#be mad

Earrings & Rings

Earrings either represent your current partner or the partner you once had, depending on the kind of earring. Typically, for a partner a stick is actively in a relationship with, they'd wear hanging earrings, to represent that they're someone they'd follow or trust to carry them, and vice versa. As for ex-partners or widows, you'd wear a small earring of their hex/color, like a simple pearl. You wouldn't honor them with an earring if the relationship was particularly bad. The small earring represents how they no longer carry them, but still remember their love. In the modern day however, some sticks break the rule and wear small earrings for a current partner. Wearing the earring representing an ex whilst in a relationship could be considered disrespectful, depending on the stick. As a subtle confession, sticks might just start wearing earrings the color of the stick they like, or if they wanna be bold, gift the stick earrings of their own hex. That goes wrong often.

Ring placements hold the same meaning as in the real world (if sticks can wear rings?), but married sticks may wear a ring the hex of their partner. Married sticks are meant to still wear their hanging earrings, though some start wearing the small ones because that stage of the relationship is over. Some married sticks may try to start wearing multiple sets of hanging earrings to show their dedication, but that doesn't often last long because even thinking about wearing several hanging earrings gives me dread.

Necklaces, Bracelets, & Anklets

Necklaces represent either your close friends or family, typically in the form of a beaded necklace with each bead the color of said friend or family member, though some sticks wear several plain necklaces in their hexes. The string for the necklace is usually either the stick's complimentary color, white, or black, to avoid accidentally matching another stick's hex (sorry, Chosen, I guess you're everyone's friend). If the necklace beads contains both family and friends, traditionally, family goes on the left, friends go on the right; The individual beads being placed based on who's oldest to youngest (left to right), but family and friends stays on their separate sides. The entire rule about individual bead placement isn't concrete. If you wanted to include a pet, the bead should have a paw or talon print on it, or some other symbol indicating it represents a pet or what kind of pet. This entire headcanon is inspired by @skybristle, and their TSC design having a black necklace with each bead individually colored the same as each cg member. would second know about this tradition? no, probably not, but it'd be funny if it was just a coincidence.

Bracelets work similarly to necklaces, except they are exclusively for family, each bead representing a family member. Plain colored bracelets are exclusively for representing the stick's children, although it wouldn't be considered disrespectful to have the stick's children as just another bead on their bracelet. Some sticks have adopted coloring the string of their bracelet the hex of their child, rather than their own complimentary color, white, or black. It would be disrespectful, however, to not include the child at all in their bracelets if they wear any at all. If you wear a bracelet to represent your child, you don't stop wearing it, even if the child dies. As tradition, when a stick is born, both parents are given a bracelet the hex of their child.

Anklets represent loss/mourning, and would be the hex of the particular stick you're mourning. if you had the bead of the stick or pet on your necklace, you'd put it on the anklet whilst you mourn. Not a lot of sticks do this modern day, but some still do, since it's the thought that counts. You'd traditionally take the anklet off once you've come to terms with the loss, but this isn't a concrete rule. There was also a rule that you're not meant to put the bead back on your necklace or bracelet after you mourn them, but not a lot of sticks follow that rule. You're also meant to take off the bead of dead family/friends when they die, but almost nobody actually follows this rule, especially for family.

Armbands & Cuffs

Armbands and/or cuffs represent the stick's parents. matched to their parent's hex, the style of armband or cuff are determined either the day the stick graduates (there's an education system in the outernet, right?), the day the stick comes of age, or something along those lines. Usually, the parent(s) take their child out to select their style of cuff(s) or armband(s), where to put their parent's color, and purchase them. Traditionally, the left armband is the father's color and the right is the mother's, but this has been mostly forgotten. There's shops all around the outernet exclusively for this, with various uncolored armbands and cuffs for selection. I like to imagine that uncolored armbands look like they're made of glass when they're uncolored, and uncolored cuffs are pure white. Once they're colored, they can be recolored infinitely without any problem. Some families even pass down their armband(s) as a heirloom, recoloring it each generation. If a parent is lost, you don't take off or stop wearing the armband. If the parent disowned you, you're not meant to stop wearing the armband, but many sticks ignore that rule.

Extra notes/details

These are essentially just extra notes/rules i couldn't really point out smoothly, or things involving individual characters like purple and king.

If the stick they want to wear via a bead, earring, or anything else is too close of a hex to themselves, they can use that stick's complimentary color instead, and vice versa. they could also agree on a color for them both to wear, or wear the other stick's favorite color, but there's the risk of accidentally matching someone's hex. If they aren't close hexes to the stick they represent at all but still want to use their complimentary color to represent them, that's okay too. Traditionally you wouldn't be allowed to use familial stick's complimentary colors in representation of them, but this rule isn't concrete anymore. (imagine green accidentally wearing purple's complimentary color as earrings, and what reaction that'd entail lol) (also poor victim and mitsi, both grayscale, but i suppose victim could wear white earrings)

For pride, sticks would wear their colors on their upper arm or as a bandana during the month. Purple probably would gift king a progression flag bandana to walk with them as an ally.

Purple has cuffs, with the primary color as their mother's hex, with a pattern in navy's complimentary color (drawn below).

As a future gift, king already got an armband for gold, as a gift for whenever gold turned whatever age is considered adult in the outernet. Unfortunately, gold died before king could ever give it to him. In addition to the outside being colored his own hex, the inside was colored his complimentary color. Knowing that you're traditionally not supposed to represent familial sticks via their complimentary color, it represented how they were more than just father and son, but best friends too. He got an armband with leaf shapes specifically, because "gold leaf" (all drawn below). Far down the line, with purple, king eventually built up the courage to let go, and give it to purple instead. Purple definitely totally didn't immediately start sobbing uncontrollably.

wearing another stick's exact color as clothing is considered honoring them. Like, you would wear a celebrity's hex, or an artist you admire. This is also a way to honor the dead. Knowledge of this isn't very common anymore, but once purple heard about it, they began wearing their pink capelet all the time.

Most of these representations are common knowledge and stick figure culture, but obviously not everyone participates in it, nor follow all the rules correctly.