, if I go on more, I'll dip into spoiler territory. I cannot say it enough that watching this movie blind is the best experience. So, yeah. If by some means you haven't watched Emesis Blue, please do it. I know it's a horror movie and not a lot of people are into those, but I can't stress just how good it is. Please. It's free. You can watch it right now on YouYube.

Also, quick note. I was rewatching the movie while writing this and found your comment. Epic. My thoughts exactly as well.

So, let's start with me admitting something: I have not a single idea as to what's happening. I need a hour long story breakdown of this movie.

But, I can try to piece things together. In order to lay the groundwork. I could be wrong about several things, but this is how I think it goes.

Helix Technologies created the respawn machine. Jules Archibald sold it to both Redmond and Blutarch to play both sides of the war. However, the respawn machine is pretty bad and has the tendency to breakdown and cause the person it resurrects to come out...well, broken.

Scout (Jeremy) was one of these victims. The Medic (Fritz Ludwig) helps him out and around, even prescribing him these pills called 'Valium' (spoiler: they're actually the evil bad pills made by a sister company of Helix Technologies).

Medic is...not doing so hot, might I add. Because of some event, he's been prescribing himself the Valium. Though, he's haunted by hallucinations and whatnot. There's a theory that Medic was the one who killed Scout's mother, linking how the movie on the TV, 'M', is about a German murderer and how the director of the film's first name is 'Frtiz'.

Being honest? I thought from the start that Medic being the killer was a possibility, but refused to believe it if only because I thought it was obvious. M = Medic was my train of thought.

Anywho, something happens to Scout and Medic tosses himself into danger to try and save him.

Meanwhile, Soldier (Jane Doe) and Spy are on a mission to find Archibald since he's been kidnapped. Actually, the ploy was to have Archibald be faked kidnapped so that he wouldn't suffer the consequences from how the respawn machine is terrible, but we don't know that yet. They investigate the crime scene of Scout's mother and are led to Medic's office, where they eventually learn they need to go to the Conaghers.

Blah blah blah, the movie happens. Medic is having a bad time. Soldier meets up with the RED Demo (Cyclops as he's called here) and Spy has a funny little run-in with a Pyro and gets horribly burned in the process of escaping them. They all eventually meet up again after suffering through unprecedented amounts of horrific shit and play a nice round of Russian Roulette. Medic dies. Oh and also Archibald is dead because Spy figured out the ruse behind his plan.

They host a funeral for Archibald and Soldier is about to kill himself and the others with a grenade before Medic pops out and shoots Spy. He then goes on a wacky little killing spree and hops into an ambulance before then falling asleep at the wheel and crashing it, dying in the process.

What a silly story. I love it to bits.

Now with that out of the way, I wanna talk about some stuff that stands out to me.

Soldier's character is probably one of the best versions of him I've seen. He keeps that same 'Soldier TF2' charm to him, but he's brave. He's loyal. He stands by his friends in this hellish situation, never backing down or giving up. I also adore the flashback scene of him. The atmosphere of the war and trenches–

CAN I TALK ABOUT THE ATMOSPHERE TOO?? My GOD it's pristine!! The cinematography and the lighting and everything about it oozes with dread and fear. There are only a couple jumpscares in the movie, but by god I find the constant terror to be far more compelling. It's suffocating with how well its done.

The emotions and expressions too. One scene that's always been in my mind is the elevator scene. We see Medic cycle through his emotions. He's sobbing because Scout is dead and now he's stuck here. Then after being offered a cigarette, he perks up and starts laughing. It's haunting. I remember the chill that ran down my spine the first time I watched that scene. And minutes later with Medic pointing the gun to his head, about to kill himself, before putting it down and lashing out at his reflection.

Medic and his character in Emesis Blue is like my good ol' Medic TF2 blorbo, but in an opposite direction. Emesis Blue Medic is a husk of a man, his very soul and sanity being ripped from him a long while ago. He's not doing so well. I adore every single scene with him. You can see all of his fears and and emotions so clearly.

Have I also mentioned this is animated in SFM? Yeah, THAT nightmare of an animation software? I can't even begin to comprehend the amount of bugs and glitches Fortress Films had to endure. How many times entire scenes were corrupted and they had to restart. Just even knowing how much care and work the team put into this movie makes me respect it so much more. This is truly a work of passion and love for the game and its community, delivering something that's beyond words.

The sound design is another aspect I don't see really talked about. It's really good. Take the scene in Scout's home for example, with the TV playing and the droning from the phone. It's haunting.

It's just an incredible movie. It's why I think psychological horror is the best form of horror. It relies less on big scary monsters with sharp claws and axes being the main source of fear. Rather, it focuses on when those monsters will show up. It grips you with dread and refuses to let go. It never gives you that relief that comes with a jumpscare. The startling, yet comforting release never happens.

Emesis Blue also succeeds in a way that none of the characters make dumb choices. They do everything right, yet they still fail in the end. I feel that makes it more terrifying. When you do everything correctly, but it doesn't work out. It makes the situation all the more helpless. All of this mistakes happen at their own hubris, like with Spy trying to take a break by smoking a cigarette and ends up nearly burning to death.

I also love how it doesn't answer a lot of questions. Leaving the audience with a mystery and the ability to theorize on stuff is lovely. What is the masked figure? Why are there seemingly elements of time distortion? How much is a hallucination and how much of it is real? All those sort of things.

But, yeah. I love Emesis Blue. I love it a lot. It's not just a TF2 animation. It's a genuine horror movie. I've seen multi-million dollar Hollywood movies that pale in comparison to this. It shows that talent and storytelling can come from anywhere and could be simply amazing. The fact that I can watch this on YouTube for free feels off. I feel like I should be paying Fortress Films or giving them something for their work.

