#but don’t excuse grian’s either???

[scribblesouturname]

“NO ONE KNOWS THEM BETTER THAN I DO!!!!” and then they babyify grian for all their yhs fan content?? screaming. crying. i have a rant of this that i WILL share the next time i come across someone making grian out to be the saint of yhs bc one of the MANY points of yhs is that all three of the main characters are supposed to be like,,, stupid teenage boys!! and overall BAD people!!! GRRR GROWL BARK!! stop DEMONIZING sam STOP IT!!! ppl who demonize sam rlly don’t understand mental illness lol.

[solargeist]

random watcher grian/scarian 3rd life thoughts I have that I can’t string together

-grian experiencing watcher instincts, but specifically just the possessive protective part, he falls for scar very hard (protect the shiny ! Bird brain bird brain)

-Grian needs glasses. The watchers don’t give him glasses so he uses their enchantments to see usually. However that’s not allowed in the life games, so he can’t see well, this is why he keeps messing up his traps. (I think scar catches onto this, and despite being scar’s bodyguard, scar leads grian around)

-despite falling in love with scar, grian will not tell him. They share a bed, only for warmth though-to survive the cold nights. They take baths together, but only to save water, grian has every excuse ready. He won’t let scar confess anything either, if the moment feels too romantic he’ll change the subject. They could actually have sex and he’d still find a way to excuse this

[theminecraftbee]

Jimmy notices Scott sitting near the edge of the Ace Race launch. They’re both on the practice server; it’s a good place to hang out. Gets away from the kinds of lives they live elsewhere, even if Jimmy figures the one he’s got right now is good enough. Scott’s here a lot, Jimmy’s found; it’s probably some combination of whatever the weird messenger thing he has going on with Noxite is and the number of other lives he’s lived. Jimmy bets it’s just quieter here than, like, he doesn’t know, he’s heard something about pirates?

Anyway, he’s always down to say hi to Scott. Also, Scott looks—strange. Diminished feels rude. Not preening like a peacock? No weird ethereal glow? It can’t be that the romance has worn off, it never really did, not all the way, Jimmy’s always seen him as sort of made of lace and marble and beautiful things from the beginning and even now that they’re like, friends friends, it’s just—

Jimmy plants himself in the grass. He can’t find a poppy, but he can find a dandelion. Close enough?

“Flower for your thoughts?” he says cheerfully.

Scott looks up. He laughs. “You can’t be doing that, Jimmy. We’ll get double-married. I already have too many husbands, you can’t be on there twice.”

“I think I can marry my flower husband as many times as I want,” Jimmy says.

“We barely even do a romance anymore.”

“Well, excuse you for not being a romantic.”

“Me? I’m not the romantic? Me?” Scott says incredulously.

“Well I don’t know how it would be me,” Jimmy says imperiously. He pauses, huffs, and sits down next to Scott. “I mean, we can do romance if you want. Hadn’t done that the last few lives because, you know, work better as friends right now, but I can totally wow you. I can, uh. Uh. Make… chocolate? No, I can’t do that, actually, don’t hold me to that—”

Jimmy pauses.

“Scott,” he says.

“No, keep going,” Scott says weakly.

“Have I done something wrong?” Jimmy asks.

“No, no, it’s just—sort of being a messenger god, I get a feel for things, and—it’s gonna happen again soon, Jimmy.”

“Oh, okay,” Jimmy says. They both know what they’re talking about. “I’m absolutely gonna win this time, just so you know.” He says it with all the false bravado of a person who’s mostly just hoping he doesn’t die first again. This time, this time, this time. He’ll do it by his own merits, though; he’s not sure what he would have done if Joel had actually gone through with the halting plan to die for him that he’d told Jimmy about last time. Probably crowed on happily about it, honestly, but with needles in his stomach the whole time.

Scott hasn’t responded yet.

“You don’t have to worry. You’re way too good at this. Constant finalist, now that you don’t have me weighing you down,” Jimmy tries.

“I shouldn’t talk about this with you,” Scott says.

“Rude,” Jimmy says. “We’re husbands at least twice over.”

“Yeah, but do you ever regret it? Don’t you—don’t you regret it?” Scott bursts out. “Don’t you ever wake up and—and you weren’t good enough to protect them and you’re not good enough to be loyal to and frankly you aren’t good enough to follow the rules either and, and so you’re just constantly winning. And you aren’t trying and you just think, if you’d just—if you’d just fucking slowed down, figured out how to protect—this is stupid. I’m proud of Martyn. Got him to win, at least. I can’t regret him winning. I wouldn’t have wanted anything else. I never have. Forget I said anything.”

Jimmy stares.

“I don’t regret it,” he says, and he’s surprised to realize he’s telling the truth.

“Not even for all the mocking?” Scott says.

“I mean. Wouldn’t have teamed with Grian and Joel if…”

“Oh,” Scott says. He stares out over the practice server. Jimmy cannot guess what’s going on in his head. No matter how many lives they’re friends, husbands, lovers both star-crossed and casual, enemies, and friends again in, Jimmy has to admit, Scott’s kind of a closed book. It’s one of the character flaws he has to make up for being perfect at everything else.

It’s part of what makes him Scott.

“I don’t regret it,” Jimmy says, almost more urgently.

“Oh,” Scott says again. “I do.”

Jimmy’s not sure what to say to that.

He’s never been good enough at winning much of anything to understand that kind of regret, is the thing. Blessing, curse, whatever else, he just…

“Sorry. I’ll be better tomorrow. Not normally the kind of person for this stuff,” Scott says. “It’s not that I’m not confident, it’s just…”

That, though. That, Jimmy can understand.

He scoots closer to Scott.

“Let’s race. I’ll totally beat you so badly. I was watching CPK do skips. And, I don’t know about you, but…”

“Yeah, you’ll hit those in your dreams,” Scott says. Neither of them move to stand up, though. They remain sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, watching other participants jump off the launch. It’s nice here. Quiet. A place apart from all the lives they live. Jimmy wonders if that’s why Scott’s here so much. Jimmy might have to show up too; that’s what increasingly old friends are for, he figures.

[wren-kitchens]

since there are awful people on this site, I am taking this time as an excuse to empty the silly au drabbles I have amassed over time onto here!

this one is also from the 'all hermits are hybrids and none of them know' au, but this time I inflicted my creeper brainrot onto the sillies

scar fiddles with the cuffs of his sleeves as grian watches him. his expression is oddly reassuring—not pressuring him into anything, waiting patiently for when he’s ready.

“it, um.” scar runs his hand over the fuzz on his left arm. “you’re not going to tell anyone else, right?”

“of course not.” grian says immediately. 

scar nods, and takes a breath. “I- um. i’m a creeper hybrid.”

grian’s eyes widen, and scar’s stomach drops. is that a good-surprise or a bad-surprise?? oh gosh, what if he’s just ruined everything and grian hates him now and they’re never gonna be friends again and-

“me too.”

scar stares back. he- “you what?”

grian rolls up his sleeves to reveal dark green fuzz, almost identical to scar’s. “i’m also a creeper hybrid.” 

“you- i’m sorry, you are also a creeper hybrid, saw this,” scar gestures to the fuzz on the side of his face. “and thought ‘oh yeah, scar is just a normal human’?”

“I- you said it was moss!” grian protests, visibly trying not to laugh. “how was I meant to know!”

“common sense!” scar exclaims, giggling. “jimmy knew immediately after he saw me, and there aren’t even any creepers here!”

“you wear a mask!” grian says.

“you can still see the fuzz!” scar says.

“right, I need to know how jimmy knew this, because you didn’t know I was a creeper either apparently.” grian decides, and grabs his arm.

scar blinks at the periwinkle polish on his nails, and gives him a questioning look. grian groans. “oli did it. apparently my hands were ‘too boring’ for the olipeligo.”

“I thought scott was the colour man?” scar says, letting grian lead him in completely the wrong direction. 

“yeah, he stole it from scott.” grian grins at him.

“g, you are going the wrong way.” scar says.

“oh- I don’t know where anything is in this place.” grian says, and scar pulls him gently in the opposite way.

grian promptly falls directly into scar, who can’t help grinning. 

“i’m getting my tail out.” grian decides. “everyone here is a hybrid anyway.”

scar smirks. “that’s what she said-“

“oh, scar!”

-

“of course I knew!” jimmy is laughing at them both. “how could I not know? it was so obvious!”

“we didn’t know!” grian protests.

“yeah, ‘cause you guys are idiots.” jimmy says. “you were terrified of lizzie when you saw her! no one is scared of lizzie except for creepers and competing scam artists.”

scar stares at him. “she’s a cat?!”

jimmy laughs even harder, and if it weren’t such a lovely sound, scar would feel slightly slandered. “next you’re gonna tell me you didn’t know ren is a dog.”

scar can see grian’s mouth drop open out of the corner of his eye. “he’s what?!”

jimmy’s smile fades slightly. “you- no, you’re kidding.”

scar just shakes his head, dumbfounded. “not kidding.”

“he- seriously?!” jimmy exclaims. “he has dog ears!”

“I thought they were fake!” scar’s tail lashes behind him, and apparently this is the first time jimmy has seen it, because he gasps.

“wait, you guys have tails?” he says excitedly.

“yeah!” scar says. “i’m incredibly off balance if i’m hiding it—that’s why I wear skirts!”

