subway-boss-jericho

[subway-boss-jericho]

(hammer anon- I hope you don’t mind me poking at other random aus)

I was thinking about Befriend My Reflection to Find My Shadow and!! I’m really curious to what the differences are between the two Emmets. Why does Emmet (1) search for Ingo with such desperation while Emmet (2) is happy to ride the rails and make sure the other takes care of himself? Do they have different hobbies? Get their pokemon team in different ways? Did their siblings disappear in the same way?

I’m so curious about their relationship and how it evolves! Like- maybe Emmet (1) is a little bitter about his brother not being there, and gets annoyed at Emmet (2) for bugging him with “self care” but how does that change into something like family? Is it slow? Is there an event that puts everything in perspective for him? (You don’t have to answer obviously- I’m just doing my own rambling now djdnbsjsbsb)

I just keep thinking how odd (and possibly awful or discombobulating) it is to see your face- but it’s not the person that shares your face that you’re looking for. Out of uniform they just see each other in the corner of their eye and there’s this heart stoping moment of hope-!

and then reality sits in.

anyway I freaking. Love this idea so much.

First of all I'd die for you so write that down

Second of all I have GREAT NEWS I had a few days at the end of november where I fixated on reflection AU (this is why writing steady tracks is so hard btw) and I wrote a oneshot that directly answers a lot of the questions you're asking here. I couldn't figure out how to approach posting it, but hey look! A perfect reason to share it! So you're getting that now. I'm going to put it at the bottom of this post, but I want a chance to answer some other things first

I’m really curious to what the differences are between the two Emmets. Why does Emmet (1) search for Ingo with such desperation while Emmet (2) is happy to ride the rails and make sure the other takes care of himself?

The two Emmets in Reflection AU are still the same person, but have ultimately made different decisions/taken different paths in regards to how they are coping with the loss of Ingo. That has formatively shaped who they are as people, and so now there are differences between them.

While he does his best to be positive and uplifting, Emmet (2) (Aka "This Emmet") is also struggling with the loss. He's expressed that and explored that in very different ways from Emmet (1) (Aka "Other Emmet"). Part of the nuance here is that while Other Emmet is very desperate to find Ingo, This Emmet has been trying to come to terms with his disappearance. But now, with Other Emmet's arrival, there's a small hope that they might both get their twins back someday. An extension of This Emmet's grief and complex feelings is that he wants to take care of Other Emmet, not because he feels great and happy and is just on standby ready to spring into action, but because he misses his own twin and it's easy for him to feel very strongly compelled to help this Other Emmet that shares his face.

Their dynamic comes from the various fandom takes on how Emmet handles Ingo's disappearance. The "He finds a way to cope" take (example: Steady tracks) and the "He finds a way to get him back" take. I wanted to see what would happen if I put those different branches of how Emmet could react to Ingo's disappearance in the same place.

Worth noting, both of their twins DID disappear in the same way. This AU uses ultra wormholes, specifically because of their propensity to chuck people across into other dimensions. This Emmet didn't know how or why Ingo disappeared until Other Emmet showed up and explained. Other Emmet sought out the answer himself.

(You don’t have to answer obviously- I’m just doing my own rambling now djdnbsjsbsb)

Jokes on you I'm about to answer the curiosities in those last two paragraphs to the fucking letter and I'm so glad you brought it up. I am so thrilled that I get to share this because I wasn't sure how to post it without context before. Surprise! Your ask just helped give everyone the needed context!!!

As always, thank you so much for the ask! 🌟

Heads up, I write the word Emmet in this so many times. I intentionally wanted it to be a liiiiittle hard to read, but at the same time, I tried to give enough context that you can tell which of the Emmets is doing something when the name comes up. This Emmet's words are in italics, and Other Emmet's words are normal. I also mention two of Emmet's pokemon by nickname in here and I don't feel like rewriting it, so I am gonna clarify that Bull is Conkeldurr and Axle is Haxorus.

You/I Know Me/You Too Well

TWs: (Minor) Confrontation, (Minor) Argument. Someone's wrist is grabbed but that's as physical as anything gets. ~3,000 Words (10-12 minutes) They weren't always on good terms.

He had been doing his best to help provide for him until now. He knew he didn't want to be seen in public. Of course he didn't.  There would be too many questions and not enough privacy. Better to not be seen at all, than make both of their lives a living hell.

He can't imagine he likes it, though. He thinks, there's probably even a chance that he's shutting himself away so forcibly because of him. That, maybe he doesn't want to ruin his life, disappear, and leave him to pick up the mess he left behind. 

Emmet softly raps two knuckles against the metal shutter of the abandoned shipping container. 

It could also very easily be that he hates him. He's always frustrated. He always glares at him with so much hatred, like the heat of a thousand volcarona and a thousand more darmanitan for good measure.  But he never frowns. He always has a pinched, impatient, dismissive, smile or snarl on his lips.  He didn't want him to draw any kind of comparison. He's sure he's doing it on purpose when he's around.  Whether that's to be kind and spare his feelings, or to stop him from getting emotionally attached, it's hard for him to say.

He doesn't think he likes being alone here. If he was at least at his own place, he would have the support of his friends and family. Presumably. It didn't sound like any of them had died or gone missing.  But here, he has no one. The only person who even knows to check on him is Emmet. 

Maybe it would have been kinder if he'd been completely alone. He'll have to keep wondering.  He can't stand by and let him waste away. Even if he doesn't want to see him, he wants to help. If that's by finding a spare shipping container to move off the tracks or by bringing food and supplies for him, it's got to count for something.

He hopes, at least. 

"Emmet?" He mumbles, trying to avoid getting on his bad side by being annoying or overbearing. "Are you in there?" There's some shuffling and typing that stops when he speaks. He is here, yes. 

Whether or not he wants to be bothered is a different question that Emmet can't answer. 

"um. Well, if you are home, I brought you some more food. Some canned fruits and soups. Things like that. I thought you might want some stuff that keeps well. Stuff that will not take more electricity to store."

There's some more shuffling.  He's never told him that he can hear him through the door. 

