#this is a joke but not I really really love Cleo's life series pov | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

canarydarity · 1 year

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at another place in time, II

(Or, I wrote that one small limited life session 1 ficlet from Tango's pov and went "what if I just write a whole series of vignettes from Tangos pov as the season comes out, one for each session," and now have to do that by law. so. welcome to session 2's chosen tango reminiscing vignette)

[part I]

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He stood on the outskirts and watched everyone gather around, and Tango thought, well this is different; maybe it was the rule changes—their timers all counted down, but 19 hours was still more promising than not. It felt wrong to quantify their lives this way, hard to connect that number to the idea of the amount of time he had left to live; right now, it felt arbitrary. Tango was sure that would change as the numbers got lower. Their actions were still dictated by color, but yellow could now attack green and—

Yeah, that was probably it. The first free-to-fight was beginning to act, and this bloodthirsty crew wanted to watch it happen. That didn’t mean Tango wasn’t a little thrown off by the sight of everyone gathered around, a crude ring marked out on the ground. They all cursed the games when they ended, took time to recover from the violence they witnessed—but they forgot that it was violence they cheered for whilst they were playing; or, maybe they didn’t, and that was the problem; the part they struggled to absolve.

Maybe it was why they all signed up again and again.

He tuned out Bdubs explaining his rules, focused instead on searching who had shown up. He wasn’t looking for anyone in particular, he just thought he should take the opportunity to get a closer look at the teams that had formed while he had the chance.

Tango had somehow ended up directly across the ring from the rest of TIES, Etho finishing up flattening out a somewhat-decent circular border, Impulse standing behind Skizz, acting every bit in his corner, patting him on the back and giving all the encouragement a good coach would.

Scar was whispering to Cleo who had a hand to her forehead as if she were warding off a headache; Martyn and Scott looked properly judgemental and above all that was going on—surely they were too dignified for a fight so unrefined. He couldn’t see Pearl or Bigb, but last he’d heard they’d been taking their role as nosy neighbors far too seriously—if they were here, he was sure they were out of sight, giggling and whispering back and forth.

He wasn’t looking for anyone in particular, but that just left—

“We’re all standing so close?”

He couldn't help the speed at which he turned his head, he really couldn’t. Tango logically knew Jimmy’s landing on this side of the circle was due to the direction of Bad Boy Mansion, but he’d take what he could get. Joel was further away, picking fights where he could and riling up Bdubs from behind and Martyn from the side. Tango hadn’t spotted Grian yet. Speaking of taking chances…

“Well, if anyone gets too close we’ll just punch ‘em.” He held his breath, but it didn’t take longer than a second for Jimmy to turn his head in Tango’s direction. He was already smiling by the time they made eye contact; Jimmy had a lotta smiles—this was the kind that predated his laugh. Tango decided to take that as a challenge.

“Yeah, we’ll punch ‘em back in!” Jimmy said. “Just like in the movies.”

Tango nodded, “that’s right!”

“Keep fighting!” Jimmy added in a false voice he probably thought was gruff.

“Get in there and die!” Tango threw back; cruelty that was funny because it wasn’t real, the joke being that this was unlike their true temperament—settings-and-death-game be damned.

Jimmy got it, he tilted his head back and—what success, because there it was—he laughed. Tango smiled wider and stared maybe just a little; he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed the sound.

Such as with all things bright and lovely, there was a moment where that feeling—that light and feathered thing—threatened to break out of the cage in Tango’s chest, and he had to look down to wrestle it back under control. When looked back up, across the circle Etho’s eyes were heavy on his. He calmly slid his gaze to Jimmy and then back to Tango.

Tango cleared his throat. Yup, that did the trick. He shuffled his feet, leaned his weight more to the right, and the distance it put between himself and that laugh was quantifiable in a way Tango felt much more than the numbers in his peripheral.

Grain had shown up anyway, and the bad boys gravitated towards each other with an ease Tango reminded himself he wasn’t jealous of. He tried to tune back into the event, but the excitement had kind of dulled.

“BDUBS! It’s you and me brother,” Skizz said, axe leveled in Bdubs’ direction. In a blink, Tango saw a different Skizz standing before him, weaponless and bare, my brothers left me to die. He didn’t dwell. Like he said, it was in a blink—one second there, the next gone; literally—he had the timer to prove it.

