Comment on Dog's Life

  1. bookworm2692 on Chapter 9 Tue 21 Nov 2023 01:21PM UTC

    Aww I love the summary and the list of the different forms of intimacy, it’s so cute.

    Also, shout-out to the perfect timing of the Scar stream I caught this Saturday at the exact moment Etho confirmed he and Gem are on opposite ends of Canada, one day after I learned Gem was in Newfoundland… I had been agonizing for weeks wishing I had an idea of whether Etho lived east or west so I could figure out his phantom hour time zone, so I’m cracking up.

    Oooo interesting!!! I was also curious and have been for like a decade. I knew Beef was from Toronto area but I had no idea if Etho was close or not, interesting that he’s far west. Tho with the phantom hour timezone… I’m pretty sure he’s also a night owl and regularly awake at 3am driving and stuff (which would then be like. A regular non-Pearl Australian timezone effectively). And I guess that also explains why when Tango streams at 10am or midday for the Decked Out openings and Etho wants to be there but he complains about it being too early in the morning… if he’s far west Canada that’s gotta be an hour or so behind Tango so it’s even earlier. Rip Etho haha. But also congrats to you for getting the exact info you wanted at the exact right time!

    Lmao those paragraphs about Lizzie knowing better about Etho’s health than Etho are funny.

    Sniff!!! Oooo and he’s asking about the hunting rules…. I was so sure he just hunted Etho and didn’t bother about all that haha. Oooo and the worldbuilding on eating souls vs eating mob drops vs whatever. Everything with the worldbuilding in this fic and verse fascinates me.

    Oh and I’m now realising that’s because Etho isn’t done with Joel and Sniff’s trying so hard to wait for Etho to be done but can’t and hence he tried to ask about going out. Poor baby…

    Awww and now Lizzie’s creator has logged off, so she’s only got a limited amount of time before she herself needs to log off too. I’m still so curious what Joel’s creator saw when the cubito glitched…

    Existing in silence together can count as talking Lizzie. It’s parallel play, hope this helps.

    Also even though I’ve done the maths to know that one irl week is approximately one cubito year, it’s still wild to see the mention of Last Life being “years ago”.

    Oooo and Etho talking to Lizzie about his and Joel being soulmates!!! I love when this happens in fics, how it’s explored and stuff. And awww Etho getting embarrassed when Lizzie straight up acknowledges the golden carrots…. Speaking of, I love the way you display embarrassment in a uniquely cubito manner, with the fritzing pixels etc

    After a few seconds, she says, "I think I'm flattered, but I'm not really sure what to say in response to that, so I will bestow upon you a thumbs up."

    And I love this line in particular it’s great.

    Oooo Scott with a command star… I feel like that’s related to him always being mayor…

    Ooooo Sniff as the go-between between Etho and Lizzie… now Lizzie will literally have to wait hours between every message Etho sends even if he only sends them minutes apart, because of the time difference. That has got to be agonising to wait through, poor Lizzie.

    WHAT. NO!!! You can’t kill Sniff off yet!!! (Actually I do trust that you won’t since you’ve loved the cam account worldbuilding so much but STILL you can’t say that!!!). He’s my baby boy you can’t do this to him…

    Aww Lizzie… we know how much she hates being logged off by phantoms, and the vex probably make it worse. And she’s offering, to save Sniff’s life. Sniff’s been so good about waiting for Etho but Etho needs more time and Sniff needs food and awww. Thank you Lizzie.

    Uh oh. Etho doesn’t want Sniff to eat yet so people don’t know he’s been unthreaded until Joel is saved. But Scott and Aqua know, because Scar mentioned something. Because Scar is concerned because you stopped answering your comm Etho hooo boy. This is… oh man oh man.

    Awww the way Lizzie’s doing it to make it as easy as possible for Sniff. The way she’s doing the thing she hates, to give the others the best chance of saving Joel… awwww

    Oh fuck. Scar interrupted Grian so he couldn’t finish plugging Sniff in. Fuck. Not Scar’s fault and he’s not being malicious or anything. Just. Bad timing on he sequence of events where he wasn’t able to report the suspicious activities to the HALOs closer to home and thus collected more dots to connect than he should’ve…

    Sniff and Etho time! When I first saw the Sniff & Etho tag (or Sniff/Etho, I don’t actually remember which), it was after I sent the link of the fic to a friend and then I saw it, which was before the first chapter where we saw Pig and Sniff and I was like “huh???” because it seemed like such a random out there tag, but from the moment I read that Sniff thought he was married to Etho I was like “ohoho” and so excited to see their interactions develop. So yes :D very excited by this now.

