#skizz week 5

[eluminium]

SKIZZ WEEK 5!!! THE GRIND CONTINIUES!!!

How the fuck did this one GET SO LONG????? AND HOW DID I FINISH IT IN TIME??? IT'S A MIRACLE!!!! I probably won't be able to finish day 6 on time due to LIFE STUFF but TRUST ME I AM GOING TO GET THE DAYS I MISSED DONE.

As always: @skizzlemanweek is the goat for giving us all these prompts!

Prompt 5: Stars/Hearts

-

A serene desert night. Something surprisingly rare, but more common in solo worlds. The hostile mobs keep away while the passive and neutral have long since fallen asleep. Out in the endless dunes, nothing moves. A true quiet.

That quiet swiftly comes to an end when a man with tussled black and grey hair crawls out of his tent. A simple t-shirt and a pair of loose shorts cover his scarred body, very unlike his usual outfit of choice. In his grip is a ridiculously large bath towel and a thicker blanket as well as a lantern. His feet are bare of any dress, and he relishes the feeling of sand brushing against them. What he likes less is the sudden chill graciously given to him by the desert’s nightly winds. He quickly ties the blanket around him like a cape. 

“Brrrr! I’m freezing my butt off! Kevin! Come out here!” He calls into the night. The previously still as a coffin tent bursts into activity as a “Woof!” erupts out of it. A medium-sized reddish-brown dog leaps out and bounces over to the man’s side. His tail wags like a metronome on steroids.  

The man's hearty laugh soars over the desert dunes as he leans down to give his dog some TLC. “Who’s my big puppy? Who’s my favorite in the whole wide world? Who’s my Kevin Bubbles Malone Jimmy Madeye Dugan? Yes, you are! You are!” He coos as Kevin rolls around and coats his fur in sand. When the man stands back up, Kevin copies him. The dog takes a few steps before-

“No, boy, don’t!” He borderline begs, but it’s too late. Sand goes flying everywhere as Kevin rids himself of the coarse and itchy feeling. 

“Augh! Bubbles! Bad dog! Now I got sand in my jibblets!” He pouts while trying to brush said sand off. Kevin tilts his head but otherwise continues to pant at him. 

He sighs with frustration and fondness as he walks away from the tent. "I can't be mad at you for long, it's not fair" He grumbles as Kevin walks attentively by his side, sniffing the air in search of any stray mobs who would dare to show their faces. But the desert is still quiet. Only the steps of the man and his dog as well as the lonely winds echo through the landscape. They keep walking with a clear goal in mind, each step intentional.

Until the man spots his destination in the distance. A giant vaguely circular glass donut-looking thing. The moonlight reflects beautifully off its slightly wonky surface, casting the area around it in an ethereal glow. With a cheer the man breaks out into a run, his loyal Kevin right behind him barking up a storm.

"Here it is, Kevin! Our overnight home!" He explains excitedly while throwing the giant towel over his shoulder so he can summon a silk touch pickaxe from his inventory. With it, he breaks just a few blocks of glass and steps inside. Kevin jumps in after with no hesitation. With everyone accounted for, the hole disappears as he refiles it. He wastes no time getting to work by spreading the massive towel over the sand. It's big enough to take up most of the ground inside the glass donut. After that, he places down a few other supplies before he unties his blanket cape.

"Sleeping under the desert stars on a clear night has been a bucket list item for a while, dude. I can't believe I'm finally doing this!" He says as he lays down on the towel. However, a cringe crosses his face when he feels the packed sand against his back. "Ouch! I thought it would be softer!" He exclaims. His solution is to wiggle his body around and create an imprint of his body into the sand. It's better...but not by much. It's good enough for now though, and he calls over Kevin who happily snuggles up to him.

With no more distractions, the man turns his eyes to the sky. And what a sight it is. A massive tapestry of light and color upon an ink-black background greets him. Hundreds if not thousands of stars scattered across the sky in an undescribable dance. The moon, ever the overachiever, shines bright and full. The spectacle of the scene before him fills every bit of his body with childlike wonder. He almost feels out of breath, and he's just lying there!

"Woah..." He mumbles.

With a clumsy hand, he points toward six stars located near each other. "See that Kevin? That's the Pickaxe." His hand then moves towards seven new stars. "And that's the Universal Bell." For a last time, he points to a cluster. "And that's the Head of the Great Dragon."

Suddenly, a distant feeling of fear hits him. His hand falls back down to Earth, and a frown decorates his face. "We really are miniscule, huh Kevin? We're tiny, insignificant little ants in the face of the Universe. Isn't that crazy?" Maybe he's the crazy one for talking to his dog alone in the desert. Kevin, for his part, continues to snore.

"Nothing we do matters on that scale. We can create a million solo worlds, yet it won't even make a blip on the radar!" He continues, the slight fear building strength in his chest.

"It's so vast. Borderline infinite. And I'm just one player out of millions...Maybe one of them is looking up right now, thinking the same thing. Mathematically that's gotta be the case. A million's a big number, and there's probably even more than that..." This ramble has to stop if he wants to keep that existential crisis at bay. Because at this rate he's on the minecart heading to the stress station!

He sighs and refocuses his eyes on the sky. It glows back at him just as before.

"Maybe we gotta focus less on what we can influence in the big picture and more on what we can influence in the small picture." He says, trying to inject some optimism into his tone. "Maybe the only impact we really need to make is the impact on those around us. Friends, family, other loved ones..."

He looks down at his beloved canine companion sleeping next to him. A smile creeps up on his face. Even just looking at Kevin's peaceful mug makes a happiness bubble in him. He giggles to himself. "I guess you're doing great on that front, Bubbles," He pets Kevin's head carefully to not wake him up. Afterward, he looks back up in the sky. 

"I could talk to my brothers more. Maybe invite Dop, Top, and Bop to do some silly challenges together. Or I could hit up Logic and get him to show me his newest duds. Maybe Pearlie Pop can help me build something for the fun!" Yeah! Yeah, that would be delightful! That would be great!

...Except that all of them are parts of servers he has no access to. And are also very busy. Well, that takes the wind out of his sails.

