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mooberg · 23 days

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In case you found this post before the Start Post, I’m going through and looking at the matching wounds for every LimL team! How they were hurt in past seasons and how this season addressed that harm

Starting off strong with TIES! The name calls back to team BEST, however I wanna point out the differences between the two. First of all and most notably, Bdubs has been swapped for Impulse- and that greatly changes the group! They both fall into the habit of being a yes-man, but where Bdubs tends to be very ambitious with his support, Impulse is a lot more cooperative in a group setting. With this, TIES is able to set very clear, achievable goals and accomplish them without all the bells and whistles. We need a tower? Tango’s got it! It’s crooked, but he’s got it. Skynet? It looks scuffed but they’ve got it!!!

NOT ONLY THAT but TIES and BEST have a different fundamental worldview! TIES values the group above all else. They need to be there for each other, to stand by one another and to uplift the group no matter what. They’re bound by their Tie to each other (ha). But BEST? BEST valued their IMAGE above all else. They’re the good guys, they needed to set an example for the server. It didn’t matter what was going on in their team, they needed to project a strong image, they needed to be the Best (ha 2).

And that’s One piece of the matching wound in TIES: they all come from dysfunctional alliances

This is especially true of Tango! Tango, in 3L and LL, was cast to the side in every alliance he tried to join. Not only that, but in the alliances he Was a part of, he always ended up getting physically harmed. In 3L it was the firing squad, and in LL it was when Bdubs turned red the first time and then when Bdubs was the boogeyman. Not only that, but in both seasons he was only valued for what he could physically provide.

In 3L it was partially beef/leather, but mostly information. The only alliances that stuck were the ones that wanted information from him as a double agent. The second he picked a side, the other went after him. This is despite the fact that he Did have a day1 alliance in the form of the village people, but that alliance barely made it to the fourth episode, with Etho and Impulse sharing the wool castle and Tango being left to fend for himself. Then in LL, BEST had a tendency to use him as a Life dispenser, if someone got hurt then Tango’s there. Outside of that, he really wasn’t valued- something he even confronts them about throughout the season. It’s to the point that Tango’s dying action is to trap BEST, to destroy the place that caused him this much harm (granted his death was unintentional)

Impulse was on the other side of things- yes he did tend to be overlooked in many of his alliances, but really his downfall in those alliances came from him overlooking others. Let me explain- in 3L he tried to play all sides and subsequently sabotaged every single alliance he was a part of. Throughout all of it he kept Saying his heart belonged to the Crastle, but his actions continued proving otherwise. He overlooked their concerns because he thought he could prove himself, but only turned them against him. And of course they turned on him! Of course Bdubs specifically turned!! Impulse’s loyalties had been dubious at best and it was hard to know where he stood despite what he said

Then in LL he tries to be a part of a functional team, except the Southlands was on constant rocky ground, especially when people started dropping down to Red. Impulse’s immediate reaction wasn’t to try and bring them back, it was to treat them as an unavoidable threat. So stealing the wither skull from Joel and Grian’s bunker and trying to plan for when Mumbo eventually came back to trap their towers. He’s not the only person to do this both in the southlands and in LL general, but to me it feels like a contradiction. If you want the team to stay together, keep them together! Don’t turn your back the second someone becomes a danger to themself and others

Admittedly, I haven’t seen much of Etho’s side of things so sorry if his is off! But for Etho, he has a tendency to try and act alone. Yes his group has a plan, but he always has a side plan like the enderporter in 3L. What’s unique about this is it’s usually something that only directly affects him should it go wrong, but if it goes well then the entire group benefits. He shields other people from getting hurt at the expense of himself- except they don’t see it so they don’t know to step in. In fact the only person who knew to step in was Bdubs, as seen throughout LL but ESPECIALLY with the Wither fight. Afterwards he even remarks “Etho couldn’t do it without me, I Gave Him The Courage”

However, the opposite is also true. When he acts alone, consequences don’t follow him as closely as they probably should. In 3L it meant when he moved to the swamp he accidentally split up the village group- leaving Impulse and Tango stranded and actually starting them on their arcs. Yes they followed him out there, but that was basically an Invisible alliance, never really getting called upon outside of what Dogwarts needed. It also meant when he started conflict between Dogwarts and the Crastle with the tnt missile attempts, Joel ends up taking the brunt of that

Etho inadvertently hides himself and I think that’s very fascinating

But overall, something Tango, Impulse, and Etho all have in common is that their issues all started in 3L, continued into LL, and were addressed in DL.

