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fountainpenguin · 1 month

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"My mind is twisted up and you're to blame... Are you aware of how you say my name? I've tried so hard to push you away..." (x)

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New Dog's Life chapter today! ~ 3rd Life series fan-season

Chapter 33 - “Cinders (Etho)”

❤️ Read on AO3

💛 Start from Chapter 1

💚 More Pixels Imperfect fics

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"But for real, the most beautiful thing Lizzie did was treating me like a stranger. She didn't see him." Sniff sounds like he's floating, eyes like glaciers. "I'm never going to stop being 'Joel 2.0' to you. Am I?"

Etho finally tells SnifferMyFeet what happened between him and Joel post-Double Life. Sometimes people slip right through your fingers... It's just weird it happened twice.

#smalletho - Etho/Sniff tension followed by several flashbacks about Etho's past with Joel (bed sharing, cuddling, teasing, discussing Joel's kids (Hermes & Tiny Tom), and Etho trying to learn Joel's boundaries, which Joel avoids defining)

(First 1,000 words under the cut)

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Yeah, we allogrooming (chewing on each other's code strings and pulling them with mouths to straighten them); keep scrolling

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Etho - Fox

Status: Keep 'em guessing

Self-taught programmer, full-time hero

💙 🧡 💚

It's familiar, but not in the way you think. It's familiar because the universe speaks to itself (to his soul) each time it checks he's doing okay. Especially on full moon nights. When the moon reaches down its light, Etho adjusts his footing and licks his lips, then chews its fingers and nuzzles back.

Give yourself a shake. Fluff up your fur. It's the arctic fox way. Then you run off to do exactly what you're meant to do, because you're born of the universe and were given conscious thought so you could love your role. The mobs play their part. You play yours. Beneath silver moonlight, we meet and make merry, for tomorrow we're AFK for weeks or months on end. You're born in the code. You live forever. And that's just the way of things.

Which is to say that snuggling up next to Sniff, one hand pressed to the back of his shoulders to hold him down against the mattress, is one of those wild things that's new and familiar at the exact same time. You remember all those tools we were gonna clean his code with? Yeah, those are beginner's toys. This is how it's done right.

It's a work of teeth and tongue: nipping code beneath his skin with glowing teeth and pulling it to straighten strings. It's goopy, thick, and messy. It's the way of the world; song as old as time.

Sniff keeps very quiet, his hands stretched out in front of him. He kneads the pillow. They don't speak. Not now. Etho keeps his hand firm, bearing weight on Sniff through a blanket so their pixels won't blend together, as he makes his way around cheek, neck, shoulder, and back. Sniff's filled with stagnant energy. It doesn't move fast - doesn't carry the parts that need attention towards Etho's mouth the way it should - but his tongue's doing the job the activator whisk should do. It ripples through his code. It stirs the stuff awake. That'll get him moving. Sniff gives a big, silent yawn that splays his fingertips and flicks his tongue. Then he turns his head away. His wings flex like a butterfly's and slowly fold against his back.

Etho keeps working. The mask's been dropped aside for this- It's just easier than letting it dangle at his neck. He nips with his teeth, catching strings, and fixes everything he can. There's only so much you can do with stagnant code. Most species don't eat it, but a fox can. Like the phantoms, they scavenge.

Etho takes the stuff Sniff doesn't need. He doesn't need scratches and aching muscles. He doesn't need chipped nails and dirty feet. He doesn't need the callus on his writing finger, the ink stains, or the ache between the V of two fingers. These are little add-ons (just wrinkles in the code). Etho pulls them free of soul and skin. They slip between his teeth.

Sniff drags Etho's other hand forward. Etho shifts, keeping balance. His hand's pretty neat and tidy after the week-long experience of Sniff cycling his code. Sniff nibbles at it anyway. The bits in his system that are ruffled prickle to attention and swish the messy bits forward so Sniff can gnaw the tangles away. Yeah, that's the spot. Etho thumps his tail against the bed.

