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musing outloud. ford clearly liked and cared about mabel but he was also. kindof dismissive of her as someone to trust OR worry after too much? up until she was directly put into mortal peril to threaten him and (more speculatively) up until she was the only one who kept trying to help stan. he didn't consider her until it affected him.

he did similar to dipper, he liked the kid well enough but didn't really take him into consideration until he could see himself in dipper (and even in that consideration, he didn't really see dipper's relationships as something to consider. don't tell the others, trust no one)

of course I say this with all the love in my heart because him being self-centered is very much a compelling and well-considered character trait. the times he'd relied on others- with stan and with bill and with fiddleford- had all fallen apart, with him alone and left hurting or having hurt. interpersonal relationships weren't really something he thought of with anything warmer than the bittersweet. and in that blindspot of relationships he didn't really seem to fully grasp the responsibility that comes with his 'teen' grandnephew's trust and admiration, what would come if the apprenticeship as proposed went through. or the staggering enormity of love that was stan rebuilding the portal for 30 years despite every single warning and hardship despite all odds to get ford back

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amoral space socialite lizzie and her smug space pirate husband. I think they bail eachother out of the consequences of their actions like all the time

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Joel stumbles past Pearl's place in a daze, registers what he's hearing a few seconds after, then backtracks to stop in front of the cherry-plank door. "Pearl?"

"Joel?" The sound of chests slamming open and shut halts, temporarily. "What are you doing out there?"

It's her silly voice, the one she puts on to entertain, but she doesn't swing the door open, so Joel takes initiative. (Checks for a pressure plate before he steps all the way inside. You never know.)

"What are you-- Oh my gosh. What are you doing, Pearl?"

The floor is in utter disarray, junk blocks and redstone dust scattered across it. Pearl's bed has been shoved to one side to clear more space, and the berry bushes by the wall seem to be shrinking back from whatever chaos their owner is intent on causing.

"Do you have any candles, Joel?" Pearl asks, leaning away from where she was elbow-deep in a chest. "Or wax. I have string, I just need wax."

"No, I--" Joel blinks back at the floor. If he squints, the redstone might be making a circle? "Lizzie might've--? Lizzie might've. Had. In her chests or something? Unless that's been looted by now." The thought makes Joel straighten. "Oh, I swear, if they've already looted her stuff--"

"Well, I guess that would make sense," Pearl says absently. "Get Lizzie back by using her things."

Joel, distracted by the idea of going to Lizzie's base and snagging whatever he can get before any looters come by to ransack the place, blinks. Turns to look at Pearl. "What d'you mean, get Lizzie back."

"That's what I need the candles for!"

And Pearl-- Well, Pearl always talks like that, with the cheerful assurance of a sleek-furred wolf guiding her pack to a kill, but now that Joel's thinking about it, with one of their own gone, he wouldn't have expected--

"Mm. I guess I don't know for sure I need candles. But the redstone isn't doing anything on its own, and these things always seem to need a spooky candle or something like that."

"Pearl, that doesn't explain any of this."

Pearl lets the lid of the chest she'd been rummaging in thunk shut. "You don't remember? In Limited Life, Lizzie-- Well, I don't know what exactly she did, but she was definitely there, for a little while." Pearl squints. "You were there too. I-- Yeah, I'm pretty sure you were there too."

"Yeah, but-- Pearl, I don't know if you've noticed, you're neglecting to mention a pretty big part of this. How?"

Pearl shrugs. "I dunno! I'm just guessing. Everyone's gone quiet for the night, and all Scott told me was she fell into the void, but-- None of us saw it, right?"

"There was the noise," Joel mutters, feeling a miserable rift open in his throat.

Like the echo after a bell is rung, the reverberations of something so big your bones hear it better than your ears do. There's no not knowing it.

Pearl doesn't say anything, brushes some cobble aside so she can sit. Doesn't need to say anything, right? They all know, when one of them dies. Don't need friends for that.

