#last year I did a hermitcraft one and only got like halfway through it

[scottie-draws-sometimes]

Good morning all!! Today I bring you my first week of inktober drawings. Next week? Also probably more inktober drawings. I’m having a lot of fun with it so far this year!!

Inktober prompts: Day 1 - 6

[fridayyy-13th]

It’s almost 2023, so let’s celebrate the good things that happened to us in 2022! List ten amazing things that happened to you this year and then send this to ten people who brighten your day!

hey Red, thanks for the ask game! :)

gosh let me think

i wrote two entire fanfics this year! they were just short oneshots, but still!!! that's not even mentioning all the fics i came up with over the course of this year, that are sitting in my flash drive as WIPs. (and yeah, i did lose two completely filled pages of notes for my hermitcraft fic, but dammit i'll complete it someday.)

i have a bunch of super awesome mutuals now! holy frick you guys are so cool.

the choir i'm in connects to a few annual competitions, and with one of them, i made it to the third round! last year i only made it to the second! the third round's not til like halfway through january though. not looking forward to the sight-singing bc that's hell but yknow what? it'll be fun

a friend of mine got me an ace pride pin and bracelet! i could tag her, she does have a tumblr...yknow what i will. @dragenta super big thanks for that, it meant a lot to me :)

THE MAGNUS PROTOCOL! WOOOOO!! and i thought i joined the magnus fandom late...i joined months after MAG 200! at the time i thought it was nice to be able to binge everything, but i was also sad that i had missed out on the series while it was airing. but hey! now i'll be there right at the start!

this is a hard list to make. uhh i got to watch a really fun play a few weeks ago! my local high school did a frickin awesome job.

i read It Devours! and it was very very good. carlos my absolute beloved

i also bought The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home a couple of weeks ago, i haven't gotten the chance to read it but i'm very much looking forward to it

i actually figured out a structure behind the story i want to properly publish (whenever that'll be, i'm still in school), so it's got an actual framework behind it now with morals and everything instead of just being me messing around with OCs. it's still very, very bare-bones at the moment but i've got the four main characters and the lessons they'll learn all sorted out. i think lol.

dang what the heck is a tenth cool thing from this year. oh yeah!! i went to a Halestorm concert earlier this year! i wore a mask, of course, i made sure i was safe/healthy before and after i went, but it was a whole lot of fun.

thanks again for the ask game! here's hoping 2023 is even better than this year

[arts-and-drafts]

Minecraft Championships

(Another fic for my Hermit Tommy AU, set when Tommy finally joins MCC again! Enjoy :)c)

-

Tommy stared at the white portal buzzing in front of him. It was time for Minecraft Championships, an event he hadn't attended since before his exile.

Familiar fear tingled in the back of his mind. He almost certainly would run into the old members of the Dream SMP on the other side of the portal. He spent so long trying to heal from the scars the SMP ripped into him, both physically and mentally. He didn't want to dig up old memories after he tried so hard to move past them.

But his hand was clenched over his compass, something he'd only recently felt safe enough to carry with him outside of his ender chest.

Tubbo could be on the other side. His Tubbo.

But if he was, what would Tommy say? What would he do? Tubbo threw him out, but he was still the most important person in the universe to Tommy. That was one thing from his past he refused to leave behind.

Did Tubbo even feel the same? Would he be glad to see him again?

Did he even care?

Grian's hand touching his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts.

"...You don't have to go if you don't want to." Grian offered, a knowing but gentle look in his eyes. Tommy took a breath.

"No, I--it's okay. I'll come." Tommy replied, tucking his compass back under his shirt. "You all suck without me anyway." He grinned at Grian, who glared mockingly in response. "Oh, I'm sure you bring so much to the table." He commented dryly.

"MCC is my bitch." Tommy declared confidently, dodging Grian's swipe at him with a high pitched laugh. "Watch it, or I'll tell Scar to make you restock Scara again." Grian smiled.

The hermit offered his hand, and Tommy took it. They stepped through the white portal together.

-

Tommy downed his glass bottle of water in one big swig, wiping his forehead with his other arm. They were halfway through MCC, and finally got a chance to break and reconvene with their teams.