“for people who are terrified of cats, you sure look like them.” jimmy says. 

“we do also hiss when we’re scared or angry.” grian says thoughtfully. “huh. why are we scared of cats?”

“uncanny valley, maybe?” scar suggests.

grian snaps his fingers. “that might be it.”

[mochiwrites]

I desperately need to do something with this secret life au I have bouncing around in my brain. so! snippet/warm up time.

( it’d be really cool if I got any asks about it. and maybe some reblogs 👉👈 )

———————————

Grian’s wings flutter at his sides as he stands before the Secret Keeper. He feels his feathers ruffle with the wind as a breeze goes past, the wings at his head twitching. He’s oblivious to the world around him, eyes glued to the mossy rock formation in front of him. It’s a good thing it isn’t night, else Grian could be at risk of losing very precious hearts if a mob were to sneak up on him.

Though that isn’t something he has to worry about, not at the Secret Keeper statue.

He purses his lips, crossing his arms over his chest as his eyes practically burn holes into the statue. Or well, they probably would, if the statue were made from something flammable. He feels like he’s entered a staring contest with the Secret Keeper, a weird feeling for a lifeless statue.

Except this statue doesn’t feel very lifeless. It’s been making Grian a bit uneasy since the game began, leaving him to wonder if They did something to it.

There’s certainly something odd about the statue, Grian knows this for sure. He’s felt drawn to it since the game began, like it’s been calling to him. Whispering at him. He isn’t exactly the Listening type, it’s all lost on him. His Eyes don’t do him much either, unfortunately.

“What is it about you?” he muses, speaking to a statue that cannot speak back. He stares at its face, the wide eyes and curved mouth that seems frozen in a smirk. The hood looks like it’s been intricately cut out in the stone, like someone had been an agonizingly long time into making sure it was perfect.

This isn’t the first time Grian has done this, just stared up at the Secret Keeper. He can’t help it. The statue feels so familiar, like Grian has seen it somewhere before. No… maybe it’s more than that.

It’s like Grian knows this statue, the Secret Keeper. There’s this nagging feeling in the back of his mind, tugging on some part of him that he doesn’t have access to. It tugs on his soul, his very being and essence, and like being led by string, Grian finds himself back here every time.

He doesn’t understand.

Grian takes a step forward, and the hair on the back of his neck stands on end. The wings of his feathers fluff up. “Who are you to me?” he questions, desperate for some kind of answer. “Why do I feel like I know you?” It’s pointless, he knows. A statue isn’t going to suddenly start speaking to him. It’s inanimate. Stone. It will not answer. Yet Grian stubbornly asks his questions anyway.

He stares up at the statue, frustration dipping his brow as his lips tilt low.

“Whatcha doing?”

A startled squawk sounds from Grian as he turns around on his heel, brown eyes meeting blue. He finds the amused face of Martyn, forcing the avian to let out a breath.

“Martyn,” he sighs, “You can’t do that, man!”

Martyn immediately breaks into laughter, very clearly finding enjoyment from Grian’s reaction. “Sorry, sorry! You make it too easy dude. You’re even easier to sneak up on than Timmy is.”

Grian looks at him as if offended by the comment, “I’ll have you know that Tim is very easy to startle. You just sneak up on me when I’m deep in thought!”

“Too busy ogling the Secret Keeper to notice me sneakin’ up, huh?” Martyn retorts, lips curling into a slight smirk.

“I wasn’t ogling it!” Grian’s wings fan out, flapping slightly in agitation. “I was studying it!”

Martyn hums, not buying Grian’s excuse but not bothering to call him out on it. “And what were you ‘studying’ this time, Grian?”

He pauses now, steam being pushed out of him at Martyn’s question. His wings drop along with his shoulders as he lets out a quiet breath, turning his attention back to the statue. He doesn’t answer immediately, staring at it with a confused expression. “This might sound crazy but… does the Secret Keeper feel… familiar at all?” he slowly asks as he looks back to Martyn.

The man stares at him, looking absolutely lost, if a bit concerned. “You feeling alright dude? Or is this your task or something?”

“I’m perfectly fine, and no it’s not my task.” Grian frowns. “Can you just answer the question?” Thinly veiled patience is laced in his voice, something Martyn can pick out easily after having known Grian for so long.

“Alright, alright,” he sighs, directing his attention to the statue in front of them. He hums, narrowing his gaze slightly. “Nothin’ familiar about it I’m afraid. Creepy smile though.”

“Creepy?” Grian parrots, joining Martyn in looking at the statue. He frowns faintly, “I don’t know… I think it’s kinda nice. Cheeky. A bit silly, y’know? The smile of someone mischievous.”

Martyn turns to look back at Grian, eyes shining with soft concern, “Look, Grian, unless your task is to spend hours ogling this thing, you might wanna get a move on. We’re in a death game, remember?” His stare turns a little colder, harsher. “We’re not gonna be all buddy buddy for very long.”

Grian knows he’s right. There’s no point in wasting time trying to figure out a brain puzzle with no clues. He’s not focusing on what’s important (isn’t the important thing that missing piece? The fracture somewhere?) and it could cost him greatly. Except his eyes trail back to the Secret Keeper’s gray ones (he wonders what they’d look like if they were green), staring at them. It’s like those eyes stare right back at him.

He frowns before sighing. “Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s just hard not to be curious,” he weakly argues, shrugging. “I feel like I know him from someplace, except I don’t know where.”

Martyn is quiet for a moment, eyes faraway. “…I guess I get that,” he relents, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Have fun with your stone Romeo. I’m gonna hit the road and get back to completing my task.”

Grian makes a spluttering sound at that, “S-Stone Romeo?! It’s nothing like that!”

( Above them, the Secret Keeper watches on in sadness. This feels like some kind of punishment. It’s agony, torture. It’s worse than hiding away in his valley all alone, wishing for friends. He wants to reach out. ‘I’m right here!’ He wishes to scream.

He Watches as Grian spares him one last glance, hesitation in his expression. He turns on his heel and walks away.

Scar wishes he could call for him.)

[funkyplantguy]

Saw u doing asks and realized I was late and then thought “hey why don’t i ask anyways bcs you can use this as an excuse to write whenever u want”

Soo here I am ‘:D

I LOVED After Midnight, actually read it a couple times now, and saww that you’ve been wanting to write more of it, and I rlly would love to hear about either how Scar and Grians first actual date goes or future relationship.. Literally anything u write I will read :3

Also the background/cub and mumbo burst in was incredible and i keep thinking about one liners from it that had me dead 😭✨

Also also I’ve been thinking of drawing a scene from when they were at the party, or just Grians outfit, bcs idk what it was but I keep picturing him with mushroom vibes like this- 🍄 What kinda outfit did you have in mind tho im curious??

OMG MAGGYYYYY IN MY ASKS ?!???!??? HELLO HELLO HELLO BELOVED HELLO !!!

WAAUUUUGH thank you!!! after midnight is something that i absolutely did not intend to be anything more than a one-off smut for scarian smooch fest, but something which has (happily) become more! i'm planning at least two more one-shots in the same universe (a first date fic for scar and grian, of course, as well as a first time fic for cub and mumbo), and then...who knows! maybe i'll have them go on a road trip, or something silly like that. it's kind of nice to just have a "basic" au (since almost midnight is just. a college au, essentially) with which to just have a good ol' silly goofy time with between my other projects/zines/events! and i'm so honored and flattered that people have enjoyed it in the way that they have <3

HAHAHAHA YEAH - i absolutely adore writing dialogue; i was giggling the entire time writing that scene to be so honest with you. i also adore cub and mumbo. cumbo <3

WAUUUUGHHH?? MAGGY ART???? MAGGY FANART???? i weep and sob and cry. you are SO correct with the mushroom vibes - i pictured him in a maroon corset top (something strapless) and a short, tight black skirt. maybe some thigh-high boots, too? honestly, go wild - you've Got The Vibe, our brain cells are connected and i will GREATLY cherish any art you may or may not make for this silly little au <3

[errorryx]

unraveling — part one, season eight

read on ao3 | hermitcraft, 2.2k words

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

Grian shrugs. “Maybe.”

“You don’t know?”

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

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

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

Mumbo rolls his eyes. “Before today.”

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

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

“Oh! Why didn’t you just say so?”

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

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

“You never asked her?”

“I thought it would be rude.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I still like them!”

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

“Not with that attitude I can’t.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Why wouldn’t I?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pearl laughs. “Story of my life.”

—

Next part >

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

[slashmagpie]

“Okay, but seriously,” Grian says, long after the session’s over, when the long night falls and the three of them are camping out in Bdubs’ bedroom because it’s the only bedroom they’ve got. (Other than the shrine, of course, but that’s outside, with the dark and the mobs, and it’d been trapped earlier, so. Probably best not to sleep there, really.) “What is it with you two and Bdubs?”

Cleo and Etho glance at each other. “What do you mean?” Etho asks, trying for light-heartedness and not quite sticking the landing. It’s not his fault his heart is doing something weird in his chest. 

“You know, the whole, complimenting Bdubs thing?”

“I thought it was Etho’s task.”

“I was pretending it was my task so the yellows wouldn’t call me out.”

“Huh. Smart.”

“Thank you, Cleo! See, I can be smart sometimes.”

“Sure. Sometimes.”

