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#but when she sees martyn she's just like “oh. him.”
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Can you tell us something about Martyn or Scott in your hunger au? Completely your choice on what, I just want to see what they’re like in your au
[A COMM CALL; QUIET SPEECH FILTERED THROUGH LOW CRACKLES OF STATIC]
MARTYN
I'm not gonna lie, I didn't actually expect you to help them.
SCOTT
[A RUSTLE]
Why not? It's not like I had to do anything, really. Just— point them in the right direction and, I dunno, let them sort it out.
MARTYN
[Dryly] Yeah. I guess I just thought you'd be more... angry.
SCOTT
Me? I'm not— I wouldn't say I'm angry. Why, are you angry?
MARTYN
[SLIGHT PAUSE]
...
Y'know, that's hard to say. I don't think I'm not angry, but I'm not, like... actively mad, either?
SCOTT
Well, there you go, then. It's about the same for me, not much else to it.
MARTYN
...
Fair 'nough, I suppose.
SCOTT
Honestly, I'm surprised you're not more angry, considering all your— y'know, stuff.
MARTYN
What, just 'cause I knew Grian way back when?
SCOTT
Well yeah, obviously. You've known each other for a long time.
MARTYN
Have we? I'm not so sure anymore.
...
[Almost speaking to himself] He's felt weird for a while now, ever since he came back from Evo.
SCOTT
What's that supposed to mean?
MARTYN
Call it a hunch. I dunno, but he just feels— off. Wrong. Different? I can't put my finger on it.
[RUSTLE OF FABRIC, AS IF FROM A SHRUG]
Or— well, he did. Not like I've seen him around in a while.
SCOTT
[HUFF OF LAUGHTER]
Your superpower is freaky, Martyn, did you know that?
MARTYN
So you keep telling me.
[Teasingly] BigB thinks it's cool, though, so I don't give a damn what you have to say.
SCOTT
[Audible smile] BigB's got the superior opinion, yes, of course.
[A PAUSE]
MARTYN
...
So have you had any news yet? About if they've found him or not?
SCOTT
[With some surprise] You really want to know?
MARTYN
Yeah, man, tell me. He's still— I mean, I guess friend's a strong word now, but I still care.
SCOTT
Um, yeah, Jimmy said—
Hm.
...
MARTYN
[SMALL INCREDULOUS NOISE]
Jimmy said, did he?
SCOTT
I'm not sure why you're surprised. We do still talk, y'know.
MARTYN
Oh yeah, just— wasn't sure, is all, what with the whole— y'know, after the whole ranchers thing.
SCOTT
[Stiffly] Jimmy is... look, just because he has a boyfriend now who isn't me doesn't mean we can't whisper sometimes. Also, this is like, one of the least romantic topics you could ever talk about, so—
MARTYN
[BARK OF LAUGHTER]
God. Tell me about it.
SCOTT
Well I would, but you're too busy trying to interrogate me about Jimmy. I've got better things to do than sit here and pine, y'know?
[BRIEF SILENCE]
MARTYN
So, they found him?
...
[Press X to doubt] Right.
SCOTT
[LOW SIGH]
Yeah, they found him. Tango told Jimmy, who then told me; a bit of he said, she said...
He's in pretty rough shape.
MARTYN
[SMALL SCOFF]
That so?
SCOTT
According to Tango, yeah. Look, I didn't ask for any details, don't shoot the messenger. All I know is Jimmy said he's really sick.
MARTYN
[Wearily] Yeah, that sounds just like him. Goes haring off into the— the bloody sunset and comes back wrong immediately after. That's great.
[Slightly more upbeat] Cool, man, well— thanks for keeping me updated. I 'ppreciate it. Good luck with Tim.
SCOTT
[A LONGER SIGH]
I don't nee—
[ANOTHER PAUSE]
Okay, yes, yeah. I'll keep you up to date as best I can.
MARTYN
Maybe whisper Tango directly while you're at it. Cheers, Scott.
SCOTT
Mhm. See you around, Martyn.
[CLICK]
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disorganised-bagel · 6 months
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i miss her already :')
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solsays · 7 months
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Lifers x Crane Wives
I saw someone comment on a life series TikTok or something to try and pair all of the lifers to a crane wives song, without repeating songs. so obviously I spent an hour doing it
Grian—Tongues & Teeth (self explanatory if you’ve EVER heard this song)
Scar—Steady, Steady (this whole song is about how their partner is walking out but they still want to be “wild and free” which is just SO Scar coded)
Tango—Ancient History (he keeps teaming up with Skizz and I feel like this song vibes with that, it also just feels very Tango)
Skizz—Icarus (this man always gives himself up for his teammates I swear, and he fuels them to keep going. It also says “oh brother, brother” which feels like Skizz talking to any of his teammates to me)
Impulse—Allies or Enemies (Impulse has been very iffy on a lot of his alliances throughout the seasons, especially in third life and with the amount of playing all sides that man has done this songs feels right)
Cleo—The Glacier House (this. this is literally just her leaving Fairy Fort. The song is talking to/about her from probably Lizzie’s perspective, but like the last line is 100% as if Cleo was speaking)
Bdubs—Unraveling (Bdubs relies so heavily on his teammates, and when he doesn’t have that stability *cough* Etho *cough* he just kinda doesn’t know what to do so this song fits)
Mumbo—Keep You Safe (this man is by no means an aggressive/reckless player [see: Joel or Martyn] and he feels like he’s just here for the vibes and honestly? Love that for him. This song is about fear not keeping you safe and watching your friends run high risks, which just is very accurate to how Mumbo plays this series. I also feel like he could fit Rockslide when he goes red cause he goes from standstill to “drop dead sprint” in terms of aggression)
Lizzie—Shallow River/New Colors (Lizzie is the only one I put as two because both of these songs are just so fitting. Shallow river—“wasted all for the title, wasted all for the crown” reminds me of Lizzie trying to kill Scott and ending up dying herself instead. I also feel like parts of it could be dead Lizzie talking to Joel, the only person who is really mourning her. New Colors—“don't tell me that I can't, I need this“ and “I give up my air, to breathe” also feel very accurate with how she is trying so hard and just keeps failing )
Jimmy—Canary in a Coal Mine (no further context needed, we all know Timmy)
Scott—Little Soldiers (this is very flower husbands, but also just feels like Scott looking back on the last seasons including Pearl, Jimmy, Martyn, all his reluctant exes. Also this man is the watchers’ like least favorite person ever and this gives that vibe)
Pearl—Ribs (i changed this from New Discovery because Ribs is entirely about somewhat angrily protecting and helping yourself because nobody else would, and it really strikes me as Pearl with the some things having been good (Gaslight Gatekeep Girlboss) and some being bad (divorce quartet))
BigB—Not the Ghost (this man is so incredibly odd, he just constantly feels like he is being haunted by the watchers and just going about his life, he is the human personification of gaslight and we love that for him)
Martyn—The Hand That Feeds (he HATES the watchers with every ounce of his being, and with Ren gone I think this guy’s only purpose is just to spite them)
Joel—Sleeping Giants (go listen to it. That’s all there is to it, it just feels very Joel-ish, this lad is absolutely fucking mental)
Ren—Once & for All (this song feels like war and being betrayed, and Ren has been betrayed so much so it just fits. I mean come on “my blood’s forever on your hands” tell me that isn’t 100% something Ren would say)
Gem—Show Your Fangs (Girlboss moment, we love Geminislay. This woman is not someone to be underestimated and this song very clearly says that so it’s very Gem in my head. She doesn’t have enough lore yet to make it angsty but ONE DAY)
Etho—Never Love An Anchor (I can’t explain it, this song just has Etho vibes. I mean “It’s a secret I keep tucked inside my chest” just seems very him, I can’t really tell you why)
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salemoleander · 1 year
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"My teeth hurt," Martyn says.
He and Scott are on the deck, enjoying the morning sun before it has the chance to get humid; Scott is busy crafting sugarcane into paper while Martyn is (ostensibly) trying to carve a bowl.
"What, like- cavities? We've only been here for a few days, and I know you're eating the same fish and dried kelp as me." Scott pauses, holding a fresh sheaf of paper. "-and if you're not, and you've been holding sweets out on me, I'll be pissed."
Martyn huffs a laugh, then grimaces when pain shoots up through his sinuses. Ambling over to the table, he half-sits, half-leans on the back of one of their deck chairs.
"Nah, same food as you. Man, I don't know what I did. TNT to the face carry over, d'you reckon?"
