#the continuity in a completely unscripted vaguely rp series...............goes insane

[bananasofthorns]

I promised rambling about Tango in the death games, so here is my rambling about Tango in the death games. (also disclaimer I have not seen his 3rd Life series so details on that might be off, but I’m gonna not go as in-depth on that one anyway) (another disclaimer, I have not gone back and rewatched anything for this it is off the top of my head so if there is anything I get wrong that would be why)

(@skitter-kitter @hira-a @casual-carcass you guys told me I should post this hello <33)

TLDR: Every round of the game, Tango tries to do something meaningful, something that will have an impact on the world, and every time, he fails. He is doomed to die by the hands of his allies and he is doomed to die alone and he is doomed to have no one care about his death.

Impact

Every season, Tango does something to make things interesting, but they never have a lasting impact, or at least not one that makes people remember him. In 3rd Life, he makes Dare To Flare, and it kills two people but in the series as a whole there is no huge...impact in the story overall.

In Last Life, he does You Bet Your Life and it lasts all of about two episodes. Not even, really. He very very briefly has the most lives and then someone goes red and his game ends and he gives them all away. You Bet Your Life fades into memory, but it also sets a precedent for Tango for the rest of the season: the most impactful things he does are give away lives (against his will).

Finally, in Double Life, he brings a Warden to the surface, which is an impressive feat even if he wasn’t on a hardcore server. Except...no one even dies from it, and it gets stuck in his base, and then in the river, and then it dies. Nothing happens with it except brief, quickly-forgotten chaos. Like always, it doesn’t matter to anyone except Tango. They remember it, at least, but there’s no lasting impact.

Sensing a theme, here? He’ll do something and it’ll matter in the moment but never again; it’ll be forgotten as soon as it’s over.

Death

Every single season, Tango has gotten killed by his allies. In 3rd Life, Impulse kills him when Bdubs sets the firing squad against him. In Last Life, Bdubs quite literally stabs him in the back. In Double Life, it’s a little different because his health is linked with his ally, but...I mean, Jimmy still kills him twice, technically. And even if they weren’t officially allies with Joel and Etho, they were at least neutral/friendly when they killed them. Tango will have allies, and maybe he’ll even have a strong alliance with someone, but that doesn’t matter when he’s still going to end up alone and dead by the hand of someone he trusted.

Let’s go back to the meaninglessness for a moment. When he permadies in 3rd Life, it’s during a war that he barely has a stake in and no one even really notices or cares that he’s gone. He’s just a casualty.

In Last Life...when Bdubs kills him, it isn’t forgettable, but his rage doesn’t...go anywhere. He can’t do anything with it because there are more important things to worry about, so it doesn’t matter, really. And then he blows himself up. And then he blows himself up again. It’s nobody’s fault but his own. They were stupid mistakes that could’ve been avoided and weren’t but that doesn’t matter anymore because he’s dead. His episode ends with seven minutes of black screen; it was so that the viewers didn’t immediately catch on that he’d died that session, but all it really does is make his death seem even emptier.

And then in Double Life, his first death is an accident, an explosion that could’ve maybe been avoided. His second death, he dies in what looks like the crossfire of a fight that isn't his, except they ARE gunning for his blood but no one knows it. And then when he dies permanently...he’s alone. It’s not even his fault, it’s Jimmy’s (though it arguably isn’t Jimmy’s fault, either; it’s yet another stupid death that could’ve been avoided if they’d just been a little more careful). It’s a stupid death and he gives us another black screen except this time, he laughs about it at the very end. It’s not funny.

Remembrance

We already talked about how none of Tango’s attempts at something meaningful get remembered, except the Warden. We already talked about how his final death in 3rd Life was just...quiet. Barely noticeable. His final death in Last Life is pretty much the opposite of that - he even gets a grave! But it’s not...it’s not a grave for him, really; Grian built it. Grian, who was mourning Mumbo. Grian, who wrote “peace love and plants” on the sign. It has Tango’s name. It’s not his.

And then in Double Life...I said that the Warden was remembered, even if it didn’t have an impact. It got a grave. Tango (and Jimmy) mourned it, while he could. It’s...a little funny how it’ll be more remembered than Tango was. Again, he got a grave, technically. Kind of. His soulmate gets a grave, so close enough. Tango’s name isn’t anywhere on it, and he’s barely mentioned in anyone’s small eulogies. (Edit: he does have a grave, but it’s unmarked and not or barely mentioned.) He died alone. It’s not his fault. He’s barely remembered. Anyone who would care is already dead.

I don’t know how to end this. I’ll just...fade to black.

#tangotek #tango tek #double life smp #last life smp #banana made a post #i am sooooo normal about this guys /lie #i dont do character analysis that often but when i do. oh boy! #also i actually don't like a very angsty take on double life a lot of the time But #character analysis is my exception to this. clearly #the continuity in a completely unscripted vaguely rp series...............goes insane #something something two's a coincidence three's a pattern. this applies to so many things