“Yeah right It’s you and me, you want revenge? Here I am, on a silver platter!” Bdubs held his arms out wide, sword in one hand and shield in the other—the cockiest come at me that he could offer. He never knew when to quit, did he? Tango hoped Skizz put him on his ass.

If not yet a harsh reminder of the time that he has left, the timer served the annoying purpose of counting the kind of seconds that ticked by in boredom. Every painstaking block in a build, every step he took on a long journey, every taunt Bdubs and Skizz sent back and forth that couldn’t be called anything but stalling; all of it cataloged and kept track of—it was the worst reminder that time doesn’t fly in the world (yet).

Tango was sure he’d change his mind about that later, but for now, he suppressed a groan and snuck another glance to the left.

Grian was offering weak cheers and ripping a loaf of bread to shreds then tossing the pieces around like confetti—or rice at a wedding. The area surrounding their little group was littered with crumbs and chunks of the stuff, and Tango watched as it attracted a chicken, pecking at the ground near Jimmy's feet. When it ran out of readily available food, it started picking at his shoelaces, and Jimmy tried shooing it away with little success; every step back he took, the chicken followed. Tango laughed under his breath as he watched Jimmy wave his hands at the bird again and then look around frantically hoping no one had noticed.

The crowd suddenly shouted in unison, calls of disappointment and boos radiating all over; the group mentality was also new—Tango knew that wouldn’t last either; once the fight ended, so would their new-found camaraderie. He turned back, but he’d missed whatever it was that had caused the outburst.

In the quick moment of silence that had followed, Scott said, “Skizz, did you eat an apple?”

Skizz was the only yellow name amongst them—the only one licensed to kill—and yet, Scott's question charged the crowd and made them every bit the audience above the colosseum, a thumbs down all that was needed to determine his friend's fate.

Skizz gulped, “maybe…”

The booing began again in earnest, and Tango had never before been so glad for the rules that Grian set.

“That’s nearly a cheat there!” Jimmy called out. He was an easy target, which Tango knew meant he was always fine-tuned to the things that might warrant being teased—cheating was one of them. A chance to put attention on someone else was always welcome.

Skizz spun in the bad boy's direction, “how is that a cheat?” Grian raised an eyebrow at the display, but he said nothing; he only liked to play admin when he chose to, not when others thought he should—especially if it was solely for their own benefit. “There’s no rule about not eating golden apples!”

Tango saw Jimmy’s eyes alight with it at the same time as he felt his own; accidentally or not, they made eye contact. Skizz was technically right, there were no rules about not eating golden apples—at least, not anymore. But he hadn’t been in double life.

Tango remembered when there were. He remembered waking up in the middle of the night to a knock on their door, answering Jimmy’s worried Tango… by telling him to stay where he was. There’d been no one there, but there had been a golden apple sitting on their porch—someone's idea of some kind of joke that neither of them had found funny.

He’d been so mad…it wasn’t until halfway through shoving his feet into his boots that he’d heard Jimmy call his name for what he was later told was the third time.

What are you gonna walk around in the dark ‘til you find who put that there?

He had been willing to if that’s what it took. Somewhere deep down logically he’d known—just like Jimmy did—that he wasn’t going to find whoever had left it, but it wasn’t really about that. He thinks he gets it, now, that it’d been about proving something.

Maybe if he’d done it then Jimmy wouldn’t have flushed and looked away today.

Tango was vaguely aware that the rest of the group had moved on around him, that he and Jimmy were really the only ones who’d hesitated at the mention of the apple at all.

He should’ve gone out anyway, walked around until the sun started coming up—hell, he should’ve started knocking on doors; at least that way, he wouldn’t have had to lay back down and have the conversation he hadn’t stopped thinking about since.

He’d known there was something coming, and he’d waited Jimmy out patiently to hear the slow drawl of;

If it weren’t against the rules, would you…

It is against the rules, Tango had replied. The wrong answer, he thinks now. But he hadn’t known why they’d been having such a conversation; it was against the rules. Tango would tell Jimmy he was sure as many times as he needed, but he wasn’t going to allow for the kind of negative feedback loop that Jimmy used to punish himself.

But if it weren’t—

No. He hadn’t needed to see Jimmy’s eyes to know that he didn’t believe him.

He wished he could tell Jimmy that believe it or not his answer still hasn’t changed.

