#Grian being given only two lives at the start

[ohnonotthehorrors]

Can I... talk about the theory that winners help craft the next game?

Because, and I really can not say this enough, it puts So Much into perspective.

Everything starts out Normal. Three lives, simple, cut and dry, there hasn't been a winner yet. No one to help craft the game. (And there's something to be said about how simple it really was. Not even a real expectation of the world becoming pvp or combative. No idea of the war to come)

Then Grian wins. The green killer, the man who vowed his first life to the one whose life he took. The next game the boogie man is born. A mechanic that allows and, in fact, demands, a green kill. People can trade lives back and forth, currency and debt wrapped up in one. (can we still be friends? Said the red partner. A life time later and reds are hostile, alone. Maybe it's an answer: No. Not anymore)

Scott wins this time. He refuses to play the game. He will not kill his team, he will love and he will do so fiercely and with all of himself. The next game people are attached through to their very souls. Every bit of damage to one soul is done to its twin. There is no boogeyman. (There is no way for a widow to be left without their love)

Pearl wins and she wins a blood bath. Spent the game draped in red, only wolves for company. Sitting in her tower, shivering in ice, maybe she wanted it to end. To see where it would. Limited life rewards you for killing, limited life has a clock tick tick ticking down, you always no how long you have. A curse yes, but a blessing too.

Now It's Martyn's turn.

And what a turn it is.

Keep your secrets, says the disloyal man, keep them well. Everything hurts, everything Matters, says the man fracturing with every loss. (What if we could love each other without hurting? Says The Hand, who never wanted to be coated in blood)

More importantly, Martyn has always seen the watchers below the surface. Now, they're right here in front of him. Something that could almost... be rebelled against, no? Something that someone else could finally point to and say: hey, hey isn't that familiar?

[hybbat]

One thing I don't like is characterizing Jimmy's canary curse as a fault of his ego/stupid mistakes. He can be and has done those things, but that's not the root of why he loses.

In third life his last death was from a stray arrow that managed to slip through a half block from half a desert away, absolutely a freak accident and crazy shot into a box that was supposed to protect him. Two of his deaths happened back to back in this game, staying completely safe the rest of the time and in both he wasn't the only one.

In last life the man started with two lives and spent the whole game on those two lives! He died in the middle of a big fight where he was not the only one to perma die.

In double life Tango was at fault for the first death, and Jimmy WAS being extra cautious. Even Tango noted how long Jimmy went without dying. And can we acknowledge how incredibly crazy it is that he got knocked off from an arrow that hit him on the BACK of his head? All four were leaned out, and Scar made it out safe, because their attackers were specifically hunting the ranchers based on misunderstanding and bullying. And the enderman death. He was the third to die that way, lasted the longest with the least (on a food run, shield almost dead, no safe trees, abandoned) and that enderman came out of nowhere. That was the purest of bad luck.

And in limited life. Well, there's a lot of deaths, and some of them were silly. But several of his deaths were to Grian and HIS mistakes/malice. He fell off their base the least and his final death was one not even unique to him. The real nail in the coffin was Etho's boogie kill which was never intended to be him but Etho attacked a group after Impulse stole his kill. But the important thing to note is despite all that, Jimmy still died one of if not the fewest times in limited life!

Jimmy's problem isn't making stupid mistakes like Scar. He doesn't make them more often than any other player. He died the fewest times in two seperate series! His problem is his refusal to pvp. He never gets boogieman, he never knocked anyone else down, and when he does end up in group fights he tends to lose or run away. Limited life he got probably the fewest kills besides Tango, and three of them were willingly given to him. He never gained any lives in last life except his brief moment stealing martyn's. Jimmy's biggest problem is that he is too cautious and has zero fighting instinct, he never takes the risks to get ahead, and each time he even thinks of it he's punished for it so who can blame him.

And also Grian. Honestly, mostly Grian.

[zhukzucraft]

Wild Life - Chapter 1

A fan-made Life SMP session project by Zhuk and Schmomo

>Read it on AO3 here<

Scott blinked, eyes adjusting to the sudden change in light. It had been night time in Chromia when he’d been warned by Grian of the impending summoning. Now he was in the bright morning light on a brand new server, surrounded by familiar faces. 

Well, not as familiar as he had been expecting. 

“Are we furries?” he heard Jimmy question, standing a few players down from him. 

Scott felt his ears twitch, a startling sensation in and of itself. His hands moved to the sides of his head, but only found his wavy blue hair. Before he could migrate his touch further, to see if he looked similar to the equally confused gaggle of players around him, Grian grabbed his attention.

Grian clapped his hands, “You all know the gist. Season six, three lives each. Reds are hostile. Three, two, one, bye!”

Scott blinked several more times as his fellow players sprinted in varying directions, screeching chaotically. After a second to process he quickly followed suit, dashing backwards from spawn and into what he soon realized was a Dark Oak Forest. 

Not ideal, he thought to himself, but he was already in the thick of it. He started hacking away at the bark with his bare hand and let his mind wander up to the sky.

Season six, Scott repeated in his head. Six times now he had found himself summoned, chosen by those beings he still did not quite comprehend to participate in a death game amongst some of his closest friends. The details changed but the goal always remained the same: last player standing wins. Wins what? Scott had already won and he still did not know. He’d been given audience with the beings, but they had looked at him with derision more so than any kind of admiration or praise for his victory. It had been hard to concentrate, or think in their presence. He could not even look at them without a piercing pain behind his eyes. 

 Despite knowing this, the drive to win was ever-present. Even if it would all be for naught in the end. He would spend a few blissful months in his empire only to be whisked away with just a quick warning on his comms, to return to the bloodbath. 

He finished punching down the tree, yielding himself quite a bit of wood in the process. He crafted a table and got to work on a simple pickaxe. It was only then while digging through his inventory that he spotted the book. 

He pulled it out, cracking it open to read: 

Welcome to Wild Life! You are a Cat!  … What? Did you expect further explanation? Where’s the fun in that? Good luck!

As he closed the book, he vanished it from his hands and back into his inventory. He frowned. “Why do you always have to be such a menace, Grian,” Scott sighed. 

“That’s not very nice,” Grian said. 

Scott shrieked, one hand moving to clutch at his heart as he whirled around. There, he found Grian, wearing his typical red sweater and already boasting an iron sword in his hand. Atop his messy mop of light brown hair were two fluffy pointed ears. 

“Grian! You scared me!”

Grian laughed, putting his sword away. “Guess that means you’re a scaredy cat.”

Scott rolled his eyes, feeling something behind him flick back and forth. He glanced backwards to find he had a blue-gray tail, long and puffed up from fright. His ears pinned back in embarrassment, and his hand moved up to touch them atop his head to finally examine them. They felt pointed, just like Grian’s, but perhaps larger. 

Right. He’d made a point not to really think about it.

“Did you not notice?” Grian continued, a giggle still coating his words. 

“Of course I noticed,” Scott grumbled, “Jimmy’s comment soured any sort of interest quite quickly.”

Grian snorted. 

“You have no business calling me a scaredy cat when you’re a feline too,” Scott continued. 

“I wish,” Grian sighed, “But pointy ears aside, I’ve been cursed with doghood.” 

“Oh?” Scott blinked, trying to look closer to see if he could figure out the difference. But Grian took a step back. 

“Got to go,” Grian said quickly, “Oh and, watch out for the skeleton behind you,” he added, before darting away through the trees. 

As if on cue, an arrow pierced into Scott’s shoulder, lurching him forward. He twisted around to find the skeleton just one tree down, shaded by the thick canopy of Dark Oak leaves. Scott cursed under his breath, running a few meters away before taking some of his spare planks and towering up above the tree line. He took in a breath, ripping out the arrow with another curse on his lips. 

“You couldn’t have spared me an iron ingot for a shield, Grian!?” Scott shouted out into the air in exaggerated annoyance. He wiped some sweat from his brow before returning to holding his injured shoulder. He needed food. That shot had taken nearly a third of his health away–

He only had nine hearts. 

He blinked, recounting them in his head, but no, instead of the normal ten he only had the outline of nine. For a moment he feared they were playing without regeneration again, but no, the silhouettes of two and a half hearts remained. 

He pursed his lips. This might be a cat thing. He would need to get a feather and ink sac to start jotting down these observations if part of this game was to discover their own abilities. 

He supposed that gave him a place to start. He should keep an eye out for fellow felines to exchange information with while he hunted down some food. He kept to the treetops, hoping between leaves, careful not to fall into any gaps in case he lost even more hearts. How embarrassing would it be to become the first yellow on day one.

Eventually, he found the edge of the forest, where the Dark Oak gave way to a small stretch of grass before easing into water. From his high vantage point he could see it was a large lake. He could just barely see the shadow of the coast on the other side. 

He hopped down carefully, digging along the coast until he found some stone. From there it was simple to craft a set of stone tools and a furnace. He slipped into the cold water and drew out his sword. He managed to swipe at a few cod and was able to return to grass relatively quickly. 

He shivered, shoving some dark oak logs into the furnace and throwing the fish over it. He was so hungry even their raw form made his mouth water. But no, he wasn’t an animal–

Well, maybe he was. As he chewed on his cooked cod, he ventured closer to the lake’s edge to look at himself properly. His large blue gray ears twitched atop his head and his long tail swayed behind him. He curled it, watching, a bit mesmerized, as the appendage moved under his control. In his reflection he saw the shimmer of another player behind him, hopping down from the treetops. 

He waited, pretending not to notice the intruder to see what they were up to. But the man quickly gave way his position by calling out, “Oho! Is that food I smell?”

Scott snorted, turning around lazily to face his visitor. Etho stood right in front of the furnace, poking at the still cooking cod with his iron sword. How did everyone already have iron?

“Can I have a bite?” Etho asked, “I’m starving.”

“Dog or cat?” Scott asked instead, hopping atop his furnace to look down at the taller man. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Etho raised a brow. His pointed white ears swiveled, and his fluffy white tail swished behind him. 

“I’ve been fooled already,” Scott replied, lifting his hand to push some stray blue strands behind his ears. He failed in his endeavor, his ears no longer there at all. He frowned.  

“I’ll give you a hint,” Etho said, lifting his hand to make a little paw motion by his masked cheek, “Meow.”

Scott laughed, retrieving one of his pieces of cod and tossing it to Etho, who easily caught it. From his own inventory he took out two oak logs, setting them down on the grass. He took a seat on one, and Scott joined him on the other – reluctantly, suddenly missing the cozy warmth of the furnace. 

“Still working with stone, eh?” Etho pointed out. 

Scott huffed, “Well excuse me for being a bit careful and not barreling into the first hole in the ground I find.” 

Etho dug through his inventory, handing him a stack of ten or so iron ingots. Scott’s eyes widened. 

“A bunch of us found an above ground vein,” Etho explained, and even though Scott couldn’t see his mouth he knew he was sporting a cheeky grin, “There’s a mountain on the northside of the map. It was all snatched up within ten minutes I’d say,” Etho laughed. 

