#etho loves rusty

[mysticwinterkit]

Etho's Phase 6 in Rusty visits:

"Rusty, I got this new card called Swagger. It's pretty swag."

****

"RUSTY! I got you your med kit, but Willie he didn't want you to have it. He really tried to put a stop to it. Here you go, buddy. I'll make sure your missus get's some coins here too, while your locked up."

****

"There you go, Rusty. I'm hurting a little bit, I could use any help I can get here. I appreciate it."

****

"Hey Rusty! The dungeon's been rough, man. Very close runs though, every time, but I don't know... I just gotta be a little more careful or something, a little quicker..."

****

on level 2

"I'm going to kind of just poke around here, see if I can get to Rusty... We gotta go. I made a mistake. I think I'm going back. I'm too scared... I've been failing too many runs. I'm sorry Rusty! I'm sorry."

****

"Rusty! Oh, I'm so happy to see you, man. I've been a nervous wreck in the dungeon these last few days. Scaredy cat! But seeing you, gives me strength. I appreciate you, Rusty. Thank you."

****

"My buddy! Biggest ember run yet! I am excited about this, and you're going to take it over the top, man. I want you to be a part of this run. Me and you, all the way to the end, my friend."

[calciumyum]

"One day, the young boy went out

to scavenge spare parts in the junkyard.

While searching around,

he happened upon a broken-down robot."

-The Scrap Boy, Steampianist

Etho and Rusty's relationship makes me so soft I really love them

[hopepetal]

A little fanfic I wrote for the aftermath of MCC 33, because both Pearl and Impulse raided Scar. And also Boatem <3

--

Pearl sat on the balloon, legs hanging off the side as she looked out over the MCC server. Her wings fluttered lightly against her back– it was nice to be able to use them again after so long of having them hidden. 

She had gotten close! Really, really close! Even though she was rusty still, she had been able to get almost in the top twenty! And her team had gotten third overall. Pretty cool, in her opinion. She was still riding that high from meltdown, though. Maybe she was a good leader for that, after all.

From the distance, she heard a familiar voice. “Peaaaaaaarl! Pearl Pearl Pearl Pearl Pearl Pearl–!” Scar, equipped with elytra, slammed head first into the spot right beside her with a squawk. “Oh, ouch! Goodness, the lag on this server is awful!” he complained, pushing himself up and plopping down beside her. “So! How was MCC, how are you feeling?” he prompted, and Pearl let out a soft chuckle.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” she admitted, “I did pretty well. A little disappointing at the end, but…” She shrugged. “Y’know, what can ya do? We did our best, and that’s what matters.”

Scar nodded. “And that’s what matters, indeed!” he exclaimed. “You know, I was secretly rooting for you guys. Above my own team, even! I was really hoping you’d get that win.”

Pearl laughed, shaking her head. “Scar! That’s so sweet of you, mate. I appreciate it.” She let the silence between them sit for a moment. “How was Etho?”

“He was good, he was good! I’m hopin’ he’ll come back, y’know, maybe we’ll all be on the same team then.” Scar kicked his legs back and forth, leaning forward. “I actually did so much better than I thought I would! I got in a top ten! A top ten, Pearl!”

Pearl beamed, clapping her hands together. “That’s awesome, Scar!” she praised, “I knew you could do it. What was it in?”

“Meltdown! Which, if I recall correctly, you guys did amayzingly in too!”

Pearl grinned. “Oh, you bet. I’ll be riding that high for ages. I make a pretty good leader, it turns out!”

The two were interrupted by yet another familiar face flying up to their little spot– Impulse, seemingly also struggling with his elytra, judging by how rough the landing had been. “It’s just the generic version,” he complained to the two as soon as he’d steadied himself, “I’m too used to the personalized elytra we get on hermitcraft.” He sat himself down on Pearl’s other side. 

“Honestly, sounds like you should just grow wings,” Pearl teased, giving her own a small flutter. “You did amazing, mate. What team were you on, again?” she asked, tilting her head slightly. 

Impulse returned the smile she gave him. “Aqua Axolotls! I was with Sneeg, Illumina, and Joel.”

“I’m not even gonna try to say that team name,” Scar muttered, earning soft laughter from the other two.

“That sounds like a fun team, though,” Pearl commented. “How was it?”

Impulse nodded. “It was pretty fun! Joel yelled a lot, of course. He was very excited whenever he saw Etho, though.”

“I can imagine!” Scar piped up. “Kinda sad that Grian couldn’t make it this time. We all know how much that man loves Etho.”

Pearl shrugged. “Poor guy was just busy, I guess. You can imagine his horror when he realized Etho was in this MCC and he hadn’t signed up.”

“That’s why you’re here, right? To give him all the insider info?” Impulse asked, and Pearl laughed.

“Yeah, he wishes. I’m not telling him a thing,” she snickered, and Scar gasped dramatically.

“The cleaning lady has an evil heart!” he cried, “she abandons her brother in his time of need…!” 

“Ah, he’ll get over it!” 

The three sat in silence for a while after that, their shared company enough to fill the silence. Pearl sighed softly, leaning back and tilting her head toward the sky. “Well, it’s high time we probably head back to hermitcraft. You fellas wanna come with?”

Scar jumped up, holding out a hand to her. “Why of course!” he exclaimed, helping pull her up when she took his hand. “Let’s go back and surprise Mumbo with the good news of my top ten!”

“I’m sure he’ll be dying to hear about it,” Impulse chuckled. “And Grian, of course. We can have a little boatem meeting, just like the old days!”

“Even though boatem got crushed by the moon,” Pearl reminded them.

