#my nephew: 'what are you drawing?' me not wanting to try and explain hermitcraft to a 5 year old: 'its just a character'

[heres-someart]

Crayon doodles of some hermits that I made with my nephews

IDs under cut!

[ID:

Image one: a page of crayon drawings. In the center is a full body drawing of Pearl drawn mostly in blue. Her hands are on her hips, she wears a brown turtleneck, jeans, and boots. She has moth wings and antennae. On the right are two crayon drawings, both bust: Joel and Etho. Joel is drawn in green crayon and has a shirt and vest as well as Shrek horns. Etho is drawn in orange crayon and wears a fluffy coat and a mask and has fox ears. On the left side of the page are two other bust drawings: Iskall and Cleo. Iskall is drawn in purple crayon. Cleo is drawn with magenta crayon and her skin is colored green and her hair orange

Image two: a drawing of False Symmetry. She has her hand in the air and is holding a diamond sword. Her other hand is one her hip. She wears a green jacket over a red and white striped shirt, brown shorts, and black boots. In the top left corner there is a brown box labeled "LIVE REN REACTION" where a bust drawing of a cartoon RenDog has his hands in the air and is cheering. He wears a red shirt and black overalls

End IDs]

[votederpycausemufins]

-Smiles widely at the camera that exists somewhere- Ah Grumbot, I’m so glad I remembered to add you in here.

@petrichormeraki

With the arrival of Mumbo and the bots, Grian and Tommy tried to introduce everyone to each other, but another message came in from Scar about doing paperwork with a mention that Iskall was there for the paperwork with Fundy. Immediately Mumbo flew off back towards the shopping district, Tommy barely getting the chance to cover Tubbo’s ears. Tubbee, who had also been brought down from the apiary floor, used Jrumbot as something to hide behind.

“Sorry about that. Iskall is just not the best at reading contracts and Scar likes to hide things in there for fun. If Mumbo hadn’t beat me to it, I would have gone instead since it’s quieter.”

“He forgot Tubbee doesn’t like fireworks.” Jrumbot spoke, petting the mob. 

“Exactly. Your dad can be very forgetful in the moment.”

Grumbot looked towards Tubbo and then took a few steps towards him. “You act like Tubbee. You must be President Tubbo. It is nice to meet the whole of you.”

Tubbo, who was trembling a little bit even though the sound had been muffled, looked down at Grumbot. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“I didn’t tell him that part yet.” Tommy quickly explained to his nephew.

“I see. It is something from what your admin did. In creating your ‘canon lives’ he made it so when you lost one, a part of your being would be broken off and cast somewhere else. I am not sure what happened to your other part as I do not have that information, but one did end up within this bee as it first spawned.”

Tubbo looked at the bee in Jrumbots arms and then smiled. “Perfect. Always wanted to be a bee.”

Jrumbot looked between Tubbo, Tommy, Tubbee and Grumbot. “Is Tubbee my uncle then?”

Grian picked Jrumbot up. Grumbot had gotten more of the smarts since he was built to be a computer to answer their questions. Took a little more after Mumbo that way. Jrumbot on the other hand had originally just been made to help sell stuff and was created on the younger side, so he wasn’t as smart. In fact, he was more like Grian if his affinity for shears, especially near his one dad’s mustache was anything to go by.

“Well, Tubbo is your uncle’s friend, maybe even an honorary uncle at that. And Tubbee isn’t quite the same. Besides, I don’t think Tubbee will mind if you don’t call him your uncle.”

Grumbot walked over to Philza. “You are Philza Minecraft. Former king of the Antarctic Empire and my dad’s father, making you my grandfather.” He then looked at Techno. “You are Technoblade, former prince of the Antarctic Empire and also seem to loathe all forms of government. We will not get along.”

Techno looked down at Grumbot with a neutral expression. “Smart kid.”

“Grumbot, how did you know that about your uncle?”

“The mayoral reservoirs of course. He would have been a danger to the mayoral campaign if he appeared.”

Grian stared his son down. “Are you telling me the entire time you knew about Techno.”

“Not his location, but I was aware of his character and other general knowledge.” Grian looked like he was about to blow a gasket. “Of course, you never asked, so I didn’t assume you wanted to know.”

“Grumbot, when we get home, only your brother is getting a diamond.”

Grumbot stared at his dad before saying a single word. “Fuck.”

Tommy smiled. He had taught his nephew well.

With a break in the conversation, Tubbo spoke up. “Well, I mean Philza has sort of been acting as my dad.”

