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H’s just really, really excited to play with the hermits even if he’s played with them so many times before. But in all fairness, it’s his first time with Impulse, and H’s always eager to add a new hermit to his vast collection.
H genuinely never gets tired of it! The hermits are all lovely, talented, created people, and sometimes H is baffled by how much they like him. H doesn’t really build, doesn’t really do redstone, but they consider him an honorary hermit anyway, and H’s absolutely ecstatic.
It’s funny to think this all began when Scott decided to put H and Fruit with False and Ren. And then the MCC9 Blue Bats won! And H got to know the hermits better! And suddenly he was teamed with more and more hermits, the hermits seemed to like him too, H was invited to Vault Hunters, so many things happened, and now he’s suddenly playing in person with them.
It’s absolutely ridiculous, but H loves every second of it. Even though H is technically an outsider, he never feels awkward even when he’s in a hermit trio. H being a hermit collector is a meme at this point, but H wholeheartedly embraces it. It’s H and his hermits! He’s the top hermit collector, thank you very much! Nothing can stop him from teaming with his hermits. H’s very proud of it.
Whenever a hermit shows up, H always gets super excited like he’s a kid showing off his famous celebrity parents. That’s what he does when False pops by in his chat to show support for him and the hermit team. H is on Aqua with Gem, Scar, and Impulse, three hermits, yet False chooses to say hi in his chat, and H is very honoured.
It’s Falsie! One of the first hermits that he met back in MCC9! Scratch that, their history began before MCC9— H thought False was underrated back in MCC8, and wrote a Reddit post about it. He predicted her Dodgebolt domination and False Supremacy. Three years and various tourneys later, they’ve gotten more familiar with each other, and now H naturally calls her by the nickname “Falsie” (although that’s also influenced by Ren).
“HIII FALSIE!” H yells, the biggest grin on his face, and then realises his teammates don’t know about her. How crazy that False shows up in his chat and not that of the hermits when she’s a hermit herself?
H turns to his teammates almost anxiously. “Falsie’s here!” They’re confused at first and they think H’s saying something about their volume and setup (because it’s naturally a bit finicky), so H repeats himself, his voice louder this time. He’s delighted that False is cheering for them! And the other hermits have to know!
“Led the hermits to victory!” False orders him, and H beams.
“Yes, ma’am!” he declares cheerfully. H’s led her to victory quite a few times, and his synergy with the Hermitcraft group is so popular that the casters at Twitch can’t help but mention it. It’s H and his hermits. The hermits and their H. It’s just natural.
It doesn’t matter if Aqua gets 10th place. It doesn’t matter if Aqua is last. All it matters is that they’re having fun, and H’s learning all sorts of things about his friends— how Impulse apparently takes notes during Hermitcraft meetings but no one ever reads them, Gem’s forceful fistbump, the way Scar says “Assolotls”. They all get along, they’re just vibing, and H is so thankful that he gets the hermits with him for his first in-person MCC. That kind of morale is unbeatable.
False asks H to lead the hermits to victory. Well, it’s the last game, Sky Battle, and while Cub on Yellow is pretty much guaranteed to go to Dodgebolt, Aqua is… kind of at the bottom. Scratch that, they’re totally at the bottom. They’re having a blast, but one last #NotLast would still be nice.
But of course, they’re a hermit team, and seeing Cub in first makes them just as happy as being in first. The hermit solidarity always exists, and H enjoys it even if he’s not a hermit. H loudly screams for Cub along with the rest of the hermits. It would be amazing to see a hermit win MCC Twitch Rivals, especially when hermits have won in live Twitch Rivals before. They’ve gotta continue the tradition!
In the first round, Aqua gets eliminated early because they’re a target for other teams, and H bites his lip. Sure, that’s how the game works, and he’s expected it, but it would be more fun to survive just a little bit longer. (H remembers back in those days when people treated the hermits as cannon fodder. MCC9 utterly altered their perception of the hermits.)
