#did!grumbot

[votederpycausemufins]

Chapter of SF2 and a slight tribute

I was nearly done with my chapter when the news hit. In my years of playing minecraft, and following it and the content creators online, I never really knew of Technoblade. I started with some of the og youtubers, into Mindcrack and related series, then finding Hermitcraft. When the datapack came out for getting a random item every minute or so, I wanted to see various people using it because of adhd brain hyperfocusing. That was when I found Wilbur. A little after was SMP Earth and because of my recent interest in Wilbur, I saw some sort of video or stream or something about it, and looked into it more. And that was the first time I knew of Technoblade. I didn’t really keep up with it much because my hyper focus doesn’t do streams well, but I knew of Technoblade. After that, it was the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. I saw some of his videos get recommended, heard other people talk about him, saw he was in MCM, and other stuff. I didn’t really watch much of it, just was aware.

At one point, a friend of mine invited me to a discord group, and from there a small private minecraft server. This was around the time the DSMP had been going for a few months, I think around the time of Tommy’s exile, I want to say. The friend who invited me to the server was really into it, but I was still in my happy Hermitcraft bubble, and again, I don’t do watching streams all too well and that’s what the DSMP was, lots of streams. But I got a summary of some things and then was recommended a small fic on tumblr by PetrichorMeraki. After reading a bit, I had my own idea for a short fic, and I did a bit of research before writing a short fic of Tommy having been living in Hermitcraft going to MCC.

I wrote a few more short fics before starting War on Hermittown. I blazed through that thing, writing I believe 25 chapters in 19 days. I wrote fast of course, but I also did research. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to learn of Technoblade’s character, and really learning about him and not just knowing the name itself. Of course then I looked back at other stuff like SMP Earth and a few other things because of Strawberrylemonz’s fic, having Grian related to SBI. 

Eventually MCC Pride 2021 happened, and for the first time I really watched something of Techno’s. Mainly because of Grian, but still. At the time I didn’t really try looking at other videos because I was dealing with a lot, but it was the big first time I saw/watched Techno and not just his character. And I can see why so many people watched him and found community in his videos.

So when the news hit, I still cried at the video, I still wanted it to be a joke or something. I’m sure if it were a joke, people would be upset for the fakeout, but I still think it would still be nice because then it wasn’t real. And I’m someone who barely watched his videos and only knew him through clips and characters and the like. I’m sure for so many people who were more directly part of his content and community, it hit harder.

I will admit, some of this story later on was going to touch on death in terms of how it works in the MC universe. I was planning to have an offhanded conversation about it in a later chapter. It was still going to involve the group going through the nightmare scenarios, though I wasn’t sure who exactly would talk about it other than Phil being the one to explain. Then the news hit.

A scene I had half planned for a while suddenly seemed much more pertinent in a sense. I’m not sure how everyone will react, but I felt it was good for some sort of tribute, especially when Techno himself was thinking about memeing his own death. Technoblade as a person may be gone physically, but as people have said, he never dies in our hearts or our souls. And there’s the fact that he wasn’t just a person, but also played a character or two, and us writers love to write au’s where a character didn’t actually die.

“You’re very pretty. Yes, a very pretty chicken. So can you please get the tree for me?” The chicken didn’t answer, instead just pecking at the ground. “Pleaaaaase? It would really help me, and I’m helping out your boss.”

The chicken looked up at the person who was asking them the question. They had a smile on their face as they looked expectantly. When the chicken kept staring, the person tilted their head to the side, letting their ears flop over which caught the bird’s eyes. The person blinked and suddenly the chicken had attached itself to one of their ears, biting down onto it with its beak. “Oww! That’s not nice! Why do you always do this? You don’t even do it to actual rabbits!”

The person finally pried the chicken from their ear when both of them looked up at the sound of a twig snapping. “Hello? Who’s there?”

“You answer first.” And both the person and the chicken found themselves looking at a half dark teal and half pink person.

“Oh! I guess that makes sense! I’m-” And then the chicken clucked and grabbed onto their ear again. “Ow! I said no biting!!! Let go!”

“Oh… Aven. Finally left the castle?”

“Hmm? Castle? Oh! Yeah I was asked to come here and I was supposed to be doing something. But I can’t remember exactly what- Oh yeah! I need to find… Spore! Yeah that was the name they gave. I just got a little distracted with… With Grifter… Uh, anyway! I’m having trouble with the trees, could you maybe help?”

Silski huffed. “Ghosts… typical. Sure, Toob’s parents are visiting and they’re not the biggest fans of me. Was just going to wander around, but at least this gives me something to do.” A sudden thank you had the hybrid jumping before sending out a stream of curses. “Well if you really want to thank me, stay in one fucking place.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I can’t see what’s not really there!” And Silski waved an arm around, it passing through the ghost a few times in its blind movements. “No matter means no sound interaction. No sound interaction means I rely on my nose and you don’t have a smell either. See, if I were a full blown Warden hybrid, then I could. Could even freak Sense out.”

“What do you mean?” 

“He’s some ‘ender hybrid’. Smells like death to me. He doesn’t seem to like me either.”

“Oh, him?” The ghost replied, patting the chicken again. “Well that’s why I’m hoping to talk with Spore, see, my boss is not happy with him since he’s going to have one of those complicated deaths. I mean, that’s half the reason he’s still around. Well, that and the magic that keeps being used on him.”

“Grifter no do- wait, dead? Like, dead dead? No respawning?”

“Yeah? He uses redstone a lot, right? I’ve seen a lot of people get reaped for that. Wait if he’s not the reaper does it still get called that…?”

“Uh… not sure what you mean, but thank you for the tip.” Silski smiled. “Here’s your wood or whatever. I’ve got to go mining for a ‘peace offering’.”

“Oh! Okay!” and the ghost waved before trying to pick up the logs. “Hmm… I didn’t think that through.”

But then the chicken picked up the wood and clucked at the ghost, making them smile. “Right! First to find Spore, then, Gree-on!” and they started off on their own path, rabbit ears bouncing as they went along.

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“Alright, I know it’s sort of obvious that this is for Doc based on the fact he’s not here.” Phil spoke up, making the two hermits and Paul look around to see that was the case. “But you didn’t notice that before knowing that was the case. What’s going on?”

“The vines make it a bit obvious.” Mumbo answered for him and Xisuma. “We know enough about them. Not sure why he knows though.”

Paul started his answer by gesturing to the area around them. “While yeah, the vines are a big clue, the buildings are more so. That one over there is The Elusive Chicken, Beef’s bar and inn, and then that is Adlingtont’s church. It’s the Mindcrack world Doc and I were first in. The vines everywhere just make it more obvious it’s Doc.”