"Man, this sucks!" He pouts, trying to drown the genuine pang of loneliness with overdramatic sulking. But there's no one around to find it funny. His palm falls to his face.

"Dang it, Skizz!" Now he's just back in the sad. He shakes his head, this is not a productive mindset to have while alone in the desert under the infinite sky!

"You know what? They'll invite me to Hermitcraft next season. Then I'll have all the time in the world to hang out with my buddies!" He claims dramatically to bullshit his way out of this.

Then he stops.

Impulse is being cagey lately...Gem accidentally referred to him as a Hermit...Tango seems uncharacteristically excited about season 10...

Could it be?

A part of his mind screeches on instinct. Of course not! This hasn't been the first time he thought he was gonna get invited! And him? Hermitcraft? Yeah, sure. Like that would ever happen!

But, perhaps just this once, the other parts of his mind beat back those thoughts, and he gets to indulge in the possibility. Him on Hermicraft. With his friends. His brothers. And so many new people to get to know. A happy smile settles on his face at the thought. Wouldn't that be something? To have a proper home server again? Be able to look at the sky with those he loves the most. 

With that scenario in his mind, the starry sky above him doesn't look nearly as beautifully intimidating. Because if he's with his friends, he's in the right place. His place.

Eager to quit while he's ahead and to prevent those doubting thoughts from making a comeback, he summons the final pieces of his glass donut stargazing sleep place thing. Some glass, and a pillow. The glass is quickly used to cover the ceiling so no spiders or sandstorms could ruin his nap. The pillow lands where the indent of his head is under the sand. Somehow, Kevin doesn't stir, still sleeping away peacefully. The man, now very tired, lays back down on his towel and cozied up in the thick blanket. He gives a quick kiss to his dog's head, mumbles a "good night" and passes out on the spot.

But before he sinks into the sweet comfy unconsciousness, a vague memory, almost a dream, comes to him. It's a fragment of something players can never fully remember, but they hold it dear all the same.

Does it know that we love it? That the universe is kind?

Sometimes, through the noise of its thoughts, it hears the universe, yes.

[astronomodome]

For a self-proclaimed team ZITS enjoyer I really astonish myself with how often my brain does the thought process of: I like zedaph + I like skizz = man wouldn’t it be cool if they knew each other that would be so awesome. Wait.

[captainschaos]

Light and sound like a pounding heart. Scorched stalks, the water rushing free of its soil walls. Stone shatters with the explosions, the thunderous noise and the flashes like the heart of the storm. There, Etho's running through the eye of it all. He is the eye, the swirling center of the storm, and he feels alive in it. His laugh forms a harmony to the explosions, and trickster fingers place TNT exactly where it needs to be for the next beat of the destructive song. Have you ever run through a storm? Been one with its rage, its mirth and ecstasy?

Etho has.

And here, in the center of it all, his ears are especially attuned to all that happens around him. (He hears phantom TNT later, footsteps that aren't there. But that's better than not hearing those sneaking up on him and his, right?) He laughs and calls out to Pearl, yells over his shoulder in his retreat at the Bad Boys, on the ground and looking in the eyes of those caught in the whirlwind. His whirlwind. Their whirlwind. And he is caught up in the song.

Skizz is the rain. Up above, standing on the clouds, he smiles wide as he sends down rain of fire. His comrades rush around him, preparing the wave that will wash away this bridge of destruction. The Bad Boys are caught in the torrent, a raging downpour of fire and light. The spark alights, the dynamite falls. Chained links in a perfectly choreographed reaction, the blasts a firework show, the craters left behind marks upon a stage which falls with its performance. Have you ever stood upon the cloud that brings the rain? Watched how it fell, how it dove and speared the earth?

Skizz has.

Here, above it all, Skizz's eyes catches it all unfolding below. (He sees shadows cross the ground below, figures that aren't there. But that's better than not seeing those trying to catch him and his off guard, right?) He whoops and hollers with Tango and Impulse, running along SkyNet with sure and steady steps, the flint his tool and prop. Together, they dance along their lines, brushing past one another, assured in their parts. A whirlwind. His, their whirlwind. And he is caught up in the show.

But... is this. Right? There comes a moment, in the quiet after, where Skizz stands still. He looks over the wreckage left of the Bread Bridge, the people flitting to and from the sight, and wonders to himself. Did his message come across? Did he really do the right thing? All he wanted was to do some good, to step in against the bullies, the villains of the server. And he just finds himself, in the quiet, hoping with a small smile that he is what he wants to be.

He just wants to be a hero.

In the stillness after the explosion, Etho finds himself slowing from his run. He listens to the chatter of the server, the whispers drifting from the Bread Bridge, and wonders to himself. What was it for? Did they really need to do this? When he finds himself sitting at the table, sending knowing, joking glances to Cleo, he wants nothing but to know they think of him with the heroes of the server. And in the still, he finds himself hoping with a small smile that he is what he wants to be.

He just doesn't want to be a villain.

[There will be one of these for each week! This is 5/?]

First // Previous // Next

[windfighter]

there was a person in Tango's stream who was like "Is this one hour earlier than usual" and for me that was hilarious because tango-stream used to start at 22 for me and today it started at 18!

That's 4!!! hours earlier than usual x3

[braxiatel]

Introducing: The Life Series Comment-a-thon

In light of several of the content creators involved mentioning negative comments on Wild Life, Secret Life, and Life Series videos in general, I want to suggest an event that encourages people to leave positive comments on life series videos as well!

The life series has some of the kindest and most supportive people I have ever encountered in fandom, and I think the creative minds behind the series deserve to get some of that love too. There is no starting or finishing day to this event, as the intention is for fans to leave kind comments highlighting what they love about Wild Life and the Life Series in general, over the course of the current season. I have devised a total of eight weekly comment prompts, making an educated guess as to how long the season will be based off previous season, intended to encourage you to leave a comment on at least one video per week.