“By you?” Scott asked with a raised brow. 

“Not just me,” Etho replied. “Have you met anybody else so far?”

“Just Grian,” Scott said, “He’s a dog.”

“Is he?” Etho blinked, “Looked feline to me. He made out with the most iron, I think. Him and Gem. She’s definitely a cat.”

“Did you see anyone else?’ Scott probed. 

“Bdubs is a dog,” Etho counted out on his fingers, “Cleo is a dog too. Honestly, I think all of my friends are canines.” His ears pinned closer to his head, “They all ran off together pretty quickly.”

Scott placed his chin in his hand, logging the information away. He wondered if it was worth searching out Gem, then. However, they had teamed up just last game, and Scott did his best to switch up his allies as much as he could in these sessions. 

Their pockets lit up and they both brought out their comms to see new messages flashing on their screens. 

Skizzleman > DOGS RULE ImpulseSV > CATS DROOL InTheLittleWood > based Smajor1995 > rude.

Scott put away the comms after he finished typing his response, “Well, I suppose we can assume what those three are.”

Etho sighed, standing up from the log. Scott mirrored him. After all, the sun was past the midpoint and he hadn’t made much progress at all. He really should find himself a cave after he finished crafting a set of tools with the donated iron. Caves were always so dangerous in the early game…

“Seems like the dogs are sticking together,” Scott said casually. His tail flicked as he looked up at Etho, “Perhaps we should form our own feline alliance?”

“Fe-liance,” Etho offered, which made Scott snort. “Sure, but we should probably find a good spot to hunker down. We don’t have much daylight left.”

Scott shoved the rest of his items back into his inventory, giving a quick glance around to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. With that, he and Etho started walking, following the edge of the lake with the Dark Oak forest to their left. 

“Something’s happening out there,” Etho commented, pointing out toward the lake. 

Scott squinted, making out the vague silhouette of something being built out in the middle of the lake. It was too far to really make out exactly.

“If only we had a spyglass,” Etho sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets as he continued his leisurely pace. 

“I bet they’re in trident range,” Scott replied. Etho laughed. 

“And you’re in my range!” 

Scott looked up, watching as someone shot down from the heavens, spinning in a tight circle as he went. He landed right in front of them, facing the wrong direction. He quickly corrected himself, but even without facing them, Scott would recognize Joel’s vest and linen shirt combo anywhere. Of course, now he was also sporting some brown cat ears and a brown and black striped tail. 

He grinned at them, “360 spin jump from sky limit. Impressive, am I right?”

Scott raised a brow, shifting so he could look past Joel and see that he did have a tower of cobble going up into the sky. “I knew you were a thrill seeker, but that seems more like a death wish to water bucket clutch on day one.”

“Have you learned nothing from me?” Etho added, “At least boat it.”

Joel blinked at them, “...You’re both cats right?”

“Yeah?” Scott started, glancing over at Etho who simply shrugged. 

Joel’s confusion seemed to give way to a manic sort of grin. His tail swayed back and forth and the entire display gave Scott the urge to bristle. Joel could be so infuriatingly smug sometimes. Maybe all the time.

“Joel!” 

Joel turned his head, tail perking up straight, “Over here, Lizzie!”

“You’ve wasted all my cobble!” Lizzie complained, coming into view. She sported a pair of ears folded down slightly on her head, the fur a soft orangey-pink. Her tail was especially fluffy, similar to Etho’s. 

“It was necessary,” Joel brushed off. “Had to make sure you were right.”

“Well, now you owe me for the cobble and the information,” Lizzie huffed, “Give me a bucket.”

“I don’t have a bucket,” Joel snapped back. 

“But I saw an axolotl!” Lizzie whined. Joel sighed, digging through his inventory and throwing three iron ingots into his wife’s arms. 

She squealed, “Okay, thanks, bye forever!”

Joel rolled his eyes, but his smile was soft and fond, so unlike the manic look he’d worn before. 

“That was quite cold of you, Joel,” Scott commented. 

“What?” Joel said, turning back to look at them, “I gave her the iron!”

“You could have just given her your bucket.”

“I don’t have one. Are your new ears not working properly?”

Scott pressed his lips into a thin line. Did Joel think he was an idiot? 

“Joel, do you have a base yet?” Etho asked. 

Joel’s shoulders immediately loosened, looking over at the white cat hybrid, “I’ve carved out a little place inside one of the dark oaks.”

“Cool, we’re moving in,” Etho said.

“Excuse me?” Both Joel and Scott snapped, before glancing at each other. 

“Sun’s setting,” Etho said easily. 

“That’s not my blummin’ problem,” Joel huffed. 

“You’d let your boat boy die out here?” Etho pouted and Joel groaned, but seemed to fold easily enough at the words. 

“But why’s Scott have to come?” Joel asked, even as he started to lead them toward his starter base. 

“We’re in a Fe-liance,” Etho said, “You are too.”

“I don’t think cats work in packs,” Scott couldn’t help but comment. 

“Lions do,” Etho said. 

“That’s a pride, not a pack,” Joel replied.

“Joel’s got a lot of that. Pride and ego,” Scott said. 

Etho snorted, but Joel just shot him a glare, illuminated by the flicker of his torch light. With his back turned, he didn’t see the zombie coming toward him.

Luckily, both Etho and Scott had quick reflexes–with Scott grabbing Joel’s arm to wrench him behind his shield and Etho drawing out his sword to slash at the beast. 

Joel recovered fairly quickly, jumping into the fight with relative ease. They were getting surrounded by mobs now. Scott deflected an arrow with his shield and then slashed at a spider rearing up on him. 

“This way!” Joel called, and Scott stabbed the spider one last time, relishing in its death cry. He had no time to grab the string it dropped, instead turning to race after Joel and Etho, weaving through the thick forest of trees. He almost missed it, but there was a dark oak door on one of the trunks that Joel swung open, urging the two inside before closing and locking it behind them. 

It wasn’t a natural tree trunk, Scott realized immediately. It was much more spacious, hollowed out and with ample room for the three of them to move. It was only one room and it still only had grass for flooring, but it kept the monsters out.

“Only one bed?” Etho asked, looking around. 

“I wasn’t exactly expecting company,” Joel grumbled,  pushing past them to the left side wall where he already had a double chest. He dug through it, taking out some raw chicken and more fish. He started loading up his furnace, and Scott summoned his own to speed up the process. Joel said nothing but did dump the fish in Scott’s hands to deal with. 

“I’ve got one,” Etho assured, placing down a bed right beside Joels’. 

“You found more sheep?” Joel blinked, “I was with Martyn and Jimmy briefly when we found a herd and they obliterated them. It almost seemed like they’d gone red.”

There was a smug crinkle around Etho’s eyes, “I actually hid two away. I’ll bring them here in the morning.”

“Brilliant,” Joel grinned. 

“Are we married to living in this dreary place?” Scott asked, “Such a gloomy color scheme.”

“You can head out the door whenever you want,” Joel snapped. 

“And leave you and Etho to pair up again? That’s been done. I have to stick around now to spice it up.”

“Is that a rule I don’t know about?” Etho asked, “Because I’ve repeated buddies every series.”

“Scott just likes being extra,” Joel said. 

Scott gave a little wink, flicking his hair back and swishing his tail for good measure. Joel grimaced.

While the food cooked, Etho and Scott crafted their own chests, each claiming a corner of their room to organize their things. When they finished, the pair joined Joel to eat. Ehto sat on the bed, Joel leaned against his chest and Scott found himself drawn to perching on the lit furnace once again. 

“Has fish always tasted this good?” Etho asked as he ripped into the salmon. 

“The chicken’s divine as well,” Joel agreed. 

“Perhaps it’s a cat thing,” Scott offered, “Did your books give you any clues?”

“Nah,” Etho said, “These games are never that easy.”

“Heh,” Joel grinned, “So you really don’t know anything do you?”

“You’d keep secrets from the Fe-liance?” Etho gasped. 

“Don’t listen to him,” Scott said, “Joel’s not smart enough to know so much so soon.”

Joel squawked, “I’m plenty smart, Scott! And not only that, I’ve got a wife who lives her imperial life as a cat all blumming day every day.”

Scott’s eyes widened. It was true – Lizzie was the Empress of Animalia back on their home server. Despite her best attempts to hide her feline traits, it was fairly obvious she wasn’t fully human. “We need her on our team.”

Joel’s shoulders slumped, “Scar snatched her up immediately. Maybe he had the same idea, I don’t know. But she refused to link up with me. At least right now.”

“Why the hell would she want to pair with Scar? He’s an accident prone disaster,” Scott groaned. 

“He did win last season,” Etho reminded them. 

“I guess,” Scott conceded, tapping his chin, “And Lizzie did crash and burn back there too. Died before Jimmy and everything.”

“Hey!” Joel snapped, “It was your fault she died in the first place!” He shoved his finger into Scott’s chest. 

Scott easily slapped it away, “My fault? Who was the one sending her to kill me?”

Joel growled, tail slashing back and forth in agitation. 

“Man this cod sure is good,” Ehto interrupted loudly, “Nothin’ like sleeping on a full stomach.” He leaned back, stretching out on the double bed. 

Scott let himself be distracted, slipping off the furnace in favor of crawling into the beds beside Etho. 

“Oi!” Joel started, “Are we really going to cram three of us into two beds?”

“Afraid to cuddle me, Joel?” Scott teased. 

Joel shot him a look, “You’ve brought nothing to the table. You should sleep on the floor.”

“We’ll get a third bed tomorrow,” Etho waved off, “Come on, it’s warmer like this anyway. We’ve fit more people in our bed in Double Life.” 

Joel reddened a little as he grumbled. 

“Oh?” Scott tilted his head, ears perked for any juicy gossip. 

“Bdubs insisted on having a sleepover at least one night,” Etho laughed, “It was all four of us sandwiched between the furnaces in the Relation Ship.”

“And it was terrible, Etho,” Joel scowled, but still climbed into the bed, shoving Scott with more force than necessary to carve himself a space. “I’m pretty sure Impulse ended up on the floor and I burned my hand on the furnace.”

“Our hand,” Etho corrected with a yawn. 

“Even worse,” Joel agreed. He turned onto his side, facing away from both Scott and Etho. Etho chuckled, nuzzling into his pillow. Scott soon realized he’d found himself in the worst spot, sandwiched between them. Perhaps it would be better for him to be on the floor – not that he’d ever admit that fact to Joel. 

“You know, Joel,” Scott tried instead, unable to suppress his grin, “It would make more sense for you to be in the middle, what with you being shorter–”

Joel kicked his leg back, slamming it into Scott, “I swear to the void, Scott! One more word out of you and you’ll be the first damn death message in the chat.”