“No, but—” Grian breaks off, seeming to struggle with his words. “You built him a bedroom. You didn’t build me a bedroom. You didn’t even build you guys a bedroom! I guess I’m just—I’m a little confused—”

“Well, that’s just Bdubs,” Cleo says with a wave of her hand. 

“But what does that mean,” says Grian, distressed.

“It’s just—it’s—you know! It’s Bdubs!” Cleo also sounds kind of distressed, now. “He’s—you know—he’s got that weird thing with Etho.”

“Hey, don’t put this on me!” Etho cries, and now he’s distressed, too. That’s the problem with the three of them, he thinks: they’re all easily distressed. And that’s a bad thing to be, in a game like this. “You guys have a weird thing too!”

“We do not!”

“You do! He doesn’t call me Mom, you know.”

“That was—that was last season. It’s a different universe. It’s fine.”

“Uh-huh. And Third Life…?”

“You—! Well, what about Last Life, huh? What about that, Etho?”

“Hey now, that’s unfair!”

“Mhm! Maybe you’re being unfair, right now! Maybe I should get to be unfair back!”

“I have no idea what’s going on,” Grian says. 

The two of them go silent. They’re not looking at each other anymore. Suddenly, Etho is grateful for his mask. He has such a terrible poker face, is the thing. If he didn’t have the mask—

“Bdubs is like a baby duck,” Cleo says.

Etho frowns. “Excuse me?”

“He’s like a baby duck,” Cleo repeats, “and he just latches onto you and starts following you around.”

“Imprints,” Etho offers.

“Yes. That. And then it’s like… well what am I gonna do? Leave the baby duck alone? To die in the cold? I may be cruel, but I’m not that cruel.”

She nods, like this explanation makes sense. It makes plenty of sense to Etho. He nods in agreement.

“He’s a grown man,” Grian says, despair in his voice.

“You just don’t get it, Grian,” Etho says. 

“No, I don’t!” Grian agrees. “At this point, I’m not even sure I want to get it! I don’t have to go along with the bit anymore. I don’t have to be part of—whatever this is.”

“You don’t want to be part of our alliance anymore, Grian?” Cleo asks, something sharp in her voice. 

“No, no, I didn’t say that!” Grian holds his hands up in surrender. “I want to be part of the alliance! I just—don’t want to be part of whatever’s going on with Bdubs.”

“Oh, well that’s fine,” Cleo says, relaxing back against the wall. “You don’t have to be.”

“Right,” Grian says, sounding doubtful, unsure. “And what Etho said, about the, uh…” He mumbles the word foursome so quietly it’s almost inaudible. Etho’s got good ears, though.

So does Cleo, apparently, who promptly kicks Etho in the ribs.

“Ow!”

“That’s not a thing,” Cleo says. “Very much not a thing. Ignore Etho, he’s—he—he sucks.”

“Mean to me,” Etho says, but he’s grinning beneath the mask.

“No, no, we’re besties. I’d never be mean to you.” 

“Except for when you are.”

“Except for when I am, sure. But you deserve that.”

“I don’t understand you two,” Grian says with a slow shake of his head. “I don’t understand you guys at all.”

“Aww, Grian, you’ll get used to it,” Etho says.

“I don’t understand you either, so we’re even,” says Cleo, and Grian barks out a laugh.

[cassberry]

(Some links if you want to watch 3rd Life or Last Life first! EDIT: And here is Limited Life! )

Welcome one and all to the life series soulmate AU season! I seem to have got into the habit of making a new one of these whenever the new season is literally just around the corner. And I use them as an excuse each time to re-watch the life series and to ramble about it lmao

Now thankfully the core mechanic this season of soulmates made collating this guide 1000% easier then 3rd or Last Life. With a few exceptions, soulmates tended to stay side-by-side the whole session. Now don't get me wrong although some perspectives can be interchangeable, they are all a great watch! I have just put the POV I believe to show more of whats happening on the server or an incredibly important moment.

WARNING: Once again an incredibly long read more where I expound at length why I chose these specific POV's lol enjoy!

SESSION ONE

Grian - I'm keeping with tradition and recommending Grian first because in all honesty his first episode is a fantastic watch. Between the reveal of who his soulmate is and various shenanigans, this episode was so much fun.

Cleo or Scott - Cleo and Scott probably see most of the server trying to find their soulmates so either of these POV's are fantastic.

Pearl - Pearl bounces between groups for quite a bit of this session, so she's great to get a good look at multiple dynamics. However, its the last 5 or so minutes of her episode that really set in motion some of the leading conflicts of the season that you don't want to miss.

Etho - Just a fun episode honestly! His soulmate reveal with Joel is so freaking funny and I called it my 3rd Life post that when Etho and Joel team up, they just become little gremlins lmao I think they spend half the episode giggling.

SESSION TWO

Impulse - The Real Housewives of the Mid-Century Modern Home is a totally true and totally real show that happened during Impulse and Bdubs episodes this week. They are happily married and will prove that fact by breaking up every other couple on the server.

Scar - With a combination of swindling and major arson, Scar really does do it all this session.

Scott - The interpersonal drama this season is amazing and Scott being right in the middle of it makes this POV a great watch.

Tango - Absolutely not related to another POV this session, but making the Ranch out of wood was probably not a good idea in the long run.

SESSION THREE

Big B - The drama between Big B and Ren this session is so juicy. Between secret soulmates, Scott testing their relationship and [SPOILERS] becoming the first reds on the server, I don't know how they survived as long as they did.

Jimmy - Along with his soulmate, Jimmy and Tango welcome a beautiful baby boy into the world this week and probably cause the most chaos I've ever seen in the life series.

Martyn - Man, he is really bad at maths.

Pearl - Being the lone wolf (heh) of the season, her POV is great to get an outside view on events.

SESSION FOUR

Joel - I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard at the beginning of an episode before. Also fishing rods are to OP, mojang needs to nerf them before they claim even more lives lol 

Cleo - So much happens this episode, its ridiculous. But Cleo has a good blend of chaos and calm.

Ren - The most elaborate plot to kill others never seems to be as good as just a weapon in the end. 

Martyn - As Martyn is inviting everyone to a pool party, he probably sees most of the server, so he is great perspective to see what everyone is up to.

BONUS: watch Scar’s POV around 26:10 for the ultimate badass moment.

SESSION FIVE

Scar - Scar goes through it this week. I really can’t say much more without major spoilers but oh boy, this is an exciting POV.

Etho - The boat boys have wayyyy to much fun being red this session.

Jimmy - At this point I think there is someone out there has a personal grudge against him lol also if you want to see a fandom go nuts over a Ferris Bueller quote, watch the end of Tango's video.

Big B - Just a good solid episode and the ending is actually tragic.

SESSION SIX

Pearl - The most essential POV of the season. Heartbreak! Betrayal! Just general badassery! It's all here and its all amazing!

Bdubs - Gives a good overview of the Red Alliance and the chaos that happens when a group of people have nothing left to do but hunt others down.

Cleo - Watching her and Martyn try and outrun the reds is so incredibly stressful. Watching her turn red is so incredibly satisfying.

Grian - After he kicks the bucket due to... reasons, he sticks around in ghost form for a bit. Also his credits honestly makes me a little emotional.

In Summary...

And that's it! This season was incredibly short due to the shared life mechanic, however it was no less amazing than the others. Can I just say the fan content that came out of this season has just blown me away. It's just all so damn good.

Also I had someone ask why I do it this way rather than just recommending specific POV's to watch all the way through. It's really because I believe the best way to watch a Life season is to binge all the POV's of one session at once, completely break down over the sheer amount of content and then move onto the next week lmao just like as if it was live!

But really, there is something magical about watching multiple perspectives of the same event one after another that just gives the life series its charm. You see everything there is to see and then your anticipation for the next session is super high which just makes the experience so much more exciting. Anyway I hope this helps you on your Double Life adventure!

[radio-tiger]

this week’s episode supports my theory that the bad boys are like. the safest team to be on w regards to the boogeyman. like joel and grian are the two most insane bloodthirsty people on the server, which means they’re the least likely to kill each other — they both want to take time over kills and they both know it’s more fun to kill with someone else (source: all of last life) and even if they joke abt targeting each other it’s pretty clear they’d rather both have an excuse to play the boogeyman

and jimmy would have to be suicidal to attack either of them when both grian and joel would immediately respond with murder no questions asked

and that being said I don’t think either joel or grian would target jimmy. I think it would feel like killing the pathetic wet cat that’s been following you around

[cloudwhisper23]

Another prompt underway! This is yet again for @grow-bettah's Grumbo Month event! I hope y'all enjoy!

Day 16: Vampire

Mumbo didn’t like to keep secrets from his friends. Honest! He didn’t like it one bit, not when it meant he kept having to make excuses for why he couldn’t join Grian’s silly fish diet, or Scar’s completely vegetarian diet. His friends gave him odd looks when he declined, and Mumbo knew he could only pretend nothing was wrong for so long.

Being cursed to be a vampire wasn’t very great on a multiplayer server, regardless of how supportive your friends would pretend to be. Their reaction went deep enough that Mumbo could sense it now.

Still, Mumbo supposed he couldn’t complain too much. Iskall had figured it out quite quickly and immediately set about figuring out how to help him sort out his difficulties, encouraging an End bust expedition so no one would question the newfound strength of Mumbo’s wings amongst other treatments to prevent the sun from actually doing any damage.

