Hello!! I'm Cyan, and welcome to my blog! I'm a multi-fandom creator!
I'm both a writer and artist (mostly writer currently :p)
I go by they/she/he and my age is information I will not share!!
This blog is the home of a couple (and by a couple I mean 6) Ava/m aus, so I'll be adding the appropriate tags alongside the general tags I use under the cut!
Asks are open so feel free to scream at me about anything
Hope to see y'all around!!
General tags I use:
#valour_art: Is for my finished pieces of art
#valours_doc: Is for doodles made in a specific app
#valour_doodls: Are for my normal doodles
#cyanwips: Are for my wips of any kind
#cyan quote doodles: Are for my doodles of random text conversations I have with my friend
#cyan speaks: Is when I answer questions or just talk
#cyanwrites: Is for my snippets or my fics
#ava being: anything involving my Ava oc, Being
Au related tags:
My main Canon-Compliant au (We're All Home Now, as Family [short form "Home as Family"]): #WAHNF au
My Vigilante Au (Colours and Senses) : #CAS au and the fic, "Covering My Ears to Hope and Change", is right here!
My "Swap" au (DiceRoll) :#DR!au , it also has a series now on ao3: You let a dice decide our fates!?
Will update this once I write something on the other three and post it here
May 13 0:00: Writer creation starts, Discord opens.
May 13 - 14: Writers seeking Beta Readers can sign up (having an event-matched Beta Reader is optional)
May 16 9:00am - May 18 11:00am Beta readers can claim stories and be assigned to Teams (having an event-matched Beta Reader is optional)
June 13 - 17: Writers seeking artists can sign up - you must be halfway through your draft or more to sign up.
June 20 9:00am - June 22 10:00am, Artists can claim stories and be assigned to Teams
July 4-5: Team check-in
July 13 0:00: Podficcer creation start. If you are working with a podficcer, your fic should be finished at this point, so your artist can work.
July 19 23:59: Main creation end. Unless you have an extension, you should both be ready to post at this point.
July 26 23:59: The final possible extension date.
July 20 - August 2: Posting period
MCYTBLR AU Fest is a mini big-bang event where artists and writers work together in teams to make stories and art inspired by MCYT and set in an Alternate Universe.
Expectation: Writers must deliver a complete story of at least 5k words. Artists must deliver a finished piece of art inspired by the story they signed up for. Teams must work collaboratively together and showcase each other's work when posting.
Rules:
You must be a member of the discord, for team matching.
Because of Tumblr, Ao3 and Discord TOS, you must be 13 to participate.
Respect your fellow participants, even when you disagree on fandom matters
You agree to work together with your teammate(s) to make a piece of art and a fic together.
All works must be MCYT-centric and set in an AU— no canon-compliance.
All works must be complete, stand-alone, and created for AUFest 2026.
Your work must be appropriately tagged so that teammates or readers can make an informed choice whether to engage or not.
No AI-Generated content
Don't be an asshole
Links:
Ao3: Here
Discord: Here
FAQ:
What is MCYTBLR AU Fest? MCYTBLR AU Fest is a minibang-type event where writers and artists come together to create fanworks centred on MCYT and set in an alternate universe from canon.
How does it work? Writers will have a month to start work on a draft. After a month, at the half-way mark of their draft, they create a short summary/synopsis of their fic, which is posted anonymously for artists to view and claim. Teams are assigned by mods, and then teams will then have another month of creation time. Artists will create art based on the story they chose, and writers will finish their fic (minimum 5k words). This is followed by a two-week posting period, when creations are posted and we showcase everyone's work.
What type of MCYT is included? We welcome creations based on any MCYT media, whether or not they have a canon tag on Ao3. Yogscast, SFAWTDE, DSMP, Hermitcraft, Fuga Impossivel, Vampires, Unstable Universe, Empires SMP, VBRPF— it's all welcome.
