#PLEASE GIVE US BOATEM!

[charizardstolemynickname]

MUMBO IS IN THIS SEASON!!! WE WIN THESE!!! BOATEM REUNION!!!!

[griancraft]

Hi guys, this is sort of my official "please, for the love of god, listen to Skyjacks with me” post because I’m losing my mind and all the content I can find is from the latest stuff right now, and I don’t want to spoil myself. I want to be able to talk about this with people!!!! I will make a watch (listen) party discord if there is enough interest. Just give it a chance; you won’t regret it. Also, some information may be wrong or outdated. I’m on episode 11 out of over 200.

Skyjacks is a ttrpg podcast about sky pirates in a world where there was a catastrophe about 200 years ago that left the sea unsafe to sail and maybe even damaged the entire world to the point where civilization is scattered and in small groups. There is very casual queer rep, and it’s casual to the point where it really just fits into the world perfectly.

A brief summary of the premise of the first episode will hopefully get you hooked. I’m really bad at summaries, but I promise it’s a billion times better than how I talked about it here:

Captain Orimar Vale is dead, and a mutiny will be on Gable, Jonnit, Travis, and Dref’s hands if they are unable to keep up the ruse of him being alive. To do this, necromancy (deeply forbidden magic) is performed by the Dref, the ship's doctor, to turn him into a semi-functional zombie. Captain Orimar is famous for his abilities as a captain; to replicate this will take great skill.

As they run out of supplies, they make a desperate decision: port on the land of one of Orimar’s scorned lovers or deal with the growing uneasiness of the rest of the crew. They haven’t seen their captain healthy in months, and whispers about his health are starting. However, greater danger will await them when they take to the skies again, lurking just beyond the clouds…

And more propaganda as to why I think you guys will like it:

There are unique and interesting gameplay mechanics they use to tell a really cool story, and if you like Hermitcraft or any other sorta storytelling-based SMP, I promise you’ll like it. Like. If you liked Boatem from Hermitcraft 8, you’ll love the characters in Skyjacks. The players are exceptionally good at playing their characters, their humour is unmatched by anything similar I’ve had the pleasure of seeing, and the story is prioritized, which I think is an amazing choice.

Best part? It’s still ongoing after, like, 5 years. Some people have left, but a good chunk of the OG cast has stayed. Not that leaving is bad, because holy crap, 5 years is a long time, and stories have to end at some point! It’s a good way of getting into something and knowing there is still a shit ton of content to be explored.

The music is good. The story is good. The characters and humour are amazing. The lore of the world is sprinkled throughout, and as you learn more about the world, the more excited you get. It’s incredible so far, and if you decide to listen to it, I will actually love you forever and ever. My boyfriend is on episode 190, and he finds it so funny every time I go. Oh my god, this is so cool.

Link to the podcast, but in a playlist (up to 180). So it’s in order and easy to find, since it’s a part of something else from the oneshot network:

[angeart]

……Mumbo and Grian Boatem Circus AU Please please please I needddd…..

yesss! time to talk about boatem circus mumbo and grian!

(1,8k words long ramble ahead)

mumbo’s grown used to the circus by the time grian comes along, but he’s still never set foot on stage during performances. he might’ve teleported a couple of times by himself, a nervous wreck each time, recognising how off it feels to him—something that should be natural and normal, like breathing, now feeling vile and threatening. and yet the urge is still there whenever his anxiety rises, and below it, a quiet, much gentler instinct that tells him that teleporting ought to belong to him.

when grian comes to the circus, he’s a traumatised, scared little heap of feathers. 

mumbo doesn’t know where he came from, or what his past was like, or what he’s afraid of. all he knows is that as a boatem circus member, he’s meant to do his best to help, and grian deserves to be protected until he re-learns the feeling of safety, just like mumbo had before.

once grian isn’t so afraid of any new person approaching him, mumbo comes to nervously ask him if… he’d like some new clothes maybe? he’s been making stage clothes for the others, and fixing up their daily clothes. he got  better at estimating the right sizes, and he has experience making avian stuff too, thanks to jimmy!

so even though he’s not entirely confident he could do this right, without coming all up in grian’s space and taking proper measurements, he offers anyway, willing to try to wing it. to give him something new, something solely his, removed from whatever he's been through. 

unlike all the others who asked for fancy things, grian… just wants something soft and baggy. something to cushion him and protect his skin and hide him a little bit.

it’s a challenge, but mumbo tries hard and… he ends up making him a soft woolen sweater, only slightly oversized.

it’s red, like grian’s wings. he isn’t sure if that’s okay, but grian didn’t ask for any specific colour, and— mumbo noticed that when grian first came in, underneath the borrowed jacket from scar that swallowed up his small, hunched frame, he had tight fitting black clothes. he thought maybe something brighter would be better, then.

grian wears the sweater constantly.

and once grian starts getting out more and interacting with the crew, mumbo notices that he seems to gravitate towards him. that he seeks out his (and scar’s) presence above all else, a bit like a lost puppy, still scared, but choosing the two of them to attach himself to.

mumbo doesn’t know why he was chosen. he doesn’t feel entirely competent. but he does like the little avian, and wants to see who he could be, once he learns that this place can truly be safe for him.

he does ask, at some point, nervously curious. why grian seeks him out in particular?

grian tells him it’s because he seems harmless. (because mumbo’s endearingly nervous behaviour feels much safer than the cheer and overbearing friendliness of others. and because he’s pretty sure mumbo couldn’t hurt a fly.) and then, quieter, he says that mumbo doesn’t seem like someone who’d put people in cages.

because that’s a quality that’s decisive for grian, at a time when he’s quiet and timid and still shaken.

mumbo looks back at him with concern and softness and also kind of horrified, and he agrees quietly that no, he wouldn’t. (he was caged, once. and he was trapped before that, for a long time. he’d never wish that on someone else.) 

he doesn’t know what other triggers grian has, or what upsets him. they don’t talk about what they’ve been through. he sees his panic rise up several times, scar always swooping in to take grian away when he blindly flinches from everyone else, but mumbo doesn’t understand what causes it. all he knows to do is to protect grian from feeling trapped.

they hang out together a lot, mumbo also liking the feeling of freedom instead of staying cooped up in his room. they roam the camp, but also explore further area, whether around their home base or on their travels when the circus is on the move. 

once, they find a nice serene lake. which is a big pool of water, and that makes mumbo nervous. he makes sure grian knows water hurts him (grian knows this already, because of rainy days), and grian makes sure when he playfully splashes the water, it’s far, far from the reach of mumbo. 

it still makes him squeal, and it still makes grian laugh, but mumbo is finding that he is being kept safe here. that someone is looking out for him. that grian is being playful, not malicious. and that maybe, just maybe, he’s helping mumbo face his fear in a controlled, small way.

(the first time grian splashes water, on the other end of the lake, mumbo jolts and teleports. on nothing but startled instinct. and he promptly becomes nauseous.) (but it gets better over time, and he does want to challenge himself here. he does want grian to challenge him, to help him overcome a part of him he’s been running away from.) (and oh, grian looks so calm gliding over water, much more than anywhere else.) 

there’s a time when grian goes to look for mumbo in a storm. it came unexpectedly, and mumbo was out on a walk or gathering herbs or something—grian isn’t sure—and now it’s raining horribly. 

and rain hurts mumbo.

grian doesn’t let the wretched weather deter him. he goes through muddy terrain, clothes drenched, trying to follow a path that mumbo likes to take, until he finds him huddling in a cave. trapped by the storm, unable to leave or go back to camp. purple particles wild around him but with nowhere safe for him to teleport to.

grian sits down, forcing down the urge to shake his feathers, because he doesn’t want the stray drops to land on mumbo. he sits at a distance, not reaching out, his skin and clothes wet. but he is there.

he is there, and it counts.

he waits the storm out with mumbo, then guides him back home across mud and puddles and wet-slicked bark of trees. 

(and if mumbo mentions lighting a fire back in the cave to help grian dry off? and if grian goes dead silent at that, and then mumbo instantly rambles on about how they don’t even have the things needed to start the fire, and surely all the wood outside is wet anyway, and oh gosh, how silly of him… he never caught on to that plunge into silence and then tentative relief that grian felt in that moment.)

time passes, and mumbo recognises that grian feels purposeless. that he still feels a little lost. that he looks at the circus shows with a sort of confused longing, scared to take that step to bring himself closer to them and to everyone else.

he has no idea that grian was in a circus before. he has no idea how horrible it was.

but grian sees what scar has made here, and everyone is always so eager to perform and so happy afterwards, and… and maybe he could—

he wants to be a part of it, but he’s terrified.