Grian, Ren, Tommy and False were chosen to represent Hermitcraft in MCC, and they were killing it, scoring 2nd place as a team so far in the games. On top of that, Tommy hadn't seen anyone from the SMP. He was just having a good time, winning a championship with his friends.

Tommy listened to the hypnotizing chatter of the hundreds of contestants in the lobby, his group having fanned out during the break. Grian had left to socialize with a multitude of outer-server friends, while Ren and False were talking with a green skinned player on another team that Tommy didn't recognize.

Tommy quickly averted his eyes. That guy looked too much like-

Without warning, something grabbed Tommy's arm and violently pulled him off the bench he was resting at, his yell of surprise quickly drowned out by the crowd. Tommy tried to swing at his assailant, but went rigid as soon as he looked up.

"You shouldn't have run." Dream hissed, dragging Tommy to his feet by the arm. Tommy's blood turned to ice as he was suddenly flung back to Logstedshire, to exile, to bitter loneliness, turning out his pitiful supply of resources to his warden for fear of being killed.

Tommy couldn't do anything to defend himself as Dream started to pull him to the portal back to the SMP.

"They don't need you. I've told you I'm your only friend. I'm the only one that cares." Dream growled, his voice dangerously low with fury. "Friends don't abandon friends. I thought Tubbo already taught you that."

Tommy flinched. His breath was trapped in his lungs, paralyzed as Dream dragged him closer and closer to the past he tried so hard to escape.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been looking?!" Dream continued, his tone scalding. "A YEAR, Tommy!! You ran away for a fucking YEAR!!"

Dream's voice had a layer of desperation lying underneath. It was then that Tommy clicked.

Dream needed him.

He needed Tommy to be broken, to be hateful, to be ostracized and abandoned by everyone he loved. Dream needed the conflict, the chaos, the malice.

But Tommy did not need him. Tommy was not alone like Dream was.

"HELP!!" Tommy's cry exploded from his chest, fueled by all the fear and resentment he'd kept pent up for so long. "GRIAN!! HELP ME!!"

Dream halted his unwavering path to his SMP to snap back to Tommy, instantly clapping his gloved hand over the boy's mouth before he could scream anything else, but the damage was already done. Tommy struggled against Dream's arms, punching and kicking and squirming to escape, continuing to scream despite Dream's hand muffling his voice.

For the first time since L'manburg, Tommy fought back with the same ferocity that burned inside him all those years ago.

Tommy saw a flash of enchanted blue, and suddenly Dream's grip on his arm and face was released. He was immediately pulled into the arms of Ren with a gasp, safe and warm and secure. Tommy clung to the hermit for dear life, daring to open his eyes to see what had become of Dream.

Dream was on the ground, carefully still. His mask lay sliced clean in half beside him, a razor-thin cut bleeding down the middle of his face. Tommy's eyes widened.

False and Grian stood between Dream and Tommy, False with her diamond sword poised to Dream's throat with deadly accuracy. Grian's wings were extended to their full wingspan, an intimidating wall of gray feathers trembling with fury.

"Get out." False ordered, low and dangerous. A violent expression crossed Dream's face, Tommy could see his face, he could see the look in his eyes, but he said nothing. False flicked her sword up, wordlessly repeating her demand.

Dream slowly got to his feet, his eyes moving to the crowd of people who were now silent, watching. Dream pulled his hood tighter around his head in a pitiful attempt to hide his naked face as he backed up to the SMP portal.

Dream locked eyes with Tommy before he stepped through, and Tommy was turned to stone by the sheer amount of hatred that was visible in his former captor's expression.

The connection was broken by Grian storming towards Dream, his fists balled so tightly that Tommy could see his white knuckles. For the first time in Tommy's life, he saw real terror in Dream's eyes.

Dream stepped through the portal quicker than he'd ever moved before right as Grian cleared the distance.

"DON'T COME BACK!" Grian roared, reeling back his fist to bring it clean through the portal.

The doorway shattered on impact, breaking the SMP's connection to the MCC lobby with the force of a ghast's fireball. Stunned silence followed, broken only by Grian's heaving breaths as he tried to calm himself.

