#a christmas gift from grian it seems

[grian-updates]

Grian uploaded a hermitcraft video!

[totallynotokguys]

Wild Life: The Great Test

With every wild card I've asked myself, how could Grian potentially use these wild cards for a future season?

Let me back up a bit. In my mind Wild Life is a proof of concept. A hypothesis being tested out for everyone to see and analyse. Can Grian work together with multiple different sides of the Minecraft community to make something wild? How far can he go with bringing his vision to life? Will his friends find it fun? How will the audience receive it?

(p.s. I just typed in wild and the snail emoji showed up as a suggestion. I've never used this emoji in my life EXCUSE ME! Phone how are you doing tha-)

I know there have been complaints and its not the favourite season for most people, but I think it accomplished its goals. The developer, designers, musicians, programs, artists, mcyters all worked together to make something so special and cool like oh my gosh the things they pulled off! And the fun Grian's (stop changing his name to groan spellcheck!) friends had, you can hear it in their voices and I love what Skizz and Impulse said on their podcast it was a blast for me to watch and a blast for them to any and all the great moments that came out of it (plus several of my favourite blorbos placing the highest they've ever placed in a season let's go!) was just so good I'm so happy.

The only thing I didn't like were unavoidable considering the nature of Wild Life as testing grounds. First, it felt disjointed. There's something about previous seasons that seems smooth to me, each episode flowing easy into the next with an overarching theme connecting them together (especially with limited and secret life). This is something that Wild Life cannot help as it's theme is literally experiments. Each episode is a separate experiment to test out how people will interact with this one mechanic. Some tests went better that others and each let the team (everyone, developers, content creators, artist- EVERYONE, guys) walk away with valuable data (snails too fast oops, really funny stuff came out of that slow mo one, food way more deadly than thought, look how each person used their superpowers wow didn't think of that application).

But the good thing about data collecting is you don't just gather it for funsies. There is a greater purpose behind it. A future goal.

My other problem is how short it was. Not the overall season, we all know seven episodes is the norm (Double Life you are my favourite but man were you short). No, I mean the wild cards. I wanted more than one episode with the size changing or the superheroes! Loved what the CCs did with those and would have loved to see them play around with them more!

But again, this season was a test. Imagine if Grian had dedicated a whole season to one wild card and it turned out his friends hated it. He'd be crushed! So Grian tested the waters to see which card his friends thrived with and which were just meh.

Side note: Of course they loved them all because Grian is their friend and this season was basically a gift and they'd never spurn a gift from a friend. They are all good friends who care about each other this is why we love the life cast! Even if they wouldn't have liked it, the fact that it came from Grian and he worked so hard on it maked it special to them.

Ever get a gift that you never would have gotten for yourself but suddenly because it came from someonewho cares for you and you can just tell they put a lot of thought into it so it's the best thing in the world and you end up cherishing it forever? Yeah, sign of a good friendship. What a wonderful feeling.

Go watch Imp and Skizz podcast wild life recap and you'll see. Grian literally says it each wild card was like giving a Christmas present.

Finally, what my whole speal has been leading up to. Wild Life is a test, a gateway to something greater. Grian has a team greater than ever before, new ideas and concepts that have been tested, and full support from his friends (and he's got my support as well as the majority of the fandom o let's go!). He is definitely going to be cooking with these new ingredients.

And because I am always starved for more life series content I'm going to be going through my favorite wild cards to see if I can turn them into full seasons! Maybe even predict future seasons while I'm at it (a person can dream, Herald!)

See you maybe then or maybe never. Either works!

[mcytadventevent]

@twice-past is creating for Day Eighteen:

Prompt: Snowed-In

Their piece is written, featuring BigB!

Credit Links: https://www.tumblr.com/twice-past https://archiveofourown.org/users/twice_past/pseuds/twice_past

(Piece under the cut!)

Winter comes early that year, heralded by an axe, a death, a king. 

Snow presses on the glass insistently, desperate, grasping hands searching for warmth. When BigB pushes the door to the Cookie Castle experimentally, it doesn’t budge a single centimetre. From what little he can see, the rest of the server has suffered a similar fate as him.

He is glad to have a break from the chaos– the image of red eyes is burning itself into his retinas. He’s much more in favour of the Christmas shade - the one that promises joy and laughter and good cheer. It means evenings spent in the Mafia HQ dipping cookies in hot chocolates. It means snowball fights with the Property Police ‘til they all collapse laughing. It meant gifts and warmth and friendship. It seems it doesn’t anymore.

He misses Mini, misses their misadventures, their schemes, their twin grins upon a successful prank. He misses Jimmy and Martyn and Grian too, the versions of them unburdened by the Red, by this world. Grian has long been lost to the rush and bloodshed of Scar’s adoration; Jimmy’s eyes simmer with flame;. Martyn is loyal to a king draped in scarlet. 

So is BigB, of course. But he had joined for friendship and stayed for the camaraderie of the army. He can no longer tell what Martyn wants; because though his eyes shine green, his heart glows red. Perhaps he has been lost to admiration too.

BigB sometimes thinks that he’s barely holding on to himself. Sometimes he imagines that he hasn’t changed all that much. Sometimes he doesn’t recognise himself in the mirror with his diamond armour pristine, his shield shined, hair dragged out of his face by a red headband, eyes colder than they were before.

He wears green like a cloak of holly leaves and Christmas wreaths, while red surges around him, a flowing river  dancing in the eyes of his enemies, in the eyes of his friends. 

There is no use in trying to break down the door, and he’s secluded enough on the mountain that no one will find him, at least this morning. But, he might be able to sleep away the bone deep exhaustion that clings to him like frostbite if he takes a nap. He can only hope.

When he drifts off, he dreams of a swirling mass of reds and greens, a pine forest in a storm of scarlet, and opens his eyes to hear that the red has claimed three lives.

--

Winter doesn’t end, but those who herald it fall under a rain of arrows, so BigB is left alone. The solitude looms above him, a hulking creature of snow and ice and frost.

He has the clarity of mind to pull the no kill pass from its frame above the staircase, gripping the lifeline as he leaves the Cookie Castle. He draws the weather around himself, a reminder of his lost friends that strengthens his resolve.

The red seethes in his veins, threatens to wrap around the throat of his enemies and  bring the server under his wrath. It’s irrational; fear and anger and isolation all braided into a single rope. BigB has seen it all before.

Is this how it ends? 

He goes out with a deception and cactus spines in his back, the no kill pass tucked into his palm.

When Grian falls, so do the first flurries of snow, flooding the grass where BigB had made his last stand, slain in the mud of the lake. With each falling flake the damage is swarmed under a miasma of crystalline snow, piling up layer by intricate layer.

A gale builds in the silence, wind howling through the castles and tunnels and the hollow absences where players once lived. Roofs are peeled away, nails ripped from wooden planks, walls crumble inwards. The snow only flurries harder and heavier.

The sun sets; the moon rises. Still the storm does not stop.

Is this how it ends? 

Rain thunders, the river swells and bursts at the banks washing away the stain of Cleo’s blood. The platform above Dogwarts splinters then cracks, sweeping their lives and livelihoods away. Snow and sand mingle, weighing upon the bunker’s roof until the pillars collapse, crushing the canary’s wings. 

It is almost as if no one had stepped foot here. A new sun beats down, erases the snow that erased the players. BigB, frozen in his ice cocoon, does not awake where he fell. He dreams of an endless void and opens his eyes in an unfamiliar world.

This is how it ends. The cycle begins again.

[uvienova]

Soulmates and Saints

My First Empires x Hermitcraft Fanfic, i might add more later to this chapter but enjoy a peek

Grian stared at the black with a faint purple portal, or what remained of a portal.

Just 2 months ago him and some of his fellow hermits ventured into the Rift and was trapped in the world of Empires for a month.

After getting back, the Empires visited Hermitcraft just as the Hermits visited them, only this time they were able to get back home in the nick of time before the Rift closed.

That was 2 weeks ago, now the 2 worlds were once again separate, leaving the only physical evidence of it happening being a Christmas town, a set of heads, and the Rift.

It hasn't really bothered Grian personally, he got to see some of his friends from the Life Series, and he got to say goodbye.

However, some of the others were taking it harder, like a certain blazeborn who didnt get to say goodbye to his soulmate, his rancher.

It broke his heart to see his friend punch the obsidian in frustration and anger.

And his rancher, from what Grain could tell was teased almost bullied relentlessly by the god of the Server and some other members, he didn't show it but it got under his skin, Grian could tell.

Hermitcraft was fun and all, but a change of environment was fun, and healthy. Thats why Grian had originally created the Life Series, not only was it a fresh space but it also brought unlikely people together.

In the 3rd Series, Double Life, Some Hermits were paired up with non-hermits which made for some unlikely teams, although as almost like karma, Grian was paired with Scar.

After Double Life, Some of the Hermits had no way to see their soulmate, that had to be the 3 most gloomiest days he ever saw since joining Hermitcraft. But when they visited and were stuck in Empires, those Hermits got to see their soulmate again.

Gods, Grian couldent help but smirk as he recalled the moment Tango and Timmy saw eachother, the way they ran to one another, encasing eachother in a tight warm embrace. That railroad tunnel engulfed in the sound of “My Rancher!”s, “OhMyGosh!”es, and Horn toots. Tangos blue hair popped and crackled, one could mistake him for a blue sparkler.

Even after the tearful reunion and everything had settled, even after Tango realized Timmys change in form, he respected Timmy like he always had back when Timmy was a canary back in Double Life.

Timmy, who was the law of the Empires, was keen on following the law and punishing those who broke it, one of those laws being no one was allowed to wear eachothers hats.

Even after reading out the law which directly stated that Tango, who was wearing a witches hat gifted to him by Shelby the Witch after he complimented how he loved her hat, was breaking the law. Instead of telling him to take it off, Timmy dismissed it, letting Tango keep the hat.

Timmy was so excited to see his Rancher that he built a ranch for Tango to stay at if he chose to stay in Tumble Town, but when he unveiled it to Tango, Tango broke the news that he had already made plans to help in Gobland, with Timmys ex Deputy.

Then there was Scar, who shortly after joining, became the deputy of Tumble Town. Unlike Tango who completely dismissed Timmys new toy form, Scar was different.

He did respect Timmy, but he also said about how being compared to Woody wasnt a bad thing, that his toy body didnt define him, that he was still highly respected.

Although Timmy would still retort whenever he was called a toy, it seemed spoken in a less upset manner, almost as if it was a force of habit.

He could only imagine how relieving it was to Timmy to have not one but two people who truly respected him and didnt boil him down to his size.

Grian alone was content with the Rift being closed, but Grian could empathize.

He and Scar were good friends, thats why he saved his best pranks for Scar. he couldn’t imagine how lonely he would be if Scar wasn't there.

Grian huffed to himself, he couldn't see any possible reason why he didn't try to reopen the Rift sooner, well, minus the fact he didn't know how it opened in the first place. But he couldn’t do it alone, who in the world would be stupid enough to help me?

[neonwizardheehee]

MCYTBLR Holiday exchange

@ghastspidergwen your Secret Santa is bringing you a little superhero AU !!

I am no writer but an AU hardly works without some explanation so I had to sit down and think of something for my playlist to make sense XD If it reads like a Wikipedia article then yeah that's why XD

Big thanks to @mcytblrholidayexchange for organizing and managing this! It was a pleasure taking part and seeing the gifts now <3

But first let me introduce you to our hero and main gift: Grien the mysterious moustachied superhero!