“Fights over.”

“Hmm?” Tango turned toward Etho—now apparently standing in front of him—but he didn’t quite make it all the way. The scene had changed around them; sometime in his musings, people had started clearing out. The once rowdy crowd had begun to disperse, blood spilled and attention span exhausted.

“Fights over,” Etho repeated.

Tango blinked. “Who won?”

But his friend just let out a small huff and started in the direction of home. Tango looked down and kicked a pebble with the toe of his boot. He spared only a glance to the left where the bad boys were heading back towards their own base, donning leather jackets that must be sweltering in the day's heat. He couldn’t hear them, but he could tell Joel was arguing with Jimmy over something from here, watched as Joel reached around and smacked Jimmy on the back of the head, Grian moseying along beside them not caring to intervene. He sighed.

Tango turned after Etho.

#yes I did take a completely normal 4 sentence exchange and blow it completely out of proportions and add tons of unnecessary depth #and ill do it again.#ive actually now promised to do that. every session. so #worm writes #at another place in time #limited life spoilers #limited life #limited life fic #team rancher #team rancher fic #tango tek #tangotek #jimmy solidarity #solidaritygaming #team bad boys #team ties #life series fic

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lyon-amore · 1 year

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What if...? Duskwood Chapter 6

Chapter 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Macie POV*

It was horrible when I got back to work. I had to listen to Christian tell me that I shouldn't turn in anything again without going through him first. It was clearly an abuse of power, because I didn't have to tell Christian if he accepted my news or not. Someday I'll make him eat all the words about him, but… Ugh… The boss's favorite because he attracts all eyes.

Well, the positive is Cleo's information. It seems that Alfie, the son of Mrs. Walter has seen a live legend 'The Man Without a Face', carrying her friend. I like legends, but clearly a legend can't exist, so that means there might be a witness to the kidnapping. Cleo told me to ask Jessy about the legend and she opened a chat for Richy, her and me, but since he and I were busy, we left it for later.

I'm reviewing the latest news I've been given and Aiden walks over to my table. "Something tells me from the look on your face that Christian has told you how important he is and that you must be below him." He leans against my table, sitting down at the end. "It's amazing that you have the same position so high and you are nicer." I commented, looking up from the computer. "Not all famous journalists are as self-centered as he is, Macie." He winks at me and I laugh. "But you're the only worthwhile person in this place-" "What she what?" Lian comes out behind him, placing a hand on her shoulder "Did I miss something between you two?" I roll my eyes. She really has a sixth sense for romance. Either that or it's about married life, she wants to see her friends get married too. "There's nothing between us," I replied with a laugh, "we're just friends, right Aiden?" “Of course yes.” Aiden gets up from the table awkwardly. "Well, I have to go, I have to give the sport. See you later Macie. " "See you later." I return to the computer, but Lian still hasn't left my desk. I look at her and see that smile she always puts on when she's curious. Luckily it's Aiden and not Mister Hacker, surely there she would be jumping excitedly if she could, since with her pregnancy, she wants to be careful. “Did you know that Aiden has been in love with you for a long time?” she asks me, tapping my shoulder. “No way! I would have noticed.” "Of course you know, you just don't care to know." "Well, he's… cute." ”Yes, his resemblance to Zack Efron in High School Musical 3 has them all drooling remembering their adolescence." I let out a laugh and a co-worker looks at us badly for not working. "You could give it a try," if she turns to see him walk away, "at least he's got a nice ass." "Nah, I don't think so." I answered, looking at him, while I thought about the hacker. "But is that what you think when I should give him a chance?" "It's the pregnancy hormones, what do you want me to do to it?" Her cell phone rings and she starts reading the message "Great!" "Brian?" "Yes, the poor guy has spent four years in an investigation that doesn't give him a day off, but… soon they'll give him at least one day aaaaand…. It coincides with the day of the party!" I see her so happy talking about her husband, it makes me die of sweetness. They make me very envious, but at the same time she makes me happy that she has someone that she loves so much that she can hardly see him because of his work. Brian's job is government investigations, so he's always busy looking for criminals. He is another great friend of mine, almost like a brother. He also cares a lot about me. "Connors! Bring us coffee!" A superior shouts. I closed my eyes taking a deep breath. Lian pats me on the head. "Don't get upset, it's not good for the skin." she jokes. "I'm grateful that tomorrow is the weekend." I get up from the table, grabbing my bag and jacket. "Why? You have something to do?" The hacker goes through my mind. I could pay him a visit and bring him breakfast, I think after today, I think I should excuse me. "You already know my plans: The Vampire Diaries series, a glass of wine and a couple of cupcakes." "Macie, friend, leave Damon Salvatore and find yourself a real one, a vampire is not going to fill you-" "See you later Lian!" I want her to stop being pregnant, damn hormones.