Scott laughed, even though the kick had him wincing in pain. In fact, he’d taken a tick of damage from it too. So he conceded, keeping quiet and enjoying the little taste of victory in the rise he’d managed to get. He closed his eyes, relishing in the warmth the bodies surrounding him provided. 

Tomorrow he’d dig down and get his full diamond gear. He’d find Lizzie and interrogate her. From there he’d start formulating a real plan for the season and get back on track. 

He was almost asleep when Etho whispered close to his ear, “Should have warned you earlier, Scott.” 

“Hmm?” Scott murmured sleepily. 

“If you’re sleeping so close to Joel, best to keep your neck covered.”

“ETHO!” Joel shrieked. 

Scott laughed, curling up to dodge the pillow being slammed into Etho’s face. 

It was going to be an interesting season. A wild one at that.

[bookworm-2692]

Life Tracker updated for Episode 7! This one is much quicker than Episode 6 on account of not being on holiday at the time, even though there were two thirds more deaths this time. Previous posts: Session 6, Session 5, Session 4. Also Session 8 (finale) post!

As usual, close ups and commentary below the cut. I’ve also added another graph for the average time of each team, which will also be below the cut.

There was so much carnage! 45 whole deaths in a single session! Not all deaths were awarded time during the session, but Scott’s video advised that it would be added by next session, so I have taken the liberty to add all the time as I see fit, hence why Scott is back to 7.5 hours. I haven’t seen every episode yet (in fact, other than Scott, I’ve only seen those that have perma-died), so I’m not sure if anyone else’s time is a mismatch, but if so I’m happy to explain where I’m getting my time additions and subtractions from!

Now for some close ups.

First, there was enough chaos that I decided to take a close up of Session 6 and 7 together so we can properly appreciate it:

And a close up of Session 7 by itself:

So many people lost major time, so it’s interesting to see Scott’s uptick of time at the end - he ended on only 30 minutes less than he would have been if he hadn’t died at all this session. Pearl didn’t die at all, and got the kill credit for Martyn blowing himself up in a trap, so she actually ended the session 30 minutes better than she started it. Grian also did very well for himself - he killed and died so many times, but somehow ended on the exact time he would have been on if he had experienced a peaceful deathless session.

BigB, Cleo, and Martyn all ended the session 1 hour poorer than they started, and Bdubs and Scar ended 1.5 hours below where they would have been. Nosy Neighbours are thus doing super well, with Mean Gills and Clockers not too far behind, in terms of maintaining position from the start of the session.

TIES had an awful time this session, with Impulse and Tango both losing a net 2 hours, and Etho and Skizz losing a net 2.5 hours - and obviously Skizz entirely died.

Joel possibly had the worst time, losing a net 3.5 hours this session - though it didn’t help that 5 of his 7 deaths were all caused by the one person. Technically Jimmy didn’t do too badly, given he only lost a net 1.5 hours... but given that he was out of the series only an hour into the session, and also the first out entirely... it really didn’t go well for him either

I also find it interesting the sheer number of vertical lines this graph, the ones representing a death immediately followed by a kill or vice versa. I would love to figure out a way to show only one line at a time on the graph, so we can more easily see someone’s journey, but I haven’t had time to look into it yet.

Now onto the graph of the average times per team.

This one is super interesting to me, especially TIES’s line - they had the lowest average life right from the start, but somehow by Session 4, through Session 5, and for most of Session 6, they were the team with the highest average time, and then it quite literally went downhill from there. The only thing saving them from being last now is the fact that the Bad Boys are down to only a single living player, and even then Grian is doing far better than most of TIES.

It’s also interesting to me how Mean Gills had a significant time uptick at the end of both Session 6 and Session 7 (the first due to Martyn and the second due to Scott). Scott’s time was so high that it kept Mean Gills’ average time as yellow for all of Session 6 despite Martyn being red for most of it... and Martyn then got enough kills to keep it there. Mean Gills is also the only team in the entire graph to anywhere gain such consistent significant time.

These averages also coincide with the comments I made above about the time offset difference for each player from the start to end of the session. Mean Gills are doing well, but they’ve been doing well for so long that I’m sure most players are aware that they need to be a target. Nosy Neighbours are also doing well but I feel like they’ve flown under the radar, and are not a significant target right now.

Here is a close up of this graph with Sessions 1-4:

And the close up for Session 5-7:

And the Session 7 only close up:

I kept the dead players in the teams’ averages, since I think it is a better reflection of the teams’ strength as a whole, but I also created a version that excluded dead players. In those screenshots you can really see Bad Boys’ and TIES’ time jumping up at a death, instead of falling as it did here.

Here are the alternate averages graph:

And close ups:

This makes Bad Boys look a lot better, because Grian does have a lot of time... but he is also alone. And there is definitely strength in numbers. Two players at an hour and a half each can fend off an attacker more easily than a single player at three hours can... unless nerves and panic get to them, as we definitely saw this session.

Wow and I almost forgot to include the raw data for this session!

The first hour of the session:

The second hour of the session:

There is just so much death! Look at all the box outlines!! I could barely fit this data on two screens on the zoom I was on, and I did not want to zoom out further.

I also obviously have data for the averages, but it was too far away from the column with the times on it that I wasn’t sure if it would still be useful on its own? Let me know if you want to see it!

This has once again been fascinating to see, and I cannot wait to see how Session 8 will go. Will it be the last session? Will they go until everyone is dead? Will they somehow have enough people with enough time to get to Session 9? Will Mean Gills be the final two and get to play fun relaxing games like Scott was suggesting? 

Only time will tell.

[hmshermitcraft]

GIGS are a great ghost hunting team, even if they mess around too much and have too many close calls. People know when they have a tough ghost or spirit or whatever to deal with, they call the four of them. And Impulse and Skizz are glad that they asked Scar and Grian to come help them out.

But little do they know that Grian and Scar are ghosts themselves. Which is why they always manage to "escape" before a ghost could harm or kill them. They both agreed before joining Skizz and Impulse that they would protect the two of them from anything really dangerous and take the biggest risks.

Impulse and Skizz are together, and they know that Scar and Grian are together too, especially with how close they are and how they constantly egg each other on. After one harrowing ghost hunt, they all stay over at Impulse's place and wake up in a big cuddle pile. They all agree that they want to start dating as a quad, making jokes about being the best ghost hunting team and the best group of four boyfriends.

Grian and Scar know they are going to have to tell the other two the truth and how they manage to appear human and corporeal (they made a deal with a witch which is a whole other story), but they aren't sure how to go about it. But after Scar called his and Grian's home their "haunt". he thinks it's going to have to be very soon.

Grian nearly fell straight through the floor when Scar said that - as if that wouldn't be an even worse giveaway! He's been feeling that a lot lately, Skizz is far too good at flustering him.

It's a miracle they've not given themselves away already. They just need to figure out a way to tell them, because their boyfriends deserve the truth. And they deserve to find out out from Grian and Scar.

If only they had the chance.

It was stupid, like so many things they do. But this time it was stupid whilst Impulse was still in the house. Scar didn't need to see Grian's panicked look to feel the strength of the spirit currently prowling the house. The shattered mirror felt like it reverberated through both of them.

Scar launches himself through the locked front door before Skizz or Grian have the chance to react. He can hear Grian yelling, but the bone-chilling presence is too close to Impulse's warmth. Far too close.

He makes it upstairs, heavy footsteps silent. The stairs don't even creak beneath his weight. Impulse looks at him in surprise, tucked in the corner between a wardrobe and the wall. But the confused murmur of Scar's name is all it takes for the ghost to turn, sharp blade dragging along the floor and towards Impulse.

Scar leaps forward, shoving the ghost away. The blade slices through him as Impulse screams. It hurts, but Scar will 'live'. He grabs Impulse, shoving him towards the door before the ghost can recover. Grian is already in the front doorway.

"Scar," Grian says, firmly. Scar ignores him, focused on getting Impulse safely into the van. "Scar you are missing a chunk of your torso."

Scar looks down and, sure enough, where most of his chest should be is open space, the borders of which spread like ink through paper.

It's not the way they wanted to tell their boyfriends, but Scar doesn't regret it.

That axe would've been through Impulse if he didn't and as much as he and Grian love being ghosts, they don't want their boyfriends to join them quite so soon.

[eluminium]

Life Series: Angel's Blessing

...or how killing Skizz seems to lock you into a Top 2 placement.

Welcome to another post where Eluminium goes insane about Skizzleman because the brainrot is consuming me.

So y'all know of the whole "Skizz and the number 3" thing? Well, a part I forgot to mention in the original post was a weird thing relating to Skizz's last deaths. Now Skizz is very good at dying early, he and Jimmy are the only two people who've never made it past session 7. In 3rd Life, he was killed by Grian. In Last Life, he was shot by Ren. And in Limited Life he sacrificed himself to TIES by having Etho kill him.

But.

In (almost) every single death he's had, he's been killed by either the winner of the game or by second place. And the other one (Scar for 3rd Life and Scott for Last Life) was also there to witness it firsthand. Every time. It's not as strong in Limited Life, but it's still there. Who was a witness to Skizz's sacrifice? Impulse. Who came second? Impulse. Martyn didn't witness it nor permakill Skizz, but you could argue that one of the kills Martyn got on Skizz pushed him towards his eventual martyrdom.

 In almost every series, the one to either permakill Skizz or watch Skizz permadie gets top 2. With no fail (so far.) Three times in a row.

Hmmm, well isn't that weird? And it's happened in every series Skizz has been in. And what are the only numbers above three? That's right. One and Two. First and Second. It's almost as if Skizz's weird curse tied to the three works as a blessing for whoever is there to kill him or watch him die. I suppose one man's curse is another man's blessing.

So uhm, petition to call this weird phenomenon "Angel's Blessing." For...obvious reasons. 

Hey I mean, could probably work it into a funny design thing. 

Just imagine Desert Duo in the cactus ring. As they throw punch after punch and speak their woes on how they don't wanna do this, two cracked and barely noticeable triangle-shaped halos (haha get it because three) are hovering over both their heads. As Scar's health starts draining, the halo fades with him, while Grian's only grows stronger, and more stable. Eventually, Grian's fist cracks right through Scar's barely visible golden headpiece, and with that, Scar has no chance. Not that he put up much resistance in the first place.

Just imagine Scott and Ren's final battle. Scott, fresh from his kill on Martyn, with his triangle halo hovering, just taking shot after shot on Ren. With every hit, Ren's halo grows weaker. However, it isn't Scott who smashes the fragile thing into pieces, instead the honor is given to a random zombie, who doesn't care what it just destroyed. When Scott stands victorious, divine lightning strikes and shatters his halo too. 

Just imagine Martyn cutting down Scott first because he knows. He's an observant guy, he's noticed the little gold barely-noticeable triangle floating over Impulse's head. A naive soul would have mistaken it for a trick of the light, but Martyn sees how it cracks as if solid when he ends Scott's life. Scott had to be first, Scott didn't have a halo this time. If Martyn himself looked up, it's quite likely he'd see his own little triangle. Strong, solid, blessed. But the one floating over the demon's head is a broken, helpless, sad little thing uselessly clinging onto hope after being so thoroughly crushed. 