But, I guess praise and a couple fanfics is good enough. Very rarely does a work move me enough to actually make fanworks. I get ideas, but never write them down.

So, those are my bigger thoughts on it. I'll just list a couple more.

-I refuse to believe that Scout's name isn't a reference to Jerma985. His name on the report is 'Jeremy. E', like Jeremy Elbertson

-When I was first watching through it, my stupid god-forsaken Science Party-obsessed brain thought: "Ooh! Medic and Engie are together! :D" when Medic came into the Conaghers. Then then they started fighting it turned into: "Oh no, they're going to kill each other D:"

-The scene of Soldier trying to get through the countless corpses of himself feels like something out of a cosmic horror and I love it

-I think this movie made me understand Freedom Fries more

-Cyclops's death ruined me RIP my buddy

-That weird Scout monster thing was terrifying

-I am obsessed with Stalingrad and the other resurrected mercs. They're so cool

-Emesis Blue is a great example as to why 2Fort is a horrific map

-That scene of Medic with gouged-out eyes and chipped teeth smiling and staring at the camera makes my blood run cold every single time. I cannot overstate just how much I love that scene

-They gave Demo a pistol finally I'm so happy <3

-I am a massive sucker for Pyro headcanons where they're justed a fucked up and inhuman monster and Emesis Blue scratched that itch. Following up on that, I love how Pyro's face is the same as that one Half-Life 2 zombie model. You know the one. The one that's of a genuine real burn corpse? Good times

-When Spy got burned, I genuinely thought that he would eventually become the Pyro through some weird time distortion shenanigans. I still believe in that theory too, honestly

-I actually really like how it uses the TF2 characters since you're already familiar with them and my intense love for them makes me care about them a thousand times more

-People who complain about the movie tossing in references have no idea what fun or thematic parallels are

-Medic spitting out his teeth in the end could either be a reference to Scout's nightmare at the beginning or to how Medic's teeth are literally falling out in real time. Maybe both. It could be both

-What in gods name is in that briefcase I need to know

[liauditore]

Thought I might say hello and make some small talk, seeing that I'm camping on your trafficshipping tag and all.

Well hi! Lovely place you've got here. Fantastic art, GREAT vibes, very nice. I'm specially enjoying your character rambling; your takes on them are super interesting and they tickle my brain 👀

May I send Divorce Fource/Quartet and Majorwood for the shipping bingo? Divorce Fource were a right mess (affectionate <3) and a perfect one at that, but I can't help but wonder how the recipe would have turned out if the soul ties were Cleo-Pearl, Martyn-Scott.

Also there is so much potential in Limlife Majorwood for eroguro if you're nasty. Which I am. Time cannibalism, respawning mechanics, birthday time... blender go brrrr 👀

!!!!!!!

y'all are really enabling my habit of long ass posts huh 😭😭

OK SO first off thankyou so much?? thats so sweet?????? 😭😭 i really don't think my character ramblings are anything special, but i like reading other ppls insane takes so i thought i'd provide others with the same 👍

not to get too into it but i feel like a series like life smp is best enjoyed with your own crazy delulu takes (similar to touhou if anyone heres familiar w/ that fandom). and it makes me kinda sad to see ppl arguing abt whats 'canon' or 'correct' cus that's no fun lol

ANYWAY yeah uh im glad u like the vibes!! :J

TREEBARK

this one first cus chronology. I honestly don't know if there's anything I can say here that hasn't been said before? But yeah they're. tasty. something about martyn waiting the entirety of third life to betray ren and never getting the chance and now longing to have him back. lots of regret but regret. for what. yknow. and ren always looking out for martyn even from a distance. and then martyn losing that connection in limlife.

yeah i can see why people ship lmao

uhh i don't really know what else to write here so have some of my insane ramblings copy+pasted from my shipping doc 👍

Martyn fancies himself a schemer, someone who's not afraid to play the game the way it's intended. If that means earning a powerful ally's trust only to shatter it then he was going to do it. Only, Martyn's bark is worse than his bite, and every night he spends in lying awake in those soft, warm sheets that Ren had laid out just for him (freshly washed too, he might add. Smelled like sunshine) he wonders if he can do it. He can, of course. (he can't. he won't. he's too soft. soft and useless.) He'd cut his head off already. (he wants to vomit) (this is why no one needs you. wants you. loves you) Who cares about other people anyway? He is the only one who really matters. (the thought of being alone makes him want to cry) Ren, on the other hand, is a capable leader. The definition of loyal and dependable, if not a bit dramatic. He struggles with self-worth, being good enough, useful enough, powerful enough. But to others, he's the opposite, caring and protective of any who would ask for his aid. After all, every citizen deserves to live in safety and comfort, and providing that is what a good King would do. ~ Martyn's not as sneaky as he thinks he is. Ren knows. Ren sees the signs. It's a death game for a reason. But he doesn't let Martyn know. He doesn't even hold it against him. He doesn't see the bloodthirst anymore, only the broken pieces lying underneath. ~ or the King's Hand, it was the thrill of feeling Useful, Powerful, Feared (loved). He was going to miss it after he betrayed him, the high of bloodlust, the smell in the air as he charged into battle. (the way his hands held him so gently) For the King himself, deep down he knew it was never to be. He had met a monster, but he hoped his efforts calmed the storm ever so slightly. On some days, he pretends to forget about the death game entirely and imagines the speech he'd give to retire his Hand. "You don't have to fight anymore," he'd say, "I'll take care of you from now on, I promise. So put the sword down, okay?" But in the end, it was all a fantasy, wasn't it?

