#impulse is a good influence on Etho

[paziffic]

OK NEW DOUBLE LIFE EPISODE WOOO!

Impulse’s video really got me thinking about this post by @sarioh : https://sarioh.tumblr.com/post/687594066112905216/i-think-a-fundamental-difference-between-ethubs-in

This ep we really got to see the contrast between Etho and Impulse when it comes to bravery. In fight, fright or flight situations, Etho seems 95% flight and Impulse is more like fight. Impulse is careful, no doubt, but his bravery was shown dozens of times in this ep. He goes in first everywhere. He willingly offers two of his chances to setting off the warden, knowing full well that if he accidentally triggers a third shriek thing, the warden will come for him directly. During the first few sirens while everyone (literally everyone: etho, grian, Martyn, big b, ren) go running, impulse stays behind to set up the red stone trap. You can tell he is afraid, setting up the trap backwards and fumbling, but he keeps doing it. Throughout the video he is the only one to consistently keep a level head and work towards their goal. When he thinks it’s safe, Impulse takes off ALL his armor to enchant it as quick as possible. This guys bravery comes naturally and in surplus, when he is with himself and with others.

Onto Etho. Etho man, buddy, PLEASE pay more attention to minecraft updates.

Anyway, This guy has a weird relationship with bravery and bdubs.

He agrees to going to the most dangerous area in ALL of minecraft after bdubs proposed an allyship. If Etho was interested in an allyship (“we can set you up a third bed in the house!”) then he should go and enchant their things. Etho, a yellow life and known survivor who is very content with his relationship with Joel, agrees to Bdubs’ offer. Something something he regrets being a coward last season something something he can redeem himself by going with bdubs’ current partner something something he wants to be brave for bdubs.

On their trip, Etho antagonizes Impulse going like “ooh bdubs wanted to get rid of you didn’t be? He was like please get Impulse out of my hair.” And Impulse just stays completely unfazed. “Well, we have been pretty inseparable since day one. I don’t blame him, everyone needs a bit of me time.” Not to mention, earlier in the episode, Etho remarked he was surprised their relationship lasted that long. Someone is not handling the breakup very well.

On the first shrieker alert, Impulse stays and builds while Etho runs and hides with no hesitation, allowing Impulse to build the machine by himself. He stays, crouching in the corner, as Impulse loses his second chance of setting off the warden.

Bravery is something that never came naturally to Etho. But as time went on, Etho starts putting down torches, joking about blowing his horn, keeping an eye out for any more sensors.

This conversation between the two perfectly encapsulates Ethos growth:

Etho: “I feel like the more I’m here, the more complacent i get. It’s like ‘ah whatever.’”

Impulse: “you started to get a little brave.”

Etho: “…well careless might be the right word. But brave is a better word, I like that.”

He stays next time a shrieker goes off, just asking Impulse if the warden spawned. He plans with Impulse on which structure to go into, reminding him to sneak. He walks side by side with Impulse to the enchanter.

They work together, as one this time to set up the Piston machine when grian set off the warden.

Idk something about the “you’re a legend, man you’re still here!” And there “you survived, well done!” How by the end, the third time impulse triggered it, neither run off into the dark. They stand back to back, Etho for once staying to fight with a partner whose life was independent of his.

By the end, when two wardens spawn, it is Impulse who finally towers up. IMO this is the most establishing thing of his character: he can leave when he towers up. All of his armor and weapons are enchanted. He chooses to stay to keep watch of the warden and make sure the others, especially Etho, make it out ok. He warns Etho when the warden is coming from both directions, and yells at him to run or hide when he thinks it’s unsafe.

It’s Etho who stays on the ground, trying to get his gear enchanted even though it could cost him his life. Etho finally does what he always does and runs. But this time, it is because of Impulses and everyone else’s command to save himself.

#wooo anyway I might add more after ethos video is out #impulse is a good influence on Etho #this was fun yippee #mcyt #double life smp #dlsmp #dlsmp spoilers #double life smp spoilers #ethoslab #impulsesv

[lectern-fullcauldron]

oh! I just remembered that pearl helped with grian's interiors for the season seven mansion and xisuma built her sandcastle in the desert by his base. even if she wasn't yet on the server, she still made an impact on the world

#hermitcraft #good to reblog #im thinking about the little influences the hermits have over each other tonight #with all the collaborative builds and bits of inspiration shared #and i came to know pearl's channel as her being one of grian's build team for his videos #and then I looked at what she was up to and it was a massive bee sculpture in Minecraft #because pearl is a madlad #it makes me so happy when one of them just offhandedly says oh [hermit] helped with this #or when they build another hermit's redstone design and pretend to not know who the mysterious redstoner [name pronounced incorrectly] is #like yeah get that impulse sorter or that tango iron farm #put in an etho hopper clock

[melodiclune]

It starts eerily calm.

And he craves revenge, more than anything. It's too late to search for allies, friends- people. Only redemption for himself exists now.

Tango falls, and he feels satiated, however briefly. He goes around, person by person- trusting no one, yet communicating and trading with everyone. As is his job, of course, as an honest Trader Scars' owner.

Skizz is next. He lets him go, even though the bloodlust is there. He lets Joel take it- he's gotten a good fill of his betrayal for now.

("Scar sends his regards.")

A fond farewell, to perhaps the only place he ever called his own- Trader Scars' may be destroyed, but it lives on in him.

Bigb takes so, so many hits. It's so tempting to get him. But he lets it go- he has some cowards hiding up in the tower to deal with.

("He sounds like a wounded wild animal- I feel so bad! Let's put him out of his misery.")

Etho goes down. It's like the apocalypse all over again- this time it's permanent. The villainous behaviour once forced down his throat, now devouring him as he lets it consume all his goodwill.

Bigb falls- it's just as quick as every other death so far. Cleo is trapped- it's so easy, really, to drive the sword through her back as he watches her bleed out. ("Goodbye!")

They fall, fall, fall... and Scar is always there at the sight of the bloodshed.

(Except for the Watcher- he dies, completely away from any place Scar could influence. How odd.)

And then, it's down to two sides. Scar wonders briefly, about how he has worked with both. But he sticks with the side he's on already- after all, switching now would be too much work. There's better numbers on this side anyway.

("Who cares- we all die anyway. It's all nothing.")

Bdubs and Joel fall- all he can do is stare as they do, a small attempt at saving them not going any farther than their attempts at befriending him.

Shooting Impulse off feels good, like killing everyone else did. The bloodlust remains strong.

Pearl helps him damage Scott a hefty amount- and later Gem comes to them, tears in her eyes and blood on her hands. He knows what has happened. She looks renewed, but broken.

He drives the sword through Gem, and then there were two.

