#trafficfic

[fountainpenguin]

bad news about this unfinished chapter I refuse to split again, guys

There are 9000 more words in this chapter's scrap file; I want galaxy duo to be arrested

[juliusxxxxxx]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Hey, guess what I resurrected! Chp15!! Yay!!

[fountainpenguin]

"To me you are precious; I promise I'm gentle... Unfortunately, unfortunately, we're still the wolf and-" (x)

---

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

Chapter 61 - “Little Red Riding Hood (Pearl)”

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💛 Start from Chapter 1

💚 More Pixels Imperfect AU fics

💜 My MCYT AUs

---

“Pearl… How do you know you don’t want an allay partnership if you’ve never been in one? I mean, we were fine in Last Life when we were cuddling. I cleaned, I did the dishes-” “I just know,” she says, turning to stare at him head-on. “How do you know you’re a first-heart? Or that you might like playing hunter more than quarry, or that you’re gay?” “That’s different,” he complains. “Is it?” “Yeah? I’m a hunter because I’m turning into a vex, which is an apex predator. I’m gay because cute shirtless men make my knees get weak, and I’m a first-heart because I want to be the one running my hands down those glistening abs more than I want someone doing that to me. Those are unchangeable parts of my code, but being friends - like an allay partnership - is a mental thing. When I eat souls, it’s because I have to. I enjoy hanging out with you.”

After a long night of talking, Pearl teaches Scott how to eat a soul. I heard you can't spell "dramedy" without "uh-oh."

(First 1,000 words under the cut)

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PearlescentMoon

Location: Pearl's unit, Simmers' Quarter, 4th Floor, 552

🖤  🧡  💚

Scott’s exhausted, riled up on moonfluence, and worst of all… embarrassed. He doesn’t clarify all that, but Pearl would be the same. They untangle from the bed and spend a few minutes walking around. Scott’s got moonlight to shake like water off his wings. Break time offers Pearl the chance to follow up with Bdubs, because if she doesn’t, he’ll probably lose his mind. She checks her comm, but he hasn’t sent another ‘Still good?’ since she asked he keep his distance. Hm. Maybe he’s treating her like an adult who can make her own choices after all.

She sends another whisper anyway. Adulting’s a two-way street and she’s not gonna drop the ball on keeping Bdubs in the loop. She sits at the bar counter while Scott’s on the other side, eating another brownie. He sees her typing. He’s not near enough to read the screen and he doesn’t ask who, but Pearl glances up and their eyes meet anyway. He doesn’t look thrilled she’s talking to someone on the side.

“I’ll put it away,” she tells him. “Just writing someone back while we chill.”

“About the cat?”

“What?”

“You said you might adopt a second cat. You, uh… don’t date, so you-” And he laughs, tossing back his head. “You sort of glitched out my go-to options there! I was like, ‘No, Pearl doesn’t  like women; can’t gush and ask her who,’ and ‘Oh no, she doesn’t like men either.’ Pearl, that’s all I have.”

She laughs along with him, and exchanges a glance with herself inside her head. You can’t think of anyone else I’d talk to if I’m not trying to pick them up?

Sigh. She’s pouring words down his throat with a ladle. Deep breath. Remember… If Cleo and Martyn made it work, she and Scott can too. Open communication. Honest expectations. No judgment. Apologies. That’s how it all goes down.

He pauses for a moment, then says, “I’m sorry you got pulled away from Gem and Impulse. Bdubs… Bdubs mentioned that. I was dragon brain when I had him invite you to tea party. I didn’t know.”

“No worries. You needed me.”

That comment leaves him visibly uncomfortable. He stands there, half a brownie in his hand. Pearl doesn’t pay him much attention, swiftly messaging a couple other people who’d sent her whispers. Look, she might as well. Scott walks away at some point. Pearl hears the balcony door squeak open. He’s probably checking the lock.