(he also feels like it’s maybe something he should do—is supposed to do—no matter how many times scar tells him otherwise, reassuring him that it’s all up to him. there’s a nagging feeling in the back of grian’s mind that he’s expected, sooner or later, to do his part and participate in the shows.) 

mumbo wants to help him. he wants to help him give this thing a try, even though he himself has been avoiding it this whole time, and… and maybe they could do it together?

it’s mumbo who coaxes grian on stage. [art here]

he does so by starting to participate in the shows himself. just a little bit, the tiniest bit. he goes out there, and he does tricks that involve him teleporting. he starts small. (he’s healing through this.) and, eventually, he tells grian it’s okay. he tells him he’ll be there with him. he’s doing all this just so he can be there with grian, to put him at ease.

every time mumbo’s bit is over, he keeps watching from the back, eyes on grian. (protective mumbo!! <3) because grian isn’t okay and. he really needs it. he needs mumbo there, watching, ready to step in the moment grian might need him. because sometimes it all still feels too overwhelming. because sometimes the anxiety and fears and memories hit like a freight train out of nowhere and he needs a fast way out.

there are times when mumbo sweeps in and takes grian and teleports with him back to the safety of the backstage. they make it seem intentional. others work and improvise around it. it’s a little bit clumsy, but it works.

and it means everything.

on stage, they can’t show their full emotions, so mumbo is really looking out for the smallest hints. and the moment they are backstage and grian slumps into him, sobbing? he knows he did the right thing.

of course there are times when mumbo isn’t sure. and times when he does this when grian doesn’t need him to. but more often than not he’s right, and it makes all the difference.

the others never mind. they’re glad he’s there for grian, doing this! they always balance between giving grian space afterwards and checking up on him. but mumbo’s always that first line. that link to immediate safety.

gradually, mumbo becomes less nauseous and disoriented when teleporting, and grian becomes more assured on stage, doing flight acrobatics without hoops and without fire and with a support of a wonderful crew, playing off of each other in a way that even starts to be fun. it’s wonderful to see! he’s growing to be pesky and clingy, and… and he still has panic attacks that seemingly come from nowhere. and he’s still antsy around some people for some reason. and he's still nervous before each show. and he’s still not okay.

but he’s getting there.

him and mumbo both are getting there.

… and then the fire happens <3

please think about how readily mumbo teleports to help and save the people he grew to desperately care about. because it’s one thing for mumbo to teleport in the safety of the circus tent, when he knows all the variables and isn’t in any danger. but now he’s doing it when there’s active danger, panic set deep into his veins in a way that feels horribly close to his worst memories.

he’s teleporting to places that are painful and scary, and the lines are becoming blurred and he’s losing track a little bit. and yet he keeps going.

he has to keep going.

he teleports until exhaustion. which, isn’t that familiar? (and sure, his exhaustion point has been pushed somewhere else; he would’ve been able to keep going a lot longer in the past, before everything, but his stamina seems to be permanently damaged, always running on half-depleted.) 

and maybe it isn’t so obvious, when he’s in the overdrive to keep going, but it’s all going to catch up with him eventually. he’s not going to have a fun aftermath.

[errorryx]

unraveling — part one, season eight

read on ao3 | hermitcraft, 2.2k words

This fic was written for the MCYTblr AUfest (@mcytblraufest)! My artist was @ghastspidergwen, who made this beautiful doll for the AU! please go give that post lots of love, it would mean the world to me <3

—

There are two new server members this season, and for most of the hermits, this is their first look at either of them. It’s probably a little intimidating for Pearl and Gem to be stared at from above by everyone else, but it’s difficult for most of them to remember to be courteous about it, because they're too busy staring at Pearl.

Players on Hermitcraft have always come in all different shapes and sizes, but none of them have ever been anything like Pearl. She’s a player like the rest of them, that much is obvious, but her body appears to be made out of wool, rather than any sort of organic material. Her eyes are buttons, and she has soft fuzzy antennae protruding from her hat that look like feathers.

Pearl stares back up at them, a slight grin on her face. She has yet to do much in the way of moving. Finally, when it comes time to introduce herself, she hops up to join the rest of them, moving around as easily as any other player.

Eventually, one by one, the hermits come to the conclusion that everything must be in order after all. They graduate from staring to sneaking occasional looks, and they do their collective best to treat her like any other player.

Because if there’s one thing Hermitcraft is known for, it’s things that defy logic with their very existence. And in that respect, Pearl fits right in.

—

Shortly after the Boatem Pole incident wraps up, it occurs to Mumbo that he’s gone and joined another club for the season—and that one of the other club members is a newcomer that he’d really like to know more about.

He figures Grian is his best bet for information about Pearl, seeing as he’s the one who invited her to the server in the first place. Mumbo finds him offloading his inventory into the start of what’s sure to be a formidable chest monster, and asks, “You know Pearl pretty well, right?”

“Of course!” Grian says. “We’ve been friends for years.”

“Has she always been…you know.” Mumbo carefully considers his choice of words. “Did she use to look any different?”

Grian shrugs. “Maybe.”

“You don’t know?”

“A lot of people have looked a lot of different ways over the years.” Grian closes the lid of the chest. “You can’t expect me to remember everything.”

He has a point, unfortunately. “What about since the last time you saw her?”

“You mean ten minutes ago? I doubt she’s changed much since then.”

Mumbo rolls his eyes. “Before today.”

“That was…a couple months ago, I think. Or a couple years. One of those.”

Sometimes, Grian is an extremely frustrating person to hold a conversation with. “I just want to know why she’s made out of yarn and stuffing!”

“Oh! Why didn’t you just say so?”

“Because—” Mumbo stops, realizing he might be equally at fault here. “I thought it would be rude.”

“Well, to answer your question,” Grian says, “I haven’t the slightest idea why she’s like that.”

“You never asked her?”

“I thought it would be rude.”

“That’s never stopped you before,” Mumbo points out.

“Excuse you! I don’t go around asking why you’ve got that mustache.”

Mumbo strokes the mustache in question, feeling a little self-conscious. “I think it’s a nice mustache.”

“Me too,” Grian says. “I also think Pearl looks nice the way she is.”

“So do I,” Mumbo agrees quickly. “Really, I do.”

“Glad we agree!” Grian pats him on the back, and Mumbo leaves even more confused than before.

—

Grian’s still thinking about his conversation with Mumbo when he goes to ask Pearl for help with a build.

The build in question is actually a prank on Mumbo, but that’s not why it’s on his mind. In the few weeks since they spoke about Pearl, it’s occurred to him that there is something a little different about her—he just can’t quite put his finger on it.

“Have you gotten a haircut recently?” he asks her. “It looks nice.”

“Don’t be silly,” Pearl says. “You can just tell me you like my new wings!”

Right, of course. The wings. Grian feels a little embarrassed that he didn’t realize. “I do quite like them,” he says. He knows that Pearl’s wings have been there since the beginning of the season, it just hadn’t occurred to him that they were new. Like he said to Mumbo, he doesn’t keep track of these things.

“I appreciate it.” Pearl pokes him in the shoulder. “I like yours too, you know.”

“Yeah, well—” He rolls his eyes, his feathers instinctively fluffing up at the acknowledgement. “They aren’t exactly new.”

“I still like them!”

“Thanks.” Grian takes a closer look at her wings. They’re grey moth wings with a similar texture to the fabric that makes up the rest of her body, though they have more detail than any of her clothes. With such a small wingspan, they shouldn’t be aerodynamic enough to get Pearl off the ground, no matter how little she weighs. “You can’t fly with these, surely.”

“Not with that attitude I can’t.”

“I’ll be very impressed if you manage to prove me wrong.”

“Oh, yeah?” Pearl walks outside through the left-side door, and Grian follows through the trapdoors in the center. “Watch this!”

The way she rises is odd, to say the least. Grian is intimately familiar with the process of taking flight, and he’s pretty sure Pearl’s method violates the laws of physics. It’s not so much that she’s flying as it is that she’s being lifted, like an invisible hand is pulling her up by the feelers and holding her there, letting her dangle inelegantly in midair.

“Ta-da,” Pearl says, spreading her arms open.

Grian squints up at her. “When did ‘Suma give you access to creative mode?”

“I’m not cheating,” Pearl says, offended. She turns her back in midair, displaying her wings, which are slowly flapping back and forth. She begins to bob around in the air, sort of like a slow-motion hummingbird. It’s only marginally more convincing than her initial ascent.

“Fine,” Grian agrees, if only to get her to stop. “You can fly. I’m impressed.” 

Mostly, he’s disturbed. His wings itch just looking at her.

“Thank you,” Pearl says, and much to Grian’s relief, lands beside him. “So what’s this about a tree war?”

The vague plans that have been taking place in Grian’s head will require flight for them both, but he really, really doesn’t want to watch Pearl hover like that ever again. “First things first,” he says. “Let’s get you an elytra.”

—

Keralis is no stranger to the unusual. He knows he’s a little unusual; people tell him so all the time! And unusual things are constantly happening around him, only some of which are his fault. But Pearl is really something special.

The first time she comes to visit, Keralis ropes her into a scheme he’s just come up with, which is to get a clock from Bdubs so he can do some interior decorating. This is only part of his motivation—he takes to the extraordinary like a moth to a flame, and there are many extraordinary things about Pearl. He wants to discover them all.

