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meloodyxx · 19 days ago

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RECAP OF SHELBY SHUBBLE LORE!! a.k.a. mel refuses to study for her physics exam (its all connected part 1.)

disclaimer: i wrote this in 3 sittings and didn't edit it at all. dont expect it to be good.

PART 1. EMPIRES SMP S1 - my ex-bully transferred to my new school?!

shrub berry arrives to the world of empires season 1 a bit later than most of the cast. how does she arrive you ask? she was chased by Xornoth-the local server demon- from her gnome paradise after it was abselutely destroyed by said demon.

she starts making her empire, containing hobbit holes and giant mushrrom homes. the citizens? her beloved wolf pack that are named after the solar system/zodiac signs and her hand-carved wood friends! and a dire wolf!

everything going great!! xornoth returns!!! everything is now catasthropic!!

xornoth haunts her in her empire as shrub tries to be tough and scary, only to fail and start confessing her sins to him.

she sees a severed wolf head inside of her house. gem comes to talk to her about. gem comes to visit with her book, containing information about the demon. she gives her a corruption containment box. shrub chucks it in her home-made mushroom fairy circle.

there is now a protector (tiny cute lil mushroom man) watching over undergrove

lizzie and joels wedding!! also xornoth is now properly revealed to everyone.

the final end battle. xornoth gets full power (ohhh no. ohhh no.) also update on undergrove, there is now a giant eye!! "oh it's crying. he's sad. therapy would've been so much eaaasier" the tentacles around undergrove are getting worse day by day. there are also red gian crystal floating up in the sky.)

shrub gets kidnapped by joey. she then escapes

shrub gets kidnapped by joey AGAIN. while in the final battle against xornoth. gem helps her escape

xornoth is finally defeated and put inside a crystal (which looks supiciously yummy- this will become relevant later on)

THE CROOOOOOOWN IS HERE!!

then, we have the start of the somehow-even-more-depressed shrub arc! she misses her people, deeply wants to belong somewhere and she starts growing closer and closer to her wolf pack, resulting her on putting on a persona called the wolf spirit.

but suddenly, it hits her. xornoth is gone and so is the corruption, this may possibly mean that her home is now free.

she steps into the portal, comes back to her home (now abandoned). excited to spread the news, she goes to fwhip to show him. they walk into the portal, and its... the reuglar nether. then, they proceed to steal the xornoth crystal from scott (who was still in his elsa arc by then and therefore could not be trusted with it.) she might or might not have tried to eat it. i will leave that up to your imaginations :D

this is where shrub starts to lowkey loose her mind, so buckle up! she meets up with gem (who was still in her anna arc) when gem asks for her help. shrub gives her a soup and gem's white streak turns RED. the xornoth crystal is also whispering to her at this point

our girl gets THE CROWNNNN from joey's scavenger hunt, yayyyy!! she orders everyone to get 5 wolves within their empire so she can keep an eye out on everyone, yayyy!! she is having nightmares and hearing whispers which leads to her giving up the crown to katherinne, not yay!! this is horrible!! she is having a terrible time!!,

what time is it? its time to go full on wolf spirit on everyone!! is what the exact thoughts that were in her mind in her last couple episodes in season 2. she ran away from everyone, took all of her wolves and started a totally normal camping trip.

shrub then found the mother wolf of another forest who has a message for her. she learns that the nether is a gateway which makes it possible for her to find all of the remaining gnomes.

after the rapture, the disaster that effected all of the empires, she takes all her wolfs, gives a final goodbye to undergrove, and goes to search for the remaining gnomes.

these were on three seperate episodes and i thought it'd be funny to include them

another thing that i think is notable to mention about this part is that cc!shelby has teased the possible continuation of shrub's storyline multiple times during these following years. although it hasn't been revealed yet, it is preasumed to give her story the closure it needed.

PART 2. EMPIRES SMP S2- a day in the life of a high school dropout

how does this connect to empires- you ask? well, empires 2 is set to be thousands of years later empires 1! (theres also other connections so just keep reading. source: trust me bro)

empires smp season 2 starts as shelby the witch, being sent to the mangrove forest by the great witches academy.

the mangrove forest is rumored to be haunted. the rumours are unfortunately true. in good news, katherine made her a witch hat! ( it is huge) she also now has a potion store.

remember that potion store? that witch better get herself an ukulele and film an apology video because that potion store caused her to accidentally break a whole dimension, causeing her to replace it. the academy is NOT happy about her recent progress, which is seen when shelby was welcomed by an expulsion letter. they banned her from being a witch. (update: the letter is now burning in lava)

she finds an " old gnome spell" which is the instructions on making the wood-people from undergrove (empires s1 reference count: 1) she also finds a sign saying "i know what you did"

she is also now hearing whispers from the mysterious fog. it has become a pattern now, her hearing things. she also now has a broom! (collecting all the witch essentials one step at a time)

there is still a ghost in evermore.

