Hermitcraft Randomness - S7 Oneshots

Alters Lore and Notes

Hey, everyone! I asked in Arc 5 if you guys wanted a lore chapter about each arc, so I went ahead and made one! This is genuinely been one of my favorite pieces to write--up there with Origins, Swap, and the Infinity Portal Multishot from S6. I'm really happy with how it came out, and I'm glad you guys seemed to enjoy it too.

Fun fact before we get to the lore: This multishot took two months to completely write! It was also impulsively made after I wrote Dynasty, which was supposed to be a standalone piece originally.

Another fun fact: This is the first time I've killed off these characters. Well, actually, that's not that fun of a fact-

Swiftly moving on.

So, the whole point of this series was to highlight all the main alters, and to show that they're not evil. I've seen a lot of oneshots portraying them as the antagonists (I myself am guilty of it haha), but in this multishot I wanted them to be innocent, in a sense. But they're being blamed for all the bad things that happened.

The Hermits, on the other hand, are portrayed as the antags, in a way. They're all guilty of killing their alter, whether it was directly or indirectly, on purpose or not. They've been just as responsible for things that had happened in the past, but a lot of them pin the blame on their alters. 

So, in a way, the alters and the main counterparts have swapped places. 

Let's get into some of the deeper/core meanings about each arc.

Alters, Arc 1 - Xisuma/Evil Xisuma (Xanthus)

This arc was focusing on the past. More specifically, grudges. Think about it, X and Ex held that grudge for years. They could have forgiven each other, but they chose to keep holding it. Then, just as X forgave his brother, it was too late.

Anyone notice the double "end" meaning? "In the end, it doesn't even matter", "In the End, it doesn't even matter". It didn't matter in the end for Ex, because everything he had in the End was gone. ("And all I gave you is gone")

If I could, I would rewrite this arc to either remove the Xanthus name reveal or accommodate it in other arcs, as it seemed out of the blue. Maybe I could have hinted at it in Dynasty, if the series hadn't been impulsively made lmao--but I'll definitely keep the name for future oneshots!

Ex had done some bad things, yes, but so had X. Ex by attacking Hermitcraft, X by banning him. X, however, didn't want to admit it. Ex actually came around to realizing how bad what he done was, and that pushed him to fall into the void. He realized what he did wrong, but by then, he had pushed X away, and he assumed he was never coming back. He thinks it's what he deserved, so he just welcomes it.

Alters, Arc 2 - Grian/NPG

This arc focuses on keeping a smile on even in the hardest situations. I usually use this theme for Grian, but then I realized it can apply to his alter as well. Both of them have their reasons for trying to stay positive. In NPG's case, it's hiding the fact that he's slowly breaking down. For Grian, it's well, Evo, predictably. 

(Did I kill off Evo in a multishot? Yes. That's three times now, keep count)

The second half of this arc is a flashback to better times, times where NPG was actually functioning and Grian visited him on a daily basis. Instead of getting worse, though, like it did in reality, things got better, NPG imagining a world where he got what he wanted. But that didn't happen. 

I feel like Ex and NPG are the alters that are the most antagonized (partly because they're the most popular), so I really wanted to point out that the Hermits were also in the wrong here. Grian didn't try--or want--to save NPG, even when it was clear he was breaking. When NPG's battery dies, there's no one there for him. 

Alters, Arc 3 - False/True

Once again, the alter is simply trying to get what they wanted. And their counterpart is stopping them from getting it.

In True's case, she wanted to escape from the confines of her mirror. In doing so, she tricked False into coming to her side. False didn't like this, obviously, but she forgot that True had gone through the same thing. Both of them were so wrapped up in what they wanted that they didn't realize how the other felt. Or, at least, they realized it too late.

Fun fact: I was originally going to use the song Ghost by Au/Ra and Alan Walker, so if you see anything in the oneshot that reminds you of the song, that's why. Then, about halfway through, I switched to the Celeste OST. I chose Resurrections because, if memory serves me right, that's when Madeline first encounters Badeline. I also considered In The Mirror but that track scares me kjfdshkhdk

I feel like the concept of False having no reflection could be used in future oneshots, so I might keep it. Some extra angst to the oneshot, even if it's just a minor detail

Alters, Arc 4 - Scar/BadTimes

This one is my favorite out of all the arcs--not just because of the lore I made up for BadTimes, but also because this piece is dialogue-heavy. BadTimes manipulates Scar in a way where it's not physical, but emotional. There's a lot of wordplay and subtle stabs involved. 

I also really like BadTimes's personality. If I were to write a more lighthearted piece--aka a piece where they're not trying to kill one another--he'd be super sarcastic and witty, constantly lightheartedly teasing Scar about everything he does. 

"What was the world Scar destroyed?" you might ask. I have no idea, and I'm not going to come up with a backstory. Mostly because I'm lazy, but let's all pretend that I'm leaving it up to your imaginations. 

But if you have an idea, please do let me know! I'd love to expand on BadTimes's lore in the future.

Alters, Arc 5 - Wels/Hels

This arc ties every other arc together, because this one is about proving people wrong. More specifically, proving everyone (not just the Hermits, I'm talking about the readers, too) that the alters aren't evil. Though, unfortunately, Hels fails in the end. 

After Arc 4, this is my favorite arc. I actually really enjoyed writing the fight scenes in this one, and I was actually dreading writing them. I think my favorite part was writing the differences between Wels and Hels--from how they hold their sword to if they prefer wits over force. 

This is, in a way, the complete opposite of Arc 4, as wits overpowers force here. In Scar's case, he had to combat BadTimes's wits with brute force, but not here. 

Extra songs I was listening to while writing the fight scene:
- Hornet (Hollow Knight OST)
- Pigstep (FlyxTheKid Remix)

Aaaand that's all I have for y'all! Again, thank you guys for reading Alters, all the nice comments I got during writing it have really made my day. Until next update! <3