"If you are not here I will leave them at the door." He starts to lower the gift bag to the ground, looking away out at the cave around them.  It's very beautiful. He wishes he had more excuses to visit Chargestone.

"Okay. I am— leaving! Good bye."

He takes a hesitant step back, and turns to leave the way he came. 

He door of the container creaks open behind him. It startles him a little- he flinches, a bit. He's quick to fall back into step, keeping his eyes fixed onto the ground ahead of him. 

"Why are you here." His gravelly, exhausted, terse accusation is the only thing that makes him stop. 

He stays facing away, although tilts his head back up to hold a hand to the brim of his cap. "I am, here to deliver food. I said this, yep."

"Why are you here."

He asks again, no change in his tone or inflection. Not that either of them were especially good at that.  He can hear him checking the contents of his delivery. 

"D-" "Delivering food. I wanted to make sure you had enough." He swallows the lump that threatens to gag him. 

"It has barely been two days." "You know I have food." "You brought it."

Emmet tightens his grip on his cap. It's the only thing he can hold onto that won't be immediately obvious. He's scrambling for something to say, but his words don't come fast enough.

"You are a shit lier." "You would not have your back turned to me if you were telling the truth." He sounds like he doesn't have time for this.  That's such a fair way to feel about him. 

"I am sorry to bother you. Again." "I will go now."

He manages to take three much longer strides forward before much faster, much more angry sounding footsteps catch up to him. He grabs his wrist, forcing him to stop. Emmet glances over his shoulder, but is quick to snap back away. "What are you hiding from me." He sounds angry and upset. 

"I am sorry." He's quiet and small. 

"Stop giving me apologies and start giving me answers."

The words are dying in his throat.  "I-I'm sorry. I should l-leave." "I will leave you alone." He won't let go of his wrist and he can't pull out of his hold.

"Why won't you look at me?" He says with an extra dose of venom. He pulls on his arm, twisting him around to face him. 

He manages to rein in any surprise and fear pretty quickly, but not quick enough that the other wouldn't notice. 

Emmet stares him down, face to face, scrutinizing him and judging him. All at once, Emmet can see his puffy red eyes and quivering smile. He can see where the tear tracks have dried on his cheeks. He can see the way that his gloves hands shake weakly in his grip. 

That anger turns to confusion, and then immediately into discomfort.  "...What... Happened to you?"

His voice doesn't feel like it will serve him anymore. His throat feels dry and scratchy.  "I am sorry. I should leave."

He pulls at his wrist again, but while his grip is looser, he won't let go of him. His hand is warm. Maybe it would be a little sweaty if he had caught his wrist instead of his dress shirt. Emmet can't tell, though.

He looks so uncomfortable. That instant when bottled wrath shifted to discomfort said everything it needed to. 

"G-go. I should go."

"...Are you okay?" He asks him with intense hesitation. 

"sorry, I- I am sorry to bother you!" He won't let go of his wrist. Tugging again and again, but he won't let go. He's going to tear up again. He needs to leave. Please, let him go. He shouldn't have come and it was so stupid, he-

"Emmet." "...What happened?"

He starts to cry again. His breath stuttering and growing faster. His words are still stolen for several seconds more.  His eyes flick across Emmet's face, wishing that anger would come back. 

He gets a hold of his words.  "Closed."

Emmet only levels him a more confused and uncomfortable expression, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. 

"The investigation." "His investigation was" "Closed."

Emmet's expression darkens. "Oh."

Emmet shrivels, pulling his hand out. Emmet lets go of him.  "I am going to leave. I am sorry." He doesn't have time to turn around. "Stop."

Emmet stares him in the eyes, scowling now, but still with the disquieted look of a stranger that doesn't want to deal with his emotions.

"Why did you come here?"

Emmet manages a false start, then another.  He tears his eyes away to find comfort in the crystal walls instead as he covers his mouth with a gloved hand. He blinks through another wave of tears. "i  d on't  kno w."

They both know he's lying. He can't meet his eyes. 

He turns abruptly to run away. His boots scuff on the rocky earth.  "I'm sorry. I'm leaving." He can only get one step in. Emmet does not grab him.  "-Do you want to come in."

They're at a stand still. It's the only thing he could have said that would make Emmet pause again. 

"Would you like to come inside?" He offers again. Emmet can't miss it this time, it was emphatic and clear and absolutely directed at him. Even if his voice was empty and tense.

"Can I?"

"Yes."

Emmet keeps his eyes averted, hat pulled down to cover his eyes as he undoes his turn away. He puts his hand back down.

"Okay."

Emmet turns around to walk back to the door. Emmet follows him silently, several steps behind.

He leads him inside, closing the door behind him and dragging the grocery bag through the door for good measure.  He's only been inside a small handful of times, and never for long enough to get comfortable. There is a giant computer set up on the far end, and several cables have been strung through the whole container. They travel along the floor or are tied to the walls with zip ties, before finding deliberate holes punched in the walls that lead to the natural electricity outside. 

"Do not touch anything." "Do not touch the computers or the cables."

Emmet says nothing, but nods quickly. He finds a seat presented to him- an old used couch he had dragged all the way out here with Bull's and Axle's help. The other yanks some blankets off the cushions, tossing them behind it and gesturing briefly to the seat. 

"Here."

Emmet takes a seat on the end furthest from the high-tech-looking machines. 

"I am doing important work." "Right." Don't interrupt me goes unspoken but loud and clear. 

He must be sleeping on the couch. Of course. Where else would be sleeping? Emmet hadn't given him anything else. After the offer for him to stay in Ingo's old room went harshly rejected, he hadn't remembered to find another. Maybe if he had brought his bed like he did with the couch and didn't tell him who's it was, he would have accepted it. It's probably too late for that now, he'd be able to tell he was hiding something.

He sits quietly on the couch with his head down, legs stitched together and hands on his knees as he leans into the back and the arm. He sniffles once. He doesn't like how noses get all runny when people are sad, it's really gross and annoying.  His arms are shaking. A couple more tears fall from his eyes, and he keeps his head down.