Like her player head, for instance. Normal player heads, dropped in the event of a player's death, have a very simple effect: when equipped, they give someone the physical appearance of that player from the neck up. Usually they don't feel like anything, but Pearl’s head behaves a little differently. The first time Keralis tries it on is a very disorienting experience.

He and Pearl continue to meet up over the course of the season, hatching various schemes to try and swindle Bdubs out of even more clocks. Tango joins them for their third meeting, and Keralis wears his Pearl head again. It still feels very funny, and he decides that sharing is caring. “Here, put on a Pearl head!” Keralis says, throwing Tango his spare.

Tango puts it on, and now two Pearls are looking back at him. “Is it supposed to feel like my head is full of cotton?”

“Yes, that is perfectly normal,” Keralis assures him. “You get used to it!”

“He’s right,” Pearl agrees. “I’m very used to it.”

Keralis squints at her in suspicion, but he currently has buttons for eyes, so he’s not sure if anything actually  happens. “Was there a time when your head was not full of cotton?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Pearl says, “what with the cotton in my head and all. Makes it hard to remember these things.”

Keralis respects and admires that Pearl wants to maintain an air of mystery, so he laughs along. But he does not quite believe her.

—

On the day they decide to tear down an entire castle and rebuild it on Bdubs’ mountain, Keralis and Pearl wind up killing each other for fun midway through the project. Mumbo arrives with his end crystals to further complicate things, and after several rounds of recreational murder, Keralis puts on Pearl’s head again.

He knows what to expect by now, so the strangeness of it doesn't catch him off-guard. The interesting part comes when Pearl retaliates by putting on one of his heads. Keralis isn’t sure what he expected, but it’s not a knitted version of his own face staring back at him, complete with oversized black-and-white buttons for eyes.

“You've got a lovely head on your shoulders, Pearl,” he says. “Not terrifying at all.”

Mumbo turns to look at her too, and jumps about a foot in the air. “Good heavens!”

“What?” Pearl says, the picture of innocence. “Have I got something on my face?”

She blinks—and, come to think of it, Keralis can’t remember whether or not he’s ever seen Pearl blink before. Maybe he has, and he never noticed, but it’s hard not to notice when her eyes are so much larger. Mumbo seems to notice the same thing, because he asks, flabbergasted, “How on earth did you just blink with button eyes?”

Pearl does it again, twice in a row. Keralis is no closer to understanding how she does it, but he’s all the more invested in watching her to find out. “How do you blink with your goopy eyes?” Pearl asks.

“Oh, very easy. We use our eye muscles!” Keralis tries to demonstrate, but finds himself unable to do so. “Sorry, one second.” He pops off the Pearl head that he’s wearing and bats his eyelashes. “See?”

“Muscles, right. I’ve heard of those.” Pearl stretches her arms up to her head. “You used to have some, right, Mumbo? Do you still have ‘em?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you’re a potato? Last I checked, potatoes don’t have muscles.”

“Yes, but surely…” Mumbo looks down at his arm, poking the skin—the peel?—around his wrist. “Oh, dear. Do I have muscles? How am I meant to tell?”

“I know!” Keralis draws his axe. “We can slice off a little piece of you and look inside!”

Mumbo goes faintly green, resembling a poisonous potato. “I would really rather you didn’t.”

“No, I like this idea,” Pearl agrees. “Aren’t you curious, Mumbo? I know I am.”

“And we could also find out what your head looks like on Pearl’s head,” Keralis suggests.

Mumbo sighs. “Fine,” he says. “But only because I strongly suspect you’re going to do it anyway.”

“I promise I will be careful,” Keralis says, crossing his arms behind his back. “Just a teeny tiny slice.” 

“I don’t want to watch.” Mumbo holds out his arm and looks in the opposite direction.

Keralis cuts into Mumbo’s arm. Unfortunately, he misjudges the amount of strength needed to cut through a potato with a large axe, and ends up slicing off Mumbo’s entire hand. “Oopsy-daisy.”

“Ow,” Mumbo says, as Pearl picks up the hand from the ground. He sounds more annoyed than agonized.  “Really?”

“It’s okay, it’s okay! Five minute rule, remember? You will be good as new after a nice respawn.”

“He’s potato all the way through,” Pearl reports, showing the hand to Keralis. “You don’t even have bones, Mumbo, see?”

“Can I get that respawn now?” Mumbo asks, still refusing to turn his head.

“Of course!” Keralis slices him through with the axe, then does it again. The hand that Pearl’s holding disappears, as does the rest of Mumbo, who pops up at the nearby respawn bed while Pearl picks up his player head from the ground and plops it on.

Similarly to Keralis’s head, Mumbo’s head on Pearl’s body is made out of interwoven material with button eyes. This time, however, the yarn has been replaced by what appears to be little strips of potato peels.

“Well, that’s distressing,” Mumbo says, summing up what they’re all thinking.

“I can’t see what this looks like,” Pearl says, “but it smells like raw potatoes in here.”

Her specification of raw gives Keralis an idea. “I wonder if we could put Potato Boy through a furnace?”

“I think I’ve had enough scientific experimentation for the day,” Mumbo says, gathering up his things from the chest. “I need to put an end to this whole potato business as soon as possible.”

After he leaves, Pearl walks over to the crafting table. “We could put his head through the furnace.” She crafts a furnace and sets it down, taking off the Mumbo head. “Aw, it won’t go in.”

“Too weird for normal Minecraft,” Keralis says, shaking his head.

Pearl laughs. “Story of my life.”

—

Next part >

if you read this all the way through and enjoyed, please consider reblogging!

[plumadot]

Hopefully you can find it, I dont think there's many playlists on spotify called "Bard Scar". I hope you don't mind me using your art for the cover, I'll change it immediately if you do mind!

And please let me know what you think of the song selection 0v0

I FOUND IT. AND LISTENED TO THEM ALL (and using the art is fine!!!!!!!!!! <3)

gfjdkgjfdkg ok hmmmmmm

i really like "burn butcher burn" on this. because at the start i was like "this is to the secret keeper". but it's not. it's to his former self. he wants to burn that "persona" because he's someone different now. and if that person ever comes back he'll ruin everything. that's what i think now and it gave me chills hehe

"city of stars" but it's the city of boatem gkfdjgkf some place where they all wanted to make it big, but it just didn't work out that way... and they found home in each other instead. and maybe they can work with that!!!!! for a while...

"don't you dare" is so interesting because. objectively this should be a thing. but i don't think he sees grian this way!!!! he genuinely wants to get closer to this lit fuse of a guy kgjfdkgjf he doesn't care about getting hurt very much. though this could be a thing after he's spilled his secrets and thinks he's lost his partner because of it kgjfdkgj anyway i like it hehe

"noel's lament" is interesting because i like the over-all sentiment kgjfdkgj "i choose to burn out rather than fade away" nods nods nods this bard desperately wants to mean something

"everything i ever thought" is so GOOD gfdkjgkfdg "i wonder who i am" nfgdskjjsfkg baaaaaaaah idk what to say very very good also a good bard song in general i think hehe

BATTLE CRYYYYY,,,,,,, shakes you!!!!!!!! this is the answer to "i wonder who i am", the "i choose to burn out rather than fade away"!!!!!! it's all coming together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he's going to give it his all because that's who he is!!!!!! i keep thinking about laudna from critical role campaign 3 saying something like "the worst thing that'll ever happen to me has already happened" and i think scar has a similar mindset to that. his world has already fallen apart in the strangest way so he'd better try his best as a whole new person!!!!! and he loves his guys very very much

"allies or enemies" hehe are we fighting i guess we're fighting gkfjdgkf it's honestly just a matter of time before things fall apart between all of them (not just with grian) gkfjdkg they have very different goals and mindsets and backgrounds and even though they all care about each other they are very guarded. so i. i really like this one mhm

i'm not entirely sure why pike trickfoot is there but i super love pike so YAY

"ashes" is such a good tavern song i can totally see him performing it in between his merry repertoire and the whole tavern going quiet for it... because yeah... there's more to this free-spirited bard than meets the eye huh fjdkgjfd it's so interesting i really like it

TAVERN BRAWL GJFDKGJFDK YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES i wanna say this one is just for me i love vox machina gfjdkgjkf but YO this is such a good bard battle song in particular yes i love it

also i wanna say the amount of "can't help falling in love" is really funny because yes to me this man is a hopeless romantic in every sense of the word, not just romantic love. he has a romantic sentiment towards the world in general!!!!

SO YEAH. WHAT AN ESSAY I APOLOGIZE KGJFKDJG I HOPE YOU CAN SEE THAT I LOVE IT???? :D :D :D THANK YOU FOR THIS PLAYLIST AHHH IT'S SO FUN THANK YOU I HOPE YOU LIKE MY THOUGHTS TOO /sweats

[sleepy0s]

Scars not the brightest.

Got this idea from someone on discord and they let me use it! So ❤️ to them!!

