#my minecraft startle response is to punch in that direction

[mallowbees]

Anyway if you see me on extraction even more the next few days and are trying to say something you have free range to yell at me to turn off my music so I can actually hear you. I have learned I will only understand 30% of what you say otherwise o7

[antimony-medusa]

Okay, to be fair, the first thing that got me into the DSMP was Technoblade’s jokes. I am very attuned to deadpan dark humour. But once I actually trusted the content creators enough to actually be interesting to an old fogey such as myself, the things that made me start queuing up the lore streams and reading the meta was a) the fascinating novelty of a story with 32 POVs streamed live from a Minecraft server, WHAT a medium for storytelling, and b) just how fucked up all the characters were.

I do not know if this would have been the same if I had come in earlier in the fandom, but my god, joining post-Doomsday, there is not a single person on this server that doesn’t have trauma. The trauma is stacked. No one has good coping mechanisms. No one can reliably communicate. They are as unbroken as a bag of eggs swung at a wall. They all have competing loyalties and ideologies. People are making major life decisions in a way clearly influenced by their messed up backstories and not realizing that at all. Half the server thinks they’re the good guys, half the server thinks they’re the bad guys, none of those people are correct about why they’re good or bad, everything is so Goddamn complicated all the time, no one can agree on what an appropriate response to anything looks like, and also there are supernatural forces underlying things that want us all dead. You get settled thinking someone is a good person (or a bad person) and then they smack you over the head with a rake and direct your attention to the sign reading “morally grey characters”. No family relationship has escaped without scars.

Just like, what an insanely rich narrative environment. I love all my broken block people and I want them to get better. One person gets better and then the world immediately punches them in the chest. Healing arcs are interrupted in new and startling ways. Other people are ditching healing entirely and accelerating down the slide of moral decay at speeds formerly unknown to science. Issues external to the narrative lead to heartbreaking conclusions. The server’s therapist quit and is now dealing drugs. It is all so incredibly messy all of the time. I love it.

[sleepywriter84]

Zombie Au:

A Whole New World

Chapter 2: Taunting Smile

Inspired by SOCKS Zombie Au on twitter (their @ is o0oSocko0o https://twitter.com/o0oSocko0o?s=21 you should definitely check them out they’re so talented and amazing)

Sapnap’s Pov:

Cold. As the rain poured from the sky, he shivered. It had been several weeks since the incident. After seeing the burning bodies, he had gone as far away from that neighborhood as possible. He had no clue how long he had driven for, or where he was exactly. All he knew was that the world was in shambles.

A couple days ago his car had broken down. Frustrated he had grabbed all of his supplies and had stormed down the road he had been driving on. Now he was still on the path, letting the road carry him to his destination. He had passed a sign saying he was entering Georgia, so that was a sign that he had gotten somewhere.

He had no clue where he was in Georgia, but he still pushed forwards. The rain beat down furiously, causing his vision to become hazy. As a loud crack of thunder roars from above, he jumps a bit, his shoulders hunching up and then going back down.

It was tiring being all alone. Going along some unknown path in the hopes of coming upon another gas station or building to stay at for a while. It was also tiring not knowing if any of his family was okay. After getting out of his neighborhood, he had gone to any of his relatives places in Texas that he could. But with every stop came disappointment and fear.

Any amount of sleep he was able to get nowadays was always filled with nightmares, the same dream playing in his head every night. Shuddering he tries to push it out of his head, the amount of times the scene would replay tormenting him. It always was the same thing. He was stuck, stuck on something watching everyone being ripped and torn apart by those maniacs.

As the rain comes down even harder, he grunts. Looking around for shelter, he stomps his feet, pausing in his tracks. There was nothing around him to even provide him a tiny bit of peace from the chaotic storm. He was in a field, and everything around him was just grass and wheat.

Deciding he needed a break, he walks over to the edge of the road, sitting down trying to ignore the water soaking even more into his pants. Shimming his backpack off, he rips it open, grabbing a granola bar and shoving it into his mouth. Angrily chewing, he stares off into the field of wheat.

‘If only this was like minecraft’ he thought.

After finishing his granola bar, he pulls his knees up and places his head down. As the rain cascades down his back, he tries to focus on his breathing. Everything was too much, it was too stressful, especially all by himself.

He missed his family, he missed his computer, hell he missed his college classes. Now he was abandoned, his family could very well be dead for all he knows.

Balling his hands up, he presses them against his temple, lightly punching himself, trying to make everything go away. As his salty tears mix with the water that fell down upon him, a quick shuffle brings him out of his tantrum.

Quickly looking up, he squinted towards the field that sat in front of him. When nothing happens, he assumes that he was just hearing things. Grunting he stands back up, wiping at his eyes to try and get rid of the wet feeling, which didn’t quite work out like how he wanted it to due to the rain that continuously bombarded him.

Throwing his backpack back over his shoulder, he starts to head back down the road he was treading on earlier. Turning his back to the field, another noise rings out, once again sounding like shuffling. Quickly turning back towards the field, he grips the pistol in his back pocket.

Moving a bit forwards towards the wheat field, his grip on the pistol hardens. Slowly tiptoeing towards the rustling fields, he reaches the start of the wheat, pushing it aside a tiny bit. Looking around in the start of what was a vast field, he cautiously pulls out his gun and points it around. After a close inspection, he concludes nothing is wrong. As he turns back around to head back to the road, the shuffling intensifies. Before he can turn back around towards the field, something grabs him, pulling him down into the wheat.

Struggling on the ground, Sapnap furiously shakes around, trying to get whatever was on him off. Reaching for his pistol that he had dropped in all of the commotion, he grunts as his face is pushed into the ground, the smell of mud filling his senses.