The End bust certainly helped. Iskall was still busy with other projects, but the fact that he’d been willing to help Mumbo out with this was much appreciated, as was his ability to keep the matter a secret. Mumbo was also in possession of the item frame permit, something that justified the number of cows he’d been killing.

The blood wasn’t very fresh, but again, it was better than starving. The texture of the raw beef in his mouth wasn’t ideal either, but Ren had managed to do it for years by this point, so Mumbo really couldn’t complain. Or well, he could, but he wasn’t going to complain verbally. Certainly not around the other members of Magic Mountain.

Good days ended with blisters and bloody fingertips as Mumbo built up more of the mountain near his base. Bad days were spent curled up in his death chamber having delirious conversations with his llama.

Mumbo quickly found himself getting sick of the constant fluctuation between good and bad days and decided it was time to go out and converse with the other hermits again. Socializing was a good thing, he told himself, clasping the modified elytra onto his shoulders.

Maybe it was time to pay Grian a visit? If he was home, that was. Last Mumbo heard, he’d been dragged away from the dock to help with permit problems.

It would be good to pay Grian a visit, Mumbo decided. If only to distract him from his difficulties at the permit office. With a sigh, Mumbo stretched his wings before jumping from the hill toward Grian’s base. Please be home.

Grian was in fact home when Mumbo landed on the stained surface of the dock. His wings were pulled tight to his body, hardly moving as he went through barrel after barrel in search of something. Curious, Mumbo stood still, observing the increasingly panicked sounds in Grian’s breathing. What had his friend lost?

“You alright there, mate?” Mumbo finally said.

Grian’s wings didn’t so much as bristle, but Mumbo still smelled the frightened scent from Grian’s body. “Uh, yeah. Hey, Mumbo.”

“What are you looking for?” Mumbo asked, relieved that the fear seemed to vanish as soon as Grian registered who was there.

“Oh, nothing important. Just something for a project.” Grian’s wings gave nothing away, once again.

That struck Mumbo as odd, considering how he could tell Grian was still obviously in distress about whatever was missing. “Right…” Perhaps Mumbo wasn’t the only one hiding something?

“So, what brings you over here? Not planning on fishing, I assume.” Grian settled down on one of the piles of barrels.

“Just a social call,” Mumbo answered. “Your base is looking fantastic, by the way. I love the… bird house?”

Grian’s mouth twitched. “Don’t go there.”

“Right.” Mumbo cleared his throat. “So uh. How have you been?”

“Great. Well, as good as I can be with this stupid fishing curse.” Grian gestured vaguely. “It’s been great, figuring out the restrictions and the grudge the ocean holds.”

“Pardon, fishing curse?”

Grian sighed. “I haven’t been doing this as a bit, Mumbo. I have to keep fishing. I have to eat exclusively fish. And if I go into water…” He jumped down, pulled his boots off his feet and sat down on the dock, dipping his feet into the water. “Well, this happens.”

Mumbo’s eyes widened as webs grew between Grian’s toes and scales shimmered on his ankles. “Yeah, that’s… Wow…”

“Mhm.” Grian sounded less than pleased. “It’s manageable, I guess. But still, it’s pretty annoying.”

Mumbo nodded silently. Should he tell Grian about his own curse? It wasn’t the same sort of burden, but maybe there would be some kind of solidarity in knowing that he wasn’t alone in his suffering. Maybe? Or would Grian take it as one-upping him?

Mumbo stood quietly as Grian dried himself off. The faintest frown flickered across Grian’s face, but it was gone before Mumbo came out of his thoughts.

“Well, if that’s all…” Grian trailed off, looking at Mumbo again before going back to his barrel search.

“I, erm.” Mumbo coughed. “It’s unfortunate that the ocean cursed you.”

“Yeah.”

“If, um. If it helps, you’re not the only one.”

Grian paused. “Are you implying that Gem has a curse too? Because honestly, I think she’s more blessed by the ocean than cursed by it.”

“Well, a blessing and a curse are practically the same thing depending on how you look at it. But,” Mumbo added hastily at Grian’s scowl, “that wasn’t what I was talking about.”

“What were you talking about then?” Grian resumed opening barrels.

“The… the moon cursed me.”

Mumbo didn’t know what he was expecting. But he finally got a wing twitch out of Grian, even if it was only one on the side of his head. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I’m… a vampire. Yep, I’m a vampire this season.” Mumbo nodded, chewing his lip.

“You-“ Grian turned around. “You have to be joking. I thought you were just a bat hybrid this whole time!”

“I was.” Mumbo scratched his neck anxiously. Claws dug into his skin, and he stopped. “Look, mate. It’s like your whole… fish thing. Sort of. Mine just built on what was already there while yours added something completely new.”

“This is why you refuse to eat my catches,” Grian said, half to himself. “So you have to drink blood? Wait, you’re in the sun. How does that-“

“Iskall’s been helping me out some.” Mumbo unclipped his elytra and stretched his wings, the aches well worth the expression on Grian’s face. “We went End busting so no one would question my ability to fly.”

“Yeah, that would… and the sun too, I’m assuming?” Grian was still staring, like he was memorizing every detail of Mumbo’s wings.

“Yep. And as for the blood, I do have to drink it, but it doesn’t have to be hermit blood.” Mumbo nodded to himself with that one.

“So this whole time…” Grian shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. “Mumbo, is that why you’ve looked so sickly?”

“Pardon?” Mumbo blinked. He wasn’t anticipating this reaction, although it wasn’t an unwelcome one. Grian wasn’t afraid in the slightest, instead concerned about his wellbeing.

“Mumbo K. Jumbo,” Grian said sternly. “Have you been drinking stale blood?”

“Erm… maybe?”

Grian’s wings twitched. “Why?”

“Because it’s what I have available? I don’t have my cow farm set up yet, so I just-“

“Cow’s blood.” Grian shook his head again. “Mumbo. Did the thought never cross your mind to ask me for help?”

“It did,” Mumbo replied honestly. “But you seemed so busy, and well-“

“I’m never too busy for you.”

Mumbo’s mouth opened, but he couldn’t find any words to say. Grian smiled sadly. “Mumbo, if you need blood, ever, you can ask me for some. I don’t mind.”

“I couldn’t possibly-“

“You could.” Grian crossed his arms. “Remember when you ate my soul to become more human again?”

“That’s different-“

“That’s worse! And I was only opposed to it because I had levels! You aren’t going to drink me dry. I know you.” Grian’s mouth set in a determined line. “Actually, you probably need some right now, don’t you? You’re so pale you’re nearly translucent, Mumbo.”

Mumbo could feel his fangs pressing into his lower lip, but he still protested. “It’s not the worst thing in the world, Grian-“

“You need to drink blood that’s actually good for you.” Grian persisted.

“Fine. Just this once.”

“I won’t hold you to that,” Grian answered softly, stepping forward to offer his wrist to Mumbo.

Mumbo frowned, but he said nothing more before sinking his teeth into Grian’s arm.

It was far sweeter than it should have been.

And Mumbo hated that he didn’t regret it.

[the-somwthing]

I gotta talk to people so bad so I’m just gonna spout something that’s been on my mind for a while

I see a lot of people always describing Joel and Scott’s rivalry as one sided. Like, Joel just hates Scott and Scott doesn’t care? And while I feel like that statement is technically true, it doesn’t really describe the situation very well.

It sort of implies that Scott’s never out to get Joel, and Joel is just coming after Scott for no reason. I won’t deny that Joel does like to come after Scott without provocation sometimes, but like… we are ignoring the fact that 3/5 Joel final deaths have been at Scott’s hand?

In two seasons, those kills were a result of a deliberate hunt to get rid of Joel specifically. In Last Life, I’ll give him a bit of a pass, since Joel did kind of start the fight with a big explosion and had been the “villain” for the entire season, it makes enough sense to try to end him like that.

But in LIMITED LIFE?? As a Joel viewer I am NEVER getting over the feeling of watching his final episode (not negative, just baffling in a way I find pretty fun lol). Scott randomly says “Joel needs to die” and everyone just agrees I guess? And then Joel is being witch hunted. “Oh but it’s because he was getting so many kills! Duh!” Grian had more. Grian LITERALLY got a quad kill (ON SCOTT FOR THAT MATTER) and Scott’s like “JOEL is the problem, the murderous evil of the server”. LIKE HELLO?? They’re literally allies, Scott could’ve said “we need to get rid of the bad boys” but he was COOL with Grian. He was letting Grian LIVE. Like HELLO??? WHAT DID JOEL DO FR 😭 Joel was literally just trying to survive btw, his fighting back was very defensive rather than offensive, and would back off when not being actively attacked. With the exception of trying to get kills cuz he was on less than ten minutes, of course. But Scott had been hunting him before then.

And then I guess I have to mention Secret Life’s Scott-Killing-Joel. I don’t think that final kill was especially targeted on either of their sides, the battle just turned out that way. I could rewatch to see if there’s more to it but for now this is how I see it.

Okay, I’m turning this into a full analysis of their rivalry, idc, I’m literally obsessed with their dynamic. I’m adding a cut here.

