#light gray shulker box

[daily-mc-block]

Light Gray Shulker Box

[tiny-minecraft-rabbit]

Day 4: Shrink Ray

Using my own prompt list: here. You can also read this and every prompt as they come on AO3.

Summary:

Zed has a super fun and awesome new challenge for Tango. It does require some.. size adjustments!

"Tango! Tango! Tango!"

"Zed! Zed! Zed!" Tango repeated, chuckling as he let the shulker box closed, standing for his friend. "What can I do for you buddy?"

Zed had a grin that meant something very silly and very fun was about to happen, which was the usual expression Zed had. It was pretty fantastic having a friend like him. 

"You're going to love this one," he insisted, hands flapping at his side, "Wanna follow me?"

Tango glanced down at his shulker box and the project of redstone behind him. He really should get this finished… but a few hours working with Zed was worth it. "Yeah, hold on," he broke away the shulker box and set it back into an enderchest. Once everything was just tidy enough that it wouldn't be overwhelming to return to he took Zedaph's hand. 

Surprisingly Zed didn't lead him back to his base, instead leading him underground. The facility was made of concrete and quartz, purposefully looking sterile and like a mad scientist lab, though it only seemed to be a long hallway that led to a small room with a gray stained glass window that looked into a large room. Inside the large room was a giant thing with a big red X painted on the floor where it was pointed, and to the side was a small maze, made for something about the size of a frog or even an endermite, with a cake sat in the middle.

Tango couldn't help the giggles, "Well this isn't ominous at all!" 

"I know right! Very comforting. There's even cake!" Zed replied with a grin, flipping a lever and the bright overhead lights turned on, "Now, Tango, I think you know where I want you."

"I can take a guess. Do I- Do I get to know what you're going to be blasting me with?" 

"You'll know very soon. Right this way," Zed said in lieu of explaining, opening an iron door and standing aside to let Tango through first. 

Anybody but Zed Tango would be turning the other direction and running for the hills, but there was always something so fun with Zed's tasks or experiments. Even if he ended up dead he would die laughing and cheering. He stepped through the iron door, barely containing a yelp as it slammed shut behind him, and walked down the few stairs (there was a bed at the bottom and he set his spawn) and into the big room.

He waved to Zed through the window and stood a few steps to the left of the red X, "Here?" 

He could see Zed's exasperated sighing and giggled. "To the right, Tango! On the X! Come on, you got the easy part. For now, that is."

Tango raised an eyebrow as that but swiftly moved over on top of the X, "Okay. Okay. Here then?" 

"Perfect! Now I need you to stand very still. I'be only tested this on sheep so far, and if they wriggled too much they died," Zed explained as he pressed a button in front of him. 

His laughter got slightly more nervous, "Noted! Staying still." 

The machine started lighting up, flashing a spiral of blues and purple, and humming lowly as it powered up. He hadn’t the faintest idea what was going to occur, but the pure yellow beam of light completely washed over him. He looked down, observing his arms and legs, trying to see what it was doing to him; if it was giving him polka dots or turing his outfit into a bright pink leotard. On the surface it didn’t look like it was doing anything. He looked up at Zedaph through the observation window to see him grinning, so it must of been working. He looked back at the machine– and then he had to look up at the machine, cause it was significantly larger than it was a moment ago. Another glance at Zed, and then the rest of the room, proved just what he thought, everything else had gotten proportionally bigger as well. 

Or, well, he had gotten a lot smaller. 

He burst into excited laughter as the machine turned off, “Zed! What? How!?” 

“The power of science, my friend!” he answered through the intercom. He pointed towards the maze at the side of the room, “Please enter, would you? There should be a ladder on the back.” 

“You’ve turned me into a lab rat!” Tango accused as he made his way over to the maze. He climbed the ladder quickly. The walls of the maze that he could have easily seen over just moments ago towered over him, and he wished he had thought to memorize it’s layout (but to be fair there was no way he could have known he was going to be in the maze). 

“You have one minute to get through! After one minute I’ll be adding a endermite for every thirty seconds you take, understand?” 

“Endermites? Wait- Wait- What’s the point of this challenge? Why am I doing this?” 

“Your timer starts-” Zed grinned, completely ignoring Tango, “Now!” 

“Oh geez,” Tango sighed before racing through the maze. He had a somewhat good idea where to go, but it was a lot bigger and trickier than he thought it was going to be. 

The minute passed before he was even halfway through, a note block chiming above him. There was the sound something like a gate opening and the chitters of a endermite echoed through the walls. He ran faster. Then another thirty seconds, still no end to the maze, and another endermite entered. Then another. 

It was two minutes and seven seconds in when he ran into an endermite, the bug that usually only ticked one heart of damage grabbed a hold of his leg and suddenly he was half health. He barely got a chance to scream before the second grab

He sat upright in the bed, laughing as he did. He was back to his usual size, which was expected, Zed didn’t have admin abilities. He couldn’t change his code so casually, this was more akin to a potion or beacon effect. He quickly made his way back into the middle of the room. 

“That was amazing!” He shouted up at Zed before yelping as an endermite bit him on the ankle. He crushed it under his foot on impulse. (He did not think about how it was possible that was the endermite that killed him and how easy it was to smash something so small.)

“Glad you enjoyed! Ready for round two?” Zed asked, hand already on the lever. 

Tango nodded, taking a step back onto the red X. “Let’s do this!” 

[radar-of-minecraft]

Minecraft Items Challenge: The Exploration Update: Finale

This post starts at my end portal, where which will definitely not waste my time.

A few pictures of me flying around the end at the start of my 90 minute shell grinding session, in The Exploration Update, looting does not effect shulker shell drops, so I had to visit about 8 end cities before getting my 40ish shells.

Weridly enough, I got enough XP from Shulkers to keep my elytra at almost half health.

Here's all of the shulker boxes freshly dyed.

and here's the collection update, in this post I obtained the White Shulker Box, Light Gray Shulker Box, Gray Shulker Box, Black Shulker Box, Brown Shulker Box, Orange Shulker Box, Yellow Shulker Box, Lime Shulker Box, Green Shulker Box, Cyan Shulker Box, Light Blue Shulker Box, Blue Shulker Box, Purple Shulker Box, Magenta Shulker Box, Pink Shulker Box, Red Shulker Box. This completes The Exploration Update.

[orcboxer]

It's a series of color coded shulker boxes arranged in loose rainbow order. Purple pink magenta magenta again red orange yellow brown brown again and that's the top row. Second row is blue light blue cyan green lime-green white light grey dark grey black. Bottom row can be any color but usually black.

Purple holds valuables (diamonds, gold, etc). Pink holds fireworks. Magenta 1 holds monster parts. Magenta 2 holds food. Red holds redstone, orange holds furniture, yellow holds light sources, brown 1 holds logs and planks, and brown 2 holds wood products (stairs, slabs, doors etc). Blue holds ocean-related stuff (boats, sponges, fish etc). Light blue holds exploration materials (maps, compasses, more boats etc). Cyan holds armor and tools. Green holds decoratives (paintings, pottery, frames, etc). Lime holds dye, wool, and beds. White holds books and bookshelves. Light grey holds iron. Dark gray holds enchanting items (lapis, unenchanted armor/tools, enchanted books). Black holds potions and potion ingredients.

The bottom row of shulker boxes can be any color and are for miscellaneous storage. I have lately started keeping a second cyan box down there just for moss, which is my go-to temp-block. It don't go in the rainbow tho because it would fuck up the perfect two-row gradient.

had a dream a crowd of people asked me how I organize my ender chest in minecraft and I could not wake up until I had explained every single slot

[pixiemage]

Through a Crack in the Void

Part 11 / ??? [ Previous | Next? ] [ Chapter List ]

[With the gift of clothes and the return of something long forgotten, Grian begins to feel more like himself again. In another part of the server, the admin ponders conversations, both past and future.]

{This story can also be found on Archive of our Own}

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Trying on clothes ended being both more and less of an ordeal than Grian had anticipated. He had realized fairly quickly that he wouldn’t be able to actually try on most of the shirts Bdubs had brought along thanks to his wings, but Cleo had convinced him to basically do a one-man fashion show with everything else in the shulker box. A few things fit him fairly well despite the height difference between himself and Bdubs. A greater majority simply weren’t his style or didn’t sit well on him, but a few pants and shorts were set aside for Cleo to alter and one or two of the shirts were added to the same pile - ‘Since they look pretty close’, she had told him. (One dark gray tank top was immediately snatched up by Cleo for quick alterations, the back opened up and re-hemmed along the edges to allow room for his wings all while Grian kept trying on the remainder of Bdubs’ donations. ‘For immediate use’, she’d quipped. Her muttered comments about how he was ‘Swimming in Iskall’s hand-me-downs’ left no room for his weak protests, no matter how much he wanted to tell her that he could wait a few days and that she didn’t have to rush to get anything done.