Scar tutted softly, shaking his head. “Ahh, Pearl, that’s where you’re wrong! Boatem is a state of mind, not just a pole! So long as we keep boatem in our hearts, it will stay alive.”

“You’re a goofball,” Pearl pointed out with a laugh. 

“He’s our goofball,” Impulse corrected. “Right. Whoever gets back onto hermitcraft and to Mumbo first wins. See ya!” And with that, he disconnected.

Pearl yelped. “Oh, that’s not fair, my ping–!” She watched Scar disconnect, and decided it would be best to quickly follow suit.

impulseSV left the game GoodTimeWithScar left the game PearlescentMoon left the game

[enpr-ss]

Tango making decked out 2 and streaming runs is why we have so much etho content. Everyone thank him for giving us hours of behind the scenes of Etho’s videos.

Wait Etho deliberately waits for Tango’s streams to run? Bro?? He’s actually so kind. Using his fandom to get Tango views.

HE SNITCHED TO HYPNO LOL. HE’S SUCH AN EAVESDROPPER.

Gem pops in and the first thing she does is to punch Etho repeatedly. Classic. The Canadian on Canadian violence is real.

Etho planning to punch some bats

AND THE FIRST UNLUCKY EVENT OF HIS RUN! HOW MANY MORE WILL HE FIND? The vex avoiding path change, now the stumble card. He did get a key before 30 seconds though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone try to lure One Eyed Willie before. ALL THAT FOR 23 FE AGAIN?!

Tango talks so much to Etho during his runs, more than he does to anyone else. Something something expressing the will of the dungeon. Is that why the dungeon likes Etho so much? He talks to it, thus the favor, or is it the other way around? Tango enjoys his runs so much more than anyone else’s, even Hypno’s.

Beast Bites! Man continues to reference the previous decked out. Of course he gets level 3 on his first try. HE GETS A 24 HAHAHA! “Cant have keys and artifact luck etho” -gem. HES STILL GOING TO FARM LEVEL 1 LOL. And then he taunts Gem with keys. He’s such a little shit stirrer.

EVEN THE RAVAGERS LIKE HIM!!! AND HE GETS ETHO WALLED!! He talked so much trash to Gem about her bad key luck and now he has to eat his words. Etho suffers from treasure rng for the first time. AND THEN THE GAME IS LITERALLY RIGGED AGAINST HIM BECAUSE OF MAX TREASURE!!! Etho dungeon difficulty is real. And of course he dies to Miss Management. How ironic. He’s washed up in the river of souls! Gem is so vindicated.

WILLIE AIMBOT! Sure did washed him up in that lake! One eyed on one eyed violence.

HIS KEY LUCK IS INSANE. The dungeons really wants him deeper. AND THE WARDEN IS RIGHT AT THE DOOR. AND HE JUST SNEAKS RIGHT ON BY UNDER IT. “just a little slime boing boing!” What comes out of his mouth even?

“How does he even get an IMPOSSIBLE key” -gem LOL.

Yeah right he’s taking coward’s path he’s gotta be trolling. “Pfft who’re you talking to here” THE SHEER ARROGANCE. I hope he dies to a warden. I hope gem kills him. 24 AGAIN???!!! NOT WORTH!!! HAHAHAHA. Of course he gets out on his second try, on the middle level in the harder area, and of course no hard parkour. HOW DOES HE DO IT?!?!? OH MY GOD!!!

“Cub walked so that Etho could scoot” - chat.

“Gem is great and Etho is epic!” - gem

He’s trying to meta game the rusty repair kit. Of course. “Stop breaking the immersion nerd! Get in there nerd” - gem. Jock on nerd violence.

The “gem is great” is the first superstition lol

He got so much from rusty!!!

“There’s nobody here” *ravager appears having waited for the right moment*

HE GOT 36!!! MAX FOR LEVEL 2!!! dungeon making up for his previous artifacts. His luck strikes again!! LOOT AND SCOOT IN THE SILK ROAD!! AND HE MAKES IT OUT!!! THE LEGEND!!! 5 tomes, what a flex!!!

AND THEN THE DUNGEON JUST ABSOLUTELY SHOWERS HIM WITH TOMES!!! HAHAHAHAH

The dungeon is definitely in yandere love with Etho.

“I want to see my artifact I haven’t found it yet” - gem

“It’s the keys in the dungeon” - etho who just can’t stop saying words. Talk shit get hit my man.

He just keeps breaking the game.

HOW DOES HE ALWAYS GET LOOT AND SCOOT JUST WHEN HE NEEDS IT??? SCRIPTED!! DEUS EX MACHINA!!!! And then he gets overconfident and gets skill issued in the easy part.

So greedy that he broke the game. And he memorized those ravager locations!!!

Saw in a comment that Etho asked about killing cave spiders to farm them for string for carpets / wool to sneak past the wardens and tbh I wouldn’t be surprised if he considered it.

