#grian SAYS he wants to hurt scar but he has every chance in the world and avoids doing any real damage.

[bluiex]

What you need not what you want

You gave me a tiny taste Of your truth

I was starved

And you were full (Everyday by Modern Baseball)

Warning: Unwanted Sex, over drinking

Scar wanted him, but Grian just didn’t want him back. So Grian found other ways of satisfying his wants. But Scar was starved. Starved for the love he needed wanted from Grian. So Scar found other ways of numbing satisfying his needs wants.

“Mumbo I’m fine~ I’m not even drunk.”Scar was very obviously drunk. His cheeks flushed and his nose red. He stumbles a bit, but Mumbo quickly catches him.

“Mate, you’re not fine, you can barely walk. What have I and Cub told you about drinking more than you can handle.” Scar’s arm is slung over Mumbo's shoulders. He only shrugs, a frown grows on his face and Mumbo sighs.

The street lights flicker and shine dimly above them. Mumbo’s ears were red from the cool air of the night. They were a couple of blocks away from his car. He tugs Scar closer to him.

“We’re not doing this to hurt you, I’m sorry for getting frustrated with you. But we’re worried about you Scar, you can’t keep doing this to yourself every night.” Mumbo looks down at Scar. He was a wreck, there were tear stains on his cheeks. His eyes were puffy and pink with black bags underneath them.

Scar reeked of alcohol. (He has not washed his clothes in a few weeks)

Scar shuffles a bit under his glaze. “I know. I’m sorry.” Scar looks at the floor, and he starts to tear up. Mumbo pulls him into a hug. “Come on, let’s get you home and I’ll call Cub.” Scar nods and shoves his face into his chest. Mumbo lays his head on top of Scars head and holds him tight. Scar can still feel someone else’s hands on him.

(In Scars and Grians apartment living room)

“Ok, I’ll do it.” Scar is looking at the floor, the world spins as hands hug him from behind. His elbows are on his knees as he listens to Cub talk. This was the 5th time Mumbo had to call Cub to try and convince him to break up with Grian. Mumbo says it’s so they can get him to stop drinking but Scar knows he is lying, Mumbo was never a great liar.

But he knew that they did want him to stop drinking, getting him to break up with Grian was just the first step.

“You said that last time, and here I am getting another call about you getting drunk at a bar, again.” Cub looks at him, his eyes bearing holes into Scar. “You can’t just keep wasting your life like this Scar.” Scar flinches at Cubs tone and in that moment Cub wished he had killed Grian when he had the chance to.

His voice becomes softer as he continues to talk. “I know I won’t fully understand, but you have to understand that you can’t keep doing this to yourself. It’s not healthy for you mentally or physically. I can only do some much.” Scar nods. Cub wishes that Scar would actually take his advice.

“I hate seeing you like this Scar. It’s no longer what you want to do, it’s what you need to do.” Scar looks up at Cub. “You have to break up with him Scar, you can’t let him do this to you.” Scar's face twists into an emotion that Cub is far too familiar with now.

“Cub, I can’t just leave my soulmat-“ Cub cuts off Scar before he could finish. "Scar, No." Cub grabs his hand and holds it tight. “Promise me. Promise me you’ll break up with him.” He slowly pulls Scar closer to him “Please, do it for me?” Cub begs. Cub doesn’t beg.

Cub hates seeing Scar like this, he wants his old Scar back.

Scar feels guilty for not listening to Cub and Mumbo, they’ve done so much for him. They give him so many chances to change and choose a better path, but he never does. Maybe this time he will. He wanted to make it up to them.

Scar lets his head rest on Cub's shoulder and he nods. “I’ll do it. I promise. I’ll break up with Grian.” Hips meet His, he holds Cub tighter.

(Extra: Scar always feels sick, hands are always on him and a bottle of liquor is always in his hand. He wants to cry but can’t, all he can do is lay there. His throat is always tight when he is around Grian, he wishes he would confront him but he doesn’t. Scar feels like an unwanted child. Hopeless and loveless. He something that no one should love.)

(He sort of felt like a helpless child who couldn’t fix their actions. Maybe because they were unwanted. Or maybe all of this is just not his fault.)

-AAA anon, Cub does not like Grian. The bathtub scene is the next and last scene. (Also my thoughts on why Grian cheated, If you want them) Technically in my AU Cub and Scar are brothers and Cub has some strong opinions on Grian. (Sorry for any bad grammar phrasing.)

*holds this scar tightly and cries* I wanna protect him- ough I love this. Your writing is SO good dude WAAAH I need more of this qoq

#bluie gets an ask poggers #tw alchoholism #long post #dl cheater au

[myrmica]

3l/ll scar understands people in the sense that he knows how to talk himself out of any given situation, and how to sell them things, but he doesn‘t Understand People. his alliance with grian in 3l wasn’t just a debt, but did he know that? ll scar acts like as long as he can make the right deal he’ll have that same kind of loyalty back in an instant, but that isn’t how relationships work. he thinks the contract will be enough because it was enough last time, but it wasn’t. and i don’t think he understands himself either, everything 3l/ll scar does is transactional... he almost doesn't let himself function beyond that level

#idk if this makes sense i feel like i could articulate it better but im tired #me ford and jules were talking about this while rewatching ll and. man #m #3rd life #ll grian n scar have this thing going on where they very obviously dont want to hurt eachother and skirt around it awkwardly as a result #grian SAYS he wants to hurt scar but he has every chance in the world and avoids doing any real damage. #so on. so forth. they know eachother better than anyone else but do they really #im not going to seriously analyze scar's relationship counselor bit but i could

[hermitcraftheadcanons]

Hermitopia AU Conclusion

The last ask has been answered, the masterposts are complete, and (although art, writing, and Discord discussion are still accepted and encouraged) it is finally time to officially wrap up the Hermitopia AU! Because this was such a massive event - and no small thing to moderate - there will be a pause in blog activity for a day or so before the inbox will open for regular headcanons again. I apologize in advance for the wait!

In the mean time, I would just like to say: I am so, so thankful to everyone who participated in the AU. Your ideas and your creativity have made this blog a better place, whether you sent in one headcanon or dozens, and I am constantly in awe of the energy and enthusiasm of this community. Thank you, all of you, for making this universe we’ve created as vast and as interesting as it turned out to be.

Below are a collection of my own ideas, for those of you who like a satisfying (but still not entirely closed-ended) ending. These events take place as many days, months, or years into the future as you need them to make your own ideas work, and none of them are set in stone. You can take all of them, some of them, or none of them as truth if you want to...but either way, it has been an honour to build on a project like this one alongside you all.

And with that...the Hermitopia AU concludes! Finished, or barely begun, like so many good projects are. Have a great day everyone, and happy headcanoning!

- Mod Shade

"People of Hermitopia."

The man on the screen shifts, running a nervous hand across his bald head and squaring his shoulders. The broadcast quality is unstable, but it's more than enough for every citizen in the city to recognize who's speaking.

"This is your Concorp Branch Director, Cub. As I'm sure you are aware, I am the head of Project VEX in this city. You all know the VEX initiative as groundbreaking, life-saving, a shining success and a step towards a new era for humanity...and some of you may even see me as a hero for creating it.”

He closes his eyes, a brief look of pained remorse crossing his face. For a moment, he looks utterly defeated, almost small in the face of his impromptu audience of thousands...but finally, he fixes the camera with a steady gaze once more and begins the great unravelling.

“Maybe it was all those things, in the beginning. Maybe *I* was, once. But today, after far too long, I have some confessions to make...."