She called him a guest. He thought of himself as an accidental invader. He didn’t bother correcting her.

There had even been a few skirts in the mix, though it was never made clear if they had been donated to the cause by Cleo or if they had come from Bdubs’ closet like everything else. Those Grian didn’t even bother with. Even if he was the type to wear dresses or skirts for costume purposes, they weren’t the kind of thing he went for on a normal day. (And even if they had been it would have been an impractical choice for someone who relied heavily on flight.)

The strangest part of it all was the sensation of so many different fabrics against his skin, his rather limited wardrobe from the past decade thrown into sharp contrast to the wide variety Bdubs had brought along. Cotton and denim and linen and wool…some of them must have come from outside of Hermitcraft, from a non-vanilla server or a vendor at the server hub market. There was a silk or satin dress shirt in the mix that Grian was a little sad he couldn’t try on, just to feel what it was like to wear it. But it wasn’t something he thought he might have a need for so it wasn’t worth cutting it up just for the sake of a tactile experience.

Among everything, there was a lone pair of black jeans that fit Grian almost perfectly save for the length of the legs, but when he cuffed the bottoms it was as if they were made for him. These he kept, not even bothering with asking for alterations from Cleo. They were comfortable and durable and - most importantly - a wonderful contrast to the light, airy, loose-legged trousers he had been clothed in for most of the past decade. When he combined it with the sneakers (which also fit, a minor miracle in his opinion) and the tank top Cleo had already finished altering (another minor miracle; he couldn’t fathom how she had done it so quickly) the whole outfit felt so different from what he had been wearing under the Watchers’ hold. It felt new. It felt refreshing. It felt like rebellion and defiance and…

…and it felt, in his opinion, a whole lot like freedom.

Due to the lack of a mirror, Grian had taken to stepping outside and using the water pools in Mumbo’s wheat farm to get a look at himself while Mumbo caught up with his friends inside. It was so surreal, he realized, after years of seeing the same purple-toned reflection of himself in the dark surfaces of glossy obsidian pillars and walls. It was surreal to see something different standing there opposite him. If it weren’t for the color of his wings and the lingering outline of burns on his face, he could almost pretend he was looking through a window to the past, to a time before Evo had even happened.

The opening of a door and the sound of chattering voices drew Grian from his thoughts and he turned, spotting Mumbo standing in the open door to the base and tossing a laugh back over his shoulder toward his houseguests.

“No, no! Please,” he was saying, smiling all the while, “take your time. I’ll just be a few minutes.”

Then the door swung shut behind him, quieting the sounds coming from inside the house.

“What’s up?” Grian asked, straightening the hem of his new shirt self-consciously.

Mumbo’s smile turned to him and it brightened.

“Grian! Hey. I, er…actually, I have something for you.”

Grian blinked. He did?

“You do?” He glanced toward the door, toward where Bdubs and Cleo and the gifted clothes were hidden behind a wall. “I mean - I’ve already been given so much today.”

“Well - yes, I suppose so,” Mumbo agreed, chuckling slightly. He made a few movements in the air before him with his right hand as he approached, clear signs that he was going through his inventory. “But, er - this is…well, a bit different. Less of a gift, more of a return.”

“A return?” Grian’s brow furrowed and he cocked his head to the side. “What d’you mean? I haven’t given you anything.”

“Not recently, no. It’s from a while ago. I - well, here.”

Mumbo’s hand stilled and something red appeared in his grip, red and soft and so achingly familiar that Grian couldn’t help the gasp and widened eyes that came forth when he realized what Mumbo was holding. It was a sweater. It was his sweater. He had completely forgotten - he had left it in Mumbo’s care before leaving for Evo, having remembered at the last minute that the configuration of wool had changed over the years and that his favorite sweater might not survive if he tried to bring it to an ancient update like the one Evo started on. He’d had to go dig out old clothes from years past that still conformed to beta code structures, something which some of his friends had followed his lead on once he sent out a message to the group about it. Leaving his sweater with Mumbo hadn’t been the plan, but it had still been in his inventory when he was leaving, and he didn’t have time to move it, and Mumbo had offered–

With reverent hands, Grian reached out and took the proffered clothing from his friend’s grip, letting out an involuntary trill at the familiarity of the soft texture, at the feeling of comfort it gave him.

“You…Mumbo…” his words were watery and so were his eyes, gratitude and relief and an emotional whirlwind he couldn’t name welling in his chest. When he looked up, Mumbo’s smile was bright and his eyes were suspiciously shiny. “...you kept it?”

“Mate, of course I kept it,” Mumbo told him as if it was a ridiculous thing to ask. “You told me to take care of it, didn’t you? I’ve had it in my long-term storage since you gave it to me, and then when Bdubs told me he and Cleo were coming over with clothes, I remembered and - well.” He shrugged, scuffing one shoe against the grass and tucking his hands in his pockets. “I thought you might like it back. If not, that’s alright too, I can just put it back, but I - oof!”

Mumbo’s ramblings were cut off by a sudden armful of clingy avian, Grian’s hug knocking him back a step and making him chuckle. Grian buried his face against his friend’s chest and let out a breath, his smile hidden against the dark fabric of Mumbo’s suit.

“Thank you,” he breathed. Mumbo returned the hug without hesitation.

“You’re more than welcome,” he returned gently, a smile in his words. After a long moment he pulled away, casting a glance toward the sweater Grian was still clutching in one hand. An anxious look flitted across his face for a fraction of a second. “It’s - I mean, it’s okay, isn’t it? Stasis didn’t do anything to it, right?”

Grian let out a startled laugh.

“Mumbo–” He snorted, rolling his eyes. “Mumbo, you spoon, it’s fabric. It’s not food. It’s fine.”

“Right! Right. Of course.” Mumbo nodded awkwardly, his face going a bit pink, though he brushed it away with a smile quickly enough. “Bdubs and Cleo are leaving soon, by the way. Just so you know.”

“Ah - right.” Grian threw a look over Mumbo’s shoulder toward the house. “I reckon I should say thank you, shouldn’t I?”

Mumbo let out a noise of fond exasperation.

“Grian, you’ve thanked them a dozen times by now. It’s fine. Though I think they’d like to say goodbye if you don’t mind.”

“Why on earth would I mind?” Grian asked, blinking his attention back to Mumbo.

“Well - I don’t know, do I?” Mumbo spluttered, throwing up his hands. “I don’t know why you do half the things you do. Here I am, just trying to be polite, and my best friend decides to tease me for–”

“Oh my goodness, Mumbo!” Grian groaned, laughing all the while, and shoved his taller friend toward the house. “Go back inside you nutter. I’ll join you in a tick.”

Once Mumbo’s chuckling form had vanished behind the closed front door, Grian dropped his eyes to the red sweater he was still holding. He smiled softly to himself and rubbed the soft fabric between his fingers. It was such a simple thing, really. It was only a sweater. Yet after everything that had happened, such a simple reminder of home and friendship and before warmed Grian’s heart like nothing else. He quickly undid the pair of zippers that were stitched into the fabric below each wing sleeve and pulled the sweater over his head, his fingers refastening everything with practiced ease as if it had only been yesterday that he last put it on. Once he had it on and the comforting warmth was beginning to wash over him he took a few steps closer to the wheat farm. This time, when he stared down at his own reflection in the water, Grian could finally say that he felt more like himself than he had in years.

Saying goodbye to Cleo and Bdubs wasn’t a very dramatic affair. Cleo made promises to get the altered clothes back to him as soon as she could, and Grian thanked them both - again - for everything while Bdubs shrugged it off with a grin.

“I should probably be makin’ my rounds though,” he told them as he glanced at the sun’s position in the sky. “I’ve still got a bunch o’ people to say hi to before I head back home.”

“Do you know when you might be back?” Cleo asked, finishing packing up her inventory as she did so.

Bdubs shrugged.

“I’m not sure. Might be a few more months. But hey–” He grinned, winking at them all. “–trust me when I say you’ll know when I’m back. I’ll make a big entrance and everything!”

“I’d expect nothing less,” Mumbo grinned, his hands tucked away in his pockets as their little group made their way to Bdubs’ and Cleo’s boat that still sat upon the shore. “Just don’t be a stranger, yeah? Shoot out a message now and again, even if it’s just to Xisuma. He’ll pass anything along if you want him to, you know that.”

“Aww, I know,” Bdubs grinned back. “Don’t worry about little ol’ me. I’ll be back before you know it!”

By the time the pair had vanished out of sight behind a distant shoreline, a peaceful sort of silence had settled over the little island. Grian felt eyes on him, felt Mumbo watching him, but he didn’t speak, simply taking in the sight of the sunset as it painted the sky above the ocean in a soft and brilliant array of colors.

“You seem happy.”

Grian blinked, Mumbo’s quiet words taking him by surprise. He quirked an eyebrow at his friend.

“Is that surprising?”