He could cry as many tears as he wanted to here, and no one would bat an eye. No one would stop to ask him how he's doing, there wouldn't be any croons or coos of upset pokemon. He didn't have to worry about PR or the media or anyone else from across the region judging him. 

Just him and his tears. He could finally just cry. 

He had gotten so caught up in his thoughts that he stopped paying attention to what was happening around him. He flinches when a weight shifts the couch cushions.  Emmet has taken the spot on the other side of the couch, one cushion's worth of space between them. 

He holds something in Emmet's direction, and it takes him a few seconds to catch up with what it is.

It's a lemonade. Emmet is looking at him expectantly.  He's holding his own drink in his other hand. Emmet takes it carefully but appreciatively. His fingers are so warm. He brushes past them quick, taking it. They'd be warmer if he wasn't wearing his gloves.  They leave a tiny impression on the can, a barely lingering heat. 

"Stop masking."

Emmet, who's eyes had been fixed downward on the can in his lap, look up to meet his somewhat uncertain.  "Huh?"

"Stop masking. I know you are doing it. I am you. I know what it looks like." Emmet sits up just a little straighter. The other cracks open his drink, before turning to look at him again.  "Just cry. Talk about it. Whatever."

He takes a sip of his drink, averting his eyes to look at his computers.

Emmet cracks open his own drink, unraveling with a hitched breath as he loosens up and doesn't curl on himself so tightly. The lemonade is very sweet, but just the right amount of tangy.  He doesn't say much at all, but there isn't really silence between the sniffles and occasional sobs.

"...I knew it would happen."

"...Did it..." "...For you, too?" 

"...No."

"No?"

Emmet must've picked up on the watery hope in his tone. "The day was coming up fast." "I did not stick around long enough to find out."

There's a longer silence between them, broken up by wet hiccups.

Emmet never bought him any lemonade. He must have risked a trip to one of the less populated stations in the subway. The vending machines were still diligently stocked. After another hiccup, he licks some of the tears off his face. Gross. Salty. That's what the gloves were for, silly. He daubs at his cheeks.

"How much do I owe you?" "What?"  The reply is so fast and he sounds so confused, it makes him laugh quietly to himself. Emmet is looking over at him, genuinely lost. Emmet holds up his can, still trying to get a persistent dew out of one eye.

He looks at him like he's just told an especially stupid pun. Like Elesa. "Are you kidding me?" It does crack him up again, the sound of his voice and the look on his face. More real this time. "You do not owe me anything. Take one look around this room and ask again." He supplies, sounding incredulous.

"Haha- Okay- Okay."

"That is so- Stupid." He says, and there's something in hearing it that stings- He's running a hand through his hair, though. Emmet can see stress woven through every fiber of his body language. "That is so selfless- and totally unnecessary! It is so stupid!" "So-"

He falters.

"Kind."

"You have been so kind to me." He avoids the surprise in Emmet's eyes by hunching forward, curling onto himself with his lips resting on the rim of his can.

Emmet takes a sip of his own drink to buy him time to find words that were just stolen off his tongue. "You would have done the same."

He doesn't reply, turning his head away. "I am you. You are me."

The pause in between is punctuated by another sniffle.

"I do not think we are the same person any more." His eyes are fixated on one of the endless loading circles on the computer screen across the room, electronic light bathing him a blue shade.

"...You are still you."

He sits up straighter, looking down as he fiddles with the can's tab. "I am not the same as you." "I have spent so long. Searching for him." "I have learned so much crazy stuff and tried so many different things."

"I was just trying to get him back. I think I lost something to do it."

The silence drags on for a while. Emmet sounds resigned, and tired. He doesn't seem to expect him to have anything to say, but he does. He just needs to think of the right way to say it, first.

"You bought me a lemonade."

He scoffs. "That is barely-" "You let me inside."

He looks conflicted, finally meeting his eyes again. "Well-" "Well?"

"I- There have been plenty of times I did not." "Maybe. But I was not crying those times."

"I have left you at the door. All the time." "All the time- And just waited for you to leave me alone." Emmet is somewhat surprised he admitted to that, but doesn't let it show.

"I know." "But you let me in today." He seems to be struggling to come up with another rebuttal.

"You are still honest." "You are still kind. Even if it is not as easy as you want."

"It is never easy to be kind."

Emmet is now the one avoiding the other's eyes. He's found a spot on the wall where the wires don't fully block the hole up, letting him catch a glimpse of a blue crystal.

His couch buddy was finding that sentiment especially sobering right now.

"...Sorry."

"It is okay."

"It, really is not..." He corrects him hesitantly. "But I forgive you, so it is."

He doesn't have a comeback for that one.

He was expecting by this point in the conversation that there wouldn't be anything else that could surprise him, but Emmet does have one last trick he isn't prepared for. He sets his can down on the floor.

"Do-"

He trips over his own tongue and has to start again, except now he's silently cursing himself, because he now has Emmet's undivided attention.

"You. You came all the way out here." "Oh- Right, I should get going-" He starts to pick himself up, quickly making another attempt to dry his eyes- "DO- YOU! WAnt a hug!"

He's stopped mid crouch, failing his attempt to stand and you'd think he never tried to leave his chair.

Emmet panics, throwing out both his arms in his direction but refusing to look at him.

Emmet isn't, exactly sure how to respond. "...Do you want to give me a hug?"

The other falters. His arms twitch. "You do not have to! I wanted to offer." "You are sad. And upset." "And you came all this way-"

"But do you actually want to?" He measures his tone carefully... The hurt in his voice is small, but present.

"Or do you just feel like you need to?"

He flinches, arms curling back to himself until he's tied himself smaller, holding his upper arms tightly. Emmet can immediately read and recognize that tell, want, and he's immediately regretting reading into the offer. It's more obvious how tightly he's caught his own grip because he isn't wearing his gloves. He's fully turned away from him, now. Emmet's heart sinks like a hard stone. "Right- Sorry! I shouldn't have asked!" "It is rude to disrespect personal space!"