^ yes this is so cheesy but so are they.

Cry with me again Smile with me again Scream with me again Sing with me again Dance with me again Talk to me again…

"Lower One's Eyes" (Oktavia translyrics)

MAJORWOOD

I think.. I talk too much abt scott seeing as that's who everyone points out when it comes to my headcanons 😭😭 but uh i swear everyone else is just as messed up. and martyn is like. just as bad if not worse (if that wasn't made clear from my ramblings before)

anyway uh say it with me rebound 👏 relationship 👏

i think they're both.. very numb to it all once limlife rolls around. they're just tired and have this mutual understanding and both think they're horrible people. martyn just wants to play the game. scott doesn't even know what he wants anymore.

but ofc, they're both still human and want love and comfort, so they try to seek that from one another. even if it's fake. even if it doesn't matter in the end.

Baby, though I've closed my eyes I know who you pretend I am I know who you pretend I am

Washing Machine Heart (Mitski)

We’re the Delusioned Victim Cash-in Union Praise to the “love” that will bring salvation!  Two fools singing to a shallow melody Restart, reflation, teleportation Time and again we’re stuck in rotation Circles inside a love without any ending

MKDR (SirHamnet Lyrics)

Scott uses Martyn as a replacement for Jimmy and Martyn uses Scott as a replacement for Ren. they know they dislike eachother (see: all of double life) and that only one of them will make it out alive. but they can't get that love and comfort from anyone else now.

also uhhh eroguro my beloved...... im assuming this is getting brought up cus of my mentions of loving eroguro in the past. and yes to all of that very much i agree. but i do have kind of.. a limit to what i do w/ these characters specifically because of the fandom/ccs (at least publicly). if i ever do decide to share the nastier stuff in my head or go into detail on gore and whatnot i'd probs make a sideblog and tuck it away and maybe block scott and martyn for always somehow showing up on my posts lmao

[convexicalcrow]

Hermittober Day 5 - Sand

what came before: day 1: frost - day 2: time - day 3: fortune - day 4: bound

-

Doc grumbled as he realised his compass was pointing at that cursed artifact location in Pearl's area. He wondered idly if Tango had fixed it or not yet. If he hadn't, well. This would be another wasted run.

He didn't exactly run up the stairs. Doc didn't really run per se in the dungeon. At times he did, when it was needed. But mostly he carefully picked his way through, aware of a need to not dawdle while also not caring enough to run through like a ravager in a museum gift shop. He was careful, methodical, his demeanor calm and focused in spite of any internal panic that might set in from time to time.

The berry bush hadn't regrown. Doc cursed it out too. The dungeon was feeling a little grumpy today, it seems. A lot of berries were not regrowing quick enough, or so Doc thought.

He sighed and threw the compass at the right location. It didn't go in. It sat on the sand, its needle spinning pointlessly around it. Hem ight have kicked it into the berry bush in annoyance.

"Goddamnit, Tango. Fix your stupid game, already!" Doc muttered as he picked it up, scratching himself on the berry bush as he did so. "Stupid bushes. Stupid compasses. Well. Might as well go find a ravager now, hmm? Nothing else to do at this point."

He didn't leave just yet though. He checked the compass one last time and threw it in a slightly different spot, and this time, the compass went in, and the dungeon boomed with ringing bells. Doc didn't have time to take in much else before the floor collapsed underneath his feet and he was falling through sand into a deep, dark pit that seemed to have no end.

-

He hit the ground with a hard thud, landing hard on his cybernetic arm. He heard a couple of awful crunches; he'd definitely damaged it somehow. And then, he felt sand falling on him, and he scrambled to his feet, trying to not get buried. He backed up until he was against some kind of solid wall. There was only a glimmer of light now, though his redstone eye could see just as well without it if he switched it to night vision mode.

"Man, this must be some troll right? Tango fixes my broken compass spot and turns it into a trap. How am I even meant to get out of here? I can't climb up that sand pile, it'll collapse under me! Hmm. I wonder if there's anything down here, though. Maybe Tango would be helpful here?"

Doc started looking around, but there wasn't much to find. Bare sandstone walls, an empty chest or two, some sticks, and a piece of coal. Well, at least he could make some torches. That was allowed, right? Doc didn't care about the rules at this point and set them around the room, lighting it up. It didn't help ease his sense of foreboding, but at least he could see better.

But now he could see some carvings on the back wall that hadn't shown up in his night vision as they'd needed the shadow cast from a torch to appear.

"Oh, do I have to do a puzzle, hey, Tango? Is that how I get out of here?"

There was no response, of course. Well, none save for what Doc could only describe as the dungeon laughing at him. A low, cackling kind of laugh that did sound a little like Tango, but also very much not. Doc scowled, but didn't let it get to him. Maybe if he just...

-

Doc didn't see the skulk veins closing in around him until it was too late. They had his legs, and pulled him down sharply, submerging him into the skulk until he was nothing. Doc didn't even have time to protest. But when he realised, he panicked.

-

Tango found him easily as he was writhing in the skulk, unable to escape. He didn't show his form, though. Instead, he travelled through the skulk to whisper in his ear as the hunger in his stomach roared.

"Don't you ever insult the dungeon, my dear Doc, or I will turn against you," Tango murmured.

Tango imagined Doc might have screamed at that point. He didn't know, not really, though. The skulk simply dissolved him and Doc respawned elsewhere, ready to die again to feed the hunger that was never satisfied.