[thenopequeen]

Has anyone written or drawn anything about Etho talking to Rusty in Decked Out? Because if you have, I would love to see it

[sceneself]

oops

..last year i reblogged this (ask game) and was sent asks but dont wanna individually answer them and ping ppl so ill answer under a cut here!

prompts were 1, 5, 9, & 15. shortened the questions since this is late af anyway

favourite season? [1]

tbh i condense third life + last life into one season (due to having really enjoyed martyns character, feeling skizzs 'arc' in s2 is characterized better with s1 in mind) - if i have to pick one: last life. its kinda my thing that i am attached to last life

favourite build? [5]

(ummm, just gonna list the ones i remember most.) i have a soft spot for dogwarts from 3rd life, since it was kinda the heavy hand pivot-into rp i saw first. the "snow fort" from last life, most specifically the "office." (don't get me started why i care about that damn thing.) the "relation ship" from double life was cute. "bad boy manor" and the associated bridge in limited. ahhh, its been a while but that weird saw-gauntlet-trap-thing tango made too. gd its been long.

looking forward to see red? [9]

yeah, since i'm replying so late my answer is always either cleo or etho since they can get chaotic. or, well, mumbo whenever he's around.

anything i thought was overlooked? [15]

i always chew on when people compare a partnership or alliance to bad relationship. there's sth fun in toxic dynamics like that to me (lol) what comes to mind is def the few offhanded jokes in last life.. sth abt the vagueness is easier to explore than the more hammed up roleplay. a chance for edginess? yes ploz.

u'd think there'd be more posts abt it since a lot of fans love watching ppl be psychologically tortured in the block game... maybe that's more of a different smps habit - anyways!

jimmy, being asked if he's being mistreated:

jimmy: (barely audible) no. (regular volume:) no, no, no. that’s not that conversation. cleo: do you need another place to stay? jimmy: no, no! i’m happy where i am. cleo: are they mistreating you? jimmy: no! no, i promise! i just need sugarcane. that’s all i need.

ren, also in last life, being told he's not in a good relationship:

ren: i'm not sure what i've gotten myself into with the shadow queen. grian: hold on, hold on. that's kind-of good, right? because if she didn't immediately turn on you it means that she cares. [pause] ren: right. either that or she's more than happy to take my resources. not sure which one. etho: (laugh) is she using you, ren? you gotta get outta that relationship. ren, that's not a good relationship. ren, grian: (laugh)

and scene.

..jk

i definitely want to get back into the swing of watching more often bcuz after typing this out im realizing my life series knowledge is prettyyyy rusty.. on the other hand i can def tell what some of the aspects keeps me interested! if ur reading this and have pov suggestions based off any of this feel free to shoot me an ask abt it ^_^

[hmshermitcraft]

Hello! I am here to provide some Poly TIES headcanon scenario for the Beach Episode theme (I will singlehandedly provide for them because I love them a lot).

Etho doesn’t like going out a lot as he prefers the comforts of home over the agony that is the outdoors and the bright sun. When his partners decide and plan out on going to the local beach to relax and enjoy the seaside, he wasn’t going to like it but what his partners do means it’s going to include everyone, and that means him included.

Once they get to the beach, he would immediately set up his beach umbrella and towel and just stay away from the heat of the sun. He just doesn’t like it out here but he is willing to be in this moment (despite his earlier protests) for TIES. He would probably just read a book or just lounge away as his partners are playing and chasing each other on the sand or swim in the sea.

Eventually Impulse and Tango ask Etho if he wants to play beach volleyball. Etho would decline but then he gets bribed with kisses as he gets yanked into the beach volleyball court that Skizz made.

The other hermits have come to join them as well, seeing as to how everyone wants to play a bit of beach volleyball or spectate it at least.

Now they play it but not a lot of hermits know, or even within the TIES know that, Etho is completely amazing with beach volleyball. He would tell them that he’s rusty and hasn’t had the chance to play it for years but then he shows up beyond their expectations and soon their game of beach volleyball became a “who gets to have Etho in their team” competition and what shenanigans and playful hijinks they get to.

Whatever happens next is up to them, but Etho is loving this a lot (he won’t tell this out loud).

-signing off, 💙 anon

It's put a much more positive spin on this outing. He loves his partners, he truly does, but it's nice to find something he enjoys as well! Skizz gets Etho to take some layers off before he overheats, whilst Impulse makes sure he has sunscreen on. He ends up exhausted by the end of the day, happy to let his partners pass him off and carry him home.

He knows they'll arrange another date in the future that's catered for Etho's tastes, but he's glad he found a way to enjoy this as well!

[zecoritheweirdone]

Hello, I'm the person fascinated by the implications of the Mystery Skulls au!! I'm a little rusty on my lore, but I'm mostly spinning False as Arthur in my brain- Falsie being jealous of Pearl enough to let the spirit possess her (if we're doing a one to one). And I'm so curious about who Shiromori is in this au!! I'm just!! Sorry, my brain is Bad at articulating but ultimately I'm just very excited about this whole concept!!

hell yeah,, i'm glad you like the au!!!!

and yeah, for the most part this au is pretty much one-to-one with the source material– tho i do have something to add for the jealousy bit! this is mostly just my own interpretation, and this could just be me being aro and not quite getting love stuff,, but i always saw arthur as not jealous of lewis,, but more just not wanting to be left out/a third-wheel. or maybe he is jealous, but not specifically of lewis– but instead, of the fact that the two tend to focus on each other, even when arthur's around.

cuz like,, mans got kicked to the backseat of his Own Van in favor of lewis, vivi, and her Dog. they let the DOG get shotgun instead of arthur. plus, in hellbent, you see a few stills of lewis and vivi being lovey-dovey to each other, with arthur sulking in the background. hell, in one of them, you see vivi looking past arthur, ignoring him in favor of waving to an out of frame lewis.

i don't think the two intended to make arthur feel left out,, they still hang out with him, so obviously they still care about him– it's just that,, i imagine they're prolly in some honeymoon sort of phase in their relationship,, maybe they just started dating and all they can really think about is how much they love each other. probably. again, idk how love works, so- take this with a grain of salt. i just find this interpretation much more interesting, personally!