~

- For years, Cub had been desperately scrambling to hold the tatters of his life’s work together. Project VEX had started so well, and he had poured so much of himself into it, that when the failed experiments and rebellions became more and more frequent he was unable to accept a change of course. He covered up the project’s failings to maintain funding and public image, but mostly to maintain his own image to himself - that he was still the hero he’d set out to be and create at the project’s start. However, his denial was wearing on him heavily, and eventually he had a breakdown and decided to go public rather than keep drowning the city in lies.

- This breakdown was prompted by xB, who after his own moral breakthrough, confronted Cub and urged him to stop withholding knowledge and truth. xB also informed Cub of his own unknown truth - that the unintended power of his presence was the thing that was keeping the experiments successful when Cub was around. This was the final straw in breaking through Cub’s denial

- Along with Cub’s broadcasted speech, files were released to the media containing proof against most if not all of Concorp’s falsehoods. Many names were cleared of crimes that had been pinned on them, including Beef, Impulse, Doc, Cleo, and the majority of the other Unrestrained and Unaffiliated former VEX trainees that the company had tried to cast away

- Understandably, it took a very long time for the chaos to die down and all that information to be processed by society and the justice system. It may be years before the community can see some of their heroes in the proper light again, but at least they are now free to begin rebuilding their reputation without being labeled as villains and traitors.

- Those who actually did commit villainous acts are given a fair trial, with consideration for their motives and the new Concorp information as extra evidence

- The VEX program is withdrawn by Cub’s superiors and put under a strict review. It is reborn after a massive restructuring, with a new director, new limitations on what experiments can and cannot be attempted, and a greatly extended screening and training program to reduce the chances of graduates becoming villains. The new project will produce far fewer heroes with much subtler powers at first...but if that is the cost for the safety and stability of the city, then most people would agree that it is a small price to pay.

- Cub is not permitted to work on the new Project VEX in a management role, ever again. It’s a harsh blow for him, to have to watch his dream from the sidelines...but he knows he gave up the right to guide it when he abused the control that it gave him. At least his superiors allowed him something to do while he awaits trial: he is present (although guarded) at every new VEX trainee’s first experiment, lending his power to increase their chances of success.

- Mayor Scar resigned willingly. Nobody had enough evidence to accuse him of anything, and he didn’t plan on giving them a reason to look by trying to stay in office. Instead he chose to make his exit from both Concorp and government matters complete, at last. Or so he thinks. Who knows? Maybe he’ll learn what most of the people he’s helped to manipulate have already found out: that connections and old grudges don’t easily lose their grip.

- Scar is replaced by TFC, voted in by almost unanimous community support and funded by donations from all the people he’s saved over the years

- The greater Convex company offers a choice to the survivors of the old program: Come to work under their new, more honorable system, or take a generously large settlement and be free to build new lives

- Team ZIT declines the job offer, pooling their payment and using it to buy a shiny new base together for their independent hero venture. There are still a handful of real villains to fight, after all, and there are bound to be more once people start successfully copying Concorp technology. Now that Impulse is back at their side, they wouldn’t give up their roles saving the community for anything - but they’re done with being used by some guy behind a desk. From now on, justice and bravery will be their only guides!

- ...justice, bravery, and TFC, that is. He isn’t their boss by any means, but the more experienced hero does drop by often between his mayoral duties to make sure the youngsters stay out of trouble and in one piece.

- The nHo, according to all official records, took their settlements and split up, leaving Hermitopia far behind. However, Team ZIT suspects that the vigilante life hasn’t left them so easily. They’d be the last ones to report the odd sighting of a whipping vine or a distant masked figure, though - unregulated as they are, the nHo’s shady methods for a good cause prove useful from time to time. (And their base has really good tea. Okay, maybe it’s a little bit more than “the occasional sighting”...)

- Ren settles back into his meadow cabin, but after that massive release of info and a long, LONG period of processing, he now has Iskall, Stress, and Cleo as regular visitors. Every morning he wakes up and forgets for a moment that it’s real, that they’re really alive and with him again...but they are, and he is happier than he ever thought he would be again.

- Jevin and Mumbo visit the cabin occasionally. It took a while for Mumbo to get his memory back, but he now remembers all of his friendship with Iskall and Grian, and they come together for fun and shenanigans regularly with the rest of the cabin crew.

- Grian still spends his time looking for his clones, but honestly, he doesn’t mind. The adventure always did hold more meaning than the conclusion for him, and now, he has friends to help out!

- False disappears into thin air to wait out the fallout of Concorp’s information release. She snags herself a quiet job and a small apartment on the outskirts of town, fully intending to return to her mercenary work just as soon as the dust has settled...next week, maybe. Or the week after that. Or maybe, once the garden has been fully planted. She’s really enjoying having time for stuff like that now...but she’ll get back to work, really, she will! Soon.

- Joe and Cleo tearfully reunite through xB, and Joe becomes another frequent visitor to the cabin. Cleo also visits Joe’s base in the time exclusion zone, but she really prefers the cabin. Time skips are disorienting, and they make her want to sneeze.

- Keralis and Void come to an agreement. Xisuma isn’t entirely clear on what that agreement is - something to do with an allowance of cookies from Biffa’s bakery in exchange for not killing anyone - but he’s more than happy to be less sore and tired all the time.

Hermitopia is making progress. Real progress, this time - not just the breaking of humanity’s limitations, but breaking them with true heroic care, with the good of everyone in mind. There are some hurts that will never fully heal, mistakes that can be learned from but not undone, and yet...now there is a path, a way forward. It won’t be easy, but a kind and gentle future waits for them, welcome and well deserved. They will figure it out, together.

And together, they will step forward, into the new world that each of them has helped to create.

#hermitopia au #announcement #sort of #I know this is long; and not all of it is my best work; but I hope you'll find some of it worthy of canon #or at least inspiring to your own personal version of events #both hermitopia masterposts will be added to the masterpost of AUs in the normal pinned post #you'll still be able to access them #most importantly; I hope this event was fun for all of you #that's all there is to it; really. that's the point. :) #again; thank you

[theres-an-impulstor-among-us]

May I request Bdubs angst in 3rd Life? I don't really care what it is I just want angst! Be creative! Go wild! -Keralis Anon

ohohohohohohoho anon do not enable me like this /j

...

Bdubs has felt strange for a while now. This feeling started when Cleo died and only got worse from there. It’s like he’s slowly losing the will to live and he doesn’t know how to handle it. Not only does he miss Cleo a lot but also the raging war is starting to wear him down. He doesn’t know how much longer he can keep fighting with nothing to fight for.

Even when his alliance meet the Red Army across the battle line one night, his heart isn’t in the confrontation. In fact, he can hardly follow what’s being said until for some reason, he snaps back to attention. He doesn’t know what caused it, but it’s lucky it happened.

“-a fight to the death,” Grian is saying. “Between one of your reds and one of ours. Loser obviously loses a member of their team AND has to relinquish their flag.”

“What?” snaps Ren. “That’s not fair! Your flag means almost nothing to you.”

“Our flag is a beautiful memorial to a dear friend of ours whom you once SLAUGHTERED in cold blood!” Scar snaps back. “We care about it very much!”

“Do you accept my terms?” Grian asks challengingly.

The Red Army whisper among themselves for about half a minute, before Ren steps forward and announces, “We accept your terms.”

“Good. Choose your fighter and we’ll choose ours.”

As Bdubs’s allies turn towards each other to discuss this, Bdubs gets an idea. “I’ll do it,” he blurts out. “I’ll fight.”

Grian glances at him in surprise. “What? Are you sure?”

“A hundred percent.”

“Why are you so eager to do this?” asks Tango curiously. “You’re not the only red on this team.”

“Because I’m part of this alliance and I wanna fight for Cleo’s memory against the people who took her from me,” Bdubs replies, only just able to muster enough conviction in his words to make them believe him.

“Well, okay, then,” says Grian, giving him a nod. He turns back to address the Red Army. “Have you chosen?”