[kellanved-ammanas]

Sniper Pals & Ships: Scout - Silence

Midday in the dead of summer, the desert heat was oppressive, the sun beat down like an angry god intent on sapping everyone’s energy. Lethargy reigned supreme, inclining everyone towards lazing around indoors as much as possible during the long daylight hours. It had taken some convincing from Demo but even Soldier had gone inside.

Scout should head inside too. It’d be more comfortable but… standing up to do so seemed like an awful lot of effort when it’d be just as boring and quiet in there. Unless he somehow found enough energy to make the noise himself. But then everyone would be annoyed with him and he wasn’t in the mood for that. And so, he stayed seated on the base’s roof, legs dangling over the edge as he looked out at the silent desert.

The heat waves visible on the horizon sort of looked like they might become something if he stared at them for long enough. Is that where the mirages he’d heard about came from? If he sat here and stared for long enough would it actually start to look like an oasis or were those tales exaggerations? He’d always thought those stories were kind of silly but now maybe…

“Hey, mate, what you doing out here?”

Scout flinched as he snapped around to see Sniper had snuck up on him. “Since when were you in the habit of sneaking up on people?”

“I didn’t. You’re just out of it. You should probably come inside, get some water. It’s too bloody hot out here.”

“What do you mean it’s ‘too hot’? I thought you came from the hot part of Australia. So this shit should be normal for you, right?” He’d certainly made quite clear how little tolerance he had for the cold in the past, preferring heat by far.

“Yeah. So I know how dangerous the heat can get. This ain’t as bad as it could be but you still shouldn’t be just sitting out in it, trust me. So at least move to the shade or something and get some water. I know we got Respawn but heat stroke ain’t fun.”

With the spell the heat and silence put on him having been broken by Sniper’s sudden arrival, heading inside did indeed now sound far more appealing. With a sigh he stood and… almost fell off the roof as blackness ate at the edges of his vision, threatening to pull him under. Sniper caught him by the arm and pulled him over to sag against him until it passed.

“You all right, mate?” There was concern in Sniper’s voice; he was worried about Scout. On one hand Scout didn’t like worrying him but on the other, it was nice to know he cared.

“Yeah… uh, sort of. Going inside sounds like a good idea.” Especially if it was with Sniper.

[noodlenoodlenoodlenoodle]

Can you stay?

Scout's breath rattled in his chest, body wet with blood and rain. He hadn't even heard Spy coming in the downpour, hadn't even had the chance to react before the knife had been driven in his back and yanked out again. His heartbeat pounded in his ears like a drum, counting down the seconds until he finally died and was sent back to respawn.

Time seemed to slow down as Scout stared up at the cloudy sky, angry clouds overhead pouring down like his mother's tears. His clothes were soaked and cold, sticking uncomfortably to his skin, but he was too light-headed to do anything about it. His senses felt muffled, as if being sent in through a weak radio signal.

Scout wondered if the gunfire and shouts had ceased or if the rain was just too loud to hear anything over. Maybe he was just dying. Maybe it was over.

"Oh god." Engineer's voice carried to Scout's ears, barely audible over the sound of rain pelting against tin. Engineer's boots squelched in the mud as he ran to Scout's side, his face set into a grimace as he kneeled beside his fallen comrade. "What in the sam hell happened?"

It took everything Scout had to turn his head, his vision blurred by blood loss and the rain around them. Everything was starting to get blurry, like he was looking at the world through a warped camera lens.

"Where's Medic?" Scout's voice came out as a painful croak, sending a wave of pain through him, like liquid metal being poured into his jaws.

"Medic's at respawn," Engineer said slowly, his mouth set into a thin line. His hands hovered above Scout's mud-covered bloody body, unsure of what he should even do. Scout wouldn't make it back to respawn in time for Medic to use the medi-gun on him, and there weren't any health packs nearby to use. With all of Engie's 11 PHDs, he wasn't a doctor, and he sure as hell didn't know how to keep Scout stable long enough for Medic to come out all this way—if the doctor even would.

"Am I gonna die?"

The question slices through the air like a knife, Engineer's mouth pulling into a frown at the thought. He wasn't all too fond of Scout, finding him an annoyance at the best of times, but that didn't mean he wanted to watch him die. But... what other options were there? "'fraid so, son."

It wasn't ever easy having to watch a teammate die, even with the knowledge that they'd be back and at full health. The death rattle, the wails of pain, the sight of a teammate gored and bleeding on the ground... it stuck, like a broken CD looping a specific section of a song.

"Can you stay?" Scout swallowed, his mouth tasting of copper and dirt. He knew this moment of vulnerability would come back to haunt him sooner than later. It might be a snide comment or a jab at his weakness as soon as word got out, but in the end, the team would etch Scout into stone as a sniveling coward.

But death was scary, as much as he hated to admit it, and he didn't want to have to go through it by himself. He could let himself be weak, just this once. "Just for a little while? It... would help."

"'course, Scout." Engineer placed his hand over Scout's, his heart aching as their fingers intertwined. The clouds overhead thinned, the downpour becoming a drizzle as a warm sunbeam fell upon the two. "It ain't no good goin' through it alone."

[glacierruler]

Infinite Respawns: Stories About Those Who Have Been Chosen

Ao3 Link

Chapter 3

Masterpost | Prev Chapter | Next Chapter

CWs: Death, Temporary Main Character Death, Slight Gore, Violence, Fire, Being Burned Alive

Chapter Summary:

Janus's village is murdered by a group of adventurers, and Janus finds out he's one too.

Taglist: @cutebisexualmess @nebulous-astronaut @oatmeal-stans-the-trash-rat

Please tell me if you'd like to be added/removed!