Tommy didn't realize how tightly he was holding Ren until the werewolf shifted uncomfortably under his grip. He quickly released his friend's shirt.

Then Grian and False turned back to Tommy, their anger dissipating into concern as quickly as it came. They ran to him and pulled each other into a shaking embrace, Tommy at the center of his three saviors.

"Gods, oh Tommy--" Grian stammered, squeezing Tommy tighter and burying his face into his hair. "I'm so sorry, we didn't know he would--"

"Are you okay?" False asked feverishly, her fingers flitting nervously over the arm where Dream grabbed him. "Did he hurt you? Do you need a medic?"

"No, no--" Tommy tried to say, but he was interrupted by Ren. "What did he want from you? Is he dangerous?"

"Guys," Tommy said, raising his voice to silence their questions. "I'm--I'm okay now. Thank you for saving me," he assured, his voice catching on the last word. He tried to wipe away tears that he just noticed were flowing down his face.

"I-I want to go. Please." Tommy begged, his voice very small. The crowd of contestants watching them were now suffocating instead of comfortable.

Tommy expected his friends to hesitate, but he was surprised by how quickly they unanimously nodded. "Of course, no problem." Ren affirmed, helping Tommy to his feet. "Let's get out of here."

"But--" Tommy tried to oppose, looking at the scoreboard.

"Don't worry about MCC." False cut him off. "There's always next year."

Tommy's words lodged in his throat, gratitude and relief swelling in his soul. He let himself be guided back to the portal to Hermitcraft, his bandaged hands gripping Ren and False's arms like a lifeline as Grian's wing laid a comforting weight on his back.

As the group disappeared into the white tear in reality, a figure watches in silent shock from the other side of the lobby, a finally still compass gripped in shaking hands.

END.

[pixelfun20]

Flower Fields: Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Notes: Again, all credit to @give-grian-rights (hope you don’t mind the tag!) for the concept! Thank you so much! Also almost forgot to post this on Tumblr rip.

No fighting wars, no ringing chimes

We're just feeling fine

Tubbo started out by building his starter base.

It was a concept he’d learned about while living with Xisuma, and it was quite a good one, too. After all, megabases worthy of Hermitcraft’s admittedly lofty standards often took months to build, and he’d need somewhere to live in the meantime. In Season 6, he’d neglected that fact, and had suffered his fair share of mob deaths before he put up four walls and a ceiling to protect himself, back when he’d left to live on his own. And that was with a small, quickly-thrown together base, not the project he was currently planning.

Still, even setting up the basics of his starter base took a few nearly sleepless days. Finally, the framework for the build, a treehouse spanning more than a few trees at the edge of the forest, was up, and Tubbo was finally able to place a bed down in safety and sleep for a solid fourteen hours straight.

Xisuma dropped by, quite literally, a day or so later.

Tubbo had been sitting in his quickly-expanding living room, sorting through the loot he’d gotten from yesterday’s day-long mining session when he swooped down through the half-finished roof. While he was still wearing his bee-themed armor, now there were two glider-like wings, shimmering purple, strapped to his back.

“Heya, X,” Tubbo greeted the admin with a wave, closing one of his chests. “You got elytra already?”

“Tango and I defeated the Ender Dragon yesterday,” Xisuma replied, touching down softly. Tubbo made an ‘ah’ sound, recalling the achievement he’d seen out of the corner of his eye the other day. Right; he’d forgotten about that. Trust X to be as efficient as possible and defeat one of the toughest monsters in the world just for the ease of travel.

“I’ll have to go endbusting soon, then,” he said, more to himself than X. Before the elder man could protest (ah, he was getting good at noticing when he was going to), he added: “Stress and xB have already asked me to go with them, so don’t worry , alright?”

“Good,” Xisuma sighed. “It’s never a good idea to go out on your own, especially since this’ll be your first time seriously exploring the End.”