I finally got to speak in the group and learn about the legend of The Man Without a Face. The story of a punisher of sinners who lives in the deep of the forest. His mark: Paint a raven on the door houses of those he is going to punish. He takes the victims to the forest forever. "Um…so did Hannah do something?" I think after listening to Jessy “why else would a man who takes sinners go after her?" I must write it down. While on Cleo's side, Mrs. Sully saw Hannah coming out of the pharmacy, maybe it has something to do with the photo I found of the prescription? "What was wrong with you, Hannah?" I ask myself, somewhat worried about this whole situation.

I got up early and talked to Jessy. The more I talked to her, the more I analyzed her. She didn't seem to be one to hurt anyone. Sorry Mister Hacker, I find Jessy a good friend, I can't suspect that she is the culprit.

I take two coffees and go upstairs. I haven't found anything interesting unfortunately. He open the door again before I knock. "But this time I went up in silence." I say surprised. "No, you still need practice" he sighs, raising a hand to his head "What are you doing here?" "First of all, good morning," I say with a small smile, "and second, I wanted to apologize for how I behaved yesterday, I'm not one to have a childish attitude." I hand him the coffee and he accepts it, letting me pass. I hear him let out a lazy laugh. It's like he controls himself every time he laughs. “You really care about nothing,” he tells me, moving closer to me “and you haven't sent any clues." “But I have to write what I've found and besides“ I tuck my hair behind my ear, getting a little nervous “maybe I think it's not bad to keep you some company.“ He goes to his table with coffee in hand. I follow him and sit in my chair, at the same time as him. "I don't need company," he tells me, even though his eyes say otherwise. I notice too much loneliness and sadness in them. “And surely you have more important things to do.“ "Believe me, for me, being here is much better than anywhere." "Too much stress being popular?" He drinks his coffee raising her eyebrows. Little funny. "Well, no," I replied, blowing on the coffee. “Because I like spending time with you even though you are Mister Grumpy.“ I watch as his cheeks turn pink. Now it has been my turn after his words yesterday.

I smile happily. If I could, I too would have brought Henry to meet him and is it crazy to say spend all day here? "I'm the worst option to pass the time" his words from him leave me curious. I don't think that way. "I don’t think so." "And if I don't like that you come to keep me company? "You wouldn't have opened the door for me." "I could kick you out now." "You're not going to do it." "Why do you think that?" "Because you like that I'm here talking to you." I place my hands under my chin, smiling a little mischievously. He leans back, looking to the side. "Well?" I ask, waiting for his counterattack response. He turns a little to look me directly in the eyes. I manage to see a small smile although he tries to be serious "In a couple of investigators there always has to be a joker, someone has to be touched. “Are you implying that I'm the clown?” I frowned, pretending to be offended. I finally hear his laugh for real. Sincere. I like it a lot. "Don't laugh." I replied, but I ended up laughing with him. Yesterday's anger with Christian fades and I feel strangely happy. Seeing him smile makes my heart race. It's true, I've never felt this way for anyone. I like him and I don't even know his name. For now, I'll wait until I can ask him at the right time.

I get a chat notification and Mister Hacker makes a surprised sound. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas Dan?

Dan What the hell? Where have you been?!

Thomas You know what, doesn’t matter

Dan What the hell is going on with you??

Thomas You still holding up your end of the deal? Shit Dan, I am serious!

Dan Yes! Yes I am. Of couse

Thomas Thanks

Dan Don’t make me regret this ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mister Hacker and I looked at each other. “What was that all about?” he asks me, though he seems a little more to himself. "Whatever it was, it sounded highly suspicious." He looks back at the screen, concentrating on the text. "It sure did." He rubs his chin in thought, and then he looks at me. "Maybe we will be able to figure out together what it means" I try not to get emotional listening to 'Together', it's not good for my feelings if I'm disappointed later. "I thought it was more than odd that Thomas disappeared after the news of the dead body surfaced. " "Maybe he was just devastated." I replied, gripping the phone tightly. But of course, I'm curious where Thomas has been, if he doesn't want to be suspected, he shouldn't have disappeared like that. "Wait, something else is happening." With those words from him, I look at my phone again, curious. This time it was Dan talking to a man named Poke. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Poke How are you doing today Mr. Anderson! I’ve got your little message

Dan Then why the hell are you texting me then?