so, yeah– pretty much all of what i said applies to this au! minus the romance bits, potentially? maybe? gonna be honest i don't really have a strong opinion one way or another in regards to shipping in this au. but either way, false was feeling left out of the group,, and because of that, got herself possessed by a demon(cuz that's prolly what reverb/the thing that possessed arthur is, not just some random spirit,, what with the horns and the webbed wings and stuff in his profile),,,

as for shiromori..... i'm still on the fence, tbh? my first thought was bdubs,, cuz like. they're both plants(sorta),, and he's got a connection to etho like shiromori does to mystery,,, but... i was also thinking about maybe having joel as her, instead? there's the etho connection, of course,, plus there's joel's whole theme for season 10! i feel like either would fit,,,

i suppose there's also the connection to vivi/her ancestor to consider, as well... so far i'm thinking the mushi equivalent in this au is prolly just another version of gem? maybe from empires? but i'm open to suggestions! i'm unsure about joel, but i do know that gem and bdubs have interacted secret life series before!usually in (lightheartedly) negative ways, from what i've seen,, so that could be another point to bdubs.

[voiidvagabond]

🌈🌩️ for the most recent ask thing!! Any of your wipes is good :)

Ooohohhoo okay! I'll do two different wips since I am so excited :D

🌈 Share something soft/fluffy from your WIP. I'm not sure if I'll ever finish this one, but I have a hermitcraft wip where Etho and Rusty from Decked Out 2 are besties and Etho makes good on his promise of breaking Rusty out! Here's a little sneaky peek:

“Hey buddy,” Etho greeted. “How ya been, Rusty?” Rusty creaked as his limbs moved. Etho nodded. He reached into his inventory for a repair kit and something he’d seen sticking out of the damp cave wall on his way over. It was technically contraband, but Etho wasn’t too worried. He passed over the small dandelion, allowing Rusty to slowly reach out and pluck it from his hand. It had caught Etho’s eye with its glorious color and resilience in the unforgiving environment of the dungeon. “Let’s get you all fixed up, shall we?” Etho said.

🌩️ Share something funny/cracky from your WIP. Okay, this one is from a good ol' lord of the rings road trip fic! I love a road trip fic. The funny bit is that everyone is trying to fit people into their various vehicles, and Boromir spends ten minutes antagonizing his brother because he's strapped their snack cooler into the passenger's seat of his pickup truck and doesn't want to let anyone ride with him.

Boromir: "Sorry, I've got no space."

Faramir: "It's a pickup? Put it in the back?"

Boromir: >:]

ask me about my wips!

[mysticwinterkit]

Is it too early to say....

When Etho won Decked Out (S7) he got a monument with a Ravager and a artifact scoreboard at his base.

When he wins Decked Out 2 we all know who needs to be in a monument, right?

Right????

[cydanite]

I’ve never read homestuck but I have heard of classpects which I find fascinating

would you mind sharing what you think the mcyt characters would be if they had classpects ?

Jokes about homestuck aside, I actually really do like the classpects. They represent both a characters core ethos as well as their place in the meta narrative. I'm rusty but I'll see if I can't brainstorm a few ideas...

The basic understanding of classpects breaks down into 2 parts, class and aspect. The aspect is a concept. The class is the modifier of how the user relates to that concept.

That being said, here's some quick ideas! (Also I'm referencing the definitions from these two pages! ^-^ )

Bdubs - Maid of Light: -Maid: Prepares their others in their session through their aspect/ serve their aspect -Light: Knowledge, fortune, and light itself. He turns the night to day! A true diligent server sleeper, dutifully bringing the daytime to all.

Jimmy - Bard of Doom: -Bard: Invite destruction through their aspect or they invite the destruction of their aspect -Doom: Bad ends and misfortune. It is not a hot take to assign Jimmy a doom class. We all know this.

Pixlriffs - Seer of Time: -Seer: Knows/sees or understands their aspect. -Time: Inevitably, rhythm, death. A class for a man of history and respecting the dead.

Scar - Thief of Heart: -Thief: Steals their aspect from others for use it for their own benefit. -Heart: Soul, impulse, positive emotion. My best idea of a class for the sweet talking swindler.

DocM77 - Mage or Rage: -Mage: Are aware of their aspect and its influence. -Rage: Negative emotion, fear. Not 100% on this one, but I wanted to show Doc's awareness of other's fear or him, and how he uses that to his advantage.

Rendog: Witch of Blood: -Witch: Takes control of their aspect and control it with mastery. -Blood: Ties, relations, leadership You could go Knight of Blood for a more Red King-centric take, but I like this to represent Ren's many personas.

Skizz: Sylph of Heart: -Sylph: Ones who heal through their aspect/ones who heal their aspect. -Heart: Soul, impulse, positive emotion. Skizzleman is good for the soul -u- a bringer of good vibes and affirmations.