Yes we're going for 100 Hours Hardcore crew so here is what I envisioned for the story:

MCYTBLR Holiday Exchange

The story of Grien the mysterious superhero

SMP: 100 hours hardcore After a long day of observing Scar trying to do an MLG water bucket trick and ultimately having to make a fort out of all the beds he and Joel managed to carry, Grian flops himself down onto one of the mattresses when the sun begins to set. There he lies with Scar and Joel still jumping down from various heights around him. He falls asleep and dreams of a time where he truly had the powers to protect Scar…

It’s the Christmas Eve of 2001, an 8-year-old boy named Grian wakes up from his sleep due to his cold and rummaging in front of his window. With a cough, he gets up from his bed to check out the disturbance. Outside he finds a bearded figure dangling outside the window of his family’s apartment and helps them come into his bedroom. The mysterious person is wearing a long red coat that matches along brown beard, magnificent hair paired with fiery red eyes. He introduces himself as Wizard Joel but in Grian minds, he is Santa; albeit wilder than he imagined him to be. The little boy gives him milk anyways which the Wizard gladly drinks and afterwards his eyes seem to not be on fire anymore and he smiles at the boy. Joel reveals that he accidentally set off a trap for a device he was building and enlists Grian to help complete it. While they walk to the rooftop Grian asks “Santa” a lot of questions about his powers and compares them to his knowledge of superheroes. Joel gladly shows off and talks about his travels far and wide and the wonders of magic he can conduct. On the rooftop Grian finds a huge and complicated machine whose intention he cannot fathom but wanders after the Wizard who seems to be set on finishing his build. The Wizard talks about a lot of technical things and explains them to Grian who solemnly nods along. He coughs more often now exposed to the uncozy weather and the Wizard gives him a glowing piece of jelly which he swallows. Several minutes of shivering and complicated explanations later Joel asks Grian to hand him the glowstone. The boy looks at him with surprise, for he has taken this glowstone to be medicine for his cold. In that moment Grian’s body begins to shine and wings form on his back. He excitedly flaps them and starts to levitate above ground. Joel is shocked and makes Grian come down to explain to him that the glowstone is a wishing jelly. Grian’s mind subconsciously chooses his superheroes and now little Grian has their powers. Nevertheless, Wizard Joel makes him promise to not use his new superpowers before he leaves.

The Wizard returns to London in 2022 with Lizzie, his murderous wither killer and wife, to investigate Area 77, a multinational research company. Upon spying on the company, they encounter a quirky owner of a mystery-podcast, Scar, who is conducting a similar investigation for a new episode. Scar marvels at Joel for bringing snacks to a takeout to which according to Joel is a sign of a professional at work. The group discovers that Area 77 is being secretly run by robot brains that transplant themselves into any living creature they need for their plans. They witness the conversion of the company owner called Jimmy from a human brain to a robot brain by the hand of an already converted member, Scott. With his now heightened senses the robot brain inside Jimmy discovers the spies and threatens to convert them too. Scott and Jimmy chase Joel, Scar and Lizzie around until they have them at gunpoint. Suddenly the walls break and a figure flies inside not bothered by bullets or shattering materials around them. Scar screams with delight as he recognizes the figure as the town’s very own superhero called Grien. The superhero with colourful wings and a moustache fights Jimmy and Scott until they hide away. Scar retells story after story about the mysterious Grien, fighting evil by moonlight and his secret double life by daylight. He’s very much a topic in Scar’s mystery-podcast for he is curious about Grien’s secret identity. Soon after Grien joins the group and Scar starts to fire questions at him to secure him for an interview for his podcast. To everyone’s surprise the moustached man accepts the interview and even offers to fly Scar home, who jumps in delight at being lifted into the night sky. He gets transported very close to his home which impresses Scar and fuels his imagination about the powers of Grien. The superhero says his goodbye as he must attend another emergency and Scar wishes him luck and sends him off.

Instead of another emergency Grien flies through the window on the back wall of Scar’s house and transforms back into Grian, a 29-year-old boy without a moustache, only to find himself in front of the angry faces of Wizard Joel and Lizzie. They tracked him down via the glowstone in his body and are angry at him for using his accidental superpowers. Grian tries to explain the situation but gets interrupted by the door being opened and a familiar voice asking about his whereabouts. He rushes out of the room and Joel’s and Lizzie’s jaws fall on the floor as Scar enters the flat and rushes to pet his cat Jellie. Grian mentions that he is cat-sitting Jellie for Scar and Joel rolls his eyes so hard even Lizzie is concerned. After an initial cuddling session with Jellie, Scar notices the two new people in his apartment and recognizes them from earlier this evening. Scar motions the Wizard to come over and sit in a dusty corner with him where he pulls out a squeaky toy figurine of a creeper that he calls “Bob, the Building Inspector”. He interrogates Joel about his intentions and uses Bob as a stress toy to get the Wizard to answer. Joel reveals to him that the robot brains colonise planets by taking control of their prominent leaders, with Earth being their next target.

Leaving Scar to prepare for his interview with Grian’s alter ego, Joel and Lizzie track down the robot’s ship in a low orbit and board it via their magic. Scott senses them there and they discover that the ship's reactor is in a critical state and realise from Scott that he intends to drop it on London. Remembering an observation made by Lizzie, Joel realises the city would be vaporised except for the Area 77 building. World leaders would then take shelter in the company's other buildings within each capital city, believing Earth was under attack, effectively allowing the robot brains to take them over. 

Meanwhile Scar is led by Grien to the rooftop that is decorated nicely with candles, flowers and a basket with food and drinks. They sit down and Scar starts to ask Grien about how he copes with his double life, his powers and intentions. Suddenly they are interrupted by Jimmy and two other robot brains called Oli and Fwhip who threaten Scar so they can convert Grien’s brain into a robot one too. Luckily Grien activates his superpowers and manages to free himself from Jimmy’s grip. Having only one hostage left, Jimmy sends Oli and Fwhip downstairs to grab Jellie as a second hostage. Before they reach the door Grian chimes in to protect Jellie from any harm. Scar is very impressed until Grian gets captured as well.

At the same time onboard the ship where Joel and Lizzie are currently trying to save the earth, they can only manage to get in contact with Scott for some questions. After Scott let it slip that the ship is to be dropped at a designated time, Joel uses this piece of information for a change of plans. Lizzie is not amused and scared when Joel forces its descent ahead of schedule and crashes towards London. He manages to contact Grian due to his superhearing abilities and warn him about the ship that’s going to destroy his beloved town. Jimmy screams in fear that it’s too soon and they all prepare for impact. But the impact never comes. When Scar opens his eyes he sees Grian holding the ship up with his bare hands and finally connects the dots that the mysterious Grien he’s so interested in is in fact his cat-sitter Grian. Said person only shrugs his shoulders and turns around upon hearing the Wizard arrive. Joel congratulates him and takes Jimmy, Oli and Fwhip captive not without reminding Grian to throw the ship into a nearby sun so it can’t do any harm. Grian follows suit but not before Scar gives him a long hug and says that he always preferred his cat-hero.

With a smile on his face Grian wakes up to find Scar and Joel sleeping. With so many beds around them as cushions to prevent Scar from dying they easily found a place to sleep as well. Knowing he did his best and promising himself he’ll keep an eye out for Scar, Grian smiles to himself and carries on with his day.

~

And with that I hope it makes you smile a bit and lets you have a good day!!! Merry Christmas it was a joy talking to you the past weeks and get to know you!

(yes, the story is from the Doctor Who Christmas Special "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" - if you haven't seen it I highly recommend it (it's watchable without any Doctor Who knowledge) to have a bit more banter, feels, laughs and visuals for this AU)

[dykebeeduo]

My @mcytblrsecretsanta gift for @moonblanche! It's a fun Boatem ficlet, because boatem was unceremoniously destroyed pre-christmas this fic is canon divergent lmao. No shipping, and no content warnings asides from being heavy on the food mentions. the formating is a bit wonky but thats on me for using microsoft word.

2.2k words

(i finally got around to putting this fic up on ao3)

“Oh welcome one and all to the Swaggon holiday dinner” Scar looked away from the mirror and over a Jellie with a frown “no that’s to formal, and this isn’t even a Swaggon event, it’s a Boatem event!”

“Meow” said Jellie tilting her head from her place of prominence at the head of the six seated table in the middle of the room.

“you’re right Jellie, I should just be natural. What even is natural? This is Hermitcraft for heaven’s sake!” Scar said sharply turning back to the mirror and adjusting his festive but still appropriately large Santa hat.

“Me-oww” Meowed Jellie before leaping down from her chair and pumping up onto a windowsill.

“Yeah, yeah I know I know they will be here soon” and as if on cue Grian’s voice descended upon Scar’s specialty made ‘Holidaggon’

“scarscarscrarscarscarscar” the blond rattled as his flew down to an abrupt stop. His voice mystically cutting through the layers of copper wood and appearing at scars ears as full as is they were right next to each other. “Did I scare you?”

“Nooo, you did not. Now come on into this very special Holidaggon!” Scar beamed opening the door to what could best be described as “copper Charismas and candy” a rightfully earned title as he had built the waggon while munching down on pumpkin pies and leftover Halloween candy.

The waggons copper roof has three spires are carefully covered in snow that scar spent hours shoveling (much to his chagrin Plaines biomes never snow no matter how much ambiance the affect would have on a build) and the build was surrounded by small evergreen trees scar shaped himself. Scar had spent hours on robotic stilts while Pearl keeping watch over the clumsiest member of Boatem as he carefully sniped each branch to the perfect length. And to top all of it off the inside of the waggon was filled with delicious treats, yummy food, and a warm fire to counteract all the snow.

“The waggon looks wonderful Scar, and so do you! Sweater buds!” says Grian pointing between his red and white sweater and Scar’s red cardigan.

“Well would you look at that we are all matchy matchy” scar replied making himself busy with a punch bowl as Grian rustles through his inventory.

“ah-hah, one turkey fresh out of the oven, and one delicious bowl of cranberries!” Grian said triumphantly setting the bird and the bowl delicately on the table. “and no I didn’t forget this!” Grian says with a flourish as he grabs a meticulously wrapped gift out of his inventory. The gift is as tall as he is and has a bow the size of his head perched on top, the gift however seems particularly lightweight as Grian effortlessly places it atop the table at the side of the room where Scar has also placed a gift for his secret Santa. But before scar can take a peach at who the gift is addressed to Pearl makes her presence know.

“Knock-knock! I need a hand!... or two” shouts Pearl from behind a stack (no pun intended) of Tupperware containers.

“I’ve got the door Pearl” shouts Grian as if the containers obstructing her view might have also obstructed her ears. Pearl wobbles into the waggon (luckily for her Scar had made this one at ground height) narrowly missing Grian’s snow boots which he had left haphazardly in the middle of the floor in the entrance, and she dropped all of the containers in her hand down on the table with an exhausted

“humph, that’s the last time I go mining before a social event, my darn inventory is filled with cobble I couldn’t fit in the food!”

“Why didn’t you just empty your inventory” said Scar knocking Grian’s snow boots at him with his cane.

“Because I’m using the cobble for a build, and I couldn’t find my cobble chest” Pearl replied before reaching into her inventory and pulling out a small box wrapped in craft paper and tied with a thin yellow ribbon and sets it down on the gift table. Outside the waggon two voices clamor to be the last one inside”

“After you” says Mumbo opening the door for Impulse.

“No after you” replies Impulse taking the handle out of Mumbo’s hand.

“No, I insist” asserts Mumbo pulling the door back away from Impulse.

“I insist as well, after you” Shouts impulse jerking for door away form Mumbo.

“Boys, don’t make be take an axe out and make another door hole” Shouts Pearl not bothering to look up from her meticulously opening her containers of food.

“No not my waggon” Pouts Scar as Impulse and Mumbo finally make their way into the waggon. Each holding a bag of food and a gift.

“howdy do” whistled Scar taking a bag from Mumbo and moving towards the table, beginning to help Pearl organise food.

“I brought candy” Impulse shouted shaking his bag and reaching an arm out to pet Jellie.

“Murrrow” Jellie chirped giving Impulses hand a quick headbutt before letting him scratch under her chin.

“Of course, I made you charismas cookies Jel-ster” Replied Impulse before reaching a hand into his candy bag and taking out a small fish shaped cookie and placing it down next to her.

