#cleo appreciation day

[rubiehart]

JJ and reader sneak away on the island of Poguelandia to get some… “alone time” iykwim

when obx3 first came out this was like my main scenario to sleep lol.. i love u nonnie

all the pogues sit around the makeshift fire, faces illuminated and cheeks blushed from the heat, listening to cleo’s bizarre stories from before she fell in with all of you, but you’re not really listening.

you adjust yourself on the log you’d used for seating, digging your toes into the sun warmed sand as you eyes jj across the flames, he was focused on cooking whatever he’d caught that day, the only thing you were focused on was the way his biceps flexed, deep blues occasionally flitting over and meeting your own eyes before correcting himself when he realised he’d been caught, smirk playing on his lips.

you’d had this arrangement far before this misfortune, stranded on an abandoned island in the middle of nowhere. you’d sit on his work bench, watching him fix up his bike, popsicle slotted between your lips as you watched him. before he’d had enough for your teasing and bent you over the warm metal, denim shorts pulled down to your knees as he pounded into you.

but something had changed ever since you landed on the island, he was so much softer, kinder, a lot less demanding when he’d fuck you. he really took his time with you when he could, he’d make you feel so good, it didn’t happen as much as it used to back home, so you’d learned to appreciate it a lot more when it did.

you clinged onto his tan shoulders, outgrown fingernails digging into the muscle as he finger fucked you behind a tree, the squelch of your wet cunt the only sound heard as he clamped a ringed hand over your mouth, willing you to be quiet with praise as he hit that spot over and over again. his jaw clenched as he kept half on eye on pope and cleo not too far away collecting fruits for your breakfast, fixing you up and giving you a quick peck before sending you off back to the group, strolling back a few after you like nothing had happened.

that was last week, and he hadn’t even touched you since. to say you were desperate was an understatement. sure, the island was desolate but that didn’t mean it was big, and sneaking away to fuck yourself and risk getting caught wasn’t something you wanted to do. so you thought eye fucking was enough of a hint for him, spoiler, it wasn’t.

he kept you on the edge of your seat all night, he knew what he was doing and he loved the power. concealing his grin when he caught you discretely rub your thighs together whenever you’d look a him.

you got what you wanted soon enough, when everyone was pretty much knocked out on their makeshift leaf mattresses, stepping over john b cautiously as you made your way up the sandy bank where you knew he would be.

you were finally at peace when he had you splayed out against a large tree, legs spread around his his head, his matted blonde tresses tickling your inner thighs as he devoured you like a starved man. his cocky persona dropped as he practically begged for you, even though he already had you in your head.

“wanted to taste this fuckin’ pussy all day.” he mutters, tongue dipping into your clenching hole as he brings two fingers up to steadily rub at your clit, your back arching beautifully against the rough bark of the tree, hand forcefully gripping his hair and keeping him right where you wanted him.

“strutting around in that little top, you dunno’ what you do to me, infront of all our fuckin’ friends.” he admits, skilled fingers punching your g-spot, a loud moan leaving your lips as your climax approached, immediately recoiling back into yourself as the sound echoes over the extensive ocean surrounding you, hoping your friends didn’t hear.

jj sensed your sudden shyness and tapped your thigh, one hand shaking up to grasp at your boob, calloused thumb teasing your nipple as he circles your throbbing but with his tongue. “nah- let it all out, wanna hear how good i make you feel.”

“yeah- gooooood girl. you got it.”

[obxsummer]

making the bed // ghost of you

pairing: jj maybank x routledge!reader

summary: charleston provided no leads, jj return from his parental adventure, john b plays therapist, and sarah's got something to tell you. everyone's got a whole lot of secrets and shit is about to hit the fan.

warnings: s4 spoilers, talks of depression and anxiety

navigation -- series masterlist

ask me anything

--

Charleston was a huge hole of dead ends. Cleo had attempted to kill the man who’d murdered Terrance, which lead to John B almost shooting him. Sarah and Pope almost drowned down in the catacombs, and you and Kiara were left to corral everyone back to the Twinkie when shit hit the fan.

You fell back into your usual numb routine, letting everyone shower and clean up upon arrival back to Poguelandia, while you went out to the shop to check on everything and see if JJ had resurfaced. To your relief, the HMS Pogue was pulling up as soon as you hit the dock and you took off running.

“JJ!” You yelled as you got closer, tugging the hood off your head just in time to collide with his chest and wrap your legs around his waist.

“Hi, oh shit-” He caught you with ease, grabbing the back of your head to hold you closer. You took a deep breath, breathing in his cologne that you’d replaced every time he’d run out and the faint scent of your shampoo that he swore he never used. 

“You okay?” JJ asked quietly, his fingers grabbing the nape of your neck to massage the pressure points of your skin before letting you back to the ground. He could practically feel the anxiety and tesnion radiating off of you, and he was likely no different.

“Where’d you go?” You avoided his question. “Did you find your dad?”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “He’s been hiding out with Barracuda Mike. He um… he told me he wasn’t my real dad.”

You swore you could hear your heart cracking in your chest. “What?”

“I know.. I don’t-” He groaned and handed the letter from the other day over to you, allowing you to read the script writing fully this time. “It says talk to your father, and then Luke says that Wes Genrette… is my grandfather.”

Your eyes skimmed the writing quickly, Wes’s letter telling JJ he needed to ask his dad regarding albatross, and a bunch of other things you couldn’t bring yourself to focus on. “That would make Groff your dad? And Larissa…” You trailed off with the sinking realization that if all of this was true, JJ’s birth mom was dead. Gone.

JJ heaved a big breath. “Yeah. And that baby she supposedly drowned with? That’s me.”

“You?”

“Mhmm.”

“You’re…you’re a Genrette.”

JJ shrugged, his eyes distant as he looked over the water. “He’s.. he’s probably trying to work some inheritance scam and he’s trying to get some money, trying to use me for a quick buck because that’s all he does.”

“Look.” You grabbed his face in your hands, holding him steady from the spiral he was getting ready to jump into. “We’ll figure it out, okay? We… we’ll figure it out.”

His expression crumbled in your hold, and he moved forward to kiss you slowly, teeth pulling on your bottom lip in want of more. “Missed you.”

You smiled and kissed him again, sinking fully into his hands like a piece of putty. “Missed you too. So much.”

“Don’t tell the others?” He mumbled it in a questioning tone. You nodded in agreement, figuring the two of you could theorize and catch up later. His arms scooped you up again, lips finding yours as he moved slowly up to the shop and out of view of your friends if they resurfaced.

“How was Charleston?” JJ asked once you were settled on the counter and his hands rested on your hips.

You shrugged, fingers twisting in the strands of blond hair on his neck. “A bust, as usual. They beat us to it. We all split up, so you can ask them for more since JB and I got stuck on graveyard duty.”

JJ smiled, a small laugh in his chest before he kissed you again. “Glad you were with him, keeps you safe.”

You rolled your eyes at his concern, but it was appreciated nonetheless. There was a lot of heavy conversations that needed to happen between the two of you, but you didn’t want to add to JJ’s already confused mindset. He didn’t need that right now, especially when he just wanted to love on you and forget it all happened.

John B came in search of you and JJ shortly after, hand slamming over his eyes when he caught sight of your small makeout session. “Gross, can you not?”

You flipped your brother off without looking at him and unlocked your ankles from behind JJ’s back. “Nobody invited you,” You sang toward him as JJ squeezed your hips.

“Shower’s open,” Your brother ignored your negative comment and focused on your boyfriend. “You good, dude? Everything okay?”

JJ frowned and offered John B a shrug. “It’s my dad, dude. He’s like a fucking roach, never really goes away.”

John B nodded, taking the hint that the topic didn’t really want to be discussed. He squeezed JJ’s shoulder in support before flicking your knee cap. “Get out of here, smelly. Don’t need you stinkin’ up the shop.”

You rolled your eyes and pushed off the counter to head into the house with the intent to clean up. The zoning hearing was tonight regarding the property, and a lovely pit of ever-present anxiety had settled in your chest. 

Taking your time to soak up the hot water and wash the chaos of the last 48 hours off your body, you rejoined the group on the porch where everyone had been catching JJ up on the events in Charleston.

“You know, that’s a lot of sarcasm we don’t really need right now, okay?”

“Sorry, I was just rat swarmed, so.”

You disregarded John B and Pope’s lover fest and walked forward into JJ’s awaiting arms, tucking yourself into his chest without a word. You listened in as they theorized rallying people on The Cut in hopes of having some sort of attention on the zone hearing, hoping the majority crowd would provide some defense.

“Speaking of family, this is gonna sound insane, but Rafe came by before we left…”

You pulled yourself out of JJ’s embrace to stare at Kiara, terrified. Your heart was pounding in your chest out of fear that she would reveal more than intended. 

“What?”

“Why?”

John B met your gaze. “He was there. That’s why you were crying before we left. Why didn’t you say something?”

You opened your mouth to defend yourself, trying to give him all the answers in your expression without having to speak. 

Kiara held out the business card Rafe had placed in your hand, reaching it out to Sarah. “I don’t know,” Your friend lied, “He said he wanted to help… help us.”

Sarah snorted as she read the text on the card. “Rafe Cameron, CEO. CEO of what? Whatever. I’ll hit him up, see what he can do.”

John B was still looking at you like he was putting together every piece of the puzzle. “Alright, let’s do this shit.”

Each of you took a claim to your portion of support, JJ taking the surf crew on the beaches with a promise to not get distracted. John B was taking Sarah to speak to Rafe, leaving Kie, Pope, and Cleo to head into town. 

“Hey!” John B called out when you’d made your move to follow JJ. “You’re with me, Birdie.”

You stared at John B for a moment, trying to decide if it was worth the argument before nodding in agreement. JJ departed after kissing you again, the life slowly coming back into his face as processed the emotions he’d been going through. 

Once Sarah disappeared into the house that was addressed on Rafe’s, you realized why John B requested you to come with. 

“Why didn’t you tell me Rafe was at the house?”

You sat in the passenger seat, eyes scanning the estate in front of you as you shrugged. “Didn’t want to talk about it.”

John B sighed, his hand rubbing over his face. He was frustrated with the way you closed yourself off, but he also knew it was a defense mechanism. “You can’t shut yourself off from me, not after our conversation last night. I said we weren’t done?”

Your fingers picked at the worn interior of the Twinkie. God, you loved JB but you hated when he pulled the older brother card. “JB, please.”

John B reached over to grab your hand to stop your anxious fidgeting. He pulled slightly until you were facing him and couldn’t avoid the conversation. “You dropped a pretty heavy bomb last night. Are you okay?”

“Am I ever?” You shook your head, curling into a ball as comfortable as possible across the seat. You gave a half-assed laugh. “I don’t like that being around Rafe renders me completely useless. I don’t like that I shut down and become a ball of crying anxiety for the following day. I don’t like that, I hold you down, I weigh on the group, it-”

“Woah, woah. You do not weigh anyone, especially me, down? You hear me?” John B disagreed, tugging on your hand so you would look at him again. “Birdie, come on. You gotta talk to me.”

“I’m trying.” You pulled away to rub at your eyes and attempt to reset your brain. “God, I’m trying. It’s like wired into my head. Every time I try to think differently, it tells me I’m wrong. It’s like a self-curated internal torture that-”

“Okay words are getting too big,” John B interrupted with a shake of his head. “I told Sarah on the ferry home I’m done putting the two of you in danger. Every thing we’ve done risks one of your lives and I’m not doing it anymore, okay? That includes letting you stew with the darkness in your head. I let it happen for too long when Dad was here and I refuse to do it any longer.”

You blinked tears away as best as you could before meeting John B’s gaze again. This was your older brother, and shit had he started to act like it. JJ tended to allow you to be self-destructive because he did it to himself, so it was hard to pull someone out of something that you sunk into on your own. Apparently, John B wasn’t letting it slide anymore.

“You are so important, to me, to JJ, to Sarah, and to our friends. I know you don’t think that, and I know you let the negativity win some nights, okay? But I refuse to give up on you, and I refuse to let you fall apart in the room next to me because of some asshole who had everything handed to him his whole life, even if he’s my technical brother-in-law.”

A small laugh made its way out of you at the reminder that John B and Sarah were married in their terms, the small handcrafted rings on their fingers a new addition to prove such. You were watching them grow up right in front of you, as if you and Sarah weren’t practically the same age. Everything between John B and Sarah felt so real and mature even if they were still shotgunning beers and eating expired chips every other week.

You were grateful for Sarah’s return, even if she seemed less than pleased. Hopping out of the passenger seat, you returned to the back where you could flop down in your sorrow, despite everything John B had tried to talk into you. The energy of dealing with the hearing and attempting to rally the island wasn’t there for you, and quite frankly, you wanted a nap. 

Sarah apparently had no luck with Rafe, to which John B wasn’t surprised about. Your brother busied himself calling some connections as Sarah climbed into the back with you, the two of you laying across the blanket covered ground of the van.

“You okay?” She asked quietly as she twisted on her side to face you. “I know you’re sick of hearing that, but I wanted to ask.”

You blinked tiredly at her, but nodded. “This isn’t going to work,” You admitted honestly, knowing despite all the effort your group would put in, nothing ever worked out when the Kooks are behind it. “I want it to, but unless we get rich in the next two hours, we’re fucked.”

“I um… I know this isn’t a great time but, can I tell you something?” The shift in her tone made you concerned and you frowned but nodded nonetheless. “I haven’t had my period in… a while.”

“A while?” You repeated and pushed yourself up on your elbows to meet her height. “Sarah.”

She groaned and ran her hand across her face. “I know! I know. I should’ve… ugh. I just thought it was stress, and I don’t want to know, but I… I  think I already know.”

“Did you um… did you check?” The lump in your throat was building quickly and you tried to fake a cough to help. Shit.

She bit her lip and shook her head slowly. You nodded in understanding, silence consuming the van as the idea soak in for the two of you. 

“Does John B…?”

“No,” She answered quietly, her voice shaking. “I want to be sure, and I know things are messy right now, so I don’t want to stress him out. You were the only person I could think to tell.”

You placed your hand on her arm in comfort despite feeling like someone’s hand was squeezing your heart. “Sarah, he’s going to be so excited.”

“We just had this conversation on the ferry about it, and I… we’re so young, and I’m so scared,” She explained as she leaned back against the door. “We’re going to be homeless, and broke, and this is no environment to be raising a child in.”

“I know, but you’ll figure it out,” You reassured, “We’ll figure it out.”

Sarah nodded, tears finally breaking through as she squeezed your hand in return. She shifted forward, colliding to hug you tightly. A sob echoed through the van, whether it coming from you or her, you didn’t know. You felt like your heart was being ripped in two, pure excitement for Sarah and John B, but also a wave of sorrow for yourself and the knowledge that this feeling wouldn’t ever be yours. 

Thankfully, your brother didn’t give you time to sink further into thought as he caught sight of the two of you crying in the backseat.

“Aw, seriously? What the fuck did I miss now?”

--

a/n: sorry she's short but i'm prepping for the hottest crashout of the century next chapter

navigation -- series masterlist

ask me anything

[citruslullabies]

Catnap X reader

I've got this idea from another author, perhaps the reader is getting too attached to one of the mini catnaps? They spend their time cuddling the little rascal instead of him and he decides to make his displeasure noticed albeit in his own way.

Oh hey, I love that author! Bumblehoneybee is one of my favorites<3

Trigger warnings: none

Romantic/platonic: neutral (unspecified)

Requested by: anonymous

Category: fluff

Ship (romantic or platonic): catnap x reader

Word count: 565

Cat Fight

After having redeemed Catnap, you were left to depend on him and for him to depend on you with the little things. Whether that be warmth or cuddles, or defenses, you two always had each other's back in the dark and gloomy place. Catnap just like any cat, loved you and saw you as his person.

And that's why you're in the pickle you're in now. A little smiling critter of Catnap had been spying on you before finally walking up to you while meowing its little head off like a banshee. You looked down at the oddly friendly creature and gasped, smiling and kneeling down to pet it in which it gladly accepted. “Awh! You're so cute!” You cooed to the rather prissy and affectionate feline.

Catnap was just coming back from finding food while Poppy and Kissy Missy were busy looking for routes in the place to keep going, happily coming back expecting your praise but was greeted with basically a smack to the face. He set the food and water down and let his ears fall flat, slowly slinking over to you and staring at the tinier version of himself. “..Mouse, why is this.. thing here?”

The larger feline was not at all happy with this, staring down at the smaller version of him. All of your attention was going onto this cheap little declawed copy of him and he didn't appreciate it.

“Catnap, just look at how cute it is! Hmm..” you thought for a moment, before plucking the little kitty into your arms and feeling your heart melt at the feeling of it nuzzling against you and wrapping its tiny paws around your neck. Catnap let out a low growl as he thought about swatting the little creature out of your arms, but refraining from doing so.

“Ugly little thing..” he hissed despite looking like it, displeased as he picked the food back up to continue moving. Kissy Missy was silent as always when they returned, judging the small cat while Poppy made a few comments here and there but ultimately decided it was fine if it was friendly. The entire walk you were just cradling and cooing at the little cat before you decided on a name, gently pressing your nose against its tiny one. “I'm gonna name you.. Cleocatra!” You said, earning a weirded out look from the larger feline and a purr from Cleocatra. But he said nothing.

When tiredness finally overcame your senses, he was more than happy to get cozy on the floor as you set the cat down despite its screaming protests. He wrapped his tail around your form and gently kneaded at your shoulder, being completely at peace before being disrupted by meows and little paws standing on him. He opened his eyes only to be greeted with a tiny Cleo that was pouty and trying to snuggle in-between them, to which Catnap grabbed it by its scruff and set it down away from the both of you. You spent all day with the little fucker, it was his turn.

But the tiny cat just kept pushing until catnap hissed at it, being quiet so he wouldn't wake you up despite your stirring. The little cat huffed and walked off, flicking its tail at Catnap as if it was a middle finger and snuggling up on top of your backpack instead.

Little shit.

Thank you for requesting!

[theminecraftbee]

you know it's INTERESTING to look back at the double life soulmate pairs and see how they're doing now, relationship-wise, because that experience shaped every soulmate pair differently, i think:

ren and bigb i'll put first on account of "we have no idea since ren hasn't been in the series since double life". when will our doggy come back from the war.......

grian and scar are... grian and scar, the soulbond alone is only part of everything going on there. i think being FORCED to team shaped them a bit into being a little/lot more stable in their relationship with each other in limited life and secret life, as well as maybe taught them a bit about each other's limits. i am... honestly not a desert duo guy there are people who can do the analysis of the soulmate bond's impact on them WAY better than me but. it's part of their overall arc, you know?

martyn and cleo are fun. they both are still clearly CLOSE but they are also both still clearly mistrustful and angry at each other! they have this whole "the only one who can kill you is me" dynamic going on between each other that's very fun. i think being soulmates... obviously they were one half of divorce quartet and the resentment of being forced together did some stuff to that relationship. but i think maybe it also sort of gave them something that they appreciate about each other as well? and they DO care, despite everything. (i could GO INTO THIS LET ME TELL YOU.) so like, they aren't close friends or anything, but they Know Each Other now. and that's a fun dynamic.

impulse and bdubs are funny because i think their bond both did and didn't shape them. the thing is, like desert duo, their soulbond is only one step in their journey, the one that ARGUABLY only settled out in limlife after impulse permakilled bdubs. (note that this is the first series where bdubs hasn't gotten a clock! he is FINALLY PAST that one relationship!) that said i think being each other's ridiculously happy married couple did something to impulse specifically, actually. i think it sort of confused and solidified the grudge and it also like, showed him the almost-happy-loyalty that he wanted in the world. i think these days impulse, at least, has a different idea of 'loyalty' and 'betrayal' thanks to that. and bdubs... i think it's relevant that despite bdubs intentionally CONSTANTLY THROWING UP BETRAYAL FLAGS, he never actually did it. and i don't think he ever actually would. but in terms of their relationship to EACH OTHER? the soulbond was, yeah, only one step in how that arc went.

scott and pearl are... interesting. it's funny; for one of the single most consequential soulbonds in double life, it like... mostly hasn't come up again in their relationship? part of this i think is that pearl's LONELINESS had more of an impact on her than anything scott specifically did, and scott choosing had more of an impact on him. so to each other they're mostly... normal? both a bit mistrustful but like... normal? it's in the ways they act with other people that this experience shaped them, i think; i could say something about scott's next major relationship being mean gills, and the way pearl is only now learning to be a part of a team that cares again. also, pearl's discovery of her bloodlust. that kind of happened in last life to be fair, but it's relevant,

jimmy and tango are surprisingly simple because they were one of the most stable and normal soulmate pairs, lol. they're each other's ranchers! they're still friendly to each other even when their teams are on opposite sides! i think having one relationship where he was the more self-assured one was nice for jimmy and tango having a guy who, rather like skizz, was never going to point out much when tango screwed up on account of Pot Meet Kettle was nice for him, and they both know it was nice. they both get more into the teasing now that they know each other better--a big part of the early ranchers dynamic is that they Did Not Know Each Other but now that they DO it's starting to settle into something shaped more like the kinds of relationships both tango and jimmy tend to have (and they are BOTH the kinds of people to have a lot of friendly mocking in their relationships i wouldn't be surprised if that gets Even More in the future)--but i think out of everyone they probably remember the soulmates thing the most fondly, given the degree to which they are still Buddies.

etho and joel are... good lord the boat boys. on the one hand: clearly they both still enjoy pointing out that the boat boys happened. joel gets... weirdly jealous of other people hanging out with etho? on the OTHER hand they seem determined to murder each other so so so bad. i like to think that their soulbond is a thing they look back on fondly from this but ALSO they both have such weird commitment hangups and bloodlust that maybe the fact they want to kill each other SO BADLY was inevitable. also interesting, though, is how much of this bloodlust comes from etho, given that normally you'd expect joel's relationships to go the other way. what i THINK is happening is that joel still feels a lot of loyalty towards the boat boys somewhere in his head (hence the jealousy and not typically being the one to lash out), whereas etho thinks of it as largely Done and Past, but thinks of it fondly--hence bringing it up every time he has to kill joel, and also the weird tendency to gravitate towards joel specifically. I DON'T KNOW MAN I WOULDN'T HAVE PREDICTED BEFORE LIMLIFE THAT BOAT BOYS WOULD BE THE SOULMATE PAIR THAT WERE WEIRDEST ABOUT EACH OTHER BUT HERE WE ARE,

anyway i just think it's funny to look back on the various soulbonds and realize which ones have had a big impact on sticking around and which ones haven't, you know?

