#I know I am asking for trouble

[greeenchrysanthemums]

I like Gem and Etho’s dynamics in their videos a lot and I love how you have them intertwined as sibling-like relationship in your au. (We need more of Gem and Etho fics lmao) That being said, have you ever thought of how Gem and Etho first meet after years of being apart? Obviously Gem wouldn’t have recognise Etho (like you said), but how did Etho recognise her? Was it an instant recognition at first sight? Or was it the little details like the way she acts and speaks that made Etho link the connection with the little girl in his memories? Or did Etho only made the connection after the small talks where Gem had mentioned about him?

I’m also curious of when, where and how they meet. Was it in the middle of Gem’s mission when she was dealing with another resistance matter? A casual patrol on the streets? Or was it during her break time/vacation/after work where it’s just Gem being Gem needing some time away from the stress, wandering aimless searching for interesting shops and finds Mumbo and Etho being goofy with their customers?

I’m sorry if I have overwhelmed you with too many questions 😅 feel free to ignore the ask if you don’t want to answer.

(Pssst. Btw if you haven’t thought about it, may I propose adding wither rose twin Fwhip to the narrative? Like a bonus Easter eggs of some sort. Maybe Gem enter Mumbo and Etho’s shop cuz Fwhip needs redstone stuff and request Gem to do the errands after her knight duties? Of course, if you already have things planned, I’ll like to read the notes/snippets!)

Hello! First of all, yes, we need more Gem and Etho fics! I do love their dynamic. Second, do not even worry about all the questions! I enjoy receiving them greatly. 💚

As for your questions, I actually have a mini-fic written for how they meet again! I won't spoil it too much, as I plan to post it sometime soon, but they meet on one of Gem's off days while she is shopping.

For Gem, part of the reason she wouldn't recognize Etho is because she was so young when he left. She was only 8 years old, so it makes sense that her memories of him would be blurry at best. Etho, on the other hand, was already a teenager at the time the time of his departure. His memory of her would be much sharper, if a little bit hazy.

That doesn't mean he recognized her immediately, though. On that day, when she wandered into his shop by coincidence, he had a nagging feeling of nostalgia the entire time they talked, but he couldn't quite place her face. It didn't click for him until she had taken her leave. Stood in the doorway, she had smiled at him in the same way she used to as a child while she said her goodbyes and thanked him for his time.

He was almost knocked over by the amount of grief he felt when he realized who she was and what she had become. He now, admittedly, does his best to avoid her when she comes around. He knows it's wrong to avoid her like that, almost cruel given how close they used to be, but he just can't face her. He feels responsible for the path that she took, and he feels like he failed the little girl from his memories.

The only person he's ever told about his connection to Gem is Mumbo, and he has sworn the other man to secrecy. He doesn't want the bond they once shared to be exploited, even if it would probably make things easier for the resistance. He failed her once; he doesn't want to do it again.

And for that last bit, I have considered adding other Empires or Hermitcraft members to this au many times, but I have ultimately decided against it. This au is primarily inspired by the life series and I didn't want to dilute the character pool too much.

However, they may still appear as side characters eventually or be mentioned as easter eggs! I think I love them too much to leave them out entirely.

[skunkes]

ok posting it here bc im not sure if its going to stay in the doodle page

[prettyboykatsuki]

brb 🫡

[theminecraftbee]

okay, so i mean this as kindly as possible, but: a quick rundown on some ask etiquette on tumblr.

the tl;dr here is: if it can be your own post... maybe make your own post?

the slightly longer version is: i don't have the energy to read a lot of stuff, and ultimately, this is my blog, so i'll only post stuff if i read it, either agree with it or can disagree in a polite way, and have some response to make to it that's better than 'cool'. additionally, i have no ability to contact anon askers. therefore, if you send me something that i don't have the energy to read, don't want to post, don't have a good response to, or just vaguely don't agree with, it won't get posted, and you won't know why it didn't get posted.