He grins, and Scott blanches. Well, shit.
"Alright, what's wrong with my mouth?" Martyn asks, stress rising when Scott doesn't answer. "I've still got teeth, right?"
Scott nods sharply. He wavers on an answer for a moment before sighing. "Yeah. You've just got some new ones, seems like."
‐---------------------------------------------------------------------
The hard part of suddenly having shark teeth, Martyn quickly discovers, is that they are not particularly designed for beings with lips, and certainly not ones that talk.
He tells Scott this, nursing several sore spots on his lips and tongue.
"Have you considered talking less?"
"Oh, screw you."
Scott rolls his eyes, and they go back to sorting through chests in companionable silence. Waves gently lap against the edge of their island, while bamboo canes creak and shift. After a few minutes Scott says, "In the- last time. I remember being relieved, a bit, that even though Cleo and I chose each other-"
"Exactly the conversation I wanted to have," Martyn deadpans.
"Would you shut up? Honestly." Scott smiles, but his jaw flexes as he does and Martyn resolves to shut up and let him say this, whatever it is. At least for the next ten or fifteen seconds. Probably.
"Anyways. I was a tiny bit relieved that I was paired with Pearl, because she was human. And I'd seen how it was for BigB getting canine features and Joel getting whatever the hell from Etho, and you, y'know..."
"Rotting?"
"Eugh. Yeah." Scott looks through their fence-lattice walls and out to the water. "But Pearl didn't stay human."
Martyn raises an eyebrow. (For effect. If Scott is doing a dramatic monologue towards the ocean, Martyn at least gets to make faces, whether or not Scott sees him. Them's the rules.)
"She got kind of... wolf-y? Or more accurately, the game made her wolfy. Not like Ren, not nearly that elegant a combination."
Scott's voice is bitter, an edge to it that Martyn associates with fireworks going off too-close by. "I woke up one morning and my teeth were sharp and there were too many for my mouth. And it hurt, and the worst part was knowing this wouldn't be happening if we'd just done what the game wanted."
Blinking, Martyn says, "Oh." Brilliant. Nailed the response, there.
"I just wanted to tell you. That it might- those might be my fault, because it seems like whatever runs this game doesn't like me very much. There's a reason I set up alone out here."
Martyn- ignoring the ache from his jaw and the kernel of self-interest that tells him to get while the getting is good- scoffs. "None of that, thank you! I don't care if bloody Herobrine has it out for you, we're sticking together."
Relief washes over Scott's face. Martyn adds, "If whoever runs this circus thinks unlimited knives for teeth is a punishment, they're mad."
"Clearly! You were already enough of a menace." Released from whatever tension kept him still, Scott reaches over to flip another chest lid up and starts rifling through. "It's like trying to annoy Joel by giving him too many TNT minecarts."
Martyn snorts. "Right! Once my mouth gets the memo about where everything is now I'll be doing fine- probably better than I was before! A supernatural entity trying to tell me who I can be friends with? C'mon, nothing that stupid is busting the Mean Gills up."
He almost believes it.
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fountainpenguin · 5 months
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Secret Life finale highlights for me:
- "My strategy: Kill Skizz and Tango. Will happen at some point... Or, just maim them and watch them die in a corner." - Scar
- Scott on Grian's loyalty: "I have never seen a man drop a pair of sunglasses faster in my life [than last season after Joel died]."
- I think I reblogged someone's speculation weeks ago that at the dawn of final session, everyone's task book would just say "Win Secret Life." Congrats to them for Apollo's gift of prophecy.
- Martyn's beat of pause before saying to Joel "Welcome to the Out of Context video."
- At the start of the season, Etho said Joel was the first one he wanted to kill because "He's cheeky." When Joel is asked who he wants to kill, he says "Etho." Glad you're enjoying your rivalry, boys, smh...
- Joel, once again giving into his Shrek origins, watching Bdubs' wool globe go up in flames and chirping "My world's on fire; how 'bout yours?"
- Tango does not break his "pathetic death" curse. Just blipped out of existence. Love that for him.
- Spitting, crying... BigB panics and flees into his creepy backrooms for safety. Immediately vanishes into the tunnel maze. Scar pursues and skids to a halt because he hasn't seen it yet and is thoroughly creeped out.
- Scar coming up to surface and trying to describe how BigB disappeared. Martyn looks down at where they're standing and is just like "Oh, that's the backrooms." Mental image of Scar as that meme that goes "The. what."
- Scar describing BigB as a sneaky squirrel. "Squirrel" was the name of BigB's horse in Double Life.
- Joel's anxiety about entering a Nether portal on the final episode, specifically because of how he and Etho perma-died in Double Life
- Whatever was going on with Martyn flinging ender pearls up the ladder seconds before he died
- Additionally, people in the background commenting that they think Martyn's teamed up with Cleo and the only reason he was near them was an attempt to bear down and kill them
- Scar to Bdubs, watching Cleo and Etho from a distance: "Look at this- Mom and Dad are bringing their new ugly stepson to meet us, Bdubs." /camera pans to the warden chasing them
- Bdubs tells Scar that Cleo said he was her favorite son and Scar IMMEDIATELY, without responding or even waiting for Bdubs to finish his sentence, jumps a wall and books it to Cleo to confirm... Mental image of him swinging dramatically over it with one hand, his shawl billowing behind him
- Scar chases Cleo while they're both being pursued by a warden, asking her if he's her favorite son. Doesn't let up until she assures him she "just said it to keep Bdubs happy." what is wrong with the Clocker family.
- Joel somehow pulled off a beautiful PVP kill on Skizz despite having only 2.5 hearts
- In earlier episodes, Joel had people say "The florist sends his regards" on his behalf before striking. Before killing Skizz, he says "Scar sends his regards" since Scar really wanted to kill Skizz but bequeathed the fight to Joel instead.
- Scar trotting up to Etho and Cleo, who are watching him from a cliff, and announcing "I am not up to anything nefarious!"
- Scar's weird spiky wall design is really pretty
- slkdjfskldjfsklj?!?!?!? I had a bullet point on this list that said "Honorable non-finale mention to Scar getting both the Green and Yellow kill on Etho this season" but now I see I need to correct that:
- Shout-out to Scar killing Etho - in Etho's front yard - THREE TIMES this season. Etho rushing back to his base, tripping over his feet and saying "I'm going home, everybody- I'm dying at my home-"
- Scott to Scar: "I went down to BigB - to get him - and I see what you mean; he does just talk his way out of things so you feel bad; you just leave him." / Scar: "That's why you don't let him speak. You just inner monologue. You start talking about Star Wars so you can't hear his charms."
- As Scar drives his sword into Cleo, he says "Good-bye, Mom- This is for you telling Bdubs [he's your] favorite." Geez, dude. Scar killed both his parents; this family is a mess. Bonus points for Joel fumbling in the background like "Oh my gosh- Scar, you savage-"
- I watched multiple POVs until I was caught up to the standoff between Gem & The Scotts vs. The Mounders... So picking up from there with Scar's POV b/c his is the one I randomly started with today: I love how Joel basically went "I am once again throwing caution to the wind and charging into battle with a murderous Red rage in my eyes and no one behind me" like he ALWAYS does.
- Bdubs and Scar decide to back him up... Amazing.
- Scar has gotten 4 kills (Tango, Etho, Cleo, Impulse) and he was super close to getting BigB as well before Scott sniped the kill. Geez... The man is vicious today. During Limited Life, Grian made a comment that went something like "Of course Scar is only destructive / successful when I'm not on his team" and honestly? Yeah...
- Pearl begging Scar to kill her- Pearl warning Scar that if she perma-kills Gem, she'll go up 10 hearts- Scar refusing, insisting that he doesn't want to turn on her because it feels lame...
- Scar got Gem, he got Gem... GeminiSlay is DOWN!
- SCAR SWEEP WITH THE BOW!!
Oh my goodness, I saw his episode title ("Can Villain Scar Win?") and the words that went through my head were "Welp, that's a spoiler that he's dead." I see I was wrong.
GG, SCAR WIN!!! Man who wanted so desperately to have friends, only to trip and fail time and time again... GoodTimesWithVictor!!
My heart, Scar letting that zombie knock him down to half a heart... playing up like he didn't just watch the lightning bolt mark Pearl's demise. He wanders, calling out to Pearl, asking where she went... quietly giggling and muttering to himself as that zombie pushes at him... GG, Scar. GG.
My goodness, is this the only time we haven't seen the winner die in their perspective? Scar slams that success button for winning the game, gets 5 hearts, turns back, and that's it... That's the game. End scene.