Of course, there was never a true alliance to begin with. He's too tired of everyone's half hearted promises to him anyway. Pearl falls- he barely notices, the zombie capturing his attention.

("Pearl- where are you?")

(The Watcher speaks from beyond the veil. "She's dead, Scar. You've won.")

"Well, that can't be right. How did the guy with no friends win?"

He laughs, a bitter one. The zombie is attacking him- he feels himself succumb to it, but the numb feeling is overpowering.

Out of muscle memory, he trudges his way to the beginning of it all. The end of it all. The secret keeper hands him health, like it always does. Does he need it anymore?

("Win Secret Life.")

Well. He's completed his task. Time to move on.

But he sits there, by the Secret Keeper. The sun is bright in the sky, the blood on his hands drying.

It ends, eerily calm.

#secret life #secret life spoilers #goodtimeswithscar #trafficblr #mcyt #life series #my posts #melodies

[blackdiamond1038]

Secret Life Secrets

Session 7

Red- Failed

Green- Successful

All players who are infected have their task changed, so instead of having the same task at the end of almost everyone’s task, it will just be [infected]. This means their task then changes to Gem’s, which is stated below.

Gem: You are infected with the boogeyman curse. You must kill a non-red to infect them. Once you have infected them, show them this book. Their task (if they have one) is replaced with this. Yellows cannot call out this task, and you cannot re-roll for hard. You succeed when all non-reds have the curse during the session. All infected players can work together. Anyone infected can kill a non-red, but the most recently infected player must be involved. If you turn red, you can choose to be free from the curse by hitting fail early.

Scott: You must ask other players what you can do for them in exchange for diamonds. They set the amount and the task. You succeed when you have made a total of 10 diamonds from at least 3 other players. You must accept their first offer of  diamonds, and cannot convince them to give you more.

Grian: The next mob (aggressive or neutral) is now your pet. You must properly  take care of it by feeding it and taking it for walks. You fail if it dies or yellow calls out your tasks.

Pearl: You must actively break the fourth wall during conversations. You must turn to the camera and provide your inner monologue to the audience and return to the conversation without missing a beat. You can mute to break the fourth wall. You pass if no one has called you out by break time. You must actively participate in conversations. [infected]

Joel: Whenever you talk to another player you must be at least one block higher than them, even if you place the block yourself. You fail if you speak to someone while on the same level or lower. You pass if you successfully do this all session. [infected]

Etho: You are ZombieCleo’s Devil on their shoulder. You have to convince them to do bad and harm others. ZombieCleo has to choose one to act on. You can tell them about this task, but no one else. [infected]

Skizz: You are ZombieCleo’s Angel on their shoulder. You have to convince them to do good and not listen to the devil on their shoulder. ZombieCleo has to choose one to act on. You can tell them about this, but no one else. You pass if you have convinced them to take your advice more than the devil by the end of the session. [infected]

Cleo: Skizzleman and Etho are the angel and devil on your shoulder. You must pretend that you do not know when they tell you their tasks. You must alternate between taking the angel and the devil’s influence on decisions without them getting suspicious. [infected? idk it was messy but they didn’t press the succeed or fail button]

Tango: At the start of the session, announce in chat that you are a Genie and can grant 3 wishes. Only one wish per player. You succeed if you grant 3 wishes, however, you must get some part of the wish wrong (how much wrong is up to you). [infected]

Scar: Become the villain of the server. Grief. Steal. Seek server world domination. You pass if you are actively disliked by the majority of the other players. [infected]

Impulse: Pretend to be the “Boogeyman.” Fake swing at people, place lava behind them with no intention of causing damage, etc. If at least 3 people accuse you of being the boogeyman, you pass. [infected]

BigB: Make everyone believe you failed your task, but when you are asked what is was, you must make up something. You cannot use the same fake task twice. You fail if you are called out and pass if you successfully tell each player a fake task. [infected]

Bdubs: Everytime someone asks you to do something, you have to repeat back what they said in a high-pitched, sassy voice. You pass if you are not called out by a yellow half way through the session. [infected]

Martyn: Task 1: Punch another player into lava. It can be lava you have placed. Task 2: Cause any amount of damage to a non-red using an anvil. Task 3: Summon a mob using an egg to deal any damage to any green. Task 4: Strike a deal with a non-red to cause at least 3 hearts of damage to another non-red. You succeed when they have dealt the damage. Task 5: Mine a big hole underground then spleef a player into taking damage into it. [Unfinished this session]

I’m pretty confident no one succeeded before being infected, but I could be wrong. I also know that not everyone presses the fail button who was infected, but they all technically failed. Idk, this session was a nightmare for me.

On a different note, Jimmy’s whole canary curse with everything exploding after he dies is still very much working. He may not have died first, but his death was still a symbol for chaos to come.

lemme know if something’s messed up!

#grian #secretlifesmp #dangthatsalongname #bigb #secretlife #bdubs #bdoubleo100 #smallishbeans #goodtimeswithscar #geminitay #impulsesv #impulse #skizzleman #skizz #tangotek #jimmy solidarity #solidaritygaming #martyn #martyn inthelittlewood #etho #ethoslab #zombiecleo #pearlescentmoon #bdoubleo #trafficlifeseries #trafficlifesmp #trafficblr #secretlifespoilers #trafficlife #next session theres gonna be so many reds so there’s gonna be so many tasks 🫠

[were-changing-cake-vaults]

For the Ocean's Calling / Dredge AU: how would the other members of Magic Mountain (Imp, Scar, Skizz, Joel, Mumbo) or anyone else nearby be affected? If not being affected, then they'd probably be very worried of those who are affected.

Like, Etho and Gem is getting a tunnel that runs between their bases and connects to the river, which runs underneath Tango's base

(If you don't really have a idea for any of them yet, that's fine!)

The Thing In The Ocean’s radius of effect isn’t entirely a circle. It more or less surrounds the entirety of Magic Mountain and spreads out from there, with various levels of intensity at each little tendril of influence. That being said:

Scar: farthest from Gem (iirc), not very influenced by the ocean and oblivious to what’s going on besides that someone emailed Grian about sending people into space

Joel: Immune to lore, therefore immune to any sort of weirdness that tries to get at him. Is looking at the fishing squad with various levels of “weird but okay”

Impulse: got a mending book, Ocean was like “alright man ur good”. Grian is more upset about this than Impulse is used to.

Skizz: His brand of shenaniganery intimidates the Ocean but he’ll fish with the gang for friendship reasons. Is more intuitive than people realize.

Mumbo: see here

Tango: It’s affecting his house more than it’s affecting him. There’s grossness in his basement and in his pipes. He doesn’t really appreciate that.

#woosh answers #anonymous #oceans calling au #smallishbeans #goodtimeswithscar #impulsesv #skizzleman #tangotek

[secret-task-tracker]

Session 7

!!Spoilers Below!!