“I made a tofurky!” Mumbo announces pulling a grey monstrosity out of his inventory. (he was a bad cook when he was eating meat, the things he does to vegetables would make a bunny weep) Upon seeing the grey monstrosity the rest of boatem lets out a collecting groan. “And baked potatoes!” Mumbo says allowing the rest of boatem to gain back some of their appetites.

“Well at least he can’t mess up a Baked Potatoes” says Grian arranging placements and cutlery around the table.

“I don’t know what you could possibly be talking about” Replies Mumbo knowing smile saying what Mumbo isn’t, that he is a terrible cook. But before Mumbo’s cooking can be called further into question pearl announces from across the table.

“I think we are all set! Take a seat everyone” that rest of dinner was a blur compliments flying and jokes exchanged.

“Awesome gravy Pearl!”

“Jellie would you like some tofurkey”

“Scar pass the peas”

“Impulse I like the taffy”

“Does anyone want the cranberries?”

And just as quickly as supper started it ended, and the Boatem crew made their way out to the Boatem Pole to open gifts and roast marshmallows.

“Scar the big one has your name on it” Impulse shouts across the Boatem Hole.

“No fun now I know it’s from Grian” Scar says making his way (carefully) around the pit that has claimed far too many lives this season.

“Well, you would have figured that out eventually” replies Grian as he circles the Boatem Pole inspecting each gift for the one with his name on it.

“Okay has everyone found theirs yet” shouts Pearl standing next to a small box and a raging campfire with Jellie curled up next to it.

“Almost-yep I just found mine” Responds Impulse standing between Mumbo and Grian.

“alright wonderful, do we want to go clockwise?” a small chorus of ‘okays’ ring out from around the Boatem Hole. “Okay Grian you got first”

“Alight, my box is small, and brown and” Grian pauses for a second before shaking the box. “it doesn’t rattle.” He pauses for another second and looks around the Boatem Pole eyeing each hermit to see if a face might betray who gave him the gift. But before any of the hermits can break, he quickly opens the box and shouts.

“and its…. SAWEATER! YEAHHHH” Grian holds up a fire red and yellow knit sweater with blue around the collar and wrists.

“It has wing holes!” Pearl shouts from his right. Hearing this Grian quickly turns around the sweater and gasps as his eyes land on two small slits in the knit just the right size for his equally tricoloured wings to fit through.

“Pearl I love it!” he shouts running the sort distance over to her and wrapping her in a hug.

“I know you don’t like it when your back is cold!”

“it’s the worse!” shouts Grian before effortlessly flapping his wings and lifting the two of them up and off the ground.

“aak- Grian PUT ME DOWN! I’m not wearing an elytra!!!” shouts Pearl before pressing her face into Grian’s chest as he floats back down to solid ground.

“you’re fine Pearl we weren’t even taller than the Boatem Pole” he laughs letting go of Pearl and watching steady herself with her arms.

“Says the guy who has wings! Of course, you don’t think I’m going to die!” she laughs out before sitting down on the ground and yelling over to Impulse “go ahead Impulse!”

“okay my present is tiny” Impulse says holding a small box the size of his hand “and inside of the tiny present is…. A tiny model of my factory!!! It’s so cute” Impulse slowly turns the model around in his hand but before he can say anything else about the small model it lights up and begins to produce a small amount if smoke out of the smokestacks. “oh my gosh I love it!”

“I’m glad! I don’t do Micro-Redstone for just anyone.” Mumbo laughs at the look of wonder of the man’s face.

“oh thank you Mumbo I love it” replies impulse taking Mumbo into a quick hug before he puts his eyes back into the small model.

“Okay well I guess its my turn, my gift appears to be an unwrapped shulker box, but what could be inside….” The mustached man says before twisting open the shulker mechanism and gasping. “Oh Redstone, full sized Redstone my beloved! It’s been too long my dear the world thinks I’m a builder now!”

“I knew you’d like it!” responds Scar tipping his oversized Santa hat at Mumbo for good measure.

“it’s wonderful thank you Scar!”

“and now it’s my turn!” Scar says before dramatically turning towards the large present beside him. “And since the gifters identity has been revealed already, Grian how am I supposed to open this?”

“rip anywhere!” with that simple sentence scar began to rip away the paper and looked with curiosity at the object Infront of him. Made with glass, soul sand, and held together with a wooden frame and lid Scar was officially stumped by what the gift could be.

“its uhhhhh a ummmm”

“it’s a potable enderporter with a dustless panic button.” Grain said with a smile.

“wait what? that’s so cool!!!” Scar said opening the lid to the enderporter and lifting out a small stone tablet on a lanyard.

“you just fill it with water, throw a pearl in a press the button whenever you get in trouble.” Grain said watching Scars eyes light up with the possibilities this enderporter offered. “Here have a water bucket and some pearls.” Grain said opening his inventory and pulling out the two missing components for the enderporter.

“awesome” replied Scar before quickly placing the lanyard around his neck and filling up the enderporter with water before taking two quick strides towards the Boatem Hole and jumping in.

“sc-scar….” Grian started before being interrupted by

goodtimewithscar fell out of the world.

“he forgot to throw a pearl” Grian whispered towards the other hermits as they all silently giggled as Scar made the quick walk over from his “starter base” to the Boatem Hole.

“I… I may have forgotten something”

“I knew you would which is why I made multiple panic button” Grian says with a. smile as he opened his inventory and pulled out another for Scar.

“Thank you” Scar said letting his eyes drop to the ground for a slit second before gesturing over at Pearl with a flourish and declaring “onto the one and only Pearlescent MOOOOON!”

“Thank you Scar, well my gifter is not really a secret considering I’m going last but regardless the gift itself is a mystery!” Pearl says picking up her gift from the ground beside her. “it’s a….” pearl pauses for a second to carefully undo the bow that Impulse had tied around the box. “Ship in a bottle!”

“it’s an upside-down ship in a bottle!” Impulse a laughs as Pearl looks into the meticulously arranged model of her starter house.

“Oh thank you Impulse, it will look wonderful in the lighthouse!”

“thank you pearl.” Impulse replied before clapping his hands together and asking a question he already knew the answer to. “Does anyone want a smore?” and all of Boatem descended upon the campfire with joyous vigour all five (six if you count Jellie) clamouring for a dry seat on one of the logs around the fire passing around marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolates. And as they all sit back and begin to roast the marshmallows Grian looks over at the man beside him and asks a simple question.

“Hey Mumbo?”

“Yeah Grian?”

“Does the moon look big to you?”

“not at all, if anything it looks small!”

[votederpycausemufins]

Happy Holidays! It's less than an hour away til Christmas for me, so I figured I might as well post this next chapter for Surprisingly Familiar while I'm still awake so people can find a nice little present.

Hope everyone can get some gifts or at the very least some cheer in the upcoming days if you haven't already and I hope you cry over enjoy this little gift.

the hermit tommy au belongs to @petrichormeraki

Learning to fly again ended up with Grian face planting and rolling down a hill more than once, mainly just trying to remember how to move the darn things. While he had had them out a number of times in high school, proof of which shown from the slightly patchy wings from where feathers had been torn out, he couldn’t remember the last time he actually flew.

When Grian did finally get them to mostly work, it was just a matter of gliding and not actually flying. Then, once he was comfortable enough with that, he tried actually flying to less success. But after a mostly alright flight that didn’t have him fall over upon landing - though it was very close - Grian finally flopped onto the ground to catch his breath. “S-so… how d-did that look to you guys.”

For a few seconds, there was silence. Grifter had left ages ago and wasn’t back, plus the residents were ages away, so not like they could respond, even if Grian had been talking to them. But while the silence was broken, it was only for Grian himself.

“Okay, okay, slow down. Missed talking with all of you too. Any… any of you connected up with Tech or Dad?” Grian asked to the voices he could hear. The ones he called his audience while his brother called them chat.

After a few moments, Grian frowned and sighed. “Well, I guess that makes sense. Why would it change now?” Grian then stood up as the voices started to ask him a number of questions overtop the joy of talking with him again. “You guys know talking is saved for in private. Yeah, just being around another me counts, but I didn’t want to get distracted yet. And maybe you guys would have helped, but I’m sure half of you would try to mess me up.”

Grian laughed as the audience agreed with him, then paused as there was a suggestion. Since he was flying again, maybe he could use that to explore. “I mean, I guess? There do seem to be a lot of buildings around here. And I would cover more ground that way. Okay, yeah, you’re right. It’s also a good way to practice flying. Yeah, you’ve convinced me.”

Grian started by looking around the oriental builds, finding a sort of giant hamster cage in the middle of it all. There were signs of more buildings planned to be done, based on a sectioned off area. Near there were a number of colorful boxes that after a bit of fiddling, Grian was able to open. A number of them were named, like couple of which were called ‘transport’, one filled with some sort of scaffolding called ‘scaffoldage’, a pair for concrete apparently of different colors though neither was filled with concrete but instead dyes, sand and gravel.

Aside from all those, there were four that really caught Grian’s eye. There were two boxes, though likely not filled with the original contents, were called ‘vex flying box’ and ‘con corp rockets’. At a glance, they wouldn’t seem related, but as opposed to most of the boxes, they were labeled in a different handwriting, and these two matched each other.

Following these was a box labeled ‘wings and things’ filled with giant harnessable wings. It made Grian look back at the vex box wondering if that was related to these things. With that, feeling more curious, Grian looked in the last box he hadn’t peeked into and was surprised to see the label on it had what was probably an actual name. He didn’t know exactly what meccano was, but it apparently belonged to Rendog.

Following this, Grian flew up to a tower which seemed to cap the place off, finding one more of the strange boxes at the top, this one also labeled for Rendog, though just using a shorter form. Grian nearly closed it right there, but a book inside caught his eye. Grian pulled it out, finding it was indeed signed by someone with the name Rendog, though it was being sent to someone named Tomato Yoshi.

At this point, chat had been going crazy, having looked into what they could about this person. Apparently this person was indeed someone who belonged to this server, pretty recent person too. They didn’t know who Yoshi was though, so Grian was going to have to go digging around here himself.

The next place to explore was the purple roofed buildings nearby. He started with the largest one, which had an open roof, letting Grian easily explore each level. A floor below the main entrance had some sort of storage room. He didn’t need to dig around more with a chest left in plain view mention something about a season seven, which the audience told him was likely another season of the world, though as far as they were aware, there were only four of the things. Either way, inside the box was another book for someone named Falsesymmetry, or False for short.

The next floor down was mainly decoration, but the floor after that had what Grian was looking for. There was an entire hall dedicated to learning about what this False person had been doing. Because of that it was filled with other names like Joe Hills, BdoubleO, Cubfan, Stress and Scar. They also seemed to have previously owned a pet chicken named Claudia, but said chicken died. At first, it didn’t seem like the chicken was too important, but when he explored more and found a giant chicken statue. Even more strange, it seemed to be decorated with hair that looked a lot like him.

After a bit of thinking it over, Grian thought it was probably something Grifter had done, but he couldn’t help but shake the feeling that something was off. But with not much else to do about it, Grian started exploring again, next finding a sort of train station which meant plenty more to explore.

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“So, how’s it going with Grian?” Grifter rolled his eyes at the question, just glaring at the asker as he rested on the desk. “Oh it can’t be that bad.”

“Yes it can!” Grifter replied, slamming his hands on the table. “I just went to help him learn to fly again since there aren’t any other avians on his server and elytra flying is completely different. But that’s besides the point. I let him go off on his own and when I come back he’s talking to himself, but like there’s actually someone there!”

“Wait, you didn’t know about his audience?”

“His what?” Grifter asked before the other Listener pulled out some papers. “What’s this?”

“Okay, look. Grian’s dad, the wels version of Deathza, had this condition where he could hear the voices of spirits from another plain. Not quite ghosts or higher beings, but spirits that have always existed as spirits. There’s a number of people who also have this condition, but it’s not the most common thing in the world. That being said, it is genetic.” Then the Listener pointed to one of the papers they had grabbed. “Grian and his brother Techno both managed to be born with that ability. Grian specifically calls it his audience, but it looks like on this other document, after becoming a Watcher, he was taught how to sort of lock it away, and since then he hasn’t really dealt with it.”

