#hermitcraft shipping prompts

[cielcreations]

Murder Drones AU Prompt (Featuring SoliTango/Rancher Duo)

AN: First off, if you haven't watched Murder Drones, go watch it. It's on YouTube, there's going to be 8 episodes and, at the time of writing this, 6/8 are out and it's really good, really nice animation, really cute. It can be a bit confusing at times, but it's honestly just adorable and I love.

This is the equivalent to the pilot with some changes and simplification for story/prompt purposes. Idk if I'll make a fully fletched out story, but who knows? Maybe.

So, Tango is a Worker Drone and, like all Worker Drones, has to hide behind three doors so the Disassembly Drones don't, ya know, MURDER them? That's no fun. But he also HATES it because while they're working on creating a better future and all that, they're also sitting ducks just waiting to be attacked.

So, he creates a weapon that's missing one part that he knows he can find outside. He manages to sneak out of the doors and finds the part he needs, but is attacked by a Disassembly Drone! He uses his weapon and manages to completly shoot it's head off.

However, it GROWS BACK and his weapon is reloading and- he tries to smack the other with the butt end of his weapon.

"Now, now, that's not very nice!" The other huffed playfully, winking. Tango notices that one of the lights on his headband are red instead of yellow, indicating an error, "Oh! Are you new to our squad? You seem kinda.... short."

"Wha- You're only, like, a few inches taller than me!"

"Yeah, true, I suppose... Besides, G is super short but- OH!" He put his hand up, saluting Tango, smiling, "I'm Serial Designation Solidarity! Nice to meetcha!"

"Oh, uh, I'm... Serial Designation.... Tango?" He lied.

"Pleasure to meet you, Tango!" Solidarity took his hand, shaking it kind of violently, the other gasping a bit, "Allow me to give you the tour and explain things before Grian and Pearl get back from hunting! They're also part of our squad!"

Solidarity explains the Disassembly Drones' purpose to Tango, who counters saying this isn't good, and before more discussion could be had, but the other two Disassembly Drones (Grian and Pearl) come back before he can and Tango manages to sneak away. Tango runs back to the door and tries to close it behind him, the other Worker Drones confused. Before the door closes, a sharp tail stabs into the button, Tango gasping and turning.

Solidarity was in hunting mode, smirking as he licked his lips.

All of the Worker Drones begin running to escape the murder and to hide behind the second door. However, Solidarity is quick to kill them all as Tango tries to work his weapon, which is still reloading. When it's finally done, it's too late.All the other Workers who were in the first door are dead and the second door is closed. Tango holds up the weapon to Solidarity.

"I won't miss, this time." Tango hissed.

"I'm sorry, I really enjoyed our time together, but I can't have you shooting my siblings with that." Solidarity growled, kicking the weapon out of his hand and stabbing the other in the shoulder.

Tango groaned and glared at the other, seeing him hesitate, "W-Well? Go ahead..."

Solidarity clenched his fist, still not moving. However, they heard footsteps and Solidarity threw Tango over his shoulder, hiding him in the snow as Grian and Pearl appeared. They praised him for getting past the first door, saying they could use the vents to get past the rest. Grian was the first to jump and go, pearl gently ruffling his hair. Solidarity faced Tango, who was trying not to move to seem dead before looking at Pearl, who was also getting ready to leave.

"Pearl..." Solidarity hesitated, "Not that I can't wait to keep murdering all the Worker Drones, but... do we know what the company plans to do with us? You know, after?" A question Tango asked him.

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"I-I just mean... Well, if they hate robots... and we're robots... What's going to happen to us afterwards?"

"S..." Pearl walked forward before pinning him to the wall, glaring, "Worker Drones are corrupted. That's why we're here. How many times do I have to tell you this?" She hissed, "Don't make me kill you. You know what the code says and I'd hate to have to do that to my brother."

"R-Right, sorry..."

Pearl let him go, "You, stay back. Don't get anymore funny ideas while Grian and I take care of this." She then left through the vents.

Tango came out from hiding as Solidarity slumped to the ground, "...You okay?"

"I... I'm kinda the useless one." Solidarity explained, "When you said all those things, I couldn't help but think about it and... yeah. I've always been the one who was curious and questioning things and Pearl should have killed me long ago, company policy and all. But... we're siblings and... as tough as they are, they care about me... Even if I mess things up. Messed up your doors and your friends are gonna get killed..."

"Yeah, they are. If we just stand here doing nothing." Tango offered a hand, smirking, "Wanna team up?"

Solidarity blinked before he smiled, "Sure! Sounds fun!"