Born-Watcher grian au

I’d like to give some grian backstory rq for this au

- Being born a watcher means he doesn’t actually have eyes - yes his ‘body’ has eyes but he can’t see out of them so you will notice purple eyes around when looking at him!

- Watchers aren’t “all mighty” sure they are still like mean, kidnapping, wanna kill ppl but they can’t do everything.

- Grian has wings! I just like wings. They are quite large and are colored a light purple with small eye patters (he can change how they look but srsly glamour is tiring)

Let’s get started!!!!

— — — —

Grian flew out of the alley, joining the rest of Boatem in the Boatem hole. “G! Your late!” Mumbo scolded him for a second before realising there was a lack of purple eyes- the ones that usually followed grian everywhere -which probably meant he wasn’t actually there. “Pearl, Grians doing the thing again.” He called Pearl over, the girl having known grian for a while and understanding how to get his attention.

She waltzed over to him, looked him square in his ‘eyes’ then slapped him- WAIT What! “PEARL!” Mumbo and impulse yelled whilst scar tried his hardest not to start laughing at grian who was rubbing his face and sulking, “I’m here, I’m here. Didn’t need to slap me.”

“It was the quickest way?” Pearl went back to her seat.

“G, what’s wrong anyway?? You never do that unless you're thinking about something.” Scar leaned over the edge, almost falling into the void but catching himself on the bedrock. “Scar please don’t fall, we aren’t catching you.” Mumbos voice called out from the other side, “but seriously, what’s up grian?”

Grian sighed, a few eyes popping into existence as he brought his full attention to the group “It’s nothing, just wondering what the Alley is missing.”

“What do you mean? It looks great.” Pearl kicked a rock into the void.

“I know, the sky just looks to… plain.”

“You should add stars!” Scar piped up.

“Use.. stars? How do you plan I use stars Scar?”

Scar looked at him like he was an idiot, well. He tried to look at him but the numerous eyes made it quite difficult, “Space, obviously.” Ah, Scar and his genius ideas.

“Space?”

“Yeah! Just zoom up there, grab a few stars then put them in your alley. I’m sure the moon won’t mind.” He used his hands to Mimic grian flying upwards

“Scar. I can’t fly to space? What do you think I am God?”

Scar crossed his arms, sulking, “Well you can’t with THAT attitude.” The rest of boatem looked at each other, deciding what needed to be done.

“Bye scar, remember we love you.”

“ Aw, well I love you guys to- wait what.”

Grian kicked him into the void before he could finish his sentence.

[if-loki-was-a-fox]

I just randomly found ur blog and am now OBSESSED with the whole avian!mumbo concept

…….tell me everything there needs to be known abt it please I want to draw little bird boy (even tho my main way of doodlin mumbo is vampire but I WANT BIRD)

(apologies for the ramble I live laugh love moustache man)

(here's the previous avian!mumbo post for anyone curious)

It has taken me far too long to get the chance to respond to this ask and I have been so impatient because adjsaklfhaskghjd someone actually saw and enjoyed my unedited babbling about avian!mumbo :')

anyways I think I already said most of what I have coherent ideas on, and the rest is just nebulous vibes and happiness and fluff and hurt/comfort potential, but! I can share doodles and also reiterate/expand upon stuff I have already said

(putting it below a cut so I can make it soso long)

WING FLAPPIES!! I feel like this would definitely be something he'd appreciate about having wings, because I feel like it would be a more satisfying expression of emotion than like. stomping or bouncing or whatever. He would also totally struggle to control his avian body language, you can read his wings/ears/tail like a book, he's so unused to paying attention to and stifling his bird gestures. (Grian finds this beyond hilarious especially, because he can read Mumbo even better than everyone else being another avian)

His wings are red and black, though I haven't entirely decided if I'm gonna switch which goes where to make it match Grian's wings better. Since Grian is a Scarlet Macaw, Mumbo really ought to be too, but that would look just. so goofy. with his color scheme

AND SPEAKING OF LOOKING GOOFY- his wings look so silly for the first couple weeks. Until the feathers grow in properly, they're just kind of gradually more fluffy. raw chicken. wings. stuck to his back. because that's what baby parrots look like apparently! And then also pin feathers, before finally being pretty feathery bird wings

He also just accidentally passively collects the other members of Boatem's clothes. Grian does this too, but intentionally. Mumbo just does it without realizing and then gets confused about it because he doesn't understand the whole nesting thing, so someone else has to explain it to him

Oh and Mumbo tries to just go about his life without any changes or accommodations for his wings at first, because he doesn't want to ruin his clothes or generally have to change his routines. Grian and the others do not put up with this and persuade him to take proper care of the wings instead (<- this is a constant uphill battle for months)

On a more overarching note, Mumbo initially Does Not Like the wings, because they're just tiny and kind of ugly things that get in the way of his elytra and make him have to get all his shirts edited and they don't really do anything but cause him problems. Then once the wings start getting feathers and stuff and they have to start making preparations for learning to fly, it kind of becomes a bit of a bonding thing that brings Boatem together, with Mumbo starting to get used to them and accept them, and everyone else being able to help out with their care some (preening, stretches and exercises...).

Ultimately (probably sometime around HC 9), Mumbo ends up quite loving his wings in the long run. Once they're fully grown they're actually pretty impressive (since he's so tall they end up being a fair bit larger than Grian's, much to his annoyance) and Mumbo ends up putting a fair bit of effort into their upkeep and keeping them all nice looking (at least, when he's not too busy with other projects). He does still find a bunch of the other avian traits a little embarrassing (nesting, chirping, dietary restrictions, wings giving away his thoughts...) but he gets used to them.

[royallygray]

PERIIII

@periwinklepaint PERIIIIII

I HAVE. A FIRST SCENE

OF AROUND MY SOUL AND BEYOND YOUR HORIZON

I AM GOD

Also if you have any tips for characterizing Guqqie that'd be appreciated :3 I try to make them bitchy as fuck but also I don't think they're accurate

and anything else

there's two more scenes in this chapter :D

-- -- * -- --

Grian soared through the sky, towards the beautiful setting sun. The colors flooded the evening sky, the cold air ruffling his feathers. His feathered wingtips brush against the cool, yet somehow comforting condensation of the clouds. Grian was part of the world, part of the sky, a significant and necessary part of the universe, in this way. He was of value, in this way, in this world, and—

“Sparrow!” a voice called.

Grian whirled around midair, shaking his head to clear his thoughts and hearing. He turned away from the setting sun, which was now barely visible over the land. Grian sighed mentally. Sunset was his favorite time of day. He expertly beat his wings to remain in place, scanning the ground below to search for the owner of the voice that called out to him. He narrowed his eyes. Fuck, he should really invest in wearing glasses on his nightly flying routines.

He squinted harder, his vision barely a line. He flew down from his place in the sky, closer to the ground, leaving his secluded air behind.

As he got closer to the ground, he saw a small blob of pink. Probably someone’s hair. Riptide? No. He would’ve recognized his own sister’s voice. Protesilaus and Nemesis shouldn’t be calling out to him so casually. And besides, Grian shouldn’t’ve flown so far that he made it to Algomera City, although it was technically plausible. Wait—

Algomera City wasn’t even west of Boatem. It was to Boatem’s south, closer to the center of their country.

“Hi, Sparrow!” the voice called again.

Oh. Grian did know this person. This was Frost. And now that he was closer, he could see Fauna, Frost’s mentor, standing right next to the pink-haired hero in training.

He landed directly in front of the two heroes, his soft shoes barely making a noise as they touched the ground. “Hello,” he said simply. Chaos Sparrow had a reputation for being very sparse with his words. But it also wasn’t like vigilantes were really ‘allowed’ to talk to heroes in the first place.

“How’s it going?” Frost asked, sounding like there was a frog in their throat.

Grian raised an eyebrow at them. While his mask covered his eyes, he <em>could</em> raise one eyebrow high enough that one could see it above the mask, thus giving Grian a wider range of nonverbal language to use. He was skeptical. Frost was hardly ever this friendly. Ever.

Frost’s mocking grin fell off their face, replaced with a much more normal looking resting bitch face. “I knew you were going to see right through that. I was wondering if you’d like to help me with a mission.” Frost put on a stunningly false smile.

“I’m a vigilante,” Grian said, deadpan. Vigilantes were not supposed to help heroes. Grian glanced at Fauna, who, by her body language, seemed desperately unimpressed with the whole situation. Grian wondered why she was letting Frost keep going with their pleading if she was so against talking to Grian.

“Please?” Frost asked. “We’re besties, Sparrow.”

Grian’s lip twitched. Frost used to be a vigilante called Frostbite. When the heroes recruited them, they had to switch their name to something less intimidating. The hero council had wanted to switch their name to Flora, to match Fauna, their mentor, but Fauna had fought tooth and nail to keep Frost’s name essentially the same. She’d succeeded, and Grian had had a new respect for Fauna ever since.