That immediately grabbed Grian’s attention. “Why?”

“Well, I’m not sure exactly what happened. One moment I was in the car with my dad, next thing I know, I’m in a box on the side of the road.”

“Your dad abandoned you?”

“What? No! He would never!”

“Hey G, might be like what happened to you?” Tommy suggested. There was a pause where everything was quiet before suddenly Grian changed to have six purple eyes. “Grian! No!”

Grian closed them and crossed his arms as best as he could while still holding Jrumbot. “What’s the point of being a Watcher if I can’t actually be one.”

“You almost killed everyone a few hours ago.”

“Dad almost killed someone?” Jrumbot asked, looking worried. Grian shifted him to one arm so he could pat his son and comfort him.

“Yeah, things got crazy for a bit. That’s why we wanted you staying in the hobbit tunnels. Did you at least have fun there?”

The question cheered Jrumbot up. “Yeah! We made more tracks for jousting!” Jrumbot continued to talk about what he and Grumbot had been doing when a message came in on the comms “Dad, Daddy wants your help with Scar.”

Grian sighed. “Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to get that paperwork done. Hey Tommy, where’s your nether portal?”

Tommy led everyone down to the second floor and through a nether portal. Though Tubbo had already been there with Fundy, the rest hadn’t and were surprised by the builds that were in the nether.

“How did you do all of this?!” Wilbur asked, surprised. “We barely had stuff like this in the overworld!”

“It’s actually not that big compared to last season. We use the roof more and everyone has their own separate builds.” Grian’s family tried to resist the urge to shake him and or kill him at how normal he was making it sound. “I’ll have to show you the upside down later.”

Though it took a few small bridges here and there, it was rather quick getting them all back to the shopping district. As the portal was right under the town hall, the group was greeted by music as they came through back into the overworld.

“Is he wasting it on paperwork again?!” Grian asked incredulously to no one in particular. “This isn’t going to help us at all!”

“It actually makes sense this time as there is the potential consideration of people from here and the smp moving between each other.” Grumbot explained, making sure to glare down his anarchist uncle the entire time. “All the proper forms would need to be done to keep Hermitcraft safe from people willing to destroy it.”

“I’m going in there.” Tommy spoke up, quickly leaving the others behind. Just a moment later, he walked back out with papers in his hand. “I think these mean he doesn’t want to see us right now.”

“What exactly is going on?” Philza asked.

At the same time, Grian and Tommy gave an answer. “Superfast build mode.”

“What?”

“Scar uses vex magic to help speed himself up to do lots of work in a small amount of time. Usually he uses it for building, but recently he’s also been using it for all his mayor work.”

“I… see.”

“Anyway, Grumbot, can you look at the paperwork?” Grian took the papers from Tommy’s hands and gave them to his son. The robot rapidly read through all the papers at a speed that could potentially rival Scar’s own current speed.

“It’s really bad this time. Paying him diamonds, work clauses, extreme zoning laws for temporary housing. You can only grow wheat and chorus fruit, I’m assuming that’s actually a mistake.”

Tommy smiled. “You wanna go in there and fix it.”

Even if they wouldn’t all admit it, the smp members all had a shiver go down their spines as Grumbot spoke coldly and his screen face turned red. “Very much so.” And then he walked up the stairs to the town hall.

“Is he going to kill your mayor?” Wilbur asked, but Grian shook his head.

“No, he only was that serious the first time they met after we finally built his body. It’s only ever near deaths at most. I’m actually wondering if we have more elections if everyone will let Grumbot run.”

“I certainly won’t be giving him permission.” Came Mumbo’s voice as he exited town hall with Iskall and Fundy behind him. “Artificial life or not, he is still considered a child. And Tommy has given him too many ideas. Scar might be exiled for a few days.”

Techno looked like he was about to speak, but was shushed by Philza. 

“Techno, I know you don’t seem to like the government and all, but it works here. I’ve seen hundreds of worlds, so I know how it can all fall apart, but we have literally been doing this for years with not a single problem.”

“Grian.”

“With only one single problem.”

“Grian!”

“Okay, I cause the problems. Mostly. But Tommy helps me with that! But we only very minorly grief and even then it’s extremely rare. And we definitely don’t steal. It’s mainly harmless pranks like chickens everywhere or hiding something in your base that makes noises and you can’t find it.”

“Or secret base bros.” Tommy added in, making Grian look a little confused.