Words: 658

It had been three years since his village died, three years since Janus had found out he was an adventurer. The thought sour in his mouth. How could he be one of them, one of the worst monsters that plagued the earth? The very same breed that had killed his village. And what made him so special that he got to cheat death, what made him so cursed that the scars of his past deaths would never fade?

Janus was twenty five years old and he hated it. He hated every single moment of his existence. What was an adventurer but someone cursed to cheat death and lose their morals over time? He had heard of them before his village was murdered, but it was always stories of protection, stories about how they’d fight off the zombies and skeletons that plagued their village. Fair trades for the gear that the others had provided. Never had he heard of the dangers. Of how adventurers would kill those they thought beneath them. He still remembered every detail of what had happened.

He’d been in the garden, trading with the other villagers when the first arrow had been shot. He watched as Cassandra, who ran the apothecary, started coughing up blood from it, running over to her, he watched as she died. An arrow sticking out of her back, and blood all over the front of her favorite dress. Holding her close, Janus looked over to where it had come from. Only to see adventurers in diamond gear tromping through the village, killing everyone in their sights. Within an instant, he was yanked to his feet, as one of them grinned at him. Heart rate speeding up, and tears streaming down his face, he sneered at them, opening his mouth to speak when a flash of blue caught his attention.

He screamed, his face burned and burned and burned, and he could taste his burning blood where the sword had cut his mouth. It took entirely too long for him to die.

Only, when he opened his eyes again, he was in his room, in his house. It didn’t make any sense, Janus almost thought that it was a nightmare, if he hadn’t reached up to his face and felt where the marks the fire had left, and the scar where the sword had cut him.

However, he didn’t have long to ponder this, as he heard a loud banging, as his door was broken down and he heard the adventurers stomp inside. Only to stop in surprise when they saw him, and Janus did not like the looks on their faces.

“You’re like us!” Blurted out the one who had killed him

“I am nothing like you!” Glaring at all of them, he wondered if he was going to die again.

“Ah, of course, I think we started off on the wrong foot. First death’s tend to be the hardest. I’m-”

“I don’t care who you are, you killed me! You murdered my village! Either kill me again or leave!”

The groups’ face soured. Clearly not expecting, nor liking the answer that they got.

“Fine! Stay in this rotting place! We were offering to help, but since you’re so hung up about some nobodies, you can learn to do this on your own.” With that, they left.

Janus waited a few days before leaving, the pine forest and snowy mountains he once adored, now being the very thing he couldn’t look back at.

It had been three years since, and he’d learned how potions work, and got decent with a bow. While he absolutely despised the fact that he was an adventurer, he knew he couldn’t die, so he might as well live.

Getting prepared for the winter, Janus ran into someone, and fell. The stranger was clearly an adventurer, as no villages were nearby this area, so Janus didn’t take the hand that was offered out to him.

“Salutations.”

[lunarsands]

ALSMP Fanfic: Hellbent Ch 1

Characters: Scott Major, MythicalSausage

Tags: Canon divergent, We’re way off the canon origin list now, featuring derivatives such as werewolf!Scott, guardian!Sausage, enderian!Scott, vampire!Sausage, wither!Scott, merling!Sausage, floran!Scott and including the return of blazeborn!Myth and gravital!Smajor

WARNINGS: Blood, Violence, Injury, Body Horror, Character Death, So Much Death that I’ll be here for days listing warnings for them all. We got water, we got fire, we got neuro-toxins, we got stabbing. Nothing is portrayed in graphic detail, but consider yourself warned! No Fluff Only Murder.

Summary: The cycle that started with a hungry vampire and an imprisoned angel comes full circle.

Scott and Sausage – now going by Smajor and Myth – have broken the cosmic respawn system with their continuous murder of each other, and more than ten lives later they are still at it. Even an encounter with peaceful versions of themselves in a limbo dimension doesn't deter them for long, but Myth at long last gains the upper hand. He has a choice: end the feud, or… Well, that’s it, that’s his only choice. But he’ll do it one way or another…

Sequel to Bloodfall, Witherrise, Fatemirrored, and Heavensent, with references to (and later picking up after) the crossover Mirror Mirror Break Our Fall.

Part Five of the Soul Liminality Series.

(Also available on Ao3! )

[A/N: Scratch what I said about Mirror Mirror not being canon to either fic universe, it’s now canon to this one. I’ve had this sitting in my pocket for a while and it finally came together, once again with brainstorming help from @cynthrey! You know you might have too many origins/types of death of those origins to keep track of in one fic when your friend goes and makes a spreadsheet.]

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Chapter One

Fox blood wasn’t as good as angel blood, but as Smajor clamped his wolfish jaws down on Myth’s red-furred throat, he was just as happy to swallow down another of his nemesis’ lives. Both happening to be creatures of the forest – relatively speaking, for a werewolf -- had done little to deter Scott from sniffing him out once again and hunting him down. Myth usually tried to hide and strike when the opportunity presented itself; Smajor just actively killed on sight most of the time. He admitted to admiring Myth’s newfound skill – regardless of what he became – to remain quiet, but it rarely saved him for long.

Scott had come to resent first the loss of his lovely, delicious prisoner, and then at the betrayal when vampire became angel and Myth’s own reaction had been unyielding vengeance. It seemed like they had managed to be allies for all of five minutes, and the rest of the time it was just sheer hatred for each other. Even when they came back as something that had similar traits – although the cosmic roll of the dice proclaimed them never to be the same thing at the same time – there was instant animosity. The battle of back-and-forth murder had been going on for so long that they had started losing track of some of what they had been – except for the ones that had precipitated everything. It was even hard to remember how many times they had died, so they settled on keeping count of how many times they had killed the other.

