#but not NEARLY as gay as grian

[spoonmoment119]

anyone who doesn't ship grumbo CLEARLY has never watched grian's season 6. he's insane. he'd do anything for mumbo.

[oh-snapperss]

The Ultimate Guide to MCC!

New to watching mcc? Have no idea where to start? Or maybe you already watch mcc, and just want information all in one place?

Well, good news! I'm insane about MCC and made this massive post for no other reason! I plan to keep this updated as I think of other vods/clips and new stuff happens, so if you want to be sure you're reading the most up to date version of the post, click here.

With all that out of the way-

What is MCC?

MCC stands for Minecraft Championships and is an event organized by Noxcrew, who develop and test the games, and Scott Smajor, who makes the teams! The event takes place usually once a month, and 10 teams of 4 people compete to be the top two teams overall by playing eight minigames! The top two teams battle it out at the end by playing Dodgebolt (first to win three rounds takes the crown).

Noxcrew announces the teams and next date of the event on MCC's official twitter and their newsletter via email, although @mcc-updates posts the teams here as well after they're announced.

Some useful links and more information on the event:

mcc.live - Official site that updates live during the event! Team scores are updated live here, and links to all the streaming POV's are included. You can also find information on past MCC's and how an individual performed!

MCC Wiki - Community run wiki for the event! You can find information on any player that's ever been in an MCC, information about how the event works, and information on individual events.

A list of active games in the event, and how each are played can be found here!

Canon VS. Noncanon MCCs

Sometimes, Noxcrew decides to host an MCC that is considered "noncanon". Typically, this means that something about the event is different, and player's coins and stats for that MCC will not go into the overall average of their played events. Some examples of noncanon mccs:

MCC Pride (held once a year, typically raises money for the Trevor Project!

MCC Rising (only players who have never participated in an MCC before may be in it!)

MCC Scuffed (April Fools MCC, the entire event was scuffed on purpose, an incredibly funny overall event)

MCC All Stars (Only players who have won an MCC participate)

With all of that out of the way, some iconic and hilarious clips from across the events!

(note: where I could, I've included the vods that these clips came from!)

Grian's Iconic 1v3 Dodgebolt (MCC 17)

Jimmy Solidarity's 1v3 Dodgebolt (MCC 28)

Illumina EWW (MCC 15)

Purpled's nearly perfect Parkour Warrior run with Ranboo and Charlie losing their minds in the background (MCC 26)

Purpled's perfect Parkour Warrior Run (MCC 32)

Jojo's insane Sands of Time carry (MCC 31)

"Joel, I want a divorce!" (MCC 10)

"Sapnap I will eat your children!" (MCC 18)

Lord Grian Dreamslayer (MCC 9)

Michael Mcchill's Ace Race breakdown (MCC All Stars)

Purpled and Wallibear get in trouble for having "gay sex" in MCC pride (MCC Pride 2024)

Etho accidentally steals Tango's torches after Tango dies (MCC Kick Off, Hbomb's vod review)

MCC Iconic Vods/Fan Favorites!

Orange Ocelots MCC 17 - Grian, Falsesymmetry, Petezahutt and SB737

Orange Ocelots MCC 24 - Tubbo, Tommyinnit, Hbomb and Jack Manifold

Blue Bats MCC Scuffed - Smallishbeans, Smajor, Fwhip and Geminitay

Cyan Coyotes MCC 24 - PearlescentMoon, Aimsey, JojoSolos and Hannahxxrose

Blue Bats MCC 9 - Falsesymmetry, Rendog, Hbomb and Fruitberries

Pink Parrots MCC Kick Off - TangoTek, ImpulseSV, Ethoslab, and Skizzleman

If you want some other great channels and streams for MCC, I've listed some below!

All Things MCC is a channel hosted by Seapeekay and always uploads a video after each MCC featuring their picks for the top ten plays of the event! They also do team predictions + the occasional other video on MCC. Super fun, and a great way to catch some clips you may have missed during the event.

MCC Vault posts clips of various perspectives from various events--typically another way to see things you might not get to see otherwise.

Wolfeei Extras makes content about both MCCI and MCC, and has covered Etho's MCCI arc, MCC team predictions, and SandwichLord's leaderboard domination. Additionally, Wolfeei does content with participants of MCC, such as watchparties. Overall, a great channel to watch to stay in the loop of what's going on!

If you're a Sands of Time enjoyer, Hbomb94 usually goes live the day after the event and vod reviews at least one POV of Sands of Time from each team. Super entertaining, and a fun way to really get to know the strats for that game.

You may be thinking-wow, these games look really fun! Is there a way for anyone to play them?

The answer is yes-and no. While some of the games are not currently available for download, Noxcrew has a public minecraft server called MCC Island, available for anyone to join and play! As of right now, the available games to play on that server are:

Parkour Warrior (available in singleplayer mode and a fast paced competitive mode)

Sky Battle (eight teams compete instead of ten, and there are maps available that are not played in the main event!)

To Get To The Other Side (three rounds instead of six, uses a mixture of maps from the event and maps that are not played in the event)

Hole in the Wall (be warned--there are traps, different maps, and overall is a harder game on the island. My personal fav:D)

Battle Box (three rounds instead of nine, mixture of maps

Dynaball (Not a MCC-event game, but a team based game involving tnt!)

Rocket Spleef Rush (One round, different maps!)

Noxcrew has stated they plan on adding more games to the server, and there are events and other things happening too!

IP to join the server: play.mccisland.net

You can find more information and official forums here!

Additionally, you can download Terra Swoop Force and play it on a singleplayer world or put it in a server with your friends! Link for the download and instructions here.

Finally, Grid Runners is an available map on Bedrock edition only--I don't know much about bedrock, only that it is an option. Link to that info here.

I think that's about it for now! I'll update this as I think of things or am asked to add something:) Hopefully this helps a bit, cause I know coming into this stuff with no info can be overwhelming!

[splish--splash--minecraft]

Have a snippet of an au I've been working on and off for. It's a childhood friends au, in which Grian and Scar meet as kids and grow up together and eventually fall in love.

I've not written much yet (I say that with nearly 4k written. There's still SO much to write tho) but here's a little sneak peek to some of it. This takes place when they're in 8th grade, so about 14 years old.

Grian does not like Scar.

Well – he does, but not – not as anything more than just a friend. Scar’s his best friend. Of course he likes him. But he – he doesn’t have a crush on him or anything.

He’s not gay. He’s not. He – he likes girls. He’d been jealous when Scar got a girlfriend. Of course he was! She was pretty, and he was jealous that –

That –

That Scar was dating her and not him.

Oh God, he was an idiot. He wasn’t jealous because he wanted a girlfriend, wanted Scar’s girlfriend. He didn’t care about the way she looked at him, he cared about the way he looked at her. Like she’d hung the stars for him or some other mushy nonsense he didn’t really get until now. His only solace was that the relationship hadn’t lasted very long before Scar broke it off. Scar had never really told him why, just that they didn’t work well together. Grian hadn’t pushed it, he just felt oddly relieved.

He’s an idiot.

How did it take him so long to realize this? How long has he felt this way?

The one thing Grian does know is that he can’t tell Scar. There’s no way Scar feels the same way, and he is not going to ruin their friendship over something as stupid as a crush.

He needs to – needs to stay away from Scar. Just for a bit. A week, maybe. That’s long enough, right? To get over this crush?

But even still, Grian’s hands reach for his phone. To text Scar, or…maybe call him. It’s late, though. A quick glance at the time tells him it’s nearing 3 AM. Scar is surely sleeping. Grian would be, too, but his mind had been running too fast for him to even think about sleeping. 

At first, he’d been thinking about completely different things. He’s got a tough assignment due soon that he really needs to stop procrastinating on. He hadn’t done as well on an exam as he’d have liked, and though his parents weren’t mad or anything, he could definitely tell they were a little disappointed. He’s disappointed.

Then he started thinking about how high school is starting soon. A whole new school, with new people and new teachers and a new school layout to learn. His only solace is that Scar will be right there with him, just like he always is.

Which, of course, only led to him thinking about Scar. And once he’d started, he couldn’t stop as realization after realization built up, and –

The tears that had started to drip had finally stopped until then, and then they just started up again. 

He’s a little scared, knowing that he likes his best friend. He and Scar have been friends for so long, he doesn’t want to destroy that. Scar would let him down easy, of course, and he’d never stop being Grian’s friend. But it’d be different. Grian doesn’t want things to change, except he wants to hold his hand, and cuddle into his side while watching a movie, and maybe even kiss him.

And that –

Grian’s scared.

And, impossibly, he wants to reach out to him, still.

[life-winners-liveblog]

Watching Double Life session 5

P5

Pearl: Baby Tilly!

Martyn: Stop screaming in my ear!

Pearl: Jeez Martyn, didn't know your ear was this sensitive.

Martyn: My ear is perfectly average.

