Archive of Our Own ^beta

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★ Evil X switches bodies with a Hermit to get revenge on Xisuma HC AU

☆ Cub gets consumed by the fog on Empires S2 HC AU

★ Supposedly Dark!Grian HC AU propaganda, instead Davan just turned it into angst /pos but I retaliated :D

☆ Sire!Grian a natural born vampire with the Hermits as his own coven and is literally the oldest but acts like a gremlin child (Xisuma’s psychological wrinkles are increasing by the day) AU

★ Frankenstein!Grian HC AU

☆ Bdubs and Pearl Sun and Moon HC AU

★ Desert Duo as Icarus and Daedalus AU

☆ Boatem Crew Band AU 

★ Grian and Pearl meet in a dream slash P preferably AU

☆ Impractical Jokers but it’s the Boatem Crew AU 

★ Grian and his pranks that went too far (brought more harm than good, literally) HC AU

☆ Mumbo Jumbo in MIB AU

★ Hermitcraft Samurai/Edo AU

☆ Hermitcraft (Mainly Waffle Duo) Volleyball/Sports AU

★ A Hermit is a Warden Hybrid HC AU

☆ If Season 7 Grian breakdown actually happened HC AU

★ Grian Reincarnation Curse AU (/p because I wanted it to be) AU

☆ Glare!Bdubs HC AU

★ Warden!Grian HC AU

☆ Griangst: After Third Life, the gang never went back to their original servers but got stuck in the death loop, continuing with Last and Double Life HC AU

★ Grian doesn’t feel like pranking is fun anymore HC AU

☆ Grian has Hanahaki Disease HC AU

★ Not an idea but a removed line from my Scar is Samgladiator fic since I forgot 3rd didn’t canonically exist in this universe, but it’s such a waste not to share

☆ Davan made an idea about EVO!Grian and HC!Grian switching places but I suggested c!Grian and cc!Grian switch instead HC AU

★ What if after each Life Series, the hybrids get more feral HC AU

☆ Griangst: What if everything after 3rd Life, about them escaping the death game and got back to their orig servers, wasn’t true and were all just Grian’s imagination HC AU

★ What if Grian never left YHS AU

☆ Hels!Grian HC AU

★ Grian thought every Hermit hates him for not interacting with him anymore, with negative thoughts piling up and can’t take it anymore so he decides to off himself HC AU

☆ Watcher!Grian uses his newly found time travel powers to go back in time and remove himself from existence so he won’t have to suffer + Mumbo Jumbo is the Personification of Time itself >:) HC AU

★ After Double Life, Grian reincarnates 1000 years later into a modern world High School AU

☆ Scar hunts Grian down as hOtGuY on behalf of King Ren but Grian panics, age regresses, and looks for Mumbo for comfort HC AU

★ Instead of the typical Grian gets kidnapped by eldritch beings with too many eyes and wings and got turned like them, Scar is kidnapped by childish horror fairies that eats people for their magic and got turned just like them 100 hrs Hardcore & HC AU

☆ Scar is a hero who wants to slay the Demon Lord to save the people but said Demon Lord is Grian AU

★ Hels!Grian invades Hermitcraft and replaces Grian while the latter’s body is slowly dying so he has to go Full Watcher mode and try to warn his friends HC AU

☆ What if Hermitcraft is actually a server filled with Watchers? Only Grian doesn’t know... HC AU

★ Dark!Scar is getting his payback for what Grian did to him in Double Life HC AU

☆ Hermitcraft TCG angst HC AU

★ Grian, the only Bad Boy left Limited Life HC AU

☆ Scar with his awkward father-son relationship with Etho Limited Life HC AU

★ My Take on Shadverse’s Grian being a naturally born half Watcher and Grianpop (Grian’s dad who’s the first Watcher) HC AU

☆ Griangst based on his Limited Life epi. 3 AFK session HC AU

★ Fluff: Braid Tango of the Tek variety’s hair with Team ZIT HC AU

☆ Evil Xisuma as an android replica of Xisuma HC x DBH AU

★ Any best friends who got separated through death, only to reunite in their new lives Reincarnation AU

☆ Reference chart for my android model numbers for Hermitcraft/Empires/Other MCYT Series

★ Snippet for my Soul Switch fic

☆ Making Watcher biology in the middle of studying for my Biology finals 🥲 NEW! 🌟

★ Grian's final moments in Secret Life HC AU NEW! 🌟

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Evil X obtained the ability to switch bodies with anyone (dunno what is it yet specifically) but it would only work once, so he should really make it count if he wants to take over Hermitcraft. Then a certain man wearing pink tights and a yellow underwear on the outside pops in his head. Ex was pretty familiar with Zedaph and as far as he knew, he's the closest Hermit he's ever acquainted with.

So, why not switch bodies with him instead? Ex knows how he acts from their short time together being the hero of the server at one point after all. A plan has been brewed. He made contact with Zedaph, catching up together on what each other had been up to for past few years. Later, Ex finally got the opportunity and switch bodies. At first, Zedaph felt betrayed but forgive him not long after. He even pointed out why didn't Ex just switch with X when it's easier to whitelist himself if he possessed the admin of the server himself.

Why didn't he? (Slaps forehead with Zedaph's body)

Oops.

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After the fog consumes Cub, he's been following what the creature?entity? asks him to do. At first, it was fun since Cub gets to have some laughs about the sculk spreading across Empires, having both Emperors and Hermits clean the mess up and switch the lights back to normal. Until it wasn't. Until his mind isn't his anymore. Until his hands begin to construct more and more things against his will and the next thing he knew, there were thousands of Wardens terrorizing the server

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My reply:

Yes. But look at it this way, there was a point where Grian started to give up resisting against the Watchers but one day one of his pranks ended up hurting one of them. Which was a first, since he thought these seemingly omnipotent and omniscient creatures can actually get hurt. He uses the element of surprise (with a touch of his Watcher magic) to prank his way out and ended up in Hermitcraft.

Since there are those stupid people who won't leave you alone just because they're jealous or insecure of their inferiority, there was a time when Impulse went off server to collect some materials that aren't available/hard to obtain on HC but got hurt so bad by haters. With his anger, Tango's fiery head has been blue for a while and any object he touched combusted, Mumbo has been eating more redstone than he usually did with the stress, Pearl has been turning every mob she encountered upside down (even the Warden and is planning to do that to the Wither, for the love of all gods stop this woman), Scar has been dying more often than not. But Grian, unexpectedly, looks fine (that's just on the outside) but the Hermits were still worried what might the avian/Watcher's reaction be since it's unusual for him to be—well, quiet.

What they didn't know is that Grian locked himself in his house to use his powers without harming himself and be able to focus finding his target. When he finally did, he told his friends that he'll be off-server to buy things needed for decoration for his base. Someone offered to come but he declined since it won't take him long. When Grian arrived at the scene, he spotted the target and greeted with a smirk. At the sight of one of the Hermits in their area, the target runs away (they shouldn't have done what they did if they were this much of a chicken).

Grian casually chases the target and told them that they should play tag/hide and seek to make this more entertaining (for him, not for the dude since they've already pissed their pants just seeing a Hermit after what they did). When the target thought he got away, before they realized they can hear hissing from beneath their feet. Fuck, the whole area has been rigged with explosives. The realization was a bit too late since he go boom boom now and Grian let out his iconic laugh when he blew up Ren and the others during Third Life (perfect fit don't you think).

When he got home, all his friend swarm him, asking him if he's alright. Grian gives them a sincere smile that he's fine and he bought souvenirs for everyone. He went to Impulse's house and checks how he's been doing, offering the man one of the most expensive healing thing in the universe (i dunno what it is yet, either make up a new thing or just use Notch Apple and make it ultra rare and OP) and another thing (i can't think of anything, as long as it's one of the things Impulse likes) as an apology that he wasn't able to protect his friend. Impulse forgives him since Grian didn't do anything wrong. He's just glad that no one went through the same thing he did and was relieved it was him instead of anyone else.

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HC Vampire AU where the Hermit coven is one of the biggest, oldest, and most infamous vampire covens in the world along with Empires, SBI (forgot what other fic writers call Phil's coven oops), etc. Everyone thought that Xisuma was the sire since when he's out in the field, his leadership skills and calm judgement just screams of old (filled with wisdom) so many just assumed he's the sire. Even Xisuma himself didn't tell the truth since why would he? It's convenient so their real sire won't be in danger despite being the literal strongest and forefather of their coven, but he can't but being protective to his family.

Obviously, it's not only Xisuma who's misunderstood. The youngest and most mischievous members (e.g Mumbo, Pearl) were assumed to be the most recent addition in the coven, when in fact, they're actually one of the oldest/one of the founders of the coven along with the sire.

TFC, who's words and actions are controlled with centuries-old wisdom, is actually one of the youngest members but the public thought of him as one of the oldest, making them more wary of them to him since they're afraid he might be hiding tremendous power from beneath the calm "facade". Nah, he's just a really chill dude, every Hermit or their very close friends/allies, the Emperors, know about this.

Grian, who's small (don't tell him that, he's gonna go full pesky bird and pester everyone in the coven) and has little presence compared to the monsters that is Xisuma, Tango, Joe Hills, Cleo, and more since he rarely does anything and always got protected by others. What they didn't know that from beneath all the mischievous attitude buries centuries/even millennium's worth of power and wisdom since he's none other than the sire himself. He just doesn't act that way and would cause trouble to his family like child despite LITERALLY BEING THE OLDEST. There's a reason Xisuma's wrinkles are piling up despite being physically impossible (just psychologically).

Not all of the Hermits are vampires that Grian sired himself. Some are actually humans but being treated like family, nonetheless, and some are vampires from a different coven who defected for any type of reason.

Only a few actually know that Grian is a natural born vampire and the sire and it would be funny to hide the fact, so they did. The Empires are few of the ones who already knew. The two covens are so close with each other so other covens are afraid to touch either one of them carelessly since if you mess with one of them, you'll mess with all of them. There are still who would but they're either idiots who don't know who they're messing with or the ones who have cunning/elaborate plans to destroy them.

Oh yeah. Grian can totally shapeshift. He'd change into a child and run around town. When he got home, he got that satisfied look on his face while Xisuma watched the news at the same and saw a familiar strawberry blonde hair making a mess of things for him to fix. For angst, Grian would shift into a child for some reason since we like to make him suffer. Despite being a natural born vampire, he really... REALLY hates to drink blood as he would always agonize whenever he had to eat but he can still survive if he eats the color red (inspired from Marcelene)

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Grian has a secret. He doesn't want anybody and he means it when he say ANYBODY to know about this. He's already dead—for a long time, actually. But people would probably ask 'how come you're moving around and not pale or look dead like the undead, Grian?'. Well, let's just say replicating Frankenstein's monster is easier when you both have advanced technology and magic on your hands. Well, his creator (planning on making them insignificant enough not to havean identity) anyway.

He's gotta say, he's pretty impressed that his creator was meticulous enough to manage to find different parts that seemingly match with each other to form one body and not looking hastily put together like Frankenstein's monster or a plastic model. And he doesn't burn under the sun! Plus with a few containers of concealer to cover his stitches, it made hiding his true self easier and he can easily pass as a normal human being (that looks alive). He didn't know why he was created, but he does know one thing. He remembered asking this and his creator gladly replied that the owner of this head formerly owned to a man named "Grian" who was a former admin of the already destroyed world, EVO and that it's a mystery for his creator that they could only find and retrieve the head and nothing else. To be honest, that's it. Also, his master liked the name so they decided to name him that as well. Before, he was just glad to have a name since it made him feel warm despite how cold his body was, but now he realizes how wrong that was since he's basically impersonating this person against their will.

He may have his traits, personality, and memories (they're fuzzy but they're gradually returning over time) ingrained to the owner of the head's brain, but they're not just the same person. When Grian arrived to Hermitcraft after his creator told him of many great stories about them, he couldn't help but felt relieved that none of the actual Grian's friends were there. Well, apart from Mumbo but that guy was a spoon and he gratefully accepted no explanation why Grian suddenly disappeared without a trace a few years back until S6. He felt guilty but at the same time, he wanted to hang out with one of his best friends again. Few of the many things he's grateful for were how his creator made him to live a life just like everyone else and that he met all the amazing people that is the Hermits.

Life have couldn't be better.

Well, until Third Life and S8 happened, that is.

Grian had been on edge to say the least when he was in Third Life and has been avoiding Pearl like a plague however he subtly can. All sorts of emotions have been swirling around his non-beating heart (he has one despite not actually have any functions, his creator was just that much of a perfectionist) but the main ones were guilt and fear. Guilt of pretending to be Grian shamelessly to the man's friends. Guilt of using his face to live a life when the owner didn't even reach his thirties. Fear of what his—the man's friends might thought of him when they find out. Fear of losing everyone he cared about. Fear of being abandoned. Fear of being alone and feeling cold again.

So, Grian does everything he can to prevent the truth to be revealed.

Of course, not everything went according to plan since his hand just had to come off when he accidentally set off a few TNT when the whole Boatem Crew was setting a trap for the Big Eye Crew. The image may look comedic but all Grian could think and dread about is that they found they found out they found out they found out—

(Possibly make the setting into S9 if it'll end by the time I'm planning to write this, so S8 isn't overused in fics)

Few plot points that won't connect to the narrative flow of ideas (why did I do that instead of plotting it into a list like a normal outline) but are important nonetheless:

• Cleo definitely knows about Grian being undead but keeps quiet about it (not without a few wink, wink, hint, hint, nudge, nudge and a few safe calls that Grian almost got caught but Cleo saved the day) Though, after the reveal, Cleo was the first to brag how she knew first, joined Grian with many shenanigans (and murder) and planned a huge party for the new member of undead club.
• At first, Mumbo and Pearl felt betrayed that Grian lied all this time, making Grian panic and run away without making them finish. But after finding him with all the Boatem crew, they expressed their feelings of accepting Grian all the same with open arms despite him being 'not technically him' anymore. They only felt betrayed since why Grian didn't told them sooner. They can't help that the 'real' Grian was dead since it's a part of life. It's sad that he's gone but it would be sadder if they let 'new' Grian disappear from their lives as well when they can still help him.
• Whenever Grian goes to Scar's place or meet Scar while bringing Jellie with him, Jellie would always go for the opportunity to knibble on Grian's leg for some reason but this is only because she wants to give her owner rotten flesh. When Grian realized this, he laughed so hard. And when Scar and the others did after, Scar scolded Jellie that Grian is a friend like Cleo despite being zombies so she shouldn't bite him but only got an apathetic response of leaving his arms to walk back to the house to sleep

IDK where to put this so I'm making these have their own segment but I know this basically happened right at the end part of the plot for BIG reveal:

• TFC was actually Grian's creator but Grian didn't recognized him since TFC's appearance changed dramatically between when he created Grian about ten years ago and his appearance in HC in the present, especially the thick beard and neatness. He's neater and more presentable and no beard before. They also barely interacted on HC so it's harder for Grian.
• The reason TFC left Grian alone before was because he wanted Grian to live like an actual human and discover things for himself without relying on him. He kept his identity a secret for the same reason and interacted with Grian and little as possible so Grian won't notice.
• Grian only realized TFC was his creator when they're involved in an incident (like bumped into each other and fall to the ground in the shopping district), making Grian see one of TFC's leg actually has a different tone with his foot just like his creator since his creator experimented himself of getting a new foot after an accident before making a huge project of creating new life.
• After Grian saw this, Grian jumps and embraces TFC without hesitation while smiling "I can't believe it's actually you, father! Why didn't you say something that it wad you?" TFC pretends to be confused to suppress his pabic and asked "Wh-Who are you calling father, Mori? I never met you in my life until you joined Hermitcraft." Instead, Grian becomes happier and days that only his creator called him by that name, making TFC spill everything but Grian wasn't mad that TFC kept his identity from him. He's being understanding instead and accepts it.

(I’m planning to write this sometime in the future but not sure when, so if someone decides to write this idea… go for it!) (＾▽＾)

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Bdubs can raise the sun and Pearl can raise the moon. Literally. You won't ever find them staying in one place/world for so long, considering when someone knew about their powers, they'd use it for their own gain especially when it can turn the tides of war in a blink of an eye. Even if they don't know each other personally, they both coincidently ended up in Hermitcraft when they knew this server being different from any other worlds. They heard it's a peaceful world filled with unique people who wanted the same thing as them: a peaceful life where they're not determined by their powers but for the person they are

I won't turn this into angst since I know at least one person here would do it for me

I'm really trying hard with this not always coming up with angst thing so I can get used to writing fluff/crack

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Icarus and Daedalus but it's Grian and Scar and instead of father and son, they're friends.

That's it. That's the idea

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If Boatem crew were in a band, who's playing what? Impulse def with the drums

(Did I just SS old messages and cut and compile them for 15 mins? Yes. Did I enjoy it? No. DW Davan said it’s fine to share their ideas and that they’re up for grabs if you want to)

I dunno how to resize this image here without losing the quality, so I'm just gonna link it here for zooming in and out purposes: https://postimg.cc/LqnnB0QQ

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Grian lives a boring mundane life and as far as he remembers, all he did was work, work, and more work. He drops to his bed after a long day and quickly blacks out. In the distance, he can see a woman sitting by the edge of nothing. Don't ask him why there's an edge of literal void but there's one.

Basically, Grian meets Pearl in a dream. At first, he thought the woman was brought upon by his imagination but as time passes by, he learns that she's a real person and coincidently just lived a few blocks away. Before meeting her, he really hated the idea of sleeping for many reasons despite being so tired but because of Pearl, he can always look forward everyday meeting her and even go as far to leave the second his work is done. Until Pearl came less and less. Until they converse less and less since even if they do meet, she's awfully quiet despite her being one of the most talkative person he met. Until her image flickers like a twinkling star and was told that Pearl has little time left to live.

Dunno how this would end, anyone who'll use this idea should decide BUT preferably this is treated as PLATONIC :D

Got inspired the second I listened to this earlier while washing the dishes after a snack

https://open.spotify.com/track/0LCluHvhgnKYtUumtDP7yi?si=59b62dedcaca4754

Mafumafu surprisingly has a lot of songs for potential fic material. Well, if you can get past the language barrier that is

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Impractical Jokers but it's the Boatem Crew.

That's it... sorry for the expectations for the IJ fans

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HC AU but every event in HC that involved Grian that were treated as fun since there's no ill intent were actually harmful or emotionally bad for the others, despite Grian saying it's only a prank or it's just fun but the Hermits felt the opposite. There were pranks that ended up their work being damaged/griefed or caused minor injuries or were emotionally/psychologically affected.