    I love the worldbuilding with the wedding rings and who has or hasn’t got one and whether the cubitos know if their players are married or not (Etho clearly doesn’t know about his), and how their relationships do or don’t resemble their players’. And once again, Sniff having a ring despite no player, but because Grian and Joel both have one? Very interesting and tasty.

    Oooo and comparing Boat Boys to BEST and TIES. It’s still so funny to me that Tango and Skizz have teamed three times now across the four seasons they both were in, and two of those times also included Etho, and the two times with Etho had one other person - and those two people were actually each other’s soulmate. It’s so funny to me how that worked out. Not relevant to right now, but funny anyway.

    I do love Etho reminiscing about Joel here though.

    Footsteps. Light pacing. "Ihh, nah… Maybe I don't want to forget. I'll just bother Pig until he sleeps on me. He's so weird about sharing a base, though. He thinks I'll blow him up with a trap at my front door. I would, obviously, as I'm his best friend and he's definitely not safe in my world… but I wouldn't do it all the time. Seems a little unfair to hold that against me. At this point, he's just typecasting."

    I love this so much. “He thinks I’ll do this. I will, obviously”. It’s so funny I love them so much <3

    Funnily, I’m eating leftover chocolate brownie for dessert as Sniff is talking about chocolate cake haha.

    “Grian’s allergic to chocolate but eats it anyway” ah, just like every lactose intolerant person ever!

    Oooo the comparison of Grian and TwoMuchGrian, how they’re “from the same spawn egg but separate people” - just like identical twins irl.

    Once again - I still love the inclusion of Pause here, I love that Team Canada is still alive and well even if everything else from the Mindcrack Era is dead (my joy and huge grin when Gem mentioned Mindcrack during the Imp and Skizz podcast :D ). So thank you for that, even if you don’t know much about him. I appreciate it.

    Awww Sniff wants to cuddle and Etho isn’t immediately shutting him down :D

    Uh oh why am I immediately on edge that Etho is agreeing to five or ten minutes of cuddling right now. I’m so worried that things are gonna go pear shaped bc of Scar’s chapter last chapter, and I’m worried about Joel (even though I trust you not to perma kill him) and just. Hnnng. Etho definitely deserves some cuddles but I am so worried right now.

    Lmao the paragraph trying to justify his addiction is so funny, reminds me exactly of the tumblr post video edit of Etho’s s8 shopping addiction it’s so funny. Thank you for that inclusion.

    I adore the literary thing you’ve done with interrupting what’s happening with Etho thinking about thumbs. It’s so clear he’s trying not to think too hard about the conversation and over-correcting his focus on Joel and it’s just done so well. You nailed it.

    You can't be accused of telling lies if you don't speak up at all. Maybe you'll look suspicious or aloof. Maybe you're hiding the truth or stretching it in painful ways. But you are not lying.

    "The thought never crossed my mind," Etho lies.

    And this as well!!! I love how these two paragraphs work so well together aaaaahhhhh!!!

    “It’s okay I’m just a throwaway account” oh no oh man I’m sobbing so much my poor baby boy…

    Oh!! Only now does Etho message Scar, I see. Oh, but Joel isn’t complete yet. Oh man oh boy oh yikes!!

    Also it’s kinda funny knowing Etho was cuddling Sniff while Scar was terrified that Etho was getting hunted lmao.

    Oh I am loving hearing Etho’s thoughts and confusion during this conversation, as a juxtaposition between Scar’s absolute panic last chapter.

    He [Scar] changes course, offering to drop by Etho's place instead. Yeah… No thanks. Scar can have Sniff for the rest of his time in Between, but not tonight. The last thing this couch cuddle needs is the other ex in the nonexistent polycule.