[scarabies-real]

Coughs and dies please send me prompts to drabble I am so serious please please please put your hands through the bars of my cage and feed me fresh grass I will provide you with such sweet song please

[owtenen]

Hey guys it's that time again! Send me hermit/life series fic requests! Can be of your favs, my favs, rare pairs (my beloved), common pairs, anything! Send me the characters, setting, prompt, and i will write you a one-shot about them because I love doing this! Hurray!

[inaris-mage-of-storms]

Beloved readers, I have had a...well, to say yesterday was a hell of a day would be putting it lightly. And while my wife has been lovely and supportive about the situation, I would very much like to write some soft and fluffy things for comfort. Does anyone have any particular requests?

[sketchthetofu]

Would people be interested in me drawing any of these prompts for JRWI Riptide or Hermitcraft/Life series 👀✨? (If u are pls send an ask saying so :))

Drawing prompts based on popular/common ship art tropes I saw everywhere on DeviantArt back in 2012

[shortfeather]

Gempearl Mcc 27? the prompt 19?

(send me a ship and a number and i'll write a kiss) (yes it's still on i know it's been like five months sorry i had an AO3 author moment)

I don't watch MCC so I couldn't make this specific to then, but I took a bit of inspiration from Pearl's recent video talking about the twitchcon(?) MCC and the few clips I've seen of MCCs past!

The island was absolutely crawling with people and cameras, but somehow, the two of them had found a corner where privacy as a concept hadn't been totally eradicated. No, their only audience was the blue void stretching out beneath their dangling feet, and each other.

"You excited for Ace Race?" Gem piped up, swinging her legs idly over the empty sky. "Your ping's been really good today, not that you need to be un-nerfed."

"Gem!" Pearl squawked, turning to face her with betrayal writ large across her eyes. "You can't just say that, now it's gonna be worse than ever!"

"Maybe I just want a chance against you, tryhard."

"Tryha—I—excuse you? I am not a tryhard, miss GeminiSlay." A blush slowly took over Pearl's face as she stammered, and Gem grinned, ignoring the reminder of her silly nickname. Pearl beat her in combat all the time, so really, it was a reminder of how insanely cracked her girlfriend was. And even if it wasn't, this was worth it. Flustering Pearl was just so much fun!

"I'll have you know I try a—a normal amount! At every—at most things!" Pearl continued, waving a hand around wildly. "I can admit I went a little hard on Decked Out 2, but—"

"Pearl, you memorized the map of every level down to the block. And you were the only person to beat the game."

"Yeah, but Etho won."

"Not in Tango's eyes! Etho didn't even go into the maze for most of the game, you literally ran it blind."

"Well." Pearl kicked her legs alongside Gem's, smiling a little goofily. "Like I said. I can admit I went hard on that. But not other ways! I'm not a tryhard!"

Gem raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Wordle."

"That was just me learning—"

"Final four in every life series you've been a part of, not to mention the one you won." Gem slapped a hand over Pearl's mouth as she went to protest again. "Queen of Decked Out 2, which you built a part of, might I remind you! Helped dethrone a king and intimidated Scar into not having a chest monster, even if it was temporary. Easily the best master of organics on Hermitcraft. Intimidated Doc—Doc!—into giving up something he'd taken as revenge." She paused. "Actually, I retract that last one, Doc's a scaredy-creeper. But there's tons more, miss tryhard. Just how many times have you won MCC now? Care to remind—ew!"

Gem yanked her hand away from Pearl's mouth, grimacing as she wiped off the spit from where Pearl had licked her. Pearl, for her part, just laughed.

"You licked me!" the redhead yelled, rather redundantly.

"I had to get your attention somehow." Pearl scooted closer, until she was almost nose-to-nose with Gem. "You kept ignoring the real proof of my accomplishments."

When Gem just frowned, she let her smile go sappy and said, "Girlfriend of the one and only GeminiTay? Ring a bell?"

"Oh my god," Gem drawled. Still, she was giggling as she playfully shoved Pearl's face away with a hand on her cheek. "You're the worst. And still a tryhard!"

Pearl pouted, going into full puppy-dog-eyes mode. "The worst? Can I get a kiss then, to cope with the pain of worstness?"

"No."

"For luck, then?"

"Wh—you don't need luck! I just gave you a million reasons you don't need luck!"

"But Geeeeeemmmmm," Pearl whined, pushing her face into Gem's hand. "You mentioned my ping, and now it's gonna suck."

"Oh my god," Gem muttered to herself. But her hand was cupping the back of Pearl's neck now, and drawing her closer, leaving Pearl's heart a delighted flutter. No matter how many times she kissed Gem, it seemed it would always feel like the first.

"Good luck," Gem said softly when they parted. "Again, not that you need it."