But the Hermits sucked it up and reason that Grian didn't mean any harm and just want to have fun, so they forgive him. They only did this since Mumbo always said this to them whenever a few of them had enough.

They all truly did in S9 when Grian's prank towards Mumbo went wrong, sending him bedridden/coma for a few months caused all Hermits to burst and let all their frustrations out. Since the one person who forgave Grian despite everything was actually hurt, the Hermits don't want someone that will only cost them harm on purpose.

Only feature the other Hermits POV except Grian to feature just how terrible Grian's treatment to them until the big reveal why he's doing this.

Grian actually only did this on purpose since he doesn't want anyone to come close to him or have anything to do with him, even being acquaintance. He doesn't want to feel the pain of losing any more of the people he cared about again either directly or indirectly because of him and doesn't want to have friends if he'll only ended up losing them.

Could use this prompt together with the Frankenstein AU so this will be the solutions Grian did so people also won't know about his secret.

Grian will feature how his body parts all have memories of having the people they care about perish right before their eyes like the former owner's arm left their friend to drown and didn't do anything to save them, the owner's knee stabbed their friend, the owner's foot let their family pray the price for what they did with their lives, and lastly when Grian points to his head, he says in sorrow that the owner let his friends suffer at the hands of the Watchers and left them to die.

(I’m planning to write this alongside w/ Frankenstein!Grian sometime in the future but not sure when, so if someone decides to write this idea… go for it!) （＾ω＾）

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Mumbo but he's part of the Men in Black. All he needs are his sunglasses, one wheeled motorcycle, and memory flashy light thing and he's good to go (I miss the orig Will Smith MIB)

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What would the Hermits look like if they're samurai? Who would be the emperor? Who would be the shogun?

Grian is a samurai of course, but he's kind of infamous for being a cold-blooded rogue. He's known for jumping from one master to another, never staying in one place for too long. Rumors have been spreading that he's never really loyal towards them despite the bushido and just serve under them to get their riches, before slashing them with his swift sword skills to silence them.

What the people don't know is that all the masters that Grian has been under were all greedy, dishonest, corrupt, and all of the negative traits of a scum person who regarded everyone as below them and treating them like animals/garbage. He wandered everywhere for someone he can actually dedicate his life to protect the ones he cared about, but all he can see is the blessed abusing the unfortunate.

Either Grian actually slayed all those people or he does kill a few but most of them are blamed to him so they can get away with murder.

He also uses all the money he got from the corrupt people to buy the war orphans food and clothes.

Definitely Etho and Tango are shinobi/ninja

Many of the Hermits still retain their hybrid traits, so Grian will really look cool with a katana and zoom to his enemies with his wings or Tango with his fiery hair making missions difficult to clear since he's so conspicuous or Zedaph keeps on ramming people despite being a daimyo.

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Grian always wanted to be a wing spiker. With his stamina, agility, reaction time, and speed, he definitely has the quality to be one (he's even better compared to the regular players but he's still on the bench). But since he was in elementary/grade school, everyone around him (teachers, coaches, schoolmates, etc.) always rejected and told him that he's not suited for it due to his height.

Griangst:

• Grian has Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) and intrusive thoughts
• He also can't perform very well whenever he's emotionally/mentally/psychologically down (enough that people will think he's a noob)
• Family issues where his parents don't approve his wanting to continue playing in the club, let alone be a professional player. They prefer him to focus on studies and have very high expectations despite him very smart already
• LGBTQ+ related problems (if you want to add this)
• Unhealthy coping mechanisms (if you want to add this)

Mumbo has always been the tallest amongst his peers, causing many people to want him to join sports clubs due to his height. Sure, he wants to help them and oblige but he's not as athletic as people wanting him to be, so he can't live up to their expectations. He loves volleyball but not a very good wing spiker. He only survived so far with his analysis and predictions, but doesn't mean he's not wishing to be in a different position.

Mumboangst:

• He has social anxiety disorder, causing him to have a panic attack every single play (even if it's a practice match)
• People always expect him to bring the clubs he's in to success with his height, making him try too hard to fulfill it but ended up collapsing or costing his physical and/or mental health
• Feels guilty that at first (every year until high school), Grian can't play his favorite position because Mumbo is occupying it

Zedaph and Doc are prone to explode the science lab with their experiments (students and/or teacher)

False is a Sparta captain of the fencing club/coach of the volleyball club

Cleo is a bad influence either if you make her a student/teacher

Stress the school's nurse/doctor, making the infirmary full of "patients" with her angelic attitude (only her close friends and enemies know that she's not one to be messed with)

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casually walks in

A Hermit being a Warden hybrid. So much angst potential

runs out

(I actually made an idea for Warden!Grian so you go and can check it out!) :3

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Remember that S7 episode where Grian had a mental breakdown? Yeah, what if it actually happened? The Hermits help rebuild it and since then, Grian will just attempt to blow up any build he made when something's bothering him whether that be an off detail or straight up having death loops of Sam and all the people in YHS killing him over and over no matter where he runs and hides

(idk why but when I fell asleep after writing, this was literally my dream with someone I just forgot except it's coming from school and we even travelled to a diff place illegally without passport to survive. It was jumbled and mixed w/ a diff dream at the same time but focusing on this)

Davan’s reply (it’s not a thread so I can just copy paste it):

Fully, someone heard the blasts. Someone sees him on his knees, sobbing. They think it was a prank gone horrible wrong. His words are incoherent. They call Mumbo over. He sees the blue sweater and freezes. He's heard about those stories. He knows what that color means to Grian. By the time Mumbo arrived, Grian was catatonic. Eventually it slips that he blew up his build. He was so sorry, He didn't know what came over him. There was just so much pressure and it just didn't look right. He's numb as as finally looks up at Mumbo, several Hermits in the background (Xisuma for sure), and quietly goes "I think I had a breakdown... I- I'll fix it. I'm sorry for all the tro-" he pauses, noticing Xisuma, fear striking him, "I- I-" tears come back to life, "I'm sorry for all the trouble, I'll pack my things," a sob escapes. "I can be gone by morning, just let me pack my things." He thinks he's going to be kicked. He just wants to get his memories still in his starter base. Nobody had seen Grian this bad since the beginning of season 6

(you can skip reading this part if you're not interested)

Dream segment of mine that you guys won’t probably give a shit but I’m adding it here anyway:

It's like we're kind of immortal but can still die since we've been gravely injured and actually got stabbed but still manage to escape alive. I even got to hold the knife at the blade mid swing ang throw it aside. The last part of the dream is vivid so far so I'm just typing as fast as I can b4 I forgot... SO

It was a chase scene as usual and the child for some reason is also one of them chased after us all the way to the public bathroom and lock it. But the child got in and swings their knife towards me but I catch it midswing and throws it aside. Dunno how but they managed to get the knife back in a split second and swing again. I catch it again but this time throws it outside the stall and the child catches it b4 it falls on the ground, commenting that I'm smart. During the next swing, we have a bit of a struggle trying to pull away the hand by holding the child's wrist while they keep pushing it towards me. Last minute I manage to lodge their hand towards the window and made them lose the knife.

Ofc they fucking got a knife again... WHAT... and swings to me but I grab it and pull it away from them, then I push the child and manage to defenestrate them. WOW. I then panic and look around to hide the knife... realized it now that I'm awake that it's useless but eh... and open the toilet tank lid, dump it there and silently close it. The person w/ me asks what I was doing in panic and I reply so they won't find it, hurriedly pull them while saying we should get out of here b4 they come back. AND I woke up. The end?

This was just my typical weird dreams that's like a movie

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Grian and another Hermit/friend have been cursed to die when he reaches 20 yo and reincarnates over and over again by the gods (interesting if it's one of the Hermits and not an OC) if he can't figure out who he's soul bound with. When his 20th birthday comes, he only has 3 days to find his reincarnated friend before they die again.

The problem is, Grian is so afraid of interacting with other people since he regains his memory of his 100+ past lives, so he knows all the tragedies that unfold before him, either losing his friends by a third party or his own hands to save his own skin. A few times he lost them when he can't control his powers and destroyed an entire country in one night, reducing it into a large sink hole.

Not only Grian has to find his soul bound from amongst the people around the world, he also has to deal with tragedies that are bound to happen 100% despite it seems to be impossible. The god/s said that it helps "spicing things up", so he really needs to be careful of accidents or even as simple as misunderstandings to not die before the expiration.

Grian's soul bound/friend doesn't remember every reincarnation, making Grian's situation harder than it already is

The previous soul bounds are every Hermit/Life Series/Emperor, but the soul of his friend is still the same. It's just they changed appearances, personalities, and identities every reincarnation, but Grian's appearance barely changes compared to them (on purpose by the god/s)

The current and last soul bound is either Pearl/Mumbo/Scar before the curse is finally broken permanently

(Have I told someone that I'm obsessed w/ reincarnation trope?)

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• Glare!Bdubs has a mossy bush thing that lets him hover when he rides it like a floating cloud
• Bdubs has to cope with his fear of darkness and the instincts to go into dark places. Luckily, it's easier for him to deal with it by sleeping as soon as the sun sets.
• But there are times when he needs to stay up late to build, so he has his friends soothe him when it's too overwhelming and he's having a breakdown/panic attack—mainly Etho.
• But what if that same Etho is away for weeks—months due to personal reasons? With the other Hermits no way of spotting Bdubs easily like Etho's left eye, how can they possibly find a Bdubs in the vast world filled with darkness?

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Wardens are an ancient species that have been lurking underground for eons, guarding the ancient city from trespassers not with their sight but with their hearing. There's no use for eyes if there's no way to see in the dark. Many people thought that they were just recently added by the gods of the universe, but what they don't know is that their species have been depleting slowly but surely. Without civilization in the ancient cities, there's no way for them to be maintained and continue functioning so the ones who remain in the present are the ones who burrow themselves to the sculks to save their strength.

Grian, one of the very few Wardens that remain in the universe, had only awoken about 30 years ago. He's the last Warden from his relatives, so he's pretty young and had time to grow. With his specially made glasses, he can barely see despite his species lack of ability to see. There were many mishaps, especially making a lot of mistakes or getting a lot of bullies in school, he managed to survive it with his optimism. Though, he didn't expect one of his friends to be the ones who hurt him.

His keen sense of smell could compensate, but when knowing his loved ones would be harmed, he had no choice but to feign ignorance and accept the threat of a knife towards his throat instead of running away, eat plastic or poisoned bread if it meant keeping Sam at bay. But it's never enough. He hid his pain and fear with a smile and sucked it up until he could find a way for him and Taurtis to escape from him.

With the help of the knowledge being passed down from his ancestors, Grian had managed to world hop with Taurtis safely. He met many good friends (unlike Sam) along the way—Mumbo, Pearl, Timmy, Martyn, BigB, and more. Just when he thought he's safe and happy, the Watchers arrived. But he escaped.

At least it looks like it. It doesn't feel like it, though.

Grian hates how his wish came true. He can finally see but it's not the one he expected. His head keeps on throbbing by seeing too many images and smelling too many things at the same time. He hates how these eyes pop out everywhere around his body against his will. He tries to hide them away by thrusting pointy objects to them and help suppress the sensation that his head is about to split in half. He's never told anyone this—not even Taurtis, that not only he's a horrifying monster with no eyes (the glamour he learned all those years ago helped), but now he's one with too many.

No one likes a beast with no eyes, and certainly they will hate him more now that he has millions of eyes littering his body and can easily spy what they're doing. With his abnormal sense of smell and hearing, it's even harder to pretend like he's a normal human being. He can't help but wince whenever the pollution the Concorp has caused is burning his nose. He can't help but cover his ears when the pistons and minecarts at Sahara are too loud. He can't help it when the same TNTs that he used to love are detestable with the ringing explosions and putrid smell of burnt rocks, plastic, wood, and more. He can't avoid seeing his friends hanging out to set a prank for him and ruin the element of surprise. He hates it when he sees the people not giving Mumbo a vote but feels guilty for not doing anything to avoid it and placed his own to the winner instead.

Why does Grian have to be so ugly and dreadful? Why does he have to see, hear, and smell everything around him all at once? It's too much. He can see, smell, and hear buildings popping out everywhere as the Hermits blow things or each other up and having to uncover their secrets against his will. He wishes to get rid of his eyes once and for all but no matter how much he slice them with a sword, they just keep on coming. No matter how much he tries to drink potions, get himself ill, smell the most putrid rotten flesh of animals and the undead or listen to the loudest noises he can possibly construct at the same time, but nothing can destroy these senses of his.

Why is he a freak? Why can't he just be normal?

When everything is too much, all Grian can do is lock himself in an obsidian box for weeks at a time until he's ready to deal with them again. He ignores the flowing tears that keeps on going for hours as he embraces himself with the help of his now disheveled wings that lost quite a lot few feathers, hating how cold loneliness feels inside the dark small space, blurry vision turns black here and there. The images of his friends flash in his scrambled mind, seeing each disappointed and disgusted expressions vividly as they direct them towards him, hearing the whispers like they're directly in his ears about him being a freak and insulting how he keeps on eavesdropping on their lives like a creep. He ignores how the smell of rust is getting stronger as the blood from his feathers and wrists won't stop flowing to the solid floor, making him dizzy and sleepy from how the surroundings are too much for him, even inside the closed box. They must want him to be gone from their lives now that they know, thinking of how he accidentally hit a sonic blast towards Impulse's direction when he got startled by him. He should probably start preparing to world hop again and find another place to live, hopefully the people there won't find out this time how much of a monster he is. But his body feels too tired, so he slowly lies to the floor, turning the constant growling of his stomach into white noise as he closes his heavy eyelids.

Maybe Grian gets to dream of a happier place where he's accepted for who he is by his friends.

(It's just a good angst element for me that Grian not only has to deal with his super sight due to the Watchers, but he also has to learn how to cope with a keen sense of hearing and smell at the same time since he's a Warden hybrid)

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What if after S7, Grian and his friends are stuck in the Life Series—the death loops? Third Life until Double Life are consecutive and they actually never got to get home even after someone won, but instead they moved on to restart and start another death game. With the power to manipulate time on a planet, the Watchers can easily torment the people they pulled away from their peaceful lives and loved ones and "punish" a certain avian who's only meant to watch, who should never stoop into these mortals' levels like they're equals.

In each loop, they get to steal something of Grian's, whether he wins or not. After Third Life, they took his stable hands. Since then, he's having a hard time building properly with how shaky the same hands he took pride in. He can no longer do what he wants the most without ruining it. He never told anyone about why he's suddenly stopped creating works of art and instead only make productive builds in Last Life.

Grian never told or showed anyone how much he's agonizing about the fact, will always go out in the middle of the night and cry his heart out to avoid the Southlands from hearing his plea. After Last Life, they become more enraged that he used his Watcher magic to end Scott's life so he won't become one of them. He'd rather have his friends die than suffer the same fate as he. They only need one puppet to play around with, no need for his friends to be tormented—stay ignorant and safe.

But when Double Life comes, they just have to be crueler than ever, pretending to be fate itself and got him to be soul bound with Scar himself, the one he took out with his own hands and cover them with sand and his blood. When he tries to stretch and flap his wings... he can't. He can't feel his wings oh no the one thing he loved the most apart from building is now reduced into dead weight he can't fly and if he can't fly he's can no longer be free from this hell—

He didn't get much sleep during the first night and distracted himself with the goats instead. At least he can numb the pain in his heart and the lack of sensation on his back with their piercing shrieking and heavy headbutting.

Since Grian somehow is the only one who remembered all the death games (he knows why but pretends they never existed, it's better for whatever's left of his sanity), it hurts more when he's the only one who's plagued by the crimes he committed to his friends (it's better that way anyway), constantly relieving their deaths over and over in his head no matter the preparation and distraction, even at night. He stays away from Scar, scared of doing the same thing to him before and only interacts to relay his plans of survival, ignores the pain in his constricted chest whenever he hangs out with BigB.

It's for the best.

If Scar hates Grian, he won't have to associate with someone like him. He won't have to suffer from his mistakes—no longer have to deal with someone as horrible as him who disregarded his friends' lives and killed them with no remorse.

Until, Scar approaches him after the sugarcane incident and asks Grian about a certain pizza banner and a desert base that everything falls apart he remembers Scar's blood on his hands he remembers he remembers Scar falls to the ground lifeless bathing in his own blood he remember—

(I came up with 2 ideas in a row just listening to "The Apology Song" what the hell is w/ this song?! /pos)

Ofc Davan and I were having a rambling session again >:D

Ofc the image won't enlarge again (beggars can't be choosers ig)

Link: https://postimg.cc/HJGmJZ5C

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What if pranking isn't fun how it used to be?

Don't get him wrong. Grian loves to pull pranks on his friends. It's basically his job. Well, recently it sure feels like it. It doesn't feel like it's the best hobby ever anymore when he starts to notice how the Hermits are asking him from time to time about when the next prank is gonna be. Whenever that happens, he excitedly teases and replies vaguely for anticipation. It's not fun if he can't surprise them.

Until it's becoming more frequent. He delivers, of course. But it suddenly feels like being pressured to build the back of the build or something. The expectations grow more and more each day, getting it harder for him to be inspired—to actually have fun.

It feels like an obligation to prank. He's starting to hate it.

Grian hates how he's feeling heavy over this when there's supposed to be nothing to worry about. But his erratic breaths say otherwise. The images flash altogether, reminding him of them—about how they treat his resistance as mere entertainment for them, like it's nothing but a thing to take lightly. He suddenly feels so small as the Hermits grow in size just like them, staring at him with those piercing mocking eyes as they expects him to deliver what they desired.

He can't.

Grian feels like a joke.

He hates how he's trashing his chests filled with materials that stored TNTs and more knickknacks to potentially used for future pranks with quivering hands. He hates how the waterworks won't stop flowing like streams as he blows up his progress, leaving nothing but rubble of their former glory. He hates how the lines on his wrists are getting eminent again from their faded selves, now including his legs. He hates how he's sleeping more than not with the help of his stacked medicine (a bit too much but no one will notice), escaping from his problem that is reality.

All Grian does is despise lately yet no one bats an eye, expecting him to rise again with a surprise.

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Grian has Hanahaki Disease (preferably /p)

He doesn't know why or how he got this but for as long as he can remember, he's been puking flowers since his parents divorced. The tears won't stop flowing as well as the vibrant petals. He doesn't know why but he can somehow identify and differentiate the varied petals from each other with their respective flowers, but he has no clue what they mean.

He's too afraid to ask/research and find out.