Unlocking advancements feels like this. And the universe loves them, and it gave them thought without breaking the ecosystem, because it wanted them to know they're loved.

If there's an advancement for allogrooming, it's one he achieved a long, long time ago. Probably when he was just a kit. Not a lot of memories from the early days still stick with him, but he does remember Rhetoric chewing on his ear. He had fox ears back then. They used to wrestle with each other, but growing up is complicated. Sometimes you do the best you can every day of your life… and for what? Your mother will still pick you up by the scruff and drop you on the doorstep of a dragon she thinks could use you more.

He and Bdubs have that in common. Bdubs just refuses to admit it.

Oh yeah… We can't let the Slime Dragon see Sniff. She'll wanna kill him so he respawns at his mom's nest. Etho yawns. He stops messing with the code. Instead, he nestles his chin against the back of Sniff's neck. What time is it? Feels like they've been here for a thousand ticks, but it's such a blur that it could easily be half as much. It probably isn't. It can't be that long… He hasn't been called to Dog's Life yet.

Sniff chews at his fingers for a little longer, but his teeth slow too. He rests his cheek against his knuckles. Etho sweeps his tail sideways, brushing it across Sniff's back. He's warm. And without the nips and pulls, consistent collision isn't going to last. Pixels prickle. His chin starts to sink straight through.

It's familiar. But not the way you think. He never groomed Joel like this, with his mouth, except one time he had to re-open some rumpled bite marks that had sealed themselves in ridges across his shoulders. Long story there… but it's familiar because the universe told him this feels right tonight.

And it does feel right tonight. He's not gonna leave the mask off for long. Or the bandana, for that matter. He's way too exposed like this, raised blue scar curling over his eye and across his lips (all of it on display). Sniff probably feels the same way. He's still got both his shirts off. The curve of his spine's marked with a stripe. When you're this close, you can see the tiny zigzag marks where skin meshes like it's stitched. His giant scar - that big, white X - pulses with a dim, hazy glow.

Etho removes his head before he can sink any lower. He noses Sniff's cheek, then his chin. Once they're upturned, he gets back to work. A little more clipping here. A little trimming there. Making his way around. Sniff makes one soft noise like he's debating whether to squirm away. He keeps his eyes shut though, arms relaxed, and his wings stay folded up- lazy and content. Etho adds a few licks, keeping them light so he can seal the tiny gashes left behind by his teeth without startling Sniff enough to ask questions about 'what they are' again.

Funny. Last week, we did this the other way around. But he doesn't go as far as Sniff did. Tonight's about grooming, not feeding. Etho chews a knot from the back of Sniff's neck, then draws back. "Hey, Sniff, you-"

"My full name, Etho," he mumbles, not opening his eyes. "I only have one rule."

Right. Etho rasps his tongue around his lips and starts again. "SnifferMyFeet, I want to ask something."

"Mm?"

"I know we said we wouldn't be 'serious' right now. I've just been wondering if maybe, after I do recordings and Hermitcraft clean-up… If you'd want to eat my soul again?"

Sniff's fingers still against the sheets. They alternate whose turn it is to breathe, like they used to at night on The Relation or when they were testing how far they could swim without coming up for air. Spoilers: Oxygen does not transfer from one soulmate's body to another.

Then Sniff blinks himself back to full awareness. He sits up on his knees. The covers slide down his back. Hands still braced, but no longer looking cozy. The guy reaches to pinch his brow and take his folded tank top at the same time. "You… want to use my vessel? Fluff, I dunno. Can I say that? I think I can."