“Yeah, though we stopped doing that ages ago.”

“Or did we?” Tommy asked, somehow looking very racoonish.

Grian looked at his brother. “Okay, concerning, but we can talk about that later.” He turned back to the rest of his family. “In the meantime, I think we should have the discussion I think we’ve all been avoiding a little. Is it just going to be visits, or are you guys actually deciding to move here?”

“What do you mean? You’re not coming with us?” Philza asked, making Grian frown.

“No, of course not. No offense to your home, but it’s a bit of a mess and I’m not sure I could live there without losing my mind. I’m sure that eventually things will calm down, but I’m sure I couldn’t even make half a hobbit hole before it got messed with in some way. Visits are of course on the table, but I’m not going to be staying.”

“But you’ll just be by yourself again.”

“Um…” Tommy started to say, drawing attention over to him. “I’m actually going to mostly stay here. I know Dream is gone and Tubbo’s in charge now, but I just don’t think I can go back there just like that.”

Tubbo hugged Tommy and then Grian pulled the two of them into a hug with his wings. When Philza tried to take a step forward, Grian glared at him. “No. You were part of the problem. You don’t really deserve this right now.”

Mumbo went over to try and comfort Grian, but just ended up making him more agitated. Iskall pulled his fellow redstoner back then tried to change the topic. “So, Fundy, you said you’re Wilbur’s kid. That makes you Grian’s nephew, doesn’t it? That means you have cousins.”

“I do?” The fox hybrid asked before he was tackled by Jrumbot.

“Hi! I’m Jrumbot! Grian and Mumbo are my dads! My brother went in there to talk to Scar, so you may have seen him.”

“Yeah! I did! Wow! This is the best day of my life! I mean, other than the whole going to war part, but everything else was great! New family, hopefully a better server, and I got to hang out with Iskall!”

“That sounds amazing! I got to meet Tubbo! He’s just as fun as Tubbee!” Jurmbot said, happy to share about his day to a new face.

“They seem to get along just fine.” Iskall chuckled. The comment seemed to help Grian relax a bit and he reluctantly released Tommy and Tubbo from his wings.

“Look dad, I’m happy I found you after all these years. But you being my dad doesn’t change the things I saw you do. You sided with people, not ideas, and because of that you would change what you stood for on a moment's notice just to side with someone you cared about. But that hurt others you cared about at the same time. I’ve been hurt enough in my life. Tommy has too. Things here are safe and stable and even then we don’t always have the best days. I don’t normally curse, but it should get the point across. I am terrified of getting close to you right now and you finding a way to fuck up out lives.”

Mumbo and Iskall shared a look. While it might not get through to the newcomers, they had known Grian long enough to know just how serious he was being. They had both seen just how bad it could get for Grian and Tommy and how helpless they felt sometimes when trying to help the brothers.

Philza was quiet for a while before giving a simple understanding nod. “Thanks dad.”

“Well Grian, I’m sure that it’s been a long day for everyone. I’m sure people are tired and hungry and there’s plenty of paperwork to do. How about once Grumbot is finished, we head over to my Hobbit hole for some food.”

Grian smiled at Mumbo. “That sounds nice. Dinner with the whole family!”

Everyone was pleasantly surprised when they saw Mumbo’s hobbit hole. It was a much more reasonable size. They hadn’t seen Mumbo’s real base quite yet though, so they assumed this was it. It was still quite large from the bumbo baggins society expansion, but that meant plenty of room for everyone to sit at for a meal. 

While there was plenty of variety, golden carrots were the most plentiful and they were gladly eaten for their high saturation. The visitors from the SMP tried not to stare as the bot children were given bowls of nether quartz and red stone to eat. It was hard to even comprehend how they were eating at all as their heads were just computer monitors yet somehow it just worked.

A cake was placed on the table as a joke for all the birthdays everyone had missed but they ended up actually singing. Following that, the dreaded paperwork began, though it was easier to handle now that everyone had a slice of the delicious treat.

While Philza, Wilbur, Techno and Fundy signed paperwork for simply visiting Hermitcraft, Tubbo signed one for visits and for residency. “Tubbo, are you planning to stay?” Tommy asked when he noticed the papers in front of his friend. 

“Well… I would like to. This place seems so nice… but with me being admin now, I need to help the smp. But maybe I can have extended stays in the future.”

Grian looked at Tubbo sympathetically. “Tubbo, you don’t have to be the admin. I’m sure you can find someone you trust enough to move the powers to if you want to stay here.”