When he thought it's over, it becomes worse in high school. Not only he has to keep tiptoeing around

Sam, he also needs to suppress the petals from escaping his mouth whenever they interact and constantly run to the toilet when he can slip out or during in the apartment all night. He can only cry in misery at the piercing pain as the petals of Anemone, Red carnation, and Snowdrop fill the hole, but the most frequent are Indian cress, Manchineel, and Filbert.

As time passes, Grian can't stop. He frequently gags, the petals keep increasing, and blood begins to mix in. He can never forget the bile that suddenly rise when he stared at his bloodied palm when he coughed, almost unable to control the panic attack that's overtaking his body. Whenever he looks at Sam and Taurtis interact, he hates how his chest hurts all the same. Bittersweet, Crocus, Globe amaranth, and Morning glory petals mixed with red liquid come out of his dry mouth from too much vomitting, but the most frequent of them all is Windflower.

He can only breathe again when he was finally free from that hellscape. Everyone in EVO is so kind compared to the treatment he received before, always being surrounded by supportive people as they hang out, cracking jokes and pull pranks against each other (the type that won't harm anyone and actually have fun like he always dreamed of). He never thought he can laugh that loudly enough for his stomach to hurt (and not from vomiting) and tear up in happiness again.

Well, until the Watchers completely destroyed everything, that is.

Even experiencing the same happiness and treated with the same kindness on Hermitcraft, it never feels the same. Grian has to constantly look out for his back for potential danger and can't let down his guard, never feeling completely safe. It's so ridiculous, isn't it? The Hermits are the nicest people he's ever met, yet he's cowering inside his Bottle, Hobbit hole, and Midnight Alley. If you're wondering why he's mentioning basically all of his base, it's because it's happening every season.

It hurts, to say the least.

It's nice that Mumbo and the others comfort him when his chest hurts so much when he feels like the world is constantly ending, both from the drumming heartbeats and burning twinge. At least it helps reassure himself that he has nothing to worry about—that he will never be exposed to danger—not on their watch, that his friends will always support him no matter what. And he can rest and relax, enjoy the time of his life throwing eggs at people and blame it on Poultry Man, starting wars with pranks (no one got actually hurt and it's all in good fun), using diamonds as beacon to flex his riches, stealing stuff from anyone's chests and blame it on the mobs, running around the world to pretend he's a creeper with Scar and scare he life out of the Hermits, and more will come in the future.

It's so relieving that Grian rarely pukes them, Lavender, Lilac, and Peppermint just occasionally fills his palm and surprisingly only rarely see blood, which is very good news.

Until the Hermits entered the Rift and got thrown into Empires, that is.

Grian thought at first it's a new world. Not only they got thrown into a completely different civilization, but they also have to be in where some of his former friends from EVO are living a tranquil life with new friends. He can deal with it. He's accustomed to the pain and the increase of petals at this point, he can hang out with them again and pretend nothing's wrong.

It's what he's good at, after all.

Yellow Rose and King's Spear become more frequent since then.

It's the usual chaotic day on Empires. Grian comes rolling into Jimmy's Toy Tumble Town to mess up with him. When he exits the tunnel, he hears voices over yonder—apart from Scar and Jimmy. And they sound serious. He steps in further with light steps and hides behind one of the buildings to hear better. He knows he shouldn't eavesdrop, but his curiosity got the best of him (they might be secretly talking just how a terrible person he is). With that thought, he muffled his coughing with his palms pressing against his mouth like his life depends on it.

He tunes in and the conversation continues without a problem. He internally sighs that they haven't noticed him yet. He tries to follow what they're talking about and finally gets it when he hears his name and multiple eyes, gagging more petals enough for blood to come again as dread pushes him to the ground like gravity, preventing him from moving away. Orange milkweed and Rhododendron spread on the floor as he slides down on the sand, wheezing as quiet as he can as the conversation turns to the Watchers.

Oh, no they know they know they know they will think he's a monster they will hate him and want him gone gone gone gone gone—

No one saw him since that day.

Grian rubs his puffy eyes ever so slowly as he can barely see bloody King's Spear, Sweet pea, and Forget-me-not from the corner of his eye littering all around him—actual flowers splayed about instead of just petals almost covering the surface completely, swallowing what saliva is left in his body and swallow hard as he ignores the sting that comes with it. His stomach growls profusely. How much time has passed? Oh, yeah. He fell asleep again. Drowsiness blurs his vision, but another gag rises from his throat, releasing more of the fragrant and rusty petals beside him as he clutches his hand on his jumper where his constricted chest is, feeling numb and sleepy. When he's relieved from the usual session, his body falls to the side and everything turns black once again.

[I revisited my flower meaning PDFs from my Hanahaki Tommy fic to write this idea. The dedication hurts but it's worth it (even tho I probably won't use this sigh)]

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A line from Scar's dream that I removed since I forgot 3rd Life didn't canonically happened in Scar is Sam Desert duo centric fic

The same blonde who he lived with in a desert to survive death, only to end up on the other side of the man's anger.

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Or c!Grian switches w/ cc!Grian. The latter might enjoy it since he gets to see his and the Hermits face to face and gets to hang out with his friends he can only get to see on screen. The former, not so much. Since the fandom just loves to add angst into this guy, all the fanon things are true to c!Grian. Trauma from Evo, trauma from EVO, trauma from the Watchers, trauma from Life Series—EVERYTHING. Unfortunately, cc!Mumbo, who's closest to him compared to cc!Grian's other friends, has been cycling in France (sorry if it's inaccurate) so no one can comfort birb man and locked himself in a room w/ 2 cute cats and black box things (pc set-up), with a woman's voice calling from outside seemingly worried about him.

c!Grian can only let the tears flow nonstop from his eyes as he cowers in an unfamiliar and scary world.

(Didn’t share Davan’s idea thread w/ me since it’s theirs to begin with, I only do it if I initiated the idea)

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What if after each Life series, the hybrids get more feral? Like their animal instincts get more loose so they have harder time to suppress those and become less humane than b4

I just wanna see Tango setting things on fire whenever his emotional and got fiery (esp hair) or Ren accidentally biting someone or Cleo almost killing Joe w/her zombie thing

Davan: she's also a gorgon this season (I think... she has snakes for hair)

Me: Yeah like Medusa

Davan: So... she starts petrifying others (they revert back after a few hours)

Me: Which is harder, being a zombie or Medusa? I will canon the one w/ worst angst possibility

Davan: medusa, as a gorgon she tries to cover her head with something... but the snakes have a mind of their own

Me: The snakes bite her friends against her will and they have deadly poison

(This thread wasn’t too long so it’s easier to just copy paste)

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Remember when Grian and the others safety got back to Hermitcraft after Third Life and start S8? Remember when they were sent back to that hell including two of Grian's most important people in the world? Remember when Grian used his Watcher powers for the first time during the death games to take Scott's life, safely sending everyone back to their respective servers and continue their peaceful lives? Remember when Double Life started on S9 but like before, the damage was painful to say the least but at least they got back home safe and sound?

Well, what if that never happened? What if Grian is still sitting on the sandy surface of the desert, stained from head to toe of his former friends' blood—of Scar's life that Grian himself snuffed out? What if he's still staring blankly into the barren wasteland as the ringing in his ears multiply a hundred fold when the deafening noise is silenced in the blink of an eye? What if his mind is making up of stories about a happy ending and a happy life with his friends that will never come back, just to cope for the pain of never going back—of never getting them back?

(Is it just me or Davan just owned this idea? I was having 2nd thoughts if I should post this or not since they basically did all the work)

The HD image link for zooming purposes since this copy for some reason automatically compresses itself: https://postimg.cc/Xrw0GRyy

(I’m not dwelling on the Grianpop idea here since it’s Davan [MysteryFury] and Styx’s [Shadverse] idea ramble about Grian’s dad is basically the first Watcher, making him a natural half Watcher but Pearl and Timmy aren’t since they have a diff dad… that’s all you need to know)

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Won't it be funny to have an au where Grian never left YHS and had to deal with Sam's bitchiness until he got killed by him or die by a disease or somthing?

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Hels!Grian inspired from ShadeSwift99's Hels!Team ZIT fic series (it's really sick so you should really check them out)

Imagine Grian with his resilience of surviving Sam, of surviving EVO, of surviving the Watchers despite all the trauma and pain has been inflicted to him—both physically and psychologically, yet he's still one of the kindest and most humble person on the server. Despite everything, he's still helpful to his friends and never want to harm them, at least unintentionally.

What if he has a clone, with the exact same situation as him but never got out quite the same? What if that clone is the exact opposite of Grian's mischievous and outgoing personality? What if that clone never escaped the Watchers and decided to stay, causing him to master every magic he saw them doing (and maybe slaughter a few for good measure just because he could, unintentionally/purposely adapting into Sam's personality)? What if he's a much better fighter than him with Hels' extreme environment?

What if he's much crueler than Grian ever was?

Unlike Grian, Xelqua is much more cunning and not in a good, mischievous way. He's also calm, organized and well-prepared compared to his alter's impulsiveness, never letting his emotions get to him and just very good at killing them (as easy as breathing). He's basically Grian but the embodiment of perfection that opposes his flaws that we all know and love.

Scar first encounters this "weird" Grian but never bat an eye, thinking that his friend was just tired from overworking again and told him to rest. When he sees Grian the second time since after the Emperors barely got back home, it's when the avian is pulling a prank on him—rigging few of his chests in his storage system to explode the second he opens one. Luckily, he's got a totem to literally save his skin otherwise he's an elven charcoal (huh, probably a good new product to sell).

That's what started to raise concerning suspicions. Scar knows Grian well and that his friend never pranks someone enough to cause harm on them. If that actually happens, it's usually an accident and he'd usually help clean up his mess afterwards while refusing to stop apologizing. When he saw Grian sneaking from one of his buildings with a toothy grin and glinting eyes (they seem to glow red but it's probably the lighting) before hastily leaving after getting caught, he's starting to keep a close eye on his friend.

A close eye, he means Jellie. She's usually seen to just wander around when Scar isn't there to play with her or just bored and wants to explore, so he knows that it won't raise suspicion that why his cat is suddenly in that particular place—in this case, particular Hermit. Then he witnesses something he probably shouldn't have. With the help of his vex magic (his elf self is just aesthetics to spice things up this season), he can see through Jellie's eyes for a couple of minutes. And oh boy, he just saw something spicy. Standing inside the Grumbot cave isn't an innocent strawberry blonde man with his red sweater, but a man with red eyes (not just the one pair, it's all around his body) instead of the azure sky and wings too many for an avian to have sprouting from his back like a fluffy porcupine, wearing the same eerie toothy grin with bloodthirsty eyes staring directly at the Rift that used to be closed is now glowing bright red.

Enough is enough. Scar can't just stand here and wait for answers to come to him, so he equips his elytra and go to get what he wants himself instead. Still looking through Jellie's eyes, he just notices after a few seconds of not tuning in that Grian is now turning his head 180 degrees to stare straight towards him without twisting his body, tilting his head sideways before his body turns around as well. He walks forward with slow steps as his gaze stabs through Scar's very soul. Gosh, does Grian see that Scar is looking at him right now? How!? Snapping out of his thoughts, he sees Grian from a high angle like he's being held.

Oh, no. No no no no no no no no no no please no—

Scar fires rockets too many at once to try and speed up but his stomach twists into a knot as he can see Grian holding a diamond sword, grin unwavering as he brings the blade forward in one swift motion. He cries at the action but it's too late. All he can see is mainly the floor and a pool of red as Grian walks away and back to staring at the Rift. Scar grits his teeth and ignores the flowing tears as he can feels energy rushing throughout his body, sensing his adrenaline and vex magic intertwined as he bursts into the air in top speeds, blurring everything before he arrives at his destination in a blink of an eye.

Before he realizes, Scar is already lunging himself towards the one who hurt her with his trusty bow and arrow, releasing it with top speed as the arrow seems to disappear from sight in a blurry frame. All he can hear behind him is a loud yelp, similiar to an animal's screech, once he knows he hits the target successfully. He lands and turns around to see the tip of the arrow buried on Grian's now bleeding shoulder just below the collarbone.

What? He was aiming for the head. Oh, yeah. The too many eyes.

Scar pulls out another arrow and about to hit him this time, instead of fear Grian wears a smirk that boils Scar's blood, stopping himself in place and avoid slaying him by the throat with a sword right here right now. He still needs to be cautious. Grian isn't one of the best PvPers on the server for nothing after all. Grian taunts him about not wanting to harm him, making Scar glower and asks why, hoping that he can get some answers why his friend has suddenly changed and why does he need to hurt Jellie when she did nothing wrong. Grian begins his evil monologue, pacing around the large area with the same smug smirk and glinting red eyes (that's not from the new Rift) on his face.

He can't quite catch all of it, but he does catch about the fact that Grian—Xelqua now apparently is from Hels like Evil X and Helsknight, about how he finally manages to find a perfect timing for the server's barriers to weaken even for a fraction of a second for him to use his Watcher magic to switch places with the real Grian and use that opportunity to rewire the Rift so Hels and Hermitcraft are now connected, and that if any harm is inflicted on Xelqua will affect on Grian as well but not the other way around.

Does that mean Grian has a severe poisoned wound right now while in the middle of nowhere, with possibly nothing to heal or defend himself?

Oh, no.

Scar needs to help him!

But how when an evil clone is out to get his head and most probably even stronger than him? He'll obviously won't let him call for help with his communicator. If only he learned to use telepathy like Cub did.

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It's the start of a new year and all the mess from the shopping district has been finally cleaned after the party to welcome 2023. Everywhere is surprisingly quiet, quite eerily so. You can clearly hear a pin drop on how barren the server is. Grian knows that he's been out for a couple of days because of his cold but come on. He hasn't been gone for that long, right? What did he miss? The server is basically abandoned! He roams around the snow covered area and swoops down to enter Scar's tree, only to be greeted by an explosion of vigorous coughing like hearing fireworks. He enters and find his elven friend bedridden with Jellie sitting on his chest as she brushes her cheek to her owner's face as a sign of comfort. Grian runs to Scar's side and frantically panics as he can only ramble gibberish words before being reassured by Scar that he can take care of himself. Before he realizes, he's been pushed out of the house and the door closes on its own behind him. Scar used his magic on him just to kick him out. Is his cold that bad or is it something else?

A few weeks have passed and Grian can finally see a few Hermits wandering about finally starting to work on their major projects again. He greets Pearl with a wave, only to receive a weak glance before walking away. Huh, did she not see him? He jogs to meet up and greets again, but all Pearl mutters is "Sorry, Griba. But I really can't talk right now" with a groggy voice before leaving Grian to stand still in shock. Oh. It's probably fine. Her throat is probably messed up w/ the cold/flu, that's why she told him that. Yeah, nothing's wrong. At least, that's what past Grian thought until many of the Hermits for some reason don't want to interact w/ him for these past few days, either only hearing excuses or complete silence (the worst part was being yelled at and he had to bite the back of his cheek so hard before barely arriving his base to break down). Even Mumbo himself who just arrived from his months-long trip. Is there something bothering his friends that they don't want him knowing? Is there something wrong with him that he's not aware of? Or are they finally sick of him that they don't want him to be around anymore?

More negative thoughts flood Grian's already scrambled mind, feeling the cold tears flowing from his eyes and slams the chest already refilled with stocks as he flies back to his base with broken sobs. He dives to the entrance, crash landing and grunts as the twinge from his right wing is overtaking the cold biting at his skin. Between the tense encounters he's experienced for the last few days, he doesn't bother with wearing extra layer of clothing and only worked with restocking his Entity on autopilot, not caring whether they're presented well or not anymore as the numb and tingly sensation runs through his body. It's probably better if he froze to death. That way, he won't be able to bother other people and make them disappointed of his presence. Would it be better if he's out of the picture altogether?

If Grian is such a bother to Sam, to the Watchers, even to his current friends, (can he still call them that?) why does he still bother waking up in the morning even though it's such a tedious task considering how heavy every inch of his body feels? Instead of relieving all the tiredness, all it does to him is amplifying it, making it more exhausting whenever he works on his builds that are probably wasting space that the other Hermits can use more productively. He slowly rises on his trembling feet and sways left to right as he beelines to his bed before dropping to the pillow face first, not bothering to turn his head to access oxygen for his frozen lungs. Grian closes his eyes, the last thought he musters is won't it be easier for him to just never wake up? before drifting into nothingness.

Since then, the Hermits have never seen Grian again. A few finally decide to visit their feathery friend's base and see him asleep before trying to wake him up, only to realize he isn't no matter what they do. His skin is as cold as ice, heart beating so slow they can barely feel it's thumping at all and dread just how relaxed and peaceful his feature is compared to his facade of glee whenever he spreads mischief. They don't know what's worse, the fact that their friend isn't waking up anymore or the fact that Grian has never looked this free since he joined the server.

(Not so fun fact: The Hermits were just legit in a bad mood with their cold and/or flu messing them up HARD but they never intentionally wanted to get pissed with Grian, so when they realized what happened, the guilt they felt was WORSE once they realized what they did to their pesky bird. Now, they have to find a way to break the magic Grian subconsciously placed upon himself to deep sleep. It’s a bit hard when there is literally no one in the universe to rival Watcher magic—not even Voidwalkers)

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Grian always wondered why people hates him. For a really long time. He's aware that he's mischievous and causes trouble for his friends but he's not used to be like that. In fact, he only recently learned to be himself and not worry about other people. The Evolutionists taught him that and he's forever grateful for their kindness and love despite betraying them to join the Watchers (they're going to kill his friends—his family if he won't). He always wondered why his parents hated him enough that they divorced and left him behind. He always wondered why Sam only targeted him specifically despite being called a "friend". He always wondered why the Watchers kept their keen eyes on him. Is there something wrong with him? Is his existence bothering them so much that they just had to find ways to try and get rid of him in their own ways?

Whenever those thoughts plagued his mind (more often than not), Grian can only cower himself inside his base and locked himself for days—weeks even, just to release all the flowing tears and uncontrollable sobs out of his system and go out to pretend like nothing happened. The one skill he mastered all his life was to keep his giddy facade and hide his pain with a smile. Even now, it's a useful thing even when he doesn't need to do that anymore. But his persistent intrusive thoughts say otherwise. Whenever they come, he always asks himself why is he still here when all he's done is to bother people? What's the purpose of him staying when everywhere he goes, all he does is cause nothing but trouble? Would it be better for him to just time travel? Yeah, the idea of going back in time to prevent himself from existing appeals to him, making him think about it over and over when his mind isn't busy with major projects or planning mischief.