[Full chapter on AO3 - Link at top]

#smalletho #trafficfic #traffic soulmates #mcyt #Dog's Life #Dog's Life art #fic announcement #ridwriting #apparently art #trafficshipping #hermitshipping #Sniff and Pig #Pixels Imperfect #allogrooming #<- idk if anyone blocks this tag but. there ya go

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svtskneecaps · 7 months

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a list of timestamps, for no reason :)

thesis statement : No, what blue did tonight and what red did the last two nights are not the same.

disclaimer: this is not a judgement of right / wrong, this is a glorified compare and contrast paper.

a TL;DR is available at the top, immediately following the keep reading link (which i hope, for your sake, is still there).

for each vod i have compiled the time stamps first, and then under the heading "notably" have compiled and compared them.

this is the most toxic i will allow myself to be.

TL;DR:

Blue team on Day 4 took 2 seconds from first task claimed to last. Red team on Day 2 took 5 minutes 14 seconds from first task claimed to last, and on Day 3 took 42 seconds.

Blue team on Day 4 was vulnerable in the area for 2 seconds before claiming their last task. Red team on Day 2 was vulnerable in the area for 8 minutes 31 seconds, and on Day 3 was vulnerable for 12 minutes 10 seconds.

The time blue team spent getting situated before logging out in global is not counted in this as being vulnerable because it is not a viable strategy for an entertainer to waste 4 hours of their limited time camping global to ensure no one is logging out.

Red team claimed their first global task on Day 3 with 13 minutes until the server closed. On Day 4, Etoiles and Roier arrived to stop blue team from applying the same strategy with 15 minutes until the server closed.

Blue team's actions on Day 4 did not leave them open to any reasonable retaliation efforts once Tubbo logged out. The moment he logged back in, the tasks were as good as complete. Unless another content creator metagamed, they would not be able to stop him.

Red team's actions on Day 2 and Day 3 did leave them open to retaliation. They were not fast, they often did not have the items they needed crafted in advance and spent time in sight of the global task dome crafting the items. If a team had been waiting for them to try this at the global task dome as Etoiles and Roier did for Blue team, that team could entirely have succeeded in killing them or ruining their plans.

The global tasks on Day 4 were already functionally blue's 4 hours before they were claimed. Even if the disaster hadn't affected global, the way it was supposed to, the only thing left would have been revenge. There was no preventing it once Tubbo logged out.

The global tasks on Day 2 were open to reclamation for an hour after red team claimed them. By Day 3 blue team was aware of red's strategy and had a full 12 minutes (at a predictable time! see below) in which they could have attacked red and stopped them.

What blue and red team did was not the same.

Below are the time stamps I used to get this data and draw these conclusions. I've included links to vods for verification purposes. These links are not future proofed.

November 7th, 2023: Day 4 of Purgatory

TubboLIVE's VOD:

1:47:20 : Tubbo logs out of the server, behind the blue "contracts" NPC. He has 15 minutes 32 seconds of server time remaining.

5:50:23 : It is 3:48:52 am in Tubbo's time zone. Tubbo shows the clock on his screen. There are 11 minutes and 8 seconds until the server closes.

5:50:49 : Tubbo loads in, behind the blue "contracts" NPC. It is 3:49:41 am. This is the first moment the game is visible on his screen. He has 15 minutes 03 seconds of server time remaining.

5:50:50 : Tubbo claims the first of the global tasks.

5:50:51 : Tubbo claims the last of the global tasks. It is 3:49:43 am.

Notably:

Functionally, tubbo was standing behind the blue NPC, invincible, for 4 hours 3 minutes and 3 seconds

There is a 29 second period of server time that I can't account for.

The total time it took for tubbo to claim every global task after loading in is 2 seconds.

The cooldown for every global task before it can be reclaimed is 10 minutes. In this case these ten minutes started at 3:49:42 and 3:49:43 am. The first moment any of these claimed global tasks can be reclaimed is 3:59:42 am, with 18 seconds until the server closes.

Etoiles's VOD:

4:56:08 : With some leniency, this is the first clear view of the blue "contracts" NPC and the spot Tubbo is "standing" shown on Etoiles's stream.