[jugheadthelesbian]

(note before this rant!! i acknowledge that i only refer to women and men in this post, which is not to say i don’t also recognize the lack of support towards ccs who r neither, it is just not what this post is about!)

what really bothers me about the mcyt fandom is how for the YEARS i was in it i begged for people to pay attention to women ccs and no one batted an eye. for years i wanted friends who knew ldshadowlady like i did. wanted people to appreciate niki the way i did. sat in niki’s live stream as she cried bc of the way she was being treated. was one of the few people who watched every single video lizzie made. adore creators like stacyplays and shubble and amylee and squashey and puffy and ihascupquake and laurenzside and so so so so many more. now some of these creators still make content and there r new creators like gem and pearl and cleo and im not as into mcyt as i was but people still r just talking about the men.

and don’t get me wrong, there r SO many men ccs who i absolutely adore and love but i watch history repeat itself every single day. i saw it with stampy and dantdm and their popularity over creators like squashey and stacy(and lizzie bc yes she made content way before she was on the life series). i saw again with the favoring of men on the dsmp over niki and the horrible way the fans treated her. and again when joel became outrageously popular and people ignored lizzie. and i see it now with the way ccs like grian r favored over the women on hermitcraft(which also there r not that many women there in the first place so).

and it is frustrating because people say that they support women ccs but will talk more about the men always. it’s showed in the fanwork differences, in the dialogue used to describe ccs, in the environment created in the mcyt fandom, in the way that i probably named many ccs u have never heard of before but u could name three times the number of men ccs. in many people’s minds, minecraft, like most video games, is seen as a men dominated space and fandom but minecraft, like most video games, has so many amazing women creators that r not just side characters, but people with amazing stories and talent and humor and u just need to open ur eyes.

[laurentidal]

Domino

Ashley decided that the underclassmen girls needed some bonding time with their captain. The girls hadn't been focused recently and if the team was going to make it to states, they'd all need to be on top of their game.

The drive into the mountains was long and boring, but Ashley knew how effective the drive could be. As each of the girls drifted off to sleep in the back of the van, the driver raised the partition. Ashley sat beside each one in turn and whispered to their sleeping minds. They weren't under her control. Not yet. But she'd found that she could make a lot of progress with talking in their sleep.

She told them about teamwork. She encouraged listening and obeying their captain. And she told them that it felt so good to do as they were told. By the time Bethany woke, her nipples were clearly visible beneath her shirt and Deanna left a small wet mark on her seat.

Erica was the easiest to sway. A small golden coin spinning on the table after their first dinner was all it took. The other girls were cleaning up in the kitchen while Ashley slid her finger into Erica's dripping pussy. The girl's eyes never left the coin, even as she chanted, "Yes Ashley" over and over again.

She caught up with Deanna the next morning. Ashley slipped into the bathroom while the sophomore showered. Ashley couldn't see Deanna through the curtain but she spoke to the girl as she put on her makeup in the mirror. Explained the way water could wash away all your thoughts and cares. Explained how the warmth could get inside you and make you hot. Before long, she heard Deanna moaning her name and she knew she'd gotten her.

Cleo and Ashley took a run that afternoon. Soon every footfall was like the tick of a metronome pulling Cleo deeper and deeper under Ashley's control. Fortunately the lake was secluded enough for Cleo to eat her out right there on the trail.

Bethany was the last, but eventually even the hard-headed blonde found herself staring into the spiral on the television and fingering herself stupid.

The last day of "camp" came and Ashley was thrilled with their progress. Each one now knew what all the others tasted like. Ashley herself had cum more times than she could count. She gathered them all on the dock and spoke their Words one at a time. Erica falling into Deanna falling into Cleo falling into Bethany.

Her slutty little dominoes had two more hours of fun before the driver returned for his payment.

Thanks for reading! If you are a fan of my work, consider buying me a coffee. Any contribution is insanely appreciated. 💖

[mcytblrconfessions]

All of the double life duos were great, but i wish cleo and martyn were appreciated more by the fandom, they were hilarious and i really hope one day they team up for real

[raribella]

To Say “I Love You” Right Out Loud | JJ Maybank

summary: JJ revisits his childhood and how he grew up with you through every side of life until he finally understands why this makes you so special

pairing: JJ Maybank x Routledge!reader

genre: fluff, a spark of angst

contains: a combo of “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell and Love Actually (2003), mentions of death and child abuse. John B and JJ are childhood friends in this. I don’t know how to write dialogue. Drug usage (beer, weed).

word count: 6k

author’s note: I was immediately triggered by Joni’s astonishing performance at the Grammy’s and by remembering that the song is in one of my favorite movies. This is my favorite fanfiction I’ve probably ever written and I put so much time and love into this I really hope you like it.

This is a work of fiction. I do not own the characters of Outer Banks nor any characteristic of the show. I am writing this story solely for my own entertainment and the marvel or comfort of any readers.

Rows and flows of angel hair, and ice cream castles in the air; and feather canyons everywhere. I looked at clouds that way. But now they only block the sun, they rain and they snow on everyone; so many things I would have done, but clouds got in my way.

College had finally ended. They had finally done it. Against all odds and contrary to the expectations of others, the pogues were finally free to embark on their own paths. And so, they gathered for one last celebration, a bonfire near the Cat's Ass, surrounded by shotguns, snacks, and reminiscing in the familiar feeling of just being together.

Spreading themselves along the space at the Chateau's yard, most of them ended up divided the comfortable water at the tub and the warmth of the fire, their laughter mingling with the sound of running water as they shared stories of what each of them could remember of their time roaming the Outer Banks as this fearless gang; the sentiment of each flashback was being intensified from the time they spent apart. As they were the pogues, it was not like their time together was abruptly interrupted, but the responsibilities and the minor distance happened during college, and they couldn't run away from it's effects; but the memories of those days seemed tattooed into their hearts and minds as they could recall every moment in lighthearted detail.

In a corner of the Cat's Ass, JJ found himself lost in a sea of memories, surrounded by the comforting embrace of his friends. You sat beside him in the water, the coolness soothing against your skin, while Cleo and Pope nestled comfortably at his other side. Outside, John B, Sarah, and Kie laughed and joked, their voices carrying on the night breeze. As he watched them, a faint, nostalgic smile tugged at the corners of JJ's lips, his heart heavy with the weight of their shared history, thinking back on how far they had come. They had started as a trio—himself and the Routledge twins, bound together by fate and circumstance.

The tree of you lay sprawled out on the sand for what seemed like hours, your eyes tracing the ever-changing shapes that danced across the sky. Castles, pirates, turtles—your imaginations ran wild, weaving tales of adventure and intrigue as you watched the clouds drift lazily overhead. At nine years old, you had joined your brother and JJ just a few moments ago, after spending the afternoon at a friend's house watching a Christmas movie, "Love Actually," with her mother.

As you settled into the sand, JJ couldn't resist a playful jab at the movie, dismissing it as a "dumb chick flick." his mind still floated between that child-like distaste of girls and the appreciation of you tagging along with him and John B back then. You swatted at him, your tiny arms barely reaching his chest, but it only elicited a smirk from the blond pogue. It was nice for you to actually share a moment with a nurturing figure at the absence of your own mom, who had just recently left for Colorado. Besides, you had eaten a whole bag of M&M's that she bought for you to share and you really liked the movie, even if it was funny how sometimes Mia's mom would tell you to close your eyes, your ears, or how sometimes you didnt really catch why she was laughing at some weird scene. You just rolled your eyes and brushed JJ's comment off, suggesting the sky gazing then relishing in the opportunity to spend time with him and your brother.

Your days were often filled with moments like this, carefree and full of laughter, the sound echoing against the backdrop of crashing waves. JJ's mother would eventually come to fetch the three of you, ushering you inside for sweet treats and cozy nights spent squeezed together in JJ's tiny room. Or you'd spend hours playing in the grass, watching as the river met the sea, until Big John's bell rang out, signaling the end of another day. You would get home covered in dirt, JJs hair color nearing yours and your brothers, so you would have a nice shower and come out to your dad telling treasure tales and making you hot chocolate.

One day, as Big John finished building a set of three swings for you, JJ's parents arrived. Standing side by side, the couple had brought beer and peanuts to complement what your dad already had inside for the night. That day, you were playing for hours, your small frame struggling to mount the swing until the duo stepped in to help. John B had made a mess while trying to help you hop on, and  JJ stepped forward to push you, but in excited haste, he pushed too hard, and you tumbled to the ground, scraping your knee. As your first cry pierced the air, the adults rushed to your side, JJ's mother soothing your pain with stinging medicine and comforting words.

In the corner of your eye, you caught sight of JJ, guilt etched on his face as he watched you wince in pain. But your brother nudged him, urging him to shake off his guilt and claiming that this was just a mere blip in the larger scale of the adventure you lived today.

And as the sun began to dip below the horizon, casting a warm golden glow over the beach, Luke took charge, setting a bonfire ablaze near the ancient tree in the backyard. The flames flickered casting shadows that stretched out against the sand. You gathered around the fire, marshmallows in hand to be skewered and toasted, laughter filled the air and echoed into the night. The hours slipped away unnoticed, so as the night wore on and the fire burned low, reluctantly, you bid farewell to your blonde friend as he left with his parents.

The life you lived was simple; living in the less fortunate side of the island, you couldnt really enjoy much more than moments like these; the food wasn't fancy, the drinks weren't expensive, your houses weren't pretty and big, so you relied mostly in home made playthings and your own imagination, but you were happy that way; the youthful innocence made all the diferences between you and the kooks be seen with rose coloured glasses, and while in the company of your brother, your best friend, and the team of parents that you saw as guardian angels, it all just seemed warm. It seemed like it would be fine.

One day, though, just as the sky turns cloudy at the end of summer, signaling the onset of storm season, JJ's demeanor shifted, casting a shadow over his usual brightness. At fourteen now, he had been seeming distant and preoccupied at school for weeks, until one day after class, he reached out to you with a heavy heart. Fidgeting nervously, his hands clammy and cold, he confided in you about his mother's illness, the weight of the words hanging heavy in the air. Knowing how much his mother meant to you both, he sought solace in sharing his burden with you, trusting you with his vulnerability. "Mumma's sick, I think... been in the hospital for a while now," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. "But I can't visit because I'm not sixteen yet... I- I wanted you to know, but you can't tell John B." And as you hugged him, you promised to keep his secret, the first one you kept just between the two of you.

And as JJ clung to you and John B in the solemn silence of the cemetery, the stark reality of their loss weighed heavily upon you, casting a shadow over your once bright and colorful world.. JJ's mother's absence lingered like a specter in their home, his father grappled with the weight of his grief, seeking solace in alcohol and spiraling into a downward spiral of despair. The once vibrant hues of their family life began to fade, replaced by the darkness of addiction and aggression. JJ watched helplessly as his father's temper flared more frequently, his outbursts leaving scars both physical and emotional. The sanctuary of their home became a battleground, each day a struggle to navigate the minefield of his father's unpredictable moods.

In the aftermath of his mother's passing and the turmoil within his home, JJ withdrew into himself, building walls around his heart that even his closest friends struggled to breach. He became increasingly unreachable, his once vibrant presence dimmed by the weight of his grief and the scars of his father's aggression. Some days, he would disappear altogether, only to reappear with a purple eye hidden beneath dark glasses, a silent testament to the struggles he faced behind closed doors. And when he did show up, his demeanor was somber, his face etched with a perpetual frown as he rejected activities he once enjoyed. Even cloudgazing at the beach became a source of frustration for JJ, as he lamented the impending rain or the end of summer, his words tinged with bitterness and resignation. As you and your brother looked on, helpless in the face of his pain, you could only watch as JJ retreated further into himself, the vibrant colors of his spirit muted by the shadows that engulfed him.

The tension crackled in the air as you confronted JJ, frustration bubbling to the surface like a storm about to break. "Why won't you just watch 'Love Actually' with me, like, once? It'd help distracting you, y'know!?" you demanded, your voice tinged with exasperation. "You can't keep avoiding fun, JJ. You can't lose hope and light just because things are tough."

But JJ's response was sharp, his tone laced with bitterness. "Those things are for kooks, y/n" he retorted, his words heavy with the weight of his pain. "Pogues can't afford to indulge in luxuries like love and hope. We have to focus on surviving you know."

Your heart sank at his words, feeling the distance between you grow with each passing moment. "If you really look for it, JJ," you countered softly, your voice barely above a whisper, "I've got a sneaky feeling that love is all around. Even for us Pogues." But JJ's expression remained hardened, his walls firmly in place as he turned away, the gap between you widening with each step he took.

John B stepped in a while later, his voice calm but firm as he defended his friend. "He's been through a lot," John B interjected, his eyes meeting yours with a mixture of empathy and understanding. "Give him time, he'll come around. I know he will."

But despite John B's reassurances, the weight of your worry and frustration bore down on you like a heavy burden. Unable to contain your emotions any longer, you sought solace in the arms of your father, tears streaming down your cheeks as you poured out your heart. "I didn't mean to be petty," you sobbed, your voice choked with emotion. "But I'm just so worried about how Luke has been treating JJ. I miss him, Dad. I miss the way things used to be." And as your father held you close, comforting whispers soothing your troubled mind, you cried yourself to sleep, longing for the comfort of simpler times and the warmth of JJ's presence by your side.

A few days after the heated exchange, JJ found himself drawn to the familiar solace of the beach. As he laid alone on the sand, the rhythmic sound of the waves echoing in the background, he cast his gaze upward, chuckling at the shifting shapes and colors of the clouds above. Yet, amidst the tranquility of the moment, a pang of longing stirred within him.

Reflecting on recent events, JJ realized that he had begun to see clouds from two distinct perspectives—from the highs and lows of life's tumultuous journey. But amidst the solitude, his mind drifted to an understanding; to how he seemed to have looked at clouds like this from two different perspectives now, from up and down, and still he would recall better colorful and elusive memory of your company. He remembered the joy of pointing out funny shapes at the sky with you and your brother, laughter echoing into the vast expanse. It was a memory painted in hues of warmth that contrasted with the darker shades of recent events. In that fleeting moment of recollection, JJ yearned to return to that moment exactly, to say sorry, at least. And alone at that same beach, he felt like he had a perspective of a future for the first time in a long time. He wanted to see if he truly knew clouds at all, or if there was a new side to it.

JJ was abruptly brought back to reality by Pope's punchline of a memory of his own; he was retelling the story of how he met Cleo at college, and how she wouldn't have passed half her subjects f it wasn't for him. As the group erupted into laughter, he did the same to mask the fact that he had zoned out for a minute, but JJ's gaze instinctively sought yours, his heart yearning for the comfort of your smile. And as his eyes met yours, a warmth spread through him, his thoughts drifting to another memory

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels; the dizzy dancing way that you feel as every fairy tale comes real. I've looked at love that way. But now it's just another show, and you leave 'em laughing when you go. And if you care, don't let them know, don't give yourself away.

At sixteen years old, you had a full understanding of the dizzying, electric sensation that washed over you whenever JJ emerged from the sea, his board in hand. It was a feeling that stirred deep within you, igniting a spark that refused to be extinguished. Yet, despite the intensity of your emotions, uncertainty plagued your heart. You couldn't decipher JJ's true feelings for you; for every significant gesture or word he offered, there was an equal measure of aloofness or distance.

There were moments when JJ's actions spoke volumes, leaving you breathless with hope and anticipation. But just as quickly, he would retreat into himself, leaving you to question whether his affections were genuine or merely fleeting. And then there were the times when he would disappear into the crowd at a kegger, his attention captured by another girl, leaving you to grapple with the ache of unrequited longing.

Fearing the consequences, you kept your emotions hidden from your brother, John B, despite his keen intuition and suspicions about your lingering glances. Instead, you found solace in the companionship of Pope and Kiara, the only other pogue girl. Your friendship with Kiara blossomed rapidly, providing a safe haven where you could confide in her about everything, including the complexities of your feelings for JJ, seeking her guidance and understanding.

In December of that same year, a vivid memory remains etched in your mind—the day JJ was meant to pick you up from work and take you to the Chateau to meet up with the rest of the crew. Kiara had proposed the idea of a secret Santa, with the stipulation that the gifts could only be candy or chocolate—She herself aiming to guarantee that she'd get a bag or two of Sour Patch Kids. As you exited the souvenir shop, clutching your own "Paradise On Earth" cap, you spotted JJ waiting for you by the Twinkie—the van John B claimed would be safer than the bike. With both hands hidden behind his back, you shot him a questioning look. "Hello?" you greeted tilting your head slightly to the side, to which he responded with a playful smile, feigning surprise at seeing you. "Oh, hello ma'am, your carriage is right here!" he exclaimed, extending his arms towards the open door of the van, one hand tightly clutching something that piqued your curiosity. Hopping onto the Twinkie, you couldn't help but wonder about the mysterious object as JJ closed the door and took his place behind the wheel.

During the ride, JJ attempted to coax the name of your secret Santa out of you, but you remained tight-lipped. Upon parking the van at the Chateau, he sat in silence for a few moments, and you studied him intently. "Oh, before I forget," he said non-chalantly, reaching into his pocket and offering you the object he had been concealing—a ceramic lobster adorned with a tiny Christmas hat, clearly crafted by him. "This is for the nativity scene you keep in your room, I just didn't have time to make the other one..." he explained, a hint of nervousness in his voice as he confessed that he hadn't received your name for the candy exchange but couldn't bear to leave you without a gift.

You stood in awe for a moment, marveling at the thoughtful gesture and the evident reference it held. JJ's apprehension melted away as your eyes met his, a radiant smile spreading across his face. "Wait, wait, wait... Are you trying to tell me that there was more than one lobster at the birth of Jesus?" you quoted, teasingly. JJ rolled his eyes playfully, completing the reference with a loud "duh!" his laughter mingling with yours as you stepped out of the car into the moonlit night, making a lighthearted entrance at the Chateau and eliciting a knowing look from Kiara towards John B.

As time passed, you welcomed Sarah into the fold, introduced by John B with starry-eyed affection that spoke volumes of their budding romance. With the dynamic between her and Kiara settled, John B wasted no time in proudly declaring their relationship to the group—a declaration met with hugs, smiles, and lighthearted jokes about not hurting each other.

One day, Sarah suggested a surf trip to a lesser-known beach nestled between Figure 8 and the Cut, its pristine beauty a sight to behold with crystalline waters and powdery white sand. As you surfed the afternoon away, basking in the warmth of the sun, you found yourself sprawled on the sand along with the rest of the group, supporting yourself on your elbows and catching your breath as you watched JJ roll a joint with practiced ease. "I like this shit," JJ declared, his voice tinged with a hint of defiance. "We can be neglected misfits or whatever, but I love leading this life with you guys. I don't even care about what people think of me! "long as I have a board and you guys, 'm gonna be saying I'm rich... Especially if I have this!" He gestured towards the joint, his words met with cheers from the group.

Your smile started weak but grew as the group cheered. In that moment, you felt a sense of family, and your appreciation for JJ weighed heavily on your chest. Despite the challenges, he had found a way to see life in a positive light, even after Big John went missing. As the wind blew sea salt into your eyes, you turned your face toward JJ. "Yeah, yeah… you know, I keep saying it… but if you really look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that—"

"Y/n, if I hear that quote just one more time!" Sarah interrupted, and the others joined in with her lighthearted protest.

With time, JJ's behavior became increasingly perplexing since after sharing moments like this, he would leave you alone, retreating into the company of the other Pogues with a suddenness that felt jarring and awkward. His focus would shift, his attention consumed by their own banter, leaving you to wonder where you fit into the equation.

It was during these moments of isolation that doubts crept in, whispering of insecurities and unspoken fears that lingered just beneath the surface. Wondering if you did something wrong, you couldn't help but feel a pang of longing as you watched JJ immerse himself in the dynamics of the group, his laughter mingling with theirs as you stood on the sidelines, a silent observer to a world that felt increasingly distant and unfamiliar.

One morning, as you shuffled through the Chateau's corridors, the aroma of breakfast lingering in the air as John B shuffled through the kitchen, you noticed JJ's door ajar. You peeked inside with the intention of wishing him a good morning, only to be met with a sight that shattered your makeshift reality of him. JJ hovered over another girl in his bed, their closeness echoing a betrayal that left you speechless.