Pearl: That was... strangely defensive.

Grian: Martyn can we have a quick chat?...again

3L!Scar: ...

~~~~~~

Scott: Those two are being weird.

Pearl: When are they not?

Scar: Ooooh!

Cleo: She got you there Scott.

Scott: Yeah, sure, why are they being extra weird today? Being extra and quirky is my thing. They are two of the three main adjectives used to describe me.

Scar: What's the third?

Scott: Gay.

Pearl: That one was pretty obvious Scar.

~~~~~

Cleo: You know don't you?

3L!Scar: Of course I know...so do you?

Cleo: I'm not nearly as blind as they think I am... I know much more then they are willing to share, That's for sure.

3L!Scar: ...

Cleo: Well then, let's go back to the others, It's rude to talk about people who are listening...or watching.

~~~~~~

Grian: We're back!

Scott: Welcome, how was you talk?

Martyn: Let's just move on.

~~~~~

Scar: Other me! No!

Martyn: Thart was...fast.

Scar: Nooo!

Scott: From green to red in half a session... That's impressive.

~~~~~

Grian: The ship is gone.

Scott: RIP.

Pearl: You will be missed...by two people...everyone else didn't really care.

Scar: The ship has sunk!

Grian: Well... kinda the opposite if sinking...it's on fire.

Scar: Yeah!

Scott: 🎶-Just like fire burning up the way🎵

Martyn: o7 I guess.

Cleo: I don't know where this arson is coming from but I love the way this session is going, more fire everyone.

~~~~~~

Martyn: Well Bdubs might be able to compete with Grian in challenge for worst tnt traps.

Grian: Shut up! I'm not that bad! ... Right?

Scott: ...well

Grian: Right?

Pearl: uhh...

~~~~~~

Pearl: And that's it...only one session left.

~~~~~

Previous

Next

First

[spacedykez]

when the world's not kind (if we have each other then we'll both be fine)

Four times the Mean Gills lived in the past, and one time they lived in the present. Featuring very gay Martyn, sad boi Scott, and lots and lots of pining.

wc: 4113 | ao3 link | cws: self-loathing, self-blame, mentions of death & blood (average life series levels), small section of suicidal ideation, suffocating/drowning, kissing. notes: here is where i put the disclaimer that I Am Not A Medical Professional. also just. Don't ask how they can breathe underwater for so long. Don't question the logic here. Thanks :D

I. The Crown

Martyn doesn’t think much of it when coral begins to grow out of the damp patches that perpetually cover Scott. They do live in the middle of an ocean, and while he’s not heard of coral growing like that before, he’s not one to question it. Maybe it’s magic, maybe it’s not. He’s got bigger things to worry about- such as not dying in the middle of a hostile world trying to kill him. 

It’s almost pretty, in an odd way. He wonders vaguely, sometimes, how the coral feels to Scott. Is it like a mold, digging into his flesh and turning him slowly to coral? It continues to grow by the day in a way that suggests that soon Scott will be more coral than person. Does it hurt him? Or maybe it’s a welcome addition. Maybe it’s warm against his skin, a living part of him. Maybe Scott loves it, and encourages it to grow.

Still, it remains not much more than a colorful accessory, and Martyn doesn’t really bother to ask Scott about it. It doesn’t seem to be a major problem, and what would he even say, anyways? Oh, yeah, by the way, I was just wondering if that coral on your skin is a parasite or a new body part? That would definitely be a bit weird.

So Martyn leaves it be, and doesn’t say anything about it. The coral is bright and colorful, and honestly, kind of pretty. He and Scott aren’t anything other than allies, but it’s not weird to think your ally is kind of hot, right? Besides, it’s just a little bit of coral. It’s not like it’s causing any issues.

Well. Not for now. Little does Martyn know, that won’t last long, but he can’t see the future. Only they can do that. 

Memory is an odd thing. His recollection of the events leading up to the incident are crystal-clear: sneaking across Bread Bridge with Scar, seeing Grian’s blank stare, trying not to think about them when he sees the slight purple tinge to Grian’s unseeing eyes. He recalls Joel and then Jimmy finding them in the act.

And then Scott had come out of the Nether portal.

Martyn had barely registered the object upon his head at first. He saw a blue shape out of the corner of his eye, a shape he now knew intimately from hours spent on the island, and slowly turned to look at Scott. 

“Oh, ‘ello, Mean Gills!” Jimmy called out in greeting. 

“Hiii!” Scott smiled. Scott’s accent made the word longer, more drawn out, giving Martyn time to see the crown.

The crown upon his king Scott’s head was tinted red with blood, both his own and his enemies’ coral poking up behind it. It glinted gold in the sunlight  adding a royal touch to add to the outfit. A long red cape billowed out behind him,  white triangles dyed nearly invisible, covered as they were in blood. Blood, everywhere, on their clothes, their hair, the axe.

Martyn vaguely heard himself saying something about breaking a rule. Helmets, they weren’t allowed although that had never stopped the King from wearing the crown, that crown stained red with the blood Martyn had spilled.

“Is that a crown upon thine head?”

Joel and Jimmy were chanting something, with him- a demand for bloodshed, for war, for chaos- for Scott to lose an hour. (and who would be the one to take it, if Scott had agreed- would it be by Martyn’s own hand again, Martyn killing his king  ally? 

Scott takes the crown off his head, and the glint of god vanishes, but still he is crowned with coral. Martyn doesn’t think much, letting his body go on autopilot for a while, ignoring the slowly-growing dread and ghost sensation of blood dripping down his hands. It’s water, but it is warm, and Martyn can’t shake the feeling that it is hot, thick blood- the blood of his King.

It’s then that Martyn, for the first time, decides he is going to protect Scott. Later, he’ll wonder whether it’s Scott he’s protecting, or if he’s simply projecting Ren’s image onto a new ally, but really, what difference does it make? He is a king’s Hand, and his job is to protect his King.

And is a king really any less of a king, simply because he is crowned with coral and not gold?

II. Strawberry Blond

Scott’s always loved bright colors.

It shows in his hair, always dyed his trademark brilliant blue, in his clothes, which are vivid shades of red and yellow and green, bringing color to his outfits even as the world is bloody and dying. Because Scott might be doomed to die, but he will die in style, thank you very much.

It shows in his houses, with nice, cute color palettes and bright floors, in his gardens full of colorful flowers. He’s been insulted before, told he’s naive, for trying to find some light, some color, in a world doomed from the start. But Scott’s always lived as colorfully as possible. He’s always been one to make the most of the time he has.

In the beginning, in the first game, before they knew how dark and deadly things would get, Scott wasn’t alone in his gardens. He’s tended to his plants alone for a while now, but that wasn’t always the case.

Once, there was someone else sitting among the flowers with him, daisies and poppies and roses woven in a headband, colors bursting against his blond hair. 

Scott still hears his laugh on the breeze, sometimes. 

But he’s long gone now, moved on, and wants nothing to do with Scott and his plants anymore. No one does. No one sticks around for long. They all leave in the end, leave him alone with nothing but his plants for company. That’s fine, really. He doesn’t need anyone else. 

Martyn has decided to ally with him, after trying to leave. Which does leave the question of whether Martyn is allying with him out of an actual want to ally with Scott, or out of a need for allies and a lack of any other option. But that’s a question Scott doesn’t want to indulge at the moment, so he leaves it be, and lets himself believe that someone is staying for him, for once.

Coral is certainly unique, and different than the plants Scott normally grows. But it grows on him- literally- and he gets used to it. He learns to hold his breath longer, learns to move through the water quicker, and he even begins to change a bit, physically, becoming more fishlike.

Martyn helps him tend to the garden sometimes. He’s good with his hands, which Scott appreciates, and he’s not really been one to criticize Scott’s bright lifestyle before.

Scott’s usually covered in little bits of coral by the end of a ‘gardening session,’ but he’s not accustomed to Martyn being covered in coral. Martyn spends less time in the water, and hasn’t changed. He’s still human. Still normal (Not like Scott, who couldn’t be normal even if he wanted to be. Even if sometimes he wishes he could).

Sometimes Scott forgets who’s working with him in the garden. When bright corals mix into Martyn’s dirty blond hair, Scott sees somewhere else. For just a moment, Scott isn’t under blue water, with Martyn, in a reef of bright coral. For just a moment, he floats under azure skies with Jimmy in a field of bright flowers.

He doesn’t mention it to Martyn. That’s not fair to him-  Martyn is doing his best, and he seems to really care about Scott. So did Pearl, his mind whispers. So did Cleo. And they didn’t stick. You’ve left them, too. 

He knows they don’t openly hate him. But… maybe they prefer more normal company. Maybe they’re happier with people who actually seem to take the game seriously, instead of planting seeds that he won’t live to see grow up.

So he says nothing, and lets himself take a tiny bit of comfort in at least pretending that he’s working in a bright garden, tending to his plants with the one person that doesn’t care how strange he is.