… He’s not, when she looks up again. The door is shut. Huh? Pearl crosses the living room, a spatter of nerves curving up her spine as she can’t see Nugget, until she hears a mew from up the hallway. Pearl squints through the window to confirm Scott’s not talking to someone on his comm. He’s definitely there, though… slumped against the rail, fingers tangled at the front of his hair. His bun’s pulling loose. Pearl opens the door as noisily as she can.

“Hey. You all right, mate? We can meet tomorrow if you need a longer break.”

Scott says… nothing at all. He stares down over the small section of New Star that her balcony overlooks. There’s not much to see out here in the southeast corner - Pretty much everything’s on the building’s other side - but the lanterns are nice, all glowing blue and white. Pearl leans against the balcony’s edge, trying to give Scott plenty of space without, y’know… letting the guy who is a dragon and clearly fighting with some strong emotions right now out of her sight.

“I,” he finally says, “feel like I’ve gaslit, gatekept, girlboss’d too close to the sun. I’ve gaslit myself, I think.”

Yeah, and he looks it, too. “You wanna talk longer?” Pearl jabs a thumb somewhere in the west. “My boss needs Moo today, not me. I’ve got nowhere else to be.”

“This isn’t something I can talk about. Thank you, though.”

… Not sure what that’s about. “Mind if I hang out anyway?” See also, do not let the dragon stay unsupervised on the balcony. That’s not just a precaution for destructive powers, but if Alice seizes control of his body while his attention’s not all there and gets into trouble, well… Imagine if he careened into a wall and died from kinetic energy. Not good.

Scott shrugs. So together, spaced apart, they wait the minutes out on a little balcony in a little corner of a little city underground, way out here at the edge of the world. Or what may as well be, anyway. Pearl, knowing how much he loves to talk, expects that Scott will spill his thoughts eventually. He mostly doesn’t. After a while, he just asks if he can hug her again. She allows it. He squeezes her tight. They’ve got their collision back enough to feel it. Then he wipes his face and says if she gives him a couple more minutes, he’ll fix the door.

Pearl, maybe against her better judgment, carefully gives him alone time after that. She stays in the living room, though, until Scott’s ready to come back in. He waves his hand, rainbow sparkles glittering, and hands her a brand new key. Locks are changed. She thanks him and says she plans to tell Martyn off. Scott grumbles that she can absolutely report him for this because he had no business barging in if he wasn’t hunting and Pearl assures him that she’ll catch him sometime and talk about it privately. She likes to think he had good reason. He probably didn’t. Martyn doesn’t always think before he goes out wandering.

“Whyyyyy did he have a key?” Scott asks, trying a little too hard to sound casual about it. Pearl shrugs. She could lie to him, or she could be honest and it might be exactly what he needs to snap him out of allay brain (It’s impossible not to notice how he follows her, always staying a little behind and to one side).

“Gave it to him mid-Double Life for co-spawn roleplay.”

Scott freezes. Oh, yeah? Pearl turns on her heels, hands to hips. Her wings flap out to either side. “Don’t ask if you don’t want the answer, silly!”

He looks at her. He just… And she can see him rewiring his brain. The version of her his allay mind painted on a pedestal. The who she is doesn’t fit with who he thought he was doing favors for. He should drop it (Why’s he think he can ask?) but he says, “What?”

“Co-spawn roleplay. Came over and palled around; we pretended he sired my spark. What’s not to get? You and Cleo left us out in the cold, dude; we were lonely between sessions. It’s a long time to wallow.”

He looks very fidgety now, so Pearl changes the subject. “Wanna see my cobble baby?” You can paint them any way you like, but Pearl took her time and gave hers a proper face. Scrunched up nose and little bat ears, swaddled in its wings. She keeps it in a chest for when the nurse urges hit hardest beneath the waning moon.

“Not… really?” He rubs behind his neck. “You’ve made your point; that wasn’t my business.”