What a LAD!!
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jellieland · 7 months
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It's just like them, thinks Martyn, miserably, To want to make these things stick.
He's always been an "act first, weasel your way out of any potential consequences later," kind of guy, so immediate, painful and permanent consequences to his recklessness strike him as unfair, unwarranted, and quite possibly a personal attack.
But, well. Here he still is anyway. What's he going to do about it?
His ankle burns where the baby zombie clawed at it. His legs ache from the dripstone, and the dripstone, and, yes, the dripstone again, and also walking off Mumbo's house and perhaps slightly misjudging his landing.
His ear keeps ringing and most of his right side stings from the creeper that decided, quite rudely, to sneak up on him and then blow up directly in his face about half a second before he could raise his shield. And the gravel later on, that he'd seen falling but still not managed to avoid, hadn't helped with any of that either.
He can feel blood dripping down his back in no less then five separate places, along with his arm, his shoulder, and the side of his head—that last one bled a lot and got onto his bandanna which was pretty annoying, actually—all from his many encounters with what he thinks were probably, at a conservative estimate, about a billion skeletons.
He doesn't quite glare up at the Secret Keeper. The healing they'd given him had been too much of a relief for that; his vision had stopped swimming, that head wound had stopped bleeding so much, and it was significantly less painful to walk. But the look he gives them is certainly glare-adjacent.
"You do know injuries aren't supposed to stick around like this, don't you?" he mutters, bitterly. "I know you like twisting stuff, but this is ridiculous. It's unnatural, is what it is!"
Someone snorts behind him.
He turns, and he sees Cleo. Neat, meticulous stitches are visible across their skin. Martyn hasn't met many people with scars before, but she's one of them.
The only new one is what looks, ironically enough, like a zombie bite on their arm, entirely healed over.
"It's really not that hard to deal with if you're just patient," she says.
"Ah," he says. "Well. That's my problem right there, then, isn't it?"
"It certainly looks like it," they say, amused. They're laughing at him again. He can't even be mad, since all in all, he totally deserves it.
"Yeah, alright," he says, a bit indignant just for the sake of what remains of his pride. "No need to rub it in! I hope you realize that if healing just worked normally, I'd be doing really well, actually."
"Hmm. Right, you do tend to throw yourself off of cliffs, and then try and work out how you'll save yourself on the way down, don't you?" She gives him a knowing look. "But look on the bright side—when you do die, you'll get to be perfectly healthy again for... I give it ten seconds. After that, you'll start making decisions."
"Hey, I'll have you know I went to the Nether for ages, and got out without a scratch on me that I didn't have when I arrived!" he retorts.
"Oh, so you can be careful, you just choose not to be?" They raise a judgemental eyebrow.
"Well... I mean." He half-shrugs, then winces. "I mean. Yeah. Yes. You know this about me."
There is a brief pause. She gives him an unreadable look, eyes catching on the blood seeping through his shirt. "...Yeah. I guess I do."
He glances over at the Secret Keeper again, bold and unmoving against the unnaturally darkened sky.
When he looks back, Cleo is still watching him. "You didn't even bandage those, did you?" they ask, with a touch of what most people would think was disdain. "Let alone stitch them up."
"I mean, no? It's not like it'll do anything, is it?" he asks, taken aback. "The good old 'Powers That Be' want us to bleed, and they want us to keep bleeding! Who am I to argue?"
She narrows her eyes as though she doesn't quite understand his point. "I'm not saying that would fix it. I don't think any of us are going to live long enough for that method of healing to work." They shrug. "Would make it hurt less, though."
Now it's his turn to narrow his eyes. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah," she says. "At least, so I've heard. For me, it's mostly about making sure I don't start physically falling apart, because it's really inconvenient when that does start happening."
He nods in acknowledgement. "Well, maybe I'll give it a go if I have the time." It all sounds a bit far-fetched to him. Much better to spend time working towards completing the next secret task he gets, or persuading people to give him the healing they have to spare, rather than losing hours on something that wouldn't actually help him in the long run.
(Maybe it's an echo, maybe it's just who he is, but Martyn's time is precious, and he is not giving it up for something so monotonous. Who would find that interesting?)
"Alright," they say. "If you're sure. But no one else is going to do it for you, you know."
He snorts. "Cleo," he says. "You're funny." She, of all people, should know he's already well aware of that.
"Right," they say, dryly. "Well, unless you want anything else I think I'm done here."
"Nah, not really." he says, then pauses. Frowns.
As unconvinced as he is, she really didn't have to say that to him. She deserves at least something in return.
"I will say," he says delicately, "if that advice really does help. You should probably keep it to yourself. You know. Death game, and all that."
All at once, their expression turns cold. "I think it's my business what I choose to give up, actually," she snaps.
Martyn's eyes briefly flick over to the Secret Keeper. "I mean..."
"No. I meant what I said." They cross their arms. "It's up to other people what they choose to do with it. But what I give them is up to me." She glances at the Secret Keeper, and then back to him. "No one's ever been able to tell me what I owe, or don't owe, to anyone." They smirk, and give him a piercing look. "You know this about me."
"...Yeah," he says. "I guess I do."
There is a short silence.
"Well!" He claps abruptly. "I won't keep you!"
"No, you won't," she says. "I'd best be off. This might come as a surprise, but I do actually have better things to do than hang out around Grian's creepy rock all day."
"Fair, fair." He chuckles, and raises a hand in farewell as they leave. "See you around."
Once she's out of sight, he goes back to staring at the Secret Keeper.
It's quiet.
"They're doing pretty well this time, huh?" he says. "If she keeps going like this, she probably won't get another happy ending, will she."
The air is very still, here. It's as though the place is trapped in night, even when he can see the sun in the sky.
The Secret Keeper does not answer him.
"I know you, though," he says. "You won't let it be all about being careful. That would be boring."
The thought nags at him that Cleo hasn't sounded as though they'd found any of this boring. Surely there had to be more to it than what she'd said? There had to be.
If there wasn't, then what was the point of all this pain?
He shifts, and his shoulder twinges, and he hisses quietly with frustration.
"Things already stuck," he says, unhappily. "They already stayed. I thought that was obvious."
The rock just stands there.
Judgemental. Impartial. It's impressive how it can manage to be both.
Martyn sighs heavily, and winces, and turns away. He looks towards his extremely small, entirely copied base, and a place where the sky is capable of letting in the light.
He pokes gingerly at his head wound. It's shallow, but painful.
"Maybe just this one," he mutters. "Could repurpose my bandanna. Although I guess I should probably wash it first. That would be smart." He wipes at his face. "If I don't then blood's going to start getting in my eyes. But not in a cool way, just in a way where I'll fall in a ravine by accident or something."
Nobody responds. That's ok. He hasn't exactly endeared himself to anyone, recently.
In a game that's even more about trust than usual, there's a part of him that doesn't mind being a lone wolf, as it were. At least for now. Harder to stab someone in the back if you don't let them get behind you, right?
He can make this work. He'll just have to adapt. He's good at that, usually! He just has to find the angle.
After all, he may not be patient, but he is persistent.
And he suspects being a liar will come in handy, for this one.
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mentalisill · 4 months
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Ranking every Life Series Member based on how much I could beat them in a fistfight to the death (But I'm overconfident)
Characters not Content creators because I think I would be able to beat up most of the ccs and always winning isn't any fun
Also: I'm basing this off of when they were most insane, so like Griand and Joel when they were red in LL and Pearl in DL, if they haven't gone batshit crazy then whoopsies their loss
Lizzie - I say fairies aren't real and she explodes easy
Etho Slab - I do not think for the life of me that Etho Slab would be able to defend himself against anyone
Mumbo - I don't think I need to explain this one
Martyn In Thy Littlewood - pussy queen cry baby wet cat man I would Punch him and he'd run away to Rendog crying, but also if he gets possessed by the watchers or whatever that as in LimLife I'm dead but I think I could beat him before that happens
Joel Smallishbeans - All I have to do is call him short and he crumbles, although it might take me a few punches to get him down
Jimmy Solidarity - Doomed by the narrative lil canary man
Impulse - You see, you would think "oh impulse is tall and broad he would beat you in a fight" NO! I'll bite his ankles!!!!!!!