ALRIGHT WHERE WAS I. RIGHT. Finished explaining the final deaths, but there’s stuff before that! Let’s take a look at their rivalry 🥰

Let’s go in order, shall we? 3rd Life!! I am obsessed with them in this season ahahahhaga anyways. Joel comes after Scott unprovoked. Simple, this is how everyone sees their rivalry. HOWEVER. Joel is FULLY WILLING to work with him anyways. Maybe you could excuse the dark oak thing as it was early on and they were just trying to take down a monopoly. But in the finale they reconcile and spend much of the session together. They established early on that Joel had been trying to kill Scott, but they’re both perfectly happy to team up instead (which btw they did because they both happened to be allied with Scar).

Then Last Life. Joel does hate Scott in it, but I’m not sure I would say it’s without reason. Joel being boogey in ep2 was majorly important, and he killed Scott. But that wasn’t targeted. He had attempted multiple times to kill other people. Scott was one of the only (and closest) people who didn’t already know he was boogeyman. Then of course Scott tells Pearl they can fight back and has her kill Joel, sending him to red. Perfectly reasonable for all parties imo, and a good enough reason for Joel to target Scott seeing as being red early on had a huge impact on him.

Of course LL is also where Joel says Scott just looked at him funny one day and that’s why he hates him, which is a great line. I do believe he would bother Scott just for the rivalry, but unlike in 3rd Life, Scott had done things to make Joel never consider stopping.

Then Double Life. Erm. Literally nothing, except that I believe the only reason Scott and Pearl were the last pair is because Joel wasn’t there to kill them, since apparently he’s the only one who can make them lose lives. Wild. They were guaranteed to win ever since the lava portal trap. (obviously I’m joking but like how is he the only outside force to kill that pair). I will clarify for analysis sake that Joel’s first kill on them had nothing to do with Scott, and the second kill was to Scott but it was because of the life colors, not really anything about their rivalry. It was technically targeted at Scott specifically but not cuz he hated him, instead because Pearl had a weird “alliance” with the reds.

Then Limited Life!!! What the heeelll was happening lmao. I already talked about the final moment so before that. Erm. I’m blanking out I’m listening to bad romance it’s distracting me. You know what let’s move on I can’t remember what they did, the final death I explained previously is enough data for now.

Secret Life. Oh boy. I’ll say it again, I was secretly hoping for more Scott/Joel dynamic when it started but I doubted it would happen but we got FED!!! I was so excited when I saw the assassin task (as was Joel). Anyways. Throughout the season Joel was doing the whole hating Scott thing, Scott caught onto the bit and played into it somewhat by talking more about how Joel always hates him for no reason. We SHOULD be able to disregard Joel targeting Scott for the assassin task as it was a task, but to be fair after reading it Joel said “oh my gosh is this my dream?” He was super happy to be assigned to assassinate Scott LMAO. That has to count for something.

I feel like the rivalry was fairly obvious, so I need to point out the outlier moments in SL. While Joel goes on about how Scott should die, he happily trades with him and swapped gifted hearts with zero hesitation. In the final session, he and Scott ended up on the same side. I believe Joel may have been slightly annoyed at being on a team with him but accepts it nonetheless. The only reason Scott ends up killing Joel is because their team won, so they had to turn on each other. As previously stated it wasn’t especially targeted, it was a 2v2.

And then if you noticed from me saying 3/5 games, I’m not counting Real Life, but I’ll bring it up here. Scott literally says “since it’s real life we can be friends now since we’re friends in real life” (one of the many reasons I consider RL noncanon tbh, Scott literally mentions in-universe that this season is different so they can act differently, also what is the in-universe explanation for “friends in real life”). Aside from a reminder that Joel doesn’t actually hate Scott irl and this is just fun game rp stuff, this shows that Scott really did catch onto the rivalry bit, and really does just bring it up more. Joel had just arrived when Scott brought it up. Joel agrees to being friends in Real Life. This holds little relevance to my analysis since I don’t view RL as canon but you can keep it in mind.

Now that I’ve laid out their rivalry in a simplified summary, let me ACTUALLY analyze it! What did I mean all the way back at the start of the post when I said “Scott and Joel’s rivalry being one sided is somewhat accurate but I feel it misrepresents their relationship”?

Well, I believe it’s true that (at least up until Secret Life), Scott didn’t care about the rivalry while Joel did. But that doesn’t mean Scott never targeted Joel, as I said he’s witch-hunted him twice. It’s just it was never personal to Scott. I once saw a post(s) I really enjoyed, an analysis on Scott. Saying that he doesn’t actually value being loyal, he values being fair. Then there was the addition that it’s based on what he thinks is fair. I feel like this is 100% true for his thing with Joel. Scott views Joel as a force that has to be stopped, he’s gone too far, he needs to be stopped, it’s only fair for all the suffering he’s caused. He doesn’t stop to think about how killing is the whole point of this game, how other people are doing the same things, how many times he has killed Joel. Joel hasn’t killed Scott permanently before, he has killed him though, but not as much as Scott has killed Joel. To Scott, that doesn’t matter, Scott kills Joel for a reason, for justice, while Joel kills just for the sake of it. Whether or not that idea is true is up to you to interpret for yourself, but to Scott it’s true. Joel is more of a wildfire that needs to be put out than a rival.

Let’s look at Joel’s side of things. He does hate Scott and target him for no reason. The rivalry is one sided, where Joel sees a rival Scott sees some random danger that needs to be dealt with. I can’t tell you why Joel hates Scott. It’s not really the point of my analysis. I’ve seen ppl say it’s because of previous series they’ve had together (they’ve been rivals for ages!) but for my headcanons they don’t remember those, tho very few feelings from their past lives may linger, so perhaps that does explain it. For the sake of my analysis though we won’t be looking deep into why Joel likes to poke at Scott. It’s cuz he looked at him funny one day remember?

So we establish that Joel needlessly attacks Scott. But if you’ll notice from my summaries, he is fully willing to put aside that hatred. It’s conditional (yes it is the default, but still). If Scott treats Joel kindly, Joel will attempt to reciprocate it. Let’s look at this again:

3L: Joel targets Scott, Scott kind of just gives him a disapproving look every time and doesn’t fight back. Joel ends up feeling somewhat guilty, and in the end has no problems teaming up with Scott.

LL: Scott was the main cause of Joel turning red, Joel targets him constantly. Scott ends up permanently killing Joel to put an end to his madness.

DL: erm. Well it’s worth mentioning Joel never specifically targeted Scott for no reason. ALSO WORTH MENTIONING SCOTT BURNED THE RELATION??? This season was a bit of a switch-up. I need to rewatch to see if Scott had any good reason to do that lmao I don’t really remember, I hardly remembered he was responsible.

LimL: Scott deems Joel to be a server menace who needs to die, Joel (who doesn’t really understand why he needs to die) tries negotiating many times but Scott insists. He kills Joel.

SL: Joel gets task to target Scott, is thrilled. He fails miserably, losing people he cares about in the process. Vows to kill Scott, it’s like his main goal now. Still accepts every peace offering from Scott with little to no hesitation, to the point of eventually teaming with him until they’re forced to go against each other and Scott kills Joel again.

So basically you can see, every time Scott does something to wrong Joel, Joel goes hard on the rivalry, while if he doesn’t and offers peace, Joel will lay off. Secret Life was a weird middle ground, where Scott had done things to wrong Joel, however those things weren’t entirely his fault so when he offered peace to Joel, Joel would still accept. A confusing time for Joel I’m sure.

I will say a disclaimer here, I’m not saying Scott shouldn’t ever fight back against Joel. If he’s targeting you for no reason, it’s your decision if you’ll try to befriend him to make him stop or fight back. I support fighting back. I’m just saying that befriending him is a proven method to work, but I don’t think Scott has exactly noticed that and instead just assumes that Joel will stop at nothing to end him.

Another thing I wanted to talk about but forgot what the natural and intuitive transition into it was gonna be. Scott has permakilled Joel 3 times. Joel has permakilled Scott 0 times.

Joel had started the series off picking on Scott for no reason, and has never succeeded. Scott has won this battle three times. At this point, it’s honestly finally somewhat justified for Joel to come after Scott. That guy has specifically targeted and hunted him out of 2 seasons, and took him out of a 3rd as well. Joel has taken Scott out of 0. At this point, I feel like Joel needs that closure, to finally kill Scott, and who knows if he’ll ever get it. If you look at the fandom, even fans are hoping Joel will kill Scott because of this. So imagine how Joel feels! But obviously Scott wouldn’t just let him (okay. Well. Actually. It’s Scott. He kind of lets people do that all the time. But only allies…). Scott will be waiting for Joel to target him once more, and deal with it the way he always does. But who knows if it’ll turn out different?

Which reminds me that I pinpoint SL as the season Scott finally notices this “one sided rivalry”. We all know Scott loves drama, so when he finally noticed Joel had been hating him the whole time, he kept bringing it up. And it wasn’t just for SL only, he brought it up the moment he saw Joel in RL. I don’t count RL as canon but it does prove that Scott hasn’t let go of the rivalry now that he’s finally realized it. I don’t know if there will be a 6th season, but if so I wouldn’t be surprised if Scott brings up the rivalry. Idk if he would make it a big deal, but he would surely at least mention it.

Anyways, if you think I’m done with my little analysis, you’re wrong!!! I’m done with the things I see as pretty factual, but now we’re gonna get into more fanon headcanony type of territory!!!