“We have,” Ren replies coldly. “You go first.”

“Fine. We’ve decided that Bdubs will fight for us.”

Ren’s eyes widen noticeably and his gaze flicks to the side, but the person they chose steps forward and says, “I will fight for the Red Army.”

Bdubs’s heart skips a beat. Oh god, why does it have to be HIM, of all people?

Tango glances sideways at Bdubs. “You still wanna do this, dude?”

“I do,” replies Bdubs steadily. “I’m ready.”

He draws his unenchanted diamond sword and steps forward, as the rest of his team retreats to a safe distance.

Across the battle line, Etho pulls out an identical sword and says something to the Red Army before they too disappear to a safe place to watch the fight.

“I’m sorry it has to be this way,” Etho states. “Good luck, Bdubs.”

Bdubs responds by letting out a battle yell and charging to attack.

As expected, Etho blocks his first few swings and retaliates with a few of his own. But the problem with this fight is it’s between two old friends who’ve spent years getting to know and defend against each other’s fighting styles.

The battle is fierce and goes on for a long time. Every time one of them gains an advantage, the other snatches it back within seconds. Their PvP skills may not be the greatest but it’s clear they’re too evenly matched for this fight to have a clear winner straight off the bat.

But after a while, Bdubs starts to tire, and he knows this is his chance. He goes for a clumsy attack, which Etho easily parries, leaving him open and vulnerable.

Etho kicks him square in the chest at full force, sending him flying. He lands heavily on the ground on his back, the sword flying out of his grip. Before he can move, Etho runs at him and leaps in the air, about to bring his sword down on his friend.

Bdubs squeezes his eyes shut, preparing himself for the end.

He feels Etho land right next to him…

…but nothing happens.

When he hesitantly opens his eyes again, he finds Etho positioned over him, the point of the sword less than two inches from his chest.

Etho’s eyes hold a deep sadness. “This isn’t right,” he says quietly. “I don’t want to hurt you, much less kill you.”

This is his last chance. Bdubs thought Etho would just do it on his own, but now that he’s refusing, Bdubs has to intervene. “Do it, Etho. Please.”

Etho blinks in surprise. “What?”

“I want you to kill me,” Bdubs says hoarsely. “Etho, I’m exhausted. Physically and mentally. I just… I just want to rest. Please give me rest.”

“No, I…!” Etho gazes down at him, anguished. “Don’t make me do this, Bdubs. Please don’t. I can’t… We’re so close to the end. We can make it. W-We can make it together.”

“You can make it,” Bdubs whispers, “but I don’t want to. I’m done with this world, Etho. All I want is to rest and see Cleo again. Please… Please get me out of this nightmare. I’m ready to wake up.” He shakily reaches up and touches his hand to Etho’s. “There’s no-one I trust more.”

After a moment, Etho removes one of his hands from the sword’s hilt, keeping the weapon in place, and firmly but not roughly presses down on Bdubs’s shoulder to keep him in place. “Are- Are you sure? There’s no coming back from this.”

“I know.” Bdubs manages to muster a smile, to reassure his oldest friend. “I’m ready.”

He leans his head back and closes his eyes, so that Etho doesn’t have to meet his gaze while he does this. It’ll be easier for him. Bdubs wants this to be as easy as possible for both of them.

Etho reluctantly raises the sword as high as it can go, the tip still hanging over Bdubs’s chest, poised perfectly over his heart. A single strike here will kill him instantly and painlessly. But like he said, there’s no going back. Is he sure he’s prepared for this…?

No, he’s not. But he can’t let Bdubs down.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he brings the sword down as hard as he can. Just as he predicted, this quick, clean strike is enough.

BdoubleO100 was slain by Etho

A few tears leak from his eyes. Realistically, he knows Bdubs will be okay in the long run. They know now that dead red lifers will eventually return to their original servers. So Etho will see Bdubs again.

But that doesn’t make his deed any less painful.

#3rd life smp #3rdlifesmp #etho #ethoslab #bdubs #bdoubleo100 #vaunna’s requests

[carminite-wyrm]

A Genshin Impact Hermitcraft AU Idea, God Help Me

Last year, on September 28, a particular gacha rpg game was released and I, occasionally regrettably, fell straight into playing it. In honour of the fact that this will mean I have lasted nearly a whole year (I got the game a week after bc uni) determinedly not spending any money on Genshin whilst also trying to roll good characters…here’s a bunch of Hermitcraft Genshin AU ideas that I initially came up with at roughly 2.40 am.

The general idea of this AU is that the Hermits end up in a new world that has Genshin-esque mechanics, on top of the usual Minecraft shenanigans. So, Visions and stuff. Also, we’re gonna just…briefly ignore the actual Genshin lore in regards to how Visions and Gnosises (Gnoses?) come about, for this one.

Post-S8, the Hermits are travelling to a new world, ready for another season.

The moment they arrive, it is clear to them all that…something is different. Something is vastly different with this world, for all that it appears much like the previous servers that they have lived in and travelled to. There is something of a…presence to it, in a sense.

When the Something Different doesn’t appear immediately, being the demigods/almost-deities that they are, they go about their days, setting up starter bases, gathering the basic resources and tools, the usual beginnings.

Things change when Doc wakes up one morning after a hard day at work building a new redstone machine, to find a small glowing chess piece lying next to his head, crackling with an ethereal purple light

Upon picking it up, he feels a burst of energy, almost like that one time in the previous world where he and Ren built a lightning-summoning tower

However, the changes it has wrought become apparent later that day when Scar comes out of nowhere with the recording of a creeper’s tell-tale hiss and explosion, and Doc sends him flying backwards with a startled blast of lightning

At first, they chalk it up to ‘Something Funky With Doc’s Current Project’, but after some tests, some experimentation to confirm if it was a one-off reaction…they end up confirming that they may have found out what the Weird Thing about this season’s world is

The duo go to Xisuma with their findings, and, to their collective surprise, X can’t find anything blatantly broken in the server’s code, but he does find a few interesting lines within.

By all appearances, this is not a glitch, but simply an intended feature of the server

Seven lucky hermits, designated as Archons in the server code, will receive a Gnosis, an artefact of elemental power that the server can assign, given to the ‘player who best suits the element’

The server notes speak of how the power granted (and represented through the chess-piece-shaped item) will grant the receiver the capability to shape the land around them

By random chance, other players on the server will also be gifted a Vision, a somewhat lesser artefact that will still grant them a form of elemental power

Given that the Hermits are practically gods in their own right, considering they are already capable of shaping the worlds they arrive in as they see fit…are more curious than worried, at this point

They agree to keep an eye out, to see how chaotic the sudden acquisition of elemental powers will turn out

The next person to receive a Gnosis is Grian, who delights in the bursts of wind he can use to buffer his flight, gliding across the server with naught but the turquoise magic the server has seen fit to grant him

After that, most of the Hermits soon receives some sort of Elemental power from the server

A Summary of Who Gets What (That I can think of so far):

Doc: [Electro Archon]

Can summon lightning, without need for a trident, a thunderstorm, or a machine that can generate an ongoing thunderstorm for as long as its activated

Can also generate an Electro shield, though it does require his active concentration to maintain for longer than a few seconds. This shield appears like a charged creeper’s aura, except purple

Capable of generating a thunderstorm at will, but rarely does it on account of mob spawning dangers

Has found that by channelling a low level of Electro energy, he can in fact power redstone machines just by tapping them/being in close proximity to them

This has proven to both be a blessing and a curse, considering that on occasion, when startled, he has short-circuited some of his machines

Grian: [Anemo Archon]

Generally, uses his powers as a free rocket boost for flying around the server

Upon finding out that he can use the Anemo energy to create pockets of energy that can boost flight, he takes to leaving them all over the server, in convenient locations to make flight that much more efficient

Yes, he absolutely sets up a fancy elytra course that makes use of his flight-boosters to send players rocketing around a course at breakneck paces (poor Scar experiences many instances of kinetic energy)

Bdubs: [Geo Archon]

Suddenly, making mountains and other works of major terraforming is a lot easier

Certainly, he still prefers to sculpt them and detail them by hand, but bringing the basic shape of the mountain forth by brandishing the power of Geo is something that he can do with ease, in this world

A new shop pops up in the shopping district rather quickly after this realisation: Bdub’s Landshaping Service, Now offering quick terraforming at a budget price! (it is, in fact, a service that makes him quite the amount of money)

And when he wants to sleep, without the other hermits breaking his bed? A glowing shield of steadfast golden magic takes care of that.