III. Martyn the Loyal Hand

Scott is the last yellow.

It’s an odd contrast to how Ren was- the very first red, quick to accept his death. Ren was not careless with his deaths. He was simply more…. well, bloodthirsty than Scott is.

Scott certainly has some bloodlust, or at least some ability to kill. He was the first boogey, and Martyn’s seen him shoot a bow. Scott’s not a perfect shot, but he’s not bad by any means (and maybe Martyn thinks Scott’s gorgeous with a crazed look in his eyes, but that doesn’t matter. It’s probably just him comparing Scott to Ren again).

Martyn’s vowed to protect him- to do his duty, to be loyal to his coral king. He’s protected his love king ally in the midst of a death game before, and he will do so again, even if it costs him his life.

He can’t say he doesn’t see it coming when the server decides that they want to kill his king Scott. After all, Scott does have the most time on the server, and as the clock ticks down, the players’ desperation grows. But-

“I can’t let you do that,” Martyn says firmly. I can’t let you do that. I can’t let you kill my liege.

They laugh him off. They ignore him, and Joel says dismissively, “Oh yeah, you’re one of his friends or whatever.”

“One of his friends or whatever!?” Martyn replies indignantly. He calls Martyn ‘one of his friends,’ when Scott is his- everything his king his love his lord his duty closest, his only ally, who Martyn would die for!?

Martyn dashes off. He needs to find Scott, needs to get there first. He can’t let Scott be caught off guard and killed so easily.

He finds his ally running through a shadowy forest, leaping over roots and rocks in a dash to escape. No warrior can fight off an entire, bloodthirsty server coming after him- not even the gods could do such a thing.

“Scott!” Martyn calls frantically.

“Hi Martyn,” Scott greets. He does not stop running, and neither does Martyn, instead falling into step beside him. 

Together they run, through the forest, and for a moment Scott is not Scott, but a fur-covered man draped in red, hounding for blood with all the grace of a proper king.

But Scott is not draped in red, he is colored in shades of blue. And he is not a dramatic, dutiful king, but a peaceful, kindly gardener, whose only real sense of duty is to his plants.

“Martyn,” Scott says, his name beautiful in his love lord liege ally’s mouth. 

“Hand of the King?” Ren has discarded his cape and crown. Martyn knows that they are stored safely in the ender chest inside of the keep, but it is still odd to see his king lacking a crown.

They stand on a hilltop, overlooking the Coral Isles, Martyn’s sand timer slowly trickling away, a reminder of the clocks on their wrists that tick down, down down. The coral crowning Scott’s head is brilliant yellow in the moonlight.

“Yes?” he asks his liege, turning to meet Scott’s grass-green eyes, the color of leaves, of life. 

“We are here, at the altar… for ye test,” Ren declares ominously.  “Tonight we prove our loyalty to one another. We will also be sending a message to this filthy server… that Red Winter is Coming.”

Martyn shivers, but smiles. His liege sure does know how to make a speech.

“What would you have me do?” Martyn asks. Does he need Martyn to kill the sheep that’s wandered through here? A sacrificial lamb, if one will?

“I need you to kill me.” Scott stares directly at him, eyes filled with nothing but trust. His gills are spread wide, and it’s… beautiful.

“I have given ye my trusty battle axe… me Hand, I am going to ask you to do a terrible, terrible thing. I am going to ask you… to slice the head off ye king.” 

Martyn freezes.

Martyn is still as he stares into Scott’s eyes. 

“If I’m at one hit… I need you to take the kill.”

“I can’t do that!” Martyn cries out, instantly. He can’t kill his closest ally, the one he loves, his liege, his king.

“Please. I don’t want them to get the time,” Scott explains. Martyn nods wordlessly, not trusting himself to speak. “Oh, no-”

From the woods come distant yells, cries for blood- Scott’s blood. Scott takes off running along the hilltop and Martyn follows, ever loyal.Scott reaches a short cliff and leaps off, and Martyn’s heart backflips along with Scott, momentary panic overtaking him. 

Scott lands in the water with a large splash, and Martyn doesn’t let himself stop to think about what he’s doing as he follows his ally into the midnight-blue water.

Scott is a blur of motion, weaving expertly among the coral. Martyn follows as best he can, but he’s not begun to turn into a sea creature like Scott has (at least, not yet). 

They make it across to the Coral Isles before they need to surface for air, but it’s not far enough. 

“There he is! Get him!” Joel yells, and Scott dives. Martyn follows as he always does as Scott swims towards TIES’ base and further away from his pursuers. They never reach the land.

Scott turns back, facing Martyn. Coral crowns his head and beams of moonlight filter through the water to illuminate his face as he pulls his sword (crusted with coral and mossy with disuse) from the sheath on his back. 

Martyn’s eyes widen as he realizes what Scott’s asking him to do. Martyn shakes his head slightly, and Scott puts a hand on Martyn's face to stop him, tilting it to stare right into Scott’s eyes. They are a brilliant blue, and their depths are vast as the wide expanse of the ocean. 

Scott guides Martyn’s hand onto the hilt of the sword, and the point to rest in the center of the heart in the center of Scott’s shirt. Behind him, Martyn hears a heavy splash, and then another. The server had arrived.

They were sending a message to the server, the server Ren had called filthy. Perhaps Ren was right to call them filthy. Look how quick they were to descend into violence and madness, to hunt their own friends for blood. 

But even in the midst of madness, the Hand still kept a sense of duty. This was his duty to his King. His liege had asked this of him, and it was not his place to deny it. 

He plunges the axe sword deep into his liege’s neck chest. His liege looks at him with love and trust and forgiveness, even as Martyn breaks his own promise to protect his King.

Scott’s blood fills the water around Martyn, and lingers long after his body has vanished, leaving Martyn to drift to the surface surrounded by the physical proof of Martyn’s failure to protect his liege from himself. 

Afterwards, he will go to find his liege safe back in their base, and his liege will assure him he is forgiven, and that he does not blame Martyn for simply doing as he had been asked. Martyn will smile and nod and tell his liege of course, of course. Anything. He’ll not mention the bitter taste in his mouth, nor the feeling of his love’s blood on his hands, an unseen reminder that will never go away.

He doesn’t need to mention it, because that would hurt his liege. And Martyn will do anything to avoid that. He never wants his liege to be hurt.

So why does he always seem to be the one to hurt his King the most?

IV. Canary In The Coral Mine

Color has always been present in Scott’s life. It’s all over- in his hair, clothes, builds. He’s always lived a bright life, literally if not figuratively. Maybe if he shines bright enough, he’ll become impossible to forget. 

He knows that will never be true, but he can still try. Or maybe he doesn’t need anyone else. Maybe the colors can be his friends. They’ve certainly come to carry enough meaning to be almost like friends.

Blue is for him- his cyan hair and jean-jacket vest, cornflower-blue sneakers and navy jeans. Blue is for azure skies filled with sunlight and bright turquoise water filled with coral. Blue is for cornflowers and azure bluets and cool rain and a pond surrounded by sugarcane.

Green is for life- for the start of new series, for early-game optimism and friendliness. Green is for leaves, for his plants, for regrowth and starting over. Green is for ferns and tall-grasses and bamboo and cattails ringing a certain pond.

Red is for violence, for blood and for murder. Red is for madness and chaos, for evil and for malice. Red is for time running out, for death knocking on the doorstep. But red is also for roses, and kisses under the sunset, and poppies. Red is for love, and red is for passion.

And yellow?

Yellow is the color of the sun, the color of corn in the fall, the color of ripe summer squash. It’s the color of the bright beams of light that filter through the sky, and the color of time ticking down, of lives running out. It’s the color of daisies and dandelions and daffodils, of bright flowers in summertime.

But yellow is also the color of canary feathers. Yellow is the color of his former husband’s silky hair under Scott’s fingers. It is the color of fluffy wings sprouting from his back, and of feathers left everywhere around the base and the server, and all over Scott.

He grew very used to seeing yellow, during Third Life.

But then things had changed. The death games had started over again, and Jimmy hadn’t come back to him. Pearl and Cleo were wonderful, but they never could quite fill the hole left by Jimmy’s absence. 

And Scott saw less and less yellow.

Double Life went by, and Scott failed Pearl. He abandoned her, and the red of her cloak was red with vengeance. Red covered her, and red covered his eyes as he shivered in the middle of a sunny day because of his own mistakes. But he’d already chosen Cleo, and he couldn’t leave her too- that would just hurt them all even more.

As Scott clutched the red TNT in his hand and lit the fuse, a small part of him hoped against logic that this would be the last of these games, that he would be left to die along with all his failures. 

But it wasn’t the last of the games, because that would be too merciful. No, Scott had to be left to suffer even more. 

He awoke standing in a circle with thirteen other players, directly across from a blonde-haired man with canary-yellow wings. 