“Well, no, I meant–” Mumbo trailed off, taking in Grian’s appearance with a soft smile. “...you’re more like yourself today. More like your old self. You seem happier than you were when you first arrived. It’s just…nice to see you like this.”

“...oh.”

Grian’s expression softened and he looked back out over the water again, watching the pinks and oranges and purples in the sky slowly darken with the setting sun. The twitch of a genuine smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“I…I guess I am. Happy, I mean.” His wings fluttered behind him, his feathers rustling as they settled more comfortably against his back, ever mindful of how sore they were from that morning’s flight. “I dunno. It’s like it’s finally sinking in that I’m safe here. That I’m free here.” For however long it would last.

Mumbo leaned down slightly to bump shoulders with him, a bright smile lighting up his eyes.

“Good. I’m glad.” There was a pause, a quiet moment where they both seemed to be watching the sunset and enjoying the light sea breeze. Then– “You overworked your wings this morning, didn’t you?”

Grian spluttered, shooting Mumbo an offended look, but the knowing smirk on the taller player’s face had him deflating in an instant. He scowled and folded his arms over his chest, his wings drooping against the ground behind him

“How’d you even know that?”

“You were favoring them the entire time you were doing your little fashion show for Cleo,” Mumbo mused, amused. “Plus I know how you hold yourself when they’re sore. I still remember when you broke your wing a few years ago. Your constant whining made it fairly memorable.”

“Mumboooo,” Grian groaned, shoving the other player away from him. “You’re just taking the mick now.”

Mumbo’s eyes sparkled with mirth and his mustache curled with his smile.

“Heh, a bit, yeah,” he admitted. He spun on the spot and nodded toward the house, all but abandoning his shorter friend with his long strides. “Come on then. I’ve got a few of those healing potions Stress left behind. I’m not saying you should make a habit out of it, but we’ll get you sorted this once.”

“Only the once?” Grian pestered, darting to keep up with the redstoner. “That’s not a very good health care policy, now is it?”

Mumbo huffed in exasperation.

“Well maybe you’ll learn a lesson or something and take it easy if I threaten to leave you in your misery the next time you don’t follow doctor’s orders.” It took little more than a shit-eating grin from Grian for Mumbo to sigh and add: “Though if I know you as well as I think I do, that wouldn’t do much to stop you, now would it?”

Bright laughter broke out over the island as the sun set on Hermitcraft, soon joined by a lower chuckling that made the moment feel light and warm. It was a good day.

~  ~  ~ ~  ~

Xisuma checked the clock on his communicator for the umpteenth time, having not registered the small digital digits the last few times he had glanced at it. His thoughts were in a bit of a jumble, so he could forgive himself the repeated spaciness this time around. He wouldn’t have bothered checking the time at all really if he hadn’t told Grian he would meet him later that afternoon, and despite how reluctant he still was about being the administrator of Hermitcraft, he’d be damned if he fell flat on his duties when a new member was involved. True, he had given a few trusted Hermits certain administrative privileges to ensure there was always someone around to help keep things running smoothly, but this particular responsibility fell to X alone.

Plus he had promised Grian that nobody else would be allowed to view his player code besides himself and TFC, a promise which he intended to keep to the best of his abilities.

After checking his communicator for a fifth time, Xisuma sighed and banished it to his inventory along with the string he had been utilizing for the AFK fishing farm he’d been trying to build. (Admittedly, it was a bit of a cheat that took advantage of an odd string of coding in vanilla worlds, but it wasn’t as if he was the only person using one on the server. Right?) He slipped outside and sidestepped into the main storage room of his base, making sure the door had closed behind him before removing his helmet. It was set aside on a chest with a dull thunk as he scratched at his jaw, the quiet scritch scritch of his gloves against his beard barely registering.

“What do you know about Watchers?”

TFC’s question from the other day floated back to him, the same conversation that had been looping in his head since it had happened. What did he know about Watchers? More than most, he’d imagine. He was a voidborn after all and Watchers were from an adjacent realm. He’d heard stories growing up and knew full well how powerful they could be. How vengeful, if they weren’t the friendly sort. How aloof and self-righteous, even if they were. How possessive they tended to be either way, and how some - outliers mostly, but some - even went so far as to steal players away from their homes as if they were little more than toys to play with.

“Isn’t it amazing, ‘Suma? I’m so much stronger now! They taught me, they showed me–”

“–told me it’s the only way to finish my training. I won’t let you stand in my way. It’ll all be destroyed, and there’s nothing you can do to–”

Stop it.

Xisuma banished the old memory, though its similarity to some of the things Grian had told him was something he didn’t fail to notice.

“I don’t like doing it,” Grian had said, the day Xisuma had stopped by to ask him some questions about his arrival on the server. “They taught me how, I didn’t ask to learn, they taught me and trained me and then–”

And then. And then something must have happened that warranted Grian wanting to escape, that warranted him needing to, but for all his curiosity on the subject Xisuma wasn’t about to pry. It wasn’t his place, and he had already learned so much - too much - from Grian’s player code and from what TFC had found out from that friend of his.

“When I was still runnin’ with those circles, Watchers tended to be a pretty uniform bunch. Protectors of worlds, creators of new life, breathing code into the universe - all those folk tales people tell? Well, a lot of ‘em aren’t wrong. ‘Course, I’ve been away for a while, and my old friend told me a few things have changed since I was more in touch with everyone. See, some Watchers started spending too much time around players, and they got curious. They learned. I reckon a majority of ‘em are still like all those old stories - distant and holier-than-thou and such - but a decent number of ‘em started breaking off and forming factions. Some of ‘em took up different names - Kristin mentioned something called the ‘Listeners’, though I didn’t ask about it. Some of the factions are friendly, some of ‘em not so much. The friendlier ones’ll take in lost players and teach ‘em their magic, which sounds a bit like what happened to our new kid - but not quite. See, trouble is, it wasn’t just the friendlier ones that got curious about players. Some of ‘em see us lowly folk–”

“Tin, I’m not sure you can count yourself as part of ‘us lowly folk’.”

“...well, I’m close enough these days. But - right, some of ‘em see lowly players as nothin’ more than playthings. They’ll take ‘em in, sure, and they’ll teach them their magic, but it's often against their will and they’ve done unspeakable things to the people they steal away from their homes. If the original Watchers are what all those ‘protectors of worlds’ stories spawned from, then some of these darker factions? They’re why ‘destroyers of worlds’ is even a name people attach to ‘em.”

“...and you think they’re who got ahold of Grian?”

TFC’s eyes had turned dark at the suggestion and he had nodded, something pained and sad in his expression.

“Oh, I almost guarantee it.”

And later in the conversation, when Xisuma had told the older Hermit that Grian had given them the okay to look at his player code–

“You said he was on some server called Evolution before this, right?”

“He was. Why?”

And the old miner had let out a weary sigh, scratching at his beard and staring at the little distorted line of text on Grian’s prior server list in his player code.

“Well…if it’s the place I think it is, I think your boy’s old server became the site of an interdimensional turf war without his knowledge. There’s skirmishes an’ such that’ll break out between some o’ the factions every few decades or so, Kristin said, and servers can get caught in the crossfire. I’d bet you anything Evolution was one of ‘em.”

Xisuma was the admin, but it was situations like this that made him wish Generik had handed the role over to someone else - anyone else - back when the older player had chosen to leave Hermitcraft behind. X wasn’t built for this. He wasn’t great at this. He could handle misbehaving coding just fine, and he could make decisions for the greater server if need be, but large conflicts and complex player histories and emotional turmoil–

X took a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose, his ever-present headache returning tenfold.

Grian deserved to know about all this, just in case any of it was true. But Xisuma was reluctant to bring it up so soon lest he set off another panic like the last time he had spoken to the young avian. For now though - for now he could start with the basics. He could lay some things out on the table, see if Grian was willing to share any of his story, and when all was said and done - whether Grian opened up to him or not - Xisuma would add him to the whitelist with Grian there to see it with his own eyes. Whatever happened after that was up in the air.

Though - Xisuma summoned his communicator and checked the time, this time actually registering the numbers lighting up his screen - with how chaotic Hermitcraft tended to be, if there was anything X had learned to be good at it was improvisation. He’d figure it out.

And if it turned out he couldn’t, then Joe Hills would certainly be up to the task.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[A/N: The red sweater! ^^ I've had that scene planned for a very long time. I didn't know how it would play out exactly, but I did know Mumbo would be the one who had been keeping Grian's sweater safe. (And since Grian was using his Link skin in Evo, it was fun to write in some universe-building stuff along with it.) And then we see a glimpse of the aftermath of X's talk with TFC...huh. Wonder how that chat with Grian is gonna go...?]

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[aestheticallynotdeerlightful]

Spoilers for what I think impulses mega base will be! With evidence and potential spoilers!!

Drum roll please

THE WILLY WONKA FACTORY!!