His heart wrenches into a violent knot, twisting at the familiar phrase.  The amount of times he's had to remind himself of that since Ingo disappeared, he could never count.

"I- Didn't mean to- Sorry-! I-!" Emmet has cleared the paltry space between them before the other can finish another stammering sentence.  He holds onto Emmet fiercely tight, looping his hands under his far arm so he can pull himself into Emmet's shoulder. Any conversation is sharply silenced as his arms untangle from their self-soothing spots to loop around his torso instead. 

He's actually quite cold to the touch, after Emmet picks his gloves off. His rolled up sleeves and foregone coat must not keep the heat in very well, and the thin walls of the shipping container aren't insulating the chill from deep underground.

Any shared tears past that point are between them and the computers.

"I'm sorry-" "I'm sorry." "It's going to be okay." "I'm going to make it okay again." "I promise." "But you don't have to do it alone, do you?"

"No." "And I don't- I don't want to."

"I do not want to anymore."

"Perfect!" "Then I will not let you be alone."

Reflection AU Masterpost

[subway-boss-jericho]

(Art anon… hammer anon? This is going to be funny when I inevitably post that art (I am actively making sketches help))

Oooo I freaking. Love it when one delves into the Implications. Like- both parties agreed to this, but neither knew what it would actually Be Like and now they are just showing their Whole Soul to another person and it can be absolutely Terrifying! But they are going to communicate anyway. Because they care about each other enough to. Because the other person is Worth It.

(also love that Emmet asked ingo if he wanted to fuse so they could never be apart again and ingo said Yes. This means so much to me. I don’t even have words I’m just. *gestures franticly*)

(I am Very Incredibly Normal about Diamond Crossing. So Normal)

I love this. Shaking coupled (uncoupled) so hard now. I think it’s actually Really Cool how a lot of the people in this fandom are like “yes the twins have a good relationship but that’s because they Talk with one another and seek to Understand each other” fusion is just another Fantastic way to symbolize that! (And ough I would Love to see more less acknowledged emotions and relationships there too. It’s So Much Fun to play around with)

not! Asking you to spoil the whole plot! I’d freaking Love to read whatever fic you write about it =D

feel free to continue to use my asks to Absolutely Go Off. it is verrry fun to read!

Yep (nodding my head) they DEFINITELY communicate with eachother. That definitely happens and nothing goes wrong. Trust /lh

Read: They Get There Eventually.

My favorite part about Coupled (Uncoupled) is that fusion is not the magical cure-all to Emmet's anxieties that he wanted it to be. It makes the story much more nuanced and fun to explore, although it does also make it much more sad and upsetting before it eventually gets a lot brighter. And like I mentioned on the master post, he is Not stuck like that. Yknow. Forever :]

(Rest of the Jericho-typical ramble continued below!)

(insert crying emoji that isn't on tumblr) Yeah. It means a lot to me too. The thing that hurts most about the story, which I will ""spoil,"" is that Emmet does kinda blame himself for things "going wrong" (read: not being how he expected), and by extension in his upset + anxiety, he forgets that Ingo explicitly agreed to try it with him. The first + second major arcs in coupled uncoupled are the hard emotional parts that make the later resolutions feel all the more powerful and unshakable, but even in the beginning, Ingo had always agreed to at least try. Even before things are resolved, the core emotional foundation of this domino effect chain was still always trust and love.

High fives in So Normal About Diamond Crossing. we're so normal.

You inadvertently inspiring me to ramble about Coupled (Uncoupled) has had the accidental effect of making me think about it a Lot. I'm so fucking glad someone else is shaking them besides me (and again, the few close friends I talk about my AUs with,) because holy SHIT I want to talk about them + share their story + make their story + draw them all the time so bad it makes me look STUPID but I have also failed to talk about them Anywhere online before this point. It's one of the stories I'm the most tight-lipped about since I actually Want To Write It, downside of that is that I, by extension, never get to talk about it Or, never got to before now :D thank you again! infinitely! forever!

Accidental side effect: rip to Steady Tracks, I have not added any more words to the document for several days. Because I have been staring at my computer and being so ill about coupled (uncoupled). I WILL be back to it very soon though, I refuse to let my attention... waver :p

Anyways, yeah, while I love a good "we fit perfectly together" pair like Ingo and Emmet, I also really really love it even more when that intensely strong bond is build on a firm, realistic foundation of mutual care, support, and communication. So a lot of my AUs exist because of me wanting to stress-test that devotion/appreciation/commitment to work out problems, which makes things Extremely Fun to write but also oooohhh.... so goddamn complicated...... This is why I consider myself a "Hurt/Comfort" writer, because I almost universally find stories most compelling if they drop to very low points, dark moments, or genuine, heart-breaking struggles, only to show that this earnest and wholly compassionate care does and will always prevail in the end. That (a relationship) is not about never having problems, but about learning to solve them and being committed to recovery/change after the fact.

Gonna move on before I sob about them. I care them SO much, and coupled (uncoupled) is one of the strongest examples of this in my writing. They have gone, are going, and will continue to go the distance for eachother, thick and thin.

Minor side-tangent based on the last thing about other relationships/dynamics in fusion-

(Edit: After writing a lot more I realized quickly that this was, in fact, not a minor side tangent. It is in fact a major and worthwhile extrapolation on how i feel, however might also be mildly uncomfortable to discuss, and that's okay. If you don't want to hear me talk about my frustration with how our society bastardizes close platonic relationships, you can stop reading at any time or skip to the bottom 👍)

One of the other reasons I haven't talked about Coupled (Uncoupled) online yet is because I get really nervous about it. Fusion is very frequently connoted as romantic, and the coupled twins themselves are very physically affectionate with eachother (yknow, before & after the Horrors™) and so internally I've always been a little worried that people will think I am being weird/creepy/portraying them in a way that is 'too far' for some people, or just generally that people will misinterpret them having a good and healthy relationship with them having an unhealthy and uncool 'relationship.' you get my drift.

On the scale from Aro/Ace-to-Allo I am so fucking far into the side of Not Experiencing Romantic or Sexual Feelings Of Any Kind that I often fear my very firm and active appreciation + inclusion of platonic affection will be taken the wrong way in. Yknow. The twins' familial context.