Martyn's brain takes him back for a second. Back to the very first session of this damned death game. Back to that cave, to the rush of the Boogeyman curse, and back to Skizz. As Skizz called him up to give him a sweet compliment, he readied his blade. But all he saw was this poor wingless angel, an angel who had his two snow-white wings hacked off by two boogies barely ten minutes in. All that remained was his halo, and if Martyn wanted to kill Skizz, he would have had to break it...and he couldn't bring himself to do it. It was almost too pathetic. He let Skizz live, let him keep his last piece. And that would be a piece kept until Etho broke it on Skizz's behalf since Skizz never got Boogey killed again.

He couldn't go through with the backstabbing then. It's different now. Much blood-drenched time has passed since.

Now Martyn brings down his axe and lava on his ally, a betrayal he refrained from when this series started. He's numb by now.

When lightning strikes where Scott once stood, he looks over to a shocked Impulse. An Impulse with no armor, an Impulse who won't be able to react in time. Just as helpless and vulnerable as Skizz in that cave. The halo still sits right over the demonic horns, and to kill Impulse, he'll have to break it.

But Martyn is a different man now. Those acts of mercy are long gone. Now, he feels nothing as he mercilessly chases Impulse down and brings his axe through the halo that once made him hesitate. Wrathful, hungry, animalistic.

It's what these worlds do to them. It's what they do to them.

An Angel's Blessing can't guarantee victory. But it can guarantee something better than third. 

And well. For once, the blessing went to Impulse. About time, considering Impulse has watched Skizz permadie every single time. 

Isn't the Life series just full of fun patterns to discover?

btw Skizz said on the podcast today that he has a habit of sometimes kissing Impulse on the cheek when they're reunited. Just a fun fact to cheer you up <3

[logo-ssspathosss]

💚💛❤️ Third Life Series in 2024 (happy 3 years of third life!!) 💚💛❤️

“This series went from being like ‘it’s hardcore with a gimmick!’ to ‘it’s like battle dome in here!’”

so because it has been 3 years since our beloved traffic series has started, i figured a good way to celebrate would be going back and watch 3rd life from the winners pov.

this post will basically contain notes from the 1st episode that my brain has entirely/somewhat forgotten.

if you have not watched 3rd life FULLY this is will contain spoilers! i feel like thats a given, but i'll put it here anyway.

(i was thinking about making this post just for funsies but then i checked the date and realized that it was actually 3rd life’s 3 year anniversary TODAY. fjdkjfkdjd I SO PLANNED THIS. TOTALLY!)

ONE MORE QUICK THING!!: did i forget anything? reply, or put it into the tags if theres something I missed!!

EPISODE ONE: Grian plays Minecraft… With a TWIST

. this is the first series Grian’s officially played using the proximity chat mod.

. mentioned briefly at 2:55, this is Grian’s first hardcore series he’s ever played in.

. the first person grian meets up with is BigB!

. Grian only sees RenDog once in his first episode.

. Grian was originally going to base somewhere in the flower forest (closer to where Scott and Jimmy eventually live) before basing with Scar in the desert. However, once he started building, Grian immediately disliked it, and called it the ugliest thing he’s ever built.

. Grian gives his flint and steel to Scar, which he uses to burn down Etho's dark oak tree.

. Grian hides two villagers, and originally wants to show them to Etho. However, Impulse, and Bdubs, follow, and the word gets out shortly after. *

. Scar and Grian were going to team up BEFORE Scar was killed. Scar first brings up having a monopoly on sand around the 12 minute mark.

. (not really notes but) Scar takes his shirt off for the first time at 15 minutes exactly. (i can’t believe im writing this smh)

. * Grian is invited to go back to the village after venturing to the sand biome with Scar, and trades his villagers. (he trades them for 3 diamonds, a dark oak sapling, a lava bucket, a juke box and disc, a bed, and some other lint)

. Grian explodes Scar at the 21:25 minute mark. There were 6 witnesses to his 'prank'. Impulse, Etho, Cleo, Bdubs, Tango, and Martyn. (my favorite thing about this is that Ren puts in the chat "Enchanting would have helped with that")

. Grian pledges his 1st life to Scar(didn't really forget that part, but i did forget that Grian loses his first life near the end of the series

. Pizza is first seen at the 25 minute mark exactly! (i think Pizza spawned in during a cut in Grian’s video. because i am only watching his pov, i do not know where Pizza originally cane from, this is the best estimate.)

. Grian abandons his first base in the flower forest at 26:15. This hole-in-the wall base didn’t last an episode.

. Grian and Scar originally wanted to have a monopoly over sand AND dark oak, and successfully chopped down the ‘only’ forest they saw. However, there was another not too far away from their base which ultimately ruined that monopoly. That being said, if the second dark oak forest had not been there, they might’ve had a chance at monopolizing dark oak saplings.

.💚💛❤️.

I will be doing more posts like this for all of the episodes of Grian’s pov. that being said, if i miss something that was said/a scene in a different pov, i will not include that in this post.

for now, i hope you’ve enjoyed this little forgotten-info post, and i encourage you to watch the series for yourself!

I remember watching 3rd life for the first time when the episodes were still coming out, and i’ve loved the series ever since. It was, and still is a comfort series i watch when going through tough times. I’ve met lots of people, and made lots of friends through this series, and although i don’t post a lot about it on my blog, i’m grateful to have found a community who feels the same.

thanks for reading!

.💚💛❤️.

[mama-frog]

Watchers and the End

I have an ongoing theory that the Watcher's "abilities" are more potent when it comes to things involving the End.

If we start off at EVO real quick, Grian was only taken by them when he was physically in the End. Their imagery of the purple is also closely tied to the End. Examples being the eye color of enderman and the ender dragon. So, obviously, they are connected in some way.

Now let's take a look at the life series and how this ties into it. I'm gonna go through all the deaths having to do with End related entities and how I think they tie to the Watchers.

Third Life:

-Skizzleman: Considering that this is the only enderman death in this season, I don't think this one is too significant. It probably is just the Watchers seeing how far they can go with intervening.

Last Life:

-The only deaths related to the end in this season are the end crystal deaths. So there wasn't intentional Watcher intervention in this season (Other than Martyn's personal tie to them)

Double Life:

-Joel/Etho: Enderman death. These two are both great players and together they can cause more chaos and mixed emotions if given the opportunity to kill, so I think this is the Watchers wanting a tasty meal.

-Ren/BigB: Enderman death. More yellow names means better meals. Ren knows how to bring the theatrics which is entertaining to the Watchers.

-Jimmy/Tango: Enderman death. This is obviously the canary curse.

Limited Life:

-Technically no end related deaths but I firmly believe Jimmy and Grian were pushed to their final deaths by the Watchers.

Secret Life:

-Gem: Enderman death. Gem's death started her infection that is spreading across her body (even more now that she's red). I firmly believe that it is Watcher's corrupting her into losing her sanity but she's so good at hiding it. She's so charming and charismatic even when she was the boogey.

-Martyn: Void. After winning the last series, the Watchers realized how good of a red he was. I would be terrified to be a green while Martyn is a red and I think the watchers knew that he would stir up a lot of fear in the hearts of the others.

-Jimmy: Ender Dragon. This was just comedy. Nothing more to it.

-Lizzie: Void due to Enderman. The players of the game got so used to Jimmy dying first. They had a sense of security in what was going to happen. Killing Lizzie first is a way to put a sense of unease within the group. Along with Jimmy dying second so that his death was all the more tragic in the eyes of his friends. Her death was a tool of unleashing chaos.

-Etho: Enderman death. Etho being one of the last green lives was unsatisfactory for the Watchers. They want chaos and Etho is at his best when he can kill. Also, him trying to trick Joel while boogey was heartbreaking.

If you pay attention this makes so much sense to me.

[hermitcrossovers]

So fun fact I'm currently avoiding doing my greek school work to write this haha

Anyways on to the other parts of the plot!

So Empires is another island, with nine ruling clans (I took out Pearl, Jimmy, and Gem's kingdoms due to plot). This is where most of the Emperors come from, they are the children of these leaders.

Pearl and Jimmy ended up on the island when Jimmy was thirteen and Pearl was fourteen. Jimmy had been sent by the Listeners, while Pearl had shipwrecked after escaping the Watchers.

Most of the Emperors are just kinda chilling. They're living their lives and learning how to hunt dragons and keep their island safe.

There's only one problem, the island has a history of sacrificing misbehaving children to a nearby island filled with the worst and most deadly dragons.

Everything changes when a masked figure starts attacking, claiming to control the deathgrippers. They say their name is Xornoth, and they know the secrets of the island.

Of course, they do. After all, Xornoth is the only surviving child who was sacrificed. They want revenge for their friends, and to get rid of their parents once and for all.

Oh, and they're Scott's older sibling. Scott doesn't know about this.

So, when Xornoth starts threatening Scott's island, he (very blind to the truth, because sheltered upbringings will do that to you) decides to leave and seek out somebody who could help. Jimmy offers to come along, and Scott says yes, because Jimmy could be useful, not at all because Scott has a crush on him. Totally.

They end up sailing for a few days, before being scooped up by Grian, who is overjoyed to see one of his old friends again. And to have somebody who isn't Scar around.

I should note this happens before Grian finds out BigB and Martyn are alive.

Now, meanwhile with the Crastle crew:

Cleo is about to pull her hair out, because why are they stuck with this gremlin of a teenager. All she wants to do is go home for once, not be stuck on this random island after getting blown off course in a storm.

Bdubs is having a great time! He's finally got another person on the island besides himself, and shes great! He swears he'll protect her forever, because she can get him off the island. It's been a long two years after all.

Impulse has zero idea what's going on. He and Tango were out looking for Skizz one minute, exploring an island and getting jumped on by a feral teenager and a redhead who has a knife the next. He's pretty sure he wants to go home.

Tango has given up trying to understand anything. He's just listening to Cleo and Bdubs argue about what to do with him and Impulse, so he offers to help them work on a ship in exchange for their freedom after the ship is built. That seems to work.

-------

I'm still working out most of the details but here's a list of dragons + the answer to your question:

Yes Evo is abandoned but sort of intact! However it's been pretty ravaged and needs a few years before most plants grow back, as a lightning storm that ended up making the forests catching fire happened shortly after the Watchers took and/or killed everybody.

Jimmy - a yellow razorwhip named Canary!

Scott - a red whispering death named Poppy

Bdubs - a snaptrapper named Mossy as a collective, and a terrible terror named Shrub

Cloe - a bonenapper named Bones, and she later gets a screaming death named Screamy

Impulse - a yellow and black windwalker named Ssvee

Tango - a rumblehorn named Ravager!

