#HTP worldbuilding

[aquaquadrant]

pearlescent moon….. hmm.. opalescent sun? IS the sun in hels? i think pearl has a helsmit here but 👀

actually yeah, hels!pearl is opalescent moth, the giant moth monster lady that showed up briefly in part 2. i use a variety of different approaches when coming up w hels names: opposites (ex. mumbo jumbo - clear cut), inversions (ex. BdoubleO100 - Dboublel011), helification (ex. iJevin - iHelvin), and extremes (ex. Renthedog - Rendthewolf). pearl is an example of the latter. the naming convention i choose usually has to do with what traits i’ve amplified or twisted in the hels, whether they end up as fundamentally different than their counterpart or just a more extreme version.

and hels does technically have a sun as well as a moon, but they orbit far beyond the bedrock ceiling, so no hels resident has ever seen them. they only know about them through the existence of clocks, and the data related to mob spawning in relation to day/night cycles.

#hels to pay au #HTP worldbuilding #HTP cast

[aeor-is-for-reccing]

WIPs: A Shadowgast Rec List

This week, we have work in progress fics! Check under the cut for fifteen fics that are incomplete, and don't forget to comment and kudos if you like them!

Rumblecusp and TravelerCon, with Essek along for the ride

the fourth corner of the world by royalgreen (50775, Mature)

Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Reccer says: A fun alternate take on TravelerCon, with some great original worldbuilding for Rumblecusp and a mystery

A Shadowgast Arranged Marriage AU in Space

A Tapestry of Stars by cinderstorm (105278, Explicit)

Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn

Reccer says: There's a lot of layers and intrigue in this one, along with so much longing!

Caleb travels to Rumblecusp to meet up with his long time correspondent, Essek. Only when he gets there, he discovers that no on knows of him.

To Have Owned The Sun by Dragonslaeyr (48358, Teen)

Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Reccer says: It's an amazing, atmospheric mystery that has recently started updating again!

The Nein rescue a very hurt Essek. During his recovery they have to deal with their own relationships with Essek and each other.

The Knife by Queen_of_Thornes (42631, Explicit)

Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Rape/Non-con

Reccer says: I love the mystery of this story and the how the relationships evolve throughout the fic.

Essek travels back in time (with Artagan's help) to save the Mighty Nein from Lucien, and ends up traveling with them in their early adventures.

Fortune's Favor (Fortune's Fools) by flashhwing (30289, Teen)

Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn

Reccer says: It's fun to see Essek's interactions with Artagan, and to see the early M9 through his eyes.

Caleb gets a sending: Essek is missing. If only it were simple...

I would sing along but I only remember the screams by luckyowlsfoot (23056, Mature)

Reccer's Content Notes: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Reccer says: Lots of tension! Love the little peeks at world building

THE corporate AU. Caleb and Essek navigate workplace ethics, a developing relationship, and secrets that could tear apart much more than just the two of them.

the golden thread around your neck whispered visions of my undoing by MarsBar2019 (172812, Explicit)

Reccer's Content Notes: Drug Addiction

Reccer says: The untold power this author has to make a socialist who doesn’t like AUs DEEPLY invested in this fic cannot be understated. It’s hot, it’s thrilling, it’s beautiful…it’s ILLUSTRATED.

After the peace talks, Ludinus abducts Essek to be kept as a prisoner/pet in isolation. Essek is determined not to be broken, but Ludinus is very good at what he does, and he has all the time in the world.

Grief is an Ugly Thing on You by MushroomKnives (35260, Explicit)

Reccer's Content Notes: Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Rape/Non-con, Dubcon/Consensual Non Consent, Gaslighting, torture, drowning, non-consensual body modification

Reccer says: It’s absolutely brutal in a way that reminds me heavily of high-quality HTP—it’s not mere torture porn, this is ELEVATED torture porn! Essek whump isn’t usually my thing, but this is intriguing and compelling enough to overcome that for me.

Caleb doesn't think of his colleague.

Oh, Sinnerman by SaltCore (32692, Mature)

Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn

Reccer says: I love the whump and angst. It is so well written.

Caleb wakes up and everything is wrong. He has to find his friends and make it right.

