#I've also drawn grian a few times

[higher-noon]

Getting into the 3rd life series and every time I try to draw desert duo I look up and I've drawn scar fat. It's what he deserves <3

[quaranmine]

re fw!Scar's mom knitting stuff: What if she knitted Grian his trademark red sweater?-

NOW YOU'RE COOKING!

Kind of want to yoink this for one of my oneshots. I haven't written much of it but I did have a plan to do a oneshot of Scar visiting Grian in England for the first time! (This would be the story I alluded to in which "nothing bad happens," and I actually meant it.) I had been thinking fall of 1990 for the setting, but I also didn't want to step on your toes with your fic in case you had something else. Also, I wanted to finish Alpenglow first so I was "waiting and seeing" lol. It would be cute for Scar to deliver it in person :D

[solargeist]

Does Grian reflect some of the manerisms Aether treated him with when he was with the Watchers onto baby Xelqua? I think you said before that he didn't really have parents so him only kinda knowing how to parent because of being treated like a child back with the Watchers is really sad and really cute

Also since after season eight Xelqua can come and go as he pleases does that mean that Aether and Flora can to? Or at least see what's going on there with Watcher magic and stuff?

oh yes ! i've thought abt that before !! but wasn't sure how to draw it, but yes ! Grian does accidentally mimic Aether, even with things he didn't like.

Like, the Watchers used to coo over how cute he is, showing off his wings or commenting on his height, making him feel small and embarrassed--but they did this out of genuine adoration. Grian sorta does mimic this with Xelqua, he's so small its ridiculous, isn't it ? But look at his ears, they're so big ! Grian does this bc he does think its cute. (xelqua likes the attention at least haha)

Tho with some things, Grian remembers and purposely does the opposite, even tho its not exactly the best choice either. Like with food, he only got food if the Watchers allowed it/he asked, but Xelqua can pick and eat whatever he wants, whenever, and yes this would be good--but sometimes kids make bad choices and eat a lot of candy and get sick to their stomach, like, no you can't have the entire bag, lets put a few in a bowl, yknow ? He has to learn this, hard way ! Xelqua throws up on his rug.

Grian used to get upset abt people messing with his food cabinets, bc he has a food hoarding issue due to food insecurity, but hes gotten more steady abt it.

But with a lot of parenting things, Grians sorta learned along his entire life, he's already 30 by time Xelquas around, and he raised Pearl--even if they were kids at the same time--it sorta helps now.

Grians also learning to relax and take things slower, not stress and overwork himself, thats something he also struggled with the Watchers, and he has to bite his tongue and swallow his disdain when Xelqua is being lazy (being a kid, rly) bc he's aware enough to know thats just the Watchers in his head, not his actual feelings.

Theres probably other moments, like i think when Xelqua hugs Grian's leg or leans against him, Grian ruffles his hair in a specific way he remembers Aether doing to him. But i can't think too much rn i'm sleepy !!

And !!! Thats an interesting thought, Xelqua..... in his natural form... is on his own level, he can do what he wants, rly. The Watchers........ Don't necessarily have a reason to go in and out of Hermitcraft, but they're aware of it now post s8. Since Watchers are based off viewers, i think they Watch the Hermits, but don't interact or control anything, its a sturdy world. I haven't rly thought abt this, i've had a few random ideas, like grian writing letters, but i dont know anything for sure. The AU around this point becomes a badly drawn horse i think ADGKAJK

[rachiecrown]

Ur gonna regret keepin that prompt open >:)

im just gonna keep sendin you mumscarian asks just lettin you know

Ok so mumscarian 2/3 takin care of 1/3 thats stressin

So like scar ab scarland, grian ab grumbot prime or the rift, mumbo ab his base

Just callin for some relaxation

Used a picker wheel for this one cause I wasn't sure which of the three I wanted to write for teehee

Also this ended up kinda dragging near the end cause I didn't know how to end it, sorry about that waaaa also there's some cute lil romance fluff at the end so yee

(also if you saw me post this under the wrong ask no you didn't)

---

Mumbo was falling behind. At least, that's how he felt. Everyone else was so far on with their bases, heck, even Decked Out Two was close to being finished, and here Mumbo sat with a deepslate and copper box and a half-done outline he was not very satisfied with.

He paced around the path that floated around his bamboo farm. He loved the color pallete, he loved the idea of having some sort of multi-tired building full of fully automated farms and whatever else his little engineer heart desired, and he loved the idea of it looking like a more impressive version of his vault, but something about it just felt incorrect to him.

Maybe it was the floating water pillars.. Or was the copper variant not oxidized enough? What if the floor beneath the bamboo farm was too different? What if everything looked too similar? Mumbo shook his head. Surely, if he just kept adding to it, the base would turn out alright, but at the same time Mumbo couldn't bring himself to continue building.

Ah, he was burnt out, wasn't he? Mumbo realized this with a long, drawn out sigh. Despite how badly he wanted to continue creating, he really just couldn't go any further with this project.

Mumbo donned his elytra and grabbed some rockets, taking off from the path and quickly soaring over his vault, as he decided in that moment he wanted to see Grian and Scar. As much as he's used elytra and rockets over the years, it never seemed like the thrill of being so high up had ever mellowed out. Mumbo turned and glided towards Grian's base, slowing and landing at the halfway point between his and Grian's bases and continuing his speed as a jog.

He placed his hand on one of the pillars at the entry way. "Grian, you here?" He called, but got no response. "Grian!!" He tried again, but still, nothing. "Ohh, if he's not around his base I'll just go to Scar." He decided. The only reason he stopped at Grian's first was because Grian's base was closest.

After a few minutes of checking around Grian's usual spots and possible areas he could be building in, then also the underground cave the rift was in, Mumbo changed direction towards Scarland.

When he landed near the still unfinished entryway, he spotted Scar and Grian just about to head into the theme park, Scar showing off what Mumbo believed was an absolutely gigantic golden "admit one" ticket. Mumbo landed in a jog again and slowed to a walk as he approached the two.

"Oh, hey Mumbo!" Scar called with a wave. Grian turned as he loudly sipped on a Scarland slushy. Mumbo stopped and folded his arms across his chest. "Hey, guys, uh- so like, I was wondering if you'd like to- uh, hang out, maybe?" Mumbo stammered. He was already flustered from the frustration of his base, and now his face felt hot.

Scar covered his mouth with a giggle. "Oh, Mumbo, your face is all red." He pointed out. Grian grinned. "You flustered, Mumbs?" The two made their way over with sly grins, and Mumbo looked away nervously. "Well, well uh-"

Grian seemed to sense Mumbo's discomfort. "Hey, this isn't your usual Mumbo-nervousness." Grian prodded Mumbo in the chest. "What's wrong?"