But Jimmy wanted nothing to do with Scott anymore, and for good reason. He always failed every last one of his allies. Jimmy, dead, bleeding out on the sand. Pearl, abandoned, left to live alone with her wolves because of Scott’s unfair rejection of her. 

Every time, every series, Scott outlived his allies. Every time, he watched them die because he couldn’t protect them.

Scott chooses to settle in the bright, colorful Coral Isles. Perhaps seeing so many colors will wipe away the memories.

Martyn joins him, for some reason. Maybe he doesn’t know how badly Scott always fails. Maybe he doesn’t care. Scott doesn’t ask.

It is… nice, having Martyn as an ally. Martyn listens, and Martyn protects him, and Martyn never teases him about his plants. He even helps Scott to whisper to the coral and shape it to grow in wild patterns.

By the end of any given day, they are both covered in coral. Some of it comes off. Some of it doesn’t.

Scott grows accustomed to seeing Martyn covered in coral- red, blue, pink, purple. But he’s not sure he’ll ever grow used to seeing Martyn in yellow.

Martyn pokes his head out from between two strands of kelp, yellow horn coral scattered across his hair, looking almost like- like-

Feathers. 

Yellow feathers.

 Scott accidentally opens his mouth in an involuntary gasp, seeing someone else where Martyn is. A different blond man, also covered in yellow, also kind and caring-

Water floods into his mouth, his chest, suffocating and heavy, and instantly he begins to cough and choke. He’s grown a tail and coral has taken up residence all over his body, but he’s still not yet grown gills. He’s not sure if that would be better or worse.

He feels his body only distantly, his chest tight and vision black. Something grabs his shirt. He can’t focus enough to care.

Then there is air flooding his lungs, and he is coughing and choking again, throat burning from the strain. There are strong arms gripping him, holding him above water, and once Scott can feel his limbs again, he turns to see Martyn staring worriedly at him. His hair is slick with water, and his blue eyes reflect the waves in a mesmerizing pattern. 

He thinks yellow might be getting a new meaning to him soon.

+1. before the world catches up (show me your love)

“So… would you like to talk about it?” Martyn asks, once he’s dragged Scott out of the water and onto their island filled with tall grasses and colorful flowers.

Scott stares at the ground, expression unreadable. Then, slowly, he says. “I thought you were Jimmy.”

Martyn doesn’t butt in, letting Scott continue.

“Under- with the yellow coral on you-” Scott is not crying. He will not cry. “I thought you were him. But we’re not- you know-”

“Husbands.” he finishes awkwardly, a tinge of red finding its way onto his usually very blue cheeks.

They pause, Scott staring at the ground and Martyn staring at Scott. 

“I’ve been seeing Ren, too.” Martyn says, after a time.

Scott looks up at him, frills opening inquisitively.

“When you asked me to take the time. I saw him. It- I was killing him all over again,” he admits, and Scott’s eyes go wide. 

“I’m so sorry, Martyn,” he says frantically. “I didn’t think- I just couldn’t let them get that time.” He mutters to himself under his breath, and Martyn doesn’t need to hear the words to know what he’s saying.

“Stop that, it wasn’t your fault.”

Scott stares at him in slight shock, and Martyn takes a small bit of satisfaction in that. Ha! Read him like a book.

“I failed you. Again.”

Martyn furrows his brow in confusion. “What d’you mean?” He doesn’t think Scott has ever pledged any sort of loyalty to him before, so how could he have failed Martyn?

“Every time. Every series. My allies suffer, and it’s my fault.”

“Oh, shut up!” Martyn snaps, regretting the words the minute he sees Scott recoil. “Sorry. Just, we’re all stuck here. Rather a lot of blame to place on yourself, when really it’s the damned game’s fault.”

Scott’s eyes flicker to Martyn, then back to the ground. Nothing can prepare him for what Scott says next. “If you want me to shut up, why don’t you make me?”

Martyn stops thinking. He lunges forward, grasps Scott’s damp, messy shirt between his fingers, and presses his mouth to Scott’s.

Scott’s lips are cold and salty against his own, probably since the man nearly drowned just fifteen minutes ago. The kiss isn’t pretty- they’re both soaked, and water drips everywhere. But it’s Scott, and Martyn- well. He can’t pretend it’s just his lingering affection for Ren anymore.

Martyn pulls away just as quickly, leaving Scott gasping for breath. “Trying to drown me again, loverboy?”

“Only emotionally,” Martyn snarks back cheekily, and Scott laughs brightly. Martyn thinks he’d be content to let this moment last forever.

“Well, then? Go on and drown me,” Scott smirks, and Martyn, ever-loyal, gladly obliges.

Perhaps later they’ll regret this, when the bombs drop and the arrows fly. Perhaps later they’ll wish things had gone differently, so that it wouldn’t hurt as much when one of them inevitably outlived the other. 

But that time is not now.

For now, they think about no time other than right here, in the moment, in one another's' arms.

[blocksruinedme]

SmallEtho wip clip cause ao3's down

[final fic! The Hangover Brunch ]

This is my fourth. I certainly hope ao3 will be up come tuesday afternoon, if not I'll put out more fic bits.

This one was supposed to be for @smallethoweek, back in january. I have two wips from that week that I still plan to publish! They are college larpers, they met playing a larp called "double life" and started hooking up. It's a few weeks later and they are hooking up all the time.

The final fic will be, I think, barely M. I don't love the title and i hope to be struck with inspiration.

(I also have a 2k modern Flower Husbands wip clip up and a "smallidarity back on empires without grian" post-lim life fic, and a silly smallidarity emp s2 one.)

"The Hangover Brunch" by BlocksRuinedMe

Thinking about the ongoing, and perhaps eternal, ambiguity around the nature of his relationship with Etho made Joel anxious, so he tried to limit how much he let himself dwell. He wasn’t very successful, but he kept trying because he couldn’t see a better option. The one time he’d tried to discuss it with Etho had been unpleasant and ended with Joel very drunk and making questionable decisions, sure he had been thoroughly and permanently dumped. It was still unclear to Joel (and he wasn’t about to ask) what Etho thought had happened, if he even thought there had been a fight, because he texted Joel two days later as if nothing had changed. Joel was relieved to be able to slip back into whatever-they-had-going-on as if nothing had happened, and privately swore to not bring it up again, regardless of how many times his friends asked him to. He was sure it would get sorted out eventually, one way or another. The (perhaps imagined) breakup had left Joel very clear that he wanted whatever he could get from Etho. He didn’t see any reason to risk losing what he was getting and his hopes for the future.  

The anxiety about Etho was usually easiest to push away when he was with Etho. Joel didn’t know enough about relationships to know if that was unusual or ironic, but he was very grateful to not (always) be a total disaster when they were together. The nights alone, the days spent repeatedly checking his messages (despite always having push notifications on for Etho), the wandering thoughts during class and in lab – those were the real problem. 

It was clear that Joel’s friends had grown weary of hearing him whine about Etho, possibly even more than they seemed sick of him gushing about Etho, so he tried to only share the anxiety spirals when he was at his worst and desperate for distraction. None of them knew how consistently (every day) he felt crazy about Etho - and not the good kind of “being crazy” about a super hot, totally ripped genius who keeps showing up at your dorm room to show you a very good time. Instead he had “try your best to not become a stalker but it’s looking dicey” crazy and “maybe fail out of school from being too gay” crazy. Not instead of, though, he’d accepted he had multiple kinds of crazy, and might be suffering from more kinds of Etho crazy than he realized. He told himself it was worth it. 

Despite being over nearly every night, Etho didn’t often stay the night in Joel’s cramped dorm room. When he did he usually woke up and left early. They never talked about it, of course, but Joel knew it was early enough that his housemates might not realize he hadn’t come home the night before. After weeks Joel hadn’t even been in Etho’s bedroom, which he told himself was… fine. When Etho fell asleep before Joel, or slept in after Joel (who never slept much anyway), Joel let himself be–or at least feel like–a total creep by watching Etho sleep. Those moments were both excruciating and exquisite to Joel’s fragile heart. In the relaxation of sleep, Etho looked peaceful, vulnerable, open - even soft. It felt precious and beautiful and it made Joel’s heart hurt. He longed to have that from waking Etho, and tried to be patient.

The rest of the world (or at least most of it) didn’t get to see this Etho, and Joel clung desperately to that knowledge, that he was being gifted with some special part of Etho. He knew he would sound crazy if he said it out loud. He knew that Etho wasn’t specifically gifting him this, he was on some level taking it without Etho’s knowledge.  But Etho felt safe enough to give Joel that [access], and that meant the world to Joel. 

For all their sexual connection and intensity, these moments were when Joel felt an intimacy he’d lacked in all of his ill-fated and brief attempts at dating. No matter what Etho thought, or felt, this was the best relationship Joel had ever had. 