Gem: [Dendro Archon]

The patch of the server that Gem has claimed for herself quickly springs to life as plants of all varieties grow to surprising proportions, energised by the power that she now can radiate

The effect is most notable in and around her home, of course, but wherever she travels, the plants grow more vibrantly for days afterwards

Adding a forest of birch around her house takes little more than a thought, a fact she uses to prank some of her friends, those who in the last world were rather vocal about their dislike of non-stripped birch

Another power Gem finds herself with is the ability to summon vines even without a surface for them to initially grow upon, and thus it is not uncommon to see Gem building or resting in a hammock of woven vines

Cub: [Cryo] (cannot make up my mind if I think he’d be Archon material or not)

Gathering powdered snow has never been easier, as instead of waiting for a storm to form and last longer than it takes a Hermit to get into the nearest bed, he can simply clap his hands together and a lump of snow shoots out from just above his shoulder.

It does hurt, getting hit by the sudden snow barrage that Cub is now capable of, but except for the occasional snowball fight, his newfound snow-creation ability is used for making increasingly more insane mob farms and snowy building decoration

False: [Pyro]

The magic her Pyro Vision grants her doesn’t become apparent, not for a while, until she visits the Nether for the first time in this world

A mis-swing in a bastion, and suddenly a horde of piglins and hoglins are chasing after her, and there isn’t enough time to pillar away.

She readies her sword and shield, ready to fight, and suddenly her blade crackles to life with bright flames, unlike the fire aspect enchantment in that it actually is on fire.

Every attack she lands, whilst her sword is alight, seems to invigorate her, return strength and stamina that was lost when she had first tried to flee the enraged inhabitants of the bastion

Xisuma:

The admin is one of the few to not receive a Vision or a Gnosis

Quietly, he does admit to being relieved, considering his powers as an admin are already much greater than that of the other Hermits, for all that they are still his equals

And then, one day, whilst X is placing his diamonds to sign up to one of Grian’s newest competitions, he feels a rush of foreign magic, so unlike the familiar ordered pulses of server code

The blast of wind that comes with a swing of his sword, much later whilst he is mob-farming, is greatly surprising, if not unexpected.

The funny thing about all these new powers, granted by the server itself in the form of artefacts that can easily sit in one’s palm, is that for all they are miraculous on their own, the natural capabilities of the Hermits are already enough to rival them

In the hands of an ordinary person, an ordinary player, the powers from this world would bring them close to the near-omnipotence of Creative, could even be the driving force of server-wide conflict.

Powers such as these, while they can build great things, can so easily be used to destroy, to cause war and destruction, and in other realities, they have.

Perhaps whatever trick of fate that caused the server to be capable of granting these powers hoped to create that conflict, to see what would happen when only a few of their number were gifted such strengths.

Later, when the initial surprise and rush to test out the limits of the server’s granted magics dies down, Zedaph approaches Xisuma, one of the few to not possess an artefact of elemental magic, with an observation

Zedaph notes that, from his studies of the Hermits’ new powers, almost all of them are oriented vastly towards combat, whether they be summonable blades of frost, elemental shields, or even the ability to soothe aches and hurts

And even though the Hermits have all found ways to make those powers work in the ways that they wish them to, it does not take away from the fact that the likeliest original purpose of this server’s magic was for fighting

Any other server, any other group, Zedaph quietly says, and there would more than likely have been bloodshed, given the inequality in the range of power granted

At the end of the day however, unexpected gifts of power or not, the Hermits, at their core, are a group that creates and innovates, a band of friends that shape entire worlds with naught but their own ideas and willpower, and regardless of what powers they now possess in this particular realm, that will not change.

#hermitcraft #hermitcraft au #genshin impact #i tentatively tag genshin as well even though its only by a rather vague association lmao #in which i take some of the mechanics of genshin and go 'hey it would be funny if a bunch of practically-demigods got even more powers' #carminite writes

[hermits-that-craft]

Pirate au Scar/Doc/Ren under the cut. This is shipping. I am yearning. Have a good day.  originally posted on discord

Backstories:

Doc: As a child, he was outcasted by the people he lived with due to his creeper/human hybrid thing. He was found by either Xisuma, who is TFC's adoptive son, and taken to TFC to be raised. The thing is: his adoptive father doesn't want him to become a pirate like them, and therefore doesn't tell him about being a pirate. Which means its such a pity when the small island he's on is raided by rival pirates and he's kidnapped and held for ransom, which is how he is brought into the whole 'pirate' thing. He trains with his adoptive family and eventually becomes the First Mate for Xisuma when TFC retires.

Ren: Ren, an orphan, joins the navy as soon as he can, because he was told from a young age that his family was killed by pirates and he wants revenge. The pirates that killed his family were, reportedly, the pirates from the Hermit Craft, run by TFC. However, he fights Doc a lot and finds himself falling in love. His two close friends, Grian and Impulse, 'jokingly' tell him to go after Doc. Like, every time the Hermit appears Impulse and/or Grian will go to Ren and tell him to 'go get his man'. Ren doesn't approve of the joke, but he still goes and fights Doc. Later, he finds out that Impulse and Grian are spies for the Hermit and have been telling the Hermit not to hurt Ren, which makes Ren feel very betrayed and he nearly snitches to the captain of the ship, until he realises that that would end up with the two men hung.

Scar: Raised by a very wealthy merchant family, Scar felt the call to sea more than he felt the call to helping his older brother, Cub, at the shops that he runs. Scar is never given the opportunity to leave, however, as he is coddled by his parents and Cub doesn't let him sign up for the navy. He spends most of his time telling Cub about what he would do out at sea and the adventures he wants to go on. His parents use him as the face of their business in an attempt to keep him on dry land, which paints a target on his back.

How do they meet, you ask? Let me tell you.

Now, one night Scar is out at some Fancy Party as a part of his duty as 'face of concorp'. Scar hates it, but he's accepted his fate at this point and is very good at bullshitting his way through parties to make them think that he loves what he does. Not only is Scar famous as the Concorp's poster boy, but he's also very likeable, meaning that he gets along with everyone, a bit too much. 

Scar gets kidnapped by a rival set of pirates (probably the same ones that kidnapped Doc) that night, after a pirate asked him to lead him back to his hotel. Ren, who was also there, offers to guard Scar on his walk home, so with a body guard and a secret pirate Scar and Ren get kidnapped.

Now, at this point, a lot of the pirates think that Ren is one of Doc's spies (or lovers) so they use Ren as bait for the Hermit and Scar as bait for money. Scar is terrified, he's never been out to sea before and now he's been KIDNAPPED by PIRATES. It's never happened before (to him), though Ren is sorta like 'this shit again, the only reason I'm not being a Bastard™️ is because Scar Will Die If I Do That. However, that doesn't stop the pirates from being Pirates, and Ren does get tortured, his bloody shirt and jacket getting sent to Doc as bait. Scar also gets tortured as a punishment for Ren at one point.