Mumbo sighed as Grian refolded his wings and Scar walked over with curiosity. "It's my base, man, I can't keep building. I'm all burnt out." He explained. Grian and Scar nodded in thought, and Scar smiled and snapped. "I've got it! You can tour Scarland with us!" He exclaimed, grabbing Mumbo by the shoulders and dropping the giant ticket.

Grian promptly snatched the ticket up. "It's mine now, boys!" He claimed, and he promptly ran off into Scarland as soon as Scar swiped at him, both shouting and giggling. Mumbo laughed at the sight, following the two.

The day continued on into late afternoon as Scar showed off the shops and streets of Scarland. Mumbo's arms were piled high with all kinds of goodies, which Grian helped carry at one point.

By the time the sky started to change colors, Scar dragged the two up to his castle excitedly. "And here, the sunset is Ah-maze-ing!!" Scar pronounced his words flamboyantly, throwing his hands in the air joyfully. "I'm sure it is!" Mumbo agreed, smiling at the whimsy Scar had. Mumbo glanced at Grian, who was chewing on some popcorn with a smile, balloon strings tied around his wrists by Scar because Grian had kept letting go of them.

Scar placed down some stair blocks for the trio to sit, him sitting on one end, Grian on the other, and Mumbo in the middle. "So, did you enjoy your day at Scarland?" Scar wondered, a smile on his lips. Mumbo nodded "It was lovely," he said as Grian gave a thumbs up, his mouth full of popcorn. Scar clapped. "There's no rides yet, but once there is it's gonna be a hundred times more fun."

"I'll bet." Grian agreed after swallowing his food. Mumbo looked up as the clouds turned all sorts of yellow and pink shades from the sunset, sighing happily. Scar and Grian both leaned against him. "So what about your base? Did you clear your head?" Grian wondered as he put his arms around Mumbo's waist. Scar joined with his arm over Mumbo's shoulders.

"W-well.." Mumbo felt his face grow hot again. "My head is clear now, yeah.." Grian rested his head on Mumbo's shoulder, with Scar putting a hand on Mumbo's leg. Ohh, Mumbo had to change the subject before he got too flustered to speak! "And so now I'm wondering if you two would be interested in blowing up my base for-"

Grian leaped up, his wings fluttering in excitement. "We can blow up your base!?" Scar pulled his hands away to clap, a wide smile on his face. "I've always wanted to blow up a base! When can we do it?"

Mumbo laughed. "You didn't even let me finish my sentence! I was gonna say for a stack of diamond blocks each!" He watched as Grian and Scar's eyes lit up. "We're getting paid!?" Grian shouted. Scar clapped again. "Ohoho! Are we starting tomorrow?"

With a sigh, Mumbo tilted his head back. "What am I going to do with you two?"

[appleblocks]

Fun AU thoughts bellow :3

Idk if I should call this headcanons or if I should categorize this as my own AU, but I feel like Hermes, Tiny Tom, Grumbot (yet to be drawn), and Jrumbot (yet to be drawn) would have scheduled playdates sometimes where the parents (Joel, Grian, Mumbo, Jevin) are off to the side talking about stuff and also just being friends. It's as much of a playdate for the kids as it is for the adults, except the adults have too much tnt to play with and the kiddos are playing tag or something

Other ideas I've been having consist of:

Grumbot and Jrbot taking Hermes and Tom to see the Llama that Mumbo uses to enter his base. Then Mumbo descends to get into his base and sees the kiddos and is just like "Oh, well this is awkward" as now he's just standing there with a few hearts unable to get to his base cause the kids are right there (even though they know about respawning)

Tom staring at Grian very intensely and having secret Watcher conversations with him at the worst times. My dude is trying to pretend to do his job at the permit office and Tom walks up, climbs the counter, and just glares at him until he stops and talks to him. He cannot run, Tom is inescapable, he will find him.

I'm having a lot of fun with this

[soemthingsparkly]

scar totally makes like batman and spiderman jokes at grian or just like

scar: hehe hows the masked hero? having fun saving people?

grian: scar. im not a superhero.

scar: see thats exactly what a secret vigilante would say

(at one point grian just gives up fighting the superhero allegations)

also, if theyre in college where do they practice? i don't know how college housing accomodations work but i doubt the other students would be very happy to hear them practicing lol

Oh yeah, Grian is very much "I'm not a superhero, Scar," over and over again until he's on tour one day as Ariana and in the middle of a busy meet and greet, she decides to take a step outside for some air and she meets a fan who is hiding in the alleyway.

At first she freezes, thinking she's been spotted and will be asked for an autograph or to sign something, but the fan looks equally caught out.

But the fan quickly explains that she had a panic attack in the crowd and needed to get some air. She had no idea Ariana was going to emerge from this specific fire door, or any fire door at all.

Ariana relaxes. She says that she gets it, she gets pretty overwhelmed in crowds, too, and sits next to the fan.

They sit in silence for a couple moments, before the fan says, "this is the first time I've been out to a public event since my dad chucked me out. I was terrified. I've been a total hermit since then. But when I heard you were coming so close to my hometown, I needed to come and see you."

But Ariana is stuck on the first part. "Your dad chucked you out?"

"I asked him to call me Nina and he threw a fit. Gay was fine, apparently, but being a girl..."

Ariana blinks. "Oh... That... Sucks."

"Yeah," the fan, Nina, agrees. Then says, "I kind of didn't want to be here anymore after that. Boy or girl. I just wanted to... Stop."

Ariana's throat thickens. She pinches her bottom lip between her teeth.

"But you helped, you know? Hearing your music and watching your interviews. You've always made such an effort to be yourself and that means a lot."

Nina blushes a little and looks embarrassed. She reaches forward and holds onto the front of her converse. They're black with a small blue, white, and pink flag on the inside arch of her foot - hand drawn, it seems.

"You kind of saved my life," Nina admits. "I know that's heavy, but–"

"Are you a hugger?"

"Oh," Nina let's go of her shoes. "Yeah?"

And Ariana scoops her up in her arms. She holds Nina tight and, like a flicked switch, the girl clings to her in return.

Ariana is aware that she's digging her fingernails into the muscle of Nina's shoulder, but she can't let go of her just yet.

Not yet.

Not when Nina could've never been here in the first place.

"Thank you," Nina whispers and it sinks beneath the persona and enters Grian's ear.

He leans back and takes her hands in his. "Thank you, okay? For being here. For being here even though you were shit scared, okay?" Grian is aware he's dropping most of Ariana's affectations but he doesn't care right now.

In fact, "If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anybody else? Like, don't breathe a word of it to anyone."

Nina tilts her head, then nods. Grian digs his phone out of the belt strapped to his thigh. He opens it and finds what he's looking for and takes a deep breath.

He turns the phone towards Nina.

"This is the real me."

And it is.

It's Grian, short-haired, low-ride tank-top wearing masculine bassist of Boatem.