Evidence gained so far

Eating Amethyst shards, which he referred to as rock candy on stream 7/21/2021 and his first 7/23/2021 stream (I’ll have to check but it should be after he tours his patron server )

“pure imagination” a note block cover of it, has been played twice, once in two separate episodes (I believe it was ep 08 (that or it was on stream) and the latest ep 10). This song is associated with Willy wonka and is part of the original movie’s soundtrack

In an earlier ep and stream he mentioned he wanted to get much more creative this season,

Gained a bow tie from eating said Shards, and showed interests in one of scars big hats, which both Willy wonkas wore

If you go on nameMc, a new update has been made to his skin! not only does he have the purple bow tie, he also has a light orange hat, this has yet to be shown in an episode; but knowing impulse and how fast he can give us content, we’ll probably see it in the next couple of days. Possibly even tomorrow or Tuesday

The layout for the base is so large, he has to expand the continent, perfect for a factory, and he said he would be working with tons of darker colors, such as black and grays with hints of gold (also mentioned on the 7/21/2021 stream around 19:40-25:00ish) although he also will be using loads of white concrete, specifically 26 shulker boxes full; aka 44,884 blocks

Wants to fuse redstone/technicality with aesthetic, could be good for the more- bizarre, elements of the factory, depending on which movie he’s leaning on, most likely the original one from 1971

This is all for now on this list! But I’ll be sure to make more updates when I get more clues!

All Streams and Videos can be found on his first and second channel impulsesv and impulsesv2

Updates will be in the replies!

[lunarblazes]

SIGHS. in case you were wondering, here is the context for the piece i rbed from @mikartisa earlier today! luna posting writing on main not clickbait? wild.

written for the mother spore au, an au made by me and a few awesome discord friends across a few servers!

tw: mild body horror, slight disassociation (not meant to be but can be read as such), self-neglecting behavior

Grian gets home late. He said he’d sleep, he promised he’d sleep. With the amount of promises he’s broken recently, he feels like he has to at least try for this one. Mumbo was so worried, and even if he didn’t know what was going on, he should at least try.

And besides, Scar and Mumbo would be over to look at his wings tomorrow, and he didn’t want them to realize that the phantoms were only kept off his scent by Bdubs’ diligent server sleep.

Which is a problem, because he knows for a fact that his wings are ruined. He doesn’t know how it got that bad, he doesn’t know how he didn’t see it, and worst of all, he doesn’t know why he can’t seem to care. But they’re coming over tomorrow, so. He’ll have to explain what little he knows about the fatigue and the pressure in his head to his friends. He isn’t looking forward to it. At all.

He lays down, properly this time, because Mumbo doesn’t count it as real sleep if it’s in a shulker box (and if he was to be completely honest with himself, he didn’t want to think about what the rot rooted bone-deep in his wings could do to him trapped in a box for hours). Grian closes his eyes and counts to ten, a tip he picked up from Scar after one too many a late-night building session. He opens them again and freezes, confused.

[You may not rest now, there are monsters nearby.]

He sits up, electric apprehension shocking him more awake than he’s felt in weeks (or maybe, ever). What?

Grian lays down again.

[You may not rest now, there are monsters nearby.]

What?

His wings are too heavy for his bones, now, he’s sure of it, either that or his skin has tightened, or the spike that’s been driving itself through his forehead like a demented unicorn’s horn finally reached the core of his brain, or— or it’s the.

He blinks, one moment certain that he’s lit up all of his base and all of the caves below, and there should be no reason to get that message on his comm.

The next blink flares out into spirals of black and white film, blossoming in his vision and casting the dark spruce around him in a rotting gray color. He swears he can even see the vignette at the edges, the fraying of the illusion, even the noise on the reels, but this isn’t a movie. He’s lying in bed, too heavy to move, glitching out. Trapped, his mind supplies, and the thought of the word makes his breath hitch in his throat.

He cannot be trapped, not ever, not by anyone— the hermits know better than to try it, after he nearly mauled Iskall for pranking him with an obsidian AFK box in season 6. It was a lot more lighthearted than the trapped he’s feeling right now, but it still sent a message.

On instinct, he starts running his talons through his wings, trying to pick out the rot. It clumps around his fingers, but there’s always more, and suddenly he realizes he can’t get it off his fingertips. It’s stuck like tar, strands like spider silk webbing off of his claws and greasily shining in the dusty noir moonlight. Gray scales fleck off into the air. His breath hitches again, but for a different reason.

This is… this is bad. This is so bad. He can’t move.

Suddenly, he is floating in the noir vision. His body goes pins-and-needles numb, and if he thought he couldn’t move before, well. He’s being crushed now. He can’t find out why he needs to care.

Of course it is, Grian wants to argue, snap at whatever part of his brain is debating this, I am light, I am the flames, I am the sparks, the lightning in the very sky, quicksilver and mercury and mercy embodied.

His friends call him sunny, like a solar flare, like the sunlight hitting the waves of the shopping district, so bright it’s blinding. What would they do without his light?

Something hazy, like syrup flowing from a tree tap, answers quietly but firmly, no, you are dark and dirt and isolation and run and hide and secrecy. you will be, after this.

He wishes he had the air in his throat to protest, but it’s taking knives to his throat, pressing the air out of his lungs at swordtip and the smell of gunpowder is overpowering, even though he knows that none is around.

He can’t blink. The filter remains steady, vignettes and noise. The pressure behind his eyes builds into tears, and he still can’t blink.

He lays there for god knows how long, with the watery moonlight as his only companion, and when it’s finally over, he can’t feel any part of himself. There is a feeling of his wings dragging behind him, of the warm, sticky jungle breeze blowing through the entrance of his trading hall, the jungle he knows Scar and Mumbo are in. There is the feeling of stumbling around, of learning how to walk again (it’s all so new, and he couldn’t describe it if he wanted to).

Grian drags himself to the outside of the hall, his wings like a leaden blanket wrapping his back in a static coating. He feels more like he’s been thrown into the x-ray machine and met the radiation head and heart first.

He looks out over the jungle.

Scar and Mumbo are going to see his wings tomorrow.

He can’t let them see his wings tomorrow.

(They’ll follow me, he realizes, deep inside his chest. I can’t let them know what’s happened. They’ll follow me.

The rot around his throat and lungs constricts, making him hack and cough. run, run, flightless one, run)

His body moves before he does. But in the end, it’s the same result.

[You may not rest now, there are monsters nearby.]

[calcium-rods]

(ID: Cubfan135. He is outlined in purple pen. Behind him, there are three thick lines that are red, orange, and yellow. He is wearing a light blue shirt with a red tie and gray jeans. He has fluffy black hair and is looking up and to the right. He is holding a Shulker box and a map. End ID.)

[t4tcecilos]

ok so we know c!ranboo is part enderman. but what about the other part? he said he's been dropping hints so uh. theory time!!! keep in mind i haven't over analyzed his streams so some of this may be off!!

since he's part enderman, i'm gonna go with minecraft mobs. so!!! what minecraft mobs are white/light gray?

we have: ghasts, silverfish, skeletons, iron golems, chickens, skeleton horses, wolves, polar bears, elder guardians, and shulkers. along with certain colors of cats, sheep, parrots, llamas, horses, foxes, tropical fish, and rabbits.

first, i'm going to cross off horses, sheep, llamas, chickens, parrots, silverfish, tropical fish, and foxes. while it's a possibility, i think they leave more to chance than the others, plus i haven't noticed many traits in ranboo from these creatures.

of those that are left, skeleton and skeleton horse are somewhat likely, but i think that skeletons are way more likely since they are humanoid. however, there haven't been many signs of ranboo being a skeleton mix. so cross off both of them. i'm also going to cross off elder guardians, because they are sea creatures, and as we know, endermen don't like water.

i will also be crossing off wolves here, becaus wolves generally like to have packs and choose sides, and ranboo would rather be friends with people than have sides. polar bears are also being crossed out, as they like to stick by family (thus choosing a side) and are somewhat aggressive in minecraft, which ranboo is not.

iron golems are interesting. because they have to be made or found in a village. an enderman could hypothetically make an iron golem!!! so it is a possibility. iron golems will only really attack if the villagers/people they care about get hurt, and we haven't seen much of that from ranboo.

ghasts are definitely a possibility, and i personally like that hc, but ranboo hasn't shown any remorse or hesitation for killing ghasts. he also doesn't mind the cold (and since ghasts are in the nether i imagine they wouldn't like the cold)

shulkers. i thought about it some?? and it actually makes a little sense. they're in the end, like endermen, so there isn't a barrier of no contact. they like their boxes, and personal space. also i just think it's funny. ranboo being a shulker sand enderman hybrid.

another possibility is cats, which could explain the panic room (cats like smaller spaces) and his slight fear when all of techno's dogs looked at him.

rabbits would also explain his slight fear of the dogs, and i don't think we've seen him kill a rabbit. also, rabbits are quite skittish, and although anxiety is very different from that, the two can be compared.

he could also just be.... player character and enderman mix.

anyways those are my thoughts!!! sorry if they're all jumbled lmao

please share your own theories, i like thinking about minecraft people :)

[minedcrafts]

From a High Place

Words: 2.6k

The discord server I’m in is always coming up with new au ideas, and this fic is based off of one of them. Hope you enjoy!