In the meanwhile, Doc and Xisuma are having a Grand Time on the hermit, just happy to be out on the sea together, until they get a message from Grian and Impulse to come pick them up, as something has gone down. Doc and Xisuma 'kidnap' Grian and Impulse a day before Ren's shirt and jacket come in, and Xisuma goes to discuss what he needs to do with Joe and Cleo, his strategists. They tell him that Doc will go looking for Ren by himself if Xisuma doesn't go looking for him, and that Grian and Impulse will most likely end up going with him. Xisuma sighs, nods and tells the hermits to prepare for battle. 

At this point, Scar is just, a Mess™️ from the stress, and he and Ren become fast friends throughout their time on the pirate ship, and Scar confesses to Ren about his hatred of being just a spokesman, confessing that he really wants to go and explore the world, and he tells Ren about his longing for the sea. Ren says that, when this is all over, Ren would put a good word in for him with his ships captain, and see if they could get Scar into the navy. Scar doesn't think that it will work, but he thanks Ren for it anyway.

Soon, the pirates arrive on this small island that gives Ren and Scar a chance to escape, but it's Ren whose scared of the consequences of escape, not Scar. Scar has never been kidnapped by pirates before, Scar doesn't know what would happen if the pirates caught them again. Scar doesn't want to die on the island, and as he's being held for profit he most likely wont, but Ren is bait and will most likely be killed once the hermit comes by to rescue him.

Scar and Ren both kinda sorta find themselves falling for each other (very sweet) as they are the only positive things on the island, and that the other is always kind to them. It'd be a cute romance if it weren't for the place that it was formed in. Ren confesses to Scar one night, high off of adrenaline and blood loss, and Scar kisses him to make him shut the up fuck.

During this time, the hermit is getting closer and closer to freeing Ren, and everyone is Very Happy about this, especially Doc. It doesn't make too much sense to most of the hermits until one night Etho and Beef and Bdubs tell everyone about how Doc definitely has a crush on Ren, which is when Grian and Impulse tell everyone about Ren's crush. The hermits, collectively, decide to try and set the pair up when they get Ren back, which comes sooner than expected.

The hermits find the island and, while the main group battles the Rival Pirates, Doc sneaks round the back with Impulse and Grian to free his MANS. Doc finds Ren in a small cage by himself, trembling and covered in blood and definitely Not Okay, but Ren refuses point blank to leave the cage. Grian and Impulse have to drag him out, and it was at that point they realised that Ren is wearing a shirt that looks strangely familiar to the shirt that Scar was wearing at the party. With the sudden realisation that there are 2 hostages, Doc orders Impulse and Grian to take Ren back to the ship and he goes to find Scar. Ren Doesn't like that, on account of Doc being both a pirate and Scar being a very scared person. Doc doesn't care and Ren is dragged back to the ship.

In the mean time, Scar is being heavily guarded by some ASSHOLES as the pirates offer to sell him to a rival company as like,,, bait or something. Scar is terrified, knowing that the pirates were lenient on him and that the rival company will not be as kind to him. Doc BURSTS through the door, finding Scar shirtless and covered in blood and scars. Doc, as a dumb gay boy, immediately decided to woo the man when he frees him.

Doc beats the shit out of the pirates, kidnaps Scar (who is Not Impressed About Being Kidnapped Again, though he is relieved when Doc kills the representative of the rival company). Scar is carried out of the building and Doc meets with Xisuma, still carrying a very scared Scar.

They get onto the Hermit, and everyone is very kind to Scar and Ren, confusing the pair. Xisuma eventually gets up, walks over to them (ignoring the way that the two men flinch away from him) and asks them what happened to them. Ren and Scar don't answer, both man either too scared to answer or unwilling, though they don't know which is which. Scar eventually mumbles something breifly, Ren holding onto his hand. 

Scar and Ren sit away from the pirates, though they're too tired to move away when Etho, Joe and Cleo come and sit down with them. The three people essentially go 'aight so we know that you two arent just 'friends', Scar is lying down In Your Lap, whats up with that?', and the two men dont respond, Scar too afraid of what will happen to them and Ren worried about them hurting Scar (because, you know, pirates). Cleo and Etho eventually give up on them, leaving to head off to bed. Joe stays, watching them out of the corners of his eyes as he chats with Keralis and False. Scar falls asleep in Ren's lap, and Joe tells Ren that none of the hermits would dare hurt Scar for being with Ren. Ren breaks down then, telling Joe what happened in full detail, about how even before he and Scar got together, Scar was punished for Ren being a navy officer, and how he doesn't want to get Scar hurt again.

Doc overhears this, and his heart breaks a little, but he comes up with food and medicine that Stress provided, and promises to Ren that no one on the ship would hurt either of them, for ANY reason. Ren thanks the two men and yawns, so Doc takes them down to his room and then goes and bunks with Xisuma (and by 'bunks with Xisuma' i mean he sleeps on the floor so he doesn't wake up the captain)

Scar and Ren grow close to the hermits, and they slowly let themselves relax, both guiltily considering leaving their lives behind to join the hermit. Scar tells Joe about it, and Ren tells Grian and Impulse, and the three men try to fix it so that the two men decide to stay before they are dropped off.

Cleo and Tango overheard, however, and loudly run into Doc's room while Ren and Scar are SNUGGLING to ask why they both don't just join the hermit since they both want to. Ren and Scar talk it over and agree, asking Xisuma if they could. Xisuma agrees, and they set sail.

In the meanwhile, Xisuma kicks out orders Doc to reclaim his room from the two newest hermits. Doc asks them if he could have his room back and Scar goes 'sure, is there a place we can stay?' and long story short Doc tells them to keep his room, and Ren goes 'we can all share its big enough.'.

It's awkward at first, Doc not really knowing what to do while Ren doesn't know how to feel about the man he definately still has a crush on. Scar, on the other hand, thinks that it's great because now there are two buff men making sure he doesn't fall out of the bed. Scar spends a lot of time helping everyone out, no matter who they are. He's taught how to fight by Wels and False, he spends time telling Joe and Xisuma which trade routs are more heavily guarded and which ones aren't, he helps Stress out in the infirmary and he also makes maps.

Soon, Scar leaves the ship to meet with Cub, taking Wels with him as they meet, and leaving behind a very worried Ren and Doc. The two men end up butting heads a lot throughout the two days that he's gone, to the point that it starts to make everyone else frustrated. Etho makes them talk about why they are mad and fighting, and the two men eventually go 'look i love him and i dont want to see him hurt'.

Scar comes back, having struck up a deal with Cub to get the hermits supplies, and he finds the hermits all looking very expectantly at his boyfriend and Doc. The two men tell him what happens, and Doc says that he understands that Scar is probably uncomfortable and one word and Doc will find a new room, and Scar goes 'cant you guys just share me? idc if you like me i like you too'.

And thats how they start dating in a pirate au, thank you for coming to my ted talk

#hermitshipping #scar/doc/ren #rendoc #scardoc #renscar #hermitship #hermitshipblr #pirate au

[writing-the-end]

LoL Chapter 19- Exhaustion

Masterpost

A Wizard Hermits tale (AU and Red belongs to @theguardiansofredland )

On their way to lunch, the hermits are attacked. Jealousy rages within the guilds that are losing, but the hermits are unable to fight back. Will they even make it to the event in time? 

___________________________________________

“We make a great team, that paper birdy didn’t even know what happened to it.” Tango laughs, grabbing Grian into a headlock and playfully nuzzling his fist into the golden locks. His body aches, and he feels weak, but prideful. The other hermits around them chatter excitedly, walking down the smooth, clean roads of the noble district. Even the canals of swampwater are tiled and cleaned of dirt and debris. Streets Mumbo knows well- he grew up here. So of course he took the chance to go to his favorite cafe. 