It's a photo Mumbo had taken a few weeks and sent to the Boatem group chat. Grian had been riding Scar's shoulders in an attempt to replace the lightbulb in the tall, one-and-a-half story hallway of the student house.

Even without the bulb in place, he's bright and glowing.

Nina is staring at the photo with wide eyes. She looks back to Grian– Ariana, wondering if this is some kind of cruel practical joke.

Grian shakes his head and points to the small tattoo on his ribs, visible in the photo with his arms raised to reach the light fitting. He then raises his own arm and lowers the material of his bodysuit.

There it is, a small tattoo of a simple paddle boat.

Nina bursts into tears.

She hugs Ariana– no, Grian, again.

"Just, nobody, not even my crew or my band mates know, okay? You're, like, one of the only people in the world who knows now, so please, please don't say anything, okay?"

Panic is starting to rise in Grian's chest as he watches Nina process his reveal and request.

But she wipes her eyes and nods. "I won't, I promise. You're... Amazing."

Grian smiles. "You are."

And then they exchange numbers and Grian mentally shifts back to his Ariana mindset again. Nina squeezes his hand.

"Thank you, Grian."

"Thank you, Nina."

And they part ways, Nina to catch her train home, and Ariana to return to the meet and greet.

And as she goes back inside, she's reminded of the way Scar greets her whenever she returns to Boatem– home.

"Saved anyone today, G?"

And she smiles, because this time she knows she can say, "Yes. Yes, actually."

And it would be true.

I got a little carried away, I'm gonna answer the second part in a reblog of this answer, hehe. Watch this space!

[darkclouud9]

this is sort of like my number one headcanon pr something but I never finish it and I hate the way Tango looks and I've drawn this on every phone I've owned since (2) and I need to make it into an actual comic one day but.

to explain

Etho is a shapeshifter and can obviously change the colour of his hair.

except, he can't do so when he's running low on "energy". this is more based on my kind of 'generic' headcanon where all hermits have some sort of magic powers, in which they use energy to use them, and Etho's shapeshifting is based on.

(it's basically just like chakra from naruto, but I hadn't even watched naruto before I made this. the main difference between energy and chakra is that losing all your energy doesn't kill you, but I haven't really expanded on this for as long as I've had this headcanon)

anyway, so at this point in time, Etho's straight up just low on energy and is losing the ability to maintain his shapeshifted state. the way he learns he's low on energy is that when he washes his hair, his silver runs out. no, it's not dyed. but for the few weeks after energy depletion, it is. (which is why Etho contacts Zedaph. to get silver dye. this is more set in s8 with Zed's whole science bit <3 iirc. he makes the dye himself :D)

also, separate headcanon, that I continue to try and implement today, is that every hermit has a pair of wings, based on a winged animal. (Etho's are based on an arctic tern. not here tho. this was before i arctic tern'd Etho apparently </3) and they can make the wings disappear at any time (maintaing wings on your back uses energy, so they're usually only there for flying. they get in the way otherwise. I think one of my headcanons is that Grian's can never be 'tossed into the void'. his are always there.)

I think that's it... may add on later.

also yes.

Etho showers with his mask on <3

[pixiemage]

9 and 24

[For the Fanfic End of the Year Ask Game]

9. Longest WIP of the year

D'you wanna know something? I was honestly surprised by the results of this one. I was 100% certain it was going to be Through a Crack in the Void. It you only count what I posted to Ao3, it stands at 30,587 words, but if you add what I've also posted to Tumblr beyond that, it adds up to a whopping 38,217. That's about half the length of the first Harry Potter book, and it's still sitting near the beginning of its plot. (Which isn't the longest fic in my roster overall, because my Iron Dad Marvel fic is sitting at a over 130k words and, again, it's not even half finished akdjbakbjwkaf.)

HOWEVER, I thought I'd check Domino Effect because - ya know - I started them both around the same time so I was curious.

39,456 words, which means it beats out TaCitV by a meager 1,239 words. Unlike TaCitV it's also sitting in one Google doc, which means I can also tell you that it's 76 pages long and counting. Geez!

24. Favorite fic you read this year

I'm gonna recommend three, because they're all amazing and I can never pick one fic. (And I'm sure you've read at least one of them.) There ARE a few others I contemplated for this, one of which is the Take A Chance On Me AU I've talked about before, and one of which is a DSMP fic where Tommy respawned as a crow...but I'm not gonna bog down this post with a million fic recs lmao.

1) Adaptive Nature by @scribbling-dragon (WIP)

It's an Empires S2 fic (with Team Rancher) that's all told from the POV of The Sheriff. From what I recall he has never once mentioned his name, though we know it's meant to be Jimmy. There are no Minecraft mechanics in this AU to my knowledge, so no respawn, no inventory, and no communicators. But basically - the Sheriff is drawn to some ruins in the mesa beyond the border of the newly-founded Tumble Town. He finds a dragon statue there, is affected by it somehow, and finds himself...changing, though I won't say how here for the sake of spoilers. He also meets and befriends archeologist Pixlriffs, through whom he meets another member of the archeology guild, Tango, both of whom teach the Sheriff about something called "the corruption" that happened centuries ago. (AKA Empires S1) It's so well written, and there are so many mysteries still unsolved! The Sheriff is secretive about his past which he left behind, there's some skulk thing that Pixl is studying, there's something to do with a dragon - dude. Just - if you haven't, go read it. It's stellar.

2) Covet by Oceanbreeze7 @digitalta (WIP)

An AU in which Grian never joined Hermitcraft, but Pearl did. Grian has been missing, presumed dead, ever since Evo. Now - in Season 8 of Hermitcraft - the Boatem crew have broken ground into the void below the Boatem Hole...but the hole isn't as empty as it seems. Something is lurking beneath it, and while at first the shy and elusive creature they've named "Scout" is nothing more than a friendly and gift-giving enigma, he becomes so so much more once they start trying to figure out what exactly their strange guest is. This one is hauntingly beautiful in its writing, with some pretty poetic chapters and some gorgeous imagery. There is body horror in this, so be mindful of that, but - holy moly. It's so so good, with a pretty fantastic balance of angst and fluff and reveals, and - yes. So much yes.

3) To Hoe Where None Have Hoene Before by tablrcloth

Otherwise known as that one fic where Tango and Jimmy try to get all the husbandry achievements in Double Life. It's - guys, it's cute as shit. It's short and sweet, very sweet, and I've reread it like three times. <3

[inaris-mage-of-storms]

Eyyy, we're back! The last few snippets have followed Scar in season 9, but this time we're jumping back to Last Life from Grian's point of view. (Also a quick note, I've changed the name of the series, and for my AO3 readers the first story has had some minor edits to polish it up! The second story will be getting the same treatment in the next few days.)

Prev | Index

It was happening again.

Grian had known it would, could sense the greedy desire for more tell us more show us show us from the beings that had taken such an interest in the first game. (And, he suspected, those same beings were the reason he had felt drawn to seek out a cursed world and invite his friends along in the first place.) He could have ignored the call. He thought about ignoring the call. He really wanted to ignore the call.