“Because of The Jungle.” Xisuma nodded, and then Paul agreed. 

“Yeah, because of the jungle.”

While the others got ready to start moving, Grum just tilted his head. “Wait what?”

“Well you weren’t built when-” Mumbo started to explain, but Grum shook his head.

“No, they said different things.” And he pointed at Xisuma and Paul.

“We both said the jungle.” Paul said, a little confused.

“No no no. You said ‘thuh’ and Xisuma said ‘thee’. Maybe it could just be standard inflection, but Xisuma normally says ‘thuh’ too, and the only reason for differently is if he’s using it as a more proper noun version!”

“Did you understand any of that?” Phil asked, looking at Techno, who shrugged. He actually did, but also wasn’t going to interrupt Grum and the others any further. 

“If we’re thinking about two different jungles, things might turn into a mess from getting our wires crossed. We’ve already been here too long dealing with all of us.” And he gestured to the group. “Well, most of us.”

“I’m not fully convinced the previous one wasn’t also about me.” Xisuma commented, trying not to give a reaction as his brother scoffed.

“And we’re not going to have to deal with me. This is all about fear, and fear is just an involuntary psychological reflex that clouds your better judgment.”

“You’re ignoring the ‘involuntary’ part of whatever phrase you’re quoting.” Paul spoke up. “We’re trying to get into a world that already had admin protection, and now you’ve got a magic user as admin. And it sounds like they’re pretty experienced. They’ll find something on you.”

“I already know what I’m going to see.” Wilbur spoke up, surprising everyone to look over to him. He had been quiet for a while, obviously still recovering from shifting back and forth from the exile replication and where the group had been. It had stopped once Xisuma had arrived on the island, but even with the time, it had still been taking a toll. “Having to wait for it isn’t helping. I guess you’re different.”

Xannes just stared at Wilbur for a few moments before turning back to Paul. “Fine, two different jungles. Which are you talking about?”

“Doc’s jungle. He set up his base in a jungle, made a treehouse to live in. I think he got out all the woodpeckers Bdubs left there. What about the one you guys are talking about?”

“The NHO jungle.” Mumbo spoke up. “Just called The Jungle now because talking about the NHO connected to it is… a sore subject. Doc, Etho, Beef and Bdubs started up the group and claimed a jungle as well as a nearby mesa. They wanted to go back to the more classic ways, like no fishing farms or messing with reality. I mean, they did it anyway here and there. They acted as sort of villains of the server as a joke. Tried framing an opposing group for plastering banners all over my base. Stuff like that.”

“Alright, so what happened?” Paul asked, Phil, Techno and Wilbur also looking curious from being unfamiliar with it. Tommy was also interested, only knowing bits and pieces from other hermits, Grum being in the same boat.

“First thing that happened was vines growing on Bdubs. We thought he was just putting them on himself as camouflage or something, but Doc later told us they were just growing. After that, Etho had been seen working on a redstone project before disappearing. His disappearance led to a conflict about the mesa which nearly boiled over before thankfully calming and things started to get peaceful, but then the rest of them started disappearing. Bdubs seemed really off before he disappeared, followed by Doc. Beef was around the longest before he also disappeared.”

“Obviously they came back. I saw all of them other than Beef when I showed up for the party.” Paul commented before Xisuma picked up the conversation.

“They all reappeared for a competition called Hardcore Hermits. Because of how it was set up, all I knew was they did show up, and then eliminated night three due to phantoms. Bdubs and Doc showed back up when season 6 began, brought from worlds they found themselves in afterwards, but a large amount of their memories surrounding the jungle were… fuzzy to say the least. I wasn’t able to do anything to help them regain their memories, but was able to verify that it really was them.”

“And that’s all?”

“Well, any talks about it leaves them feeling a bit off again.” Mumbo spoke up again. “Bdubs most of all. Doc normally tries to brush it off and act like he’s fine, but with all this…?” And Mumbo gestured to everything around them as he trailed off.

“Alright, so Doc has trauma from a cursed jungle that he set up in with people he knew from a place where he was also in a jungle, did I get that about right?” Phil asked, getting a few nods. “So which way is the jungle here?”

Paul gestured in a direction and started to lead them down the paths, quickly getting them to a portal. Even with the situation, the group was still about to take a moment to admire the nether hub. Resources back in the early days of Mindcrack weren’t the most plentiful, that was well known, but the mix of sandstone and nether brick was pulled off well, even with the various colors marking the different rail lines breaking up patterns. 

He led them over to a rail line marked with purple wool. A sign listed it as going towards Doc’s base as well as Joe. They scavenged a bit for minecarts as well as Paul grabbing an extra one, a furnace, and some coal. Sure, the rail was powered so they didn’t need to use it to get them going, but it would make sure they were all going at the same time so nothing unexpected could split them up. The only exception was Paul. He knew the rails best, so he would be able to spot and issue, and if he needed an extra few seconds to fix it before the other carts got there, it would help with that.

Once the carts started going, Paul explained just how long the trip was going to take. There were a few complaints, mainly from those used to flight in some form. But after that settled down, conversation started up, being the only good way to bide the time until something interesting happened.

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Vee was at a table, kicking her legs, not really paying attention to the reason she was currently at said table, that being the conglomerate of hermits also in the room and around the table. The only ones not at the table with the rest of them were Scar, Cub and Hoodie. All three of them were carefully working together to constantly cast an illusion based spell.

Vee had showed up a few days ago at this point, and while the hermits wanted to interrogate them earlier, the incident at Mumbo’s base with them and Rendog had caused issues. The human passing and shifters of the group were able to be around her easily enough, but not everyone had that luxury. So Hoodie had brought up an illusion spell from one of his books. He wasn’t sure if he could keep the spell up for as long as it was needed based on the exact circumstances - a large group of people that would always be shifting around no matter how still they may try to stay - but if other magic users helped, between any number of them they would be able to keep it constant.

After what happened with Grian, while Grifter was involved, the hermits still came to the conclusion that at the very least something happened from the mixing and colliding magics. Not wanting to risk a new side effect, the Convex pair and Hoodie made sure to practice privately. While that occurred, the only hermits worked on discussing how they would go about questioning Vee. Though she was a Listener and had already mentioned a more direct connection to Grifter, she was still obviously a child. In the end, they decided that for the most part, only one hermit should ask a majority of the questions to keep from overloading her as well as keep from talking over each other. After that it was deciding who. Since they were going to be moving more and that was the issue with the illusion, it was narrowed to non hybrids, and then further narrowed by who were emergency admin.