---

Grian clutched his small supply of rockets as he stared down into the void. The darkness below him was vast, seemingly never ending, and a complete mystery to him. How he was able to muster up the courage to fly over it was beyond him, but here he was anyway.

His newly-acquired elytra sat comfortably on his back, iching to be used. He probably should’ve practiced using it more in the overworld, but he was a bit eager to get his hands on some shulker boxes.

He took a deep breath and unfolded his elytra. Deciding that there was no more time for hesitation, he jumped off the endstone he had been standing on and fired a rocket.

Grian soared into the air, many of his earlier fears being washed away by the thrill of flight. Steadying himself with his arms, he sped onward, scanning the areas for End Cities as he went.

It took a few minutes, but he eventually found one. The structure was fairly small, only including the main tower and a few rooms that branched off it, but he was excited to explore it nonetheless. Grian landed on one of the offset rooms, drawing his sword. To his surprise, there were no shulkers in sight. He cautiously peered into the tower, and found that the whole thing was clear of shulkers.

Gliding over to the nearest chest, he found it lacking any contents. By this point, he was thoroughly confused. How could it just be… deserted like this? It didn’t make any sense. After all, he was the only person in this world. It wasn’t like someone could’ve already come and raided it.

Deciding that trying to figure this mystery out was a lost cause, he flew out of the tower. He had already used up a fair amount of his rockets, meaning he couldn’t continue his search for much longer. Deciding to make a sugarcane farm when he returned to the overworld, he set out to find another city.

A few minutes later, a purple and tan structure came into view. This one was much larger than the previous, having multiple, smaller towers branching out from the central one. Most importantly, a floating pirate ship sat next to the structure. The thought of having a spare elytra excited Grian as he approached the hovering vessel.

As he closed in, a projectile suddenly flew towards him. He deflected it with his sword, then landed on the ship. Two shulkers were located in front of him. He ran up and stabbed into the one on the left, causing it to fade away and leave two shulker shells behind. Just as he grabbed the items, a projectile hit him in the shoulder, causing him to slowly start to float upward.

He was briefly startled by his sudden ascension, but turned to face the second shulker after he regained his composure. No longer within reach of the mob, he grabbed his trident. A swift movement of his arm caused the teal weapon to slice through its shell, the creature disappearing a moment later.

Dropping to the deck of the ship a few moments later, he picked up his trident and continued into the ship. Slaying the rest of the shulkers with little trouble, he reached his prize. He took the elytra from the item frame, grinning as he placed it into his backpack. The chests also contained good loot. A few diamonds, a name tag, and a strange item called an “Amethyst Gem” were the most notable. Satisfied, Grian exited the ship and moved to the edge to prepare for takeoff.

Right before he jumped off, another projectile hovered towards him. After deflecting it, he flew into the air to get a better look. The final shulker sat on the side of the ship. Deciding to strike before it could, he quickly hurled his trident towards it. It wasn’t until after the strange creature disappeared that he realised his mistake.

With nothing left to hold it in place, the trident started to plummet into the void. “No-no-no!” he shouted as he dove after it. He tucked his elytra in to gain speed, but the trident was seeming gaining speed as well. Grian reached out as far as he could, but he hadn’t reacted fast enough, so the trident disappeared into the void below.

Disheartened by the loss of his weapon, It took him a moment to recognise that he was still barreling towards the inky black void. He tried to pull up, but the speed of his decent made him not able to unfold his elytra in time. Screaming in realization, he too was swallowed up by the endlessness abyss seconds later.

A sudden, bizarre feeling overwhelmed him. It was somewhat similar to traveling through a nether or end portal, but much harsher. He rapidly switched between being too hot and too cold, and it felt like he was being hit by a thousand tiny arrows. Everything was spinning; His mind, himself, and the world around him swirled and spiraled.

Grian eventually realized that one of things - himself - was actually spinning. He was now surrounded by a light blue environment, which quickly grew even lighter in shade. For a moment he was enveloped by white, until he broke though what he later recognised as a layer of clouds. Still spinning and still screaming, his mind was too panicked to register that the ground was quickly approaching. Everything came to a grinding halt as he landed in water with a large splash.

---

Mumbo strolled along one of the glass walkways as he overviewed the progress on his base. The circular frame was complete, along with the central shaft and a temporary house for him to live in. It would take a while longer to finish, but he smiled proudly at what he had so far.

Moving towards the edge of his base, he considered what to do next. A cactus farm, perhaps? Or maybe, find a way to incorporate his temporary house into the rest of the base? He could even start on a larger project, like the storage system he planned on eventually creating. The possibilities were endless, and Mumbo was raring to get started.

Out of nowhere, a loud thwang sound came from somewhere near him. He turned to face the source of the noise, and saw that a trident was lodged into the concrete frame piece that connected to the top and bottom of his base. For a moment, he thought that a drowned must have thrown it, but then he realised something. The trident’s handle pointed upward, meaning that it had to have been thrown from above.

That’s impossible, Mumbo thought to himself. It couldn’t be his, he had it on him right now. Drowned can’t fly, so it couldn’t have come from one of them. There just was no logical explanation for this. He found himself staring at the trident, trying to think up with an explanation but coming up empty.

Out of nowhere, an odd sound was heard. The noise grew louder as he shifted his gaze upward. Leaning forward slightly, he eventually came to a terrifying realization. The sound was a scream.

A figure suddenly broke the clouds. Mumbo could only watch with wide eyes as what looked suspiciously like another person fell through the sky and into the ocean around the island his base was placed atop of. A variety of emotions quickly flowed through him. Shock and confusion were first, followed by a caution of this unknown person. However, these emotions were drowned out by horror when he realised that they weren’t floating back up.

The fall had most likely knocked them unconscious, and Mumbo hadn’t gotten around to building a conduit yet, so they were at a serious threat of drowning. Motivated by panic, he unfolded his elytra and glided towards where the figure had landed.

Gaining speed by turning downward in midair, he dived into the ocean. Mumbo frantically glanced around, and after a few seconds he caught sight of the figure sinking further into the deep water. As he swam closer, he got a better look at the stranger. He could now tell that it was definitely a person. They wore a red shirt and gray jeans, both slightly tattered. They also had an elytra, but it was ripped in a few places.

Pushing himself to swim faster, he eventually was able to grab the person’s arm. He then began to swim upward, the lack of oxygen starting to affect him. When he finally reached the surface of the ocean he was gasping for breath. After steadying his breathing and making sure that the person’s head was above the water, he slowly started to swim back towards his base.

---

Grian’s head felt foggy as he started to come to. He tied to take in a breath, but something - water, he realised - blocked him from doing so. As he began to cough, he felt something gently, but firmly pat him on the back. It took a minute, but he managed to get rid of all the water in system. Finally able to breathe normally, he slowly cracked his eyes open.

Kneeling before him was… another person. He was tall, wearing a black suit and a red tie. His black hair was soaking wet and flattened down, and on closer inspection his clothes were wet as well. The man stared at him with a look of concern in his eyes. Grian tried to say something, but his voice was still hoarse from the saltwater, so all he managed to get out was a quiet croaking sound.

The man seemed to panic for a second, placing his hands on Grian’s shoulders. “H-Hey, don’t overwork yourself, take it easy.” After making sure that Grian wasn’t still trying to speak, he pulled back and gave an awkward smile. “I’ll uh… get you some water.”

He sped off, which allowed Grian the opportunity to observe his surroundings. He was on the beach of a small island, and looking up he saw that there was a giant structure above it. It was a spherical frame with a blue pillar in the center, and a solid white sphere sat atop the pillar.

Memories of how he got here in the first place began to flow in. The void in the end should’ve killed it, but it brought him here instead. Where was this place? Was he anywhere near his own base anymore?

More questions crossed his mind as he saw the man start to walk back over. Who was he? Why was he helping him? Where had he come from? Grian had thought that he was the only person around, his explorations of the areas near his base had provided no signs of other people.

The man silently handed him a glass of water, and Grian happily downed it. Looking up, the man seemed to be waiting for a response from him, so he managed to get himself to squeak out a “Thank you.”

The smile on the man’s face seemed more genuine now. He then extended a hand out towards Grian. “My name’s Mumbo, what’s yours?”

Grian grabbed his hand and let the other help pull him up. “I’m Grian,” he said quietly. Looking up at the huge structure above him for a moment, he asked “Did you build this?”

“Uh, yeah, actually,” Mumbo responded. “It’s not done yet, this is only the framework.”

“Wow, this is huge build for just one person,” Grian remarked. “Or... are there others helping you?”