All the vigilantes of Boatem knew each other pretty well, either by exposure, or by rumors, or a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend knew them. There was a sort of code of trust among vigilantes. They really had no one else in the industry to fall back on to, so it was just them taking care of each other.

Martyn, also known as the vigilante The Hand, Lizzie, Grian’s sister, also known as the vigilante Riptide, Grian himself, known as Chaos Sparrow or just simply Sparrow, and Frost used to have movie nights atop tall buildings in the city, and they’d share gossip and popcorn over some sort of comforting animated movie.

Grian, Lizzie, and Frost had been on the vigilante/hero/villain scene for about twelve years now, which was slightly concerning as Grian was positive that the Frost standing in front of him could not be more than twenty-three.

Point is, Grian had history with Frost. And Frost was the youngster of the vigilantes. And Grian sometimes <em>(sometimes)</em> had a soft spot for young ones.

“What’s the mission?” Grian relented.

Something dangerous twinkled in Frost’s eyes. “Well, Fauna and I here were going to the Underground,” they said, nodding at their mentor, who was still stoically looking at Grian. “Care to join us?” they asked, flashing Grian a smile with all their pointy shining teeth.

<em>Oh. That’s why they want me.</em> Chaos Sparrow had all the information about the Underground that anyone could ever need, second only to the villain Scarlet, who was the ruler of the Underground and brought it back to some semblance of respect.

“What’s in it for me?” Grian challenged. He couldn’t have word getting out that he just did anything for anyone without a cost.

“I said please,” Frost said, tilting their head and jutting their chin out slightly. The motion reminded Grian of Jimmy, his own little brother. It was one of Jimmy’s favorite motions to get what he wanted.

Grian sighed. “Fine.”

“What the fuck?” Fauna asked, her first words of the interaction so far, but Frost wasn’t listening, and Grian pointedly ignored her. He was agreeing to this for Frost, not for Fauna, and not for the fucking hero company.

Frost grabbed Grian’s forearm and started pulling him along to the nearest Underground entrance, which Grian knew to be at the nearby shitty taco place. Frost gestured behind them for Fauna to follow.

When Grian glanced back behind himself, he saw Fauna following them, her steps on the earth as silent as if she were walking on air.

The streetlights were on, the sun gone, and the moon and the stars watched as the three made their way to the lawless land below the surface.

[lunar-writes-things]

26) Ending: A Finished Symphony sounds best with people who love you

"I'm sure nothing will go wrong Y/n," Impulse stepped closer and gave Y/n a hug "We're in this together and We'll all be safe." 

Y/n stayed quiet for a moment before nodding. 

"Okay," They said softly, feeling familiar arms wrap around them "I'm just..." 

"Worried?" Grian asked 

"yeah," Y/n murmured  

"We will be fine," Scar said "I made sure the rocket is the safest place possible for us. I made sure of it." 

"We love you Y/n," Pearl said and pressed a gentle kiss to their lips "and if you need us, we'll be right by your side." 

there was a moment of quiet before Y/n spoke up and asked "Can you all stay with me tonight?" 

"Of course Angel," Mumbo answered "Let's go get some sleep." 

The next day, Y/n was packing necessities like food and a blanket for the ride on the rocket. They carefully placed their pickaxe, axe, sword, and shovel in the chest along with their armor that had fallen to the boatem hole multiple times. On the wall behind the chest, Y/n wrote a message into the book in quill on the lecturn beside them 

Dear star, 

Take care of my things, please.

I'm sure you will, but truth be told, I'm terrified of leaving each season. Leaving memories, hard-earned items, and sometimes even friends. Change is hard. 

But this season, I might be leaving behind something even more special. 

Boatem

A village I helped created and even found love in. I don't want to lose the memories I've made here, especially not those that kept me going when things were hard. 

This village is nothing but that, a village, but to me, it will always be the place where I finally allowed myself to heal, to love, and even to find my happiness again. 

Change is difficult, yes, but change is good.

If fate aligns perfectly, the stars will shine for us once again and We will stargaze upon the memories like they are the brightest stars in the galaxy. 

Til we meet again, Your angel, 

Y/n'sharmony

Y/n wiped away their tears as they closed the book and grabbed the space suit. 

They had to leave... tonight. 

Y/n sighed as they moved to their balcony, watching the boatem members scramble to get everything they needed ready. from this angle, they looked tiny. 

Y/n didn't want to leave, but for the sake of their life and her friends? She would do anything. 

She put on the suit as the sky began to bleed navy and as twinkling stars appeared with the ginormous moon peeking over the horizon. 

As Y/n reached the door, they stopped and took a deep breath. They walked out and stopped at the edge of their cloud before turning around and looking at the full glory of their building and the village.

"Til we meet again My Boatem, My symphony," Y/n whispered before taking a step back and falling off the edge before opening their wings, the wind catching and slowing their fall until they reached the ground and were able to join the other in front of the rocket. 

"Well," Grian said with a forced smile "This is it guys, How are we feeling?" 

"Scared," Impulse said and there were murmurs of agreement 

"I don't really wanna leave my home." Pearl said, tears brimming in her eyes behind the helmet "It was the first place I truly felt like me." 

"We all feel that way Pearl," Mumbo said and wrapped an arm around her 

"I don't wanna leave the memories we made here." Y/n admitted a sad smile on their face "I mean, I realized I had fallen in love with all of you in this very area. Why would I want to leave something so beautiful?"

"You wouldn't," Scar spoke up "truth be told, I don't think any of us would want to leave because of that reason. I know I don't." 

"None of us do," Grian said "but we have no choice and we can't prolong any longer. Into the rocket, we go." 

The rest of boatem followed Grian's lead and stumbled their way into the rocket. Some looking over their shoulders to give a silent goodbye and others never looking back so as to not cry. 

Y/n was the last and behind them all and Y/n had looked over their shoulder and questioned their decision...

Do they really want to leave?

Yes, they had to

not just for themselves but for their friends, their partners. 

they looked forward and walked into the rocket with the others and grabbed the rope supplied to tie them later in space. They were given there were six drop-down points. 

five around the outer ring and a huge one in the middle. 

"well, Y/n how do we drop?" Scar asked, "Inner or outer?"

 

"Inner," Y/n replied immediately "I want to be near all of you guys." 

They all smiled and stepped on the dropdown point before tying a rope around their waist and grabbing their lover's hands. 

“Y/n, before we drop,” Mumbo Spoke up “Will you tell us who you're choosing?” 

“I want all of you,” Y/n stated softly and grabbed Pearl and Impulse's hand, the two that were to their left and right "and not even years in a void will ever change that." 

"Well," Impulse smiled and looked at everyone "It seems like we have a lot to talk about while we're in the void."

With those words, the boatem members soon were doused in darkness with smiles on their faces and no fear to be seen 

 And with this, our Season 8 was done. 

crushed into oblivion by the beautiful moon Y/n once admired and is now terrified of-

well- the moon in the sky was the one they were terrified of

but the one currently curled in Y/n's arms had Y/n swooning with her messy morning hair and dried drool on their chin. Y/n smiled as they pressed a gentle kiss to Pearl in their current starter base. 

there were three months in the void until all five of the Boatem members fell into a bright clear sky and hard stone that killed all of them on impact. Other members began to pop up again too. soon within a few minutes, the entire cast was in the new season of Hermitcraft. 

Season 9

and this season, Y/n was starting off the season with something they never had before. 

Their partners. 

During the three-month wait, they had discussed how it would work between them and some other confessions had come out as well. Apparently, Both Mumbo and Scar had a crush on Grian that they thought was just bromance. Impulse was slowly sneaking around Pearl with subtle glances and longing looks. Pearl had her eyes on both Scar and mumbo and of course Y/n's attraction to all of them and their attraction to Y/n. 

Now that was an interesting talk but that would be saved for later

Right now, Y/n's door opened, and through groggy and closed-looking eyes, they saw Scar, Impulse, Grian, and Mumbo sneak into the home and look at their girlfriend and partner, pulling out their comms to take pictures with huge grins and quiet coos. 

"Come here," Y/n whispered and raised an arm, the boys grinned and set down their comms, and got into bed with their partners pressing soft kisses to both of their lips "You guys were gone before I woke up, what's going on?" 

"We'll tell you two when both of you are up at the same time," Impulse murmured "For now, however, I would love to cuddle and sleep?" 

"Of course Impy," Y/n murmured "Let's sleep." 

getting on that ship was the best decision Y/n had ever made. 

Even if they had to leave behind the physical memories, they always had the mental memories and those can last a life time if Y/n always had their Boatem, their symphony, around them. 