There is no time limit or minimum word count for comments. Just be kind, be honest, and don’t tear other creators down in the process of trying to build others up (“[X creator] is so overrated, people should be watching you instead”, “you deserved to win so much more than [Y creator]”, etc.). Without further ado, The Life Series Comment-a-thon:

Week 1: comment on at least one video telling the creator that you liked the video!

Week 2: pick a team/alliance, then tell at least one person in that alliance that you are really enjoying the dynamic of their team/them collaborating with the other member(s) of the team.

Week 3: tell a new member or one who skipped one or more seasons (Gem who joined last season, Ren, Mumbo, Lizzie, Skizz, and Bdubs who all either missed or did not originally post their POVs of a season) that you are happy they are on the life series.

Week 4: Most of the creators involved in the life series are male, but we know that those who are not get a larger share of the negative comments. This week pick one of them (Lizzie, Pearl, Gem, and Cleo) and tell them that you enjoy their video/their content/etc!

Week 5: leave a comment on someone’s video mentioning at least one specific thing you enjoyed about their episode/their season.

Week 6: pick a person whose videos you have not yet commented on in this event and leave them a comment saying you look forward to their episodes every week/season.

Week 7: write a short, positive comment (e.g “I loved this episode” , “this was great” , “keep up the good work”) and leave it on every POV you watch this week.

Week 8: leave a comment on someone’s video mentioning at least three specific thing you enjoyed about their episode/their season. Alternatively pick three videos to leave one specific compliment on.

Week 9+: repeat one of the previous week prompts, or better yet combine two or more! You can pick yourself, use an eight-sided die, or a random number generator to decide for you.

I know commenting can be scary and that it can be hard to find the words. At the end of the post, beneath the the read-more cut, I have a list of suggestions for what you can bring up in a comment. Just below this you will also find a list of things you can do to let the content creators know that you love their art that are not commenting!

Other things you can do:

Like ten comments on a lifer’s video

Like every video you watch

Watch a video from one of the less popular content creators (subscriber wise, or within the fandom) on the day it comes out

And most importantly:

Reblog this post and/or repost it to other social media platforms to spread the word of the comment-a-thon!

A list of questions to spark comment ideas:

Did a joke make you laugh?

Did you catch them making a reference to another season, SMP, or piece of media?

Did the creator interact with someone in a way you enjoyed?

What made the interaction stand out?

Did they build something you thought was pretty?

What part did you like best: the shape, the blocks they chose to use, how it ties into their season, or how it ties into the terrain around it?

If they have a new skin, what is your favourite part of it?

Did they use background music in a way you thought was especially fitting? In what way?

Did a change from one scene to the next feel very well-timed, smooth, or narratively fitting?

If you did not notice any scene changes or cuts, can you think of something the creator did to make you feel immersed in the story of the video instead of the video making itself?

What do you hope happens next? (be sure to tell them that whether it happens or not you still look forward to watching the rest of their season)

Did something surprise you?

Did the content creator say or do something that made you have a new idea?

Did you learn something new about minecraft?

[ivys-garden]

Wild Life Spoilers: Session 2 Alliance Report:

Teams:

The Spanners - (Mumbo, Grian, Skizz) - formerly the Sub One Club, immediately forget their idea of using crawl mode and lament that they can't be sub one anymore. Mumbo then decides they are “The Floaters” due to them becoming obsessed with the levitation ability. Luckily this doesn't stick because I could not handle an alliance that changes name every session. Mumbo and Skizz built their “base” as a series of bridges, leading to Mumbo calling them “The Spanners” since “they span things”.

Speaking of levitation, they died from that. And starvation. This was not Mumbo or Skizzes session, with Mumbo losing two life's and Skizz losing 3, halfing his amount of lives in one session. If Skizz loses one next week he will be yellow. Seems Grian's curse of outlining his alliance has started early.

The Bam-Boozelers - (Scar, Lizzie, Jimmy)

I normally have a lot of faith in all life series teams. I think anyone can make it to the end. I think this so long as it is not abundantly clear that they're doomed. I never say someone is Doomed from the star-

This team is doomed from the start. Immediately they decide that the Wild Card is that he can't heal from hunger, now this is a good first thought and is shared by other teams, though those other teams immediately realised that if that were the Wild Card everyone would die of hunger and started looking for other options.

These 3? They stuck with that idea and started making boats to travel. When they realised that their hunger reduced passively, they panicked until Grian saved them by telling everyone in chat that they could eat anything. Now, armed with this knowledge they just have to find a good and easy to use food source.

They chose stone shovels. An item that cannot be stacked and required way more effort and resources to make than was worth it. And they stuck by this even as others told them about better foods. They only stopped using shovels because of the randomisation.

How is Jimmy the most confident member on his team?

In other news, they're theme park is going well and Lizzie's Parrot is cute. Jimmy also apparently has “Big Mascot Energy”.

Renwood - (Martyn, Ren)

These dogs are just vibing. They each lose a life each, no big deal. A far cry from previous seasons, Ren is just chilling, Not going after anyone unless they go after them first and trying to get Martyn to do the same. And he actually does, not attacking anyone this session at all. He even gives up going after Jimmy for stealing their cows (an action which was by every account deserved.)

The Tuff Guys (Tango, Etho, Bdubs) (not technically together (?))

Ah yes, Team B.E.S.T without Skizz …. Considering Skizz was the only person keeping Team B.E.S.T from imploding, this can only go well!

Yeah this team is not staying together. Technically they're already breaking up, with Bdubs saying they should only look out for themselves and insisting they live in different houses. Bdubs even cements this mentality by fully encouraging Scar to help kill Tango for no reason.

As for the “Tuff” part, Etho has decided that they need to be tougher and take what they want from people. You know, not to be nice or polite.

Luckily we can see how this works in practice, as Gem encourages him to go be tough to the Final Girls, let's see how Etho is an not being nice:

● he greets Scott and Cleo

● makes small talk

● politely asks for copper

● tries to stop Pearl stealing from them since he doesn't know she's on they're team

● takes more of the stuff he was told he could have

● gives them obsidian in return anyway

● and still feels bad about it.

Yeah not only was this the least tough Etho had ever been, the Girls almost certainly didn't notice and probably won't even care when they do. Great job Etho.