Bdubs - He's sneaky!!!! He's my fave!!!!!! he's so amazing!!!!!!! but I would be able to beat him he might've killed the end dragon but he can't kill me
Scott Smajor - Now, this one is tricky, I think I'd be able to beat Scott but I have a fragile ego so if he insults me too much I'll start sobbing
Cleorrrr - I wouldn't be able to hit her at all nope she'd win
Tango - a cheeky fella, has fire hair, I would put up a good fight but since its a fistfight and I don't have a weapon or armor I'm getting cooked alive
Grian - He'd beat me up while making fun of me :(((((((( I'd be on the floor sobbing and it wouldn't be no "I'm sorry!!!!! Scar!!!!! No!!!!" moment no. I'd be crying and he would LAUGH! But if we also take into account WATCHER GRIAN??????? FUCK THAT NOPE IM DEAD
Pearl - She'd kill me no doubt in my mind I am NOT winning this
Scar - He'd swindle me to death ????????? also he's buff
Gem - Uh huh yeah okay no I'm not winning???? No????? I'm just???? not?????? Not only would she kill me but she'd insult me while doing so
BigB, Skizz, Ren - I wouldn't have it in my heart to beat any of them actually I think I would try to hit one of them and it would deflect and I'd hit myself instead
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crystaljellie · 2 months
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I’m doing it I’m yapping.
Okay so my life series fantasy AU
Basically Joel and Jimmy were isekai’d into this fantasy world. Everyone else is already part of the world. Jimmy basically wake up with Grian standing over him (Grian is a parrot Avian in this as per usual) and Jimmy totally freaks out.
And all I know from there is that Jimmy and Grian overthrow Ren and Joel heads to the feywilds and meets Lizzie. Oh and flower husbands meet and kiss by a lake, I’m sure there will be angst I’m getting there
So now actually about the guys
Bdubs
Moss spirit
He lives in the forest and loves to cause chaos
But also he helps people get in an out of his forest because it’s dangerous at night
Being a moss spirit Bdubs body is basically just made up of moss
Bdubs and Grian have issues, and when I say issues Grian causes problems and Bdubs has to deal with the aftermath
BigB
BigB is a fae who lives outside of the fae wilds
He has a bakery in the main city of the kingdom Ren and Martyn rule
He frequently speaks to the royal order something something maybe suspicious things
He’s best friends with Tango who he met through Skizz
Etho
He’s an Arctic fox
He lives in the ice realms which are relatively near the southern realms which is where the kingdom is
Jimmy breaks into his house by accident at some point and Etho just is like
‘This guy is my kid now’
Jimmy has no idea how to escape forcibly assigned son
Scar
A desert elf (desert duo ref)
Scar used to live in the kingdom before moving to the desert realms with Grian (they’re boyfriends)
Scar is a falcon tamer, usually he just tames regular falcons but was called into the city square to deal with a particularly pesky boy which is how he meet Grian
He also still has a wheelchair but it has like magic powers, Scar used his desert elf powers to make it so his wheelchair can drive across sand.
Grian
A Parrot Avian
HE CAUSES PROBLEMS ON PURPOSE
He has little bird legs and he likes to fly onto Scars falcon brace
And he takes shiny things from shops in the kingdom
He’s the one who recommended Scar go back to the desert
Impulse
A Sun Imp
There are lots of different types of Imp’s
Depends which realm they were born it
Impulse was born in the sun realm
Martyn
He’s a wood elf
And he and Ren have issues
Ren and Martyn learn to stop tyrannic ruling
I’m gonna get the watchers involved somehow
He’s being given instructions and visions
He tries to follow them but it only leads to dead ends
Or death
Lizzie
She’s a Fae
And the High Queen of the fae
So she lives in the feywilds
Do her people lowkey kidnap Joel?
Yes but that’s a separate issue
Mumbo
He’s a vampire :3
But instead of drinking your blood he’s more like
Sunburns…
And can’t enter a building without permission
Sometimes you’ll just see Mumbo walking around with an umbrella
Everyone knows he’s a vampire
Sometimes they offer him blood he always says no though he thinks it’s rude of him
Skizz
Skizz is an angel
But he’s also the most unlucky person in the world
He was the first person to buy from Tangos shop and they became good friends because of that
Skizz is aware of the watchers due to his angel origins
Scott
Scott is actually a star born
But he disguises himself as a Sea elf
He lives in solitude behind a waterfall in a flower meadow
He has long elf ears and coral in his hair that looks like it’s arranged slightly like a flower crown
Starborns have the ability to take the magical abilities of their surroundings or their friends, so Scott has magical powers relating to water and flowers, but this can change based on his surroundings in which he can gain additional powers (Water and Flower related powers will not change because he’s lived in the meadow for so long)
Something with him and Acho (his brother) having an argument, causing them to split from each other and adorn disguises heading down to the over realm
Scott has spoken to the royal counsel before but they do not like each other which is why he did not choose to live in the city, He is courteous with them but only really visits the city to speak with Impulse who he made friends with while living in the city.
Starborns being a rarer and more hunted but also very powerful species and kept track of by the royal order so he was mainly there to fill out paperwork
Tango
Tango is a fireborn
Fireborn do not have parents they spawn from fire and are only found in the Nether realms (Not to be confused for the Nether World) At the age of 16 Fireborn creatures will leave the Nether realms to find a home for themselves. The only fireborn who reside pass the age of sixteen are those who are unable to leave or caretakers of fireborn young.
So when Tango was 16 he left to the southern arms to set up a mechanics shop
When Tango gets angry his fire hair goes blue
Tango also had a mechanical arm :3
Pearl
Pearl is a lunar moth
She and Grian are siblings
They cause problems together I love them
I sadly don’t have much for anyone else right now :(
I’m working on it, but they’re my sillies and I can’t wait to make this a fic it’ll be so fun
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riacte · 2 years
Text
You don’t have to love your “soulmate.”
Heck, you can even hate them.
That’s what Cleo and Martyn do. At first, she’s frustrated and upset by how little her so-called soulmate seems to care about her health— their health. Then she sees him with Pearl, the two having emerged from the fiery depths of the Nether, and he’s as nonchalant and as unaffected as always.
And Cleo stops caring.
She punches him and he punches her, and they’re both stubborn, awful, loyal people. Their bruised knuckles are mirrors of each other, they add pain onto layers of pain, fully knowing they’re hurting themselves by hurting the other. But no, Cleo doesn’t care. And ironically, Martyn is on the same page as she is. They’re soulmates, she thinks with a scornful huff, and they share the same views about this stupid connection the universe has oh-so-kindly graced them with. What bullshit.
Because yes, it turns out Cleo and Martyn are similar after all in the sense they don’t like it when the universe decides for them. Cleo chose Scott. She has free will, and her mind is independent from the incessant tug in her heart, thank you very much. Now she chooses to hate Martyn and vice versa.
It’s war. They don’t speak, but it’s war. Cleo stubs her toe in the mines. Martyn runs through prickly bushes. Cleo goes out hunting in the night and Martyn wakes up gasping at the feeling of an arrow through his arm. Cleo’s out with Scott when she abruptly feels flames licking her legs, and it remains there for a suspicious few seconds before she feels the cool relief from water. (Cleo’s not stupid. She knows Martyn has quick reflexes. And she knows he’s petty; she just knows.)
Sometimes neither of them eat. They let the hunger gnaw at them, hollowness in their stomachs, but their hearts ache with pride and stubbornness. It becomes a competition to see who can last longer without breaking. It’s not self harm, because Cleo knows they’re both guarded and all about self preservation. And as much as they bother each other, they don’t laugh when someone eats first. After all, it’s for their own benefit. It’ll be like laughing at themselves.
And it’s not like they ever did something terrible to each other. No, no, no. They just exist and are inconveniently soulbounded. They annoy each other out of spite. It’s their way of rebelling against the fabric of the universe that wraps around them. And as strange as it is, they share the same goals. They’re united in their desire to not be united. They’re twin flames burning independently.
And it’s fine. It’s really fine.
Until Scott dies.
He’s been shaking for a few minutes now, frantically shoving food into his mouth. Cleo’s panicking and messaging Pearl, but she’s not replying. Cleo doesn’t have health potions, she doesn’t know what’s going on, she knows Pearl won’t intentionally harm Scott, but Pearl’s dying, and Scott’s dying, so—
Scott doesn’t even get to say goodbye. Cleo blinks and her chosen partner is gone, leaving behind a hollow suit of armour and half-eaten fish. A flower from his inventory flops lifelessly on the ground.
No.
Scott’s not dead, he can’t be dead—
No.
Scott still has a life left, right? He totally wasn’t on red. He wasn’t on red, despite Cleo seeing him every day. He can’t be dead for real.