And yet.

Every world the Hermits settled on was vast, with plenty of space to seek solitude and plenty of people to seek company. When everyone had returned home at the end of the first game, it had been easy to assure one another that it was just a game, none of it matters here, of course we're all still friends! Then it was time to settle in a new place and there was so much to do, and in the years that followed Grian managed to keep busy enough to avoid thinking about blood-stained sand and split knuckles, and to avoid the uncomfortable way his chest tightened whenever he spent too much time alone with Scar.

And yet.

Grian's first instinct was to seek him out. Only to make a deal, of course, seeing on his communicator that Scar had been given more lives than he had. No other reason, none at all. Surely he was safe, this early in the game. There were no enemies beyond the easily-avoided dangers of everyday life.

And yet.

He saw Scar through the trees just as the sun sank beneath the horizon, and the words readied on his lips died out. They were alone with no ongoing projects to rush off to finish, no other people to rush off to talk to. It was just Grian and just Scar, and Grian hesitated to step closer.

He hesitated too long, and Scar let out a startled yelp when he spotted him before realizing who it was. "For a second there I thought you had diamond armor," said Grian, forcing a smile and looking closer at the illusory magic Scar had woven around himself.

"Oh I do!" said Scar, with a smile that sang of pretty words and trust-me promises. Grian rolled his eyes and moved away from him, lighting up the area with far more torches than was necessary, casting his eyes around for any suspicious movement.

"Everything that happened last time is null and void. Doesn't count, okay?" he said, taking another step away from Scar and pretending not to see the hand that reached for his.

"You mean I can't put you on a llama and take you to the desert?" Scar's tone was light and joking, but the gaze in his dark green eyes was intense and piercing, and Grian definitely didn't want to cry.

"No, everything that happened is in the past now," said Grian firmly. "Are you the boogeyman?" He was asking out of self-preservation, he told himself, out of the need to know if he was looking at an enemy or not. He was safe regardless of the answer, having better armor and a better weapon, but it was best to know all the same. He definitely wasn't asking out of worry that Scar might already be in danger of losing everything, and the sigh of relief at Scar's no was definitely relief at the assurance of his own safety, nothing else.

Dark green. Scar's eyes were dark green, and Grian's were yellow. What he wanted to do and what he needed to do were two different things, and Grian taught Scar how to draw on the magic that would take life from one person and give it to another. He tried to convince Scar to hand one over to him now. "I'll give it right back," he promised.

"How about you do it first?" countered Scar, and Grian was pleased to see (and definitely not the tiniest bit hurt) that Scar was wary of tricks.

"But if I do then I'll be red and I'll kill you," said Grian. He tried to keep his voice steady; he was only pointing out the obvious, after all. But his heart leaped into his throat at the thought. He might only have the faintest memory of what that bloodlust felt like, but the thought of being overcome by it with Scar so close and no one else around terrified him. I can't kill you again. Don't make me kill you again.

By the time Scar gave in and agreed to hand over a life, Grian had made up his mind – he absolutely, without a doubt, needed to avoid Scar as much as possible for the duration of the second game. If Scar kept looking at him like that, like in the end he would do anything and everything that Grian asked of him, Scar was going to die because of him. I can't let that happen. I can't be the reason he dies again.

As soon as he felt the magic of the transfer fade, he turned and ran. "I'm not giving this back!" he shouted over his shoulder. Don't follow me, he pleaded silently. See me as a betrayer, a trickster, not an ally. Just don't follow me. Please.

[floef-likes-everything]

Wingman

Just uploaded chapter 8! I've put in a little sneak peak under the line, and here is the summary!

Grian hasn’t left the Hermitcraft Server since he joined. There was no reason, as everything he’d knew before it was destroyed because of his own poor decisions. So when some of the Hermits convinced him to come and support them in this competition they were about to compete in, Grian didn’t expect his past to catch up to him so quickly.

He definitely didn’t expect to become the wingman of his presumed dead friend.

Chapter 8

“Hi, sorry, can I ask you something?” Grian tapped one of the strangers on the shoulder and managed to not flinch when they turned around. The person was towering over Grian a good few inches and the mask they were wearing sent shivers down his spine. It was a bright green mask with an elongated smiley face drawn onto it. It struck Grian as a bit odd, but who was he to ask questions. The other person had large horns, like those of a ram, and puffy hair that was parted in the middle. One part was black, the other bright white.

“I – em, I’m looking for this burger stand where I’m meeting up with my team but I’m kind of lost,” he started to ramble and he immediately felt like sinking into the ground. “It’s my first time, you see, so – “

“Oh, you’re Grian right?” said the person with the horns and they smiled. “I just saw Scott, he was looking for you. The burger stand is… let me see, over there!” They pointed to the other side of the plaza, where a small staircase let up to another level with more stands. Between the crowd, Grian could just see part of a sign that displayed a burger.

“Oh, great, thank you,” Grian said with an genuine smile. “I don’t think I would’ve found it myself.”

“No worries, no worries,” they answered. “The name’s Captain Puffy by the way, but Puffy is just fine. This is fruitberries, it’s his first event as well.”

“Nice to meet you,” Grian really wanted to go to that burger stand now, but he couldn’t exactly walk away mid conversation. “I’m Grian – but, eh, you already seemed to know that.”

“Well, good luck, Grian,” Puffy twisted her wrist to look at something on her communicator. “We also have to go, but I hope you have fun. See you around!”

Fruitberries didn’t say much apart from a somewhat awkward wave when Puffy dragged him along through the crowd, which Grian answered with a wave just as awkward. He was glad he didn’t seem to be the only one that was a bit overwhelmed by all of this. He quickly started to make his way through the crowd towards the burger stand and felt incredibly relieved when he saw Shubble. He was only slightly out of breath from speeding over there when she saw him.

[liloinkoink]

i just rewatched the final siege of dogwarts the other day, yeah? so obviously ive been thinking a lot about where Ren and Martyn were as they died

most fanartists i've seen draw Ren and Martyn's deaths in that final battle have drawn ren's body on black heart altar. which makes sense and makes for some absolutely wonderful art, the sort that gets me right in the heart every time i see it, but i also think his canonical location of death was interesting in and of its own right

Ren isn't actually near black heart altar when he dies, nor is he even able to see it. actually, by the time ren dies, black heart altar isnt even in one piece anymore, as it's been half-destroyed and blown away by a tnt blast, split pretty neatly with two mostly-straight lines taking out a siazable corner.