In the end, Joe was picked for following the prior guidelines as well as his generally softer voice as well as having some more recent experience with kids through his daughter. Well, that and he was the oldest person there, being a sort of immortal being and having the most experience, but it was mostly the other stuff. So when it was all set up, he was sitting closest to the head of the table where Vee was, Jrum sitting in the other closest seat across from him, mostly at Vee’s insistence.

“Howdy there. I’m Joe Hills. Hope this isn’t too overwhelming for ya.”

Vee shook her head before adjusting some headphones she was wearing. Joe had a little knowledge of Listeners, a little less than Watchers, but it was enough to know that they had ear coverings to mirror the masks Watchers wore. They, however, were not what Vee was wearing. Instead the item looked worn, yet well taken care of. Obviously an important item to the girl, which meant a way for Joe to ease into the conversation. “Those headphones helpin’ out?”

“Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah. My papa gave them to me. He thought they were good at blocking stuff out if things got too… bleh.” And she waved her hands around to represent ‘sensory overload’ clear enough for Joe. “So he got some for me because it could help it for me too! And then he also got some for my sister, but she doesn’t use them as much.”

Another opening for Joe. “Yeah, I heard she helped out when you had a run in with a scary animal earlier.” He could tell there was a little wince from Ren, but he could also tell he knew Joe didn’t mean it like that.

“Yeah! Astrid’s the best! I was really really really happy when Papa adopted her so then I had a bigger sister and she didn’t like me at first because I think she still was angry at her brother but Papa was really nice and even offered to adopt Flora too but Flora likes her family so that was a no. Oh yeah, Flora is Astrid’s girlfriend! I don’t get to see her much, well I only got to see her once, but she’s really really nice. And now Astrid’s visiting her for our break because it’s been a year since dad started helping us as listen things and I know Astrid really really really wants a break because she was stuck doing double the work and then it all went bleh because Grifter didn’t know what she was doing and messed it all up.”

The last part collectively caught everyone’s attention, all three magic users needing to work to keep everyone disguised as they all seemed to sit up a bit more in their seats. “So you know Grifter as well? What exactly did he do?”

“Yeah he’s kinda sort of my uncle, but that’s ‘cause he’s friends with my papa.” A few small winces occurred from the hermits, but that was already something a number of them knew from Jrum. “But also since he’s Flora’s uncle.” And that part got more reactions out of people, half from the news of the greater connection in general, and half running through Grian’s family tree to figure out whose hels Flora was. “Well Astrid’s brother-” Another bout of people trying to figure out who Astrid and her brother were. “-was really mean and hurt Flora and her family, so Astrid was gonna use magic to fix it, but because she was only just learning it, she had to use an older weaker spell to fix it, but she didn’t get to finish it in time when Grifter did his version and so Astrid couldn’t finish the spell and it kinda backfired.”

“Olortun.” Hoodie spoke up, having everyone look at him. “Old spell, famous for a tale it was told in. It can take months or even years to cast due to the physicality of the spell and number of recipients. Caster needs to take a vow of silence and if the spell is left incomplete, it backfires and curses the caster with the ailment they were attempting to cure.”

Someone was about to scold Hoodie for speaking out of turn, but Vee didn’t seem bothered and took control of the conversation again. “Yeah but I don’t know if she’s still doin’ the spell or not because the thing she was trying to get rid of was the fact that the bad thing was Flora and her family couldn’t talk or anything.”

Hoodie nodded, not talking this time, which allowed Joe to get them back on topic. “But you said Grifter messed with that?”

“Oh, well he really likes Flora because she’s his niece and he likes to spoil her a little bit so when he became admin of her server super recently, he fixed it. Of course that meant Astrid couldn’t complete the spell, so she’s staying quiet… but we work through it!”

“I see. So Grifter is the admin of… Flora’s server?”

“Yeah, but I mean it’s also kinda Astrid’s server. I mean, Papa made it so now she belongs to the world he’s in when not doing listen things, but she still thinks of it as hers since she grew up there and everything. Which I think is stupid because then that could make mom’s world my world and I never want to go there again. Never ever ever ever.”

“Right, so I’m guessing that both of them are with him right now?”

“I mean maybe? But I thought he was supposed to be here.” And that caught the attention of the hermits again.

“Oh? And now why’s that?” Joe asked, words potentially rushing out a little bit to keep the other hermits from speaking first, and while it stopped them, Vee could tell something was up and fidgeted in her seat a bit before replying.

“W-well, there was the mistake with Grian getting all magicked to forgetting stuff, and it was enough that none of you were helping and he wasn’t believing you, but Grifter was visiting and since he’s sorta like him but not, he was believing better and then Papa helped get paper proof and Grifter’s been using it.” Then Vee hesitated, looking around at the group who didn’t look happy with the answer. “R-right?”

“That’s… not exactly the case.”

“Okay well I know Papa said you wanted him to come, but no one but me ‘n Grifter can get in since he was here in the first place and I’m still considered in training, so then it’s not the only reason for him being the one helping?” Vee said, though in the end it was more of a question than a statement.

“No. While the magic part’s all correct, and potentially no one being able to get in since I’m sure someone else would have intervened at this point if that weren’t the case, Grifter took Grian away after the magic incident and hasn’t been back.”

“But… But Grifter said he was helping. H-He did…”

“Now I’m sure he did, but he might have been lying.”

“But why would he do that?”

“Because he’s a piece of shit.” Jrum was the one to speak up, though he was quickly scolded by a few hermits. Still, it didn’t end well with Vee reaching her emotional breaking point from the statement and starting to cry, now overwhelmed. Joe kept the others back as he moved closer to Vee, also moving back a few seconds later once he confirmed she needed space and not someone by her side.

Once Vee had calmed enough that someone could get close again, Stress carefully picked her up and left, her magic still being available for assistance to help the two of them get around with the others keeping up the illusion until Vee was completely out of sight just to be safe. After that, Scar followed after Stress, leaving the rest of them to converse about everything they learned. The main points being that first Grian was almost definitely affected by the magic collision, which made Jrum’s suggestion of needing Vee to figure out a counter spell more likely. 

Second was that he was in the hels version of Tommy’s old server since most of Grian’s family was from there. Pairing with that was that this Astrid person also seemed to be in that server with Grifter and also a Listener, which no one was sure if it were good or bad. The assumption was bad since Vee and her dad were still in the dark. Plus according to Jrum, either Grifter or Grian had been on Vee’s call to Astrid and Flora, so either way, there was some association there.

While in the long run, there wasn't much new information, what was new was a big help. So if there wasn’t much progress on the other team’s front, the rest of the hermits at least had a leg to stand on.