NO.
Cleo picks up Scott’s gear, his chest plate over her thumping heart, his trusty sword in her sweaty palm, and she runs.
Hunger throbs inside her, her hearts are low, and she feels wounds on her legs. Martyn must be hurt. Her lungs ache with effort (how does she feel so dead and alive at the same time?) and she doesn’t know whether it’s from him or her. Cleo barges through a thick forest, the branches scratching her face, and she thinks with a vindictive sort of satisfaction that Martyn must be feeling her pain too.
Martyn’s panting and resting on a rock, holding what appears to be the remains of Pearl’s tattered armour. His face is oddly frozen but Cleo knows the grief churning behind his eyes. She doesn’t feel it, but she knows because they’re similar people.
“Pearl died to a mob. I couldn’t save her.”
Cleo flops down on the rock next to Martyn. There’s a sizeable distance between them. Their hearts are half down and neither of them have eaten. They share the familiar aches of hunger and pain and untreated wounds and oh, the grief of losing someone.
Now both of their loyalties are to dead people. Cleo sees the fresh scars on Martyn’s face, the ones she got from running through a forest. He doesn’t do anything about it. She doesn’t do anything about it.
It hurts. They hurt together, yet they’re fiercely determined to not to be.
“Do you want to eat?” Cleo finally asks, because it’s their health that they’re sharing, and while she and Martyn are soulbounded enemies, it doesn’t feel right to do stuff without his consent when he’s next to her.
Martyn shakes his head. Cleo thinks he feels guilty because he and Pearl didn’t part on best terms. There’s a trickle of blood running down his lip. Cleo feels it too.
“Not now,” he says, and Cleo can assume he feels apologetic, because that’s what she would do in his position. Martyn’s suffering, and he wants to have his moment before he’s reminded of his unbreakable ties to Cleo. Their hunger can gnaw at him for a little more, a punishment for how Martyn failed to save Pearl.
They sit next to each other, twin wounds littering their bodies and souls.
It hurts. They hurt.
-
A little inspired by this. Really intrigued by Cleo-Martyn and their potential dynamic.
I don’t want this to be an enemies to lovers thing or even an enemies to friends thing. They’re soulmates who can’t stand each other because they’re so similar. That’s it.
I know I’m being melodramatic here but like, it’s the Life series. We’re all dramatic about block people lol
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sharffffff · 6 months
Text
Joel punched the side of his helter skelter out of exasperation. He had just failed his task, task he was so happy about, a chance to get back at Scott - and the only reason he failed it was his own blumming stupidity. How is it he’s the only one that forgets to put two minecarts above the door instead of one? How come blumming Scott knew it was him from just that one small mistake?
He even hired all the reds - well, not himself, Jimmy hired Martyn for him - to help him with this Scott problem, and even though he has failed, he wasn’t going to tell any of them that that had happened. He still wanted Scott to be hurt, he still wanted to be the cause of that, as a revenge for countless deaths in the past. Joel even gave Jim a Power 3 bow, just to make it so much better.
As he tried to calm himself down with nice thoughts of turning red and murdering Scott on the spot, he tripped, spilling his entire water bucket all over his crops, ruining his day even further. Everything that was able to go wrong, was going wrong.
“Can this day get ANY BLUMMING WORSE?!” Joel shouts at nothing, at the sky, but most of all, at himself. And is if to receive the answer, he heard the loud explosion in the distance. He was almost ready to ignore it as some failed trap, but something catches him. The sense of familiarity. He has heard explosions like this before. Yes, not too many times, he was pretty early to be out far too often, but this sound has still ingrained itself in his memory.
“No, nononono, don’t be Jim, I can’t lose Jim yet,” Joel pulls out his player list, and breathes out the sigh of relief, still seeing Jimmy’s name on the list. Maybe now that he has survived a bit longer Jim will stop believing in that nonsense about canary curse. But who has died then? As he reads through the list, a realization sinks in, and he lets out a deep, guttural scream. This day kept getting worse.
He rushed to spawn, hoping that someone would know something about what happened to Lizzie. How could she die? HOW COULD SHE DIE? He arrived to see Scott explaining that Lizzie brought him to the End to try and push him off the edge, but accidentally looked at the enderman and was the one to be pushed off instead.
Joel stops for a moment, trying to catch his breath as it eludes him, trying to calm his heart. Lizzie died… trying to kill Scott? Trying to do what he, Joel, asked her to do? Did he just send her to her death in hopes that she would help him finish his task? Did him not telling her he failed it kill her? Joel couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t he breathe?
Then he glanced at Scott, looking so smug, telling everyone about how he took a few hits from Lizzie’s axe but got away from the corner. How Lizzie looked at an enderman while trying to look at him. How that enderman killed her. How looking at Scott killed her. How Scott killed her.
Joel could breathe again, but not because he was calm, oh no. His vision went red, how it usually only does when you, well, turn red, and his breaths were still short and heavy, and he was fueled with rage. It wasn’t Joel who sent Lizzie to her death. It was Scott who killed her, it was Scott who sicced the enderman on her, it was his fault, it was entirely his fault.
And even though he could not do anything about it right now, the second he turns red, Scott will be gone, rules be damned. But even the rules of following the tasks instead of just attacking wouldn’t be able to stop Joel from ending Scott’s series. Scott was going to die from Joel’s hand, it was only a matter of time.
Now, though, the only thing Joel could hope for was that this day wouldn’t get any worse.
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nerdyenby · 1 year
Text
Do you see the vision
Tumblr media
Alt ID below the cut
Callum: freaking weirdo, not even good at blending in (literally just collects fox plushies)
FWhip: normal dude, very into engineering (holy crap this planet is so advanced *in 1800s museum*)
Gem: ah yes, normal botanist (actually is just a bunch of bees in a trenchcoat)
Jimmy: literally just the origin of The Spot from atsv
Joel: himbo (hippo)
Joey: he’s so good with kids (magics them into shutting up)
Katherine: works at local craft store, knows too much, probably telepathic (literally just good at reading people)
Lizzie: can definitely communicate with animals (nah, she’s just cool)
Martyn: the man has an emotional support sweater and I respect it (“conceal it, don’t feel it, don’t let it show” /ref)
Meghan: no one is convinced she’s an actual person (she’s merely vibing, guys)
Oli: he’s such a good entertainer (guys he’s an actual magician)
Owen: what a weirdo (is in journalism)
Pearl: this woman has zero impulse control and I love that for her (was programmed that way, don’t worry about it)
Pix: oh this guy’s definitely like me, why else would he be so interested in human culture (legit just an archeologist)
Sausage: bartender who’s oddly calm about how many fires break out on his shifts (he starts more when he’s off the clock tbh)
Scar: oh hey that guy’s definitely an alien, I should talk to him! Oh crap he didn’t know
Scott: wow this guy is everywhere, he must have great time management (nope)
Shelby: she’s so quirky and sheltered haha (will shrivel up an die if deprived of natural light for more than ten hours)
Stacy: wow I haven’t seen her in a while (has been trapped in hell for seven years)
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Text
Watching Double Life- session 1
Part 4
Martyn: By the amount of times you and other me have stumbled into eachother randomly one could reasonably assume you are soulmates.
Pearl: Nope, would have probably been a better experience if he was.
Martyn: Huh.
Scott: I'm more worried everytime you mention anything about your soulmate...who are they!?
Pearl: Ah! You'll see.
~~~~~
Scott: What- what are you doing?
Pearl: Going into the nether, clearly.
Scott: I- why?
Pearl: Why not Scott?
Scott: That's...thats not- you were in iron armor and with almost no food! The nether is dangerous.
Pearl: Yes...and?
Scott: You share your life with someone! And you didn't even know who it was! I- you can't just... waltz in the nether without a plan! It's self- ...uselessly reckless... especially when you aren't the only one that suffers from it...
Pearl: Oh? That's... funny.
Scott: ... What is?
Pearl: You'll see!
~~~~~
Scott: I...don't like this, It's giving me anxiety.
Scar: Well it looks like they are getting everything easily?
Scott: That's...good...very good...but I'm more worried about Pearl's comment... she's been... looking at me...often.
Cleo: Very weird behaviour from her! She looks like she bit a lemon.
Martyn: ... I see it.
Scott: ...Very helpful.
~~~~~
Grian: ...so other me is soulbound to Scar?
Pearl: Yeah mate.
Grian: I...we're soulmates? ...
Pearl: Yeah.
Grian: I- *cough* that's...uh...good for them.
