#especially with the latest episode by mumbo and grian and scar like they were just being silly i dont inherently see that as romantic

[mint-chocolate-rooibos]

i love minecraft so much and like hermitcraft is cool an all y'know BUT the fandom is not my cup of tea at allllllllllllllll. maybe i dont get it but it feels so off to have people "shipping" real life people imo?? like especially when they are married and they are just being silly with their friends, it just feels iffy to me. maybe because im aroace maybe thats why but idk

[bookworm-2692]

No liveblog of Grian’s episode because my sister woke up so we watched it together and liveblogged it together. But have some thoughts compiled anyway:

I love the “going through the rift” animation Grian included, and also the fact that he showed every empire at the start before continuing with the episode

The culture shock between the hyper-capitalist hermits, and the emperors for whom diamonds are only good for tools, and otherwise they trade items directly, is going to be super interesting going forward

Grian reading Jimmy’s laws, specifically the one about peace between Empires and saying “that’s why we’re here, we love peace on Hermitcraft”. Reminder that this is the man who has instigated or otherwise played a major role in every war/rebellion/conflict/resistance since he joined the server however many years ago now...

The prank on Pixlriffs!!! Honestly it was getting to the point where I was almost more excited to see what the recap would do with the crossover than the actual crossover itself, and Grian and Impulse’s prank on Pix with the Hermitcraft Recap music and the “this week on Empires” was absolutely brilliant. Especially Pix just... running away from them. Cannot wait to see Pix narrate this in a few days time

Also the fact that this week’s recap also needs to cover the King’s Gauntlet stuff and the end of that storyline... and then also the start of this storyline, in the same week

Also at least we now know why it was such a rush to finish up the King’s storyline, so it wasn’t hanging over their heads while half of them were on Empires

Also the fact that starting a new server with a prank (or otherwise just messing with someone) is now standard for Grain - in S7 he pranked Scar with the zombies, S8 was the Boatem Pole (granted that was also pranking himself as well as the others), S9 was the messing with Scar and throwing him down the hole... yep, definitely on brand for Grian to prank Pixlriffs before doing anything “useful” here

I loved seeing Grian and Impulse genuinely admiring Pix’s redstone contraption - and due to Mumbo’s latest video I now have a 5-10% understanding of comparators so I understood slightly more of what Pix was describing it as haha

I love that Grian told Oli he lived far away and that his base was small so it wouldn’t be that hard to move it, and then Oli told him it took a month for him to build it. Grian was like “okay if you want, I can move it for you in a day. I can rebuild it for you at that hill and we can be neighbours if you like”, and Oli thinks that might be nice. But the thing that stands out is like. Yes Oli welcome to Hermitcraft Insanity. You’re talking to the crazy builders, and Impulse (who was also there in the conversation) is the one who famously moved his entire base in S7 up by one block. Yes something that takes you a month quite literally will only take the Hermits a day or so

If Oli takes Grian up on this and then just opens his next episode with “yeah so a Hermit fairy came in the night and moved our entire base and we’re here now” would be funny

Grian trying to follow along with Empires lore, and make “Hermits” be a species, but struggling to think of what that could be, other than hobbit-ish. He’s like “yeah so we’d be a bit shorter, and Bdubs even smaller”, I love it so much.

“It shouldn’t take us too long, with all the Hermits on the one team, that’s unprecedented” yep you’re usually too busy starting wars Grian lmao

“The Hermitcraft-Empires Invasion - I mean crossover” great save there Grian well done

And then - the Portal broke on both sides. I knew it was glass on the Empires side so they couldn’t go back, but the fact that it also broke on the Hermitcraft side, so no one else can come through later? Interesting....

[hermitcraftheadcanons]

Hello Internet, welcome to GAME THEORY, where instead of putting a joke here I want to ask you a question. It's time to talk UNDERTALE.

Now I don't think I've ever gotten this many requests to cover a theory, (no requests times no requests is still no requests.) Anyway, across my tumblr dashboard, NO ONE has asked for this. And honestly, I'm disappointed. True loyal theorists will know that Undertale is my favorite game of all time.