and the thing is, that's fine, but if you spent more than like, thirty seconds on it... you should probably go ahead and make your own post! if it is For Me for some reason, you can tag me in it! (fanart/fic/etc is a good example of this.) you don't run the risk of me not answering, because it will be your own post, and you can use that post to show it to the world!

if it's something that requires my input or is participating in a conversation with me - well, that's different! that can't be it's own post, because it's either something you want me to respond to or something that is in response to me. i get plenty of asks that can't be their own post. additionally, if it's short/didn't take any effort, cool, send it to me if you want my input! i may or may not respond, but then you and i don't have to feel bad about losing your thing, because it didn't take much effort!

but if you're sending an ask to my ask box (or anyone's ask box) and you really want the world to see it, the best way may be to make your own post instead.

[nicejewishcharactershowdown]

hey, uh... am i shadow banned??

[acewithapaintbrush]

I really can't decide what I should be insulted by the most: the fact that I haven't yet received the 'in your honest opinion what's the best Encanto blog' anon ask or that none of my mutuals have answered ME!!!

[saetoru]

in all honesty if someone personally feels they would prefer no criticism on their writing, i think you should respect that. someone clearly having room to improve does not automatically give you the right to give unsolicited advice on what areas of their writing they can improve because that simply doesn’t concern you. fanfiction on this app that is “bad” in your eyes isn’t a disservice to you—nobody owes you improvement or the want to improve. yes there is work that is not good in your eyes. yes there is work that is phenomenal in your eyes. you will be far more talented than a writer you come across and you will be far less talented than a writer you come across because everyone is at different levels of their skills. but not everyone is here to improve just because you are—just because you feel people should aim to improve doesn’t mean people have to shift their feelings to fit your views on writing and the methods of progress you think are correct. and tbh, it is possible to outgrow premature writing techniques and improve without hearing it from others. even if it’s a slower process, you can learn to notice flaws in your own work

and yes, there are lots of things that are important to raise conversation over and perhaps criticize like common misconceptions in characterization or themes in a particular media that are overlooked—fandom meta is an important discussion we should have room to have, and a lot of that often times entails criticism that challenges our views. and that’s okay. criticism isn’t always bad—and people are allowed to dislike things and voice things they dislike. it’s just that sometimes it targets something that’s personal to someone’s growth vs something that can be a conversation between a fandom as a whole, and you should respect someone’s wishes on elements of their writing that are individual to their own work and its development

at any rate, i don’t think it’s particularly plausible to just dislike someone or send them hate asks because they politely voice they’d rather not receive criticism on their writing—and if you think it is, kindly seek help

[isfjmel-phleg]

😶

[boxwinebaddie]

STAN HAS THAT K CHOKER RIGHT? DOES THAT MEAN KYLE HAS AN S NECKLACE? like he could totally stack his s necklace with his star of david one

aaaaaaaaa

you know i love a lil matchy-matchy moment~

and actually, i accumulated a lot of different asks actually, mostly, interestingly enough asking me about the same roundabout thing: if jersey wears rings, how he feels about jewelry, if he has any tattoos or other piercings, stuff of the like, etc.

but i never got around to answering those because i'm kind of a perfectionist and i get all worked up in my head about how i'm going to answer things because i want them to be perfect ( i keep trying to structure nsfw ask like it's a nine page research essay, smh ) buuut

basically, as we all know well, jersey is…Particular.

particularly abt himself and what is done to him/on him.

( okay, fair warning: the rest of this answer is very long and i just talk a lot about the former question about jersey/his attachments to material things and also physical-emotional things — people — you do not have to read all that...the short answer is yes, kyle does stack a stan 's' necklace with the star of david, i talk about it more at the end, but this intro part is a lot of exposition and information. so if your curiosity does not end there...perhaps i can further it below xx )

a lot of it ties into his ocd and this need to control every aspect of his life, not being able to put it in anyone elses hands but his own because he's scared of that improbability...that margin of error.

it keeps him up at night.