since her potions like, never ever work, she turns sausage into a zombie and starts a zombie apocalypse for a good 2 episodes (it was a whole thing)

hermits arrive!!!

cub went into the fog to investigate. he then became infected with sculk, his only objective being to spread it, no matter what. shelby used her potions on him to cure the corruption.

great witch shelby (self proclaimed) finds a gnome settlement while wandering inside the fog. there is a broken nether portal and a sign that read "we're in heres shrub. come find us" shelby then sees the flasbacks of xornoth destroying gnomeland. (empires 1 referecne count: 2)

she has a quick dip to hermitcraft, right before coming home and seeing a wanted sign, for crimes against empires. the reward is 100.000.000 whatever the currency is

our girl is now wanted!! not by katherine, unfortunately

another academy letter. summary: bitch you can't gaslight yourself into being a witch. we sent phantoms to find you. you better surrender before they do.

we now see the start of the sculk arc!! shelby has skulk slowly taking over her from this point on. (she is "it's fine"ing herself through it. this is a common narrative among the empires members, they are all delusional.)

jimmy, after seeing the wanted signs and the sculk comes to investigate. shelby murders him.

she notices a blood trail in evermoore.

guess who's back. back again? bradwurst's back, tell a friend. (empires s1 references: 3)

guess who said the quote: "you look a lot like a little gnome i met before" do you have your guesses in? yes? ding ding dingg, you're right its bradwurst. (empires s1 references: 4)

THE CROOOOOOWWNN is back!! (empires s1 reference: 5)

she is very sculked up at this point. close to cub level. things are NOT looking great for her. she goes to bradwurst (evil sausage) for help and he wants her to go intp the sculk pit.

then the lesbians start fighting because shelby is mad at katherine for not finding a cure for katherine's curse and shelby's corruption. maybe she was just mad at herself, maybe it was the sculk talking. we'll never know... "so maybe this is just who i am now. you can't help me. maybe figure out your own problems" LOVE LOSES!!

oli visits shelby and tries to play a song to her right at the center of the old gnome settlement, standing on a sculk catalyst. shelby murders him and the sculk begins to spread *insert badass shot of shelby, now fully sculk* "huh, so that's what it feels like to be empty"

undergrove is more haunted, corrupted and sculked than before. shelby is STILL hearing noises from the fog.

our great sculky witch then enters a cleansing mode where she burns all of the haunting evidence and cleaning up the sculk from the old gnome settlement spoiler: it does not work.

the voices are still as loud as ever, and shelby is one step closer to going full-on evil shelby on everyone. she insists on "not being crazy" as she tries to murder oli again. sausage then saves the day with his empires s1 paralels and uses his wand on her to knock her dead.

problem: shelby is not waking up. soluiton: sausage gets lizzie to help and she uses her nekomancy on shelby.

shelby wakes up in an ancient city and a warden comes at her. she is transported into a fully white room.

sausage then comes to the said white room and shares his experiences about his own corruption and how he got rid of it. "let's get out of here and go get some therapy!"

she now has white hair!! (this will be relevant later) she also apologizes to oli.

then it's one of the most iconic scenes of all of empires: shelby goes to apologise to katherine. "maybe we could get coffee sometime?" "yeah!" (if i am remembering this correctly, cc!shelby said that they really enjoyed that coffee together)

she then gets a letter from her friend from the academy, saying that since the principal turned out to be evil, everyone's records are wiped clean. this means she can return to the academy!

she goes to god joel to learn about lightining magic.

BOOM!! 10 YEARS LATER: storm witch shelby has got a new letter in her mailbox.

PART 2.5 WITCHCRAFT- is white hair still hip and cool?

we pick up right were we left out were we find out what the letter means. the letter is from the supreme witch, inviting her to be a part of a competition where 8 witces battle it out to become the new supreme witch.

the challenges go by as storm witch is getting more and more powerful. "wow, i cant believe how strong ive gotten. this is everything ive ever wanted. i wonder what she'll think of be once i go back home. i'll be so different! what if i change too much? what if i win? i'm not cut out for this, i did awful in school! no no no no no. i need to do this. i have something to prove..."

the "she" does not have a confirmed identity sccording to cc!shelby, but us nature wives people love to think of her as katherine.

storm witch shelby achieved second place in the competition, loosing to scott.

she then goes back home. "it's good to be home. oh- oops. hey, sorry 'bout the rain! i'm home!"