*(the blue NPC comes into view at 4:56:06 but whether Etoiles would have seen Tubbo there is dubious enough that I have opted for a later time stamp)

4:56:12 : Etoiles and Roier enter the global task dome. They are standing directly to the left of the red NPC; on the opposite side as the blue NPC. The spot Tubbo is "standing" is clearly visible on Etoiles's stream. Etoiles has 10 minutes 40 seconds of server time remaining. There are roughly 15 minutes and 30 seconds until the server closes*.

*(Time calculated roughly using Tubbo's log in message; this is not exact)

4:56:17 : Roier is standing in front of the blue "contracts" NPC.

4:58:03 : Without leaving global spawn, Etoiles disconnects to get a buffer on his time limit. Remembering that there is a disaster coming, he immediately re-logs to avoid the combat logging penalty. Roier does not disconnect during this time.

4:58:18 : The first frame of the game is visible after Etoiles relogs. Etoiles has 8 minutes 53 seconds of server time remaining.

4:58:45 : The quicksand disaster starts, affecting global spawn despite admins having informed Etoiles previously that disasters did not affect global spawn.

5:00:08 : The disaster ends.

5:01:17 : Tubbo logs in. There are roughly 10 minutes 11 seconds until the server closes.

Notably:

Roier is standing three blocks away from Tubbo's log-in point (effectively, three blocks away from Tubbo) at 5 minutes before Tubbo logs in.

Were Tubbo logged in, waiting physically at spawn, Etoiles and Roier would have been able to initiate combat 5 minutes and 5 seconds earlier. Both had plenty of time on their server counters to participate in this combat, albeit Etoiles would have been kicked before server close. Roier would not be (source: Slime's vod, 2:45:05 and on. There is no disconnect message for Roier before the server is closed at roughly 2:45:08).

Were Tubbo logged in, waiting physically at spawn when Etoiles and Roier arrived (at roughly 3:44:37 am in Tubbo's time zone, 15 minutes and 23 seconds before the server closed), and had claimed all global missions at that time rather than risk dying in combat, the missions would have been able to be reclaimed at roughly 3:54:37 am, with about 5 minutes and 23 seconds before the server closed. This is 5 minutes and 5 seconds more than the actual time.

November 5th, 2023 : Day 2 of Purgatory

This is the first day red has used this strategy.

Cellbit's VOD:

6:52:27 : Cellbit arrives at the plaza outside the global task dome (Carre is already here; he wasn't streaming so I don't know when he arrived).

6:52:49 : Cellbit enters the global task dome. He backtracks to the right of the global task dome, and sets up a crafting area to craft items for the tasks somewhat out of sight of the dome. He is 96 meters away from the dome.

6:55:34 : Cellbit re-enters the global task dome.

6:55:44 : Cellbit claims the first global task for red team (electrolytes). The cooldown is 10 minutes 41 seconds.

6:55:49 : Cellbit claims one global task for red team (radiation medicine).

6:55:55 : Cellbit claims one global task for red team (campfires).

6:56:04 : Cellbit leaves the global task dome and sets up a second crafting area to the right of the dome after losing the first. This area is in full view of the dome, and is roughly 61 meters away.

6:57:40 : Cellbit dumps every item in his inventory except for iron and minecarts and a shield into a chest (he is functionally defenseless).

6:58:18 : Cellbit re-enters the global task dome.

6:58:23 : Cellbit claims one global task for red team (minecarts).

6:59:12 : Cellbit claims one global task for red team (diamonds).

6:59:49 : Cellbit gets his sword out of the chest (he is no longer defenseless).

7:00:58 : Jaiden claims the last global task for red team (rails). The bananas task remains unclaimed.

7:01:01 : ElQuackity is visible outside the dome on Cellbit's stream for the first time. Cellbit chases him.

7:04:34 : Cellbit kills ElQuackity, putting red team in the lead.

7:48:07 : The server closes.

Notably:

Red team is physically present, visible, and murderable / stoppable at the global tasks area for 8 minutes 31 seconds.

Red team takes 5 minutes 14 seconds to claim their global tasks.