"Hey, whoa! Sorry!" His voice softened as he realized it was you, not your brother, at the door. The shock on your face was palpable as you hastily pushed the door closed, shaking your head to dispel the image burned into your mind. Stumbling down the corridor, you muttered a distant "morning" to Kie and Pope, who were still groggy on the couch, woken by the commotion.

Throughout the day, both JJ and yourself moved in a state of flustered avoidance, exchanging glances laden with sheepish guilt. JJ's eyes mirrored the remorse of a caught wrongdoer, but you couldn't summon anger; instead, you carried the weight of hurt and confusion, grappling with the realization that he wasn't yours to claim.

As the day waned and the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow over the Chateau, you found solace on the hammock. With the remnants of the day lingering, you confided in Sarah about the events, the words tumbling out as the weight on your chest grew heavier. The hammock cradled you in its gentle sway as another day ended, leaving you to confront the tangled emotions that now clouded the once-clear skies of your friendship with JJ.

JJ vividly remembered June of the following year, with your birthday fast approaching. Usually, you wouldn't stop talking about how much you loved having your birthday during the summer, and everyone would plan something special to mark the occasion. Kie and Sarah would always get you fancier gifts, like a new top or necklace, while the boys made sure there was a cake to share, probably under the tree lights at another night spent at the Cat's Ass, chuckling at the stupid name JJ had given to the tub.

But this year was different. You and the girls wouldn't stop talking about this idiotic touron, Jeremy, who had apparently flirted with you when you helped him at the store. Now, your attention seemed solely focused on him, much to JJ's annoyance. He rolled his eyes and huffed aloud whenever Jeremy's name was mentioned, with Pope nudging him to keep his cool.

"He's gonna take me to a summer fair," you grimaced, looking into the mirror as Kiara clasped a necklace around your neck. Sarah and JJ hovered on the kitchen counter, Pope sat on the couch, and your brother leaned against the doorframe of your room with a protective frown on his face. John B always believed you and JJ would end up together, and he felt safe with that perspective because he knew and trusted JJ. But that didn't happen with Jeremy.

Across from him, you, Sarah, and Kie giggled with scenarios and provocations, "What if he brings you a giant teddy bear and tries to win you a goldfish?" Kiara teased, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

Sarah snickered. "I can already picture it!"

Meanwhile, JJ fought to keep a frown from appearing on his own face. He was unwilling to let you know how he really felt about the situation, and he avoided giving his jealousy away to his friends. As you exited laughing with the guy in his car—a godforsaken Jeep, for crying out loud—JJ was still unknowingly clenching his jaw, his mouth twisted in a disgusted frown.

Sarah, the only one still outside by now, smiled to herself and snuck up on him before reaching a hand to pat his back. The gesture was meant to silently convey far more than his poisoned mind could grasp at the moment.

He chuckled at that memory; you had to endure a girlfriend of his own during college, and he watched as two or three other guys broke your heart as well—he wanted to go out there and punch them every time, but preferred that only John B externalized that thought. From those memories, he realized he had looked at love from both sides of it with you, from give and take, but years later he wasn't so sure if you'd be keen on the idea of him ever again. JJ turned to you in the tub, whispering, "Where's that lobster I gave you that Christmas?" You were a bit taken aback by his sudden recall but smiled back, mimicking the tone of his voice, "Been keeping it on my bookshelf all year long now."

John B and Sarah were now playfully arguing about the two perspectives from when she joined the group, with Kie tagging along to remind them of how they had to make amends beforehand. It made JJ come back fully into the scene. As he looked around, he realized they were sitting in couples, at least Pope and John B, and he held back a nostalgic smirk at the thought of how his younger self would react to both his old friends now "pussy whipped," stuck in relationships and breaking the "no pogue on pogue macking" rule—he didn't know love at all.

He was different too, at least Kiara said so, coming at him a few days ago before graduation with a whole "you've changed, became more yourself and know how to separate what you went through from what you are, I'm so proud you're opening the surf shop—but please make it eco-friendly" speech. It was nice to look back and realize how his years and moments with the Pogue family kept balancing out all the rest. Now he would open a sick surf shop, Poguelandia flag above it and all, right in the corner from the souvenir one you worked since you were fifteen—he didn't know if you had bigger plans than that after graduating though, but that was an uneasy thought he preferred to ignore.

Tears and fears and feeling proud to say, "I love you" right out loud! Dreams and schemes and circus crowds, I've looked at life that way. Oh, but now old friends they're acting strange, and they shake their heads and they tell me that I've changed. Well something's lost, but something's gained, in living every day.

Kiara was the first one to leave, claiming that this was really good and that she knew that with the pogues there were never really goodbyes, but that she had an early morning tomorrow with a sea-turtle project. Then, as the fire died out and the minutes turned into hours, the two couples left as well. Pope and Cleo claimed that they still had to shower before going to bed, and John B only snuggled with Sarah, pushing her towards the house. As the couple giggled, JJ noticed from his peripheral vision when you jiggled your eyebrows at Sarah, but the blonde only winked at you, pointing at the both of you at the tub before turning back. You sighed, distancing yourself from him now that you had more space in the water, and JJ held back a smile as the tree lights illuminated your pink cheeks. At twenty-two, he felt just like a teenager in that moment.

There were a few quiet minutes then, you were looking intently at him, drawing each of his features with your eyes as if trying to tattoo the image of his wet torso on your brain, but JJ didn't notice; he was lost in thought, provoked by being alone with you again. JJ realized that ever since he could remember, even though your brother was his de facto best friend and even as the group grew larger, you were there. For every phase and every belief that each one etched into him, you were there. As he looked at both sides of life, at win and lose, you were right beside him, either winning and losing as well or just supporting him emphatically through it.

Somehow he could always just recall how his pogue life acquired a rose-colored filter with you in it; he'd recall life's illusions with you at his side. You were there. You were it. And he didn't know his next step at all, but he wanted you in it; ached for it even.

He feigned cold as an excuse to get you both out of the tub, grabbing the one towel thrown onto a chair and wrapping it around you as you exited as well. He threw a familiar, amicable smile in your direction to disguise how he was, again, lost in his own train of thought. A hand rested on the small of your back as he led the two of you to the Chateau. As you got to the front porch, the other reached for your pulse gently, trying to stop you from entering. JJ became conscious of how he was dripping onto the wooden porch, but he didn't care, calling you by your nickname in a low voice. He was acting fast, planning something but also acting instinctively, intending to speak just from memory.

"Hey, uhm..." he stopped himself again as your eyes locked onto his, growing a little bit nervous now. Your eyebrows shot up expectantly, and some of your hair was sticking to your wet face. You'd be the death of him.

"With any luck, by next year, I'll be going out with one of these girls..." Your brows pinched, and eyes flashed with recognition as JJ shuffled his phone, some drops falling from his hair onto the screen before he turned it in your direction with a picture of Kendall Jenner and sliding his finger so it would also show one of Giselle Bündchen. You laughed, gulping expectantly.

"But for now, let me say, without hope or agenda, just because we finished college— even though it's at Christmas that you tell the truth." You chuckled again, but felt like you were hyperventilating, unable to believe that this was really happening to you. Much less that JJ Maybank had memorized a scene from the "dumb chick flick" you obsessed with since you were a mere child. You battled with your own feelings as you tried to let him finish.

"To me, you are perfect, and my wasted heart will love you until you look like this..." He shuffled again with the tiny screen, a smirk on his face as he turned it to you. A photo of a very old and wrinkly woman made you chuckle. Under it, it read "former surfer lady turns viral as she advises to the risks of not wearing sunscreen." You couldn't hold the cackle that left you at that, not even worried about the rest of the group sleeping inside the house, which made JJ smile widely as well.

"Oh my God! Oh my God, I love you..." A loud sigh met a sob halfway as you looked up, feeling pounds lighter after saying so naturally something you had been burying for years, feeling absurdly proud of just that. "I love you so much, what the fuck! I've loved you forever." You beamed at him again, relief written all over his face as he said it back proudly. "I'm sorry for the wait; it wasn't on purpose—Swear it." He grabbed both your cheeks as you laughed, smiling from ear to ear as his face etched closer to yours by the second. Your noses were touching already when he whispered in a low tone, "fuck, y/n..." as your mouths glued together longingly.

The world seemed to fade away as your lips met, a rush of warmth spreading through you as if the sun had risen inside your chest. JJ's touch was electric, sending shivers down your spine as his hands cradled your face gently, his fingers tracing the curve of your jawline. Every moment felt like an eternity as you lost yourselves in the kiss, the taste of saltwater, beer and weed mingling with the sweetness of the moment.

For JJ, it was as if everything he had been holding back, every unspoken word and hidden feeling, was finally pouring out into this one embrace. His heart raced in his chest as he kissed you, his mind buzzing with the realization that he had found something truly precious in you. It was a moment of pure, unadulterated bliss, a culmination of years of friendship and longing finally coming to fruition.

As you pulled away, breathless and flushed, JJ's eyes bore into yours, filled with an intensity that took your breath away. In that moment, you knew that nothing would ever be the same again. You had crossed a threshold together, stepping into a new chapter of your lives filled with love, laughter, and the promise of a future together. And as you stood there, wrapped in each other's arms, you knew that this was just what you wanted; like you were made for just that.

"I don't even want to come inside, I don't wanna-" you said, sighing mid chuckle, "don't wanna do anything right now, God, JJ, I'm like in a haze!" He clung to you, chuckling, his hands going to your arms, your neck, your hair—he wanted to touch all of you. "Always have the hammock..." he suggested, and you rushed your way there as if just walking would make you lose any time with him.

After you spent a while staring at the stars in the sky, listening to the chirping of crickets in between small, sloppy kisses, JJ sleepily muttered "I feel like I'm fucking high right now," you both laughed "like I'm floating—life accomplishment kind of thing." you swatted at his chest, lightheartedly telling him to stop being silly before readjusting in the wet towel that served as a blanket for the two of you.

Wrapped in each other's arms, you drifted off to sleep, the sound of the river running to meet the ocean lulling you into a state of contentment. In that moment, nothing else mattered except the warmth of JJ's embrace and the soft rhythm of his breathing. It was a moment of pure bliss, a fleeting glimpse of perfection in an imperfect world.

The warm rays of the morning sun gently kissed the faces of the sleeping pogues as they stirred awake, the sounds of birdsong filling the air. Stretching and yawning, they emerged from their makeshift beds scattered across the Chateau, the pull-out couch and matresses on the floor.

As they gathered outside to clean the space free of empty cans and wrapping paper, rubbing the sleep from their eyes, John B's gaze was the first one to fall upon the sight of JJ and you nestled together in the hammock, still fast asleep. He nudged Sarah first, but soon a collective smile spread across their faces as they exchanged knowing glances, a silent understanding passing between them.

"About time," Pope muttered under his breath, eliciting chuckles from the others.

John B grinned, looking at Sarah. "Looks like our boy finally made his move."

Sarah rolled her eyes playfully. "Took them long enough," she teased, but there was genuine warmth in her voice.

Kiara smirked, crossing her arms, she showed a satisfied facade even though she was jumping inside, bubbling with happiness for the both of you; the sparkle of her eyes being hard to hide. "Well, better late than never, I guess."

With a chorus of laughter and gentle ribbing, the pogues left JJ and you to enjoy your moment together, the feeling was that their little family had just grown a little bit stronger. You had woken up the moment the front door banged back against it's frame as it closed the first time, but feeling JJ's chest under your head, you decided to just keep your eyes closed, fighting a grin to show on your face at your friends' commentaries. You were home. And you only wanted to know life now if it was by JJ's side; especially if he'd be scratching your hair like he was doing just now, half a smile on his lips—"Did I take that long?" he questioned, jokingly.

"A lifetime."

If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love, actually, is all around.

[araybiaaa]

“𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓”

rafe x sofia

“HOW’RE you feeling?” Rafe asks, his hand tentatively lingered on Sarah’s shoulder in a comforting gesture. Their long journey from Morocco back to North Carolina in addition to JJ’s macabre death had taken an emotional toll on everyone.

Kiara looked shattered. She sat in her seat, unmoving, with only her bottom lip trembling as tears stained her cheeks. Cleo and Pope were consoling each other, her head tucked on his shoulder as his expression reflected one of anguish. John B sat on the other side of Sarah; his elbows rested on his knees as he buried his face in his hands completely heartbroken.

He looked over at his sister; equally as broken as her friends, mourning the loss of someone she loved. He knew that JJ and Sarah had developed a close relationship over the years. He became a pseudo brother to her, seemingly filling the void of Rafe’s absence.

Admittedly, he was a bit jealous at this realization. Because he’d tried so hard to reconcile with her and yet it seemed as his unnoticed attempts meant nothing to her. She had replaced him with JJ and the rest of the pogues. He was envious of their relationship as a group; at how they became the family Rafe wished he and Sarah could be again.

But now, Rafe realized that when JJ died, Sarah lost a brother, someone who was there for her in the times that he wasn’t.

She chuckled wryly, shaking her head as she ran her hands through her hair. “It still doesn’t feel real,” She murmured, wiping her face with the back of her hands.

“I’m sorry,” He laments sympathetically.

While his relationship with JJ wasn’t as amicable and familial like theirs, it seemed cruel that the universe would take away someone so young and effervescent like JJ.

Sarah nodded, giving him a feeble smile. She reached a hand over and intertwined her fingers within John B’s who still seemed to be paralyzed in his own disassociation. “It feels wrong going back there without him, you know? Out of all of us he was the one that lived and breathed OBX.”

“The poguiest pogue,” Rafe accents.

Her smile is a little disheartened as she nods her head in agreement. “Yeah,” Their remembrance of JJ retracts John B from his reverie. He’s blinking rapidly through his foggy vision, choking on a sob, overwhelmed in his grief. And Sarah’s catching him as he falls against her chest—releasing a guttural cry that nearly has Rafe tearing up.

He offers his sister’s shoulder another consoling squeeze before he leans back in his seat to allow Sarah and John B some privacy.

…

They return home a few days later.

As they begin to disperse off of the boat, Rafe approaches Sarah, still admittedly hesitant. It seemed as if she’d forgiven him for his past wrongdoings enough to want to reconcile their tainted relationship, but he also wasn’t certain if she’d done that in that moment or if she truly did want them to be a family again. (He desperately hoped it was the latter.)

“You guys need anything?” He offers, wanting to extend his consolation as much as he could.

Sarah shakes her head, “No. You’ve helped us enough, seriously Rafe. You should go home and see Sofia. You’ve been gone for weeks. I know she misses you,” She contends, giving him a small appreciative smile that substitutes for a furrowed frown when she notices the despondent look that marred his features.

With the chaos of events that occurred, he had momentarily forgotten about the news of her betrayal and their breakup. Rafe was completely taken aback when Chandler informed him of Sofia’s deception.

At first, he assumed it was a ploy to pull a reaction from him but then Chandler said Sofia’s name—and it only took Rafe a second to realize that he’d never introduced the two of them to one another—and then the recollection of their conversation on the beach when he was proposing to her, of Sofia looking guilt ridden about something—that’s when the gut wrenching realization suddenly hit in an ambush.

Chandler wasn’t saying it to deceive him, he was saying it to taunt him. Because he knew that Sofia had conspired against him with Hollis and that Rafe was completely oblivious to it all.

Maybe it was his fault for getting distracted, for holding onto the foolish belief that he had found someone to love and that reciprocated that love for him. He was naive to think Sofia was different; that she wasn’t like everyone else in his life who sought out to hurt him.

He fell in love and got attached to this idea of them building a life together. Hell, he even proposed to her with his mother’s old ring, ready to turn into a family man all for her. But it’s obvious that while he was falling in love, she was concocting a plan with Hollis to scam him out of millions. With the year and a half of dating, Rafe thought he knew Sofia enough to believe that she didn’t care about the luxuries of money, that she liked him for who he was not what he had.

But he soon learned that people’s intentions weren’t always innocent and they aren’t always who you perceive them to be.

“What’s wrong, trouble in paradise?” She asks, through genuine concern that’s worn in the furrow between her brows.

Rafe hesitates, recoiling a bit before shaking his head. Sarah had endured enough drama to last a lifetime in these past few days, his and Sofia’s relationship issues seemed comically trivial in comparison. It seemed redundant to even bother mentioning it with everything her and her friends are going through.

“Uh, no, everything’s uh, everything’s good,” He placates, nodding his head as he gave her a feeble smile. She narrows her eyes at him in disbelief. She looks like she wants to interrogate him further about it and pry the truth out of him, but she relents in doing so, probably too exhausted to do anything else other than lay down.

She stifles a yawn behind her hand, her eyelids lower at her exhaustion. “Okay. Well, I should get going,”

Rafe nods, “Yeah. Right.” His eyes wander to the rest of the pogues. It’s only been a few days since JJ died but he knew they’d be carrying the weight of his death for the remainder of their lives. “I’m gonna get going too. Call me if you—if you need anything or if you just want to talk or whatever. I’m here.” He offers her in consolation, only a slight bit aghast (though pleasantly) when she approaches him and embraces him in a hug.

And unlike back in Morocco, he’s not apprehensive to reciprocate the embrace as he wound his arms around her and held her tightly against his chest.

…

Walking through the front door of his house, Rafe immediately feels numb. In what was supposed to be a jovial return coming back home to Sofia, he was left with an emptiness that clawed tightly at his chest, the only remnants left in its wake were the memories of her before he knew.

How could she do this to him?

He thought she loved him.

He thought that the vulnerability, feelings and time that he shared with her actually meant something—that it was real. But it’s evident that while it was everything to him it was nothing to her. He meant nothing to her.

Exasperated and completely depleted, Rafe groggily ascends up the stairway that lead to his bedroom. He needed a proper day’s rest and a temporary distraction to get his mind off of Sofia. But more importantly, he needed to fucking shower and scrub off all of the dirt and grime that clogged on his skin.

Trekking into the bathroom, he approached the shower where he crouched over slightly so that he’s able to tug at the knob. Water emerges from the tub’s faucet as he turns it on, adjusting the lever to the right as hot water filled inside.

When the water’s temperature is at his satisfaction, he turns on the shower until water’s spewing from the spout of the shower head. Rafe doffed out of his clothing, tugging at the hem of his sweatshirt until he's shrugging it off of his shoulders as it falls to the floor with a soft thud. His briefs and pants soon accompany his sweatshirt as it lay at his feet, a discarded pool of fabric.

He withdraws the shower curtain back, setting one foot after the other onto the shower floor as he stepped inside. Condensation from the shower’s hot temperature clouds the room in a steamed fog.

He steps beneath the shower head, allowing the water to fall against his skin. Just as he opens his eyes to reach for his bottle of body wash, he sees a bottle of cucumber melon shampoo tucked on one of the shelves.

He remembers the smell of it; of how he’d bury his face in her hair whenever they were cuddled together in bed and how the saccharine fragrance enticed him as it lingered in his nostrils. He remembers using his fingers and scrubbing a palm full of it against her scalp as he washed her hair whenever they showered together.

His throat bares as his emotions heighten.

He clenches his jaw, inwardly chastising himself for getting emotional over a fucking bottle of shampoo. He was being pathetic. He needed to move on and forget Sofia.

But how could he move on from a year and a half relationship that he cherished more than anything he’s ever cared about? Ridding his thoughts free of Sofia, he proffers his hand past the bottle of shampoo and reaches for his body wash.

He squeezes a dollop of it onto his wash cloth before he begins to scrub his body clean. He lathered the soap laden cloth across his body, starting at his arms then proceeding downward to his abdomen, thighs and legs before he rinses himself off underneath the shower head again. He continues this process until his body’s no longer caked with junk and the repugnant smell of sweat and salt doesn’t stick to his skin anymore.

Rafe steps out of the shower, grabbing a cloth towel from the linen closet that he uses to scrub himself dry. Just as he’s sauntering back into his bedroom to retrieve his clothing, he’s aghast when he sees Sofia stuffing a pile of clothes into a bag.

“What the hell are you doing here? I thought I told you to get your shit out of my house weeks ago,” He reprimands, wrapping his towel securely around his waist as he watched her jump startled at his stealth approach.

She rests a hand over her chest, attempting to lull its erratic beating as she closed her eyes and murmured a soft curse. When she comes to, she blinks her eyes back open and stares at him. Her expression weens into one of remorse—she nods, timidly writhing her hands together as her eyes met his—doe and solemn. And Rafe has to momentarily look away from her when his feelings begin to overwhelm him.

“This is the last of it. It’s been hard trying to get over here to get everything. I’ve been too busy working,”

He chuckled wryly, nodding his head. “Yeah, well, now that you have everything you can get the hell out of my house.”

Sofia nods somberly. Her bottom lip catches in between her teeth, her eyes lower abashedly to the floor. And damn her for making him feel guilty when she’s the one that lied. Even when he’s supposed to be mad at her, he’s still guilt ridden at the abrasiveness in his tone as he speaks at her. He could feel his defenses wavering, nearly conceding mercilessly to her pleading doe eyes and deepened pout.

But his anger and hurt prevails.

“I can’t believe that I thought you were different. But you’re just like everyone else, huh?” He accosts accusatorially, shaking his head as he looked at her. “Was that your plan all along, trick me into falling in love with you so you could help Hollis and Chandler scam me out of my money? God, Sof! I trusted you!”

Sofia’s eyes turn glassy as she begins to cry. And it takes everything in him to not walk over and brush her tears away.

“I didn’t mean—” She bit on her trembling bottom lip, exhaling shakily as she struggled to catch her breath. “Everything that I feel for you is real. None of it was a lie. The only reason that I did it was because I was hurt. I overheard you talking about me that day and I acted on impulse.”