If it helps put it in perspective, nothing I ever write the twins doing is stuff that I wouldn't also do with close friends and family. I like platonic hand holding. I like platonic cuddles. I like being tangled in a platonic knot of limbs on the couch. I like platonic forehead kisses sometimes. Hell, I got to have a friend over for thanksgiving and I recently got a really comfortable but also large bed, and instead of banishing them to the couch I gave them a spot next to me. (it's a big fuckin bed??? it's a BIG bed. Styled to look like a couch. Very cool and much needed QoL upgrade for me) and it was probably the best and easiest night of sleep I've had in actual months. I bonk foreheads with my little brother, I hug my dad as closely to my chest as I can. So while my relationship with affection and how to show it physically is perhaps pushing the normal societally accepted expectations, it brings me a lot of joy.

And I want my art/writing to be able to express that through the twins without it having some kind of fetishized romantic connotation, because it bothers me a lot when the level of affection that I view as healthy and appropriate within platonic boundaries is Forced to be coded as romantic. (shipping family members together in general just, really makes me violently uncomfortable beyond a way i can put into words. I'm not going to go into it but there was a point in time after I had been on the internet long enough to know that it has bad/uncomfortable sides that I started distancing myself from my family IRL, and only recently started to open up again)

aw shit that ended up being long and serious. well uh, sorry. Probably not the ramble you were hoping for ;^; I care a lot about the coupled twins, and especially how close they are, so by extension it also takes me a lot of vulnerability to post about them online when I know the internet can warp and twist the things i love into something disturbing and upsetting to me. Here's to hoping that doesn't happen, but I can't really control what other people will think, say, or do. I just hope they don't get me involved :[

So, while not spoiling the "whole plot," I think it's easy for me to say that Coupled (Uncoupled) is built on an intense, unconditional love. The whole story is about love. The whole story is about how loving people is hard, about how loving someone means putting in the work to understand and know eachother. About how love can hurt you, but how real, strong love built on a foundation of trust and compassion will heal you far more than it can ever hurt you. there's a reason why the AU is named how it is.

cool I'm gonna go explode into tears about them now 🥺 im real fucked up about Coupled (Uncoupled).

(Actually I do want to note, you accidentally encouraging me to ramble about them is Also why I didn't immediately answer this ask and the next one. Because I was thinking about them so hard I couldn't actually think straight long enough to write the reply I wanted to yesterday.)

As always, thank you for the ask! 🤍 It is appreciated beyond words. Although I feel like the sheer number of words I use to answer them are pretty clear indicators of how much fun I'm having + how much this means to me

[Emmet-Black sketchbook doodle; The first time they fuse.]

[subway-boss-jericho]

(threataning with art anon) yes! Rambles! Also you are so incredibly real for imagining all that stuff in different mediums (I have had similar experience) wish I could make a full animated film. That would be So Cool.

And! At one time or another I think I’ve read through the majority of the aus, but you are so right I freaking. Love the Mech AU. And coupled (uncoupled) looks like it would a verrry interesting character study (in like a “I wouldn’t do this but ingo would. Huh” kinda way)

help I’m reading them all again

also! I am here to encourage prattling I love prattling (it gives me more ideas for drawing-)

Hiii hii welcome back thank you for continuing to enable me :D

:D Yayy I'm so thrilled you like them. I never know if people actually think my wild bullshit is interesting or they just follow me for one thing (wheeze) ((Which, to be clear, is still totally fair and valid. No shame)) Of the AUs I've uploaded, I think the one that has gotten disproportionately ignored the worst is Coupled (Uncoupled). I am fucking obsessed with the coupled twins, and you're exactly right on the money there because holy Shit it's Such a character-study-rich situation to put them in. They were my in my top 3 indisputably Favorite AUs for a very long time (along with Steady Tracks and Spirit Keeper as the other two) and while I feel like I'm not super vocal about them they're still extremely high on that metaphorical list.

Realistically I could never actually list my Favorites, for the same reason why I can't really pick favorite pokemon. I like all my AUs for different reasons, so I may like one aspect of a given AU more than a different aspect of a different AU, but actually Ranking them As Favorites would be virtually impossible. Just know that I'm horribly fucking ill about coupled uncoupled more than most of the other smaller ones. Some day I'll vibe check you all so fucking hard with art or animation or writing out of left field that is about them, and then none of yall fucks will ever be normal again /lh /j

Actually. I've been struggling to write a caption for this thing so I can post it for months. Check this out:

I'M SO NORMAL ABOUT THEM.

Slaps top of this guy. He can fit two people's worth of the worst existential socio-emotional crises in him. I love gel pens.

I've decided to keep rambling about whatever the fuck on this topic, but I'm putting a cut here for my sanity:

Anyway! I really did make this AU entirely because I saw a fandom trend and went Whoa! Did we consider The Implications! And then didn't wait for an answer. Considering the implications is actually the Thing I Do the Most as I am writing in general, as any friend of mine can easily confirm. It's how a decent number of my AUs happened. I also have a trend towards either 1. trying to make an AU that doesn't touch on anything I've seen other people doing or 2. is explicitly inspired by what I perceive as trends in the fandom. Coupled Uncoupled is one of the latter, being directly inspired by Diamond Crossing. God I was not normal about diamond crossing. I'm Still Not Normal about diamond crossing.

I'm a HUGE fan of fusion in media, just in general. I don't actually know a whole lot of examples off the top of my head other than steven universe, but fusion as a concept drives me totally crazy. What if you and your friend/best friend/closest ally/rival/enemy/lover/a stranger etc could be the same person through a process so crazy intimate and vulnerable that it forces you to expose your deepest weaknesses, insecurities, emotions and motivations fully and without restraint. Sure I can be normal about that 👍

But yeah coupled uncoupled isn't like, me looking at Diamond Crossing or any other fic for that matter and going "I could do it better/I don't like insert plot point A," it was actually me looking at diamond crossing and going holy FUCK this is the COOLEST SHIT I'VE EVER SEEN. I need to participate in this or I am going to die. Then I came up with a million different ideas of fusion stories I thought would be interesting to tell, identified aforementioned trope of using the b2/w2 DNA splicers as a plot device, and went. ohohohohohohhoohohohoo i could do something silly and fucked up me thinks.