~~~~~
Martyn: He hasn't told him?
Cleo: Oh wow, that is definitely a decision he could have made.
Grian: ...why? Other me, why?
~~~~~
Scott: A game show sounds like a great idea!
Grian: Somehow It's going to go wrong anyway.
Scar: Probably! Very wrong.
Martyn: Obviously.
Pearl: Yep.
Martyn: When does it not?
Cleo: Would it be nearly as fun if it didn't?
Scott: ... Well there goes hoping.
Cleo: Here here Scott.
~~~~~
Scott: *gasp* Pearl? You were soulmates with other me?
Pearl: Yep...
Scott: Oh that's great! It's...wait...
Pearl: ...yep.
Scott: I...did I?
Pearl: You'll see.
~~~~~
Grian: Did he just-
Pearl: Abandon me? He sure did.
Scott: ...uhh...
Martyn: More like you abandoned him.
Pearl: What?!?
Martyn: He's right, he waited and you let him down.
Scott: ...hmmmm...guys?
Cleo: Well this is going to be fun.
Scar: Double Life Scott shouldn't have done that! We know that Pearl searched for a while!
Scott: I...hmmmmmmmmm...can you-
Grian: ...but did he know that?
Scar: Grian? I tought you were on my side!
Grian: I'm not on anybodys side, there are no sides here, I'm just trying to be objective.
Cleo: Since when?
Scott: ...guys? Guys!
Grian: Character development, you should try it.
Scar: Well I still think he shouldn't have.
Pearl: ...Thank you Scar.
Scar: It was wrong of him to just abandon Pearl like that!
Scott: ... I ... I don't think that it was.
Pearl: ... Scott?
Scott: It wasn't kind...but Martyn is right...it wasn't... wrong either.
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Text
“hey, ‘sup?”
grian whirled around, an iron sword flashing into his hand. “who— oh. hey, pearl. doing fine.”
“hi,” the cleaning lady greeted cheerfully, her wings fluttering as she skipped the last few steps of the jagged bridge leading up to grian’s base.
“no flying,” grian smiled.
pearl shrugged. “well, it’s break time. the rules don’t really apply right now.”
”yeah, whatever. what’d you come here for?” grian pulled out an axe and started hacking at the wood of the trees he’d been growing nearby.
she hummed a wistful tune and strolled underneath grian’s structure. “nice place you got here. very interesting.”
“it’s an abstract staircase.”
“it’s a staircase, you’re a nutcase, whatever.” pearl turned around to face grian. “grian, i’m not going to beat around the bush here. this life series feels different.”
“what d’you mean?” grian stopped mid-swing, and his grip tightened on the axe.
“i dunno,” the mounder flopped down on the grass, absentmindedly twirling her sword. evidently, she didn’t think it threatening. or maybe she did. ah, psychological warfare. “it feels more… grounded? like, real. with limited, double life… the gimmick felt so out of reach. a timer ticking down your life? your life being linked to someone else? it felt like something that came down from the heavens.”
pearl paused. grian let the axe drop onto the grass and leaned against the nearest tree, folding his arms. “well?”
“but now… it’s so close. it’s so subjective. we don’t even know if we’ve completed our task yet.” here, pearl grinned. “part of why i failed my second task, heh. but i didn’t figure human interactions were really their kind of thing. usually they throw us the idea and we just go along with it.”
“who’s they?” grian asked, the answer already drumming in his head.
“you know. the watchers.” pearl glanced at grian with a strange spark in her eye. “with a literal sculpture of, well, them giving out the secrets? feels more your kind of thing, if i’m going to be honest.”
“so?” grian said defiantly, already seeing the wave of truth about to crash onto his shore.
pearl sighed. “grian, the life game this time — martyn calls it a death game, haha — it’s not the watchers. it’s you.”
grian swallowed, feeling the sun burning his brown hair. he reached up and ruffled it. “i-i may still be a watcher, but i’m…” he hesitated. “one of the good ones.”
“yeah,” pearl rolled her eyes, “they always said that. ‘we’re here to help’. and here to punish if it’s more entertaining,” she added with disdain. “that’s them, eh? don’t really care if we’re happy or sad, as long as it’s fun to watch.”
grian looked up at the sky, and then at the ground, and groaned. “look, i… i thought it would be fun, alright? just a little— a little game. would be fun to watc- play.” he spit out a curse word in the ancient watcher dialect.
“unfortunately, i understand that,” pearl sighed. “is that why? you were so wound up when scar won the hard task. he’d beaten the system— you. you were the system. and watchers hate losing control.”
“i shouldn’t have gone soft on him. humans are so—”
“grian, careful. you’re turning bad again.”
grian stopped himself. “right, right. right. i’m human, scar’s human. you’re human.”
“grian, why?” pearl looked at him sadly. “why did you want to— put us through this two months of torture again?”
the watcher looked at her, pained. “pearl, i… i promised myself, this life series would be better than the watchers’. it would be fun, and goofy. there was even a slumber party, right? most people at your house since double life, i bet.” grian had to admit, double life was a low blow, and he felt bad immediately, but he was defensive and that was pearl’s greatest chink in her armour.
pearl flinched. “what, and forcing people together is any better? creating fake friendships for the sake of a game? having whispers spread and secrets kept between friends who can’t tell or risk eventual death sounds a more watcher than grian thing, if i’d be honest. i’d rather have true pain than false happiness.”
“this series is different from the other ones. i’m not like the watchers at all.” grian protested.
pearl stood up and kept her sword, her wings wavering from anxiety. “it’s different? when compliments aren’t real and people aren’t themselves? that’s good? mumbo built his house sideways because of bdubs’ task. sure, it’s harmless and funny now, but when the ink the secrets are written in turn to blood…” she shook her head. “it’s not going to benefit anyone.”
“i’m a good person,” grian repeated, trying to calm the thumping in his ribcage.
“are you sure? are you really sure, that when this server, this town is painted red, you wouldn’t watch and bask in the glory of the death and blood? you keep insisting it’s different, but it’s exactly the same as every other time.”
because power is what you crave. there’s watcher in your soul, grian. there’s always been and there still is.
grian wasn’t sure where the words came from. he wanted to blame it on the watchers, but somehow he knew it was coming from himself, his mind pleading with his heart.
“pearl, i—” grian’s wrist beeped. “session’s starting. look, pearl, i’m not sorry, it was a good decision—”
pearl shook her head. “i’m not mad, i’m just… well. gotta get back to do my intro.” she walked two or three steps down the bridge, then stopped and turned back. “got a secret to keep?”
and grian’s heart felt the wind whip across it, harshly lashing it as he watched her leave.
always watching.
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dmwrites · 1 year
Text
So, I was thinking about in-game/storyline reasons for Bdubs not uploading his pov of Limited Life, and it kind of spiraled from “maybe he’s an npc this season” to “well grian would have to do the administrative work to make a bdubs npc I guess” to “well Martyn’s vtuber lore…”, so now there’s this thing. Uh, enjoy?
——
“Bdubs?”
Cleo heard a familiar throat clearing from behind the tree she and Scar were trying to cut down, and called out to whoever was on the other side of the river.
“Ah, Cleo, hello!”
Cleo smiled cheerily at Bdubs, who was approaching them. Scar waved Bdubs over, and they all started working on chopping down the same big dark oak tree.
“Another life series already, can you believe it?” Cleo asked. She couldn’t help but smile- the sun was warm, her friends were all around her, and a new opportunity for good, wholesome murder.
It was natural, the way that she, Scar, and Bdubs fell into an alliance. They were good together, a kind of natural blend of sarcasm and thirst for violence.
But something wasn’t quite right. She shrugged it off at first, thinking it was the general overhanging anxiety of a clock ticking down to death. But no, it wasn’t until the second boogeyman was chosen that she began to realize exactly what was wrong.
When Bdubs had killed Skizz, not even a minute after he had been named boogeyman number two, Cleo hadn’t been paying attention to him. She had been laughing at Scar, and helping him out of the pond he’d fallen into after being rammed by a goat. But when she looked up, to see a death message in chat and Bdubs standing, axe still raised, that same, broad smile on his face.
“Bdubs?”
There was a moment of stillness, where Bdubs stood there, staring off into the space that Skizz had occupied only moments ago. His head then jerked to the side, and he laughed.
“Ah, Cleo, hello. Ah, well, that’s done now.”
Cleo laughed at his laissez-faire attitude, but couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen something from Bdubs that wasn’t right.
“Bdubs! You killed Skizz!” Scar exclaimed, interrupting her thoughts.