“But you made me admin.”

“You were nearby and I knew you probably wouldn’t do anything horrible as admin, but you don’t have to keep them. You are still a kid. You don’t need to keep that responsibility if you want something else.” When Tubbo didn’t look convinced, Grian sighed. “If you want, we can make someone else admin, and if it doesn’t work, you just call me over and I’ll take them away again.”

“Grian, there’s a good chance you could kill someone doing that.”

“And I wouldn’t regret it!”

“Yes you would.”

“Okay maybe.”

Mumbo just gave a very tired sounding sigh.

As dinner was wrapping up, Grian pulled Grumbot over to a side room. “Alright, you were able to help Tommy out with Tubbo and apparently you knew more about Techno than you were going to tell me.”

“That is true.” Grumbot answered. “But you two build me the way you did.”

“I know, and I really regret it.” Grian pulled out a diamond. “Grumbot, do you know anything about Tubbo’s dad?”

Grumbot took the diamond and then processed the question. He was silent for a few long moments, making Grian start to believe that there was nothing Grumbot could find on the man. But just as he was losing hope, Grumbot spoke again.

“He’s called The Captain.”

[lightblueterracota]

hey, about your hermitshipping post, i wanted to weigh in: im of the opinion that people shouldn't do it (it's complicated though)

i actually agree with viewing hermitcraft through a roleplaying lens. there's a lot of character work involved, much like the stuff that doc and ren are doing, helsknight/evil x, plus the fact that anything we see onscreen is something they've chosen to share (so their persona isn't 100% indicative of their irl self). i think it's a gray area for shipping here (all within boundaries of course) and from what i've seen, the hermits have been neutral-positive about the topic for the most part.

the issue is that the people who vehemently defend hermitshipping are usually self described "anti antis" or "proshippers". there are other posts out there that explain why these labels and mentality are so harmful better than i can. bottom line is, a lot of my discomfort comes from the culture surrounding shipping, and the people terminally online trying to justify gross or triggering behavior (in general, not just within this fandom). i try my best to steer clear of it, just block and move on, yknow?

in general though.. shipping real people is just weird to me? in vintagebeef's latest episode he mentioned his wife and like. stuff like that just cements the fact that these are real people and it's strange seeing people take this stuff super seriously.

so that's my take, i hope it made sense. i'll acknowledge the gray area but it still makes me uncomfy, so i filter block and move on

hi there! thanks for taking the time to send in your thoughts, i’m very open and friendly to discussion!!!! i understand and agree with what you say too about fandom culture tbh. i feel like with way social interactions and content consuming works in our current age with the internet, the way we consume media nowadays has become extremely warped. i’ve seen a lot of really well articulated posts describing why those certain fandom “titles” of anti-anti and proship and all that are really harmful and i completely agree that there really is some irredeemable behavior, a lot of justification of some very bizarre and not okay things under the guise of “fandom culture” in general, not even just for mcyters.

i think it all comes down to how one is able to draw the line between a content creator and well… their content! and how to separate them and then when to acknowledge it’s one of the same and not. for me in particular when i look at hermitcraft, i always thought it was very roleplay esque, similar to how actors take on roles in movies as they act out their really fun lore and stories, and as such i look at their minecraft activities as completely separate from what they actually do as people! of any fun pairings i do see in hermitcraft, i absolutely do not see it beyond the realm of minecraft and their characters of them being fun creatures and supernatural beings and things like that. ( personally i love doc’s lore of him being part creeper. that’s so cool )

(also i didn’t know vintagebeef had a wife and kids that’s really cool! i learned recently that impulse has also a wife and kids and some nephews & nieces too, which was really cool and surprising to hear because imo he sounds so young! but anyway.)

it makes me think about for example ren and doc! both of those have joked about rendoc and encouraged it, all within the realm of their storyline lores and stuff. but irl ren has his own girlfriend and doc is also in a relationship & has a baby, and that’s super fun to hear & is completely separated from whatever minecraft activities. especially in a fantasy type of world that i think minecraft is, esp this season will all the lore, it can be really fun to imagine with! but also just really cementing that i don’t see these youtubers in hermitcraft roleplayer servers really any different from an actor taking on a role in a movie ! of course i think these youtubers are also completely entitled to say “hey, i make this content, so please treat my content as such” when they ask for fandoms Not to be shipping and stuff, which i think is completely understandable since youtube content creation IS a bit more personal!