(i think i could write a whole post on just that fact alone, especially since... i'm not sure who blew it up, but i know scar and impulse had tnt during the battle, and either option as the culprit to crack the heart has Weight, assuming the altar wasn't destroyed earlier. i'd have to check. but it's not what this post is meant to be about, so we'll leave it for now)

where Ren actually is when he dies is outside the front door of the empty building that used to be Renchanting. he's running past the door, trying to go around the corner--towards black heart altar--but he's shot in the back before he can make the turn.

the building, by the time Ren dies, is mostly empty, with the enchanter having been moved to the basement, along with their secret stash. i'm pretty sure the bed that used to be there is the one that sits on the hillside so Ren could reset his final respawn to be beside black heart altar--also a gesture with weight, if i wanted to give it, i suppose.

there's a few chests and a crafting table in Renchanting, and while i don't know/remember what's in them, i can't imagine there's too much of value, not anymore. even the entrance to their underground kingdom isn't located within the Renchanting building. the building of Renchanting is, by this point, little more than an especially elaborate roof to the underground kingdom of Dogwarts.

...well. and a grave, i guess, with Ren's body on the doorstep.

Ren built that home on day one with the intent to cater to the entire server and everyone on it. he spent so much time in earlier sessions in his base, letting Martyn and other allies handle anything outside of Dogwarts as he farmed and fortified the kingdom he founded. he deserted when he made enough enemies and his priorities became bloodier, moved underground and then out of Dogwarts entirely, but when it came under attack, he came running back. for all the ways Ren changed over the course of Third Life, he still died at his own front door.

(BigB also dies near there, actually, right outside the stairs to Renchanting's basement, as Ren and Martyn are piling inside to get underground as a sneakier was of going around Renchanting. but he's more to the side, sort of in the farm. not a particularly exciting location for him, but i'll give him credit in that, had he not died when he did, it would probably have been Ren or Martyn that Grian fired on. what was that thing he said in episode one about supporting his friends on his shoulders? i guess he was right)

(and, while I'm thinking of their allies, isn't it fun that Etho digs himself a hole to die in? he, if only by accident, is the only member of Dogwarts i can think of who got anything resembling an actual grave, though i think it loses points for being hand-dug, as well as the fact it was likely trampled over by both friend and foe alike in the ensuing fight).

Martyn, conversely, dies right next to the ruins of black heart altar. he doesn't see Ren go down, as he's on the other side of the kingdom. he doesnt even see Ren's items--his body, if you want to be dramatic (or realistic)--before he dies. barely makes it a few steps from where he'd been standing when the death message had gone out. and there's a lot to be said about that, but a personal favorite is this:

we know Ren stayed in the game as a spectator for the rest of the session. we know spectators "respawn" in their beds. we know, as i pointed out earlier, that Ren's bed was at black heart altar. we also know that the spectators are pretty much canonically ghosts, given how Grian talks about them in both Third and Last Life

i have no idea how quickly Ren hit respawn after his death, but we know from Martyn's pov that he was floating around talking with the other spectators by the time Martyn joined them. which means it's not a stretch to assume Ren, as soon as he joined the ghosts, watched Martyn die. would have had a front row seat, even

[hybbart]

May I request you draw some empires s1 flower husbands I Miss them so much( ps your jimmy design is adorable)

First of all thank you very much! Now, I have actually drawn a little sketch for you. But I'm gonna put it in another post cause I just wanted to use this ask to say a couple things so it doesn’t get bogged down by this, cause this happens to touch close to some topics I wanted to mention for a while now but my brain has a hard time letting me just make permanent text posts on this blog specifically since it's supposed to be for my art.

Long post so I'm putting it below the read more. Sorry if this seems like an inappropriate reply, I really just don’t know how or where else to say these things.

TL;DR: I've given myself strict rules on what I'll personally depict in my mcyt art, I'm not actually fond of flower husbands or Jimmy and Scott's dynamic in general (adore both of them individually though), and I still don't really know much about e1 outside of Lizzie so have 3rd life instead.

First thing is something I probably shoulda said a long time ago cause I've gotten a few asks about drawing explicitly romantic or sexual stuff, but I don't intend to draw either of those things. I have a big difference between what I'm comfortable consuming and what I'm comfortable making myself. I gave myself a lot of personal boundaries when decided to draw mcyt stuff based on my own comfort.

Rule 1 is no sexualization or gore, basically keep things in the realm of the same rating as the hermits.

Rule 2 is that my designs would only be based on skins, lore, and fanon, and never anything around their irl selves.

Rule 3 is not to draw anything that was more than interpretive in relation to romantic vs platonic.

Rule 0.5, the only exceptions to be made would be for references to gags they themselves have made in videos.

I know some of my stuff pushes against the line on these rules, especially for jokes or replying to asks that use shipping terms, but they're ones I don't intend to ever fully cross with my own art. There's a lot of other amazing artists on here who are more comfortable with drawing that stuff.

So if you ever send in a request for art just know that ones that push against or cross these rules to me, I'm going to skip over them. Not anything against the request it's just my own rules. Sometimes I also just don't get to them, but I'd appreciate those rules being kept in mind when requesting.

Second topic starts with a bit of a story. So, I got introduced to the life series through a Grian animation that popped up when I was in my more standard annual hermitcraft phase. The first thing I watched of the life series was thus Grian's videos of 3rd life and double life very out of order and jumping all over the place.

Cause of that the very first thing I ever saw in relation to flower husbands was after Jimmy was already dead, and it was Scott talking about how his husband is dead after the desert war, telling Grian "see this is why I don't trust Jimmy with anything, because he's incompetent. I did warn you all." and it never really recovered from that first impression for me. It actually took me a long time to figure out it was more than a one off joke to call him his husband, cause it felt like every time I saw a scene with Scott he was just insulting Jimmy or begrudgingly putting up with him in a not very funny way. I really do not vibe with them as the flower husbands cause of that.

(That said I do adore both of them separately, and they are very entertaining as exes. Scott's just a lot more enjoyable as part of GGG and the divorcees, and I am very susceptible to the 'Jimmy bullying joke didn't quite land and I'm now just uncomfortable' low tolerance problem.)

Third is, I have actually watched an empires 1 pov now! Yay! But it was Lizzie's and there honestly isn't all that much related to them in her pov. There was actually not nearly as much related to others as I expected in general. Still loved it but didn't provide much is far as context for the season as a whole. Plus I'm unhappy with Scott's design for it and wanna redesign it. So basically I drew them from 3rd life instead.

[acerace]

...you have opened my eyes to a vast universe of VintageBeef lore that I was unaware of. I knew about the New Hermit Order, of course, and the UHC invention, and I've watched a few of his CTM things but -- I will take all the info and lore you feel like giving out because Beef is amazing and my knowledge is so small.