On the excruciating side, all those feelings reminded Joel of everything he didn't have with Etho. Being affectionate and using pet names in public, romantic things like dates and sappy goodnight texts if they slept apart, and getting to introduce Etho to people and say “This is my boyfriend, Etho.” Right now he’d settle for having literally any idea of what he could expect from Etho, of what this meant to Etho, what he meant to Etho. They'd never even had a conversation about sex with other people, so Joel operated under the assumption that Etho was sleeping with an unknown number of other people. Joel was a little surprised that he didn't feel particularly jealous about the idea – he didn't think he needed to be Etho’s Only in any regard. It wasn't about the amount of time they spent together (though he'd love more), it was more about how they spent the time they had, how they interacted with the world, and with each other. If Etho had an actual serious public relationship, while Joel was left in limbo, that would at minimum sting, if not devastate him. Joel felt sure he’d be happy for Etho to have a dozen boyfriends (or girlfriends, or whoever friends)... as long as he could be one too. 

[t4tdanvis]

Yes I do take hermitcraft aus and hermitcraft headcanons. That's why I said "for anything" I saw it coming it little.

Please share.

PERFECT. Because Hermitcraft is currently the only thing I can think about. The gay block people have taken over my brain (quite literally. There's like five of them in here where did they come from)

Anyways. I headcanon that Etho is good at cooking and every time Joel eats food that he makes Joel is like "UGHHHH this fucking SUCKS" while eating super quickly and stealing food from Etho's plate and asking for seconds and- (and also Etho sends Joel snacks all the time. Joel pretends he doesn't know who they're from but he 100% knows they're from Etho)

Also idk why but Mumbo to me has the ADHD problem of "(hasn't eaten in ten hours but hasn't noticed) *looks up from current hyperfixation for .1 seconds and nearly passes out from hunger* Holy fukc . where am I. What happened. Someone hel p". Also he hates milk chocolate but loves dark chocolate

Grian eats pineapple on pizza. At first Scar was disgusted by this but eventually tried it and actually liked it a lot. Mumbo probably barely knew what pizza was before that so pineapple on pizza seemed pretty normal to him

Also Gem and Grian like to garden. Grian was originally the one who started first, started talking about it to Gem, and she ended up starting too. So they and all their friends have fresh berries and vegetables and stuff a lot (one time Grian picked a tomato and took a bite out of it and Gem was Horrified)

anyways I also have an au or two maybe... My current main au I've been thinking about is just a regular high school au because I love seeing my blorbos suffer forever and ever <3

[bluiex]

bluie i have finally finished writing the plot for the movie inside of the plot for the fic. my brain hurts lmao /lh

i'm like 20% sure i sent you a version of this already but this is like. the FINAL final version (probably.)

A is scar and B is grian

basically A and B are married, but also the Hero/Villain. they fight each other again and again (B knows and tries to convert A a lot) but A is ignorant to the truth.

B is suffering from an illness that without treatment, will kill them in a matter of a few years. neither can afford the treatment, and B is angry at the way modern medicine works, and seeks revenge on the corporate boards and CEOs that have made their life, and millions of other lives, agony.

A tries to do systemic change, but it's slow, painfully slow.

A believes you should never be judge, jury, and executioner. B kills, and A doesn't.

Originally, it ends with A breaking their rule, and slaughtering B to end their own cascade of murders.

Grian ends up changing the ending by accident. It later becomes that after A discovers who B really is, A is disgusted and tries to kill them, but can't bring themself to do it. Despite the terrible person B has become, A still loves them.

B doesn't let A make that final choice of death. They escape, for one final time, corrupted and vengeful and nearly a hundred murders under their belt, but they can't bring themself to continue to kill now that A knows it's them, and they go into hiding, setting up the scene for a sequel. ______

not to toot my own horn but i think irl this would be at least a C tier movie. also, gay!

-☾

Id watch that movie IRL and enjoy it DUDE thats a sick plot within a plot LOL

[stitchthesewords]

THE NEW CHAPTER STITCH I'M SHAKEING YOUUUUU- Bonding and trauma and nightmares and gay<3 The essentials for anything really ✨️ I'm hooked on this story oml👀

-🍂

What better moment to realize 'Hey I don't actually hate this person' then right after you're pretty sure that you all nearly died.

God Mumbo is going through it which I didn't want to dwell on because I think the flashing back and forth style I went with for this chapter really works better in a short, punchy chapter, but this poor man really went through it. I might write out the whole nightmare as a tumblr exclusive.

Also there's something about Mumbo = Vampire and Grian = Avian bonding for the first time in Mumbo's domain - nighttime on a riverbank outside his home. THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT IT. AUGH. They're GETTING there!! He's wondering if Grian can actually see, he's noticing Grian has little scrapes on him. Maybe he's starting to see why Scar took to Grian so quick.

ALSO THE CUDDLING AUUUUUGH you have a nightmare and you just want confirmation that the person in your nightmare you saw die is in fact alive and he's right there and he tucked his arm under YOUR head because you're sleeping on the FLOOR i feel SO normal about them. By the way.

[ween-kitchens]

lilacs and poppies (ch. 1)

this has been a wip for like two weeks now and I just finished it now so you’re getting this at 20 to 1 in the am because I wanna post it now 

basically this’ll be chapter one of god knows how many I can actually be able to finish, but it’s basically just a scarian flower shop au because i’m Normal about them  (i’ll tag as #lilacs and poppies  cause i have no idea how many millions of flower shop aus there are on this site lol)

it’s also very gay so yeah 

“well, hello there!” scar says, hearing the bell above the door jingle. he wheels over to the counter. “welcome to scar’s flower emporium! how can I help you-“ he looks up at the person who’s just entered and feels his heart skip a beat. “-today..?”

the man who is walking up to the counter may just be the most beautiful person he’s ever seen. he’s fiddling with the cuffs of his red sweater as he reaches scar.

“hey, i’m grian. I run the new records shop next door.” he gestures to the wall on the right hand side. “it opens in about a week.”

“oh, in that case, welcome!” scar beams, hoping his face isn’t too noticeably red. “I might have to visit it myself. so, are you here to say hello, or are you looking for something?”

“I was looking for some advice?” grian says. “y’see, I wasn’t too sure about what would look good as decor in the interior, and one look in here tells me you’re pretty skilled in that area.”

scar raises an eyebrow, but can’t help grinning. “i’m flattered.” he says.

“I was hoping, if it isn’t too much to ask, if you could pop by and suggest some ways I can liven it up? you’ve done it beautifully in here.” grian says, looking around.

“well, it’s a sunday, so i’m closing early. I can probably come by at around three if you’d like.” scar says, praying grian doesn’t see how much he’s blushing.

grian’s smile broadens. “it’s a date.” he says cheerily, and if scar wasn’t already flustered enough by that comment, he adds, “oh, also, which flowers would you recommend?”

“for- for your store?” scar asks.

“just in general.” grian shrugs. “like, your favourite flowers.”

“oh, uhm.” scar is definitely bright pink now. “we-well my favourite flowers are lilacs and poppies.”

“awesome, thank you.” grian smiles, before turning and walking out of the shop, the bell tinkling.

once grian is out of sight, scar buries his face in his hands. okay, no, this is fine. he can manage a pretty guy next door. even if the guy in question is as charismatic as he (usually) is and is incredibly good at making innocent statements sound romantic. it’s fine.

the bell jingles again, and scar nearly jumps out of his skin. luckily, though, it isn’t grian.

“oh, mumbo, thank god.” he breathes.

“hey, what’s up?” mumbo asks.

“you would not believe the ordeal i’ve just endured.” scar says, wheeling out from behind the counter. “honestly, I should get a medal or something for it.”

“what happened?” mumbo is grinning, which is not the correct response.

“have- have you seen that man?” scar points to the wall connecting his and grian’s shops. “the one who owns the record store?”

“yeah, he and I are friends.” mumbo says. “why?”

“you’re what?!” scar exclaims. it comes out slightly squeaky. “you mean to tell me you’re friends with the most beautiful man on earth and you never thought to tell me?!”

mumbo blinks. then his grin widens. “oh, I see. so, you’ve just met him?”

“yes!” scar says. “and he- you won’t believe what he said to me. he said that he liked my decorating, so i’m going to his store at three to help him, and when I suggested it, he said ‘it’s a date’!”

mumbo does not seem to realise how dire of a situation he’s in. “isn’t that just a thing people say?”

“well I might have thought that too, if he didn’t immediately follow up with asking me what my favourite flowers are!” scar says. “I mean, how am I meant to cope when someone that pretty says that?”

“so.. the issue here is that you’re crushing, incredibly hard, on someone you’ve just met.” mumbo says.

“yes!” scar says. “and that he seems to be doing everything in his power to send me to an early grave via a gay panic induced heart attack.”

“you’ve had one conversation with him.” mumbo deadpans.

“exactly! if i’m this bad after barely exchanging a few sentences with him, I might actually implode if have to hold a proper conversation.” scar says. “and that’d be incredibly embarrassing.” he adds.