of course that’s my interpretation tho. some people disagree and think that these hermit characters are one and the same with the people making the content (which i can understand, but also it is obvious they tailor their content to BE presented a certain way!). i think the fact that a lot of people have a lot of difficulty finding that line of interpretation and acting on it peacefully is really lost within fandom spaces due to… internet? new age? a variety of reasons probably. so that’s why i’m curious to hear how other people think of it! the thing is, i don’t really think there IS a universal answer for where that line is between content creation and its creator, because literally everyone is different.

thanks for sharing your two cents, i completely agree with you :) i find irl shipping to be pretty invasive and disrespectful of said irl relationships you and i both mentioned, so as such i avoid it. but for me, i don’t see hermitcraft server as irl, but rather it’s roleplaying a lore storyline as these youtubers create their own characters. so while yeah it is a persona made by them, it’s still a fictional and fabricated persona so i don’t really see it as the same as Shipping Them as Content Creators. unfortunately, that causes a lot of rifts between people, & i do wish people could have normal discussions about these kind of things without needing a million disclaimers asking for peace and civility.

[votederpycausemufins]

Well, so far Grifter’s just been playing around. Now he’s going to start showing just what he can do and why he was locked up by the helsmits. ‘spoiler’: it involves tearing up the DSMP

@petrichormeraki and @helleborusangel (plz it’s been a week and a half, where are youuuuuu i worry)

“Where are you going?” Techno asked as Tommy put on his borrowed gear. It had still been left in a nearby chest when it was taken off, so it was easy to find.

“I’m going to help Grian.” Tommy answered, adjusting his elytra. “The more help he gets, the better.”

“What makes you think you can help? Or at least help out better than me.”

Tommy half shrugged, more focused on getting ready. “I probably can’t help better than you, but Grian’s out there so he can’t make a portal back to Hermitcraft. Meanwhile you managed to get there on your own. If Grifter is as bad as he sounds, we’ll need more help. I mean, we had some trouble taking you down, and he’s apparently worse.”

“So I’m just supposed to leave and get help?”

Tommy stood up, all his gear ready. “Yeah. One thing I learned from the hermits is that even if you’re good at one thing, you should try other shit. You’re good at combat, so now it’s time to try something else.”

“That’s stupid.” Techno huffed.

“Yeah, but it’s still a good lesson.”

Grum wriggled and escaped Techno’s arms. “I’m helping to!”

“No, you’re still damaged and also a fucking kid.” Tommy argued, but that just made Grum cross his arms.

“I have an advanced combat program plus a ‘chat’ that should be able to assist me. If Techno is getting help, he doesn’t need help getting help. So I’m helping my dad!”

Tommy tried to complain, but Techno stopped him. “I saw him in action. I’m pretty sure he’s better than you. Besides, you’re still technically a kid too.”

“”Hey! I’m a big man!”

“Sure, sure. Here.” Techno pulled out a netherite sword and axe, then handed them to Grum. “I’d give you my armor too, but I doubt it fits.”

“Someone’s got a favorite nephew~”

“Oh shut up.”

“We’ve got a plan! Let’s go!” Grum grabbed Tommy’s arm and started dragging him away in the direction Grian had gone. They only got a few steps before the ground shook from a large explosion. It made Tommy freeze before making sure Grum and Techno were okay, glad to see they were fine. At least, as fine as they had been.

“Okay maybe this is a bad idea.” Tommy tried once more to stop Grum, but the bot just pushed forward.

“Then I’ll just ask for an upper hand on the way there. But you are not changing my mind.” The bot crossed his arms, making Tommy sigh.

“Fine, but try not to get killed. You’re the one that can revive people.”

“If that is a concern, then here.” Grum tossed the revival book to Techno. “Keep that with you, and should I die and not be able to respawn, it can be used on me. The same goes for anyone else who may end up with the same problem.”

Techno hesitated before answering. “Alright fine, just don’t get Phil killed.”

“Not planning on it.” Tommy replied for Grum, and then the two of them were off.

.

.

.

Grifter twirled a finger and a spike of bedrock erupted from the ground, joining the others he had created. He frowned at how much energy it was taking, but at the very least, though it was slow, he was making a wall around the place. “There’s no way he can ignore this, right? Ugh, who am I kidding, I need Tommy first. Well, that should at least draw everyone else nearby so I should start to divide and conquer.”

Grifter pulled his wings in close, letting him start diving towards the ground. He kept his eyes out for anyone and then smiled as something caught his eye. Double checking that he still had enough magic disguising himself, Grifter changed his course and aimed for the elder avian he had spotted.