I should probably stop now, but this was fun! Though please don't think of me as the homestuck mcyt person now, I have enough on my plate haha. If you still need your classpect fix I know there's a blog who was doing all the hermitcraft members alongside art, though I can't find them now. If you can, though, send them some love! <3

[onawhimsicot]

i want you to know i just finished reading tangotek evil incorporated and i could NOT STOP LAUGHING like every other paragraph. first off you're very good at quality writing, in terms of like, sentence structure and everything, but also your writing is very compelling! you're very good at conveying tone and mood in your story. the story was hilarious, but still emotionally satisfying. if anything, the humor added to the emotion of the story! very masterfully done. also your worldbuilding? the little lore hints? 👀 i'm soooo invested. i love LOVE your characterization. this is also mastery in sense of it being a FANfiction, because like... tango having fire powers is just assumed because of the fandom. we go into this assuming "oh, it's tango in a superpower au, where he's called dr. blaze. he has fire powers" so the reveal to the other characters - especially done in the "uh, duh?" way is PERFECT because we as the audience feel the SAME WAY, like uh, duh? but we also get to laugh because... we technically had no reason to believe that! absolutely fantastic. perfect payoff. i could ramble on and on about more details but i have an appointment i need to get ready for so just take this little love letter for now haha

I am getting so emotional over this ask THANK YOU SO MUCH, especially for coming on tumblr just to send this to me <3<3<3 I don’t write too much fanfic, especially because I haven’t completed a written work, fic or original, in SO long. Like my last AO3 upload was a 1k fic back in 2020, and since then, the little creative writing I’ve done has just sitting unfinished in my folders.

So in the beginning I was really worried because I was so rusty!! Not to mention, I’ve never written something this long before either, and when the words kept piling up, I thought omg can I even keep a story together for this long?? Like oh no, I’m going to post this and realize I’m washed-up Etho style ajkdsfh. And of course, I’m the person most aware of the shortcomings of the fic (as is the nature of creating things unfortunately lol)

I've absolutely been loving hearing all the details and scenes people liked, but specifically coming here to say you think the quality and craft of the writing are strong, and praising the parts I take pride in means so so so very much to me. THANK YOU, I’m going to rotate this ask in my mind forever <3

[fountainpenguin]

Here's a list of other authors' 'fics that I tucked in the author's notes of a piece I wrote, and I'd love for these recs to go farther! These are Hermitcraft / Life Series themed, except one about Herobrine:

"Rescuing Rusty" by zeejacks (30k) - Feel-good story about NPC_Grian and Evil Xisuma building a life together and healing - Complete (and /chef's kiss)

Super cute and self-contained. One of the lines in Chapter 1 is NPC_Grian saying "My physical form is mechanical, although my consciousness is untethered from this realm!" and Evil X's reply is "Felt that." It cracks me up.

"you're the fool, i'm just as well" by honeyblock (5k) - One-shot about Scott healing Pearl after she makes herself sick in Double Life. He's forced to face how much they have in common, like their preferred way of sorting resources. ugh. I love them.

"Scribbling the lines (from you to me)" by Siri_Spy (3k) - AU one-shot about Cleo and Martyn growing up as platonic soulmates across the country, communicating by writing on their skin. They are so cute and I cry.

"a falling axe, a sharpened knife" by sesquidpedalian (2k) - One-shot; the soulbond allowed Cleo and Martyn to push emotions at each other in Double Life as a shortcut for communication, but in Limited Life, they have to learn to talk in words again. This is very Them to me… ❤️

Something something, Martyn standing on the sidelines watching Cleo team with Scar and Bdubs despite the fact they come on strong and she finds them annoying (/affectionate), but she didn't accept Martyn in Double Life and you can tell he has Feelings about this but he can't say it without being weird, so he just kind of watches it play out. Ahhhhhh...

"A Certain Je Ne Sais What" by glossyblue (5k) - One-shot; the game's code forces all Double Life pairs to share beds when night falls. Grian lies awake calculating all the reasons literally anyone would be a better soulmate than Scar. Obviously BigB is the best.

Bonus shout-out to Bdubs and Impulse using iron to add springs to their bed. That's hilarious.

"Breathing In The Dark" by iguessihavenoname (3500) - Part 1 of a fascinating AU that opens with Grian finding his brother-in-law (hummingbird hybrid Scott) dead in an alley, followed by Martyn and Ren juggling politics. Plus more drama!

This AU has a few pieces in it and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes

"You are Gold to Me" by Rose_kitty (15k; ongoing) - Team Rancher meet-cute ft. beautiful Nether worldbuilding. Tango doesn't speak English well and introduces Jimmy to his culture. Not complete atm, but super cute.

"How to Be Haunted" by SlashMagpie (4k) - Gorgeously creepy AU one-shot about Cleo and Etho living together in a QPR, bonding over Bdubs' death- Lots of subtle Life series parallels in a spooky way.

"My tastes have changed, I like his recipe more" by Its5amHere (22k) - Part 2 in a series that explores Grian and Scar's relationship in Double Life, ft. some of my favorite scenes of all time like Grian opening Scar's creepy mail and Scar slapping one hand to his chest and wailing, "I make being here hard??" I love how Priscilla plays their fighting… also, how Grian adores BigB. I think about it constantly.

"Monster" by Yuli_Enderling - Herobrine is reborn with no memories and raised by villagers- The village thinks he's creepy and dumb because they're adults by, like, age 8 and he's still a kid and so it's weird for them.

He gets bullied, dumped in the forest, yelled at, tortured, and dies multiple times as a toddler even though no one even knows who he was in his past life and it's fascinating. It's super unclear whether this is a slow burn villain arc or a redemption story about becoming better than he used to be and I'm obsessed.

Super cool worldbuilding, excellent characterizations, lots of found family fluff and angst. Rangil and Margol, my beloatheds… <3 I want to rotate them in a jar.

There's a chapter where the baby villagers spawn in and the adults have to sort out which one is meant for who. It's super creative and fun.

Also, I'm grateful for the blog @mcytblrsource for highlighting active events to participate in (for artists and writers alike). I'm especially looking forward to these July events: @hermitcraftguesstheauthorevent & @mcyt-aspec-week. If I can pull it off, I'd love to participate in both!