What if fusion was great and cool and awesome and a coping mechanism for a trauma/grief and also not what you thought and also more than you bargained for and also didn't give you the closure you were expecting and ALSO you didn't know how to make it stop.

Fusion as a mistake. Fusion as a regret. Fusion as a character flaw. Fusion as a major conflict (that isn't inherently connoted about?? forms of abuse and toxic relationships?? can we use fusion as a metaphor for other nuanced things too?? pls let me have this /lh)

Anyway their story is extremely complex and just by listing off ^ that I am extremely underselling the level of interwoven conflict and complicated emotional states of all parties involved so please do not misunderstand and think that one of the twins is fucked up and evil. I swear i didn't mischaracterize them that badly 🤣 The main point of the story, just off the top of my head, is actually focused around the theme of vulnerability, conflict resolution, and the strength of relationships founded on communication.

Trying to avoid spoiling The Entire Plot because I really think Coupled (Uncoupled) is going to be my next major fic project but in essence it does get better and this new tool available to them only opens the door for them to be closer than ever before and express care and compassion in new ways unique to them. i might make myself cry if I keep yammering. i care them

God I totally just used your ask as an excuse to go off. I've been doing that every time you send an ask, actually. This is why I love asks. Tysm <3 And I hope you enjoyed reading or if you didn't and TL;DR then basically god i'm so ill about them.

Every day I think about how a friend of mine made an entire animatic for this AU and yet we can't put it anywhere because we both want to remake it digitally. thats going to be one hell of a day when that bombshell drops

Thank you for the ask, and as always thank you for listening!

Coupled (Uncoupled) Masterpost

[subway-boss-jericho]

Just so you know, I was the one who reblogged the most recent update showcasing how (not) normal I was about it (it was on my Pokémon sideblog, so that's why I am mentioning this).

Usually, I just read fanfics on Ao3 when logged out, but for once, I remembered I had an Ao3 account to begin with and decided to log back in.

The fact that the recollection of having one (and actively deciding to log back in) was because of the existence of the same fic of yours that has me in a chokehold, though, is kinda funny, ngl.

So thanks for that, lol.

HHAHAHAHAHAHA OH MY GOD......... IM SO SORRY FOR LEAVING YOU HANGING FOR THIS MANY YEARS. I am trying not to laugh super loudly because it's getting late over here but holy shit. I can't believe I brainrot hyberbeam'd you that bad. Sorry, or your welcome 🤣

I seriously can't express how much this means to me, though. I have been in a fucking State the last several years, especially with burnout really messing up my plans to make things, so the fact that people (like you!!!) still care so much and are excited actually helps my brain be so much more kind to me. It's so intensely comforting and heartwarming in a way I can't properly express rn, because I've been too verbal all day and my braincells are rapidly collapsing.

Just know that readers, commenters, and kind lurkers like you are one of the biggest reasons I've stayed determined to keep going, and my biggest comfort when it all feels like it's Not Enough. (Dealt with that sentiment in particular a lot for the first... Year and half after chapter 1 was posted.)

Thank you 🤍 Genuinely. It means everything to me.

[subway-boss-jericho]

(same anon that threatened you with art)

legally required to tell you which ones I like- understood. Namely it’s steady tracks (bc I’ve actually had a wip drawing of that for uh *checks files* a… year? And a half?) bc I freaking Love It when the twins become Creature.

by extension that means I adore comebee ingo and emmet and the fossil au and spirit keeper.

those are! The main ones but I really like a Whole Lot of ‘em. Very few will be spared in my (eventual) rampage

whoa epic awesome cool wicked thesaurus.com synonym for great

Welcome to the steady tracks curse! you have it in your wips and then years go by! no one is spared, not even me! /lh

That's a great trio to follow up with though. Those four combined are barely similar /lh You've got the two pokemon AUs and the two ingos in the Oldest Guy Ever club. You love to see it.

But no seriously, this is a serious all star team of favorites. I haven't elaborated on a lot of them beyond the masterlist posts I made, which is super on me, but Steady Tracks, Combee AU and Spirit Keeper Ingo are three of my oldest AUs. By extensionm they're also the ones I am most emotionally attached to. I don't know what form/s it will come in, but spirit keeper and combees are DEFINITELY getting more stuff eventually. I just have to figure out. How. and what, and when.

Fossil AU is one of the ones I've had a while but only started developing more recently, so it's currently in my head all the time. I wish I could elaborate on it but unfortunately it is in the stage of mental illness where I have no idea how to talk about it or explain it to anyone outside of two (2) very close friends. that will absolutely fucking happen though i still stare at that drawing i made a few months ago with fossil ingo and little pearl. i'd fucking kill for little pearl so we're clear. I'm so unwell about fossil it's just in the intangible inexplicable kind of way currently

Downside of having all these AUs is that they all exist in different forms in my head. Spirit keeper is probably supposed to be a comic, but might also end up having longer fic-like sections. Combee AU i want to be a fic i think, but I haven't actually WRITTEN anything for it in SO long. it's gotten swept under the artistic rug in favor of silly doodles. Steady tracks is in eternal hell under the curse, as we all know (nodding sagely)((ITS GOING TO BE FUCKING FREE SOON SO HELP ME GOD)) and I'll be honest I haven't thought about fossil au long enough for it to have a solid medium, but i feel like looser doodle comics would be fun. Or maybe more Big Cool Artwork + smaller written thing. Unsure.