Lacking in Outcomes by Mariadperiad20 (7899, Not Rated)

Reccer's Content Notes: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Rape/Non-con, Domestic Abuse, Disordered eating, abuse, torture, self-harm

Reccer says: Lots of good mystery and suspense. The kind of story that makes you get out your tinfoil hat, cork board and red string. So much fun.

Essek's visits and eventual cohabitation with Caleb.

You Could Stay With Me by oh_johanna (11412, General)

Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Reccer says: I liked it!

Caleb Widogast is trying to be a successful surgeon... If need be through the pants of attending surgeon Essek Thelyss.

little annihilation by 06151126 (6604, Explicit)

Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes, Hospital / Grey's Anatomy AU ; power dynamic imbalance

Reccer says: It's a incredibly fun AU, with great characterization.

Bren is a climber and finally wants to prove himself at the World Cup. And Essek Thelyss is nothing but a distraction. Or is he?

gloaming's end by toneofjoy (13617, Explicit)

Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn, Also involves Blumendrei (Bren/Astrid/Wulf)

Reccer says: Amazing world building, interesting relationships!

And these two fics each received two recs!

bdsm shadowgast with a disabled Essek

Coping Skills by sumomomochi (234884, Explicit)

Reccer's Content Notes: None

Reccer 1 says: Both well researched and well written absolutely love the dynamics Reccer 2 says: I love the inclusion of less commonly seen kinks (needleplay, caregiver etc) and the super interesting intersection between kink and chronic pain/illness. Essek's friends are also a delight when they appear!

It's set in an alternate universe where Bren didn't spend time in Vergesson, Astrid did instead. And Scourger Bren gets bored when he is sent to deliver mail to Shadowhand Essek so he decides to seduce him.

A Body in Absentia by Nonwal (70983, Explicit)

Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn

Reccer 1 says: I like the way it deals thoughtfully and respectfully with the complexities of things like consent, gender, asexuality, differing libidos, boundaries, and neurodivergence. The characters deal with and work through those concepts in the relatably imperfect way real people do. I also love the characterizations of all the characters, but Bren especially. Reccer 2 says: Excellent balance between developing intimacy, humor, and angst

Aeor is for Lovers is an 18+ Shadowgast Discord server. The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. All fics, unless otherwise specified, will primarily feature Shadowgast. Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ! Next week, we’ll be back with xenobiology!

#cr fic recs #shadowgast #caleb widogast #essek thelyss #critical role #fan fiction rec list #aeor is for lovers #wip fic

[gunshou]

Yayyyy fic writer asks! ✨ and 💫 and 💞 please

✨What's a fic you've posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

Absolutely it would be Beside You. Originally meant to be part of a long arc that I just ran out of steam for, I really love how this one came together. It's the gentlest of my fics, so I don't blame people who come for HTP for not reading it, but I think it turned out really well and someday I'll get back to it and drive it onto Whump Street. 💫what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

Literally any comment makes me deliriously happy, like, I can't even contain myself. But as @astralhux knows, I go absolutely delightedly feral when people point out things they like about the writing itself: the language or structure or imagery or characterization. I'm a literature teacher, I live for analysis, and it makes me feel really accomplished and special when I manage to create a nice turn of phrase that sticks in someone's mind.

💞what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language

I mean, it's all really important to me, because it all has to flow properly to work as a cohesive whole. The plot beats have to progress, the characters have to be consistent but dynamic, and the language has to be evocative. Grammar mistakes on my own work bug me, so I'll usually go back the next day after I post and catch all the errors and word choices that don't quite flow when I look with fresh eyes. I think in terms of what I spend the most time on, it's imagery and language flow. For reading fic, it's the characterization that's paramount for me, because if the characterization isn't consistent it throws me out of the fic. Like, if you're writing The Winter Soldier as woobie or badass, either is fine, but the basic elements of Bucky's character -- his internal ethics code, his intensity, his protectiveness -- need to be there or the character just isn't Bucky anymore. So I guess in writing I start by having a really solid characterization and all else flows from that. Thank you so much for the ask! ask meme

#ask meme

[lux-scriptum]

my favorite thing about HtP is the fact that i think two chapters in we decided to go with @fragmentedink's worldbuilding of angels having gold blood and demons having black so theres a few refrences to Lev blushing "like a tomato" or some shit and then the rest of the series we just never acknowledge that ever again. But then again.

yellow tomatoes exist im pretty sure so

#htp #hell to pay #a;lsdjfk;fdskljfdskl

[dark-roleplay-finder]

Hi there! 29m looking for anyone of similar age (or up) to write some hockey rpf :) I've rp'd around for almost a decade now and I'm tighter on SPaG but don't need huge paragraphs. I'm also serious about that 4th wall; any resemblance to persons living or dead is completely coincidental, etc.