for that reason, even though he has a ton of health issues, diabetes, etc. he is extremely Defiant and Volatile in doctors offices. like, he will start throwing shit, rip ivs out of his arms, ask you to explain what you are giving him In Detail and will probably still refuse to take it.

tbh, the only reason he's taking any medication at all is because he really loves sheila and she is extremely worried about losing him </3

( jersey is a mommas boy, i said what i said! )

but he takes his own blood sugar, pricks his own fingers, runs all his own tests...he really does not trust anyone else w/ that kind of thing. which ties into piercings because he does...think that they're…lowkey, highkey *jersey vc* Hawt, i’m sorry; it's true.

i do think it's his...Thing.

the man really just wants a little hot topic emo boy accessory display for a boyfriend and he is right for that. cute, shiny, edgy. i respect it.

eye candy, arm candy, if you will?

( jersey is extremely partial to candy, ofc <3 )

and idk, maybe it's just a me thing, but to me, jerseykyle, specifically, is very conceptual and is intrigued by fashion and stuff, but because when he was overweight growing up, he was sort of just shoe-horned into all this oblong, ugly clothing, whatever would fit or they could afford. so he never really got to be able to wear things he wanted to, until about right now and it's been really liberating for him? idk? aaa

i love sleek, chic, dark academia, tired 1940s evil classics professor, thrift store couture jersey in his dollar store blazers and italian loafers. like my man is an off duty model, forreal. i am obsessed with him.

and actually he really Likes tattoos and piercings and dyed hair and thinks all the little rings are cool because you're like this living art form, this distinct individual, there's a uniqueness, a cool rebellion there he can’t create have within himself, so he combats/masks it as disgust and disinterest because he doesn't like to process his complicated feelings and also doesn't like forming attachments...especially...

...to things he's inexplicably Drawn to.

which is why, initially, upon even just bearing witness to raven of crimson dawn, kyle freaked out because he was like immediately Extremely Attracted to him because he checks all these little boxes in his brain, but his brain, of course, is corroded by mental illness and trauma, so he immediately projects extreme amounts of hostility in raven's direction because he is like you're all chaos and disorder, you're a mess, you throw caution to the wind, You’re Unpredictable.

when he’s actually obsessed w/ that capricious energy?

like he makes fun of stan for all his punk rock boy 'hood ornaments' and 'anarchical embellishments', but his heart starts racing every time stan winks at him and his little eyebrow piecing winks back, or he runs his tongue over that lip ring kyle got hyperfixated on, partially because it's pretty, which...rip, not even joking…

if stan comes out in the support rock, fuck a rockstar tank top, the tiny pants and sports that little lip ring chain thing that connects to the cuff on his ear...it does something seriously ( down ) bad to kyle's brain and stan is immediately getting Railed. soz if you were waiting for stan's autograph, hes gettin ky's all over his body. woops.

but!!! it's mostly bc stan had the courage and hedonism to put something through his lip and live with it. that he could get other piercings, get tattoos, let people handle him, put his life into someone else's hands, let them have control for a second, knowing they are executing the thing you want/need without you doing it...

it's literally All a control thing.

or rather, an inability to lose it.

because he's very particular, yeah, about what he likes and doesn't like, he won't wear any fabrics that itch or bother him, he won't buy something if the hem pisses him off, if he has to wear something he doesn't like, he will bitch and moan the entire day about it. and while it's good to have that level of self-assuredness, it's also kind of a self-preservation and self destructive coping mechanism for jerseykyle.

because he pushes everything out...

but doesn't let anything else in.

and a lot of that changes when raven/stan comes back into the picture, because when they were growing up, stan was this beautiful, glowing fixture of nonconformity, this pillar of strength that was twice as strong as he was, even though kyle was the fighter. because stan fought for self-acceptance and kyle fought for self-loathing.

and really...the reason why his ed developed in the first place was because gerald and society as a whole brainwashed him into hating himself and that people would only digest him if he was in small enough, beautiful, palatable enough pieces to eat so even though he acts out or throws punches: It’s All Within The Lines.