“I’d say I’m happy with bronze, but I really wanted to beat that Mitch guy. Plus, pirates always love gold.” Cleo hums, looking at the medal around her neck. Of course, she’ll always take beating some 30 other guilds to get this medal, their moans and complaints of being beat in the wrestling challenge. She rubs her wrist, wincing. “Though I’ll admit, I haven’t felt this burnt out from magic in years. It’s like that one event sucked it all out of my body.” 

“I feel that way every time I step into the ring.” Tango states, earning a nod from Grian as well. “After day one, I could hardly get out of bed. I felt like a dragon was sitting on my chest.” A few others murmur agreement, and the conversation stops. Not for long, thanks to Grian.

“Scar, Mumbo, are you two ready to show everyone your skills?” Grian grins, fluttering to the front of the group. 

“I was born ready for the creative event. I’ve been dreamin’ about this since I was a boy.” Scar sighs, feeling giddy. He’s already got an idea in mind, building and creating within his own head. 

“I...I’m not so sure. Can’t someone else step in for me? I don’t think I can get my magic to work well enough, much less to beat the others like you all have.”  Mumbo’s terrified. He wishes he had the confidence that Scar just exudes. He has no clue what he’ll build. He’s not even sure if his magic will appear today. 

“You’ve got it, man.” Doc appears beside him, patting his shoulder. “Don’t doubt yourself, otherwise I’ll take control and make you believe.” Mumbo freezes, smiling weakly. He’s not sure if he should be comforted or not by Doc’s offer.

He turns, eyes glimmering upon setting his gaze on the cafe. He came here all the time when he was younger, before he joined the hermits. He would come here to study, to relax, sometimes just to get his favorite tea from the shop. Being back here is strange, the nostalgia mixing with nerves. What would his friends think of this place? Are they out of the normal? Doc and Grian definitely are. 

Mumbo reaches out, grabbing the door’s wrought iron handle. His hand goes right through the metal, iron warping and wiggling like air in the summer heat. “What in the…” 

The ripples cascade out, across the air and townhouses. The mosaics shatter before reforming, and the entire street is empty. But the hermits aren’t alone. “You freaks think you own this place, don’t you? That you’re anything like us? That you can just waltz into the noble district because you’ve won the past two days?” 

Doc immediately summons his magic, ready for a fight. More than a dozen other mages appear from the illusion. Torn shoulder pauldrons, glistening with gold spikes, announces them being from the Guild of Gedeon. A council guild. Behind Doc, he can hear other hermits drawing their circles, blues and yellows shimmering off the illusion they're trapped in. “Let us go, you’re messing with the wrong guild.” 

“Ohoho, win a couple of events and suddenly you think you’re a guild? No, no.” A burly man with feral eyes stares down Doc, shoving him and Cleo towards Scar and Mumbo. “You’re messing up everything. I don’t know why Magistrate Dolios let scum mar such a prestigious event.”

“Maybe it’s because he realized ‘scum like us’ are better at magic than you. Didn’t want the crowd to get bored of the same old dopey outfits and subpar spells.” Cleo’s words have hardly crossed her lips before fists collide with them, sending her splayed across the ground. Doc needs no further initiative, activating his circle and taking control of the mage that struck his friend. His eyes close, and open again looking at himself. Ugh, this body smells. He turns around, meaty hands instead crashing into the Gedeon’s own guildmembers. Three fly out of the illusion, out of the bubble that traps them where no one can watch the fight. Beneath another, the ground opens up beneath her to reveal hellfire. The flames claw at her feet, dragging her into the open chasm. Swallowing her up. 

Doc is thrown out of his puppet, head spinning and blood pooling from his own nose. Grian’s shout rings in his ear, making his head spin and splinter. He looks up, seeing the magical bludgeon disappear like a ghost from a Gedeon member. “You’re gonna regret messing with us. Messing with the order of things. You don’t belong here, none of you do.” 

The illusioner stoops low, snapping his meaty fingers and nodding the gang forward. “And we’ll show you why you don’t mess with the Council. The wrath of  the Guild of Gedeon is not something you walk away from.” 

The fight is intense. Six hermits against about a dozen combatants. What’s worse, the Guild of Gedeon is an offensive group. When the arcane guard can’t do a job, when a strongarm is needed, the Gedeons are the first in line. Cleo holds her own, blood boiling under her dead green skin. Her sword doesn’t back down from a fight, and neither does the poltergeists she summons to aid in the attack. She’s exhausted, but that doesn’t stop her from being in the middle of the battle. Doc jumps from person to person, tapping into their magic and turning it back onto their own teammates. Scar does his best to protect Doc in the process, throwing up walls of rock only for them to be crushed by a volatile spell shot their way. 

But they aren’t winning. Cleo and Doc’s attacks aren’t enough to stave off the fights and fragments of magic flown their way. Tango’s magic is all but gone, sapped from his body. Where did it all go? He had it all this morning, and the bird chase event couldn’t have been enough for him to lose it all! Even worse, Grian’s magic sputtered and died halfway through his attack. Mumbo peeks out from behind Scar’s barrier, hissing with pain as a bolt of hot rock is flung against his forehead. “Grian, what in the world is going on with your magic?” 

“I...I don’t know, Mumbo!” He flicks his wrists, but nothing happens. His arms snap in a quick dance, and he does manage to summon his spell. The wind is hardly more than a summer breeze in his hair. “It’s not there, I’m drained of magic, of energy! But how, I hardly used anything!”

“It’s like you’re me!” The four hiding behind the wall are crushed as the rocks collapse. Trapped, unable to fight off the onslaught. Scar can only block the worst attacks, but bruises and cuts blossom across the hermits.

Until the bell of the capitol building tolls a single time. As quickly as the fight started, it stops. Scar lowers his walls and arm, brushing the blood from his cheek. Immediately, he searches for his friends. Doc struggles to his feet, ready to fight. But Cleo, Grian, and Tango look like they’ve been fighting for hours. They’re completely out of magic, skin pale and eyes glazed with weakness. Something is very wrong. Is there a suppressor mage here? No, that would affect everyone. Mumbo scrabbles backwards, wrist hanging limp. “Good luck getting to check in for the rest of the events, freaks. We’ll see who’s in the labyrinth event now.” 

The illusion drops, and the busy street returns. Bustling crowds, horse-drawn carriages and carts passing by the hermits. As alone as when they first arrived at the cafe. People step around them, glancing at the battered group but never offering help. Scar gasps, wobbling to his feet. “The competition! Mumbo, we’re going to be late!” He pulls Mumbo to his feet. 

“You guys go ahead.” Doc growls, sitting down on a pile of rubble. He rubs blood off of his cheek. “I don’t think the others can get up. They’re too weak.” 

“What caused that? How could Grian not use his magic?” He’s an S-Class, he has ultimate control of his magic. But he acted like he was...well, Mumbo. And now? Now his friends are hurt. They lost the fight- no, they were thrashed. And he wasn’t even able to do anything. 

“I don’t know, but I have a sneaking suspicion who the dark mage is now.” Doc waves the two off, before snarling. “Go! I’ve got the others!” And he’ll be sure Gedeon’s leader, that monster Sidero, gets a taste of what he just did to his friends. He must be the dark mage, trying to stop them. 

But as Doc watches Mumbo and Scar flee, and he helps Grian, Tango, and Cleo to their feet, he’s only made them angrier. 

_____________________________

“How am I...gah, how am I supposed to take a giant cat statue and make it move?” Mumbo hisses, looking up at the relief. Scar’s winning sculpture for the creative event was incredible. He could practically see every hair and whisker of Jellie, carved from stone using her owner’s terraforming magic. Even her wings are feathered, each barb as thin and interlocking as the real thing. It’s easy to see why Scar won the creative contest, hands down.