Joel - a pack of small shadows (you might notice I haven't done much with Joel yet, that's because I'm trying to figure out what he's even doing) - 🔮🐦 (magic bird anon)

I swear I had already answered this 💀💀

First off! The crastle vibes are on point, and Cleo with a bonenapper is just perfect, honestly I feel like she would absolutely gather bones to give to Bones lol.

Second... the empires guys are in for so much hurt, plus sailor Jimmy and Scot is now stuck in my head.

I love how you're weaving in the different servers together.

-Mod Jer

[votederpycausemufins]

Summary of the Hermitcraft Charity Livestream

Seen a number of posts of summaries but I essentially live blogged info along with some friends in a discord, so I have extensive notes that fit about 4 pages of a google doc. Since it’s so long, i’m hiding most of it under a ‘read more’

Scar started his stream a few minutes before the official start time so he was live when they reached the goal of 25k a minute before the official start time

Six minutes after the start, they changed the new goal to 75k, at which point they were already at around 60k

It was later mentioned they were planning stretch goals for if they made it past 25k and were trying to think of what they would do if they somehow made it to 50k

Mrs.Tango was originally going to swap out Tango’s hat every 1k for people to see on his facecam, 

Scar made a circle of chairs at midnight his time, aka less than 12 hours before the stream would start.

He made chairs for each participating person, two of note being one made of scaffolding and one that was a single stair

Bdubs was given the stair while Martyn was given the scaffolding chair

Martyn was a guest for the stream to read off the donations that were 100 dollars or more as there were too many to read all of them.

A number of the Hermits left donations, a few before the start of the stream. Jevin had the first donation of all, with a donation of $5 with the comment ‘First’

The list of Hermits there for the stream were Scar, who was running it, Cub, Ren, Grian, Cleo, Pearl, Bdubs, Keralis, False, Doc, Impulse, Zedaph, Tango, Iskall, Xisuma, and then Martyn as a guest.

They had another guest at the start of the stream, that being Zack from Gamers Outreach who joined the voice chat to give a short speech

The first game to be played was Total Chaos. They almost flew there before realizing Martyn was not given any gear like elytra, so they took the Nether Tunnel

Cub informed the people who hadn’t been there yet that walking on the wool was safe, which people did not do, though thankfully no one died

Before starting the game, Scar had to mute upon realizing they were almost to 125k because he was choking up a bit.

Doc ended up winning that game and they went back to the chair area right after

Etho came online and was told to join the voice call, joining the group soon after.

Martyn started reading the 100+ donations off at this point.

They reached 150k and upped the goal to 200k instead of 175k because of how fast it was moving.

Etho arrived at the group around the time one of the Hermits asked if Etho would be joining them, causing a number of the other hermits to exclaim he was there already.

Cub was assigned as game master to choose what games would be played and who would be on the teams for each game. They started by visiting Basalt Assault and Dunktank to have the rules reviewed, Grian messing around in the dunk tank water by still being in flying mode, making look odd as he spun around and making some of the hermits question what he was doing.

For Basalt Assault, the teams were Tango and Impulse versus Scar and Pearl. Dunk tank was Grian and Doc verses Zedaph and Bdubs. Everyone else was at Bdub’s horse race.

Before starting Basalt Assault, Tango managed to play an old voice clip from three years ago of his voice through a high pitched voice changer.

Scar and Pearl won Basalt Assault because they broke/exploded Tango and Impulse’s command center.

I was not watching the dunk tank perspective as bdubs was the only one streaming that game, but there were reports of it breaking.

Scar did a poll for people to pick an old skin of his to wear, those being Mayor Scar, Buff Scar from third life, or Hot Guy. Buff Scar won

Scar changed his skin while Grian was afk for about five minutes, and Grian returned to see Scar showing off the abs on his skin causing Grian to immediately complain about being gone for only five minutes and Scar already has his shirt off

They also pulled the first of their randomized stretch goals, those being for Cub to wear his old man Cub skin, Iskall to wear his pogskall skin (which he uses for the Isgall85 account)

At this point, some of the other hermits had already changed their skin. Cleo said she would change her skin when the reached 200k, which they had at that point, changing into a honey badger skin

Keralis changed into his Ker-Alice skin (based on Disney’s Alice in wonderland), Pearl was in her Double Life skin, Zedaph was briefly replaced with Worm Man before he left and Zedaph returned as they are definitely totally not the same person at all, False was in her banana costume skin, and Xisuma had transitioned from his bone mage skin to his regular skin with about 3 different skins in between as a transition.

Grian switched into his hunchback skin which freaked people out for a bit before he then changed to his sideways skin (saying the more money you raise, the worse it gets) and even later into his backwards skin.

Around this time is when Joe sent a message saying he would shave his beard later after the charity stream in a stream of his own if they reached 250k, which they did.

Cub split them into teams again for the same games, Ren, Keralis and Iskall vs Jevin and Cleo at Basalt Assault, Etho and False vs Cub and Xisuma at Dunk Tank, and the rest were sent to the Horse race.

Grian had his backwards skin on at this point and rode the horse with it, riding normally most of the way, but riding backwards to finish the race to make it look like he was facing forwards.

After the race, Scar changed to his Mayor Skin, and almost immediately Bdubs tried to be his right hand man again.

Impulse changed his skin to a buff Impulse skin before then changing to bald Impulse.

Tango and Zedaph crammed together under a trap door for some reason.

One of the donations was from someone using the name ‘EthoGirl’ making Etho hide in embarrassment while others made some jokes in good fun.

At this point they went to randomize another incentive, getting one for False to put her banana skin on. She didn’t realize she shouldn’t have put it on already, but she just kept it on and they randomized a new one, now getting one for False to put on her irl banana costume because the randomizer they had seemed to really want that with having two banana false requests in a row.

Pearl said if they reached 300k, she would put on an old man mask she had, which she did later put on.

Also around this time Pearl mentioned that the crossover between Empires and Hermitcraft would not be happening in the stream, though from Grian’s video that was posted during the stream, we can assume it’s instead happening in the hermitcraft videos themselves.

Scar showed off a Star Wars costume he had for trick or treating when he was very young. I believe he said it was from when he was seven, but I could be misremembering

They went over to False’s boat race, with Hermits debating on which boat type was best. Zedaph and Tango got in a boat together before the start of their race before getting in separate boats.

By the end of the race, Doc and Xisuma had gotten into boats that were being driven by a different hermit.

They reached 300k and pulled another random incentive prompt, that being for Doc to show how many diamond ore he had.

Doc brought the shulkers full of ore which were quickly opened and emptied by other hermits stealing the ore.

Impulse changed into this pink hair Impulse skin.

People asked for Grian to bring out the gong, and while he worked on turning off discord’s noise suppression, Ren started to explain to those who hadn’t experienced it yet about how calming it was.

He was interrupted by Grian bangging the gong loudly and yelling ‘Wawawawawawa!’ Watch a clip of this to get the full experience.

Grian then attempted to have everyone breathe in and hold their breath, but most of the hermits made various gasping noises, causing Grian to say ‘And we’re going to do that again because you all failed at breathing!’

Around this time was also when Doc threatened to blow the server up if he didn’t get his diamonds back.

They reached around 333k around the time Pearl changed to her original skin.

They were divided up into groups of four for four more games, then were told they would rotate what game they were playing after finishing their games, but that never happened.

Bdubs Tango Jevin and False played Derailed, Grian Impulse Etho and Cleo played Scaffolding,  Cub Ren Scar and Zedaph played Bucket Rush, and then Pearl Doc Xisuma and Iskall played Panda ‘Resue’ 

The hermits joked around about the misspelling of Rescue as Resue, and most people ended up referring to it as Panda Express.

Martyn joined the people at Bucket Rush to tp the players around if they died and give them the items they dropped or lost.

Martyn was also there to hit the lever to start the game, but refused to until Scar used the spyglass handed to him and said ‘A-Ha!’ instead thinging it was Ye-Haw and misreading that chat was saying Ye-Haw instead as there was a mix of people asking “ye-haw?” and others trying to correct it as a-ha, and it was a bit of a jumble.

With some of the games taking a while, after completing, they didn’t rotate and instead went back to the chairs to read off more donations.

Scar and Doc nerded out about how the helicopters from Scar’s Panda Rescue game was like a lego set they both had growing up and then went into talking about other lego sets, specifically when Doc mentioned almost getting a star wars one

Scar changed into his red double life skin before randomizing more incentives

Doc also talked about how his next project is going to be bringing the dragon to the overworld.

The incentives chosen were for ‘Landscaping Your Mind Chapter 7’ and Iskall to wear a diorite pogskall skin.

Scar read the chapter 7 snippet he was given, but had to look away from the hermits in game and hide his face cam to have the confidence for it. He also then finished the snippet and tried to make up more with little success.

Iskall came in with his new skin before being told to take the non-diorite pants off, causing him to leave to change the skin. He likely had to make a skin with diorite pants too as he was gone for a while.

Pearl changed to another old skin in this time.

Iskall also said that he was pretending that it was marble and not diorite as Bdubs calls it marble, but then False said the incentive said diorite, so it’s that. Also the addition of pants made it actually look like a dress

They moved to play Etho’s game Battle Bane, which was completed after ten years in the making. It was 4 teams of four, Jevin Cleo Cub and Xisuma on Blue, Doc Zed Tango and Impulse on Yellow, Pearl Scar Grian and Bdubs on Red, and then Iskall False Keralis and Ren on Green.

Etho stood on top of the dome in the center to watch the game, getting shot at a couple of times from players thinking he was someone on one of the other teams. Martyn, meanwhile, acted as an announcer for the game.

Impulse also changed into an exercise skin for the game.

After the game, they started to wrap things up. Grian headed off to bed, Scar got some extra oxygen, Tango and Zedaph stood on either side of Doc wearing his head to make chat call them a Doc Wither, and people returned most of Doc’s diamonds.

Almost three hours and forty minutes into the livestream, the donations reached 400k, sixteen times (16x) their original goal.

Bdubs made a joke about them doing it again the same time tomorrow which Cleo quickly shut down.

Doc saw there were still diamonds missing, causing Martyn to joke that “plot twist is I took them [the diamonds] all and I'm never coming back!” before proceeding to log out temporarily.

The Hermits then moved to leave the call and talk with their chats by themselves. Around then they were at 410k.

Doc ended up with all his diamonds back, save for exactly One (1) diamond ore, which was seen in Martyn’s inventory. He said it was his fee for reading the donations.

Martyn did not log out on his stream. He did log out as far as the Hermits could see, but he was not seen logging out on his livestream.

Instead, he made his way to Grian’s rift and got into the portal, flying into it and ending his stream the moment he flew into the portal itself

Also later when the donations were at about 417k or so, Martyn donated nearly 3k (2.8k) with the message '420 lol' to get it to 420k

[floef-likes-everything]

In which Scott is a little selfish.