or the confines, rather.

of the person he thinks people want him to be.

but, idk, i'm talking too much. basically, gist is, kyle has a hard time handing over control to other people/being vulnerable and the final piece to that is...permanence.

a piercing...a tattoo...is Permanent.

i mean, sure, they close up and you can get them removed, but you are irreconcilably changed and altered. you are different now.

anddddd sigh, the jersey can't say i love you ask strikes again! because jersey can't say i love you because it's handing over control, because it's vulnerable because it's...permanent and he has extremely deep-seated commitment issues because of all of that.

which means he rarely, if ever, makes said commitments.

so when he Does...

it's a very special thing indeed.

because jersey has no tattoos or piercings on his body.

save for the sun/moon one he got on his ring finger for stan ( i can never decide if i want jersey to have the sun tattoo because he is the sun or if he has the moon one so he can wear rae around with him )

*** ( i also think it's possible he might get little hebrew things for his mom or idk, something very important later...i'll think about it more )

and...One ear piercing.

i was going to go at this in more comical and dramatic way in an old post, but basically, i think kenny/bebe/craig someone basically joked about there being reduced earring piercings at claire's and they should take kyle because he's the only one without pierced ears and jersey gets really defensive about it and everyone's like ooooh! kyle's scared to get his ears pierced, so the competitive and aggressive side of him that hates to lose briefly outweighs the neurotic side and is like "fuck you!!! let's go right now! i'm not scared of anything!"

and he gets there, stan's with him, and he is...freaking out in the little plastic chair with some eight year old girl next to him ecstatically getting her ears pierced for her birthday, bc he's going to have to let someone...do something to him/inflict something on him.

( which actually, i think, is what is really beautiful about j.k and r.s' relationship and dynamic, is that jersey teaches raven that you can't just let people do things you don't want them to do to you just because you feel like you should ft. his sexual trauma and stan teaches kyle that it is okay to let other people in, to do reckless things, to allow yourself to feel and enjoy simple pleasures w/o fear. ft. his ocd

lmao, is there a branch in my eye again? y is it Watering )

and ravenstan is like, mi amor, they are just your ears, you will be okay, i will hold your hand…

everything will be fine, i swear. :’) <3

and he gets hyped up, ready to go, the 16 y/o piercing his ears tells him she'll count to three and pierce on one.

...and she pierces on Three.

i'm not sure if it's bc she pressed too soon or because she thought that if she surprised him, it might make him less nervous, but it does not!!!! kyle FREAKS out!!!! his ocd goes haywire and basically has a nervous breakdown at freaking /claires/ bc she pierced his ear before she SAID she would and destroys the confidence that he built up to let himself be vulnerable.

it seems like a Silly thing...but i think it says a lot, yknow?

and though it was a serious blow to his ego, kyle only has...one ear pierced because he panicked and could not get the second one done. and it, to this day, is one of the only asymmetrical things abt him. which, i actually think is important to him coping w/ his ocd

( similar to how kyle, sorry slight nsfw, having stan have to ask for things if he wants them, helps him, in a seemingly innocuous way, build confidence in himself/not let things just 'happen' to him without his consent ) because having only one ear pierced means he has to deal with being lopsided and that, everyday the earth doesn't crash into the sun...means that he's okay.

also a cute thing about the one ear piercing is that i think kyle wears like this cute little gold sun dangly one that has a similar ambiance to the sun and moon glasses chain charms? it's his signature.

and other than showering, sleeping, etc. he only really ever takes it out when raven is going off somewhere far away :( and he switches it with a little stan silver earring ( idk kyle feels very gold jewelry bc of his orange hair and stan feels v silver bc of his blue eyes and stuff ) and stan sometimes takes kyle's with him on tour...AAAAA i'm sad

on the subject of rings, since someone else asked me, kyle does not wear rings even though he does like them/they're pretty because they're heavy, they clank against his pen when he's writing, the sound pisses him off...but he wears stan's lil silver emo boy rings when he's away and gaslit himself into liking the sound because the sound it makes against his pen reminds him of the sound it makes when stan is excitedly scribbling song lyrics and singing to him aaaaa IM :(