And here he is ruining it all with his own magic. The council really outdid themselves, pulling a twist like this. His magic falters, and the redstone dust collapses to the ground. Mumbo’s chest feels heavy, lungs pressed and heart clenching. His head feels dizzy, and his magic is nearly impossible to tap into. Surely this is all just nerves? But even Scar looked exhausted, like he was struggling to breathe, to stand after his magic. Exactly what Grian and Tango looked like. 

What’s happening? He can’t help but look over his shoulder. Other guilds are working on the creations their teammates created. Whatever was before them, they had to automate. And from what Mumbo can see, most others are well ahead of him. Especially Ian, deep in the bowels of the contraption Sky had built. He can be heard swearing, the conductive gold making his machine move when he doesn’t want it to. At least Mumbo doesn’t have to worry about that. 

But that doesn’t mean he can do it. The redstone dust falls apart, showering the ground beneath him. He’s going to disappoint everyone, he’s going to ruin Scar’s wonderful statue. He’s going to be the only wizard in this event that can’t even get the thing to move! He falls to his knees, the pressure mounting in his lungs. Making it hard to breathe, crushing in on him. And he’s exhausted, even though he’s barely used any of his magic. He can’t even get it to appear. Like always. All this work, all his hopes to win, will mean nothing if he can’t get his magic to summon. He’s a multi-mage, but he can never prove it. He can never show off his powers, and it’s exactly why he could never join any guild. Looking around, he can see all the guilds in the field he applied to. All of them said no, laughed in his face and ridiculed him when his magic failed to show itself. And now here he is, proving them all right. Making a laughing stock of the Order of Hermits. 

“You can do it, Mumbo!” He picks his head up, looking around. He doesn’t recognize that voice. It takes him a moment to realize it’s not coming from any of the hermits. The voice is loud, echoing over the crowd’s low roar. It’s Ecto, one of the wanderers. Beside her, the other two teammates are cheering him on as well. Red’s practically bouncing in his seat, about to fall over the railing as he yells as loud as possible.

More voices join them. He can hear Iskall, shouting for him to breathe, to remember his training. He can hear some sort of soliloquy being written across the sky, intertwined with Joe’s voice. Zedaph and Impulse are holding up a sign, nearly knocking False and Wels with the board. Even the rest of Team Crafted was cheering for him. TFC is watching Mumbo, blue eyes gazing through silvery hair. He gives a small nod and a smile, his own way of showing his encouragement.

All of the hermits are his family, the family he never had. A family that would support him, help him, be with him no matter what. That never gave up on him. And TFC was like the father he never had, with a calm voice as smooth as obsidian and as strong as diamond. Someone he could go to with all his fears and faults, and know he wouldn’t be ridiculed or put down. That TFC would listen, and offer sound advice. Advice he can hear echoing in his head now. “It isn’t about the amount of times you fall down, Mumbo. It’s about how many times you get back up.” 

So he gets back up again. He brushes the sand and dirt off the black fabric of his trousers, ignoring the physical pain in his chest and the unwieldy way his head spins. He closes his eyes, hand outstretched. In his mind, he can see his magic circle. The ninety degree turns ending in dots, the petal-like curls from the center. His hands move unconsciously, following the pattern of motions he created. It’s like ramming open a door, trying to find his magic. Trying to connect to it. But once he’s in, it washes all over his body. 

He opens his eyes, his circle cast and the redstone moving to his bidding. Climbing up and ingraining in the pores of Scar’s stonework, following lines weathered through the rock. Lightning shoots through the circuits, from his fingertips and breathing energy into the cat. The haunches of the massive statue move, toe beans uprooting from the sand as Jellie comes to life. Redstone dances across her granite tail, flicking side to side. Mumbo can’t help but laugh, knocked over into the sand by a giant stone cat head rubbing into his chest. Scar’s incredible creation, brought to life with his redstone magic. Given energy through his lightning. 

Statue Jellie opens it’s mouth to meow, but no sound comes out. She turns her head, gazing across the crowd surrounding her. Her eyes stop at the crown seat, where the Council sits in awe. Redstone turns on all across her body, his magic branching out onto each hair as it rises and her back arches. “Whoa, what’s all that about?” 

Mumbo has never seen Jellie hiss at anyone, and even if this stone statue is just a version of her, his magic seems to have brought her to life. And her eyes are as thin as paper, ears turned back and hissing as she faces the Council. Mumbo runs over to the massive kitty, trying to calm her down. Lightning spreads across the redstone, forcing the stone statue to calm. For a second, Mumbo swears he can hear Magistrate Dolios’s voice, though his head is swimming from exhaustion. “Well done, boy. What i wouldn’t give for such...raw power. Soon.”

#hermitcraft #hermitblr #light of lairyon #lol #wizard hermits #wizard au #hermitcraft fanfic #hermitcraft au #wizard doc #wizard tango #wizard scar #wizard cleo #wizard mumbo #wizard grian #docm77 #tango tek #gtwscar #scar #zombie cleo #mumbo jumbo #grian #grianmc #writing

[triple-a-enderdragon]

How many times can you say the clock is ticking? Because now it’s

TWO MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT

First | Previous | Next

Biffa was living. The rush of battle was one he'd missed, even if he had felt it not that long ago. It was too long, in his opinion. He never thought it was fair that Python and especially Iskall got to face world hoppers. But at the same time, he trusted False's judgment enough to follow her direction. The thrill of the fights she did leave to him were well worth it.

In his anticipation for the next skirmish, he almost missed False's signal, pointing him to where their target was.

Landing in the torch-lit clearing, Biffa took in two things: Grian was alive, if a bit worse for wear; and his assailant had their back exposed. Swiftly crossing the clearing, he laid into the intruder, leaving a deep rent in their back. Biffa was a bit surprised they didn't drop, and followed through with a vicious blow to the head. That did the trick.

"Grian." False had also crossed the clearing to check on the builder. "Are you badly hurt?"

"Nothing that's too serious. I'd managed to avoid most of it," Grian said, checking himself over. Sure enough, he had a cut on his left arm and a nasty bruise developing on one cheek.

False gingerly brushed the bruise. "You took a head blow," she said. "A visit to Joe, if he's still awake, would be a good idea. When you're done with that, Impulse wants you to go to Tango's base."

"Tango's base? Did he say why?"

"He did not. I'm sure you'll find out when you get there."

Biffa interrupted them. "It's gotten dark. Mobs will start spawning, and I don't want to be here when they do."

False looked at him, amused. "You had no problem fighting just now."

"Yes, against a limited foe." Biffa looked her in the eye. "I remember the dangers of a hardcore world, mobs being the biggest one." He knew she did too. She nodded and wordlessly took to the skies, leaving Grian and Biffa to follow.

~~~

"Well, I would advise you from doing anything too ridiculous, but I've heard what you have to do tomorrow. Ridiculous definitely, even a bit cliché." Joe looked at Grian, then at Cub. "Then again, we can't have Concorp at half capacity, can we? Besides, I do want to see this for myself, seems delightfully absurd."

Grian looked a little confused, though it may have been the head injury. "What about Xisuma?"

Joe raised one eyebrow. Confused enough to say X's name more-or-less right. "Right! Can't forget about him. Anyway, I'm sure you're needed elsewhere to restore balance to the scales," he said as he herded Grian out of the Ministry. "Thanks for stopping by, Grian. It can get lonely with only the undead and the actual dead as company."

"Is Cleo the only one visiting? Shouldn't you get out more?"

"I understand your concern, but— while I'm no Scar— I'm no stranger to death. I'd rather stay in relative safety until I can risk being surprised by a creeper again."

Watching Grian go, Joe's thoughts wandered to a certain person intimately linked to death. He would have to see if Cleo was interested in watching what would unfold. And, Joe admitted, he would be too scared to do so alone.

