Rotating Etho's choice to protect his allies in my mind. Obviously they made incredible escapes and held their own but Etho also refusing to sell out Cleo and Grian meant that nearly everyone else died, some died multiple times, most lost additional hearts, hurt alliances (Scott: Gem has no band loyalty!), and did not gain something like 120 hearts total
Meanwhile, Cleo and Grian get to feel secure in their alliance, not go red, and actually finish their tasks. The playing field has obviously been levelled significantly and they still suffered, but Etho facilitated his alliance gaining the most where everyone else lost the most
Obviously it's a display his loyalty first and foremost but he also played the game, ran the numbers, and counted himself out of success knowing it would be diminishing returns to go after them and I just think that's neat
I think martyn’s a seasonal fae not only because of his seasonal skins, but also because there’s something…bitter? Maybe bittersweet. At the thought of him escaping a fae court, with its Hunts and its monarchies and power plays, only to be dragged into these death games, with him pledging his life, again and again, to people who play at being kings
also because I think he should have sick vine tattoos that move and writhe based on his mood that he can summon and use as whips
A significant question on Prioritising Early Childhood
On Monday this week on 11th February there was a discussion in House of Lords which is entitled Prioritising Early Childhood: Academy of Medical Sciences Report which was opened by Philip Hunt who is a Labour member. The Government member who responded was Nick Markham. After a number of other people corresponded there was a very significant question which was submitted by the Bishop of…
I think we need to talk about Scott’s third life death scene more often, specifically about the scene directly afterward with Martyn and Ren.
It’s so fucked up that Martyn chases after Scott, not hurting or actually touching him but follows him so his king can get a chance to kill him, but Martyn doesn’t touch Scott. Instead he yells after him these half baked apologies and explanations, trying to tell him “I didn’t want Jimmy to die!” That is actually insane.
As Martyn is chasing that boy he connected with at the start, the one he entered the nether with; they went through this worlds actual hell together. Now Martyn is tasked to take after Scott to not let him escape, someone he used to be close to, he chases with death in mind because his king commands it.
And Scott finally stops to face martyn, as the pathetic hand tries to tell him “we didn’t mean to kill your husband” is SO fucked up. Out of everything Martyn said, before having to watch his king murder him, he tells Scott that it was never his intention to harm Jimmy.
Upon Scott’s death, Martyn does not cheer or rejoice, he just lets out this pathetic noise of defeat after Ren murdered Scott for good. Martyn stands there feeling null and empty, while his king goes into hysterics.
Ren also, upon killing Scott, is immediately rushed with guilt and horror at himself. Starts sobbing, “how many more do I have to kill to this violence comes to an end?”
“It’s dripping into my eyes… I can’t see, I’ve been blinded by violence my hand.”
Ren sacrificed himself using Martyns hand, allowed his head to be chopped off so that he could become a red name- but even after all that, he cannot kill without guilt. Other red names like Skizz and Joel get this bloodlust and hunt like a predator. While Ren, the wolf king, kills and then he cries. He sobs and begs for Martyn to hold him. He’s a red name supposed to be thirsting for blood but it isn’t giving him that rush it should. He had Martyn take his head, and all for what? What was this all for?
He’s a red name, and the king of a red kingdom, with a red shield. He brought red winter in his wake, but he stays awake at night shivering in fear about the death of others. In his heart, Ren is too good hearted to kill without remorse. Despite it being his job, and something he sought out to do on purpose; he feels horribly guilty.
The blood dripping into his eyes blinding him is insane symbolism. Being a red name gives him this urge to kill, and it blinds the players. But doesn’t give Ren a rush of ecstasy or excitement, it scares him. Ren feels so blood thirsty that he gets dizzy, and it makes him want to cry. It makes him scared of himself, and he breaks down as yet another person died at his hand.
He begs Martyn to hold him, and all he can think about is before he had to murder another person. He never wanted to become this red king, never wanted his crown to be stained in blood. He wanted to hold Martyns hand, and enchant with him. That’s all he wanted, was a life of peace with his dear friend. Martyn was his friend, not his hand.
Ren asked for this, he prayed for red winter, but now that it arrived, he is so so cold. Ren just wanted to feel the warmth of spring.
Neither of them wanted to kill Scott. Neither of them felt satisfied watching Scott lose his final life, but they murdered him together anyway. They killed him, and then they cried about it. They hold each other in the dead of winter.
“How many more people do we have to kill before all this violence comes to an end?”
The red king just wishes red winter would finally end. He’s tired of his bloody crown weighing down his head, his weak scarred neck struggles to hold. Martyn holds his king in attempt to comfort him, but all he thinks about is how eventually, they will have to die too. Maybe if they’re lucky, they’ll die together.
Etho and Grian are back at base, hysterically laughing over their achievement. Cleo sits inside, staring, as the two of them talk about getting a wither and a warden to fight, and tries to figure out what she feels about it.
In some ways it's not their fault. Task made them do it and all that. Plus--
Well, it's not like she and Etho are losing hearts anytime soon. They've both done a damn good job keeping themselves from dying. A benefit, Cleo thinks, of deciding to team with Etho this time. Between the two of them, they'll largely only do chaos they can recover from. Maybe this is their game. Maybe this time, Cleo manages to stick with someone until the very end. It looks like it. It looks like...