AAAAAAND DONE. i'm planning to do more of these recaps for ccs who have characters and/or lore spanning multiple series. i've decided to start with shelby since her lore isn't that crazy when it comes to the multiversal aspect.

anways, i really enjoyed making this and i hope you enjoyed reading it!

#shubble #shelby shubble #empires smp #empires smp s1 #empires smp s2 #witchcraft smp #empires s1 #empires s2 #esmp #esmp1 #esmp2 #empiresblr #op regrets everything #op regrets nothing #melsaysthings #mel's analysis & yapping stuff

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tubbytarchia · 3 months ago

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what is it, do you think, about the smallidarity dynamic that allows jimmy the freedom to "poke back" and have that sense of reciprocity, compared to the FH dynamic where he didnt feel like an equal.

a lot of the time joel does posit himself as the "competant" one out of the two of them, just like scott did, so what do you think is the thing that makes jimmy confident in one relationship but not so much in the other.

my guess would be joels turn around in how he treats jimmy, but scott wasnt necessarily always like that either (?) (i think, i havent watched third life in a while) . especially with how fandom interprets scott as somehow being nicer to jimmy compared to others (which i dont think is true at all)

idk just the dynamic between those 3 is rly interesting to me (i also like that you point out that joel and scotts rivalry isnt as one sided as people make it out to be, scott is just better at optics)

You could boil it down to being as simple as Joel letting himself be hit back

Granted, I'm pretty sure in ESMP1 at least Scott and Jimmy are very cute, but a trend in Jimmy's dynamics with many other characters is him being enforced as the runt and denied any control, where if he tries to take any, in relationships or otherwise, he gets punished. Think of ESMP2 where he was continuously mocked and never allowed to take on the leadership he sought, instead being labelled a tyrant as an excuse to knock him down. Even on Jimmy's villain arc he wasn't taken seriously whatsoever and came out of it even more pathetic than before. Something I think exemplifies this well is the kiss fWhip gave him in the middle of Jimmy telling him that he was upset about him going behind his back (upon Sosig's encouragement too)

ESMP2 is arguably the worst of it, but that kind of treatment of Jimmy is not at all exclusive to it. He's treated as inherently worse and even corrupt in Evo, both by Martyn and the others, even though there's nothing really to support that and Jimmy goes out of his way repeatedly to prove himself to no avail. In Legacy he frequently puts himself down and is further misjudged by the others. Eg him being blamed by Joel and fWhip for mistakes in their business alliance, and Scott telling Jimmy he hadn't contributed much to a build they did together, even though in the timelapse you can see him doing close as much, not even mentioning the fact that Scott just took the design from someone else (which there's nothing wrong with but in context of him getting at Jimmy in his contribution? Hmm)

In Third Life, Jimmy trusts Scott, naturally, so he goes along with and to him, all the while Scott instils his incompetence, especially if he's being remotely challenged. Eg the whole sugarcane scene, the time Scott put down a cake for Jimmy and Jimmy (probably at least partially because of being shaken up by having triggered an explosion that killed 3 people previously), being scared, gets Scott to check it out, to which Scott basically laughs and teases him about it, in a way that makes fun of and dismisses his worry. Speaking of that explosion, when Jimmy was blaming himself afterward, Scott basically told him "yeah it was your fault" instead of comforting him. Jimmy even becomes fearful of Scott, eg when he says "what if he starts hitting me?". It's all him being punished and being played down. It's not until LimL that Jimmy really opposes him and even then he's clearly still affected

Joel also plays Jimmy down frequently, treating him horribly in ESMP2 before his sudden change of heart. Although Jimmy is already much more successful in opposing Joel than most others, he's still more often than not the loser at the end of their confrontations. The biggest example imo being when Joel kept killing him and stealing his hat and wings repeatedly while Sosig (who's supposed to be helping him there) doesn't really do much of anything to stop it and rather laughs along with it and I swear Jimmy sounds so legitemately distraught and hopeless by the end of it

Post Joel's change of heart though, all that basically stops and Jimmy usually gets teased at most instead. With each SMP and everything in between, Joel has started looking out fot Jimmy and become more comfortable being affectionate with him, which is already very different from the way Jimmy is usually treated. Joel opposes Jimmy's self depracation and the image others paint of him on multiple occasions, despite he himself also often making similar remarks. This is where his masculinity complex and homophobia come into play lol and I've spoken plenty about that before, but what I'm trying to say is that he sees Jimmy for more than most others and cares to the point of going against them whilst battling his own demons that get in the way