~~~

There was only so much of the Nether that Python was willing to take at one time, and he felt he was getting mighty close to that limit. He'd already spent quite a bit of time gathering quartz for his ambitious builds in Tower Bay over the last few months.

Gathering quartz turned out to be the distraction he and Iskall set out for themselves. Keeping a watch on the temperature, they were able to ignore the frustration and unease with their situation. A careful trip to the gold farm kept their gear and tools in top shape. Food was not yet a concern, water was managed through the careful melting of ice.

The pigmen turned out to be less of a threat than the two thought; the hostiles still swarmed on sight, but always seemed to get distracted long enough for Iskall and Python to make a hasty escape.

So they mined quartz. Hours passed, with rests intermittent, before they found another problem.

Iskall was in front of the array of double chests, laden with quartz, trying to find space for the latest haul. He wasn't finding any. Rubbing his left eye, he walked to his ender chest and started looking for some wood. Which he didn't find. He looked at Python, also rummaging around his ender chest. "Python?" he asked.

"Hm?"

"You have any wood, by chance? I'm all out, and I need some for more chests."

Python's rummaging increased, shulker boxes opening and closing, before he said, "No, sorry man. I'm out as well."

"Dang it! I guess I'll be carrying around a bunch of quartz."

"You don't have any empty shulker boxes, or any empty spaces, at least?"

Iskall scanned his ender chest again. "Well, there's a bit of space, but still not enough. Ah, that's fine, at least I have some inventory space now," he said as he put the now full shulker box into his ender chest.

"If you're up for it, we should take one last trip to the gold farm," Python said. "Some of my gear's running low."

Iskall, feeling a headache coming on, said the wrong thing. "Yeah, I'm up for it."

~~~

Tango spent almost an hour, pacing his base, listening for the rockets that would signal Grian's approach. Since he and Impulse learned where the winged man was, they were on edge; even more than they already were. It wasn't until Grian landed in front of him with nary a whisper, startling him to the high heavens, that Tango remembered.

"Grian! You can't do that to me, man! Give a hoot or something, you about gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry about that; I forget how silently I fly now," Grian said sheepishly.

"It certainly woke me up." Tango was about to brief Grian, but he saw the colorful bruise Grian was sporting. "Oh, ow. That looks like it hurts. Didn't get out of the skirmish unscathed, huh?"

Grian poked at the bruise, wincing. "No, but frankly, I'm lucky it's not worse. By the way, what are we doing? It has something to do with the Nether, I hope?"

At this, Tango was all business. "Yes. The thing we need is at X's base, coincidentally. Stress and TFC are already there."

"What's going to happen?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. I'm just going with the flow here, man." Tango was very unsure of himself, but continued, "When it gets down to it, I'll know."

As they look to the skies, Grian looked unconvinced.

~~~

If anyone was near the stock exchange, they would have heard shouting. A lot of it. As it happened, "anyone" turned out to be Mumbo, heading to the shopping district for some last-minute supplies.

He stuck his head into the station and, in between the bursts of surprisingly expletive-free fury, said, "Doc? You ok in here?"

A pause, a concerning crash, and Doc huffed his way into view. "Everything's fine."

Mumbo didn't take his hint and came closer, hopping the turnstile easily. "It doesn't sound like it. Besides, I asked if you were ok, and you didn't answer."

If looks could kill, the redstone contraption in the corner would have exploded. Mumbo briefly wondered if, with a few tweaks, Doc's eye could produce that effect. Or something similar. But it didn't, and the redstone build stayed in one piece. Doc sighed and walked over to an overturned shulker box spilling comparators, droppers, and other redstone bits and bobs over the floor.

As he shoved all the items back in the shulker box, he said, "Something is going on. Something's happening to me." He pointed at the build in the corner. "You know what that's supposed to be?"

Mumbo walked over to it and inspected the innards of it. Not even half a minute had passed before he answered, "I would think it would produce a sort of vending machine effect. Is that what you were going for?"

"Yes! It's supposed to dispense one stack of ender pearls or cookies when a diamond is deposited, but something is always wrong. Either the wrong item is dispensed, the wrong amount is, nothing happens; I know what's wrong each time. I fix it each time. But something else always pops up!" After a pause, Doc said, "I don't know what to do, and I'm at my wit's end here."

Now that Mumbo knew what Doc was trying to achieve, it took him all of a minute to find and fix the problem. He went back in front and said, "Try it now."

Doc put a diamond in the input chest and pressed the ender pearl button. He then stared at Mumbo in resignation as sixteen ender pearls hit him in the chest one by one.

"I guess it works now."

Doc kept staring at him. "What was it?"

"The timing of one repeater was off, giving only a partial stack," Mumbo answered, a bit concerned.

Doc placed a hand on the vending machine, lights flickering on his cybernetics. "I don't understand. Every time I fixed the timings..."

"Well, it's all working now. Really neat design, by the way."

"Heh. Thanks. Are you going to the event happening soon?"

"Yeah," Mumbo said, "I have to really see this stuff to believe it; this whole Elemental thing. I would say it's exciting, but..." He stopped. "Anyway, are you going?"

"No. I've got a bad feeling about it. Besides, I have," Doc looked down the tunnel, "other things to do."

"Well, good luck with those. Hopefully, they're not as stubborn as the vending machine," Mumbo said as he prepared to leave. "I'll see you around, mate."

As he left, he saw a curious scene: Doc, standing in the middle of the rail line, didn't seem to hear him. Staring down the tunnel, he was muttering and scratching his right arm. Mumbo didn't know what to make of it, and so took his leave.

Shopping driven from his mind, he had somewhere to be.

"Something's happening to me."

~~~

Getting to the gold farm was never as bad as getting back from it. Every hermit had forgotten to reequip their elytra at least once, some more than others.

Knowing this, Iskall and Python took extra care to double and triple check, to cross-verify, that both had their elytra equipt.

However, every time Iskall went to descend, something stopped him. He couldn't really explain it, like some internal force keeping him rooted to one spot. And the fear. There was nothing to be afraid of, he knew. He could hear the distant sound of Python, next to him, trying to get his attention. But it wasn't as loud as the voice.

Do not jump.

Iskall never saw the ghast.

~~~

Impulse was waiting; if you could call it that. Grian and Tango had arrived about an hour ago, and the latter said he needed to wait for the sun's zenith before he could continue. Impulse had asked what the zenith had to do with anything, Tango couldn't answer him. Said it was a 'gut feeling'. And since Impulse couldn't speed up the sun, he waited.

Various hermits had filtered in over the past hour. Zedaph was there, giving much-needed moral support to Impulse and Tango. False and Wels were ready to jump into X's Nether portal as soon as they were able. Mumbo had given Impulse a thumbs up when he arrived, too anxious to speak.

A few hermits weren't there. Joe, Cleo, and Scar were at the Ministry watching over Cub. Biffa, Jevin, Doc, and Ren all said they weren't coming, and Impulse didn't blame them. If he didn't have to be here, he most likely wouldn't be here.

Impulse heard movement; Tango was showing the other three 'avatars' to their corresponding spots around the altar. Stress to the North, Grian to the East, TFC to the West, and Tango himself to the South. They were interrupted by a buzz from their comms–

iskall85 fell from a high place

–and the world exploded into brilliant diamond blue light.

#hermitcraft #hermitcraftserver #hermitcraft au #time to strike back #ttsb #chapter 8 #chapter eight #two minutes to midnight #grian #biffa2001 #falsesymmetry #joe hills #joehills #tangotek #iskall #iskall85 #python #impulse #docm77 #mumbo jumbo #mumbo #stressmonster #tfc #tinfoilchef #the rest are mentioned #but it wouldn't be worth tagging them #hoo thats a lot of tags #act 1 #act one