#DON'T THINK ABOUT HER TRYING TO RUN AWAY FROM BDUBS AND JOEL ONLY FOR THEM TO ASSURE HER THEY'RE NOT GONNA BETRAY HER

[liauditore]

it's gotta be you.

[fountainpenguin]

I think the fundamental thing about Ep. 1 Martyn-Cleo [Zombiewood] dynamic IS that it's about misunderstanding... but in an interesting way.

Martyn spends Episode 1 mostly in the mines (getting armor; not unusual for Day 1), but he and Pearl do search the Overworld. They run into several people, but not their soulmates.

Once Martyn has a water bucket and finds a lava pool, he opts to go to the Nether because he wants potion resources, which would set him and his partner up well.

- In the previous season, the Southlands (Martyn's allegiance) struggled because they didn't have a brewing stand for most of the game, so they tried to steal one from Team BEST (iirc). - He says in Episode 2 (granted, after he's had a week to come up with a defense) that he wanted to bring his soulmate gifts so he wasn't showing up emptyhanded, because that's rude.

So, decent reasons to go to the Nether: he'd taken the time to get armor and now he's after an item he'll regret not having if the other teams start brewing potions later. It would only take one jerk breaking the blaze spawner to limit potion access for everyone else.

But Martyn going to the Nether is super confusing to Cleo, who gets the notification that he's gone into the Nether, but remembered potions were against the rules that season.

- Cleo is acting under the assumption that Martyn also remembered potions were forbidden, so they're flummoxed as to why he would go somewhere he has 0 chance of meeting his soulmate. Clearly, he is goofing off for no reason. - Further confusing for them, Pearl entered the Nether right behind him, implying they're allies. Cleo cannot fathom what possible reason Martyn has for what he's doing- Just that he doesn't seem to care about having a soulmate and seems to have picked Pearl as his buddy instead. - Write him off, king. You don't need him.

When the "potions are banned" reminder dropped in chat, Martyn panicked. At that time, he'd been trying to barter those resources to Bdubs and Impulse, but when he got the reminder, he hurriedly closed the deal and scored unlimited access to their cows.

- In his mind, he messed up, but recovered well and came out with a great deal; that's gotta be worth something, right?

In my mind, when Cleo figures out in later episodes that Martyn forgot potions were forbidden, she's more willing to see his side. This is why she apologizes to him in Episode 3 for judging him harshly.

- Cleo makes comments throughout the season that she's willing to take him back if he apologizes. - She recognizes his mistake and stops holding it against him, but wants him to indicate he's willing to work through things with her. She can't put her trust in him until she knows he'll work with her without resenting her. - She remains emotionally aloof, but doesn't push him away. Scar sets her and Martyn on a date and she tolerates it. She plays along with Martyn and they lightly try to mug Bdubs on their walk home. - She even invites him to stay in her base after Etho and Joel grief his and the warden drops down in Ep 3, and Martyn says he might take her up on that- after he killed her that episode. [Martyn POV 49:04]. - In the end, she even shares stuff from her Red Life base. She keeps a wall up, but stops begrudging him so harshly.

Martyn, I think, is slower to come around to Cleo's POV that the items were useless. I think his vision is "It was a risk worth taking. It didn't work out, but if that HAD been allowed, I would have set us up for success and it would've been a gamechanger."

- It didn't pay off, but he has no regrets and sees no reason to apologize. - If his early Episode 2 dialogue is to be believed, Martyn is convinced that Cleo cheated on him first. He says this to Jimmy 14 minutes (in his "When is she going to think about mending OUR bridges?!" rant). And to be fair, Cleo was already living with Scott and calling him her chosen soulmate when Martyn finally met up with her, so you can see his confusion. - Martyn does apologize when he wants to. He goes from 0 to 100 apologizing after accidentally killing Cleo by punching them off a cliff and losing their first life, because he legitimately and completely knows he messed up. - He also apologizes to Pearl for breaking up with her, which was a heat of the moment decision he made after Cleo dumped him. He just ?? refuses to apologize to Cleo, because he doesn't get it. - And b/c he's probably playing the divorce quartet bit up, but shhh...

He wasn't there to see Cleo when they were confused about why he ran off to the Nether. I think Martyn focuses on "Cleo is mad at me for getting hurt, which is stupid because I came prepared with food and armor and was trying to be careful. Yeah, of course I got a little hurt- I was fighting blaze and ghasts! She expects me to be perfect, and I'm only human. She expects me to read her mind; she's so high-maintenance."