Vintagebeef my beloved <3

So the thing is, right, until about 2016 I only watched two (2) youtubers- Vintagebeef for Minecraft and aDrive for Pokemon (and funnily enough both of them are named Dan irl). So I've watched most of Beef's videos over the years and have a general knowledge of most of his stuff, except because it's been like a decade I don't remember where most of the lore comes from XD

The thing with him is that he doesn't do Lore tm the way other mcyters often do lore- he doesn't have an extensive RP series to draw from like Grian, doesn't have a solo world with steadily increasing amounts of lore like Etho or Zisteau, and while he's played on SMPs and been involved in storylines before it's not really the focus of his episodes unlike with Evo or Legacy or Empires

So where does that leave us?

IRL, Beef always has multiple series running at the same time. Often he's playing on an smp while doing a singleplayer, often modded, series as well as a CTM or modpack with a group of friends. For example, right now he's playing on Hermitcraft, doing weekly Pixelmon and Building a Zoo episodes, and a CTM map with Slip. And to me, this translates to one thing: Beef is an adventurer. He travels frequently- he explores a world and when he decides he's done, he leaves for the next one. That's the basis of my personal interpretation of his series and his character for my writing.

Ok so reading this back, this got extremely long and didn't explain much in the way of lore, somehow? If anyone has any additions to add please do so, I am very definitely leaving out a lot and would love to see what other lore people remember and are using for Beef! I didn’t include the Hermitcraft stuff since my memory of season 4 is blurry (his base was themed after the Martian, that much I know, and he and Iskall were buddies :D) and most of the s5 NHO lore is best watched from Bdub’s perspective from what I remember, and the only s6 stuff is a single line in Hermitgang and then the Area 77 arc with its possibility of an NHO reunion which we did not get rip. And s7 of course had the cloning machine and also the Podzol Party as the main lore. So all the original rambling is still below the cut though it is very long, and I'm gonna bullet point the main stuff here instead:

Actual canonical things:

Invented UHC and was the only survivor of the first ever uhc (Mindcrack UHC s1)

Married to an ender dragon (one of the UHCs I think), later father to a different dragon (Mindcrack season 3? I think?)

Might not have legs if you choose to take that joke as canon (Mindcrack s2)

Was a wizard (RAD)

is a zookeeper (Building a Zoo) 

Had a wife and kids (Sims in Minecraft)

Part of the Trial of the B Team court case (Mindcrack)

NHO founder, founder of the Podzol Party (Hermitcraft)

Created a cloning machine that sort of works (Hermitcraft)

Played the Forest which is I believe the first time he and Keralis played together (look up the trigger warnings for this one, it's a horror game)

Was the creator/owner of Sourceblock SMP (featuring some familiar faces if you know Legacy, Empires, or MCC) and there is literal magic from a mysterious sourceblock of water that teleports people and summons mobs and probably more stuff that I haven't seen yet since I'm still watching it myself

Things you can infer:

Good with animals (Life in the Woods, Pixelmon, Ark)

Is a car nerd (irl and all of the car games he's played)

Is a highly experienced adventurer who has traveled through dozens of worlds both vanilla and modded, across multiple dimensions (Twilight Forest, the Aether, the Betweenlands, Limbo), completed dozens of monuments, fought in blood sports, survived apocalypse after apocalypse, tamed dinosaurs, and played a lot of prop hunt and golf with your friends

If you're looking for what to watch for lore purposes, I'd say the Mindcrack UHCs and Team Canada's RAD series are pretty good, definitely Sourceblock and HC s5, plus the Diversity CTM maps and Ruins of the Mindcrackers maybe? And Mindcrack Prank Wars for the chaos and the origin of Team Canada. And if you can handle horror than the Forest is fun and if you don't do horror you can watch the Pojkband play golf or prop hunt they're hilarious I love them sm I want a Pojkband reunion So Bad 

Beef's first series was a singleplayer series in beta 1.4_01 though he had played the game extensively before that, and was a big fan of Guude, having watched his own Minecraft videos. The series was functionally a hardcore one where if he died Beef would delete the world and start again! I haven't actually Watched this series so idk if he died or how often lmao. When Guude made Mindcrack, which was btw one of the very first Minecraft SMPs, he also hosted a competition for people to join, and Beef submitted a video (which is still viewable on his channel I believe!) and won, and was added to Mindcrack in season 2 :D (fun fact, Guude said that even if Beef hadn’t won he would have added him anyway) 

Two running jokes emerged from Mindcrack- pulling a Vintagebeef and Beef doesn't have legs. The first is a reference to Beef dying of fall damage (I believe the exact instance was him trying to jump into his swimming pool and failing spectacularly) and after the incident, every time someone died of fall damage they were pulling a Vintagebeef. The second joke comes from Guude, who joked that the reason Beef wasn't going to a convention was because he didn't have legs, and then he pranked Beef's base by building a giant pair of legs at the entrance to his castle so you had to walk between them to get into the base. This joke has long since died and both Beef and Guude feel pretty bad about it iirc because there were people who genuinely thought Beef was disabled and were emailing him supportive messages and stuff oops. So if you go looking on the Salad or find old Mindcrack fics, you might see references to Beef having prosthetic legs!

Mindcrack also brought about the creation of several Player groups- Team Nancy Drew, Team Canada, and GOB to name a few relevant to Beef. Team Nancy Drew consists of Beef, Pauseunpause, Guude, and Baj, who formed to investigate a prank on one of the members but I forget who. They're named Nancy Drew after the detective! Team Canada also formed in retaliation to pranks, with it consisting of Beef, Etho, and Pause, the three Canadian members on the server (not including Adlington who moved to Canada but never joined the group). There was also a Team America who pranked them with American flags everywhere. GOB is Guude, OMGChad, and Beef, who played stuff like the Ragecraft, Pantheon, and Monstrosity ctms together but that's way down the line lol

Team Nancy Drew is also notable for inventing UHC. It was Beef's brainchild but it was the four of them who first played it! The first UHC had the four of them working to kill the dragon with no natural regen, with everyone dying but Beef, who "won" the UHC. The second uhc was still dragon focused and iirc is where Beef married the dragon? Memories are hazy but they do kill the dragon in this one I think. UHC was then revamped as a pvp event and became a regular Mindcrack game every few months, featuring most of the Mindcrackers and several special guests, including Dinnerbone, who as we know Thanos-snapped Doc's arm out of existence as a result of Doc killing him in one of them

In one of the seasons of Mindcrack, Beef invited swedish Mindcracker and good friend Anderzel to go caving with him and invented ABBA Rules caving, where the winner takes it all. ABBA Rules is a game where each ore (and also dungeon loot like nametags) is assigned a point value and the person with the most points at the end wins and gets to keep all the stuff collected from the game.

In Mindcrack season 3?, Beef punched the ender dragon in an... awkward area, so when the dragon died and left the egg behind, Guude said Beef was the father of the egg XD I don't remember if I watched s3 so I have no idea if anything Happened with this concept but *history of the world voice* you could make lore out of this!

