#mcyt has ruined me

[qsmpbutwithsignlanguage]

What we have learned from Minecraft roleplaying these last three-four years (yes it's been that long):

If somebody wants to run for presidency, no they don't.

If somebody says you need a government, no you don't.

If somebody wants to stage a revolution, no they don't.

If that somebody is the same person, no they weren't.

You don't need politics in Minecraft for the love of god-when has it ever ended well??

[cellberry]

I posted 2,634 times in 2022

That's 1,042 more posts than 2021!

48 posts created (2%)

2,586 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@tobi-smp

@proudfreakmetarusonniku

@navy-leader

@go-learn-esperanto

@sunlitmcgee

I tagged 2,617 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#dream smp - 1,058 posts

#c!tommy - 609 posts

#hermitcraft - 428 posts

#dsmp - 371 posts

#double life smp - 319 posts

#dream smp lore - 310 posts

#grian - 289 posts

#dsmp lore spoilers - 271 posts

#mcyt - 216 posts

#solidaritygaming - 200 posts

Longest Tag: 131 characters

#also i think cdreamers are fighting invisible madeup inniters who genuinely believe cdream has no plans beyond making ctommy suffer

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

“Ran…”

“Is this what he looked like?”

“He has a little suit. It suits him.”

202 notes - Posted August 31, 2022

#4

I want to tell a 2020 MCYT fan that Karl and Dream kissed on the lips in front of thousands of people while George watched.

219 notes - Posted October 9, 2022

#3

Let me just say how happy I am that we got confirmation that not only are c!clingyduo still friends, but they have been friends this whole time who regularly hang out to share meals and occasionally just goof off :’)

351 notes - Posted July 11, 2022

#2

Post-lore content of c!Wilbur: He’s back baby and making it everyone’s problem! He’s scaring away the customers with stories of revolutionary minecraft wars and blue sheep in train station hell. He’s become mormon. He has his own Wikipedia page. God bless America 🇺🇸

Post-lore content of c!Tommy: He’struly alone and abandoned truly. The rain is his sorrow and that peninsula is his only confidant. c!Dream is right around the corner waiting to revivekill him. No future. Such is the life of a tommy.

379 notes - Posted September 5, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

So I heard the news...

Then I heard the rest of the news...

But no matter what, that final life kill will always belong...

to C MOTHERFUCKING EXCLAMATION POINT TUBBO!!!!!!

757 notes - Posted November 11, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[sapphia]

me, seeing a big moon: Big Moon

[elis-corner]

your last post was adorable! if you’re up for it, can I request bdubs x reader who’s an insomniac? if not, no worries and have a wonderful day :)

Heya wonderful anon :D As I say to everyone who requests, sorry this took several months! I don't know what happened, but I got a bunch of asks that just didn't appear in my inbox until around December, but they said they were all there from months before.

It's only short since I'm trying to get back into the fanfic side of writing, hope you don't mind~ I also wasn't sure how to frame this the way I wanted, so I went with a mix of headcanons and drabbles

I hope you enjoy <3

'You can go to bed without me, you know.'

The concept of being unable to sleep was something that, at first, Bdubs couldn't even begin to comprehend. Of course, you'd explained insomnia to him time and time again, but let's be honest, nothing can separate him and the idea of "sleep good".

And certainly, nothing will get in the way of him trying to get you to come to bed with him.

'It's okay if you can't sleep,' he whined, 'you can even be loud and I'll still doze through. Just be there next to me! Please? For me, Y/n?' The look he gave you with those big, gorgeous eyes of his was taunting.

The idea that you struggle to sleep is painful for the poor guy. Of course, poor you more, but you're his main comfort after a long day! He might be your scrunkle, but you're definitely his too, no denying.

Bdubs will do whatever he can to help you sleep, even if it's things that don't really help.

'Love, I'm not a child. You singing doesn't hel-.' 'So you don't want to hear this gorgeous voice?' 'No!'

Please, give this man an award for caring, then frame it and hang it on the wall for him to proudly stare at.

Did you do it yet? Good.

Bdubs might not understand insomnia, and he might not be the most helpful person when you're struggling with falling asleep at two in the morning, but he's certainly going to be the one to try and stay up with you.