WHERE WAS I GOING WITH THIS AGAIN?

oh, yeah.

extreme mental illness.

so jersey never makes adjustments or accommodations for anyone, and when he does it's a big deal...but really...

it's because Stan is a big deal to him.

stan is EVERYTHING to him.

and kyle thinks it's cute that at every show and every concert, stan always wears the little spicy k charm on his emo boy choker ( and got the little even spicier inner thigh tattoo w kyle's name on it...anyways )

so, he starts wearing a little s around his neck for stan.

which, initially, i'm sure you're like...oh God.

jersey making an adjustment to his very specific cartoon character outfit alignment of things he wears every day, things he wears at home, things he wears specifically when going out depending on the environment...this sounds like a recipe for disaster. this is a big change for him. he's gonna spin out or short circuit his brain.

but...really? it feels as easy as Breathing.

because for one of the first times in his life, kyle got something that he didn't just get for him, w/ selfish intentions or bc he needs to be in control...he got it...

to make stan happy. :)

and it does make him very, Very happy, indeed.

which is really funny to me because jersey is super annoying and just starts wearing it and pretends like he doesn't know what's going on bc he's bad at ~gestures~. so stan comes home, sees it and immediately is like *big stan eyes* 'what are you wearing??'

and kyle is like, ‘oh, this? i've had it forever, it's was just in the back of the closet. why? is it wrinkled or—‘ and stan is like 'no, dummy. the NECKLACE' and kyle, playing dumb, trying to act nonchalant because he's kind of embarrassed abt having emotions is like 'oh, that. y'know. just something i'm trying out...' and stan is like

'kyle broflovski, are you wearing a necklace with my initial on it????' and kyle is like 'alright, woah there, mr. celebrity. but not eeeeverything is about you, okay? that s could stand for anything.'

and stan is like *genuine heart eyes wowza because kyle is being annoying but stan loves dumb annoying kyle that's why he wears his lil possessive emo boy k charm on his choker everywhere* 'okay, well the k on mine stands for kiss me or kiss me kyle or whatever you want just, come and kiss me please' kshdlkshd <333 eWW

anyways...they're Gay. they're in love. they having matching tattoos and earrings and wear eachother's intials around their neck. nbd.

but...in a very longwinded format, i hope this answers your question baby and hopefully some other questions you have abt jersey. i'm sorry that was a lot but i literally could talk about jersey forever, like he is so fascinating and bc he's our narrator and he's such an unreliable one, it's hard to understand how his brain works.

hope this helps. <3

uncle nina, keeper of the cryptid jersey whore-lore

[pain-in-the-butler]

@ kind people who put things in my inbox: if I didn't answer your message, I probably did see it and either didn't know what to say or am in the process of answering it OR am waiting for the right time to answer it! Like, I think someone asked me for more headcanons regarding this AU over a month ago and I haven't answered because I don't really have more headcanons right now. But maybe I will someday! I very much appreciate when people want to know my opinion about things, so if you're waiting on something, please don't mistake my silence for anger, and ask away! 😊

[mattodore]

did matthias and theo hug a lot? i need to see pictures . please . pretty please

i think you were asking for photos from that scene i showed of matthias carrying theo and calling him mała myszko... but i didn't take many photos from then so i took these for you instead <3

[minglana]

im rly supposed to like. have lunch normally. and then take an exam after? with all the nerves in my body??

[heather-garland]

finally

@everye 's alessa grady au OWNS MY ENTIRE BEATING HEART

and of course the inevitable and highly paradoxical alessa grady + heather garland + laura pendleton crossover

[horizonandstar]

Make a ref for your mer boys so I can make fanart 🔫

here ya go. also the dark/bioluminescent markings version is under the cut

oh yeah and heres a bonus of what sun would look like if he lacked the amber gene

he is so blue