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It wasn’t a simple art, Grian knew, to ask your friends for help.
Requiring going up to someone who could jest and make you laugh and admit that you’re struggling, pushing aside any forms of dignity, is certainly not easy. Grian’s very familiar with the idea. Plucking for inspiration, he vows to change this.
And he’ll start by asking for help from each of them. Each of his friends from Boatem.
SCAR
“Hey Scar!” Grian proclaims loudly as he swoops in behind the man, grabbing his top hat with a grin and proudly placing it on his head. Resisting the urge to laugh as Scar is doing, utterly terrified, Grian prances around him. He can feel the hat jiggle on his head.
Through croaking laughs that make Scar sound more like a frog, he manages to get out “Grian… you terrified me!”
“I’ve got your hat, Scar!” He takes it off and tips it, then places it proudly back on his head as a trophy. “And to get it back, you’re going to have to help me!”
Scar fondly shakes his head – and goodness, does Grian appreciate this man. Always down for anything, he doesn’t even attempt to grab it back, instead of spluttering and maybe stumbling a little, all for show. “What are you after, Grian?”
“Can you teach me something about building?” He looks up at the hatless man, “I mean, I know I’m a good builder, but you’re—have you seen the Swaggon?”
Scar laughs. “Why, yes, I have! Oh-ho-ho, Grian, my friend, you’ve come to the right place. Let me show you my wagons.”
“That doesn’t sound quite right,” Grian grimaces, “but sure thing.”
They walk to Swaggon land, with all of the copper tones and magnificent spruces and blackstone dark greys, and immediately there’s an indescribable feeling. Scar built this land, nurtured its creation from the very start of existence; there’s so much character and magic that it feels ethereal, and everything chugs and whirrs and rumbles, and there are critters in the bushes—and Grain realises just how easy it is to forget his neighbour’s excellent property. ”So, Grian, what sort of building help are you after? I could talk about palettes, gathering materials—and you’re looking at the wildlife. Of course.”
Scar wraps an arm around Grian’s shoulder and pulls him in close. “This is the wonderful land of the Swaggon, Grian – and oh, do you want to know what makes it so wonderful?” He kneels and runs a hand over the mud, the purposeful, ziggity-zaggy mud that has scrawled the earth with his mighty machines. “It’s the life in it!”
“What?” Grian asks confused, half-laughing, “the animals?”
“No!” Scar says abash, “although the animals are lovely – and Jellie’s my favourite, of course – it’s the builds themselves. You can add as many blocks and walls as you’d like, but it’s what you do with the small details that makes a build natural.”
“I don’t think I understand Scar. Are you wanting me to add more details? Because I add plenty of—”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying at all!” Scar interrupts, “I’m saying that you have to really imagine what you’re wanting to build. Do you see the leaves? And how there’s spruce mixed into them? And the fallen trees, oh the trees! It adds to the scene as much as the main attraction.”
He frowns, looking at the bushes in question – they’re a gorgeous shade of green, a deep green that speaks to his soul; as the sun filters through them, it makes them a slimy bronze. It is the Spruce, however, that pulls it all together. Like windows to a house, it draws everything together and infuses a ripe amount of pleasantness to the eye, and breaks up the bushes and grass with a warm, inviting contrast.
Grian does see Scar’s point. “So you’re saying it’s less about over-detailing, and more about carefully choosing what you detail with?”
“Exactly! Grian, if you do that, I can personally guarantee that your builds will be fantastic. Even if they already are—”
Grian laughs. “Are we getting a little base envy?”
“Shut up,” he says jokingly still, grinning like a mad man. “Can I have my hat back now?”
IMPULSE
Impulse isn’t particularly known for his building skills – more so a farmer and redstone expert, but his factory is incredible. Grian has freely expressed that many times directly to him, but even now, whilst he’s looking up at the sheer height and velocity of the build – and the gorgeous gradients. He uses all of his resources so beautifully to make the build interesting to the eye.
“Whatcha staring at Grian” he does a little scoff, which only from Grian’s friendship with the man that he knows it’s a laugh, “can I do anything to help? I’m always happy to help a fellow Hermit!”
Grian smiles. “Hey Impulse! Am I able to get some help? I’m asking my friends what—if they have any building tips?”