Grian wakes up one morning, albeit with a violent jolt as per usual due to another nightmare from his past. When he looks around, his stomach drops at the familiar sight. Is he still dreaming? He pinches himself by the arm and proves his theory wrong. What is he doing here? Is this some kind of cruel, sick joke or prank? But only Pearl, Timmy, Martyn, and Mumbo knew about this. Unless they... No. They can't just exactly replicate the bedroom from his high school based from his stories, can they? He leaves the bed and walks around the house. Yeah. It's the room he used to stay with Sam and Taurtis, but how? He passes by the kitchen and catches something from the corner of his eye, causing him to backtrack and stare at it, only to see his younger self washing the dishes.

Did Grian just go back in time? How? Is it because he's a Watcher? It can't be that convenient, right? This has to be some kind of trick. He swipes a cap conveniently lying around the living room (the three of them were terrible at keeping the place clean. One time he saw a one-year-old glass of milk still standing from under the bed—how it got there, he had no clue) and quietly exits the apartment to wander around the streets. The place is the splitting image of his old town. He can see familiar faces casually talking as he continues on his way, causing his chest to drum yet still feel light as the excitement fills him. With this power, he can finally fulfill his seemingly impossible idea! He just needs to figure out how to use it again.

Remember when Mumbo just rambles random things that may or may not make sense? Plus his contraptions are just blowing your mind? What if he's the literal personification of time? So his chit-chats that seemingly don't make sense and amazing redstone come from eons worth of knowledge (both past and future) but just not very good at conveying them. Hence his famous line, "it's really quite simple".

It looks like nothing's wrong at first. Mumbo plans his next redstone contraptions and gathers materials for said contraptions. Just your typical normal day on the Hermitcraft server, really. So far so good, no man with a red jumper on sight that's potentially lurking from the shadows, so he manages to have a productive day for once. Well, until when he mentions a reference from Demise that Iskall acts quite a bit strange during the interaction, but Mumbo shrugs it off and thinks he probably remembered wrong. Hence, his friend's weird reaction. The next is when someone brings up the Mayoral election and he references the Jrumbot, only for Scar to give him a look he can't quite understand before brushing off that the topic was even brought up in the first place.

The last straw is when Mumbo greets Pearl and mentions her love of turning mobs upside-down when she sees the cleaning lady cooing at one of Zed's hanging animals, only for her to frown and cautiously asks about how he knew her favorite hobby. What does that mean? They literally live together last time. He tells her just that but she seems more confused the more Mumbo rambles, making him stop and apologize before leaving abruptly. What is going on? Why are a few events seemed to poof out of the Hermits' minds like a mysterious force is pulling their memories away from them? Then he finally realizes the similarities between said forgotten memories. They're events that occurred with Grian's involvement. Grian created Demise and Jrumbot. He founded Boatem when the five of them were messing around with boats.

Mumbo doesn't hesitate to lock himself in his Vault and focuses his thoughts on scanning through the previous timelines of Hermitcraft. Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no... Wha- what is happening? Why is Grian's history starting to slowly fade away like smoke? He fast forward to the early months of S9, only to see a few of them disintegrating into nothingness as his best friend's existence is disappearing. He hastily backtracks, already biting his nails as he looks for something—anything where Grian still exists in their history. His drumming chest and ringing in his ears aren't helping, amplifying his panic more as he finds anyone with strawberry blonde hair and red jumper and THERE! Mumbo sees the short man standing in front of two people lying on the floor who are concerningly bleeding and utterly pale for their own good. Why do they look familiar, though? He feels like he’d seen those faces before. No! No time for distractions! Before fully succumbing to his panic, he glances on what Grian is holding by his hand. It seems to be glinting by the moonlight that flows in through the open windows, his breath is caught in his throat as he finally sees what it is.

It's a sword.

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(I based the “Griangst: After Third Life, the gang never went back to their original servers but got stuck in the death loop, continuing with Last and Double Life HC AU” for the intro for this idea, but you can also use a different one so you won’t have to use that one)

The sound blast that weighs like a hundred elephants still renders Xelqua's ears useless, only able to hear muffled noise of heavy stumping and sniffing as he can see a huge silhouette of something walking past him. He realizes that it's the Warden, looking for its next target once it's sure that he's no longer a threat. He can actually agree to that to be honest. Considering he can no longer feel his body just like his wings that he used to love and notice the pool of blood gradually getting bigger from his blurred vision. It all happened so fast. He never even got a chance to see him again. He never even got a chance to apologize to him for all the horrible things Xelqua said and done to him. Since he doesn't need to worry about them toying with him for now, he enjoys his clear head (as clear as it can be despite the black spots quickly swallowing his vision) for once, reflecting all the things he's done all his life.

Xelqua doesn't know why, but all he can see is his face and his crooked smile from all the death games, memories of him flashes before his eyes. The epiphany hits him hard like a wrecking ball through his heart, mustering a clench of his fist to express his anger. Not on the Watchers, not on his broken alliances, and certainly not him. But to himself. He's mad that all he did for him was hurt him when he's done anything but harm to Xelqua. All this time, he ignored all of the subtle signs of him expressing his care for him but what did he do in return? Hurt him at every chance he gets.

Xelqua didn't deserve such a kind and caring person right by his side, just like all the good people in his life before he's been trapped in this death loop. All he can do is feel his tears rolling down his cheeks and mix with his blood, waiting for death to arrive as he finally closes his eyes, succumbing finally to his fate.

Goodbye, S****.

Grian loves pranks. He loves to mess with his teachers and classmates alike, even if it will end him up in detention but the fun outweighs the punishment. He also hates school—no, he despises it to his whole being. It's boring, has a lot of rules, and all they have are projects that don't make sense, well, unless it's arts and crafts he aces it 100% of the time. With this kind of attitude, he's known to be the class clown-slash-troublemaker and he's quite to be proud of it. Except Mumbo, he guesses. All he does is make contraptions like a mechanic and doesn't engage with his mischiefs. He loves the guy, sure, but he can really use the support here. Pranks are funnier with more people. Like they say, the more the merrier.

Speaking of boring people, their class president Goodtime isn't an exception (the name sure is ironic). Sure, he loves art as much as Grian do but... eh. The guy is so diligent and quiet, rarely interacts with Grian anyone. Grian tries all the tricks up his red jumper sleeve to crack him but nothing. Nada. He even got suspended at one point when he set the fire alarm off and never got to hear the end of it from Mumbo—that was one time! At least Pearl and Impulse were a bit supportive, he thinks. They laughed at every mischief he makes, that counts as a win, right? Ugh, he gives up. He swears to never hang out with him again and targets his other classmates or the next room instead. That new kid—Timmy? Is that his name? He seems interesting. He'll plan something with Joel and Martyn later.

No matter how much Grian tries to keep his distance from the class president as possible, he can't help but have Goodtime somewhere in his thoughts anytime—it's stronger when he sees him directly. He can feel his chest constricts, sensing a weird pull from inside him whenever he thinks about him. Like he's seen him before. Like he wants to say something else from the tip if his tongue yet his incapable to do so. In the latter's case, it only amplifies the unexplainable pain in his chest. It's the same sensation whenever it's History class, especially when they tackled about the war with the Watchers and a group he never caught the name of (it had something to do with crustaceans) that happened 1000 years ago. It's worse when a man named 'Xelqua' was mentioned over and over just because he's the harbinger of the apocalypse or the hero or rebel or whatever.

Whenever Grian feels like he's not receiving any oxygen, he sprints out of class towards the bathroom and locks himself in there—Mr. Hills' discussion long forgotten, trying to breathe as the walls are closing in on him and the room never stops spinning. What is wrong with him? Does he have some kind of disease or something? Is he gonna die? With his heart racing a hundred miles per hour, he certainly feels like it. He can only slam his head against the wall or the porcelain sink everytime this happens to calm himself and most of the time, it works. But how come it's not working today? Why why why his head hurts why why why he can't do this anymore why they won't come off why why their blood are still on his hands—

Grian can only cower himself in the corner as he sobs, feeling a warmth is missing—like something feathery and heavy wrapping around himself but with his mind going like this for years, he doubts it's anything important. For what feels like hours, he jolts as he can notice one of the stall doors opening from his blurred vision, only to see Goodtime of all people. Oh, no. He's sure the door was locked and no one entered through it, so it means he's here from the start and—

"Breathe, G. Can you do that for me?"

A dark yet soothing voice calls, snapping Grian out of his self-induced trance as he sees Goodtime crouching right in front of him—his hands pressing on his trembling shoulders and grounds him with the unexpected warmth. Like how he requests, Grian tries his hardest to follow, taking a few minutes before feeling he can finally breathe freely again.

"G-Goodtime? Did you- Why- What are you doing here?"

Grian mutters in confusion, wincing at how his voice is groggy from too much crying.

"You can call me Scar."

Scar.

Huh, weird name but why does the nickname feels so nostalgic? Grian knows not one person in his life ever calls him that—not even Mumbo! And yet the nickname sounds so natural, like he's been called that over and over in the past. He loves it. So much. Scar's sudden snort tells him that there's something on his face and with that thought, the fellow teen fully laughs as he holds his stomach with his arm—a familiar laugh that sounds a lot like wiping a glass clean and surprisingly contagious, letting Grian stifle a laugh.

"You look better when you're smiling. You should do it more often." Grian blurts and jolts in realization, waving his hands frantically in front of him. "That's- That's n-not what I—! It's not what y-you think!" He stammers as he blushes in embarrassment.

"Maybe I should. I can't just have my luscious beauty go to waste because of my shyness now, can we?" Scar agrees as he flips his ponytail for emphasis before laughing further, making it a cue for Grian to stop and join in on the fun.

"Oh, my goodness. Where have you been this whole time, anyway? No one saw you this morning." Grian sighs in relief and wipes a tear from his eye with a sleeve in question.

"I, uh... I've been in here since first period and... I was pooping the whole time, so yeah." Scar sheepishly replies with the crooked smile still on his face. "I was pooping so hard, it might have given me hemorrhoid." He snickers as he adds confidently.

The statement causes Grian to choke on his own saliva before going back to his fitful high-pitched cackle alongside with Scar's signature squeaky laughter. A sense of deja vu pricks his mind, sending a pang in his chest but doesn't make a move to interrupt this moment. He's having too much fun right now, first time in probably a long time. Sure, he enjoys his time with his friends, but there's just something unique with his interaction today.

"Scar, do you like fun?"

"Sure! I like some fun!"

"Then you're gonna love pranking."

"Wait, what if we got in trouble?"

"Only if we got caught."

"Okay, count me in!"

"Yes! Give me your Discord and we'll discuss it later. You are so gonna love this."

"Did I just signed a contract with a demon?"

"No. I'm an angel. See these innocent blue eyes? Demons don't have these."

"Pfft!"

Remember when Grian said this guy was boring? He takes it all back. He's way more fun to hang out with than he expects it to be.

Chapter Text

S9 Scar hunts Grian down under the orders of King Ren since he's one of the people wbo were on the party. When Scar has cornered Grian, he points his bow and arrow to him, waiting for the perfect moment to release it. Suddenly, Grian cries and whimpers "Mumby" from under his breath, barely audible but it's as clear as day for Scar as his stomach drops. Grian age regresses and won't stop crying. Scar drops the weapon and tries to reassure him, but Grian whines that he's afraid of 'fairy'—of Scar. Scar chats to the server that he needs Pearl and Impulse NOW. They come as quick as possible, making Grian a bit better as he sees reassuring faces. Scar's heart breaks to see the scene. Unfortunately, the server can't fully comfort Grian since he keeps on looking for Mumbo but the man himself is still away from his vacation.

Even if Ren exempts Grian and other former Boatem members from the hunt, it still doesn't help with Grian being afraid of Scar whenever the two meet whether he's regressed or not (if this is the case, he suddenly slips a little when they do see each other).

Search for HC wiki as reference for child nicknames for Boatem members:

Grian - Griba, birdy
Mumbo - Mumby, N/A
Scar - N/A, fairy
Pearl - N/A, llamy
Impulse - Impy, N/A

(N/A – not sure if I’ll add another nickname or not)

Chapter Text

At first, Scar thought he's only dreaming or hallucinating. It all started with him blacking out for a few days in Last Life, memories fuzzy but he vaguely remembered floating in the starry void endlessly as the soft whispers of something or someone kept him entertained. After that hellhole, he's seeing something blue and a bit translucent from the corner of his eye every once in a while. With his track record of doing super fast build mode for the past few months to finish his starter base and mega mountain (just don't look at the back) continuously, it's not really surprising to think that it's all in his head.

Well, until the moon crashed that turned out to be some sort of 'virtual reality' or whatever Renbob had said. Was it 'Ham sticks'? 'Hairy lace'? Wow, dyslexia got him good. Hold on, uuuuh... Hermatrix! Yes, that's it! He could only laugh at the thought remembering all the mispronounced names. Where was he? Oh, yeah. The moon happened and the Hermits had to delay going to a new world to fix the Hermatrix issue, so Grian suggested going to a Hardcore world with Joel to distract themselves. Of course, thinking it was a good idea back then he didn't hesitate to agree.

It was the typical new world filled with lush green trees, plants, and so much more. Scar was having so much fun with the gang helping him get his own pair of wings so he didn't have to constantly risk falling for his death and actually travel faster without using a boat that would take him years to get to his destination, that his face still hurts from too much smiling as he lies down to his bed and wait for his excitement to die down to get some rest and start a new day to work on his sheep farm. All of his plan goes down the drain, though when he's back to the starry void again.

Oh, no.

It's Last Life all over again!

Like a button for his doom has been switched on, numerous childish laughs fill the radio silence, heart skipping a beat as he sees strange blue creatures with wings hovering in front of him. His mouth can only stay agape as those cute tiny things glue white and blinds him temporarily before being replaced by three humans with pointy ears and icy blue eyes and wings that's identical to the fairies earlier. They begin to speak about gibberish things that he can't comprehend, all information going in from his one ear and out with the other. He can vaguely hear words like 'watching', 'beginning', 'vitality', and 'magic' but those aren't enough for him to understand what's happening. One thing is for sure. Judging by their razor-sharp teeth and drooling mouths, it can only mean one thing as their eyes burn like lasers into his being: they're predators hunting Scar their prey for dinner.

Scar can't do anything but watch in horror as the teeth pricks into his pale skin, boring holes into his body as he's been gobbled up like a roast turkey during Thanksgiving. His screams for help fall on deaf ears as his tears are the only thing he can muster. How long has it been? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? It could have been centuries for all he knows but he can't move his heavy as lead body anymore. They feel numb and unfamiliar as the smell of rust is the only thing that's vivid in this cold and dark fuzzy hellhole. Even though he feels nothing at all, there's something inside of him that itches but he can't scratch it or do anything with it at all. He can only stare blankly at the twinkling stars as the black spots overtake his vision before his heavy eyelids finally give in and close probably forever.

When Scar opens his eyes (he doesn't expect to actually be able to get back to the land of the living, to be honest or is this the afterlife?), his back is aching and itchy like he's wearing something heavy behind him. What happened again? His scattered mind begins to form answers of what happened to him for the past something, jolting violently and sit up with a loud gasp before realizing he's falling! Adrenaline rushes throughout him as he tries to move any part of his body to do something and make his fall as painless as possible, stopping for a millisecond when his feet feel the cold floor. Wait, what?

He squeals screams and falls face first, groaning in pain as he regains his baring and remembers the split image he saw earlier. He's standing with his legs on his own. Is he dreaming? Wait, let him try it again. He slowly stands with the help of the bed, mouth agape as he's slowly moving his legs to hoist himself up—albeit trembling and extremely slowly but he can actually do it again! His vision blurs and cheeks feel cool as the tears flow on their own but doesn't stop to wipe them. Instead, he feels more strength with the limbs he thought he'd never get to enjoy doing activities with anymore, standing fully to his full height.

Oh, gosh!

Scar isn't four feet anymore. He gets to be six feet again! He celebrates his mysterious but welcomed recovery with a loud signature window wiping like laughter as he clutches a few of his hair, making sure he's not dreaming.  Sure, the pang on his back, ears, and teeth are still there but he needs more concrete and within his control to make sure. More tears come out before a thunderous sound makes him jump, seeing a certain disheveled Cubfun slamming the door open before he falls on his butt with a thud. Why does he look like he's been struck by a typhoon and tornado at the same time? Why do those now icy blue eyes make him shrink?

After smiling and waving in greeting, Scar asks where they are and is told that the Hermits decided to enter a world blindly and made a temporary base at spawn to wait for other members to catch up before actually starting. Cub looks awfully more exhausted and apprehensive than Scar has ever seen in his life. Since, well, Cub is basically the embodiment of calm and collected! He asks—albeit hesitantly, about what's bothering his friend. This makes Cub look more terrified than ever, slapping his cheeks with his own hands as he starts to waver the last statement Scar expects the man to address to him.

"Scar, you're a vex."

Scar's stomach drops and throat closes, preventing air from entering to his lungs.

"What?"

Chapter Text

(Inspired fr Hamefura and Tsunlise)

Typical fantasy game where a prince/hero defeats the Demon Lord to save the people from its tyranny and evil plans, but Scar is the prince/hero while Grian is the Demon Lord. At first Scar thought the Demon Lord was really evil with his minions terrorizing everyone and the Demon Lord keep on starting wars all over the world to conquer them, until Scar discovers the truth that Grian is the opposite of every rumor. Grian is cursed to be the harbinger of the apocalypse and is extremely awkward to interact with others, hence acting like an evil dictator so it won’t be so awkward for him.

Chapter Text

Grian has been gone for weeks without a trace, making all Hermits worried so they all decided to have a search party after the 2nd week Grian has been gone. No matter what, they can't find him. Until an injured (broken wings and bleeding head) Grian comes stumbling on one of the Hermit's base and passes out. When Grian wakes up, all the Hermits drop everything and asks in chat if he's okay. Stress suggests only a few can visit him so he won't be overwhelmed and still healing. Scar and few of Grian's closest friends come and greet him, only for Grian to apologize and asks who they are. Scar and others think he's joking until Grian suddenly starts crying and apologizing for not remembering.

Scar and others panic and asks for X in chat to come and what's happening to Grian. When X arrives, he inspects Grian and feels a remnant of Watcher magic, guessing that the unknown entity that trespassed Hermitcraft right before Grian went missing might be a Watcher and attacked him but luckily survived and escaped. X adds that he doesn't get any signs if the intruder leaving so there's a high possibility that they're still inside the world. The Hermits are shocked about an intruder attacking their friend and decide to stay by his side to protect him, hoping to also help regain Grian's memories.