The Fast And The Furious (Gem, Joel)

This session, Gem announced her plan to make friends so people don't judge them based on 5 seasons worth of going insane every time they go red. This lasts for 3 minutes before other people arrive, Scar misunderstands instructions, Etho lets the cops out and the Final Girls partake in their favourite pastime of miscommunication and insisting their own teammates are doing something they aren't.

Other attempts to make friends do go better, with Gem arguably being on good terms with everyone except two people. So that's good.

Gem also builds a cute little Bard that I give a session before it's burnt down or has a Creeper hole in it. Joel spends all session building a car. Everyone on the server thinks it's hideous, mainly because it is hideous.

The Final Girls - (Scott, Pearl, Cleo, Impulse, Bigb)

Somehow the most stable team here, even if it is mostly out of spite. Yeah this team will stay together, the core four have never betrayed anyone unless an outside faction is involved. They're safe. Even if they continue the tradition of forgetting all the bad stuff they did and only reimbursing bad stuff their teammates did (what do you mean Pearl doesn't trust people based on what happened in previous seasons? That was you, Cleo!)

Oh Bigb also joined this session. Though I imagine this will be a Heart Foundation situation where he bases alone despite being on the team.

Scott and Cleo spend a lot of time this session fixing the mistakes Pearl and Impulse make by acting how they always do. A house and wall are built and Pearl and Impulse prepare revenge plans on Grian and Martyn. Pearl encourages Impulse not to tell the others, seemingly forgetting that Cleo and Bigb are addicted to revenge and would have no problem with this.

Alliances and Friendships:

Lizzie and Gem

these two agree to team up if their teammates die. Since their teammates are idiots.

Remember, Lizzie is the one who made the stone shovel plan.

Spanners Vs Bammers

The Bam-Boozelers still hate the Spanners, dropping their reputation all the way to zero. Mumbo and Skizz either don't realise this or don't care. Grian was gone almost all session mining so can't really say what his thoughts on the situation are.

The Family - (Joel, Etho, Gem)

Etho is indoctrinated into yet another family, though he seems more willing to be present for this one. When Tuff Guys breaks up like 5 minutes into session 3, we all know where he's going.

Also Scar might also be part of the family though every else seems to just ignore this.

Spanners Vs Tango

The Spanners are really angry at Tango for accidentally killing Skizz. They seem satisfied with manifesting his death through belief, but it seems they haven't let him off the hook yet. We all know Bdubs won't help him

Joel might also be mad at Tango since he ate the wheels of his ugly car.

Mumbo & Jimmy still hate Renwood

Mumbo still doesn't trust Martyn after the enchanter fiasco and Jimmy attempts to get revenge for the cow theft. Ren and Martyn have chosen to ignore this, Mumbo seems to have forgotten he was angry, and Jimmy is satisfied that he got revenge.

Ren buys his friends

Ren bought Gem and Tangos friendship through iron. Will this hold up? No.

Gem has beef with team oblivious

Gem hates Pearl and Impulse this season. They are at the top of her inevitable murder list.

● The Final Girls came round for a visit

● Impulse was accused of stealing

● He said he wouldt stela since he knows what it's like to be stolen from

● Gem took this as him amusing her of stealing

● Scott cut him off before he could explain himself by saying he was purposely antagonising them

● Gem cut both of them off by ranting about how much she doesn't trust them

Stellar miscommunication guys, great job as always. Please never change, the series would be way less funny if you did.

Pearl also made it worse by trying to Poison Gem 30 minutes later. Woopsie.

Neither Pearl nor Impulse notice that Gem hates them and the others refuse to tell them.

[notscarsafe]

OKAY SO what with the TWO new Hermits implied by the updated banner I will say that, though the Skizz truthers have me convinced, I now have room to do my own crazy red string monologue and throw my hat in for my choice

1) Mythical J. Sausage (the J is silent) is a multitalented S-tier builder that absolutely deserves to be shoulder to shoulder with the Hermits. The man does buildings, interiors, terraforming, custom trees, and he does them SO WELL.

2) The production values!!! Beautiful replay mod sequences with shifting camera perspectives, shaders, music that sets the tone for each segment that's different from series to series. He already has more than a million followers on YouTube and for good reason!!

3) He has been SO consistent lately. He started a hardcore world about three months ago (about the time you might expect the Hermits to finalize their s10 choices maybe...???) and already has 15 episodes and hasn't gotten involved in any other big content. (He did just start playing a little of the BCG server but from what I understand that's super casual /copium copium copium).

4) That hardcore world is conveniently about to reach a good "pause" point. He started his world on a cherry blossom biome island that he's filled with a medieval village and starter farms, he's said it's almost full and what's left is the castle. I'm guessing the new season will start the first week of February, so if Sausage puts out a video this week building out that Castle and finishing that island it will be MIGHTY CONVENIENT TIMING.

5) This man can GRIND. His Hardcore world hasn't even been going half a year and he's built... So much??? Magnificent! And when he was on the Hermitcraft server he did the Razorcrest for scar AND the player head baby yoda/stormtrooper merch AND the noteblock themesong AND still built in the xmas village and other "diamond of peace" and so many other shenanigans. Did the man even sleep? He can grind with the best of them.

6) He can do redstone, too! Maybe not unique designs, I honestly don't know, but he builds farms for build materials no problem.

7) The DRAMA this man loves his improv and his backstory and trauma lore! For every series he does! Can you imagine if he gets to interact with Ren for an extended period of time, what that would do to them, to us?? Give Martyn a run for his money!!

8) Which brings me to my next point, which is that Sausage is already One of The Gang, because he's been in series with so many of the Hermits already! Empires and the crossover, obviously, but also Pirates with Cleo and Origins with Scar, and he's even done MCC! Joel is the only other player with the same depth of different series but there are other people truthing him already.

9) The EPIC BROMANCE with Pearl. My god the devotion of this man to his sunflower goddess bestie. I would try to do ot justice but y'all have seen floweroflaurelins work, you already know.