So Team Canada has played a Lot of CTM maps (which fun fact were pretty much invented by another Mindcrack member, Vechs, with his Super Hostile series! Super Hostile has a bunch of things called "Zistonian", which are references to another Mindcrack member Zisteau, who has a very wild singleplayer series with even wilder lore but I digress). In Ruins of the Mindcrackers, they had a running joke that Beef was Etho and Pause's mom, which is a joke we can leave in the past actually /lh. They also played all the Diversity maps, Sky Factory, Terra Restore, Uncharted Territory uhhh and a couple more ctms and adventure maps! Each map kinda has its own story so in Diversity 3 for example they were trapped in a simulation? I think? Team Canada also recently played the Roguelike Adventures and Dungeons modpack, aka RAD, in which Beef was a wizard with a magic staff that could do anything from summon lightning to control hostile mobs.

Sourceblock SMP is a vanilla survival 1.14 series that ran for one season and the series starts with each of the Players being drawn to a strange sparkling water source that, once they touch it, brings them to the Sourceblock world. It also summons a giant zombie at one point. There's probably more lore for this series but like I said I haven't watched it all the way through yet 

He has a Patreon server called VintageCraft and has done a series or two on there as well, and played a few UHCs with them, so lore that how you will! 

Beef also played a few popular mods, notably Pixelmon, Life in the Woods, and Feed the Beast, with LitW being singleplayer and the other multiplayer. He's also recently played the Zoo and Wild Animals mod a lot. He did a short series with the Minecraft Comes Alive mod where he married one of the villagers and had two children, so that's canon now :D he’s played a Lot of Pixelmon starting when the mod first came out iirc (he chose Turtwig in his first series and built a Grass gym, then made a Normal gym in another series in uhh 2016) and he still plays to this day. Quite a few Hermits played on his Pixelmon servers with him, like Wels, Etho, Iskall, Stress, Slip, Zueljin, and also Guude and Phedran (a Mindcrack adjacent player and creator of the LitW modpack) and a few Mindcrackers on the older servers 

Mindcrack and friends played a lot of other games too- 7 Days to Die, Ark Survival Evolved, Unturned, to name a few, so you can pull a lot of lore out of these as well. Speaking of friends and non-Minecraft games, Beef teamed up with Pause, Keralis, and Slip (a former Hermit) to play the horror game the Forest, which saw them stuck on an island trying to survive against terrifying mutated human... things. They played it a few times as the game updated but as afaik it's the first time Beef played with Keralis and possibly Slip and since the game starts with the Player's airplane crashing, that could totally be how Beef first met them in-universe 

I... think? that’s everything I mentioned in the tags? There is probably way more stuff I’ve forgotten that stems from inside jokes and things that happen within each series, but I hope that was a) helpful and b) at least somewhat comprehensible lmao 

[yhs-silly]

Kneel

They were on their way home from school, Sam and Taurtis were just messing around and swinging off the lampposts, the usual. Grian seemed a little grumpier then usual, maybe he'd gotten a low grade on his test, he wouldn't say. But he was adamant that they had to get home as soon as possible, so when Sam and Taurtis started doing their checking both ways gag he was ready to snap.

He groaned and pushed them aside. "You guys are idiots! There are never any cars on this road!" He rolled his eyes and stormed into the middle of the road and stood there with his arms out, glaring at the duo. "See! There's nothing here! I'm perfectly sa-afe..."

He trailed off at the sound of a car horn, turning to face the speeding car, his face falling in horror.

Sam's hands tightened around Taurtis's arms, Taurtis hadn't even realised he'd moved to rush into the road. He just went still and just stared, with wide, tear filled eyes as the car came closer and closer.

Grian was right, there were never any cars on the road. It was very rare that a car came down the road, and if it did, it was usually at night- and always speeding. That was the unwritten rule; speed past the school zone, with luck you might hit one nof the crazy kids. The other towns around were never fond of the academi students, not used to such diversity, neurologically or otherwise.

Ironically, it was most likely the least mad of the students being hit, all the others looking on, glad it wasn't them. The acidemi students were never known for their empathy, only a few students really cared for the Brit. Those that did care already had tears welling in their eyes at the sound of flesh against metal and the grinding of the breaks as the car came to a halt.

The guy driving the car didn't even get out, he just sat there in a state of shock as Taurtis and Sam raced over to Grians side. Taurtis had tears spilling freely down his cheeks and even Sam was panicking, Sam gently lifted Grian off of the floor and checked his vitals. He was still alive, but struggling.

Okami had seen the whole thing go down and had called and ambulance as soon as she'd heard the car, it didn't take long for it to turn him. Sam threatened the emergency response team to let him and Taurtis ride with Grian in the back.

They were so worried, Taurtis had begun sobbing uncontrollably, this was just like before, just like with...

Salex.

Why did everyone he love have to die? Why was it always a car? He pauses, did he love Grian? As a friend of course, he's one of his best friends... he's still hung up on Salex...he hoped and prayed beyond his belief that Grian would not follow her. He couldn't loose someone else so close to him, he wouldn't know what to do.

Sam wasn't as affected but he was still terrified of loosing Grian, he'd never really dealt with a death close to him since his mother passed. He watched as Taurtis fell to his knees, sobbing. He felt so awful, if it wasn't for his and taurtis's insisting that the road wasn't safe, then Grian would be safe. For once Sam didn't feel pleased with being proved right, he wished he was wrong. For once he wished it had been Grian who was right, he could just see Grian's triumphant smirk, the sparkle in his eyes at the idea of being right.

Sam had noticed how much Grian reacted to a little bit of positive reinforcement, he'd used it to get his way before, but now all he wanted to do was tell Grian just how highly Sam valued him. Grian deserved to glow like he always did when praised, Sam was just scared he'd never get the chance.

After a while Grian got better, he still hasn't spoken but the doctors had said he was free to leave. One their way home, Sam and Taurtis had done nothing but pamper and adore him. It was the least they could do for him, but something was off with Grian, his behaviour wasn't normal.

Taurtis was worried about him, he hadn't said a word to either of them since he'd gotten out of the hospital. Sam wasn't as worried, but it was clear he was concerned by how little he'd been mocking Grian lately. But neither of them seemed to be getting through to him.

He's been taking naps lately, it was almost all he did. He never did any of his work and Okami was on the brink of pulling him aside for a quiet word. Everyone was growing increasingly worried about him, they figured he had gained some sort of brain damage.

This all culminated in that one night, Taurtis had stayed up late gaming. Sam was asleep and Grian was probably also sleeping, or so Taurtis thought. He'd turned his head at the sound of footsteps to see Grian standing there, clutching the mop like a staff. He glared intently at Taurtis, a strange fire behind his eyes that made Taurtis shudder.

"Taurtis." Grian's voice was rougher, darker then his usually was. Even his posture seemed heavier, he held himself in a higher sense of pride and power then the anxious, drawn back Grian that Taurtis knew and loved. "Remove yourself from the magic mirror, I require your counsel."