I'd prefer mxm, but I'm equally open to original or 'canon' characters. I've got some plottier ideas for a rookie and a vet (both ocs, and I'm down to write either), or I'm a big fan of the winner's room/loser's forfeit tropes -- yall know the HTP; consider the shenanigans that can come out of an entire industry where everyone is an asset with a price tag attached.

NSFW friendly, and I do have kink experience but this post does not constitute an offer to sub or dom for anyone.

I like hard worldbuilding, but I love finding ways to make things fit together! And I'm not adverse to romantic relationships between characters, or other complicated feelings :) hmu either on this post or drop me some sort of message, but tumblr hates to give me notifs so we'd end up moving to discord.

(ps no college hockey or daddy kink, please. sorry!)

🕊️💀<3!

Like this post and the asker will reach out!

#roleplay #roleplay ad #1x1 rp #dead dove roleplay #25+ rp #rpf rp #mxm rp #spicy rp

[glorious-spoon]

penknife, rubynye, sholio! (for the fic authors ask)

Three fantastic writers, thank you!

Penknife! I have read a LOT of their stuff, especially back when I was reading Stargate (probably my first real online fandom). The one that I’ve read most recently was a Pirates of the Caribbean fic: Shipwreck, which has Jack/Norrington, a severely underrated pairing IMO, and some really great worldbuilding and character work.

@rubynye it’s got to be her MCU stuff--I really love her Steve/Sam fic, particularly Living History, which is a really short, tender fic with a lot going on beneath the surface about Sam falling in love with someone who had been one of his childhood heroes. And also all of her HTP fics, which are just absolutely slicingly brutal studies of character and trauma.

@sholiofic is another writer I’ve been reading since forever; Running on Empty was one of the first SGA fics I ever read, and it just wonderfully gets at the friendship between John and Rodney. Recently, I really loved The Song Remains the Same, for really excellent use of the memory-loss trope to toss Peggy Carter into the middle of a complex, dangerous investigation and a relationship she doesn’t understand or want.

But really, anything by any of these three is worth a read.

#and i just realized i recced two memory-loss fics #LOOK I JUST LOVE THIS TROPE A LOT OKAY

[thestuckylibrary]

Group Ask 150

What is a group ask?

Previous Group Asks

AO3 Search Tutorial

Please send us an ask stating which group ask and which person you are replying to. Thank you so much in advance!

diurnaldays said:

I can't seem to find this one stucky soulmate AU that interwove fictionalized historical documents and academic papers into the narrative as a form of worldbuilding? And a scene early into the fic depicted Steve talking to a priest about a grieving ritual he could undertake now that he'd lost his soulmate (Bucky). There was also a major plot point where Steve used his soulmate bond to help the Winter Soldier recover his memories and become Bucky again.

princessniitza and Anon sent in The Ties That Bind by Odsbodkins (complete | 26,609 | E )

Anon 1 said:

Hello, I can’t seem to find a stucky fic where in post-WS, Bucky can’t figure out why Steve seems to be avoiding him or being strained around him, only for him to suddenly remember breaking Steve’s heart the night before he shipped out so Steve wouldn’t be left missing him and possibly never moving on. After confronting Steve with this they make up and its happy! I really remember loving it but I can’t find it for the life of me! Hope I have enough detail!

dolphinqueen10 sent in Remember Me by prisma134 (oneshot | 18,040 | M)

Anon 2 said:

Hi I’m looking for that fic after TWS where at Steve’s house/appt Bucky has relapses into the Soldier, but every time Steve sees it happening he acts like he isn’t a threat. He changes his body language to relaxed, he doesn’t go defensive, etc. Eventually Bucky realizes what is happening but it works anyway??

dolphinqueen10 sent in No Such Thing as Fighting Dirty by leveragehunters (Monkeygreen) (oneshot | 3,878 | T)

dreamsbeyondlife said: (dubcon/noncon)