But like, god forbid we talk about Mecha AU or Coupled Uncoupled. The original timeline of the mecha au is an official pokemon animated feature-length movie in my head. I have since developed it in a different direction and I have no idea what the hell I'm gonna do with that. There may or may not be a fully 3D animated goodbye to a world animation for that in the next 3 years because i learned how to model and animate in blender and my power is now unlimited. Coupled (Uncoupled) is a series of Long Fics (like, steady tracks long) mixed with song animatics and animation memes. That thing is so not going to end up being told in the form it exists as in my brain. Many of the other aus are like this

Oh that was a Ramble:tm: my bad. All of this was to say hey, if you ever need a reference for steady tracks ingo, I'm trying to make a 3D model for him rn. It's currently being sidelined in favor of the chapter itself and a 2d artwork I'm doing, but some day he'll be Real. I've got everything modeled except for his legs (hell) and prat of his head (also hell but less) so that's at least something

I forgot where I was going with this. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to fuckin prattle. love prattling. in controlled environments

If you like it when there are Creatures, consider also checking out omgPMD AU and Take My Hand. Similar but slightly different concepts. I imagine you've probably already seen them but I figured i'd mention anyway

Thanks for chatting!! <3 <- i did most of the chatting via ramble but i still value you engaging with my work more than i can put into meaningful words

[subway-boss-jericho]

Ladies and gentlemen, at 12,311 words I have made it to the final section of Steady Tracks Chapter 2

You all thought I was joking when I said I was hoping to go into a fugue state and finish the entire thing in a week. jokes on you, I've written 3,000 words today

[subway-boss-jericho]

God I love writing steady tracks. I love having the motivation and inspiration to work on it again. I feel so alive and great rn. Peak experience

We are at 10.8k words and counting. I've written 1.4k so far today, and I'll probably keep writing after this post. I am thriving. I am in my lane. Writing steady tracks Emmet is so hard but fun because I feel like I never know exactly how his relationship with grief is going to change his reactions and that's like the best part. He's So. anyway I'm gonna stop rambling here and put these words to good use on the chapter

[subway-boss-jericho]

I just wanna say that you have Cursed me and now I Desperately Wish to draw As Many of your aus as I can and I Don’t Have the Time!! /lh

once this season is over- by Golly you’d better be prepared!!

Best of luck with your writing endeavors!

Oh my god I fully understand. I want to make art for so many other people's AUs. I want to make so much art for My Own AUs. where is the time for whimsy and art. (opens my time wallet and a single dustox flies out.) ((<- Joke I would have drawn if I HAD THE TIME...))

I fully understand. I am so mentally ill 🤝No pressure or stress to deliver, I Get It.

Please do know that if you draw anything it Will Kill Me and I Will Die and that may involve me laying in my bed in the fetal position with tears in my eyes as I stare at said hypothetical art on my phone. I wish I was joking but no, anyone drawing me anything never fails to make me explode (positive)

More than anything I'm glad you're having a good time!! I love talking about my AUs but it also just doesn't come especially natural to me. I hope I can continue making ideas that inspire you!! Thank you so much! 🥺🤍

[subway-boss-jericho]

Every time I make a tumblr post I get an intense itch to continue making tumblr posts and liveblog into the void. Dangerous. Addicting. Kind of funny. I try not to post too many rambles in a row but man. if it'll help me post more maybe that doesn't matter actually

Current random thoughts and experiences writing steady tracks chapter 2:

Today I went back and reread everything I've written in the last two years. I am pleased to report that almost nothing needed changed or fixed except for more recent things that hadn't been edited.

Apparently the thing that motivates me to write the most is creating a random, arbitrary side character with something wrong with their gender (affectionate) and giving them a sentence or two's worth of dialogue to transition the plot between parts I'm struggling with. So anyways keep an eye out for the new freak (affectionate) in chapter two to go along with frizzle from chapter one in the "i gave them a name and a gender and a single personality trait and now I'm emotionally attached" club. (2.5) ^ said new character doesn't use pronouns and only goes by name and jesus thats hard to write, but I feel like I've done a pretty solid job at making it not confusing

Speaking of pronouns. I can't go a day without a headcanon, apparently. So the next chapter is going to start off with a note explaining which nicknames I've given Ingo's and Emmet's pokemon plus which pronouns they use because damn man i guess weird genders and neo pronouns are just fun to write. These creatures are not confined by humans' societal gender expectations even slightly and i'm tired of pretending they should be. Biggest worry is that it will distract from the experience, but I'm doing my best to write it in a way that is as minimally intrusive as I can make it while still doing what i wanna do.

The formatting in this chapter has been like the funnest thing on the whole planet. I really hope someone enjoys this as much as I do, I'm having a blast. I had to figure out what ingo and emmet's last name is because I wanted emmet to write a follow up email to juniper. it's 1 word in a 300 word, single exchange email chain, but i sure did spend 45 minutes trying to find a name i liked.

jesus christ there are so many side characters in this chapter!! shit dude! the hardest thing for me to write is more than three characters in one place at one time. Not only am I characterizing Emmet's entire team, I've also got a whole goddamn battalion of named depot agents with distinct personalities and pokemon teams.

jirachi's fuckin tanzaku i am 9k words in and ingo hasn't even shown up yet! i feel like this chapter is going to need to be a minimum of 15k words. surely. and by need to be I mean it needs to be that long in order for it to stop where I want it to, narratively.

Could this have been multiple posts? yeah! but as I just said and as anyone who's ever read steady tracks should know from experience I just need the thought to keep going until it gets to a place I'm satisfied, and today that's one Real Long Post about how steady tracks is goin

anyway man if anyone ever wondered if i was still writing steady tracks and how that's been, yeah, I sure have. It hasn't been fast and it hasn't been easy but jirachi alive tehy live in my brain. You can really tell how starting college affected my energy and burnout levels by examining my progress on chapter 2. the relationship is Linear

[subway-boss-jericho]

finals are: Over We are so: Fucking back (for the next 4 weeks)

I am so unburnt out. I am chill. I am freezing. I am ice cold. I am antonym for burnt out. I have so many things cooking and the hardest thing over winter break is going to be focusing on one of them until it is complete.