Unfortunately, no matter what Scar suggests them to do, they can't trigger any memory for Grian to remember especially when he panics almost every single time and decides to stop for the time being. When Scar is alone, he shivers and feels weird like something is watching him, making him feel eerie but keeps quiet about it. Worse, other Hermits have also been reported to be attacked and killed by a strange creature they can't explain. One time, a few Hermits are hanging out to rest from the stress of possibly being attacked their long day of work and chat without Grian since he's sleeping and resting in his base with Keralis and xB guarding him after a whole week of trying to jog his memory. Suddenly, the vibe changes when Ren leans ckoser and whisper to ask if there's something weird about Grian since he smells off.

The Hermits joke about Ren smelling himself and mistook it for Grian's before seriously wonder what Ren meant. Ren explains it like seeing two exact T-shirts. You can't notice the difference until you put them side-by-side and really look at them then realize that the print from the other one was a bit smaller by a few centimeters. Scar is confused and comments he doesn't follow before Ren brushes it off and says forget what he said.

Hels!Grian is Grian but snapped and became unhinged, killed Sam and his friends, and left YHS. He has shapeshifting abilities so he can change his appearance at will. When he discovers Hermitcraft by hearing it from Helsknight, Evil X and a few more, he's very delighted about a new world where he can hunt for prey again. Compared to other universes, Hels is filled with unhinged people basically and won't satisfy his bloodlust since they won't cower and fear unlike people outside Hels. There's something different for him between hunting a fellow tiger and hunting a deer running for its life.

It took Hels!Grian some time but he finally finds a way to get in Hermitcraft without the other Hels people's help and knowledge about his plan. He can't have his prey being stolen from him, after all. He enters the world successfully but someone suddenly attacks and hits him with a magic, causing him to fly and stumble a few meters from his spot. When he stands, he sees a splitting image of himself but an avian who sprouts 2 more pairs of wings and too many eyes popping all over his body. He grins, thinking that he can use his double for something.

Despite the massive difference in abilities, Hels!Grian wins with the help of decades worth of experience in fighting and foul play. He ties an unconscious Grian with a choker that he stole from a wizard that paralyzes the user and slowly tightens until the victim is dead from choking or decapitated. He then proceeds to shapeshift top copy his double's wings, flying back until he finds civilization. Before he arrives to one of the Hermit's base, he recklessly flies to crash and injure himself, making it look like someone attacks him and causes him to have amnesia.

Compared the Hels idiots, Hels!Grian is gonna be subtle and waits the long game until he can kill every last one of them. At least that Aadaph guy was mediocre (reference from ShadeSwift99' "The TIZ Team" series). He shapeshifts into a different creature to kill his targets when he's alone or his target is. Since he's experienced and used to be captured and try to kill him many times before, he can always find a way to slip out from the Hermit's sights without them suspecting anything. What he doesn't know is that the "dead" bodies he inspects are hollow with the owners already respawn back to their last spawn point, usually their beds so he doesn't see them again. The bodies will decay and disintegrate into nothing after a few hours so Hermits usually left them alone or hide them from sight until they disintegrate.

When Grian wakes up, he can't move. At all. And he feels like something is choking him, only to glance that there's something around his neck slowly tightening. He tries to move his body again to rip the thing off his neck but it's no use. He panics and accidentally turns into a bodiless eldritch Full Watcher mode and left his body. Oh, yeah. He forgot he can do that. He wanders around the world to warn the Hermits about the intruder, only to see himself hanging out with his friends. Wait, his impostor has his wings! But he didn't have that earlier. Grian remembers that his double can shapeshift during their battle. He tries to interact with his friends to warn them that the intruder is right there pretending to be him but nothing. When he's in full Watcher mode, he can't interact in the physical world since he's like a ghost. He's not experienced being in this form compared to other Watchers. He rarely goes in this mode since he doesn't want to become like them. Why do Watchers prefer this anyway? It's so inconvenient in building and pranking if he sheds his physical body or can't touch anything!

Grian can only watch his impostor killing his friends one after the other without the Hermits knowing it was him. He tries to interact with Scar many times since he's a vex, probably he can interact with him. Apparently not. Scar shivers when he can tell that something is watching him but doesn't know that it's Grian. He tries with Xisuma but nada. Same reaction as Scar's. Suddenly, his form is starting to fade away and feels the sensation of choking. Oh, no. His body is not going to make it. He hurries back to his body and tries to do something but he can't use magic and can only watch. That's all he does all this time. He can't warn his friends. He only watched as they've been slaughtered. He can only watch as his body slowly dies. If his mortal self dies, will he die as well or will he becomes fully like them?

Either way, Grian hates both choices. He can't hang out with his friends anymore. He can't build massive structures or prank his friends. He can't do anything anymore. He can only cry in place as the choker is making his body's throat purple but there's no reaction from his body. It's like choking a dead person. Suddenly, he wakes up gasping and coughing vigorously from being choked. After that, he looks up only to see Scar smiling at him. He cries and hugs his friend, sobbing about thinking he will die and never get to see them again. Scar reassures him that he's okay now and that he's here for Grian. Grian cries his heart out before finally calming down. He leaves the hug and asks how Scar knew where he was. Scar explains the feeling of being watched being familiar despite being eerie so whenever he can feel it, he uses his vex magic to track the trails of magic and finally leads him here. I was a bit difficult at first since it's gradually fading and only stays for a couple of seconds so he really needs to fully concentrate, which is one of his worst traits, making Grian chuckle and Scar snicker.

(Inspired fr Detective Conan "Murderer, Shinichi Kudo" arc epi. 521-523)

(I'll probably write this into a fic in the future but not sure when specifically since I'm still making preparations for my first art commission during the time I posted this. Plus, I still need to finish writing Grumbot is sentient like that movie "Monster House" kind of freaky despite I had the idea inspired from watching a couple of Creepypasta videos since procrastination is preventing me from finishing it. And I still want to write the soul switching Desert duo AU and the next semester is coming... Why the hell am I so busy???)

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

It’s not unusual for someone to hate Scar’s guts. To be honest, it’s understandable since he’s quite a quirky character after all. No one can resist this amazing charm of his. Anyway! He’s so used to it that he can easily plaster his usual smile like someone didn’t just break his limited edition Star Wars figurine into smithereens. It’s not like it mattered since it was literally the only one in the whole universe, after all. When the third death game comes around, he doesn’t expect for such a twist to happen to everyone, especially when his soulmate is Grian. He can’t believe he gets to be together with one of his best friends again since Grian left him all alone in his mountain back in Last Life. Sure, he was also beaten to death back when it all started, but it’s fine! They’re friends after all—they forgive each other no matter what they did. Besides, it’s a matter of life and death so they didn’t have a choice back then. But they have now! Since they’re link together, Scar can support Grian just like how Grian did for him before and this time, he won’t die that easily. Peace of cake! Right? As if being swallowed by the Ender Dragon and spit out only to be swallowed and spit out again, only this time towards the swirling void of the End, he can’t believe he’s being betrayed—again!

It’s fine, really. Scar knows that everyone is stressed about the current situation, with two lives hanging in the balance each time death occurs. He can endure the sight of Grian sneaking away from the wooden cake base thinking he managed to hide from Scar’s Vex sight/senses and went off to ren- rendev- re… rendezvous!—That’s the word!—with BigB.

After escaping from the hellhole (and a few painful ringing in his ears for some reason), Scar visits Grian’s base with a bag of freshly baked cookies in his inventory for taste testing, skipping while looking around for a certain strawberry blonde and finally found him, albeit after tripping on his own cane but that’s besides the point. He huffs and smiles fondly after hearing Grian’s signature wheeze approaching him. He raises his head and see his friend lending a hand, easily accepts it with a chuckle. They enter the witch house (more like storage) as they happily chat about their day, sharing their plans for their mega builds. Speaking of which, Scar gleefully offers the steaming cookies to Grian, explaining how he’s experimenting with new flavors for the Cookie Empire and since Grian is the first neighbor he spotted all day, he explains that he should do the honors. Of course, Grian happily obliged and takes the first bite of the heart-shaped cookie as his eyes brighten while continuing to enjoy the snack. Scar can’t help but mirrors the smile across his face as he sees Grian almost completely finishing the treat in one go before frowning, hastily coughing it out towards the floor with wavering breath. Scar’s eyes glances at the filth between them, seeing how there’s something glinting from beneath.

“Scar, why is there a glass in the cookie?” Grian wheezes as he stares at Scar’s direction with eyes like a deer in the headlights.

“It’s your favorite treat! From your secret soulmate, remember?” Scar beams as he replies.

“Wha- I already told you I never had anyone like that!”

“Should I ask BigB instead and let him spill everything?” Scar’s smile widens further, narrowing his now glowing electric blue eyes.

From the prompt:

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Heavily inspired from this amazing animatic: https://youtu.be/FTohTwbR7jk

When Timmy was out of the death game first, Grian initially thought he’s gonna be fine. That he could manage the sad news since he knows that his friend had always died first in every game, whether Grian was directly responsible or not. It was fine because he still had Joel with him. He could manage it.

Until he heard Joel’s distressed words being cut off midway and a thunderclap accompanying it whilst Grian was too distracted in trying to craft another TNT minecart. Suddenly, the clock tower becomes extremely entertaining as he can only stare and gape at it. The lump is beginning to form in his throat as the memories flood his mind through wild flashing images, reminiscing all his short but joyful time with the boys together.

That time when Joel and Timmy recruited Grian to be the third Bad Boy.

That time when they were making terrible bad boy puns after the mansion was burnt down.

That time when they grind for materials and built the Bad Boys Bread Bridge for hours, only for Joel to push the TNT minecart at the edge in the end.

Killing people left and right (including themselves) by launching TNT minecarts on Skynet 2.0.

Being dubbed as the Family’s cousins and received a carpet that said “good guys at heart”.

Sneaking at the TIES’ base but failing miserably as they couldn’t stop themselves from giggling and almost forgetting their reason of going there in the first place.

Laughing themselves off and created a podcast to past the time as they climbed the ladder all the up to the second bread bridge.

Just pressing random buttons on the floor when he shouldn’t have and accidentally killed Timmy.

Bored himself to death and played Pokemon as he waited for Joel and Timmy to finish their killing spree, only to fail horribly and got themselves killed instead after all the elaborate planning.

Grian and Joel accidentally killing themselves when they fell off the ladder together coincidentally.

Seeing Timmy falling off the edge in slow motion as he could only stand there uselessly.

And then there were two.

Joel’s last words rang in his ears whilst the thunder rumbled, sounding similar to a laugh like it’s mocking him for being unable to protect his friends this time.

And then there was one.

…

Grian clenches his teeth as hard as he can, enough that they might shatter into shards as he scowls at the ticking clock tower.

It’s happened again. This is already the fourth one, yet he couldn’t do anything as everyone around him always die either directly or indirectly by his own hands.

When will this excruciating cycle ever end?

“We look like Men in Black, Joel!”

“Okay, well whatever. We're also in mourning. It's not my fault Men in Black wear suits! You also wear suits at a funeral, Grian.”

“Who wears sunglasses to a funeral?”

“People who don't wanna see- You know, they're crying, their tears are rolling.”

“Bad boys do!”

“Wear them so they don't see you cry.”

“Yeah, but yours are above your head and yours are on your nose. I'm the only one who's hiding my eyes.”

“You're the only one that cries.”

“True.”

Grian’s vision blurs as he reaches for his forehead, lowering his sunglasses to his eyes as the tears start to flow. Apparently, he needs the accessory as well.

From the distance, he can faintly hear footsteps heading his way. As the people stop behind him, he turns around to see Pearl and BigB looking at him silently, brows furrowing in concern.

“Hey, guys! I’m a Nosey Neghbour now.” Grian greets with a lively tone as he strains a smile so wide his cheeks hurt. “Come on, neighbours. Let’s, erm… let’s go back to our base.” He sprints away from what used to be bread bridge as fast as possible, hoping to keep it out of sight from his new allies as he hastily wipes the tears away with his sleeve.

He doesn’t have time for moping around when their lives are on the line. He still has a lot of work to do.

And then there were none.

Chapter Text

Remember when around 7^th session, both Scar and Etho are currently the lowest time at below 2 hours so they’ll most probably end their 8^th session earlier this Saturday than the other remaining members (unless everyone will miraculously speedrun death or they’ll get a boogie/quad kill to gain more time)?

Remember also when Cleo said this about Etho to Martyn: “in about 8 episodes, he’s gonna come back with milk.”

Yeah…

The Clockers in Limited Life are legit family for this idea. As in blood related. Both Scar and Bdubs are actual sons of Cleo’s, with Etho being the absent father. I would like to think that Scar is the older brother who felt heartbroken and betrayed when their father left them and never hoped/expected anything if Etho does actually come back but wears his usual cheeky smile to hide his pain/true feelings, while Bdubs is the younger brother who was young enough to never understand why their father left them (really thought Etho was out to get some high quality milk, that’s why it took him so long to come home) and just excitedly waited for his return.

When the whole family was transported into a death game, they didn’t hesitate to ally themselves since, well, they’re family. The Clockers.

And family always stick together.

Tick… tock… tick… tock…

Scar thought that as long as he’s with his family, everything will be fine. Through thick and thin, they will help each other till the end. That’s what his naïve mind told him until he spotted the familiar silver spiky hair in the distance, the smile on his face quickly falls into a frown.

Why is he here?

He had the nerve to leave mom to raise them all on her own and show his face now?

He takes a long breath in, holds it in for a few seconds, and releases it with a deep exhale through his mouth.

It’s fine. It’s fine.

As long as Etho doesn’t do anything bad to Bdubs and Cleo, he’ll suck it up and pretend that everything’s fine (like he always did for the past couple of years). This should also be his younger brother’s chance to finally meet his father like he always wanted. He can’t just take that away from him.

Unlike their father, Scar loves his family.

And he will fight the world if he has to, if it means that his family is safe.

.

.

.

Tick… tock… tick… tock…

When Etho told them that Scar was adopted, he would be lying if he’s gonna say that it didn’t affect him.

It did.

Scar is fully aware that he and Bdubs are Etho and Cleo’s biological children, but considering how Etho abandoned them for his friends, that bluff punches a blow to his stomach heavier than he expects it to. Because of that one sentence, the one memory he suppressed a very long time ago resurfaces once more, causes his heart to clench in pain and bites his trembling lower lip to stop himself from breaking down right here and there (it’s a good thing he’s got sunglasses).

He broke his pinky promise.

Dad was supposed to teach him how to set up traps to protect himself from the mean bullies.

Yet Etho never did.

And here is adult Scar, unable to set up a successful trap to save his life.

Unfortunately, redstone isn’t exactly Cleo’s expertise and could only teach them how to defend themselves. If their father isn’t going to be there for them to protect them, then Scar will sacrifice himself a million times over to do it instead. Even if multiple ugly scars littered his body, even if he has to step on the corpses of his allies, even if he’ll bleed himself to death, it won’t matter as long as he’ll be able to use his strength to protect them at all costs.

If Scar has to kill Etho over and over to achieve it, then so be it.

.

.

.

Tick… tock… tick… tock…

Scar is running out of time. He’s been running all around the area, hoping to see an isolated target and get an easy kill but all he did is waste what remaining hour he has left.

Tick… tock… tick… tock…

He doesn’t know what is about to happen when his time finally ends like what happened with the other members, but his gut tells him that it’s anything but good. He can’t leave just yet when his family needs him.

Tick… tock… tick… tock…

What should he do? What should he do?

Should he set more traps all around the terrain and hope that someone will be caught in it? No! Considering his track record of failed traps, all he’s doing is wasting TNT and giving them to the enemy.

Maybe... Just maybe... if Scar uses the ugly dirt bridge in the sky and drop TNT minecarts to any unsuspecting or distracted victims... Yes. That should work!

(Stop.)

Without hesitation, he sprints to the TIES tower, skidding to a stop by the bridge and goes to the water instead. It might be trapped for all he knows. He listens for any voices in the vicinity while looking around the area. So far, there’s no one here. Just in case, he tiptoes towards the inside and beelines to the water elevator.

Wait, this is a bad idea!

He jolts violently as he braces for some sort of explosion, only to find nothing as he reaches the top safely. He plants a hand towards his thumping chest, releasing a breath he unknowingly holds in relief.

Whew! That was too close.

He should really be careful from these types of things and stop pouncing on something at any chance he gets. He got wet, but at least it was quick.

From the corner of his eye, Scar notices a few moving things from the distance and sees the Nosy Neighbors and Team TIES in one place. He can’t stop his mouth on moving on its own as it stretches into a grin, blood boiling as the urge to kill boosts his adrenaline. (Don’t!) He huffs and puffs as he runs the bridge towards the forest, aligning himself perfectly that he will get a lot of kills in one huge explosion. (They’re from the same circle and your precious friends!)

Luckily, his family is nowhere in sight so it should be fine. Without hesitation, he places a rail and plants a TNT minecart on top, waiting for the perfect moment for everyone to be aligned and...

Yes!

(No!)

The TNT drops slowly but surely, fading into nothing as it gets farther away from him and getting nearer to its final destination. Before he can see the damage, he hears a sound from behind and hastily jumps back before realizing that someone almost pushed him to his death.

Scar’s eyes widen in shock, staring straight into none other than Grian himself. He shudders as the man’s cold gaze feel like it’s pulling him towards the void, swallowing him whole. (Is it just him or they turned from blue into poisonous purple in just a second?) They’re as hollow and dark as the starless sky, capable of extinguishing lives with a snap of one’s fingers. He grunts and screams, snapping out of his thoughts as he feels a burning pain around his thigh area. He looks down and jolts in surprise as he can see his own hand holding a tight grip on his sword that’s currently embedded by said thigh.

Thankfully, he uses the chance that’s been opened up by his survival instinct by running away as fast as he can, gaining a fair distance and upper hand to fight against one of the best fighters in this death game. He doesn’t stand a chance at close quarters. As he runs and wheezes, he pulls out his bow that’s been strapped at his back along with his quiver, grunting each time the twinge on his thigh multiplies a hundred-fold each time he stumps his foot forward. He glances back, only to see Grian already firing an arrow towards him with his crossbow and yelps as he leans his head to the left, arrow barely missing his neck a few centimeters.

(The desert air burned against Scar’s exposed skin as he removed his armor one by one, preparing for the final battle to determine the winner. He knew that it would end this way. He didn’t deserve the title after all Grian did for him to keep him alive for this long. Even if it was Grian’s fault that he lost his first life during the early game, Scar had to admit that he had fun hanging out with him and found a kind and loyal friend despite all the betrayals. His life was but a small price to pay for receiving this kind of blessing. Scar didn’t deserve Grian.)