Hey, do you guys know the fic where Bucky asks Steve for things by having sex with him? Bucky thinks Steve is his handler and that they have to have sex so he can get "rewards".

possibleplatypus sent in Uberrima Fidei* by asocialconstruct (oneshot | 3,075 | E) *rape/noncon, htp

capnstverogrs said:

hi! im looking for a fic where after steve’s mom dies, who works as a nurse, erskine adopts steve and he tried to go through med school but just wanted to do art? and so he does medical illustrations but then his boss peggy makes him go deal with the house erskine left steve when he died which he doesnt address until 4 years later or something

abarbaricyalp sent in Through The Woods by alby_mangroves, recalibrates (complete | 64,082 | E)

Anon 3 said:

Hey! I've lost a fic and I'd appreciate any help in finding it. It was a oneshot smut piece, from Bucky's pov. Steve is lying on a couch and acts all indifferent while Bucky basically gets off on top of him? It's only an act and he's actually turned on as well, which is revealed after Bucky's orgasm. It had definitely post-serum Steve, and I'm fairly certain it happened in avengers' tower, but it might also have been modern au piece.

possibleplatypus sent in raise the flag by mcwho (oneshot | 957 | M)

Anon 4 said: (infidelity)

Hi! I’m looking for a fic where Bucky and Steve are getting married, but Steve meets Peggy when he is taking dance classes for the wedding and she’s the instructor, and he starts having feelings for her. Stucky ending though. And I think I remember Steve not having the serum and it all being set in an alternate 1930s universe where gay people could get married. And I think Bucky’s family owned a furniture shop?? And Steve’s mum was dying. Hope you can help, cause I have tried everything :(

Anon 5 said:

Hi! I have been searching for a Stucky fic I read a while ago (can't remember if it was here or Ao3) but one of them is a struggling artist, and they meet when their art is blown into the road and the wealthier one helps them pick it up and they start a sugar daddy type relationship. If you could find it, it would be amazing!

Anon 6 said:

hi! I'm looking for a fic that's post winter soldier and at one point Steve and Bucky are in one of Bucky's old safehouses and Steve wears pearls he found there while they have sex I'm sorry this is so vague thx for the hard work

Anon 7 said:

hey! I'm looking for a wrong number fic where steve accidentally calls bucky for advice on how to flirt with the cute guy at the bar but it ends up being him?

bennettmp339 and dolphinqueen10 sent in Slide To Answer by relenafanel (series, complete | 13,064 | T)

Anon 8 said:

Thank you for this amazing resource! I’m looking for an AU fic in which a WinterSoldier Bucky is on a mission & meets up with a teenage BlackWidow Natasha whom he trained & she’s trying to impress him but also angry & rebellious. I remember she surprises him by climbing into his car & he comments on her choice of clothing; a bright puffer jacket that clashes with her hair.

Anon 9 said:

This is a very specific ask, but earlier today I started reading a oneshot in which Bucky was suffering from PTSD and something happens that triggers the winter soldier memories. I had literally only just started and I accidentally closed my browser. Could you please help me find it? I think it had something to do with some song too. Thank you so much.

Anon 10 said:

Hi there, a while ago I read a fic where Cap!Steve becomes a really good cook when he wakes up in the 21st century bc all the food is new and all the Avengers are really surprised that he likes to cook. I think he visits a restaurant in koreatown nyc a lot? Hopefully you can find it, thanks!

princessniitza sent in The Way to a Man's Heart by Niitza, whatthefoucault (oneshot | 43,837 | T)

shadow-of-a-whisper said:

I'm looking for the Stucky fic where Winter Soldier breaks into a woman's apartment to wait for Steve to show up. She was the owner of the truck Steve and Nat "borrowed" to go to Camp Leahigh, which was presumably blown to smithereens. WS knows Steve will visit her to try to pay for the truck. When he does show up, she tries to warn him. There's a dramatic angsty reunion where nobody gets hurt.