Taurtis was slightly confused, but he'd played enough fantasy games to understand what Grian meant. He switched the tv and game crab off, concerned as to how Grian seemed.to have forgotten what a tv was. He shifted to the side and patted the sofa next to him, with a gentle smile. "Ok Grian, what do you need buddy." He was really happy that Grian was finally speaking again, although those subtle changes did worry him.

Grian didn't sit down however, he continued to stand and just stare at Taurtis expectantly. "Well?" He began to tap his foot. "Stand."

Taurtis was surprised but did so without thinking, watching in confusion as Grian nodded in approval and moved to take his seat. Grians posture while sitting was also more confident Taurtis noticed, how hadn't he noticed before? He goes to sit down but Grian raises his hand to stop him.

"No, kneel." Grian spoke with a command, more adept at control then Sam. But Taurtis wasn't just going to obey, he just frowned at Grian in concern. Then his eyes widened at Grian put the mop to his shoulder and forced him down, Taurtis would've been impressed by Grian's control on the mop if he wasn't currently being forced onto his knees. He stares up at Grian in concern as the blonde nods in approval.

"Grian..? What the hell..?"

Grian raised his eyebrows a little at that, smiling gentle. "Oh? Is something the matter Taurtis? I must admit, I am also a little thrown off by our predicament but it is alright, you have your king to guide you."

Taurtis frowned deeply, king? Grian wasn't a king? He now had concerns about Grian's sanity, he had to play this carefully. He just quietly nods, smiling up at him gently. "No, nothings the matter Grian. You said you wanted to talk about something?"

Grian smiled back and nodded. "Ah yes, it was actually about this predicament... I'm unsure as to what happened but these clothes aren't mine? And I've never seen such powerful magic then there is here, it rivals even the likes of me... that's another thing. I've found myself unable to perform spells recently, I attempted to harness the power of this strange looking staff but it doesn't seem to like me."

Taurtis just nodded. "Alright...well what do you want to do?"

"I wish to return home, is that not obvious?" Grian scoffed. "My kingdom needs their king."

Taurtis nods and slowly and cautiously gets to his feet. "Okay...so I think the best thing to do right now is go back to bed and figure out what to do in the morning."

Grian nods and stands. "That does seem like the ideal plan, I trust you to gaurd my chambers?"

Taurtis just nodded in response, watching Grian head back upstairs. His knees where shaking, he sat on the sofa, feeling horrible.

Tears bunched in his eyes as he thought about how his poor sweet friend had completely lost his mind, Grian was supposed to be the responsible one! Now he seemed to believe he was some magical fantasy king... Poor guy was always a nerd, Taurtis figured that he must've latched on to a favourite fantasy story as a coping mechanism after the accident.

He felt so bad for poor Grian, he didn't ask for this, the poor guy didn't even understand what was going on. He felt the hot tears run down his face and looked down at his shaking hands, he realised that he had to tell Sam, he had to.

He slowly got to his feet and crept upstairs silently, knocking gently on Sam's door. "Sam? Sam wake up."

Sam eventually came to the door, looking sleepy. "Taurtis..? What's wrong?" He was surprised to see how worried Taurtis looked, he instantly also began to get worried.

"It's Grian." Taurtis spoke quietly, as if he was afraid of disturbing said blonde. He speaks slowly and carefully. "He's gone mad...he thinks he's some sort of wizard king..." He sniffles and wipes some tears away. "I'm just so worried about him..."

Sam felt his heart pang, he didn't know this feeling, it was almost guilt, almost responsibility, but it was neither- and it certainly wasn't pity, Sam knew what it was like to be the mad one. Only thing is, Sam was never really mad, just not normal. He nodded slowly, brain working harder then it ever did before at this time of night, heart hammering in his chest just like that day. "Alright...so what do we do?"

They made eye contact, the best thing to do would be to call the authorities, tell a teacher, get him to the hospital, to do something. But they both knew they couldn't do that, they didn't have the heart. Taurtis slowly began to speak. "Well...his delusions aren't tha-"

Sam put his hand up to stop him. "No, we can't go along with his delusions, that wouldn't be fair on him." He sighs and hums in thought "Is there really anything we can do..? I think he might be fucked."

"Don't say that!" Taurtis squeaked, quickly lowering his volume quickly. "We have to do something, we can't just leave him to his delusions." He was getting choked up again, Grian might not have died, but Taurtis still felt that he'd lost him.

They barely slept that night, simply discussing what they could do. They didn't really come up with anything that hadn't been said before, but eventually they decided they'd treat his delusions like how a parent treats a child's fantasies, playing along to a certain point.

And so they did, they managed this for around a week, but unfortunately people began to notice that Grian was behaving strangely. Eventually, Okami pulled the trio aside to talk to them.

Sam was glancing around and making sure there were exits, Taurtis was wringing his hands and glancing at Grian every five seconds. Grian himself had his arms crossed and was glaring daggers at Okami for being so rude.

Okami sighed softly and smiles at the boys. "Now, I'm sure you know what's going on. But none of us do, so could you please explain why Grian is behaving like that."

Grian scoffed and begun to speak, before Taurtis gently shut him down and spoke instead. "We're sorry Sensei, he's just a little banged up from the accident still..." He shrugs and smiles awkwardly.

Sam glances at him nervously, Okami frowns and then Grian speaks up. "What accident? I am not 'banged' up? Taurtis what are you talking about?"

There are gasps from both boys as Taurtis glances at grian nervously and Sam quietly hisses. "Grian, shh!"

Grian glares. "Don't you tell me to shh!" He stomps up to Sam and gets real close, getting up on his tippy toes trying to look intimidating.

Okami sighs and looked concerned. "Grian, sweetie, what do you mean 'what incident?'? Do you not remember what happened?"

Grian looked at her in confusion, his face a mixture of confusion and annoyance. He goes to speak when Taurtis steps in and clears his throat.

"Sensei? We're so sorry for trying to hide this...but he's gone mad."

"I am not mad! How dare you!"

Okami pauses and looks at Grian, seemingly looking for something, but whatever she was looking for, she didn't find it. She sighed and gently put her hand on Grian's shoulder. "Grian, sweetie? Can you calm down for me? Try and explain what you think is going on."

Grian began to speak, about a magical kingdom he rules over and how Sam and Taurtis were loyal to him. Okami turned to the boys and mouthed at them to go and fetch Rowan.

Taurtis's heart was hammering in his chest, that was so impulsive of him, but at least Grian was going to get the help he needs. He looks at Sam, seeing the obvious pain his friend was trying to hide, he sighed. He never expected to have to be the normal one, it was too much pressure for him. But if that was what it took to keep his best friends safe and happy, then that's what he would be.

It was Taurtis who explained the situation to Rowan.

It was Taurtis who comforted Sam as Grian was taken away.

It was Taurtis who knelt besides the bed that night, and for the first time in all his life.

Taurtis prayed.