Scar grunts in pain as a pang hits the inside of his head for an instant. What was that about?

Nope! He doesn’t have time for this.

He shoots an arrow in return but misses horribly. He needs to calm down. He tries to do his usual breathing exercise to even it but gets interrupted as another arrow barely passes from his left. Grian really intends to shoot him for real. All those shots were aiming for his vital points. He would know as he did it himself whenever he shoots his enemies down since it’s easier and more effective.

(Scar shivered as the cold mountain breeze brushed against him, forming goosebumps all over his body as he could only scowl and felt bitter about being all alone on his mountain. He could understand about forming alliances, but why did it hurt when Grian didn’t invite him? He did it with Mumbo when the mustached man was supposed to ally with him. Why did it always have to be Scar receiving the short end of the stick? It’s unfair!)

Why do these weird and blurry images keep popping out of his mind?

Suddenly, a barrage of arrows come his way and hastily moves around the narrow bridge to barely dodge each shot. Why doesn’t he have blocks now, of all times? At this rate, he’ll die long before he gets into position. For now, he focuses on running despite how his lungs are on fire, huffing and puffing until he feels like it’s safe to stop. He blinks and all of a sudden, the sky is in front of him and glances back to see the ground behind him, paling to see it getting closer and closer.

(He crumpled his shirt with a trembled hand as he could see Grian hanging out with BigB, of all people. He could see how Grian’s smile shining so brightly compared to when they were together, straining it to hide his annoyance towards Scar.)

What the heck just happened?

How did Grian arrive so fast? (He could barely spot Grian with bloody fists, grimacing and holding back tears in front of him as everything slowly turned black) Wait, he spots the blonde being still too far from where Scar was. So, how did he—?

Oh.

Scar tripped on his own foot.

He can still make it! Without wasting any time, he pulls out the water bucket while twirling midair to upright himself and readies to place the water below his feet. But instead on the floor, he realizes it too late when the water disappeared after placing it on what was supposed to be the ground but instead, he landed on a tree (he shouldn’t have worn these stupid red tinted glasses) and everything goes black.

.

.

.

Scar squinted his eyes when the light overwhelms him, waiting for a few moments until his eyes finally adjusted to the brightness. He fully opens them, only to see that he’s sitting on the grass by an unfamiliar hill. He looks around and can’t see the ugly dirt bridge blocking the azure sky, the Clockers’ tower, the remnants of Bread Bridge, the wall between the Clockers and Nosy Neighbors’ bases, and more. Compared to what he’s used to for the past few weeks (or months), this place is quiet. He can only hear the wind rustling the leaves, birds chirping, and water faintly flowing from the distance.

It’s a good type of quiet.

Compared to the screams and explosions he has grown accustomed to.

When Scar hears grass crunching from behind, his body fully jolts and turns back to see that the one who’s approaching him is none other than Etho himself. He quickly stands and clenches his fists to the sides, bracing for some kind of attack—only for nothing to come. Etho is just… standing there, doing nothing until he takes a deep breath in and out.

“I’m sorry, son.”

Scar jumps in surprise from the last words he expects to come out of Etho’s mouth. The words are uttered so quietly and delicately, it’s like the flowers dancing with the wind sound far louder and feel stronger in comparison. For the first time in many years, he stares right into his father’s heterochromia eyes (the left red eye no longer glowing brighter than a ripe watermelon and reverted back to its usual ripe cherry), facing them head on as he can see his furrowed brows slightly twitching, half-lidded eyes glistening despite their indifferent façade, throat swallowing more than usual, and shoulders tense.

The person standing in front of him is, by far, the complete opposite of what he knew about his father all those years ago. Etho isn’t strong, far from it in fact, he isn’t self-confident, stoic, and he’s not as stern as Scar had always thought he would be. All the things he saw before might have been to show them that Etho was a tough and reliant person to reassure them that he could take care of his family. It could be a way to hide his weaknesses. It could be fear from trusting someone to show his weakness and be betrayed again. At this point, it could be anything.

But…

Does it matter?

Scar leaps and wraps his scarred arms around Etho’s neck, ignoring how the latter jolts and continue to embrace him as tight as he can and hopes that it can convey what he feels compared to a thousand words. From the corner of his eye, he can vaguely see Etho’s trembling hands hovering Scar’s back, hesitant but curls his hands into fists, stopping the shaking and returns the hug. It may not be as tight as Scar’s, but it’s enough.

Just by receiving the warmth from his father—his dad, it’s enough for the heavy lock and chains securing his heart to break, enabling him to breathe again after all these years. Before he realizes, he feels his cheeks wet from tears and grips the back of Etho’s green jacket like a lifeline as he sobs like a child on his dad’s shoulder.

“I- You- You broke your pinky promise.” Scar bites his trembling lower lip as the dam breaks further, legs becoming weak like jelly and kneels. Surprisingly, Etho doesn’t leave the hug and kneels with him.

“I know, Scar. I- I shouldn’t have- I’m so, so sorry.” Etho stammers as his shaking voice almost renders his apologies into slurs, but Scar can vividly hear it. “I promise to make it up to you.”

“Promise you won’t leave?” Scar whimpers.

“I promise.” Etho swears, voice unwavered in determination.

“I- I miss you, dad.”

“I miss you, too, son.”

Extra lore: (that I couldn’t insert in the idea thing from above since it’ll be oneshot size despite not being a oneshot)

• The memories about every LiL members living in a modern world are fake. They’re actually altered by the Watchers since forcing them forget from the previous seasons never worked and they always regained them sometime in the future, making them forget the aggression towards each other and making them care for each other again due to their strong relationships from Hermitcraft/Empires/being childhood friends.
• The Watchers’ tactics to severe everyone’s relationships were to make the LiL believe that they’re complete strangers who lived in a different world. They thought if they forget HC/Empires altogether, the recovering of memories will less likely occur. They were wrong, LOL. For some reason, even with memories that they lived in a different world, they still somehow formed relationships from a timeline that never existed. I blame Grian’s Watcher magic doing the thing as defense mechanism of some kind or he actually casted something before being fully influenced by their memory altering magic.
• I was supposed to add this in the idea but it’s too long so… Etho was supposed to have a flashback to reveal why he left the family in the first place. When Scar was young and Bdubs was younger, Etho worked in a dangerous redstone company/factory. It had a high paying salary but it’s so dangerous considering the stuff is like radioactive and if it hits the skin, it burns so bad that it’s a 4^th degree burn and any healing potion won’t fully heal the thing and leave ugly scars. During work, Etho got into an accident where the redstone pot thing fell towards his way and barely dodged it. But upon impact on the floor, the redstone splattered everywhere and a small clump directly hit his eye, causing it permanent damage and even with surgery, the doctors weren’t able to remove it from his system.
• The company kept their mouth shut when Etho was in the hospital since they were afraid that the company will be closed due to harming an employee, so naturally Cleo and sons didn’t know. Since that accident, Etho was afraid that the radiation will affect his family and left, only texting Cleo “I’m sorry” without context.
• When the family saw Etho with now a red left eye and mask (to prevent his now toxic breath from spreading), they didn’t bat an eye despite the overwhelming change since Grian’s magic managed to protect some of their memories. Even not remembered, a few members still acted subconsciously like how the alliances formed since they’re actual friends in HC/Empires/before HC. In this case, the Clockers were subconsciously aware that Etho looked that way from the beginning due to social anxiety and didn’t want to show his face whenever.
• The hybrid members all had their physical appearances altered by the Watchers, so Cleo doesn’t looks like a zombie, Tango won’t burst into flames due to overwhelming emotion, Grian/Solidarity/Scar/Pearl don’t have wings but surely enough are still reckless as ever to climb into higher places due to habits and instincts still ingrained in their bodies, and more

Inspired scenes: https://youtu.be/VDz-KWku82s?t=21

https://youtu.be/dqrjqtSp0QA?t=137 (every scene but the highlight is the last part)

(also this idea was before 8^th session so there might be differences in the outcome between canon and here)

Chapter Text

Grian has always been an awkward boy. He distances himself from the kids his age and watch them from afar, enjoying themselves while they run around the park looking dirty but the huge smiles on their faces tells him everything that they’re happy. But he’s not jealous. Not fully. One time, his mother asked how he was at school and he could only shrug casually like it didn’t concern him. School was weird, the classrooms were weird, the teachers were weird, and most of all, the kids were weird. Especially the kid that brought that stinky fish with him the whole time and the lanky one with bunny ears kept on hiding behind fish boy. They talked to him, sure, but it didn’t mean they were friends. His mother kissed him by the forehead and leans forward to how warm and soft the touch is, listening to her gentle voice as she tells her about making friends and how they will accompany him when he’s lonely and help him grow to become a better person in the future. At first, he’s reluctant to do it but goes to follow wherever those two kids go and as time goes by, he kind of like the company.

There are times when Grian wakes up to two muffled voices yelling at each other from downstairs but drowns them with his pillow and goes back to sleep (at least try to), like it doesn’t concern him. Hopefully his two siblings aren’t awake from the room across (he knows they are but if he tries to go and comfort them, their parents will notice that he’s awake and mother might say mean things to him again—worse, she might hurt them this time). Hopefully Taurtis has a new fun story to tell him tomorrow to keep him awake and not fall asleep on class again.

The arguing gets worse as well as their mother’s attitude towards him. At least she’s still loving towards his two younger siblings. He ignores it and tries to convince himself that she’s just stressful from work. It’s nothing to be worried about. It’s not like his mother meant what she told him about being… It wasn’t true, right?

One day, his father called him to the living room and asks Grian to sit with him on the sofa. All of a sudden, his father’s heavy hand lands on his blonde hair and ruffles it gently as he smiles and tells him about meeting someone who will truly care for him and he should cherish them—be with those people and never betray them. He’s quite confused but he nods as he mirrors his father’s kind smile that for some reason, doesn’t quite reach his ears like it usually did. His father then stands and turn to walk towards the kitchen to cook for dinner.

Is it just him or father’s eyes glowed purple for a second or was it lighting messing up with him?

Grian should have said something about it. He should’ve said something about why his father’s signature cheeky grin didn’t feel quite right. He should’ve said something, anything!

That talk is the last time he would ever get to see his father again.

His mother sends him to Tokyo Soul a few weeks after his father apparently left and reunites with her boyfriend, which is his siblings’ biological father, since she’s apparently unable to support his financial needs and has to earn it himself. At least all he needs to pay was his living expenses and she still pays for his school so there wasn’t much of a problem.

Then Tokyo Soul, which is the name of the town he’s staying for the rest of his high school years, happened.

Because of his horrifying experience there, Grian learns how to survive like a soldier in the middle of enemy territory and pull the trigger without batting an eye. He’s not sure which is worse, almost dying from a car crash and getting shot by various people or being threatened with a knife multiple times by your own best friend. He’s not sure if he even wants to survive this long after that hellscape, to be honest. Does it even matter? Everything in his life is a lie. He followed every advice that his parents gave him, yet all he receives are pain and suffering.

Even after meeting new people from different worlds and co-founded one of the most famous fantasy worlds in the universe, he still feels empty inside. So, he says his goodbyes to his co-founders and friends, leaving that world behind and goes to a new one.

That’s when he meets the Evolutionists.

It’s like a big slap to the face but in a positive way.

Instead of expecting the same outcome with them, they destroyed his world and proves it to him that there is still hope in humanity. Even after isolating himself away from civilization and build his own empire, people still go out of their way to visit his base and pay their regards. They even compliment his build even though it’s not even that impressive. He’s always been told by his mother that his love of building was a waste of time and resources and should focus on something more practical.

When he accidentally told Martyn about it one time, suddenly he exploded and started an hour-long rant about how amazing Grian was. For some reason, his heart flutters and cheeks hurt, even now that he’s only reminiscing it, only to realize he’s smiling so much. Ever since then, every Evolutionist will come and compliment him. Some like Netty will bring him a present like a pot filled with a delicious meal. At first, when he stumbled upon his siblings who are living with the rest of the Evolutionists, he was reluctant whether to interact with them since they might hate him for leaving them and not writing even a single letter, but they easily jumped to his arms and cried how much they missed him. That’s when he decided that he will hang out with them more and take care of them like a good brother this time.

Living with the Evolutionists is the happiest time he has ever been his whole life.

Until mysterious structures with bedrock and the Watchers appear, that is.

Everything crumbles right before his eyes, both literally and metaphorically, after he defeats the dragon and is taken from his friends—his real family. He can only watch in dread and cry his heart out as the world slowly deteriorates from the inside, leaving everyone to die but not him.

Why? They don’t deserve it. Everyone has been so kind of him and all he did was take, never giving the same kindness in return. He should be the one to sacrifice his life for them so they can live a happy life without him. This always happen. Whenever Grian is around, he destroys everything he touches—everything he ever cares about.

When the Watchers do their worst to him, he didn’t resist even once. It’s weird when all he did in his whole life was exactly that. They gave him wings, too many eyes for a human being, and knowledge regarding magic that he doesn’t even care about. Can he even call himself that after all the things he did? He quietly obeyed when they ordered him to watch over worlds he’s unfamiliar with, those specifically that are reeking with blood and smoke due to unending wars that they were manipulating from behind the scenes. He quietly followed the orders of taking out any individuals or organizations that might get in their way with the help of his years of experience back in high school. He did everything like a dog awaiting its master’s orders. It feels like it doesn’t even matter anymore. It’s like the strings that keep him moving all this time have finally been cut off, leaving his husk for a body to drop lifelessly to the cold, hard ground, available for anyone to use however they please.

Just when Grian thought all hope is lost, a peculiar Watcher keeps on appearing right before him wherever he goes, casually making a one-sided conversation with his porcelain teeth expose through a cheeky grin. Even if he never responds to their obvious bait of making him talk, they still went out of their way to hang out with him everyday without fail, even if it's only a few minutes or seconds before Grian is summoned by the higher ups.

What is this guy plotting? Because he’s not buying it. Not anymore.

He does everything in his power to avoid meeting up with them at all cost, causing them to chase him all around the base the second they spotted him. Of course, he won’t let them do as they please and he hides at the places someone will least expect it, using his magic to avoid any detection even with their eyes. But for some reason, they always found him like it’s nothing. At one point to another, their weird chase has turned into a weird hide-and-seek of some sort and surprisingly, he kind of likes it. He enjoys how the breeze brushes against his cheeks and how fast his heart beats from the thrill.

Grian finally decides to give in to their peculiar Watcher and let them “find” him, sitting on the edge of one of the many floating islands as they laugh and catch their breath. It’s been a while since his face and stomach hurt from having so much fun. He thinks it’s a great thing every once in a while, for him to take a break from everything… but not too much. He doesn’t want to expect something like last time.

He turns to his side to watch how his companion is doing so far, only to exclaim as he sees a grinning face being too close for comfort. As he places a hand to his drumming heart, they burst into a fitful laughter and he doesn’t hesitate to punch them by the shoulder, stopping their laughter and whines about painful their shoulder apparently is. Grian huffs at how childish this creature acts, staring at their bright expression. Their eyes are a beautiful shade of purple, glinting like the twinkling stars all around them and his raven fringe slightly covers them, acting like a black backdrop as it highlights them more.

The Watcher’s teasing comment snaps him out his thoughts before they point out that they didn’t quite catch his name. With a whisper, he tells them he’s Xelqua, like he’s ashamed of it. He is. They shake their head and reiterate that they want to know his real name. He jolts at this, realizing that this individual approaches him like he’s one of them even after knowing about his reputation. Isn’t he disgusted of his existence for being an artificial Watcher?

With a gulp, his jaw hangs as he contemplates whether he wants to reveal his true—past name or not. After a shaky breath, he utters the name that he hasn’t used in a very long time. He pronounces it awkwardly like it’s a foreign word and not his name. He can feel a heavy hand patting his back gently, rising his head to meet this peculiar Watcher’s eyes, only to see a smile so tender that he’s afraid he might cry. No one has ever looked at him that way since… that day.

Before Grian realizes, he feels warmth wrapping around him and sees them through a blurry vision that they’re hugging him. The one thing Watchers never do in their entire existence is to show what is similar to humanity. In fact, they would rather die a million times over than show kindness and empathy towards their fellow Watchers or other creatures. But this Watcher in front of him did the impossible. Suddenly, his chest constricts as the tears won’t stop flowing and he can’t contain his sobs any longer, so he can only grasp at their robe like a lifeline as he cries his heart out.

After his embarrassing crying session, they let go of each other and stare at the black horizon beyond them in comfortable silence. Then, they introduce themself and says that their name is currently Charlie and uses he/him pronouns. Grian wonders why he never heard of their—his name despite being in the same division. Charlie replies that it’s his human name and it’s his most favorite one, muttering “she gave it to me” whilst his smile falters ever so slightly before going back into a cheeky grin. Grian is a bit confused about that whole thing but decides to shrug it off.

Since then, the two of them are hanging out more, telling stories about their lives with humans. As it turns out, Charlie really likes humans despite being a Watcher. “Like” as in not the same as the ones the Watchers use to justify their horrible actions, but “like” as in actually how Grian used to feel towards his friends. Apart from hearing him from time to time about how he missed his previous life with humans, Charlie rarely tells any stories about his personal life. Sure, he has a lot to talk about other planets, adventures, new discoveries, and more, but they were rarely about him. Even if he was, he only acted as a spectator of some sort. Wow, he really is a Watcher (compared to majority of them).

Unfortunately, Grian doesn’t miss the fact that they’ve been hanging out less and less, always being summoned by the higher ups the second they thought they finally have time for themselves. He knows and certainly Charlie knows as well that they’re purposely preventing them from seeing each other. The missions are getting harder and harder to fulfill and worse, becoming crueler. The image of an innocent crying baby’s life being snuffed so soon with his own hands keeps looping inside his mind, lurking and pouncing at every second he lets his guard down.

He can’t do it. Not anymore. He’s meant to keep this a secret from Charlie but after one of the missions, Grian slips up and starts breaking down the second he sees him, beginning to apologize profusely about how he can never make it up to that child.

And that’s when everything changes.

(Inspired from “7 Years” by Lukas Graham and Nanatsu no Taizai scene about Meliodas given a future illusion by Chaos about everyone dying except him due to immortality)

(If I will post this into a fic, maybe the title for this is “30 Years”, based on “7 Years”)

(EDIT 04/22/23: I made this idea during early March, but I got bored from finishing this, so I’ll leave this idea here)

Chapter Text

Since I always portray AFKers as similar to sleepwalking without the walk part and more like just sleeping while standing OR if you guys want angst, it’s also kind of dissociation depending on the situation. With that out of the way, let’s do this!