Sausage – after reluctantly accepting the moniker of ‘Myth’ because Smajor wouldn’t call him anything else now, swearing to obliterate him until he was nothing but some legend in a forgotten story – had been scratching tally marks into the metal arm guard he somehow always regenerated with whether he was humanoid or animal. Scott, meanwhile, dubbed himself ‘Smajor’ after one time when Myth had tried to call him a ‘major pain in the ass’ with his dying breath and slurred the first word instead.

Smajor had a scrap of leather that he kept on him, and currently added a new tally mark with a claw before licking the blood from his chops. Well, that was a nice even twenty in number of kills. He left Myth’s body alone for the moment, trotting away behind some trees, amused by the thought of letting him regenerate and try to escape again, then maybe he would howl and chase him through the forest for a while until biting into him again. He did very much enjoy whenever he turned into something with a good set of sharp teeth.

A few moments later he heard Myth begin to cough, then gasp. He smiled. Sounded like maybe he had become a merling and was having a little trouble breathing. There was a lake nearby… Maybe he would make it. Smajor decided to wait, and then he followed the sounds. As much as he liked killing Myth with his own hands, an unfortunate roll of the dice that led to side effects was just as fun to see, and hear, play out.

Myth turned out to be faster than he expected, however, and he heard the splash before he himself was near to the lake. He also underestimated how fast his nemesis could now swim, because as Smajor stepped out from the trees onto the lake shore, a figure was darting from the opposite shore into that tree line. Ah. Myth knew these woods, too. He would know where the next body of water was. He wouldn’t allow himself to be limited to one little puddle to be picked off when he surfaced.

Smajor smiled again and began loping around the edge of the lake. He could pick up the fishy trail and simply sniff him out no matter how many bodies of water he tried to cross. This would be a nice game. There was nowhere for Myth to go – neither of them had any place they really called home anymore, just a few hidden caches set up here and there when time permitted. Yet even that was difficult to do when one of them was destroying the landscape with their powers in pursuit of the other.

Nowhere and no one was safe at this point. The others had long since learned that if they saw either of them coming it was time to also run and hide. The few exceptions were when someone else more powerful got involved and tried to stop them, but that tended to result in double death, and another new start of the chase with different powers.

Meanwhile, Myth’d had it in his head for a while that if he could just get the right combination of abilities, he might be able to keep Smajor on a metaphorical chain long enough to take the fight out of him – or put him where he would be forced to do nothing but think about how pointless this unending feud was.

Turning into a Temple Guardian-type mer this round gave him an idea: he knew he could gain additional abilities by slaying an Elder Guardian, so he was now making a beeline for the nearest ocean via every source of water he could think of that could sustain him on the way. It would be a wondrous miracle if he could get his hands on a bucket of water and some Aqua Affinity gear along the way, but he knew he wouldn’t have much chance of finding a place to make them himself and spend precious minutes trying to roll for them in an enchanting table.

Smajor would catch up to him, as was inevitable, so he might as well go straight for an ocean monument to be prepared ahead of time with as much of an arsenal as he could get from one. It was harrowing a few times when he almost came up short between the abrupt end of a river and the next small lake, but he kept pushing himself. Eventually he would find a river that led out into the ocean, and he could get a reprieve out in deeper waters.

It did cross his mind to try to live out his life in the possible safety of a remote biome with abilities that Smajor couldn’t interfere with, but in all honesty, Myth wouldn’t put it past his nemesis to pick a way to end himself just to get new powers that would allow him to continue the chase. With the other, actual Temple Guardians and the Elder Guardians, Myth might possibly have some additional protection… However, he would prefer to not have the constant threat hanging over his head altogether.

One of these times things would have to work out in his favor for longer than a few hours.

And so, after wresting a trident from a Drowned, he made his way into a monument, unbothered by the effects of his current brethren, and slew the Elder Guardian. Once he absorbed its powers, he started making plans for how to deal with Smajor. There was the obvious: hit him with fatigue, then drag him down to the monument and secure him there, where a horrible process could be repeated until Smajor gained an aquatic-based body. Then Myth would have to think of something else, because there was every chance Smajor could have some ability that allowed him to escape, and of course he would kill Myth on the way out – or turn the tables on him, and trap him in the exact same spot.

Well, Myth needed to start somewhere, anyway, and this was at least one opportunity. As he was collecting some extra blocks from the monument itself to build a holding cell, he saw the sponges and realized a better option might be to actually keep Smajor alive down here, without risk of him becoming something that could survive in water. Myth then worked to create an extra area clear of water as a backup plan.

Soon, however, it dawned on him that he could even rest here. Smajor was currently limited to land, and if he did find a way through the water, he would first have to figure out where Myth had gone, and then have to get past the other Guardians. He allowed himself a smile and made a sweep of the monument, checking the locations of the cyclopean fish. He sonar-pinged a warning to them of a possible invader, telling them to stay on alert, then he returned to the center and burrowed into the sand to sleep. If Smajor made it through all that, Myth could still attempt to stay hidden.

~*~

Later on, he was awoken by agitated pinging from the Temple Guardians that hit his own sonar-like senses. They hadn’t noticed an intruder, but some type of ruckus on the surface was setting them off. Myth warily swam toward the outer rows of columns to make sure nothing was directly above him. He could tell that it was now nighttime from the extra darkness, although he could see through the water just fine. The sound itself wasn’t in the water, but was enough to be heard through it.

Howling.

Ah, there was a very frustrated werewolf nearby.