“You overheard me talking about what?” Rafe inquired, folding his arms against his chest.

“You, Topper and Ruthie talking about me not being good enough for you. About you saying that you have standards and that you’d never live with me or call me your girlfriend,”

He murmurs a soft curse.

He was unaware that she overheard their conversation. But it wasn’t as if he actually meant anything that he said. He only said that to keep Ruthie from interrogating him about their relationship; what he and Sofia had was sacred and special and he wanted to maintain the privacy of that so he just said what he knew would satisfy Ruthie’s drama seeking.

It hurt having to trivialize their relationship, but he did it for them. What Sofia did was solely for her. She broke what Rafe tried so hard to build, rupturing his dream of their happy ending.

Rafe nodded slowly, kissing his tongue against his teeth. “So, instead of coming to talk to me about it you choose to go behind my back and lie—”

“I wasn’t thinking. And believe me when I say that I regretted it immediately after. That’s why I told you not to go through with it! I tried to fix it, Rafe. I didn’t mean for it to go this far.”

Part of him believes her.

But another part of him, the one that’s acting on his emotional irrationality, was too heartbroken to trust her. It wasn’t about him losing the money, it was about her breaking his trust. He’s had too many people fuck him over in his life; from friends to his own family, the one person he thought was different was her.

She started off as his confidant, his solace in the constant chaos that erupted in his life. Now? He didn’t know what to believe.

“Rafe—”

“You should go,” Her face blanches at his dismissive demeanor. “Make sure you leave the house key and the ring on the nightstand.” Rafe gives her one last look before he pushes himself off of the dresser he was leaned against, turning around to rummage through his drawers for some clothes.

He hears Sofia’s sniffles as she walks past him. The clinking sound of metal as she set the ring and key on the dresser ricocheted throughout the quietness that filled the room. He only turns around when he hears her footsteps descend down the stairs and out the front door when it closes shut.

Rafe runs a hand wearily down his face, “Fuck.”

…

“You’ve been mopin’ ever since you got here bruh,” Barry reprimands, bringing his can of coors up to his mouth as he gulped down a swallow. He belches, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees. “What’s got you down, country club? You got your money back didn’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Rafe nods, exhaling a deep sigh of exasperation. He couldn’t stop thinking about his conversation with Sofia. He laid awake all night, a prisoner to his insomnia, recalling her confession as he was tormented by the remorseful look straining on her face.

He contemplated on his response.

Did he overreact? It wasn’t like she didn’t try to tell him the truth but maybe if she tried harder then he wouldn’t have been so blindsided. He fucking hates this. What he hates most is that he feels so lonely in the house without her there. He couldn’t sleep, not when the smell of her shampoo still lingered on the pillowcases and the vacancy of the space beside him where she previously slept, reminded him that she was gone.

He was miserable without her.

But he was still too heartbroken to forgive her.

Barry raised a curious brow at Rafe before simpering in amusement. “Ah, you must be mopin’ over shortie. What’s her name again, Stephanie?”

“Sofia,” He corrects, reaching forward to rummage through the cooler to grab himself another can of beer. “And no, it’s not like that. We’re not together anymore,” He murmurs as he pried open the can. The froth of the brewed drink fizzles until it eventually subsides.

Rafe parts his lips and brings the can up to his mouth chugging it down in nearly one gulp. He only coughs a sputter, groaning as the beer pooled in his stomach.

“Woah, woah, what happened?” Barry inquired curiously, his body language engaging as he leaned forward in his lawn chair closer to Rafe. “I thought y’all were in love?”

“I thought we were too,” Rafe says sardonically, chuckling in disbelief as he ran a hand over his buzzed hair. “You know that I proposed to her? I gave her my mom’s old wedding ring, told her that I wanted her to move in with me so that we could build a life together…how fucking stupid was that?” He laughs, though it’s devoid of any mirth or comedic hubris.

Barry whistled as he leaned back in his chair. “Damn, you proposed to her? I don’t know, bruh. It must’ve been serious enough for you to do that. What happened?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Rafe shrugs, “We’re done,”

Barry gives him a disbelieving look, but thankfully, didn’t offer any input rebuffing against his claims even though they both knew he was still sulking in his misery of her. And before Barry could continue with any more prodding, Rafe’s popping open another beer and chugging it down, allowing the alcohol to lull him in a stupor.

…

Her head aches from all the crying she’s done; her throat’s scratched and her eyes are nearly swollen shut. He hates her. This realization dawned upon her immediately, causing her eyes to weld and a heavy sob to catch in her throat. She didn’t know how everything went so wrong so fast; how one minute she was bathing in glee at the thought of a life with Rafe to now mourning the loss of their relationship.

When she learned of Hollis’ murder, she tried to tell him about her involvement but he told her that he didn’t care about her past or what she’d done so she reluctantly decided to move on. Because if he was willing to overlook anything she might’ve done, she knew that he had to truly love her.

She didn’t think that the happiest moment of her life could be snatched away so quickly. What hurt her more than anything was Rafe second guessing her as if he didn’t know her.

How could he disregard their entire relationship with such insouciance like that? She’s aware that she made a mistake co-conspiring with Hollis, but how could Rafe treat her like this? He told her that he’s done stuff too—way worse than she could imagine but apparently, that meant nothing to him anymore.

A knock against her bedroom door has her groaning softly. She’s been barricaded in her room for days, sulking in her misery and she knew that her placating reassurances that she was fine had finally started to become unbelievable to her father after the third day.

“Cariña,” Her father laments, opening the door as he sauntered inside. She blows her nose into the waddled up piece of tissue, sighing wearily as she resisted the urge to cry again.

“You’ve been in here for days, it’s not healthy for you to sit here and rot in your bed all day.” She knows that he’s right, but she was in an insufferable amount of pain that he just couldn’t understand. “That boy doesn’t deserve your tears,” He condemns and she knows he’s prepared to give her a parental spiel about how Rafe wasn’t good enough for her to begin with from the way his lips purse in a thinned frown in that familiar way it always does whenever he’s about to give her a stern talk.

“Papi,”

Her father murmurs a low curse, shaking his head. “Pinche cabrón! I should drive right over to figure eight and tell him—”

“Papi, Rafe didn’t do anything. It was me.” She confesses, knowing she couldn’t let him continue his berating of Rafe when he didn’t even know the full details of the situation. Of her responsibility in this. “I did what Hollis wanted and he found out and broke up with me,”

Her father’s anger slowly subsides.

He gives her a sympathetic look, his own guilt surfacing at the realization that he was the one that initially came to his daughter regarding Hollis’ offer. But he shouldn’t feel any responsibility because Sofia decided to betray Rafe and now she was dealing with the repercussions of her actions.

She musters enough strength to go to work the next day. It was the last place that she wanted to be, but she knew she couldn’t prolong her return any longer if she wanted to keep her job. She’d already used enough of her sick days and unfortunately didn’t have any more to spare.

So she clambered out of bed, showered, primped herself up with a little bit of makeup to hide the drained pallor of her skin that became flushed from crying, and drove to work inwardly preparing herself for her eight hour shift. It was torture; having to smile in customer’s faces and engage in conversations with them like she wasn’t suffering on the inside.

“Valdez,” Her head turns at the sound of her manager, Leo calling out her name.

He’s standing at the counter behind the register, ringing up a current customer’s total. “Table 7 has been waiting for almost five minutes. Sandra’s on break. Could you handle them for me?” He asked, while handling the customer over their drink.

Sofia nods, knowing that his asking had no effect on her doing so anyway. She walks over to the counter and reaches over to grab her pen and notepad. Her eyes wander around the outside seating area narrowing in on table 7. She halts mid-gait in her steps, eyes widen in shock as she hurried back to the counter.

“Leo, can Paige or someone get that table?” She asked, inwardly hoping that he wouldn’t further inquire or prod her of why she didn’t want to wait the table.

But of course he did and Sofia wasn’t able to stammer a believable enough excuse to get her out of the situation.

“Is there a reason why you can’t do it?”

Yes, but the reason is so pathetic that you’ll end up sending me out there anyway so there’s really no point in me trying to fight against it. “No, sir. I’ll get right on it.” She gives him a forced, feeble smile before turning around to head back to the table. Her smile immediately drops, transitioning into a sullen frown.

She inhaled and exhaled deep breaths as she began to approach the table. Her eyes wandered between the two of them, already feeling a tightening grip coiling in her stomach. She wanted to run, cry, vomit, disintegrate into the very ground that she was walking on. Because just when it seemed as if her days couldn’t get any worse, she turns to see that the table that she was forced to serve was Rafe—who was accompanied by a blonde girl who’s standing so close to him that she’s nearly cemented at his side.

Sofia swallows the thickness of emotion that clogs in her throat, harrumphing softly to announce her presence. Rafe and the blonde were in deep conversation, but at her beckon they turn around in tandem and look down at her. And she’s suddenly flush in chagrin.

“Hi, my name is Sofia and I’m your server. What can I get for you guys?” She tried so desperately hard to maintain a neutral demeanor, but the longer she stood there the more she could slowly feel herself beginning to succumb to her emotions and starting to crumble.

But she couldn’t; not right here and work. So she bites down on her bottom lip to keep it from trembling and rapidly blinks away her impending tears.

“I’ll just have some mozzarella sticks and a beer,” She answers as Sofia scribes down her order. She taps her pen against her notepad while she waited for Rafe.

“I’ll just take another whiskey.” Sofia writes down his order as well, briefly looking up at them and catching a haste glimpse of Rafe’s gaze.

She quickly pulls her eyes away, “I’ll be right back with your order.” She says, placating a genial smile on her face before turning around and walking away.

Once she’s inside and out of their view, she squeezes her eyes shut and released a deep, shaky breath. Had he really moved on that fast? It was only a few weeks ago that he was crouched down on his knee proposing to her and telling her that he loved her, now here he was, nearly parading another girl on his arm at her job. Was he doing this just to spite her or to get a rise out of her? Did he really not care about her feelings anymore that he was willing to result to such petulant tactics like this?

While the chef’s cooking the food, she goes to the bar to retrieve their drinks. She snags a cold beer from the refrigerator then fills whiskey into a glass. She places everything on a serving tray, inwardly preparing herself to face him again.

“Here you go,” She announces as she places their respective drinks in front of them along with the plate of mozzarella sticks. “Alright. Let me know if you need anything else,”

Sofia tries to not ogle unabashedly as he watched the two of them interact—at how the blonde’s smile widened at whatever coquettish remarks that Rafe was feeding her and how he had fallen into his role of interest with such ease. The blonde had moved closer in Rafe’s proximity, brushing her hand against his forearm before giggling girlishly at his words.

They were openly flirting in front of her.

He was doing this on purpose, trying to punish her for what she did to him. And as much as she knows this and knows that she shouldn’t allow his childish behavior to effect her, it does and she could feel the tears that she’d been trying to hard to suppress suddenly falling from her eyes and fogging her vision.

[historical-kitten]

Women of the Late Republic of Rome & Early Roman Empire on a Modern Date

Cornelia Cinnae

She is absolutely lovely and a sweet soul. The kind of woman you would give up a dowry, your inheritance, and your priesthood for even under the threat of violence. Her ideal date is a tour through a large, public garden. If you end up together, you'll stay together since she inspires that kind of devotion.

Calpurnia

'Stand by your partner' is her motto. Feeling like being Emperor? No problem. She will support you! She'll also finance your date and take you to a public festival to show off your relationship. (Watch out for nearly naked men with crowns.) If she happens to have a weird dream, just listen to her, okay?

Servilia Caepionis

She will take you to a remote, romantic place with candles and gauzy curtains. Dinner AND breakfast will be in bed. The conversation is stimulating, she's beautiful and intelligent, and she knows all the best gossip in town. She will send love notes to your Senate meetings/workplace during the day.

Fulvia Flacca Bambula

She tends to prefer handsome individuals, but once she's loyal to you, she'll be your Ride or Die. (And she doesn't care who has to die to get what you both deserve.) Date wise, Fulvia would enjoy something active and exciting. Take her to a sporting event, a Ninja Warrior competition, an escape room, or go on a hike. She'd love to follow that with a sumptuous dinner and the severed heads of your enemies laid before you in time to enjoy dessert.

Livia Drusilla

Much like Fulvia, this woman is an ideal partner for those who want power. Unlike Fulvia, she's subtle about it. Livia is clever, influential, and could be the perfect politician's wife. Due to her work ethic, she could use a relaxing spa date that includes a massage. Don't worry, the poisoning thing is only a rumor. (And doesn't everyone deserve better than Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus?)

Octavia Minor

An absolute sweetheart, she is the kindest of the bunch and "a marvel of womankind." Octavia loves the arts, so heading to an art museum, a play, or even a poetry reading would be appreciated. This woman will literally go to the ends of the earth for you--including Athens after you finish a terrible military campaign. She's the complete package, but keep two things in mind. One: she comes with children and most likely will adopt more. Two: she also comes with her brother Octavian/Augustus as a possible new in-law.

Porcia Catonis Brutus

Affectionate and intelligent, she's a deeply loyal choice. She will remind you of your good qualities and keep you on the correct path so long as you trust her with your burdens. She will even support your need for a political assassination. Her ideal date may actually be a masquerade ball. You get to dress up, dance, wear masks, and it would really be a perfect time for a side meeting of similarly inclined couples. (Possibly Junia Tertia could come with her partner, for instance.)

Clodia Metelli

Her ideal date involves listening to you read her poetry and then a nice picnic outside. She enjoys discussing philosophy as well as every political player in town. She's charming and experienced, just don't expect it to last or you'll end up like Catullus.

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopater

Her charm is famous throughout multiple lands and her wisdom and prowess equally lauded. Not only is she a brilliant politician, she is interested in science, the arts, and can speak over seven languages. Cleo is an amazing partner and her love is worthy of fighting a civil war over. Seriously. As far as dates, she would enjoy a scenic, luxury cruise on the river. Just beware that once you have her in your life, you will be unwilling to live without her.

Julia the Elder/Julia Caesaris filia

She is a very passionate woman who loves literature, culture, and a good nightlife. If you take her on a date, expect to either go for a night of pub crawling or to a fancy cocktail party complete with glittering outfits. Julia wants a good time, but her kindness and empathy are famous, as are her quick wit and rebellious ways. She is worthy of getting yourself exiled or worse over.

Type of post originated by @just-late-roman-republic-things

So many wonderful women to choose from, it was difficult! I just didn't want to have too many choices... Maybe a part two? Junia Tertia, Tullia, Pompeia, Atia, Julia Antonia, Attica are just a few others I wanted to include.

Also Cleopatra was involved with the Late Republic of Rome so I included her even if she is obviously not Roman herself.

Please reblog if you want and definitely vote for the girl bosses.

[legally-allowed-to-slime]

Can’t even lie man I’ve been offline all day and i immediately went to your blog to read your takes on the session and Pearl n gem n co. after watching some wild life. Thanks for having the best takes lol

genuinely, it’s an honour. crazy to me that anyone would come to this blog for good takes, they never make any sense and i’m always suspiciously resentful towards c!scott. i’ll take this opportunity to lay out my gempearl thoughts as well

first of all, it drives me insane the way pearl usually goes along with whatever scott and cleo says, but the only thing she consistently, and has repeatedly, contradicted them on is that she’s been antagonising gem. in fact at the start of the session scott poked her about it again and she laid out a short monologue to assert that his claims were invalid. funnily enough she goes back on this a few seconds later saying that “i’ll make her have a reason to hold that grudge” which honestly is not helping her case. however if gem can make vague threats about impulse i don’t see why pearl can’t do the same. women’s wrongs and all that.

and then after that scott tells impulse and pearl to apologise to gem and joel. again, it’s a bit odd to me how they keep harping on this bit, but every time they do, all they do is scold impulse for rightfully constantly accusing gem over the cows, and then impulse apologises, yet pearl is still implicated (for NOTHING). pearl did protest this point earlier that she was “just existing”, scott counters that “i don’t know what you’ve done but you’ve annoyed her”, so “keep your distance”.

and to think that the argument only happened because scott made a throwaway comment about a “request” he had for pearl if she wanted a life from him. i feel like he meant it as a funny aside and expected pearl to just shut up and take it, but pearl never shuts up and takes it so that’s the problem there.

also, on secret life: pearl argues that she was right to ally with scar, which like, okay, fair enough, but scott says that “it takes time” and that “look we’re together” i’m not sure why he’s under the perception that GGG is in anyway functional or healthy considering he himself is trashtalking impulse and pearl with gem geminitay (ok sorry i’m just salty over him being buddy buddy with gem). at one point cleo goes “we have to be enablers” (lowkey incorrect because pearl hasn’t done anything, you can’t enable someone to just do nothing, but i appreciate the sentiment) and pearl just starts. throwing eggs at the ground. really funny out of context.

now for the actual gempearl interaction (we get like one and a half per episode i’m actually starving). they’re so obsessed with each other. trust me i said so. pearl beelining to gem to say “hi gem! :D” and gem beelining to pearl to punch her and say “go home pearl” oh they make me ill i feel like they’re just constantly on each other’s minds. the problem is that we haven’t gotten a good gempearl interaction because when they’re near each other their allies are also hanging around, so it always ends up with gem getting glazed by scott or pearl getting distracted by bigb or something like that. it’s such a pity because gem specifically went to find the 4Gs’ base but she went to the old one instead of the new one where pearl was hanging around so we could have potentially gotten a 1 on 1 shiny duo interaction this session (i’m not sure about the timeline there) but we DIDN’T because gem’s not talked to the 4Gs enough to know that they moved bases. grrr.

and then gem drops the anger for a bit to encourage pearl to kill grian. i have NO idea what that’s about, i feel like she’s just into bloodthirst in general but what it does remind me of is her trying to convince pearl to kill the ender dragon in SL, coincidentally, when pearl was impulse’s butler. and now she’s encouraging pearl to carry out what impulse wants. i don’t know. maybe her type is murderers and she’s trying to give pearl a chance. or something

anyway as for the other half an interaction where gem finds etho pearl and cleo at her base, gem reverts back to loudly disparaging pearl within earshot. i feel like she’s nailed “ex who really wants you to know that you’re exes”, and pearl getting so indignant about it she can’t even form a sentence for a few seconds is great actually. might be a reach but whether on hermitcraft or life series, pearl tends to stumble over her words a lot when directly challenged by gem, which is probably just because she’s thinking hard on what to say and is sleep deprived half the time. but i find it pretty telling that pearl doesn’t say anything back to gem and just. leaves. it’s very obvious she’s still down bad for gem in a way but gem is intentionally making it very hard for pearl to remain so.

last paragraph. when joel visits pearl at their new base, joel is happy that pearl called his build a car and said she liked it (pearl likes cars fork found in kitchen). so joel and pearl are on good terms, which i expect would lead to interesting dynamics but at the same time joel would definitely follow gem’s lead over maintain that friendship but still his perception of pearl now is positive. so that’s intriguing

song of the day is down bad by taylor swift. trust me guys they want each other so bad

[cattimeswithjellie]

Server Tour Stream Recap (Gem POV) 6-13-2024

((It's finally done! It's 13,000 words long! It is also available on AO3 (as are all the other recaps) if you can't read it here, just look for my username Etraytin!))

1:55 Gem opens the stream and greets the chat. She’s inside her base, grabbing rockets because today is a special day! She’s streaming a Hermitcraft meeting, which is weird, but this meeting is actually a server tour where everyone will get a chance to see one anothers’ bases. The tour was Joe’s idea and some people will be streaming, some recording. Gem already recorded today, so here she is!

3:00 Gem joins in on the server tour voice group, where the Hermits are complimenting each others’ weird outfits. Ren is showing off his new skin, a Gigacorp space suit. Cleo tells him he no longer looks like a kid who dressed himself. Ren tells them that was the mission, to regain some semblance of dignity. Cleo would not go that far. Gem adjusts the sound levels to make everyone more audible, just as Cleo asks everyone who is streaming to mute for a moment. Apparently she has more to say about Ren’s outfit. Joe and Gem both confirm that they will not be deafening. Cleo tells Ren she will talk with him later about the thing she just noticed about his outfit. Ren doesn’t like the sound of this. Bdubs asks Ren where exactly the pink stripe is on his outfit. Ren, somewhat defensively, says it’s on his belt buckle. Cleo is still laughing. Joel crouches for a good look as Bdubs decides he knows everything he needs to know. Joel makes a comment about something peeking just a little bit. He could be talking about the microphones, sure. Gem scolds the Hermits, reminding them that Cleo wasn’t even going to say it! Cleo admits that wasn’t what she was going to mention. Ren admits that he’s just sen what the other Hermits are seeing, and he hates his life. He tells everyone he’ll see them next season and leaves the game.

5:20 Gem checks volume levels with Chat, just as Jono raids into the stream. Chat is real distracted by Ren’s outfit, but they attempt to participate in the volume check. In the background, Joe explains that he has four shulkers of lava to represent the lava pool from the start of the season, where they’d once intended to meet to kick off their world tour. The Hermits begin digging a new lava pool. Ren comes back and says this reminds him of 1.7, just flat grass and lava. Gem has missed Joe’s explanation of why they are digging the lava pool, but she has to resist the temptation to knock her friends into it. She punches Joel instead, who tries to shoot her with an arrow. Cleo really hopes that Hypno, whose yard the new pool is in, chose this exact spot to log out.