Even if he doesn't work as well the next day, or has to drink an extra few dozen cups of coffee to stay awake, it's the least he can do, so he says.

'I'm not leaving you alone, Y/n! If you can't sleep, than neither will I. Etho will be the one to suffer in the morning, not me; there will be no repercussions for me to deal with at all!' *insert a charming grin here*

And I promise you, the first thing he did when he learnt about Shubble's potions when they were on Empires, was see if she could make one to help you sleep. You're always his top priority.

He really does love you.

[starrysymphonies]

Don Don the hardcore quest is so autistic, source: I am autistic trust me

[bugflies00]

YOUTUBE WRAPPED COMING FOR THE THROAT . LIKE SHUT THE FUCK UP YKNOW??

[bronzetomatoes]

Who up thinkin bout cquacky

[hiveswap]

Summary of The Cat of The Year poll atrocities of 2023/2024

I'm sure that most people on this side of tumblr have seen the Jellie vs. Nefarious Anglerfish poll going around with like 60k votes at this point, and I'd really like clear up some of what happened since I was around for the whole thing.

Url blocked out for op's privacy. They have already left but don't look for it if you haven't seen it/don't harrass them if you already have.

1. The previous round (preparation)

I discovered the poll in its previous round, needless to say she beat Jort's ass severely. This was around the 3rd of january, meaning that this round finished before jellie's passing with only about 7k votes. Op did add their own piece of propaganda from their main:

...which was FINE. (except for stuff we'll see later) Of course running a poll while biased isn't ideal but I for one didn't even know they were the op until much later. I also added my own piece in a separate thread, and they didn't interact with it at all. There was no drama.

2. The Finale

Jellie unfortunately passed away right before the starting of this poll, which was the catalyst for what happened next. Op did exactly as last time and added a slightly more mean spirited encouragement to vote for the other contestant. This is the point where I believe that i fucked up personally.

I added this thinkpiece accusing op of associating all mcyters with Dream (who we all hate for the record) despite them not alluding to him at all. This is because tumblr has a history of disimissing all mcyters as... everything that dream was been accused of. Op did allude to not caring for mcyt. but they didn't say what i accused them of. This is important to point out because this reblog of mine is still being spread. Jellie was in the lead at the time, but not by the time i woke up next morning.

I won't be including anyone else's additions because I don't want to put blame on any specific person. Just felt like clearing up mine.

3. The Fuckening

Some time later op made this post to their personal blog:

which is insanely shitty because, as other people have pointed out, the "lame ass youtube cat" didn't die to inconvinience op or ruin their fun, and people would have probably voted for her anyway because jelly is universally beloved in the mcyt community. This isn't anti democratic. This post was added to the poll with a caption saying op should not be running this poll, and it took off. Op later went on to say that this was a joke:

This apology was not taken well by people, (including me) because "you were not meant to see it" isn't an apology and they still very much made fun of someone's pet dying. Safe to say this did not make the drama stop and only added fuel to the flame. I believe this was the point where the conversation of mcyt fans being unjustly sent hate to was reignited.

We should discuss that! it's a real thing that happens often and is equal to childish bullying. However, in this case, OP was the only one getting sent hate to my knowledge. The notes were mostly saturated by mcyt fans, and even now i can only find one or two hateful stance towards us under the whole 20k notes post.

4. Conclusions

Op posted a second apology to the catoftheyear blog to try and calm people down (i believe this is comprehensive and a lot better than the previous one) The blog was deactivated shortly after, so i only have my phone screenshots of it that i also added to the poll itself at some point:

(Edit) Here's proof that op did not write the justification they got criticised for, from the notes of the original poll:

This apology didn't get seen, or get accepted by enough people, so op made this statement on their personal:

Needless to say I am deeply dissapointed (and guilty) that it's come to this. Yes, op said tasteless things that made us all angry, but telling a human being to commit suicide is worse than being insensitive about a stranger's pet dying. Even after I posted about the blog being decatived i had someone come into my notes to wish that "they never find happiness" i mean wtf. This isn't like shipping where we can do whatever without the content creator's input. this is fucking harrowing and i can't imagine how i'd feel if this was done in my/my pet's name especially after losing them as recently as a week ago.