The bell rang around them before Pearl could reply, signaling the end of break. Gem sighed as their comms started buzzing rapidly, the whole server going wild at the prospect of starting this half with Ace Race. They only had a few minutes to meet up and strategize, so she stood up and brushed the dirt off her pants while Pearl stretched.

"You know," she said, stepping back towards the void they'd been sitting over. Pearl looked up with a raised eyebrow, curious. "I still don't think you need luck. But if you do—well, you know where to find me."

And she grinned, full of mischief. "On the course, that is."

Pearl sat there, stunned, as her girlfriend stepped into void and flew back to her team. Then she jumped to her feet, more determined than she'd perhaps ever been before.

Luck and ping both be damned. She'd try harder than anyone could ever dream of trying if it meant she got to kiss Gem some more.

[mcytrecursive]

How DO I sign up for this?

We have had to squeeze the sign-up form until it screams to make this work, so buckle in. Here is an example of how to sign up on Ao3 for the recursive exchange, step by step.

I have an idea for a side story for Etho and Iskall in This Is About A Stuffed Bird, by bee_4. So, to start with— that's a hermitcraft fic.

So I select Hermitcraft on the Fandoms part of the sign-up. Note that as we add more fandoms to the list, potentially this will become a drop-down menu instead of checklists. You still select the fandom you want in the same way.

Next is Gift Style. We're using the "characters" tab for that one.

I'm good with my gift being an art, a fic, or a web weave, so I can select all three of these! If I only wanted a fic, or an art, I would only select one.

Next is the Relationship tab, which we're using for characters (told you that we were having to squeeze the signup form until it screamed).

This is a drop-down menu, and I select the characters I want— in this case, Iskall and Ethoslab. Note that possibly I will only match on one character, as we couldn't do relationship matching this time, so I try to keep that in mind when it comes to my requests!

Next is Additional Tags, which is where I select the fic that I'm actually asking for a gift about! In the future, as more fics are added, this will be a dropdown menu, but right now it's tickboxes.

Next is categories. This is our shipping on-off switch.

I've decided that I am good with shipping or not with this one, so I've selected BOTH Gen and M/M. But now that I'm on the page I'm like "I wouldn't mind it if they were lesbians either" so I have selected F/F as well.

Next is rating, which is the NSFW on-off switch. I'm good with smut or no smut, so I've selected both options.

If I wanted no smut whatsoever I could do just Gen (which could also lead to a Mature or Teen work, but excludes E-rated work), and if I definitely wanted there to be dicks out I could select only Explicit.

Then we get to the major archive warnings. This is where you opt-in to archive warnings— it doesn't mean I will necessarily get them, but I'm okay with them! The matching says you might get any one of the things you select here.

Given the source material, I'm opting into Violence and Death as options, and I'm also selecting no warnings apply to show that I'm also good with no major archive warnings!

Now on to the actual request!

There's a space where I could link a letter if I wanted to go into detail with my request, but I think I can fit it in the text box today! I had to put my DNW on the Ao3, and because I said I was open to smut I included a NSFW DNW.

Okay, on to request two.

As you can see, for request two I'm doing a DSMP fic this time, and I specifically want art or web weaves! I selected emerald duo, and the fic I want. And I just want this one to be no shipping, so I only selected Gen for the type of relationship.

I opted out of explicit for this one, and I did say graphic violence was okay OR no archive warnings apply.

On to request three!

This is much like request two, except I only want fic for this one! But it's Dream SMP, Fic requested, the characters I want (techbur twins), the fic I want (catbag), I want it to be Gen and no shipping, no NSFW, I'm okay with graphic depictions of violence, and my prompt!

Now on to my offers.

I'm gonna start with Stuffed Bird again.

So it's a Hermitcraft fic, I am only able to make fic for it, but you know what, I'll write literally anybody in this world. Hit me. I selected any relationship (which in this case means any CHARACTER). And I selected any TYPE of relationship too— yes I'll write any type of shipping or non-shipping. I can't write smut though, so I only selected General for the rating, and I will absolutely do violence but I am not good with MCD or noncon, so I didn't select those.

For my second request, I opened up catbag.

That's a Dream SMP fic, but this time I only wanted to do specific characters. I set it up so that I'd write any combination of SBI, Beeduo, and Quackity. No shipping for me with this one, and no smut, but yes I'll do graphic violence.

And then on to odaigahara's fic!

That's a Dream SMP fic, and I think I could make a web weave for that one, so I selected both fic and web weave. I only want to write Emerald Duo for it, so I just selected them. No shipping, only Gen for this one, and no smut, only gen as well. I don't feel like doing graphic depictions of violence for thisone, so I just selected no archive warnings apply!