Mumbo shook his head. “No, it’s just me around here. Well, it was just me until you showed up. Scared the wits out me to just see someone falling from the sky, especially since I thought I was the only person around here.”

“I thought I was the only one too,” Grian remarked.

“Hmm…” Mumbo glanced downward for a moment to think, then looked back up at Grian. “How did you get here, anyway?”

“Well, I was flying around in the end, and my trident ended up falling into the void on accident. I tied to catch it, but I had reacted too slowly, so it fell in. I was going too fast so I couldn’t pull up in time. And after that, I just kinda… ended up here, I guess.”

Mumbo just looked at him for a few seconds, clearly surprised by his story. “I… suppose that explains the whole falling out of the sky thing. But, falling through the end to reach the overworld? I’ve certainly never heard of it.”

Grian pondered what Mumbo had said, and idea starting to form in his mind. “I want to check something real quick,” he said as he started to dig through his bag and took out the spare elytra. The only ones he could find were soggy, so he turned back to Mumbo. “Uh.. can I borrow some rockets?”

Mumbo split up his own supply and the two of them soon rocketed off, Mumbo not wanting Grian to fly on his own after nearly drowning only minutes ago. They flew over to an open space of water, then turning to glide toward the mainland. What Grian saw confirmed his suspicions.

After landing on the mainland, Grian looked at Mumbo and paused for a moment to think over the crazy, yet plausible idea he had come up with. “I… don’t think I’m in my own world anymore.”

“What? What does that even mean?”

“The landscape here looks too familiar to me for it to just be a coincidence. The shore, your island, I’ve seen it before.” Grian then pointed at the open water they had flown over a moment earlier. “That’s where I’m building my base, right there, but it’s no longer here.”

As they looked at the ocean, the world almost seemed to… flicker? Glitch? Either way, for a sort instant, the silhouette of Grian’s incomplete base could be seen in this world. The image disappeared, and the pair turned to look at each other with wide eyes.

“You… might actually be correct,” Mumbo said in bewilderment. He thought for a moment, then added, “Does that mean that the end void is actually a portal?”

“Maybe?” Grian shrugged. Wondering aloud, he rhetorically asked, “If I go through the void again, would I end up back home?”

Mumbo’s expression changed to one of concern. “I don’t think that would be safe. I thought that the void would just kill you if you entered it, so what if the whole “transporting you to another would” part was just a one-time thing?”

“I guess that’s true…” Grian mumbled. He placed his hands on the sides of his head and leaned back slightly. “Great, what do I do now!? I have no idea about how to get home!”

Mumbo was silent for a moment, then quietly told Grian, “You… you can stay at my base for now, if you want to.”

Grian simply stared at Mumbo for a moment, but a big smile soon formed on his face. Impulsively, he ran up to Mumbo and wrapped him into a hug. “Thank you!”

Mumbo stumbled backwards as Grian barreled into him, and the shorter of the two suddenly realised that maybe he was overstepping his boundaries. He had only just met him after all. However, this fear was disproved when Mumbo chuckled and returned the hug.

“C’mon, let’s head back to my base,” Mumbo said with a smile. “I wasn’t exactly expecting company, so I’ll have to find a place to build another room. Though, I’m sure we’ll make this work - in more ways than one.”

[imagine-organization-xiii]

ORG MEMBERS AS MINECRAFT CHARACTERS

Just to let everyone know, sunset clarified personally to me that she meant ‘Minecraft Mobs’ and not ‘characters.’

Mobs are “living,” moving game entities - the term ‘mob’ is short for ‘mobile.’ They range from passive to hostile, so I’m going to focus mostly on hostile mobs - aka monsters.

I know nothing about minecraft so be patient with me LOL

oOoOo

Xemnas - Vindicators are dangerous illager mobs that spawn in mansions, illager patrols, and raids. They are equipped with iron axes and do the second-highest melee damage of all the non-boss mobs, first being the Iron Golem and third being the Ravager.

Xigbar - Creepers are common stealthy hostile mobs who silently approach players and explode shortly after coming within 3 blocks of their targets. Due to their distinctive appearance and high potential for killing unwary players as well as damaging the environment and players’ constructions, creepers have become one of the icons of Minecraft, notorious both among players and non-players.

Xaldin - Zombies are common undead humanoid hostile mobs.  In the Overworld, zombies spawn in groups of 4 at a light level of 7 or less.

Vexen - Strays are variants of skeletons that only spawn in icy biomes.  Strays behave much the same as normal skeletons do. However, they shoot tipped arrows that inflict Slowness for 30 seconds on any target that it hits.

Lexaeus - Husks are dried-out variants of zombies that spawn in deserts.  Husks will pursue the player, iron golems, villagers, baby turtles, and wandering traders on sight from 40 blocks away, as opposed to 16 blocks in most other hostile mobs.

Zexion - Witches are common hostile mobs that use splash potions as their ranged weapon. They also use beneficial potions on themselves defensively.

Saix - Skeletons are common undead humanoid hostile mobs equipped with bows.  Skeletons can spawn almost anywhere in the Overworld at a light level of 7 or less.

Axel - Blazes are fiery hostile mobs found in nether fortresses. Although blazes are able to fly, they will stay on the ground or sink down slowly in the air when not attacking.

Demyx - Drowned are common underwater zombie variants that spawn in bodies of water or when a zombie drowns. They are also currently the only source of tridents.

Luxord - Phantoms are undead hostile mobs that attack players who have not slept in over three in-game days.  When idle, phantoms will fly around in a circle at a constant y-elevation, leaving a trail of gray smoke while doing so.

Marluxia - Vexes are flying hostile mobs that are summoned in small groups by the spell-casting evoker.  Vexes are hostile mobs that will naturally attack players, adult villagers‌, iron golems, wandering traders, snow golem‌ and any other target as commanded by their summoning evoker.

Larxene - Shulkers are box-shaped hostile mobs found in end cities. They hide in their shell to blend in with surrounding purpur blocks and guard the city’s various treasures.

Roxas - Silverfish are small, bug-like hostile mobs found in strongholds and mountains.

Xion - Endermites are the smallest hostile mobs in Minecraft.  Endermites will attack players within 16 blocks of them.

[traceemerald]

-January 23rd, Journal Entry 163-

I tried making a nether-based skeleton farm in my creative mode world, but I couldn't get it to have better rates than a spawner, then again, I did give up pretty easily.

Before even needing to get lots of bone meal in my survival world I had tried looking for a tutorial on how to make a nether-based skeleton farm to build in a future Mana and Artifice world, but all the tutorials I could find were for wither skeleton farms, which can't be built on the roof.

Anyway, I don't think I had looting on my sword last time I used my current skeleton farm, so I could probably just use that for a while, it shouldn't take too long to get 12 stacks of bones.

I ended up repairing all my gear while getting bones, after that I crafted the bones into bone meal, converted that to white dye, and used all of it to make light gray dye.

In the villager trading GUI, you can press space to quickly put in the correct items for the last trade you did, but you can't do the same thing with the crafting interface, I really wish you could, it would make large crafting sessions a lot less tedious.

Anyway, now that I have all the dyes together, I'm going to try getting efficiency V on my silk touch pickaxe so it can instamine terracotta, getting an efficiency IV or V villager is probably the best way to do this.

Efficiency V is now on my silk touch pickaxe, so now I can bring my dyes over to my terracotta mining area and start gathering terracotta.

Both of my pickaxes are now very low on durability, and I've only gone through a little over half a shulker box of dye out of the 4 shulker boxes I brought, which means I'll have to go back to repair my pickaxes more than a few times before I'm done, but instead of that I can probably just make a bunch of efficiency V diamond pickaxes specifically for use in large mining projects like this one.

I forget if my toolsmith sells diamond pickaxes, but I have way too many diamonds anyway, so I can just make my own if he doesn't.

Anyway, I think that's enough for today.

-End Journal Entry 163-

[fearofaherobrine]

Roleplay Server Log #192

“The Haunted Castle”

[Deer] Walks through the castle, not really paying attention to where she's going.  She knows it just turned to nightfall, her lesson's with Flux have allowed her to always know what time it is now-

[Gem] -steps aside so deer doesn't run into her- hello deer

[Deer] - Hm? Oh, hello Gem, out for a late stroll?

[gem] I am exploring time is irrelevant for how long I am normally awake for

[Deer] - Would you like some company?

[gem] sure I don't mind the company

-There's a little bit of rustling in a dark corner nearby-

[Deer] Turns towards the sound- Is there a chomplie here?

[gem] hello?

-There's something small with a fuzzy outline on the floor and it wobbles closer to them-

[gem] -looks at it curiously-

[Deer] Crouches closer to it- Hello there

[gem] -sits down a little behind deer-

[Shaymin] Breaks into a brief trot and rubs against Deerhearts hooves.

[Deer] Chuckles a little- WHy hello my little cutie, what are you doing?

