#shade ask

This is a fantastic question honestly. I mean anything OOGE did was a nightmare on the flirting scale (bonus points for Etho sounds uncomfortable to the point of considering an early grave 💀) and then so was Fly Boys and even SOTF which was later down the line of mindcrack. I feel like the change was actually less in Bdubs than it was in Etho. I think the more confident Etho got, the more he stopped being an thing out of a fantasy novel and more of a real person, and Bdubs could settle into a friendship without trying to claim him every three seconds T-T

Additionally, I dont think the flirting ever actually stopped, I think it’s… better disguised. Or, not even disguised, differently manifested. After 14-odd years, there’s less need for the early ‘testing the waters’ jokes. Now that they know each other, dare I say they’re even more effective at flirting? I think almost everything they do can be interpreted as flirting (on BOTH sides. Being mean to each other… helping each other… i think importantly for bdubs *asking* for help is a huge thing for him…) And to your point Bdubs does less of the disgustingly blatant hand down etho’s pants bullshit, but he talks like he still WANTS to and really, isnt that an even more pure?

A lot is going through his head right now

(Did anyone realise that outer was wearing his vest?)

Sobbing i have nothing to add because this is perfect and true T-T

AND BOTH CAN BE TRUE. Like yes I think ethubs are making out and non rpf writing is art and gorgeous and true <333 And ALSO etho and bdoubleo are literally in love. Listen to how they speak. Listen to what they say. Listen to how they talk about each other. And hey, im aro/ace! It doesnt have to be romantic! But whatever it is they’re literally infatuated with each other and there’s no other way to spin it!!

THESE ARE TEH FEELINGS I FEEL WHENEVER PEOPLE START TALKING ABOUT BOAT BOYS OR (lord forbid) SMALLETHUBS or whatever the fuck their shipname is. Like. Um do you understand that Boat Boys is a JOKE BIT HAHA SO SILLY JOKE. And an awkward one at that T-T 🙏 listen they have their time and place, but you cant even COMPARE it to the 15 year long genuinely loving caring sweet friendship that ethoslab and bdoubleo have?!?!? Like its not even in the same conversation!?!?

I love my oomfs. anon PLEASE know that I read this at work and giggled maniacally (my manager looked at me like I was crazy) because YES!! THIS. IS WHAT. I HAVE BEEN SAYING. LITERALLY LITERALLY LITERALLY. Every single point you made was the Biggest Brained Point, this is literally what I've been saying for like three years atp (but you said it much more eloquently LOL!!) He. Isnt. An Etho fan. AND IT SHOWS. He's LITERALLY playing up the etho fan-ness for views!! He's doing what Etho would never do, which is use his name for clicks. Watching him talk about Etho is like reading a fanfic written by a 13 year old who doesn't watch Etho and can't write him (the ship is probably boat boys lets be real). I feel like he doesn't watch Etho's videos! And like. He doesn't *have* to. It isn't law, like you have to watch Etho if you're on hermitcraft. BUT THEN CAN HE STOP PLAYING UP THE FREAKING BIT?? Like, even the "Etho is proud of me" bit about his waterfall in season 10?? As if Etho doesn't give out thoughtful, meaningful compliments all the fucking time?? He has NO idea how Etho communicates or talks- like we've established Etho is... ok can I just say that he's autistic can I get away with that in the big '26 please. You can tell when his tone is misinterpreted (LIKE IT IS BY GRIAN, OFTEN.) For example, I think when he criticized people's builds and they play up being hurt by it, it genuinely confuses him because he's offering constructive feedback WHICH IS WHAT THEY ASKED FOR. So sure, maybe Etho isn't the easiest to read the tone for? I mean. Maybe I've just watched a lot of his videos, and get how he communicates but I have no problem understanding what he means?? But whatever. REGARDLESS, there are people who PUT IN THE EFFORT to get to know him, to understand him, who ask clarifying questions before assuming. They don't just LAUGH OR BRUSH HIM OFF if they can't get what he means the first time. And eventually, the people who know him well, don't have to misinterpret anything he means. And he won't have to try as hard to make himself heard which will make him more comfortable- its why Team Canada works. Its why Etho and Bdubs work. It's why Etho and Doc are such a good duo. This has me riled lmfao.

Ok you've mentioned the moment that has been haunting me for months. The fucking. Redstone thing.

Im just going to go on a rant for a paragraph, this will have nothing to do with anything skip it if you want. ETHO. COULD HAVE SOLVED THAT PROBLEM. IF HE JUST FUCKING THOUGHT ABOUT IT LONGER AND HAD THE RIGHT MATERIALS!!!! THEY DIDNT GIVE HIM REDSTONE!!! AND IT WAS A NEW MECHANIC THAT HE'D NEVER PLAYED AROUND WITH- BDUBS HAD JUST DONE A PROJECT WITH IT IN HIS MOST RECENT EPISODE (WHICH YOU'D KNOW IF YOU WATCHED IT) SO OF COURSE HE UNDERSTOOD IT. BDUBS IS ALSO NOT FUCKING DUMB HIS BEST FRIEND IS ETHOSLAB HE LEARNED REDSTONE FOR AND FROM HIM LOL?!?!? REDSTONE WITH BDUBS (with bdubs :D) ISNT A BIT!!! HE REALLY DOES REDSTONE!! This is off topic. THE POINT IS, ETHO IS A FUCKING GENIUS, HES ANALYTICAL AND SMART AND INVENTIVE, HES REVOLUTIONIZED THE GAME TEN TIMES OVER, AND HE ONLY DIDNT SOLVE THE PROBLEM BECAUSE YOU DIDNT EXPLAIN IT AND ALSO DIDNT GIVE HIM REDSTONE. HE CHANGED ONE BLOCK AND YOU IMMEDIATELY SHUT HIM DOWN!!! AND THEN CUB LAUGHINGLY BACKED OFF BECAUSE HE DIDN'T WANT TO GET INVOLVED. Happier sidenote, I love that you can hear how proud of bdubs etho is in that clip lol.