“Uhhh… off the top of my head I have none, but maybe I could show you round the factory and something might come to me?” He suggests, “plus, it’d be fun to give ya a tour!”
“Sure!”
Walking inside comes with a comfortable silence – Impulse pointing out
As the tour enters his candy garden, he looks around with a joyful grin, using his arm to reveal the area. “And this, Grian, is the star of the show! The candy garden!”
Grian can’t believe his eyes – magical cows graze the lime gardens, which have brilliant red mushrooms sprouting out of the ground. “Everything in here is edible.” There’s liquorice lacing the walls, and a massive chocolate river, milky and sweet-smelling, infinitely deep. He’s used the glass trick, Grian knows, to bring his wading river to life – and azalea leaves, and…
Impulse points out first before Grian can comment. “This is the tree that Gem made! She makes custom trees, did you know?”
Grian shakes his head, and Impulse frowns. “Well, if you want a tip for building, it’s to invite others to put their part in your build. Gem is really good at trees, you can go buy some from here if you’d like.”
It is a beautiful tree – there’s many hanging, presumably edible, vines that tangle down. Grain notices the way they have been artistically placed, just barely avoiding the ground. And as the two stroll underneath it, he steps over the roots which bring texture under his feet. He grins.
And the tree bark, textured with the most unusual of blocks, which is twisted unlike logs would be. “Is that soul sand?” He asks curiously.
“I think so. I’m not entirely sure. Gem’s really talented.” Impulse admires her work, too, earnestly. “She added plenty to my build.” Grian adores the way he says that – he doesn’t take any credit away from what Gem did, but he doesn’t allow Gem’s work to take away from his work either.
“So, Grian, invite others to help build. Not everything you place will be your strength, and everyone has different strengths, so you might as well get their help too!”
They shake hands soon after, about to part ways when Grian looks up at the man, smiling. “Thank you Impulse, genuinely, that was some really good advice.”
The man looks a little puzzled, but adjusts his hat and shakes his hand too. “You’re welcome, Grian. Feel free to stop by anytime.”
Grian thinks he just might.
PEARL
“Do you have any good tips for building?” Grian asks her, straight to the point. “I’m asking all the members of Boatem.”
Pearl thinks for a second before she looks towards him. Grian looks back, admiring her hat that kind Scar must’ve made. “You saw how my base was originally stone, right?”
“Yup.”
“Well, my best advice is to refine your build slowly. At the start, it doesn’t really matter who sees it, it’s more about adding enough to a point where you’re happy. Can I show you what I mean? I think the area really really shows the importance.”
As the two walk over to her base, Grian’s eyes widen – he sees it every day, but within the context of full-on admiration, instead of wondering about his own base, it looks gorgeous. There’s a certain joy and care within Pearl’s home – everything is accessible.
There’s a well-crafted pathway up to her home from the bottom; and the texture, the palettes, which bring it together. It’s unlike Scar’s in the sense that everything has more turns, more places of interest instead of little details. “So you see all the landscaping? The trees, the bushes and stones? They weren’t there originally.”
He stares in particular at the trees: they’re lovely spruce, made tall and plentiful. “And before then, when the castle was in stone, there was nothing. So, I guess by adding all the colour and almost… manually putting details one-by-one over the whole build, instead of completing a small part first, makes everything much nicer.”
“And then, if you’ll follow me and we can go inside…” there’s the edge of focus to her voice, not hurriedness but refinement. She uses her own advice in more than just her builds, but in her lifestyle – she truly puts everything she has into a build one step at a time, instead of only into part of it.
“Are those note blocks?” Grian asks, astonished, as they get to the major front door.
She shrugs. “Refinements. It looked good, so I kept it there.”
And then, with a happy grin, she opens the door. Instantly, Grian is swamped with a feeling of delight, of class – there’s a pleasure and love within Pearl’s builds, from the way the carpet is layered and almost patchy, and all the plants in the main hall – the iron trapdoors on the ceiling, everything creates a sense of purpose and over-all modernity.
“It’s like I said, G, it’s about refinements. You can build as big as you’d like, but if the details are too a low standard then you won’t make something particularly note-worthy.”