Poke I just wanted to make sure You are as paranoid as ever see

Dan How about you cut it out?

Poke Ok ok calm down You know the time and the place

Dan Of course

Poke Perfect

Dan 350

Poke You got it

Dan 300?

Poke No way

Dan Asshole

Poke Likewise Oh and Dan?

Dan What

Poke I am sorry about the girl

Dan Me too ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I immediately got up from the chair going to the whiteboard to write it down. Too much information. "Mmh... What do you think all of this could mean?" I turn to look at him, he has gotten up and started to walk around the room. "It appears Dan is buying something from the stranger." I start to write under Dan the new information and the name of the man called Poke "And for that he is asking for €350" I write between question marks 'Drugs?', suspecting that for that amount, it can only be one thing. Maybe Thomas got into some drug thing and Hannah knew about it? M.H. read the notes I posted. "That’s exactly what I think." I look at him and he smiles at me. "Good job." "Thanks." I smile back. "Beside that, I am sure they referring to something highly illegal," he walks around the room again. "Dan was bending over backwards to make sure that object in question was not mentioned by name." "We have to get to the bottom of this!" "I know." I watch as he puts his hand to his head, scratching his hair desperately. "Let me think." I keep looking at him worried. Is he okay? "I am going to get the stranger’s phone number." "Good idea, I will contact him and I take care of it." I notice my decision in my voice. I know I'll get something out, I have to do it for Hannah. "That's the right attitude." I notice him excited, with that brightness that I had seen when I received the call from the kidnapper, only now he seems much more motivated. Will he do it to make up for what happened? "Give me a little time to find out the number." He returns to the table and starts typing and moving the mouse fast.

The image, the Poke number, looking for Hannah… I look again at the clean kitchen and since he's distracted, I walk around the house to see where he sleeps. In the room I only see a backpack, a blanket and next to it a small chronometer, will he rest well this way? The bathroom almost looks unused, but some soap can be seen. I open the faucet to check if at least it has hot water… "How can he live here?" I wonder when I notice that cold water comes out but not hot.

I return to the living room and look at him concerned. "Hey Mister Hacker..." "Yes?" "Sure you don't want to be in a better place? Like for example... I can let you have a room in my house." He looks up and seems alarmed. I haven't said anything bad either "I'm fine here, don't worry." "But-" "Don't worry so much, Macie," the voice... It sounds soft, as if he wanted to reassure me for worrying, "I'm perfectly here and..." He remains silent and looks at me doubtfully. He always does that. He is silent when he wants to say something important, he hides something from me. "I'll come tomorrow" I change the subject, to avoid discomfort "Do you mind if I come for lunch? I just wanted to spend the morning with my son." Mister Hacker chokes upon hearing my last words. I couldn't help it, I wanted to break the tension a bit. "Your what?" "My son." "Do you have…" he looks at me alarmed "But why didn't you tell me before?" "Because the subject hasn't come up." I take out my phone and approach him. "Look, this is Henry. " "I don't want to see him" he turns away avoiding seeing the mobile screen. "Come on, look." Surreptitiously, I see how he looks at the photo on my screen, seeing my dear and cute rabbit. He lets out a relieved sigh, picking up my phone to look at the screen better... "Now I understand everything." He doesn't look away, I even see a smile escape him. "He must be too important to you to have it as your wallpaper." he hands me back my phone and now I look at the screen. "It was a gift from my friends," I smile looking at him. "I don't feel alone with Henry, I tell him all my secrets." "Oh, then I don't have to worry." He smiles at me and I feel like I melt at his little joke. “No, he keeps them pretty well." I can't believe he's laughing at what I just said. The joke I have made is bad. “Then don't linger so long,” he tells me, relaxing in his chair. "Returns home with your son." "Thanks, you're the best boss I've ever had." I teased, picking up my things. "See you tomorrow then?" He asks me a little shyly, surprising me. "Yes, I'll come tomorrow." He returns to the computer and his bangs cover his eyes. But not his smile. "See you tomorrow then, Macie." "See you tomorrow, Mister Hacker."