    The other ex in the nonexistent polycule… wow yeah I hadn’t even considered that…

    And then the cuddle happens which is why Etho stops responding to Scar, even though Scar becomes frantic with worry for Etho and Joel and everyone…

    (Comment continued in replies again)

    (Also dang edits to fix html formatting…)

    Last Edited Tue 21 Nov 2023 01:23PM UTC

    Comment Actions

    1. bookworm2692 on Chapter 9 Tue 21 Nov 2023 01:27PM UTC

      I’m despairing at the comm buzzing but Etho not seeing it. He’s gonna get a helluva surprise when he picks it back up later… also pls don’t nap that’s a bad idea rn… oh no and Sniff speaks but Etho’s brain translates it as Joel speaking… this isn’t good at all…

      Like the fact that Etho’s consistently reacting as though Sniff is Joel is just. Hoo boy, things are gonna be awkward if Etho says Joel’s name out loud here…

      But once again I’m loving the worldbuilding with the collision barriers and phasing through and trying to touch and all that stuff. It’s so good. And the fact Sniff really doesn’t understand but Etho is not explaining bc he’s forgotten it’s Sniff and not Joel… and people will be on their way soon and I’m stressed and everything is bad this is the calm before the storm…

      And there we go. He said it. He called Sniff “Joel”. I’m… slightly afraid of what the reaction will be… oh okay, not as bad as I feared. Etho does deserve being shoved to the floor though haha.

      This… can't be right. 27 unread notes from Scar. One from Gem. 16 from Grian. One from Impulse, asking about Bdubs by the looks of it. One from Scott.

      Uh oh spaghettio! Tho I do kinda appreciate that there’s a random one from someone else I wasn’t expecting, given that Scar didn’t message Impulse at all haha

      Ooooo the Grian messages are interesting. Etho told Gem he’s good, wonder if she’ll pass that on to Scar straight away… and Scar’s last message nine minutes ago hmm…

      This was literally in the knickers of time to hide Sniff before Scar got here, wow. I’m on the edge of my seat and so so curious about what will happen next but it’s 11pm now and I need to start heading to bed hnnnng.

      I elected to sleep so it is now the next day. Btw I’m also love the hashtags below each name this chapter, very funny.

      Omg Sniff literally took bites out of Etho’s clothes. Didn’t you say Martyn also eats his own clothes sometimes? That’s so funny.

      The fact that Etho more or less took a nap and it isn’t a lie (apart from location) is just as insane as you think it is Scar…

      Aww I love the mock family dinner during Limited Life, that’s so cute. Sniff and Scar shaking hands about eating cake if they’re gonna eat any empty calories haha.

      I love how expressive Etho is, despite the mask covering his face. I mean right now this second it’s not great for him or the situation, but I love how you’re describing Etho’s skittishness and stuff. Very cool.

      And Scar almost immediately wondering if Etho unthreaded a vex! He’s so smart! Almost too smart rn but… maybe it’ll help if Scar knows? Scar can certainly help Sniff adjust to being a vex tho I hadn’t considered the “other sort of ex” angle lmao. But also, we know that Scar wants to give all cubitos the option of being unthreaded if they’re stuck. Will he be delighted Sniff was given that choice, or will he be mad that it was only due to the usefulness to Joel that Sniff was given the option and perhaps pressured into the decision? Hmm….

      Oh… Scar mentioning if there were vex pixels around they’d repel him… then immediately touching some cake Sniff ate and the ring he threw away (did he throw away the Joel ring or the Grian ring??). Oh man oh yikes!!

      Etho insisting on asking Scar the questions that will help Sniff, even though he knows this will just give Scar more dots to connect… and Scar is connecting them. I’d be proud if I wasn’t worried how this would affect Sniff rn.

      Oh this line of questioning is fascinating. The way every sentence Etho is saying is the truth on its own, but the picture they paint together is not the truth…

      Yep and Etho admitted it… but barely. Only admitted to the vex falling asleep on him and nothing else…

      Awww Scar… the implication here that Etho can’t relax around his friends but can around some other vex that Scar doesn’t know… also Scar still doesn’t know how much work Etho put in to fix the Scar glitch, before having to fix Joel…

      Awww, he does know! The genuine, heartfelt thank you… Scar, my heart! The way Etho keeps on trying to brush the gratitude off but Scar is pushing forward and insisting on making his gratitude heard and known, I love it.