Grifter grabbed the papers and looked through them. “So, how much do these spirits know?”

“Well, normally they can look into a number of commonly known topics as well as connect up with other spirits that are linked with people that can hear them.”

“So, what you’re saying is, they might tell Grian that I’ve been lying to him?”

The Listener thought for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, they could. Uh, let me see if I can get any recent information on them interacting with Grian for you. I will say sometimes they are unreliable and like to toy around, but I mean that could be dangerous.”

“Yeah, Grian already panicked when he found out what happened with his brother’s old timelines before they got locked up.”

“Right. Right. If… if he finds out Sam is actually still alive…” And before the Listener said more, they ran off, looking for the needed documents, leaving Grifter at the table alone. Though he wasn’t alone for long.

“Grifter. Haven’t seen you around in a while.” A different Listener spoke as they approached, making the Grifter glare up at them as he put away his papers.

“Doodle… What do you want? I’m in the middle of something.”

“I’ve heard you’re helping out Grian, right? And he’s in Hermitcraft… yes?”

Grifter rolled his eyes. Obviously they were sure that wasn’t the case, but he wasn’t going to just admit that. “Yeah. Hermits are helping him out, but we’re trying to keep him on the down low so he doesn’t get freaked out. Trauma and all that. I’m sure Ely tells you plenty, and Lyarrah if you happen to talk with them too.”

“Well, they haven’t been able to tell me much recently.” Doodle replied, taking the seat the other Listener had been using. “Apparently after whatever happened, all links with Hermitcraft and both Watchers and Listeners have been cut off.”

“That’s not completely true.” Grifter spoke, glad that the next part was mostly the truth. “The accident that caused Grian to end up like this was a mess of combined magic. I was unfortunately involved so I can still get in, and of course trainees are weak enough to also bypass the mess that came out of this, so Vee is currently over in Hermitcraft as well.”

“Yeah, I know that. Ely and I both heard how she had a freak out meeting one of the hybrid hermits.”

“Yes. Honestly what her spawner did to her was dreadful, but getting back on topic, this isn’t something I can just wave my hand and fix. This… this is Virgil magic.” Grifter explained, making Doodle go pale. “I know. I’m not happy about my involvement in this either. That’s why I’m doing my best to teach Grian how to use Watcher magic again. Plus, one of his kids is Vee’s pair, so if this fails, there’s a sort of second chance there. I’m sure this is stressful for Ely and Lyarrah as well as… who are their pairs again?”

“Pixlriffs and ZloyXP.”

“Right, those two. But while they’re stressed because they can’t do anything, essentially everything is riding on our shoulders.” And Grifter gestured to where the other Listener had gone. “Really, anything you could do to help would be nice, but getting upset is just going to drag us back.”

Doodle looked down at the papers Grifter was working with, then back to Grifter. “Alright, look. I’ll try looking into Virgil and Virgil magic. I’m sure I can get the others to help me out, especially since it’s helping with the world they’re in charge of. But I can’t promise anything.”

“That’s fine.” Grifter replied, putting on a false smile that Doodle bought. “Anything at this point is a huge help.”

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Grian had done a bit more exploring, eventually finding a place filled with shops. He was reluctant to walk into any of them since a good number all had signs about the Con Corp place. With the number of places that had their logo, Grian wondered if it was anything like Crab Co. Grian was planning to see what he could find out about that theory when the audience got his attention, pointing out a ring build onto the side of one of the stores that was marked with a red flag.

Curious about that, Grian flew up to the ring, landing on it and looking around before seeing another in the distance. Flying to that one made him notice another and realize it might be some sort of flying course, which made sense if these people had fake wings of their own. And since Grian was practicing with flying, he decided to try it out.

It was a bit of a hassle flying through the rings as there were a few times here and there that Grian couldn’t quite tell where the next ring was. That along with the fact that he was still relearning to fly and kept accidentally flying into things made it difficult. That being said, Grian was sure he was doing well until reaching a sharp turn and hitting his wing badly.

He was already hurt from before and now he was falling. Grian didn’t know what else to do, so he put his arms in front of his face, bracing for impact. He prayed the fall wouldn’t kill him, but the moment he hit the ground, Grian felt the agony of at least one if not more of his bones breaking, and then there was nothing at all.

At first, Grian wondered if he had died. Truly died and now he had royally screwed up his past. But then Grian tried looking around and realized he was lying down on a bed. Plus, while it seemed like the bed was in a house, he could definitely hear rain that had to be from outside. With that realization, Grian sat up, pretty sure he wasn’t actually dead. But he had no clue where exactly he was, so that was what he needed to figure out next.

Exploring the building first, Grian found stuff hidden under just about every floorboard, which was obviously concerning. Up the stairs near one of the two exit doors were a few chests, but other than that, there was really nothing, which was odd since the building was obviously pretty tall. So since he couldn’t explore the interior more and he wanted to see just how tall the place was, Grian went outside, only to crane his neck up so far he nearly fell over trying to look at it. What’s more is that there were more buildings of the same size right next to it.

All of them were so tall that skyscrapers would look tiny next to them. The one Grian had just left looked like someone had piled a ton of smaller houses on top of each other and kept them together with mainly tape and prayers. Next to it was something that started looking like a factory, but then it had a platform built on top with a giant flag held up by any means necessary. Then, next to all that seemed to be a giant aquarium filled with a house. Then on top of that was a giant magnet and… a penguin for some reason.

As Grian flew to check those out, he noticed one more giant building across the way that looked completely overgrown with some sort of venus flytrap that was, also a wizard? And above it was some sort of castle on a cloud, like something out of jack and the beanstalk. And then, throughout all of the buildings, for whatever reason, they seemed to be attacking each other.

Finding himself really confused, Grian stopped trying to comprehend the tall buildings and started looking around the new area. Seeing an Ikea immediately caught his eye, only for it to be some off brand place called Idea instead. From there he noticed a field with actual crop circles, so Grian landed on a nearby watchtower to look at them, only to then have his eye caught by a gate with the label A77.

Seeing the gate piqued Grian’s interest, so instead of just flying nearby to look at the place, he actually glided down to the gate, reading the signs posted nearby. Apparently the A stood for Area 77, and they had tickets for some sort of Infinity Portal, though it was listed as a ride and experience. With that, Gria’s eyes lit up. Sure, he needed to train and be careful, but surely some sort of amusement park couldn’t be that dangerous. Especially because no one had been around so far. So making up his mind, Grian went further into the area.

The first place after the entrance and up some stairs seemed to be a building to explore called ‘Captain Angry Eye’s HQ’ which had some maps of the park. Grian studied the maps since he couldn’t easily take the maps with him, then left again to move further into the part, eyes drawn by some sort of votex or something in the sky.

In moving towards the vortex, Grian found more of the colorful box things, meaning the place was unfortunately left under construction and abandoned, but looking through the boxes, he was able to learn a few more names like ZombieCleo, Iskall, iJevin, and someone named Docm77 which he was pretty sure wasn’t just a coincidence.

Grian almost left there, but he noticed one more box with a name that was a bit familiar, labeled as ‘Pufferman’s Box’, which reminded him of a certain person he remembered from back home. As the avian thought about it, he was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by some clucking and something tugging at his pants.

Closing the box, Grian looked to see a chicken at his side, clucking up a storm and trying to pull him around. “Oh, hey there. Where did you come from?” Grian asked, petting the animal and glad it didn’t peck him, though it still kept itself attached to his clothes.

In trying to pull it off of his pants leg, Grian was surprised to find a collar around its neck. He paused to instead grab the tag on the collar, finding a name on it. “Sally? Is that your name then? You don’t seem to have an address though, so I’m not sure I can help you get home.”

The chicken didn’t really react and Grian couldn’t manage to pull it away, so he instead started walking back to the path again and go the other direction which didn’t seem to be under construction. But just as Grian took a step onto the other path, the chicken was tugging harder, as if to keep him from going that way. The audience started wondering if the chicken was trying to help Grian or trying to lead him towards a trap, Grian deciding he wasn’t going to listen to some pesky bird and continuing forward. But that ended up being a bad decision.

The next thing Grian reached was some sort of inspection checkpoint, though he didn’t really pay attention to the signs and planned to walk right by. It would have worked well, if it weren’t for the fact there was an actual person in the checkpoint booth, watching as he just idly walked past. Grian, however, didn’t notice them until they left the booth and shouted at him, making the avian freeze and turn around to face whoever it was.

“Who are you supposed to be?” The person, or rather, guard asked harshly, making Grian freeze up. Somehow he had gotten to where the people in this world actually were, which Grifter of course had told him were dangerous. The guard asked again, making Grian take a slight step back, considering running and flying away. That thought as well as his fear had Grian’s wings puffing up, which the guard quickly noticed and caused him to curse.

As Grian was still figuring out which way he should go, the guard pulled out a communicator and spoke into it. “Hey! We’ve got someone at the gate to Bunker 13! They’re a mob being! Avian in nature!”

A loud cluck from Sally finally pulled Grian out of his shock as he picked the animal up into his arms and fly off, though going right into the bunker the guard was likely calling in help from. He was quickly stopped from continuing straight from some room labeled ‘creature inspection’ with some sort of hybrid inside watching him. While Grian wanted to free them, the noises of a number of guards on his tail frightened Grian more, having him turn around and go to his left, which fortunately seemed to lead towards an exit of sorts.

Out through the exit, Grian was greeted with more bunkers on his left and air strips on his right. There was plenty of room for him to fly off, and the people were all still behind him, so that’s exactly what Grian did. He was almost right outside of the walls of the place when he suddenly heard an electric hum, and a moment later, Grian felt like he was struck with lightning and felt himself falling back to the ground.

There were shouts from below about respawning and barriers, but Grian barely comprehended it all, sure that for the second time today he was probably falling to his death. But out of nowhere, instead of falling down, Grian found himself moving sideways. Carefully opening his eyes, he saw his own face in the space above him. “Told you not to head East.”

“Gr-Grifter?” Grian asked, wincing as even just trying to speak made him realize the killer headache he was apparently dealing with now. “Didn’t… mean to.”

“Yeah, I get it. They must have messed with the respawning of this place. I’ll deal with them, but I’m going to need both hands for that. I’m sending you to a safe place nearby. Don’t move from there.” And before Grian could ask any questions, he was enveloped in green magic and then found himself in some sort of cavern with giant glowing mushrooms and peace signs everywhere.

Though it wasn’t the softest, there was at least a stone bench in the cavern that Grian laid down on, nearly squishing Sally who he hadn’t realized was still with him. He watched as she jumped away, walking over to a table with some food on it before grabbing it and bringing it back to Grian. Surprisingly, it hadn’t gone bad, maybe just a bit stale if anything. Just eating a bit seemed to help and Grifter had to be right about this world having lots of magic because just that bit of food seemed to help heal Grian up from whatever had almost fatally shocked him before.

After a few more bites of the food left behind in this place, Grian felt well enough to actually walk around the cavern while waiting for Grifter to return. He still wasn’t feeling amazing, but seeing the patches of grass, he was wondering if those would feel better to lie down on rather than the stone bench. That being said, there actually wasn’t much in the way of grass. More of the ground was covered by some sort of greyish purple stuff. Still, testing it with a hand, Grian was glad to feel it was soft and sort of spongy, which was perfectly fine to him.

Exhaustion finally getting the better of him, Grian curled up on the greyish ground, pulling Sally into his arms as something to cuddle, and then falling asleep.

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As soon as he could, Mumbo clapped his hands over his ears from the loud repeating noise that had to be somewhere nearby. But covering his ears didn’t help too much, able to feel the booming noise in his chest, like from fireworks. And not the kind everyone used for flying, but the ones that really exploded. The ones Tommy feared and hated so desperately. And thinking it over, he was still open for the world to create a nightmare for him.