When he has a flirtatious exchange with Jimmy, he's stopped being vocally adamant about it being a joke instead of dismissing it. In the same way he doesn't usually dismiss Jimmy's competence and successes despite frequently joking about it. He's gone from calling Jimmy broken to telling him to not be so hard on himself. And when he does mock, Jimmy has started much more confidently mocking him right back, because he doesn't get punished for it anymore, not with Joel. It's mutual to the point of Joel just letting Jimmy hit him around if he so wishes to get back at him. Jimmy showcases his competence too when he's not being pushed down, well exemplified by his and Joel's fight in the Impossible SMP finale

I think it's evident how much Jimmy cares about Joel and values his opinion above anyone else's as a result. Because he's comfortable around him, so comfortable that he can't go one session together with Joel without making some affectionate remark or getting into some flirtatious exchange with him. Think of how readily and comfortably he engages with Joel, and then think about the 3 or more times Scott has brought up FH for Jimmy to usually not respond in the same vein (in RL, WL and an SOS stream I think). Jimmy's not stopped or discouraged or being used for someone else's benefit with Joel, and that applies to more than just the weird homoerotic energy between them, so they become something at least resemblent of equals

#sorry Im typing this on my phone in the car so like if this sucks. im sorry lol #blabber #trafficshipping #jo.el #jim.my

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pickastitch · 2 months ago

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so gem being a woman is impactful in basically all of her series since it makes her a minority, but overall, if she were to be a man, the core of the series wouldn't change

except for e1!gem, her being a woman is so fundamental to her character. yeah, in theory, it could still work if she was a man, but it would dullen the story. it is clear that she is forced with responsibility repeatedly with fwhip's bombs, sausage's wither flowers, corrupted sausage, ender dragon egg, xornoth, and so much else. she is always forced into maintaining peace, being a passive figure. with the codhead arc, jimmy (i feel) unfairly asks her to help him against her main alliance, and there is an implication that gem feels she has to help

specifically, with fwhip and sausage, she is constantly being talked over. gem pushes for them to not cause a war, but is ignored by them and almost gives a "oh it's a 2 v 1 vote so your opinion doesn't matter" type of vibe. when sausage was getting into dark magic, gem very explicitly told him that he should be cautious about it. then when he gets corrupted by xornoth via the whole dark magic fwhip looks to her to clean up his mess

with xornoth, there is a silent expectation and agreement that she needs to help solve the issue. although the blame very obviously lies on joey, sausage, and fwhip she is the only one who actively helps in getting rid of them because she has much more pressure on her

AND we have the whole baby dragon thing. when the mother dies, she feels responsible for her death and takes up the egg. she is putting all the responsibility upon herself as she doesn't flaunt that she has the egg around. when corrupted sausage comes to visit and steal the dragon egg, one of the main motivators of dueling sausage in that moment was to protect the dragon. the freeing xornoth thing was just a bonus. when the eggs show signs of hatching, she does everything in her power to help her. going so far as to burn down an entire village. just generally, people need to think about e1gem and her being a mother wayyy more

now with the whole schooling thing, it's no secret that most teachers are women. this does come back to gem's constant need to give back, just this time it's information. the main thing is her and scott, where she pushes him beyond his limit, and scott throws ice everywhere. i've always interpreted this scene as gem holding herself to such a high standard and expects that of other people by accident (projection!!!). and idk what girlhood is other than expectation being so pressurizing that it spills out onto the people around you

e1gem is obviously a caretaker, but i don't think it is by choice. there is a silent expectation by the people, and specifically the men, around her that, "oh it doesn't matter what we'll do gem will always fix it," and she internalizes that and interprets it as the only way she'll be wanted, making the cycle repeat. now i don't think many of the actions are intentionally misogynistic, but subconsciously gem is being placed into this generic woman box by the men around her in canon (to clarify i'm not saying any of these cc are purposely misogynistic, just that their unconscious biases could be interpreted into their characters)

so why does gem accept and play into these roles? she is a people pleaser, but also, yeah, this whole post is why transfem gem makes the most logical sense. we never see her be explicitly uncomfortable with the role itself, just how the role affects her. i would argue that gem is taking on more responsibility by choice, with the most obvious one being the ender dragon egg. even when she is already swamped with work, she just keeps on taking more and more, almost like she has something to prove. she needs to be useful. she needs to fall into these stereotypes. she needs to be seen as a woman in any way possible

#geminitay #long post #empires smp

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waytooobsessedwithmcyt · 8 months ago

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Most of the problems in ESMP s2 could be fixed by the s1 members and the s1 problems could be solved by the s2 members

Shelby got corrupted? Shrub would simply not let that happen

Sausage supreme is back? Gem would simply kill him again

S1 Sausage got corrupted? S2 Sausage has a child to look after, he can't be evil!