[gem] -looks around as if looking for something-

[Shaymin] Shaaaaaaaa. - They close their eyes to show they were napping

-The air seems very still in the heat, as if the whole structure were groaning under the weight of the sweltering night -

[Deer] Picks up the pokemon- But you have a nice comfy bed for napping

[Shaymin] Looks back down a hallway and then at her again, before repeating the gesture.

[gem] -stands back up holding the cold flowers close to keep her cool-

[Deer] - What is it?  Is there something else out there?

[Shaymin] Nods-

[gem] I think I might know -starts to walk towards the hall way-

[Deer] - Should we go investigate Gem?

- The Shaymin came from the lab via the gold room-

[Deer] Follows Gem, wondering if the Ghastly was hiding down there or not-

-The slimes are bouncing in a more agitated way then normal in their pen-

[gem] -ends up using creative flight to reduce the sound of her steps as she goes down the stairs into the lab-

[Deer] Stays quiet, stepping as lightly as she can-

-There's a little bit of liquid on the floor, shimmering in the torchlight.-

[Deer] - What is that?

[gem] hmm -follows the trail-

[Dolly] Comes around the corner - Why are you two sneaking around?

[gem] I don't want to scare what is been leaving these trails

[Deer] - Hello Dolly

[Dolly] Trails! What trails? - she's obviously nervous- I took a bath!

[gem] -gem looks at her with a suspicious look- it doesn't seem like water

[Dolly] It's water! I'll just clean it up! I don't want anyone to fall!

[Deer] - Dolly?  Is everything okay?

[gem] you seem nervous and I think you know something

[Dolly] I'm fine! No. I don't. - crosses her arms-

[Deer] Reaches down to touch the substance- Well, there's no harm in confirming that it's water

[gem] then I am going to just follow this trail if it's just water

[Dolly] No! I mean, don't bother. The floor is just wet. Flux came by earlier, she might have dribbled something she was taking to Markus.

[gem] -follow the trail anyway-

[Deer] - Flux hasn't dropped anything ever, at least that I've seen...

[Dolly] Is obviously looking for a reason to detain Gem-

[gem] -is following the tail closely-

-There are smears all over the floor but one seems to go down the ladder by the shulker cage-

[Deer] - Oh dear...  I hope nothing has happened to Notch...

[gem] -looks down the ladder-

[Deer] Follows-

[Dolly] Storms off in the opposite direction and slams the door at the top of the hall in her rush-

[gem] -goes down the ladder-

[Deer] Hears the slam and flinches a little- Gem?  Will you be alright on your own?  I want to check on Notch while we're down here...

[gem] I should be fine tell notch I said hello

[Deer] - I will

[gem] actually I will stop by and say hello myself it's been awhile since I have seen him

[Deer] - Okay

-At the very bottom of the ladder there's a torch on the floor as if someone knocked it off in a hurry-

[Shaymin] Points it out with a little paw-

[Deer] - What on earth is going on?

[gem] something has been running around the castle

[Deer] Picks up the torch and puts it back on the wall-

[Deer] Goes to Notch and FLux's room and knocks on the door-

[gem] -is following deer-

[Flux] - Come in

[Notch] Is sitting in bed, he was obviously chatting with Flux. - Come to visit me?

[gem] hello how have you guys been?

[Deer] Opens the door and steps inside- But of course, how are you feeling?

[Notch] Better. But a bit nervous. Did Cp's generals wreck much? Are they still here?

[Deer] - I'm not entirely sure, I know some of them have gone back from the chat, but I haven't heard anything from Doc or TLOT yet

[Notch] Best to stay hidden then, for now. Nothing against Doc, but this place is super wierd.

[gem] I have been busy exploring and dealing with the heat so I don't know

[Deer] - Well you did help create it

[gem] weirder then normal?

[Notch] No! Not the game, I mean the castle itself. This place has a really wierd vibe. And... I hear things at night in here, not just mob noises either.

[gem] your not the first to say that

[Deer] - You shouldn't be able to hear any mobs down here...

[Flux] - There is something wandering around...

[gem] yea I know I want to know who or what they are

[Notch] It's sounds kind of liquidy, and... I thought... I heard crying in the garden way down below.

[Deer] - Crying?  I wonder what it could be...

[Flux] - We actually heard the crying not that long ago...

[gem] crying might be likely because tlot said they where sad and steve has hear slime dragging sounds

-There's the sound of someone far below rustling around and then running back down the stone hallway.

[Deer] - AH!  GEM!  OUTSIDE!

[gem] -opens the door quickly ready to run after it-

-The footsteps echo away and go silent farther down the long passage.

[gem] -flies fast after it-

-There's no sound in the tunnel apart from a bubbling noise farther down-

[Deer] Rushes after Gem-

[gem] -is trying to keep them with in hearing distance at least as she keeps rushing after them-

-There's some illumination ahead and the bubbling is large pool of lava. The muted light is reflecting off several gold flecked blocks in the walls and ceiling. -

[Deer] - Where did it go?

[gem] -is looking around carefully and listening closely to see if she can see something or find any trace of where it went-

[Shaymin] Is looking farther down the hall towards the ship and gives Deerheart a worried look-

[gem] -looks down the hallway to the ship-

[Deer] - I think we need to go that way...

[gem] -flies fast down the hall trying to get there before they can get away again-

-There's another small puddle in the hallway, and someone has put wool blocks down to block out most of light in the room. The ceiling of the ships interior is leaking, as usual -

[gem] -looks around carefully-

[Deer] Walks up to the wool blocks- Hello?

-There's some commotion in the farthest corner and a sudden flurry of something trying to get up the ladder that leads out into the bay-

[gem] -her leg bound like a spring sending her towards the ladder blocking them-

[Deer] Takes a closer look at what's on the ladder-

-The thing is just a soft mass with a tapered tail, the suface is velvety and dark purple, it seems to be stuck in the hole between the ladder and the bay, there are several tentacles waving wildly about as it struggles-

[Deer] - Plase, calm down, we're not going to hurt you

[gem] hey calm down we aren't going to hurt you -tries to gently pull them back down into the ship to get them unstuck-

-The texture and color of the thing turns icy under Gems hands, it's sparkling with pinpoints like stars-

-There's a bit of a crackle as the blocks around the ladder begin to give way-

[Deer] - That pattern...

-The blocks give with a sudden pop and water rushes in as the creature breaks free-

[gem] -still has a hold on them-

-The thing is rather long with tentacles all around it's conical body and it thrashes wildly trying to get Gem off of it-

[Beast] Is attracted by the thrashing and glides into the bay like a mobile and very deadly island-

[Deer] - Oh no, Gem!  Get that thing inside!  Now!

[gem] -holds strong and starts pulling the thing to the shore to get it away from the beast-

-The creature races for the shallows and ducks under Splenders house trying to bang Gem on the base of it-

[Beast] Is advancing with it's mouth open-

[Deer] Rushes towards the surface-

[Splender] Hears the banging and comes outside- What's happening?

[Beast] Snaps viciously at both of them as they dart under-

[gem] -pulls harder to get it to shore she wont let up on her grip-

[Splender] Reaches down with his tendrils-

-The creature makes a rather loud wailing noise and panicks even more trying to get free of both of them-

[Beast] Is very close to the shore and feeding off the fear in the air, it's eyes are like hot coals in the darkness-

[gem] stop struggling we are trying to get you to shore

[Splender] Grabs Gem and the beast and pulls them inside his house and to safety-

-Creature flops unhappily on the floor, it's curling away from the light and making sorrowful sounds, the front part of it is just a mass of small eyes and the back is a row of soft plates, there are cloudy gray spots where Splender touched it. -

[Splender] Releases calming happy energy-

-Creature, cries some more, it's just trying to get away-

[Splender] - It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise

[gem] -builds a box of wool around it to sit in to stay away from the light

-It's just hiding now-

[gem] -looks in to the box- would you like anything?

[Splender] - Sits near the entrance of his home-

-Creature, is trying to sneak by Gem to get outside-

[Splender] Reaches out with his tendril and gently pulls it back to the wool box- It's too dangerous out there right now, stay here

[gem] -offers the creature a steak-

[Creature] whispers- Just let me go...

[gem] but I want to help

[Splender] - We will once it's safe outside, besides, there's no reason for you to fear us

[Creature] You can't help... I just want to be alone...

[gem] we can try tell us what's wrong

[Splender] - Being alone isn't good when you're feeling bad

-Creature- No. I shouldn't... It's my fault I can't control myself...

[Splender] - Well that's something I'm used to helping others with

[gem] well this server is know for healing maybe what ever is wrong we can help you heal

-Creature- No... Because you're also alone...

[Splender] - Well who do you consider to not be alone?

-Creature, Looks at Deerheart plaintively- Her.

[Deer] - Then how can I help?

-Creature- Hesitates - I don't know... I have to... do this on my own, somehow.

[gem] why alone why can't you have help?