Actually looking around, Mumbo was surprised to recognize his base for the most part, though for whatever reason it seemed larger than normal. Which was probably not helping with the louder sounding heartbeat of his base now that he thought about it. He tried looking around to see if anyone was nearby, which didn’t look like it, but also looking outside his base was surprising.

Normally, Mumbo could really only see Scar’s magical village easily from his base as well as the edges of Iskall’s tree, but right now he couldn’t see either of them. Instead of their bases, to the right of Mumbo’s base, he could see Grian’s mansion, then to his left was Xisuma’s base even though Keralis’ city should have been in the way. Both of the bases were equally as large and scaled up as Mumbo’s base, meaning this was all probably influenced by whoever’s fear this was for. It also seemed like he was much closer to the Hermitteranean Sea than normal. He was also pretty sure he could even see the Cowmercial district if he squinted enough.

Seeing as now Xisuma’s base was right there and Mumbo did seem to have elytra on hand, he grabbed a few rockets before flying over to the admin’s base. With the larger size and new distance between the bases, Mumbo arrived there pretty quickly, able to catch the admin just before he left. “Xisuma!”

Xisuma seemed to mouth something before looking over at Mumbo and walking over to him, mouthing a few more things to the redstoner. “Do we need to be quiet?” Mumbo asked in a whisper, which just seemed to confuse Xisuma who mouthed a few more things. “Can you speak a little louder? I can’t hear you.”

Mumbo watched as Xisuma pulled out his comm and typed a message before turning it towards Mumbo to read. The message essentially said Xisuma was talking normally while Mumbo was shouting, so whispering back Mumbo explained. “Sorry, I appeared in some weird version of my base. Like here everything’s huge and the heart that’s in my base was way louder than before, so it must have made me hard of hearing for a bit.”

Mumbo paused as Xisuma typed out another message. ‘I’m guessing we’ll find the others at the other bases. You head the other way and I check out Etho’s base?’ “Sounds good to me X.” Mumbo agreed, and then the two went their separate ways.

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Tommy did not like the fact that he appeared in such a familiar place. As opposed to anywhere unfamiliar or somewhere in Hermitcraft. Instead, he was in a place he never wanted to ever see again. Tommy had found himself in a crater in the middle of a plains biome. One he was unfortunately very familiar with. Along with that, all his gear was missing and his clothes were a complete mess. He felt hungry and was obviously alone, but this time he didn’t even have Ghostbur around.

Though Tommy just wanted to curl up in the hole and wait, he reluctantly climbed out of the hole, only to see the rest of the land that made up his exile. But instead of other biomes in the distance, there was only ocean surrounding what was now an island. And past that were some familiar buildings towering over everything and seemingly trapping Tommy in and making him feel small.

Exile in Hermitcraft. Something he always knew would happen someday. And now it was here. Except Tommy knew in the back of his mind that this wasn’t real. And he could probably just swim to the other shores. So Tommy went to the coast to do just that, only to notice the pattern of a barrier keeping him confined to the island. This wasn’t good.

[trashynyland]

Alright, someone asked about this and I'm here to give.

There's not much to the HermitFamilyAU. I'll try and go in order in a way from oldest to recent characters that have been created so far.

Grian, mute avian hybrid. 23 but acts like an excited 10 year old. He communicates in bird, sign language, writing and charades. Only Mumbo, Iskall and Xisuma can understand Grian's bird talk (he'll chirp, squeak screech and squawk). He's a bundle of joy, really energetic, he loves to cuddle and he's usually always happy. He'll tend to stick by Mumbo's side a lot. He has the habit of sitting on people's shoulders, it helps him with his height dysphoria, makes him feel taller which makes him happy. He loves to build with his legos since he isn't allowed out of the house unless he's with Xisuma. He was abused by his parents who cut out his vocal cords with a knife at age 9. He's lived in the hermit household for 5 years. He has a feather shedding habit which Doc despises (that's what earned Grian the name "Feathers"). Grian and Doc have a love hate relationship but mostly, Grian loves being a little shit to Doc and annoy him. Grian can easily get sent into a panic attack if someone touches his neck without permission. He has trust issues and won't let anyone he doesn't know near him.

Mumbo, human but has the power to generate Redstone dust from his hair (like King Sparklez but he can generate the dust with his hands). He's 24 and a nervous wreck. Mumbo always needs an explanation to things he doesn't understand, if he doesn't get it then he'll try and figure it out himself. He's very shy around others he doesn't know and has a horrible stuttering habit when he has to talk to people he doesn't know. He loves hanging out with Grian (his comfort buddy boyfriend) and loves to help the little avian. His legs got shattered and ripped from a piston malfunction that he was trying to fix, they had to amputate his legs from the knee down. He's got Redstone prosthetics that are powered with Redstone (made by King Diamond). He has no recollection of his past, all he knows was that he showed up on the Redstone King's doorstep at age 7 and was adopted by the king. Mumbo's father is King Redstone (or CaptainSparklez) but Mumbo lives with Xisuma since Mumbo himself isn't found of the Royal lifestyle. But he works for his father and helps around the castle from time to time. Started living with Xisuma at age 19.

Iskall, slime hybrid. He's 27 and a comedian. He acts like a crazy uncle, loves to make inappropriate jokes but also acts like the 2nd father of the house. He loves to jokes around and pull pranks. He's very kind until you hurt his family in any way. Again, acts like the second dad of the house because things can get too crazy sometimes. When he was 16, he was shit in the eye by a blast spell which caused his eye to never grow back. Instead of getting an eye patch or a regular eye prosthetic he asked Mumbo and Doc to make him some kinda cool looking eye instead. He was abandoned by his mother at age 13, was taken in by Xisuma at age 15. He has abandonment issues.

Xisuma, Archangel hybrid (four wings, halo and 6 eyes. 4 of the eyes and the halo only appear when X uses his powers. Two of the wings get hidden beneath the top two wings.). He's over 1000 years old (but 38 in human age). He absolutely loves adopting and it's his horrible bad habit. He's been banned a few times from adoption centers because the guy can't control himself. Because of this, he's been named the "Caretaker" and "Dimensional Adopter". He's a Warrior (meaning he goes out to different dimensions to help out others in corrupted dimensions) but he's also a coder and hacker. He loves his family and would do anything to protect them. He was banished to the world Palace Concy at age 17(human age) and has lived there happily ever since. In his old world, he use to live in the heavens which had thin air. Since the air is much thicker on the ground and too much for him he wears a ventilator to help him breath better. He also can't die, he can respawn which he finds unsettling. When he dies he respawns in his bed. He's a bottom, he's gotta admit that and his husband is Doc (someone he first saved when he became a Warrior). Most of his scars on his body (including his "X" scar on his face) we're given to him by Doc himself on accident. He's a dad of the hermit household.

Doc, creeper human cyborg. He's 40 years old and a cranky guy. He tends to put up a touch guy act but in reality he's just a soft teddy bear. He'll only show his true softness when alone with Xisuma or playing with the kids. He's caring but will act like he doesn't give a shit. Parents call him Soccer Mom because of how prepared he is and how much he helps his kids but also because he tends to pick fights with the entitled parents who thinks their kid(s) are better than everyone, "News flash Christian! They aren't special!". His prosthetic arm, half head and neck, part of his chest and half is heart were all designed by King Diamond and Doctor Joe Atlantic(they also got some help from Prince Stampy). In Doc's old dimension he use to be a creeper that couldn't explode (which hunters found amusing so they'd pick on Doc and give him scars, basically abuse him). One day he fell in love with his world's Cub who later ended up turning him him an and forcing him to become his science experiment. Once he was deemed useless, Cub put him up for auction which Xisuma ended up buying him and taking him home. Doc has major trust issues with everyone and still doesn't trust Xisuma's 3rd new adoption, Cub Issatic who's always on edge and thinks someone is after his blood (character Cub is still a wip so this may change later on). Doc is surprisingly actually a cuddly type of hybrid. He loves to cuddle alone with X when they get the chance. Doc's husband is Xisuma. Doc is the mom of the hermit household.

Tango, very energetic guy, he's a Telikiantors (a mythical creature created by me the artist, there's a post I made about them but to be short, they're forest creatures that are like SirenHeads but don't eat humans unless provoked by them). Tango is a hybrid version of a Teli. He's 6 years old and still waiting for his future surgery to get on his mouth tail so he can start eating from it again (in his old home it was damaged). He loves to pull all sorts of pranks and is the house's little chaotic demon. Even with no arms, he can't be stopped. He use to be owned by an old woodworker who used Tango as his personal slave. Since Tango was young at the time and didn't know any better and was a child he'd always fool around and didn't listen. This angered his old owner who cut off Tango's arms off and cut his tail mouth so he couldn't eat. Xisuma stumbled upon him one night when the Archangel got lost on a hike in the woods. X saved him and adopted him at age 3. Even though Tango went through that torture he's still bubbly and doesn't have much trama. He's more unsure about things and will asked about them.

Impulse, he's a God actually who was the son of a lightning goddess and ocean god. He's currently 5 years old. When he was born his eyes were completely gold and blue but after his mother and father forced him to use his magic he went blind. Since he was only 3 at the time his eyes were still sensitive and not use to powerful magic or anything bright. His mother was frustrated with him that he couldn't summon up lighting or water so she summoned up some lightning and struck it right in front of Impulse which caused him to go blind and his eyes to lighten up a bit. When the parents left to argue after the situation, that's when Xisuma jumped into the dimension to save Impulse and take him away. Originally his eyesight was supposed to be fixed and he was supposed to be sent back to his home world but he refused the care and refused to leave X's side. He's very scared of powers and when people raise their voices. He's shy and fragile and can easily get overwhelmed by things. He has some sensitivity issues, where when he's so overwhelmed by something he can easily fall into a panic attack. Doc, as a Christmas gift, gave him two shovels that have turned into his comfort item. They help conceal his magic so it doesn't get too out of hand when he gets overwhelmed, upset or angry. He usually sticks by his brothers Tango and Zedaph's sides but when he's not with them then he'll be hanging around his dad, mom or one of his siblings while on a child leash (he doesn't mind the leash and actually loves it since it gives him comfort. He's still not use to being blind and all).

Zedaph, he's a witch, that what everyone knows so far. He's 5 years old and has a teddy bear attitude, his personality is very fluffy and caring. He loves the world and the world loves him. In his old dimension, he was a rich witch's slave and was forced to do dirty work. His owner once had enough of him one day when he accidentally dropped her food and his owner blasted his arm off. Because of the traumatic experience, Zed prefers to keep his eyes shut in fear of having to go through something terrible and scary again. His old owner sold him off to Xisuma who took him in and adopted him. Zedaph's powers are unknown because they haven't yet activated. He's been labelled as a witch for now because of the place he came from and his low power levels. His favorite person in the world his his Uncle Stizoom because of his fluffy hair and tail. He loves to curl up in anything soft and fluffy because of how comfortable and safe it makes him feel. It's the reason why he owns a large Wooloo plushy.

Cleo, a very rare zombie eel siren. She's 31 years old and doesn't like speaking. She likes to stay mute unless talking to Xisuma or False. Nothing seemed to be wrong with her old dimension same with her except that she was always bored. Pirates and fishermen always tried to catch her and at first Cleo loved to prank them but as she got more and more bored she started letting them capture her and sell her at black markets, auctions, sold to royals. She always knew how to escape and she found it fun at first but soon grew bored of it all again. It was always the same routine. Xisuma found her while he was wondering her dimension in a black market. He asked her if she wanted to join him but of course she said nothing. Xisuma ended up buying her and bring her home with him. Cleo has never tried to leave or escape since (except to False's bedroom to sleep with her).