“Nope,” she says, grinning back at him. He makes a face. Scott tolerates the late-night bar conversations about what it might be like to have little sparks running around, but nursehood’s not for him. He’s a sire if he’s either one at all. Mob allays duplicate themselves without a partner, so maybe there’s something in his instincts that feels like it’s kind of gross. Or it’s some suppressed dragon thing. Rebellion. Who knows.

❤️ Read on AO3

[lunamothghost]

earth; a post-canon secret life fic

ao3

Word count for chapter 1: (3,476)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Characters: Ryan | GoodTimesWithScar

Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Post-Secret Life SMP, Past Character Death, Angst, Loneliness, Trauma, Hurt No Comfort, Not RPF, thousand years of loneliness upon this guy, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Memories, Blood and Violence, mostly in the past 

Summary :

In the aftermath of Pearl's death and Scars' victory, the world stilled, unbothered by any of those events. The winner was crowned, but the wind continued to blow south west, grazing the green grass of the partially scarred fields of the world. The man of the hour himself stood in front of the looming grey statues with a wide grin; their verdict didn’t matter to him anymore. He would shout and exclaim his confusion and delight while running around in circles. Scar was acutely aware of how loud he was before, but now that no soul was left to echo back, his own voice quickly gave him a headache. He went quiet, his energy running short. Walking back to the stones, he let his mind wander.

Was something wrong? Why am I still here? Scar asked himself.

After winning secret life, Scar lives on alone, spending a lot of time with himself and his own memories.

been working on this for a while, hope to upload the rest of the chapters soon, but for now here’s chapter one of my post-secret life story :)

[fountainpenguin]

"You're so busy making maps with my name on them in all caps... You've got the talking down- just not the listening." (x)

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

Chapter 59 - “Myosotis Pink (Bdubs, Pearl)”

❤️ Read on AO3

💛 Start from Chapter 1

💚 More Pixels Imperfect AU fics

💜 My MCYT AUs

---

He catches his lip anyway, biting hard. Pearl watches how he flicks his finger, like he’s tallying off random tasks. Straight-up won’t look her in the eye, which is weird for Scott. “I want what Cleo and Martyn have.” It’s an arrow thunk. Pearl could’ve staggered, if she were standing on the floor. “I saw it, I thought about it, and I realized that if I’m now a vex forever, I want to consume. Only, I know I’m not ready for that because I don’t know how. You’ve been eating souls since you were a spawnling. I just thought, you know…” “And you think I’m gonna let you hit?” Scott stops, finger pad flat on his palm. He looks up. His eyes get a little big. “Ah. I… thought… yeeeees?”

Pearl and Scott discuss giving their dead and buried friendship another try. "It's not an allay partnership," he says, and she almost believes him.

... Almost.

This fic is about Scott's descent into madness because he lost his ability to eat rocks and tbh I think he's quartz-deficient. Someone should look into that.

(First 1,000 words under the cut - #trafficshipping for mentioned... ooh boy. ScottieDog, ScarGlazes, Gridubs, Zombiewood, widows alliance QPR, implied Redscape, Scott suggesting Bdubs allofeed him as part of a government cover-up, Bdubs biting Etho, and Scott bringing Pearl a gift basket of treats as a ploy to wheedle into her good books because he wants to bite her. I think he's teething.)

BdoubleO100

Location: Rose House Courtyard, Midsouth District

💙  🧡  💚

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Bdubs dodges Etho-quizzing duty by heading down south. He checks on his phantoms. He checks with Rosejoy’s flock. Everything’s weird right now and it’d be great if Martyn were helping, but at least False knows how to run a team. Bdubs’ tail twitches when he leaves the Rose House courtyard. It’s not his place to suggest False challenge Martyn to a fight… but he wouldn’t be mad about it.

He’s just leaving through the gate when he runs into Scott, who’s walking right past. What? Bdubs eyes him up in silence. Scott slows his pace, eyeing him up too. There’s a bulging bundle in his arms. Bdubs can smell baked goods and sugar. Is all that stuff for Pearl? She sent whispers. The hackles prickle up behind his neck. Uh-oh…

… Cleo’s not gonna like this.