Can I join if my Art is a Playlist/Web Weave/Crochet? You can participate as an artist if your art is:
Digital/Traditional Art
Podfic
Web Weave
Other Art Form*
*must be checked with the mods before signing up to a team.
What are the requirements for art? The requirements for different forms of art are:
Digital or Traditional art: a minimum of one piece, finished, inspired by the author's work.
Podfic: a podfic of the author's work, edited to whatever a baseline level of editing is for you.
Web Weaves: a minimum of one web weave inspired by the author's work per 5 k, rounding up, to a limit of two required web weaves, with at least ten elements each. Web weave elements must be sourced to an original source, and pinterest or png blogs are not accepted as sources.
Other Art Form: other art forms such as fan games, original songs, playlists, sculpture, etc. would fall under this category. If you want to sign up with an Other art form, you need to contact the mod team and work out what minimum expectations would be for your art.
If I want to make more web weaves, can I? You can make as many pieces of art as you wish, the requirements is just what is required/expected by the mod team. For example, if your writer wrote a 10k work, you would be required to make two web weaves– but you could do as many as you want. If your writer wrote a 50k work, you would still only be required to make two web weaves, but you can do as many as you want.
Is anything required from me if I'm working with a particular type of artist? In general the requirement is just to be collaborative and communicative with your artist, but the one exception is if you are working with a podficcer. A podficcer can't start work until your work is complete (including editing), so to make sure they actually have time to record, any writer working with a podficcer will be required to finish a week early— so your writing completion deadline would be to finish by the 12th of July, instead of the 19th. In addition, podficcers are generally expected to post near the end of the posting period, so that they have maximum time to do the recording and editing.
I heard there were going to be web weaves, can I sign up for web weaves only? To increase matching opportunities, as a creator you must opt in to at least two types of art.
Is shipping allowed? Yes. Because there is no broad fandom-wide consensus about how Creator boundaries are to be enforced in specific cases (whether it's okay to write beeduo as /r or /p is an obvious one, or whether it’s permitted to ship Joel Smallishbeans, or if writing Philza in dad content is okay) or between specific fandoms (SBK approach to shipping and boundaries is different from MCSR is different from DSMP is different from Life Series), the mods will not be policing any specific understanding of boundaries across the event. The event's motivating ethos is Don't Like Don't Read, in that participants will be able to indicate through tags in signups if they are interested in a given relationship being interpreted as romantic or platonic, and what subject matter they're interested in, and this must be respected when gifts are given. NSFW will have to be opted into and is only able to be produced if all members of a team are adults.
Is RPF allowed? Yes, RPF is permitted. Within certain canons the line between RPF and something set in-world can be hard to define, and RPF has been part of the umbrella of MCYT fandoms from the beginning. RPF must be declared at time of signup by marking the fandom as Video Blogging RPF, so that artists or betas can make an informed choice about whether to join the team.
Is NSFW allowed? Yes, NSFW is permitted. When pitching a work, it must be clearly stated that the work contains or will contain NSFW content. To sign up to work on a team with NSFW content everyone on the team must be 18+, and changing a work to be NSFW after teams have been assigned is not permitted. (This does not mean that all NSFW content must have been completed at the time of signup, just that if NSFW is intended, it was declared at the time of signup so your artist (and possibly beta) can make an informed choice to join your team). To conform with Tumblr and Discord TOS, anything with the tags Underage Sex or Adult/Minor Relationship will not be permitted to be part of the event.
How are Minors defined for the purposes of those warnings? We are primarily using the age within the work— so if the fic itself would require the tags. With recent server epilogues setting a "canon age" has become increasingly difficult across servers, and this is further complicated because of the fandom's tendency to both age up or age down their characters within AUs. It is no longer tenable to make a list of characters who are always minors (and by extension, those who are not), especially when we are taking about aus that frequently modify their ages anyways. As such, we are asking people to make sure that the work they create has all necessary characters being of-age in the work. In cases of ambiguity the mods will be interpreting with an attempt at good faith, but note that clear attempt to circumvent the content rules will fall under the "do not be an asshole" provision and could also result in a ban.
