🍊 u glad

To start off, i think Clown has a very prominent protective instinct; but it has a selective set of standards, let me explain. I promise this goes somewhere.

First and foremost, he values his personal gain and advantages over the general consensus for loyalty. That is not to say he is directly a traitor to every relationship, but rather that he takes a moment to consider his options in each set of choices he is given, as it is what ensures his survival and status.

He is in line with protecting weak people if they benefit him; but with the expectation that he is not approached with doubts from their end. He wouldn’t protect someone vulnerable for the sake of it, but if he is in that situation, he requires the “vulnerable” person in question to have some form of skill. Let me elaborate. Kaboodle and Branzy are both players whose pvp skills were underneath the general server expectancy during their alliances with Clownpierce. Both of them are people that undermine themselves due to that trait. Both of them require a level of protection from Clown when allied. However, both of these individuals are incredibly cunning, and very often use their “weakness” as a means to downplay themselves so that their opponents will not be suspicious of their schemes. This helps Clown as it allows him to have a teammate that’s interactions with other players are valuable intel; someone perceptive and socially adept would be a good addition to his teams.

With Branzy, of course things get more complicated. A lot of people tend to misjudge their dynamics in my opinion, as the power imbalance they have sort of tilts to both sides. In Unstable Universe, Branzy is “The Achilles Heel” of Clown, and it’s vastly known across the server. Clown does not deny this vulnerability. In Lifesteal; most players know Branzy is an exception to Clown’s usual behavior. Clown makes it clear to the server that people who mess with Branzy would also face his wrath when they’re a team. He goes out of his way to give Branzy hearts even when they’re didn’t have as strong of an alliance—and Clown observes their alliance not as a ‘one time deal’, but rather as something long-term and complex. Not to mention that Clown is vulnerable to Branzy when they are a team together. The whole premise of their alliance was set on the fact that Clown was not good at traps and often the most vulnerable towards people trapping him; he teams with Branzy. Infamous liar and traitor who downplays himself for the sake of earning trust. The sweet and loving “weakling” of the server who’s always making sure to get what he wants in return for his “kindness”.

I think the best way to go about this without going all across references and pointing out every instance of Branzy infiltrating others for his own gain by playing an innocent persona; i’d like to reference one occasion. in the heart factory video (at least, i believe it was either that or the amusement park series), 4C takes some materials from Branzy’s stash. Branzy finds him and makes him work to get all the resources as payment. During this sequence, he tells 4c to “say it”, before 4c says something along the lines of “I shall not steal from Branzy, he is weak and poor and very kind!”—So this is something Branzy is making him say. This is how Branzy likes to establish his image even when his actions are deliberately against that presentation of himself. He isn’t weak if he’s managing to force players to do his tasks and bidding with little to no struggle, he isn’t poor with all those resources. It is against the claim of kindness to make 4c “pay” for taking supplies from him. Theres a whole number of instances where Branzy calls out his own “weakling” persona; this being one of countless examples. He wants others to treat him as if he is incapable and weak because they’re easier to exploit that way.

So what does this have to do with Clown? well. The person Branzy doesn’t exploit is Clown. In fact, he lets Clown exploit him. Branzy has a means of devotion to Clown, even in seasons where they aren’t deliberately teammates but instead just allies on good terms. Branzy betrays other people such as Squiddo for the sake of aiding Clown. He’s never had an issue lying through his teeth with a big unassuming smile on his face and yet when it comes to lying to Clown, he doesn’t. He spends several days in lifesteal world straight up lying to people about being on three hearts when he’s actually at around seven or so; but when Clown asks him how many hearts he is on, he says the actual number. He tells Clown of the schemes people have set both when they’re simple allies and when they are full-blown teammates—Branzy himself often being a form of bait in the latter. Clown, knowing this; repeatedly takes risks that would damage himself for the sake of protecting Branzy in these situations.