Ren, dog hybrid who has DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). Since he has many different identities all have different personalities (check out his character sheet for more details on all the identities). But mostly Ren is in charge and upfront to control the body, he is the main host after all. Ren is the definition of the one crazy uncle. He's comedic, crazy and loves to put a smile on others faces, he's also very playful. He can get flustered easily if someone dominates him (either in bed or at his own games like flirting). Ren and the body are about 21. In his old world he was abused a lot, mostly chained to a wall in a basement his entire life. He was abused a lot by his owner alpha and many other bad things. It's where a lot of his trama comes from. He one day ended up escaping but fell through a dimensional portal and ended up in Palace Concy. He was found in the woods passed out by Slime n Bone podcast who were taking a vacation with the Woodworks family in the Kosikians Sky (mt. DeathLoxes) mountains. He's was taken to Xisuma after the podcast group couldn't figure out how to help him since Ren wouldn't say anything and just shake in fear in the corner. He was taken in by X which Ren is very greatful for. Ren is scared of everyone since he's an omega and comes from an omegaverse, he thinks an alpha will come and hurt him again. Ren has a huge crush on Iskall and even though he knows the man likes him back he's too scared to ask him out. Ren loves to hang out with Grian, Doc and sometimes Iskall when he isn't blushing nervous. Very cool dude.

Bdubs, human but is immune to explosives but can still get stabbed. He's 19 actually and has a big habit of getting into trouble with Impulse and Tango. He works at an explosives store in town, helps out the construction crews when they need a certain area exploded and loves to volunteer at the firework stands that pop up during July 1st "Redstone Founders Day" (Bdubs favorite holiday). He's enthusiastic and doesn't mind teaching kids about explosives and safety in his spare time. He loves causing trouble when he can but he also loves helping out others with decorating. He's got a side job he's made "Bdubs Interior Design" and usually many people hire him for help. He use to live in a HermitCraft world when he decided to leave one year and stubbled upon an Earth dimension which he was then used as a bomber during the everlasting wars that were going on. He was one day capture and take to Palace Concy by Lunch Army and was then later adopted by X. During his time on the Earth War he gained black smudge on his face that X has found won't come off so it's become part of Bdubs skin basically. Some have called him blackface and think that he's being racist but he's not. He's just got some black smudge on his face that is unremovable. He's bubble and loves to make others smile when having a bad day. He doesn't really have any trama except for being weary of portals. He's got a crush on Keralis but won't admit it.

Keralis, human. He's 18 (looks 16) and a punk. He's mean and bitchy to everyone and doesn't let a single soul through his walls (he doesn't let others see his emotions and what he's really feeling). He love to break the law and pick fights. He works with "Brtakis Construction Company" which causes him to travel from home a lot. He's very strong and can pack a punch. He's a warrior so that's why he's got his own special weapon, he's not allowed on any dimensional missions but he's allowed to kill Alumas (soul takers) when they show up. In his old dimension he was a homeless immigrant who lived on the streets of New York (where he earned his punk attitude). He was saved by Xisuma one night when he was about to get killed by a gang group, almost got shot in the head. X had offered him a home but Keralis denied his offer. It took 5 years of constant saves and denied offers until one year he almost committed suicide he finally opened up to X and accepted his offer with a wailing sob. He still keeps his punk attitude because he grew up with it but also because he finds it cool. He also kept it because of Doc, Keralis wants to be just like the guy. All smug and strong. Doc is the person he looks up to, his idol in a way. His trama? He gets scared and panicked when left alone and he can't go near any big cities that are similar to New York.

Wels, avian hybrid mixed with an angel hybrid. He owns a halo that's cracked and shattered but only appears when he's angry. He's got beautiful golden wings that goes along with his ruby red hair. He's 15 but a secret Drag Queen at night. He loves to entertain people and put on a show, show off what he can do. He loves the stage and to him it's his home and life. (Idk how to explain it but he's just like the YouTube Wels but gay). He owns two Drag Personas, Cherry Rider who's his usual sona he dresses as who can be a wild ride. Cherry is an encouraging fool that will try and help anyone build up their confidence to do anything that their heart desires to do. His other persona is HelsKnight, Hels is a naughty bad fool who, for Wels is his way of getting his anger out in style and in a safe way. He'll preform and have a happy attitude when Cherry but have a dark and naughty~ attitude when being Hels. Because of X's worry, Wels has paired up with Doc on the weekends to do drag but pairs up with Skeppy during the weekdays for drag. Since he's young he still needs parental vision. Not much about his past except for being an orphan all his life and getting bullied at school and at his orphanage for being gay and loving to cross dress. When Xisuma adopted him, Wels hid his love for drag which ended up causing problems because when Cherry Rider first appeared on TV Xisuma fell in love for her and was horrified when he found out the drag person character was his son. After a bit of awkward talking and drag performances from Doc for X, Xisuma got over his silly love crush for Cherry and told Wels that he accepts who he is and will always love him as family. Xisuma told him that it would just be a bit awkward for awhile because X still had to get over the fact that his favorite drag queen he had a crush on was actually his adopted son. Doc helped both X and Wels after the reveal. Wels grew more confident and stopped hiding his drag cross dressing side (while his father Xisuma got over his crush and dropped it entirely but he ended up crushing on Wels' drag performance partner Skeppy). Wels still has a small fear of being himself in front of others but has overcome most of that fear because he knows his family has got his back (especially his over protective Dadsuma who would kill anyone who hurts his family and his Docmom who will murder any parents that talk his son down, "I'm lookin at you Rebecca! Your daughter is a lesbian and will never be straight you blind fu-"). Wels has a small crush on Biffa (an orphan friend of his that lives on the other side of the world (Biffa is still being developed) who Xisuma is thinking about adopting.

Jevin, rare blue slime hybrid. He's 1 year old and there's not much to him. He's a happy a baby who has a weird love obsession life with the Jello food. Iskall loves to take that and tease his baby brother with it (like stabbing his lil brother's jello in front of him and watching him cry about it, Iskall just finds Jevins whole Jello obsession hilarious). Xisuma actually found Jevin in a basket by his tracker right before he was about to work on his farm fields. Jevin will usually be hanging out with Iskall since he's also a slime and the hybrid connection helps them work better with each other. But also since Xisuma and Doc have no idea how to take care of a slime hybrid since they're hard to come by in Concy and there's not many books about them, so the two husbands let nature take it's course with Iskall since it looks like he knows what he's doing.

NPC Grian or Rustie, he's a demon but apparently can change into a robot? He's an interesting type. He's 25 and a cheerful man. He works in architecture, both with planning out the building and how it will look along with the construction. He also works at a bookstore named "BookRook". He's sweet and kind but will snap your neck in you make him angry, a smile with a dark atmosphere like aph Russia. He loves his kids but if he finds Grain making anY MORE ROBOTS THEN HE'S GOING TO-. He love to volunteer for events and he loves his husband Zoom. He was found by Zoom in his old dimension where Rustie was still locked and hibernating in his closet. He would have taken his robot brother with him but Robot Grian was in horrible condition and... dead so there was no use of him. Rustie owns a nice little rustic cabin in the woods beside a like with a great view. He and Zoom built the house and nother are proud of their work and family.

Evil Xisuma or Stizoom(Zoom), a Strider hybrid but fluffier. He's 27 and has a very gentle heart. He loves nature with a passion and Rustie tends to find him curdle up in his flower beds quite often. He likes to bird watch and plant flowers. He's a five star chief for "Blossburgi Restaurant" and a karate teacher for "Hightri's Karate". He hates the cold and loves to cuddle up with Rustie during the cold seasons and Rustie finds it adorable. Luckily, the two own a nearby hot springs so when things get to cold, Zoom will go hang out in the hot springs for awhile. He loves animals, all kinds. In his old dimension he was always forced to be near creatures and he always hated the small to so little space he always got. Xisuma found him and took him in for all awhile until Zoom found and fell in love with Rustie. His husband is Rustie and they both love each other very much. Very cute :3.

HermitPets, they're more used and made for a different AU of mine but in HermitFamily they're more background characters for sorts. Not much.

HermitFamily house, huge house I mean huge. It's a mansion that's up in the Stonety Mts. It sits in a large valley surrounded by mountains. The valley is actually a farm the the hermit house owns. They grow crops and sell it the small nearby town they live by named "Vellenture". Their house, in the back has a large poor (more of a lake and it's for Cleo) but it attaches to a nearby forest. The house itself, on the outside is a creamy white and on the inside, many colors. (I'll have to draw it out for a better explanation but basically the house looks like Grian's mansion but a creamy white and rustic grey.

[lunanight2012]

My Self insert RenDocSelf story Part 1

Here is part 1, it’ll be under the cut, because i’m still nervous about it.

Enjoy

Also tagging @cuteypandapie because they seemed interested in this story

I smirked as a trident was pressed against my throat. Yep, me and Doc were fighting again. This happened every week. I felt the trident pierce my neck a tiny bit. I pulled out my TNT and within a millisecond, pulled out my flint and steel, lighting the TNT.

"See you after respawn, Docy~!" I teased before the TNT exploded, killing both of us.

I gasped as I sat up in my bed, in my base. Getting up, I walked over to my mirror, seeing all my respawn scars. But the one I reached up and touched was the latest one, on my neck. I turned around and grabbed my collar necklace. I couldn't show it off like I wanted to. I had stuff to do now.

I grabbed my extra set of enchanted diamond armor, diamond tools, and elytra. I took off using my elytra and rockets back towards where I blew me and Doc up. I quickly gathered my items, putting Doc's items in a shulker box, leaving a sign that read "To the Goatfather. From L" 

I smirked, before quickly taking off towards Dead Dog Gulch. I had to help Ren out with his Quadchopper. I landed as gracefully as I could before making my way to the Bigger Logz Inc meeting room.

I quickly got on my work helmet, my name painted across the front. I reached the door to the building. Fixing myself to make myself seem presentable before knocking on the door.

"Come in!" Ren called from inside.

I felt myself shiver at his voice. Yes, I had a crush on Doc AND Ren. Do they know? God no. I'm pretty sure neither of them feel the same. I opened up the door and smiled at Ren.

"Good morning Luna. Did you and Doc finish your fight already?" He asked with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "I had a meeting I couldn't miss. So I ended it quickly. Now what is wrong with your QuadChopper?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"One of the timers isn't working." Ren explained, getting up from his desk, walking around and sitting on his desk, facing me.

His tail swayed and his ears twitched in different directions. God, he was so freaking cute! But he's my boss!

"Didn't you create it?" I questioned, smirking.

Ren tugged on his vest a bit, not meeting my eyes. Weird.

"Yea. But I figured a fresh set of eyes would help." 

"But you know I'm better at helping harvest wood than I am with redstone. Ren. You know you should ask any of the redstoners on the server to help, not me. So call Mumbo, call Tango, hell call Doc, "The Goatfather". I'm going to go refill the barrels at the shopping district. I believe in you boss!" I called out saluting before I took off towards the Bigger Logz wood storage.

I opened the door and began to gather wood into the shulker box for moving the wood between storage and the shop. I rubbed at my collar, people would call it a choker but I like to think of it as a collar. I mean hell I fight Doc every week, and I work for Ren. I belong to both of them but they don't know.

I finished loading the shulker box, placed it in my inventory and left. Flying towards the Cowmercial District. I landed outside of the shop, smiling as I went through the barrels and restocked. It didn't take long. Any profit from the shop, I placed in the now empty shulker box. 

"Alright, better get this to Ren." I exclaimed, packing up the shulker and getting ready to take off. 

I stopped, seeing something that caught my eye. Doc, Etho, and False walking down the Cowmercial district. I hid behind a barrel as I listened to them talk.

"Thank you once again False. I'm glad to finally have had BDubs killed." Doc stated, getting closer to the shop.

I held my breath and peeked out from the side of the barrel. Watching the scene unfold. I noticed that False now had the tag. Or as Grian liked people to call it, Tag 2: Electric Boogaloo. Yes I rolled my eyes thinking about it.

"Not a problem at all! Thank you for letting me have the tag in exchange for killing him. I better head out to my base! See you later Doc!" False exclaimed, taking off towards her base.

I hid behind the barrel once more. Why was I jealous? Doc and I were "enemies". Not dating… so why am I hurt he didn't ask me?