Anon 11 said:

hey sorry, i have two fics in mind that i can’t for the life of me find. there was this one fic where steve gets eaten by rats, that’s all i can remember sorry. and the other was one where steve used to go to a bunch of gay bars and stuff and i think he had a drag queen friend named marlene? i’m p sure him and rohdey dated for a lil but and i think it had pepper/tony/rohdey

awolfnamedaliac and Anon sent in the Kept Boy* by moonythejedi394, Neutralchaos (WIP | 203,653 | E) *rape/noncon, sex work, heed the tags

#group asks

[silentwalrus1]

i’m writin’ for charity (and political mobilization)

So! Since my laptop is busted and I can’t draw, and @spitandvinegar had the fantastic idea of writing stuff in exchange for donations to Swing Left, I am jumping on this bandwagon. I’m opening up 4 slots for ficlets at 3 cents per word - so for $30 donated that’s 1k words, $15 that’s 500 words, so on so forth. 

- 1 of these slots is gonna be for Selkie Bucky fic content. How that works: everybody who donates and wants Fat Seal Bucky, then whatever amount you donated, the corresponding word count will be added to the story. Feel free to add specific requests and I will do my best to incorporate them - possibly this may turn into a series of vignettes if I can’t finagle a way to stick all the requests into one fic. 

- Other 3 slots are for other content. 

- What I’ll Write: my strengths are comedy fic and shenanigans. I’ll write outtakes or vignettes or codas of any of my published fics (tho keep in mind ITHLYN is not finished and I might not be able to write your request due to story plan!). I pretty much write only in Captain America movie universe, though I can also write Discworld fic. I’ll write AUs - Shrunkyclunks, modern AU, one or more chars are mythological creatures, etc. I can do you a great Steve, Bucky, Sam and Natasha, with whatever pairings thereof, up to and including Barbershop Quartet. NatSharon, SteveSamBucky and however u wanna stick Clint in there will come out good too. Tony, Pepper, Maria, Fury, Peggy and the Howlies I can do you a great genfic, though I’m on more uncertain footing on pairings in that set. I don’t know shit about comics canon or Agent Carter or any other Marvel shows, so unfortunately I can’t really write anything there. 

What I Won’t Write: no noncon, no children at all (yes even in genfic, I straight up do not write children). No high school AUs. No angst - guys, I’m just shit at it. No torture or HTP stuff. No Stony this time - I don’t think I’d be able to write it properly. Please message me beforehand for NSFW and/or kink stuff! I might not be able to write what you want to read. 

Disclaimer: I write pretty much comedy only, and it creeps into basically everything I do. If you ask for 800 words of NatSharon pussy eating, what you’ll probably get is 100 words of pussy eating and 700 words of Natasha kicking her heels off in passionate undress and accidentally kicking a shoe through Sharon’s bedroom window. If you want ABO, you’ll get some incredibly weird biology and worldbuilding and most likely zero self-lubing buttholes. Please keep this in mind when requesting! I’ll take you on a fun ride, but it probably won’t be what you were expecting. 

- This is gonna be first come first served (except for Selkie Bucky). Since this is not an auction situation, there’s no outbidding, but the first 3 people to show me proof will get the slots. However: for Selkie Bucky fic it’ll just add to the wordcount (see above). 

Orgs To Donate To: 

ConPRMetidos

Indivisible 

Swing Left

How This Works: you give me a screenshot of proof of your donation to one (or more) of the above charities (last name/personal details blacked out etc) and I start writin’. When I’m done, I send it over to you. I expect to post all the ficlets to AO3/tumblr, though I do reserve the right not to post it to my accounts for whatever potential reason may crop up. 

This opens up on Saturday Feb 3rd at 9AM EST.  

(That gives everybody time to ask questions/check if I’ll write the thing they want written.)   

Please message me beforehand if you’re not sure about whether I’ll write something or if you just have a question! Contact me at [email protected].  

#my writing #fandom charity #swing left #conPRmetidos #Indivisible #let's flip the house guys!!!! and help rebuild PR!!!!

[aquaquadrant]

I gotta know. Since Tango's in hels, does that mean if the portal closes they're trapped? Or can they hypothetically create those portals with any player since they know how now?

the second thing! hypothetically, any player in hels can be used to open a hacked nether portal to their overworld counterpart, wherever they are in the universe. of course, the double lifers didn’t have to counteract the firewall problem when making their portal so that’d cause a bit of a snag. but since they come from a world where portals aren’t purely theoretical and much more is known about them, and they know about the firewall and how specifically to counteract it, i imagine they’d solve it much faster than hels tek did.