"I wasn't sleeping anyway," Pearl says, "so I thought maybe I'd see if that connection's still there." She's staring at the opposite wall, fingers scratching idly along her calf like they're seeking an old wound. "See if I can talk to her. Or see what she's doing. I invited her to join us -- I don't think I told the Mounders that, did I?"

"You didn't," Joel says. Then, less because he wants to say and more because it's just what comes out of his mouth next, he adds, "I'll help. If you need candles. I-- I didn't see how she went either."

There's something sort of bitter on Joel's tongue. Scott knew how Lizzie died and Joel didn't?

"She seemed lonely," Pearl says, softly. Her gaze darts to Joel, pins him even though her expression is sorrowful and not accusing. "I didn't know her very well, this time."

"Yeah," Joel says, a little hoarsely. "I mean, I didn't get to either, I honestly thought the summoning circle might be for Mumbo--"

Pearl cracks a smile. "Poor Mumbo. Maybe we'll build him a grave. Just for us Mounders to know about."

Us, says Joel's heart, poking its muzzle out from where it'd been hiding. Ours.

"Poor Mumbo," Joel agrees. "Poor Lizzie."

The sound Pearl makes is mournful. Joel's heart curls a little tighter around itself.

Pearl clears a space by her side, and pats it. Joel takes the invitation.

Then she hugs him, and the tired lean of her body gives away everything she won't say out loud. Joel tucks his nose against her shoulder, and it's nice, but he still feels it: every space along their ribs, behind their hearts, and the thrum of breath that can't cross the gap between their dog-tooth chests.

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#Op I am affectionately hitting you with the fluffy end of a broom #This is. Yeah #I mean they all also have. A weird relationship with loyalty #Joel is like a dog. He has his people and he stays with them. Always. His literal dogs in 3l and grian in ll #Boat boys and the bad boys and now the mounders. He always stays for as long as he can #Bdubs.. well. Yall know “noone can be trusted” at the end of l3. It kept through up until dl breaking through to him #The clockers were solid too. But the mounders feel like a reprise of him and cleo in 3l to me. He's at that point again. Good for him #Mumbo.. well. Whatever the heck he and grian had in ll. Sure did happen. So life series mumbo definitely has an Opinion on friendships #And pearl... Oh pearl. She's a bit like joel I suppose. But my first thoughts on life series pearl will always be dl #They all know the feeling of “found family” in that traditional sense from somewhere and it never holds #So. They'll make it hold. #By not giving it their all after too many failed attempts they somehow found a group that gave each other everything (tags re:@furrysmp sorery I don't know how to cite tags I just really like them and wish to reblog)

to me mounders are found family but not in a standard siblings-esque dynamic or anything. particularly early on it’s like they have the unshakable camaraderie of like, college dormmates bonded through their mutual befuddlement of what shared teachers they have, or acquaintances stuck in a elevator together, or shipwreck survivors caught in the same stretch of land.

and it’s happenstantial up until they’re maybe a little too loyal a little too giving for what should ultimately amount to amicable neighbors. it’s happenstantial until they start to notice that they choose eachother over and over again, in their own ways. it’s that they care for eachother and they fight for eachother and they mourn for eachother as a whole and individually. and it’s fascinating.

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funy space aus are often (like most things) very clearly inspired by whatever space-related things the creator fancies consciously or otherwise. and well for my mounders space au noodling it’s just going to have to suffer the reality of pikmin being a deeply foundational influence on me as a person ok

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can't believe op said this and dipped this is so sad,

mounders space au save me mounders space au

[zeldasadork]

to me mounders are found family but not in a standard siblings-esque dynamic or anything. particularly early on it’s like they have the unshakable camaraderie of like, college dormmates bonded through their mutual befuddlement of what shared teachers they have, or acquaintances stuck in a elevator together, or shipwreck survivors caught in the same stretch of land.

and it’s happenstantial up until they’re maybe a little too loyal a little too giving for what should ultimately amount to amicable neighbors. it’s happenstantial until they start to notice that they choose eachother over and over again, in their own ways. it’s that they care for eachother and they fight for eachother and they mourn for eachother as a whole and individually. and it’s fascinating.