For my final one, I really want to make sure that I'm matchable on femslash, so I did a bit of a basket offer.

I selected both Hermitcraft and 3rd life, and selected that I would be making fic. I selected all the ladies (+iskall, for stresskall), and when it came time to select an additional tag, which is what fic I'm saying I'll match on, I selected any. With that and the F/F tag selected, it means that I'll be matchable to any Hermit-Traffic femslash request, no matter which story or art it's attached to. Cause I figure I can read the source material and make something in the creation time period!

So that is 3 requests and 4 offers done, and I have a full sign-up! I'm ready to go! That is how you sign up! Over the course of the sign-up period I might keep an eye on other people's sign-ups (available at the Ao3 automagic app) and tweak my sign-ups so that I'm matchable with someone (or several someones), but for right now, I'm good to go!

[queen-astras]

I’m making this Hermitcraft related because that’s who I am.

“Stress, why don’t you ever take off the wings? Like I’ve never seen you without them.” Iskall said, lounging on his wife’s magenta velvet couch. Stress sighed, fluttering her pink wings in annoyance.

“Why do you think Iskall?” He shrugged.

“You’re just a really dedicated cosplayer? I don’t know Stressie!” He threw his hands in the air, floppy green sleeves sliding down his arms.

“How many hints do I have to give you?” She ranted. “I swear I’ve told you explicitly like, two or three times. Ask Xisuma, hell, ask anyone. I’m a FLOWER FAERIE you PLONKER!” Iskall put his arms in front of his face quickly as a plush throw pillow was aimed at him, which ended up missing the man entirely and hit the wall behind him.

“Void, Stress, be easy on a man.”

“How did I fall in love with such a careless human…” but the insult was more playful than anything.

and I did indeed write this on the spot.

You are getting desperate. You have already tried everything and your husband still thinks you are just a really dedicated cosplayer, not a fairy.

[grimaussiewitch]

(Note this won’t be for a while as I’m currently busy and there’s a bunch of other events going on, it’ll be closer to the near year)

Hey mcyt fans, if I was to suggest a gift exchange themed around weddings, would you be interested in hearing me out?

It would work via ao3 where you fill out 3-10 prompts and 3-10 offers and you’ll be assigned a person but you’ll still be able to see everyone’s prompts so you can make a treat or two as a bonus.

Doesn’t even have to be romantic/shipping, here’s some examples:

Prompt 1: heart foundation boys run a wedding cake shop and have to bake their tallest cake yet (Skizz & BigB & Tango) art, fic

Prompt 2: after too many wars and attacks, an arranged marriage is set between two empires (any empires smp ship) fic, web weave

Prompt 3: someone in House Builder Gang has made a new speedrun challenge: quicker marriage and divorce (HBG) fic, web weave

Prompt 4: what would flower husbands wedding playlist be? (Jimmy/scott) playlist

Prompt 5: Quackity finally has a proposal fall through, now he has to plan out a wedding on behalf of his partner’s request. No Vegas shotgun wedding, a proper ceremony and he’s stressing. (Quackity/anyone) fic, art

Prompt 6: Martyn tries to stop the rendoc wedding (ren/doc and optional ren/Martyn or Martyn/doc or ren/martyn/doc) fic, art, web weave, playlist

Prompt 7: anyone’s perspective at a wedding minus the people getting married (insert smp here) fic

Prompt 8: gempearl wedding but it ends with heartbreak (gem/pearl), fic, web weave, playlist

Prompt 9: beeduo wedding playlist but Tommy hijacked it so half is the original music and the other half is whatever Tommy put in there (Ranboo & Tubbo or Ranboo/Tubbo), playlist

Prompt 10: a day in the life of Cleo making or selling wedding attire, art, web weave

Along with this will be you wants and don’t want and you don’t have to have them for the same prompt. Want one to be fluffy and the other one don’t have fluff? Put it down in the wants and don’t want!

Offers would simply be what you’re comfortable in creating.

Offer 1: hermitcraft smp, XYZ ships, will do art and fic

Offer 2: dream smp, only platonic relationships, will do art, fic, playlist

Offer 3: empires smp, XYZ ships, will do playlist and web weave

Offer 4: life series, XYZ ships but mostly platonic relationships, will do fic

When it’s closer to putting together I will put down what’s allowed and not allowed, Eg: RPF/RPS and Explicit ratings (nothing wrong with explicit fics I just don’t trust minors wanting that or an adult giving that to a minor, I don’t want that responsibility)

I’ll ask again sometime in November because there’s too many events happening or going to happen and I’m a bit too busy this month to even start on this XP

So consider this a half baked interest check? I guess???