…but, maybe I’ll make that its own post. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

[solargeist]

autistic thing for grian —

simply not talking/engaging in convos he’s not interested (/comfortable?) in. and therefore trying to passively observe while also just tapped out, either cuz he’s too focused on Appearing to blend in or because there’s nothing interesting enough to tether his attention. complicated when it’s with the watchers, because they see so much potential in him with the things he loves, but what happens when they see him reacting passively (or just not reacting) to something that doesn’t engage him? what happens when he can’t keep up with a certain type of energy when they’ve seen him excel in others before?

-🔑

ohhh I agree, and that’s an interesting thought…!

I think the Watchers would defo be confused by his interest varying, I can imagine the Watchers almost excitedly telling him abt the history of something and Grians not rly… reacting.. and just pointedly staring, they pause in case he wants to ask questions, but he doesn’t, so he awkwardly fumbles at the sudden silence.

They think he should push himself, he knows this too, but also doesn’t understand why he doesn’t care, other things are just more interesting, and that’s his excuse to them.

I think his interest level varies day by day too, but I think as long as he does the work well, they don’t care too too much…. Though disappointing when he’s not enthusiastic abt it, he rly is a perfect Watcher otherwise.

I also think that this is sorta worse momentarily after leaving the Watchers, he’s trying Too Hard to appear normal to the Hermits that his interest seems very forced.

[stitchthesewords]

I heard you were looking for an excuse to write drabbles/hj

uhhh just something with the mumscarian being soft

In exchange for a mumscarian vote I bring you fluffy s9 mumscarian! o7 keep em comin', our fight isnt over!

---

There was something in the air at the entity as the three of them sat on the bridge one warm afternoon, enjoying lunch. It was warm, drifting and weaving through the three of them like a ribbon as Scar leaned over Mumbo, feeding him bites of sandwiches. Grian leaned back, the warmth circling around his head as he sipped on lemonade from Scarland.

From their place on the bridge, they could see all 3 bases, plus a few more. The flag of the Perimeter was barely visible in the fog, for example. Grian smiled fondly in the direction of the buttercups camp before turning back to Mumbo and Scar, laughing as Scar toppled off Mumbo’s lap to land beside him on the bridge instead.

“Be careful. We’re up kinda high, ya know,” Mumbo said, sitting up a bit to make sure Scar was alright. Scar’s grin had not broken on his face, and he used Mumbo leaning over him as an opportunity for a kiss. Mumbo’s ties always made for an amazing handhold.

“Worried about lil old me, darling?” Scar teased, Mumbo’s cheeks flushed a lovely color of pink as he right himself and pulled Scar upright too. Not to be forgotten about, Grian leaned forward over his legs with a pout.

“Mumbo gets kisses, and I don’t now? What is this – some sort of grand Anti-Grian conspiracy?” he asked. His tone was light, and his tricolor wings were spread out to either side of him, just catching the edges of the bridge.

“I’ll have you know I was coming to give you a kiss, mister!” Scar said, leaning forward onto his hand to place a kiss on Grian’s nose. That wasn’t good enough for the avian, who moved his head until their lips slotted together. It was nice, the warm breeze wrapped around their little picnic again as Scar parted ways.

“Well, that didn’t feel very ‘Anti-Grian’ to me, personally,” Scar said. He pushed his short hair back, his own face flushed. Grian didn’t know if it was from the kiss or the sun.

“Well - I still think there’s something going here – maybe Scarland needs a few dozen chickens so it can sort itself out.”

“Grian you wouldn’t dare-”

“Who, me? No – no, I wouldn’t, that’s more of a poultry man thing anyway.” He wore a grin on his face as Scar reached out to tug him closer. He ducked out of the way, silently saluting Mumbo and Scar before diving off the edge of the bridge, his wings open to catch the wind under them. Mumbo’s noise of concern was almost covered entirely by Grian’s own joyous cackling.

[lavendernlilac]

Didn’t except my hotguy pillow idea to get a full drabble!!! Beautifully written once again!! :D

Now I bring the much less thought out idea of them using one of those remote control vibrators during whatever situation(event/show/photoshoot/a lazy day at home/wherever). Either of them could wear it I think, Grian would definitely get a kick out of tormenting Scar with a vibrating cock ring or butt plug.

Scar would be kinder about it probably, not doing intense vibrations when Grian is talking to someone(though she’d be pretty good at disguising it).

Idk how much you care about sex toys, but they’re so interesting to me lmao

ty!!! :D it was too fun of an idea and I’ll take any excuse to write those two, I adore them so much. I don’t think I’ve gotten too many asks involving sex toys, but I don’t mind them! I think they’re def interesting :3

IVE HAD A THOUGHT LIKE THIS BEFORE OMG. starting with grian using one on scar… I can imagine it being while he’s doing an interview or something like that. she’d definitely get a kick out of it, that’s for sure LMAO. I can imagine her turning the setting from low to high out of the blue to mess with scar and he very quickly has to save face with the interviewer and play it cool. scar is very good at that but he definitely still gets caught off guard slightly

grian is a menace to him with the remote control in her hands (read: purposefully a brat with it to get him going). she makes him trip up a lot and while the interview goes well, scar still walks out of it a bit… frustrated :D

the second he’s done with the interview he’s dragging grian into the nearest closet he can find—his control? gone. flown away. and grian certainly gets the reaction and punishment she wanted from him

as for scar using a remote vibrator on grian, hmmm. I can for sure see him being kinder about it, he doesn’t change the setting on her all that much (not yet, at least). although, maybe he uses it to slowly edge her throughout the day…. allow me to offer: they’re at the studio and grian is recording songs she’s finished writing. scar turns the toy off when she’s recording vocals (he’d feel bad if he made her mess up with her music) but when she’s sitting down, either not doing anything, or going over stuff with her producer, he’s slowly cranking up the intensity of the vibrator and then suddenly turning it back down

she’s really good at hiding it too, acting as if nothing is happening. although internally she’s feeling so much and just wants. by the end of it grian is trembling a little and super needy for him. I have a really vivid image in mind of the two of them being alone in private and grian nearly ambushes scar with kisses. he’s telling her how amazing she was with recording and taking every tease from him while upping the vibrations

I don’t know why but I keep picturing scar putting it to the highest intensity and grian ends up sinking to the floor, finally letting herself become a mess and begging for scar

[deityoftherain]

save a spot for me - Desert Duo/Scarian Fanfic

Rating: Teen

Relationship: M/M, Gen

Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Status: Completed Oneshot

Word Count: 4,684

Summary: Grian designed a series of survival games for his friends to play. When he told Scar about it, Scar gave him an idea of what the winner's prize should be. Every game since Grian won, Grian had wished for nothing more than for Scar to win so he could show him the winners' void he helped create.

@ellieloveswomen FANARTTTT (don’t look at until you read the fic though) THANK YOU https://www.tumblr.com/ellieloveswomen/749479291413299200/save-a-spot-for-me-deityoftherain-3rd-life

Full fanfic underneath the cut! Please reblog, leave kudos on the AO3 fic slash notes/likes here on Tumblr, comment either place, and etc if you enjoy the story :D

“Whatcha working on now?” Scar peered over Grian’s shoulder, who promptly ruffled his wings at the interruption. “Another building project?” “In a way.” Grian responded, keeping his response vague. He held the sketchbook to his chest, not wanting to give Scar any more of a chance to see the inner mechanics of the server he was working on.

Scar hummed softly, twirling around Grian so he was no longer behind him. The movement distracted Grian just enough for him to loosen his grip on the sketchbook and for Scar to snatch it from his hands. 

“Hey! Scar!” Grian yelped, shooting up to his feet. He tried to reach for it but Scar was too tall for him to be successful. Jumping to try and reach did nothing, only frustrating him more. “Come on, this isn’t funny.” Scar leaned against his walking aid so he had a free hand to ruffle Grian’s hair before handing the sketchbook back. “Sorry! I was just teasing you! You don’t have to tell me, but that means I won’t tell you about the super secret project I have going on either.” Grian gave him a look of doubt at those words but he didn’t say anything, not wanting to give Scar an excuse to take the sketchbook back. Maybe it was just the years of knowing Scar, but Scar was never that good at keeping secrets from him. Especially not things he was excited about! Grian was sure he would hear about it whether he wanted him to tell him or not. 

“Aren’t you going to ask me what it is?” Scar prompted as he plopped himself down on one of the many chests Grian had lying around.

Grian sighed, closing the sketchbook and sitting down on another chest. “Go on.” “Okay, so it isn’t exactly a build yet, it’s more of a business idea I’m playing around with, for next season! It’s called a Swaggon, and…” Scar continued to explain his whole idea with as much enthusiasm as one would expect from him.

Grian listened to him talk, inputting opinions or questions where it was natural. Scar’s rambling relaxed his mood. He liked chaos as much as the next guy, but that didn’t negate the fact he appreciated relaxation when he was stressed.

“So, now it’s your turn.” Scar nodded toward Grian after he finished, expecting Grian (for some reason) to go off on his own tangent next.

He tilted his head, furrowing his eyebrows only slightly. “What do you mean?”

“I told you about my plans,” he gestured to himself on “my plans” before gesturing toward Grian as he continued to talk, “so now it’s your turn to tell me about yours.” “You won’t let this go, will you?” Grian sighed, letting his gaze fall to the sketchbook on his lap. When he looked back up, Scar looked at him like a puppy begging for a treat. He sighed once more and opened the sketchbook. “Fine. I’m working on a series of short-term survival servers with each player having a limited amount of lives. The games will alter some things, such as our moods and resistance to pain, but we won’t change too much. It’ll be a fun excuse to act differently than usual, since we know it won’t affect our lives outside of the games. I’m working on setting up the first one, and then if people like it and want to go again, I will host another one with different rules and gimmicks.”