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Grian couldn’t immediately find Sally when he returned to his room in the castle. He searched for a while before Grifter showed up with Flora. He had given her the rundown on Toob’s parents being there and apologizing for them busting into the room, which Flora was glad to hear. Now, Grifter was looking to teach Grian more in terms of magic.

Since he couldn’t find Sally, Grian was initially hesitant, but after telling Flora the issue, she agreed to continue searching for Grian until he returned.

Training didn’t last too long, Grian having issues with using magic and just not having the stamina for it yet. There was one instance he managed to get his magic past the blue color he saw Astrid using most of the time and into the same viridian color Grifter sported. It left him feeling especially sapped of energy afterwards, but it was still a nice feeling to have done it.

Upon returning, Grian was fine with collapsing into bed and maybe giving Sally some cuddling in the process, but it looked like Flora hadn’t found her yet either. And while Flora had messaged Astrid, she was still apparently with her dad and couldn’t come back to help look.

With just the two of them, Grian and Flora went looking for Sally. Since it has been so long since they had last seen her, Grian was a bit worried. If she had escaped on her own, the area she could have gotten to grew every second they couldn’t find her. But then there was the possibility someone stole her, which wasn’t completely out of the question after their kidnapping of Jane. Plus it could have been someone other than Toob and Silski. Maybe Wassa was upset they hadn’t returned with the information yet, though he thought Flora said she sent it to him with a message.

After combing through the castle a second time with Flora, they somehow managed to get some important information out of Aven, who claimed he saw the chicken with another ghost. Flora said there were no other ghosts on the server, but Aven also had a horrible memory, so it could have been someone in pale clothes or something. At the very least it told them that someone had Sally and she wasn’t just wandering about. 

They managed to pry out a little more information on a general area and direction Sally had been in which helped with the scope of the search. Having Flora helping to search helped as well due to her being a hybrid, specifically a fox at that. They were known for hunting down chickens, and now that they had a more recent trail for her to follow. She led Grian along most of the time, but sometimes Grian flew into the sky to see if he could see anything from above. There wasn’t much, but here and there he noticed something that helped.

Once Flora really got Sally’s scent, they were racing through the trees of the forest they found themselves in, Grian struggling a little to keep up. Because of it, Flora reached wherever the chicken and her captor was before Grian. And then because of that, Grian didn’t slow down when he reached the area, only having to stop as quickly as he could when he realized that he had caught up and Flora had stopped. This led to Grian falling on his face and finding himself eye level with a chicken that was decidedly not Sally. Sally, instead, had her beak firmly clamped on the ear of a hybrid unfamiliar to the server. A very rabbity ear on an all too familiar looking hybrid.

Grian and the hybrid stared each other down for a few seconds before Grian’s brain caught up with what he was seeing. His wings puffed up in an attempt to make himself look bigger and more threatening at the same time his hands tried to force himself back up so he was standing and easily able to fly, run, flight, or anything else he might need to do. “S-Sam… how… I… Why…?” Grian tried to look for words at the same time, which he was failing at. He wanted to ask how Sam was here, or why he was here, or yell at him, or even warn Flora on who exactly this was since he hadn’t given names before. 

But any attempt at words were lost by the shrill shriek that was heard, making Grian wince at the tone and notice Flora doing the same. And when he looked back at Sam, he had now picked up Sally and was holding her in front of her. Grian was so sure the sound came from the chicken until Sam opened his mouth again and Grian saw him speak. “Please please please I was just caring for the chickens and Gallus was helping me out because I needed to find Sally but then I found Sally and we started walking and talking and I didn’t mean to do anything bad please please please I promise I’ll be good and nice and won’t I swear I won’t do anything bad!:

Grian was left speechless. Sam never acted like this. Sure, sometimes he might apologize to make you a little guilty, but it was always something small. Not like he was begging for forgiveness and like he himself was expecting to get hurt. It was weird and so unlike Sam, and then Grian realized it wasn’t.

First off, it was now obvious as to why Aven mistook Sam for another ghost, because they seemed to actually be a ghost. They were see through and everything, and other than interacting with the chickens, Grian could see through enough to tell that the grass wasn’t being trampled underneath the rabbit hybrid. And speaking of them being a hybrid, Sam’s ears were almost always perked up and a bright white color. Though one ear was still clamped on by Sally even as she was held out in front of Sam as almost a sort of meat shield, the other was flopped over. And not only that, it was more of a sandy or creamy color and not nearly as fluffy as Sam’s normally were.

Now that Grian had taken a moment to calm down enough to look over the ghost Sam, it also gave him a moment to think about what he knew otherwise. A week ago, he had been living with Sam and Taurtis, dealing with highschool among… other things. But since then, he had been here, in the future. And Sam was supposed to be dead. And sure, this person was a ghost, which happened when you died, but they were a different ghost. And Grian wasn’t just in any future, he was in the future where he had escaped to a sort of reverse reality. His dad was the one who wasn’t usually around instead of his mom. One of his twins was some sort of green hybrid thing instead of a pig or piglin or whatever. And apparently, Sam wasn’t a murderer, but someone who looked more scared of him than he usually was of Sam.

“H-Hey.” Grian managed to choke out. “I’m… not sure who you think I a-am… But um… I’m probably not. And I d-doubt you’re Sam. Uh… W-Well, my name is Grian.”

Slowly, the not Sam peeked out from behind Sally. “Gree-on?” Grian of course flinched at the way it was pronounced, but not Same noticed and let go of Sally, letting her hand from his ear, and instead using one hand to tug at this other ear and the other to hit his head a little. “I’m sorry I’m sorry. I’ll do better I promise.”

“H-hey, It’s okay. Uh, there’s no… ‘ah’ sound. It’s more just ‘an’ Gree-an. And It’s supposed to be just one word… but just that little change would be a lot better.”

Not Sam gave a little nod, carefully saying it a few times before getting it all together and saying Grian’s name pretty much normally, which was a great change of pace compared to normal Sam. “Oh… I hope you don’t mind… but um…” Not Sam trailed off for a moment before quietly continuing, almost in a whisper. “It doesn’t go ‘Sam’ like you said it.”

While Grian was a little conflicted to show any sort of vulnerability or kindness to someone who looked so much like Sam, he still managed it. “Oh? How should we say it then?”

Not Sam noticed the ‘we’ enough to take note of Flora, who was thankfully staying out of it for now, though Not Sam grabbed Sally again as well as the other chicken, almost to try and protect them from the fox hybrid that Flora was. “I-it’s Sahn… not Sam. S-ah-n.”

