#offmyfuxkingmind

[hmshermitcraft]

for the theme: winter

everything is frozen. everything. every little puddle frozen overnight. the local birds aren't happy, keralis isn't happy. the duck hybrid is now eating algae out of his boyfriend xb's various aquariums. xb doesn't know if he is happy about it, but he finds it adorable.

He might have to set one up specifically for Keralis during the winter... Or maybe a nice indoor pool?

He's happy his boyfriend is happy, but xB would like some of his aquariums to survive the winter...

[hmshermitcraft]

who said baking christmas cookies with your partners was fun? both gem and zed get way too analytical about it, being scientists and all. they get into each other's hair all the time, about what size egg is right; how many grams it should have to be in good proportion to the other ingredients - you get the gist.

it's not fun, but xisuma finds it amusing to watch his boy- and girlfriend argue overs eggs. god, both zed and gem look at home like this. and even if xisuma ends up shutting them both up with kisses and his own hands in the dough, he couldn't be happier as they start another flirtatious argument about cookie cutter shapes.

They've got notebooks written about baking cookies. Yet, they'll both sit by when Xisuma bakes them because they both agree his are the best no matter how he does it.

You might think they're only arguing to get X to give up and do it for them. But no. They really are this passionate about cookies.

[hmshermitcraft]

for the theme: art

(symbolism for context: bdubs as endymion, the ever sleeping lover – pearl as selene, the personification of the moon)

art students pearl and bdubs hit it off the second they put their easels next to each other one day. be it their shared love for art history during wars and crises, their hatred for the contest neither of them won. they aren't dating, per se, but keen observers notice the way pearl moves possessively when other girls approach bdubs. or how they room together in second semester of uni.

it doesn't take them long to decide on a shared piece, a canvas stretching a good four meters in width and two in height. it barely fits into their shared studio. maybe it is possession that moves pearl into somehow recreating filippo lauri's embracing endymion and selene as self portraits – maybe it's love that drives her. bdubs doesn't care, he is way too smitten with pearl.

They can spend time together this way, too. They'll end the day covered in paint, laughing at each other and looking at their masterpiece in progress. Schoolwork is put aside so they can focus on this piece. They'll catch up later, but leaning on each other and laughing and painting is far more important.

[hmshermitcraft]

for the theme: flowers

xisuma likes making scented pouches. yeah, there is lavender and roses and other very nice smelling flowers. but! nothing beats getting false to go on a pretend date with him to collect edelweiss flowers. being able to put one behind her ear while she is being completely oblivious to the meaning will never get boring to him.

and man oh man - her face when etho, xisumas boyfriend, tried to explain this weird confessing habit of his when he saw the blossom in her hair, that face might have been more than picture worthy

Xisuma isn't trying to fool anyone he's just... Embarrassed. He's never been one for big eloquent confessions. He finds normal speech hard enough! So, he threads flowers into people's lives - through scents, gifts or decorations - and hopes they speak loudly enough.

Etho is used to following in Xisuma's footsteps to tell people. He always enjoys seeing their realisation, plus it makes Xisuma happy. The guy deserves it.

[hmshermitcraft]

for the theme: winter holidays

doc loves knitting socks for his friends and family to gift for the holidays. (and to be fair, he starts this process again right after everyone received their socks for christmas!) there is something soothing about seeing yarn turn into socks. at the start of their relationship grian didn't understand how someone so tech gifted would enjoy yarn-crafts. after seeing doc put so much time and thought into his hobby, grian decides to just ask: "can you teach me? I want to understand why you like this so much"

Grian takes to it well at first! But then comes the tricky process of finishing projects and not just starting new ones, and he loses interest a bit there. He's surprised by how much technology Doc manages to fit into something that seems so untechnological. Turns out designing patterns is a whole other beast Grian is wholly unprepared for.

Doc didn't expect Grian to stick with it - they've been dating long enough to know it wasn't the right craft for him. But the fact Grian took the time to learn, just because he wanted to understand something that brings Doc joy? That goes a long way. He wears his Grian patented socks with pride.

[hmshermitcraft]

for the theme: gods

for quite some time, tango has been going to this temple to pray for his redstone not to fail regularly. yet, without fail, his redstone has worked for some time until it broke. so angered that even a god won't help, he shatters the altar along with his offerings in two. zed, the local god of fortune who is known for being mischievous, promptly makes a fuss over his worshipper's behaviour. this is a shrine, for fuck's sake!

They both, promptly, start arguing. Tango doesn't get why a god can't do his job, it's not like it's hard! Just grant good fortune to people and go back to doing whatever it is gods do. Whilst Zed points out doing that all the time is boring. It's only fair he has a bit of fun with it!

Tango then realises he's arguing with a god, and freaks out. This is successful in ending the argument, but how Zed is trying to calm down a panicking mortal because look, people probably won't come after him with pitchforks for damaging the temple and fighting their god? Probably? He doesn't know how these things work, actually...

He guesses he's got a mortal to protect. Fun!

[hmshermitcraft]

etho is very comfortable with his sexuality. flirting with the hermits? daily priority. his girlfriend false is not against it, she herself flirting with other people besides etho constantly.

though they're not in an open relationship - they did try it for a while, but both of them decided against it. instead they have bed talks. in the evening, after everything goes silent and calm, they lay in bed together and talk about their attraction to others. false fangirls about how cute grian is in that new shirt he bought, etho can't stop smiling while he's talking about the flirt he had with pearl that day. they cuddle and talk about it for hours, sometimes.

It's become something for them to bond over. They both care about the hermits dearly, and it's nice to talk about how much they do. The hermits are used to it as well - it's cute how in love they both are. They know anything they do with one will make its way back to the other. Etho will ask to see Grian's new shirt, False will ask Pearl how suave Etho actually was. And then they'll report back again that evening, cuddling together.

[hmshermitcraft]

for the theme: from the water

bdubs species starts out as a tiny patch of wet moss on rocks, commonly found in and around rivers or lakes. as they age, their rock becomes more and more akin to a living being, an extension - the central nerves start breaching inside the stone. fairies born of moss, they call them in folklore.

a storm breaches the meadowlands in which bdubs resides on a pebble, surrounded by his kin, and he gets separated from them, carried away by water. he does not know how much time passes when he finds himself soaked and unable to move.

it is only then, weeks later, at the beach of a lake, a human picks him up, inspects him. the human, a hermit, does not know what they have picked up. out of desperation bdubs decides to do what moss fairies are forbidden from doing, from even thinking about: he begins the process of transforming his body into what resembles human structure.

"how dare you human pick my rock up? and to carry me somewhere, no discipline!"

gem, ever the curious deer hybrid she is, opens her basket only to see long ears, wings thin as washi paper and a very angry complexion matched with crossed arms.

"a moss fairy!"

Bdubs did not put all those effort in just to be called cute! He's not adorable! Stop 'aww'ing over him, this is a serious offence!

Gem agrees to help him find his home but... They spend the day walking in circles with no success. Gem has to call it when it starts getting dark, but promises her friends might be able to help! They're all very smart.

And even they can't seem to find it. Their worst fear is the meadowlands and community of fairies has been washed away, spread apart by the water. That there's nowhere for Bdubs to go back to.

And it hurts. Bdubs won't show it, besides being snappy, but... It hurts a lot. He thinks, as he spends more time with the hermits, though that... Maybe he has a new family here?