#courtmanda my beloveds

[babychosen]

i was there man

[sage-lights]

This is so random, but hearing Shayne talk about Sword AF in the Smosh After Dark Q&A gave me a sense of closure. I'd already accepted that they weren't gonna do a season 3, but to hear him sort of confirm what I was thinking happened (that it was a lot work and time and too little return on investment, despite the fact that they loved doing it), I feel ready to leave the charred remains of my beloved piece of media buried in the ground.

I think BAF Legacy was able to have a proper send-off because the story was already written by somebody else and it had a definite ending with an already expected finite number of episodes, whereas Sword AF didn't really have an end in sight so the series fizzling out was sort of inevitable. I'm sad about it, but at the end of the day, I still get to see Shayne, Chanse, Damien, Amanda, and Angela work together and as fans we get to experience how BAF Legacy and Sword AF shifted all 5 of their relationships to one another to a cozier, sweeter space y'know? (I'm thinking specifically of Shayne and Angela becoming one of my favorite duos ever through Sword AF)

Like, BAF Legacy is where I first saw that Amanda and Shayne really clicked and it's what made me so excited when I saw that they were hosting Smosh Mouth together! To this day, the 5 of them- all together, give or take other cast members- is my personal favorite lineup. I loved the series so much so I WANT there to be something more dramatic and final (?) to its end than it just not being a sustainable series to produce, but sometimes that's all there is.

I am not ready to watch Smosh vs. Zombies yet, but I've seen what people say online, and I already know that Amanda and Courtney have a queer-coded codependent friendship thing going on and I will absolutely eat it up I love Courtmanda and I ADORE wlw pining. COURTMANDA WLW PINING? I won!! Sorry that was such a long message!!!! TLDR: I loved Sword AF but it's gone and that's okay. I ship courtmanda.

hi anon! thank you for coming to my inbox and chatting 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ (under the cut are my thoughts because it gets LONG)

i said a lot of my own thoughts in the tags of this reblog, but i think that beyond saf taking a lot of effort without a lot of return, i don't think enough people were really batting for it. i know amanda's talked about loving it, angela and chanse play dnd in their own time, shayne always wanted to get into dnd, and damien is obviously the one with the most passion as the dm. but when push comes to shove, i think the cast rather put their time into things like bit city because it's closer to that kind of true improv that they love.

characters i think also contributed to the longevity of shows. baf legacy let them change character every episode, but saf leaves them "stuck" in the same character for seasons on end. reoccurring characters at smosh are never as serious as the saf characters and maybe the cast just didn't vibe with it as much?

you should def give smosh vs zombies a watch when you come around to it. though i love long ttrpg series, it seems like a good middle ground between fans of ttrpg and what smosh likes to do. and yes, the courtmanda/gracevannah goes HARD!!! i adore them!!!!

if you poke around my blog, you see i started to post a lot about d20 and dropout recently. that's honestly just me filling the void that saf left behind and it's working! hoping that one day a smosh cast member will end up in the dome! that would make my little ttrpg heart soooooo happy!

[shesmore-shoebill]

i loveeee disaster/pining!amanda in amangela HOWEVER i pitch you this: disaster/pining!amanda in courtmanda. amanda who shouldnt be surprised that courtney’s very flirty/affectionate but somehow Always Is Suprised when the energy is directed back at her. courtney who sees a blushing/stammering amanda for the first time and is absolutely delighted (and maybe a little bit surprised) that They were the one who caused that reaction

AUGH COURTMANDA MY BELOVED. Excellent timing sending this to me right before we got fed with fantastic Courtmanda in the new FNAF video.

That said: OOOH disaster/pining Amanda in a Courtmanda context. HMM.

Okay, preface: I'm going to say a lot of things here. Again, this is all personal RPF characterization and is not supposed to actually be about the real people. Its about the RPF alternate universe versions I've decided on.

So from what I have in my head, disaster/pining Amanda doesn't look the same as it would for Amangela, because where Angela doesn't usually lean into the kissing/flirting bits with the same level of enthusiasm/isn't the type to initiate them, at least with Amanda, (hence why flirting back would be so jarring). Like you're saying Courtney (and Amanda tbh) is the kind of person to:

1- Flirt incessantly with people for the bit,

and

2- If challenged, would COMMIT to the bit with zero hesitation

and

3- Willing to kiss a friend, no worries.

So in my head, with their existing dynamic it seems less likely for Amanda to be completely caught off guard by just the fact of Courtney flirting/flirting back. (TBH I think its fun to have their dynamic already have an inherent flirtiness to it, that in Courtmanda universes can lead to Confusion or Hijinks. See this post). So to really SELL it I feel like there has to be an extra level to it that turns the existing dynamic on its head. Catches Amanda off guard or some extra flavor to the obliviousness. And I find it VERY fun to have the disaster part of this be Amanda committing harder to flirting if she's panicking about Courtney, because Courtney would commit BACK, and that kind of escalation always opens up fun in stories. AND, at the point where Amanda does get completely flustered/tongue-tied the payoff is that much more significant.

And there's a few fun ways this can go, trope-wise, I think. Courtney dials it up and Amanda was fine about it before (ignoring her feelings) but the ramp up in intensity flipped SOMETHING in her head she can't ignore angmore, and now Courtney is flirting and Amanda is panicking/flirting back with a definite edge of panic and Courtney can. Tell. For angst or more plot, the fact that the affection is already there can cause confusion! Misunderstanding! What's joke flirting and what's real? What's a bit and what isn't? Even if its not a bit for her, is it for them? etc. Plenty of fun ways to take the Courtmanda disaster dual flirting dynamic.