10) He's already a PG streamer but with HILARIOUSLY PG-13 tendencies. Imagine him and Cleo cracking each other up at an HHH stream, *grips your shoulders* IMAGINE IT.

11) Sausage comes with his own mascot in the form of interdimensional dog extraordinaire Bubbles, but he's also just an animal lover on general. Mans drinks his "I love Jellie" juice and had her in his world even before the sad news of her loss.

12) Diversity win! No one should be hired just for their gender, race, sexuality etc etc unless it's truly necessary to the job, but we were all happy when more women got added to the server in s8 and I know a lot of people would be happy to see some ethnic diversity added, too.

... That bulletin board had a lot more pins in it than I thought it did but anyway MYTHICALSAUSAGE TRUTHERS/ALL OTHER TRUTHERS RISE UP SPEAK YOUR TRUTH! we'll only get to wildly speculate for a few weeks so we might as well make it everyone else's problem ENJOY IT TO THE FULLEST!!

[ahllohehn]

Gem's area ,or whatever the Oracle has, has two kinds of decorations cute cottagecore stuff, and spooky stuff like skulls and stuff

An excerpt from the Camp Oracle's Journal:

"I put some fairy lights and curtains around the cave to make it seem homier. I also made a really wide tent filled with blankets and pillows to add up to the comfiness. After all, it was going to be my home for the next few weeks until I had to go back to school. Actually, it’s gonna be my home for the next summers to come!

There’s not much yet, but I hope to add more soon. Grian’s sister, Pearl, came to visit for a while to get a look at the new oracle (aka me). She was really nice! She helped me out on setting up the decorations around my cave and even gave me an old plushie of hers to add to my tent.

It was a well-loved wolf plushie, if the way the seams were already threatening to burst from just how much it’s been hugged, probably.

I didn’t want to take it at first because, you know, sentimental value! I couldn’t just take away her childhood plushie! But she was really adamant about giving it to me. She reasoned that Tilly (the name of the plushie, by the way) would be safer with me than it was with Grian.

Pearl couldn’t take the plushie with her because she’s always on the move with the goddess Artemis, Hunters of Artemis duties and all that. “It’d be a shame if it got lost mid-expedition,” she said.

And who was I to reject after that reason, you know? So now I have little Tilly living with little Gem in the super comfy and cool Oracle cave!"

Thank you for continuing to read! Have a tour of what's inside of Gem's cave:

COMFY CORNER OF THE CAVE

Cat beanbags and plushies - The cat beanbag is customized to look like Jellie. It was mainly put there during times Scar comes by to hang out with her so he wouldn't have to stay for too long on his wheelchair while visiting.

Seawater rug - Personally sewed by Xisuma after hearing that Gem had interest in marine biology. He wanted her to feel happier when resting in her cave since the cave was too far from the shore and the sea.

Aquatic animal plushies - Impulse and Skizz excitedly came over to give her fish plushies as a welcome gift. The clownfish is named Skizzy. The shark is named Impy, named accordingly to who gave which.

Small foldable table - Gem doesn't fold it often as she keeps her art stuff on it. She draws and makes the pins here.

BY THE WALL

Skull-shaped fairy lights - Not always green in color, but she keeps it green to make everything feel creepy. She had normal fairy lights before this but Cleo jokingly replaced it with string lights she bought during Halloween. Gem liked it so she kept it.

Worn out sword / Worn out shield - Not hers to begin with. They're actually normal weapons Etho had forged as practice before. He gifts them to Gem everytime she wins a spar against him to act as 'spoils of war.'

DESK / CURTAINED SIDE

Desk - There's chairs facing each other on each side of the table. This is where she mainly meets the campers for personal prophecies.

A line of potted plants along the wall - Bdubs offered to give her plants he thinks Gem would like to care for. There's mostly small sunflowers and succulents along the wall. One of the potted plants grew a particular one Gem never saw before. It was only when Pearl came over and questioned why she had a moonlace flower in her cave that she realized she was growing a magical plant. Bdubs never answered as to why he gave it to her.

TENT

Where Gem mainly sleeps. In here, you will never feel uncomfy as she's probably got 20 pillows and 5 blankets in there. Pearl's old plushie, Tilly, lives there with her. Grian asks to come in and cuddle with it when he has a particularly rough day.

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[blocksruinedme]

The Third Traffic SMP Jimmy Slash Prediction Poll!!!

(Note: In the previous polls I don't think I filtered the fic numbers, but I don't remember.)

Martyn obviously married Jimmy last time, so he's out. I eliminated Scar and Skizz this time based on “have more than ten full length fics mostly about their ship”. Which, y’all called, they were the top three for winner for the Secret Life poll!

How the fellas performed on ao3 after the Secret Life poll last year:

Absolute Winner: Martyn

A-tier: Scar and Skizz (I will be haunted by the "Pretty Woman" rp for the rest of my life)

B-tier: Impulse

C-tier: Etho, Ren, Mumbo, BigB

F-tier: Bdubs

And heading back to the Limited Life poll:

(in case you haven't heard, either Gem Impulse Grian and Jimmy are hinting the next season is recording next week, or they are sadists, and not in a fun way.)

Reminder: Jimmy gets gay married in odd numbered seasons and is in a gang of schoolyard hooligans in even seasons!

[lillypad-monopoly]

Wild Life Episode 3 Thoughts

Sorry I don't have very good commentary this week. I was really busy and then life happened so I watched these POVs over the course of 6 days and didn't always take live notes.

The snail gimmick is iconic! Another amazing wildcard and a good Grian reference as well as being memey!

Someone joked about them being soulbound to the snails and I'm praying for the return of a soulbond Wildcard so hard right now

I'm genuinely concerned Skizz and Jimmy won't make it to episode 5. I hope we get some more passive wildcards coming up or this is going to be a pretty short series (also I would like them to get some stuff done)

Grian freezing the game is the lore event ever. Watcher powers are real but also he's clearly fighting back against their agenda more this season (once again such angst potential here RE: Grian knowing the wildcards ahead of time)

Ren digging all those holes looking for their horse is literally the definition of insanity and it's hilarious

Martyn and Etho interacting is always interesting both because the anime skin boys are hanging out together and because they have literally opposite playstyles. Martyn is crazy reckless and Etho is soo careful.