"I think I love her Etho."

I could feel my heart break.

"Doc, you've been talking about her for the last hour. I would be more surprised if you weren't." Etho explained, the two sounding as if they were walking away.

"She's an amazing fighter! How can I not be!" Doc exclaimed.

I stopped listening before I quickly pulled out my rockets and ran down the hill towards the water. Yea, I couldn't get my rockets out fast enough. I just swam over to Dead Dog Gulch.

It took me longer, but I made it there, walking over to the office, dripping wet. But hey it hid the fact that I was crying. I walked into the office, startling Ren.

"Luna? That was quick. Why are you soaking wet?" Ren asked, walking over to me.

"Fell into the water and had to swim over from the Cowmercial district. Is it alright if I just take the day off? I got the sales. Here." I handed him the shulker box before turning around and walking out.

"See you tomorrow, please stay safe!" Ren called out to me, worry in his voice.

I smiled weakly at him before running out and taking off towards my base. I entered into my base. Heading straight for the bathroom. I dried off and changed before walking to my room. I grabbed the only makeup I had. Something Cleo gave me in the last world, cover up makeup. Yes. I've been fighting with Doc since the S6 1.13 world. I sat on my bed and faced my mirror. I took off my collar and tossed it into the corner. It was a joke gift from Doc. From the first Christmas in the last world. That was the other reason I liked wearing it. There were many reasons but still. 

I opened up the makeup and began to cover up all my scars from my fights with Doc. The one on my neck, one going up my left arm, one in the middle of my back, one on my stomach, and the last one, the one over my heart. That one hurt to cover. It was the first time I had fought with Doc and the moment I realized I had a crush on him.

I hadn't even realized I was crying until I felt the tears hit my hand. I looked up at myself in the mirror. Tears streaming down my face.

I looked down at my hands. I was better with explosives then I was with my hands. I can't fight very well with a sword. Maybe I should practice.

I looked outside, it was night time. And BDubs was away for the week. Time to fight some Zombies without using TNT. I lived on the island to the far north, just behind Zedaph's base. I got on my diamond armor, pulled out my enchanted diamond sword. I walked out of my base, instantly finding a Zombie. 

I ran towards it, swinging my sword at it only to miss and shove my sword into the dirt, getting mud on my face. I groaned, trying to pull my sword out of the mud. 

I could hear the mobs getting closer. I was being too cocky. God dammit! Now I'm gunna get killed by zombies, skeletons, and suicidal creepers! And spider, yuck. 

"Ow!" I exclaimed as a Skeleton shot my arm, an area where my armor didn't cover.

I finally managed to get my sword out of the mud and slipped trying to get up. I finally managed to rush back into my base. Closing the door and pressing my back up against it. All I could do was cry as I heard the zombies breaking my door. It didn't take long. Zombies broke my door, and then a creeper blew me up. Of course everyone was notified. I gasped and sat up in my bed, running over to the door and grabbing my stuff before rushing back to my room and switching my spruce door out for an iron door. 

"I'm so stupid! Now Doc is probably laughing about how bad I am at PVE. I hate everything…. I think I'm just going to stay in here for a while… I'm sorry Ren sweetie. But I don't think I'll be able to work for a while." I cried to myself, pulling out a book and quill, writing in it like a diary.

[griancraft]

Scar is a 40 year old business man forced to take leave from his company because he’s been working far too much. He’s granted a 3 week vacation and he goes back to his hometown after 10 years. He plans to meet up with bdubs, his old friend from school, and spend the rest of the time working on a big presentation. Unfortunately, his boss xisumia knows him too well and has locked him out of the company’s software. Left with nothing to do Scar wanders the town. He goes from shop to shop, finally stopping at a woodworkers shop in the shopping district. The store is owned by Grian, a down on his luck 36 year old artisan nearly driven out of business by Amazon. They strike up a conversation after scar goes in and marvels in the beauty of a hand carved bird by the counter. Grian tells him about woods types and fusses over wrapping the bird before he buys it so it doesn’t get scratched. Grian assumes Scar is getting it for his wife and Scar is like. Nope it’s for me! Grian says something about scar being too pretty to not have a girlfriend at least and suddenly scar is head over heels. Grian is less eager, wary of the new guy in town. They agree to meet up for coffee.

Disaster! The holiday festival is cancelled because the town doesn’t have the funds this year. Scar isn’t too affected, and outright doesn’t care. Which frustrates Grian. He leaves angry and scar feels really guilty. His eyes go to the little wooden bird on his hotel windowsill and he knows he has to make this right. He rallies the town together and they all come together to make these little gift baskets and sell them on Etsy. They have handmade goods made by the people of the town and not only does this propel them to get enough money for the festival, it gives grian a big market of people who love his work because Scar posted little advertisements for grians online store. Scar donates his holiday bonus to push them over the fundraising goal. Scar is draped in a Christmas sweater and big poofy scarf and as he turns around grinning, he sees Grian looking shocked at him. Scar smiles, telling Grian he’s sorry for doubting him and this is making him the happiest he’s been in years. Grian seems to not be affected, walking towards Scar with a purpose. Scar is a little worried until Grian pulls him up into a kiss. Scene pans out to a cheering crowd and them in a snowy street.

Scarian Hallmark au

[mcytadventevent]

apologies for the delayed posting! we’ve been having some technical difficulties.

For the 23rd, @v1neyy created for the prompt “mistletoe.”

their piece is written, and features Impulse/skizz, with hermit cameos.

Credit links: ao3 || tumblr

the piece is under the cut.

Impulse knocks on the wooden door with one hand, caught in a balancing act with multiple wrapped gifts in the other. He nearly falls over when the door opens to reveal a pesky bird. 

“Impulse!”

“Hi G!” Impulse fixes his grip on the presents and steps inside the house, Grian giving him space. “Am I late?”

The shorter man shakes his head. “Nope. Everyone else is just early.”

He carefully slips his shoes off and follows Grian to the living room, his large red wing almost knocking his gift tower over twice. Quiet Christmas music plays behind lots of voices, all happy and filled with cheer. The room has one big tree in the corner decorated with homemade ornaments, below filled with wrapped boxes. 

“Impulse is here!” Grian announces, making everyone’s heads snap towards the two. It makes Impulse self conscious but he ignores the feeling in favor of getting his presents out of his arms. 

The hermits greet him as he passes by with smiles. It warms his heart to see everyone so happy. 

Kneeling down, he finally starts carefully setting his own gifts with the rest of them. Tango appears next to him and begins helping. Impulse turns to look at the blaze. “Where’s Skizz? Is he late?”

Tango raises an eyebrow. “He’s in the kitchen. Why?”

“Just wanted to know.” Impulse turns his focus back to sorting out his presents, pretending the blush on his cheeks is from the lighting. 

Rolling his eyes, Tango places the last gift and stands back up. “Mhm, sure.” 

He walks away before Impulse can defend himself. He just wants to know where his buddy is! That’s not a crime!

Despite Tango’s teasing, Impulse gets up and walks towards the kitchen. Unfortunately, he gets stopped along the way. “Impy!”

Gem appears in front of him, blocking the exit. “Hi! Merry Christmas!” She wraps her arms around him in a tight hug that the demon gladly reciprocates. He laughs at her antics. “This way! Pearl and I made soup you have to try!”

Impulse allows himself to be dragged to another room, pretending to be annoyed. He can survive a little longer without Skizz, and besides, he likes soup. 

“Impulse! C’mere, you’re gonna like this soup.” Pearl greets him with a spoonful of the liquid shoved in his face. He tastes it with no further complaints and makes a small noise of approval. 

Swallowing, Impulse smiles. “This is good! You two really made this?”

Both girls nod excitedly and give each other a high five. “Hell yeah we did!” Gem shouts, then is shushed by Pearl. 

He snorts at the two, tail swaying back and forth. “How long did it take to make this?” Impulse asks, attempting to take the spoon for another sip but gets whacked by Pearl. 

“Longer than it should have!” Gem says proudly. She also whacks Impulse, giggling. 

“Hey!” He glares at them, though there’s no actual heat behind it. 

Pearl taps him on the head with the spoon. “No more until it’s dinner time, mate!” She puts a lid over the container, successfully preventing anymore soup theft.

Impulse rolls his eyes playfully. “Fine. I’ve gotta go talk to Skizz anyway.”

Gem gives Pearl some kind of look with a hidden message that she seems to understand, Pearl then scurrying off without any warning. Impulse is about to ask what that was about when he’s interrupted. “How has your day been?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Uh… fine?”

“Good, good. That’s good.” Gem nods slowly. He’s very confused by the sudden change in demeanor but is interrupted yet again before he can ask. 

“Impulse!”

Turning around, he knows that voice before he even sees the speaker. A masked man with white hair stands in the doorway, holding what looks to be a small blue lightbulb; the kind that goes with Christmas lights. 

“Hi Etho,” Impulse waves, “What’s up buddy?”

The man awkwardly shuffles closer. “We broke the tree and need you to fix it.”

Impulse eyes him suspiciously. Etho’s good at redstone, why can’t he do it himself?

“Why can’t you do it yourself?”

Etho looks behind him where Gem is, who he can hear moving around behind him. “Uhh… stumped. We’re stumped, me and Zed, I mean.”

“Okay?” He doesn’t understand why two perfectly capable redstoners can’t fix a simple lightbulb, but who is he to judge? Maybe the stress of the holidays has been getting to them. “Lead the way.”

He follows the man down a hallway back to the living room, where Zed stands impatiently tapping his foot next to the tree. He looks relieved when he spots the two, smiling. “Finally! We don’t have all day, y’know!” The sheep hybrid points at the tree, “Fix it, Impulse!”

Impulse stands there, examining the string of lights. “Where exactly is it broken?” 

There doesn’t seem to be anywhere missing a functioning bulb, at least not to Impulse’s eye. Zed huffs and pushes down one of the branches, pointing to a spot where a bulb should be that instead only has a few small wires. “Right here!”

“How badly do you need this fixed? Nobody will notice. This isn’t even your house.”

“Very badly.” Zed says, Etho nodding alongside him. Impulse struggles to believe they’re being serious, but they don’t lighten up on it (pun intended) so he gets to work. 

Etho hands him the small blue bulb before running off to void knows where. Zed watches him work intensely, not taking his eyes off the demon for a second. It’s very easy to fix, Impulse doing so rather quickly. 

“You guys really were stumped on that?”

“Yes.” Zed leans in, inspecting his work. “Looks good to me!”

“No problem.” Impulse says, attempting a smile. “Have you seen Skizz? I haven’t gotten a chance to say hi to him yet.”

Zed’s face droops, eyes widening. “Uhh- nope! Not at all! Who’s Skizz?”

Impulse squints at the man, trying to figure out what’s going on. Zed waves an arm at someone behind him, Impulse turning around to see Scar. Scar looks just as confused as Impulse feels. 

“Scar! Didn’t you need help with something?” Zed asks. 

“No?” Scar leans on his cane, raising an eyebrow. 

“Y’know the… thing?” Zed’s voice is strained, like he’s trying to telepathically tell Scar something. Everything just keeps getting more confusing for Impulse. 

Scar takes a moment to think before he lights up with realization. “Why, yes, of course! How could I forget? Impulse, follow me.”

He looks back at Zed who lightly pushes him towards Scar with a sly smile; Impulse taking that as his cue to leave. He follows Scar down a different hallway, leading into a room covered in discarded wrapping paper and general Christmas mess. 

“You see, I’m trying to wrap this gift for Mumbo, but I just can’t get it!” Scar gestures to a cardboard box sitting on a table with his cane, “You’re good at this stuff!”

“I guess so?” Impulse steps up to the box. It seems normal, so he’s unsure why it would be giving Scar so much trouble, considering the man always goes all out with Christmas. Everything about this evening has just been more and more confusing to Impulse and he doesn’t like it. “What wrapping paper do you want me to use?”