The rift? Look me dead in the eyes and tell me Shrub, Gem, and Scott couldn't solve that in two seconds

The s2 members weren't that close so they probably would have just killed Scott off and been like "well, at least Xornoth is gone"

Codfather vs WRA? Neither of those alliances even exist

People making fun of Jimmy? No that would actually get worse if s1 Fwhip was there, he doesn't get fixed

#empires s1 #empiresblr #empires smp #wither rose alliance #shrub berry #geminitay #scott smajor #mythicalsausage #jimmy solidarity

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all-hail-blood-sheep · 1 month ago

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Sausage can't find bubbles for an hour and nothing gets done in mythland

Sausage can't find Bubbles in an hour and he instates a state of emergency on the entirety of Mythland that he didn't even do during the worst of Xornoth's corruption; Gem is called to do as many magic spells as it takes to find her, there are sixty billion search parties, and Sausage offers the crown of Mythland plus like, three million diamonds to whoever can bring him to her safe and sound

after the whole fiasco fWhip builds a tracker collar for Sausage so he doesn't crash out so badly again, they will never let him forget it but also not bring it up cruelly because Bubbles is Sausage's emotional support dog for his trauma and he has enough attachment issues-

#empires smp #mythical sausage #empires season 1 #mythicalsausage #fwhip #geminitay #answered asks

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fr-likes-chocolate · 5 months ago

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So if you couldn't tell by my recent sobbing posts, I finished Scott’s Empires Season one.

I am totally fine and normal about it. (lie)

Anyway I can't stop thinking about how Scott never made a castle megabase, I'm sure there are some irl stuff that kept it from happening but Ive come up with my own little in-universe explaination. (this does contain spoilers, I know this series is 3 years old but you have been warned)

After the death of his parents at the hands of his brother, Scott was crowned ruler of the ruins that were Rivendell. Xornoth’s betrayal and corruption had wreaked havoc. He was considered barely an adult by elven standards.

So he slowly rebuilt what was once the great land of Rivendell. It took many years, but everything soon was restored.

Except for the castle. Scott had been putting that off for a long time. The place where he once had grown up alongside his older brother, where he had studied the affairs of mortals and trained to become prince. (because everyone thought the eldest, Xornoth, would inherit) it was where his parents were murdered in cold blood by his far too gone brother and where Scott’s happy and normal life had ended.

Scott had all the rubble cleared out from the area, and he had drafted the blueprints for the new castle to be built. Then, as one often does, he got busy with other things, building a cod sanctuary from Jimmy and later a garden for Kathering, his out of control ice powers, a road mandated by Fwhip, and Winterfest all grabbed his attention from the big project.

But by Aeor’s horns he would finish the castle or die trying! He had all the materials, all he needed was some rare dark oak from nearby and...

The ground shook, and after a quick meeting with the other emperors, Scott ran straight back to Rivendell to find it in ruins once again, with Xornoth at it’s epicenter.

And that was the last time anyone saw the elven king alive.

Scott never finished the castle, hell Rivendell was basically back at square one again, but now the entire royal family was dead. With no one left to rule, the elves scattered to the other kingdoms.

#empires spoilers #empires smp spoilers #empires smp #empires s1 #scott smajor #i am VERY normal

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primarilymedievalish · 10 days ago

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whos your favorite empires smp character, either from each season or all time? in my head its wizard gem, but the first fic i read from you was a wizard gem fic so idk if thats some sort of bias thing going on.

you are so weird (/very pos) about the characters, makes me very happy.

hehe anyway hope life is treating you well!

Oh, this is a hard one. I’m not great at picking favorites at the best of times (I am infamous for overthinking the question and choosing as my favorite whatever is currently occupying my thoughts), but Empires is important to me, which makes it a little more complicated. I will give this my best shot.

Season two is the easiest; it’s Great Witch Shelby. I must like witches in mangrove swamps whose bodies are overtaken by dark and mysterious corruption. But all jokes aside, I like her a lot.

