IM INCONSOLABLE ON ONE HAND I FEEL AWESOME BECAUSE A FEW THINGS THAT HAPPENED I HAD PLANNED OUT FOR THIS FIC SO THAT FEELS REALLY GOOD BUT ON THE OTHER HAND WHAT THE FUCKKKK ALL OF MY FAVES JUST DIED IM SOBBING
To be fair…everyone died at the end. Even before everyone(since the Apple Bow fusion proves even those at the mansion were prepared to sacrifice themselves) decided to destroy MeLife, the only plan any of them had(which includes some pretty smart people like Mic, Paintbrush, and Taco) was to bring the finalists home so they could all die together in hopes that like Bow and Dough, they could find each other in the nothingness and come back. That’s how bleak the situation was. To be fair, most of them(especially Paintbrush) were probably tired and running on auto pilot from watching all their friends die. The only ones that didn’t seem really to break at a moment’s notice was Marshmallow and Apple but that’s probably just because they only really witness one death and it wasn’t anyone they were that close to so they could keep it together better. Also, can we talk about how Brian found the single most evil way to confirm a couple in this show? FanTube was already confirmed in his stream before episode 16 and on twitter(saying that the show already gave a lot of implications anyway through things like them making Bot together and how a kiss doesn’t have to be the thing needed to confirm a happy couple together) but having Fan stroke a picture of Test Tube on his wallpaper while talking about their relationship and later fully accepting his death because he would be with her again was the cruelest way of confirming it in show. A lot of people thought when Adam was hinting towards a ship becoming canon in the movie it would be PayJay because of what was said at the convention and the scene in the trailer of Paper shouting at Salt, but this was even worse because while we’ve seen Test Tube’s reaction to Fan in danger, we never saw him without her till here.
I can talk about and break down just the four Lights in Act 2 for an hour lol. But because of what you said all I can imagine was you fist pumping the air because you predicted something right and then immediately breaking into sobs
NO EXACTLY!!! Like for one insane ending the hopelessness was written PERFECTLY but also YES I loved the fantube!!! I’m a big fan of actions demonstrating a relationship more than kisses (but don’t get me wrong kisses are rad too I love kisses) and GAH just everything about that scene BROKE me and it really was how at peace Fan was when he said “see you test tube” that got me and THEN!!! AND THEN THE WHOLE THING WITH LIGHTBULB AND THEN PAINTBRUSH BREAKING DOWN!!!!!! I cried so much thats angst of my favorite polycule :(
And yes I was pretty much sobbing the whole episode and then occasionally pointing at my screen and going “WAIT NO WAY” and then immediately breaking into sobs again
It’s also really bittersweet that Paintbrush gently brought the other two in and placed them with Test Tube to reunite the group even if they are the only one left. We don’t see Fan in the shot when they ask how many remain but I like to imagine Painty placed the two directly next to each other to honor that Fan wanted to be with Test Tube(together in death after so much pain the two went through) in the end. I also like how caring Paintbrush was of him despite the two having many one sided fights in the past. Paintbrush was also hurt by losing Test Tube but knew they had to be strong for Fan because he was already not taking it well and then breaking in their eyes wouldn’t help him. However they also tried to get him to accept she was gone likely to help him more forward which he wasn’t taking well(although that did lead to Paintbrush and Marshmallow learning about the nothingness world so that could be useful) and only snapped at him when he implied Lightbulb would be dead too in his depression. And even after when they are trying to distract themselves, you can see Paintbrush seem to have fun playing around with Fan’s interest in the hill by jokingly asking about his theories which not only was a good distraction from his depression, but was one of the keys needed for the final decision. As you said, Fan was definitely in peace at the end, being one of I think two contestants to smile at their death, other being Lightbulb. He was exhausted and broken from losing his girlfriend, and even if he wasn’t he knew there was no way he could survive after figuring everything out. With all the other death there was blaring sirens, music, or at least sound effects like footsteps or something. For Fan though at least before he’s hit, outside him talking, it’s complete silence. Some find it creepier but I find it saddening because it really fits the mindset he’s in at that point. And it gets even sadder with a theory that Toilet originally went after those who were in conflicts to try to cheer them up(which would be why his arms were out when going yo OJ. It was a hug) because Fan was clearly upset and that means he would’ve had a literal embrace from Death. It’s only after his death that Painty’s walls start to crack, and after with Lightbulb where everything they bottled up shattered. After all, someone pointed out Paintbrush struggles to express themselves unless it’s exaggerated anger and they’ve rarely shown sides outside of that and being prideful. But they hold a LOT of self hatred and guilt over everything from Marshmallow to Lightbulb, and very occasionally we got hints of that like S2 ep 12 and S3 10-12. But it’s in this moment where they lose all three of the first people they considered family right in front of them, two of them 40 seconds apart, that the decade of hurt and guilt floods out to give us the hardest an II character has ever broken down. And afterwards of putting the bodies together to rest and getting answers from Bow, they speak quietly and solemnly in mostly short phrases for the rest of the episode almost like they are on autopilot. The only hope they had was that after their death they could find the Bright Lights and come back someday which we’ll see. Only thing you can do is hope, Huh?
There is SO much more I could discuss about this episode including a theory I have of what could happen in a possible ep 18. I’m on Twitter and discord if you ever want to talk more. Looking forward to your story!
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