- Martyn's also so mean to Cleo in Ep 2 and that's worth pointing out. They're both victims of misunderstanding, but they're also petty and mean. - It's very funny how much he insists to the audience that "this is all Cleo's fault currently" - either because his character is refusing responsibility or is genuinely confused - and it's wild how much he lays into Cleo by telling her she's being "childish, immature, and really selfish." They are such a mess <3 Terrible job, everyone /jk - He just so badly wants to distance himself from blame (and be in the right) that he's not focused on if this hurts them or burns his bridge...

After Cleo cuts ties early on, Martyn does try to "be a good partner" while staying outside their house. He just... shows his efforts in comedically terrible ways, like building a giant heart in front of their door or watching them through his spyglass.

- Shout-out to Martyn in the dead of night hiding in trees and watching Cleo until he's determined that "she seems safe, she seems happy, she seems healthy" before he goes to do something else. I'm not saying stalking is good, I'm just saying it's hilarious for his clingy ex persona. - Just rewatched and it's Martyn who's the first to tell the audience he's putting his heart on the line and Cleo can connect back up with him if they ever want to. I thiiink Cleo in Episode 3 seems to think she was the first to have the idea of symbolically connecting their bridges - seeing as she tells Martyn later that he needs to put in the work to meet her bridge halfway - so that's kind of funny. They're on the same page, so close yet so far; I want to shake them-

In Episode 2, he defends himself by claiming he was "providing" and "putting food on the table," and he's probably still proud of the fact that he scored unlimited cow access despite accidentally pursuing banned items.

- Up until Cleo corrects him later in Episode 2, Martyn operates under the assumption that Cleo might take him back, but Scott is whispering in her ear and warning her not to. He tells the audience that "He doesn't like it" and that he's "going to wait until they've parted ways to do anything else." Yeah... How'd that work out, buddy? - Interestingly, Martyn cites Scott as a bad partner because "He's all about building cottages and flowers while meanwhile [Martyn] is trying to get the most powerful items in the game." - Side note, but Martyn's stress levels going up when he sees Cleo's outdoor furnace is my everything. it's so funny. "Take it inside! Look, he's ruining you!" He has such strong opinions about outdoor safety... - Martyn seems to be operating under the assumption that Cleo's already turned her back on him and won't really forgive him unless he proves he's a good ally. He clings to things that will make him [and Cleo] stronger and safer, so he offers to enchant Cleo's gear while he's heading down to the Deep Dark to enchant anyway, even though they're on poor terms. - Which is so... ahughuggh to me because Cleo asks him why he'd even want her and says "What do I bring to the table? I mean, really. I bring rubbish PVP skills and pithy one-liners" and Martyn's immediate response is that he loves pithy one-liners and doesn't care if she's bad at PVP because he'll handle it. "I bring the skills, you bring the vibes." Just?? Lovely dialogue, fantastic improv; no notes. - EXTREMELY funny to me that when Cleo and Martyn part ways, he tells the audience that 1) He thinks it went well and they're actually genuinely on the same page, 2) He's convinced he misjudged her at first, 3) He believes Cleo is scheming to trick her allies into protecting her, and 4) He's going to play up his broken heart base design and pretend he and Cleo are more at odds with each other than they actually are to fool the other teams... ... meanwhile in Cleo's POV she's like "Yeah, I had to talk to him about strength and the value of having allies in a way he'd understand so he'd go away" sdfklj. She reads him so well there and Martyn is... like that.

Anyway, when Martyn and Cleo talk early on, Cleo pushes this idea that Martyn went to the Nether, got hurt, and it was annoying because she had to use her food to save his life (especially when she saw no purpose in him being there and probably thought he wasn't taking the game seriously).

But I think the core of her hurt is more along the lines of "I can't fathom any reason why he'd be in the Nether unless he straight-up doesn't care about finding his soulmate."

- Which!! what I'm trying to say is, Martyn doesn't get why this is her conclusion. His thought process seems to be "Of course I care! That's why I'm trying to get valuables so we'll have an advantage in the game!" He and Pearl defend themselves by saying they DID look for their soulmates. - Cleo and Scott focus in on "Why did you go somewhere with no people, then?" They knew potions were banned and (judging from their Ep 1 convos) don't seem to consider the possibility that such a thing was forgotten. Thus, it's upsetting their soulmates left them for no perceivable reason and paired up with each other.