*updated to reflex Cleo's task status

Record number of fails this session, damn.

Grian:

"@/jonahfickin747 The next mob (aggressive or neutral) is now your pet. You must take care of it by feeding it and taking it for walks. You fail if it dies or a yellow calls out your task"

Status: Achieved

Joel:

"Whenever you talk to another player you must be at least one block higher than them, even if you place the block yourself. You fail if you speak to someone while on the same level or lower. You pass if you successfully do this all session."

Status: Failed (ty for the clarification @/lavendwer)

Scott:

"You must ask other players what you can do for them in exchange for diamonds, they set the amount and the task, You succeed when you have made a total of 10 diamonds from AT LEAST 3 other players. You must accept their first offer of diamonds, and can not convince them to give you more."

Status: Achieved

BigB:

"@/jarnoo7154 Make everyone believe you failed your task, but when you are asked what it was, you must make up something. You can not use the same fake-task twice. You fail if you are called out and pass if you successfully tell each player a fake task."

Status: Failed (by virtue of boogie-fication)

Etho:

"You are ZombieCleo's Devil on their shoulder, you have to convince them to do bad and harm others. ZombieCleo has to choose one to act on. You can tell them about this task, but no one else."

Status: Failed (by virtue of boogie-fication)

Bdubs:

"Everytime someone ask you to do something, you have to repeat back what they said in a high-pitched sassy voice. You pass if you are not called out by a yellow half way through the session."

Status: Failed (by virtue of boogie-fication)

Pearl:

"@/anon766 You must actively break the fourth wall during conversations. You must turn to the camera and provide your inner monologue to the audience and return to the conversation without missing a beat. You can mute to break the fourth wall. You pass if no on has called you out by the break time. You must actively participate in conversations."

Status: Failed (by virtue of boogie-fication)

Scar:

"Become the villain of the server. Grief. Steal. Seek server wide domination. You pass if you are actively disliked by the majority of the other players."

Status: Failed (by virtue of boogie-fication)

Impulse:

"@/Jazzaniahtennyson1009 Pretend to be the "Boogeyman". Fake swing at people, place lava behind them with no intention of doing damagem etc. If at least 3 people accuse you of being the boogeyman, you pass."

Status: Failed (by virtue of boogie-fication)

Tango:

"@/CherubimCW At the start of the session. announce in chat that you are a Genie and can grant 3 wishes, however you must get some part of the wish wrong (how much is up to you)"

Status: Failed (by virtue of boogie-fication and the fact that he didn't cash it in before getting boogie-fied)

Cleo:

"Skizzleman and Etho are the angel and devil on your shoulder. You must pretend that you do not know when they tell you their tasks. You must alternate between taking the angel and the devils influence on decisions without them getting suspicious."

Status: Acheived ("based on vibes" [Ty for the clarification @/killingsorcererhypnosis!!])

Skizz:

"You are ZombieCleo's Angel, you have to convince them to do good and not listen to the devil on their shoulder. ZombieCleo has to choose one to act on. You can tell them about this task but no one else. You pass if you have convinced them to take your advice more than the angel by the next session."

Status: Failed (by virtue of boogie-fication)

Gem:

"You are infected with the Boogeyman curse. You must kill a non-red to infect them. Once you have infected them, show them this book. Their task (if they have one) is replaced with this. Yellows can not call out this task, you can not re-roll for hard. You succeed when all non-reds have the curse during the session. All infected players can work together. Anyone infected can kill a non-red, but the most recently infected player must be involved. If you turn red, you can choose to be free from the curse by hitting fail early"

Status: Failed

Red Tasks:

Martyn:

"Punch another player into lava. It can be lava you have placed"

Status: Achieved

"Cause any amount of damage to a non-red using an anvil."

Status: Achieved

"Summon a mob using an egg to deal any damage to any green."

Status: Achieved

"Strike a deal with a non-red to cause at least 3 hearts of damage to another non-red. You succeed when they have dealt the damage."

Status: Achieved

"Mine a big hole underground then spleef a player into taking damage into it."

Status: end of session'd

In loving memory of:

Lizzie, Timmy, and Mumbo

If I made any mistakes tell me please k thanks byeeeeee

#secret life #secret life smp #life series #traffic smp #secret life spoilers #life series spoilers #traffic smp spoilers #secret task tracker #long post #this session was not good for my heart #well... the good thing about losing red names is less videos I need to watch #yes... I technically watch all episodes

[wolfclaire]

Referring to a comment I made on Ao3 about Tilly calling Grain an oversized chicken I want to know what everyone is called in Tillys Lil eye beads

Hi, thank you for your ask!

So, I went through everyone that Tilly has met (which is, suprise suprise, basically everyone that is in Double Life XD). Some will be influenced by what Pearl had told Tilly (*cough cough* Scott and Martyn *cough cough*), and some will be also judged by their petting abilities ;)

Bdubs - too loud but good food

BigB - person that doesnt want to give pets q-q

Cleo - trustworthy Zombie, soft and delicate pets

Etho - foxman with light pets

Grian - oversized chicken, hurt Pearl, must bite, enemy >:(

Impulse - gentle person, gentle pets

Jimmy - tiny birb, good pets tho

Joel - PETS, SO MANY PETS, HEAVEN

Martyn - meanie :(

Pearl - owner, mother, bestie, best pets ever <3

Ren - dogman, yet no pets q-q

Scar - sad man, hurt man, needs cheering up

Scott - bigger meanie >:(

Tango - warm person, warm pets

Spider Gem - bestie, many arms = many pets, must protect :<

Dragon Gem - oversized bat, enemy >:(

Zombie Gem - mean enemy Zombie, deserves to be bitten more >:(

#alone together #alone together ask #tilly the dog #bdubs #bigbst4tz2 #zombiecleo #ethoslab #grian #impulsesv #jimmy solidarity #joel smallishbeans #martyn inthelittlewood #pearlescentmoon #renthedog #goodtimeswithscar #scott smajor #tangotek #geminitay #spider gem #dragon gem #zombie gem

[gr1an]

look I mean you already said you have a healthy appreciation for rare polyships so--

I mean if you happen to have any fic recommendations? or even current / past headcanons that make you feel emotions? plz and thank you :)

important warning: everything here is probably going to have some level of nsfw, and probably a lot at that. i think the first fic is the only one that’s rated lower than E. bc as an adult reading a romance about adults that doesn’t involve sex (unless the characters are asexual) doesn’t like. it’s not realistic. for me. there are some characters that i 100% in my head know that they would fuck before even considering saying “i love you” and that influences what fics i read. also i really really don’t see sex as that big of a deal most of the time, for characters i see it as just another facet of them that is interesting to explore!! anyway let’s get into this!!