Scar “ooo”ed at the idea, far too invested in the concept while only knowing a short description. “What do the winners get as a prize? Am I invited to partake in it? Who else will be invited?”

“If you would like to, sure. Would love to have you and a few of the other Hermits join in.” Grian shrugged, keeping his expression nonchalant. “I plan to reach out to some non-Hermits as well. It’ll expand our social circle and allow the game to be a bit more interesting. I’m not sure what to do for the winners but I’ll cross that bridge when it comes to it. Who knows, everyone might hate it and then there would only be one winner whose prize I need to worry about.” “I doubt everyone will hate it.” Scar dismissed that idea instantly. “Everyone will love it and want to do it again, I’m sure! For the winners, maybe they can have their own void?” Grian wrinkled his nose at Scar’s suggestion. “Like the end’s void? That seems more like a punishment than a prize.”

“No, no! Not like that.” Scar quickly expanded on what he meant. “It’ll be like a private server tied to each game! The winners of the games have the server to hang out in for… let’s say, a night, so they can rest without everyone bothering them with questions or whatever else. They get all the food and whatever else they want there to help them recover from surviving for so long. The previous winners can celebrate with them and it would be glorious! The private server can be filled with artistic tributes and mementos for the game the winner won. It can be a place the winners can go whenever they want a place outside of their home server to rest. It is also a place to look back and be reminded of how awesome they were in that game!”

“That,” Grian clicked his tongue as he considered what Scar was proposing, “is not a bad idea. It sounds like a better prize than bragging rights, anyway. I might use that. Thanks!” Scar puffed out his chest with pride, a grin wide on his face. “Anytime, my friend!”

☀︎

The winner’s void (the name Scar gave it stuck) was rather lovely, he had to admit. Grian had hoped that the idea would work out. He had no way of checking it once the restriction of “winners only” was placed on the server. Even if he had, there was no game for the winners void to pull from yet to decorate. Perhaps him winning the first game was fate, if only so he could ensure it would be running smoothly for the next game’s winner.

Assuming there would be a next game.

Third Life had been a lot of fun, not just for him but seemingly everyone. Grian knew he would have to check in with the others. He was well aware (more so than everyone else) what the game could do to one’s perception. What they think while in the game could differ greatly to what they think outside of the game.

A sun shone bright in the sky, acting as the sole light source for the void. Nothing else of note (not even some clouds) accompanied it in the sky, leaving it to its own devices. The void reminded him of the desert he had called his home during Third Life, which made him wonder how much that would change once another winner was chosen. Would the sand give way to another terrain or would the two biomes merge in some sort of way?

Grian allowed his attention to wander, taking in everything that was around him. He noticed cactuses were a major theme (their presence seeming to mock him) and he studied paintings of interactions he had had over the course of the game. One wall had called to him in particular, light rays reflecting the colors beautifully which only made it stand out more. The wall had a stunning stained glass window of himself. He was posed like he was staring off into the distance, bandaged knuckles clenching onto his sweater’s collar and a desert scene behind him. There was a long stretch of empty space to the right of the window art. How many winners did the void expect to hold?

One thing Grian didn’t anticipate when going into this was the winner’s void feeling so empty. Not necessarily in items (there were plenty of those) but more so in energy and feeling. Why did it feel so hollow when there was an abundance of objects screaming his victory?

He felt adrenaline pumping through his veins, his heart still racing from the cactus ring. He was the first to win out of everyone. He had fought his way to the top. He was the one being worshiped by the space he was in now. Why did that not feel amazing? Why did he not feel good about it?

Grian knew why. He was alone. He had killed Scar with his bare hands. He could still feel Scar’s blood on his knuckles. He had jumped off a cliff to end the pain and yet part of it lingered within him.

Grian knew it wasn’t real, so why did it bother him so much? Nothing he did meant anything in the grand scheme of things, so why did he feel like this? So many emotions fought each other within him that part of him was grateful to be alone. No one could see his internal conflict escape his mind and affect his trembling body.

He wrapped his wings around himself after hugging his knees to his chest. This was fine. The next winner would have him here when they won. They won’t be as lonely as he currently was. They won’t be alone as they both recovered from the game they just came from.

Grian pulled out his communicator from his pocket to look at the time. There were still several hours left until he would be allowed to go back to his home server. Back to Hermitcraft. Back to Scar.

Surely Scar wouldn’t be mad at him? No, there was no way! They both agreed to the terms (just like everyone else had when they joined) and he had talked about Third Life extensively with Scar before the game happened. There was no need to “make things right” when nothing was wrong.

There wasn’t any logic he could remind himself of that would stop his desire to reach out to Scar.

Void, Grian created the games so he could break the rules if he wanted to! He messed around with settings, trying to unlock his messages to be able to private chat Scar. The only enabled chat at the moment was the winner’s void chat, but that would be pointless. No one else was here.

Disabling chat to players outside of the server was another feature that was supposed to be a perk of being here. Perhaps it was, but it didn’t feel like it right now. Grian thought about it for a moment before exhaling a long and exaggerated breath.

Not being pestered by everyone’s messages was nice, he had to admit. He didn’t want the pressure of answering questions or being in the spotlight while he was still trying to process everything that had happened. Maybe he would keep it; it had its purpose. Perhaps he would modify it before the next game, making it so the winners can choose to message specific people if they want to. His actions wouldn’t be hypocritical anymore (they would tease him for breaking his own rules if they knew) if that were the case! It was just putting it in action early.

Grian allowed those thoughts to comfort him as he finished his mission of changing the settings. He was now able to privately chat with Scar via his communicator. The ends of his lips twitched up at the prospect and it only grew into a small smile when he got a response back.

<Grian> hi scar

<GoodTimesWithScar> GRIANNNN

<GoodTimesWithScar> congrats on the win!!

<GoodTimesWithScar> you throw a mean punch

<GoodTimesWithScar> i literally died

<GoodTimesWithScar> youre small but deadly

Small? Seriously? Grian’s wings bristled in mock offense. He wasn’t that short! Scar was just abnormally (a few inches over average) tall, even when leaning against crutches or in his wheelchair. When he was sitting, Grian was taller! That… did not sound that impressive now that he thought about it. Grian quickly distracted himself from that line of thinking, focusing on formulating a response and settling on an empty threat.

<Grian> careful i might steal your kneecaps next

<GoodTimesWithScar> good theyre fired anyway

<GoodTimesWithScar> found em slacking on the job too many times

<Grian> SCAR NO

<GoodTimesWithScar> what

<GoodTimesWithScar> am i wrong

Grian muffled his shocked but amused laughs with his sweater’s sleeve. He would feel bad for laughing at Scar’s disability jokes, but Scar has always encouraged them to laugh with him. He made the jokes for a reason, after all. When Grian asked him why, Scar explained that he would rather have fun in life and be able to joke around than sulk in a corner. Grian couldn’t argue with the logic. 

<GoodTimesWithScar> how’s the void?

There it was. Grian’s smile faded at the message, not sure what to tell Scar. Scar had helped him come up with the winners’ server concept and it was a nice place, truly! He just wished it wasn’t just him. Grian had grown used to being in the constant presence of another person or multiple other people for the past eight days, so being utterly alone now felt… off. Still, it was better for him to be here first than another player. He would be here for whoever won the next one. He was the one who should deal with the beginnings of what he created. Even with that, he couldn’t help but long for the one in second place, his teammate, his friend, his partner…

<Grian> its nice

<Grian> i wish you could see it

<GoodTimesWithScar> i will win one of the next games !

<GoodTimesWithScar> just you wait

<GoodTimesWithScar> save a spot for me

<Grian> i dont think i can do that

<Grian> whoever wins wins

<GoodTimesWithScar> and one will be me!

<GoodTimesWithScar> ill make it there the proper way

<GoodTimesWithScar> and you can show me around

Grian allowed his small smile to return, though it felt weak this time. As much as he wished Scar would be here, he also knew several of the other players had better survival instincts than him. The chances Scar would win next weren’t that high. Still, he typed:

<Grian> ill hold you to that

☀︎

Grian watched the remaining Reds, quietly fuming that the TNT trap he had set off didn’t kill anyone and that Scott killed him in the fight that followed. The other ghosts were watching and chatting nearby but Grian ignored them all.

Since Scott had been the one who killed him, Grian decided to follow him around until he died. He planned to shift his attention to whoever he spotted next after Scott died, but he had been too hasty in assuming the one who killed him wouldn’t be the last one alive.

Unfortunately for Scott, Grian hadn’t been in the mood to listen to gloating or to wait and give him time to process his victory fully. He had plenty of time to think about it in the winner’s void, so Grian struck him down with lightning as soon as he was declared the winner.

The moment Scott was registered as dead, both his ghost and Grian’s got pulled to the winner’s void while everyone else got to go home. Grian greeted Scott, explained what the winner’s void was, and everything else a good host would do. 