I hope no one from hermitcraft who is on here (let alone scar holy shit) learns about this like they did with previous lighthearted tournaments. If you truly respect the creators you claim to be a fan of as people, you do not tell people to kill themselves over them. And finally, let Jellie fucking rest, guys. she had a long, good life. I hope op can come back and also avoids behaving like this if they ever wish to do so. I'm angrier at mcytblr, though.

[mcytblrconfessions]

Being an mcyt artist has ruined me for the amount of design details I can make up- with anime characters they have an actual canon design that most people follow, with mcyt characters the most you get is a color palette and a vibe. It’s so fun to make up details and take into account character dialogue and roleplay etc. I want to do that for everything I draw fanart for but then they have these pesky “canon designs”. Nobody does it like mcyt artists

[lowkeyrobin]

Can you do headcannons for them with a reader who crochets

Like maybe being on stream with them and just sitting next to them while they're yelling and you're just sitting there crocheting

Sorry if I made to complicated English is not my first:((((

omg I love this prompt!!&#*@&jdjsjs ; also don't worry!! I totally understand don't worry 🫶🫶🫶

MCYT ; you crochet

includes ; tommyinnit, ranboo, badlinu, nihachu & quackity

masterlist

TOMMYINNIT

he'll be streaming like a just chatting stream or whatnot and you'll be off to the side doing your thing

some people in chat are watching you more than they're watching Tommy LMAO

you'll be crocheting a little plushie for him (a mini raccooninnit) and he'll look back at you every once in a while because you're pretty quiet and he's just checking up

you like punt it at the back of his skull when you're done and it lands back in your hand and he turns around with a "whatthefuhck?"

you hand it to him this time tho dw

he quickly shows it off to stream and does a little 360 of it

gives you a little kiss on the hand and thanks you with a lil hug

he's not huge w pda so you'll take what you can atm LMAO

he loves that you crochet, he thinks it's so cool because he doesn't have the patience for it

you've crocheted plenty of things for him that stay in his background or act as little easter eggs

you even made him a whole blanket that says "TommyInnit" with the little smiley face like on the HTBAB tour logo thing

he uses it religiously, that things in the wash every weekend because yk damn well he's not letting it get nasty or ruined

RANBOO

loves having you in the bg of their streams just chillin

you usually crochet them beanies, plushies, blankets etc

you'd be crocheting a new blanket, matching the theme of their new brand

once you finished, you'd throw it over them and scare them

"Holy shit! Y/n!"

you giggle while he looks at it and admires it with a smile

he shows it off to stream and gives you a big hug and shit

he'll often wear the clothing items you've made him on stream as well

"where's this from? oh, y/n made it for me!"

like Tommy, their bg is filled with little easter eggs of you

before the rebrand you even made him a little crown and he wore it religiously because it was honestly really comfy

he's tried to learn crochet on stream before but it wasn't going well LMAO

sometimes you'll be chilling and doing your thing and chat will focus more on you than them 😭🙏

FREDDIE BADLINU

you've made him so many bucket hats that if you make one more you will gain carpal tunnel

he absolutely loves that you crochet and that you make him things tho

he'll send you new patterns like "I saw this and thought of you"

if you're chilling in the back of a stream, he'll just leave you be and bother you every once in a while

"watcha making?"

"little plushie"

"ooo"

again, his bg is littered w little easter eggs

and his room and closet are filled with blankets and pillows

you use the nice yarn that isn't itchy too 🙏

he'll post pictures of you crocheting online and stuff it's adorable

straight up made him a jacket and he looks so good in it

just straight up throwing crochet gifts at him is normal dw

he loves and cherishes everything you make him

NIKI NIHACHU

you've made her everything in the book and she's posted about it LMAO

you made her a blanket and she cuddles up in it on chill streams 24/7

you've made her a bunch of tops which she always knows how to perfectly style too

like you'll even get her input when you're chilling in the bg while she's streaming

"niki, purple or white for the tiny flowers?"