Martyn I think focuses more on "My soulmate thinks I hurt myself" - In Episode 3, he claims he "hasn't been dangerous since then," and Cleo acknowledges he's been better at not taking damage. But it's not about the hurt... it's about being ditched.

- There's a certain level of being ditched that Cleo can take, which I think is why she's more accepting of him after finding out he forgot potions were banned. She's not mad he wanted good resources- she was mad that she saw him go to the Nether because to her, going somewhere with 0 people meant he had no interest in finding his soulmate. - She forgives him after she realizes he made an honest mistake and wasn't being malicious. She keeps a safe distance, but she tolerates his presence and even forms a secret alliance with him. - And I think Martyn understands and acknowledges that Cleo is frustrated... for taking damage, or for taking so long to find her (which he'd probably chalk up to bad luck since he and Pearl did wander that map looking for people). - But instead of doing the one thing she asks him to - apologize - he tries to show what a useful ally he is... while Cleo's looking for evidence that he can be emotionally self-aware, so she can put down that wall and trust him. - Also they attack each other and it's great. Martyn walks off and insists he killed her as a joke, this would hold up in a court of law despite Cleo's giggled protests, and he's now banned from pudding for two weeks... very silly.

tl;dr - I have so many thoughts about them and wanted to put my interpretation into words :p

They counterbalance and play off each other so well, and it's a shame (in a beautiful storyline kind of way) that they came crashing down. But I love it so much... The mortifying ideal of soulmates passing like ships in the night.

[ilexdiapason]

bard pearl is living in my brain . right now. i. i know you're not even considering the rift right now, and i absolutely don't mean to overwrite your lore, not even METNIONING whether you'd bring hermitcraft members in, but. i cannot stop thinking about.

what if someone remembers her when they come?

..by now pearl would be used to what it looks like when someone doesn't recognise her. hell, she's had more than enough time to (basically) (almost) (kind of) come to terms with it. she's not expecting scar to recognise her, or bdubs, or ren. (she barely holds herself back from attacking them, if she's honest; half muscle memory, half burning hatred. it's a miracle she doesn't see cleo, all things considered.)

and then grian looks over her, and she's SURE she sees his eyes fucking stutter. no, more than sure, she knows he fucking hesitates. knows that that gap before he says his name shouldn't be there. pearl wouldn't claim to know what recognition sounds like, but she knows a liar when she sees one.

and, look, she knows that not everything's quite right in her head anymore. knows that this paranoia and jumpiness isn't something that had been there all her life; knows that, honestly, logically, there is every chance she has made this up. but she can't.. god help her, she can't just sit down and take that! she can't lose the only hint she's had in months! hell, she'd been halfway to convincing herself it was all made up, and he's here and he won't give her any answers, and--

--and he knows! she knows he knows! everyone has glanced right over her and come on, pearl may be angry and careless and a hunter but she knows a liar when she sees one! and not that she even trusted grian, they weren't friends, or anything, but-- but they're not there anymore! they both know, and they're both here, and goddamnit even if they're not safe, pearl thinks by this point she's owed some fucking answers!

...just . okay. just take this as a fanfiction of bard pearl because . g o d wgFJDKS

(i hope this isn't weird to send you ! :"D but she's . MAN)

no its not weird! i appreciate you rotating her she needs the love honestly maybe if enough people say it then it'll finally beat itself into her brain that she DOES deserve affection

if she saw grian and he Knew. well she'd be angry first of all, as is her natural impulse. that she's spent all this time as a certified girlstruggler thinking it was all a fluke, that nobody else could possibly understand, except for maybe scott once he's had things explained to him... to see the same grian from the worst six weeks of her life come back and act like the glint of recognition in his eyes doesn't even exist... she'd be furious. he has no right to just come here and be HAPPY. didn't it MEAN something?

and it's different, okay, it's different with jimmy and joel, because the canary and the red menace are clearly new people now, if the height and the hair length didn't give them away. same with tango and scar and impulse and (she bites back all her screaming) cleo. they're here from the rift, sure, but they aren't the people she laughed at and hid from and ran swords through and swung axes at until they snapped like sticks.

grian CLEARLY is.

he won't approach her, is the worst part, certainly trying not to give up the power he holds over her, the knowledge of what was meant to happen when it ended (the mercy of forgetting kept back from her, because saint oli couldn't just grant her sweet release, he HAD to put her here instead). pearl hates when people hold things over her head.

so pearl will not approach grian either, and either he'll give in or she'll stand resolute in spiteful victory.

but every time their eyes meet while he's running around the empires... well, she'll wonder about it.