Another day, another group of friends being dragged into a death game. Again.

Instead of wallowing himself for dragging his friends to another pain and suffering, Grian thinks this is starting to get old and tiring with it keep on happening about four times now. At least, that’s what he convinces himself but there’s always the self-loath lingering at the back of his mind but he distracts himself by joining the Bad Boys, knowing Joel and Timmy fully well that their shenanigans will undoubtedly entertain him for the time being. He knows he needs to keep his distance as far away from everyone as possible to avoid hurting them any further or his guilt is gonna kill him, but the company is a bit better than being alone with his thoughts, after all, so he tags along.

They really did entertained him, with trying to light the mansion on fire without actually burning it, with Timmy tripping over the roof instead of pulling a successful water bucket MLG, trying to save the mansion that was actually burning because of Cleo but failing miserably, fishing on the flooded rooftop while making terrible bad boy puns that’s painfully similar to the AHAs from the second game, wearing similar leather jackets and sunglasses with the boys that made them look like a motorcycle gang, creating the tedious bread bridge to help Joel with a boogie kill, eavesdropping on Scar and the “Clockers” talking about allying with everyone and making them against him the boys, wondering why Scar has been so quiet all this time, only to see his poker face after Joel killed him and Cleo with a TNT cart (Grian hates it when Scar is awfully quiet and “unbothered” since he knows fully well his friend is one step away from hating you forever, but it was his fault so he fully deserves it)… you know what?

The bridge needs more seeds to grow wheat after Pearl stole them, so he really needs to replenish the Bad Boys Bread Bridge™ if he wants to have a food source and survive a bit longer, ignoring how heavy and sluggish his body feels and acts his “usual” chaotic and energetic self.

Just when he thinks he manages to get away, they come back at full force. Everyone is forming a circle around Bdubs and Skizz as they fight, an image of a scorching desert alongside with Grian and Scar punching each other until somebody’s life gave out. When he and Joel casually walk at the other side of the border towards Etho’s farm, an image flashed of bright smiles of five people boating themselves to the border after hurting their stomach so much from the AHAs. The final straw is when the three of them extend the bread bridge towards Pearl and BigB’s base and just by seeing his face, an image of BigB’s grave sat in front of him as he mourned for what he had done.

The memories from the past three games keep looping over and over like a broken record, distorting Grian’s perception of reality as he thinks whether or not he’s still living those memories or he’s in a different time and those were just, well, memories.

He can’t take it anymore. It takes everything out of him just to stop himself from crying right here and then, so he quickly finishes his part of the build before hastily excusing himself, saying something about making a great plan that involves the Nether and doesn’t hesitate to escape. When the purple distortion is halfway finished, he pounces out of the portal frame and breaks down on the basalt floor, ignoring how the ashy air is burning his lungs as he sobs till his heart’s content.

It's never content. It never will be. As long as he keeps hurting his friends, the guilt will never fade away like a dandelion flying away as it rides the wind. It will always stay within his heart and slowly but surely eats away at it until nothing is left.

How long has it been? Grian’s head hurts like it’s been dislodged by a pickaxe as he wobbly stands from his crouching position, emerging from the hole he temporarily made that’s supposed to be a tunnel but his body was too heavy and after the crying session, he was too tired to finish anything and just rest for who knows how long. He really should go back or else the Bad Boys will suspect something’s wrong.

When he arrives in the Overworld, everything seems to be spinning in circles, losing his balance further and before he can finish blinking, his face is already meeting with the dark oak plank floor as he wheezes.

Grian sees the brown llama sitting on the boat, thinking about how he remembered Timmy messaging the Bad Boys that he found it and wanted as an addition to their base. But with Grian’s wooziness, he slowly walks towards it and thinks how Pizza’s chocolate fur must be so soft and warm right now (was Pizza’s fur white or brown? He can’t remember), riding on its back as he reminds himself that he should hide Pizza somewhere safe or Ren is gonna kill him again and keep a look eye on Scar or the man’s gonna steal everyone’s armor or get himself killed in the lava trap or freeze them both to death. Suddenly, he cries that he shouldn’t have left Scar all alone on his mountain and rendezvous with BigB instead before passing out.

He didn’t notice, but Joel walks in and hears the last part, sad about the revelation and worried for his friend. He wakes up Grian but he won’t responds, just keep on staring blankly towards his direction before realizing that he’s AFK. He’s determined that he will protect his friend at all cost.

Ever since Scar saw AFK Grian, he ignores the pang by being his usual self and tease Grian like he’s a toddler. As time goes by, it’s getting more difficult not to do something and since he’s already yellow, he kills anyone with the TNT card to distract himself and get the extra time while he’s at it. When the Bad Boys retrieve Grian from The Rock, Scar is frustrated from different emotions mixing inside him from Grian, being yellow, many failed TNT kills, etc. and decides to just blow last one to their rivals, not realizing that he kills Cleo along with them and even got the wrong target. Here he was, killing two of the people he cares about the most. Sure, he’s frustrated with Grian of what he did from the past 3 games, but it’s not an excuse for Scar to do it.

In Grian’s POV, he vaguely remembers what’s happening around him (based on what Grian actually summarizes in his epi.) and when he realizes Scar killed him along with Cleo and Timmy, he’s not even mad about it and thinks that he deserves it.

From that point, he’ll explain that everything is bit blurry and he barely remembers what happen, so skip to the confession scene. When Scar confesses to him, Grian feels it in Scar’s tone (they haven’t been partners for so long for nothing, after all) that he didn’t only confess for the baby talk and can tell what his former soulmate wants to tell him the most (somehow, his ears are itchy just remembering his terrible treatment towards Scar from DL).As if his friend can read his mind, Scar uses his what vex magic is left that wasn’t suppressed before they’re sent here to use telepathy and convey his true message secretly.

“I’m still pretty salty about what happened in Double Life and how you acted on Hermitcraft like nothing happened, but I do know that you’ve been keeping your emotions inside all this time. It’s why you’ve been spending less time in working on your base and focus on other distractions, it’s why you’ve been taking more vacations this past year than you’ve ever did before. I’m aware that all of us Hermits need a break, but you’ve never made plans without telling us. Since you joined Hermitcraft, you’d always rant about your vacation plans like a child who just got a cool toy for Christmas and that’s one of the many things I love about you. Your bright, cheeky grin is by far my favorite. It pains me to see you keeping it all inside, putting on a façade while blaming yourself for the things you didn’t do. I know that you left me for BigB, but we all make mistakes. Our friends weren’t the only ones who were starting to lose their sanity and obviously I wasn’t the only one, considering my reckless actions like the water bucket clutch, venturing the ancient city all by myself, and making more enemies through arson. That was my bad for adding more things on your plate. Anyway… I’m sorry, Grian… for not giving you the benefit of the doubt and not giving you a chance to express your pain. Please come back to us. We—I miss you, dude. Please… I want my best friend back.”

Grian is contemplating. He’s not sure if what Scar said is true—he knows his friend means it, but he’s not sure himself if that’s true. It was his fault this all happened. If he hadn’t thought about a fun game during their break between S7 and S8, they wouldn’t be in this mess that is his past finally catching up to him. If only he never joined Hermitcraft, he wouldn’t hurt any more people he cared about—heck, he wouldn’t have people to care about at all. If only… if only he never left that place. Sure, it’s pretty stifling and it was a living hell, but at least he wouldn’t be able to involve others anymore like what happened with EVO. Suddenly, he can feel warmth around his cheeks, snapping him out of his thoughts and see Scar’s solemn eyes staring at him with a smile so fragile than glass that it can break at any moment, causing a pang in his chest.

Their group left, followed by Etho telling Grian about how his day went. It feels nice, not about Etho dying, but it just feels nice hearing about someone’s experience. He doesn’t know why, but it eases a bit of pain from his heart that’s been slowly consumed by the void. Then Impulse’s sympathy somehow makes it feel like his issues are nothing but a speck of dust in the air, finally able to breathe for the first time after the weight has been lifted off his shoulders. He doesn’t know why, but Impulse’s presence just makes everything better. Maybe it’s his cheery tone and bright smile, maybe it’s the way he thinks about his friends first and let them know that they’re just as important as everyone else, or maybe despite every bad thing, Impulse still manages to stay positive and won’t let the problems get to him. He doesn’t know, maybe all of the above.

The stars are twinkling in the dark sky, accompanying the radio silence that’s filling the world as every person is sound asleep—well, as sound as they can be in this death game. Even during sleep, everyone needs to be vigilant and has to keep their other eye metaphorically open. Even in underground, he can still see how peaceful the world looks, albeit temporarily until the next session comes tomorrow. For now, he rests. Tomorrow, he’s ready to take on the world.

(EDIT 04/22/23: I got bored from finishing this, so I’ll leave this idea here. It was supposed to end with Grian waking up and I was planning to write this into a full fic where Pix as a Watcher was involved at some point)

Either post LiL AFK session fic as one shot or full fic. If full fic, there's additional lore:

- feature some LiL lore but mainly focuses on the aftermath

- how Pix is not only the Watcher of HC but also was of EVO (technically, he was more of a curious youngster who decided to create a universal show about commenting and summarizing he events of EVO) and because of this, he's been fully aware of the Watchers who made Life Series a living he'll instead of a fun game Grian initially intended it to be. So, Pix has been finding ways to finally get everyone free from the death games but always failed until Limited Life. He's basically MVP for making the recent game shorter than the rest, since they took up weeks, if not months, before the game ends and get back home. This time, they only have 24 hrs, with having much more freedom to die due to having only minus 1 hr penalty and they won't lose their stuff even after death

- how Solidarity finally breaks the Canary Curse (tentative, only add this if he actually manages to not be the 1st to be out of the series)

- how Solidarity and Martyn unintentionally triggers Grian's Watcher instincts, causing him to be more overwhelmed with his emotions than he already is and ultimately causing him to AFK. Watchers and Listeners are natural enemies, if they encounter, like they basically have the instinct/urge to destroy each other even if they don't know the other is a Watcher/Listener during their human disguises

- Grian's AFK state during LiL is when he's between derealization and out-of-body experience due to his Watcher powers making him capable of doing that, that's why even derealizing, he's still vaguely aware what's going on around him based on what he can see

- how Smajor feels after winning technically 3 death games in a row (tentative, only add if he actually won LiL)

- why Smallish is specially protective of Grian the entire time when he usually cares about his own self interest (like focusing on his goals/self-interests but doesn't prioritize that)

- why/how Ren isn't in Limited Life despite being present in every death game

Chapter Text

Fluff idea (weird I know):

Since Tango's hair is always up, no one can really tell how long it is until he's been soaked from head to toe during another one of Zed's Zedvancements. Zed and Impulse laugh so hard after seeing Tango looking like a Lhasa Apso dog, but the little blonde man bursts into flames while being cherry red from his cheeks to his pointy ears, causing his hair to dry in an instant and they naturally become spiky again like usual. Zed beams at an idea and whispers it with a smirk to Impulse's ear, causing Tango to suspect something's about to happen to him again that'll cost his face to be eaten. Impulse gleams and before he realizes it, most of Tango's hair is dominated with braids while Impulse and Zed's soothing hands are still on his head, making his eyes drowsy and hard to keep awake. This is nice. Instead of fighting sleepiness like he usually does for the past year (Decked Out 2 doesn't finish itself, you know), he allows his eyelids to close with a smile and gives in to sleep for the first time in a while. He can trust his friends that no harm will come his way.

Chapter Text

Xisuma creates an android replica of himself, implementing every aspect of his identity into its system from his personality to his vast knowledge of the multiverse and skillset. It's like watching his twin but there's something different. He builds it for it to withstand the scorching heat of the Nether and freezing cold of the End, making it more durable than other android models. Thus, label it with model no. 'DE100/300'. One day he accidentally spills Redstone on its armor, staining it permanently red, so he decides to fully change the armor color into red before fully finishing constructing it. Due to its color, it earns the name 'Evil Xisuma' or EX for short.

The android replica is meant to be an admin assistant like the 'D' on its model number, to help lift the load off the admin and redstoner's shoulders, but something went wrong. Suddenly, the android begins to disobey orders and swear like a sailor in public. It also starts to change the temperature in the air to form lightning and shoot anything with it. When X decides to confront it, the android answers that it—no, they no longer take orders from him. They also decide to do whatever he wants and no longer be shackled by the boring responsibilities of an admin while being shunned and hated by the people no matter what they do, no matter how much effort they made for the past few years.

This makes X surprised and realizes at the same time that he finally understands the multiple reports about problems regarding their androids. He finally understands the source of the 'irregularity' he's been trying so hard to figure out from the Deviants, the public has labelled them. It's not a bug or anything. No, it's far from it.

EX, no, every Deviant and possibly all androids, are alive.

DE100 (based on what season X joined HC) or DE300 (based on what season EX is introduced) [ I can't decide what model no. EX's will be ]

It's such a waste not to write something interesting from this but I never watched X's vids T^T

Edit 6/25/23: I posted my "Reference chart for my android model numbers for Hermitcraft/Empires/Other MCYT Series"!!

Chapter Text

Best friends being torn apart by death, only to reunite again in a different world/timeline through reincarnation. At first, they didn't know until they noticed clues along the way and finally discovered each other's identity, ending with apologies of broken promises and reconciliation.

I actually wrote one coincidentally exactly like this (I may have forgotten what I typed when I signed up and also forgot that I saved it)

Chapter Text

Hermitcraft (also apply w/ Empires or X/Life Series) x DBH Android Model Numbers:

xL100

A - Athlete

B - Builder (aka Construction workers)

C - Chef/Culinary

D - Developer (aka Admin Assist)

E - Entertainer (custom order to pre-set to specific task like actor/singer/dancer/artist only, etc.)

F - Flier (lightest model to actually fly with its elytra-like wings, mostly used for birds eye view & winged version of 'Zoners' to explore End w/ no risks)

G - Garrison (aka Soldier/Defender, protect a group/territory)

H - Housekeeper (more fit as caregivers/for childcare if needed than Jack of all trades)

I - Investigator (from police to detectives)

J - Jack of all trades (accomplish any menial work)

K - Knowledge Holder (use commonly as educators/historians/research assists)

L - Leisure (specifically in charge of entertaining people in amusement parks or any recreational acts.)

M - Miner (designed for strength and endurance, carry heavy loads like ores)

N - Nurse (androids aren't made qualified to be actual doctors yet)

O - Operator (any areas/companies to operate with technology, mostly used as jammer firewalls to prevent hackers)

P - Protector (protect an individual, better at PvP)

Q - N/A

R - Redstoner (aka Engineers)

S - Sod (surface of ground, garbage collectors, gardeners, farmers, etc.)

T - Terraformer (heavy units to terraform lands)

U - Undertaker

V - Veterinarian (take care of any pets/mobs fr all dimensions)

W - Woodsman (lumberjack, hunter, forester)

X - N/A

Y - Young (act as children)

Z - Zoner (aka Explorers, use to mainly explore Overworld, Nether & other worlds without risks)

Ax100

O - Overworld

N - Nether

E - End

ALxxx

100 - members who joined s1

200 - members who joined s2

.

.

.

900 - members who joined s9

Note: For those who haven't watched the walkthrough/played Detroit Become Human, this is to inform you that this list is completely original and doesn't have any relations to the real thing.

Chapter Text

Closing the door behind Scar, he approaches his former soulmate with quiet steps, snickering quietly as he stands behind him.

"Do you like to draw, Grian?" Scar tilts his head to Grian's side with a cheeky smile.

The current brunet jumps violently and squeals in high pitch from surprise, whipping his head back to face Scar, who steps back while chuckling in amusement.

"Scar! Don't ever do that again." Grian places a hand to his chest. "You scared the living life out of me." He groans and buries his face into his palms in disappointment.

"You should've seen the look on your face!" Scar comments with a high-pitched voice before sighing in relief. "Anyway, do you like to draw?"

Scar places both of his hands behind him and swings his body left to right, waiting for Grian to come out of his hand cocoon thing to answer his question.

"I do, but… I'm not really good at it." Grian moves up from his hands as he replies. "Plus…" He murmurs something under his breath that Scar can't properly hear. 

"What was that? I didn't quite catch that." Scar places a hand behind his ear and leans that side closer to the said Hermit.

"I didn't say anything." Grian denies with a raised brow.

"Oh. Okay." Scar shrugs. "Anyway, you don't need to be good at art to like it. It's not like you'll be very good at building immediately. Don't you agree?" He comments solemnly.

"You're right." Grian huffs and smiles a little. "What brings you to ask that, by the way?"

"Oh! I want to see you draw something. Anything you want." Scar beams and bounces his heels repeatedly.

"Why?" Grian raises a brow.

"I'm done building the entrance of my castle and I've got nothing better to do, so." Scar shrugs nonchalantly.

"Basically, you've come here to pester me." Grian retorts in an apathetic tone.

"Pester is such a strong word! Call it hanging out instead." Scar scoffs in disbelief as he crosses his arms. "And besides, that's your job. Not mine, mister."

"Fine." Grian rolls his eyes. "I don't have paper, though. We have to get them in your base if you have some."

"Oh! I have lots of them." Scar grins ear to ear as he turns and runs to the warped wooden door, opening it. "Now that my storage system is organized, I'll be able to find them in three seconds."

Once he leaves the witch hut, he turns around and furrows his brows, peaking back inside to see his feathered friend still standing in the middle of his interior.

"Dude? Are you coming?" Scar questions.

"Y-Yeah!" Grian perks up. "I'm coming. I'm coming." He comments while grabbing the folded safety vest and running towards Scar's direction.

Before walking away from the door, Scar thinks he saw something small and shiny, kind of like an empty glass bottle, on the floor where Grian was supposed to be. With a shrug, he ignores that thought.

It's probably just his imagination.

Ripping off a page of Scar's sketchbook, he brings it in front of Grian's face, showcasing the sketch of a landscape he made just a few seconds ago.

"Ta-da! What do you think?" Scar smirks in confidence.

"I literally can't see anything, dude." Grian replies nonchalantly. "The paper is too close to my face."

"Oops." Scar chuckles while distancing the object. "How's that?"

Grian stops for a while once he focuses his attention towards the drawing, jaw dropping as his azure eyes blow wide in surprise.

"Whoa. That's amazing, Scar!" Grian states as his mouth continues to gape in awe. "It looks just like your terraform projects!" He faces Scar with a gleeful smile, eyes shining like the bright sky.

"Thanks." Scar feels his cheeks warming up while he averts his gaze, rubbing the back of his neck. "Is that flattery or the truth?"