"mmm purple!"

she even has chat decide things for you when she can't LMAO

you made her a whole crochet sign for her bg that says Nihachu, it's basically just a tapestry but you spent hours on it lmao

making her a bunch of little jellyfish and stars>>>

you even make her a little empanada keychain and she ADORES IT

she uses it as a little squishy for when she's a bit anxious too

you made the waffles like interchangeable too its like a whole toy

ALEX QUACKITY

he has no idea wtf you're doing but he likes it

you made him the little quackityhq duck years ago and he still treasures it, its right on his desk so he can always look at it lol

he loves just watching you crochet

will genuinley zone out watching you as well

again, punting gifts at him is normal

and they will ricochet off his head back into your hand 💀

"bro you got a long ass head"

"WHAT?"

you crochet him new beanies too

he wears them a lot as well

loves all the blankets dearly like they're his kids

you made a little qsmp world plush thing as well, only the world w the debatable qsmp logo bc all the stuff on top would've killed you

crocheting random shit just to throw it at him >>>

[proshippers-against-censorship]

I think people also don't understand it when creators or celebrities set boundaries about RPF content. Like if you're making 18+ content about someone, you should NOT be sending it to them, tagging them, talking about it where they can easily see it (comment sections, live chats, AMAs, etc) or acting like that's real life. Which ironically...is what I tend to see antis doing under the guise of "protecting them" and enforcing their boundaries (which isn't their job).

But I'm sorry, if you exist as a public figure or celebrity, someone out there is going to make fan content about you. And while someone has a right to not like it and not want to see it, someone else has a right to make that type of content too. The key is keeping things nice and separate so it's not flung in the phases of people who don't want to see it.

Things used to exist on nice little corners of the internet that you weren't likely to find unless you were the target demographic, now anything and everything has the potential to go viral and be exposed to all the wrong people. Like the person who wrote the Heat Waves fanfiction (which centered around a ship for two popular MCYT creators AND was the most popular work on AO3 for a while) ended up deleting the fic and leaving the internet because they went viral and people kept violating *their* boundaries by sharing it with the two creators it was about.

Like that *never* would've happened 10 years ago (or at least, pre-pandemic). I'm like 22 (been in fandom spaces since I was 12) and I don't remember people being this mad about RPF content before. They used to just exist and even if you didn't like or agree with it, there was an understanding that it was just fiction and you'd scroll past/use the block button if you didn't like it. Hell, that could be said for any part of fandom etiquette back then.

"Proshippers" were just the majority of people who had common sense and just wanted to enjoy fantasy, "antishippers" weren't even a thing back then because acting like a holier-than-thou idiot would get you kicked out of most groups.

I'm very worried about how many people advocate for sexual content to be completely banned or for the government to imprison people over fictional works they don't like. How if you do something they don't like, these crazies will do whatever they can to ruin you, both offline and online. Fandom used to be a safe space but now it's like the people who used to bully over being in one have joined them, BUT THEY NEVER STOPPED BULLYING!!

It's a mess. Sorry for the essay but that screenshot you shared really pissed me off, as did the other anon claiming you have to conform your opinions to gain the approval of antis (spoiler: nothing anyone does will be good enough, they'll still find a way to call you "problematic" and a bad person).

Thanks for existing, glad to know there are still sane people out there who aren't trying to apply real world morals and laws to LITERAL fiction 👍🏽

Essay or not, you hit the point dead-on. Good job.

[kaz-oooo]

I’ve already done music recommendations so, you can check out these posts (playlists and list of artists) if you’re looking for that specifically. But Wilbur made a lot of content over the years and idk, i figured I’d make a a list of recommendations for similar content to fill that void as well :)

Minecraft SMP’s (specifically DSMP)

The same SMP’s but other POV’s — I’ll just start with this cos it’s the most iffy. There’s plenty of enjoyment to be had with these fandoms still, and I personally don’t think we need to let the actions of a couple shitty guys ruin the silly Minecraft roleplay we all enjoy. That said, if you aren’t comfy watching these anymore that’s perfectly valid as well, especially since Wilbur’s character will be lurking around in the background of plenty of these. But yeah, we can also uplift other creators by watching the fun stories they made, especially those who got buried by bigger creators at the time. So Dream SMP, QSMP, Origins SMP, SMP earth, SMPlive all have content you can enjoy.