OH BOY so this fic made me get into clockers and the later ones in the series are nsfw but they’re also Very Good! it’s bdubs x impulse x scar in double life and i’m not super 100% down with the grian characterization but it’s still good!!! https://archiveofourown.org/works/40337673

this one is also very explicit but it’s jimmy x grian x doc in a hypothetical new season of secret life and it’s silly with a/b/o dynamics and i like the way it’s explored and how the trios get set up and i’m not sure if i finished it? but from what i remember it’s v good https://archiveofourown.org/works/40628835

THIS ONEEEEEEE OMG yeah it’s “bdubs and joel are Totally Normal About the other’s relationship with etho” https://archiveofourown.org/works/51115180

this one is fun. two brats (scar and grian) make a dom and tango is just along for the ride https://archiveofourown.org/works/45468820

AAAAAA THIS ONE THAT FOREVER CHANGED HOW I SEE THE SL ROOMIES DYNAMIC!! grian/cleo/etho/gem wonderfulness as an a/b/o au https://archiveofourown.org/series/3859900

ok that’s enough for now i’m scared to recommend any more bc this so far has been. a pretty sfw account? and i’m cool with it staying that way. just. insight into how i think about dynamics. sex is in fact a big part of what i consider! there’s probably more to unpack bc of the years i spent as a mormon with that whole. lack of even being able to talk about sex that has made me so adamant about including it in how i see characters.

#there’s probably more to unpack bc of the years i spent as a mormon with that whole #lack of even being able to talk about sex that has made me so adamant about including it in how i see characters #shipping #fic #asks #suggestive #lumineight

[liloinkoink]

I know you're suffering, but personally I love bad dating sims and I'm having the time of my life. and I'd love to know more about the game and/or isekai's hypothetical plot

one, please know this is how this cut off in my notes.

two, yes of course. i would love nothing more

i’m putting this under a cut actually

the game plot i think i mostly got most of the information out in asides and can be pieced together in the fic—player starts at the engagement party, picks a love interest, and then does what they can to get rid of the villain and get a happy ending. most of what i came up for as far as routes and endings goes is in the fic itself, since Martyn took the entire party to just throw out ridiculous and annoying amounts of exposition, as is isekai standard. i honestly had a lot of fun coming up with those—i did bounce the game plot around in a gc, so they’re not 100% mine, but i thought what we came up with was pretty clever

stuff about the game i couldn’t fit because there was no reason to even come up with it, but would influence martyn’s actions if this wasn’t a oneshot, includes like. the way the game works, you only pick one person at the party, and the rest of them sort of drop off out of the plot. if the player picks, say, cleo, then impulse goes home to his kingdom, etho is standoffish and you don’t talk much to him, and Scar will mostly avoid genuine conversation on account of committing so much crime. there are opportunities to change your route later—impulse will write you a letter somewhere mid game, maybe, or you have a random encounter w etho or scar—but switching from your chosen love interest mid-game greatly increases the chance of getting one of their bad ends

Martyn doesn’t actually know the endings that well. he knows the parts of the game Ren is in pretty well, but the good ends? not so much. had i written more of this, that’d probably have caused him problems—there’s probably crucial information on character motivations and such in those—but eh.

(i sort of wanted to include some neutral ends, but that seemed like too much work)

as for the rest of the fic’s hypothetical plot, there were actually two!

we did actually come up w some ideas for if the fic proceeded as a normal isekai, mostly in that we all got wildly invested in isekai treebark. personal favorite message in that particular part of the conversation:

Ren is genuinely a compelling character in this fic to me (the hardest part of writing this was truly trying to pretend he wouldn’t be deeply beloved in fandom tbh), like. again, i alluded to a lot of this without directly saying it or said it in parts, but Ren’s pretty lonely/insecure here in this piece. he’s trying to do what he can for his kingdom, have a relatively pleasant marriage with someone who could at least be a friend.

and yet. who are bdubs’s romance options, to Ren? the captain of the guard who is supposed to be trusted to keep him safe? the financial advisor who is supposed to help keep his country afloat? two foreign powers who he’d want to keep the peace with, who could lead armies to his door? his fiancé colluding with any of these people is a horrifying prospect, especially if he doesn’t know it’s ‘for love’—it could just as easily be purely a bid for power. and really, it’s not paranoia if they’re really out to get you. he goes from sort of uncertain about the whole thing to his trusted people suddenly turning on him, accusing him of being a villain and keeping apart true love while he’s simply trying to follow the life set out for him to be a good king. when he loses that path he sort of just. loses his mind. listen ren has not done anything wrong i’m an AtPM Ren apologist listen—

speaking of ren apologists. Martyn was also a pretty lonely and an entirely purposeless person before meeting the micra, which. he wouldn’t directly address or acknowledge it, but this familiarity with what Ren is feelings is a large part of why he wants to see a happy ending for Ren so badly

so Martyn stretches out the hand he couldn’t admit he wanted someone to offer, and Ren falls in love instantly. this actually makes Martyn’s entire goal easier—Ren is no longer interested in playing the villain in Bdubs’s story. he wants to be the love interest in Martyn’s. had a few ideas abt that particular desire, ranging wildly from really cute (i cannot stop thinking abt smth Beans said abt Ren seeinf Martyn across a garden and the wag of his tail being audible under his cape) to crushing to my soul (he’s a lonely guy, Ren is. thinking about how isolated he feels and how much Martyn is a light in the dark for him kills me dead)

the ending of the actual isekai plot was going to involve Ren faking his fucking death so the two of them can run away together. personal favorite conversation that never was would be Ren telling Martyn he should be dead (as lead up for proposing to fake his death and elope) and Martyn, who has been trying to avoid that for weeks, being like Ren for fuck’s sake—

i don’t have so much for the timeloop because i literally refuse to flesh it out to avoid temptation. however, a dating sim is a game where one is encouraged to play over and over again until they get the desired ending (or even just to see what will happen). Martyn’s own canonical third life lore is that he’s been playing in death games a while. it matches up pretty damn well, i think, and if i were interested in running with it, i imagine something interesting could be done with it

also, Martyn would be meeting Ren for the first time again every single loop. which is a fun detail to me. i want to be tragic about it—Ren repeatedly forgetting about him should be angsty—but i genuinely cannot believe he wouldn’t fall in love over and over again tbh. it’s love at first sight every single time, simply because Martyn cares about him too much not to show it and Ren will be swept away by that every iteration

that said, if you’re interested in the idea of an isekai timeloop, i genuinely recommend Surviving Romance. it will feel like a bit too much at parts bc it does have maybe Too many premises. but keep going, it’s worth it

also, bonus trivia. i need you to know there was so much stupid shit we came up w abt Martyn before being isekai’d that i couldn’t fit because Martyn didn’t think it was noteworthy enough to mention. that man owns an ita bag. he has downloaded mods to romance Ren and deleted them due to bad Ren characterization (too much Cool Sexy Evil Villain, where is the sad and lonely cringefail dogboy who Martyn fell in love with??)