Undertale is a game where every character, from goat mom to grind fodder has a sympathetic design and a unique personality, motivations, goals, fears. Whether you're saving or slaughtering them, the game makes you feel something every time you enter an encounter. But to me, one character stood out amongst all the rest. SANS. A skeleton named after the font, Comic Sans. ANYWAYS, Sans is, well, there's a lot of mystery around this guy. And before we get into it, let me put up a very special spoiler warning: UNDERTALE is a game best experienced blind. So if you haven't played it, pause your reading of this and come back after you've finished. I PROMISE YOU, I PROMISE you won't regret it. Alright, so everyone out of the pool and ready for the adult swim? Good. Because I'm feeling pretty determined to get to the bottom of Sans' mystery. So just to recap for those of you who haven't played the game and ignored the SPOILER WARNING, or just need a refresher, Sans is one of the two skeletal brothers who appears in the game. His partner is Papyrus, a loud, goofy trap lover also named after a font. But in the world of Undertale their origins are a big question mark. All you really know is what's given to us by a shopkeeper in Snowdin, who explains that Sans and Papyrus, quote, “just showed up one day and asserted themselves.” Weird, right? What's more is that, well, Papyrus is just kinda the goofy sidekick. Sans is much more complex.

He likes fart jokes, but he's also incredibly powerful and deadly serious. Not only is his boss battle the hardest in the game, he's one of the only characters who has knowledge and power over space and time. He can take shortcuts around the world through ridiculous routes. Even is walking through walls. He also acknowledges that he's only one of infinite versions of himself, making self-aware commentary of the various timelines that you've played through in the game. He can even count the number of times he's killed you. He acts like an arbiter of this world, passing out judgements on the player's actions in the game, even explaining the secrets of EXP and LOVE, or EXECUTION POINTS and LEVELS OF VIOLENCE, just to clarify. In short, he just doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the world of monsters. But then, what, or who, is he? Well, the idea that he doesn't belong in the underworld seems to be correct.

The evidence seems to point to the fact that he WAS, in fact, formerly a surface dweller. In the true pacifist ending of the game, as the group looks out onto the horizon, Papyrus asks Sans about the giant ball in the sky. Sans says, quote, “we call that the sun.” This is important because A, the usage of the word WE, and knowledge of the sun shows that Sans has a kinship or knowledge with other humans, and B, that despite he and Papyrus both being skeletons, or, supposedly, brothers, and apparently appeared in underworld at the same time, they CLEARLY have two very different histories. Why would Papyrus not know the name of the sun but Sans would?

We get further clues to Sans' origins as we hear him say multiple times he wants to "go home" or "go back." He says as much during his dinner date scene at the Mettaton hotel. He notices that the player wants to go home and says, quote, "I know the feeling." He then continues, "maybe sometimes it's better to take what's given to you." As though he ended up in the underworld by accident. AND in a genocide run during his boss fight he says, quote, "look, I gave up trying to go back a long time ago." End quote. And before you say he means going back to the surface world, that's clearly not the full story. His very next line of dialogue is, "and getting to the surface doesn't really appeal anymore either." Key word here is “EITHER.” Yes, he seems to hail from the surface and wants to go back, but based on his dialogue he no longer considers it his home. It's as though the surface world he once knew is gone, as though he's from a different time. It's pretty intriguing. So we're left with a being that appeared out of nowhere, presumably from being from the human surface, but from a different time period, who seemingly has the power to teleport. That's a lot of questions and not a lot of answers.

But here's where things get REALLY interesting. Sans has a hidden workshop that takes a fair amount of searching to find. You could say it takes a lot of DETERMINATION to unlock. Anyways, obligatory determination references aside, as you start to look for this easter egg Sans gives you a key to his room and says "it's time you learn the truth." After some searching you find the workshop which contains items that leave even more questions. A photo album featuring Sans and a bunch of smiling people you don't recognize, a badge, blueprints with illegible handwriting, and a broken machine hidden behind a curtain. In the latest update, one more detail was added. A hand-drawn picture of 3 smiling faces with the words “don't forget.”