“I mean, you’ve only interacted with him once, so how have you already fallen for him?” mumbo asks.

“well, I wouldn’t say fallen for him.” scar flusters. “more.. crushing. relatively hopelessly.”

“whatever it is, you’ve barely met him.” mumbo says. “and like, i’m not saying he’s bad, cause he isn’t, but I just don’t get how you can start liking someone so fast.”

“i’m a weak man, mumbo.” scar grins. “he’s handsome, charismatic and likes flowers. I was doomed from the start. i’m jealous that you get to be his friend.”

mumbo laughs. “so, what, you want me to be an inside spy?”

scar snaps his fingers. “exactly!”

“no, that was a joke-“

“nope, too late, i’ve already said yes.” scar interrupts. “so, what-“

scar is in turn interrupted by the jingling of the bell.

“hi, sorry to bother- oh, hey mumbo.” it’s grian.

mumbo grins, and scar shoots him a glare before turning to smile at grian.

“hi grian.” mumbo says.

“you know scar?” grian asks. good to know he does know scar’s name.

“yeah, have done for a while now.” mumbo is doing a very poor job of being understated. he keeps smirking at grian then at scar. scar wants to hit him. “same with grian.”

“that’s a coincidence.” scar chuckles. “who’d have thought we’d have neighbouring shops as well?”

“not me.” mumbo grins. grian hits him not-so-subtly with the back of his hand. huh.

“anyway, what brings you back here?” scar asks grian.

“ah, I was going to ask for something but I seem to have completely forgotten what!” grian laughs. “sorry to trouble you.”

“oh, not at all.” scar smiles. he can tell grian is lying, but he’s not going to ask. “it’s been relatively slow today anyway, it’s no bother.” especially if I get to see you.

“d’you mind if I steal mumbo away for a minute?” grian asks.

“I do not.” scar says breezily.

“um-“ mumbo starts. grian grabs his wrist and pulls him out the shop, pausing to wave over his shoulder before the door closes.

scar smiles to himself. he has got to learn what grian’s favourite flowers are.

[endcrman]

sweetbread

Scar always forgets something, sometimes more substantial than others. Grian really would have liked to have been warned of this one beforehand.

-

Jimmy and Tango were unchanged, as were Joel and Etho, and BigB and Ren. That was good for them, of course, but it didn’t help Grian’s situation with Scar at all. Nobody else he ran into really seemed to have any idea of what was going on either.

“It is really weird that it’s only happened to you two,” Scott hummed, most of his attention clearly elsewhere as he knelt in his farm, harvesting some wheat. “Is it some sort of glitch in the server code? I’ve never heard of something like this happening before.”

“I don’t know,” Grian sighed, sitting on the edge of an empty composter, watching Scott work. Of everyone on the server, he was the least likely to be pulled away due to soulmate circumstances, considering he refused to even talk to his. Poor Pearl. “It seems too complicated, you know? But it’s nothing I implemented, Scar doesn’t seem nearly as worried as he should be, what if we get stuck like this?”

“I don’t think you’ll get stuck,” Scott assured him, standing up and brushing his dirty hands off on his jeans before wiping at the sweat on his forehead. “I don’t even have scars from previous seasons, I doubt something like this would stick around.”

“That’s what Scar said,” Grian pouted a little, crossing his arms. He felt the phantom movement of his wings ruffling in annoyance. “I’m just thinking about the future, Scott, I don’t know about you but I definitely don’t want to be stuck as a vex-hybrid forever.”

“I’m sure Scar would love to hear you say that,” his voice was dripping with sarcasm as he moved to dig in a nearby chest. “Look, think of it as a chance for the two of you to get closer, you can learn about each others’ species in a way most people never have the chance. More time to spend with him, learning and teaching.”

Grian scoffed, uncrossing his arms to push himself off the composter, glad Scott wasn’t looking as he struggled with his balance for a half tick. “Why would we need to get closer? I just need him to stay alive, and this definitely doesn’t help.”

The knowing look Scott shot him made his cheeks turn bright red. “Grian. Neither of us are that much of an idiot.”

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Grian squeaked, feeling himself turn even redder. “Scott, I came here to confide in you,” he whined.

“And I’m an incredibly drama-driven gay, what were you expecting?” Scott snickered, hoe in his hand as the chest shut behind him, he leaned back against it now. “I won’t say anything to him, you know, but it’s incredibly obvious. Basically the whole server knows.”

Grian let out a sigh, scrubbing at his face with his hands. “That isn’t helping, Scott.”

“What do you want me to say? Oh no, Grian, it’s so not obvious that you’re totally, entirely, besotted with Scar. Nobody on the server notices how you cuddle up to him whenever you can, hanging off his arm like a barnacle of some kind.” If Scott’s voice was dripping with sarcasm before, it was absolutely drenched now. “I’m not that good at lying, Grian.”

“Why did I come talk to you of all people,” Grian groaned, hiding his face still. He missed his wings especially now.

“Because you needed a reality check,” Scott poked his forehead, making Grian glare at him. “Face it.”

“You are so mean about this,” he huffed, only to yelp as his legs suddenly crumpled under him, Scott barely managing to catch him under his arms.

“Are you okay?” He sounded appropriately worried, Grian could probably forgive him for all the fun he’d poked at him.

“Scar. Fell,” Grian managed between gritted teeth, eyes squeezed shut as he tried to work through the pain shooting through his legs. Eventually, he managed to rise to his feet again, swallowing thickly. “Sorry, you shouldn’t have had to-”

“-It’s fine,” Scott assured him, hovering close, probably making sure he wasn’t about to collapse again. “What’s he up to anyway?”

“Don’t know.” The pain in his legs were slowly starting to numb, good. “I never know what he’s up to these days, he just goes off. Nothing like the desert.”

“Oh, Grian.” Scott’s voice was full of a pity that made his stomach churn. “Don’t!” Grian grit his teeth, trying to keep his cool. “Don’t… ‘oh, Grian’ me. I’m fine.”

Scott blinked, taking a breath before he nodded. “Right, of course you are.”

Grian stepped back a little, finding the composter again and just leaning back against it. “I really am fine,” he lied.

“I believe you,” Scott lied right back.

He closed his eyes for a moment, and then his stomach growled. “How much you wanna bet Scar forgot to bring food?”

“I’m not betting anything,” Scott tried injecting more humor in his voice, it was too obvious. “We both know he didn’t. Want some bread?”

Grian hummed, not opening his eyes for a moment as he thought. “You don’t have any pork chops or anything?” He asked, craving something… different.

“I might have some chicken,” Scott thought, tapping his lower lip. “I’d have to go check though.”

Grian swallowed thickly, catching sight of Scott once his eyes finally did open. His forehead was shiny with sweat, he’d long since taken off his overshirt and tied it around his waist, lithe but strong arms on display. He licked his lips, vaguely imagining taking one of those arms in hand, bringing it up to his mouth and-

Scott was talking to him.

Grian blinked, shaking the thoughts from his head, stomach churning. “What?”

“Your eyes, Grian, they’re glowing,” Scott repeated himself. “Are you okay?”

His eyes were beginning to drift down to Scott’s neck before he tore them away, forcing himself to turn. “I have to go.”

“Grian-” Scott started, sounding like he was stepping closer.

“I have to go!” Grian repeated, glaring back at him— and apparently it was more terrifying than he thought, because Scott took a quick step back, raising his hands.

“Okay- okay, go.”

Grian didn’t even wait for Scott to finish speaking, already rushing across the landscape, somewhere far far away. From Scott. From anyone.

Grian’s chest was heaving when he finally sat down under a tree, face buried in his hands when he finally stopped. What the hell was that?! What was he thinking? Why was he thinking that?!

He took a moment to try and calm down, before fumbling for his communicator, sending a quick panicked message to Scar.

Grian: please tell me this is some kind of weird vex thing please please please

His stomach growled again, and then churned once he vividly remembered what he’d been thinking back in Scott’s farm. The disgusting, monstrous thoughts currently swirling around in his head, his stomach growling again, a pang from hunger.

The only thing keeping him from spiraling down into a full out panic attack was a ping from his communicator.

GoodTimeWithScar: huh? What happened?

Grian: scar

Grian: im hungry

Even over his communicator, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

GoodTimeWithScar: i mean everyone gets hungry, I’m hungry right now

GoodTimeWithScar: OH oh yeah

GoodTimeWithScar: that’s a vex thing

Grian: AND YOU DIDNT THINK TO TELL ME?

Some sort of relief flooded through Grian’s system, relaxing against the oak tree behind him. He was very much not happy about the situation, but at least he wasn’t going crazy. At least it was some weird vex instinct. Some weird vex instinct he had now. Oh void.

GoodTimeWithScar: sorry! I forgot! Lol

Grian: this is not a lol situation scar

GoodTimeWithScar: Sorry sorry!