As he continues to reach for the gun, his hand is suddenly pulled back. As his arm is twisted, he screams in pain, trying to get out of the grasp of whatever had him. As the rain clears up, the slight drizzle makes it easier to see. Trying to turn around, he’s able to move his head to look behind him.

“Turn back around” a voice demands. Squinting, Sapnap takes a good look at the man that was on top of him before obeying his orders.

As the person behind him rips off his backpack, he feels them get up and move away. Slowly pushing himself up, Sapnap turns around, kneeling on the ground facing his attacker.

“Dude your stuffs shit” the guy scoffs, before zipping back up the backpack and putting it over his shoulder.

Staring at the man who was in front of him, Sapnap takes in his appearance. He was tall, and he wore a green hoodie that was very dirty. What startled Sapnap was that the man had a mask over his face. The mask was a faded white, spots of dirt and blood speckled here or there. It was attached to him by an elastic band that connected around his head, and the mask seemed to be made out of some sort of hard material. What really terrified Sapnap though was the design on it. It was a simple smiley face, but the more and more he stared at it, the more and more he felt uneasy, as if the mask itself was taunting him.

“Get up!” the man barks, yanking Sapnap up by his arm. Struggling to stand, Sapnap gets thrown around, the man gripping his arm tightly.

“Stand there” the masked man orders, rustling in his pocket for something.

Standing there, Sapnap looks around, trying to figure out which direction he should run in, if he goes towards the road he’ll be out in the open, but he wouldn’t get lost. If he ran through the field, he would be hidden, but he would most likely get caught, and one wrong move would cause him his life.

“I wouldn’t think of running,” the blonde haired masked man hums, taking out some rope from his pockets, “you wouldn’t last a single second no matter where you go” he points out, pointing his gun at Sapnap.

“Why are you doing this?” he asks, putting his hand up, not wanting to risk getting shot.

“Because,” the man laughs out, grabbing Sapnaps hands and forcing them together, tying them tightly with his rope, “if I don’t do this shit, I’m gonna get screwed by my group. It’s already bad enough that I don’t finish the supply hunts by myself, I can’t chance fucking up, simple”.

After securing the knot of the rope around Sapnaps wrists, the masked man tugs harshly at the rope, causing Sapnap to stumble forward. Catching himself with his feet, Sapnap glares towards his captor.

“Come on, let's go” the man tells him, yanking the rope forwards.

With Sapnap following behind like cattle, the masked man drags them through the field of wheat. Nervously looking around, Sapnap tries to stay aware of his surroundings. Going through the field was a risky task, especially since getting lost was so easy, and if one of those maniacs came charging through the wheat, he would definitely be dead.

“Why so glum?” the smiley faced person calls out, turning his head to face Sapnap.

“Lets see, you just stole all of my shit, and kidnapped me. I’m sorry I’m not in the best mood. Not to mention you’re going through a damn field, you know how many maniacs could be hiding in here ready to jump us”

“Maniacs?” the masked man wheezes, laughing at the top of his lungs, “You call those things maniacs, what kind of fucking group are you in man, maniacs thats the dumbest name I’ve heard yet. No wonder you were by yourself, I bet you and your group were a bunch of highschool students who struggled in their English class”

“I’m actually alone, I’ve been alone this whole time” Sapnap whispers, lowering his head down. The laughter of the man who was leading him with a rope dies down, and the once joyful man stays silent. As time goes by, Sapnap stumbles along following the smiley faced man, trying to keep up with the pace he was going out. No words spoken between the two, just silence.

In a burst of confidence, Sapnap raises his head, taking a deep breath, he calls out to the blonde haired man, “What do you call them, ya know the dead? You have a better term than maniac since you think mine is stupid?”

In response the man scoffs, a series of giggles falling from his lips, “We just call them death walkers, they’re dead and they walk, pretty self-explanatory.”

“Death walkers, that’s so boring. At least maniacs has a ring to it” Sapnap scoffs,stepping over an ant pile, “And you don’t even know if they’re really dead”

“No I guess not, but when these things don’t have a pulse and can literally be split in half, I would say a lot in a person dies after that. From what I’ve seen these things just want to tear into warm flesh, they crave it ya know. Not like a cannibal, no something worse than that. Maybe they’re just crazy people, but even crazy people can think and have choices, and these things, they don’t think or have choices”

“Well they’re still people” Sapnap mumbles, staring at the blonde haired boy in front of him.

“People?” the masked man snickers, quickly turning around to face the brown haired guy, “Those things aren’t people” he spits before yanking Sapnap by the rope, bringing him closer to him; face to face, or more like face to mask.

“You listen to me, and you listen to me now, those aren’t human”, he snarls, the dull white mask and its smiley face almost touching Sapnap’s face, “Those things will kill you, as fast and as slow as they want. They aren't human, humans have choices, humans can decide for themselves what they want to do. These things don’t give a single shit about who they’re killing, all they want to do is eat. They don’t think, they don’t decide, they’re just drawn by the blood, and then their stomach does the rest for them; drives them to you, a piece of flesh for their enjoyment. If you think those things are people, then I’m so glad you’re gonna be killed by real people then whatever imaginary fantasy you had. You said you’ve been alone this whole time, well any hope of you reuniting with your family should just disappear from your damn brain. I’ve seen it happen, I know what it’s like to wish for something that’ll never happen, and to see them turn and tell you that they still are human, and then see how they don’t hesitate to eat, because that's all they want to do!” he barked.

With glossy eyes, Sapnap stares back at the masked man, the mask covered in dirt and blood with that damned smiling face making his stomach drop.

“You’re gonna kill me aren’t you” he whispers, tears streaming down his face. As the blonde haired man backs away, lowering his head down, Sapnap accepts that he doesn’t have much longer to live.