I can't wait for tomorrow to arrive. *Jake POV*

She really loves to make me nervous. It almost give me a heart attack when she told me that she has a son, I didn't expect her to talk about her pet. It had been a long time since I had so much fun with someone.

When it comes, I forget what my life is really like. It might just be an hour to forget why I'm really hiding, but it made me feel relieved. Unfortunately, I have to remember that she won't be around for long, after all, she lives in the light, while I hide in the shadows. It could never work. I couldn't put her in that danger. "Instead here I am, forgetting it every time we see each other." I look at Macie's cell phone screen, now understanding that the rabbit was her pet. I smiles again when I remembers how she had looked at the photo. "You have a very adorable son, Macie."

Chapter 7

#duskwood #duskwood jake #duskwood mc #duskwood jake x mc #duskwood fanfic #duskwood dan #duskwood thomas #duskwood poke #duskwood everbyte #everbyte studio

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memryse · 2 years

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last life session 4: a deep dive

hello tumblr! on account of various personal things, i haven’t really contributed much to the fandom in a while, but here's an idea i've had bouncing around in my brain this whole time and have been absolutely itching to get written. now, 3rd life is absolutely still my favourite series, but session 4 of last life is firmly my favourite session of either series, arguably some of my favourite videos in mcyt history in general. so i've been wanting to write a piece on what, exactly, makes it so objectively brilliant. i just absolutely love writing meta about this series and honestly i will probably not stop for a very long time!

under the cut because it's... a lot :]

to start off, i'll mainly be referencing grian, cleo, joel, and bigb's POVs throughout this, but i'll probably briefly touch on some of the others as well, because this session is wonderful no matter whose perspective you watch it from. i'll be splitting this essay into a few sections, because this session has two primary subplots that contribute to the wider narrative, and it's difficult to write a cohesive essay on them without splitting them.

grian's fall

this session opens on the back of a relatively tame session three. one boogeyman, one death. joel is rapidly earning a reputation for being the least effective (and most frustrated) red name the series has ever seen. all in all, tension was not running too high. grian opens his POV by covering the southlands' walls with cobblestone - "it turns out, all you need to do is set one block on fire, and the whole place is gonna come crumbling down."

Well.

i'm sure that's not at all foreshadowing what happens to the southlands after one member turns red.

nah.

anyway!

grian begins his emergency preparations, namely setting up a bunker where he hides a few dogs. ............wait, this is also foreshadowing.

let's try this again! he passes scar's base, and shoots a few arrows at scar to be irritating. after some banter, in which scar is not scared of grian in the slightest (in direct contrast to, well, everyone else on the server. just desert duo things), scar tells grian that his soul crystal preorder has been cancelled. in response, grian adds scar to his "book" - his hitlist for when he turns red. Fuck this is also foreshadowing

back to some more southerner shenanigans, including but not limited to: scaring martyn, teaching mumbo the value of plagiarism, mumbo brings up his plan to build a ghast farm, martyn asking about the location of grian's wither skull because he'd like to know in case grian suddenly turns red. God damn it not again

meanwhile, joel's traps and murder plans are continuing to fail majestically. eventually, the two run across each other, and joel laments his inability to kill anyone (the infamous "ahahaha! going a bit mental! going a bit mad!"). i'm not going to say it again but guess what this is! lord, grian has more death flags than a sickly little victorian boy at this point. more red flags than scar near a lava trap. but seriously, completely unintentionally on any of their parts, the narrative is building up this same point, again and again: grian is going to die. the southlands will collapse. this is fated, and this is inevitable.

thankfully, after this, we get a bit of a break of grian and mumbo causing (non-fatal) problems in the nether. causing more problems in the overworld. even more stupidity as they build the ghast farm. you forget about all of the tension that was previously building. you let your guard down. forget all about joel. we see cleo's death pop up in the chat (more on that later!) and even this is turned into a joke about boogiemen! they hop back to the overworld for a couple of minutes and come back, we see grian casually complaining about not bringing torches.

mumbo: OH. OH. joel's here. joel's here. grian: what? mumbo-

and just like that, it all comes crashing down. life picks up for joel. everything we had been warned about previously comes true. grian is red.