Clown is also an interesting character, as his persona seems to be so shifting and very situationally dependent with all his actions. He does not feel himself to be in the wrong if he betrays someone that can logically fend off for themselves or are in positions of power; such as people like Minute with the PMC—so in those circumstances, the gain is much more valuable to Clown than the abject ‘loyalty’. Clown does protect people that uplift his strength but also requires them to have their own strengths in other aspects. But if the person already has enough strength to a point where they don’t need his protection, he does have a higher disregard for his own loyalty— and if i had to dig deeper, i’d say it comes from the psychological stance of “if they are capable enough without me to a point where i am more an addition to their team instead of the reverse end, what holds them from wronging me? therefore, to wrong them is not an immoral nor illogical choice if given better advantages from doing so”

Going back to a bit more Clownzy in terms of what power imbalance truly means; linking this particular post since i agree on a lot of the takes and will probably repeat some of the consensus from it subconsciously

A lot of people underestimate Branzy’s mental strengths in my opinion. Beyond being cunning or manipulative or even his strengths in traps and machinery; Branzy is severely analytical. He picks up on things, he clearly makes mental notes on people. Like the post I’ve linked, i’ve always thought quite a lot about how the Rek trap worked. Because it wasn’t just a “you walk in and you die” machinery, it was a “If Rek walks here, he’s gonna die” trap. Because it was built for Rek. Assuming of Rek’s psychology, paranoia, and his general choices. The reason i bring this up is because it’s a perfectly confident showcase of Branzy’s own knowledge on people. “You may not be weak to others; you may have means of protecting yourself from others with your defense mechanisms, but i am beyond that. “i know how to hurt you. And i am kind to you for every second where i don’t”. Again. Re-establishing that even when he doesn’t downplay some form of his strength, Branzy is fixated on his image. Even in his confidence in his abilities to kill, even when showing it off, he’s so “kind”.

Now, if given just the paragraph above as an example for Branzy’s strategies and strengths; what do you reckon he’d do if he teamed up with someone physically strong but open in a spot of vulnerability towards him? what if someone came up to him to ask him to cover their weaknesses? regardless of the threat factors, thats what Clown does. He comes up and the essence of what he says is basically “i am weak to what you are good at, and i need you to help me with what you’re good at by taking revenge on the people that exploited this weakness of mine”. So whenever Clown intimidates Branzy by keeping him uncertain of what he’ll do next is a means of establishing his own strength. It’s asserting himself as a person in power in terms of his own strengths. Clown’s strengths are so focused on a specific aspect of the game, and so are Branzy’s. It’s just that Branzy’s strength segment doesn’t require threats or intimidation, it is an ever-looming presence—a trap doesn’t need to exclaim itself for it to strike fear. Clown’s strength segment also doesn’t ‘require’ a threat, thats because if it’s against someone significantly weaker than you, why care for a threat if the death will be instant. Except killing Branzy is NOT what Clown wants, which is why intimidation is a threat that is required for him to establish control. “I could kill you just as easily as you could kill me. You shouldn’t make an enemy of me” is the subtext to grab from it.

Except Clown doesn’t even need to do that. Which comes to my next point, this time focused on Branzy’s terms of what value is.

I don’t mean to present Branzy’s character wrong since i’ve seen both sides of the Branzy mischaracterization spectrum. Branzy is not wholly sadistic, but he is far from solely altruistic. Gonna quote a portion this fanfic as i find its depiction of Branzy’s sense of interests and mindset in a spectacular manner.

“He loves her with the same fondness he holds for all of them, the kind that makes him build a big, deadly theme park for them all to die in. Sure, he'd betrayed her, that's the game; that's what she's trying to change.”

Branzy is fond of the others. he cherishes their moments, but he cherishes that interest even further. Branzy is often pulled to Clown even when they aren’t direct teammates because Clown is a perfect symbol of Branzy’s interests. Branzy creates an entire theme park filled with deadly machines designed to kill them over and over and over again with the most minimal of win-rates, but Branzy loves the thrill and enjoyment the players get from his contraptions. Branzy builds a colosseum in lifesteal world to watch people fight to the death. The death is in the core of the game, but the absolute interest of Branzy isn’t the deaths, it’s the entertainment. It’s the reactions. It’s the thrill.

And Clownpierce is thrill. Clown is unexpected and threatening and manages to keep Branzy at the edge of his seat. He doesn’t see Branzy as his can-do-no-wrong persona; clearly, since he came to Branzy numerous times to help him with exploiting other players if not directly killing them. So Clown sees Branzy as a person with his own strengths. Yet he still plays into Branzy’s little shows. Intimidating Branzy is second-nature to Clown, he enjoys people’s reactions and fear. And to be drawn to that intimidation is second nature to Branzy, he enjoys thrill, he does not want to be bored. Branzy’s value is entertainment and his “loss” would be boredom. Clown is anything but boring with all his unexpected antics.

Getting back to guache