After all, A finished symphony sound best with people who love you

Masterlist

[skrimbled]

Masterpost

About me

My name's Finnlie! I use they/it/that/bee/shae pronouns, and am agender. I've got the 'tism too so i'd like to politely request people are wary of what tone they're giving off when talking to me. ^^

My main interests:

Phasmophobia

Paranormal Investigation as a whole

EPIC The Musical

Clangen

Rain World

School Bus Graveyard

Hermitcraft

Life series

Empires SMP

FNaF

Pokemon

I love rambling about my interests please ask me about my interests i'm so lonely-

General Tags

#chatty chat - anything not a link or art

#Finns final braincell overheating - for my delerious and insane ramblings that i do when i'm too hyper. Usually batshit insane stuff

#ant cat posting - any posts related to @plumadot's minecraft server

#Skrunkly posting - any posts related to my modded server Skrunkly SMP

#tee hee block game - miscalaneous minecraft stuff (builds and shit)

#dailyempires reblog - any reblogs of my favourite days from my side blog DailyEmpires

#reblog - anything i reblog. Im not sure if i need this tag on here but it's on here.

#horizon reblog - reblogs for my clan gen blog

#team jits phasmo - art for the JITS phasmophobia streams. Not technically a general but i wanted to mention it so it can go here for now :]

The Runaways (v1, discontinued)

(a traffic series fic) Tags

#runaways smp au - the general tag

#traffic series fanfic - the other general tag

#runaways smp fanfic - the tag mainly used for the links to the chapter uploads

#runaways smp au grian - anything about Grian

#runaways smp au jimmy - anything baout Jimmy

#runaways smp au pearl - anything about Pearl

#runaways smp au martyn - anything about Martyn

#runaways smp au joel - anything about Joel

#runaways smp au scott - anything about Scott

#runaways smp au mumbo - anything about Mumbo

#runaways smp au others - anything about characters not in the main cast

Boatem Fantasy AU Tags

(a mcyt fantasy au inspired by boatem knights au by Appelstruda and Hopepetal)

#boatem fantasy au - general tag

#bfau - general tag

#bfau lore - whenever i talk about the characters or world

#bfau art - whenever i draw the au

#bfau boatem - posts about our main cast

#bfau others - posts about people not in the main cast

[curious-sootball]

Hello! Congradulations, you have found my blog. This is its masterlist of tags and rules - I will greatly appreciate it if you read the whole post and comply. So,

• This is my main (and only) blog. Everything I reblog goes here, because I don't want to juggle managing a bunch of sideblogs. (Tfp fantasy au sideblog is a shared blog, it is currently inactive). Please use tags for navigation, I tag vent posts, nsfw and gore (both when I post and reblog, although i don't reblog vent posts)and I assume you know how to filter tags/content.

• I'm an aromantic asexual. I'm not interested in random sexting or online dating; unsolicited flirting and/or aphobic BS will get you blocked.

• My art tag is sootball_draws , although I only made it this year and haven't retagged all my art with it yet. Searching for fandom specific tags(e.g. "hollow knight" or "hk [character's name]") or "traditional art" on my blog will also help you find my art. My au-specific tags are vigilante tiso!au, tfp fantasy!au and playing around with tma fears in ga'hooleverse. Those are aus that I specifically helped to create, other aus aretagged with what creator named them (e.g. boatem knights au, the magus archives au).

• If you follow me and you have a blank/unfinished-looking blog(e.g. default icon/pfp, one of the default header images, white main theme, no name/description), I will block you and report you for spam because you look like a porn bot(if you want details on why people are blocking porn bots so much here, search "the bot plague", but long story short - they use actual people to look legit and spread malware-filled links). This isn't twitter or facebook or insta or tiktok, you can't make a blank lurker account. Seriously, there are multiple easy-to-find guides on how to customise your blog, just type "tumblr etiquette" into tag search. If you still have a blank blog by this point, you get the bot treatment.

• If you go through my account spam liking my art and art I reblogged without reblogging anything in turn, you might also get blocked! Depends on how annoyed I am with you. This isn't me begging for numbers - if I don't want to share an art piece, I just don't post it! I share my art with the fandom because I want to bring joy! Tumblr isn't twitter, tiktok or instagram - likes are private bookmarks!!! Liking things without reblogging leaves a message that you enjoyed something, but don't want it to be known, like you're a victorian era married gentleman who doesn't want to be seen entering or leaving a brothel. Most tumblr users don't check the "likes" folder on other blogs, so no one sees things if you just leave a like on them. Reblogging is NOT the same as reposting, and whoever told you otherwise is a liar and an idiot: reblog is that tiny green recycle icon button next to like button. Reblogged post can easily be tracked back to the original poster by clicking on their icon, or you can tag it with "art by op" or "other people's art" on your blog to make it clear it isn't yours. I put time and effort into art I make - to see an equivalent of a bunch of "eh, cool, i guess" responses can be really disheartening. You're actively making fandom spaces worse when you do this. I have no patience for that.

• Should be pretty obvious, but racists/terfs/swerfs/all kinds of exclusionists/ai "art" supporters will be blocked on sight. I'm not giving you fuckheads a platform, go eat a cholla cactus.

[thecranewivesrpf]

hello! For the fanfic writer ask: 👀 and 🛒 :>

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

Well...I've posted a lot about the backrooms au already (though I haven't posted my full ideas on progression, their opinions of certain groups, entity run-ins, and whether or not they stay at Tom's Diner), why not the researcher scar x mother spore/grian fic I'm working on?

Im usually not one to take on big writing projects and usually only write in oneshots, so it might not turn out great whenever I'm done, but it's a starting point!

Grian once worked at Boatem research co on the more corporate side of things, before having a run-in with an anomalous entity 6 months ago and disappearing without a trace. Scar works at a small biology lab in a city with his best friend, Cub. It was recently bought up by the Boatem research institute, but those story details only really come out later.

Cub had run into a horrifying amount of mushrooms, mostly parasitic, and Scar was sent out to investigate further. He runs into Grian (or in this case, Mother Spore but he still lets Scar call him Grian) at the center of it all, and he refuses to believe any of it is real. He reports the findings to authorities as the forests ecosystem might simply collapse without the removal of the fungi, and "Grian" is slowly lost to the parasitic hivemind.

And Bdubs is also there but he's just silly for this fic

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

I find I tend to write scenes that are set during sunset/dusk/nighttime, it tends to give a very calming and soft atmosphere to me. I also love using flower symbolism in my fics, assigning all sorts of flowers to relationships and using repeating metaphors and phrases.

Example for a fic for my sona in a roleplay I'm doing, she places a single cornflower in her future soulmates hair. (well... technically ex-soulmate now...the watchers keep playing soulmate shuffle with him. First it was Chewby and Lily, then Chewby and Lily and Noel, now it's Lily and Noel and separately Chewby and Maple. People kept leaving and for some reason Chewby keeps getting chosen to get shuffled. it's only this and one other duo who was shuffled around) I repeat cornflowers over and over, Chewby standing at the edges of the meadow where they lived and turning away, crushing a cornflower beneath it's feet. Picking some with a watcher. Describing rivers as cold cornflower blue.

...this ended up way too long, sorry

[angeart]

AU Masterpost [tags]

I think it's time. So I can keep track, and you guys know what's out there and how to search for it <3 I'll try to order AUs based on how much there is to them. Some AUs will only have a single thought/art underneath their tag, but there might be more added to them in the future, and if you're curious about anything, you can always ask. (I'm very easily convinced to drop rambles, as has been proven in the past—)

*

Help Me To Breathe [hmtb]

my main multi-chapter story, set in s8 boatem. deaths abruptly hurt on hermitcraft, and each respawn makes it worse. scar dies a lot by grian's hands, before grian even learns (the hard way) that things hurt now. welcome to a scarian angst hellhole where 3rd life flashbacks hit like bricks and guilt is mercilessly spilled everywhere <3

this fic is the epitome of it gets worse before it gets better. trust me.

cws: violence, ptsd, anxiety attacks, delusions, unhealthy coping mechanisms, suicidal ideation, suicide, temporary character death... please check tags on AO3 which i try very hard to keep updated

tags: #hmtb - an all-encompassing tag for fic updates, rambles, and art. (sometimes #hmtb art is also used in tandem, where relevant.)

fic: Help Me To Breathe on AO3

*

Hunted hybrids [hhau]

hermitcraft s8 got code-attacked and all the hermits got scattered into different worlds, lost and stuck in unfamiliar places, not knowing if their home still exists. the au follows scar and grian who ended up in the same world (although originally unaware)—a world dangerous and hostile to hybrids. grian is an avian, scar is a vex, and they're hunted relentlessly. also, it's permadeath <3

this au is self-indulgently used in RP and co-owned by linkito

cws: violence, blood, dehumanisation of hybrids, self harm (feather plucking), mentions of suicidal ideation... [updated cws in the hhau masterpost]

tags: #hhau

this one got out of hand so >> hhau masterpost <<

*

Boatem circus

scar, a sea-lion hybrid, builds a circus as a safe haven for all the hybrids and misfits that have nowhere to belong and need a place to heal. they all carry their own traumas and wounds, and scar gives them what they never had: gentleness and options and freedom to roam or leave. but it's not easy, navigating a growing community of varying triggers and buried pasts.