So, what does it all mean? Well a lot of Undertale theorists have been linking these details to a feature to a character named W.D Gaster. A ghostly character who never truly appears in the game. Honestly, covering him is a theory all unto itself, and probably one best saved for another day. Even still, none of the Gaster theories I've seen have been able to explain all the details. In particular, the photo album, and the badge. And that's what kept nagging me as I researched Undertale. A badge? That one in particular really stuck out to me. Why would such an oddly specific item to be hidden in the huge easter egg of a room? Something that supposedly reveals the truth about Sans? Badges just aren't important in Undertale. Then it hit me. What if this badge isn't from Undertale? What if this badge is from a completely different series? And was, in fact, the most important badge in the history of gaming? One of the Iskall patreon badges.

Now, for those of you wondering what I'm talking about, the Iskall Patreon Badges are a pivotal item from Iskall’s patreon. You know, the one on Hermitcraft. Anyway, the Iskall Patreon Badges are a really important part of Iskall’s character. So I asked myself; what if the badge in Sans' drawer was ONE OF THOSE EXACT badges? Well first off, it made Undertale connected to my favorite youtuber, thereby making it even COOLER, but that's still a pretty big logical leap. I needed more. Let me tell you, as I started looking, more and more pieces started to fit into place.

In Hermitcraft Season 6, there are three Architechs. (This was before Stress joined in season 7.) These 3 were Iskall, Grian and MumboJumbo. And what does Sans happen to have in his other drawer? A photo album with pictures of Sans with people you don't recognize. Of course you don't know them, they're not characters present in Undertale. And note the word that's used here, PEOPLE you don't recognize. Not underworld monsters. So that's 2 items oddly linked to the Hermitcraft series.

But then, how do the blueprints and broken machine fit in? Well, in the final stretch of Hermitcraft, Iskall is the only one who hasn’t died since the Demise game, so he sells his own body to the highest bidder. Except, it comes with a cost. Everyone is poor. As a result, and with the help of ImpulseSV, the Architechs (minus Mumbo,) are forced to finally kill Iskall, ending his streak since the beginning of demise. I watched this episode in 2020 and I'm not ashamed to admit that when I first saw this scene, I cried. It's DEVASTATING.

Iskall says goodbye to his friends, his co-workers, this character you've grown to love and care about is suddenly promising to sacrifice his life. For all he knows, there is no possibility of him being able to come back after his Demise. It's this incredibly dark departure in the final moments of what was otherwise a fun, quirky, and colorful Season 6.

So what does all of this have to do with Undertale? A LOT, actually. But the first thing you need to know is that the hermits are known for their, let's say, unique written linguistic style.

That would explain the illegible handwriting on the blueprints. And the machine? I think a broken infinity portal is behind that curtain. Now that may seem like a stretch, but it actually explains a lot.

If Sans wound up in Undertale via whacky infinity portal hyjinx, it could provide a reason for why he's a skeleton. He used the machine as organic matter and suffered the consequences. Not killing him, but turning at least a part of him into a pile of bones. That could also explain why Sans has given up hope for going home. Remember the infinity portal is a time machine. By being in the underworld, he's not only in a different place, but based on how he talks, he's also in a different time, with no hope of travelling back to the time he came from. This could theoretically happen. It turned Scar into a wizard and completely disintegrated Welsknight, so the rules are… Flimsy at best.

But the crossovers between Hermitcraft and Undertale continue. In Grian’s episode, (EDIT IN TIMESTAMP) he mentions he’s amazed that Iskall only escaped his demise with a lost arm. He says Iskall had “a lot of determination to not die for real,” and that he’s going to continue to study this. Seems awfully similar to the same experiments happening in Undertale around the trait of determination, no? Especially since so much has shown that Sans was a key player in those experiments.