now, let's talk about the fairy fort.

the collapse of the fairy fort

the boogeymen of this session are chosen: ren and bigb. two people from the same alliance, which already makes it painful enough for the viewers. but what really hammers this in as incredibly painful and angsty is their opposite responses to this. cutting back to etho's psychological warfare tactics in session three: ren tells etho he would get the boogey kill quickly and smoothly (incidentally, he specifically says he would choose the weakest person he could find, and "chop off their head". hmm). bigb, on the other hand, tells etho that he wouldn't kill anyone, that he would go to red. in session four, sure, ren does what he says he would - he doesn't cut off anyone's head, admittedly, and instead goes for a more complex trap, but he does take a weak-seeming target (a lone skizzleman) and executes him. he is also entirely upfront to his allies about being the boogeyman, and assures them that they're safe from him - and for his honesty and loyalty, the fairy fort rewards him, offering him aid. bigb is present in this meeting. bigb chooses to say nothing.

(before i continue, i'd also like to point out that earlier in the session, cleo tells bigb that she is "more scared of joel than the boogeyman at this point", clearly as a tongue-in-cheek remark about how both joel and the boogeyman are not scary. not only is she saying this directly to a boogeyman, that person would go on to kill her later that session, and she would go red from one of joel's traps. but sure, she ended up being glad about it, so perhaps she was right to not be scared!)

from bigb's pov, the session continues mostly uneventfully, until he and lizzie catch ren talking with jimmy. bigb expresses worry that ren will turn on his allies and kill them instead. ironic, huh? he's then given multiple opportunities where he could kill lizzie, but doesn't - he's still holding onto his commitment to not betray his allies.

next point of interest: a conversation with cleo.

cleo: the only thing i can think of is, the boogeyman would want to kill us, if he couldn't get anyone else. bigb: that is true. that is true. cleo: so... it's safe up there for now, but i'm steering well clear of ren. just in case. bigb: yeah. well, i'm glad he told us. cleo: yeah, but why did he tell us? so we'd let our guard down. bigb: yeah... that's what i'm also thinking. cleo: we stay away. you and me. bigb: i mean, would you forgive ren though? if he- cleo: well... probably not to be honest. [...] you and me stay away from him, we'll be alright.

that is... one hell of a conversation, huh.

bigb then laments to the camera that this was a prime opportunity for him, but he couldn't do it; he couldn't kill her. he calls himself weak. he's angry at himself for not being able to get a kill.

more adventures with lizzie as they attempt to lie about their villager, find the green lives' club, converse with the southerners. time stretches on ever further, and we're all too aware that bigb is running out of time - especially because bigb's episodes are long, this session in particular, split into two 40-50min parts. you can practically feel his desperation building, and meanwhile, his allies still trust him wholeheartedly. cleo in particular.

their southern excursion is interrupted by ren's boogie kill, as they all rush back to the shadow tower to find out what happened. ren expresses his relief that his boogeyman kill is all over and done with, the session is getting close to being over, and at last, bigb gets visibly antsy. checking his inventory for fire resistance potions, etc. after a long conversation in which we see skizz forgiving and praising ren's kill - a very strong contrast to what we'll see from bigb and cleo later - ren and skizz finally head down to the base of the tower.

bigb examines the depth of the pit. cleo stands above it on a block of dirt - she's testing him. she trusts him, but she's not sure, and she wants him to prove his loyalty.

bigb cycles through his inventory. a heartbeat sound effect plays. he takes out his axe.

he checks the pit one last time.

"cleo."

she knows what's coming, and she fights back anyway.

she would have let him do it, if he'd asked.

i don't think i need to recount the rest of the scene, but my point is, this whole sequence of events is tragic. ren comes clean about his boogeyman status, gets an easy kill and is praised by everyone for it. bigb chooses to hide, not being able to stomach the thought of killing until it's too late and he's too desperate, and he earns the wrath of a furious zombiecleo after brutally murdering her in a river. earns the title of betrayer to all.

joel's trap goes off. another win for the "villain" of the series. cleo is red. bigb runs.