GoodTimeWithScar: you can eat whatever, you don’t actually have to

GoodTimeWithScar: apples bread steak it all works don’t worry!

GoodTimeWithScar: Actually I'm about to eat right now so don't worry about it!

Grian didn’t reply, he couldn’t bring himself to right now, pocketing his communicator. Scar was about to eat, so he wouldn’t have to worry about trying to eat around his churning, sick stomach.

He groaned softly, hiding his face in his hands again. Maybe he could just stay here for the rest of the day, then he wouldn’t have to look anybody in the eyes, he didn’t know if he’d even be able to with his newfound instinct.

Eventually, the hunger within him subsided, no doubt thanks to Scar. The want faded along with it, though not the memory of it.

Did Scar feel like this all the time? Grian felt his chest grow tight at the thought, breath growing shallower. Surely not, he would have acted on it by now, right? That thought didn’t help the growing anxiety at all either.

Another ping from his communicator. It seemed to be working pretty well as an anti-anxiety measure right now, huh.

Smajor1995: Hey are you alright?

Grian: fine. thanks

Grian took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. He owed Scott a huge apology the next time he saw him. Probably some thank yous, and an explanation if he could bring himself to it. 

He’d probably have to come to terms with it himself first, if he could even do that.

[redorich]

What if Tommy and a few other Hermits went to the Dream SMP to take care of some business (aka Dreamon + small family reunion for Tommy) and they see Tommy hug these two PvP gods as a ghost floats around them saying, “oh Tommy! You’ve been gone so long! Where did you go?” And seeming quite happy as well. The hermits get to see just how fucked this place is. Tommy told them Techno is by far the richest person on the server yet he only has one stack of diamond blocks. Not a single shulker box to be seen. Phil tells them The End is Off Limits. They get to see the main hub of this world is less impressive than a single of their big builds. They see fighting in the streets. From the other side of walls they hear people threatening eachother. They get to see and experience the comparative hell that Tommy cane from -🐍

Scar’s the one that gets to go first. He and Grian jockey for the privilege, but in the end Scar is the mayor of Hermitcraft, which means he gets to visit the Dream SMP first. (Grian pouts for days.)

Scar wears his very nice mayor sash, and irons his trousers, and keeps his armor in his inventory so that everyone can see his nice apparel. He smiles, and opens his eyes to what is basically a pit. The ground is more creeper-hole than actual ground, and there are mishmash walls all around him. His smile falters.

<Dream> Oh shit hes at spawn

<Technoblade> dream forgot to change visitor spawn, worst admin ever

<Dream> Shut up

Tubbo hit the ground too hard

<Technoblade> TUBBO IS GONE CRABRAVE

<ItsFundy> canon death

<Tubbo> NO

“Hey there,” Tubbo says from behind Scar. The mayor yelps, whirling around and nearly falling on his face.

“Sorry to scare you,” Tubbo laughs, “but how about I show you around? After I get my stuff back, that is.”

“Y-yeah,” Scar says, visibly perturbed. Tubbo leads him through a hole in the wall just large enough for them to go through one at a time, then through a small patch of forest. (Do these people seriously not even have a way out of spawn, or a path from spawn to the important locations?)

Dream catches up to Tubbo and Scar right as the town comes into view. They meet up at a patch of ruined land, on which two identical Nether portals are sat.

“Welcome to the Dream SMP,” Dream says with a gesture toward the slightly-broken oak slab path stretching out from the portal. “Sorry I’m late, I had to take care of some business.”

“Business?” Scar asks despite himself.

Dream fidgets with the handle of his axe sheepishly. “Yeah. I sent some of the troublemakers on a wild goose chase several thousand blocks away from here. Hopefully, they shouldn’t bother you.”

“That’s great and all, but I kind of need to get my stuff back,” Tubbo cuts in before Scar has a chance to question Dream.

“Sure, it was near Tommy’s old house, right? Why not show Scar the Prime Path while you’re at it?”

Tubbo smiles, and takes Scar’s hand in his. “Great idea. Come on, Scar!”

Scar allows himself to be pulled along, dodging holes in the “Prime Path” as he does so.

“That way’s Eret’s Gay Castle-- you can’t grief it, it’s homophobic,” Tubbo explains, “and up ahead’s Church Prime.”

It’s not much of a church, Scar thinks, given the giant floating poster that’s been left to peel away. Bits of the poster have even been torn off and stolen, leaving only the item frame behind. Still, he knows better than to say rude things about someone else’s religion, even if the state of disrepair... No. He won’t say anything.

Various depictions of anti-Technoblade propaganda still up. They’re so, so ugly. Further along the path there’s a tower that actually isn’t hideous, so it was probably made by-- Eret, was it? The same guy who made the Gay Castle? A stray chicken clucks while Scar tears his eyes away from the Walmart which has magma for floors, and the Targay, and the cobblestone framework of what Tubbo claims is a Denny’s which was used once for roleplay and then promptly abandoned.

Tommy’s old house can best be described as “open air”, to put it politely. At least there’s a fence..? But as Tubbo picks up his items and the two set off for L’Manberg, politely ignoring the giant Gogy posters, they hear a scuffle up ahead.

“Let go of my fucking hair!” George shrieks.

“Not until you give me back my potato,” Sapnap responds. The two grown men are fighting like children in the middle of the Prime Path in broad daylight, pulling each other’s hair and slap-fighting but at least-- no, never mind, they’ve got their weapons out now.

George shrieks at the top of his lungs when one of Sapnap’s swings gets too close. “It’s rotted anyway, why the hell do you want it?!”

“Because it’s mine,” Sapnap insists. He finally bonks George on the head hard enough to kill him, then scoops the rotten potato out of George’s belongings. His hand toys with a flint and steel, but he eventually seems to decide not to burn George’s items for the offense of stealing his potato.

“Oh, hi there!” Sapnap says once he spots them. He waves.

Scar hesitantly waves back. He’s beginning to think that perhaps he should have worn his armor after all. He watches in morbid fascination as Sapnap takes a bite of his rotten potato. Sapnap’s face drains of all color; he immediately leaps off a cliff to go be sick in a valley away from prying eyes. George’s things are left on the ground.

“Y’know, I think I left the oven on,” Scar says slowly. Tubbo looks at him with sad, pitiful eyes, as if to say, do you see what I have to deal with?

“Would you like to go back to Hermitcraft and try again another day?”

Attempting to affect nonchalance and failing miserably at it, Scar waves his hand rapidly. “Actually, Grian really wanted to come see your server, so-- maybe I’ll send him. I’m real busy with, uh, mayor stuff.”

Tubbo nods, pretending to buy the excuse. “I’ll have Dream send you back.”

“Thank you,” Scar says fervently.

[ferigrievance]

saw @/spacecaving’s post on things shes done as hermitcraft members so i made my own lmao

etho - can recite mutiple gtlive/game theory fnaf videos by heart

bdubs - slept for two days straight and didnt realize until after i had altered my calendar, planner n shit because i thought i had fucked up the dates

iskall - changes outfits frequently because of gender dysphoria. wears a full face of makeup almost every day

doc - got the first yellow and red card on my soccer level. the yellow was because i had asked an opponent to apologize to my team mate for running them over, then a red card for shooting the referee a thumbs up right after.

ren - was kin assigned jacob black. im allergic to dogs

grian - made a shirt that said wife haver and walked out my room and was confused why my parents were yelling at me. im gay

mumbo - accidentally stole like four different plants from two different parks n they are now growing in my room

scar - started a studyblr and was active for like a year, went on hiatus, came back and posted w the caption “im back from the dead” and then got locked out of the account

impulse - accidentally elbowed a friend in the face and knocked out two teeth that actually needed to be removed at the doctor later that day because they had startled me

tango - had a notebook with penises all over it for science class and justifed it saying that its science class and its just part of the human anatomy. a week later every single persons notebook had penises on it

keralis - studied russian for a year n a half. only remembers how to say egg (яйцо)

gem - has a pair of picture frame earrings that have rick astley on them. not a single person has noticed. ive had them for over a year

pearl - puts cheese, milk, whipping cream, butter and egg in my ramen. im lactose intolerant and allergic to egg

stress - has a small container from my grandpa, the only thing in it are two hands that are probably from a figurine of some kind but i dont. own any ??

cleo - saw emma langevin wearing teeth earrings and forgot that humans arent the only things with teeth, ended up making earrings out of my own teeth

false - forgot that i cosplay and left my wig head with a black wig still attached to it on top of a bookshelf thats across from my bedroom door. i also frequently has hallucinations of jack walten who has black hair and white skin , so i walked in room at three in the morning, saw the wig head, and started crying in the middle of the hallway

cub - was mistaken as my dads wife when i was 12

hypno - hid in the lost and found bin at the front of the history classroom during a shooting drill (?) and fell asleep. woke up the next day with teachers in the classroom having a meeting because there wasnt any class that day

jevin - won a raffle for a toy knockoff playdough at school, ate it in front of my class

joe - singlehandedly caused inflation at the kidzania near my house when i was like. eight

tfc - paid mcdonalds to work there for a week, ended up getting food poisoning

beef - was heavily sedated after getting teeth removed and wanted to have plain pasta at like 4am. tried to boil them and nearly burnt the house down. i thought i had cooked the pasta noodles and ate them raw

wels - had to write an essay on a important person at school, wrote it on gundahm tanaka and got a perfect score

xb - was building something out of legos when i was like six, i put a red two by two lego in between my teeth to hold and and ended up swallowing it

xisuma - kicked a toy car and hurt my ankle, decided that kicking a brick wall would make it better, ended up breaking my ankle

zedaph - dug up worms and ate them every day from the big potted tree beside the school bus while waiting for it to leave. ended up derooting the tree from four years of work and it was removed

[princess-of-prose]

Who are your favorite fanfiction authors?