But I'm sure you also want physical evidence right? Well don't worry, because I have plenty. Take a look at Iskall and Sans side by side. Iskall’s left eye is replaced with a diamond loupe. Sans’ left eye glows blue when he’s mad. Both have extremely chill yet are known for their jokes and, dare I say, laugh.

In short, we have some incredibly strong proof that the Hermitcraft Cinematic Universe, (HCU) is somehow connected to the Undertale world, which brings us back to our initial question, WHO IS SANS?

Well, what if we took it one final step and said that Sans happened to be Iskall from Hermitcraft? Sent through the Infinity Portal at the end of season 6 to go to Season 7, carrying an Iskall Patreon Badge and his photo album. Not only do all the items in the workshop suddenly fit, but so does Sans’ behavior.

Remember, Sans can seemingly travel extremely quickly. And Iskall just happens to have an elytra, a device that allows people to travel hundreds of metres extremely quickly. This even explains why Sans bleeds when you finally hit him. He is, or at least, WAS, a human.

Oh and finally, Sans shares two out of five letters with the name Iskall. That's just a fun one. I thought it was worth mentioning.

But if there was any doubt, we have to look no further than the creator's previous work. Toby Fox, the man behind Undertale is actually DocM77, the creator of every hermit (besides Scar.) Now, if Toby Fox, the creator of Undertale, is also DocM77, creator of Iskall, we know they will most definitely share a universe. Which brings us back to Undertale. 2 faces, with “don't forget” written on it? It's Iskall, trying to remember his 2 friends. In short, Undertale is a continuation of Toby’s version of Hermitcraft Season 6, with Iskall never being able to get home, adopting the name Sans. The pieces all just seem to fit. Now all we need is an appearance from Ethoslab and we’ve got ourselves a true sequel.

But hey, that's just a theory. A GAME THEORY! THANKS FOR WATCHING!

[prismarine-parrots]

The Recap

I have yet to read a fanfic with Recap so I’m changing that, you’re welcome? :P

Zloy pushed open the double doors to the Hermitcraft Recap stage, ready to throw together and record the next episode. However, unlike per usual when the undead zombie entered, the lights were off and the studio was eerily silent.

"Pix? You here?" Zloy called. No reply.

Weird. Normally I'm the late one. Guess I'll get set up without him them.

Zloy kicked the door closed with his foot and headed up to his place in the control booth above their news set on the stage. He put down his laptop and plugged it in to the permanent charger they had there, opening the screen...

And paused.

A devious smirk made its way into Zloy's face as he got a mischievous idea. He quickly got up and turned the lights back off in the studio, then pulled his laptop off the desk to the floor and he sat and brought up a video.

Now all I have to do is wait, Zloy chuckled under his breath, Pix will never know what his him!

Ten incredibly boring minutes of waiting and doodling on a notepad in the lowlight later, the studio doors slammed open and there was heavy breathing.

"I'M HERE!"

The Russian jumped and froze underneath the desk at the loud exclamation. He hit his head on the desk and his green hand hit the keyboard of his laptop, making the screen flare to life and the video he had up start playing.

"DUH DUH DUH DAH. DUH DUH DUH DAH DUH DUH DUH"

The Hermitcraft Recap theme song started playing at 100% volume of the studio speakers, meaning that it could be felt through the floor and blasted into your very soul. The zombie could hear the human's scream and something metal falling over.

“THIS WEEK, ON HERMITCRAFT—“

"ZLOOOYYY!" Pixlriffs yelled over the glitched audio of his own voice, "TURN IT OFF, RIGHT NOW!"

Zloy was crying and laughing in his hiding spot. Not only did he get Pixlriffs, but he got himself as well! He blindly reached out and nearly punched the spacebar, before falling backward against the backing of the desk and howling.

A couple of seconds later there were grey jeans and black sneakers in front of him, and Zloy knew he was busted and started a new fit of giggling.