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THINKING ABOUT. LIZZIE JOINING THE MOUNDERS….she was so alone she can hold hands with the mounders. Even if she didn’t join officially if she lived she could have definitely been a mounder in a similar way that Scar is……

I also just wanna see Pearl be feral and protective over Lizzie I think that would be fun <3

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THINKING ABOUT. LIZZIE JOINING THE MOUNDERS….she was so alone she can hold hands with the mounders. Even if she didn’t join officially if she lived she could have definitely been a mounder in a similar way that Scar is……

I also just wanna see Pearl be feral and protective over Lizzie I think that would be fun <3

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scott and joel are good rivals too because they both are sort of the catalysts of their own demises (particularly in secret life) but scott moreso in a tactical self-martyring way and joel in a “unlucky and with poor risk assessment” way

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mounders space au save me mounders space au

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Joel and Pearl are wolfblings btw. if you even care

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I would commit so many murders if it would make mounders fics of exactly the tone and tropes I would love to read rn spring into existence

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This is mostly me rambling and being confused about a part in Cleo's and Grian's episodes, but I... I don't think Cleo really Gets it when she talks about the Mounder's loyalty, like she says/implies they're not very loyal.... but..... I think back to the other seasons and all 3 of them were loyal (2 to her at one point), maybe not completely in the same style as her loyalty but, they were loyal. They are all Desperately loyal. The way loyal people betrayed are. Desperate.

It comes up in their episodes a lot. "Mounders for life." People expect Joel to uuuuhhh go slightly feral, but he never goes after his group. When Gem tries to get him to guess Pearl's task he's the first one to purposefully waste his guess on her. He never attacks them as red. He trusts them with stuff like his enchanter and spawner, and Every Episode since joining them goes and does the bonding question he started. Bdubs runs around with Etho and Cleo because of course he does, but when it comes to choosing he stays with the mounders. When Gem comes with her boogey curse task, Bdubs does Not go after Pearl. He tries pushing Gem and then Impulse away from Pearl and Joel, until Pearl blows up and then neither are there for when Joel is killed. When Martyn says to be a Big Dog means renouncing your old alliances, Bdubs says no. And he traps Etho/Cleo/Grian's base, knowing full well, commenting on the fact, that it might kill Etho or Cleo. And Pearl? Pearl's never gone after any of her teammates. Not in past seasons, not in this one. She constantly pushes she wants Joel or Bdubs (and slightly Mumbo) to win. When boogey or red, she doesn't go after them, even offering that when she's down low, they can perma-kill her for the hearts. But I think the biggest Moment that really showed their loyalty was when Mumbo turned red and attempted trapping their base and such. They don't make any comments about him leaving or betraying them. There's surprise and a bit of "Mumbo!", but Pearl mentions almost directly afterward that if he'd asked they would have helped him. Mumbo goes after them, and they still want to help him.

There's another post out there about how the last 3 Mounders didn't go after Mumbo, because they know how it feels to get kicked out of the group when they go "red", and I think those are the points Cleo/Etho/Grian & to an extent Scott remember when saying the Mounders aren't very loyal. I mean the biggest, and most likely influence, is Pearl in Double Life. Cleo and Scott remember Pearl "not caring" about the whole soulbond deal and then going slightly crazy, and Pearl remembers being left for... not being around.

All the perspectives show relationships and people in varying different lights, and so there will always be some difference, but I still find it so odd that it's Scott and Cleo to call out the Mounders "lack" of loyalty.