[evil-xisapril]

Transcript below

Welcome to Evil Xisapril! (Evil Xisuma April) Greetings Evil Xisuma enjoyers! With HC Season 8 ending over a year ago and the tragic lack of Evil Xisuma appearances since, there seems to have been a devastating decline in the EX economy! As a long-time avid evilxisumer myself, I can say, professionally, this sucks bad man. And thus, my devious scheme and comic sans free canva graphic, made in a despicable attempt to cure this draught! It is time for: One whole month of Evil Xisuma! Rules? Very few of them! There is one prompt for each day of april, and these prompts are intended to be used however your heart tells you. Make art, fic, memes, essays, music, lore analysis, or literally anything else Fluff, silly, angst, whump, ship* [all with green check mark ✅ emojis] *all shipping will be tagged with #hermitshipping on this blog, if you would rather avoid it. Make something beautiful and true. Make something hideous and decietful. Who care. You do not need to fill every prompt. Skip prompts, fill prompts late, fill prompts after the month has ended! It's all good! If you make something for Evil Xisapril: @ this blog (@evil-xisapril) & tag your works as #evil xisapril so I can reblog it! (Please don't tag this blog in any NSFW posts) Image descriptions on posts are not required, but greatly appreciated. I will myself add descriptions to as many undescribed evil xisapril image posts as I can, but I'd love to not need to do all of them !! Got questions? Ask them! Major contributors to the prompts list are the members of the evil x fanclub discord (looking at you especially, @lindentree 💕) Who's running this thing?? Moony @autistic-evil-xisuma. Credentials: Evil. Prompt List 1. Birthday • 2. [tbh/autism creature] • 3.Sidekick 4. Lightning • 5. Golf • 6. April Showers 7. TNT • 8. Gender • 9. Derp 10. Swindling • 11. Music • 12. Evil School 13. Minions • 14. Pink • 15. DOOM 16. Diamonds • 17. Mistake • 18. Striders & Axoltols 19. Prison • 20. Flowers • 21. Stay Awake! 22. Nightmare • 23. Dream • 24. Quiet 25. Knitting • 26. Hermitcraft Recap • 27. Prank 28. Mirror • 29. Void • 30. Don't Give Up! *If you hate these prompts, please feel free to send me hate mail about it, as I am fully open to peer review! For organization's sake, do direct all contemptuous feedback to this blog, not my personal ones.

[oil-boy]

No clue how interested anyone online is in this, but I've spent the last 11 days working on 3rd life / Hermitcraft whumptobers mostly focused around Joel, Rendog and Mumbo (all my favs who don't get enough angst in my opinion) with one Jimmy snuck in there. As the days go on they get a bit worse, but hey its a fun writing practice and theyre all under 2000 words so they're easy quick reads if anyone wants to read them :)

It also has no shipping BUT there is a lot of platonic cuddling and friendships because as someone who is somewhere on the spectrum of aro/ace i like reading and writing that stuff

Lastest one is day 11, with the prompt loneliness and Joel Smallishbeans

[numbuh-7-knd]

Here's a non-whump scenario for this: Person B mentioned that they never saw *insert movie here* and Person A considers that a travesty that needs to be fixed ASAP, so they pick up Person B and rush them to the nearest TV (or a movie theater that happens to be nearby and playing it, lol).

Say, if it was the batfam, Steph picking Tim up and carrying him to the manor's movie theatre room because he's never seen princess bride and she wants him to see it ASAP.

Or BNHA, Deku picking up Todoroki to show him Star Wars, an All Might Movie, or similar.

Or Star Wars Clone Wars Era, Ahsoka picks up Rex to show him a holomovie, or Anakin does, or Obi-Wan and Cody. Or Rebels Era Sabine grabs Ezra to show him a movie he's never seen before and she feels he needs to.

I am literally just looking at the list of different fandoms I have fics for open right now and coming up with stuff, lol.

Ohhh, here's a hermitcraft one: Scar grabbing Grian (or Mumbo, or both) to watch Disney movies. they're hanging out at Scarland and Scar talks about something he's building in Scarland and how it was inspired by such and such movie (maybe it's something for the adventure area of the park, inspired by a Disney attraction that was inspired by Peter Pan) and Grian says he's never seen that one. Scar drags them off to watch it and, ya know what, I'm gonna put this as it's own post because I smell a fic coming. Edit: Here it is!

scenes in which Character A holds Character B in their arms while kicking open a door, hmm!

[elliphire]

hello !! I need to get back into the swing of writing (that isn’t schoolwork) so I decided to do this :) send me any hermitcraft/life series ship and a prompt and I’ll try my best to write it !!