Season one is… difficult. I’m very, very attached to season one. The short answer is that it’s complicated. The medium-length answer is Gem, but also Sausage and Pearl, and Shrub wrenches my heart. Gem is the character I’ve had for the longest, and she’s very, very dear to me as a result. She was the first perspective I watched, the first I ever wrote for, and the subject of my first longfic, and I adore her. I’ve loved her consistently for almost four years now. She’s basically a part of me. But if I’m going to talk about favorites and do the topic justice, I have to mention other characters as well. I’ve loved Shrub for almost as long as Gem; she’s also important to me, and has shaped my writing and self in ways that are difficult to quantify. Sausage—I love Sausage. He feels very medieval, and I love taking vague notes of medievalism and wrenching them into shape. The combination of his character, his story, and medievalism makes him pretty important to me. Plus, he’s fun to write, and his relations with the Wither Rose Alliance are fascinating from all angles; I especially love contrasting him with Gem. Pearl for a long time was the one I would have answered if you’d asked me to pick a favorite. Her story is rich in symbolism, her ending was as tragic as it was inevitable and fitting, and I still find new things to love about her character, even after all this time. I love her. Pearl and Sausage are fun to write, and even more fun to torment. An honorable mention is owed to Katherine; she’s my favorite of the characters I don’t write enough, and no one understands her like I do. I’ve given her a backstory, even. She’s dear to me, but I don’t think she occupies enough of my thoughts to merit the nomination. fWhip, too; he’s fascinating, and I’m trying to write him more, but he’s not habitual for me yet.

Thank you!! That is high praise indeed. I aspire to grow weirder about them every day. I hope that life is treating you well, too! <3

#Thank you for asking!#Favorites are hard. I love them all a lot #answered asks #empires s1 #empires smp #medievalishly speaking

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actualori · 3 months ago

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my fic submission for @mcyt-aro-week !!

day 6: coming out (yes it’s a few days late shhhh)

cws: none really, just some slight angst at one point

word count: 2,590

tldr: ori aro-beams sausage for 2.5k words

There’s one thing in life that Sausage has always wanted. And that was someone to love. Not as a friend, he already has plenty of those. Somebody to love. Somebody to hug and kiss and cuddle. Somebody to shower in care and affection and whisper sweet nothings to. Somebody who he would die for.

However, there’s a problem. No matter how hard he’s tried to find somebody to fill those requirements, he can’t.

He’s dated before, lots of people. At first, he thought maybe he was just dating jerks, but after raising the bar, he didn’t get his desired results. He didn’t get any in fact, he’d raised the bar too high. So he lowered it, maybe too much, which resulted in him dating Xornoth. And after dating them and royally screwing up his life, the bar now floats in some undefined limbo.

Now Sausage doesn’t know where to stand on love. He was very discouraged from his past experiences, but he refused to give up on falling in love.

“I just don’t get it,” Sausage complains, flopping onto fWhip’s bed.

“Don’t get what?” fWhip asks, glancing at him.

“Why can't I fall in love?”

“Maybe because you keep dating jerks? And get off my bed I’m trying to make it.”

Ignoring the request, Sausage sighs dramatically, “But still, it can’t be that hard!”

fWhip scoffs and tosses a blanket over Sausage. “It is, in fact, that hard. Besides, aren’t you already in love with Jimmy?”

“I’m not ‘in love’ with him, we aren’t even dating,” Sausage corrects, pulling the blanket off his face. “Besides, he’s already dating Scott. So unless they break up, which I doubt they will, I don’t have the chance to try and fall in love with him.”

“Thank goodness. I would never forgive you if you tried to date him.”

Sausage takes one of the pillows and throws it at fWhip, making him break out into giggles. “Meanie!” He shouts.

fWhip throws the pillow right back, which starts a short pillow fight between the brothers. Once they stop and catch their breath between their giggles, fWhip lays down next to Sausage.

“Seriously, what do you see in him?” fWhip asks.

Sausage thinks for a moment before answering. “Well, he’s nice, he’s funny, he’s pretty, and he makes an adorable face when he’s mad.”

“To each their own I guess.”

“I like him more than I liked Xornoth.”

“I don’t.”

Sausage stared at fWhip in shock. “Really? You like my horrible ex more than your petty rivalry? You like the demon that ruined my life and corrupted my mind and body and abused me and still gives me those horrifying nightmares?”

fWhip looked away. “I don’t. I’m sorry. I hate Xornoth more.”

“Thank you.” Sausage huffed and glared at his brother. He just smiled in response to try and lighten the mood. Sausage had come here for advice and comfort, not to listen to his crush get slandered.

They lay in silence for a few minutes. Does Sausage love Jimmy? Does he want to be his boyfriend? If so, would they ever fall in love? Would it end up like the rest of Sausage's relationships? Would they get married?

Does he even know what it means to be in love with someone?

“fWhip? Have you ever been in love?” Sausage asks quietly.

“Depends on what you mean by ‘in love’.”

Sausage hummed. “I don’t know. I guess I don’t know what it really means. What do you think?”

fWhip lets out a long sigh and sits up. “Sausage, I actually have to finish making my bed and get back to work. Why don’t you try asking Gem? She’s a lot smarter than me with stuff like this.”

“Yeah. Okay.” Sausage says, and he stands up. He puts back on his cloak and follows fWhip out the door. “Thanks for your help.”