au put together with stiffyck

cws: ptsd, panic attacks, fear of fire, loss and grief, mentions of captivity/torture/abuse

tags: #boatem circus au

fics: don't be afraid, little bird (there are no cages around you now); elegy

[AO3 series link]

*

Sleep demon Grian

grian is a sleep demon, existing in the dreamscape, able to manipulate dreams and thriving on giving people nightmares. he meets scar in a dream, immediately intrigued and amused by his reactions, and he keeps coming back to him. scar, despite all the nightmares being thrown at him, catches a glimpse of his perpetrator, and grows curious in turn. they start talking, everything eventually culminating into a ritual and a summonning circle. grian, in the waking world, needs to learn how to exist somewhere where he can get actually hurt, and come to terms with the fact that he has locked away memories and trauma.

cws: injuries, fear, panic, nightmares(?), trauma, violence, memory repression

tags: #sleep demon grian au

au rambles: here

fics: the nightmare snippet; even if it hurts (and even if it isn't a dream) you can have a home here

*

Cursed forest

found family boatem, where each of them carry their own heavy past and an attached curse. they thought they'd never find a place to settle that'd accept them and let them heal. but they found each other, deep in a hidden away forest, littered by bones and flowers, death and hope. (honestly, just see the au rambles.)

au put together with stiffyck

cws: animal death, necromancy, grief and guilt, body horror

tags: #cursed forest au

rambles: here

fics: even with death haunting your footsteps, your flowers will bloom again

*

Ari au

grian (he/she) is ariana giande (ari), a famous singer beloved by the crowds. except things start getting a bit too out of hand. there are stalkers and people who think they have the right to ari's personal life, the right to see and dictate everything. the press gets out of hand. maybe the crowds get too rowdy. maybe—

more scared and overwhelmed by the second, grian gets a bodyguard. that bodyguard is scar. things continue to escalate though, and by the time ari calls a break in her career, everything's irreparably breaking down around her.

(If it wasn't clear yet, this is one very dark, very heavy, very human story. There's love and so, so, so much despair. Things go wrong and then worse.)

au with Ben

cws: papparazzi hounding, stalkers, lack of privacy, blurring of self, drugging and [attempted] SA, physical assaults, self harm, overdose, medical trauma, restraints, seizures, ptsd, depression, suicidal stuff (including several attempts)

tags: #ari au

au rambles: [part I] - [part II] - [part III] - [part IV] - [part V] - [TBC]

au art:

downfall in three stages - here lake scene art - here

*

Assassin au [work title]

grian is an assassin, scar is elven nobility. one day, grian is sent to kill scar, but upon meeting, they find out that they know each other. i promise i'll add a better description at some point.

cws: blood and violence, mind control, being generally oblivious about life, survival scenario, murder, possible animal death

tags: #assassin au (subject to change)

*

Misguided Heroes

scar is secretly hotguy, a hero meant to protect the people. grian is a shopkeeper at barge, but with self-proclaimed king ren wreaking havoc on economy and making life of ordinary citizens so much harder, he decides to secretly play vigilante, cuteguy, and stage a one-man rebellion.

also, scar and grian are roommates.

au for rp with sima <3

cws: injuries, illusions messing with perception/reality, [to be determined]

tags: #misguided heroes au

*

Ghost Scar

grian is a paranormal investigator. scar is a ghost. they meet, they talk, and grian resolves to do his best to make scar feel less lonely.

cws: dead character??? he's a ghost dw he's fine-

tags: #ghost scar au

fics: you exist in silence (i'll help you make a sound)

*

Silly vampire Scar

scar is a vampire living in a mansion too big and too lonely for him. grian and mumbo are survivors in a world riddled with monsters, which they learn to hunt and kill. one night, they seek shelter in what seems to be an abandoned mansion—

cws: general vampire stuff, [to be determined]

tags: #vampire scar au

fics: [one day]

*

Cuteguy au

things do be angsty in this one. scar is hotguy, grian is his sidekick cutecuy. one day, things go wrong and a building explodes with scar still inside. the body is never found. hotguy is presumed dead. that is, until cuteguy comes face to face with a new villain that is oddly familiar—

idea loosely bounced off of stiffy's TOGH au

cws: blood, violence, delusions, brainwashing, grief, loss of identity, presumed major character's death (twice. wild. huh.)

tags: #cuteguy au

*

Papers please au

what it says on the tin. scar lives with his cat jellie in a cold, small, state-provided apartment and gets assigned a job as an immigration officer at a border checkpoint. he... isn't great at the job, but doesn't have a choice, and needs the money to keep them fed and healthy. grian is the head of resistance, because of course he is <3

cws: dystopian world, cold, hunger, sickness, potential pet death, injuries

tags: #papers please au

*

Spirit au

grian is an avian living freely in a patch of forest. that is, until he gets caught by people who think hybrids are on-par with working animals, and is shackled and hurt and trained, to serve. there is a looming war, and flight-capable carriers are very valued (but not much cared for). scar is a vex hybrid, coming from a settlement that's kinder to hybrids, who also gets captured. they meet in captivity, and things happen.

cws: hybrid slavery, hybrid dehumanisation, loss of freedom, abuse, warzone stuff

tags: #spirit au

*

DL rp au

grian and scar in double life, soulbound and with vague memories of previous life games. their soul connection transfers not only all the pain and injuries, but also emotions. and they both feel. a little too much. (they're a mess, but also in love, as they should be)

au for rp with sima <3

cws: they very sad; self destructive tendencies (sorry there's no self in this one, they are linked and there's always collateral-)

tags: #dl rp

*

Half sea town au

a town half-submerged into the sea. the upper half is reserved for humans, who are seen as better, richer, the posh and the nobility. the lower half, the submerged part, is slum-like, reserved for seafolk, seen as lesser. many seafolk learn to live on land, to improve their standing (not necessarily living situation; they do need water). mumbo lives amongst the nobility. scar lived his whole life in the sea. grian, even though he belongs to the seafolk, lives on land. mumbo's best friend, forever trying to be something he isn't.

a crackers collective au

cws: er.. class divide?, self worth issues, needs denial in a way?

tags: #half sea town au

*

The underwater au that somehow fails to have a name the first thing i ever posted on tumblr woo.

an underwater au set somewhere in the wide, deep sea. merfolks. mumbo is a prince, grian, jimmy, and joel are his guards. scar is a deep-sea fish, and tales say those are scary and horrendous and dangerous. (he's just a silly guy, pls)

stiffy/crackers collective au

cws: injuries, idk

tags: #mer au

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smaller aus/ideas:

last life scar: #post-ll scar's issues with touch

fixing double life scarian: #fixing dl au

puppeteer scar: #puppeteer scar au

cannibal scar/forest (the game) au: #forest au

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others' aus that i have yoinked and might have content for:

#grumbo apocalypse monster au - ben's au that i slinkered my way into <3 - ben's au masterpost here - grian is very much a (horror) creature :3

#space grian au - also belongs to ben. also burrowed my way in to this one. hehe. (ben none of your aus are now safe from me.)

#snifflins au - crackers group au, based on that one time jimmy and scar were piglinmynose, and joel and grian were sniffermyfeet - twisted into snifflers and piglin hybrids (snifflins!) in the aftermath, trying to get used to their new bodies and instincts and needs.

#desert alien scar au - belongs to stiffy

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+ a whole bunch of aus (some collective ones) that i haven't talked about on tumblr yet <3

(for example, the zombie whisperer scar/dancing zombies au - postapo, (mum)scarian, with one redscape-focused fic (written for stiffy): the blooms in a dead world)

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(if i missed any cws for any of the aus, please let me know!)

reinstating that if you're curious about anything, i don't bite! come ask!

[my AO3]

[theminecraftbee]

Never would I ever with boatem?

"Absolutely not," is the first words out of Mumbo's mouth when Scar suggests it. Honestly, he thinks it's probably, uh, a pretty reasonable response? He could be saying so many other things right now. So, so many other things, about the mere concept of playing never have I ever with this lot.

"Come on," Scar needles. "I'll forbid inappropriate jokes!"

"Well, that just ruins the game," says Pearl.

"That, and that we can't drink," agrees Impulse. "It's a drinking game, right? I mean, when I played with Zed and Tango we always got ridiculously -"

"You guys have no sense of adventure," Scar says, interrupting before Impulse could finish his story. Probably, Mumbo admits, for the best - Team ZIT stories were always hilarious, but also often quite a lot. Nearly as bad as Boatem stories, probably.

"What we have is a sense of self-preservation," Grian says, dryly. "If we've removed inappropriate jokes and drinking from the question, all that's left is forcing each other to admit to embarrassing things. And, Scar?"

"Yes Grian?"

"Do you really want to play that game with me?"

"...well when you put it like that," Scar says.

Mumbo thinks about it for a bit. He thinks about the number of things his friends could make him admit to - painfully quite high, really, although he's never really kept a secret how much of an embarrassing fool he can be sometime, there's a reason he's called a spoon - and the number of things he knows about his friends that he could get them to admit. Or even the things he doesn't know about his friends that he could get them to admit!