No promises that I’ll get to all the requests as I am busy, but I’ll get to the ones I can !!

[cubscarweek]

To celebrate 7 years since Hermitcraft Season 4, Scar and Cub joining Hermitcraft, and just the CubScar ship in general, a few friends and I came up with the idea for a CubScar fanweek! All the information in the images will be under the read more.

CubScar Week

February 26th - March 4th

- Any form of fanwork is welcome.

- Feel free to post after the event is over! Late submissions will be reblogged for as long as possible.

Guidelines:

- Please include the #cubscarweek, and #hermitshipping tags on your post.

- Both romantic and platonic interpretations are fair game!

- Anything that would require a community label must have that community label applied so it can be reblogged safely. Please also put your work under a read more with a content warning.

Prompts:

1 - Jingler/Jangler

2 - Redstone/Terraforming

3 - Masks/Wings

4 - Business/Diamonds

5 - Pranks/Chaos

6 - Cake/Cookies

7 - Vex/Allay

[pocket-sized-nightmare]

my third entry for @mcyt-yuri-week!

prompt: hurt/comfort

ship: gem/pearl (hermitcraft)

The first few days after coming back from a death game are always the hardest.

Pearl is having an easier time with it than she did after Double Life, but she’s still struggling to adjust to her life on Hermitcraft. The sound of ticking clocks or the shimmer of enchanted items still makes her freeze up, and it takes several reminders from multiple Hermits before Pearl remembers she’s allowed to wear a helmet again.

Luckily, she’s not the only one in that position – all the other Limited Life hermits are experiencing the same problems. False jokes to Pearl a few days after they all get back that she can tell who played the death game by who’s wearing an incomplete set of armor. Pearl is glad to be able to laugh about it again, but she has the sinking feeling that she’s simply burying her trauma under bad jokes. Still, she can laugh off almost anything… except for storms.

If ticking clocks were a symbol of impending death, thunder showed its unavoidable presence. A clap of thunder and a lightning strike accompanied every final death in Limited Life, and Pearl has learned to associate the sound with the loss of someone she loves. She has her strategies for dealing with it – earmuffs, Otherside and Cat on repeat, and trying to sleep through the worst of Hermitcraft’s weather – but they can’t solve everything.

About a week after the end of Limited Life, this turns out to be a problem.

Pearl is mid-flight back to her base when storm clouds abruptly gather above her. She sighs and flies faster, hoping to make it back home before the rain starts.

Unfortunately, the rain starts less than five seconds later.

It quickly escalates from a few drops to a pouring rainstorm. Pearl rolls her eyes, pulls her hood over her head, and tries to keep flying. With any luck, she’ll make it home before the water weighs down her wings.

A few minutes pass, and the rain only worsens. Panic begins to build in Pearl’s chest. She knows what storms look like, and this doesn’t seem normal for one of them. As if to confirm her fears, a beeping alarm suddenly rings out from her communicator. She takes her eyes off the sky for a moment to check the alert.

<Hermitcraft EAS> ADMIN: EMERGENCY ALERT

<xisumavoid> hello everyone

(Despite her anxiety, Pearl almost laughs aloud at the tonal shift.)

<xisumavoid> i’m sure most of you have noticed this by now, but we’re currently experiencing a weather glitch

<xisumavoid> weather commands aren’t working, and the server keeps spawning storms

<xisumavoid> i’m doing my best to fix this as quickly as possible, but until then, it’s only going to worsen

<xisumavoid> everyone needs to take shelter as soon as possible. this is about to turn into a hurricane

There’s a moment of panicked silence, both in the chat and the server at large.

<xisumavoid> limited life people especially i am so sorry. this will be fixed soon

Right on cue, Pearl’s wings become too heavy to move. She glides to the ground and lands painfully in the mud. “Great. No more flying.”

To make things worse, she’s in the middle of an open field. She can just barely see the lights of the Soup Group bases from behind the fog, but her only way to get there is on foot.

An echo of thunder sounds behind her, and she panics and runs.

Pearl stumbles across the muddy field for a few blocks before she realizes she isn’t alone. There’s someone else fighting her way through the hurricane – someone else with bright red hair, deer ears, and antlers.

“Gem!” Pearl screams. The wind drowns out her cries.

Pearl tries to catch her breath against the raging wind. The world feels overwhelming and crushing, and it’s all she can do to hold onto a single affirmation of it’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine. They’ll be fine. Gem will make it home, and Pearl will make it back to her alien base safely, and they have nothing to be afraid of–

A blinding flash of light and an enormous boom cut through her every thought as a bolt of lightning hits just a few blocks away from her. Gem, startled by the lightning, slips and falls to the ground with an awful thud. Pearl doesn’t realize she’s done the same until she reaches out to steady herself and her hands meet mud and grass. She instinctively reaches for her communicator to check for something, but it takes her a moment to remember what she’s checking for: Who died now?