Guess the Author 2024 - Works get revealed in 1 week and people have 1 week after to guess authors, so right now is a great time to check it out! They also have a Guess the Author 2023 collection that I've greatly enjoyed. Here's one piece from there I love:

"Memories Of A Life Not Lived" by schneefink (1500 words) - Cleo-centric. The theme here is Cleo recovering after having her memories manipulated during Limited Life, where she legit thought Etho was her ex and didn't question it. Back in Hermitcraft, the illusion is gone.

Cleo inner turmoils about it. She desperately wants to ask Etho if he "also got fake memories about their fantastic sex life" or if that was just her. Her reason for not asking him is that she thinks he'll immediately run away, and she fears if she somehow corners him where he can't run away, he'll look her in the eye and say "I got memories about our sex life, at least" and leave off the "fantastic" part, and I just think this is such a silly set-up for a plot.

Congrats on your pre-marital divorce. Have fun playing TCG.

Here are 4 personal favorites from my own work (FountainPenguin)

"Here's to the Health of Married Men" (42k) - Scar's POV of attending a post-Double Life ballroom event, watching Grian blatantly favor BigB over him. He tries to sort out his feelings and decide whether or not that bothers him. He just feels... numb.

Also, Ren finds out Grian was BigB's secret admirer and challenges him to a duel to the death, even though they're in the server hub and there are serious consequences for that.

This piece is directly based on the song "The Duel" from the musical Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. I'm really proud of how I wove that song with the existing Double Life canon.

I like this piece because of the emphasis on Scar's conflicting feelings, especially his numbness, when it comes to thinking of the close relationship he didn't get to enjoy with Grian in Double Life and how he can't bring himself to fault Grian for lack of attraction for him because he would feel awful if he blamed Grian for it. And he doesn't think he can say anything about it, but he feels weird dancing with him.

It's a blend of unreliable narrator and yet pulling back the curtain on his feelings. I think I pulled off Scar's emotional wall well and I'm proud. I love this song and this musical and it makes me happy.

Also, special shout-out to Martyn showing up in diamond crocs.

"Mum's the Word" (10k words) - Literal interpretation of the Double Life Ep 2 bit where Ren refused to go to the deep dark unless Martyn called his mom to ensure their date was still on. Martyn grumbled about it, stating that his mom is a woman and Ren is acting like a boy, but he made the call.

The thing is, in my Pixels Imperfect worldbuilding, all players are hybrids hatched from dragon eggs. So I wrote a story about Martyn's mom coming to pick Ren up for their date. Yes, she's the Phantom Dragon and Martyn hates every bit of what's happening.

Ren's date is not the focus of this piece, as the piece is focused more on the phantom hybrids having awkward charcuterie snacks with their mom before Ren arrives. I just think the concept of a dragon mom is very, very silly and I love playing it straight.

"Scary Stories For Young Fox Hybrids" (7800 words) - Set in a universe where the Life series is real and exists in a single timeline (as opposed to separate roleplay seasons). Skizz takes 13-year-old Scar and 8-year-old Bdubs Clocker on a Solo Skizz adventure to give single mom Cleo a break. In a ghost town called Valentine Pier, they find an injured Martyn hiding in an abandoned game show studio.

This piece has a sequel ("Enter Mr. Littlewood" - 5k), ft. my favorite joke: Scar asking Martyn why Cleo had kids with Etho if Martyn is supposed to be her one true soulmate. -1000 HP damage.

I have additional pieces in this plot arc to come (Slowly as I finalize the worldbuilding), but the humor and set-ups of these pieces makes me laugh.

My goal for this AU is to build a complex semi-dystopian fantasy world with lots of politics between specific lands (like the Southlands, Dogwarts, Magical Mountain, etc.) All characters are hybrids; Martyn is a phantom who lives in fear that people will rip off his wings and use them for elytra. Crafting and inventory space are part of a magic system you learn as you age. Super looking forward to doing more with the worldbuilding in this universe.

Neighborhood Watch AU (above) has some dark content, but the two pieces mentioned above are T. The first has purple soul goop representing injury.

"No One Likes the Opening Band" (13k words) - Joel's cam account (PiglinMyNose) plays the first game of the competitive camming season: a sport focused on cam accounts recording epic shots during a scrimmage match between players.

I think this is a super fun part of my work because I wanted to flesh out the Pixels Imperfect-verse worldbuilding with in-universe sports. Also, I love the cam accounts so much.

Bonus points for SnifferMyFeet having a meltdown over the hottest semi-invisible catboy he's ever seen, BadTimeWithScar: captain of the other team.

Please talk to me about Sniff and Pig. Pig's account has been around for at least 8 years while Sniff turns 1 this upcoming August. They are cross-generational BFFs (to me) and Pig is a good friend looking out for his special little guy. Everybody clap for them.

Thanks for reading! And thank you authors who wrote some of these wonderful works that I enjoy. There are lots of awesome pieces in the MCYT fandom and I'm just highlighting a few of many :)

you know what I haven’t seen going around in a while, and could use some of myself? fic recs! so, consider this both a rec and a self-promo post: recommend some fics to me in the reblogs and I’ll reblog your recs! in general, try to include both a summary and why you’re reccing it (whether it’s a self-promo or someone else’s), and let’s get some eyes on fics!

[enpr-ss]

3 HOURS!!!! LETS GOOOOOOOO

“That guy’s in a funny spot…. And yet I’m not laughing” etho pls

Him jumping off the stairs to dodge being trapped by 2 ravagers is just so cool. And then he enters level 3 and it’s pathetic tiny slime man again. “I wanna go homeeeee”. He’s so panicked in the dripstone it’s great. HOW DID HE DODGE BETWEEN THREE VEXES AND A RAVAGER AND EVOKER TEETH OH MY GOD. he can’t make the chain parkour when it’s not going LOL. and then he gets help from Pearl to do parkour! Everyone is an etho girl. All that and he dies to a vex.