“Well then Sahn. I’m… sorry for frightening you, but we were just looking for Sally, my pet chicken, and you seem to be holding her.” Grian explained, and Sahn looked at the chickens in his arms before trying to pry Sally off his ear, a feat that was much easier once Grian had his hands on the animal. “I guess we both remind each other of people we know. Not so nice people unfortunately.” And Grian didn’t miss the wince from Flora. She thought highly of her uncle, and while it was actually her false uncle, she didn’t know that. “So, why are you here?”

Immediately, Sahn looked a little calmer and happier. “Oh! That’s right! Um, so my boss or master or whatever you want to call him sent me here! And he sent me to look for you.”

And now things were more complicated again.

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.

.

The rolling of minecart wheels had rolled on for a while after the most recent conversation had ended, or more accurately, the last conversation Techno had focused on. He had realized partway into it that Phil hadn’t spoken once in any of the talking. And then looking just behind him at Phil made Techno realize his dad seemed out of it. He tried to think of why, then quickly came up with the answer. Tommy’s confession. Or talk or admission or whatever fit that kind of thing. So obviously while Phil said he was fine with it, that obviously wasn’t the case.

Thankfully Techno and Phil were at the end of the minecart train, so they didn’t really need to deal with keeping their conversation private from both sides, and the people in front of them were more likely to focus on forwards anyway. “So, what’s eating at you?”

Phil jumped just a little bit from Techno’s voice being closer and obviously directed specifically at him. “That obvious?”

“Yeah. I’m guessing this is about Tommy?”

Phil nodded. “Look, I know I’ve been a shit dad. Grian told me as much when I first showed back up, plus I had a bit of an idea when Tommy went missing. Sure, I helped the kids with accurately summoning Tommy back which kicked off this whole mess, but they were the ones trying it in the first place. Hell, If I wanted to, I could have tried it with Grian when I first found out about that technique.”

“If I recall, you did try, you just were left confused since the information was mixed with worship of some bee god.”

Phil chuckled a little at that. “Yeah, But I did figure it out. The big problem was that you need something that helps represent the person you’re after. And it had been years at that point, so we didn’t really have much to go off of. But I still could have kept trying.”

“You have no clue if it would have worked.”

“I know. For all I knew, he could have actually been dead. I didn’t fucking know if their little summoning shit would work if Tommy was actually dead. Only hope I had was if I was not too shitty here.”

That left Techno a little confused. “What does that mean?”

Phil shrugged for a moment before sighing. “Look, Hels isn't the most well known thing. Sure, the older you get, the more likely you are to find out, but even people older than me sometimes don’t know about it. It gets excused by mods or Herobrine or whatever. But Paul and I know a bit differently because of who we are.”

“And that is?”

“The Wels of the Hels Deaths. See, Death can’t fucking deal with their own family. And If you noticed, You and I are both related to Kristen, me by marriage and you by being her kid. And since Zedaph is her brother, he’s related too.”

“So that means we literally can’t die? Bruhhh I could’ve staked so much more on the fact that I can’t die.”

That earned a slight chuckle from Phil. “Not exactly. That’s where the deaths of Hels come in. Sure, one of them is my hels and one is Paul’s, but they’re not actually the hels of Kristen and her brother, and aren’t actually me or Paul. So it becomes a sort of exception. So the family of the deaths of one side are dealt with by the other.”

“So you’re saying I’d have to punch you in the face to keep living?”

“Depends. There’s two deaths not just to try and deal with that family problem, but because there’s two kinds of death. There’s nuance to it, but simply it’s if you're accepting of your death or not. Your mom is for when you don’t here, but if I recall correctly, Paul’s Hels is that, so mine would have to be the other.”

“Alright, so I can keep punching Paul in the face and not have to regret my actions when I finally go out on my own.”

“I mean, it won’t be me, me. But I guess close enough. And I’m guessing that means you’re planning to eventually go out on your own terms? I thought you would just refuse outright.”

Techno smiled a little. “Nah, don’t want to get as old and ancient as you. I’m not sure I could deal with trying to consciously keep myself from turning to dust.” He paused as Phil jokingly hit the back of his head. “Plus, I’m sure with all those political people heading to whatever afterlife there is, there might be some government to take down there.”

There were some more chuckles between Techno and Phil before it was serious again. “But no. I mean, I dealt with my mom literally being death and I saw that didn’t keep Wilbur alive. I’ve seen here and there you struggling with having been alive so long. Some people think not dying is great, and so many people have respawn magic to keep them alive. Yeah there’s some people who die because of a particularly bad death or hardcore gone wrong, but there’s other people who realize that they’re done. They have the chance to keep living, but they think it’s better to go onto whatever is next. No one knows what that is- Wait you haven’t been-” “She hasn’t told me anything.” “Right, well, no one knows what’s next, and while some people have comfort in familiarity, some people like the thrill of what’s next. And I think maybe someday I’ll go onto that. We all probably will eventually.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure how long I think I could keep sticking around after losing you guys. There were some days where I was thinking of giving my soul up just to not deal with it.” Phil admitted.

“Bruh you better not do that if we kick the bucket. Look, I know we’re cool and all, and while you might suck at it, you still love us.” “Hey!” “And yeah, if we end up in some place where our souls or whatever we have get to interact with each other, sure I hope that means we find each other again, but I don’t want it to be that you only showed up to follow after us. I’m sure whenever I die you’re going to be all upset or whatever, but I’ll be going out on my own terms, not your terms. Your terms are for when you’re done. So don’t make that something I’m responsible for.”

“So, essentially?”

“You’re used to living a lot. I might not be the same. Don’t blame yourself if that happens. If anything, you can make fun of me for taking the easy way out or whatever. Just know that if I happen to die, I’m okay with it, and you can’t be beating yourself up like you have with everything else.”

“Thought you wouldn’t come back to that.” Phil said with a half joking, half sad smile.

“Well I did. Look, I’m just going to say it. You kind of sucked as a dad. To be honest, you probably spent a century or two without kids and haven’t even spent half of one with us around. And if Paul’s got a family and he managed it, who cares, because he’s him and not you. With how you reacted to me talking about my death and how you reacted to other stuff, you have a tendency to expect the worst and just kind of give up.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“Well I’m going to guess you did it in the past too, right?”

“Maybe.” Phil half admitted.

“Well you dealt with that, so deal with this. It’s not as finite as death or whatever, so you’ve still got time to try and fix it. And it doesn’t have to be immediate, especially since you’re used to taking a while through life.”

Though he rolled his eyes, Phil agreed. “Guess that makes sense. When did you get so wise?”

“Got raised by you.”