#oink asks #medusasresfridas #treesekai

[mochiwrites]

Good crimes AU Scar has many hands. Two hands to hold his boyfriends’ hands, a hand to take papers from BDubs, a hand to shake Xisuma’s hand. (I think only Grian has been called Scar’s right hand man, but there are plenty of characters who could also be called the right hand of the mayor of Aqua Town.)

real and true!!!!!! in the words of our beloved mayor, "it does take a village ;)"

but yes gc!scar has many hands, and isn't just amazing to take a step back and see the web of people scar has surrounded himself with? I mean, he's practically been building his circle since high school, and it all started with ren and mumbo. bdubs, cleo, and scott followed, and then impulse,,, and...etho, and xisuma, and then grian came along and squeezed his way in. and now there's tubbo!!!

it's truly amazing just how interconnected everyone is when you really step back and think about it. everyone's stories influence each other in some way, with scar Right at the center. that has to be one of my favorite pieces of this universe <3

gc!scar has so many hands.

#mochi speaks #good crimes asks #when crime au is over I'd love to sit down and share some notes on this #because there was SO much fun planning to get everyone connected the way they are #god I love this au

[cydanite]

I’ve never read homestuck but I have heard of classpects which I find fascinating

would you mind sharing what you think the mcyt characters would be if they had classpects ?

Jokes about homestuck aside, I actually really do like the classpects. They represent both a characters core ethos as well as their place in the meta narrative. I'm rusty but I'll see if I can't brainstorm a few ideas...

The basic understanding of classpects breaks down into 2 parts, class and aspect. The aspect is a concept. The class is the modifier of how the user relates to that concept.

That being said, here's some quick ideas! (Also I'm referencing the definitions from these two pages! ^-^ )

Bdubs - Maid of Light: -Maid: Prepares their others in their session through their aspect/ serve their aspect -Light: Knowledge, fortune, and light itself. He turns the night to day! A true diligent server sleeper, dutifully bringing the daytime to all.

Jimmy - Bard of Doom: -Bard: Invite destruction through their aspect or they invite the destruction of their aspect -Doom: Bad ends and misfortune. It is not a hot take to assign Jimmy a doom class. We all know this.

Pixlriffs - Seer of Time: -Seer: Knows/sees or understands their aspect. -Time: Inevitably, rhythm, death. A class for a man of history and respecting the dead.

Scar - Thief of Heart: -Thief: Steals their aspect from others for use it for their own benefit. -Heart: Soul, impulse, positive emotion. My best idea of a class for the sweet talking swindler.

DocM77 - Mage or Rage: -Mage: Are aware of their aspect and its influence. -Rage: Negative emotion, fear. Not 100% on this one, but I wanted to show Doc's awareness of other's fear or him, and how he uses that to his advantage.

Rendog: Witch of Blood: -Witch: Takes control of their aspect and control it with mastery. -Blood: Ties, relations, leadership You could go Knight of Blood for a more Red King-centric take, but I like this to represent Ren's many personas.

Skizz: Sylph of Heart: -Sylph: Ones who heal through their aspect/ones who heal their aspect. -Heart: Soul, impulse, positive emotion. Skizzleman is good for the soul -u- a bringer of good vibes and affirmations.

I should probably stop now, but this was fun! Though please don't think of me as the homestuck mcyt person now, I have enough on my plate haha. If you still need your classpect fix I know there's a blog who was doing all the hermitcraft members alongside art, though I can't find them now. If you can, though, send them some love! <3

#sorry for the delay! #cydanasks #adina123 #mcyt #mcytblr #homestuck

[abookishdreamer]

Character Intro: Koros (Kingdom of Ichor)

Nicknames- The Raging Rebel by Zeus

Shockwave by his bandmates

Ko by his family

Age- 33 (immortal)

Location- Mania district, New Olympus

Personality- Brash, impulsive, & aggressive, he's punk rock incarnate. He's unashamedly outspoken and opinionated though these traits can be seen as confrontational & destructive to others. Also a non-conformist, he's definitely against the establishment. He doesn't define himself to be in a relationship.

He has the standard abilities of a god except shapeshifting. as the god of surfeit & disdain his other powers/abilities include shockwave generation, being able to telekinetically make things overfill/overflow, inducing feelings of angst & unworthiness in others, anatomy destruction, limited pyrokinesis, and partial fire/heat immunity.

When he's not out on tour performing, Koros' abode is his loft apartment in the Mania neighborhood of New Olympus. He also spends time at his sister's & dad's in the state of Sparta. The walls of the loft (and ceiling) are covered in various grafitti art. Instead of traditional lighting, there's neon fixtures with lots of leather, metal, and glass furniture. Koros loves the feel of the neighborhood, especially the growing punk subculture community with beings of many creeds. The beliefs of the punk ethos include non-conformity, anti-authoritarianism, anti-corporation, anti-consumerist, anti-corporate greed, direct action, & "not selling out."

He's known for his can't-look-away physical appearance- his tall lanky frame, alabaster skin, sharp features, his reddish amber eyes, spiky dark red hair, several tattoos, and body modification piercings (including a split tongue and pierced "member"). Koros will also wear make-up & nail polish (primarily black eyeliner, smoky, & glitter black eyeshadow). Many of his tattoos were done at the Blood & Ink tattoo studio, but he's also traveled to the Underworld where he got tattoos done by Achlys (goddess of the death mist, poison, misery, & sadness).

A go-to drink for him is beer. He also likes vodka, rum & cokes, red hot shots (made with cinnamon schnapps, tequila, and a few dashes of hot sauce), bloody marys, snake bites, dirty martinis, molotovs, and jägerbombs. He also likes OmegaDash energy drinks!

Koros' immediate family includes his father Kydoimos (god of uproar & battlefield confusion) and his older sister Dyssebeia (Bess) (goddess of ungodliness & impiety). As chaotic and dysfunctional they are, there's also love & respect amongst them. Earlier on when Koros was trying to establish his music career, his father paid for some of the music videos. Bess even provided background vocals to a few songs as well. A common bonding experience for the three of them is when they ride their dragons together!

He partakes in weed and lotus dust. Some of the band's most popular songs were written & performed under the influence.

Koros doesn't agree with the hierarchy that exists within the pantheon, especially when it comes to temples and offerings. Even though he's not a "supporter," he's glad that MGM movement (started/founded by the goddess Pasithea) is "shitting things up" in the pantheon.

Even though he's not an official spokeman, he can't help singing the praises of Plutopack cigarettes.