WHY DO REN AND MARTYN HAVE A DOUBLE BED

I really want to know all the snail names, since not everybody died this ep

I love that we're kind of going back to "suggestions" again, what with Tango killing Skizz and Martyn making snails invisible just for kicks. It feels like 3L and it's so fun.

I was so excited for Bdubs angst hour only for him to change his mind and not feel bad about anything after all

Etho's monologue 😂. The reason the go for you early is because they see you as a threat, not because they think you're not tough OMG.

Etho don't die to a creeper in the life series challenge impossible

Watching PICS build a base was actually so refreshing. I love the snail gimmick very much but it was nice to watch a POV where they were actually doing some classic life series stuff

Scott predicting violence for the next ep is...concerning lol. I don't know what he's seeing that I'm not, but outside of wild card stuff it doesn't really feel like we're at that point just yet

Actually I wouldn't put it past Tango to go wild. I'm just not sure the other Tuff Guys will follow him

I will be quoting "He's coming and he has only violence in his heart" from now on thank you Scott

Joel saying they have no enemies is so funny. The reason you don't have any enemies is cause everyone is too scared to cross you 😂.

Gem being excited about her snail while everyone else panics is iconic I love her

Joel giving Skizz a PVP lesson is so funny because Skizz *can* PVP from what I recall (I haven't seen a lot of Skizz so I could be wrong here)

Jimmy blowing up the car in front of Joel, Gem and Etho is the definition of "history doesn't repeat itself, it rhymes"

Lizzie I love you but you need to turn down something on your texture pack because everything is so bright

Bdubs manufacturing Tuff Guy behavior killed me. All of the Tuff Guys are such wet cats I love them <3

I've never watched Empires, but the bit where Jimmy gets blown up by a creeper has such powerful older sister/younger brother energy that I think I might have to headcanon them as siblings now

Scar and Lizzie being in the caves for the introduction of the snails and trying to figure out what's going on feels like a horror movie premise. People mysteriously dying to snail related stuff, and then a mob that's not in the game shows up and looks similar to the other person you're with and is following you around...

Team Bam/The Bamboozlers are as chaotic and struggling as hard as I expected. I don't actually want Lizzie to loose her teammates because I want everybody in until the last session, but it would be really funny if she did.

[watarfallar]

Have Some more

Grian: If anyone needs me, then fuck off.

Pearl: Look, I know you think my judgement's clouded because I like Scott a little bit. BigB, holding Pearl's notepad: You doodled your wedding invitation. Pearl: No, that's our joint tombstone. BigB: My mistake.

Bdubs: Guess who just found out the difference between wax paper and parchment paper the hard way? BigB: Wait, what’s the difference? Bdubs: One you can use in the oven safely, and the other you can also use in the oven... if the thing you are trying to make happens to be fire.

Scott: I hate you. Pearl: Well, according to this picture I drew of us holding hands, that is untrue.

Impulse: What is your favourite mythical story? BigB: The Story Of My Will To Live. Impulse: I don’t think I’ve heard of that one before.

Scar: Why is Joel making me do the dishes again? You haven’t washed them in a week, Ren! Ren: It’s because I’m Joel’s favorite. Scar: I hate you.

Pearl: Is the pink panther a lion? Impulse: Say that again but slower. Pearl: I don’t get it. Impulse: He’s a PANTHER. Pearl: Is that a type of lion? Impulse: No, it’s a fucking panther. Pearl: *googles panther* They aren’t pink? Impulse: AND LIONS ARE?!

Impulse: Good night. Mumbo: Sleep tight. Tango: Don't let the bedbugs crawl up to your ear and whisper threatening things that make you question yourself. Scar: Great, now Mumbo's crying.

Scar: Pearl, I don’t think I can handle any more of your tomfuckery. Pearl: Oh yeah? Well I can keep going until you’re all tomfuckered out!

Joel: What happened?! Pearl: Do you want the long version or the short version? Joel: Sh-short?? Pearl: Shit's fucked. Joel: Okay, long. Pearl: Shit's very fucked.

Scar & Tango:*Playing video games* Joel: You guys woke up at 5:30 in the morning just to play games? Scar: *silence* Tango: *silence* Joel, finally figuring it out: ...You two never went to sleep, did you? Scar & Tango in shame: Yeah...

Joel to Cleo, who’s about to get married: Today, two families are becoming one. Tango, in an ominous voice: Two families enter, one family leaves. Scar: That sounds so threatening… Skizz: The Wedding Games… Scott: May the bouquet toss be ever in your favor. Cleo: Beautiful. Joel: Fuck all of you!

Impulse, handing out popsicles: Which flavor do you want? Tango: Blue flavor! Impulse: Uh, you mean Blue Raspberry? Tango: Blue flavor! Blue flavor! Impulse: Blue is not a flavor! Tango: BLUE FLAVOR!

Impulse: I currently have 7 empty notebooks and I have no idea what to put in them. Any suggestions? Grian: Put spaghetti in it. Impulse: I am currently taking suggestions from everyone but you. Jimmy: Put spaghetti in it. Impulse: I am currently taking suggestions from everyone but you two. Tango: Put spaghetti in it. Impulse: I am no longer taking suggestions.

Grian: *sharpens knife* We've got ways of making people talk. Grian: *cuts piece of cake* Joel: ...Can I have some? Grian: Cake is for talkers.

Scott: Oooh, a train! Jimmy: We’re in a train station, Scott.

Gem: Sometimes I drink milk straight from the container. Bdubs: The cow?? Gem:What? Impulse: Bdubs, W H Y?

Pearl: *sneaking in through their window* BigB: *turning in their chair and flicking the light one* You want to tell me where you've been all night? Pearl: I was with Jimmy? Jimmy: *turning in their chair* Wanna try again?

Scar: You can track Pearl? Jimmy: Of course I can. If the NSA can do it, so can I.

Tango: The last time I went to an urgent care clinic, I checked off 'excessive crying' on the symptom list, and then the nurse got really confused and said that was meant for babies.