      Awww and the way Scar just wants to find a way to ease Etho’s stress and make things easier for him <3 I love him.

      Oooo and now a bunch of Grian messages!! I wonder if it would ease Grian to know Scar is with Etho right now, given he didn’t manage to plug in Sniff’s file and Sniff is also with Etho.

      Oh, no this is about golden carrots and not Sniff. Poor Grian feeling he’s broken for not seeing any hearts at all when he carrots with BigB. And the way he wants to talk about it with Scar who he trusts the most to talk about carrots with awww…

      And all the typos when Scar types are so endearing to me <3

      Ayyyyy!!! Joel’s back!!! Wooooo!!!

      I love the idea of Steve and Alex and Herobrine all being fairytales.

      At least the wings issue is a common issue so should be easily fixable!

      Ooooo, Joel heard Etho call Sniff “Joel”, very interesting. Lmao at Etho actively trying to make people’s arms fall asleep during cuddles tho.

      So interesting the way Etho is mortified by the idea of discussing cuddles in public, esp with how awkward he was talking to Lizzie earlier about what he has with Joel, compared to Joel being blasé and casually talking about everyone he cuddles with.

      Oooo so if you have golden carrots and make eye contact with someone else who has golden carrots, is that how people like Hermes and Tiny Tom are born? Similar to how mobs get the hearts and mash their faces together (ostensibly kissing but could just be making eye contact) and their babies are born?? I adore the way you’re playing with Minecraft mechanics and how it works for people’s lives…

      Also an age for Joel! 2200 cubito years is approximately uhhh… 44 irl years give or take. Interesting!!

      I’m so curious about what the farm server is and why Etho seems so horrified that it was suggested… why it’s not his “scene”…

      And now Etho looking for Sniff again! Oh yeah, it’s snack time now! Or not…

      I do like that the summary mentioned that Sniff’s love language is the rings, because it makes his fixation on them make so much more sense. And Etho constantly brushing off the rings bc they don’t hold the same level of significance to him as they do to Sniff… it’s interesting.

      Aww and Sniff wants to make sure Pig doesn’t forget him. Though… what does Two have to do with Pig here?? Is it because they are both camera twins to the ones whose players shared Sniff or???

      Omg Sniff planning on eating Bdubs so Etho doesn’t get logged out so Sniff can keep him prisoner?? This is so funny to me I love Sniff. I’m still anxious about him not being plugged into the system yet but at least the lil guy is funny.

      It was never really about Joel, though… or about Sniff. I'm just touch-starved and they're the ones who were bold enough to invite me to share a bed.

      Awwww poor Etho… being touch starved sucks so bad. Etho, I’d give you a hug if I could!!

      The way Sniff wants snuggles with Etho (bc of Joel memories) but is apprehensive about how easily Etho is agreeing to snuggles, worrying it’s only because Etho is thinking of Joel… man this series is so interesting with identity and memories and things.

      "I don't know. We'll figure out a name. Not Boat Boys, though. That was you and Joel, and I'm not Joel. It's like… It's like he's green and I'm orange. We're not the same just because we both have yellow, right? Yeah, I'm definitely orange. Grian likes red. Orange feels right for me."

      I love this colour analogy, it’s so good.

      The snuggles were cute <3 and now almost time for the Etho snack!! Hope Grian helps sort out putting Sniff in the system, hope he hasn’t forgotten bc of the Scar thing…

      Impulse and his family!!

      Omg Bdubs sensing a vex, and immediately wondering if the vex is threatening Etho haha. Who is Brittany? Is that Bdub’s wife’s cubito version? Why would being logged out by a vex prevent him from accessing his AFK server? I thought that was the point of the AFK servers??

      But poor Etho, feeling like his friendship with Bdubs hinges on his usefulness to Bdubs regarding his soul availability….

      This was a fantastic chapter!!! Loved all the different POVs we got and seeing them all connect - especially Scar last chapter and the first Etho segment this chapter. Super duper interesting!!

      Also it’s accidentally half an hour past midnight whoops I need to sleep. I just couldn’t stop reading!!