Tubbo rolled his eyes good naturedly. To be fair, he hadn’t gone out to the End before it had been conquered before. He’d had a fair few trips last Season, mostly with X, but it was generally for the XP farm once it’d been set up. He’d never left the main island before. Now that he had considerably more freedom at the beginning of the Season, he was excited to go exploring.

“Anything bring you over?” He asked, changing the subject.

Xisuma nodded. “Yeah. A bunch of the others are getting together for some sort of wrestling tournament this weekend.”

“And I’ve been invited?!” He grinned, clapping his hands together.

“As the referee.”

“Ah,” he pouted. “Darn.”

“Don’t worry,” Xisuma chuckled, setting down a shulker box. “It can be a lot funner to watch sometimes; I’m just going to be part of the audience, too. I think Doc wanted you because he thinks he can bribe you.”

“He can not !”

Xisuma raised an eyebrow. “Area 77.”

“Oh, that’s not fair. I am completely unbiased!”

“And that was why you became their lawyer and not for all the cool experiments they had. I don’t think Cleo has forgiven you for defeating her in court.”

“No one can defeat Big Law,” Tubbo sniffed, faux-offended, and Xisuma laughed. “Well, I’ll show him!” He declared, crossing his arms. “I’ll just have to make sure he loses, then!” Xisuma blinked, and he laughed. “Kidding! Kidding!” Mostly .

“So you’re going?”

“Sure! It’s nice to see the Hermits all in one place, anyways. What’s in the shulker?”

Xisuma tilted his head teasingly. “What do you think? Someone had to get the supplies for our honey farm.”

Tubbo gaped. “You’re ready to build farms already?! Man, and I thought I was ahead of the game with just having my base halfway done.”

The armored man shrugged, looking about the partially completed build. “Well, you’ve certainly put more effort into this than me. Truly, your building skills are already improving. I love how you’re styling the roof with peaks like you are; it looks like it took a while.”

“My last house had a roof like that, too,” Tubbo reminded him, glancing up as well. It had become a tradition, of sorts, to build curved, peaked roofs onto his builds. Last season it had been one of the few things he’d built slowly to make look as good as possible. In all honesty, it was his own way of honoring the person who’d made it possible for him to come here, to have a life worth living once again. Rushing through the technique just felt disrespectful.

“Yes, but you’ve definitely gotten better.” Xisuma bent down over the shulker box, checking its contents. “Do you have any good ideas for where to make the bee farm? I’ll admit, I’ve been a bit too busy to scout out a good area.”

“Really? Then where’d you get these guys?”

“Tree farming in the desert.”

Tubbo snorted into his hand, and he could practically feel Xisuma’s embarrassment. “Well, you did say you hadn’t scouted out a good spot.”

“Indeed I did.”

“I can take a look around here and see what I can find. Meadows are supposed to be excellent places for farming bees, right?”

“Indeed it is,” Xisuma agreed. “Do you have plans for your megabase, yet?”

Tubbo nodded, grinning. “And trust me, it’s going to be awesome .”

............

Two days later, a chicken appeared in his base. Tubbo found it laying an egg in what was starting to become the base’s storage area, with one of his shirts nearly ripped to shreds in what appeared to be a makeshift nest.

There was a nametag wrapped around its leg. After some chicken wrangling and a few feathers to the face, he got a good look at it and realized there wasn’t a name written there, but a set of coordinates.

A set of coordinates rather far away, but who was he to turn down such an intriguing mystery?

With the chicken now renamed Wilbur and placed in a pen (he’d needed a chicken farm anyways), Tubbo set out that morning with a few supplies to find the spot he was looking for. After crossing a fair bit of forest and ocean, by the next day he’d found himself cutting his way through the underbrush of an overgrown jungle and wondering why in the world Stress had wanted to wait a week before going to get their elytra.

He pushed a few low-hanging vines out of the way, checking his communicator for the upteenth time. He was getting closer, now. This better be worth going out a few hundred chunks in the middle of nowhere—hey, wait a minute!

There was smoke in the distance. He could just make it out through the leaves, and now that he concentrated, he could smell it, too. Tubbo rushed forwards, pushing through the brush to see several man-made wooden pillars sticking out. As he pressed forwards, he made out a semi-stone floor, several chests, and a small fire in the middle, explaining the smoke.