"Actually, it might not be a bad idea," Mumbo says.

"Mumbo?" says Grian, sounding vaguely betrayed.

"I mean, I thought about it, and it would be very funny," Mumbo explains. "I mean, I certainly know a lot of stories about you that I could use against you. You had a good point."

"That was supposed to be a deterrent! Besides, if we're all targeted, that makes the game more boring. You're supposed to ask general -"

"Never have I ever moved my base after I built it," Scar says.

"See, that's..."

Grian pauses.

"...why are there two of us who have done that, actually?"

"Why did you give your idea away before we started playing?" Impulse asks idly. "Now if you use it, it'll be seen coming. Kind of boring, if you ask me."

"You're right. Darn."

"You talked me into Uno, you aren't talking me into this," interrupts Grian. "Also, I think I don't believe you about the inappropriate jokes being banned, actually. I think we'll devolve to that pretty quickly."

"Why, I'd never. I'm a man of my word!" Scar says.

"Also, I think I can make you lose well before then if you're worried," Mumbo adds.

"Thanks, that really appeals -"

"Pancake!"

Everyone rapidly switches their attention to Pearl, who is reaching after the dragon. The dragon, who is flying away. The dragon, who is...

"How is he doing that?" Mumbo asks, dazed. "There's no air. How is he flying? There shouldn't be a way to control his..."

"Pancake! Oh, it's going to be dangerous out there, please come back!" says Pearl, fretting. "Don't go near the cows! Did you know cows kill more people than, than sharks, or bears, or wolves, or most things? They do! They're dangerous! Come back!"

"Wait, cows kill how many people?" asks Scar.

"Are we forgetting those aren't actually cows? Pearl, you may be taking care of Pancake, but technically, that's my baby - come back! Hey! You!"

The baby dragon doesn't listen, awkwardly flying in jolting patterns that don't remotely make sense with how their momentum in the void ought to be working, and getting further away from them, further and further, and closer to... to... well.

"Pancake," says Pearl, miserably.

They're all quiet for a bit, in various states of contemplation.

"We could still play," Scar starts, and Pearl hits him before he can finish.

"Ow! Yeah, okay," Scar says, rubbing his arm. "I probably deserve that."

[shadeswift99]

Hermempirescraft Jimmy should still get canary wings except this time he has two servers’ worth of People With Experience to help him.

YESSSSSS - although given who we're dealing with here, I'm not exactly sure if "help" is the right word -

Jimmy's wings start coming in a week after the Hermempirescraft fusion. By now, he's just about figured out that something about him spells bad news in situations where death is a possibility. Every time he's walked past the Boatem hole, somebody falls into it, and he's completely given up saying hi in chat in the morning because of how often the greeting is "coincidentally" followed by a death message. In this world, though, respawn seems to be a more sure thing than in the Empires world alone, so it doesn't really cause him any stress. It's just funny and kind of annoying. The wings, though...are a bit harder to come to terms with. It was just really sudden, and it itches, and how is he supposed to use these things when he can barely even land with an elytra without breaking an ankle on a good day - !

Thankfully (?) he has Grian and fWhip! They're here! They have wings! They're ready to help! By giving wildly conflicting advice! Loudly! At the exact same time! :D

Grian genuinely wants to be helpful, but he's just had his wings for so long that he doesn't really serve as a great teacher for how to adjust to them at the beginning. Also, his "bully Jimmy" instincts are so strong that most of his "advice" just boils down to flying loops around Jimmy's head while saying "why can't you just do this, Tim! Just fly like this!" Meanwhile, fWhip has a lot more recent experience with navigating newfound winged-ness, but his daredevil tendencies really don't mesh well with Jimmy's desire to Not Die Eight Million Times in the process of learning. Any question along the lines of "well how did you figure this part out?" usually ends up with fWhip showing off his wide collection of scars from minor scrapes and scratches earned bouncing off rooftops and clipping fences as he zoomed around the Grimlands to improve his muscle memory.

Between the two of them, though, Jimmy does learn a lot! By flying away from them. Rapidly. They've concocted some game for him to "improve reflexes" that involves playing chicken with a piece of lit TnT, and Jimmy isn't really sure where this whole thing went so badly off the rails but he knows damn well he doesn't want anything to do with that -

Of course, after he does manage to get airborne in the combination of panic and explosion updraft, fWhip and Grian claim that that was their plan all along and are very pleased with themselves for being such good teachers. They genuinely are proud of Jimmy, though! They take off and fly with him as he woops and spins and enjoys the feel of the breeze through his new feathers, and they all land in a laughing heap when Jimmy realizes he doesn't have the built up muscle to stay flying for long yet. That will develop with time, though - time, more "fun games", and many more teaching sessions to come.

[chickinscratch]

HCS8 Scar + 🏵️

Snippet from a non-existant fic

Excerpt from “Before The Fall” - 8 times Scar charms the Void. #3.

–

It’s colder this time, Scar acknowledges numbly. He’s gotten used to it, by this point, the panic catching in his chest as gravity guides his plummeting form long since having fallen out somewhere along the way. Maybe it landed with the animals littered above the chasm. Did they ever worry about falling in? No one ever talked about their feelings. Maybe they were scared.

He should probably be more scared.

He considers his inventory, briefly - whatever he could recall he had on him. His elytra, some armor; that’d suck to replace. Grian would probably give it to him anyways. His hat had drifted away somewhere above him. (An image flickered in his mind of the hat landing gracefully onto the head of their CEO’s statue. It’d probably suit him.) Everything else was negligible. 

Was it taking longer than usual? He could swear it was taking longer. Or maybe he was just feeling particularly sluggish this descent. He didn’t remember the Boatem Hole being this deep. He had only just passed the first deepslate. It was getting colder. It wasn’t usually this cold.

Finally, the bedrock sweeps by him, shifting into a slate sky above and growing smaller and smaller as the Void prickles at his back. The heat seeps from his body in an instant as darkness envelops him. Fear rears in his mind, far overdue, finally prompting him to gape at the lack of air. Sudden weight presses against him from all sides, and the first tick of damage wracks his body. A thousand words catapult through his head all at once, battling to be pushed out with his breath.

Wait, they say, Please! Stop! Hold on! Not again! Ouch! It’s cold! It’s dark!

Instead what falls out of his mouth is “Your pants!”

Very articulate, Scar. 

But for a moment the cold ebbs (or maybe that’s the sudden onset of hypothermia. He doesn’t know how this works). The pressure eases. Despite himself, he continues.

“Give me your pants,” he demands Nothing, surprising himself with his own even tone. There is reprieve. A bubble of Void around him, ever brief, like even the fabric of the Universe itself is baffled by his nonsense.

The second damage tick takes longer than it should, but eventually the weight and darkness crashes over him again. He presses on.

“I mean it!” A third damage tick, but it’s weaker. Much weaker than it should be. “Do you even have pants?” How is he even still speaking? There’s no air, but somehow he feels as though the blanket of darkness is waiting, morbidly curious for him to continue. To watch him dance. He’s always been one to put on a show.

“I give you all my items- so many items, do you know how hard those are to get? And my XP! Probably hundreds of levels worth!” His voice tilts towards giddy. He straightens his jabot. “Do you know how we respawn up there? Butt naked! Scared in our underwear - if even! And you’re down here, keeping all our things.” He veers tones - what does it matter; he’s not sure his audience can answer. “What do you do with it, anyways?”

The pressure eases again, now rumbling gently against him, curious. There’s no answer, but the fourth tick of damage doesn’t even take half a heart. He’s regenerating health, now. The Void doesn’t seem to care. He rotates in the dead space (he doesn’t even question how, simply wills it. It’s the logical thing to do, after all; face his customer like a businessman should.) and leans on his cane.

“Tell ya what, since you’re already taking the literal clothes off my back- the elytra, armor, tools, XP, you can keep. Might as well make it a whole set, right? Wouldn’t want you to be all mismatched; gotta keep fashionable these days! But I get your pants and keep the copper, hm?”

The void shifts. Another tick. Hesitant.

“Okay, okay - you drive a hard bargain, but you didn’t let me finish! I’ve got about three stacks here,” He thumbs through them, exhibiting his wares to the lack of audience. “I keep two, maybe two and a half? I’ll make you somethin’ nice with it, pay you back later - it’s an investment! I get pants now, you get more of other people’s pants in the future, plus my pants as a down payment.”

The Void considers him again, and for a moment the nothingness beneath his feet is solid enough to support his weight. For a moment the darkness around him sparkles brightly. For a moment, he is suddenly warm.

Goodtimewithscar fell out of the world.

“Scar?” Grian pokes his head through the bedroom door. Scar blinks at him, offering a weary smile as he slides out of his bed.

“Do you need a Perhaps You Perished Par-” Grian’s voice catches, falls. His brows furrow as he cocks his head. 

“...Did you get new pants?”