Note: the exception to this rule is if the streamer themselves is currently a minor. Minor streamers are not allowed to be shipped or written in NSFW content, even if aged up.
Are major archive warnings (noncon/graphic depictions of violence/MCD) allowed? Aside from content rules about underage, major archive warnings are allowed. Depictions of real life horrors such as genocide, torture, and slavery are not-uncommon motifs in MCYT fics, and the mod team is not interested in legislating which types of horrors, griefs or abuses are inherently worse than others and are therefore off-limits. The three mentioned major archive warnings (MCD, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Noncon), are permitted to be included, however Major Archive Warnings must be declared during signups, so that people can make an informed choice about whether or not to join your team. The major archive warning rape/non-con is only able to be included if everyone on your team is an adult.
Do you allow dark or violent content? Yes. The lore of many mcyt servers includes death games, abuse, cannibalism, murder-for-hire, and other dark or violent themes. However, all potentially triggering content must be tagged for and those tags must be part of the sign-up, so collaborators can make an informed choice to get infolved or not. Moreover, if your fic is rated E for any reason (including violence or gore), your team must be 18+.
How can I get involved? You can participate in this event as a:
Author
Artist
Pinch Hitter (Artist)
Pinch Hitter (Writer)
Beta Reader
You can even sign up for multiple roles, as long as you're very sure you can make your deadlines!
What is a Pinch Hitter? A pinch hitter is a person who saves the day and steps in when the original creator is unable to deliver their work for whatever reason, making a new work on an accelerated timeline. In case of pinch hitting a fanfic, you will will be asked to either write using the original writer's outline, or pitch and then deliver a new story for the artist based on the art. If you are an artist, you will step in to make a new piece of art for a writer whose original artist dropped out.
Can I participate as a beta reader? Yes! Matching with a Beta Reader will be optional, but creators will have the opportunity to sign up to have a Beta Reader join their team for brainstorming, accountability, spellcheck, editing, or whatever else they need.
What kind of a summary will I provide as a writer? How long or detailed? We ask that you keep your summary to two paragraphs or shorter, about as long as the AO3 Summary + Author's Note boxes. In addition to a description of your fic, we'll ask that you list out the server it takes place on, what type of AU it is, any ships (romantic or platonic), the expected word count, what age group of people you are okay working with, any major archive warnings, what kind of art you are open to, and any trigger tags that you expect to take place in the story.
When do I have to join the discord? You have the option to join the dicord and hang out as soon as creation starts on May 13, and if you are signing up either as a Beta Reader or wanting to be matched with a Beta Reader, you need to join the discord before signups close on May 15. If you don't need a beta reader or you already have someone you normally work with, you only have to join the discord before author sign ups close for artist matching, which is June 17.
Why do authors have to be halfway through their draft to sign up to be assigned an artist? How are you checking this? This is both to decrease the number of people who drop out halfway through, and to make sure that the artist has something to work with for the entirety of their creation periot. If you write your entire fic in the weekend before the posting deadline, that means the artist has a matter of days or hours for them to do their work, which isn't fair. Writers will be expected to submit a document with their half-draft in it at sign-up, for mods to verify word count.
How does team assignment work? Writers will sign up with pitches and details for their stories, and this will be released anonymously through a custom website. During the claim period, artists will have 24 hours to submit a short list of every work they would be okay working with, and after the 24 hour mark we will machine-match all pitches and assignments for a best match (in a similar way to Ao3 matching).
If people are unable to be matched in that time, we will offer a short period for any people who have not been matched to offer secondary short lists, and then we will open it up to anyone to take on secondary claims choosing from any people we were unable to match. Once every team has an assigned artist, we will open up the claim process again for people who want to take on a secondary assignment, choosing from all assignments. At the end of 48 hours from start we will close the claim process and run matching a second time. A final list of all teams will be released after this time.