Grian, of course, is the confounding factor.
She wasn't going to turn him away. He needed allies. They needed someone a bit better at actually doing damage than herself or Etho. It's mutually beneficial. And, besides, he's weirdly lovable, in an inherently kind of dangerous way. A little like loving a bobcat someone had accidentally raised as a pet cat until it got a bit too big and stinky and murdery for them. Like, yeah, he shouldn't be domesticated and he's not, really, in any sense of the word, but it's a bit sad to watch him try to survive on his own now, right?
Hah. Maybe that's what Scar managed to do to him. Would explain a lot, really.
Anyway, he's her bobcat now, which is the problem.
See the thing is: Cleo understands Etho. It's why finally deciding to be partners for once felt... right. They're similar flavors of people. Scared, mostly. Survivors, but not in the 'will stab anyone' way that like, Martyn is. Loyal, although Cleo has no delusions that Etho is as loyal as she. And scared. Has she already said that? Scared. It's important to the kinds of things she and Etho are. Like... mountain lions, maybe. Mountain lions that have been around just enough people to know how dangerous they are. Like that.
God, she's only doing cat metaphors. Bdubs really is turning them all into furries.
Anyway, the point is, Grian isn't scared.
And that... terrifies her.
That's scarier than anything else. Because, see, Cleo wants to survive. But more than that, she wants her partners to survive. And she and Etho, the two of them are doing well. Better than most people. They're green and they have so many hearts.
But Grian? Grian's yellow and not afraid and goading Etho into not being afraid too. It's not their fault, exactly, Cleo thinks. They both had hard tasks. They didn't have a choice, Cleo thinks.
But. But.
She doesn't know what to do, if Etho gets convinced the humans down the mountain aren't scary. She doesn't know what to do if he gets too close. She doesn't know what to do if he gets hurt.
Because she--she doesn't think she can learn to stop being scared, anymore.
But she also doesn't know how many times her heart can stand to lose someone.
Did you know--wild cats are social? They have a reputation for being loners, but mountain lions, they're social. They don't do well being alone. They don't actually hunt solely alone. That's the important bit here. They seem independent, sure, but actually...
Anyway. This is Bdubs's fault. For making her a furry, apparently.
She watches Grian and Etho scheme together and sits back and breathes and tells herself that Etho isn't going to stop being afraid anytime soon. That if push came to shove, he, at least, would retreat back, and that maybe the two of them could convince Grian to retreat too. Safe from hunters. Safe from red.
What is a webweave?
Previous art: Third Life | Void Falling | Attempt 33 | Martyn
Pt. 1: Non-threatening feminist boy / @teanne ◆ Excerpt from Why We Tell Stories / Lisel Mueller via @fourteen-lines ◆ Emerald clock ◆ Digging Your Own Grave / @thatsbelievable ◆ a place i will go to this summer / @eliasericson ◆ Sand timer ◆ All have the same 24 hours tweet ◆ Invent my own family / @mountainqoats ◆ Shield #3 Brooch / Sergey Jivetin ◆ Osgood / @candiedspit ◆ Untitled (posted 2.18.23) / @petersolarz
Pt. 2: As I Walked Out One Evening / W. H. Auden ◆ I Know Not, I Know Not / Takashi Murakami via @zegalba ◆ Wouldn't It Be Nice article title / Ben Mathis-Lilley via @tikkunolamorgtfo ◆ Should You Remind Them About It? / @thatsbelievable ◆ In case of happy ending / cécile via @visual-poetry ◆ Fallout New Vegas alert ◆ [walking into a surprise party] tweet / @JUNlPER ◆ Seasonal bows / @eyanin ◆ Aerial attack / @catcrumb ◆ Vibe Check poll / @borgevino ◆ i can kill ppl textpost / @sharkyz ◆ Matchbox / @trxnspxrxnts ◆ Drawing, Stag and Hounds / William Hunt Diederich ◆ I had a dream comic / @deep-dark-fears ◆ Untitled (posted 2.4.23) / @petersolarz
Pt. 3: But the creature that wants to kill you / @keydekyie ◆ spill blood repetition texpost / @duckdotcom ◆ Everybody Dies soup / @snailspng ◆ Every Teenagers #1 / @everyteenager4free (deactivated) ◆ Statue Grave of Jane Margyl / @horrorlesbians ◆ Broken Hourglass ◆ Beautiful Island / Zachary Schomburg via @exitwound ◆ mr. cat is finally out of jail comic / @alisonzai ◆ Excerpt from End-times at an Italian restaurant / @ryebreadgf ◆ Church Birdcage ◆ Can't trust anybody Caution Sign / @secondimpact ◆ (covered in blood) textpost / @darthsenatorpalpatinecreampie ◆ Excerpt from Broken Hierarchies: Poems 1952-2012 / Geoffrey Hill via @heteroglossia ◆ A Softer World #264 comic / e horne + j corneau ◆ Pocketwatch ◆ Gut Feeling / @anatolknotek ◆ blue eyes art / @escuerzoresucitado ◆ Untitled (posted 2.8.23) / @petersolarz