“What is this?” He asked himself, looking around the place. The coordinates were right, and yet no one was here. Just this outpost in the middle of the jungle.

Tubbo walked around. There were some papers pinned to the wall, and a few dispensers lying around. Idly he pressed the buttons on them, already starting to form a plan to enact revenge on whoever made him travel over a day to get this place.

He pressed the button on the dispenser in the middle of the build and nearly got an arrow to the face.

Tubbo yelped, his reflexes, honed from a half year of training, the only thing saving him from a sudden death. A bell rang behind him, but it took him a few more moments to calm his racing heart.

“Not funny! You nearly took my head off!” He shouted to the jungle. Still, he didn’t leave, instead turning to the bell the arrow had his, examining it. Huh.

There were some cookies in one of the chests, probably left behind by whoever had actually built the place. He nibbled on it, only half hungry, as he tried to examine the place better.

“HERMIT CHALLENGES!”

Tubbo shrieked , dropping the remains of his cookie as the voice rang through the forest air. He looked around, trying to find the source, but found that he couldn’t.

“INITIATION!”

A diamond-clad figure dropped out of the vines above, landing with a firm thud on one of the ground dispensers. He nearly lost his balance before righting himself with a huff.

“Mumbo!” Tubbo exclaimed, a little annoyed but mostly impressed.

“INITIATION!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. “HERMIT CHALLENGES! YOU ARE BEING INDUCTED.”

“How long have you been up there?! It took me over a day to get here.”

“No matter, Mr. Tubbo! Congratulations! You’re in!”

“...Thanks?”

“Of course, my friend! You have been inducted into Hermit Challenges! Of course, you could have eaten the entire cookie—” he glanced down at the crumbs at Tubbo’s feet. “But besides that you have acted perfectly.”

“Wait, what is Hermit Challenges?” Tubbo asked, blinking. What? This version of Mumbo was almost nothing like the Mumbo he’d seen at Spawn a mere week and a half ago. Who used chickens to deliver messages? Or perch in a tree for supposed hours on end?

Okay, he had to admit, that last one was pretty funny.

“Oh, it’s a game I’ve made up,” Mumbo continued. “Iskall and I have already had a go at it, and I figured I’d invite you next.”

“...Alright, then. How do I play?”

“It’s simple! Write down three challenges and put them in the dispenser. Then we’ll pick one at random from each other.”

Mumbo reached into one of the chests on the ground, taking out a sheath of paper and passing three to him with a pen. Tubbo looked at him, and Mumbo grinned.

“Go on! I’m sure you’ll have something fun in that head of yours.”

Ah, he was right. Tubbo gave in with a smile, leaning back and thinking briefly about what he wanted to challenge Mumbo. A few ideas came to mind, and he quickly scribbled them down, pushing them into one of the two dispensers on the side of the small build, Mumbo doing the same.

“Alright, then!” Mumbo announced with a smile. “You go first.”

Tubbo stepped towards Mumbo’s dispenser and clicked the button, causing a slip of paper to slide out. He unrolled it, then read it out loud.

“‘Steal everyone’s front doors for the rest of the season.’ What? The whole season?!”

Mumbo laughed. “Oh, that one! Man, you got the hardest one from me!”

“Well, I’m sure it’s nothing compared to what you’ll get from me.”

“We’ll see,” Mumbo said with a chuckle.  He moved across the platform, and pressed the button the dispenser Tubbo had put his challenges in. The dispenser whirred, and then another slip of paper popped out. Mambo picked it up and read off of it, face contorting as he did so. “...‘Act like you don’t believe in the moon for the next two weeks, and claim the sky is a hologram put up by the SCA (Secret Chickens Agency) to keep us from seeing the real overlords- the sky chickens.’ What?”

Tubbo snickered at that, covering his mouth with one hand. Oh, he was proud of that one.

“No, seriously, this is awfully specific.”

“What? It’s funny!”

“Funny for you!” But Mumbo was smiling, and Tubbo grinned back at him.

“I’m going to be having a fun few weeks,” he giggled.