      Comment Actions

      1. FountainPenguin on Chapter 9 Tue 21 Nov 2023 09:42PM UTC

        "It’s parallel play, hope this helps" is absolutely sending me <3

        Also thank you for enjoying my Lizzie dialogue. She has a very... meta way of speaking that's really interesting, which leaks through in her editing (like Spongebob narrator "two hours later" voiceover) to even the little bits of her conversation. There's a scene in Last Life Ep 2 where she runs across Tango and Skizz and they're chatting and she says "Yep- I'm naked as the day I was spawned." It's the way she specifically used 'spawned' that just... hits, somehow. She has little meta commentary woven in her dialogue as she narrates her actions; love that for her.

        now Lizzie will literally have to wait hours between every message Etho sends even if he only sends them minutes apart, because of the time difference.

        I read a webcomic once where the characters spent a couple years on Mars, and I just want to say shout-out to that creator for his dedication to writing " * signal delay edited out" on every strip that involved communication between Mars and Earth. It had such big "I understand the logistics, but just go with it" vibes that made me chuckle every time.

        Also I'm thrilled that lots of readers seem to be enjoying Sniff. Everyone's like "He's baby and I love him." I'm so glad, because he could very easily just be annoying to everyone sldkfj.

        Lizzie best wife <3

        The amount of staring at my screen I did before I even put Etho & Sniff on there... Never would I have expected my fic to be anything like this (because my plan was just Etho slapping Lazy's code on Joel and sending him on his way - I actually had a whole thing about cam accounts being more like dolls than people, which I ended up scrapping - and before that I didn't even have a Joel surgery arc) but ?? I like my fic. Also I'd feel weird to focus this much on them and not tag them, wheeze... Sniff just lends himself really well to being complicated. Putting him in the same room as Etho, who doesn't want to talk about his feelings, is something I find very funny. I am head-in-handsing over how much Etho started fawning over Joel in Secret Life after I'd already put these chapters up [not to mention that Decked Out stream we got on Saturday, geez louise, Etho... you really are just playing into these vibes for me, huh? Sorry you miss your soulmate, dude. Get well soon.

        Also Sniff and Pig, my beloveds <3 Pig is such a kind soul but he loves to mess with Sniff, I think. He would trip over himself and apologize to anyone else, but he and Sniff are buddies.

        Lmao the paragraph trying to justify his addiction is so funny, reminds me exactly of the tumblr post video edit of Etho’s s8 shopping addiction it’s so funny. Thank you for that inclusion.

        That is the exact post I based this on <3 Thank you Tumblr users out there for sharing random stuff I can flesh cubitos out with

        I adore the literary thing you’ve done with interrupting what’s happening with Etho thinking about thumbs. It’s so clear he’s trying not to think too hard about the conversation and over-correcting his focus on Joel and it’s just done so well. You nailed it.

        Thank you! It's my favorite scene in the 'fic so far. I'm really proud of it. It really captures the unreliable narrator vibe in a way I'm in love with. Everyone is doing their best and they're also young and confused and nervous <3

        Also it’s kinda funny knowing Etho was cuddling Sniff while Scar was terrified that Etho was getting hunted lmao.

        sdlfjk... I love Chapter 9. It's so stupid and honestly, I think it sums up exactly what you get with Dog's Life. You get really weird duos, complicated emotions, lots of dialogue, unreliable narrators, fluff, angst, drama, misdirection, worldbuilding, mob hybrid biology... We have it all! What a chapter. I went back and forth so many times on whether I should do the Scar texting chapter before or after the Etho scene. I felt like both could work well depending on where I made the scene switch cut, but I really like how it came out. The set-up of "omg someone got eaten" to "Wait, this is cute fluff" is stupid funny to me. Chapter 9, my beloved.

        One from Impulse, asking about Bdubs by the looks of it. One from Scott. /// Uh oh spaghettio! Tho I do kinda appreciate that there’s a random one from someone else I wasn’t expecting, given that Scar didn’t message Impulse at all haha

        Yes :)

        My entire mood for this section of the chapter is just "lmao." Etho, you goofball.

        Also Scar is very kind <3 He has a lovely heart.

        Oooo so if you have golden carrots and make eye contact with someone else who has golden carrots, is that how people like Hermes and Tiny Tom are born? Similar to how mobs get the hearts and mash their faces together (ostensibly kissing but could just be making eye contact) and their babies are born?? I adore the way you’re playing with Minecraft mechanics and how it works for people’s lives…

        Correct! There's nuance and complicated emotional rollercoasters, but correct!