Different, completely unrelated SMP’s — hermitcraft, the life series, empires SMP (shubble was involved in this one, I’m planning on watching her POV when I find some time) etc. I’ve had plenty of people recommend these to me before, from what I’ve seen they’re very enjoyable :)

Hamilton — not even joking, if you enjoyed the L’manberg era of DSMP and you didn’t watch Hamilton, I’d heartily recommend it. Great music, lots of politics but all in a fun and silly way, also tragic endings!

Editor Wilbur ARG (I’m a massive ARG fan so I have tonnes of recommendations here)

Generation Loss — Ranboo’s very awesome Horror project that they’ve been working very hard on!!! Ranboo’s been teasing new content lately as well so that’s exciting

Analog horror series — Local 58, Gemini Home Entertainment, Mandela Catalog, Kane Pixel’s Backrooms videos, etc. All very good and spooky videos, definetely an inspiration for Gen Loss, and I know Wilbur enjoyed this content as well (though the editor Wilbur arg predates a lot of this genre) those are some of the biggest on YouTube atm, and some of my personal favourites, but there’s plenty more to find (I recommend channels like Nightmind and Nexpo who do analysis videos for all this horror and ARG stuff if you wanna find more)

Marble Hornets — gets its own category! One of the original analog horror genres (predated the genre actually) it’s basically one of the biggest and most comprehensive Slenderman series out there. There’s a LOT of content here and lots of lore and mystery (though a lot of the game clues have been lost to time) (Jack Manifold also reacted to this on stream, it was very chill and good fun)

Horror podcasts — Magnus Archives and Magnus Protocol, Malevolent and Archive 81 are some of my favourites, but there’s plenty more out there to find and enjoy :). Also very spooky with lots of mystery to involved, the Magnus Protocol is very new as well so great time to get into that!

Just Chatting / Geoguessr / other chill content

Geoguessr streamers / YouTubers — honestly I genuinely didn’t watch much geoguessr content outside of Wilbur’s streams so, I don’t have many recommendations here. I know Eret has been doing geoguessr streams lately and their content is very good and chill. Jacksuckatlife plays as well and last I watched he was fairly good at it (like similar skill level to Wilbur), otherwise Rainbolt is a geoguessr legend, he terrifies me a little ngl.

Other streamers — I think the thing with the just chatting streams is that we watch for *that specific streamer’s* personality. It’s hard to really make recommendations other than just saying go watch more of the streamers you enjoy. Personally I enjoy Phil’s hardcore streams, and Sneegsnag’s Crime Time the most, but there’s plenty of other people both in this MCYT space and outside of it that you’ll probably enjoy :)

Sorry boys (unlike horror I don’t watch much comedy so, sorry, this’ll be lacking)

Just Roll With It — Charlie Slimecicle’s DND podcast. I’ve only listened to a little bit of this but it’s really good and REALLY silly (oh, and emotional sometimes, gotta have a bit of angst y’know) Wilbur was a guest on a couple of episodes, but you can always skip past those if you want.

Tommy’s videos — so Wilbur features in a lot of the early vlogs and *minecraft but* videos, but Tommy’s content has always been good fun, his recent stuff is excellent as well! He’s been doing a lot of comedy content lately, specifically a live show so definitely check that out if you want :)

Smosh pit — not something I’ve watched a lot of, but I’ve seen clips of their try not to laugh videos and they’re definitely on par with the bat shit improv you get from Sorry Boys.

Game changer — again, not something I’ve watched much, mostly consumed through osmosis, but the show is funny, the cast is always silly and it’s a lot of fun all round

Whatever else Sorry Boys make after this — judging by some of the responses to Wilbur’s “statement” I think it’s fair to assume if Sorry Boys do continue making content Wilbur will be cut from the group. Of course don’t feel obligated to stick around if you don’t want to, but Wilbur won’t be compensated if he’s kicked and the rest of the guys are still fun :)

YLYL and similar goofy stuff

Just… other streamers again — Jack Manifold does YLYL streams with his friends. James Marriott does a lot of reaction videos as well, sometimes YLYL, sometimes reacting to content his viewers send in (like TikTok’s and break up texts), those are my favourites atm.