“So am I,” Mumbo agreed with a raised eyebrow, tucking the slip of paper away. He clapped Tubbo’s shoulder. “I suppose I’ll have to make up a good story to go with this prompt.”

“And I have some doors to steal!” Tubbo laughed.

“Whoever gets the first complaint in chat wins?”

“You’re on!”

[rendiggitydog]

Karaoke Night!

“Are you guys ready to get schooled?” Ren sassed loudly as he set the microphone on the stage.

“You wish!” Doc called back from the door of the studio, greeting hermits as they came in.

“Ha! You guys are going down!” False yelled from the ladder where she was setting up some speakers.

“Alright, is everything ready?” Cub strolled into the room, commanding everyone’s attention.

“Yep! Just waiting for Scar now!” Ren saluted in greeting.

“Perfect!” He glanced over the decorations in the ConCorp studio, a small smile growing. “Perfect.”

“They’re on their way!” Cleo whispered urgently, sending everyone into a frenzy. Hermits dove under tables and hid around corners, hidden in five seconds flat.

“No, that’s how it’s supposed to look!” Scar’s voice drifted around the corner.

“I’m not sure, it looks like someone messed it up..” X lied convincingly. Being a partner in the business, it was agreed Xisuma could be a convincing distraction, to lure Scar to the ConCorp warehouse.

“Look, I’ll show you-” Scar rounded the corner, freezing at the strange banners and balloons scattered about the room.

“SURPRISE!” His friends appeared from nowhere, cheering and smiling.

Scar stumbled back into X’s arms. He was stunned for a moment, and then grinned widely. “I can’t believe I forgot what day it was!”

“Can we sing the song already? I want cake!” Iskall rubbed his hands together.

The group struck up a rough rendition of the happy birthday song, out of key but full of heart. Cake, made kindly by Cub, was passed around until everyone had a big slice. Small conversations sparked up around the studio, and the room was filled with the sound of clinking silverware and laughing. Someone seemed to have tossed a potion into the fruit punch, so a few hermits (Ren and Iskall) were starting up a drinking game.

Finally, as the sun began to set, the hermits settled in their seats for the main event. Cub tapped the microphone, making everyone cringe and chuckle.

“Thank you all for coming out tonight! It’s always fun to celebrate birthdays with you all! Now, as is tradition for Scar’s birthday, it’s time for the karaoke battle!”

Cheers rang out, and Ren punched Iskall, making him yell.

“We’ll draw names, and everyone who wants to sing can compete for the grand prize!” Cub displayed a vex-blue shulker box, gaining everyone’s attention. “First up, Ren!”

Ren pumped his fist as he ran onto the stage. He quickly flicked through the list of songs on Cub’s phone, grinning as he picked one. The lights dimmed as the music kicked in.

I don’t wanna write the whole song and stuff, so I’ll just give you the name and you have to look it up coz I have eccentric taste sksk

Legend (from beat saber)

Everyone cheered as Ren panted, having fully invested in his choreography. Ren jumped off the stage, high-fiving everyone as he ran past.

“Next up, Python!”

“Oh, I dunno…” Python made excuses all the way up the stage. He muttered to himself as he picked a song, and smiled apologetically as he began to sing.

Nobody Likes the Opening Band (idkHow)

Everyone cheered their approval as Python bashfully waved them off. He jumped off the stage, handing the mic to Cub, and scarpered back to his seat.

“Now get ready for Cleo!”

Cleo bounded up, unplugging Cub’s phone and plugging her own into the speakers. She selected her song and smiled cruelly as Rick Astley kicked on. Groans filled the room, and Jevin dived onto the stage trying to unplug her phone. She sang loudly, ignoring all the hate until she finished the song and dropped the mic. “Thank you Hermitcraft!”

“Ugh… Mumbo’s up next, maybe he can help us forget that ever happened.”

Everyone turned to Mumbo, who froze like a deer in the headlights. Grian gave him a little push, and Iskall gave him a supportive thumbs up, so he stumbled up the stage nervously.

“Mumbo sang last year, didn’t he?” Someone whispered.

“Yeah, he’s got a great voice!”