Storm clouds had gathered above the Secret Keeper, which was a sign for what was to come. Scott had forced himself to the center of their small world in the middle of the night, just like the winners had said to do during the Nights of Peace. Once very few nights, the Players kept to their own bases. Nobody left their homes, nobody got a task, nobody got hurt. The previous winners made that moment theirs to congregate and discuss their own, special secret task.

Which was to make sure Jimmy made it to the end of the game. At which they had failed terribly.

Scott didn’t feel like he was at fault, he had done what he could. He had prevented Jimmy from teaming with Scar. He had never touched him despite Jimmy going after him plenty of times. He hadn’t targeted him with any of the tasks the Secret Keeper had given him. Not the malicious one’s anyway.

Martyn teamed with Jimmy, which was one of the more forward attempts of making sure Jimmy would come out on top. The downside was that Martyn really didn’t thrive under the rules of these games: Martyn was reckless and impulsive. He thrived under the chaotic and forgiving rules of last game, taking damage was irreversible this time around. Scott could only hope that seeing Martyn go to red so quickly had warned Jimmy at least a little bit. It hadn’t been enough, however.

Pearl had kept her distance, as he always had. Fate made her team with other people, she had said. She wasn’t going to force herself to save Jimmy this early in the game. She wanted these games to end just as much as everybody else but she didn’t think their help to Jimmy should be obvious.

Then, there was Grian. Grian, who had had all his memories about these games from the very start, who had been so close to Jimmy for so long. He’d teamed with him two, technically three times now and he’d been at least partially responsible for his death just as many times. One time, he straight up killed him. The other time his suggestion of getting a kill off Skynet had become his downfall. Now, his task had forced him and Etho to bring to monsters to the overworld. Grians wither might not have directly killed Jimmy, but he was just as much to blame as Etho for the deaths today.

Despite all of this, Scott wasn’t particularly upset. Jimmy winning this game would mean their end, which was good, but it would also mean something else. It would mean Jimmy would remember, he would remember all of it. Every game, every alliance, every betrayal, every home he had had. That last was what terrified Scott. What if his home with Jimmy wouldn’t be his favorite. What if Jimmy didn’t feel the same about him anymore? Scott had thought about it hard and far to long. He’d rather have Jimmy not remember anything than him choosing anybody else over Scott. What if he had enjoyed his forced partnership with Tango more? What if he had had more fun with this short alliance he had had with Martyn? Scott didn’t think he could live with that knowledge.

You could call him selfish, but he believed it wasn’t much compared to the felonies some other Players here had committed. If anything, Grian was to blame for being the cause of these games in the first place. Scott was a victim just as much as everybody else here. Jimmy wouldn’t return his love because he couldn’t, he didn’t remember those early feelings and apparently they hadn’t been strong enough to flare up again. That was why Scott had been so worried: if him and Jimmy had somehow ended up together again and again each game he would be fine. But now, he more often stood against Jimmy, them being on the other side of a conflict. If Jimmy would remember Scott was sure he would leave him and he couldn’t live with that.

These games wouldn’t stop anytime soon, because Jimmy wouldn’t win anytime soon. And if it would ever get to that, Scott would make sure he wouldn’t make it.

[jadespeedster17]

A World From On High

Summary: Watching the world was something they all get used to here. Protected in a bubble where the world can be whatever they want it to be. Scar had come to love it, even if he didn’t at first. They all are safe here, and live under the watchful eyes of their ‘god’.

Warnings: Possessive Behavior, Obsessive Behavior, Watcher!Grian, Mortal!Scar, God Complex, Objectification. 

Notes: This isn’t meant to be a romanization. Scar is very aware that this is toxic behavior, but given Grian is a God, not much he can do about it. He’s just come to love and live with it.  No beta, just thoughts, head empty though :D

-

The world below is silent and calm, people mill about their day to day lives. Unknown to any of them they are being watched daily, their lives specs in the many eyes that observe them. These are called the Watchers, deity beings that consume your life as though it was a book or tv show. 

They weren’t kind nor evil beings, some of them just were. Some were good beings, that cared about who they watched. Others were cruel beings, that only were in it for their own gain. Some of them were a mix of the two. Seeming mortal, but never truly understanding mortal concepts and emotions.

Scar took a breath in and out, watching the world through the eyes, a world he once was a part of. Out of reach now as the years moved by, but he never aged with them. Stuck forever as he was now, and outside of the realm of mortals. Death wasn’t really a concept here in a Watcher’s Realm. And it reality was whatever they made it to be.

Pretending it was fine was easy enough, ignoring the eyes of many that watched him build up his world, and create something of the situation he was in. The situation they all were in. Sometimes they met with others like them, held by other Watchers, in a world of their own making. Sometimes Scar got to play in games that were all about drama and death. 

He leaned on the wall beside him, a pain of nostalgia hit him. Memories of growing up in a world where dying was possible. Where he was young, and allowed to grow old. Memories of a time he feels he’d forget if he didn’t write about them. Years were nothing here, time wasn’t a concept. They created, they fell, they reset, and did it all over again. 

It could get lonely at times, at least he wasn’t the only mortal held here... but he was the last person to opt to remain mortal. Others became creatures themselves, possibly to cope. Time didn’t seem so vast when you weren’t human. And Scar only held out because he was afraid of what he’d become if he wasn’t mortal-ish. 

The last games had made him uncertain, never before had he felt like this. How easily he was discarded, how easily their ‘God’ would waver to the next big thing. In truth, Scar pitied BigB... being the favorite wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Some barely escaped that, but Scar was certain Mumbo would be back. They always came back, they always were drawn back, The Watcher’s claws sank too deep.

But, it also made Scar afraid. All he had ever known was being the favorite, he had gotten used to that role. He played it well, and the thought of being something that could easily be discarded scared him. The thought he could become something thrown aside when he lost usefulness...

He wasn’t sure what happened to people like that, he’s heard stories from others, and none of them were good.

Scar gripped the doorframe, trying to will away these thoughts and not start shaking. 

“Hmmm, you’re thinking again.” Arms wrapped around him from behind, a head slotted it’s chin on his shoulder. Wings wrapped around him, a painfully comforting feeling, “Any reason for that my lovely?” 

Leaning instinctively into the comfort, Scar sighed heavily, looking out over everything. “What happens to those you lose interest in Grian?” he finds himself asking. 

Perhaps the fear was gone? Maybe Scar wanted to know, even if it hurts. He didn’t want to be blind sided by anything. Scared... he was scared... He wanted to know, if he was to be tossed aside, would he be alright? Could he be alright?

He felt the wind tense, then turned around to face dark black eyes that looked serious. Possessive and dark. “What?” Grian asked his tone sharp, “Lose interest? Scar what kind of question is that?” 

Scar couldn’t meet Grian’s eyes, looking away from him, trying to find the right words. Being honest was best when it came to Watchers. And he opened this can of worms. “It’s just, after the last games, you seemed to be... uninterested in being partners, and well...” he trailed off, not sure how to put his feelings into words that Grian would understand.

Watcher’s didn’t get mortal feelings, they had a hard time with understanding why mortals felt as much as they did.

Narrowing his eyes, Grian made a face, “Well that’s simply because we had already been partners once Scar, always has to be something new.” he said in a logical tone. “Uh.” Scar squirmed a bit, “Yeah, I guess so, just figured you were,” he played with his fingers a bit looking at the ground. “Bored of me?” 

Silence rang at that, Grian didn’t move though, his hands continued to grip Scar’s arms, the wings shielding around them, hiding Scar, unable to look anywhere but down. 

Then he laughed, “it’s nothing Gri, just... stupid feelings again,” he said waving it off as the silence was awkward and making him uncomfortable. “Anyway I have plans for Scarland and-”

“Are you afraid I’ll leave you?” Grian cut him off plainly, voice calm, even, no real tone reaction. Scar’s green eyes met the dark black ones of the Watcher. Grian stared back, “Are you... did you think I was getting rid of you?” he asked, confusion now laced as Grian tilts his head like a bird.

Another round of silence, and Scar looked away again, to look instead at the bird wings beside him. Grian was going for a parrot again this time around. Had been a while since he done that, last time was a vulture, another time he decided to go full on harpy. Scar liked the parrot feathers though they were-

A hand touched his cheek and turned to face Grian again, serious black eyes looked at him, “Scar, why would I get rid of you?” the confusion was still there. “we simply had been partners already once before, I wanted something different, that was all. I like you all after all, I try to show my... appreciation and love to each of you.”

It was said again in a logical tone, simple, straight forward, like Grian was just stating a fact. 

Was it wrong of Scar to crave for more, greedy of him to want this ‘Gods’ attention on him? It was all he’s ever known, he was addicted to it by now, and leaving filled him with fear of the unknown. The mortal world was unknown by now, a far away dream, and unknown scared him now.  All Scar ever knew was Grian, his games, his worlds, his creations, his rules. It was comfortable, it was familiar, and Scar didn’t want to be dropped again into a world he didn’t know the rules to.

Fingers brushed his cheeks, tears? Had he been crying, and Grian cooed sadly. “Oh, I see now... I’ve been neglecting your emotional needs again.” a heavy sigh, “I forget mortals need constant validation, love, and reaffirmations. Lives to you are so finite, that you need that form of comfort.”

Hands cupped Scar’s face, brushing away the tears that wouldn’t stop. They were soft, with calloused tips at the end. Warm too, feathers hugged around his body. Scar leaned into them, whining a bit.

“My pretty boy,” Grian looks into his eyes, soft, gleaming with possessiveness. “You are mine, no one else can have you. Mine, and only mine, don’t even think about leaving me.” the grip got tighter on his skin, holding his face in place.  “And I’ll be sure to remind you every night and day who you belong to... my favorite.” a purring sound, as Scar felt comfort by it. Leaning closer to the hands that grip him tightly, that held him in place. Leaning into the wings that trapped him, that were so soft. Into the eyes that knew his every movement, and could keep him safe. 

It was a pretty cage he was in, Grian nuzzled him, “I don’t understand why mortals throw away pretty things. Pretty ones like you are rare to come by. The world doesn't want you, but I do.” soft coos and pets, “Eternity is a concept here, and for me it’s having you, all of you, here, safe, with me.” 

The hand on his left cheek moved to his hair, petting it with taloned hands, “My lovely entertainment, you could never bore me Scar. You are always interesting, always changing, always adapting, it thrills me to see you change.. because you did so under my watch.”

A purr, “Under my eyes I make you all stronger, better, and I want to keep that.” another nuzzle to his nose, the scent was Grian, and filled Scar with more happiness. “Mine... you’re mine.”

Taking a shuddery breath, Scar leans into Grian’s hair, “Yours... I’m yours.” he repeated back, feeling Grian hug him now. Warmth, warm arms, warm feathers, a scent that is so nice. “I like staying Grian, it’s nice here.”

“Hmmm, good, I try to make you all happy and content here.” the tone of pleased possessive intent. 