“Hey,” Bdubs says. “What you doing out here? I thought you were with Ren.” He makes a show of glancing at the bundle, hoping Scott has a really good explanation for what he’s doing, bringing Pearl a bunch of gifts. One is dangerous. Two is pushing it. A whole bundle? I gotta get involved.

“That was a one-night stand,” Scott says, coming to a halt. Bdubs clocks that immediately, ‘cuz that’s exactly what he’d do with his feet if he didn’t want a guy following him to a second destination. “I’m picking up some things.”

“Okay… I’m heading to Etho’s. Want me to walk you to Cleo?” It’s a freakin’ full moon! What’s he doing on the road at this hour? Does he wanna get eaten?

Scott shrugs. “She’s in our room with Martyn. I’m fine; don’t worry. Scar and Glaze escorted me around the market and I’m about to settle in.”

Then why are you HERE? “Oh, perfect,” Bdubs says, taking a step in front of him. He nudges Scott with his shoulder, knocking him one pace back. “Hey, you need a place to stay? Brittney’s out tonight. Since I’m seeing Grian now, she’s out playing the field, so you can crash at our place. I’ll walk you over.”

That prompts a grimace. Scott’s fingers tighten on the big bundle, but he looks away without a word.

“You goin’ somewhere else?”

“I’m dropping stuff off for Pearl’s ward. And don’t tell Cleo; I’ll tell her myself.”

“Oh, that’s fine! Hey, if you’re worried, I can take it for you.”

Scott glances left and right. Then, lowering his voice, “I need to do this on my own.”

“I’ll go with you,” Bdubs says, twisting to follow as Scott starts to walk again. When he gets a nasty glare, he shrugs. “To her door. Keep you safe on the road. It’s not that far; then I’ll leave.” Maybe after waiting around with his ear pressed to Pearl’s wall, listening to hear if she freaks out when an allay shows up with a whole package of fresh-from-market goods.

He’s answered by a mumble, so Bdubs speeds up and bumps Scott with his shoulder. His good one, so we’re clear. “You know I love you, right?”

“Just tired,” Scott mutters back. He shifts the bundle in his arms. “I’ve got all these weird feelings swirling inside me… I don’t know.”

“Yeah. Must be hard. Proud of you, though. So proud. You’re doing great.”

Scott hums, but not in his usual cheery way. “The oil you gave me to suppress the cycle particles is wearing off. Scar said I started leaking.”

Bdubs glances at his neck, then nods. “Yes. Little bit. And you were at the market? People saw?”

“Yeah. I might need a cover story as an omnivore. Might pretend it was a courtship allofeed. Could you…?”

“I don’t wanna mess things up with Grian, no. Unless we pretend I did it before he asked me out. We’ll talk.”

“I’ll sleep on it. My brain feels like mush right now.”

“Yeah, I bet.”

It’s really not far to Pearl’s apartment. As shoes shuffle over deepslate, Scott puts his head back with a sigh. “I walked in on Cleo and Martyn mid-logout.”

Eyebrows shoot high. “Oh.”

“They didn’t invite me,” Scott clarifies. “Cleo had sent a whisper telling me to drop by, but they never sent a follow-up warning me plans changed, so I walked right in. It was tense for all of us, but it really opened my eyes to something. Can I get your advice?”

“Ask away. I advise plenty.” Ohhh, I am never gonna let him live this down. It’s hard to fight the grin off his fangs. Poor Martyn! What?

Scott glances around again, then leans his head close to Bdubs’. “I want what Cleo and Martyn have. I want whatever Scar has. I mean… Glaze was all over him, he knew exactly what to say- He even logged Mumbo out tonight. Saw that on my comm.” Scott takes a breath, then stops their walk in its tracks. “I want what you and Etho have. I want to be someone’s favorite person to share a logout with and feel like I can be proud of what my fangs can do. I want to take the bite.”