“No problem. Good luck,” fWhip says as he escorts Sausage out of his house and closes the door behind him.

Now, Sausage is alone. He decides to walk to the Crystal Cliffs so he has some time to think. He already has a pretty good idea of what loving someone would be like, but what does it mean to be in love with someone? It is the thought of wanting to stay with someone forever, right? To want to love them and marry them and never leave their side. To want them to feel the same way about you.

Yeah, that sounds right. That’s probably it.

Thinking back to his experience with Xornoth, he definitely wasn’t in love with them. He thought he was at the time, but he’s since learned better. All relationships before that weren’t nearly as serious, so he was even less in love then. Jimmy and Scott are probably in love, maybe he can ask them what it’s supposed to be like.

He reaches the Crystal Cliffs after twenty minutes or so of walking. Gem is outside, tending to a small bed of flowers.

“I didn’t expect to see you here again so soon,” Gem said when she noticed Sausage approaching. He'd been here the night before, horribly shaken from a nightmare and seeking comfort from his sister.

“I need help,” Sausage explains, nervously wringing his hands together.

Gem stands up and brushes the small bit of dirt off of her. “What did you do this time?”

“Nothing! I just have a question!”

“Ask away.”

“What does it mean to be in love with someone?”

Gem pauses. She turns to look at Sausage with a surprised look on her face. She sighs, adjusts her ginormous hat, and asks. “Sausage, what’s going on?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking-“

“Wow really? I didn’t know you could.”

“-Shut up! I was thinking about love and the future and realized I didn’t really know what it meant to be in love with someone!”

Gem sighs again. “We’re going to have to sit down for this, aren’t we?” Not waiting for an answer, she takes Sausage by the arm and leads him inside her house. They walk upstairs and upon opening the bedroom door, Sausage immediately runs and flops onto her bed.

“I just made that!” She shouts exasperatedly over Sausage’s giggles. “At least take your shoes off!”

He does, along with his cloak. To her utter dismay, he bundles up in Gem’s perfectly made soft blankets and pillows and blinks innocently up to her.

“You are such a nuisance,” She grumbles with no real malice and sits down next to him on the bed. “Now tell me again, what do you want my help with?”

Sausage sighs. “I was thinking about my life and my future and started wondering if I’d ever fall in love.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Because I’ve always wanted to fall in love with somebody.”

“Yeah.”

“But then I realized that I don’t even know what it means to fall in love.”

“Mhm.”

“So I went to fWhip to ask him and he was no help-“

“Unsurprising.”

“-and he told me to ask you instead. Because you’re smart. And now I’m here.”

Gem nods and thinks for a minute. “Well, you were right to come to me and ask. What do you think it means to be in love?”

“Umm… I think it means wanting to stay with a person and love them and want to kiss them forever.”

“Okay,” Gem says as she grabs a small notepad and starts taking notes. What is this, therapy? Sausage already has a therapist! Maybe he should’ve asked them for help instead. “You said you’ve always wanted to fall in love with somebody, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

Why? Sausage pauses. Why does he want to fall in love so badly?

“I don’t know,” He confesses. That’s just what he’s always wanted. Falling in love has always seemed so delightful, and he's always been under the impression that you need to fall in love. That you need to date and get married and stay married to somebody forever. “I guess…” Sausage says, “Because I have to?”

“Do you though?”

Does he?

He stays silent for a few minutes, deep in thought. That’s what he’s always been told, by his parents, the books he’s read, his advisors, everyone. You have to fall in love and get married and have children. His kingdom needs an heir. But if he never falls in love he’ll never have a baby. No, that’s not true. He could always have a child with someone he doesn’t love, his parents did, but his childhood was terrible because of it, and he would never choose to bring that on someone else.

“Why do you think you have to?” Gem asks softly when Sausage doesn’t respond.

“So I’ll be happy,” He responds without thinking.

“Do you need to fall in love to be happy? Aren’t you already happy with us? Your friends? Your family? Your citizens?”

She’s right. He is happy. His life is great without a partner. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“So you don't need it to be happy.”

“But I need it to have an heir. And I really really don’t want to have a kid with someone I don’t love. Look how that turned out for me!”

She hums in response and writes some more on her notepad. “That is true. Your heir needs to be biological, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So adoption is off the table. But do you really need to love your spouse to love your child? My parents didn’t love each other but they sure loved me and fWhip.”

Good point. Sausage could probably pull that off just fine. But if he’s already happy and having a child won’t be a problem, then why does he need to fall in love?

“Isn’t that… bad? To never fall in love?” He asks.