Note: if you want to be visibly listed as "anonymous" on this list you can be, we will convey you your team in a ticket.
What happens if there are more artists than authors, or more authors than artists? If there are more artists, some fics will be assigned multiple artists. If there are more authors, we will offer the option for artists to be assigned multiple teams.
What's a check-in and how do they work? The check-ins are there to make sure everyone is on track to finish their piece in time, and to communicate any issues with the mods! If you know that you won’t be able to check in on a specific date (lack of internet, etc), please contact the mods in advance.
How long should my fic be? The minimum word count is 5,000 words! There is no maximum word count, but we ask you to be mindful of how much you can actually create in these two months. All fics must be complete and entirely posted during the Posting Period.
If I wrote a multi-chapter work, do I have to have it all posted by the end of the Posting Period? Yes. If you have a longer work, we recommend starting to post early in the posting period, and potentially doing daily chapters to space out your work.
What does AU mean in this context? AU stands for Alternate Universe and in this case means anything that would make the work not able to be tagged as canon compliant. Alternate endings, role reversals, complete setting or plot swaps, and crossovers all count. As this is a fest specifically to celebrate AUs, we ask that the AU be a significant and celebrated part of the work, not something that could be skipped if you aren't paying attention.
Can I create two pieces of art? Absolutely! There is no maximum for number of pieces you want to create, but again, be mindful of not biting off more than you can chew in a month of creation time.
Can I sign up with two fics? You are welcome to sign up as part of the fest with multiple fics, especially given that the word count is reasonably achievable for many people. However, if you do so, we will ask that you prioritize which fic you want to be matched on first, and you will only receive a match to your secondary fic after everyone else has an artist. We're going to prioritize every participant getting a team before we prioritize every story getting a team.
Can I sign up with a writing buddy— as part of a collab team? You are welcome to sign up as a collaborative team! We ask that you make sure you work together well, and when you sign up for an artist, you must declare that you're a team, so people know that they'll be getting multiple writers and not one. You may not sign up as an artist-writer pair— the matching with a new person aspect is part of the big bang experience.
Can I submit a fic that is part of a larger story? All stories must stand alone, so while your work can connect with an existing au, your beta or artist can't need to read other works to understand your piece. The fic also must be written specifically for the event. We ask that you not submit a summary for a fic that was already written prior to the start of the event. Brainstorming or outlining starting early is fine.
Can I use AI to help me with my piece? You must create your work yourself, as that is the spirit of the event. Works may not be wholly or partially created by generative text or art programs (so-called "AI") such as chatGPT or OpenArt.ai. If you feel that you need to turn to AI to finish your work in time, we recommend you drop instead so that a pinch-hitter can be assigned.
What if I need to drop out? It is your responsibility to communicate with us if you need to drop out of the event for any reason, and we do need that communication. We know that life is no respecter of fic and art deadlines, so it is absolutely fine if you need to drop. However, we would hate for any writer to end up having no art for their fic, and it would suck if an artist put a lot of effort into creating art for a fic that ends up not being written, so authors and artists, please inform us as soon as possible if you must drop out or think you will not be able to complete your piece on time. Dropping out after the last check-in without informing the mods may result in not being permitted to take part in further events run by this mod team.
I have a question not answered here? Send us an ask on tumblr, contact @antimony-medusa on tumblr or discord!
So, about a month ago I joined a silly little event (@mcytbattleship) and over the course of that month I've produced 19 fics all together! A little insane, so here! A small, condensed list of all 19 of them (borrowed the formatting idea from @/the-blaze-empress it's very neat):
i wanna hold your hand, without other people butting in
Rating: G
Fandom: Lifesteal
Relationship: Ashswag/Squiddo
Words: 1,370
Summary: A 3+1 fic set in Season 5. A rewrite of Season 5 but Squidswag are secretly dating. Very fluffy
ashswag and the trio of bitches that just walked in
Rating: G
Fandom: Lifesteal
Relationship: Ashswag & Branzy & ClownPierce & Reddoons
Words: 759
Summary: "Ash just wants to close up the shop, but there's 3 of his regulars that just like arguing a bit too much."