that’s also the main reason they were able to make their portal in a matter of weeks instead of years (which i saw lots of ppl laughing abt in tags and asks, RIGHTFULLY SO i might add). they knew what portals were and how they worked, they knew what sort of redstone circuits they needed, it was just a matter of actually placing down the blocks and debugging. to give an analogy…

the double lifers building a portal is like a big tech company, that regularly makes space ships and travels to other planets with ease, has to make a specialized type of ship to reach a planet that’s guarded by hostile solar winds. the engineers on the project are very knowledgeable hard workers who work well together, and know exactly what they need to do to make the ship and exactly how to reach the planet.

hels tek building a portal is like a big tech company trying to build the first ever space ship in a world where space and other planets are nothing more than theoretical concepts, even believed to be myths by a large percentage of the population. their main engineer left the project before it was done and the other employees can’t go more than a couple days without killing each other.

… it starts to make sense, right? 😂

ANYWAY. yes, the hacked portals will work for anyone. if atlas weren’t so obsessed w tango, hels tek would be out there in the universe right now wreaking havoc, but luckily that’s never been his goal or drive.

#hels to pay au #HTP worldbuilding

[aquaquadrant]

Hels is a server that has the overworld and nether merged right?

What if there was a world with a similar set up but with the end?

actually, hels sort of has that feature already? it’s not TRULY merged with the end but it does have glitched end chunks randomly dispersed throughout the world. that’s how players can get access to shulkers and elytra (tho they’re very rare and hard to find, especially since hels is such an old world. gotta go REAL far to find an untouched chunk) but basically it just looks like random clumps of endstone and messed-up end cities glitched into whatever the native biome is. shulkers don’t continuously spawn there; once they’re dead, they’re dead. few of them have chorus flowers, and even fewer have end ships with elytra.

there’s no end portal to enter; hels players can’t reach ‘the end’ of the game. the only void is the one beneath the bedrock, and there’s no dragon to fight. at least, there isn’t one anymore, if you believe the ancient tales that some of the oldest communities in hels still tell… and if there was ever a dragon egg, its location has never been known.

the end in hels wasn’t something i considered initially, it was a bit of an oversight on my part in regards to the second chapter of the story where i gave hels!joel an elytra. so it was a later addition to the worldbuilding, i’ve talked abt it here and there, prob somewhere in my worldbuilding tag on the pinned directory if i remembered to tag correctly.

#hels to pay au #HTP worldbuilding #<- this tag is ur best bet for more info

[aquaquadrant]

So while I loved the new chapter, and the fight scene, and DL players rescue, and dealing with Bravo and everything was so cool and awesome and I loved it, I am just a little bit confused, I’ve got a question.

Why did all the hels players and Bravo respawn back in hels? They went through the portal, they joined the double life world right? They even got an “XYZ has joined the game” message. They joined double life, shouldn’t their spawn have been immediately reset to the DL world spawn? Bravo was even killed after the portal was destroyed. Why did they go back to hels? (Also, would that mean all the hels players were randomly assigned new soulmates as soon as they set foot on DL?)

(To be clear, I completely understand the plot reasons for this, I’m just endlessly curious and my brain picks at stuff like this, so sorry if it’s annoying)

the hels players came into the double life world through a hacked nether portal, rather than the normal method of inter-world travel, which is a communicator portal. so it’s like they snuck in through a back door. this method didn’t set their spawn to the double life world spawn the same way going thru a nether portal won’t reset your spawn from the overworld spawn (unless u have an anchor ofc) if that makes sense?

also saw some folks wondering why they didn’t bring a respawn anchor or a bed and set their spawns once they came through the portal. the answer to that is simple: respawn anchors don’t work in the overworld, they blow you up. the hels players don’t know this so they would’ve joined the world, placed an anchor, and immediately blown themselves up. which, admittedly, would’ve made for a funny scenario but it would kinda ruin the tension.

technically they could’ve used a bed since alisker was funding them, but the double lifers would’ve easily just broken it. that would’ve made the hels players respawn back at the hels world spawn, rather than back in the hels tek portal lab where they could quickly and easily rejoin the fight. in terms of story pacing, it just wasn’t worth the extra time to get into all that.

as for the soulmates question, no, that was a one-time deal when the world was first created with its original players. grian would have to manually turn that on again.