Martyn: So, Scar and Gem. Martyn: According to this, you two are being accused of: Armed Robbery, Vandalism, Drug Abuse, Grand Theft Auto… Scar: We had a bad day. Martyn: And… MURDER?! Gem: It was a pretty bad day…

Bdubs: Could you guys at least try to see this from my perspective? Martyn: *crouches down* Joel: *kneels down* Cleo: *sits on the floor* Bdubs: Bdubs: I hate all of you.

[eluminium]

Skizz Week 2 day 5! This one is short and sweet! Just the hermits being helpful in the silliest ways. As always, thank you to @skizzlemanweek for today's prompt!

Prompt 5: Work / Rest

The first thing he notices is the darkness. His base is completely coated in it, which he finds pretty strange. Usually, he can see moonlight peaking through the various openings to his base, or at least one torch somewhere! Actually, how did he even get in bed? He doesn't remember going to sleep last night. Eh, he's not slept at all lately, so a memory gap isn't the most unimaginable thing.

The second thing he notices is that he's tied to the bed, but not uncomfortably so. He can still shift around and even grab things on the nightstand next to him. Whoever tied him here clearly took great care in doing it, even using softer leads and knots to make sure his skin wouldn't be rubbed red. Heck, there's even a few extra pillows strategically placed so he won't hurt his back or neck! How sweet!

The third thing he notices is that someone is in the room with-

WAIT.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" He eloquently yells as he sits straight up, now fully awake and aware. And tied to his bed. HE'S TIED TO HIS BED???

In the darkness, three instantly recognizable laughs taunt him. One of them lights a torch, and yep. Just as he suspected. It's Gem, Grian and Scar. His fellow Magic Mountain people have betrayed him!

He scowls at them, which makes them laugh harder.

"Awww, don't look so grumpy! It's not helping with the wrinkles," Gem says with a wink. Little does she know that he's fighting for his life to hold that scowl on his face. Watching his friends laugh makes him want to laugh, okay? Even if they're laughing at him tied up on his own bed.

Grian approaches him, finally getting himself together after having had the laugh of his life. Skizz raises an eyebrow, and Grian only grins. "It's for your best, homie buddeah!"

"Oh yeah, for my best, totally. I'm not buying that for a second, G!" Skizz counters, crossing his arms. He's grateful that he always sleeps with something on, otherwise this would have been way more awkward. For them, not for him!

Gem walks to stand beside Grian. "It is, though! I found you passed out on top of your pyramid yesterday! ON TOP! How- How did you even do that?!"

Oh, so that's what this is about. How much he's been working lately

Well… Erm…. UHMMMMMM… Shit, they kinda have a point.

"I plead the fifth!" He squeaks, knowing he's been cornered. Gem gives him the most unimpressed look. "You're going to stay in this bed for today. No working! We don't want you to get sick again!" She says with an accusatory point.

Now, normally Skizz would fight this. Say that he's got everything under control. But honestly, he is really tired.

"Fineeeeeee. Only because you asked so nicely," he surrenders. They've gone through all the effort to make sure he's comfortable and also they TIED HIM TO HIS BED. Might as well take advantage of it.

"Wait wait wait! We're not done yet!" G interrupts, before he points to Scar. "We're not gonna leave you tied to your bed alone. Scar is gonna stay and make sure you don't try anything."

"Hey! You told me I was gonna get to talk about the Sequal trilogy and that new Outlaws game-!"

"SHHHHH YOU'RE SPOILING IT!"

Skizz rolls his eyes. Of course. He'd been goading Scar into his rant-able topics lately just to piss off Grian.

"You know this is not very good revenge, right? I like listening to Scar talk about what he loves!" He points out. He doesn't like how Grian gets an evil glint in his eyes.

"Well, you keep saying that…So we're gonna put it to the test. We'll leave Scar here with you, and see how long it takes until you break. Your comm is on your nightstand for when you give up."

Now this is something Skizz can get behind! A challenge where he basically does nothing and wins!

"Bring it on, G!" He smugly comments, knowing that he's using the tone that will activate Grians own competitiveness. He sees it work in action as the avian's face hardens.

"You guys are..something special alright," Gem comments with the most deadpan tone.

Grian grabs her shoulder and pushes her towards the exit. "You two have fun! See ya!" is the last he gets out before both he and Gem leave Skizz's base.

Scar and Skizz meet eyes.

"Between you and me, Skizzy, I know they put me here to make sure I didn't try to work, either. They're not very subtle." Scar says with a wink.

A hint of surprise crosses Skizz's face. "Really?" Scar nods in response.

"You don't have to stay here if you don't want to, I can just-"

"Nonsense!" Scar cries out, wheeling himself closer to Skizz's bed. "I wasn't going to get any work done anyway, and now instead of being bored in my base, I get to hang out with Skizzy Wizzy! Now, don't you think it's really stupid that Disney made Kylo Ren and Rey kiss-"

And the conversation goes from there. Back and forth, back and forth. Star Wars to TOOL to Watches to Poker and on and on and on. For any other Hermit, it would probably be a nightmare scenario. But for these two talkative nerds, it's a dream come true.

If this is what constitutes "mandatory rest" on Hermitcraft, Skizz can't help but feel even more grateful that he gets to be in such a wonderful place, with such wonderful people.

[plumadot]

thinking about the dnd au....

are ZITS a part of it at all? I could imagine Skizz as a paladin or a fighter, with high charisma stats. Tango would have to be some kind of sorcerer or maybe an artificer, and Impulse....hmmmm....im not sure for him yet. Zed would absolutely be an alchemist, making what he calls "experimental" potions and testing them by hurling them at enemies

anyway your au lives rent free in my brain and I'm gonna start writing the 5 + 1 fic this week :]

i'm not 100% sure about zed yet (because idk if i wanna include any non-life series people) but impulse, tango and skizz are definitely there!!!!!!!!

impulse is a dwarf-tiefling (which is possible because i say so) and a rune knight fighter!! i think it'd be so cool for him to carve runes into armor and weapons to keep his friends safe... to me it feels properly "technical" while also being sorta creative and artsy? :D

tango is a battle smith artificer!!! little robot maker!! mini game man!!! he's also a fire genasi because it's just perfectly him :D impulse and tango run a blacksmith together!!!

and skizz is an aasimar (basically someone with celestial ancestry) and a path of the ancestral guardian barbarian!!! i love the idea of a barbarian with a heart of gold,,, a protector,,,, his backstory isn't really developed yet, but he's basically a guard for hire at this point in the process :D

gkfjdgkgdfg ohhhhhhhh i'm so excited hehe

[chirp09]

Secret Life Session #4: Number of hearts & Hearts gifted

For those wondering why these are a week late

Session 5 graphics coming later today! Soon-ish? Out now!