Untitled Goose (and Snail) Game
Rating: G
Fandom: SMPEarth
Relationship: Technoblade & Philza
Words: 1,202
Summary: Ever wondered what happened when the Soulmate Goose and the Immortal Death Snail team up? Well, one side gets a very insistent goose that keeps pecking at his knees, and the other keeps dying. They'll meet eventually.
evbo's guide to (not) letting the world pass by
Rating: T
Fandom: Parkour Civilization
Relationship: Evbo/Seawatt, Evbo & Seawatt, EMF & Evbo, EMF & Seawatt
Words: 15,683
Summary: A Maze Runner AU where Evbo is a delivery boy running through the Maze trying his best to deliver packages across the place without dying and Seawatt is a pretty Master that meets him and definitely doesn't have any ulterior motives. Both of them needs hugs. And kisses.
into the depths of a mad dream
Rating: T
Fandom: DreamSMP
Relationship: Technoblade & Philza
Words: 1,321
Summary: Time Loop Au of the execution from Phil's POV. I put Techno into the washing machine. Phil watches, but he isn't aware of the loop. Techno is aware of the loop and is trying to find a way to break it. He's failing, but he's getting there. Eventually. It's a very fun au.
because if it were a good morning, I'd be with you
Rating: G
Fandom: Lifesteal
Relationship: Ashswag/Squiddo
Words: 1,453
Summary: More Squidswag fluff because I love them. Squiddo kidnaps Ash into spending a day just relaxing with them. Activities include: fishing, searching for treasure and fireworks watching.
sometimes caring is just a warm bath (and a soft touch)
Rating: T
Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Fandom: Parkour Civilization, PVP Civilization
Relationship: Evbo (Parkour) & Evbo (PVP)
Words: 2,021
Summary: I got really sad when PVP!Evbo got sent to the torment nexus, so I decided to give him a bath. Parkour!Evbo saw my plans and agreed. PVP!Evbo gets to a bath and a hug! Good for him.
techno's surefire way to get rich quick
Rating: T
Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Fandom: DreamSMP
Relationship: Technoblade & Philza
Words: 2,292
Summary: Vampire AU. Techno is a human who found a bodyguard job listing and decided to sign up, not expecting to actually get the job. The pay's great, his employer is chill.
He's just pretty sure his boss is a vampire. And so begins Techno trying to survive the insanity of his job, trying not to die and fall into the troupe of being revived by his boss.
blood is the only way (paint the blue skies red)
Rating: T
Fandom: DreamSMP
Relationship: Technoblade & Philza
Words: 2,168
Summary: Roleswap au, where Philza was the one who was betrayed and made the withers, where Techno was the one who killed Wilbur. Techno helps Phil run away and settles down in L'manberg as Phil's inside guy.
(And yet, it all ends the same.)
"The Strange Happenings Of The Silent Forest"
Rating: T
Warning: Major Character Death
Fandom: DreamSMP
Solo: Technoblade
Words: 923
Summary: A small news article talking about the mysterious disappearance of Techno Blade, and the things found on the only things left behind, a notebook and a voice recorder.
preening and grooming are the same thing, just spelt differently (like you and me)
Rating: T
Fandom: Origins SMP
Relationship: Technoblade & Philza
Words: 6,373
Summary: Pre!Origins Techno and Philza backstory, including Dadza, Elytrian Phil and Bunny Techno.