Bdubs didn’t respond to that, just smiled broadly as Skizz came over the hill again, swearing up a storm and making everything even more funny.
As much as she’d like to forget the weirdness she felt about Bdubs, it was impossible, since he was right there, cheering her on, joining Scar in calling her Mom. He was being odd, in ways that wouldn’t have mattered to anyone but her. He didn’t wear armor until Cleo gave him some. Whatever was suggested, he happily agreed to. He had that big ol’ classic Bdubs smile, but it was the eyes. There was something missing from his eyes- like they had gone dull and lifeless, like a statue or doll.
“Scar?”
“Hmm? Yes, Mom?” Scar was sitting on the top of the mountain, resting for a moment, and gave a cackle as he spoke.
Cleo elected to ignore that for the time being. “Does something seem a little… off… about Bdubs to you?” She eased herself down next to him.
Scar frowned, and Cleo had to appreciate that Scar, for all of his misgivings and silly nature, took her seriously when it was needed. The two looked towards their rudimentary farm land, where Bdubs was doing some final bits of crop harvesting before the sun fully set. The last rays of sunlight glinted off of the many clocks that hung off of his body. He was planting seeds in a uniform, practiced way, focused on his task without the usual whimsical and jumpy gait to his step.
“No, not really.” Scar said slowly. “But, I will say… isn’t it odd that his skin doesn’t change? We all get reset every season, but he… it’s like his last life season never really left him or something.”
Cleo frowned. Last Life was always close to her mind too, but it had never left any… physical marks. Bdubs looked like a sore that never healed.
“Oh, also, he said this thing I thought was kind of, well, I wouldn’t call it out of character, and it was a throwaway comment at best I suppose, but when he and I were trekking the server with our horses and wares, he said he was content to just watch me, like some kind of hidden camera show. Watching my life. Like he’s just a camera for me. And he’s always egging on my terrible ideas.”
“But he’s always like that- he’s a ‘yes, and’ man. You know that.” Cleo said.
“You’re the one who seems to be worried- why don’t you go talk to him then? I don’t want the family to be broken up so quickly. We already lost Dad.”
Cleo smacked Scar lightly up the backside of his head. “Shut it, boy.”
She did wander out to Bdubs, who was just finishing up the final seed plantings.
“Bdubs?”
“Ah, Cleo, hello!” Bdubs stood up and beamed at her.
“Are you okay, Bdubs?” Cleo asked. “Enjoying your time so far?”
“Of course! I am greatly enjoying this time with my friends!” Bdubs’ face wasn’t changing. He was talking and his mouth was moving, but his eyes still were just that same kind of glassy deadness. It struck Cleo all at once, suddenly, what exactly was wrong. It was the uncanny valley effect that she sometimes got when she made a statue too realistic. Bdubs didn’t look like he was living. It was impossible to tell, most people wouldn’t ever see it, only feel that weird anxiety.
“You’re not the real Bdubs.” Cleo said, trying very hard to keep the tremor out of her voice.
Bdubs’ mouth opened and closed for a moment, those eyes still just as wide and happy as it had been since she’d first seen Bdubs on this sever.
“Bdubs?”
“Ah, yes, Cleo.”
“You say that every time I say your name.” Cleo whispered.
——
“Grian.”
Joel and Jimmy must have wandered off, leaving Grian in the ruins of the mansion (which Cleo secretly giggled about). Grian was typing on his commutator, assumedly some admin stuff to do with the server, but looked up and smiled as Cleo approached.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Sorry to bother you, but I think something is… off about Bdubs.”
For a moment, a flash of recognition and panic appeared in Grian’s face, then smoothed back out. Grian was good at lying, but Cleo had been dealing with misbehavior and liars for a lot longer then he’d even been alive.
“I don’t know w-”
“Don’t bother lying to me, you’ll just embarrass yourself.” Cleo cut him off abruptly. Her head was pounding- she was right, something was wrong. And Grian knew what it was. “What happened to Bdubs?”
“Cleo, that is an administrative issue, not a player issue. That information is private and between only those who need to know.” Grian was talking fast, and his communicator kept beeping- resetting a whole mansion wasn’t an easy task, clearly. He was clearly distracted. “Bdubs being an npc this season is not- oh no.” Grian groaned at his mistake. He closed his communicator and took out his sword. “Okay, so let’s just pretend that I didn’t say that.”
“You really think you can frighten me into silence, little bird?” Cleo crossed her arms and puffed out her chest. She was very scared, she knew how Grian was when he was backed into a corner. And she didn’t even have diamond armor.
“Cleo, listen. I respect you, and I know you care a lot about Bdubs. But let this one go. It’s not… it’s complicated, okay? No one can know, not ever. It’s too…” Grian looked her over, coming to some kind of decision. “Listen, I may not scare you, but I will kill you. If this gets out, I will slaughter you over and over until your out of the series. With no remorse. I promise this.”
Cleo held her ground for as long as she could, jaw set, brain frantically screaming at her to go. “Fine.” She finally said. “It stays here. For now.” She turned and walked away without another word, mentally preparing for an arrow to the back. But nothing came, and she walked until she was beyond the still-smoldering dark oak forest. She could see her allies, Scar and not-really Bdubs, on the mountain, but she couldn’t go there. Not yet.
So she walked in the flat area around spawn, just kind of wandering, mind racing. So Bdubs was some kind of npc- she vaguely knew what that meant. Non-playable. But how could a person be non-playable? It did seem like he has certain things that he said and did- a yes, and man to the extreme, which wasn’t too far off from the man she knew anyway. She had to wonder if being boogeyman hasn’t been part of the script, if that’s why he’d killed Skizz the instant he’d be chosen. But was that even what npc meant?
“But why have an npc?” She murmured to herself, wandering by a small cave opening.
“What did you just say?”
And faster then she’d ever seen him move, Martyn barreled out of the cave entrance, a wild look in his eyes. It was odd to see her old soulmate, and she almost expected a twinge of pain when he tripped over a rock in his hurry over to her.
“Martyn?”
“Cleo, please- did you just say npc?” Martyn was almost shaking, and held out his hands to her. She’d never seen him look so rattled.
“I- yeah.” She cringed, remembering Grian’s threats. “But that’s just between you and me. What, do you know something about that?”
“I- oh my god.” Martyn ran his fingers through his hair. “We need to talk right now. If you know what npc’s are, that changes everything. I- wow.”
“What on earth are you on about, Martyn?” Cleo asked, anxiety rising in her once again.
“I don’t know.” Martyn said. “Well, I do, kind of, it’s just… can we talk?” He gestured to his cave.
“I- yeah, I suppose so.” Cleo replied. It was almost funny, how they were teamed up together by necessity once more. But this seemed a lot bigger then their own souls. Cleo thought of Bdubs and his empty, wide eyes, and it steeled whatever resolve she had inside her.
“So, where to start…”
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fountainpenguin · 7 months
Text
Scott, Gem, and Martyn Secret Life Ep 1 commentary:
"Geez Scott, why are you so creepy?" / "Everyone needs a hobby <3"
Crying at Scott booking it across the grass to break up Scar and Jimmy as fast as humanly possible and they just start huffing and grumbling.
Scott after running into Pearl, Cleo, Jimmy, and Martyn - "I've bumped into every single one of my exes already..."
slkdjf Skizz apparently cut himself saying "I just wanna cause problems" out of his own POV but Scott got it all on tape
Skizz staying within 10 blocks of Gem is even funnier from Scott's POV because he needs Gem to hold his hand while he follows Scott around a corner... The delicate balancing act of obeying Scott's come hither but also pulling Gem along.
The dead silent push in on Scott's face when he notices Gem inching her base away from his and he's dreading starting his "obnoxiously attach your base to someone else's" task over.
Impulse: "Scott, is my cottagecore-ing okay? :)" / Scott, sweating his pretty little head off as he speed-builds so Gem doesn't catch him in the act, not even turning around: "Yep- looks great!"
Gem, emotionally trudging across the map with Skizz and Scott hanging off her.
I appreciate Gem's commentary of "How much room does this man NEED??"
Gem watching Scott un-merge their bases: "Oh, thank you" / Scott: "What do you mean by that. Why is that a relief to you."
---
Impulse and Gem going over the cliff is funnier with the context that Gem's task was to convince someone to "take a leap of faith while also ensuring they take no damage."