And that’s when H comes up with the bright idea to hide in the middle area like “cowards”. They’re gonna lose anyway, they can’t win with PvP, so they might as well be goofy and unpredictable, right? Amazingly, the hermits all agree. (The hermits are all excellent at committing to the bit— maybe they’re too committed to the bit, for example filling in Doc’s perimeter.) So H leads them all to mid first thing— they don’t stop for resources, don’t stop to hide, don’t stop to fight— and down they go.
It’s dark. Cramped. They carefully dig through the middle bit and test the limits of their hidey hole. It’s fun to see everyone crouch and nervously shift around. The four of them each take a corner because it’s tiny. They stare at each other, giggling at the ridiculous situation they found themselves in. They’re camping, it’s a hopeless, cowardly way of camping, but they’re having fun, and that’s what really matters!
The other teams are fighting it out in the outer circles, and it’s quite funny seeing the death messages pop up in chat when Aqua is safe and sound in the middle of the battlefield. They have nothing much to do, so they plan their traps— they’ll leave a hole for unlucky souls to fall through, they’ll be stuck in a cobweb, and Aqua will whack them with swords. Aqua’s roleplaying as a mob farm, nothing to see here, please move on and thank you very much.
Since all they can do is wait, they start talking about other things. The hermits mention that Tango is in the audience, and then Scar suggests letting H play Decked Out. H’s heard of Decked Out, he’s seen bits of it around on YouTube. It’s Tango’s masterpiece of a dungeon crawling game and it’s compared to Sands of Time, which everyone knows it’s H’s thing.
At Scar’s words, a flush rises up H’s cheeks. A hermit wants him, a non-hermit, to play an intricately designed game that’s been made by a hermit for the hermits? H isn’t sure if he’s even allowed to go on the server, but he sure as hell would love to!! Heck, he would happily play anything the hermits made! Anything for his hermits!
H’s sitting there, feeling pretty confident in his status as an adopted S-tier (and H tier) of the hermits, and even though they’re in the midst of a PvP game, it feels strangely peaceful and cozy. The four of them are crouched close to one another, with barely a block of distance between them. It’s just H and the hermits in this world. They’re a silly team with their silly jokes and silly strats and a silly imitation of a mob farm.
And then H briefly looks up from his computer and sees his teammates sitting across from him. They’re sitting close to each other in the game, and they’re now sitting close to each other outside of the game. MCC has broken down boundaries and led to the hermits stepping outside of their comfort zone. H’s heart is flooded with warmth, and he can’t help but smile.
They’ve come so far.
They’ve all come so far.
H never would’ve imagined he would be so close to the hermit group. It seems ridiculous on paper. Even though the hermits are incredibly nice people, they’re called the hermits. They’re friendly with everyone, but they like sticking to their own circles, and they very much operate as a group. The hermits are one big dysfunctional family.
And now H’s somehow found his place within said family, no matter how small it might be. He’s one of the honorary hermits. And H indeed finds it an honour— the highest honour, even.
Sky Battle is the last game, and soon, this wonderful, magical, dream-like MCC will be over. But H will always remember the precious bonds they forged via playing in MCC. It might be a bit too early to be sappy considering they’re literally in a battle, but H knows he has to say it. He clears his throat.
“Guys?”
“Yes?”
H takes a deep breath, and echoing the words Ren said to the Blue Bats so long ago, he says,
“It was an honour to go to battle with you all.”
The hermits laugh, and it’s real laughter from the room, not just voices from a Discord call, and H feels so unfathomably close to them all. It’s crazy to see how much has changed, and how much hasn’t at all.
“Well, it’s an honour to team with you!”
“You’re our honorary hermit after all, H.”
And there it is— that little pronoun. Our. Just as H calls the hermits his, the hermits also consider H as theirs.
It gives H a warm and bubbly feeling. Their dynamic and affection goes both ways. They’re all just friends who enjoy playing with each other.
So maybe they’re tenth, and maybe the hermits don’t perform as strongly as other players, and maybe they won’t win.
But when it came to H’s status of being adopted into the Hermitcraft family? Never mind the wins, the coins, the ranks, whatever. H would never trade that away.
HBomb94 is an honorary hermit. And that’s the way it is.