That said, the "already always flirty Courtmanda" is just a personal characterization thing on my part, and this is RPF, none of this is real, so we dont need to do that. If we don't commit to their existing dynamic already being flirty the imagery of a flustered Amanda and deeply pleased Courtney is still SO good. Amanda flirts with everyone and Courtney flirts back and Amanda goes. 😳. Courtney as a fun silly little guy and Amanda as a charismatic force laying on the charm with everyone but Courtney does something back and Amanda loses it a little. Flirts weird. Gets goofy. Little compliments get to her. Something something the rpf extension of Amanda constantly calling Courtney cool or complimenting her style in random places in videos. And Courtney continues to be affectionate because they just ARE affectionate and Amanda (also known affectionate person!) is losing her cool over it way more than she should be. Oh man. I do love this concept actually.

(For angst route- miscomm! misunderstanding! Amanda going "Oh Courtney is like this with everyone, it doesnt mean anything". Courtney taking Amanda's slightly strange reactions as 'oh she doesnt like me doing this/feel this way'. Ah shit I've just swapped the Amangela dynamic).

Anyway. Lots of fun potential here. Love the Courtmanda dynamic. Maybe a fun plot idea regarding S&B filming and Amanda seeing a new side of Courtney that shifts her world a little bit.... 👀 hmm.

[dinosauring130]

Courtmanda my BELOVEDS

they’re so 🥺🥺🥺

[shesmore-shoebill]

oh hell yeah, im a sucker for multi way well intentioned miscommunication, AND friendship. I can see ur suggestion so clearly omg.... Love the trope for when characters can clock/process what'd happening with their friends but are somehow oblivious to whats actually happening for themselves. and amangela tension is just. so good unfortunately.

oops this post is got long. bc i got excited. throwing stuff under a cut.

I think a possible Courtrasha route is both people flirting, one person as a way of badly hiding their feelings and the other as a "tactic" but they don't realize it's become kind of real for both of them. But i haven't decided who should be what. Maybe, with Arasha's reputation it's funnier if Arasha is the one pining.

And so Arasha is a good friend to Angela and is also like. you should just talk to Amanda maybe? (<- someone who is actively flirting with Courtney to cover up actual feelings and does not see the irony). Angela is like :(((( man idk i don't want to jeapoardize anything. It's unclear/Amanda wouldn't feel that way about me/ I don't feel that way whaaat. It's not like you and Court, you know? (Arasha, sweating: what)

And Courtney and Amanda are hashing things out and Courtney is like "hey listen you and Angela are going to be okay, i think some of that was the pent up feelings mixed with heat of competition. And Amanda goes "the WHAT." (denial or shock your choice). and Courtney goes. oh. but then tables turn once Courtney is like "anyway IDK how I'm feeling about the fake competition flirting, maybe it's not fair to do it if im having real feelings?" Amanda (<- fully thought Court was intentionally and regularly flirting with Arasha) "What."

Or- prolonged miscommunication: Angela and Arasha both are in their feels about the percieved way things are going with the other person and to try to help each other/themselves they're redirecting it it full force into competitive mode. The energy from them is . Weird. and powerful and they keep feeding it to avoid their emotions. They're doing FINE. Meanwhile Amanda and Courtney- who ARE competitive but are maybe a little "the vibes can maybe be chalked up to our competitiveness but something weird is happening with the tension and i. don't know if we are ok." (Amanda) (They will be once they talk! the tension earlier was Not Purely Platonic and one or both parties are varying amounts of aware about it) and "i was just flirting for fun and competitive but i think it's starting to feel a little real and i am. concerned." (Courtney) (Arasha has been fake/real flirting for weeks.). Are leaning on each other a little harder as a result of being unsure and their dynamic is working well. So this could mean the Courtmanda Bit Flirting during games and etc turned up in intensity as a way to deal. Which in turn throws Arangela off Even More........ and so on. Weird silence and tension my beloveds..........

and then the ways it can RESOLVE. honestly im leaning towards something kind of goofy and 'heat of the moment' in the game perhaps with Amanda somehow. physically on top of Angela. but Angela winning but so discombobulated she cant quite celebrate. Or that can be the event leading up to the tension with a more private reconciliation......

Meanwhile Arasha and Courtney watching them resolve are like. phew. but they arent out of the woods yet either!! talk 2 each other. nerds.

me and ifearimlosingtheroom talked abt it but god what if. What If. courtmanda vs arangela in summer games but they also share a room during the filming of it. -baflegacy

hsfshfhkdvmdhacvbb, oh, fantastic concept, u both are onto something fantastic. For a second i was like. wait two rooms or everyone crammed into one room. And then i saw the light and the light said both would be good in different ways actually. They have full days of exhausting high energy competition where they work with each other or against each other and fight and celebrate and commiserate and then. they go back. and share a room. and maybe a bed oops. AND THEN. who knows. Where they're tired! or contemplative! or still bleeding off energy! or riled up and not wanting to talk about it. or exhausted. and cuddly. or triumphant and still on an adrenaline high they do something rash..... 👀🧐

Also specifics wise like. imagine Courtney Amanda accidentally flirting a bit TOO hard over the course of the day? Angela and Arasha getting wildly in sync/in the zone with each other as they compete and maybe not being able to/wanting to snap out of it at the end of the day? OR. Competition gets too fierce between teams during the day and Amangela/Courtrasha need to. Hm. Make amends? Smooth the tension? Relieve the tension? Hash things out? Maybe people feeling odd about how well other parties work together? opportunities are endless.

(god 4 people in this dynamic is just so good logistics wise. you can get 2 people having Obvious Tension or Emotions or etc and the other two are either trapped IN THAT SAME ROOM or they get kicked out of their own rooms and have to go to the other, or they're scheming to lock the other two together. etc. or everyone is a fucking disaster collectively. also a great option.)