“Now let’s see, would he call him Dadza? Hmm, unlikely. Just Dad? Or maybe Phil? Nah, let’s just go with… Dad!” Grifter landed, making sure to be panting. “Are you alright? I saw those spikes appearing, and then saw you and-”

“I’m fine, just got split up from everyone else when one showed up underneath us. Tommy and Techno are with your kid, so you should probably go after them.”

Grifter held in a smile. Now he could find Tommy. “Where are they?”

“Bad’s mansion. At least assuming the place is still standing. It doesn’t look like these things have gotten that far but-”

“They haven’t, don’t worry!” Grifter smiled sweetly. “And thank you very much for the information! I’ll come back for you later I think!”

Before Phil could react, Grifter’s illusion disappeared as he used the magic to make a sphere of bedrock, trapping the avian within it. The Listener almost flew away right then, but then snapped his fingers. “There, now you shouldn’t try to get out.”

Inside the sphere, four end crystals had appeared. With the close quarters, Phil could barely move without setting one of them off, so he hugged the wall of his new prison, doing his best not to move.

Grifter flew up into the air and started looking around. “Mansion, mansion. Ugh, nothing looks mansion-y enough. Why can’t they make things bigger h- oh hello~” Grifter spotted the bright pink metal of Tommy’s sword from a mile away. Looking around more, it didn’t look like Grian was anywhere nearby, but he didn’t quite have the magic to spend yet. Instead, he circled high in the sky, watching the pair below him until he could disguise himself again.

It took a could of minutes, but finally Grifter had enough magic. The act he would put on would be easy of course, he just needed to act like a concerned parent, and he had seen Wile do that plenty. “What are you two doing?!”

“We came to help you out G.” Tommy replied, having nearly fallen over at the avian’s sudden arrival. “I would've thought you’d have gotten further.”

“He’s been using a lot of magic. There are these giant spikes of bedrock everywhere. I can’t get around safely with them showing up.” Grifter turned to look at Grum. “And what about you? You’re still hurt. You-” He didn’t have time to react as a sword sliced into him, hitting his arm.

“You’ll have to try better than that.” Grumbot looked up, revealing his screen which was picturing the symbol of the watchers, making Grifter take a step back. “You’ve still got scarlet wings. They’d be purple at this point.”

Grifter glanced back. His wings looked like Grian’s but he hadn’t realized that he ever changed how they look. Well, now that he needed the extra magic, Grifter let the illusion fade away. “Hmm, good eye. Well, I’ll just have to make this quick.”

The ground rumbled, and while he couldn’t make another spike, a sheet of bedrock divided Tommy and Eyes, splitting them up. Grifter grabbed Tommy’s arm and pulled him closer, ready to fly away with him when the bedrock broke. “Tsk, right. Watchers use bedrock too.”

“Watchers? So then-” Tommy started looking around for Grian, but instead, all he saw was Grumbot. “Wait, but- And he-? But how?”

“Who cares! I don’t need him.” Grifter shrugged, putting a sword to Tommy’s neck. “Let me leave and he won’t d-”

Eyes just threw a piece of bedrock at Grifter. “You want him alive, you’re not gonna kill him.”

Grifter frowned for a moment before smiling. “And you either don’t have magic or can’t use it. Hah, I didn’t even need to threaten him.” He spread his wings and held onto Tommy, Eyes running to try and grab them. But before the bot could reach them, Grifter was back in the air.

“Holy fuck! No no no no! This is so much worse than when Grian does it!”

“Oh shut up, I’m not going to drop you. Unless you keep struggling that is.” After Grifter had said that, Tommy froze up, leaving the Listener laughing. “Sooo… I’m hoping Nightmare will want to come after you, but others might as well. Who should I be looking out for?”

“Like I’d fucking tell yo- AHHHH!” Tommy started to say before he was falling, Grifter having let go of him. He was getting close to the ground when he was caught again, Grifter giving a chirping laugh. “Don’t fucking do that!”

“Then tell me what I want to know. It’s not that hard to comply, is it?” Grifter asked, threatening to drop Tommy again. “Oh, but that does remind me, I already took care of Dadza, or at least the one here.”

“You killed Phil?!” Tommy shouted. He would attack Grifter if he didn’t want to fall again.”