-Creature- Because.... human things are complicated...

[gem] I was human once I might have some piece of mind to know how to help

[Splender] - Zeke...  Do you not trust me?

-Creature- Gives a little gasp and curls up - I do....

[Splender] - Then trust me and the others to help you

[gem] I want to help you

-The tentacles retract into the larger form and shift in color until Zeke is left sitting on the floor naked in a little ball. His tattoos are a mixture of weeping eyes and tangled vines. He's covering himself shamefully-

[Splender] Takes his shirt off the bed and drapes it over Zeke-

[gem] -pats zeke's head-

[Zeke] ...thank you. The tentacles gave me away didn't they...

[gem] the patterns mostly

[Splender] - Partially, but even in that form your energy is the same.  It's a way my type hunts, even if we can't see you, we can sense you by your energy

[Zeke] I can't control it. I just sample whatever I touch. My hearts too tender....

[Deer] - And there's nothing wrong with that Zeke

[gem] -points to her full heart- but they heal hearts heal

[Zeke] It's wrong when you love someone who doesn't feel the same...

[Deer] - Do they even know?

[gem] it's better to talk to someone about how you feel then to just leave it inside

[Splender] - Zeke, please, let us help you

[Zeke] How? I have no idea what's going on in his head! His desire to prove his theories may be greater then his friendship for me. I don't want to scare him, and I can't risk him outing me if we ever go back home! We're already hiding from monsters! I don't want to end up in a government lab somewhere!

[gem] well why don't we just ask him which is more important or hell one of us could ask and you listen I am sure they don't want to see you get hurt

[Splender] - I can promise you that if you ever end up in a facility, me or one of my brother's will come and get you out

[Dolly] Appears in the doorway, she's wet from wading across the shallow divide- Zeke! Why.... Why couldn't you just let him be...?

[Deer] - Because we're just as concerned for him as you are

[gem] curiosity and concern

[Zeke] Runs to his mom, nearly lost in the huge shirt, his tattoos ocilate forming hearts and spirals as he contacts her.

[Splender] - Dolly please, we can help both of you.  Nothing will get solved however if he continues to force his emotions away

[Dolly] it's not a matter of forcing, I've been trying to feel Arden out to see how he'll react.

[gem] that it's better to just ask so it's doesn't lead to more heart break later on

[Deer] - Perhaps it's time for somebody else to try Dolly

[Dolly] No! If... If I think he'll betray us... He won't make it back to the real world. - her resolve is nearly frightening in its intensity

[Splender] - That doesn't seem fair to him...  If you really are so determined, why not just have me remove his memories?

[Dolly] ... I didn't know that was something you could do...

[Splender] - All slender beings can, admittedly I'm not as good at it as my brother though

[Zeke] I'm sorry to put everyone out...

[Dolly] you can't help what your heart wants, you've always been a passionate soul.

[gem] I would follow your heart zeke

[Deer] - I still think you should just ask him straight out...

[SPlender] - I agree, I've seen this scenario many times, and those who don't have always regretted it for the rest of their lives

[Zeke] I'm so afraid... That he won't like me... The way I am.

[Deer] - You won't know unless you ask

[gem] would you like me to be there for you

[Zeke] Looks down at himself - I think that would be awkward... Considering...

[Splender] - Well of course you can get dressed first!

[Dolly] You don't have to say more if you don't want too...

[Zeke] No Splender! I'm not.. Even like this.... I'm not human... Down there....

[Splender] -So?

[Zeke] I don't want to scare him, and my... fluids... might not be safe for humans

[Splender] - Well I'm guessing you got those from your father, was your mother not safe from them?

[Zeke]..... I don't know....

[Dolly] Splender... He was given to me.

[Splender] - Oh...

[Deer] - Given?

[gem] couldn't like doc test to see if it is or not?

[Dolly] She curls around him protectively- someone left him on my doorstep... Just the tiniest little cloud.... In a jar with a note... - her voice breaks slightly

[Dolly] tears slide down her cheeks- it said "my name is Zeke Euclid. I am a small baby. Please don't throw me away"

[Splender] Grabs them and pulls them into a hug- Don't cry!  Be happy!

[Zeke] is also trying not to cry, clinging to his mother as if his life depended on it

[Dolly] he's all I have... You have to understand... I just want to protect him...

[Splender] - I understand

[gem] I want to help protect everyone on this server this includes both of you

[Zeke] I'll... I'll ask the doctor... But I can't give a.. sample right now, I'd have to... manipulate myself...

[Deer] - That's okay Zeke, take your time

[Dolly] Don't do anything that makes you uncomfortable....

[Deer] - Zeke, if you really want to talk to someone about having to work at making a relationship work, go talk to Lie, out of all of us she has had to go through the most

[Zeke] But.... she's a girl, with a guy...

[Deer] - A guy who's sometimes a cat

[Zeke] Maybe...

[gem] there is also tlot and steve tlot turns into a cat sometimes

[Splender] Ruffles Zeke's hair a little- Let's just relax for now- Releases a bunch more relaxing and happy energy

[Deer] - Gem, TLOT turns into a lot of things

[Dolly] Is starting to feel woozy from Splender's energy-

[Pinwheel] There's enough happy energy around that even she is affected as she flops off the bed-

[gem] I was giving an example of one of the things he can turn into

[Splender] - Oh dear, silly Pinwheel

[Zeke] Notices Pinwheel - Is... is that okay Splender?

[Splender] - Oh yes, she's to hot to really do anything right now, plus that tree over there?  With the rainbow fruit?  That's an antivenom

[Zeke] That's... it's so pretty...

[Deer] - It was Doc and Lie's creation

[gem] -is just talking out load- I am just hoping to not get bit by pinwheel again

[Splender] - She only bit me three times today

[Dolly] Makes eye contact with Splender for a second that drags like an eternity, she seems rigid and senseless for that instance, and Splender is given a vision of wings draping around the trio and a feeling that they must be defended against something that would be a threat to even his kind. Then the moment passes and all is calm again.

[Splender] Is confused but continues doing what he does best, making people happy-

[traceemerald]

-January 22nd, Journal Entry 162-

Today's going to be another resource-gathering day, I need lots of terracotta for my map art, but I'm not going to be gathering that today.

Instead, I'll gather all the dyes necessary to dye the terracotta so I can move the terracotta directly to the building site and don't need to make room for it in my storage system.

First step is figuring out how much of each dye I need, which wasn't hard at all.

I've just gotten the white dye together, and I have a feeling the dyes might actually be the worst part of resource-gathering (turns out it wasn't actually that bad).

I already had all the bone meal I needed, I've had a decent quantity of bone blocks for a while, but I think around 3/4 of it was used up when I was mushroom farming, and it took half of what was left to make the white dye I need, and that's not even considering the large amount of light gray, pink, and lime dyes I need (mostly light gray).

I made a skeleton farm a long time ago, which I don't think I've used since I made my gold farm, but the rates of my skeleton farm are limited by the speed of the spawner I used, so it would probably be better to make a new skeleton farm in a soul sand valley.

I'm going to continue gathering the dyes for all the base colors I need, I'll need to do some creative mode testing before I make my new skeleton farm since I won't be able to use water.

Now that all the base color dyes have been gathered, I need to gather the compound color dyes, I'll start with the ones that don't require white.

Dyes have been made, I actually had enough bone meal left to make all the dyes that do require white except for light gray, which I need 2 shulker boxes of, I also gathered the ink sacs for that, which took a while.

I still have more time to play, but I can't really finish dye-collecting until I have a design for a new skeleton farm, so I'll stop here.

-End Journal Entry 162-

[traceemerald]

-December 17th, Journal Entry 133-

I have less time to play than usual today, and since I haven't made a list of all the materials I need to make my first map art, I'll focus on villager breeding for now.

While waiting for the villagers to breed, I also went ahead and made 19 stonecutters, since those are the job site block for masons.

It didn't take long for my breeding villagers to have kids, now I just need to wait for the kids to grow up.

I've gotten my first 2 masons set up now, and they're at the level where I can sell stone, so I'm going to put a shulker box of cobblestone into my super smelter, so I have stone to sell.

I've run out of food to give my villagers at this point, but there's still 3 more baby villagers, so I should be able to get 3 more masons set up.

I have now gotten 5 masons set up and leveled them all up to the point where I can buy terracotta, the colors I have available are green, blue, yellow, and light blue in regular terracotta, and gray, white, light blue, cyan, purple, and blue in glazed terracotta.

I'm not going to actually buy any terracotta until I know what colors I need, but it's nice to have the villagers set up now.

Price is 1 emerald for 1 terracotta (any color), which I don't think can be reduced through zombifying and then curing the villagers, so I may have to zombify and then cure my farmers so it's easier to get large amounts of emeralds.

I don't know how long it takes before terracotta trades need to be restocked, maybe I'll need more than 19 masons, maybe not.

-End Journal Entry 133-