While he was the tour guide, there was much of the void that had changed. The sun dimmed just enough for stars to be visible now. Scott’s base with Pearl and Cleo had been in a taiga biome, which created an unusual combination with the sandy biome Grian’s win brought to the void. The server had been extremely warm before but it was significantly cooler now. An axolotl swam around nearby, which Scott affectionately called Binkie. He explained they had won Last Life together and that he had freed Binkie from a bucket moments before lightning struck so he was surprised to see the axolotl here. Grian just hummed as a response as he let Scott explain the context of each of the interaction paintings and what various items must represent in reference to his win. They even spent some time at the archery range now that that existed here.

He (if he was going to be honest with himself) enjoyed his time in the winners void this time around. Perhaps “enjoyed” was too strong of a word, but Scott was a good companion and seemed to appreciate the downtime the void offered. They both spent a lot of time admiring the artistic tributes to their victories and Scott even suggested a few tweaks that could be made for the next game. All in all, it was a fairly pleasant time.

Still though, Scott wasn’t Scar.

Grian wasn’t mad at Scott, despite his little displays of frustration. He had just gotten his hope up (like an idiot) that he and Scar would have shared this time together. He knew now that had been foolish. Grian did his best to banish Scar from his mind.

He didn’t need Scar to feel fulfilled or proud. Grian didn’t need Scar at all and he would prove it. He would prove it to everyone, not only himself. There were other people in his life. He should just be proud of the new winners, not grieving the fact Scar would never make it here. It was fine.

☀︎

Of course they had been soulmates. Why would it be anything different? It felt almost like a cruel joke to pair his health with Scar’s. Grian had told himself that he didn’t need Scar and the randomized mechanics of the game told him otherwise.

Grian thinned their soulmate connection every time he talked to BigB. He allied with BigB, even though the game told them that they were tied to Scar and Ren. He chose BigB, yet his link to Scar stayed until he got them both killed by the Warden’s sonic blast.

Scott set off an explosion, killing himself and Pearl. Pearl was deemed Double Life’s winner and she, along with Grian and Scott, got dragged to the winner’s void.

“What is this-?” Pearl started to ask, looking around at everything that surrounded them. Grian had to admit, the void was growing to be even more enchanting than it had when he won the first game. Even the sky was beautiful to look at; the sun and stars were now accompanied by a moon. She stopped herself when her eyes landed on Scott. Her mouth fell open before she rushed to hug him. “Scott!” “Pearl!” Scott eagerly accepted the hug. Pearl had run into him with so much force that Scott had to twirl them to give the momentum someplace to go. “I know I didn’t act like it, but I’m glad you won. You deserve it.” “Thank you, though I am still frustrated with you.” She pulled away enough to look him in the eyes. “You blew us up before I could tell you I forgive you.”

Scott chuckled, ducking his head as a way to display his apology. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

That was when Grian tuned out what they said, not interested in eavesdropping on their conversation any longer. He separated from them, trusting Scott would be able to clue Pearl into what was happening and show her around. Now that he wasn’t the only one to have been here before, his presence wasn’t needed.

He knew they would have a lot to talk about anyway, especially considering they were a soulmate pair in the most recent game. Much of what the void added to mark Pearl’s victory was reminiscent to Scott’s journey as well. Certain aspects, such as the powdered snow surrounded by sand (this server’s logic was strange at times) and the statue of Tilly set up near by, had the possibility of sparking arguments. Based on their friendly greeting, Grian believed they would handle the reminders of Double Life in stride, but he didn’t want to risk sticking around if he was wrong.

Grian knew what he did during the games wasn’t fair to Scar, but it seemed like the best course of action at the time. He was so bent on separating himself from Scar during the games that he didn’t think about what it might do to their relationship outside of the games. He still valued his friendship with Scar!

His comm pinged, causing Grian to jump. He placed a hand on his communicator and glanced back towards Pearl and Scott once more. They were currently by the wall with stained glass art of the three of them. There was a red string attached to stained-glass-Pearl’s pinkie, the end floating off toward the left. Stained-glass-Scott also had a red string tied around his pinkie that had not been there before. There was a gap between both of the window art pieces but the string looked as if it would attach if one were to push them together. If Scar had won, would his and Scar’s look like theirs did? 

Grian shook his head of that thought, not wanting to dwell on it for any length of time. He took the opportunity of their eyes focused elsewhere to wander further away so he could look at the message (make that messages; his comm pinged again) in peace. The soulmate pair would keep each other busy for a while.

<GoodTimesWithScar> i wish we could send vids over this

<GoodTimesWithScar> jellie is being really cute rn

Grian’s chest felt as if it was in a war with itself for it felt both uncomfortably tight and pleasantly warm at the same time. He pictured Scar lovingly petting his cat as a light pink flushed his face. Maybe he was worrying for nothing.

<Grian> ill be at your place first thing tmr

☀︎

The next game came and went with no foul feelings between them. Sure, Grian’s group built a bread bridge toward the Clocker’s base specifically to push TNT minecarts off of it, but that was just a part of the game. There was no betrayal of trust to be had, knowing they were on different teams. Jimmy and Joel reminded him of Scar at times, but their deaths made him realize he was glad they weren’t Scar. The disconnection was easier with the other players, but it felt too real with Scar. 

When in the game, a player tends to find themself more emotionally attached to those they team with than those they don’t. That is part of what made losing a team member feel so devastating, despite knowing that they would be perfectly fine and alive once the game ended. Losing Jimmy and Joel had been hard, and he considered them both friends, but Scar’s previous deaths had taken much more of a toll on him. Grian attributed that to the fact he spent a lot more time around Scar on Hermitcraft than he had spent time around his fellow Bad Boys.

Martyn took longer than the previous three had to get situated, a bit disoriented on everything. The appearance of Scott seemed to set him off, Pearl and Grian having to pull Martyn off of him as they tried to get it through his needlessly thick skull that the game was over.

“I don’t know if I should be upset you want to kill me so badly again,” Scott struggled not to laugh now that Martyn wasn’t out for his blood, “or honored that you see me as such a dangerous threat that I need to be immediately taken down.”

“I thought you must have survived the lava or something.” Martyn explained, though he looked more embarrassed than anything else. “I wanted to win and you and Impulse were just standing there so I had to take the opportunity, you know?” “I wouldn’t have had it any other way.” Scott replied honestly, offering a hand to his former teammate. “Come on, I want to show you around and see all the new stuff that’s appeared.” “I’m coming with you.” Pearl cracked her knuckles as she turned back toward them, having already allowed her eyes to start touring the place. “Grian, you want to join in? You’ve been here the longest so you would have the most insight.” Grian didn’t respond for a moment, a hand hovering over his communicator. He usually messaged Scar after a win, but did he need Scar’s attention now? The void wasn’t lonely and eerily quiet anymore. There was also so much more to see now that it wasn’t a simple desert. Martyn’s presence was already proving to add interesting features (such as a giant hourglass and an ocean full of creatures and coral) that Grian was just as eager as everyone else to explore. He dropped his hand as he made his choice. “Sure, I’m down. This place already looks like it’s grown from last time.”

☀︎

Grian watched the living Reds, eyes trained on the man who was still one of his closest friends. There were only four, no, scratch that. Scott just died by Gem’s hand. Knowing Scott, he probably gave his life to Gem again so she could have more hearts to spare.

Scott’s death left the remaining Reds on an uneven split. Pearl expressed to Scar that she didn’t want to win and that Scar should kill her so he could have more hearts as well, but Scar refused. Grian might have felt bad for Gem being outnumbered, especially since this was her first game, but he was too focused on how close Scar was to fulfilling the promise he had made before the first game had even occurred yet.

Grian cheered openly at Gem’s death, though his cheers were drowned by the other ghosts’ reactions and verbal engagement with what was unfolding in front of them. He gasped loudly when Pearl fell and lightning struck, signifying her death.

He quickly grabbed his comm and opened the player list, needing to double-check that what he wished for with all of his heart was true. Every single name was grayed out except for Scar’s. Grian looked back up to Scar, who was calling out for Pearl.

“I don’t think he realized I died,” Pearl stated what quickly became obvious to all of the onlookers.

Grian held his breath (it wasn’t like he needed air flow at the moment) as he turned his attention back to chat. Pearl’s death message, along with a few others, greeted him but he ignored them as he started to type.

<Grian> shes dead scar

<Grian> you won

He put his comm away and floated forward to become closer to Scar. He tried to touch Scar in greeting and celebration but his hand went right through. Right. He was a ghost. Grian pulled back some, simply floating behind him as Scar laughed in disbelief.

“Well, there is only one last thing left to do,” Scar announced out loud, likely knowing that he had all of the ghosts' attention now. As everyone expected once he said that, he limped up to the Secret Keeper. Scar was relying a lot more on his walking aids than he usually was, wincing in pain now that the adrenaline was wearing off. 

Grian felt a tinge of sympathy in him at Scar’s pain, but he knew all wounds he acquired throughout Secret Life would be healed once the game officially concluded. The other ghosts seemed to recognize personal space, hanging back where they usually stood when they met after each session. Grian, however, stayed within arm’s length of Scar as he approached the button.

“I did it, Grian. I know it took a while but I hope you saved a spot for me.” Scar whispered as he placed his hand on the button. It was spoken so softly that Grian was sure he was the only one who had heard Scar’s final words. 

Before he had a chance to properly react, Scar pressed the button and the game was officially over. Grian, along with the other winners, were taken to the void once again.