7:30 The question is raised, whose base to visit first? Xisuma is the obvious choice, being as how it is literally right there, but he claims to be “wildly unprepared.” Joe suggests that this will just make the other Hermits feel better about their own bases. They wait for everyone to join who is coming, while Ren appreciates the Eye of Sauron (Cub’s glass firework) staring down upon them all. While they are waiting, the group resumes teasing Ren. Cleo jokes that if Ren thinks eyes look like that, he should see an optician. Xisuma asks Ren how many fingers he’s holding up. (“One stump,” Ren answers accurately.) Gem comments on Ren’s brand new facial hair. Gigacorp Ren has been working hard and has had no time to shave.

9:20 Gem thanks subs and donos, then authorizes her mods to ban a chatter who is misbehaving. Ren wishes he could grow a nice beard IRL like Bdubs. Bdubs is of the opinion it is as much a burden as a blessing. He is clearly trying to make Ren feel better. Bdubs and Cleo debate whether Johnny Depp is still a sex symbol. The guys jump in on the side of Johnny Depp. Joel claims that his granddad is a sex symbol and he’s 80. Joe guesses that Joel’s grandfather is Mick Jagger. Cleo doesn’t want to hear about anybody’s grandfather being sexy. Gem is visibly rebooting on her facecam, trying to figure out what has happened to the conversation during her thirty seconds away. She demands to know what they are even talking about. Joel tells her nothing, it’s fine. She begins punching him in the direction of the lava. He sets her on fire. She scolds him for being violent. Chat says nobody should set Gem on fire during pride month.

10:50 Cleo demands to know if there’s actually a way to stop Gem from punching people. Joel says sure, just hit her back (with a fire aspect sword, apparently). Gem says that Joel can, with the heavy implication that she doesn’t believe Cleo has Joel’s skill in hitting back. Ren says this is all a very wholesome start to their evening of base tours. The Hermits gather around the lava pool and demand Xisuma jump in so things can be just like they were in Episode One. Xisuma welcomes everyone to the first mini world tour of the season and jumps in the lava. He catches on fire and is extinguished by the others. They all feel very nostalgic about it. Cleo asks if this means Demise is starting again. Joe says it’s time to go trap Bdubs. Bdubs is unenthusiastic. Gem punches Joel one more time to show she will not be intimidated, and then it is time to go!

11:50 Joe asks what inspired Xisuma’s base design, he says “Stuff I saw on Google.” It’s a loose interpretation of Aztec building design. The garden is the first stop, Gem loves it. They discuss his garden design, which makes use of cherry leaves to drop petals and the new tuff blocks. Cleo critiques the sinister aesthetic of X’s villager farm, but Gem is distracted by a palm tree made of diamond blocks. This was a payment from Keralis, who has too many diamonds. Joel is jealous and complains that nobody is buying his honey, still. He doesn’t have the honeycomb permit and nobody wants honey blocks. Cleo says that they will all buy honey from him now just to stop him complaining about it. Gem does not mind the complaining and heckles Joel about how much better honeycomb is than honey. Bdubs asks why anyone would ever need a whole stack of honey blocks and asks if Joel sells individual blocks. Joel says sure, but they’re six diamonds so you might as well buy the stack for the same price.

14:30 Gem wanders into the storage room and exclaims over the massive wall of brightly-colored shulker boxes. The group has broken up by now. Xisuma leads everyone into the storage room, where they agree with Gem’s initial impression of “_so many_ shulker boxes.”Xisuma explains that behind the extraordinary number of shulker boxes is an extraordinary amount of redstone. He has a shulker unloader and all the boxes are filters to sort into. He also has a shulker box mod that puts a picture of the item on each shulker box, rather than being an enormous blank wall of shulkers like it is to Gem and Chat. He explains a bit more how the system works while the Hermits make an enormous racket opening shulker boxes. Joe asks what a potion of strength is for and why Xisuma is making them. Xisuma has no answers for him.

16:20 Gem wanders away again, down a labyrinth of underground tunnels. Xisuma explains that he wanted to connect the two halves of his base, but he decided to make a twisted and turning tunnel rather than a straight shot. Bdubs appreciates how mazelike it feels. Gem slides down the up side of the honey elevator amd gets stuck, losing track of the others in the process. False and Doc are also stuck, so at least she has company in the claustrophobic space. They figure themselves out and rejoin the group, except for Joel who is stuck in a spiderweb and Doc, who is stuck in the elevator. Now that Gem has figured it out, she loves the honey elevator. Bdubs finds a horse named “Nametag.” Cleo gets stuck in the elevator and declares it broken. The other hermits gather on the roof while Xisuma coaxes Cleo out of the elevator. Gem punches Joe into the elevator shaft but he has figured it out and doesn’t even lodge a protest as he climbs out.

20:10 Xisuma gives up on Cleo and wishes them the best of luck before leading the group on the flying portion of the base tour. Someone, probably Joe, is flying with explosive rockets. Gem exclaims that she has never been to this part of the base before and it is way bigger than she thought it was. It is indeed very large. X says this part is not decorated yet, but it’s for all his autocrafting and tree farms. His combination tree farm/autocrafter can make every different type of wood block. Gem is on the other side of the large space, but the Hermits near the tree-farm area begin uh-ohing as Doc (proprietor of Big Wood) unsheathes his sword. X also shows off his bamboo autocrafting area where he makes mosaic blocks to Bdubs (holder of the bamboo permit) just so he can bother all his friends equally. Bdubs is not impressed, partly because he has a setup like that already and partly because nobody will buy mosaic blocks. Cleo, fresh out of the elevator, says she’s bought some, that she’s been trying to buy stuff off everyone. ((Cleo, the owner of the S-Tier enchanting books permit and the hay bales permit, is somewhere in the top 3 of richest Hermits.)) Bdubs thanks her graciously and says she’s doing a wonderful job. False suggests the reason Xisuma has a diamond block tree is because he doesn’t need to buy anything. Doc heaves a sigh.

22:10 Xisuma wants to make sure to mention that the permits are for selling materials, but if people just want to be given items for free, they can come over here and take what they need. Reactions to this are very mixed, mostly based on who is selling what commodities. Cleo is laughing pretty hard. Doc threatens a lawsuit, which of course segues back into the pig murder saga. Joel interrupts this by killing the horse that has been down in this hole for ages, much to Xisuma’s chagrin. Joel claims it was unavoidable because he got stuck in the water, but Joel’s penchant for horse-murder is well known. Doc tries to use this as proof to Cleo that killing nameless animals in people’s bases is totally normal for this server and they can’t be mad about it, Cleo tells him to come back and say it to their face, see how it goes. Doc decides not to press his luck and demurs, saying Judge Bdubs will decide. Joe has been preparing his arguments and is ready for court! Doc smugly tells Cleo that he’s lawyered up, what do they think about that? Cleo thinks that Doc’s lawyer is very punchable.

23:40 This seems like a good time to move on with the tour. Ren seems like the next closest for a base tour. Ren insists upon full immersion and makes everyone land at X’s base so they can go in through the back door. Cleo says “I don’t want-” and makes some kind of horrible strangled laughing noise even as Bdubs hisses “stop it!” at them. Gem insists that Cleo keep it together, and if they have to say it, they had doggone well better mute first. The whole group is clearly thinking the exact same joke, but nobody else was brave enough to voice it. Ren sighs. Cleo insists that anybody else in the group is allowed to sigh, but not Ren, presumably because this is all his fault and also usually he’d be the first one making the double entendre joke.

24:45 Ren leads the way into the immersive experience of his research base, which is best experienced on foot and with gas masks on, on account of the many extremely toxic gases in the air. Most of the Hermits ignore this warning but Xisuma, the only Hermit who literally has a space helmet as part of his skin, puts on a wolf mask for safety. Ren escorts everyone through the bioscanner that is supposed to detect hostile aliens. Doc plays at not being able to get through the scanner. Cleo suggests killing him and Gem helpfully throws a few punches in his direction. Doc notices Ren’s beard, which he grew during many sleepless nights of researching. Gem admires the many pickles being used in the terraforming, but Cleo points out that Ren will definitely have some kind of alien, non-pickle name to call them by.

25:40 Ren explains that the lore of his base is that it is a pop-up prefab dome placed on many planets and powered by liquid sulfur that is produced by the weird toxic plants that grow up around it. He leads them into the decontamination chamber and shows off the HC10 Lore Capsule, which is full of artifacts from the first stream weekend of the season. He describes his build palette and everyone is actually quiet long enough to listen, up until Gem notices her own heads mounted on the wall of the chamber. Ren is proud of his fighting prowess. Gem admits he is surprisingly good with a trident.

27:50 Ren leads the way to the hangar bay, which doubles as his storage room. Gem is surprised to notice how empty it is, and Ren admits he hasn’t got much stuff in it yet. She is disappointed and says she thought he was so organized. Bdubs points out that it’s easy to organize nothing. Ren shows off the nicely decorated command center and gets a little heckling for his stuffed mailbox. Joel would hate to see what Ren’s email inbox looks like, Ren doesn’t want to talk about it. Everyone admires the computer screens False worked out for Ren’s walls, made of rotated banners on armor stands. Ren apologizes that there is no way out of the hangar bay without flying, so Gem helpfully leaves a scaffold ladder on her way out.

29:50 Ren shows off the microbiomes within his big custom biome, including the fungus-treed Mytreelium Biome. He shows off the “liquid sulfur” lake made of honey blocks. Joel approves heartily and begs people to buy more honey. Gem gamely points out that she can see dirt beneath the honey blocks and it ruins the effect. A deeper lake of honey, maybe even several layers, would surely help. Xisuma finds a little honey-lined cave and jumps in to investigate before realizing he can’t get out. He warns the others not to jump down there. Gem instantly attempts to punch Joel into the honey. Ren points out his mud farm and his stonemasons. The Hermits are very upset about the living conditions for the stonemasons, who do not have gas masks. Ren admits that the civilians here do not have a very long life expectancy. He points out the outer wall and explains that it exists to contain the infection of alien biome on the outside world. “Please come and visit The Infection!” Cleo quips.

32:30 Ren’s favorite part of his base is the exploration truck, which has featured in many of his livestreams already. The Hemits really like the truck. Gem and Joel immediately hop into the cockpit and pretend to drive it, complete with engine noises. When they try to rejoin the tour and see the lounge, Ren scolds them for not driving. Getting out of the truck is harder than getting it, and Joel and Gem both plaster themselves against the door thanks to Doc fiddling with the lever. Everybody likes Ren’s base.

35:00 False is suggested as the next base for touring. She starts her tour at the bridge, where her own severed head is welcoming people. Joel says it’s creepy, she points out that it’s fairly tame compared to what was in Ren’s base. Skizz joins the tour a bit late and tags along. Gem appreciates the decorative melons. False remembers to ask Joel to please not kill her rabbit. She shows off her armor stand work, which Joel interprets as “a child who is also a blast furnace” but is actually a small robot interacting with a potter. Doc makes a reference to the movie Ghost that is enough of a reach that even the Hermits old enough to remember Ghost (1990) don’t get it until he explains it. This is going to be a market area with more armor stand work on the way, according to False.

37:10 It turns out False’s base is much bigger on the inside than it appeared, with multiple layers full of storage and farms. Gem is impressed by the size of the place, though False points out that it’s less impressive after seeing Xisuma’s monstrosity. False’s base does have the advantage of looking less like an enormous hole in the ground, though. Her farms are nicely organized and separated by catwalks. The Hermits are impressed. Doc tries to beg a torchflower off False, but she is firm that he should buy them at the flower shop. Bdubs, obviously familiar with the medium, asks False if she regrets using so much copper in the build. She admits she has had to call Xisuma a few times in a panic because she doesn’t have enough copper blocks for her roof. Bdubs understands completely, but also agrees copper is worth it because it is so beautiful. Joel falls off a catwalk with a scream, Gem is immediately inspired to try and punch Doc in as well. Gem just does, like, so much punching when she is in a group.

39:00 Gem adjusts the volume on Skizz, who is nearly inaudible in the continuing vocal scrum. Xisuma realizes that Skizz is wearing the arrow-through-the-head hat and is amused and impressed. False leads the way to her next building, with Joel and Bdubs passing judgment on her excessive use of copper trapdoors (a judgment clearly motivated by envy). False admits to transitioning to jungle wood for part of the build to save on copper, but it’s still a lot of copper. Joel sounds like he’s about ready to cry, imagining all the copper blocks sacrificed to make what is admittedly a very large amount of copper trapdoors. Chat is worried because they can’t hear Skizz, but Skizz is not talking and there’s nothing Gem can do about that. ((Skizz addressed this in his own stream later, saying he was mostly quiet during the base tour because he likes watching other people interact. He does the same thing at parties.))

40:30 Gem loves all the nooks and crannies in False’s base. False intends to add more paths and bridges, and that she hopes people will be able to get lost in her base. Joel says a lot of bases are like that this season, especially Ren’s once he expands that honey river (hint, hint.) False tells him to wait til he sees the new river she is going to install there. Chat is still hung up on the fact that Skizz’s voice chat icon keeps lighting up when he is not talking, and they are not taking “noise gate issue” for an answer. Gem begins punching him to try and get a verbal reaction from him. He fast-crouches at her instead, which is unhelpful. She asks him flat-out if he is talking and he says no, he’s just listening. Chat is appeased, for now.

42:10 Cleo’s base is next on the tour. Before they go, Xisuma asks Joe if today’s date for the tour is significant in any way, like the server being however many months old or something. Joe says no, it’s just a summer kickoff base tour to see progress. Watchers who have been busy with school exams or joining up for summer can see what’s going on. Cleo once again starts their tour on a bridge, but unlike Ren’s toxic air or False’s severed head, this one’s got a gun! The hermits want to know why Cleo’s got a gun, but Cleo says it’s very important to be prepared. The Hermits declare Cleo to be a doomsday prepper. Cleo leads the way down into their mine, a place Doc obviously associates with unpleasant memories. ((Doc and Cleo are embroiled in a court case over an incident where Doc killed Cleo’s special pig down in this mine.))

44:00 Xisuma asks if they’ve gone past the part where the big hole was. The group arrives at the big hole. Gem immediately punches Cleo into the big hole. Why is Gem like this? No one knows. Joel asks Cleo why she has a big hole. Cleo begins “Well, Joel…” and is immediately shouted down by the other Hermits. Why are any of them like this? No one knows. Cleo says there will eventually be a monster down at the bottom of the hole, when Sodium pulls itself together and fixes its glass lighting bugs. The monster will have huge glowing eyes. Joel asks why the guns on the bridge are pointed at Iskall, rather than down this hole. “Wouldn’t you point a gun at Iskall?” Cleo asks reasonably. Gem agrees that Iskall does seem more dangerous. The others agree. Joel is new, he will learn. Xisuma asks Cleo if they didn’t build a huge monster at the bottom of a hole back in Season II. Cleo’s answer amounts to “what are you, a cop?” but basically there is no connection. Bdubs theorizes that it speaks to something psychological. Cleo admits that big holes are their brand and have been for the past thirteen years.

45:15 Cleo gives everyone permission to leave their hole. Joe is still flying with explosive rockets, which seems painful. Joel sets Gem on fire again but does put her out with a bucket of water. Cleo advises anyone staying behind to watch out for wardens. Ren likes the mineshaft. Joel compliments the length of the shaft, then takes refuge in context. Chat is not fooled, but they are amused. Cleo leads the way into the Engineer’s House which is the heart of their base at the moment. Gem loves Cleo’s corkboard-backed workbench a lot. Bdubs wants to see it real bad, but he is still stuck in the mine. Skizz wanders off into a protected area and is hauled back, but he’s not streaming so no one sees anything.

46:50 Joel notices Cleo’s shop trophies and is impressed and appalled that anyone has made 750 diamonds from their shops. Cleo tell him she has made 2272 diamonds from her shops. Cleo has the S-Tier Books permit and the surprise hit Hay Bales permit and has been doing extremely well for herself. Joel remarks that this is 27 times the amount he has made from his shops. False asks if this means they are getting paid to go on this tour. Cleo asks if she wants some pity diamonds because she will give her pity diamonds. False will always accept pity diamonds. Cleo shows off the storage area. Ren spends a lot of time in here, both because he likes the way running on copper grate floor sounds and also just to steal stuff. Cleo’s armor stand work and decoration in the engineer’s house is on-point, as always. The other Hermits are visibly and audibly mining the house for ideas.

49:00 Bdubs wants to ask a question. He wants to know if Cleo does kitbashing stuff at home. Cleo does not know what kitbashing is, but agrees that it sounds right once it is explained. They lead the way to the wizard’s tower, where a demon may or may not be being summoned. Being Hermits, Gem and the others are unable to resist the lure of trapdoor floors and get stuck in the crawlspace for a moment, but are quickly distracted by the very unearthly-looking creature Cleo has put together in the demon-summoning circle. It is mostly made of skulk, with large flint-and-steel claws, and has a skulk sensor for a mouth. The skulk sensor’s fronds are still gently waving, which makes everything ten times more disturbing. The Hermits are full of delighted disgust for the creature and admiration for the twisted workings of Cleo’s mind. False is not visiting Cleo anymore. Someone asks what its name is, and a brief workshopping session yields “FredJeff.” Gem’s more reasonable suggestion of Jeffred is ignored. Everyone also likes the eyes and parts in jars on Cleo’s shelves. It’s really a very disturbing room. Skizz asks why the compass on the wall is going nuts (It is a recovery compass, labeled a “Magus Reality Compass”) and Cleo tells him it is a reality compass and reality is very thin here. Everyone mocks Skizz for not knowing what a magus reality compass is.

52:50 Gem sees people going onto the balcony and immediately punches Joel off it. They fight briefly and are distracted by the cake-juggling robot on Cleo’s roof. Joe injures himself with another explosive rocket. Gem runs back and forth along the rooflines until finally she sees someone standing close to an edge. She punches False off the roof and is momentarily satisfied. Ren is disturbed by a terrible noise, it is Joe drinking honey because flying with exploding rockets and recovering by drinking honey is all part of the Joe Hills Difference. Joe does specify that he bought the honey from Keralis, probably just to rub it in for Honey-Block Joel.

54:40 Skizz’s base is the next spot on the tour, so the group heads off to his ominous partial-pyramid and mouth-shaped base. Someone notes that it’s Pearl’s birthday. Ren asks if it wasn’t Pearl’s birthday yesterday? Gem explains that both things are true because Time Zones. The group agrees that if Pearl joins the group, they must sing to her. Joe immediately invites her to join the voice group. Pearl messages back that her inventory was a mess, but she is heading over. Skizz lands the grounp in his front yard and explains, somewhat wearily, that it has become a whole thing for him that he saves any gift he is given, including bizarre lawn art. He also has a wall of presents in item frames inside his base. Impulse gave him poop to put on the wall. Chat jokes that Gem is trying not to fangirl over the Eefo (Skizz’s guess-the-build Etho) statue on the lawn.

55:45 Most of Skizz’s efforts so far have been on the pyramid, trying to make a near-impossible maze to challenge their ability to survive. He invites anybody who wants to to strip naked and try to survive. Joel is interested, but intimdated. Skizz says he’s very forward on his dates. Chat has seen Pearl join the voice chat and is very excited to wish her happy birthday again. The other Hermits encourage Joel to strip down and get on with it. Joel asks if he’s going to die, Skizz tells him “Most definitely.” That’s okay, Cleo brought a bed along.

56:30 The next section of the tour is a radio play, with Gem wandering through the exterior of the maze and listening as Joel and Ren try to navigate the dangerous maze. Ren dies almost immediately. Joel lasts a bit longer, but they both die to the magma blocks. False didn’t enter the maze but still somehow falls in a hole and gets stuck. With both contestants dead, Skizz explains a little bit of the maze, how this layer is just about physical survival and getting to the next level. Gem finds Pearl and, of course, punches her. Everyone wishes Pearl Happy Birthday. There is a truly horrifying rendition of the birthday song from all the assembled Hermits as Pearl dodges more punches and probably reevaluates some life choices. Chat is amused and horrified all at once. Pearl gamely declares it beautiful.

59:50 Because it is her birthday, Pearl decides that the next activity is hitting the fish block. The other hermits join in except for Gem, who prefers to punch Pearl some more. Joel punches Gem and tells her that it’s Pearl’s birthday, let her slap the salmon. Gem thinks it sounds weird when you say it like that. Bdubs tells Skizz he should call the pyramid Decked Out 3. Everyone laughs as Skizz vehemently says he would never do that. He asks Pearl if everyone has seen Wordle. Joe points out that Pearl might well be the next stop on the server tour! Pearl demurs, saying she’s just waking up, and Bdubs tells her it’s her birthday so she doesn’t have to do a tour if she doesn’t want to. Gem sneaks away from the group and posts a sign saying “dECKED OUT 3” over the door to the pyramid.

1:00:40 Cleo points out that what Pearl seems to want to do is jump into fire and berry bushes, based on her current behavior. If no Pearl tour that means Gem is next, being Skizz’s next-door neighbor and all. ((It is not entirely clear whether Skizz started talking Wordle to avoid having to show off his massive and embarrassing chest monster next, but nonetheless it worked really well.)) Gem is glad to do her base tour before Joel’s. Joel asks why but she doesn’t want to have to pay him a compliment out loud so just says her base isn’t quite finished. She leads the group into the Collector’s House and talks about how her base is inspired by the video game Dredge.

