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cobblestone-butch · 30 days ago

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Some notes on improv Game and similarities between Joel and Bdubs:

Finding the 'Game' of an improv scene is about finding what is interesting or funny about it, and playing to it. In the same way, characters might have a 'Game' - what set of behaviours, actions, or ideas does this character have that are notable in how unusual and therefore funny they are? In this aspect, Bdubs and Joel have similar Games as characters - they both display an exaggeration of ability or competence played to the detriment of their humility, dramatic outward emotions played towards being outlandish and egotistical, and a lack of self awareness about the disparity between their self-expectation and their reality. In a few words, both of their Games are 'I'm being overly prideful in situations that don't call for it'. The underlying goal of their Game is largely the same: no reasonable person would take me seriously.

The characters of both Joel and Bdubs would assure you that yes, actually, you should take me very seriously. They are more than self-assured in their own ability and expect you to agree, thank you very much. However, taking them at their word undermines their drama and doesn't honour their Game. The funny and unusual thing in the scene with these characters is their inflated ego and blustering words, that increase in fever the more disparate their pride is with their observed competence. They invite us to observe their failure so that they can create a deliberate mismatch with that failure and their egotism. The joke is on them, always.

They play these character Games at different levels for sure, and Bdubs especially plays different Games often, so they're not exactly the same - Joel's Game is that he is undercut by his 'mental' (or ability to not get tilted) despite having great technical skill, as well as letting himself be undermined by others in terms of his Big Emotions. Bdubs' Game is often his juxtaposing of his genuine ability with a goof or 'blooper' style failure where he will mix up his words or have imperfections in his perfect redstone, and his emotions seethe rather than explode most of the time.

#huge disclaimer: this is just one aspect or lens by which to view them through and is by no means complete or correct #i just wanted to play with this lens because what's the point of rotating these guys if not to get a different angle on em #sorry its 4am my time im Out of my mind #joel smallishbeans #smallishbeans #bdubs #bdouble0 #bdoubleo100 #short grass #hermitcraft #hermitblr #mine

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pancho-pinto · 4 months ago

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Too Tall Grass (Not Really)

Here my @mcyt-co-create fic that definitively did not change at all from the original idea. Nope. Never<3

Characters - Bdubs/Joel Chapters - 1/5 Tags - General Audiences, Fantasy AU, Slice of Life, Hurt/Comfort Summary - A glimpse into the lives of two princes as they grow up together while navigating their powers, and the consequences of 'bonding' since childhood.

The sun shines bright, few white clouds against clear blue skies. It’s a beautiful day, a lovely day. Perfect for playing, which is what Joel intends to do. He hugs the red ball close to his chest, protective and careful as he’s been told to be. He walks with small steps, assured and certain, but small. His shoes touch the grass, the breeze on his face.

He looks left and right, back and forth, looking around the big garden. He is determined, childishly so, to find someone to play with. But not just any ‘someone’, a very important ‘someone’—a most important ‘someone’.

He doesn’t run, a leisurely walk, careful, always careful.

“Mummy!” he calls instead, stopping at the center of the garden, feeling the tears prickling at the edges of his eyes. He hugs the ball closer, looking for reassurance, feeling even smaller in such a big place. It’s open and it’s bright and it’s so very lonely. He hiccups, tries again, “Mummy!”

He looks down at his red ball, looks at the green grass, his vision blurs with crystal tears quickly. Where is Mummy? Why is he alone? He doesn’t like being alone.

He sniffles, another hiccup catching on his throat, but he looks up, looks around, and keeps walking. The tears don’t stop sliding down red cheeks, and his steps stumble with uncertainty. Until—

“Mummy!”

Joel runs forward, covering the last distance as he approaches the flower bushes, a woman sitting in front of them. Her hair is the same color of tree trunks like Joel’s, and her clothes are pastel green with a big straw hat. The woman turns her head and body, tilts up her hat and smiles as her little boy crashes onto her lap, sobbing and clinging onto her dress as his ball rolls away. She wraps a hand around his back, gently soothes the worry.

“I’m here, baby. Mummy is here.”

He hiccups, buries his little face into the fabric further.

“I thought you were playing with the other kids. Do you not want to play anymore?” She asks softly, gently like the breeze and sweet like the quiet bird chirps. She is safety, his haven. “Oh, my love, one day we will find someone you cannot sneak away from. Our most loyal Ares and Athena aren’t getting any younger, you know? Chasing after you all day. One day. Your father will have a field day looking for a babysitter. The world for you. We’ll give everything to you, the best for you.”