Techno is a lonely rabbit with the habit of nearly biting off more than he can chew, and Phil is the Elytrian with a habit of sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. Somehow, they become a family.
be quiet (they don't want to hear you speak)
Rating: G
Fandom: Collinlock16 - Oneshef
Relationship: AndreW2002 & PsychoNetworks | AndreW2002's Chat
Words: 600
Summary: Post "MABTPIASR", Andre attempted another escape attempt, but failed. While being locked in a box waiting for the Admins next move, he thinks about that failed attempt from long ago.
He thinks about Assimilation.
like cherry blossoms falling in spring
Rating: G
Fandom: Lifesteal
Relationship: Ashswag/Squiddo
Words: 2,157
Summary: My silly little Viral!AU oh how I missed you...
Squiddo has some history with cherry blossoms and a certain someone, so they've been sentenced to the Backrooms to come to terms with it. She may get lost in there, but don't worry. The flowers will always lead her home.
dancing as a substitute to loving you loudly
Rating: G
Fandom: Parkour Civilization
Relationship: EMF/Evbo/SeaWatt
Words: 4,566
Summary: A 5+1 fic about devotion and offering parts of yourself up to your loved ones. Evbo is struggling to adjust to being a God, but EMF and Seawatt are there to support him along the way. There's also so much Fighter worldbuilding and how they see the world compared to the other layers.
sometimes, life will give you a crow and a crow-adjacent man for friends
Rating: G
Fandom: Dream SMP
Relationship: Technoblade & Philza
Words: 2,934
Summary: Technoblade owns works at a flowershop and Philza owns a tattoo parlour.
Techno has a cat named Steve and a random crow that really likes to visit him. He really doesn't need any more than that. Unfortunately, Phil thinks otherwise.
sliding under the blade to reach the finish
Rating: T
Fandom: The Great Potato War
Relationship: im_a_squid_kid & Technoblade
Words: 2,995
Summary: A time loop fic written through a screen play format.
Techno was fine being stuck in this weird Musical related loop. He never got close with any of the leads anyways to feel much of anything when they die. That was until his friend decided to become said lead.
And then Techno is very much not fine with it.
Cycling and Exploring
Rating: G
Fandom: Lifesteal
Solo: Squiddo
Words: 1,301
Summary: Squiddo is in the Pokemon universe ooooo what's she gonna do? Take a train ride of course!
nature's blue
Rating: G
Fandom: DreamSMP
Relationship: Carl the horse & Technoblade
Words: 754
Summary: Techno's trying to find some buried treasure that was promised in a random treasure map he has. Too bad it's literally the furthest thing away from him. Good thing Carl was up for the challenge, imagine having to walk all the way there.
i can’t get rid of it, even though I tried (so i make this soliloquy i pitifully write)
Rating: T
Fandom: Parkour Civilization, PVP Civilization
Main Relationship: Evbo (Parkour) & Evbo (PVP) (Side relationship: EMF/Evbo)
Words: 13,366
Summary: Apocalypse AU where Parkour!Evbo, who's just trying to find his friends, meets PVP!Evbo, who is also trying to find his family. As they were going in the same direction, the two decided to stick together for the 3 months it takes them to get to their destination. Surely they won't form a brotherly bond, right?
And in the background, a prison escape is being performed.
You almost fall through the roof of it at first. The drop-off sheer, the slope steep. Luckily, a teammate is there to steady you. Brushing aside what could be decades of old branches, moss and leaf litter, your team realises it’s an old building.
Not very big, with an old overhanging veranda. It’s not until walking under it you realise below your feet is stone – a platform.
Investigating further confirms your suspicions – inside are old levers and abandoned chests, dusty minecarts in storage. Cutting through the landscape in a straight line you hadn’t noticed before, you uncover the gleam of metal in the fading pale sunlight – rails.
It’s an old railway station.