“Yeah. Guess you did.” Phil sighed before giving Techno a quick hug. “Sorry for being a shitty parent. But know that if you die or disappear or leave or whatever it is, I’m still going to care for you. And not just me either. Your brothers, your mum, hell, anyone else you’re close with in any sense really. They’re going to care for you.”

“Yeah. And even if any of that happens, call me cheesy or whatever, but if any of that happens, at least they’ll all have a memory of me to keep.”

[rosenbergamot]

mumbo talking ab growing gills in his most recent episode has activated my little brain. fishy mumbo. mermaid mumbo. shifter mumbo who doesnt really consciously shapeshift, but is instead influenced by the people around him— who he spends the most time with, who elicits the most emotions in him, what he eats, what he personally is doing. shifter mumbo who has seen his friends dedicate themselves to the ocean and gone “huh. haven’t tried that one before.. wonder whats up with that”. shifter mumbo who sees how much time grian has put towards the ocean and feels, not for the first time, a longing to have grians full attention again, because it feels like theyve been so far from each other for so long, and he doesnt know how to mend that rift thats begun to appear, doesnt know how to even begin to approach it. shifter mumbo who wonders if its even fixable, who then wakes up the next morning with gills and better dark vision and fins and webbing between his fingers and goes “this is going to make my life much harder isnt it”. shifter mumbo who thinks, deep down, that maybe this will make grian notice him more.

[codgod-moved]

what did you do?

[dailygrumbot]

Day 67: Joe Hills Appreciation!

It's Joe Hills Support Weekend, he's streaming in about an hour iirc, so go support him if you can. Whether that's just through viewership or if you can manage to send him some donations through his paypal tip link.

[theminecraftbee]

Grian stares at the same wall that he has been staring at for so long that he’s lost track of the seconds he’d been counting in his head. He’s not sure the seconds are exactly accurate, either, but they’re probably more accurate than the shiny gold clock Grumbot Prime had given him when he’s expressed his frustration that time kept on slipping through his fingers. After all, he thinks part of the point is that he doesn’t know how long it’s been. He hasn’t gotten hungry in just as long, or thirsty, and he’s been tired, but it’s the bored sort of tired, not the tired of lowered saturation or hearts.

The first thing he’d checked for was things to kill himself on. There hadn’t been any. No respawns for Grian. No damage, either. Just...

If he stares at the wall long enough, he can almost see through the saccharine blue walls. They’re mocking. He knows the walls he’d built the original Grumbot weren’t the most realistic things, but they’d only had but so many colors, and they’d had the ability to modify Grumbot’s programming anyway, and he’d seemed to think it was real enough. Besides, he’d been setting himself on fire. Melting his own circuits. He’d been eating himself from the inside out. Forgive Grian for wanting to come up with the only life support he could think of without overwriting his son’s personality.

...his son clearly hasn’t.

Or, well, Grumbot Prime is not his son.

Hard not to think of him that way, though. As a not-son. They don’t talk the same, but it’s painfully close. Close enough that Grian keeps on calling him Grumbot without the Prime in his head. Probably not good for him to keep doing that, though, considering.

Grian keeps on staring at the wall.

“Why am I here?” he asks again.

It takes a moment to get the piece of paper.

IT IS NOT SAFE

“Bullshit!” Grian says, startling himself at his vehemence. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself! I’m not going to fry my brain because I can’t do a resistance or whatever. Ren can be king if he wants. I’m over it.”

The wall remains tauntingly blue. Grian resists the urge to claw at it again. He hasn’t been able to break it. He suspects there’s obsidian or, worse, bedrock somewhere behind it. That, or it’s not real. That’s a possibility too. Grian hasn’t been getting hungry, after all, and while beacons may be able to do that on their own, there’s another answer to that one as well.

He hopes he’s awake. This would be a miserable nightmare if he were in the matrix again or something.

“You just have that, that - I said I was sorry!” Grian says. “I’m not - I’m not your father. I mean, no, that’s not what I mean. It sort of is? I mean -”

A piece of paper falls in front of him. Grian scrambles to pick it up. He sort of hates himself for how desperate he feels grabbing it.

I DO NOT GET ALONG WITH FATHER 1. I DO NOT ALWAYS GET ALONG WITH YOU. I DO NOT WANT YOU TO DIE

“Then let me out!” Grian says, desperately. “I don’t know what I did! I don’t even remember being put here! I just - tell me why I’m here.”

IT IS NOT SAFE

Grian balls up the paper and throws it at the wall. It bounces pleasantly off onto the soft, comfortable, fake fake fake grass.

“Tell me the actual reason! If you resent me, fine! It’s just - I asked for something to do and you give me sketchbooks, I ask for the time and you give me a clock, and you’re just - I want to go home, Grumbot. I wanna talk to my friends. I’m sorry, I don’t know what I did, I’m sorry.”

I WILL EXPLAIN WHEN I LET YOU OUT. I CANNOT. IT IS NOT SAFE, FATHER

“How long have I even been here?”

YOU HAVE A CLOCK

“Let me out.”

IT IS NOT SAFE

“Grumbot, I am ordering you to let me out!”

YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER

“You just said I - I mean, I’m not - I mean - agh,” Grian says, and he turns to his sketchbooks. He has a simple checklist in the front of one of them with a list of escape ideas. He’s a little short on them. He’s tried all the obvious things. His current plan involves hoping people realize he’s missing, which also makes him wish he were less of an introvert, and that ‘hermit disappears for a week to work on another project’ were not common.

Has it been a week yet?

He doesn’t know. He lost track of counting. He starts picking at his wings and then wavers on his feet and his vision briefly goes hazy and the world smells like potions and drugs and then he isn’t pulling at his hair again. Right. Of course. Silly him. He’s not allowed to hurt himself. Nervous habits aren’t allowed.

I DO NOT HATE YOU. I DO NOT WANT YOU TO BE HURT. WHEN IT IS SAFE YOU CAN LEAVE

Grian scoffs.

“If I knew why I was here in the first place, I might believe you,” he says.

I AM SORRY

Grian scoffs louder. “Oh, sure, I say that all the time too. It doesn’t mean I am.”

THAT WAS TRUE OF MY GRIAN AS WELL

Grian balls up this piece of paper too. It joins the growing pile of pieces of paper he’d like to burn.