1:01:20 Gem shows off her fighting arena, but admits she hasn’t fought anyone in awhile. Joel asks if she wants to fight and she says no. This is clearly a lie since at one hour into this stream her Hermits Punched count stands at 13, mostly Joel. “She’s hungry,” Pearl observes. “Back out,” Bdubs advises. The other Hermits back up rapidly into the viewing area, leaving Gem alone in the middle of the arena, laughing. False notices that Ren has not left the sands and is in fact standing there with no armor. “Ren’s volunteered!” she observes. Ren agrees, saying that he will fight Gem, but the weapon of choice will be fish. Gem is unsure about all this, but agrees to fight so long as Ren gets her a fish too. He dives into the water, presumably to collect some fish. Gem sets her spawn.

1:02:00 Ren comes back with fish and sets his spawn as well. Skizz asks if this is going to be a thirty minute battle, then? Joel insists Gem remove her armor. Armed with raw salmon, Gem and Ren engage in a fish-slap battle to the death, witnessed by a third of the server. Gem starts very strong but her usual tactics don’t work too well in a fight without critical hits or weapon damage and Ren defeats her after a protracted battle. It’s an upset, Chat and the watching Hermits are all stunned. Ren admits that the whole thing was a Mission Possible quest. He needed to fish slap someone to death. Ren offers to let Gem kill him and she does not hesitate to do so, plunking his head-trophy down onto the sand.

1:03:40 Gem decides it is time to move on with the tour. Chat is teasing her about being as washed up as Etho, but they are also pleased to have acquired a rare Gigacorp Ren head for the collection. She shows off the anglerfish-shaped fish market and the horsin’ tunnel. False and Cleo have a low-voiced conversation in the background over whether a fixture in the shop is a toilet or just a box. Gem admits she doesn’t have many of the spooky organic elements added to her build yet, those will come later, but Chat wants her to show off her pineapple farm. She leads the way to her decorative patch of “pineapples” that are all Tango heads with armor-stand ferns on them. The Hermits are impressed and creeped out. Bdubs admits he didn’t know pineapples grew out of the ground. Gem shows the group down to her storage room, then shows off her power lines. Pearl plays the “That’s amazing!” horn. Gem demands she put it away, Pearl absolutely refuses.

1:06:00 Gem shows off her new mangrove trees, along the path that will one day lead towards Etho’s base. She explains the strange red rune that will one day play a creepy heartbeat when approached (and explains that this is also not Decked Out 3), and then it is time to go see Joel’s base. Joel’s base is extremely impressive from the sky and the Hermits are exclaiming over it before they even land. Skizz mutters that it feels just great living right next to him. Joel has somehow never noticed the sign left over from the Permit Trials on the chest of his Joel statue, but he sees it now.

1:07:00 Joel stands under his front gate and welcomes everyone to his Japanese cyberpunk-inspired base. He’s terraformed “a bit” of the mountain to make it look better. The first thing everyone needs to see is definitely his little shrine to the Ocean Goddess and her consort, which is of course a statue of Ocean Queen Lizzie and King Joel of Mezalea from Season One of the Empires SMP. Joel’s internet is terrible but his armor stand work is excellent and the statue is quite impressive. Cleo tells him the statue is very cute, and he agrees and says it is because he is adorable. He leads the way up into the city, where a beautiful facade conceals a very utilitarian villager breeder. Gem begins flipping trapdoors. Joel’s city aesthetic is cute little buildings separated by very narrow alleys, so the place is soon full of disoriented Hermits wandering around and trying to find the group. Joel shows off highlights like his mailbox and a fishtank that doesn’t have any fish in it yet. In a little restaurant off the beaten path, Bdubs finds a horse head and gets very upset about Joel’s continuing history of horse murder. Joel says it wasn’t him.

1:10:00 Xisuma asks how many rooms are in this build, Joel can’t even begin to guess. He says probably quite a lot, which seems accurate. Ren wonders, of all the blocks in Minecraft, how many of them have already been incorporated into this city. Joel says he’s trying to use as many as possible to add color and life to the city. He shows off his axolotl tank and the office where he grows his glowberries. He tells the group that, for the benefit of whoever bought out all his glowberry stock, there is more available now. Skizz cheerfully admits he did it for a Mission Possible. Joel thinks that’s a great mission and tells him he should do it again. He has a squid tank and a cactus farm and a tiny little storage room that he is already outgrowing. Pearl doesn’t understand how he can stay organized in such a small storage room. Gem theorizes that he uses every block he acquires so he doesn’t have to store it. Joel admits that there are blocks stored everywhere in random decorative barrels, completely disorganized. Pearl groans in disappointment. Ren and Skizz have found the jacuzzi bath and jumped in for a soak, which is entirely against base tour etiquette. Joel tells them that the water in that tub hasn’t been changed since episode 3, so maybe they shouldn’t be bathing in it at this point.

1:12:00 Ren tries to eat a carrot and accidentally steals a plant from a pot. False yells at him about it. Gem flips a bunch more trapdoors, apparently because she likes the noise. Someone pushes a button and activates the doorbell that Cub made for Joel. Joel shows the way to his honey farm, musing aloud about how awesome honey is and how great it would be if the Hermits decided to buy a lot of it. Ren asks how Joel manages inventory without losing his mind, given his massive build palette. Joel cheerfully admits he loses his mind. Gem confirms this by finding the walls covered in signs reading “BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ.” Bdubs says it’s like A Beautiful Mind. Joel hates the bees, they are annoying, they produce honey and it doesn’t sell. More Hermits should buy honey. “Good job making a sucky product!” Bdubs tells him (or possibly the bees, it’s hard to say.) Chat points out that Xisuma has taken off the wolf mask and is now wearing Gem’s head.

1:13:30 Joel shows off a few more buildings, all of them empty, and admits that’s basically it. He is roundly mocked for that phrasing after showing off his massive and intricate build. He remembers one more thing he wants to show off and leads everyone to the bar. Bdubs asks if there are more horse heads down there and Joel says definitely not. The Hermits are very impressed by the bar, which includes lava walls covered by trapdoors that create glowing designs. Bdubs finds a horse head and starts yelling again. Joel says that’s not his. Pearl points out that Bdubs has murdered plenty of horses this season and Bdubs claims he would never murder a horse. Pearl demands to see his statistics. He says his are broken. Everyone agrees that the build is amazing. Pearl is glad Joel used purpur. Bdubs and Ren ask about the beacon beam, which is candy striped; Joel came up with the idea himself and it is made of stained glass.

1:16:10 It’s Pearl’s time to shine! Joel wants to get a look at Wordle. Pearl points out it’s not at her base, but they can visit it after. She leads the way to her base and starts everyone at her little truck, explaining the lore of her solarpunk base for the season. This truck in particular crafts a button every day and every night, letting her know how long her chunks have been loaded. Etho signs on. Chat is _very_ excited. Pearl leads the way over to her enchanting area while Gem hisses to Chat to stop being such fangirls. Chat will never stop. Pearl shows off the maps on the walls, Ren points out that the maps are not accurate to current time. Pearl explains that they are to show off the history of the neighborhood as it gets built up, and the other Hermits roundly heckle him for not getting that. Bdubs tells him to “Go back to your sulfur mines, you freak,” then apologizes for going too far. Pearl is stunned that everyone used her doors correctly for the first time. Abashed, Gem goes back and flips all the trapdoors.

1:18:30 Pearl shows off her farming, complete with solar-powered irrigation system. Nighttime is coming, so Bdubs deploys his bed, only to have Pearl mine it out from under him. He graciously forgives her because it’s her birthday, but someone else picked up his bed and he needs it back. Ren deploys the bed and sleeps on it, stealing the night while Bdubs sputters. Pearl next takes the group to her starter base and its horrifying doorbell. Pearl has been doing some armor stand work in here and is happy to show off to Cleo, who declares it adorable and cute. Pearl leads the way down to her storage room and its pillager-head-on-a-noteblock that quickly overwhelms everyone’s audio. Etho has joined up with the tour now and Chat is begging Gem to punch him. They believe he came late to avoid obsession allegations at Gem and Joel’s bases.

1:20:30 Cleo tells Pearl she’s going to steal the idea of leather helmets for stools because it is so good. Pearl shows the group her bedroom and Gem attacks the many available trapdoors. Bdubs likes the scale Pearl is using, with three block ceilings that make a more naturalistic environment for people used to nine foot ceilings IRL. Cleo agrees they would like it if there were less of them in there, because having so many Hermits in one bedroom is definitely turning the vibe from coziness to claustrophobia. Pearl shows off her stables and mailbox and some more farming stuff, Gem flips more trapdoors. Pearl acknowledges that she sees what Gem is doing. Pearl is building a solarium for her sniffers and allay, then takes everyone to the purpur farm. It’s very cool-looking and everyone is impressed. Pearl insists on stopping in the middle of the tour so she can collect up the arrows and replant the farm. Bdubs says that is very rude and Joe scolds him for it because it is Pearl’s birthday. Bdubs reluctantly agrees.

1:24:50 Pearl shows the furnace array/bamboo farm Tango helped her build. She points out that her farm makes bamboo planks to put in the furnaces, so she still buys her bamboo from Bdubs. Bdubs is quite pleased about this, but Etho scoffs and says that’s much too expensive, she might as well be burning her diamonds. Pearl also shows off her casual-flex chandeliers, which are made of beacons she bought at Ren’s shop. Etho asks if there is a discount for beacons bought solely for lighting, Ren says there is not. Doc, who has so many diamonds this season that he is using them for redstone building blocks, mocks Etho for being a cheapskate. Gem asks Pearl to show off the pickles in the trees and advertise her shops too. Pearl is pleased to show off her pickle-festooned trees. She has six or seven stacks of pickles spread through her trees for lighting purposes. Joe asks what the white rocket-shaped things are, Pearl explains they are wind generators for a solarpunk world. She also has a copper and cherry watermill generating more imaginary power. Bdubs mentions how much he likes the “apple trees”, custom trees built with berry bushes in them to simulate fruit trees. Joel mentions there are a ton of beacons in this base, and Ren must be really rich. Cleo laughs and suggests maybe Ren should buy honey. Joe says he also buys a ton of beacons, so Ren must be doing really well. Ren thanks him for his patronage but is noncommittal about buying honey.

1:29:30 The Hermits debate who to visit next. Etho is the closest, Gem celebrates this fact by punching him. Etho suggests Tango, but Tango is not participating in the server tour. Etho protests that he shouldn’t be asked to follow Pearl’s beautiful base. Nevertheless, he is next (Wordle has apparently been forgotten for the moment) and he insists everyone must walk up the path to his base instead of flying. He needs to stretch this out as much as he can because there’s not that much to look at. In that spirit, he narrates the whole walk along the path, including the broken guardian farm, the sheep farm, the trident farm, and a nice view of Pearl’s base. He asks Gem to demonstrate the trident farm. She does so, impressing the assembled Hermits who have no idea how Etho isolated trident drowned. Joel nearly dies to the farm while Gem harvests two tridents in less than a minute. Etho offers to show everyone how it actually works, but that’s a lot of hermits to stuff into the redstone of a farm. They move on instead.

1:31:50 Etho leads the way to the main house as Gem cheerfully asks him if he’s put the roof on yet. Cleo can see the sky through the windows, so probably not. Etho admits that the roof is not quite exactly finished yet. He disappears into the house, leaving the Hermits outside. Doc asks if he’s quickly building a roof before he lets everyone in. Cleo and Gem both admire the exterior decorations, full of pink glazed terracotta and potted plants. Gem tells him he’s so cottagecore and it’s really nice. Etho lets them into the house, still roofless. Cleo asks what all the books on the chiseled bookshelves are. He explains that he keeps every book he gets and puts them on the bookshelves. Gem flips a lot of trapdoors and finds a fox named Sly in the back garden. Etho shows off his high-tech storage system, which is wired to show more or fewer bookshelves based on what enchanting level is wanted. Pearl correctly susses out how the redstone is done and is congratulated by Cleo for being officially a redstoner.

1:33:53 Etho leads the way down into his storage system, which is accessed by a drop chute elevator built into the grassy ground. Bdubs says that Joel will be very pleased by the décor, which is chock full of honey blocks, but Joel bitterly complains that Etho didn’t actually buy any from his store. Etho protests that Joel _gave_ him those honey blocks, sent them to him in the mail and everything. Joel reluctantly admits he did do that, yes. It’s more than he sent, though. Etho quietly admits that he does have a honey farm. Pearl comments that Etho’s ceiling has a lot of items in it and he says yes, it’s part of his storage system. He pauses for a moment, obviously trying to decide if there is any way to explain even the basics of his complex but understated storage system to the assembled group, then tell them that it’s too much to explain right now. “Too complicated for us simple-minded people,” Joel translates. “Too complicated for a tour,” Etho offers diplomatically. He shows his dispensing stations for common items like rockets, then leads the way down a plain stone tunnel to his moss farm. The drop is a little more extreme than advertised and Ren dies from the fall. Fs in the chat for Ren. Ren asks “Why me” and is reminded that he’s not wearing armor and thus lacking useful thinks like feather falling.

1:35:40 Etho’s moss farm is a big operation. Bdubs insists they should all go down into the farm, it’s cool down in there. Bdubs is clearly missing his moss shop this season. Gem gets a quick look at the farm before going back to the viewing platform to help Joel collect Ren’s bits and pieces. Pearl complains that huge farms like this are the reason she is not selling any bone blocks or bonemeal this season. Etho asks Gem if she wants to see how fast he can get moss with this farm. She says no because it’ll just make her mad. Joe eagerly chimes in that he wants to see Gem get mad. Etho shows Gem where to stand to catch moss from the farm and pulls the lever to convert away from bonemeal collection. In less than a minute, Gem’s inventory has more than ten stacks of moss in it. She mutters “Oh my god” a bunch of times in despairing disbelief. Cleo tells her it’s okay to cry. Gem’s pockets overflow and she starts yelling at Etho to turn it off. She has two moss farms and neither of them work anything like this. Etho generously asks if anyone else needs moss, Gem yells that nobody needs his moss! Chat is fangirling hard again, as per usual. Several Hermits ignore Gem’s warning and go for the moss; she sets them on fire with her sword. Joe dies of it, though it is not clear whether he was actually trying to get moss or just an unfortunate bystander to a sweeping edge sword.

1:38:00 Joe respawns, apologizing for the mess and explaining that somebody stabbed him to death. Gem defends herself saying she said she would get mad. Joe sighs and agrees that was probably on him, Cleo protests that moss-collecting is not an appropriate motive for murder. Gem is glad that Joe is taking responsibility for his actions. Joe points out that he is the one who said he wanted to see Gem get mad. He got to see with more than his eyes, he saw with his own burning flesh and that’s on him. Chat feels sorry for Joe. Ren is trying to collect his lost bits and pieces, he collects a sword called “Friendship Blade” that is not his. Joe confirms that is his sword, a gift from Cleo. Cleo remembers giving Joe that blade because he was fighting monsters with an iron sword inappropriately late into the season, she is surprised he still carries it. Bdubs, Joe and Doc remain in the list of bases to tour. Joe arrives and collects his own scattered items.

1:40:00 Leaving the moss farm is almost as dangerous as entering it, since the only way in is “Rocket onto a ladder.” The Hermits manage the feat one by one and land on the grass outside. Gem asks Etho to work on that. Cleo asks what is wrong with him. Etho smugly claims that the best thing about his base is that it teaches one how to play Minecraft. Cleo insists that she doesn’t need to learn Minecraft, she does it professionally already. Etho suggests that if someone is unable to get up the ladder, it may be a skill issue. Cleo wants Etho to know that she hates him. Chat loves sassy Etho. The group heads for Bdubs’ base, aiming to land in front of the forest. While they go, they complain about the price of ender chests and everything in the shopping district. Everything is so expensive this season. Gem insists that pickles are cheap. It is unclear why Gem is shilling pickles so hard when she hates Pearl buying them so much. Joe still can’t find his pants. Gem approaches Bdubs’ forest and exclaims over how beautiful it is. She is not wrong.

1:41:40 The group lands in front of the bridge onto Bdubs’ base. Ren asks if they need to change render distances or other visual effects since Bdubs’ base, more than any other Hermit’s, is designed as a visual spectacle. Bdubs recommends setting render distance to 28, so it’s a good thing there are some powerful computers at work here. Brightness also needs to be down to get the real atmosphere. Bdubs leads the way into the forest as he explains he’s trying to focus on terraforming and atmosphere rather than only on buildings this season. Gem coos over a rustic picnic table made of trapdoors. Pearl plays the “That’s amazing!” horn. Gem punches her several times. Xisuma laughs over the fact that Bdubs’ trees are massive, bespoke pieces of art and the Hermits are still drawn to the picnic table first. Gem is so impressed by the picnic table that she doesn’t even flip the trapdoors.

1:43:00 The tour continues into an open space that Bdubs plans to fill with additional forest eventually. Gem tells Bdubs it’s very cottagecore, Bdubs decides he will allow it. He was fighting it at first, but finally he’s accepted it. Joe points out that the actual cottage he built pretty much sealed the deal. He takes the Hermits to his initial starter base, which he only uses for cooking anymore. Cleo finds a memorial marked February 16 and asks what that’s about; it is the date of Bdubs’ Demise death. He says “they” exploded him, Ren corrects him saying “technically you exploded you.” Bdubs has to admit that this is true. He shows the group the silos with his moss farm and bamboo farms. Doc asks if there’s a reason that Bdubs has the most uncomfortable pathways known to Minecraft. (Bdubs’ current paths are rudimentary at best, scattered path blocks and no slabs to soften height changes.) Cleo says it’s obviously for the aesthetics, Bdubs agrees it’s all form, no function. Everyone takes a quick look at the redstone farm inside the silo and then goes back outside to debate the aesthetics involved in putting wood blocks or dirt blocks under wooden path slabs. Gem says she gets yelled at for her slabs all the time, both in the comments and from her own mod team. The mods give themselves mod hearts in the chat.

1:45:40 Bdubs takes everyone into the silo and shows off his bamboo-item-creating machine. It is a structure made entirely of Bdubs’ Perfect Redstone, so while it does work as intended, it has no labels and is somewhat difficult to understand. The cottagecore cottage is actually Bdubs’ mailbox, and Gem declares it gorgeous. The terracotta production area is up next, immediately drawing a “Booooooo” from False and heckling from the others. ((Bdubs holds the plain terracotta permit and is part of the Short-T Alliance, working with Scar and his six terracotta permits to undermine and counter the activities of “Big T,” the Hermit consortium who control the other nine terracotta permits. False, Ren, Cleo and Xisuma are all members of Big T.)) Bdubs tells them to shut up and shows off his organic terracotta production facility where he turns dirt into mud and then dries it on dripstone into clay, then smelts it into terracotta. Even his enemies are impressed by the sheer amount of effort Bdubs is putting int when he could just be digging up terracotta. He explains that his autosmelter is powered by half-slabs generated by his bamboo farm. It’s very inefficient and he does not recommend it. The same could undoubtedly be said of the whole operation, but everyone is too polite to mention that.

1:48:50 Bdubs decides that’s everything he has available to show right now. Cleo loves how everyone is ending their tour with “And that’s just it, I guess!” Xisuma is impressed about the difference in tone and texture keeping brightness at 30 causes. He feels like he’s been missing out and wants to look at other builds in the dimness now. Etho says his build is five times bigger when viewed at brightness 30. Gem asks if it gets a roof as well. He says yes. Chat is going nuts because Bdubs didn’t show everyone his waterfall. Xisuma asks if keeping brightness at 30 makes caving difficult. Bdubs says no, because he doesn’t do that sort of scary thing. Gem gives in to the overwhelming will of Chat and asks Bdubs “Where’s your waterfall?” Bdubs leads the group back to the bridge while explaining about the glass waterfall he built while testing whether it was possible to simulate water textures without water. This waterfall is not meant to be viewed close up and should be looked at from the bridge. Doc, who is already standing on the bridge, claims to be the only Hermit who watches other peoples’ videos. The waterfall really is very striking when viewed from the bridge. The Hermits are very impressed. Chat is pleased. Etho hypes Bdubs up a bit by pointing out that the grass in the forest is not bonemealed, it was harvested and hand-placed by Bdubs while he was building. Cleo says yeah, but that’s because Bdubs is a nerd. Bdubs makes fun of the way Cleo pronounces “nerd” but does not deny it.

1:51:00 Now that Chat has seen the waterfall, the group is free to fly up and over the forest towards Joe’s base. Joe is easy to follow because he is still flying with exploding fireworks and has a big green eruption behind him every few seconds. He does have his blast protection pants back (Cleo had them) so he can survive the flight. They pass Mumbo’s witch farm on the right (or starboard, Joe adds, for people like Gem and Joel who prefer flying spacecraft) and begin to approach the base. It’s spawning in slowly for Gem, but it is clearly massive. Joe explains that what he is building is a 1:1 scale recreation of the Bell Laboratories Research and Development campus in Holmdell, New Jersey. As Joe explains some of the technical specifications of his very specific building plans, Gem and the other Hermits fly around and take in the enormous scope of the area Joe has dug out and is terraforming. Gem apologizes to chat for the Bobby Mod taking its sweet time; she has not been out to Joe’s base in quite awhile and it is very different now. Joe has a lot of beacons up (he tells Ren he’s welcome for the business) and has mined up over a million stone blocks to turn what was once a mountain range into a canvas for development. He has been learning a lot about geometry and also a lot about reading out loud, since he’s been reading Moby Dick on stream for the benefit of his chat while mining on stream most nights. Gem’s chat is impressed by the massive scope of the project unfolding. Joe explains that he doesn’t have any proper buildings yet, and for the moment his storage system consists of themed groupings of chests set up around each beacon. It is easy to find each beacon when he needs something, so long as he can remember what stuff is stored where. Gem lands for a moment and gets punched by Pearl. She punches Pearl back and they both start flying again.