        Though… what does Two have to do with Pig here?? Is it because they are both camera twins to the ones whose players shared Sniff or???

        Officially, Two and Pig are long-time BFFs with an ambiguous relationship. It's often assumed to be romantic by outsiders, but it's unlabeled even to them. Two and Pig enjoy each other's company and hang out a lot, partly because Joel and Grian live across the hall from each other so it's super easy to hang out. Pig has a lot of other friends too, but Two is loud about it because he's a little narcissistic and possessive because he loves attention. That's what an 8-year IRL age difference between roommates will do to you, Sniff. Your roommate already has an established friend group. lmao.

        (In other words, Etho's commenting to acknowledge "Pig was born and raised in New Star and I hear enough rumors to know he and Two are a thing... I think?? Maybe you should ask??" as opposed to "Two is your other half" or anything like that)

        Who is Brittany? Is that Bdub’s wife’s cubito version? Why would being logged out by a vex prevent him from accessing his AFK server? I thought that was the point of the AFK servers??

        Brittney is his cubito wife, yes.

        I've got stuff to do on Hermitcraft and my AFK's with Brittney. I'm not taking a lock-out risk! I'm not Impulse."

        Etho Translation: "I have a lot I need to do on Hermitcraft. Speaking as a phantom - for whom phantom hour does not exist, allowing me to access other servers without getting hit with an AFK curfew - I can't go to Hermitcraft if I get locked in my actual AFK by a non-phantom entity that would overrule my abilities. Also, if a vex eats me, my energy will be drained and I'll be tired from lack of proper rest. That means the next time I come online, I'll have a hard time doing Hermitcraft work, which is important to me, because I'll be sore and cranky. That would suck. Look, I value my rest. I'm not stupid Impulse who won't go to freakin' bed. I swear this guy is taunting me, Etho- You are very aware that I log out Impulse regularly. Impulse who is my soulmate. I have a close relationship with Impulse, whom I have a very ambiguous relationship with that I never explained to you, but I log him out regularly and I even brag about it to you by logging him out and trying to land on your balcony in the same swoop. Also I'm talking about him in this dismissive way behind his back even though he's my soulmate. No, I will not elaborate. Btw I'd rather go to bed than hang out because getting rest is valuable to me and possibly more valuable than spending several minutes talking to you after you've had a very long and emotionally exhausting day; bye."

        Thanks for reading!! I love this chapter <3

        Comment Actions

        1. bookworm2692 on Chapter 9 Sat 25 Nov 2023 05:49AM UTC

          Honestly, I hadn't seen much of Lizzie's content on account of having not seen Last Life yet, and getting behind on Secret Life - but this morning I watched her Session 2 and 3, and because of this comment, I was paying more attention to it and yeah. Yeah I see what you meant I can see it now. Like in session 2 she paused the video and had a record scratch and it was like "you may be wondering why I did this". It's cool I love it, and now I can retroactively appreciate what you did way more <3

          And yeah I agree - with the way the fic went, the Etho & Sniff tag is definitely warranted. I also love hearing the development of the fic with the stuff in brackets just there. Super interesting!! And yeah, we really are winning with the recent Boat Boys stuff in Secret Life and on Hermitcraft during the Decked Out stream. Still wish Etho had joined in on the crossover stuff, so we could've had Boat Boys on Empires, but I'm glad we're winning now. It's so good.

          Sorry you miss your soulmate, dude. Get well soon.

          This is so funny to me lmao.

          Chapter 9 the beloved <3 it was so good!!!

          Oooo thanks for the Pig and Two explanation! Makes sense, and I'm glad you're showing that Pig knows others and has been around for a while and has longterm friendships <3

          Also thank you for the Etho translation of what Bdubs was saying. Very helpful haha

          Comment Actions

          1. FountainPenguin on Chapter 9 Sat 25 Nov 2023 08:02AM UTC

            Sob... my Boat Boys enjoying heart can't take it. What is going on with them, why are they like this...

            <3

            slkdjf Helpful in the "miscommunications are everywhere" way, I'm sure.

            Comment Actions