Myth gave a tired smile and began a careful ascent. He would have to creep through the shallows if Smajor was on shore, but he wouldn’t be surprised if he had gotten ahold of a boat just to keep pursuing his prey. Myth rather hoped for the latter so he could come up directly underneath and overturn it.

The words were muffled but the rage came through just fine. “Myth!! Show yourself, you coward!! Come and face me!!”

The noise bounced off his sonar as well, and that made it easier to find which direction it was coming from. And Smajor actually had been foolish enough – or overconfident enough – to row a boat out here. Myth sped upward and shoved both hands against one side of the bottom of the boat, nearly flipping it in one go. But it was enough to knock Smajor into the water. The wolfish menace attempted to grab for the boat; Myth was quicker and wrapped his scaly arms around him, immediately pulling him down. “If you decide not to struggle, I have a nice place for you to stay! You’ll like it, I promise. You can even yell at me all day there!”

Unable to speak lest he end up with a lungful of water all the faster, Smajor instead began thrashing his whole body. Myth used the pointy spines on both arms to dig into him to try to discourage this, but Smajor didn’t seem to care about the extra pain and kicked his legs next.  Myth’s hold was secure and they only sank deeper. Finally, Smajor snarled, releasing a rush of air bubbles as he tried to twist around and snap at his captor’s face. Myth responded with a tight squeeze of his arms, forcing out more of that precious air.

Smajor stopped struggling soon after that. Well, that works, too, Myth thought as he carried his nemesis down toward the monument. At least that makes this part easier. Yet before he got much closer, Smajor’s body vanished. Myth blinked. That had never happened so quickly after a death.  Usually there was more time before one of them regenerated as something new and then revived.

Then Myth spotted a flicker of purple particles, and he chuckled darkly to himself. Oh, huh. He’s Enderian now. That was like an automatic teleport. So he’ll die even faster if he’s pulled into water...

He turned to swim toward the nearest land mass this time. An enderman who accidentally ended up in a body of water always teleported to the first bit of sand and soil within range.

Even though he attempted to be cautious again and was ready to grab Smajor right away, as soon as his head cleared the water he could hear the sound of an aggroed enderman. A lanky, obsidian-skinned version of Smajor rushed at him, jaw unhinged as he screeched horribly and slashed at Myth’s face despite the water running off of him.

Myth sank back into the ocean’s surface but Smajor pursued, spitting and flinching as the water injured him, but was not deterred. One of his strikes finally landed and Myth yelled in pain. The Enderian grabbed him and started to haul him out of the water. Myth clutched at the gashes across his face, beginning to lose sight in his right eye. He then extended the sharp fin on his left arm and sliced Smajor across the chest, deep enough to expose the enderpearl at his heart.

Myth took hold of the pearl and yanked it out, throwing it in the next motion to teleport away and gain time to recover. However, being half-blinded as he was, he judged the direction incorrectly. He teleported out of the dying Smajor’s hold straight inland.

At least the pearl landed under a tree instead of on it. Not that it mattered all that much; Myth was in too much shock to try to make it back to water. He knew he would die there, laying gasping on the ground while he clutched his face with both hands. But at least he had gotten Smajor an extra time, as well. He used his last few breaths to pull a shaky left hand away from his eye and scratch two new tally marks into his arm guard with a sharp spine.

.

Myth revived sometime later relieved to find sight had returned to his right eye, but a touch revealed new, horizontal scars. He had suspected for a while that his body wasn’t regenerating one hundred percent, and this proved it, but at least he hadn’t lost the eye.

This time.

He decided the next thing he would do was to find a pond or something to check for certain how he looked. He wasn’t sure yet what he even was now, but it wasn’t aquatic fortunately, and he felt rather strong. It was also still nighttime, so he had the cover of darkness to sneak around in, although he did hope Smajor was nowhere nearby.

He found his steps moved faster than average, and it was reassuring to be able to dart past Creepers and skeletal archers. There might be a reason they didn’t seem to mind him, because nary an arrow was shot his way, but he chose not to worry about it.

Then it turned out he had much bigger concerns, when he finally reached a small stream and leaned over to have a look.

He had no reflection.

“Oh, gods. No. No… Anything but this…” His stomach churned at the revelation and he turned away to be sick behind the cover of a tall fern. He could feel his fangs as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He returned to the stream and made an attempt to clean up even without being able to see himself, pretending he was just washing off his own blood from the new scars.

Blood blood blood. The thought pounded through his head. He should go find some fresh blood, from someone with a lovely, beating heart…

No. Absolutely not.

He couldn’t cross the stream from ground level but he didn’t have the strength of will to try leaping yet. He would follow alongside it for now, and just eat raw beef or fish when he found some. He would have to contend with sunrise soon enough… and yet, he was also tempted to let the sun do its own work so he could become something else. Gods forbid he come across Smajor as this, too… but at least the other would be extremely unlikely to be an angel again. He didn’t need that kind of parallelism in his life ever again, nor did he have any interest in tasting his nemesis’ blood.

Myth felt lucky when he stumbled upon a small cave just as the sky began to lighten. Maybe it was a sign to tough this one out for a little longer. There was no evidence of it being an animal den, so he slipped inside and was able to move some large rocks over to the entrance to block it off so no one could stumble across him. He slept through the day, and instinctively woke at nightfall.

Unfortunately, hunger also awoke around the same time. His new senses were telling him that all sorts of warm, pulsing veins were out there beyond the cave. He began to clear away the rocks. He couldn’t fight it… He would have to do something. No people. He would not bite any people. Livestock were fair game; he could keep telling himself that, and everything would be fine.