Tango finally got an ally who loved and cared for him through virtue of being himself. Impulse was not only Seen in his alliance, but he was paired with someone who he couldn’t ignore or avoid. Etho’s consequences were linked to his soulmate, meaning he couldn’t hide himself no matter what he did. They were encouraged to be there for their partner and took that in stride

But again, their issues were confronted. Skizz’s issues weren’t

For Skizz, he has a habit of putting his team before himself. In 3L that meant following Ren to a T, being the exact soldier Ren needed him to be and doing everything in his power to help Dogwarts succeed. It meant keeping his cool when Ren called for a retreat but Skizz wanted to keep fighting and it meant charging headfirst into the Crastle when it was revealed they had the Red Winter axe. Skizz gave his whole life to Dogwarts! And to quote bojack horseman real quick- I’m not talking about his Death, I’m talking about his Life, he gave his whole Life

In LL putting his team first meant trying to act as leader to this very dysfunctional group. Skizz was the main one coming up with plans, he’s the one that made the meeting room, their shields, everything! But really, he wasn’t regarded as their leader, Bdubs was. Bdubs, who is headstrong and overly ambitious with his plans, Bdubs who was quick to criticize the group’s shortcomings and Bdubs who had a switch like a hair trigger if he turned Red or became the boogeyman, who Split The Fort In Two when he was exiled.

Skizz did everything for BEST and how did they repay him? By running, by leaving him behind when a tnt cannon failed. What Skizz learned there is when you do Everything for other people, you end up with nothing. You end up dead in the enemy’s castle, you end up cornered by the sharp ends of three crossbows. And I think this is what he’s responding to at the end of LL- mimicking Mumbo’s reckless attacks and even going back to get revenge on Ren for his boogeyman trap earlier in the season (said trap Skizz had previously complimented and said he wasn’t even mad about). It’s giving “no more Mr Nice Guy” and I’m here for it. He wouldn’t be the faceless defender of his team, he would be the cause of their demise- being there for Tango AND Bdubs’s deaths while spectating as a ghost

But again, Skizz wasn’t in DL, he didn’t have an alliance where he could recover. He was never given the space to learn to give comfortably, and to learn to receive support from his team.

And with this, I think it’s Fascinating that LimL started off in the way that it did

Skizz was targeted by the boogeymen not once, but TWICE in the very first episode. The immediate response by the server was to form a protection squad around him. It was to Stand By Him. This contradicts the mindset he died with in LL- that the world will take until there’s nothing left of you to give. And I think that’s action was ESSENTIAL to him being able to function as the leader of TIES

In case it wasn’t clear, the three matching wounds for TIES is 1) they come from dysfunctional alliances, 2) they struggle to function as an individual in a group setting, and 3) they habitually give more than they take

So TIES has a pretty strong understanding of one another with their similarities, BUT they also have another thing in common, a shaky past with Bdubs. I touched on this in all of their sections, but all four of them had issues with Bdubs in previous seasons. Tango was singled out by him several times despite sharing an alliance. Impulse was permakilled by him Twice despite being in the same group. Skizz clashed with him because of his headstrong behavior and Etho sidelined himself because of that same behavior.

I don’t even think they realized this at the start, ESPECIALLY not Etho- who had never been directly wronged by Bdubs. But Impulse trying to pry an apology out of him via gifting him a clock definitely conveyed this- why? Bdubs, in fact, did not apologize. He didn’t even see the problem. This is familiar to Impulse, its familiar to Tango, and it’s especially familiar to Skizz, having just been boogey-killed by him

So really it’s no surprise that they ended up having conflicts with the Clockers!

Start Post | The Clockers

#dude this is insane #i read all you've posted so far (and will be checking back in for the rest later) and oh my god???#the deep dive you just went down for these characters is incredible #stuff that i didn't even consider and I've watched a LOT of the life series from different perspectives #this is so fascinating to read #also amazing how much of the series is linked through bdubs #the gremlin ever #proud of team ties they were the best of times and the worst of times #i ain't tagging individuals #life series

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