“Oh no, if he dies, it’s his own fault. I just trapped him for a bit.” Grifter explained, dipping just enough in their flight for the point of a bedrock spike to hit Tommy’s leg, making it bleed and Grifter laugh. “There, now you won’t be running away.”

“You’re a goddamn fucking bitch.”

“I know!” Grifter replied cheerily, a big smile on his face. “Oh look, we’re here!”

Tommy looked down to see Eret’s castle which was in the middle of the wall of bedrock spikes. The flag on top had been torn down and in place of the flagpole was some sort of giant redstone machine.

They landed nearby, Tommy being dropped before they touched down. It wasn’t enough of a fall to kill him, but it still hurt. Getting up also wasn’t the best because he couldn’t put much pressure on his leg, and even though he should be regening health, nothing was healing.

“You look tired.” Tommy recognized what was almost Mumbo’s voice. “Do you need help down to the throne?”

“I think your arms are the best throne for me~” Tommy tried not to gag at the flirting. “But I wouldn’t mind it. He’ll probably only believe what he sees with his own eyes and Tommy is definitely not Theseus. And I used so much magic making the wall.” Grifter pouted before Sense picked him up.

“Spare a little bit for a cuff for him and I can carry you down. The former king is currently occupying the cell I made. He’s much tougher than he looks. Related to Jhost of all people, or whatever he’s called here.”

Grifter frowned. “Aww, but that means we can’t kill him. That’s not fair.” He crossed his arms. “Okay, fine. I can still do that.” And then with a quick wave of his hand, some chains appeared and Tommy's good leg was trapped. He watched as the hels pair left, leaving him to try and break the metal, but he had no luck.

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As soon as Grifter had gotten into the air with Tommy, Eyes started running behind them. They were slowly losing ground due to the uneven terrain tripping them up and the fact that Grifter had a clear path from flying. Eventually they lost the pair when they tripped and fell into a large crater, likely a creeper hole. 

Eyes winced, holding the new crack on their body. It had formed right over the trident holes since they were already a weak point, and now that place was even more vulnerable. “Ah crap. Oh buzz off, last I checked it wasn’t a-” Eyes sharply inhaled as they stood up. “Fine, if you want to complain, you can come out here. Who cares if it isn’t healthy? We are currently in a life or death situation.” Eyes pulled themselves out of the hole, looking around. “He made a backup of the world, and those spikes in the distance definitely weren’t there a week ago. Grifter’s gonna destroy this place. We need to get Tommy and everyone else out of here before that happens. ...Oh shut up! I’m the one in charge of the Watcher powers. Well now I do know!!!”

Eyes huffed and kept walking towards the spikes. They were still a good number of chunks away, but at the very least they were good landmarks. They still had some redstone and quartz in their pockets to snack on, so running for a while wouldn’t be too much of an issue. It was still a little tough to get through the terrain. The closer they got to the spikes, the rougher it was. The place was already littered with bits of destruction, but there was more debris from the spikes bursting out of the ground, scattering dirt and rocks around the landscape. It also didn’t help that the spikes were casting large shadows. While the darkness didn’t reach them at this point, Eyes still had to be wary of creepers or any mobs that spawned with helmets. 

They slowed down to munch on some quartz, using that as an opportunity to look at their surrounding. They were getting closer to the spikes, likely close enough they wouldn’t need to stop again before reaching them. Looking for a way through the spikes would be difficult though. Theoretically they could be climbed or have a gap between them, but that could still be difficult. And then breaking through wouldn’t be an option. The wall that split them from Tommy hadn’t even been a full block thick and had been tough to break. There was no way they could get through that much.

When Eyes got to the shadows, they froze from seeing just how many monsters were around. There was a larger group than should be normal. Normally the natural world magic that spawned monsters split equally around occupants of the world. If there were so many here, that meant plenty of people had died and didn’t respawn, which was unlikely, the only death message they had seen so far was for Eret. The other option was there were more people around, and likely people who could help get Tommy back.

Fighting through the monsters, Eyes looked around for who else could be around. When moving in one direction there were less monsters around, so they moved in the opposite direction, glad to see it was closer to the spikes and closer to their destination. 

After a bit of searching, Eyes finally spotted someone. They sliced down a nearby skeleton before shouting to the other person and running towards them. “Heeeeey! Over here! Do you need some-” Eyes tried to jump over something, but midway through the jump, they started buffering, causing them to fall on their face as they landed.

The person they called out to immediately came over, fighting off the nearby mobs. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?”

“Uh… yeah.” Grum took the person’s hand and got up. “Um, I need some help. It’s about Tommy.”