YouTubers — that niche between video essay and reaction content, people like Danny Gonzales, Drew Gooden, Kurtis Conner, Pinely, all good fun YouTube channels that make good, silly, and easy to consume content.

Other gaming streamers and YouTubers — Slimecicle, Ranboo, Games Grumps, RT games, and SneegSnag all play a wide variety of games, they’re all relatively chill but none of them take the games all that seriously either so it’s fun and goofy as well :)

And of course Fanfiction!!!

I might be a little bias here cos I write myself but fic is created by and for fans and it exists to give you even *more* content about the stories you love, whether it be reimagining canon events or just dumping your favourite characters into a silly au.

I know a lot of authors (myself included) are feeling super conflicted and weird about writing Wilbur in the future. Plenty of authors have been moving onto new fandoms so if you find something you enjoy make sure you check out the author’s other work and who knows, maybe you’ll find some cool new fandoms that way!

And do the same for artists and other creators, or even go check out some of your mutuals fandoms, you guys might have more in common than you originally thought!

[wildpeachfarm]

ok so this probably the only time I'll be "dooming" in ur asks and then I'll be back on the dnf baby grind but it's just a random thought I can't get out of my head:

and it's just that I feel like Caiti has majorly fucked up her own future career. like even ignoring the fact that her accountability has been torn to shreds, I doubt people will be as willing to colab/hang out with her because tbh she will probably be viewed as a lliability or ppl will be too cautious of not upsetting her to even bother interacting with her at all.

And I've seen other ppl say this and was like "nah she has all the Brighton ppl I'm sure she could recover her career with them somehow" but also that's not great for her either because, from what I've seen over the past month, a majority of the rest of the internet hates them as well(also they're shitty friends and imo she needs better ones but that's smth for another day...maybe.).

I just have the feeling that a majority of ppl would be reluctant to colab with any of that group because they've proven that anything that they perceive as a personal slight/as offensive can and will be turned against you for their personal gain(I'm mainly talking about the Brighton bastards here, not Caiti). Like with the Dteam(hell even ppl like Tommy and tubbo) they're hated by a majority of the mcyt space but a majority of ppl in the rest of the internet are either indifferent or like them, which gets them more collabs with stuff unrelated to mc and more mainstream stuff(example: dreams wired interview, the snf content with Larray, ect)

I feel like all of this combined will probably mean that Caiti(if she chooses to continue content creation) will have a significantly harder time growing her channel/audience and will likely be known by the wider audience as "that girl who accused gnf of sa" rather than her own cc. which genuinely really upsets me on her behalf. imo she really just ruined her own future rather than George's as many ppl are saying

-baby fever anon(sorry if none of this makes sense)

yeah I get what you mean anon. And unfortunately I do think you're correct- people outside of the community have already regarded caiti and the brighton bastards as liars and terrible clout chasers and no one is ever going to want to be near people who are like that.

In addition, caiti is very clearly unstable and I think that is going to drive a lot of people away from her. And she will likely be defined by this for the rest of her CC career which is so sad because this could have gone so much differently if she had treated it better.

[firesnap]

I hate that I took him at his word. I remember there being a conversation during one of the wine streams where Wilbur said he would "never hurt a fly." What fucking bullshit. I looked forward to those wine streams every year even when I wasn't that into mcyt. Like I know that's a little minor thing to focus on and obviously these are my own petty feelings but like. Those streams were dear to me and we all came back together for them and they're fucking ruined now. Fuck this guy honestly.

There's a great post I wish I could paste for you about how we need to shake off the narrative that abusers are inherently evil. They might even see themselves as incapable of hurting a fly. They might be the kind of person who no one had a bad thing to say about them until they did. They might be, most likely, a complicated person capable of doing good and being kind and also horrible things.

I think, trying to go back through past things the person has done to show that they're "evil" kinda dismisses the story Shelby told.