The cooldown on these global tasks leaves at minimum 36 minutes 28 seconds to reclaim, maximum 41 minutes 42 seconds to reclaim before server close.

If a team were to have come up to the dome during the 8 minute 31 second period, they would have seen the team and could have attacked or stopped them.

There is a 2 minute 9 second period where Cellbit literally does not have a weapon in his inventory.

If a team were to have come up to the dome while the red team was still crafting the global quest items, they could have attacked and prevented the team from crafting the items and forced them to retreat without claiming those goals.

November 6th, 2023 : Day 3 of Purgatory

This is the second day red has used this strategy.

Cellbit's VOD:

3:39:11 : Cellbit sees Bagi on the bridge to global. There are 24 minutes and 2 seconds until the server closes.

3:39:49 : Cellbit enters the global dome, standing just to the right of where the red NPC is on November 7th.

3:40:24 : Cellbit exits the global dome to craft the water bottles needed for the global task.

3:42:58 : Cellbit crafts the final water bottle needed for the global task.

3:43:28 : Cellbit, Foolish, and Carre re-enter the global dome.

3:44:15 : Cellbit and Carre exit the global dome to inspect Bagi's body. Foolish exits the global dome to use the crafting table.

3:45:36 : Cellbit and Carre re-enter the global dome.

(There's a few more entrances and exits from the dome during the following period, though they stay within the area marked with Bagi's body, the global NPCs, and the crafting table as corners : Never much more than 61 meters away and never out of sight of the dome)

3:49:45 : Cellbit sends the message "hey guys we are about to deliver global tasks you should come!" There are 14 minutes and 18 seconds until the server closes.

3:50:39 : Cellbit claims the first global task for red team (tea leaves). There are 13 minutes and 26 seconds until the server closes.

3:50:59 : Carre claims one global task for red team (gas masks).

3:51:01 : Cellbit claims one global task for red team (hot cocoa).

3:51:09 : Cellbit claims one global task for red team (water bottles).

3:51:12 : Cellbit claims one global task for red team (backpacks).

3:51:21 : Carre claims the last global task for red team (tea). There are 11 minutes and 52 seconds until the server closes.

4:03:13 : The server closes.

notably:

Red team is physically present, visible, and murderable / stoppable at the global tasks area for 11 minutes and 28 seconds before they turn in any global tasks.

Red team takes 42 seconds to turn in all of their global tasks.

The cooldown on the global tasks leaves at maximum 3 minutes 26 seconds of time to reclaim, and at minimum 1 minute and 52 seconds to reclaim.

If a team were to have come up to the dome during the 11 minute and 28 second period, they would have seen and could have attacked red team.

If a team were to have come up to the dome in the 3 minutes 47 seconds between red team arriving at the global dome and red team crafting all the water bottles for the global task, they would have seen and could have attacked red team.

#qsmp #qsmp neg #qsmp purgatory neg #qsmp purgatory #fandom neg #qsmp fandom neg #qsmp blue team neg #neg #shut up vic #block game brainrot #i'll add tags if anyone thinks of a neg tag i missed i'm trying to be overly courteous as much as possible #i'm also trying to be objective as much as possible #the conclusion of this post isn't a value judgement on right or wrong btw #this is literally just 'did the teams do the same thing' and the conclusion i came to was 'no they didn't lol'#idc whether the strat was valid or scummy or hype or WHATEVER idc just to prove that blue and red did not do the same thing #bc it's going to bug me and i refuse to take that energy to sleep with me #this post is not an excuse to harass a cc in the replies or the reblogs i will chew the aglets off your shoes and hide tuna in your curtain #i may update this if someone has a counter argument i think i should address but that's up to my whims #i may also delete this idk yet #i hate to be mad on main but i'm mad so this is the best i can do without adding too much outright neg to what's already a cesspit tbh #long post #long tags #discourse #qsmp discourse #qsmp purgatory discourse

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