the new reds

so. we've gone from a peaceful, nonthreatening start of the session, to a session now infamously dyed in blood and betrayal. before i go any further, i just want to point out the reason that the pure horror of this turn of events is so strong, is because of the two specific people who turn red. grian, the infamous troublemaker. winner of 3rd life, and the one with the most kills to boot. unpredictable. loves tnt. died too late in 3rd life for anyone to actually see what he would be like as a red name. need i say more? and cleo, who loves nothing more than empty threats and arson. two things which she is very much allowed to do now. people are very scared of cleo, even though she doesn't always back up those threats: in particular, her former allies, bigb and lizzie. she is terrifying to have as an enemy, especially when she's bearing a firm grudge against you.

all of a sudden, the tone of the session shifts. i'm not quite sure how to describe it, but it's the same feeling as when a character suddenly turns evil (or is revealed to have been evil all along). they're menacing without a shred of empathy. their friendships mean nothing in almost a blink of an eye.

as a red, grian first heads over to scar's mountain. he threatens scar. he reminds him that scar went back on their previous deal - grian's "very generous offer", with all the emphasis and hidden threats that those italics can possibly convey. but scar continues to try to make a new deal, and grian turns their previous exchange against him. "you know what? i'll give you that deal on preorder. i'll see you later, scar." now, whether scar pays much heed to this very obvious threat is one thing, but from an audience perspective, it's quite terrifying.

he meets with joel, reluctantly befriends him, and receives his official exile from the southerners. as if things couldn't get any more tragic for him!

this is just such an image. seeing grian away from the southerners, with joel. hurts my heart. slash positive connotation.

next, grian encounters the green lives club. honestly, not that scary from his perspective. but if you watch scott or pearl's, he is suddenly downright terrifying. singing nonchalantly, asking "what have i just stumbled on?" whilst he laughs to himself. it's honestly one of my favourite scenes, it's scary!

and, at long last, the grian and mumbo scene. you know the one. it starts out fairly sad, them both lamenting what they could have done better. mumbo tries to win points with grian, convince him not to kill him (this is after we see mumbo has left a sign asking the same thing). grian gets an idea. and all of a sudden, once again the tone of the scene shifts to downright horrifying, as grian laughs and gleefully tries to kill mumbo.

mumbo: what, you want me to volunteer myself into being red? grian: i wasn't asking you to volunteer.

what a scene, huh?

anyway, back to cleo! she is disappointed about turning red for approximately [unspecified amount of time before she respawns because she put in a replay capture of her death]. the instant she respawns, cleo is laughing. she's excited about the prospect of getting her revenge on bigb. a little sad about losing the ability to team up with pearl and scott, sure, but she hardly lets that show. (this part really is sad from a viewer perspective, though: we're excited to see her team up with the most functional alliance on the server, who won't betray her like bigb just did, and she dies trying to get to them.)

she runs over to the fairy fort, and meets up with joel - taking the opportunity to first scare ren, her former ally, and then happily proclaims she'd love to join team red. the two of them cheer about her death, as cleo quite literally cackles (and ren laughs along nervously). her episode ends with her assuring joel that she has so many enemies to murder. what a change from her earlier in the session, hiding underground with bigb because she doesn't want to die. as session five would show even further, an angry cleo is not an enemy that anybody wants to have,

oh, and then to top it all off, bdubs goes and dies by accident. another new red! this one is like an easter egg, because it's hardly in any povs with it happening so close to the end of the session, which honestly makes it even worse. the deeper you look into the series, the more povs you watch, the more tragic it gets. there's not really a lot to say because bdubs' red life really begins in the next session, but he does very quickly turn threatening towards tango and etho. as we're all well aware, red bdubs is... unstable. very murderous, very desperate for red friends (but also retaining that general Bdubs Energy). he shows no qualms about betraying his friends. once again, it's rather scary!

if i had to briefly summarise this very long post, then forgive my use of marvel metaphors, but this session is like the infinity war of the series. everything culminates in this one session, with various subplots all interwoven to create one narrative, in which the villain wins. you are not supposed to feel happy about this - you're not even supposed to feel angry about it. last life session 4 leaves you feeling hollow, you're not sure what to make of it. it follows a practically perfect narrative, with the exception of the "villain" (because we all know nobody is really a villain here) winning. you see people quite literally fall from grace, lose everything that they worked for, and join the antagonists with varying levels of regret. it's beautiful to me; no other mcyt video has ever had quite this kind of impact on me. and that's why it's one of my favourites! i hope i have convinced some people to also love last life session four :] thank you very much for reading!

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