You work together to clear the way and get the carts back on the track, and with what you’ve collected, it’s easy work to make a furnace cart to power your train down these abandoned rails. Bumpy and overgrown as they are, as you travel you can only watch the scenery grow – somehow – more and more foreign, and you are truly left to wonder what you will face, and if you are prepared enough to face it.
Team Silence is entering Boss 1!
--
Graphic by @salemoleander, lore text by @djpurple3
I'm thinking, right, since I want to show off more cycles, that 1 day before "to all lives never lived" gets posted, I should make like a chapter 2 to ismitte that covers a couple more povs and timelines
Hurt/Comfort/OR ALSO No Comfort (Includes Whump/Sickfic.)
Self Insert/Original Character Placement (Gods bravest soldiers)
Crossover (My personal favorite! Fandom crossed with fandom.)
Continuation Fic (Original work canonically ended, but I didn't hear no bell.)
Voting ended onMay 24, 2025
Elaborate in the tags, maybe even link your fic if you're able to! I like seeing what people's driving force to write fic is, because it always seems to be different depending on who you ask.
fandom is so weird you never know how old anyone is but you just kinda assume most of them are around your age until proven otherwise and then one day someone is talking about their 9 year old kid on your dash and another person is saying they just finished 10th grade. wild.
Sometimes I think about how Orange might actually be even better at music than Green and we’ll never know because music isn’t something Orange does for fun.
We never actually see Orange discover noteblocks; he was absent for most of that episode. The first time we do see him interact with a noteblock is an entire season later, in an episode that he is, again, mostly absent for. And yet, the first time we ever see him touch anything resembling a musical instrument, his skills are already comparable to Green’s, whereas the other three all needed a musicality potion to even keep up with Green.
Then there’s the warden episode, in which Orange manages to invent a crafting recipe for a slide-flute in the space of about ten seconds using nothing but random junk he’d found, and it works. Then he’s able to improvise a woodwind rendition of Pigstep by ear, after only hearing it once, in the background of a chaotic fight that he’d been an active combatant in.
Also he can read sheet music. We don’t even know if Green can do that. (Yes I know he used King’s staff to project a musical staff during the note block concert, but how much of that was him and how much of that was King’s staff?)
The only musical thing he seems to actually have trouble with is singing, and we don’t even know if it’s truly difficult for him or if the environment he was in at the time simply thwarted his efforts (he was in an Adobe window when he tried to sing; would he have had better results if he’d instead been in Minecraft at the time? Or even just on the desktop?).
Either way, it’s clear that Green is the best at singing. But it’s entirely possible that Orange may be on the same level as Green when it comes to playing musical instruments. Orange might even have a leg up on Green in this regard, given that he understood the mechanisms of a non-noteblock flute well enough to craft a working one himself. They both seem to understand music theory well enough to improvise, but we also have proof that Orange can read sheet music and play by ear.
And I find it fascinating that Orange might be better at music than Green is, and yet music is still considered to be Green’s domain of expertise, simply because he is more musically inclined as a person than Orange is.
Because when Orange makes music, it’s a means to an end. He has to outperform everyone in the note block battle only so they’ll quiet down and let him sleep already. He has to macgyver a flute that can play an ancient forgotten song only so the warden will be pacified, and later swayed to his cause. He tries to sing because Green enjoys singing and wanted to share in that joy with him. He’s in the concert because Green wanted to have a concert and wanted his friends to accompany him. When Orange makes music, it’s never simply for the sake of making music. It’s always for something or someone else, always some other reason.
Whereas for Green, music is much more. It’s a hobby, a creative art, a passion, a skill to test, a performance, a means of self-expression, even a way to communicate. For Green, the music itself is the reason.
Even compared to the others, he is different in this; for Red, Blue, and Yellow, making music with each-other is half the fun, it’s a way to socialize and bond, whereas Green enjoys making music alone as well as in collaboration with the others.
Meanwhile Orange, while being indisputably good at music, better than the other three and possibly better than Green, simply doesn’t gravitate toward it at all unless nudged.