A well known guilty pleasure of his are Imperial lobster tails & crab legs! He once spent nearly 3,000 drachmas at The Crown (a high end restuarant)- his table covered with the steamy goodness drowned in an overabundance of garlic butter.

It's said that he's known for his voracious appetite, compared to the likes of Adephagia (goddess of gluttony).

His favorite thing from The Bread Box is the roast beef sandwich (on sourdough bread) added with chilies, black olives, extra sriracha mayo, & jalapeños.

Koros has a band called Dissonance Machine (where he sings lead & plays the electric guitar) with some of his close friends. The other members are a harpy named Lyseanor (co-lead singer & bass), a siren named Sevyn (co-lead singer & bass), and a cyclops named Osiris (background vocals & drums). They've been friends for quite sometime with Koros even being the nonós to Sevyn's daughter.

Dissonance Machine is probaly the most well known punk rock band in the main realm (with growing recognition in the Underwater realm). Their music have been described as "the demonic love child of punk rock and deathcore", their songs dealing with such topics like mental illness, existential dread, certain sociopolitical issues, & anti-sentimental depictions of relationships. The band is independent, so a lot of their marketing & promotions have come from their own pockets. Koros doesn't like when the media paints the picture that he's the source of the band's success. All the members have played an important role to Dissonance Machine. Their first album F*CK Your Temple was defintiely the most divisive (the album art not helping matters- which shows the bandmates urinating on the steps of a temple that has the likeness of one of the King's temples). Deities like Eusebeia (goddess of piety, loyalty, duty, & filial respect), Aeschyne (goddess of modesty & honor), and The Litae spoke out against it in interviews with there even being protests in downtown, the Hearthwood neighborhood, & the state of Athens. Koros acknowledged and appreciated the goddess Athena's stance- that even though she didn't agree with his views, she fully supported his right to free speech and artistic expression.

After that whole debacle, the band continued to release music- EPs like Lascivious Holiday, ETHOS, & Sweet Like Acid (the latter recieving a few glowing reviews from music critics). Their well known & infamous songs include "A Blob from Tartarus", "Just a Cutter", "Grenadefall", "Swallow a Pill", "Kronos Daddy", "C*nts of Sparta", and "Gods Save the King." Recently, they've been getting a bit more attention because of their part in a featured track with the band Blood in the Water (a song called "Charybdis Chokehold") & the release of their second full length album Olympius Has Fallen. The release of the official album art almost crashed the Fatestagram website! On one hand it was the most laidback artwork out of their catalogue, but that didn't make it any less controversial. It's basically a black background with the country's flag burning in flames. Koros thought it was "funny as balls" to see Zeus' reaction- a very long discernment posted on his page (which contained several angry face emojis).

A favorite frozen treat of his is rocky road ice cream!

The band's most notable song "Slithersoul" is a bonus track on the second album that was released as a promotional single. Their interview on the Morning Tea podcast made the message clear- released some time after "The Incident," the song was about Medusa. The song was a complete departure from the band's usual sound. with accompanying guitar, bass, & violin, "Slithersoul" is a piano power ballad. The song was generally critically acclaimed (much to Athena's embarassment). Koros' voice was also praised (along with his surprising register & falsetto). At the most recent Golden Laurel Awards, the song was nominated for four awards including "Song of the Year." Koros and the rest of the band decided to protest the awards show They still attended, but refused to perform, angering Apollo something fierce! Dissonance Machine miraculously walked away with the "Song of the Year" Award where Koros used part of the band's acceptance speech to speak out against Zeus' punishment against the Titan god Prometheus.

His main mode of transportation is Koros' close animal companion, a she-dragon named Jubilee. She's widely known as "The Scarlet Queen." Her horns (resembles a crown) & claws are as bright as copper and she has vibrant scarlet scales with pink membranes on her wings. Their energies are so intertwined, Koros was able to develop a telepathic link with his dragon, a feat achieved by only a few experienced dragonriders. Jubilee's roar has been credited as background vocals to a few songs and she plays an interactive role during the band's performances. A lot of the time, the show always end with Jubilee setting the stage on fire!

In the pantheon Koros is friends with Keres (goddess of violent death), Atë (goddess of mischief, ruin, blind folly, delusion, & downfall of heroes), Epimetheus (Titan god of afterthought), Alastor (god of blood feuds & vengeance), Kakia (goddess of vice & moral wrongdoing), Menoetius (Titan god of rage, violence, & rash actions), Homadus (god of the battle-din), Aplistos (god of avarice), Momus (god of mockery, satire, & ridicule), Palioxis (goddess of backrush & retreat), Apate (goddess of fraud & deception), and Pan (god of the wild, satyrs, shepherds, & rustic music).

He and Momus both hooked up with a maenad in the bathroom of The Void nightclub!

Koros (as well as the band) have been frequent guests on The Agnostic Network.

As far as his love life, Koros isn't exactly looking for anything traditional or conventional. His last serious relationship happened way during the infancy of the band's start. It was with a harpy named Maeriene. They were together for almost ten years before she ended things due to his indifference when the topic of marriage was brought up. She used to design a lot of the band's posters. Koros has his fair share of flings with fans & groupies (the wildest ones being maenads!) and he's even had a casual relationship with Sardo (one of The Nesoi). He's currently seeing Felis (Titaness of cats). Koros counts everything with her as "uncharted territory". They'll often see each other at night- at Koros' place or a seedy motel like the Nocturnal Inn. He doesn't mind the "battle scars" he recieved from Felis when she'd get "too excited" during their "interactions" & there have been more than a few times when one of them got vulnerable after their interactions and they've cuddled for hours comforting each other. Koros has picked up on the fact that Felis never wants to dine out with him, instead opting for ordering in.

Dissonance Machine was on the cover of Diaireménoi Stekómaste, their only wardrobe being fake blood.

He's walked at NOFW (New Olympus Fashion Week) in the Velóna & Ankáthi fashion show, the punk fashion brand (where he's also good friends with the designers, twin harpy sisters named Zelaria & Avinore).

Koros has quite the colorful rap sheet. He has been arrested several times for disorderly conduct, public intoxication, damage to property (especially after his dragon torched the wild cat section of the New Olympus Zoo, eating all the animals), indecent exposure (when he was caught drunkenly urinating on the front steps of The Parthenon), and battery (when he punched a paparazzi out cold while wearing Stygian Iron brass knuckles).

In his free time when he's not peforming, Koros is constantly working on new music. He and his bandmates also hang out on their down time. He also enjoys archery, hunting, visiting the shooting range, playing video games, poker, riding dragonback, freefall cliff diving, mountain climbing, getting a new piercing or tattoo, and hanging out with his friends & family.

His all time favorite food is his dad's kokkinisto.