The audacity to call Gem a chihuahua when he started it and the one who shakes like a little dog.

That’s an interesting strategy of also considering the slots the cards take up. Never thought of it that way before. That one should swap commons for rares makes sense obviously, but the way explained it! What a gamer.

BRO HE TRUSTED THAT CARPET BLOCKER SO MUCH!!! such a greedy boi. He has his loot path READY. so far he seems to be more scared of level 1 than of Willie. The shaky cam is REAL. DOUBLE REPAIR KIT HOLY!!!!! THE DUNGEON LOVES HIM. 3 EMBERS 2 CROWNS 4 COINS!!!! Tango probably limited it to 1 repair kit a run because he’s etho-proofing it. He knows. HE’S LEAVING THE DUNGEON WITH LIKE 10 CLANK BLOCK!!!

I’m not surprised he’s willing to trade 4 tomes for bounding strides. Jump boost is no joke. Etho knows that any game breaking strats he employs is going to be nerfed. He is self aware. Mountain climbing ravagers are no joke.

What a greed run. Wide turns to get the treasure! Evasion + tome = “a failed rusty run”. this guy.

Speedrun!!! Server literally forcing etho not to be greedy. All that in 5 minutes.

“There’s no ravagers here” SIKE. I really like how he strategizes and really makes use of his deck and where the cards get deployed. Less shriekers in level 3 means a chance to build up clank block. Gotta go down to level 2 asap to trigger treasure and keys there. Lure the ravagers to create an exit path. OF COURSE ITS THE GEM OF GREATNESS THAT TROLLS HIM BY BEING ONE BLOCK OFF. HAHAHAHA. SECOND WIND CLUTCH!!! HAZARD BLOCK WITH A RAVAGER BUT IT MADE A DIFFERENCE ANYWAYS!! JUST BARELY MADE THE CHAIN PARKOUR!!! Rusty!!! 6 EMBERS 4 COINS AND A CROWN OH MY GOD. Noooo he missed the crown in the center! “We stumble and we run” “STUMBLE”. The Shaky Camera!!! “I don’t want to see Swagger right now if I see Swagger I’m going to cry” *Swagger pops up immediately* “nooooooo”

HE JUST BE JEDI MINDTRICKING THAT RAVAGER INTO THE ROOM!!! Hypno must be fuming right now. I cannot believe he jumped right over Willie’s head, got stuck, and still manages to swim to shore without getting a single hit. Cub is so sad right now. Etho always has a Strat for the worst case scenario of being hazard block (a hard learned lesson right there lol), and he’s so happy when the way is actually cleared for once. Dodging that ravager and then MOMENT OF CLARITY RIGHT BEFORE HE EXITS!!! The dungeon is taunting him and wants him to stay so bad. AND THEN SWAGGER IN THE SHOP!!!

So he WAS a honey doper and sus stew slurper. Your barrel betrays you Etho. Oof that was rough. Ravager wrangling on level 1 is hard sometimes. He gives fair deals!! And calls out ripoffs! And it still doesn’t work lol. Infrequent runners giving out shards for cards makes sense because they aren’t going to use those shards anyways and having fun in dungeon with better cards matters more lol.

Remember when Tango said that people would never hit treasure limit on level 1? Especially without getting a key? Etho and Hypno and Gem are laughing at his redstone right now. Etho badmouthing Sprint before reluctantly buying it and now he loves it. Etho explores ONE time and immediately gets punished and he vows to never make that mistake again. HE GOT SANDWICHED BY THE LEVEL 2 DOORS LOL. HE ETHOWALLED HIMSELF. And of course the shop continues to torment him with bounding strides and nimble looting. I think he made the right choice there; especially since his deck has so much clank block.

How does he always get sprint right before entering level 3?? Rigged. HE ALREADY MEMORIZED LEVEL 3 AND LURES WARDENS AROUND!!? DARES TO UNSHIFT WHILE BLINDED AND ITS RIGHT THERE?!?! HOW?!! ETHO MY MAN HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS?!?! And then he misses Willie right there. AND HE MAKES IT!!! EVEN WITH A CAMPING RAVAGER!!!

Gem is absolutely right. Tango would hide an egg in the spiders den.

HE DOES IT AGAIN!!! Sprint right before level 3, in and out in roughly a minute, loot and scoot speeding his escape. And now Rusty!! 3 embers, 3 coins, and 3 crowns. That’s a lot. And he talks to Rusty like he’s telling his wild stories too. Sprint might be op, especially for level 3. Maybe tango should consider either nerfing it, making it more expensive, or limiting which level it can play at. He got 10 crowns. That’s insane. I don’t think anyone has ever left with 10 crowns without finding an egg / egg loot.

Etho: this is a deck building phase…. Here are three very good cards that I could buy. Hmmm…

Etho: *buys 5 tomes*

Etho: *hands in 20 tomes*

I hate him so much why is he like this. I think sprint and a time would have been fine too. But yeah any of those cards would have been fantastic. AND HE CALLS GEM A TRYHARD IN THE CAKE ROOM. THIS LITTLE SHIT.