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Grian carefully snuck through the castle that was the center of all the magic. He was pretty sure it was a trap, there was no way someone like him would make something so obvious and not make it a trap, but it wasn’t like he had a better place to look.

There was also the problem of not knowing where he was going. Technically he could use some Watcher magic for the answer, but that wasn’t really an option. He hadn’t been a Watcher long before joining Hermitcraft, meaning he was inexperienced. It was why using his magic often left him with side effects other than just being tired. But his hels copy was using so much, it was obvious he was better trained.

Grian took a few more hesitant steps forward before stopping from a sound. It didn’t sound like someone walking or flying, but it did at the very least sound like someone was moving around. He took out a sword and slowly moved towards the noise, ready to attack whoever was there, when a head popped out of a newly made hole in the wall with a small oink.

The avian was stunned, not really moving as the baby ziglin pulled himself the rest of the way out of the hole before turning to look back inside it. A few minutes later, another head popped out as someone squeezed their way through the hole. 

Grian ducked back when they started looking around. He of course recognized Tubbo since he was Tommy’s friend, but he wasn’t sure if Grifter had done anything to them. He had already seen what happened to Grum as well as that enderman hybrid. What was his name?

“Okay Ranboo, the coast is clear. Send it through.” Tubbo spoke into the hole, and a moment later, an ender pearl was thrown through, teleporting the enderman hybrid inside. Once he was in, Tubbo reached his arm through. “Okay, we’re through, take my hand and I’ll pull you in.”

Grian’s eyes widened as he watched Grum get pulled through the hole. His grip on his sword tightened as he could immediately tell the bot was in a worse condition than the last time he had seen him. He wanted to rush in there, but Grum was too close to the others as well as the ziglin, so he couldn’t really attack without harming the kids.

“Okay, so, I’m not sure where he’s gonna be. Does this place have a prison or something?” Grum asked, looking between Tubbo and Ranboo.

“Not as far as I’m aware.” Tubbo answered. “You probably would know better than me. I mean, I’ve technically been gone a month or something.”

“And my memory is too bad.” Ranboo replied with a shrug.

“Alright, I guess we’re going in blind…” Grum spoke timidly. “Do you at least sort of know what the place is like? I never really even got a chance to visit it.”

Tubbo looked around before pointing in Grian’s direction. “I think maybe we go this way?”

“No, entrance is that way.” Grian spoke up. He was almost completely sure that the group was safe, though he was still concerned about Grum having more injuries. That being said, the bot quickly ran over and gave him a hug when he showed himself. “Are you doing okay Grum?”

“Well, I got a little more hurt on the way here while fighting monsters, but I’m okay.”

“Yeah, none of us are regenerating health naturally.” Ranboo spoke up. “And I’ve tried to give him a golden apple, but he’s refused them.”

“Because I can’t eat them! I’m a robot, not a person.”

Grian frowned. “You are too a person. Just a robotic one. Doc and Biffa are people too.”

“I guess you’re right. It’s just different…”

Grian picked Grum up in his arms. “Well, we can talk about that more when you’re not in danger.” Then he looked up at the rest of the group. “Now, why are you all here?”

“Apparently Grum and Tommy were on their way to find and help you, but the fake you kidnapped him.” Tubbo explained, which made Grian angry.

“That’s going to make things tougher if he’s got a hostage. Especially if it’s Tommy.” Grian ruffled his wings and shifted Grum so he could rub his chin. “I would say split up to cover more ground, but Grifter seems to be a powerful magic user. I mean, he’s the one who summoned those spikes. It also looks like he brought Sense along and from what Jrum’s told me, he’s almost as dangerous with his redstone. If any of us ran into even one of them alone, it would be bad news, so we’ll have to stick together.”

The rest of the group nodded and Grian started to lead them down the hall. With a whole group, he could probably use a little bit of magic, at least to see where Tommy was. It wouldn’t tell him how to get there, but a general idea of which direction to go would help. For a moment, another pair of eyes appeared, and then the world faded slightly, only the outlines of objects showing themselves. Grian looked around, not seeing Tommy, but then he looked up.

“It looks like Tommy’s on the roof or the floor below it. It looks like Sense is nearby while Grifter is elsewhere. There’s also a fourth person around, but they’re not someone I recognize.”

“Well then, let’s start heading up.” Ranboo said, Tubbo nodding as he picked up Michael, and then the group continued on to find Tommy.