"To question anything and everything to me, is punk rock."

#my oc #oc character #my character #my oc character #oc intro #character intro #oc introduction #character introduction #modern greek gods #modern greek mythology #greek myth retellings #greek gods #greek mythology #greek pantheon

[crabbunch]

secret life thoughts (long post underneath cut)

gem:

-there's a cherry forest !!!

-impulse? can we find pearl for the soup group?

-ok gem and the two scotts is very funny as well.

-love gem just. repeatedly fulfilling the challenge. just to make sure she's got it.

-maaaan the cherry biome is just so pretty though. man.

-"lets hold hands as we jump"- joel as he lets jimmy jump without him. incredible

scar:

-joel's name is not smallishbeans last time i checked. scar. you are ove-complicating this

-oh well he's cringefailed it up beyond belief !!

-wait i wish they had just let him fail.... why are people nice i want them to fight to death for my entertainment.

-d. desert duo

-scab??? scab???

grian:

-why are you trying to tell bad jokes to mumbo, chronic giggler. dont tell bad jokes to your friends. they'll be funny anyways

-intrigued by whatever bigb is doing. gaslight i guess.

-no wait actually what is bigb doing. my guy

-of course etho would be the one not to laugh at the jokes

bigb:

-i was going to watch etho because he finally uploaded but actually i have to go find out what this guys secret was

-i understand nothing

-ok so is he. just like that?? just doing that?? i mean i. you know what. if i dont see about ten million billion people waxing poetic about the allure of a hole im going to blow this whole website up. this is the funniest thing ive ever seen and i want to write about bigb being. the absence of things now.

-THE DOOR MAZE????

etho:

-"joel you already own my heart" awwwwwwwww

-the way he just lingers around bdubs

-cletho? cletho? cletho? cletho?

-CLETHO!!!!!!!

-the way he just. never mentions the merch. keep on doing what you do king <3

joel:

-the editing. when he's promoting the merch.

-he's dying so much faster than anyone else lmao

-heavy rock timelapse music as he struggles to place a fence

-oh he's going to be the first to red again isnt he. my guy.

-just resolving not to sleep for etho... boat bois crumbs 🥰🥰🥰

-impulse my man carrying the good word of the cherry wood to everyone. thank you good sir

cleo:

-a lot of murderous music going on. and some very interesting pronunciations of fish. joe hills has had a profound influence on them

-unequal exchange <3 its ok he'll just owe her

-"it's ok it day one alliance!!! those statistically have no meaning!!!" wow that says a lot about traffic cleo. heuh.

-the shadowrot is real

-promotion of merch is an acceptable bribe <3

-just. steal moss off of the rock thing. yes good idea

-ideal roomate dynamic is throwing fish down through the hole that your roomate made as thanks??? this is so ethubs meat shower

-"dont talk about my shield hole like that"

-"we could be called the axis :D" "well maybe you shouldnt"

-the way. bdubs just knows that they're referring to etho. hello i know this has been clipped but its so bizarre to see lol

-AND pearl cleo secret alliance?? with dogs? man cleo's dynamics with everyone this season. they're all just so good

-heart foundation. ok. on love island.

-clebert

lizzie:

-cherry blossoms!!!! wahoo best wood!!!

-bdubs acting all offended about killing a horse for leather vs his season 8 horse murder stats

-every season they get a little bit better at not immediately killing all the wildlife

-every season they also get a little big better at gay marriage. this time they've even got yuri!

-lizzie: "lets take this baby down the river.. and find some sugarcane!" cleo in the distance: "hey, i've got sugarcane!"

-jimmy comes running. from nothing. average jimmy behavior

-lesbian marridge AND lesbian divorce. fantastic

overall thoughts: i think that the povs im going to keep watching in the future barring Interesting Events will be etho (i am legally obligated) cleo (daily dose of sarcasm) bigb (hole guy) and joel (his bloodthirsty swag has charmed me once again)

i think that the mechanic is interesting but also if they do a lore thing with it i WILL start killing. sorry.

i like the groups that've been established so far but i sort of think that they're a little sparcer than usual??? gem and her two scotts is a VERY fun dynamic but unfortunately i hate the way all of them edit their videos :pensive: i love the mounders and their stupid houses from what ive seen of them from other people's videos and cletho???? cletho???!?!?!? love island is also very good.

anyways. very fun. much fun. im making an effort to tag spoilers this time if you want to filter this stuff its sl spoilers 👍

#sl spoilers

[firep0wder]

what is favourite i mean. who is. when. yeah you get it i hope

The boat boys hold a special place in my heart <3 they bite and chew and gnaw each other just like me <3 ultra autism I love when etho treats Joel's bloodlust like a really intriguing spectator sport. also impulse and bdubs are very good. Very fond of big dog !!!! Box my beloved. Ranchers are obviously sweet although it causes some confusion bc I (normie-dressing Just Some Guy) have a boyfriend (cool goth punk-influenced short king) and his name is Jimmy not the other way round.

#been a while since I watched dl tbh. but yeah bloodthirsty Joel and fondly amused etho are so good to me #i could read one million trillion fics abt how fascinated etho is by it and how the soulbond opens up new worlds of righteous and delightful #blood sport. also I think we need more polyam impdubs t b h I've seen some fics where bdubs is cheating with etho and like. it doesn't make #sense bc bdubs TOLD impulse and he's FINE with bdubs wanting etho in on it with them. more polycules 2k5evr #ohhh but while we're talking abt traffic moments that I care abt a normal amount. ETHOSLAB EPISODE ONE OF LL WHEN BDUBS GETS HIM IRON FOR A #SHIELD!!!!!! 'take this iron and make a shield and NEVER go caving without it'. he's saying I know you don't know because you trust me so #much. but I am having to try so so so fucking hard not to attack you. i love you I don't want to hurt you so if my self control breaks. #i need you to have another layer of defense. i need to know that if I gave in and tried to hurt you that you would have the resources to #defend yourself from me. because I love you. and I don't trust myself. never go caving without it. #THATS what makes me fucking insane. #anyways yeah I love. boat boys <3 #fp.txt #asks

[theodorejack04]

The 8 Best Vintage Self-Improvement Books

Almost twenty million self-help books were sold last year.

But the popularity of self-help literature is hardly a modern phenomenon.

Some of the writings of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers arguably fall into the personal development category. So do pieces of literature that were written every century after their time.

In a way, this can seem like a very depressing fact. After all, if the purpose of self-improvement books is to offer advice capable of solving people’s problems, then the fact that new entries have continuously been added to the genre for millennia means that none of the tips they espouse actually work.