Goals:

Steady tracks. Holy shit i wanna write so bad it makes me look stupid. Would love to enter a fugue state and finish the entire second chapter in a week. I've been working on a drawing in my spare time for the last several weeks and my big plan is to hopefully, eventually, make them into Big Holographic Stickers. That's cooking now and I think about it every day, I just can't afford to print them yet and I don't know how to sell them yet 3D modeling. hoog fuck I want to 3D model so bad it makes me look positively foolish. Now that I know how and I have the time to try, holy SHIT i want to model so badly. I want you all to know I am halfway done with a 3D model of steady tracks ingo and I am having the best time of my life Post more. That sounds obvious but now that I have at least a shred of mental capacity I really want to most more of my work. It's been hard to figure out what to post and when and what to caption art with and yadda yadda yadda etcetera but I am continuing to try and be optimistic.

So that's what you missed on Me! Hopefully more soon. god I want to create

[subway-boss-jericho]

I talk big game and then Bam. Finals week The fool is me but by God when you hear those bells jingling miserably across the floor next you better get hyped

[subway-boss-jericho]

something something fictional characters' birthdays something something screw this post and happy birthday to Redmet who I made as a head-empty digital warmup a year ago and has never left my brain since

(Original digital painting thing)

(These two doodles in my sketchbook)

(Drawing from the two days ago where I, on a whim, decided to make him the subject of a high-effort doodle. Cut to me going home, finding checking the original doodle, and finding that my brain put him back in my head almost exactly a year later for NO reason.)

Who is he? Why is he here?? Great question. You know about as much as I do, he's an enigma to me and I do not comprehend his intentions. There's a really blurry line going on here between AU and OC and he feels like he's walking straight down the middle. A friend described him as the herobrine for my brain and I can't stop thinking about it

Lore? No idea boss. Personality? Cryptic and unclear. What is His Deal? I am Not Sure. Why does he Look Like That? Whimsy, I suppose. I picked up a red digital paintbrush and couldn't decide if I wanted to draw Emmet or Ingo and I guess this is just happening now.

I've misremembered his original design but I really like how the most recent drawing turned out so I might go through and make a proper reference, something about him fascinates me and I'm keeping him. Here to stay. Will probably make guest appearances around here, unsure

:] happy birthday Redmet. hope y'all like him. even if you don't I do ✨

[subway-boss-jericho]

I hope you guys are ready for some Shenanigans because I am remembering how to draw for fun again and You Got A Big Storm Coming

[subway-boss-jericho]

I've been thinking about trying to write(/actually post) more one-shot written things about my AUs, like the one I wrote here for fossil AU. I already have one that's technically post-ready quality for Reflection AU, but I'm curious if any of you have any particular AUs you'd be curious in hearing more about.

I also have some much, much older writing for Combee AU and 2D AU, but I'm not sure how much editing I would need to do because I wrote those years ago and I don't remember if they make sense out of context.

Thoughts? I'm still working on STDNW Chapter 2, which is substantially closer to being finished than it was two months ago, and I don't want to pull my main focus away from that for too long :squint: but maybe some smaller prompts for that would be better instead of worse. I dunno. Hard to say. I also don't really want to do any smaller/shorter writing for Coupled (Uncoupled) yet either because that's something I wanna make a Main Fic out of, but I don't want to start writing it until steady tracks chapter 2 is finally done. I dunno. It feels like a bad idea to have two potentially long fics fighting for my attention. I don't wanna procrastinating steady tracks by working on coupled (uncoupled) Other than that, door's wide open. Lemme know what you guys might be interested in, I want to try and post more writing publicly (because god knows I have so much of it that i just keep to myself) I'm not super great at writing anything under 3k words long so. I suppose this is also me trying to break out of my chronic longfic habits. I mean for jirachi's sake look at the length of this post

(Here's the main list with all of them if you wanna take a look)

[subway-boss-jericho]

Back on the silly post grind. I've been struggling to work through the Brain + Social Media Issues again, so instead of making myself upset I've put together a chart of how touch starved all my AU guys are on a scale from 1 to 10. And how Autistic Sensory Issues they also are on a scale from 1 to 10.

You can find all my AUs here

Favorites from this list are all my corner boys. Shout out to the corner boys. You're so intensely motivated towards the extremes that writing you is SO fun. That's Spirit Keeper Ingo (bottom right) Engineer Emmet + Half Ghost Emmet (bottom left) And the Little Helpers on the top left with the Coupled Twins in close second

I love charts and graphs. Nothing is better than a graph so specific that it won't make sense to anyone but me.

[subway-boss-jericho]

Fuck it. Silly post time

My doodles from my class notes this + last week. I have been struggling to draw my guys on model lately so you can see some of the Struggles. go ahead, look at em. i am so human but watch me go. Anyways, these are in order from oldest to most recent (the ones I did in class today.) Trying to figure out how i want to draw them again, because it seems I can never quite do it the same way twice. Mildly frustrating, but it does leave space for silly posts like this. I hope someone else finds as much amusement in offended tynamo as I do.

AUs include spirit keeper (I've forgotten how to draw??? his hair??? which is like his most identifying feature???? don't know where THAT muscle memory went but it is GONE) and also Steady Tracks Ingo (who I have Never figured out how to draw in the first place tbh). Also pictured: an intentionally rare little ingo appearance. Also noticed I've been drawing more canon-compliant doodles than I normally do, so that's neat! Top right image (the third one) is my INSANELY botched attempt at drawing the One Move twins. Literally turbo fucked that one. look at ingo's face. Unrecognizable. Will I stop using an ink pen? when I die maybe

Anyways. God be damned I am Having Fun. Wanted to offer you my doodles in the hopes they make someone else smile too today. Oh the train is just a train, I just figured you guys would like that one. Even though I'm struggling to keep my pen steady or my lines consistent, I am still very happy with several things here. The smoke on the train, and the two middle Emmets on the very last image in particular I really love

silly post complete. have a great timezone

[subway-boss-jericho]

Emmet and Ingo's Back Office from Steady Tracks Do Not Waver!

I've been holding on to this one to post on a bad day. guess who is learning how to 3d model. This bitch. my power is unlimited ST!Ingo getting hit with the 3D beam as soon as classes let up on me

more on the way soon (relatively)

Steady Tracks Masterpost