the cracked nether portal thing applies here as well. bravo and tango’s spawns were reset when they went thru those original portals bc they were legit inter-world portals, although created by the universe rather than a communicator. a nether portal, even a wonky one, doesn’t do that.

so when bravo first came to hels, his spawn was reset to hels’s world spawn (hence why he respawned there after being killed). coming to the double life world thru their hacked nether portal didn’t reset his spawn to the world spawn. even if he’d set his spawn, he would’ve reverted back to the hels world spawn as soon as the bed was broken. like dying in the nether and respawning at the overworld world spawn bc your anchor ran out of charge.

and when tango first came to hermitcraft, his spawn was reset to that world’s spawn, too. he prob did set his spawn as fast as humanly possible though, bc he certainly wasn’t aware of those rules. from then on, every time the hermits moved to a new world, tango joined using inter-world portals from the communicator xisuma made for him, thus setting his default spawn to the world spawn. he wouldn’t spawn back in hels unless he was taken there and forced to set his spawn (tho breaking the anchor would once again default him back to the last normal world he joined), or if he joined hels via a portal from his communicator, which is impossible for the same reasons hels players can’t make portals out of hels using their communicators.

…. if that all makes sense??

#hels to pay au #HTP worldbuilding #if i can even call it that #oh my god how many times can i say spawn in one post LMAO

[aquaquadrant]

how would hels have reacted to the amount of messages in chat of the soldiers leaving the world over and over from dying in double life? i feel like hels would end up in a bit of an uproar from how many “{blank} has left the world” messages would be there

actually, as discussed briefly in this ask, ‘leave’ messages are disabled in hels. ofc, chat would still show a lot of repeated joining but the average hels denizen either wouldn’t notice or wouldn’t care. they’d assume chat was just glitching out, rather than believe that a group of players was somehow leaving and rejoining the world over and over. many players don’t even believe in the existence of other worlds outside of hels, so it would take a real genuine leave message to arouse world-wide suspicion.

also, i don’t include much of chat in the hels chapters bc it would detract from the story and take up a lot of pointless time and effort, but u gotta imagine that the chat in hels is moving almost constantly, despite the fact that no one actually chats. it’s an extremely dangerous, ancient, infinite world with an exponentially increasing number of players; realistically, chat would be BUMPIN with death messages (and join messages from baby players when they spawn) so i have to imagine it’d become background noise after a while.

but u know alisker was prob watching the join messages roll in and just shaking his head LMAO “oh no… dat doesn’t abode-y well…”

#hels to pay au #HTP worldbuilding

[aquaquadrant]

I know it has nothing to do with htp but now I am buzzing about the watcher lore you guys made. Any hints or things your up for sharing? Also obsessed with the idea that to be a watcher you lose your original eyes like that and that just makes me side eye (heh) Lunar's Grian design. Cause those aren't his original eyes ya'll!!!! And when his eyes are weeping purple?!?!?! Also imaging Martyn's and Grian's reunion and their individual eye horror is very interesting

MKAY BUCKLE UP. here’s my interpretation of watchers.

- watchers are beings that exist on another plane of existence from players (we’ll call this the aether unless minecraft ever actually adds that realm to the game)

- watchers can spectate any world in the universe from the aether and can travel between them in an instant

- in the aether, watchers have no physical forms (think spectator mode) but they can briefly manifest themselves into solid form when they travel outside the aether

- when watchers are in their physical forms, they’re quite horrifying (large amorphous creatures with big claws and lots of eyes in random places, except for where eyes should be)

- watchers were originally intended to be impartial observers, mere conduits for the universe to better know its many worlds and players through

- some watchers have grown bored of this and try to instigate drama by whispering instructions to listeners, the rare players that can hear them, or by talking through speakers, the even rarer players that can channel them

- watchers don’t literally feed off the emotions of players like in martyn’s lore (they’re sustained by the universe and thus don’t need to eat), they just crave entertainment

- all watchers used to be players, and whenever they find a player who seems like a good candidate, they’ll try to take them

- in order to become a watcher, a player has to lose their eyes. they’ll be replaced by watcher eyes (the floaty glowy purply eldritch horror kind of eyes, you know the ones) but that doesn’t make the process of losing their physical eyes any less terrifying or painful- something most watchers have forgotten about, as they’re detached from player mentality.