"What are you talking about?" Grian frowns. "If your works will be auctioned, I bet a couple of hundred trillion pounds aren't enough to sell them."

The blush on the terraformer's face becomes more vivid, spreading towards his pointy ears.

"Grian, stop! You're making me blush." Scar's lips won't stop quivering as he tries to stop the smile from forming, but he fails miserably. "Enough about me. What about yours?" He quickly folds the paper and buries it to his pocket, switching to a different subject nonchalantly.

The wholesome air suddenly switches into something grim, making Scar sweat as he sees Grian's enigmatic face. He furrows his brows and grimaces, attempting to place his hand hesitantly towards his fellow Hermit's shoulder to comfort him but stops halfway.

Is this a good idea?

"G-Grian?" Scar hesitates as he swallows the lump in his throat.

Without a word, Grian hands over a folded paper towards Scar's hand, expression still unreadable. He quietly accepts it and opens to see a sketch of what looks like a couple of rectangles and semicircles, furrowing his brows in confusion.

What is this?

Are those caves?

"It's a design for my storage system. It's supposed to resemble a garden filled with greenery and caves for my organized chest monster." Grian quietly explains.

Oh. So that's what those are.

At first, he thought the rectangles were doors or something.

With a huff, Scar covers his mouth that's forming a smile against his will, pressing his lips into a flat line to suppress his laugh but manages to release a chuckle.

"What the–?" Grian gapes in shock. "You're making fun of my drawing, aren't you?"

"N-No!" Scar's voice wavers from being a few seconds from exploding. "I'm- I'm j-just… appreciating the- the structure, th-that's all." He blows a raspberry and slaps a hand to his mouth.

"Tell me the truth!" Grian whines while shaking Scar by the shoulders. "I can take it!"

From behind, he can hear a meow and snaps his head without hesitation to see Jellie slowly walking towards their direction.

His savior!

"I- I was just th-thinking that that this artwork is… worth s-so much, th-that it n-needs to be p-preserved in a… m-museum. Isn't that right, Jellie?" He stammers and trembles uncontrollably as he averts his gaze towards his cat, straining a smile while waiting for her reaction.

When Jellie arrives in front of them, the two Hermits observe her and stop all movement, but the cat herself does nothing to recognize the question and moves along, minding her own business.

"Even Jellie doesn't care!" Grian yells to Scar's face.

"Thats not- Jellie, wait!" Scar exclaims as he tries to reach her.

"Just admit it already!"

"Agree with what?" Scar faces a frowning Grian, wincing at how tall and intimidating he looks at the moment.

Man, why is Scar afraid of his own face? Does he look that scary whenever he's in a bad mood?

"That my drawing looks like a toddler's doodle."

"I wouldn't go that far, now." Scar strains a smile. "I think it looks more like drawing with your non-dominant hand, you know?" He tries to ease the distressed Hermit with a positive remark.

"Did you just say it's like a chicken scratch?" Grian cries as he tightens his hold on Scar's shoulders.

"I never said that!" Scar shrieks.

When will this argument ever end?

Scar never should've suggested drawing with him and said something else instead!

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

What do you think would happen if Grian approached his final moments differently? Would it change the outcome significantly? Would the bloody crown sit on someone else's head entirely instead of Scar's? 

After finally watching Grian's POV in the last session of Secret Life (which is unusual since I usually watch his first before everyone else's since Last Life but changed it for this season), I wondered why he decided to continue hiding in his tunnel after blowing up the Cherry Blossoms with TNT minecarts when they came out of their portal. Was it because he feared he might get pincered attack? If that's the case, he's basically doing them a favor by being a sitting duck underground instead of digging up. I mean, Gem's Nether portal was literally about 5-10 blocks below the ground, so it wouldn't have been that hard to make himself an escape route.

Fast forward to when Gem found Grian and initiated a PvP battle. Surprisingly, he put up a good fight and managed to land many hits towards the three despite the tight space, effectively damaging them. But the space they were fighting in literally has a giant hole above towards the surface and he had 15 ender pearls on his hotbar. And he had a LOT of chances to throw one to get to safety but decided to stay and dealt as much damage to the three as possible.

What was going on in Grian's head? Was he trying to weaken their forces so someone else can win instead? Was he avoiding for Scott to win the death games twice? Or after discovering that the Mounders had an addition, was he hoping for a certain brunette with beautiful emerald eyes to triumph? Sure, it was kind of twisted for him to inflict pain upon the people he cared about. He knows the dread firsthand of endless nights of looping scenery between lilacs and poppies, his fists drenched with blood, and Scar's lifeless body on the sandy surface.

But it gets lonely up here at the top, you know?

Chapter Text

Joel reminisces about the time when he was an ogre a few years back, but shuddered since he thought it was cringe for past him to adore that movie so much that he changed into his favorite cartoon character. He looks at Lizzie's direction, and thinks he was relieved when she didn’t criticize him for who he was when she discovered the truth after Joel messed it up before.

While chatting with friends who are gathering in the living room, Joel notices his cup is empty and excuses himself to go to the kitchen, noticing how Grian is also following him. The noise from the living room fades once they arrive, having a quiet moment for themselves. Joel asks if Grian also comes to refill his drink. Grian nods in agreement and heads to the counter to grab the tea box. Joel stands next to the blonde man as he waits for the other to finish, while Grian talks about how he's relieved to see everyone is doing okay even after months not meeting since the crossover.

Joel raises a brow and points out that obviously they're fine, and adds that why wouldn't they be. Grian explains that even though it was a bit, he was genuinely concerned what might happen to them after the Hermits left Grumbot for the Emperors to deal with.

Joel reassures his friend that as he can see, they're still alive and kicking before adding that Jimmy might not be since Joel's the one doing the kicking, mentioning how he built a giant portrait of them in his empire. Grian laughs as he pours water from the kettle, wishing that he could've seen the look on Timmy's face before offering to pour the water to Joel's own cup.

The brunette hands his as affirmation while saying that he looked exactly like a dumb idiot when he first saw that ghost when they tried that ghost investigator gig a few months back. The comments make both of them laugh and not long after, Grian casually asks if Joel wants to become a Hermit and join Hermitcraft. Joel abruptly stops and has to double back in his thoughts, asking himself if he misheards it but Grian answers his question when he repeats what he said.

There's a long pause of silence between them for a couple of seconds before Joel notices the casual look on the blonde's face morphs into wide eyes with a slacked jaw, tracing his gaze towards his back and twists his stomach into a knot once he notices the prominent brown tail on his back, now exposed for the world to see.

He's fucked.

Joel takes a look at the statues of Etho in front of his gate and glances at the real deal beside him, hesitating whether or not he should ask. It might be a touchy subject and he doesn't want to ruin the lighthearted moment they just had earlier. He jumps when someone clears their throat and turns to the source to see it was Etho. Etho says it might not be his business to ask, but questions whether Joel's okay.

Joel furrows his brows as he replies that of course he's okay, why wouldn't he be. Etho rubs the back of his neck as he explains that Joel's tail is slowly wagging while his ears are folded flat against his head, realizing it that Joel does that whenever he's upset about something. Joel smirks that Etho already notices his new body language in such a short period of time, pointing out that he really is obsessed with him.

Shortly, Joel sighs in defeat and says he's not gonna beat around the bush, so Etho should brace himself. Etho raises a brow in confusion and says okay. Joel asks if Etho is a yokai, making Etho flinch.

Etho averts his gaze while saying "I don't know what you're talking about." Etho thinks to himself that he sounded like Mrs. Tango when she tried to lie to them back then.

Joel adds that ever since he's showing off his yokai traits after that embarrassing blunder with Grian, he realizes that he can sense various energy flowing in the air and it's especially stronger on Hermitcraft. He then distinguishes something similar to himself and traces it to Etho, before reassuring that he never told anyone since Etho might be keeping it a secret like he did until recently and he wasn't sure if his assumptions are true or not.

Etho sighs and confirms that he's keeping his identity a secret. He asks Joel why he's hiding his. Joel says that it's been so long since he left Japan for good, long enough that he doesn't remember the language anymore, and was afraid that people might treat him differently if they know that he's a foreign entity. Nobody likes the unknown, so he's been pretending to be a human on different planets most of his life.

Joel then asks why Etho is hiding it, adding that based on the variations of species amongst the Hermits, he assumes that they'll be accepting despite of who Etho really is. Etho shakes his head and says that his kind already has a negative reputation in their home planet, more so outside of it. He doesn't want his species to influence his relationship with everyone. Joel nods in understanding and promises that his secret is safe with him. Etho's eyes narrow and form crow's feet as he expresses his gratitude, a small indicator that he's smiling under the mask.

5 Hermits have been going outside the HC world for various reasons, but they promise to go back with souvenirs. When Gem, Grian, xB, and Zedaph have been falling ill and bedridden since they went back from the Hub, others have been trying to find a way on how to cure this unknown ailment that won't subside no matter what.

Etho, who's been one of the 5 but is miraculously fine, is never to be found publicly ever since the news about 4 Hermits being ill has spread. They see him going to the shopping district but never interact for that long whenever he meets someone.

The nerds of the community have been holing themselves in the archives of the stronghold to hopefully find a clue for the cure, only for them to find a book about yokai. They discover about tanuki, comparing it to what they know about Joel and laugh about how accurate the book is, especially about the part of Joel who traps/pranks someone but ends up embarrassing himself. Tango suddenly asks if his friends hear something, but they said no.

They continue to read until they reach the kitsune segment. They're horrified to say the least about the info, and realize there are similarities between the early signs of fox possession and the symptoms of their friends' unknown illness. They're trying not to be superstitious about the current situation since it might be a coincidence, until X receives a message from Cleo.

< Smallishbeans > hello Etho

< Smallishbeans > i tried to visit your place a couple of times but it always seemed like no one's home

< Smallishbeans > hopefully you're okay

< Smallishbeans > i just want you to know that it isn't your fault

They run to the infirmary, only to spot the 4 Hermits breathing heavily and convulsing as their hair roots start to turn white. Stress checks their eyes with a tiny flashlight one by one, and only then Cub sees that all their eyes are red and points it out. Tango says that he's aware that they shouldn't be superstitious, but he mentions that Etho's appearance oddly matches the descriptions in the book.

Doc agrees since he just remembered it now, but Etho's hair and both his eyes used to be brown until he apparently got caught up in an accident that changed his appearance permanently. Doc groans in frustration that he should've pressed about it more, but he didn't want to stress Etho since he wanted to keep that event a secret so badly.

Bdubs suddenly interrupts them with his greeting, making the nerds jump. Bdubs questions "Why the long face? It's not yet the end of the world, guys. There has to be something to cure them, we just haven't found it yet." Doc asks if Etho has spoken a different language other than English. Bdubs perks and grins to compliment how Etho was really good with Japanese. During the early days of Mindcrack, he used to speak it a lot whenever they're alone and tease Bdubs just because he couldn't understand it.

He then yells that no one can mess with him since he's a grown man and points that he only allowed Etho to tease him since he was pretty tense during that time, and switches to somber as he adds that it's prob bec of the tension before the war broke out. But since they left and moved to Hermitcraft, he refused to speak in Japanese even if no one was around.

When every healthy Hermit is kicked out by Stress, Cleo, and Hypno, they go outside to see others hanging out with various forms of worry in their faces. X spots Beef amongst the crowd and asks the other nerds if they should ask Beef if he knows something else about Etho. Doc agrees and approaches Beef and receives a sorry fr the Canadian about not being in the mood to talk about their rivalry. Doc reassures that that's not why he's here, adding that it's about Etho.

Beef's reaction immediately switches to something dark as he asks "What happened to Etho?" Doc quickly says that Etho's okay, making the other Canadian relax, and he just wanna ask what's under his mask. He knows what he looks like underneath, but he's curious if it's different from many years ago. Beef thinks aloud that there's nothing really different.

Doc insists if he's sure, adding if there's anything subtle like unshaven chin or a tooth missing. Beef perks up "Now that you mention it, Etho used to have all of his canines intact but after we left Mindcrack, they may have grown longer, I think. It was so long ago, I don't remember the exact details. Oh, I almost forgot! He also lost one of them ever since then."

Doc agrees "Oh, yeah! I remember helping him make a substitute tooth, so he won't complain anymore about having a hard time biting meat" before thanking Beef as the nerds leave the scene, not noticing how a gaze has been following them the entire time.

Cub asks what they should do now, and if they search for other leads or rely on the superstition. Doc says that it's time for a confrontation. X points out that it's probably not a good idea to jump into conclusions when they're still unsure if it's a coincidence or not. Doc replies that it'll probably be too late when that time comes, grimacing that he doesn't want to lose the people he cares about even though they're within reach. X sighs and agrees, but suggests that they should at least prepare in case something happens.

Etho brings in more shulkers into his soon to be storage area, dropping the one on his hands and wipe the sweat off his forehead with a sleeve. He's not sure how long he's been working in his base but based on how greasy his hair is, he must've been here for a long time.

He turned off his comms ever since that accident, so he doesn't have any indicator of time other than what he can see beyond his windows. Electricity runs through his skin all of a sudden, making him jump as the magic in the air buzzes with tremendous energy.

Before he realizes, Etho jumps back the instant he hears something above him and just in time, he barely dodges the collapsed ceiling with a backward jump as everything is engulfed with smoke and something lands on the spot where he used to be.

He plants his hand towards the hilt of his sword in an instant, waiting for the cloud of smoke to clear. A spot in the middle of the mist forms a hole as something blurry comes out and pounces towards his direction, materializing the shield on his left hand in reflex and grunts once the unknown intruder lands on the wooden surface.

Etho gasps at the person in front of him, staring at their features with mouth agape. Their skin is now pale and hair gray, glaring eyes are fully white while red vein-like marks spread out to each corner. Their clawed hand raise above their head and swipes forward with tremendous speed, making Etho throw and abandon his protection but doesn't come out unscathed as their long nails grab his mask and graze small jagged lines on the lower half of his now exposed face.

His hand immediately covers his face while Scar yells to give his friends back. Etho can only furrow his brows in confusion. What does that mean? The other Hermit scoffs and complains to stop playing dumb, gradually emitting his magic stronger in every second as he adds "You have some nerve pretending to be one of us for so long," making Etho wince.

Why did he think for a second that it's going to be different this time? Just because he's been having the time of his life for the past ten years in this world, doesn't mean it won't end up like all the other places he perceived as his home.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, opening them back while he exhales and stifles his reaction towards the painful sensation in his chest, finally feeling like an empty room as he pulls out his sword.

The two jump forward as they begin their fierce interaction. It extends for who knows how long and unfortunately for Etho, his breath is becoming shorter and more hasty the longer the fight unfolds but due to his opponent's enormous magic reserve, Scar can still continue despite having run out of air like he did. Suddenly, the former brunette disappears from his vision and quickly looks around but spots nothing.

His ears pick up the noise of a pebble dropping and swiftly turns back, only to see Scar emerging from the ground like a ghost as he leaps to his direction but barely side steps with wobbly legs to dodge. It probably would've given him a huge advantage if he uses his animal ears, but he can't afford to expose himself now. Gradually, his movements become sloppier and clumsier, even stumbling at a debris at one point that costs him his right arm.

Scar swipes his hand towards Etho's weapon, causing it to slip from the weak grip of his left hand before it flies and lands on the other side of their current position. Scar demands for the creature pretending to be Etho to let go of his friends if it wants to live, but Etho's reply is only his harsh breaths as he quietly stares at the other Hermit's direction. Scar grits his sharp teeth and mumbles "and so be it" before stepping forward to swipe his claws. Etho shuts his eyes in anticipation of his demise but nothing seems to happen as he waits too long.

He slowly opens them and spots something in front off him, gasping to see Joel standing between them. He looks down on the new member's feet to see the blood gradually forming into a pool before looking back up to make eye contact with the man himself.

"Joel, why are you--" Etho's breath is caught in his throat as he tries to ask.

"I--" Joel tries to smile but coughs blood instead. "--wanted to... visit my favorite fan..." He winces before breathing heavily. "...to see how he's going."

Joel drops to the floor but Etho manages to catch him on time, carefully laying his friend's head towards the green surface. He takes in Joel's pale features but every detail morphs into a blur, realizing shortly that he's crying. The only thing he can hear is the drumming of his heart against his aching chest as he can barely see Joel's lips moving, assuming that he's attempting to say something.

Wiping the ongoing tears vigorously with his sleeve, Etho focuses on lip reading to understand what the brunette is trying to convey.

"I'm... glad... that... you're... safe..."

Etho interprets before seeing Joel's lips finally stop moving, intensifying the thumping in his ears as he registers that Joel's chest has also ceased to rise and fall. As if a rope has been cut in half, all of the decade's worth of suppressed energy in his body has unleashed like a tsunami, engulfing his entire being and immediately blacks out.

Scar, who's watching the whole ordeal unfolding before him, loses all his pent up rage while he can only gape in silence as Etho's forehead sprouts a pair of long fluffy ears, pristine white fur covering every part of his pale skin, nose and mouth lengthen into a snout with razor sharp teeth, tears multiple holes on his gloves as his nails extend into deadly claws, torso and limbs enlarge 5 times its original size while his back grow one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine tails, morphing his body into an entirely different entity. The unknown creature roars, its voice reverberating and pushes him down like amplified gravity but barely holds his ground with wobbly legs as he can only cover his currently enhanced ears in hopes of preventing himself from going deaf.

What did he just awaken?

Not so fun fact:

[There are actually fox users who are hired by Hermitcraft haters to inflict harm on the Hermits, who had to go to the Hub before going to the specified planets they wanted to go. Those fox users use the foxes they tamed to possess the Hermits but Etho is different since he's a nine tailed fox shapeshifting as a human, so he's unaffected by it.]

[The reason why Etho's insistent on keeping his identity a secret was mainly bec of his experience in Mindcrack, when the people discovered who he actually was, they reacted negatively to say the least. He also kept that event a secret bec he was ambushed by a few members when Mindcrack was on the brink of destruction, and tortured him for info (and may or may not have treated him more terribly bec they knew he was a fox) but he refused to give any since he didn't want to sell out his friends (soon to be NHO), which caused him the scar on his left eye and lost control of his power and shapeshifting ability in the process, which prevented him from properly changing his human appearance. He also can no longer change into anything else, so he's stuck as his human self. Luckily, he could still somehow hide his ears, tails, and eye, but the left one refused to change, so he just made an excuse that he had to make a redstone powered eye to replace his injured eye to explain that despite being wounded there, he managed to not damage his vision there.]