AND THEY ALL GANG UP TO BEAT HIM UP FOR TAKING SO LONG. HAHAHAHAAH. BEST MOMENT OF DECKED OUT RIGHT HERE. JUSTICE AND KARMA HAS BEEN SERVED. OH MY GOD. HE SEES GEM FIRST WITH HER SWORD BUT ITS BDUBS WHO PUNCHES HIM TO DEATH. YES. THIS IS SO SATISFYING. AND THEY STEAL HIS CROWNS AND CARDS.

Etho out here defending victims of scams and bad deals. First Cleo now Bdubs. And of course Bdubs voted armadillo when Etho specifically said not to. Gem’s a loyal ethogirl!!! That’s why she wants to beat him up so much. Etho on his rants. We love it. And then he just sets up Bdubs perfectly for Scar’s ravager jumpscare. Love that jump boost activated at the perfect time for that as well.

Wow that’s a lot of coins. Wished he didn’t cut him looping those ravagers though. And look he’s too scared to do the gem vine swing over the ravager in the spiders den. I’m really liking the crystal tings for level 3. It sounds so cool. Etho’s got level 3 down pat. Oh my god that bdubs track gave me a legit jumpscare. Was that tango messing around?? And I can’t believe that Etho maxed out the treasure for both levels. Of course he did. How does the shop always troll him with a card that literally just out of his reach.

That was a classic turn around the corner and BAM ravager jumpscare. Truly it is the spooky season this phase. Slime Etho!! Look at him go, looping wardens and finding the right spot somehow in all that blindness and tension. He got loot and scoot combined with bounding strides. And it got wasted because he was blinded and the warden was right there. The jump boost lasts for so long. The ravager wrangler is back at it! And he’s just there telling tales to Rusty as he waits for the loot to dispense. 2 coins, 4 embers, and 3 crowns!! Max Clank? We haven’t seen that for a while. YO THAT RAVAGER WAS RIGHT THERE HOW DID HE NOT SEE IT?!? HOW DID HE SURVIVE? Bro the redstone delay with the vexes saved his life right there. I CANNOT BELIEVE HE JUST CHARGED THROUGH RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE RAVAGER ON ONE HEART!!!! OH MY GOD. AND HE MAKES IT!!!! That shaky camera though.

Wait has Etho not died on level 3 yet? Omg he isn’t afraid to not perma-sneak. Look at him breaking the game again. The wild thing is that he found a parkour shortcut that many people had thought impossible previously. And of course jump boost occurs immediately after. His runs are just hilarious. I THOUGHT HE WAS ABOUT TO JUMP INTO LAVA HAHA. And what a perfect ending with the exact amount of frost embers needed to purchase suit up.

44 CROWNS!!! WHAT.

[anxietygremlin7]

Oh no! Etho’s building has a rat infestation! along with a bunch of other issues, like rusty pipes and the health inspectors had enough. It’s going to get demolished soon, and everyone is getting evicted in 3 days. Not to mention his totally platonic work buddy needs a roomie for …reasons. WhATEveR ShALl hE DO

This might be my worst guess ever, but yah. I’m going to do one tomorrow as well. Have fun writing!

Oh no! How ever could this be? lol

I love that idea! Super fun! And as per usual, I shall neither confirm nor deny ;)

No worries abt 'bad' guesses/theories, I love them all! (even the super unrealistic ones (not that this one's unrealistic))

Thank you sm for the ask! And if you do one tmr, I shall see you again soon! :)

[spyroforlife]

11 & 14 for the ask game?

11. Are you more of a planner or an improviser?

Ahaha DEFINITELY an improviser. I have very rarely outlined stories and when I have, I usually find myself getting bored with the outline, and then when it comes to actually writing it, I'll very often find that certain events just work better in a different order, or I'll come up with a better idea and have to completely rework things, and it's just like. I might as well just wing this anyway and MAYBE use some things from the outline if I still like it but otherwise, eh

The vast majority of everything I've written just started at the first sentence you see and I wrote based on a vague idea of where I want the plot to go, maybe there's certain dialogue or whatever I envisioned from the start, but otherwise. I very much just wing it. This probably is not ideal. But it works for me and trying to do differently would just stress me out, so that's what I do :D

Of course I always reread and fix things as needed, and I've definitely added or taken out entire scenes and so on from longfics, so it's not like I'm just posting unedited first drafts, but yeah. I don't plan much. I just have a plot idea and see where it takes me.

Though I do have some stories like Heart Thief where I've talked about the storyline extensively in private with a friend so there's more of what I'd call a 'plan' but even so, there's things that end up getting changed at the last second because I'm like "hey you know what would be cool-"

Is what it is I guess lmao

14.Most fun and/or engaging character voice to write in?

I really like writing Scar, he's so charismatic and friendly, and I love his jokes, but he also has this capacity for serious mean or cruel streaks when he feels it's deserved. I don't think he fakes his kindness. When he's kind, he's so genuinely kind and I love that about him, and I like writing him when he's adoring his friends or partners, he's goofy and sweet and that's an enjoyable personality to write. I just ALSO like how when he decides he doesn't like someone, he can just focus so much pure malice at them and you get this feel of "oh my god he would kill them with a rusty spoon and not even regret it"

It's especially notable in the Life series tbh. I'll never forget Scar in Third Life when Etho and friends revealed they had gotten dark oak saplings, they all run off and Scar turns to Grian and his voice gets that hard edge as he says "I will murder them."

Just something about characters who FEEL so strongly, who commit totally to their feelings, if they love you they love you to pieces but if they hate you they WILL burn you alive at the first opportunity. It's delightful to write

He's just a charming guy and I love getting into his head, because as awkward as he might seem on the outside, he's just so confident and passionate about who he is and what he cares about. I am not immune to the goodtimes