“No, it’s not. There’s nothing wrong with never falling in love in your life.”

Sausage blinks. “Oh.”

Gem puts her notepad down and faces her brother. She takes his hands in hers. “Sausage, do you actually want to fall in love, or do you just think you need to?”

“Of course I want to! Everyone does!”

“I don’t,” Gem corrects.

Sausage pauses and stares at her. That doesn’t make any sense. Why wouldn’t a person want to fall in love? Is she allowed to do that? Is he allowed to do that?

“You can do that?” He asks, flabbergasted.

Gem bursts out laughing. “Yes, Sausage. Of course, you can. Nobody’s forcing you to fall in love if you don’t want to. I don’t really care whether or not I get married, that’s not my priority in life.”

Sausage sits up and stares at Gem. This contradicts everything he’s ever believed. A wave of relief floods through him and is quickly replaced with confusion and aggravation in a way. Why did he spend his whole life believing a lie? That’s not fair.

Gem softens and says, “I’ll ask again. Do you actually want to fall in love?”

“No,” He hears himself say. “No, I don’t.”

Saying that lifts a weight off his shoulders. All of the pressure that he never noticed he was being crushed to death under dissipates. He doesn’t want to fall in love. He doesn’t want to get married. Why did he think he did? Because he was told he needs to? He doesn’t.

“In fact, now that I think about it, I’ve never… actually been in love with anybody,” He continues. “Not even the people I’ve dated. I don’t-“ A sob tears through his body, interrupting his words.

Gem wraps her arms around him in a warm hug. He accepts it, melting into the embrace and sobbing into her shoulder. Gem runs her fingers through his hair and rocks them back and forth. This is familiar. No matter how confusing Sausage’s life gets, this always stays the same. Gem will always be there for him. Once his cries quiet, he pulls away and looks at her.

“Feel better now?” She asks softly, letting go of the hug and taking Sausage’s hands in her own again. He nods and sniffles. Gem smiles and gently squeezes his hands. “I have something for you.”

– –

It’s been two days since Gem gave Sausage a thick book on sexuality. He’d been confused at first when she placed the book in his hands—he already knows that he’s gay, why would he need to learn more? But she just chuckled, gestured to the bookmark left between the pages, and reassured him that he does in fact need it.

He hasn’t read it yet. To be honest, he’s scared about what he might find. His life and perception of himself was already warped, he didn’t need another mind-blowing experience so soon. But he can’t avoid it forever.

Carefully, he picks up the book from his desk, sits down in the chair, and opens it to the bookmarked page. It’s the beginning of a chapter titled “Asexuality”. That’s a term he’s never heard before. He leans back in his chair and starts reading the chapter.

As he reads he starts to understand why Gem gave the book to him. Almost every doubt and question he’d ever had gets answered. Including the most important one. He’s never fallen in love because he doesn’t want to. His brain just isn’t programmed to. And knowing that’s perfectly normal is comforting.

He finishes the chapter in what feels like minutes despite the hour that has passed. Relaxing in his chair, he sighs. Everything is starting to make sense. It’s a lot, he’ll definitely have to reread the chapter several times again, but he understands himself. And that’s all he wanted.

– –

Gem was shelving books in the library when something slams into her from the side, knocking her to the ground. She cries out, the books in her arms flying everywhere. She turns to see who her now-giggling attacker is and to nobody’s surprise, it’s Sausage.

“Can I help you?” She asks as she pushes her brother off her.

“You already did!” He beams.

“I did? What did I do?”

Sausage picks up the book on sexuality from the pile on the floor and shoves it into Gem’s chest. “This!”

It takes her a moment to recognize the book but her face lights up and she gasps when she does. “Was I right?” Sausage nods and Gem pulls him into a hug. They both laugh in delight and hold each other on the floor of the library.

“I’ve learned that I am aromantic and asexual!” He says proudly once they calm down. “That means-“

“I know what that means,” Gem says with no malice. “How do you feel about knowing that?”

“Like my entire life was a lie.”

“But are you happy? Sad?”

“Oh I’m devastated,” He admits. “I’ve always wanted to fall in love and now I know I can’t. But I’ll be okay. It’s not easy discovering your sexuality, you know!”

Gem laughs again and pulls herself onto her feet. “You will be helping me clean all these books up.” She says as she helps Sausage up. He groans but obliges, picking the books off the floor and helping Gem shelve them.

There’s still more to do, like telling Pearl and fWhip, talking about it in therapy, asking Jimmy about his experience being in love and comparing it to his, learning more about his newly discovered sexuality, and replanning his life. But that all sounds incredibly tedious and stressful so he’s not going to worry about that yet. Right now all he needs to think about is where these books go.

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