and grian fans outnumber etho fans by so much that whenever etho is on someone's stream or something it's just full of grian fans larping being etho fans, and using their impression of etho they get from grians words.

Kissing you so gently on the beautiful brain YES. Oh my god. We were just talking about this- when Etho's on mcci fishing or parkour dojo or wherever, there are like, at LEAST three people that wish him a happy birthday. A reminder that this is the man PERHAPS ONE OF LIKE, THREE IN THE PUBLIC EYE (who arent JW T-T) WHO FAMOUSLY FAMOUSLY DOES NOT CELEBRATE HIS BIRTHDAY. BECASE EVERY DAY SHOULD BE TREATED THE SAME OR WHATEVER. HE HAS SAID THIS SO MANY FUCKING TIMES. grian im going to get you one day oh my god. And like "if it makes it on camera we're fine with it!" and hes a grown man or whatever but (A) do you think he'd actually say if it made him uncomfortable- or MORE THAN THAT, DO YOU THINK THEY'D LISTEN?? because he HAS said that it makes him uncomfortable, but he says it in a very nonconfrontational way (whcih i relate to) SO I THINK THEY JUST DONT FUCKING UNDERSTAND THAT HES TRYING TO TELL THEM TO STOP- but (B) more importantly, its too fucking late. Because you can stop grian and gem and whoever, but you cant stop 8 million twelve year olds. So like. They've fucked him over!!!

YEP!!!! YEPPPP!! Etho vs Not Wanting to Intrude FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!! Yeah, whenever I watch a Bdubs stream (or even a freshly posted episode actually) I gain ridiculous amounts of joy from just thinking- yeah, Etho's watching this right now. Also like, this is just the brainworms talking but Etho joining the server just to make a joke that he could have made in chat has taken a hold of me. Of course, Bdubs is just about 100% more likely to see it there. But it also felt like a power play, or a self reassurance, like he was seperating himself from the audience. DW Etho, you weren't with them in Person, but look- you can log onto the hermitcraft server and talk with him any time you want! Yeah! And then Bdubs gives him an excuse to come over and talk??? and now he can talk about watching the show and other random stuff- because mind you this is probably one of the first times they've talked since the event. And that whole bit of the stream felt sooo "we're just gonna catch up- oh you guys are here too." Like they were just chattin! And i was so here for it but also it felt like an invasion of privacy LOL. UHHH all that to say YES. You are completely correct. This stream feels like a shared hallucination. Not even to MENTION the fact that they had the EXACT SAME CONVERSATION after 2013 minecon which ended in Etho saying he'd probably go to 2014 minecon because he was 'trapped at home' and had FOMO. I mean. WTF?!? Ok actually this should be its own post but I was just rewatching that clip towards the end there where Bdubs talks about how the biggest surprise was there were no surprises and Cleo looked just like he thought she would and blah blah blah- etho is SILENT. Bdubs finishes this big heartfelt speech and is met with SILENCE. Someone in chat goes "Bdubs is holding for applause" and Bdubs agrees and- MORE SILENCE. Etho that was your cue to applaud.

And then Etho starts going off about how Cleo has a great smile and oh- would you believe it? look at the time, Etho's social battery is running out! Goodbye everyone!!!

My best idea of an Etho internal monologue atp is just: "What if *I'm* not just like he thinks" or "could he recognize me if I walked through a door" and now we're all thinking of that clip where Etho said he'd follow Bdubs to Disney Land just to pinch him as he walks by... STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT AHHH!!!

Bdubs sees he's overstepped and insists that "we have to race" (its getting dark and he's placed a bed- HE'S TRYING TO REGAIN NORMALCY!!) and they race if half heartedly (which is rare because when has Etho not leaned into a bit??) and its all very sad. The stream ends soon after. Unrelated? Sure, Bdubs was tired. But let me have this one thing LOL.

I assume you’ve seen my rampage LOLLL T-T

You are a visionary.

Ok I know exactly the moment you’re talking about, and there are SO MANY LEVELS TO THIS. Like number one he was PAYING ATTENTION TO BDUBS. And he was used to that being *his* job, but in that moment, he wasn’t the one who could perform the job best, y’know? Like, all he could do was point out that Bdubs was being quiet, he couldn’t *do* anything about it, he couldn’t investigate like Joel could. Joel could look and- and if he didn’t see Bdubs he could ask around, or look for him?!?!?