"Zloy, I'm going to kill you," Pixl stayed in a flat voice.

"I'm already undead though," the zombie reminded between hiccups.

Pixl groaned. "Whatever. Get up, we have a Recap episode to make..." his tone thankfully wasn't angry in the slightest, just annoyed and probably hiding humor to look like the professional one of the duo.

Zloy closed his laptop and stood up, still grinning like a fool. Pixl rolled his eyes, finally giving into the smile the zombie knew was waiting, and they sat down in their respective rolling chairs to plan their next Recap video.

"So, I know that Doc did more with his piston bolt in the Nether, Scar did another jangle despite being revealed, ConCorp pranked Sahara, Iskall placed a bunch of ice, Mumbo actually went back to his base to work on his own stuff instead of Sahara..."

Pixlriffs trailed off as he noticed Zloy's stare. "Yes?"

"No 'good morning, how are you, Zloy?'" The zombie said, a sad look on his face just to mess with Pixl more.

The human groaned again. "No, not after that stunt you just pulled. My ears are still ringing. What were we talking about again that's not you...?" 

Zloy lost it again.

—————

Two hours later they had their script written and now had roughly an hour to film and start editing. Zloy had about thirty tabs open at the top of his browser, all single Hermitcraft videos  that he was going to pull clips from. He had their Google Doc script up and was currently pulling it up on the TV monitor down by the camera for Pixl to read while he’s narrating. Pixl himself was sitting at his spot at the news desk, shuffling the prop papers as he usually does before they start. The papers were literally there just for show, as if they were to print it all then 1. Pixel would be constantly reading off the paper instead of reading off the screen just to the side of the camera and 2. It would waste a lot of ink.

“You ready, Pix?” Zloy spoke into the microphone that boosted his voice down at the set. Pixl gave a thumbs up in confirmation. Zloy nodded.

“Alright, started recording. Good to go in three, two, one...”

Pixl started reading his lines, not quite having any context to what he was going to be voicing over but knowing the general gist of it from reviewing the hermit’s episodes and writing the script. They of course had their strange but humorous intro and Zloy was writing out what he was going to put as his editor’s note in the title card (probably something with messing with Pixl again honestly).

Halfway through Pixl reporting on Scar’s latest Jangler deed that Xisuma had ordered, Zloy got bored. Normally when he got bored during recording he would start editing or doodle on his notepad he always brought with him, but right now he didn’t feel like doing either. He pressed the button to talk into the intercom, Pixl pausing just barely when he saw the red light come on down on set.

“Jingle, jangle, jungle, jongle...” Zloy whispered quietly, knowingly interrupting Pixl just enough to confuse him.

“What in the world, Zloy?” Pixl asked.

“What? Nothing!”

“...You’re trying to pull my leg again aren’t you.”

“No? No idea what you’re talking about,” the zombie grinned behind the mic, withholding the devious tone that threatened to sneak into his voice.

Pixl flicked a hand at him from his spot at the desk.

“You’re not fooling me, Zloy.”

“I’m not trying to fool you!”

There was an audible groan and Pixl shifted, turning his back to his editor.

“Might be cutting this out but Zloy is being annoying so that’s why I’ve cut. Remember, we’re not professionals here like Mumbo. Zloy isn’t able to control himself when I’m recording, it seems.”

Zloy chuckled under his breath, having way too much fun with this.

“Worth it!” He cheered into the microphone, immediately getting an annoyed look but also a smile from Pixl.

“Just cut this part out, alright?” And with that, the human went back to recording his voice over.

Meanwhile, Zloy knew exactly what he was adding for their silly intro in the editing process. He knew his comments would totally be spammed with complaints of deafness from the excessively loud intro music he was going to add, but to poke at literally everyone who watches, and especially Pix? Completely worth it.

—————————

Word count: 1270

Creative liberties were taken because Recap doesn’t have a recording studio in MC but I really want them to have one instead of it just being in a voice call?

Now the real question: imagine Zloy and Grian teaming up?