It goes quiet a while—the soft wind making the branches and bushes dance their slow waltz, the birds chirping quietly up in the canopies, and her soft hums as her fingers run through his brown curls. Joel rubs his face into her dress, lifts up enough to rub his eyes with his fists, and carefully he climbs up to her, holding onto the fabric of her corset.

“Hi, baby,” she greets softly, and when he looks up at her, she smiles so warmly for her baby. She finds big, brown eyes, a little red from crying, like hers—so much like hers. She is as radiant as he is curious, her face, her eyes, his father's lips, the color of his skin, their courage, their strength and their faults. Their boy, their baby. Their son.

“Hi, Mummy,” he replies just as softly, so much softer and brittle. He raises a hand to her face, touching her cheek, warmth on the small of his palm. Her hand on his back holds him steady. He looks at his hand, looks at the other, looks at the crumpled dress and he flattens it out with minute movements. “Hello.”

“Your ball,” she offers, taking the ball from Ares and lifting it with her other hand. Joel sits back on her lap, grabs the ball before offering it to her. She smiles, “You wanted to play with Mummy?”

Joel nods, lowering the ball onto his lap.

“Sorry, baby, Mummy can’t play right now.” She caresses the side of his face with the back of her knuckles, pushing his cheek lightly and making him close his eyes before he blinks them open. She chuckles. “Do you want to see what Mummy is doing?”

Joel nods, then leans over to the side, letting the ball roll away from his hands. It stops against Ares, the wolf promptly rolls it over to its stomach as it lays down, keeping it safe as it did the Queen and her only son. She leans down to press a kiss on the top of his head, nuzzling him with her cheek before wrapping her hands around his sides, lifting him a little to turn him around. One of his small hands grabs her dress, her left arm keeping around his stomach.

She grabs the shears beside her on the ground, showing them in front of him, “These are garden shears. Like scissors but for the garden. I use them to cut things. Like dead branches and leaves and stems—that's called pruning. It helps the plant grow stronger.”

Carefully, Joel places his hand on the rings, patting them before tilting his head back to look up at her. He blinks, his eyes like hers, “Why?”

She chuckles, lowering the shears as she scoots a little closer to the bush. Joel looks between the bush and her, then looks at the bush as her arm around him lifts to the branches. He lifts his left hand too, places it against her arm, holding onto her.

She moves some branches and leaves, revealing some brown leaves.

“Well,” she hums, “sometimes plants get sick. Not all of them can take medicine and heal like us, so we have to cut some parts off so the sickness doesn’t spread.” She gently lifts the branch with the dead leaves with the side of her index, then cuts it off.

Carefully, she moves leaves and branches around, looking for more. “Hm, and sometimes, when certain parts die, the plant sends energy to a part that does not need more energy. So when you cut them off, that energy can go elsewhere. For example, it can help grow flowers, and a lot of times, those flowers grow into fruits.”

“Peach?” Joel looks back again, and she looks down at him, smiling.

“Yes! Like our peach tree. Do you remember our gardeners? The people who are always up high in ladders working on the trees?”

Joel nods.

“When Mummy is busy, they prune our trees when needed. They look after our trees and other plants in the garden. So when you see them next time, say ‘thank you’, okay, baby? They keep your peach tree healthy and they help the tree make lots of fruits. They help us a lot, so we should always thank them.”

Joel nods again.

They sit a while long, working slowly on the flower bush. Joel rubs his eyes every now and then, a little yawn escaping his lips eventually. She smiles, continues her work, wrapping an arm around him as she works with one hand. His hands, so small, gently placed on her arm, holding her as she holds him. Tender.

“Mummy?”

“Yes, baby?”

“Does plant miss leaves?”

She raises her hand and brushes his cheek with the back of her finger, and he holds onto the heel of the palm with one of his.

“They were useful once,” she starts gently, picking a fallen leaf and holding it to him. “Do you remember your lesson on photosynthesis? Why leaves are useful? They help the plant feed, and that helps the plant grow. But sometimes, things outgrow you, and you don’t need them anymore, so you have to let them go. They were useful, once, but sometimes keeping them when you no longer need them becomes unhealthy and can harm you.”

She hums, “But! I do think the plant might miss it. We all miss things, even when they hurt us. And growing up is learning to let them go, but you are allowed to miss them as long as you remember why you can’t keep them in your life anymore. Remember that, okay?”