There's no death message, but it still takes Pearl too long to remember that lightning is a natural phenomenon. She digs her nails into the dirt and takes shuddery breaths as Gem stands and stumbles towards civilization. It's fine. It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine…

A glint of shining blue catches Pearl’s eye as it moves slowly across the field in Gem’s direction. Pearl looks up, pushes her sopping wet hair out of her eyes, and freezes. An awful cry of terror fills her lungs and then dies in her throat. She can’t move. She can barely think.

There's a charged creeper after Gem.

Oh, void, Pearl’s mind screams in her ears. Oh, void, no. A charged creeper could kill her so easily, and then she’d be gone. Hermitcraft is supposed to have respawn on, but if the weather can be like this, who’s to say the death mechanics didn’t break too? I can't lose Gem. She means too much to me. I can't lose her. I won't lose her.

Pearl summons all the strength she has left and breaks into a run. The wind pushes her back, but she beats her wings fiercely and fights her way through the storm. Thunder echoes in her ears as she races across the grass, and the rain falls even harder until it seems to form a constant curtain enveloping the world.

The charged creeper hisses and flashes. Gem turns around and finally notices it. She’s experienced creeper explosions before, but a charged creeper is a new one for her. That amount of electricity won’t just kill her – it’ll hurt even after she respawns. Gem shrieks. She tries to run, but she’s fighting a losing battle with the storm. It feels like her feet are frozen to the ground. She’s going to die. Oh, void, she’s absolutely going to die–

Gem’s feet are suddenly swept off the ground as Pearl practically tackles her. As the charged creeper explodes with an earsplitting boom, Pearl wraps Gem in her arms and shields them both from the blast with her wings.

Even once the creeper is gone, Pearl and Gem stay on the ground for a moment, wrapped in each other’s arms as they try to catch their breath. Gem buries her head in Pearl’s shoulder and whispers, “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Pearl whispers back, trying to hide the pain in her voice.

Gem breathes deeply and pushes herself up to standing, then helps Pearl up. “Come on. We have to get out of here!” Before Pearl can say anything, Gem takes off running, leading Pearl behind her.

Their attempt to make it back to Gem’s house is a battle that seems even more intense than Limited Life. They dodge lightning, try and fail to shield themselves from the pouring rain, and catch each other when they slip on the flooded grass. Through it all, Gem and Pearl refuse to let go of each other’s hands. They’re Hermitcraft’s shiniest duo, the server’s most valuable treasure chest, and if they’re going to survive this storm, they’re going to do it together. (And if Pearl notices that Gem’s hand feels soft and warm in hers, or Gem can’t stop remembering the comforting feeling of Pearl’s arms wrapped around her and wings saving her life, neither of them say it out loud.)

After what seems like an eternity, Gem’s base comes into view. Gem sighs in relief and breaks into a sprint towards the door – only to realize Pearl isn’t holding her hand anymore.

Gem whirls around and sees Pearl collapsed on the ground.

“No!” Gem runs over to her. “Oh, no, Pearl! You took most of the damage from that creeper, didn’t you? Oh, Pearl, no, I wasn’t thinking…” She gently lifts Pearl up and slips her shoulder under Pearl’s arm, supporting Pearl as they both stand back up. “Come on. It’s just a few more blocks to safety. We’re not dying out here. I’ll make sure of it.”

Pearl takes a shuddery breath. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Summoning the last of their energy, Pearl and Gem struggle through the glitching storm and finally reach the safety of Gem’s base.

Gem throws open the door and pushes Pearl inside, then runs in and slams the door. 

Pearl sinks to the floor in pain. “Oh, void, that didn’t go well, did it?”

“It could’ve gone worse. One of us could’ve died.” Gem sits down on the floor next to Pearl. Now that they’re finally in the light, she can finally see the damage Pearl took from the creeper explosion. Pearl’s delicate wings are singed and fluttering randomly, as though there are still tiny currents running through them. From the way she winces when Gem puts a hand on her back, it’s obvious that Pearl’s back and shoulders are covered in even worse burns. Both Gem and Pearl are soaking wet, freezing cold, and covered in cuts and bruises. “I think I’m starting to understand what Limited Life was like,” Gem laughs awkwardly.