The thought worked up until he saw lights from a village, and he soon heard the sound of a zombie beating on a door. He swallowed after his mouth reflexively salivated and he turned to dart off in a different direction to avoid the temptation, but a different flash of bluish-white light and an explosion drew his attention, and instead he crept closer. Someone else with supernatural powers was around, although he wasn’t sensing a living heartbeat to go along with it.

The light flashed again, and he recognized it. Wither. Was someone trying to make themself useful and was taking out the zombies to save the village? That seemed vaguely noble, and better than he had done as one.

His assessment changed as soon as he caught a glimpse of the sunken eyes and bitter expression of the perpetrator, then he let out a loud laugh and stepped forward, baring the fangs he had desperately been trying to ignore. “So, it looks like irony is still on the cosmic table. We’re both back on the dark side at the same time. Do you want to put the warring behind us and team up again, Scott?” He purposely used the other’s former name.

Smajor gave a raspy laugh of his own, refraining from attacking right away. “Oh, that will go well, sure. Tell me, how many people have you bitten so far? I haven’t seen a trail of bodies anywhere, unless I managed to miss it completely. Not thirsty right now, are you? I was just doing this because I was bored, but if you want to have a snack before I raze this place, help yourself. Go ahead.” He smirked. “You ate plenty of souls before, now you can appreciate the taste of blood. Go on.” He gestured to one of the doors that were shut tight against the roaming undead. “You don’t have to worry about being invited in, I’ll blast it open for you.”

Myth refused to be baited into looking away from Smajor, although he could hear the heartbeat behind the door, speeding up with fear from realizing there were now additional dangers outside. He swallowed again but played it off with a shrug. “Nah. I’m good right now.”

“Fine. I’ll get back to what I was doing.” Smajor conjured a skull in one hand and threw it toward a blacksmith, exploding the wall and causing lava to start flowing onto the path. He raised his hand again to conjure another, then conjured a second one in the other hand.

He grinned to himself, then spun and flung both of them toward Myth before turning it into a repeating volley of thrown skulls.

The reluctant vampire was ready for him. Myth’s red eyes flashed as he marked Smajor, waiting, waiting… He switched places right before the first two skulls hit, leaving Smajor to be pummeled by his own explosions. For extra measure, Myth ran to the spilled lava, standing one step away before triggering the mark again after the volley ended, leaving a battered Smajor standing – just barely standing, that is – in the spot. He followed up by rushing over and shoving the wither backward into the lava pool.

Myth hoped it would be enough, but he wasn’t going to stick around to risk getting set on fire just to make sure the other stayed in the lava. He bounded away to the hill that overlooked the area and instead waited there to keep an eye on things. He would see if Smajor emerged as something different, then act afterward.

It wasn’t long before a figure that was decidedly on the green side stumbled out of the wreckage that he himself had caused. With his keen eyesight, Myth could see Smajor had flowers all over his hair, which seemed to be causing the newly created floran some distress. He chuckled and decided to go back down to confront him again, although he more so wanted to laugh at Smajor’s burgeoning temper tantrum to his face.

The floran was currently trying to rip all of the flowers out of his hair, but he stopped when he saw Myth approaching. “Of course this would be the one time you don’t run away. Go ahead, laugh your big, bad vampiric head off, then suck out whatever passes for blood that I have. Not like I can do anything to you with some pathetic little flowers. Just get it over with!” There wasn’t any less vitriol in his tone, despite the harmless-looking flowery exterior.

“Still not hungry,” Myth proclaimed blithely. “Maybe this is a sign for you to stop and smell the roses for a bit, maybe take some time to reflect and realize this cycle we’re stuck in doesn’t have to continue. You could settle down, raise a garden, maybe actually start caring about the land around you instead of treating it like an obstacle in the way of getting to me.”

“Oh, and you’ll just waltz off and claim a dark castle somewhere, feeding off the rest of the mere mortals around you? Remember, that eventually made someone come for me – if you want me to bring up more of the past. Maybe if you hadn’t come after my wings, none of this would have happened!”

“Oh, no, don’t you try to turn this around on me. You’re the one who won’t let it go. I will definitely find something better to do with my time than run around watching my back every second because you’re set on some unending vendetta.”

Smajor spread his green-dappled hands to indicate himself. “Look at me. This is useless. Do you want me to say ‘Congratulations, Sausage, you win!’ Because I won’t.”

“I know you won’t. And I don’t want you to. I just want you to bug off and not hurt anyone ever again.”

Smajor now held out one arm, where a smattering of pink tea roses had started to bloom. “Really? You think I can harm anyone with this happening to me?” He began brushing off the small flowers, only for more to blossom on the other arm. “Nether blast it, I can’t even control these things!”

Myth chuckled. “So, you literally have to stop and smell them. Look at that, a new hobby for you.”

“Yeah, and the other things that come with roses…” Smajor stopped fussing over his own arms and abruptly lunged at him. Myth felt a sharp pain in his chest and looked down, seeing the palm of the floran’s hand held outward and a giant thorn sticking out of it, piercing into the vampire’s heart.

Smajor smirked. “I can’t believe you fell for that and let your guard down so stupidly. As if I would ever be weak around you. Goodbye again, Myth. The most pathetic excuse for a vampire ever. You could have gloated after biting me, but I knew you wouldn’t. Wouldn’t want to experience all that trauma again by your own fangs, would you, dear angel? Off to dust you go. I’ll catch up to you later.”

Myth hated that the last thing he saw was that smug face as his body crumbled away beneath him. Now he wished he’d had the courage to bite him, just so Smajor would know how it felt to have the life and spirit drained out of him.

 [ Chapter Two ]