Edit: The gifts are complete now! Big thank you to @buttercupbonfire for the help!

[ID: A graphic that is divided into four separate images. The first three images are captioned "Number of hearts" and display the head of each player's minecraft skin and their respective amount of hearts, which life they are on and whether they completed their task. Bdubs, Impulse and Tango have 30 hearts; Bigb has 28; Cleo has 25.5; Scar has 24.5; Scott has 20.5; Etho has 19.5; Mumbo has 14.5; Pearl has 12.5; Skizz has 11.5; Grian has 7.5. On their yellow lives are Gem with 26 hearts; Joel with 20 and Lizzie with 16. On their red lives are Martyn and Jimmy with 30 hearts each. Scar, Skizz and Gem did not complete their tasks. Bdubs and Scott completed hard tasks. The fourth image is captioned "Hearts gifted" and shows the head of each player's skin followed by an arrow that points the that of another, indicating the gifting of hearts. Bigb, Skizz, Tango and Joel gifted theirs to Lizzie; Etho, Scar, Impulse and Scott gifted theirs to Skizz; Bdubs, Gem, Lizzie and Pearl gifted theirs to Joel; Mumbo gifted theirs to Bdubs; Cleo gifted theirs to Etho; Jimmy gifted theirs to Scott; Martyn gifted theirs to Jimmy and Grian gifted theirs to Cleo. End ID]

[autumnmist101]

C! Grian Head-cannons

Grian: Hybrid forms: Cod and Macaw

While in High School in Japan, loved to write letters to Pearl and Jimmy.

Pearl once asked if she could come visit. Luckily, he convinced her not to cause it was not a good time. (when he was pretending to be Taurtis)

Met Mumbo through a pin pal assignment for that school. Loss touch when Evo began.

______________________________________________________________

Went with Watchers to give the Evo crew more time to find an escape.

Doesn’t remember anything in between leaving Evo and waking up to the Watcher’s voices.

What really happened was that the Watchers had sedated him and placed him a pod where he floated in a breathable liquid which infused their magic into him. Over the course of three months he developed the wings and eyes.

Stayed with the Watchers for 3 months once he 'hatched' from the pod. Each day going through brutal training to develop his powers further.

Would try to use his powers to see his Evo friends & siblings. It never worked and was never given a proper answer from the Watchers.

Went on a manic breakdown when he finally found out that Evo had been destroyed. Fearing that he may tear the void apart, the Watchers sedated him once again and placed him in Season six of Hermitcraft. His powers now restricted.

______________________________________________________________

Him and Mumbo recognized each other immediately when the hermits came through the portal from Season 5.

Had let slip that he had siblings early on in season 6, but didn't tell anyone about what actually happened until the anniversary of when he went with the Watchers.

X was the first person he ever cried in front of when he found out Pearl and Jimmy were alive. The second time was in front of everyone when Pearl actually joined the server.

Will hide behind his wings when he's embarrassed.

Will spin in circles to try and get something out of his wings, usually making himself dizzy.

Constantly referred to Pearl as a 'gift from above', his wittle sister, baby sister, precious angel, happy little bilby. Most hermits thought she was 5 until she joined in season 8. . . She quickly put a stop to the nicknames.

Needed two weeks to process his Third Life victory. Couldn't bring himself to talk to Scar in that time.

Only once did he put on the cute guy skin on for Scar, and it was only because Mumbo had asked him to do it. (Yes, they did take a lot of pictures)

Was going to stop making games after he seen how DL affected Pearl. The Watchers, however, couldn't let that happen.

Threw up when he seen Skizz's Tasmanian devil creation that got him kicked out of heaven.

Same as yesterday, I'll post more when I think of some for him. However, should I do skyblings head-cannons next? Or work on my Mumbo shpeel I had mentioned? Mmmm, not sure. Anycase, hope you enjoyed these hcs!

[panda-wearing-pants]

Wild Life Week 2: Tango's 1,140,114.59 IQ play

Week 1

Statistical Ranking Prediction:

The first number is the predicted score (percent of other players a player does better than), and the second is the place that corresponds to that score

Grian (80.5/4th place)

Joel (71.9/6th) (placement +1 from last week) eliminated by Grian

Jimmy (70.9/6) (-1) eliminated by himself

Impulse (70.3/6) eliminated by Grian

Cleo (67.1/7) (+1) eliminated by Impulse

BigB (61.5/8) (-1) eliminated by Impulse

Tango (52.6/9) (+6) eliminated by Joel

Pearl (49.2/10) eliminated by Cleo

Scott (47.4/10) (+1) eliminated by BigB

Martyn (46.5/10) (-1) eliminated by BigB

Lizzie (46.3/10) (-1) eliminated by Martyn

Bdubs (44.7/10) (-5) eliminated by Cleo

Gem (44.6/10) (-1) eliminated by Tango

Skizz (40.3/11) eliminated by Impulse

Ren (40.1/11) eliminated by Tango

Mumbo (37.7/12) eliminated by Tango

Etho (29.5/13) eliminated by Scott

Scar (28/13) eliminated by Scott

Tango killing Skizz made him the first person to get a kill (score of 60.096), the first to get a kill on purpose (61.442), and the first person to kill Skizz (88.34) which brought his predicted score up from 44.5 to 56.48, and since 50 is the average score, there are a lot of people around there who Tango now has a higher predicted score than