1:52:50 Joe explains that his build is not nearly as detailed as many of the other Hermits’ builds, but it is very large and he hopes it will be useful as a canvas for other Hermits as well as himself. He’s noticed in previous seasons that as the season goes on and Hermits get locked into their base projects, there is less room for creative projects that do not fit within the scope of whatever they have decided to build. The Holmdell campus has plenty of room for Hermit projects of all different types and sizes. Cub has already marked out a place for a labyrinth that he’ll be starting work on soon. Joe also wants to hold workshops where Hermits can teach one another specific skills like creating vehicles or building facade techniques. He suggests that maybe Cleo will teach armor stand classes because she keeps saying she wants people not to have her build every armor stand on the server. Cleo points out that a lot of Hermits are already doing much better on that front this season. Joe agrees with that and says he is hoping his base area will be a community center in the mid to late season. Chat is very on board with Joe’s ideas and wants to subscribe to his newsletter.

1:55:20 By the end of Joe’s speech, most of the Hermits have settled onto various perches near one another, twenty or thirty blocks off the ground. Etho asks Joe if he regrets doing this project in a mountain biome, now that he’s dug it out. Joe says no, but only because he’s decided to not have regrets. Cleo cackles. Joe explains that this region was the closest area to spawn he could get at the size that he needed, and he will just continue doubling down on that decision until he has octupled down on it. Etho notices the froglights and says they look absolutely incredible. People should not be sleeping on froglights. (Etho, of course, holds the froglight permit.) Joel chimes in saying that all the water around here might turn into ice, but you know what doesn’t turn into ice? Honey. Joe agrees and says he surrounded the entire central lagoon with stairs so that it won’t freeze. Etho is impressed. Gem bets some pickles in there would help. Joe says he was kind of hoping a few Hermits might volunteer to do some terraforming around the lagoon, and that rather than being entirely an area for people to do solo projects, people might have fun working in groups or doing terraforming and landscape lessons. Etho listens patiently to all this and then asks “So you’re telling me that if I put a single block in this lagoon, the whole thing will turn to ice?”

1:57:00 Joe confirms that this is true, leading to laughter and calls for the pranking to begin. Joe goes on to point out that even removing or changing one of the source blocks in the lagoon could trigger an icecapade. Chat is terrified at all the potential here. “And you really don’t regret building here?” Gem asks again. Joe is cool with it. He’s living his best life out here, it’s just that his best life looks terrifying to a lot of people. Bdubs asked if Joe knew already that stairs would stop the freezing, or if he had to do the science on that. It seems like very obscure knowledge. Joe describes the rather arduous-sounding process of figuring out how to ice proof a lake, and is interrupted by Cleo asking if they put a block into the lake, how would the ice actually generate? Joe, in true best-life-Joe-Hills fashion, offers to show everyone how it looks. He and Etho both place blocks into the lagoon. Cleo is clearly very disappointed that the ice doesn’t appear and spread instantly, instead generating slowly from the place where the source blocks were disrupted. But eventually, if the blocks are left in place, the whole surface will freeze. Joe tells everyone that he hopes to have the campus open in a month or so, then admits he’s been saying that for the last couple of months. He justifies himself by pointing at a cluster of pumpkins floating high overhead and explaining those are where the surface of the mountain used to be. He’s had a lot to do.

1:59:40 Joe is finished with his tour, so he goes to pass the reins over to Doc. Bdubs interrupts by mentioning a visual glitch he is seeing where things far away are rendering strangely. Xisuma immediately wants to know more. Other Hermits report seeing the same thing, but Gem does not see it with her particular mod combination. As the sun sets, Joe invites the Hermits to take a look at the base from the sky, with the froglights illuminating all the roads. It’s a beautiful sight, looking a little bit like an airport at night and going a long way to highlight what an enormous project this is and just how much work Joe has been doing. Joe is also lucky that Etho has the froglight and stone permits, and has traded massive amounts of froglights for Joe’s massive amounts of stone.

2:02:00 The group head for Joe’s portal to make the long trek to Doc’s base. Joel mentions that the brightness of the froglights looks so much better at lower brightness and that he needs to start keeping his own brightness down. Bdubs agrees, but warns that his own brightness level is the result of years worth of acclimating his viewers to accept the dimness. Last season he was only at 50%, this season he has gone full mood lighting. Joel says he’s just going straight in, cold turkey. Gem points out that Joel does not have a history of being particularly nice to his chat, if one has watched his intros. It takes awhile to get everyone through the portal, due to too much pushing and shoving, but eventually they all make it through and follow Doc north through the nether. They arrive at Doc’s portal, which is surrounded by ominous-looking machines. “Why do I feel like you have a plan for vengeance right now?” Bdubs asks plaintively.

2:03:00 Doc insists her is not planning anything, this is just a bunch of random machines. Here is the honey farm, here is the cannon that shoots people to the world border, here is the warden transport system, etc. The other Hermits are giving the machines a very respectful distance. Doc’s portal is literally on fire so there is less pushy-shovey on this trip through. They emerge in the main area of Doc’s “home,” an open cobblestone platform high above a swamp biome. Xisuma warns everyone to watch their step. Gem immediately attempts to punch Joel off the platform. He punches her off the platform instead. She and the other Hermits begin flying around to investigate the area as Doc explains what is a massive cluster of superpowered farms and indecipherable redstone. He shows off his massive storage system, making Joe laugh at the idea that people need bulk piston storage for their five shulkers of pistons. Granted, given the farms around here, five shulkers of pistons seems like it might be an average afternoon out here in the swamp. Below the storage area is a supersmelter with 160 furnaces, and next to it is an autocrafter system designed to mimic a crafting table on an enormous scale and that will craft any item the user desires. The Hermits think this is very neat. Etho remembers that Doc did something similar to this in Sesaon 9, but Doc explains that having autocrafters in the game has made the whole business a whole lot easier.

2:05:30 Doc says that’s pretty much it as far as his base goes. It’s clear that his base is very large and incredibly complex, and that there’s enough to keep a tour busy for days, if only that tour group was made up entirely of high level redstoners who know better than to stick their fingers into every chest and punch one another into the complex machinery. Bdubs asks for a demonstration of Doc’s dark oak farm, which produces truly insane amounts of output when it’s up and running. Doc says sure and leads the way over to the massive redstone contraption that is his wood farm. Gem asks if there’s anything they shouldn’t touch. Cleo and False immediately and simultaneously say “everything.” Doc tells them to stand out of the way and don’t touch any levers, and that this machine will do 160k saplings per hour. He explains that there is a llama that is a critical part of the infrastructure that will allow him to place the saplings properly. Etho warns everyone not to place anything accidentally into the huge stacks of clay pots running along the sides of the farm. The Hermits are clearly intimidated but fascinated. Gem is happy to know that the farm is llama powered. Doc turns on the farm and TNT starts exploding. Dark oak is being created and pulverized at a phenomenal pace. Chat is awed.

2:08:00 Gem goes down to the staging area briefly, looks at the lever, then runs back to the safety of the upper platform. Doc is explaining that he hasn’t started any non-machine building yet, but that he does intend to eventually terraform this whole area, make a real exploding volcano, etc. There’s plenty of stuff to do, he just started with the machines. Etho asks how far Doc has gotten with actually doing the item filters in his storage room, the most tedious part of the process. Doc says he is about 80% through with it. It’s a multi-filter system, so while it will handle all the items in the game, some items will be filtered in groups and some with their own filters. And that is all there is, Doc tells them, they can all go home now. “Get out of here before you break something,” Gem translates easily. Everyone agrees that Doc’s redstone work is incredibly impressive. Chat doesn’t even understand what they’re seeing but they know it’s a lot. Ren says it’s like looking into the heart of a CPU. Made of diamond ore, Joel adds.

2:09:10 Doc shows them the way back to the portal and into the nether. Gem punches Joel in the back and then runs away when he chases her, insisting desperately “It was Cleo, it was Cleo, it was Cleo!” The Hermits do a short debriefing and decide when they should do another server tour. Joe thinks that 2-3 server tours per year would be good, let people see new stuff without the tour idea getting stale. While they talk, Gem runs around on the nether roof until Joel successfully potshots her for half her hearts. He gives her a distinctly “come at me” fast-crouch until she runs at him, then he punches her. They punch each other, then disengage as everyone heads back for the nether hub. As they fly they pass over Joe’s 1/8th scale map of his actual base, and even that is large enough that it took seventeen hours to place all the blocks on the nether roof. It’s a big base.

2:11:10 Gem and the others take the portal back to the shopping district. Joel suggests that this would be a perfect time for everyone to go buy some honey. Cleo asks how much honey he would need to sell in order to stop complaining about it. Joel says he wants to hit 100 diamonds in sales. The others are incredulous that he hasn’t even hit a hundred diamonds yet, which probably just makes it worse. Etho comments that’s a tall order for a smallish bean. “You just got called short by Etho,” Gem tells him. Doc says his armor trim shop should be open in the next week or so. Joel says everyone knows Etho is tiny. Joe remembers that Cleo promised everyone pity diamonds to buy honey with if they behaved themselves on the tour. Cleo confirms that pity diamonds are indeed on the table. “Sugar Daddy Cleo!” Gem cheers. She goes into the shop and finds the music button, then asks Joel if it works. He says it does but asks her to please not play it because it can’t be stopped. She protests that she hasn’t even heard it yet. She pushes the button and begins shrieking with laughter over the honey song. Chat is jamming along.

2:12:20 Cleo has 100 diamonds to pass out so that the Hermits can buy honey and make Joel stop whining. Gem gets enough to buy four stacks of honey that she will now need to figure out a use for. Doc asks if Joel is ever going to detail the back of this shop so it’s not just a brown cylinder on the side that faces the hourglass. Joel says he could, but he’s very poor and very busy just trying to make sales right now. Xisuma and False barely got any diamonds, Cleo does not know who took most of the diamonds and does not particularly care. Joe got 43 diamonds and passes a few out to the others. Bdubs suggests that some of these diamonds could also be used to purchase terracotta! Doc needs to get going, so they decide to head back to the new lava pool to end the tour.

2:14:00 The Hermits fly back to spawn, explaining the lava pool to Etho, who was not around for that part. He asks if they went ahead and moved the world spawn. Bdubs asks if anybody wants to sue anybody real quick while they’re all here. Ren asks about moving the world spawn and whether anyone would be cross if they moved it. Gem points out that this is a Hermitcraft Meeting topic and now they’re just streaming an actual meeting. A very confusing discussion ensues over where the spawn chunks actually are, where they will be after 1.21 drops, and whether they ought to be moved and why. Gem narrates for chat and says this is how an actual meeting always goes, with miscommunication being the first order of business. Apparently Xisuma believes the spawn chunks are not currently at 0,0, they are behind the courthouse where a bunch of farms are, but after 1.21 drops, they ought to be moved to an area just outside Ren’s base perimeter. Etho asks why, if spawn chunks are elsewhere, they always respawn by Hypno’s base when they die. Xisuma, obviously ready for an object lesson, tells him to take off his armor. Etho, resigned to being an object lesson, sets his spawn and breaks it, complaining all the while about how he’s going to have to hike back from Hypno’s house, which is about 40 blocks away.

2:16:00 While Etho is complaining and stripping down, Gem explains to Chat that this madness is how all of their meetings look and it’s a miracle they ever get anything done. Sometime during the process False gets bored of waiting and shoots Ren dead. As promised, Ren respawns next to the lava pool. Xisuma is obviously surprised by this. Bdubs is still calling for Etho’s head. Etho’s already naked and ready to go, so he suggests another test where they kill him in the hole. Chat is uncertain about this phrasing but False is more than happy to commit another murder act. Etho did not empty his inventory so his belongings fly everywhere, but Etho himself respawns next to the lava pool, same as Ren. Xisuma says he stands corrected, that the spawn chunks are indeed still at 0,0. Joel confirms that when one comes back through the nether portal for the first time or without a bed, they end up at the same place. The Hermits agree that this is why they never get anything done at meetings.

2:17:00 Xisuma circles back around to the original proposal: that when 1.20.6 comes out, to move the spawn chunks three chunks away from their current location to allow for development of the fairly prime real estate that the spawn chunks now occupy. Xisuma has a couple of proposals for locations but would like to hear from anyone else first. Nobody has any strong feelings and the general consensus is that Xisuma should put them where he wants. Pearl does suggest putting them near the post office, but it’s unclear if there’s any reason for that or if it’s the postal worker equivalent of “you should buy more honey.” Xisuma points out a small squarish island between his own base and Hypno’s and says that might be a decent space for the spawn chunks, or they could go the entire opposite direction and plunk it down in the middle of evveryone over in the direction of Magic Mountain. Space is very tight over that way though, so it might not be a net gain. Pearl reiterates the post office suggestion, in an empty area between the post office and Xisuma’s base. Everyone flies over for a look and Xisuma agrees it’s a great spot. Nobody else cares so long as the new spawn chunks contain a portal and an ender chest for all those wild nights when somebody inevitably winds up naked and wingless at spawn. Pearl offers to decorate it. Gem congratulates her for giving herself work on her birthday. Ren calls for a voice vote; the “yays” are unanimous and enthusiastic. Ren declares the order of business complete and Cleo adjourns the meeting. The Hermits’ grasp on Robert’s Rules of Order are about as complete as their grasp of jurisprudence, but the issue is solved and everyone is happy. Gem admits that they usually don’t even call for a voice vote and this was very official today. Chat is not sure that any Hermitcraft meeting is official without Impulse there to write things down, but mostly they are busy saying “yay.”

2:19:00 The normal procedure for reaching accord during meetings, Gem explains further, is that someone will ask a question, three people will say “yeah, I guess,” and everyone else has their mics muted because they are eating. Pearl is usually half asleep and trying her best, sometimes in bed and with the phone on speaker. The Hermits congratulate themselves on an excellent meeting and give themselves a round of applause. Chat has always wanted a streamed Hermitcraft meeting and now they have gotten one. Chat is pleased. Everyone wonders how they ever get anything done.

2:20:00 False suggests that they all go jump in on Impulse, since he’s online and not at the meeting. Impulse did not join the tour because he doesn’t want to spoil the huge minigame he’s currently working on. Xisuma moves the spawn chunks and tells Ren he’s free to use the old space now. Ren mutters darkly about how the sulfur will expand. Xisuma suggests a group photo. Etho is busy setting fires and Gem is punching Cleo, but everyone agrees a photo is a nice idea. They all gather together and gaze into the future, at the new spawn chunks. Joe demands to know how long he’s had a fish head on and why did nobody tell him. Cleo and Bdubs assure him he’s been wearing it the whole time. Screenshots are captured, Joel punches Gem again, and Bdubs laughs because his specially modded skin actually blinked during photo time. Everyone agrees that this was a good idea and they had fun on the tour. Now they are all going to go and look at their own bases at 30% brightness.

2:21:50 Gem says goodbye to everybody and heads back to her base, asking Chat how they liked that. Chat approves greatly, they had a great time. Gem will post the VOD soon. Gem’s base actually looks great at 30% brightness, this may be the vibe she goes for. It does make the palm trees a little dark. Gem promises she’s working on her next episode and that it will be full of new interiors. She’s going to bring lots of immersion into the base very soon. Everybody’s bases were so cool to see, and it was great to have a visit with so many Hermits! Gem has had a lot of IRL stuff, good and bad, going on lately, but she hopes things are evening out and she’ll be back to streaming soon. She thanks subs and donos as a group and decides to wrap things up. Chat really, really, really wants a Skizz raid. Gem raids into Skizz and ends her stream.

[wiphur]

The Dinner

Characters: Poly! Grian x GTWS x Mumbo x M! Reader

Warnings: slight angst, kinda betrayal?, unaccepting family

Words: 2217

Prompt: N/A

I posted this on AO3 about a week ago and I thought i had posted it here too, but apparently I hadn't lol sorry!!

It was supposed to be easy to distance himself. Nothing was supposed to get through the encryptions and nothing was supposed to be able to get even close to his house. However, the letter made it into his hands. The letter seared itself into his brain as he thought about it all day and all night. For two days, he thought about the letter, memorizing every bit of it so he could think about what he would do.

It was a short letter, one containing only an invitation to dinner. Normally, one would feel delighted to get an invitation from one’s mother to attend a family dinner. However, Y/N felt nothing but dread. He would have been fine if his mother didn’t add the sneaky little thing she had.

Bring your girlfriend. I’ve heard you've gotten quite serious. The letter reads. That part is what got him. That’s the part that has him staying up all night. It wasn’t like she was wrong, he was in a very serious relationship. But he was not dating a woman. Nor was he dating just one person. No, he just had to be difficult for his mother and date three men.

He was conflicted. At one end, he wanted to go and introduce his family to his partners and his partners to his family, but at the same time, he knew the response he would get from his family. It would be anger and disappointment, maybe even hatred. He didn’t know if he could take a reaction like that. 

A knock shocked him from his thoughts. It was late, the darkness outside of his window told him that. He hesitated before going to open the door, hoping it wasn’t a zombie. It was a zombie, just not the one he was hoping it wasn’t. The door opened slowly to reveal the exhausted, yet caring, face of his neighbor. 

“What are you doing up so late, babes?” Cleo asked. He could hear the exhaustion in her words. “I saw your light was on and came to check on ya.”

He frowned, “Me? Why are you up so late?”

“Oi, I asked first.”

He didn’t laugh. In fact, his eyes burned from tears. None fell, but he knew they were there. “I can’t sleep. Not a crime, is it?”

Cleo’s expression softened and she gestured to the door. He nodded and she entered the building, closing the door behind her. The pair walked to the kitchen, where they sat at the island together. “What’s going on, babes? Do you need to talk?”

His mind was a mess. Did he want to talk? What would he talk about? The fact that his family expected him to bring his nonexistent girlfriend to dinner? His nonexistent girlfriend. The words echoed in his mind for a second before he stared at Cleo. 

“Cleo, will you be my girlfriend?”

Cleo’s eyes widened and she coughed, choking on air. “I- uh- What?!” She steadies herself quickly. “Mate, I know we’re close and all, but I don’t think your boyfriends would appreciate that very much.” He groans, placing his head in his arms. “What’s going on? Why’re you asking me something like that?”

“My mom invited me to dinner.”

Her eyebrows rose slightly, “Okay, that’s great.”

“She wants me to bring my girlfriend.”

Her expression shifted slightly, “Okay, less great. You haven’t come out to her?”

He shook his head, “No, well kind-of? I told her I was interested in boys, back when I was identifying as a bisexual, but I never told her I was gay. Or poly.” He frowned, “Even as a bisexual, she didn’t really accept me. She was always saying that she expected me to be with a girl regardless. She doesn’t really accept, I suppose.” He sighed, “I don’t want her to lash out at me or at them.” He said, referring to his boyfriends.

Cleo was quiet for a moment before she moved to cover his hand with her own. “Babes, I think you just have to talk to them about it. You know them, Grian, Mumbo, and Scar. You know they would figure it out. You should just talk to them.”

He sighed, “You’re right I know them. I know they’d want to go to dinner regardless. Just to see if she would accept it. But I know she won’t. I can’t say no to them, Cleo.”

Cleo smiled, “They’ll understand. I know they will. Just talk with them. Please? If you still want me to pretend to be your girlfriend, and your boys are okay with that, then I will gladly be your girlfriend. Deal?”

He hesitated before nodding, “Deal.”

The next morning, he woke up to hushed whispers surrounding him. 

“Aww, look at ‘im. He’s so cute when he’s sleeping.” 

“That he is.”

“Move out the way, you’re blocking my view of him!”

“Scar! Shush! You’re gonna wake him up!”

His eyes fluttered open, coming to view his adorable boyfriends. He noticed the positions they were in. Grian was perched above him on his bed’s headboard, Scar was leaning onto his fists at the end of the footboard, and Mumbo was sitting awkwardly at the foot of the bed.

Grian noticed his eyes had opened and whined, “Aww, you guys woke him up!”

Mambo scoffed, “I believe you mean you and Scar woke him up.” He smiled at his boyfriend.

Y/N’s mouth fitted into a grin, “Hey.” His voice was scratchy with sleep and Mumbo’s ears flushed. 

“Hey, pumpkin.” Scar grinned, moving to lay beside him in bed. “What were you dreamin’ about?”

He thought back to his dreams. It was a nightmare, actually. About how that dinner would go if he brought his partners. His real partners. “Uh, dreamt about y’all actually.” It wasn’t totally a lie.

Scar dramatically placed a hand over his heart, “Oh, how amazin’. I love it when you dream of us.”

Grian rolled his eyes, “You’re so dramatic!” 

“You love it.” 

Mumbo watched quietly before laying down to the right of his newly-awoken boyfriend. “Hey.” He mumbled as the other two talked together.

Y/N turned and grinned at his boyfriend, pressing his lips to his cheeks lightly, “Morning, my love.” 

Mumbo chuckled lightly, “Stop, you’re tickling me.” He laughed softly before his eyes focused on him again. “I got a message this morning. From Cleo.” He said quietly. “She said you had something important to talk to us about. I haven't mentioned it to the other two yet, though.”

A frown quickly replaced his calm smile. He sat up and sighed, “Oh, okay.” He hoisted himself out of bed, quickly getting ready for the day.

As he did so, Scar and Grian looked at him confused. Grian glanced at Mumbo, “Did we miss something? What happened?”