Scar tosses him a roll of red wrapping paper with a multitude of cats as its pattern. 

“How’s the party been so far? I thought I got here on time, but everyone seems to have gotten here early.”

Impulse attempts to make small talk as he measures out how much of the paper he’ll need. He’s about to ask Scar for scissors to cut it but he is already holding out a hand with the tool. Impulse takes the scissors as Scar starts to speak. “It’s been very good! Lots of yummy food, lots of holiday cheer!”

Beginning to fold the wrapping paper, Impulse glances up at Scar. “That’s good. Oh yeah- Skizz helped with the food, didn’t he?”

“Uh- well yes, he did!” Scar’s voice suddenly comes out strained, “Yes, he’s a good cook for sure.”

Impulse is handed tape before he can even ask for it. “What’s up with Skizz, anyway?” He asks, “I can’t seem to get a hold of him tonight.”

“Nothing, nothing! You know Skizz, always talking to everyone, that rapscallion.” Scar chuckles nervously, waving his hand in Impulse’s peripheral vision. 

What is up with everyone today?

“…Sure.” Impulse tapes down the final piece, completing the job. He hands Scar the now wrapped box and sets the scissors in a drawer along with the tape. “You’re all set, buddy.”

Scar takes the gift with one hand, the other gripping his cane. “Now, I’m gonna go find Skizz.”

The man’s face drops, eyes growing wider than usual. He quickly shuffles over to block the exit, nearly tripping over his own feet. 

“Nope! Uh, Cleo- Cleo needs you. So just wait here while I get her! Gotta go bye!” Scar speeds off, leaving Impulse standing there dumbfounded. He didn’t even get a chance to ask why before Scar was gone. Why would Cleo need him?

He’s starting to get a little annoyed by all of this strange behavior. All he wants to do is talk to his buddy Skizz, is that too much to ask? 

Speaking of Skizz, Impulse notices a pattern; the hermits start acting odd whenever he mentions the angel or going to find him. Has this got something to do with him? Did something happen to him?

This is awful for his anxiety. 

Thoughts of everything that could be wrong speed through his mind. Is it all just a bunch of coincidences, or had Skizz decided he hates Impulse and doesn’t want to see him ever again, therefore recruiting the others to keep them separated? If once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern, what does that make four times?

Impulse takes a deep breath. Worrying will not give him an answer. 

Once Cleo gets here, he’ll ask them what’s been going on. She probably just needs help with some miniscule problem anyways. 

As if on cue, the zombie appears in the doorway. 

“Impulse! Hi!” Cleo’s voice is high pitched and excited as she throws herself at the demon for a hug that he happily returns. They pull away a few seconds after, Impulse speaking first. 

“What do you need?”

“I have a surprise for you.” She grins mischievously, the look in her eyes the same as when she’s scheming. 

Raising an eyebrow, Impulse eyes her. “What shenanigans have you been up to?”

They roll their eyes and pull a bandana out of their pocket. “Nothing. Now, put this on.” Cleo reaches up to start wrapping it around his eyes before Impulse has a chance to respond to that. He takes a step back, dodging them. 

“Um, why?”

She narrows her eyes. “It’s a surprise, you gotta put it on.”

Impulse sighs, relenting. This night has already been odd, what’s one more strange event? “Fine. If you… dunk water on me or something, I’ll ground you!”

He lets Cleo wrap the blindfold around his eyes, making his world dark. She links their elbows together and starts to lead him out of the room and down the hallway, making twists and turns that get Impulse completely disoriented. “You can’t ground me, you’re not my dad!”

“I’ll find a way.” Impulse mumbles under his breath, huffing and puffing. 

The zombie chuckles in reply. The two continue going to who knows where for a little longer before Cleo abruptly stops. 

“Alright, you stay here. And don’t take the blindfold off until I’m back!” They unlink arms, Cleo ignoring all protests and running away. Impulse stands there, contemplating taking off the bandana but deciding against it. 

A small draft flows through the room, making him shiver. 

Is the floor going to open up and drop him somewhere? Are the walls going to squish him into a pancake? Are they going to murder him?

He hears footsteps arriving from somewhere near, cutting his spiraling thoughts off. Cleo’s voice echoes towards him. “Can’t you walk like a normal person?”

“No! That would be lame. Do you think I’m lame, Clebert?”

That voice. 

The voice he’s been trying to get to all evening, the voice of an angel. Literally, an angel. Skizz.

Now that he knows who it is, he can make sense of the footsteps. The steps he assumes to be Skizz’s are the staggered ones, fumbling around like he’s going to tip over at any moment, which is likely. He can hear Cleo guiding the man over right in front of himself. “Yes, very.”

Skizz gasps, offended. “I’ll have you know I’m the least lame person here! Ow! Watch the wings!” Something bangs against the wall, which Impulse assumes is the wing Skizz is referring to. 

“I am. Skizz, you stand here.”

Impulse turns his head to where he guesses Cleo is. “Why are we here?”

“Impulse!” Skizz shouts excitedly, his smile evident in his words despite Impulse’s inability to see it himself. 

“Hi, buddy.”

“Where are you?” He hears the angel fumbling around, then a smack. 

“Hands to yourself!” Cleo speaks with annoyance clear in her tone. “Now, I’m leaving you two here. In thirty seconds you two will take off your blindfolds and look up, got it?”

Impulse nods. He’d guess that Skizz is probably giving the zombie a salut. “Yes ma’am!”

“Alright. Time starts now!”

Cleo’s footsteps fade away quickly, leaving only Impulse and Skizz. He’s tempted to take off the blindfold now, but Skizz stops him before he even gets the chance to. “Don’t you take that blindfold off yet! I know you’re thinking about it, Dippledop.”

“Whatever.” Impulse rolls his eyes with a huff. “Do you know why we’ve been dragged here against our wills?”

“Nope! Seems like we’ve both been kidnapped.”

“Dang it. Has everyone been acting strange to you too?” Impulse is pretty sure he’s facing Skizz. He has no idea which way he was looking when Cleo originally placed him here. 

Skizz shakes his wings out, Impulse able to tell from the wind they cause. “Yes! Man, I thought I was going crazy! I kept asking where you were but they just kept dodging the question or changing the subject.”

Impulse chuckles in solidarity. “Yeah, they kept making me fix problems that should’ve been simple for them to fix.”

“These guys are weird, man.”

“But you love ‘em!” Impulse reaches out and waves his arm around in an attempt to find Skizz. When he finally reaches the angel, he makes sure to give him a big punch. “Speaking of them, do you think it’s been thirty seconds?”

He can hear Skizz shrug with a hum. “I dunno, I haven’t been counting.”

“How about we take them off on the count of three?”

“On three or after three?”

“Uh… after?”

“Alright. One, two… three!”

Impulse carefully removes his own bandana, making sure to not damage it. Skizz, on the other hand, tears it off with no care for its well being. He winces at the angel's disregard but doesn’t bother stopping him. 

Blinking to adjust his eyes, Impulse takes a look at their surroundings. They’re in a dimly lit hallway with minimal Christmas decor scattered around, small white fairy lights lining the bottom of the walls on either side. The two are standing under a door frame that juts out slightly from the rest of the wall. 

Skizz smiles at him, filling Impulse’s chest with warmth. “Good to see you, buddy!”

“You too. Cleo said to look up, right?” Impulse laughs quietly. He notices Skizz’s wings have red and green lights strung around them, adding to the holiday feel. 

“Mhm!” Skizz nods. They both look up in sync.

A small cluster of green hangs just above them, right in the middle. A red ribbon is tied into a bow, holding the leaves together. 

Impulse’s heart immediately beats faster. 

Mistletoe.

Of course it’s mistletoe.

Why did he trust the hermits? All they do is meddle! 

Surely his small, miniscule, tiny crush wasn’t that noticeable. 

“Impulse?”

He looks back down, meeting Skizz’s eyes. He is absolutely done for. 

The angel has a curious look, filled with concern and love and everything that makes butterflies start a rebellion in his stomach. His wings twitch slightly, a nervous tick Impulse has noticed he does. He can feel his own tail start swaying back and forth quicker. 

“Y- yeah?” He squeaks out, sounding much less confident than he had hoped. 

Skizz looks him up and down, studying him. “We don’t- we don’t have to, if you don’t want.” 

Impulse takes a moment to contemplate. Of course he wants to kiss Skizz, for void’s sake. But does Skizz want to as well? What if Skizz is uncomfortable? What if he gets weirded out, or-

A warm hand rests on his shoulder, making the demon jump. 

“Stop thinking so much.”

“Sorry,” Impulse attempts to swallow his nerves, “Yes. I mean, if you also want to, because you don’t have to! I just-“

His nervous rambling is cut off by lips on his own. 

He freezes for a few seconds before relaxing. Skizz’s lips are chapped, but feel like heaven. His eyes close as Impulse allows himself to get lost in the moment. He fidgets for a moment, unsure what to do with his hands, but Skizz already has that covered. 

The hand that was on his shoulder slides up to cup his cheek, making Impulse shudder. Skizz’s other hand places itself lightly on his waist and draws him closer. 

Impulse wraps his arms around Skizz’s neck, lightly brushing the small feathers that reside there, making the man shiver. One good thing about kissing his best friend: he knows what Skizz likes. 

Skizz has always been a fan of physical touch, while Impulse not so much. Though any touch from Skizz never seems to bother him. He runs his hands through the feathers again, making the angel press into Impulse even further. Impulse smiles against Skizz’s lips, now chest to chest. 

His tail mindlessly curls itself around Skizz’s ankle, making sure he can’t get away. Although he doubts the man would try. 

The two part for a moment to catch their breaths, staring at each other through half lidded eyes. 

White encloses the two in their own world, red and green light bouncing off the feathers and decorating Skizz in a glow. It makes him look even more ethereal than he already does. 

He smiles, and Impulse smirks back. 

Skizz’s thumb rubs back and forth against his cheek, Impulse well aware he must be blushing bright pink at this point. He gets up on his toes to give the angel another kiss, this one much quicker but still filled with love and adoration. 

Sighing happily, Skizz rests his forehead against Impulse’s. They get lost in each other’s eyes, absorbed in a world of their own. 

They start to sway back and forth lightly. Impulse whispers, not wanting to break the atmosphere. “We’re getting them back for this, right?”

“Of course. They can’t get away with their shenanigans!” Skizz giggles, flicking one of his wings towards the hallway Cleo had disappeared in. One of the green bulbs nearly falls off, but Impulse catches it and nestles it back into the feathers. 

Impulse kisses the side of Skizz’s mouth quickly. “Oh, they won’t.”

The angel narrows his eyes playfully before dragging Impulse into yet another kiss. The demon doesn’t fight it. 

—

Peeking in from a window, multiple hermits gather. They watch what goes down, Gem taking a few pictures of the two in blindfolds for the future. 

“It’s cold out here!” Tango whines, shivering. 

“Then leave!” Pearl sighs, exasperated. “You’re a blaze, mate, you should be fine!”

Tango frowns. “I’m sensitive to the cold…”

Zed shushes them all. “Look! It’s happening!” He points at the window, all heads immediately whipping towards the scene. Skizz and Impulse are both looking up, finally spotting the mistletoe. 

“Do you guys think they’ll be mad we schemed against them?” Mumbo asks, wrapped in Grian’s wing with Scar enveloped by the other. 

Rolling their eyes, Cleo waves at them all. “We didn’t scheme! We helped! They’ll thank us for this.”

“Their pining was getting to wet cat levels.” 

Etho speaks up from behind them, making just about everyone in the group jump. 

“When did you get out here? You just gave me a heart attack!” Grian screeches, clutching his imaginary pearls. Etho only shrugs in reply. 

The bickering continues, only stopping when Gem shushes them all. Everyone cheers once the two idiots inside kiss, Grian gagging at the display of affection. Scar gives the bird a smack. “Look, our dads are in love!”

Gem takes another picture, sending it to the hermit group chat. 

Good thing Cleo pocketed their phones.