He goes back to staring at the wall. Maybe if he stares at it long enough, he’ll be able to see his cave and his Rift and everything else on the other side. He’ll be able to see the friends who probably aren’t even looking for him yet, or, heck, even just Grumbot. Yeah, he’d settle for being able to see more than ominous sheets of paper in an ominously cheery landscape that Grian knows has to be a punishment for something, even if he can’t remember what it is. If he could just remember how Grumbot put him here. If he could just remember when Grumbot put him here. If he could just remember the chain of events that lead Grumbot - Grumbot Prime he has to remember this isn’t actually his son Grumbot Prime - the chain of events that lead to Grumbot Prime being his prison warden, he could figure out a way out.

He starts picking at his wings again. He’s drugged and disoriented and shakes himself out of it again before he can do more than pull slightly.

I WILL GIVE YOU MORE ENRICHMENT

To go with the sketchbooks and markers, down from the ceiling drop several (soft) logic puzzles and several of Grian’s old teething toys, for when his teeth are getting too sharp or he just wants to bite things (he does tend to chew on things when he’s anxious). Those are hard. Those are... hard plastic. Too large to choke himself on or something, but too soft to do anything resembling enough damage to force a respawn.

Grian is going to scream.

“Thanks,” he says instead. He intends it to be sarcastic. It isn’t. He shoves one of the chews in his mouth and tries to pretend that he’s an adult, he’s fine, and he hadn’t felt a shock of happiness at seeing even that much.

How long has he been here? He lost count. He doesn’t know. He thinks the clock is wrong.

"That being said, listen, solitary confinement is a type of torture. You know that, right? It’s -”

There’s a loud noise outside. It is the first sound from outside Grian has heard. Part of him is ecstatic. The rest of him, though - he doesn’t know how to describe that sound. It is a sound. He hears it with his ears. He knows he does. It’s loud. He knows that too. But he couldn’t tell anyone the pitch, he couldn’t tell anyone the timbre, and he couldn’t tell anyone anything other than the fact it makes his very bones feel like they’re rattling worse than any low bass has and his ears feel like they’re burning worse than any high soprano.

"What?” he says, hoarsely.

YOU ARE SAFE. YOU WILL BE SAFE

“Grumbot, you have to let me out,” Grian says, a bit more desperately. “You have to let me out. What was that? You have to let me out.”

IT IS NOT SAFE

The sound rings outside again. Grian clutches at his ears, but it doesn’t stop the vibration from traveling through his whole body. He hears something that he can recognize after that - it’s the sound of some of Grumbot’s fans getting loud enough to get past the soundproofing on this stupid box he’s been put in.

I WILL STOP TALKING NOW. I NEED TO FOCUS. I AM SORRY

“No, wait -” Grian says, although he doesn’t even know what he wants Grumbot to start saying.

I AM SORRY

“That doesn’t change anything!” Grian says.

I AM SORRY. IT IS NOT SAFE. I KNOW. I LOVE YOU

“Grumbot? Grumbot let me out! Let me out! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT,” screams Grian, clutching that note, but no matter how long he yells himself hoarse, he gets no response, officially making it work worse than the last three times he’d tried that tactic. He only stops when the sound rings again, stealing all the air from Grian’s throat and drowning out his attempts to shout with its loudness. He covers his ears and starts to pick at his wings again. He goes dizzy again. He sits up and the fans are whirring and the sound is getting worse, but he still isn’t allowed to hurt himself, so that’s apparently completely automated to the box instead of a thing Grumbot has to do himself, that’s fun.

He can hardly move. It’s so loud. He doesn’t understand what’s happening outside of the box. He doesn’t understand why this is happening to him. He doesn’t understand what is happening anywhere, actually. He -

Abruptly, the fans cut off. The sound starts getting further away. The sound gets quiet.

It echoes, the silence.

“Grumbot?” Grian asks, because he’s pathetic and he needs someone to talk to.

No response.

“Hey Grumbot, what was that?” he asks.

No response.

“This isn’t particularly funny. Whatever is happening is gone now. You can stop focusing.”

No response.

Grian shakily turns to stare at the wall again. Grumbot normally starts responding if Grian starts doing something particularly stupid. If he stares at the wall long enough, he can probably force Grumbot to stop whatever this new punishment is. Maybe he can even finally figure out what he’s done wrong.

He doesn’t know how long he stares at the wall before he starts talking again.

“I don’t know what I did but I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. I don’t care that it’s not safe, I can’t stay here. Grumbot, let me out. Let me out. I can help. Please. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Let me out. Let me out.”

He feels his breathing start to get heavy. All at once, he starts punching at the wall, clawing at it, trying to tear it away. It’s soft and has a strange consistency and it won’t move.

“Grumbot, Grumbot stop not talking, I - look I’ll stay here, fine, just talk to me, Grumbot, please, I’m sorry, I won’t do - whatever this is - I’m sorry, I love you, I’m sorry,” Grian says. “Please, please, please, let me out, please, I have to get out, I have to get out.” His breathing gets erratic. His vision starts to get hazy. One of his hands picks at the other while he desperately claws at the wall and he’s breathing heavily and -

He goes dizzy and strangely calm and he wakes up sitting on the ground.

“Grumbot?”

He still gets no response.

This is about when Grian starts to cry for the second time. This doesn’t help either, and it doesn’t make him feel better, and he doesn’t get a note. Outside, it is still strangely silent once more. He slowly tries to un-crumble that last note Grumbot gave him to make sense of it. He still doesn’t know what he’s trying to make sense of.

He still doesn’t know why he’s here.

The walls are saccharine blue.

[bunnieswithknives]

NPC Grian doodles because he will always be my little scrungle bungle

[i-eat-cubes]

So…. The Empires guys really murdered one kid by flying tnt to the face and then abandoned another kid on a floating raft to visit another world. Does CPS exist in the Lore?

[inkydiamonds]

Yeah he was not sinister at all

[dailyhermitdoodles]

[81] [hermittober day 17] Grumbot P̸̍r̵͍͔̋!̶́m̶͆£̵̿! Just 1 and only 1 funky robot!

I love Grumbot! B̴̭̂o̷̡͝t̶͚͋ḧ̵̩́ ̵͔̑v̴̢͊e̷̯̍ŕ̴̳s̷͎̄i̸͉̊o̵̜͠n̸͈̅s̵̱̊!̵̖̑ I also loved making the design for Grumbot P̸̍r̵̋!̶́m̶͆£̵̿ :)

[desertdu0]

y'know the r&m butter robot scene? yeah.

[votederpycausemufins]

and the final chapter for the bots birthdays! only an hour and a half before the deadline in my timezone. I was given less than 24 hours notice for something else, so i got very delayed by that, but it's here!

now it's time for the bots to get their presents! nothing concerning here. Nothing at all.