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Just. The fact that every time they were given the option, time and again, the Mounders always chose each other over their other friends and half-alliances. The Mounders were always each others' first priorities, not matter what

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woman with low tolerance for major character death gets emotionally invested in the deaths are lasting and inevitable smp what happens next will surprise you (pain. suffering. anguish.)

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secret life joel has seriously got me so fucked up

it's something about how in 3rd life he was all alone, he had his dogs and his all-consuming propensity for destruction and that was that. he had the taste of fire climbing up his throat, the smoke that clouded his vision and turned everything red, and that was all he ever needed, no alliance ever meant a thing to him beyond how it would eventually look when it went up in flames. then in last life he made attempts at something resembling genuine connection, but they fell through and so he fell back on what he knew, what was familiar. he made alliances that only went as far as the shared blood they could draw, willingly relinquished himself to the comfort of loneliness and death, and ended up being damn good at it. he had his fingers with the red dripping from them and not much more, and he never asked for more, either. all he really had was himself and the fire. and he was fine staying like that, everything was as it was meant to be, it was fine.

but then came double life and etho and the relation ship, and suddenly joel had something to fight for, a cause and a direction for the destruction, and when the relation ship burnt it was a conscious, purpose-filled decision to let his own blaze explode outwards and reduce everything else to embers and smouldering ash. joel said, "the ship burns, everything burns," and even when his words came true in the cruellest way possible, when everything burnt and he and etho followed, in the spills of swirling lava, amidst their sizzling remains that quickly dissolved into nothingness, something had changed.

and then came limited life and the bad boys, and at this point joel had known what it was to be wanted and to want, and maybe he never expected the bad boys to matter as much as they did in the end, but it happened before he'd even had time to notice, slowly and then all at once, and there was no denying now that he cared. and this time when he died, it was reckless and desperate and with one name playing on repeat in his ears until the sky came down and he heard nothing at all. he died wanting to stay alive, in a world where suffering and loss grew on you like fungi until it was all you ever knew how to feel, joel died with something to live for and something to die for.

and now here he is. in secret life. and you'd think someone like joel, someone who never really asked for connection, someone who knows how to stay himself with nothing but an army of wolves surrounding him, would get burnt once or twice and close himself right off, go back to doing what he knows and what works. but for someone so accustomed to loneliness that he wears it like a second skin, joel remains startlingly willing to put himself out there. he remembers the bad boys, screams when jimmy dies and gives grian hearts and tells him he would always help him out. he, despite the complicated nature of their relationship and the way they always seem to go for each other in fights, despite how he's made sure to put on an air of being unaffected when it comes to their memories, nevertheless gets in a boat with etho and openly tells him that he still cares, it's just - it's just. when pearl is green and he is yellow, he purposely throws away his guess to ensure that she is safe around him. joel, the character who you'd think would be most likely to spurn every alliance and go back to fighting for himself only because if he doesn't, no one else will - joel, despite all that, is actively trying to be more, more than what he is and what he already knows how to be.

you can see it in how he is as a red life, too. in every previous season, to the point where other lifers have made note of it, joel has become imprudent, excessively reckless and rash when he's gone down to red. in contrast to secret life, where he's more or less calmly completing tasks, gathering resources and preparing himself for possible eventualities. his actions this go around are step-by-step, organised and calculated in a way they weren't before. and obviously part of that is to do with the nature of this season, there isn't much room to be reckless when everything you do has to correspond with what's in your book. and tomorrow is life day, probably the last session, and who knows what's going to happen. but still, it cannot be denied that joel's demeanour has changed to be more collected this time - especially impressive if you remember that he's lost three people he loved already.

over the course of the life series joel has been learning what it is to love and be loyal and fully and unquestionably open yourself up to someone. despite getting hurt over and over again, something that by all rights should have warned him off from getting close to people forever, he's instead taken everything good about those relationships and carried it with him. in a world that pushes everyone to fall to the same character flaws, he's found space for growth and healing, and that is so beautiful it hurts.