Hope you mean HC, because that's what I can offer:

SugarSweetRomantic (AO3): She has this short, sweet(most of the time) and super effective way of writing that just makes you feel things. Her characterisations of Cleo, False and Co. feel super on point and really just very true to themselves. I feel like she's responsible for half our Hermitladies content, and deserves love for the service she's doing to us!

Sharo @sharo-maneru (AO3) : self-titled the 'Fandom Grandma', you can tell that Sharo's main audience is themselves. Which is the main ingredient to writing a successful story. You can really tell that their stories and especially Xisuma are near and dear to their heart. And! Their take on poly!Hermits is one of the sweetest, most heart-warming things you'll read ever, and especially A Day In The Spotlight is what reeled me in to the cult (and solved my multi-shipper's dilemma ^.^')

-Tunfisken @tunaships (AO3) : Tuna's story-telling and their multi-chapters will have you on the edge of your seat, and the next chapter really can't come soon enough! Furthermore, they know when Chekov's Gun is supposed to go off! Despite basically carrying this Fandom's Grirendoc (and any variation thereof) on their shoulders, it's literally impossible to get tired of their End-Of-The-World fics. (Also, their Grian is such a manwhore /pos)

Duchess_of_Dumpsters (AO3) : Nearly 2 years ago, when I stumbled across Ash and Blood, I felt like my third eye had been opened. I KNEW that people wrote amazing Fanfiction with a huge word count, and I knew that those people were better off as published authors and house-hold names. Little did I know that one of those writers would not only be in my Fandom, but also write gay vampires with underlying political issues. Genuinely cannot put into words how much I adore the Duchess's Hermitfics, regardless of AU.

With that being said, I do want to point out that these aren't the only amazing and skilled writers we have that deserve your time and attention! I simply prefer them because not only are they great at what they do, but especially because their AUs, characters and headcanons deeply resonate with me! I know that there's a whole plethora of ABO writers worth your admiration (I hate-love the genre), and I assume the same can be said about ships like Beeftho or Grumbo, which I simply don't ship. And of course, some of my favorite stories come from writers that aren't on this list, because I rarely got involved with more than that story.

Phew, that was long. Whoops ^_^'

[nix-writes-mcyt]

Game 7 is Hole In The Wall

And here are your Yellow Yaks highlights!

"I know the name of some of the walls, I had to make sure we didn't get cancelled like last year" - Scott

"Green green green grian grian grian green"

LGBT wall

So many pigs

Dream and George win Round 1

"Shelby it's hole in the wall not ace in the wall, you had your game" - Scott, as a joke

Zombie nearly messes up Grian

So many mobs

Shelby gets smacked by a zombie and knocked off

Grian 1st place round 2!!!!

"He's cracked, your honour" - Scott, about Grian

the "CUTE" wall

Gay death messages

Illumina and Martyn win round 3!

At the end of Game 7 our top 3 are

1st) Red Rabbits 18225 2nd) Aqua Axolotls 17781 3rd) Orange Ocelots 15488 4th) are Yellow Yaks with 15137 points

[efoxkitty]

Alright, with the first demised, let's start a game I like to call "Life or Death" (feel free to suggest a cooler name)

You can either @ someone or join in the chain. Below is a list of people who made it to week 8 and you need to say why you want them to win AND how you would like to see them die.

Let's create some cool theories, headcannons and angst :3

I'll start:

The rebels:

Scott

Win: I want to see Scott go absolutely feral. The widow takes all the oppoturnities to avenge his husband and still manages to come out on top to claim the title of survivor. The win for the gays!

Loss: I want Martyn to be the one to kill Scott. They were THE chaos duo, allies since day one and even made a potion monopoly together. The angst here is big. Especially considering that indirectly it would be Jimmy's fault, as he was the one to break this friendship.

Grian

Win: Grian deserves to win just for all the traps he tried to set up and failed /j The person who indebted themselves and died when it was too late and couldn't get out, the person with the highest kill count and the most activated tnt stats does deserve to win for all that effort + keeping Scar alive.

Loss: Being killed by Scar. Like just this one time, Scar actually wants to kill/has to kill and kills his old buddy. Or dying to Scott or Martyn, so we know who was the best green out of the red/green duos /j Dying to a fellow blue sword is the real angst :)

Scar

Win: Okay but imagine Scar, the person who everyone expected to die first. The one who was the first yellow AND red would be the last one alive. Also I stand by the headcannon Scar has intimidating aura, which is why he survives his encounters.

Loss: The obvious angsty one is being killed by Grian or his trap. But I do vibe with the idea of Scar being killed by Bdubs, who angrily lays his body in the coffins infront of the crastle >:)

Or Scar being killed by Tango. But like seriously, Tango is probably the only person outside of the rebels, who Scar genuinely cares for. And Tango could get revenge for week 6, where Scar nearly blew Tango up.

The crastle:

Tango

Win: His double, triple, quadruple agent saga was the funniest arc I've seen and I believe the wandering traitor would deserve to win, especially if him winning that Bdubs, who was the reason he died in the first place, would die. Even more justice for our boy. It would also prove the theory that being with everyone at once IS the key to victory.

Loss: Being killed by Scar. For the reasons I stated before. Or murdered by Bdubs again. Most angst potentional would be dying to impulse OR Etho, considering they had their day 1 alliance and the wool castle arrangement :) Friendship is dead.

Impulse

Win: Impulse "Be friends with everyone" strategy will be proven superior. With an army of villigers, not only has supplies for himself, but armed others for war, so they would feel confident fighting each other. He watched his allies get slaughtered and did nothing to stop it :)

Loss: Traitors get executed :) Dying to anyone from the red army for obviois reasons. Also to Tango (Revenge for his emerald execution) or Etho, again for the wool castle allignement angst.

Bdubs

Win: The guy who was being made fun of for building a small castle that looks like a toilet and has holes in it proves to be the superior builder as he builds an unbreakable fortress. He wins this one for Cleo.

Loss: Dying to Scar so Scar be like "Good thing he bought those coffins." Or to Tango or Impulse, betrayed by the only people he had left. By the people Cleo warned him about and he told her it would be fine :)

The red army

Ren

Win: The red king proves his rp is very cool and poggers and not cringe and lame like his enemies proclaim! He will lead his army and raise to the top, becoming an eternal emperor. Why be a dog, when you can be a god?

Loss: Lissen, I know it's been said already, but Ren getting betrayed by Martyn 👀 I would love to see that. Or even Etho, who would ditch them for his wool castle buddies, oh boy.

Martyn

Win: The right-hand man becomes the ruler. The king is dead, long live the king. From a simple peasant boy bringing chaos and phantoms wherever he goes, to the most powerful man on the server. Character progression is very cool :)

Loss: Dying as he protects his king from certain death. Or being killed by Scott. OG chaotic duo, I am still not over you being enemies.

Etho

Win: They burned down his tree and kicked off his villain arc. He decided to confirm the rumours about him being the hidden anime protagonist and by the power of missiles and alliances rose to the top as the lone wolf of the group.

Loss: Betrayal from the OG village folk. They build not one, but two homes together and even after all their promises and meeting, they chose to murder him. Forever abandoned :(

BigB

Win: I really like the meme that's going around of "BigB wins by doing nothing." He would win by being in the shadows and staying loyal and honestly, what an icon.

Loss: Dying to either Grian or Martyn for the "Blue sword alliance." Less sadser death: BigB tragically dies saving his cookie for the last time 07

The wildcard:

Joel

Win: Joel saying "I can choose who I will betray." manifesting again, as people fall once again for his empty promises and he watches them all crash and burn. Once again proving that chosing sides is pointless (another Ranboo kinnie /j) and choosing people is overrated. Direct contrast to BigB's strategy. Chaotic arsonist my beloved <3

Loss: I have 2 ways for this one. First is dying to any of the people he betrayed after actually allying with a faction. The second one is dying to Scott specificaly as he tries to assasinate him once again and fails for the second time xD

@pastelicious-nova You don't have to do this kiki, but I would love to hear your thoughs <3