Mumbo heard the whispering, and smiled to himself. He picked his song, and stood proudly on the stage as the guitar strummed.

Dear Winter (ajr)

The cheering was deafening. Everyone was shouting something nice at Mumbo, who stood awkwardly on the stage, smiling at his friends. “Thanks guys!”

“And last but not least, the birthday boy himself, Scar!”

Scar ran onto the stage, waving at his friends. “Hey guys! Thanks for this party, it’s seriously a blast every year! What movie should I do this time?”

Everyone shouted a different Disney movie, trying to out-yell everyone else.

“Zed, I did Tangled last year! And no X, I still can’t sing every. Single. Character in Beauty and the Beast. Oh! Who said Almost There?” Scar flicked through the long list of Disney songs, arriving on Almost There, from Princess and the Frog.

The song ended and everyone cheered as loud as they could. Scar got better at impressions every year, and it was so fun to hear him sing all the songs.

“I forgot how much I love that movie! Let’s do one more!”

All the hermits joined in for the chorus of Dig a Little Deeper, pulling out their diamond shovels. They had to stop about halfway through the song, when Iskall accidentally hit Doc with his shovel and a skirmish broke out.

“No more fruit punch for Doc!” Iskall cried as Doc was dragged out of the room by Wels, growling.

“No more punch for anyone, you’re all getting tipsy and it’s late!” Stress announced as she dumped the last of the punch in the grass outside.

“Bummer! Let’s sing a picker-upper!” Scar yelled as I Just Can’t Wait to be King blared through the speakers.

Ren got really into that song. He didn’t even notice when the song ended, singing to his own rhythm.

“Aaand it’s bedtime for you.” Mumbo took Ren by the hand, guiding him out the door. Iskall ran after them, tears streaming down his face as he cried for Ren.

Within the next hour, hermits dropped like flies. Scar, lost in his own world, played song after song. Hermits who had too much to drink ended up collapsing in some way, and were then led home by a more sober friend.

By midnight, the only people left were Tin, Stress and Scar who was still singing, although his voice was wearing out.

“Alright luv, its time ta go.” Stress stepped onto the stage, startling Scar out of his trance.

“Stress! Do you wanna sing a duet?” Scar reached to change the song, but Stress held him back.

“Scar, it’s past midnight. Everybody’s been gone for an hour! Let’s get ya ta bed.”

“Noooo I gotta finish my playlist!” Scar scrambled for his phone, elbowing Stress in the nose.

“Oi! Cut it! Tin, help!” She strained.

Tfc trotted up the stage, wrapping his arms around Scar. “Cool it, kid. Let’s go.”

“I don’t waaaaanna….” Scar whined, throwing his hat on the floor.

Tin didn’t say anything, simply guiding him out the door. “Get to bed Stress, I’ll handle Scar.”

“Thank you luv, sleep well!” Stress waved as she split ways with the other two.

“Tiiiin, I want Cub!” Scar pouted.

“He’s already asleep, you can see him in the morning.”

“I. Want. Cub!” Tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

“Tomorrow. This is the wildest birthday you’ve ever had, you need sleep.”

Scar whimpered, collapsing in Tfc’s arms. He went boneless, dragging his feet in the dirt and slipping out of Tin’s arms.

“Ugh, like a child…” Tfc nudged Scar’s limp body with his toe, earning a long whine. “Cmon, wouldn’t you rather sleep in a bed?”

“I waant Cuuuuub…..” Scar mumbled into the dirt.

“Fine. I’ll take you to Cub, whatever.”

After a long walk, they finally found Cub, dead asleep at ConCorp. Scar cried out, collapsing at the foot of his bed, bawling.

“Cub, Cub I miss you, Cub please don’t leave me, Cub-!”

“Shut up!” Tfc hissed. “He’s just asleep!”

“I promised I would never leave you, I’m sorry Cub, I’m sorry-”

“Look, just-” Tin snatched a blanket off a nearby bed, tossing it on the floor next to Cub. “Sleep next to him.”

Scar curled up and fell asleep instantly.

Tfc chuckled. “Happy birthday, I guess.”