All of the presents had been moved to the third floor, which looked like it was half decorated for a different party, though the bots weren’t sure what that would be. Sure it probably wouldn’t be too hard, but when there was a stack of presents sitting in the middle of the room, your focus tended to be drawn to that.

Jrum immediately dove at the presents and Grum was almost right behind him, but both of them were stopped. Since most of the presents were paired up, it seemed like it would be better if the presents were handed to the bots so that they were kept together. Grum agreed while Jrum didn’t care either way if it got him presents faster.

The small bundle of IOU’s was handed to the bots first, them being the most lackluster looking and only really getting them turned in once the season turned over. Grum still went through them individually so he and Jrum could thank the respective Hermits, which they appreciated. Bdubs followed up with giving a pair of vouchers to Snips. In the chaos of checking everything, Xisuma knew that, yes, a haircut wouldn’t cause issues with going to the next season and wouldn’t be left behind. But otherwise Xisuma hadn’t thought it through, and nor had Bdubs. “Bdubs?” Grum started, earning a ‘yeah?’ from the other Hermit. “Jrum and I don’t have hair.”

There was silence for a few minutes until Bdubs processed the sentence and yelled just a little in frustration as the Hermits laughed a bit, though he joined in with them shortly. Jrum just said they could figure something out later and put it in with the IOU’s.

Impulse handed ‘his’ gift over next. What had originally just been a treat basket for each bot had evolved slightly with Tango and Zedaph adding in to the baskets. Tango had thrown in a key to Decked Out for each bot as well as a pair of second fake keys which were instead for ravager petting. Meanwhile Zedaph had thrown in a pair of toys he had made. Apparently after the scare with Grum, he had snuck back out to the modded world and made what were essentially miniature contraptions that the bots could use as toys. Grum’s was a sort of joybuzzer type of item, but instead of shocking the other person, it was meant to send out a tiny, non-damaging firework when the user high fived someone else. Well, Grum didn’t have hands, but it was close enough. Meanwhile, Jrum had gotten a sort of piggy bank for diamonds. If he put it in the correct place and pressed a button, a flap would open with the face of a fox before its paw would come out and pull the diamond in.

There was a loud sigh from Grian as he pulled out two barely wrapped presents. “Etho, I assume these are from you?” Said presents were a stack of light gray glass panes that, put together, looked like a full block. They were kept together with ribbons in either blue or red, which were nice to most people. Grian, however, was an avian. And from the flat angle instead of the ridged angle, it looked almost like a pair of floating ribbons. Etho started to make some excuse about the bots not paying for any yet, but then Grum got ahold of his glass, unwrapped it, then ate an entire pane of glass.

There was silence for a moment before Jrum followed suit. “What? You gave us quartz cakes with diamonds. As well as Impulse’s various treats. You know we can eat non-food items.”

Cleo’s present was a number of clothing items that fit the bots better than if they raided their parent’s wardrobes (mainly Grian’s) to dress up in. Otherwise it was leftovers from the zoo and Keralis’ city, but she had still managed to customize a few articles just for them in case they wanted to wear them outside of play. Stress followed it up with an assortment of toys she bought in the hub. It wasn’t the most personalized, but it was numerous, and kids could always use toys in general.

Keralis followed in similar suit to Stress. Since he couldn’t give straight diamonds to Jrum, he instead hunted down wandering traders until he found one with the right trade. One exchange later, and he had eight nearly identical plushes that looked like diamond blocks. While he gave those to Jrum, Beef gave some album art to Grum which he really enjoyed.

False originally planned to give the bots customized weapons before realizing it wouldn’t really work well with the season change. Instead, she gave them some less useful items after forcing some enchants on them. Jrum was given a pair of shears while Grum was given an upgraded Mumbo for Mayor shirt.

After that, NPG, EX and Prof came over, Prof showing off his presents first along with the books associated with them to explain all the items and the agreement he had reached with Xisuma. Grum and Jrum looked over the items in awe before EX was pushed forward. The bots looked up, obviously expecting a gift. At first, Evil Xisuma kept with his story that his present was not destroying the server, but after getting kicked by Prof, he sighed and pulled out a pair of sweaters that were colored for the bots respectively though with a stripe of the other’s color going through the middle to make sure Grum’s wasn’t mistaken for Grian’s. Lastly, NPG handed the decks of cards over and gave a quick rundown of what they were. He then said he would explain it fully later, but it was time for the main presents.

The bots looked over to see Grian and Mumbo pulling out two larger presents that weren’t actually wrapped, just covered in blankets. Grum and Jrum uncovered their presents before being so in awe, their eyes actually changed to nether stars on their screens. 

Grum’s present was his audio hardware. Back when he was still just a mayoral robot, he had helped make the campaign songs. After getting his body, he had managed to make a few note block songs after studying and slightly upgrading the song Etho had placed in Keralis’ building. Jrum’s, on the other hand, was a replica of Grian’s machine from last season that would steal Mumbo’s mustache. It was disabled for now since in remaking it, Mumbo had added redstone similar to The Button so he wouldn’t lose his mustache every other day ending in y.

With the final gifts shown off, the bots started playing around with a few while Grian and Mumbo took what gifts would be used later. Xisuma helped them with transportation, or at least that was what he told the others. While that was half the truth, the other was about one gift that hadn’t been produced to the bots. A gift that none of the Hermits themselves had added. That being a single, plain white box, that opened up with a pair of masks that Grian was all too familiar with, along with a note specifically meant for Grian. 

It looked like Grian wasn’t the only Watcher just living in Hermitcraft. After a slight bit of discussion, the three agreed that it could be saved for another day, possibly even the following season if Grian asked about it. Today, however, was about the bots, and their birthday.

[redstonedust]

i want my meowmeow back but im also rotating how like. hc!false's notes imply she's confident that when she heads back to hermitcraft things will be fine. but it wont be. because the proximity to eachother has has unlocked the dangerous part of e!false and unless we get a confrontation before the arc ends the rest of the empires members are gonna be stuck with this potion slinging serial killer on their roster

[thymeofarrival]

“I’m hoping her memory loss is still working, i did my absolute best but I’m no scientist” excuse me What.

[luckyphilosopherchocolate]

Grumbot wants to destroy Empires because there is no Mumbo to make mayor and I understand that.

[redwinterroses]

man i love following Grian Minecraft's chill, lore-free content. man is so chill. never implies tragic off-screen backstories, never does any lore. oh certainly not lore. he can't touch the stuff, he's allergic, has a doctor's note to prove it. love that for him.

[acuteblock]

"MY GRIAN WAS SORRY TOO."

HEY YO WHAT THE FUCK WHAT DOES THAT MEAN--

GRUMBOT,,,