Then, as they turn into the left side, complete, there’s so much joy. Joyful – that is Pearl’s base. There’s hanging plants and upright shelves; creative uses of beehives onto furniture for texture. “Pearl, this is amazing.”
“I’m glad you think so.” Pearl lightly blushes. “Seriously, G. Your opinion means a lot. I appreciate you coming over.”
“Yeah,” he says distractedly, grinning like mad. Any chance to talk to one of his friends is worth it, especially when he learns something. “Thank you for the advice.”
“Anytime.”
MUMBO
If Grian were to be honest to himself, Mumbo’s the person he’s most nervous to talk to. Sure, they’re very close, having shared many laughs, but… Grian has never asked him for help before. They have a very brotherly relationship and admitting weakness isn’t part of that. Still, it is his magnificent base that catches Grian’s eye – the mix of greenery and vibrant hues to create something gorgeous.
Rope-bridges and tiny houses, paths and many fences in bright colours, unlike the darker spruce that the others use. His massive robot is creative and gorgeous – and not something that Grian would expect.
“Grian!” Mumbo warmly greets from behind him.
“Mumbo!” Matching the energy of Mumbo, Grian practically shouts out his name in happiness. “How are ya doing?”
“I’m doing good! What’s happening, were you trying to find me—”
Grian lightly smiles, then stares back up at the magnificent creation his friend has made. “No, no, just staring. I really like your base. And I came with a bit of an odd request.”
“I’m all for odd requests, G.” Mumbo heartedly reassures him, joining him in staring up at his mighty base. All the colours work together so well, and Grian seriously doesn’t believe Mumbo realises how good he is at building.
“Can you share a—a building tip? Just… something you’ve learnt whilst creating your base.” Grian looks over at him, smiling.
“Uh… well, I remember when I first made it – there was less landscaping, no robot, no houses, you remember that?”
He does remember that – Mumbo was constantly worrying about whether or not his base would look good, whether it would look out of place in Boatem – it all turned out fine, of course, which Grian could’ve told the man from the very beginning.
“Well… I spent a lot of time pondering over that first house. I thought it’d look horrible – and even when it was done, I wanted to tear it down. So, with that in mind—” there’s an almost whimsical look to Mumbo as if he’s not reliving it but enjoying the time, living in the present whilst thinking of the past. Grian thinks he looks incredibly happy, and therefore, in turn, couldn’t be happier for him.
“—With that in mind, my advice would be to stop thinking about whether or not something’s going to look good. Even if you’ve done a little, and you think it looks like the worst thing ever, it won’t. You need to really put things in perspective, and not stop half-way through. Or even before you start.”
“That’s good advice, Mumbo.” Grian softly replies. “Everyone I’ve asked has given me genuine tricks, almost, or ways to make the build itself better – but you’ve spoken the most from experience.”
Mumbo laughs, “well, have you seen the other’s bases? It’s a pretty clear difference.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit, Mumbo. Yours fits in just as well, if not better.”
GRIAN
Finally, finally, his base is done. And it looks beautiful.
There’s life, the advice from Scar, in the night sky, the use of end-rods layered; and in the buildings themselves, using little gaps in the stairways (like Pearl used) and jutting some houses forward and others back – it all is used to create life. He would’ve done Scar proud.
And in the interior of one build, he asked another Hermit to help, which was the advice from Impulse. Bdubs truly added so much to his build, explosive noises and a fantastic interior that greatly rivals anything Grian could make. He’s so thankful he took the advice from Impulse and reckons he would’ve done him proud.
Refining his build was tricky, he’ll give Pearl that, but he started with a basic outline for each build and slowly added more and more – and then only once that was done did he add floating candles and interior-shop windows, and it was truly amazing. He would’ve made Pearl proud.
And through it all, he challenged himself, never stopping to think about whether something would look good. He used Mumbo’s advice to give himself the strength to keep moving, again and again, never wondering if something would look good. He had faith in himself, and he had Mumbo to thank for that.
His advice, if any of them were to ask, would be to talk to those around you. If you’re surrounded by talented human beings, then chances are, they’re willing to help. He’s so glad his friends helped – the base wouldn’t have been the same without them.
He made himself proud.
So, as he wanders down his alley, there’s only one feeling Grian has. Thankfulness.
A thankfulness for his friends.