Is that why you’re bringing Pearl a courting gift? Or ‘full moon gift,’ maybe, might be a better word for those two. Bdubs flicks his eyes to the bundle, then to Scott again. “Hey… I’m proud of you for figuring that out. Let’s talk about strategy; read some books on it. I can tell you what I know. We’ll find you someone interested… Just, maybe don’t ask someone under a full moon.”

Scott shoves him off. “I’m not courting her! I don’t like women and Pearl doesn’t like anyone. We’re just gonna talk; don’t make it weird.”

“Okay.” It’s soft like the lantern light they’re loitering beneath. “I trust you.” I trust Pearl. Pearl sent a whisper; said Scott was coming over. Here’s Scott, being honest about where he’s headed for the night. “I’ll redirect anyone who asks about you to HALO, but if you start feeling dragon, you let me know.” He gives Scott a shoulder pat. “S’been a long day. You worked hard. Thanks for protecting us out there. I know Charlotte ‘ppreciates it too.”

❤️ Read on AO3

[notsticks-notsticks]

Under Scrutiny | The 149th Life Games

After like 6 months im back :) this chapter was written like half before hiatus in september and half this week, and i stopped litterally mid sentence, let's see if you catch it :)

Also with almost 10 months delay since it started this has got the first few characters that borrow their names from fandom creators from that little casting call i did way back in july/august! (all mentions in order under the cut)

Anyway it's lovely to be back and I cant wait to keep going with this story (and the other ones too)

Enjoy <3

All creators from the fandom mentioned in order:

@cherrifire @hom0zon3 @y0gurtfae @cactuupng @alienssstufff @themead0w

[fountainpenguin]

As a miscellaneous thing, if tomatoes are nightshade in Dog’s Life, do Doc(m77)’s tomato slimes exist?

Default status is likely no, but it’s fun to ask.

I'll have to do some checking to confirm if it's canon in my Pixels Imperfect universe (I was rereading "Cleo Goodman and the King's Runaway Hand" from my Neighborhood Watch AU when I saw how I'd used tomato soup over there).

I wrote Impulse drinking tomato soup at one point, though, so I think it's funny if it's something that only heals the undead. Given they take damage from certain soaps, I feel like it's only fair some "normal" foods hurt some people too.

Pixels Imperfect AU has specific rules about its mobs and plants stemming from partially canon, "in-between" content if at all possible. I bend the rules slightly, but try to keep it in those lines.

New Star Station does have a pizza shop, so they have some kind of sauce... although, I did write Mumbo (Not undead) eating alfredo sauce on his, so maybe past me was onto something.

Oh- I looked it up and tomatoes were demo'd at Minecraft Live in 2020 and there's a rotten tomato monster? I've never seen that on any of the scrapped or mentioned mob lists or I would've had a Tomato Dragon and a whole hub of Tomato Monster hybrids. I guess I can make that one of the offspring of the Rotten Dragon. It's in her name. Imagine if that had been my 100th dragon and Creakings got the boot.

All right, well. They do explicitly have tomatoes in the Pixels Imperfect universe now; can't argue with that. Apparently they are a crop and also a drop of tomato monsters. No tomato slimes, I assume- That would be restricted to on-server only since you can't modify the Between dimension's mobs.

Since Doc lives in New Star Station, he can definitely have tomatoes as a crop. New Star IS the slime hub, so maybe he fed some slime mobs his tomatoes and they took on the characteristics. I should really populate the streets with more slime mobs, not just hybrids. They mostly live in the sewers connected to the Slime Dragon's nest, but I should let them out more often.

I can't believe this is how I'm finding out about cake golems and motorcycles.

[fountainpenguin]

Forgot I made tomato soup poisonous in Minecraft fic headcanons because tomatoes are nightshade. I'm sorry Soup Group.