But that is not the real value of self-improvement literature. The problems of being human — laziness, selfishness, awkwardness, distractibility — are not fixable; they are intractable. The best that self-help books can do for us is to take the principles attendant to living the good life — which really never change — and refresh and solidify them anew. The worth of reading self-help literature is in the way it can move values and ideas that tend to drift to the back of consciousness up to the forefront. The more we can keep our ideals at the top of our minds, the more they can influence our choices and behavior, and help us prevent, mitigate, and sand off the roughest edges of our perennial problems.

Not all self-improvement books perform this function equally well, and we would argue that old self-help literature does it best.

If the value of personal improvement books lies in their ability to activate your higher, but-all-too-often latent impulses, the more novel, and thus stimulating, their content, the better. This is where vintage self-help lit proves superior to modern fare. No matter how original a contemporary author is, he or she is still filtering their ideas through the dominant paradigms and language of the present day. Even when a modern self-improvement book offers ideas that are fairly fresh, the overall tone inevitably feels very familiar. It doesn’t do much to wake up the mind.

Books from decades or a century back, however, feel quite a bit different. They come at things from different angles, use different idioms, strike a different tone. Whereas modern self-help literature tends to use analogies that compare human nature with technology (e.g., our brains are “hardwired”), old books use metaphors drawn from nature; whereas modern self-help lit often rests on insights from academic research (cue up the marshmallow study!), old books employ examples from the biographies of eminent individuals. Older books evince a different ethos as well: more sincere, more earnest, more concerned about overall character than simply becoming a worldly success.

Older self-help books deal with all the very same personal problems we have in our day, but without the diversions into evolutionary psychology and neuroscience (one wonders if knowing which area of the brain lights up when you act like a bonehead has ever prevented a single case of acting like a bonehead); without all the talk of anxiety and burnout and self-care; without all the endlessly regurgitated frameworks and shopworn buzzwords that may point to important issues, but which many people, ourselves included, feel so, so tired of hearing about.

This isn’t to say that all modern self-improvement literature is devoid of value; some worthwhile gems are still published from time to time. It’s just to say that if you want self-improvement books to improve you, you need to delve into literature that effectively shifts your mental models, and thus your behavior. And you’re more likely to find these sparks of inspiration in older books than in newer ones.

Below we suggest eight excellent places to start digging into the vast library of vintage self-improvement books. We’ve read a lot of them over the years, and these are the ones we most enjoyed and got the most from. As far as how we’re defining the “vintage” category here, we’ve arbitrarily set the parameters around books that were published from the 19th century up through the mid-20th. Books in this timeframe were written close enough to our own day to exhibit the style/format/content we now associate with self-improvement literature, while being far enough back in time to feel distinctly different.

These eight books have indirectly influenced our thinking, and directly inspired some of our work. In fact, we’ve published excerpts from many of these entries here on the blog, and turned distillations of the best nuggets from a couple of them into original books available in our store. But the source books are worth reading in their entirety too. Some of them are available in the public domain and can be read for free on sites like archive.org and Google Books. If you like hardback books, as we do, you can often find vintage copies on eBay and modern reprinted versions on Amazon (though be aware that such reprintings vary in the quality of their formatting).

Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden (1894)

Orison Swett Marden was arguably the most influential forefather of modern self-help literature. Orphaned as a young boy, he credited reading a self-help book by Samuel Smiles with allowing him to keep his head above water and rise in the world. After becoming a successful hotelier, he added his own entry to the self-help canon — and helped create the future template for it — by penning Pushing to the Front. The book would be praised by the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison and went through 250 printings in the 30 years after its publication.

While Marden would go on to pen 50 more books and booklets, his original outing is his best. Pushing to the Front is not our favorite on this list — it can be too over-the-top and bombastic with its exhortations. But the book is wonderfully bracing. It stirs you to work harder and lengthen your stride. Reading Pushing to the Front is like listening to a great coach give a rousing locker room speech. Simply for introducing us to the concept of “possibilities in spare moments” — an idea we continue to think about today — it’ll ever hold a place in our hearts.

Original Article Link to read more

[aroaceacacia]

the idea that the violence in 3rd life/last life is caused by something supernatural - ie. a "red life bloodlust", a curse/illness, etc - kind of. Sucks actually?

hear me out. there IS supernatural influence in the series - martyn's mysterious figure, and the boogeyman in last life is arguably some kind of supernatural force infecting the players. however. what makes 3rd life good, and what will hopefully make last life good too, is that every choice was one the players chose of their own volition.

in the series to my memory theres some evidence that being red (being Dead) affected players' dispositions/states of being somewhat - ie. scar talking about how hollow he felt, ren referring to red scar as a "dead rotting corpse" - but I can't remember a single time the players blamed their atrocities or choices specifically on the fact they were red. in week 8, ren laments that he's been "blinded by the violence", not by him being red. you could argue that skizz is an example of "red life bloodlust" but skizz is just Like That! "i love you guys and i hate them!"

no. third life was, and last life will be, an exploration of how regular decent people can feel pushed to do horrible things, whether that's by a boogeyman illness or because you've seen one too many precious things burn or simply in order to protect the people you care about most. the first few weeks of third life serve as a reminder that our players are people, that they were once friends, and that the tragedy of the series is that their own actions and circumstance violently tore them all apart from one another.

third life and last life are minecraft "lord of the flies" - both are explorations of what could happen if a small group of people were isolated in extreme, life-or-death circumstances

maybe it's just me but including headcanons about a bloodlust or an uncontrollable urge to kill upon reaching your red life feels like it takes away agency and honestly a lot of interesting character nuance! for example: by including a headcanon of "red life bloodlust" you take SO much power out of Ren's character arc in season 1. Ren was a kind and gentle man who was stepped on and bullied a few too many times, who learned to stand up for himself, became a ruler fit to lead his people, and then gave up his life to become red to protect the ones he loved - but he also murdered about half the server in the process! and that's what's interesting about him- that he's good and bad at the same time, and all of those aspects, those faults and virtues, are entirely his own. and in a moment of clarity he begged his right hand man for support because he realized just how far he had fallen from the path of a kind man.

the boogeyman system is a much better way of having a mechanic similar to the idea of a "bloodlust" but it works better because the boogeyman player always has a choice. bdubs could have taken any opportunity to kill etho but he didn't and instead he waited to kill grian. it was impulsive, but it was a decision he made, and now bdubs has to live with those consequences.

also like. if you think of it as a "theory" then the idea of red life bloodlust can be disproven with folks like tango, grian, and martyn in 3rd life (tango setting up a death game, grian Literally Trapping And Murdering Three People, and martyn often hunting people down in order to defend his king's honor) who all did the same stuff while green

anyway. tl;dr give red lives their agency and let them just be dead and kinda pissed about it instead of like, possessed by bloodlust

#this is all /lh but i do. genuinely think thje #third life smp #last life smp #third life meta #3rd life #last life #bearvocalizations