Pearl sits back and sighs, wincing with every movement. “Yeah, you’re right. I may have overreacted. I’m so used to associating thunder with permanent death, and then I saw you, and…” Tears involuntarily spark in her eyes, and she does her best to blink them back. “And everything was glitching, and I was worried the respawn code was corrupted too, and…” She can’t hide her tears anymore. “I didn’t want to lose you…”

Gem is about to hug her when she remembers that Pearl’s back is too burned to touch. She settles for cupping Pearl’s face in her hands and kissing her softly on the forehead. “You won’t lose me. You saved me, Pearl.”

“We saved each other,” Pearl whispers back.

They sit there for another moment, too anxious to move, until Gem finally stands up with a determined expression. “Alright, we didn’t go through all that just to die of hypothermia. I have a first-aid kit somewhere in one of these chests, I think. Can I get a health check?”

“Um.” Pearl refuses to make eye contact. “Two hearts.”

“Two?” Gem nearly screams. “Pearl, you have to say these things! I wouldn’t have just sat around here in my living room if I knew you were on the edge of death!” She immediately leaps into action. “Okay, I’m gonna grab you a towel and some dry clothes. I think we’re about the same size. I have some golden apples, healing potions, magma cream… let’s get you fixed up, alright?”

Pearl nods. Gem disappears for a moment, then returns in a new outfit with her hair wrapped in a towel. She carries a small pile of clothes and a purple shulker box with First-Aid Kit written in her signature messy cursive handwriting. “Okay, drink this first.” She hands Pearl a sparkling pink potion. Pearl downs the entire bottle in seconds and sighs in relief as the burning pain in her back lessens bit by bit.

“Better?” Gem asks, taking out two golden apples from the first-aid kit – one for her and one for Pearl. “Here, have one of these, too.”

They eat their golden apples at the same time. Comforting purple sparkles drift around them both, restoring health wherever they fall. Gem wraps Pearl in a towel. “I brought you some dry clothes, if you want to change out of what you’re wearing.”

“That’s really sweet. Thank you so much. It’s just…” Pearl’s voice trails off as she awkwardly gestures to her wings.

“Pearl.” Gem almost laughs. “Do you really think I would hand you clothes I know you can’t wear? Look.”

Pearl unfolds the clothes that Gem gave her. There’s a pair of fuzzy white socks and denim jeans embroidered with sunflowers, but Pearl notices the third item in the pile most of all: a soft blue sweater.

Pearl unfolds the sweater and holds it up. The phases of the moon are stitched into the front, the sleeves are the perfect length, and–

She flips it over and realizes something.

There are two perfectly moth-wing-sized holes crocheted into the back.

“Gem, did you…”

“I had a bunch of time while everyone was away on Limited Life. And also way too much wool. So I thought I’d try to make you something! I was going to give it to you at a more, um… opportune time… but I guess this works too.”

“Gem, this is incredible. I love it. I love it so much, Gem, I can’t believe this. It’s perfect. You’re perfect. I…” She trails off as she realizes what she’s said.

Gem blushes beet red. “I’m glad. I really wanted it to be good.” She chuckles. “Only the best for my– for the precious pearl of Hermitcraft, right?”

“Thank you. Thank you so much. I don’t know how to thank you enough for this. I’m gonna go try this on now.” Pearl disappears behind a door as her tears begin to fall again – not from pain, but instead from love.

By the time Pearl returns in her perfectly-fitting moon sweater, Gem already has two bowls of beetroot soup and a pumpkin pie on the table. “Late-night snack?”

“Yes, please.” Pearl happily sits down at the table and takes a sip of soup. “Oh, that’s so good.” “I do my best,” Gem says with a grin.

They sit and eat together as the storm outside slowly lessens. After a few minutes, a message pops up on their communicators:

<xisumavoid> weather glitch should be fixed!

<xisumavoid> i won’t change the weather before the storm stops because i want to make sure it’s totally resolved

<xisumavoid> but it shouldn’t be a hurricane outside anymore

<Grian> THANK YOU X

<ZombieCleo> you’re a lifesaver thank you

<PearlescentMoon> oh that’s awesome! thank you so much

<falsesymmetry> now please get some sleep x

<falsesymmetry> it’s long past midnight

“It is?” Gem asks, looking around.

“Oh, wow,” Pearl says, realizing the same. “I guess I didn’t notice it with the storm going on. I should be going home now, shouldn’t I?”

Pearl stands to leave, but Gem grabs her hand. “Want to stay for the night? The rain isn’t gonna stop anytime soon.”

That’s how they end up curled up together on Gem’s bed, resting in each other’s arms. Every so often, Pearl jumps in alarm at the thunder, but Gem’s quiet embrace is enough to ground her every time. They fall asleep together that way, keeping each other warm and safe until long after the weather glitch has passed.

It almost (not quite, but almost) makes Pearl and Gem wish there would be storms more often.