He wasn't evil. He still hurt someone and has said nothing about it. He still hurt someone and then destroyed her things and made an album about it. He doesn't deserve our support because, as Shelby said, he's shown to be dangerous and incapable of controlling himself in a way that doesn't damage those around him.

But, no longer sidetracked, I understand what you mean. I don't think any of them realize that their communities are more than things they can farm for interactions. I don't know if any of them will ever grasp how many people are involved in these online spaces in creating, discussing, offering friendship and advice and just existing -- even just coming "back" for events like those streams and feeling welcome. So it hurts like hell to see one of them go up in smoke like this.

[sunflower-cathedral]

omg its a false...! :D (sorry for my lack of mcyt art, homestuck has like. ruined me)

[pickastitch]

i lied i do have a fic for @mcyt-yuri-week

day 3 qpr/aromance. hc s9 gempearl

words: 670

“Gem, what does romantic attraction feel like?” Pearl questioned in the middle of them building up their megabases. They have spoken about them both being aromatic before, and the other found out that Gem was frayromatic while Pearl was completely loveless when it came to aromanticism.

Gem took a minute to think before saying, “It's having the desire to kiss someone, the ability to spend an infinite amount of time and never get tired of them, the wanting to be a life partner, in my experience at least.” Pearl just hummed in response as they continued on working on Gem’s base but couldn't shake the feeling that she had some of those wants for her closest friend without it being explicitly romantic.

After a little bit, they went inside for a water break. Pearl was sitting on top of the dining table while Gem sat in a chair next to her, drinking from a simple glass. She felt herself observing her and took note of all the small details of her, opening her mouth to comment on one, specifically Gem's lips, but quickly closed it, realizing how awkward it would sound.

Gem must have noticed cause she looked over and gave a questioning eyebrow lift. Pearl was caught, so she sighed and answered, “This is going to sound weird, but I was just looking, as one does, and noticed how nice your lips look.”

In response, Gem just laughed, “Wh- wha? Thanks?” It wasn't judgemental or anything she was just caught very off guard. “Your lips.. look good.. too?”

“Okay this is going to sound worse, but-”

“Pearl, I think we've passed that point. That awkward ship has sailed.”

“I suppose. I don't know, just the concept of platonic kissing- is that a thing?”

“I mean, I suppose so,” thinking for a moment, “I guess that is how I would describe some of my older feelings for you”

Now Pearl was curious, “When?” Gem had confessed her romantic feelings when she initially had them and took the rejection fairly well, but they never really talked about it after.

“Well when I start befriending someone I have a crush on, my attraction just goes into this limbo for a bit between romantic and platonic. I've thought of that but never had exact wording for it.”

“Well why don't we try it now?” Pearl suggests as she guides Gem out of her seat and places her in between her legs. Gem stood just a bit taller compared to Pearl sitting, so Gem took her opportunity to hold her face and lead her lips to her own with a light experimental kiss. That only led to both of them wanting more as Pearl tilted her head a little and kissed her back even more intensely.

After they finally pulled apart from one another, “Woah,” was all Gem had to say. Pearl, out of breath, did her best to laugh at the reaction as she pulled her up on the table. “You should've brought this up earlier. That was amazing,” Gem muttered, laying her head down onto Pearl's shoulder.

“Thought it would ruin our friendship”, she admitted as she wrapped her arm around Gem, pulling her even closer.

“No point in friends if you can't kiss them every once in a while,” she joked.

Pearl took notice of the word friend, “Are we friends?” Not in a hurt way, but more so in a curious way.

“Well since I want to kiss you more than every once in a while, we could arrange something.”

Pearl couldn't help herself with an, “Oh?” alongside joking suggestive eyebrow wiggles.

Completely disregarding her usual antics, Gem moved on, “Like something between a friendship and actual romantic relationship?” she suggested.

“Well what would you call me, girlfriend, best friend?"

“I think I'll stick with Pearl. You're my Pearlo.”

Unraveling her body from Gem, she commented, “Alrighty, nice break, we gotta get back to base building,” Pearl said as she poked at Gem, “That means you gotta get up.”

“Mmm, maybe for another kiss?”