headcanon bits for minceraft (mostly end and nether stuff cuz im a dorky bitch)
- shroomlights have a symbiotic relationship with fungi in the nether. they grow alongside them (hence the glowy bits on immature nether fungus). They are seperate organisms from the other nether fungi
- while most other nether fungi are edible when prepared correctly, shroomlights are very poisonous (though not lethally so outside of high dosages). even the smallest bit causes mild-to-severe nausea and digestive issues, and any dose larger than a ping pong ball will cause intense vomiting and diarrhea. any dose larger than grapefruit almost always causes death via dehydration from the constant vomiting and diarrhea. when cooking with nether fungi, cooks must always be wary of shroomlight contaminants.
- ghasts are organisms with chitninous exoskeletons that often have details that make it look like a bloated, sorrowful face. the vast majority of their body volume is taken up by a gas-sac that is filled with a lighter-than-air, extremely flammable gas that the ghast absorbs and refines from the atmosphere in the Nether. the ghast can release pressurised bursts of this gas to move horizontally, and can release or build up gas to rise and lower itself. they have a small firestarter in front of their mouth, and can use this in conjunction with their gas to basically become a living flamethrower. in addition, ghasts secrete a viscious liquid from their tentacles (which are used to grapple prey and lift them to its mouth) which serve to restrain and limit movement in prey that it has caught. this liquid has incredibly strong alchemical properties regarding healing and regeneration.
- striders’ legs have a gradient of density, with the bottoms of their feet being dense enough to sink partially into lava, while about halfway up it starts becoming less dense so they can actually do that weird thing in-game where their legs are only partially submerged and they still walk somehow. if this is not physically possible please inform me, i dont remember anything from physics. ALSO striders have a seemingly-unnatural sense of balance, so they can carry themselves across the lava on two legs like this with minimal difficulty.
- slimes are highly adaptive, and change rapidly according to their environment (this one’s mostly inspired by Tinker’s Construct and their weird slime colors). This only occurs while the slime is alive, and inert slime will not shift colors or properties if it is introduced to a new environment. when in their most optimal conditions (very humid and dark), slimes are green and their slime has its typical properties of bounciness and stickiness. when slimes are exposed to the nether, they typically become magma slimes, which are orange in coloration and have slime that is highly reactant to heat, bursting in gouts of flame when exposed to any heat beyond that of a candle-flame. magma slimes that find themselves in basalt deltas can undergo a special reaction with the specific type of ash and stone that is found in deltas, turning it into a magma cube. magma cubes have a more rigid structure, more alchemically potent slime, and a segmented “exoskeleton” of hardened rock and ash. slimes that are exposed to high altitudes and thin air are blue, and their slime is extremely aerated, resulting in something similar to aerogel when allowed to congeal and after it is hardened. when in the end, slimes turn purple, and their slime acts as a “end magic sink” of sorts, preventing teleports and other such end magic feats from occuring while in the vicinity.
- endermen are genderless humanoids with a chitinous exoskeleton, sharp claws and teeth, and a mix of archetypically reptilian and insectoid traits. they do not reproduce, and simply come into being fully formed. therefore, there are no infant or adolescent endermen.
- endermen do not have most organs that other humanoids do. they do not require oxygen to breathe, and do not have respiratory systems. they do, however, have digestive systems, as well as rudimentary circulatory systems (their blood is lavender-colored). They do require sustenance in the form of food, but otherwise their bodies seem to be fueled by their ender pearl, which is always stored in a cavity within the center of their chest. the ender pearl is always slightly exposed within their chest, revealing a misty expanse that seemingly doesn’t have a limit.
- when endermen die, their blood evaporates into a magenta mist and their flesh crumbles to a purple-ish dust. their ender pearl remains intact, though. if it falls to the ground, an ender rose always sprouts from beneath it (inspired by the mod Actually Additions). ender roses are seen as bad omens in End culture, and if one sees an ender rose it is said that something deeply unfortunate will happen to them. if someone sees an ender rose as it grows, it is said they will die within the year. for this reason, people native to the End always avert their eyes when an endermen dies nearby. when an enderman dies, someone within their close family or friends is chosen or volunteers to bear the bad omen, uproot the rose, dry it and dust it, and release the dust into the void, alongside the pearl.
- ender pearls are high-demand black market items, as they are only accessible from an enderman dying. and typically when such happens, their loved ones prefer to release it into the void for the funeral ceremony.
- chorus fruits are always in very high demand, and cost exorbitant prices even when they are in season. this is because chorus flowers only bloom every 3 years exactly. chorus plants have remarkably few flowers, and after the fruit falls it rots extremely quickly, leaving only seeds. chorus fruits must be retrieved and treated with venenum (Better end is a cool mod and i like to incorporate interesting mods into my headcanon ok) before being sold. this is an intensive process that requires a shit ton of time and focus, and can’t be messed up lest a whole harvest be botched. because of their high demand and insane prices, the wealthy often flaunt their status and riches by having chorus fruit pastries and jams served at their dinners. chorus fruits are tangy and sour, but still have a good bit of sweetness to them as well. id best describe it as a mix between a kiwi, a grape, and a lemon, so it can be an acquired taste for some.
- when the chorus plants bloom, a festival is held across the entire civilised portion of the End, where citizens all hang bolloom balloons (Endergetic Expansion mod) everywhere and beautiful murals are made using aurora crystal shards. during most of the festival, chorus farmers are busy treating and preparing their harvest, but once they finish they are welcomed to the festival with great celebration for their efforts. farmers that botched their harvests typically opt out of the festival out of shame, but if they don’t they are often given condolences by the festivalgoers and wishes of good harvest next time.
- endermites and chorus trees have a mutualistic relationship, almost exactly the same as fig wasps and figs (if it aint broke dont fix it <3 evolution says its a decent strategy, so i say so too). with the one exceptiopn that the endermites dont die in the chorus flower, and they also don’t lose any extremities in the process of entering the flower. they simply get in, lay eggs and pollinate, then zip out. the endermite’s relationship with the chorus tree is actually what gives chorus fruits their signature property of randomized teleportation.
- golden apples, golden carrots, gilded melons, etc. must be made with a very specific process in which the edible-bit-of-choice is placed into venenum from the End, then one must add a very small amount of magma slime for both its caustic properties and for the fact that it is constantly having little mini-reactions and emits a small amount of heat at all times. then, gold which has been enchanted with a very simple matrix of xp must be added in small, controlled doses. after an hour or so of this treatment, the alchemical gold food is ready. enchanted golden apples require a combination of more advanced enchants on the constituent gold, and post-treatment enchantments on the finished product, and treatment must be supplemented with both a drop of ghast tear and a small globule of magma cream (different from the magma slime used in the base recipe)
- also xp is magic ill probably get into that another time when im less tired. ill probably get into how xp and refined magic vs primordial magic works and how that ties into the several societies and stuff another time.