Mental image of Gem begging Impulse to take a flying jump into the water while Impulse is grabbing her by the shoulders and trying to force her into a cherry wood boat because it's cherry wood it's amazing Gem come on slkdjf
Gem: "How much more iron do you need for a chestplate?" / Impulse, taking a moment to pretend to count: "... 8 :)"
Gem, addressing the viewers: "And Skizz follows me around for an uncomfortable period of time."
In Scott's POV, he's just watching unhappily from the distance as Gem starts taking down her wall, but in Gem's POV she actually asked him if she can move her base over and he's just like "Yeah... Yeah, you can if you want to :')" slkdfj
Underappreciated irony in Scott being the one to make a big deal about how clingy Skizz is when he's literally fusing his base's roof with Gem's
It's spawn egg-topia!!
Scott: "I'm making the executive decision to separate our cottages." slkdjf Scott recovers from being possessed by the spirit of clinginess and wakes up like "What HAPPENED last night?? What is this garbage??"
---
Holy cow Martyn dropping from 30 hearts to 12 within like 20 minutes.
lksdjf Martyn: "Let's see if there's any response in the chat to my Cover Me With Diamonds achievement :)" / Gem, Scott, and Impulse immediately triple enchant / Martyn: "Oh :'D"
??? Custom zombie spawner? Neat
He started at 30 and went down to 5.5 hearts?? Geez, dude.
It's funny because in Double Life, I didn't notice Martyn taking that much damage compared to anyone else, but I feel like now I understand why Cleo was so irritated with him lskdjf
Martyn at the start of this episode: "Ew I don't want cherry wood" / Martyn trying to complete his secret task: "Where is all the cherry wood??"
Martyn speedbuilding in panic and quiet, then Joel cracks a joke and Martyn laughs and you hear Bdubs offscreen going "You got Martyn with that one" <3
sdfklsjdf I like how Martyn's idea of copying Lizzie's house involved rushing over to hers and destroying her bed to match the fact that his copied house did not have a bed
Wheezing at Impulse being just 2 steps from pushing the success button but Martyn starts trash-talking cherry wood and Impulse immediately goes "Take that back, take that back right now!" with this guttural snarl and starts stomping towards him because he wasn't cured from his cherry wood obsession yet... Beautiful.
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jellieland · 1 year
Text
Gem Cleo watches Scott leave. He's throwing wary glances over his shoulder at the tower that has what looks to her like a big red curly moustache on it.
It's always nice to see him, and this is a bit different to their usual encounters, which is really refreshing every now and then.
She pulls out the pufferfish he gave her and smiles at it brightly. "Hey there little guy!" She says. It stares back at her with unblinking black eyes.
"Dunno if you can call me a little guy when you're on a team with Bdubs, but sure, hey Cleo!"
She startles slightly. It's Martyn. He's not actively stabbing her, and apparently they're allies, so she turns to face him without much concern. "Hello Martyn!"
He's leaning against the rocky wall of the clock tower. He grins at her, and for a split second, his gaze flashes over to where Scott is disappearing into the trees across the river. "You still remember that thing I told you about last time, right?" He asks, giving her a meaningful look.
"Oh, yes, of course, absolutely!" She nods enthusiastically. "How could I forget!" It's funny, no-one else has really prodded at the details of Cleo's, uh, "amnesia cold", as much Martyn, although he's for sure just completely making things up to ask her about.
He looks highly amused. "Right, right, good. Just checking."
He glances over at the treeline again.
"So!" He says, and it's so very casual that it's a little bit concerning, "Don't suppose you'd let me know if Cleo's listening along or not?"
"Martyn!" She exclaims. "I'm-"
"Yeah, you are Cleo, I know, I know. Just." He pauses.
There's something in his eyes, suddenly, that gives Gem the impression that if she says the wrong thing here, something will be lost. She can't tell what, or why, or how. But it's a feeling she can't quite ignore.
After a second, Martyn shakes himself slightly and continues. "Actually, you know what, it doesn't matter. I-"
"No. She's not." Gem watches curiously as he goes very still. "I'm gonna tell her about it later, though."
"Huh." He says. It sounds very nonchalant. "Right. Well. Don't suppose I could tell you a secret, then?" He gives her a conspiratorial look. "Just you, I mean."
Gem leans in a little, intrigued despite herself. "I shouldn't..."
"Oh come on, you know you want to."
"Weeeeell..." She jumps in place a couple of times, and then nods quickly. "Alright, go on then!" He opens his mouth, and she quickly raises a finger to point at him, narrowing her eyes. "But! If it's something Cleo would want to know, I do have to tell them. It wouldn't be fair otherwise."
He considers for a moment, and nods. "Sure, seems fair enough to me. Trust me, though, Cleo would not want to be bothered by this. They have better things to worry about."
"I'll be the judge of that!" She pauses for a moment. "Because that's me." Another beat. "Because I'm Cleo."
He chuckles. "Well, Cleo, I just wanted you to know that I get it now." He says, lightly.
A few seconds pass.
"Um. Ok?" She says, because he seems to be waiting for her to respond. "Uh, I mean." She goes back to her perfect and beyond reproach Cleo impression. "Right. I understand what you're saying completely, Martyn."
He raises an eyebrow, grinning. "Well that's impressive. And here I thought I was being pretty cryptic."
"Oh. Um, I mean, what are you talking about? Explain yourself!"
He laughs, expression almost nostalgic. "Ah, I just meant I get why you chose him, last time." Once more, he looks over at where Scott disappeared from view. This time, he doesn't look back.
Gem frowns a bit, and stays silent. It feels wrong to speak.
"I wondered about that a lot, you know." He sounds vaguely wistful. "But I get it, now."
There is quiet for few more seconds before Martyn looks back at her, and the spell is broken.
He looks cheerful. There's nothing in his expression to suggest that he isn't.
"I think it's mostly that you and him are the only two on the server who have the slightest bit of common sense, honestly." He says. Something suddenly seems to occur to him, and he snorts. "Pretty sure he's alright at math, too."
"Oh, really?"
"...You know, I'm not sure actually."
He meets her eyes. His are just starting to turn the bright red of danger, the colour creeping in at the edges of the blue.
"He keeps his allies alive." He says. "For as long as he can. Even when it hurts him. Wasn't even a choice for you, really, when you consider that."
There's obviously something here she doesn't understand, but what exactly it is she doesn't know. "Good for him." She says awkwardly.
"It's not, really." He says.
"Oh. Um. Bad for him?"
He laughs at that. "Sort of, yeah." He looks down at the pufferfish she's still holding. "Alright for you though, right?" Before she's decided how to respond, he continues. "I just thought you'd like to know that if I were you, I would've chosen him too."
Gem frowns at him. There's something here. There's something here, but while she can certainly guess, she just doesn't have the context to know what that something is.
She listens to the noises of the river for a while before she speaks.
"Are you sure Cleo wouldn't want to know that?" She asks softly.
To his credit, he does appear to consider it, staring out over the river and frowning slightly.
After a minute, though, he looks back at Gem and shrugs. It almost looks resigned.
"Cleo already knows." He says.
She opens her mouth, but he keeps talking.
"Plus she would not appreciate being reminded of how similar we are." He grins, his expression suddenly sly. "And anyway, I completely made all that up. That was a test to see how good you were at being Cleo, and you failed."
"Hey!" She yells indignantly. "What! No! That's so rude!" She draws her sword and he cackles, dancing back.
"Ha, you should've seen your face!"
She glares at him. "Why are you so good at acting, huh?"
He raises an eyebrow. "Aren't we all?"
"No!"
He snorts. "Yeah, I guess not. Just pure skill on my part, then."
Gem shakes her head at him, exasperated. How much of that was true, she has no clue. But if that's how he wants to play it, that's ok. "How about this: I won't tell Cleo about any of that so long as you don't try and mess with me again."
"What?" He gasps and claps a hand to his heart. "I thought you were Cleo!"
She narrows her eyes and raises her sword, and he hurries to continue, holding up his hands in surrender.
"By which I mean yeah, sure, sounds good to me am I right?"
"Good." She nods firmly. "That's what I thought you meant."
He nods back at her a couple of times, then starts to retreat towards the river, still facing her. "Well. See you, Cleo!"
"Bye! If you see Etho tell him to be afraid!" She shouts after him.
"Will do!"
And he disappears into the trees after Scott.
What an odd man.
She wonders if he knows that she wouldn't have told Cleo if he'd just genuinely asked her not to, without the deal or the confusion or the trickery. She's genuinely not sure if he realizes that.
She still doesn't know how much of all that was genuine.
She wonders if he does.
For some reason, she suspects not.
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