And it was, it was nice here, you get used to it after a while. Scar smiles at Grian, feeling some weight, fear, gone. Gods didn’t understand the concepts of leaving, discarding, or loss of value. Time to them was nothing, infinite was vast, and they were greedy. Once they had something, they never let it go. They do get bored like humans do. 

Suppose that was comforting, in a twisted way.

“Greedy boy, always wanting my attention on him though.” Grian teased him with a boop on Scar’s nose. “But you need only ask your God for attention my lovely. Only ask, and I’d give it. I want you happy. So don’t hide it.” a stern tone now.

With a nod, Scar smiles at Grian again, “Ofcourse, my lord.” he says back, feeling the feathers shudder. Grian liked to be called that, Scar liked calling him that. 

Life was far away from the mortal world here, but... Scar didn’t mind it so much. A beloved object, pet, was better than anything else he’d ever gotten. 

-

They all be fucked up haha.

Hope this came off as making sense. @bluiex this is from their blog of stuff, we’ve been a kick of possessive and unhinged Grian lol. 

Life Series Grian, in my lore, as a Watcher is possessive, obsessive, and controlling. He loves as a god would to these guys, but not as a moral. Because that’s beyond his grasp. 

Poor Scar, and everyone else, is just used to it. 

[muuum-am-i-adohhhpted]

A Demon in Hermit's Clothing (Hermitcraft)

I realize I didn't post this short fic here on Tumblr, only on AO3, so here it is. Inspired by Cleo announcing the Blood on the Clocktower game (which I still haven't watched)

Summary: Gem wakes in the night. She's ready to kill again.