Mumbo sighed and shook his head, “Nothing yet.” 

Scar huffed, “Now wait one second, are you two hiding something from us?” He narrowed his eyes at Mumbo, who averted his gaze. He gasped, “You are! What is it?”

Grian’s feathers ruffled, “What do you mean, hiding something? Are you two keeping a secret?”

Y/N shook his head, “No, nothing. I just need to talk to you guys later.” He glanced at Mumbo with a reassuring smile, “Later, though. Not now.”

The three shared a glance of worry before nodding, “Okay.” They said simultaneously. He smiled, opening the door as he finished pulling his shirt on.

“Okay, come on, let's go make some breakfast.” The three hurried over, scrambling over to the kitchen, pushing each other as they went. He chuckled at his lovers, smiling to himself before he remembered the letter. He glanced to his bedroom, where the letter sat beside his bed. His name was called and he hurried to meet up with his loves.

Throughout the day, he tried to think of ways to talk about it with them. He really did try! It wasn’t like he was avoiding the entire thing and ignored the pointed looks Cleo gave him when he passed by. By the time the sun was setting, he still had yet to say anything.

While he was ignoring the issue, his boyfriends noticed something was wrong with him. He was acting weird and they knew something was up. While he was in the restroom, they talked about it.

“Well, Cleo said he had something he needed to talk to us about.” Mumbo muttered, twisting his mustache.

Grian hummed, “Maybe he got some bad news?”

Mumbo shrugged, “She didn’t tell me what it was about. Only that he wanted to talk.”

“Do you think he wants to break up with us?” 

The two turned to stare at Scar, an absurd look on their face. “What? No- I can’t imagine that's it.” Grian said with a final shake of his head. “Are you worried about that, love?” 

Scar nodded, “No, no, you're right. Sorry. I just don’t know what else it could be.”

“I think we ask him when he comes back.” Mumbo suggested. The other two nodded and they waited patiently for their boyfriend to return.

When he eventually made his way back into the living room, he noticed the slight tension in the room. “Uh, are you okay, my loves?” He asked, eyebrows furrowing. 

“We should be asking you that question.” Grian said, urging Y/N into a seat. “Are you okay? You’ve been acting off all day.”

“And about what Cleo said-”

Y/N sighed, “Why did they have to bring that up?” He groaned quietly before rubbing his eyes lightly. “Okay, fine. I was invited to bring my girlfriend to family dinner.” 

The trio in front of him were quiet for a second before Scar interrupted. “Hmm, okay, see, I think I misheard you. Because I thought you said bring your girlfriend.” He laughed until he realized nobody joined him and paused. “I didn’t mishear, did I?”

Y/N shook his head. “I haven’t come out to my family, especially my mother.” He hesitated before continuing, “I asked Cleo last night to pretend to be my girlfriend for the dinner.” His boyfriends were quiet again, but he noticed how they slouched. “She declined and told me I should talk to you guys about it. I guess- I was just nervous. My mother has been my role model for years. I tried to come out as bi to her before I realized I was gay and she basically said she wouldn’t accept anyone other than a girl as my partner. I don’t think she’ll react well to me being in a serious relationship with three boys.”

Grian decided to speak up. “You asked Cleo to be your girlfriend instead of just talking to us?”

He closed his eyes tightly, “Yes. It was stupid. I’m so sorry. I panicked and I didn’t know what else to do. I love my mom, and I couldn’t stand her not accepting me or my partners.”

They were quiet again. Nobody spoke for minutes. Tension rose and Y/N could feel his throat getting tighter and his eyes burning. He kept his eyes closed, counting silently to keep his panic attack at bay.

“You could have just talked to us, y’know?” Scar eventually said. “We love you. We don’t want you to miss out on your family.” He glanced towards his boyfriends. “We care about you. So much.”

Mumbo nodded softly, “Yeah. We do. Uhm, if you really want to bring Cleo as your faux girlfriend, I won’t be upset. I understand how much your mom means to you.”

It took a little bit for Grian to speak. He curled himself into his wings, “I love you. I don’t want you thinking we won’t accept your decisions. If you want to go with her, fine.”

He stared at them with an absurd expression, “What? No! You guys are supposed to be mad at me. Why aren’t you mad at me?”

“Because we care about you.” Scar repeated. “We understand that you’re under a lot of stress. We know you love us. Mistakes happen. It's okay.” He paused before trying to lighten the mood, “But, y’know, Grian can play a mean girl if you wanted.” 

He laughed, wiping his eyes. “You guys- You are so amazing. I love you.” He pressed his lips to Scar’s. Before kissing Grian and Mumbo in a similar fashion. “I- I want my mom to know who I am seeing.” He mumbles. “I don’t want to lie to her.” They stayed quiet as they waited for him to finish. “I- I guess I’ll have to live with whatever she decides to say. Will you go with me, my loves?”

“Of course.” Mumbo said, taking his hand and pressing his lips to his knuckles. 

Scar grinned, “Can’t leave my prince all alone there, huh?”

Grian hesitated before nodding, “Yeah, yeah, of course, love.” 

Y/N grinned, pulling the three into a huge hug. “I love you guys so much. So much more than anything in the world. Thank you for being patient and for loving me.”

“Ah, well, we couldn’t really help that last part. It just kinda happened.” Scar jested, poking fun at the situation. All of them laughed before they decided to head to bed, cuddling throughout the night and talking about the dinner that awaited them.

[theminecraftbee]

How do you think Three would feel about season 10?

man so. okay the thing is that by season 10 things have probably butterfly effected so hard off of the beaten path that i have no idea if three would have much season 10 as they know it.

for example: season 10 starts with demise. would three... even have done demise? probably not in its early days of hermitcraft, right, like, that's a game grian would design but that i think three would be a little more hesitant to start up. a game about killing people in a fashion with Rules and Creativity is something three could thrive with, sure, and i like to imagine three takes inspiration from like, cleo's head games to come up with a version of demise it ends up enjoying, maybe? but like, even that element is hard to say WOULD happen.

if we go with "season 10's haunted water is an inherent element of the season", i could fully see three getting wrapped up in the fishing thing, because three is very stubborn and if it gives itself a mission of "fish up a mending book" it WILL do that. it would not try to start a cult about it or build a secret chamber but i think it would make like, a mending book spreadsheet or something equally deranged but in a less "big temple" way and in more of "three is the kind of person who made a family tree of sheep with jimmy" way.

i do think a difference between three and grian is that three just. doesn't strike me as particularly possessable. it wouldn't become obsessed with the ocean in the way grian did i think. i think it would like, fixate on the mending book, get it, go "that was stupid", and... i could SEE three liking fishing a lot actually, but less in a "getting possessed" way and more in a "it's a relatively low-simulation activity and also it gets to kill something" way, lol.

anyway i think a really interesting thing here is that three... would not do the permit office. like three Would Not Understand the bit of being purposefully unhelpful. even many years out from being three, the weapon, and instead being three, the person, i think three never QUITE stops finding it sort of inherently frustrating to intentionally do a task wrong. three tends more towards malicious compliance when it doesn't like doing something, but like, fully would love tedious paperwork. additionally, okay, maybe by season 10 three is a bit more likely to take charge fully, but i sort of suspect cub would end up the permit spearhead, not three. three would love the concept of the structure permits provide! three would not inherently like being the person in charge of the permits.

actually this gets into one of the more fundamental differences in personality between three and grian: grian likes being in charge of things but hates and avoids responsibility. three is a bit uncomfortable being in charge of things, but is perfectly comfortable with responsibility and will even take responsibility for things it technically doesn't have to. and at their CORE grian and three both have this supremely type-a thing going on but they express it in nearly opposite ways and i suspect this would be one of the main ways they'd clash, honestly.

but all of that is to say: three would not do the permit office bit, but WOULD like the permits. they provide a Structure to how shops work that three would appreciate and i think by season ten i could see three having gotten into the art of Ruthless Capitalism because it's sort of like killing people except instead you take their money. (three describes it this way back in season seven after etho takes it under his wing and etho wheezes and tells three to never let go of that. anyway.)

so that's just some of my thoughts on season ten with three this is a FUN QUESTION thank you!

[joyrose-fandomer]

"END OF THE SESSION! END OF THE SESSION!"

Grian's voice echoed across the server, reverberating into everyone's mind, as it usually does at the start and end of each session.

Except this time it was loud and full of panic.

As a natural result, BigB, from the other side of the server, brought his concern in chat.

But on the cherry blossom hill, everyone was frozen in place, as still as their snails. Eyes empty, trying to put together the hell of a day they just went through.

And finally after a long silence... FLOP!

The echo of something soft hitting the floor.

"Skizz, are you ok down there?" Mumbo enquiered

"I'M. SO. DONE!!!" Yelled back

This seemingly brought the group back to reality. And they all started laughing and dropping to the floor one after the other.

"I should answer BigB, the poor fella's probably worried" Pearl stated from where she was lying on the ground, tapping on her come

And once more the group fell into silence, a more comfortable one this time

As they stared at the darkening sky, eSCARgo blinked back into existence,

Right next to Scar

The vex hybrid jumped 3 feet in the air with a Cartoonish scream, causing a chain reaction

and soon everyone but Grian was screaming

"AAAAAaaaaaaAAAAHHHHhhhhHHH"

"Why are we screaming?!"

"I don't know!"

"The snail j-just APPERED out of nowhere!"

"Scar, it's just potion effect running out..." Grian deadpanned

"Scar, you scared the life out of me, you did" Mumbo mumbled

Jimmy jumped to his feet

"Let's kick the stupid snail!"

"Jimmy no, leave the poor snail alone!" Pearl cried

"Yes! Let's go!"

"Lizzie!?"

"This feels like animal cruelty" Mumbo comented

"I can't believe you would hurt a poor animal like that, Timmy" Grian teased

"Here, take that you stupid snail" Jimmy faked hitting the unmoving gastropod

"Nooo! poor baby!" Pearl cried

"OooOOO the vengeance is sweet, this is what you get for killing me you- youuuu- Snail!"

"Very inspired scar" The moustached man commented

"Thank you Mumbo, I try"

"Snails are gastropods" Grian couldn't help but correct

"gastratoad?"

"gastropods..."

"That's what I said, my feathered friend"

"Scar-"

They kept chatting and joking with each other for a while until it got so dark that they couldn't see each other.

Thankfully when the sessions ended, the game was turned to Pacifique, no mob, no PvP, no hunger, no damage so no death.

They were safe despite the inky darkness.

Still, they were tired, and eventually, the little group went their own ways.

Mumbo went back to check on Skizz, Grian on his toes.

Pearl made her way back to her team

Which left the bamboozlers by themselves, all of them too tired to move

Now that nothing was distracting them Scar was fidgeting with the Tnt minecart, getting visibly more frustrated by the second

"Scar"

The vex hybrid turns to his left

"How 'bout we put that aside for now?"

Jimmy gently picked up the block out of Scar's hands, Scar didn't fight back

It wasn't like they could place any blocks right now, decorative blocks like beds, paintings, or flower pots being the only ones aloud

So holding onto weapons right now wasn't doing anything other than stressing themselves, Jimmy and Scar knew this better than anyone

Lizzie seemed to pick up on the mounting anxiety too

"Alright Scar, you can get my bed, go to sleep"

"Nono! Lizzie, it's fine I don't need to-"

"I am very tired mister, so go to sleep before I move from here"

"But I don't want to moooveeee~"

"Scar, buddy, just get the bed before she changes her mind"

"Jeese, ok mom! I'm going"

"This is not limited life! And I'm not Cleo, you are not my favorite!"

"Gasp! Does it mean I AM your favorite" Jimmy squeaked

"haha you dream"

Jimmy and Lizzie kept laughing, to the faraway sound of Scar settling into Lizzie's bed

She was the only one in the team to have a bed, refusing to sleep on the ground like the other two

Usually, they didn't mind it but on days like this, a comfy bed was always appreciated

In the distance, Joel and Gem were arguing about something

"What in the world are those two doing?"

"Who?"

"Joel and Gem, She's holding his snail for some reason- and now she's running away with it"

"Oh, I can see them! why is she running with Joel's snail- ohn she's running after him now"

"Is that a sword? isn't damage off?"

"I married an idiot."

Jimmy broke down laughing

"haha, beautiful man he is!"

"Hands off he's MY idiot"

"can't we share?"

"you wish"

The canary hybrid jumped to his feet

"Kinda wants to see what they're up to now, wanna join?"

"Nah, I'll sleep here"

"suit yourself"

As Jimmy made his way down the hill he made a mental note to get some wool to make a bed for Lizzie, she didn't want to admit it but she would have liked sleeping in a bed more than the floor, anyone would

"Gem, just put down the bloody snail!"

Ah, he seemed to have arrived

"Hey guys, we've been watching you two skipping 'round for a while now, what's going on?"

Jimmy casually pointed to where Lizzie's silhouette was still lying on the grass

"Jimmy! help me this woman is crazy" Joel shrieked, using the avian as a human shield against a girl even smaller than him

"Don't listen to him, Jimmy! He keeps hitting his poor snail so I'm protecting it, look at this little face how could you want to hurt them!"

Gem hugged the snail as if it was a very strange cat

"Hurting a snail? crazy, couldn't be me" Jimmy lied

"Right!?" Gem smiled "Anyway what are you doing here?"

"Just curious, by the way, can we borrow some wool? I wanted to make a bed for Lizzie"

"Well if it's for Lizzie" Joel immediately made his way the moment his wife was mentioned

"Would you spare some wool for a fellow bad boy too?~"

"Not after yah blew up my bloody car, JIMMY!"

"Don't mind him, but if you mess with our base again I WILL kill you, understood?"

"loud a clear!" Jimmy saluted before getting a hand full of wool thrown in his face

"Now scram boy, before I change my mind"

"Yup, got it! Bye, babe!"

He heard Gem sight on his way back but the mission was a success, he made a bed on his way there dyeing it magenta with the closest flowers on hand

5 wool blocks are enough for only one bed, turns out Joel's did have some wool for a fellow bad boy but not enough to not be petty

"Hey Lizzie" the canary hybrid whispered

"mhhh wha' ?"

"Joel gave me some wool, let get you to bed"

"Don't wanna move~"

With a chuckle, Jimmy picked her up and made his way up the hill

Once at the base, he placed the bed a few blocks away from where Scar was throwing his sheets around in his sleep

" 'immy?"

"Yeah, Liz?"

"sleep?"

The avian pulled the cover over the half-sleeping girl and moved on to tucking the human hurricane

"Yeah, I'll go to sleep soon"

this seemed enough for her and she was out like a light, Once all his Bamboozlers were tucked in all comfy Jimmy made his way back down

He wasn't tired

That was a lie, he was exhausted

But he simply couldn't sleep, it was always like that during days like this, when everything went so terribly wrong that it felt like death had her hands around his neck, laughing as he chocked on hair

The faraway echoes of the voices cheering "The canary is back", "the curse!", "give us angst", "give us blood!"

Most people on the server don't hear them, but they can feel their eyes, the watchers Martyn calls them, like some kind of omnipotent deity

like those things in Evo

Jimmy but the things in Evo had power, not them

those are weaker, louder, ever-present, they were here in empires, Hermitcraft even his solo world

chat, he called them or the viewers

It's less cool, less powerful, more casual but it fits

Once you get used to the entire, 'disembodied voice' thing they don't seem so different from a normal human

Sometimes Jimmy likes to talk to them like some rowdy kids in a classroom and it works strangely well

he doesn't bother correcting their comments about curses and death, he's the one who died stupidly after all

if they having fun then it's fine by him

"Jimmy?"

The avian squawked in surprise

"Holly molly! Etho you scared the life out of me!"

"What are you doing next to my base?"

"Oh, just walking 'round, getting some fresh air you know"

Etho raised an eyebrow

"Aaaalright, Tango's in his base, or what's left of it if you were looking for-"

"oh no no! I was really just stretching my legs you know"

"Suuurrreee"

"I am!"

"Ok men, just don't stay awake for too long"

"I won't, good night Etho"

"Good night, don't let the snails bite"

"Ha. ha."

Etho chuckled and stepped back into his base

Well he wasn't planning on doing it but might as well, he's already here anyway

"Hey, rancher!"

"BJFIEDPRFAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaa!!!!! W- What?! Jimmy?"

"Can people get some shut-eye here!"

"Sorry Bdubs!" "what are you doing here?"

Jimmy sat on the floor of the chared house next to the Blaze-born

"Couldn't sleep so I was just walking around, and you?"

"trying to sleep" Tango spat tiredly, rolling himself in a ball

"you can sleep like that?"

"After a day like that I could sleep anywhere, buddy"

"haha. Yeah, what a day"

"had it pretty rough today, didn't cha?"

"At least I'm on yellow"

"T'is weird for you to be on more lives than me"

"w- wa- hey!"

Tango laughed, body shaking from something other than the cold for the first time since the start of the conversation

The canary pulled the wool from his inventory and pulled on it, roughly shaping it

"What'chu doing ther- wha!"

"It's a blanket, for you"

"it doesn't look anywhere close to a blanket, and I don't need it"

"oh shush you, the way it's going you're going to shake hard enough to bring your house down is what's gonna happen"

"And who's fault is that?"

"Not mine!"

"Your buddy burned my dang house! again!"

"you killed our cows!"

"nah"

"What d'you mean 'nah'??!"

"Did not"

"Did to"

"nope"

"Who then???"

"not telling yah"

"gosh-"

Tango went back to laughing, Despite his initial complaint he still kept the makeshift blanket on, burrowing further in it

You'd think a guy whose whole schtick was being a fire being would be at least a little resistant to cold, turns out he got cold even more easily than humans

"Welp! gonna leave you"

"Huh, where are going?"

"dn't know"

"Not gonna sleep?"

He wasn't going to sleep he knew it, despite telling everyone the contrary, he just couldn't

apparently, the silence spoke for itself, Tango continued

"wanna stay here a little?"

"huh?"

"I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight so I'd like a buddy to talk to, if you want"

"...yeah, yeah sure!"

They stayed talking about the chaos in their team and the snails and everything in general, after some point the exhaustion started to lay heavy on both of them

"Sorry about earlier"

" 'bout what?"

" gave you a spook when I burned that rollercoaster didn't I?"

"I mean yeah, but it's fine"

"you sure?"

"yeah, it's just a little fire, always happened in this game, we got worst"

"heh true"

As if this was the only thing holding him awake Tango fell asleep on the spot, leaving Jimmy to keep him from plummeting head-first on the floor

little voices whispered somewhere "aww cute", " ranchers! ranchers!", "drop him!"

"Oh hush all of you!"

Looking down at the sleeping blaze-born, the avian realized he couldn't move without waking him up.

Yelp, guess he was spending the night here, Lizzie and Scar are not gonna be happy tomorrow, but that's a problem for tomorrow Jimmy

For now, he was going to look at the stars through a roofless building and wait the night out with the human embodiment of a heated blanket

The next day they would wake up to Etho's chuckles and Bdubs loud questioning

Lizzie and Scar would fake-dramatize Jimmy abandoning them to flirt around

And the viewers would spend the entire day screeching about it

But for now, he was warm, comfortable, he could finally feel his eyes getting heavy,

it felt good and it was all that mattered

[forestfiresandfics]

and another reason 3rd life is my favourite of the life series

I'm still catching up on pov's I haven't seen yet (i'm still relatively new to the fandom and have been getting a slice of everything then going back for stuff) anyway the more I watch the more I think that Scar and Impulse were the only ones who knew how to play the game from the beginning.

everyone understood the death game thing, the hardcore thing, they knew they had to be careful and that they'd need resources to keep themselves safe, especially as people started to go red. but no one really knew what that meant. reactions to scar's attempts at gaining monopolies included 'oh so THAT's how it's gonna be' and 'oh crap maybe I should have thought of that'. Meanwhile impulse's attempts at being everyone's friend was met with 'look at you trying to get along with everyone' and 'shouldn't you join a team?'

Scar and Impulse prioritized both resources (the monopolies and the villagers) and friendship (trading reputation and using favours to make others indebted to you). And they did this from day one. By the time others realized how important this was, they were on their back foot (cleo gets scammed, tango ends up on his own, scott and jimmy realize they are no longer on a cooperative server anymore.

the possible exception might be Ren, who seemed to know that this was going to be how to play the game but just was kinda…not good at it, at first. he got something everyone needed, but didn't leverage it well for the first few eps. he got friends but it was mostly martyn's idea to team up to pay his debts

anyway the scene that made me kinda appreciate the whole 'these are the ones who know how this is gonna go down' thing was the moment when tango (having just travelled and gotten all the gossip from around the server) mentions to impulse 'hey I just got scammed by Scar, so did cleo and I think etho. he's giving out bullshit friendship points, don't fall for it' and Impulse just goes FRIENDSHIP POINTS‽‽ and RUNS over to the desert. even though he knows it's been used as a scam. he even goes 'has scar stolen a chestpiece yet? i'll give him mine'. everyone else goes in wanting one thing and leaving with friendship points instead, but impulse wants the points. it's the moment you realize he wasn't just being friendly to be nice, that he didn't take over the villager breeding just for cheap gear. Scar sets a precedent for the whole server many times. the first death, the first red, the first resource hog. death can happen easily, people may be hostile to you, having access to important things can make or break your run. but impulse has been slowly showing off the same skills scar has, right from the beginning. they both knew the stakes better than everyone, they both knew how the factions would engulf the server, they both understood the value of things right from the beginning, and didn't have to be shown.