Joel nods. “Mummy, Mummy,” he points to some leaves and a branch, discolored.

“Good job, baby.”

<<<>>>

The door opens, and Joel steps out into the sunny garden again. He looks back to the maid, bows to her, then waddles out. At the very center, there is a table with a big parasol over them, Ares sleeping under. His mother is sitting there, turns as he approaches, smiles at him so wide, so warm.

“Mummy! Mummy!” he calls loudly, stopping close to her, his ball bumping the side of her leg as he looks up at her.

She runs her fingers through his hair, lifting and settling him on her lap once again. She kisses his temple, his cheek, his nose. He closes his eyes with giggles at her affection, scrunching up his small face before opening his eyes to her warm ones.

“Have something to eat, okay, baby? Say hi to our guest, too. Her Majesty the Forest Queen. She is a Queen, like me.”

Joel holds the ball against his stomach, shyly looking at the woman across from them. Her hair is long like Mummy, and her dress is very pretty and sparkly too. He curls up on Mummy’s lap, squeaking a shy little, “Hello.”

“Hello, love,” she greets back, just as warm as Mummy, “you can call me Mrs Alais, or Aunt Alais.”

He nods, small acknowledgement, clinging to the ball tighter.

“Is that your ball? It’s so red! And clean. You must take care of it very well.”

Joel looks at his ball, pats it with one hand, then offers it to her.

Aunt Alais smiles, her eyes doing the same thing as Mummy’s, crinkling at the edges, and it’s so warm and safe. “Oh, love, I’m not dressed to play right now. But I think I might know someone who can play with you after you two have something to eat first.”

Joel tilts his head curiously, looking at her with big eyes, beaming at the prospect of playing with someone. He watches her hand extend to the trees, and golden glitter circles her arm, swirling and twirling like ball gowns during parties. The tree branches shake then part as a big flower bud extends out, pink petals with shaded white at the bottom, stopping near her hand and opening up slowly. Joel stands on Mummy’s lap, her arms holding him up as he looks over, eyes going wide when he sees a small boy sleeping inside. The boy’s clothes are like Aunt Alais—garments of greens and golds and browns.

Aunt Alais wakes the boy up tenderly, the little boy blinking his eyes open, rubbing them as he sits up, looking at his mummy. She places him into her lap, arm around his stomach as Joel sits down, looking back at Mummy then back to the other boy.

The mothers take little sandwiches and give them to their respective sons. Joel takes the sandwich, taking small bites as he keeps his attention on the other boy eating too.

“This is my son, Prince Bdubs. Bdubs, that’s Prince Joel, say hello. And say hello to Queen Joane too, we are guests in their house.”

“Hello!” The boy raises and waves his hand, face beaming with a bright, sleepy smile. Aunt Alais looks at him with a fond smile, looks at Joel the same way.

“Hello, Bdubs,” Mummy says warmly, and Joel only waves his hand. “Baby, is there something you want to ask Bdubs?”

Joel hugs his ball tighter to his chest, shakes his head. He pouts, looks down at his ball instead. Mummy chuckles softly, presses a kiss on his head.

They sit a while longer, the mothers chatting and having some tea. The day continues to be bright with little wind. Joel watches Mummy peel a mandarin, and he grabs the segments from her hands. They are sweet, slightly sour, and they are perfect because Mummy peeled them.

Joel eats quietly, peeking over at Bdubs.

<<<>>>

Once again, Joel walks around the garden, their garden. The one everyone takes care of, a community effort. He helps sometimes, Mummy says he does. And sometimes he sits with her, Mummy and Daddy, in the shade eating peaches. Sometimes they play in the sun, until the sun turns orange and it gets cold. Other times he naps, curled up under a blanket, in Mummy or Daddy's lap, rhythmic breeze and humming rocking him to sleep.

Today, however, he is looking for another. Not his parents, or anyone he really knows, but a friend regardless. He walks slowly, followed by Ares and Athena, and he finds Bdubs sitting near a small tree, recently planted, watching it intently. He walks to him, ball close to his chest, and Bdubs looks at him when he gets close enough.

It’s quiet outside, and it’s a good day to play.

The ball turns into a wooden sword, very light and blunt in his hand.

Joel smacks Bdubs on the head.

Bdubs cries for a long while after, and unsurprisingly, Joel has his gift taken away for a while longer.

#hermitshipping #trafficshipping #short grass #bdoubleo100 #smallishbeans #panfic

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