AO3 Link

Word Count: 1077

Warnings: death and murder

~~~

Etho’s blood is still slowly dripping down the brick from where his body was impaled at the top of the clocktower during the previous night. It stands out particularly well against the moonlight, the dried red dark against the white walls.

Gem creeps out of her house, fog curling around the cobblestone path. She smells blood—whether it’s from Etho or her fellow villagers, she doesn’t know. Her eye twitches and she glances right and left where everyone else is peacefully sleeping. Only the misty moon and low-burning lamp lights cast a glow across town.

Her first day went well; she’s pretty sure she’s sliding under the radar so far. She spoke to Impulse and Pearl first where they all hard-claimed to one another. Of course, with her being the Imp, she was given two bluffs, and Pearl herself was the Spy and therefore knew the entire Grimoire, it was easy to lie to Impulse’s face. Once he left, Pearl quickly recited everyone’s role in the town, some highlights being Cleo the Saint and Grian the Drunk Empath who said Doc and Ren were good, before they separated as to not cause suspicion of talking too long together.

She decided to leave Doc to his own devices for the day, not wanting to seek out her second minion on the first day. Besides, Gem was pretty sure no one was asking Doc about his role, already assuming he wasn’t going to say anything. She would have to speak to him in the morning; she’d like to know who he poisoned.

The sound of a faraway owl has Gem’s hairs on her neck standing up. With no wind, all sounds seem to be magnified.

Gem flexes her fingers, their sharp talons extending into deadly points. The only person she’s truly worried about is False. As the Slayer, all she has to do is accuse Gem of being the Imp and the townsfolk win. But it’s not like Gem can kill False now; there are ten others alive and her death would signal a possible Spy, which Gem certainly doesn’t want.

She thinks back to that evening, where the entire town congregated and began putting together everyone’s first-night information. With Ren the Investigator learning there was a Poisoner in play, Etho’s Washerwoman ghost communicating that either Impulse or Cleo was the Undertaker, Grian the Drunk Empath saying Doc and Cub were good, and Keralis the Librarian learning that a Drunk was in play, there was a lot to chew on. The Drunk really threw a wrench in the system, as nobody knew whose information was reliable. It was utter chaos.

Gem had to resist smiling.

So maybe she should kill one of the only first-night info getters? She really wants to wait to kill Impulse later, when either Pearl, Doc, or Grian, are possibly executed so he won’t figure out their true role, and killing any important role is too risky.

Gem starts in the direction of Cub’s house, nestled in between Grian and False’s. Maybe she can kill two birds with one stone. Cub’s the Mayor and has the chance of not dying. If Cub doesn’t die and it pings off someone else, Gem hopes it will hit an important role. If it hits Scar the Soldier who can’t die by the Imp, Gem’s Monk bluff can be mostly proved. But if Cub dies, Grian’s Drunk Empath powers will reach False (his next living neighbour), and Gem can only hope that False will turn up evil and the town will execute her without Gem having to lay a finger on the Slayer.

Cub’s house is a burgundy, its little chimney puffing out smoke. Gem silently walks up the front ramp and slides one of her talons in the front door’s lock, it clicking open almost instantly.

Inside, the fireplace is slowly dying and the boxy television is on a low volume, playing some sort of movie or show. Trinkets and various other things lay in the cabinet directly to Gem’s left and a collection of snow globes sit on the wooden coffee table in the middle of the living room.

Gem stalks towards Cub’s bedroom. She presses an ear against the door, only hearing the sound of light snoring. Gently, she twists the doorknob and pushes open the door.

Cub’s peacefully asleep in bed. A book is face-down on the nightstand next to him and a pair of fuzzy slippers peek out from beneath the bed frame. The window’s latched shut. As if doing so dissuades Gem from breaking in another way.

She makes quick work of Cub; a quick talon through the heart has him dead in his bed. The metallic smell of blood reaches Gem’s nose, her own heart fluttering with adrenaline and the satisfaction of an easy and decisive kill.

Carefully peeling back the bedsheets, Gem slides her hands under Cub’s neck and knees to lift him up. His body is still warm. She carries him outside, not bothering to close the door.

Then, her bones creak and her ears pop as leathery wings sprout from her back. With a thwump, Gem rockets towards the sky, wind rushing past her ears, her clothes flapping. Her heart thumps rapidly and a grin breaks out on her face.

She hovers over the clocktower where Etho’s body is still skewered by the long metal cross on top of the spire. Here, Gem can see the entire village and the surrounding sea, forests, mountains, and lakes. It’s beautiful, really. It’s too bad she plans to run this place to the ground.

Already, townsfolk are hesitant to trust their information in fear that they’re the Drunk; they’re hesitant to trust for fear that the other person is the Imp or a Minion. Factions are in the process of being made and lines are starting to be drawn. A handful of people are beginning to be suspicious of Cleo since Cub told the group that, after he’d claimed his role to them, they hadn’t returned the favour and had been overall very curt.

Perhaps she should feed into that belief. After all, if Cleo is executed as the Saint, Gem, and her minions, automatically win.

Her wings beating in the air, Gem unceremoniously drops Cub onto the metal cross atop the clocktower, his body making a squelching sound as he’s pierced through the stomach. There’s a slight thumping sound as he lands on top of Etho.

Gem goes back to bed.

[mochiwrites]

Hellou, just read the last chapter of songbird and needed to ask, I've read the word humanity being thrown around in the fic a lot, and wanted to know what each character makes of it/what you as the creator makes of it. Thanks!

I was going to wait until I was on my laptop to answer this, buuuut my laptop keeps losing wifi so I’m gonna do it on my phone instead! :D now I can’t go as in depth with this as I’d like to because of spoilers, but I’ll try and answer to the best of my ability !!

I’ll start off with what I make of it since that’s our foundation for the characters and story as well. I use the word “humanity” in two different ways when writing. there’s the literal sense of the word, the entire human race. but there’s also the use of the word as a character trait, or a quality that someone has. humanity is something I equate with empathy and kindness, a good heart. when someone has humanity, to me that means that they’re kind to the people around them and in their life.

as for the characters, I’ll start with our favorite pesky bird <3. for grian, his own humanity doesn’t really mean anything to him, if that makes sense? he’s human, why think anymore on it? but the traits of having humanity is something he does consider. for grian, humanity at this point in the story equals being a good person, doing good things, being kind. he doesn’t treat it as something that can be taken away or given. it’s just something that… is. it just exists and to him, you can’t just make it stop existing.

mumbo and scar are where we start to get a bit more complicated. this is the part where I can’t go into as much detail because spoilers DBFBFVFG

but we’ll start with mumbo! to mumbo, humanity is something that he lost and can never regain. he looks at the word not just as a trait but as… a species?? he’s not human anymore, he’s a vampire. he doesn’t have human qualities. his past is tainted with blood and death and because of what he’s been turned into, as well as what he’s done, he considers himself a monster — there’s no humanity that remains in him. in mumbo’s eyes, he’s too evil by nature to ever be human again.

scar is very much in a similar spot to mumbo in way of thinking. he certainly considers himself to be a monster, but not in the self deprecating way that mumbo does. it’s more like pure fact to him. he’s fae, not human. scar is potentially the only character of the three that uses the word humanity to refer to the human population as well as characteristics?

he hates humanity, plain and simple. he rejects it, loathes it. he thinks humans are naive. but he’s envious of them. of their lives. of the way he can’t exist with them as one of them.

mumbo and scar have very… complicated relationships with the concept of humanity. and that’s all I can say for now :3

[arthropod-concoctions]

Uprooted: chapter 12

(ch 1 - ch 11 - ch 13)

“I really hate these tunnels,” an unexpected voice behind Scott whispered. The group of equal parts Reds and non-Reds had been walking through the darkness for hours, and an error in navigation a while back had caused their initial formation to get mixed up, apparently causing prince Cleo to end up right behind Scott and Jimmy.

“They're your tunnels, aren't they?” he replied, looking backwards. It was too dark to see Cleo's eyes, but he knew they were yellow. He'd seen her in strategy meetings a few times, and although her skin was pale and flaky like Jimmy's, he knew she wasn't Red. The other prince was.

“Yes, but that doesn't mean I have to like them.” the prince responded, and sighed. “Anyway. You're married to a red-lived, aren't you?”

“That's right.”

“My condolences. I've only had to deal with Bdubs being Red for a couple days, and it's already gotten really bothersome.” Apparently, prince Bdubs had gotten fatally injured while the two had made their escape from their castle, the very castle they were now re-infiltrating.

“Jimmy's not bad, honestly,” Scott whispered. “He hasn't really changed at all, in personality at least.”

“Really? That's interesting,” Cleo said. “I have started to think, maybe we've been a little bit hard on Reds in the past. I mean, Bdubs did tell me that all he thinks about is murder now, but it's not as if he can't be reasoned with anymore. And if your Jimmy is just normal...”

“I don't know. I've definitely met some people in the Desert that I would not want to live in a town with.”

“Oh, I don't doubt that for a second,” Cleo said. They were quiet for a while, but then they spoke up again, quietly: “I suppose you and your husband would be allowed, then.”

“Sorry?”

“Well, I've already had to argue with the leader of your little band that the Reds here will not be allowed back in Troren no matter what happens, but... I can make an exception for the civilised people, especially if a Green or Yellow can vouch for them.”

“So that means...”

“If you two survive this operation, and you need someplace new to live, you're welcome to move to Troren. Special permission from the Prince. Seems fair, seeing as you'll be a hero of war after this whole operation.”

“Oh. Well, thank you,” Scott replied.

They walked on in silence, while Scott thought about the offer. Would they want to move to a new land if the reign of Sanguacanis was gone? He was getting tired of rebuilding his home over and over, but maybe the bad memories of their old home would outweigh the good memories by now. And their cows had already been released, so at this point, maybe there wasn't even anything left worth going back to.

He'd have to discuss it with Jimmy anyways. After this operation was over.

Much more walking later, eventually Scott bumped into Jimmy, who'd been walking before him. Their little procession had stopped.

“Looks like we've made it,” Cleo said. “I'd better go find Bdubs. Look alive, people.”

Scott grabbed Jimmy's hand, who took it quickly. He'd been quiet for the entire trip, but had now started humming nervously. Scott squeezed his hand, but let it go when they emerged from a hatch into a long empty hallway. Holding hands wasn't very soldier-like, after all.

And soldiers is what they would have to become, now that they'd entered the castle. Scott fastened the buckles of the stuffy green armor he'd been given, and looked around at everyone else doing the same. He could hear a lot of commotion some distance away; seemed like the rest of the Desert had already initiated their prong of the attack.

Grian found Scar and all but dragged him toward the end of the hallway. Then he turned to the rest of the group and said: “Now, remember the plan; just walk around like you know what you're doing, and if you see the king, shoot him. Good luck, everyone.” With that, he and Scar marched out of view, and other pairs began to follow.

Scott gave Jimmy one more quick hug, and then the two of them turned the corner. Immediately, they were in the midst of chaos. Voices were yelling from all directions; Scott thought he even heard Joel's voice yelling something outside. All around them, pairs of soldiers were walking in the same direction, so they followed the crowd.

Scott slowed his pace slightly, to let Jimmy pass him. “You have to walk ahead of me,” he said.

“Why?”

“Look. The Red is walking in front of the Green in all these pairs,” he said, gesturing at the other soldiers. Jimmy looked around, and nodded, then took the lead.

Ahead of them, a duo turned a corner into a different hallway. A bit of bright orange hair stuck out of the green helmet; that was Cleo.

“Let's follow them,” Jimmy said. “They probably know where they're going.” And they turned the same corner, entering a hallway with significantly less soldiers and significantly more clutter.

Ahead, Cleo cussed, and slowed pace for a moment. A few seconds later, Scott saw why; on the floor, leaning against the wall, was a portrait of the two princes that had recently been taken down. Although their eyes were green and yellow in the portrait, instead of yellow and red, they were clearly recognizable.

“Well, let's hope nobody's paying attention to the paintings,” Cleo said, and she and Bdubs continued marching. Scott and Jimmy followed.

They continued on like this, twisting through various corridors and going up stairs; they were probably heading towards the throne room. They encountered very little resistance-

Until they saw a man with a green uniform and a high collar walking towards them. Commander Martyn.

Scott almost froze in place, but managed to keep walking. Grian had told him that Martyn held grudges for a long time; would he recognize himself and Jimmy?

“Quit faffing about, the four of you, and head to the battlements! We need more bowmen up there!” he shouted at them. Evidently, he did not recognize them; he walked straight past, not even waiting to see whether they followed his orders. Scott breathed a sigh of relief, and continued to follow Jimmy, who was following Cleo. That was the most danger they'd been in up to now, and they'd gotten out of it safely.

At least, for about thirty seconds. Then they heard Martyn running up behind them, and shouting: “STOP RIGHT THERE!”

This time, Scott did freeze, as did Jimmy before him. Slowly, he turned to look at Martyn. He was accompanied by two more Red Army soldiers, and actually wasn't looking in their direction at all; he was looking down the hallway past them. Right at Bdubs and Cleo.

“You two have some serious guts coming back here,” he called out across the hallway. “But I certainly won't say no to free prisoners!”

Cleo and Bdubs broke into a sprint. Martyn jogged after them, and shouted an order: “Detain those two!”

The red-lived soldier immediately sprinted forwards, but their green-lived partner didn't follow; they stayed behind Martyn. Suddenly, they hit him in the back of the head, and yelled: “BLUE MOON!”

Blue moon? The Red Desert hadn't made any code words, and Scott had never seen this soldier before.

But suddenly, all hell broke loose. Scott could hear the phrase being echoed all across the fortress, immediately followed by sounds of violence. The other Red soldier turned around, and immediately attacked their partner; they apparently had not been initiated into whatever 'blue moon' meant. Commander Martyn had fallen to the floor, but was quickly coming to his senses again.

Scott looked at Jimmy. Jimmy looked back. Then they both sprinted away as fast as possible.

They'd lost track of the princes, so they just ran through the hallways haphazardly now. What had previously been a somewhat peaceful procession of soldiers had rapidly become a bloodbath. Everywhere, Greens and Reds were fighting each other. At one point Scott saw someone cutting the limbs off a corpse clad in green, trying to prevent it from waking up. He felt nausea coming up in his throat, and kept running.

Eventually they came across Grian and Scar trying to pass a pile of corpses. “Hey fellas!” Grian called out to them when he looked up.

“There's no need to run at this point, really. None of the soldiers know who they're supposed to fight anymore,” he said. “I don't know what that 'blue moon' thing was all about, but it's definitely worked in our favor.”

Scott and Jimmy paused. Scott tried to catch his breath, which was difficult to do with the smell of viscera permeating the area. He looked at Jimmy, who looked about as nauseous as he felt. On the contrary, the smile on Scar's face was more genuine than Scott had ever seen it as he looked around at the mess. Grian still had the same blank expression as always.

“Scott, you ready to get going again?” Jimmy asked after catching his breath, and Scott nodded. Jimmy turned to Grian, who shook his head and waved his hand.

“It's better to split up. Increases the chance of finding the king.”

Scott didn't agree with that assessment, but he wasn't about to argue with Grian; he was a bit worried about what might come out of his mouth if he opened it. So instead, he and Jimmy continued on their way.

They passed a single red-lived soldier, who knocked on their chestplate with their fist as they passed; a salute of some sort. Scott and Jimmy somewhat clumsily returned the gesture, but it was apparently enough for the soldier, who continued on their way. A little ahead, Scott could hear a voice talking loudly.

“...all this bloodshed! I can't believe there has been such a betrayal within our ranks... and WHERE IS MARTYN?!”

Suddenly, Scott and Jimmy were faced with two pairs of soldiers, marching perfectly in sync, and between them a man with a long cape coloured red, white and black, wearing a golden crown with red details on his head.

King Ren of Sanguacanis.

“Soldiers! Have you seen the Hand of the King today? Tell me so, if you have any loyalty left!”

It was as if time slowed down for Scott. If you see the king, shoot him. Grian had made it sound so easy; and theoretically it would be. He'd hit quicker shots from further away while practicing. But now he couldn't even manage to open his mouth to answer the king's question.

The king's eyes narrowed. “You're traitors as well, aren't you?” Next to him, a soldier with a mask over his mouth raised his bow.

Scott began to match his movement. His throat was dry. You'll be a hero of war after this whole operation, Cleo had said. If even participating in the assault made him a hero, just imagine the glory he'd receive from being the one to fire the killing shot...

But he didn't want to be a hero. He just wanted to go home.

In the corner of his eye, Scott saw Jimmy turn around and run. He followed his example.

Please go towards Scar and Grian, he thought as arrows began to fly around him.

And please leave Jimmy be, he thought as he felt something pierce his back. Then his vision faded.

[hmshermitcraft]

\For theme/

Gem is PANICKING not only did she score a date with the most feared empress in the world aka False she also leaned said empress is a massive dork who loves birds. And she was currently running around the grimlands castle trying to figure out what to do, what to wear, where she’ll be going there’s to much to decide!?

Now Fwhip and Sausage love their little sister and as entertaining as it was to see her panicking about going on a date with a woman who admittedly isn’t as terrifying as her reputation makes her out to be anyway. They can see this is going no where fast so they called in the big guns. Tango and Mumbo arrived to see gem collapsed over a pile of clothing letting out sad caribou noises and realized they have a lot of work ahead of them…

Look it’s not False’s fault she got a reputation as a warrior queen who has no time for shenanigans that’s what happens when you live in a place that’s constantly filled with thunderstorms and territorial conflicts! But that’s what she signed up for after winning the crown from trial by combat the last thing she expected was to land a date with the world’s foremost expert on jewel and wither magic! She was freaking out what did she even see in her she was buff as hell-I mean she proved she can bend solid netherite with her bare hands-due to her line of work, she towers over the woman, and that’s not even including the fact she’s got an aviary of the rarest and deadliest birds on the planet at her beck and call!

So cue her slumping in her throne brooding over this issue while her best friends Grian and Xisuma watch this going on before giving a shared look of “time to call in the big guns”. Said big guns being Cleo who walked in with the other two seeing false frantically tossing weapons behind her looking like she was trying to choose the perfect one for gem….the three had a very busy week ahead of them to get h this bird brain under control.

Now Tango and Mumbo know they were gonna be in for a challenge but their starting to believe Gem is just oblivious to a fault as she starts rambling over the possible what ifs of the date going wrong it’s a miracle she hasn’t given herself a heart attack with all this stress. While Cleo has had to tell False maybe giving Gem a greatsword the size of two Xisuma’s to Gem as a first date gift maybe not the best idea, or taking her to a battle pit to see people beat the hell out of each other in the Royal viewing box would be a tad over the top. It’s fine to the point both sides met in secret to agree these two either date now or it’s never gonna happen.

Little did they know while they were meeting both Gem and False met up and started said date with lord and lots of tension in the air until false saw a pair of doves land on Gem’s antlers and giggled…for there it was hook, line, and sinker. As the date went on they went to all sorts of places in False’s domain! The royal fighting arena where gem sat on False’s leg-seriously how does a woman become 9ft tall on a diet like hers?!-in the Royal viewing box, showed Gem her empire’s street food, she even got to visit its grand archive which nearly made Gem faint on the spot….yeah needless to say this wasn’t gonna be a one time deal.

The thing is, they're both used to the things they love about each other being turn offs for other people.

False isn't dainty and feminine enough. She's tall and she's strong and she's a little awkward and unsure of herself. Gem is too assertive and smart, she knows what she wants and that scares most suitors away. Not that Gem has a problem with that - definitely not.

And as False rambled about doves, the awkwardness melted away. It felt like both of them were taking a breath of fresh air for the first time. For once, their supposed 'flaws' were something to be celebrated and loved. They felt like kids again, holding hands as False led Gem down the back alleys of her kingdom.

Sure, they got a bit of a scolding when they got back. fWhip and Sausage were freaking out, what if their sister got hurt?! Whilst it's been a long time since Cleo has managed to lose False entirely. But when they finally find the pair - red faced and grinning - they know they're a perfect match.