- players also lose their username when they become watchers, receiving a watcher name in galactic

- when a player becomes a watcher, their hels is usually unaffected (and vice versa)

- any given player can only be encountered by a watcher once. the watchers have one attempt to try and convert the player; if they aren’t willing, they go back to their life unchanged, with only vague recollections of the encounter (revisiting the same player would fry their tiny little player brain)

- some watchers aren’t good at taking no for an answer though, thinking they know better than the player, and as a result they can do quite a bit of damage (as grian and martyn can attest to)

#hels to pay au #HTP worldbuilding #<- not EXACTLY i know but it’s canon to the story i’m writing #also you’re correct! those aren’t grian’s original eyes

[aquaquadrant]

Ive been thinking about it. What if the people of Hels arnt necessarily the “evil” versions of their overworld counterparts, but instead are versions where their negative traits are magnified. Hear me out, Like, Its already stated that both Bravo and Tango can get heated, but that Bravo is better at not getting heated. Tango is more heated than Bravo.

And while Jimmy may have trouble defending himself, Timmy is so low that he doesn't even leave spawn. In a way Timmy is more helpless then Jimmy.

Idk if its been said already, I came up with this alone and wanted to share :>

ahhh i’ve definitely talked abt this before but i can’t find the ask rn so i’m sure other ppl would have a hard time finding that info as well.

but yes, that’s the premise behind hels players! they generally have one or two major traits they get from their overworld counterpart that is either 1) a ‘negative’ trait turned up to an extreme degree or 2) a ‘positive’ trait that’s been twisted into something more negative.

for example: tango’s traits of rage and sadism are a result of bravo’s temper and superiority complex being cranked up to eleven, and timmy’s debilitating victim complex is a result of jimmy’s passiveness being cranked up to eleven. atlas’s obsessive nature, however, is a result of his counterpart’s hard work ethic being twisted into a negative trait. same with his counterpart’s love of science/innovation being twisted into sort of a god complex.

the difference between an amplified trait and a twisted trait isn’t really important, it’s just a way to explain how some hels end up as more extreme versions of their counterparts while some end up almost like opposites. in any case, i’m glad u picked up on that even without the outside knowledge, bc that means i’m doing a good job conveying these similarities and differences 💃

#hels to pay au #HTP worldbuilding

[aquaquadrant]

Thinking about how there are really toxic people in the real world and wondering how hellsification works. Is it an inversion of how awful you are in the real world or a direct correlation. Do the awful people in the world have the worst or best (still turned bad but only by their awful situation) people in hells as counterparts, or is it random?

I have brainrot in both directions and mood to know

that’s kind of a tricky question to answer, bc it’s different for every player. the intent was that a hels would represent the worst parts of an overworld player, but it’s not always so black and white. it’s not so much random as it’s a direct result of whatever traits were amplified or twisted in the hels- but that can lead to a wide range of results, so as u look from player to player it can feel kinda random.

u can have a good overworlder with a worse hels (pretty common), or a bad overworlder with a better hels (ie. tango and bravo). u could also have a bad overworlder with an even worse hels. or both counterparts being more or less the same in terms of morality. like, timmy isn’t necessarily more of a ‘bad person’ than jimmy- he doesn’t have any greater capacity for cruelty, his trait just means he’s more helpless.

so there’s virtually endless possibilities! which unfortunately makes it difficult to quantify. but hopefully that makes sense? no one in the fic really understands how it all works so u guys as the audience don’t have all the info either, sorry bout that… 😂

#hels to pay au #HTP worldbuilding

[aquaquadrant]

If hels players are normally the opposite to their counterparts,

And most casual players don’t really know too much about redstone,

Then are most hels players incredibly smart redstoners?

I don’t think it works that way but I don’t care.

i know u sent this in before i recently talked abt how hels work, but it shan’t hurt to repeat! hels aren’t necessarily supposed to be opposites to their counterparts, it’s all related to whatever defining traits they inherited and whether they’ve been amplified or twisted.

so a redstoner is generally gonna stay a redstoner, unless their defining trait is something that would make their counterpart bad at or adverse to redstoning. like, tango and bravo, patho and etho, clear and mumbo, instinct and impulse, atlas and his counterpart axis- all redstoners. now, there’s def a sliding scale towards ‘mad scientist’ at play here, but that’s a separate thing 😂

#hels to pay au #HTP worldbuilding