GailHearts♥️🌹

Of course we must start at the very beginning!

I absolutely adore how they were introduced, it didn't take long and we got a bunch of their personalities already!

Cuphead betting on his skills, being somewhat cocky with his achievement (as he should), being an extremely caring person (shown with how willing he was to meet w/ Saltbaker for chalice and him throwing himself in front of Mugman during attacks)

Mugman being logical, reading his book but still enjoys showing off! He's a serious guy but obviously knows how have fun. It's clear this guy is extra careful but not so much he's eye darting and shaking (I hate it when ppl chalk characters up to that) and ofc their brotherly bond. Mugman willingly giving his armor pin to cuphead and keeping an eye on him the entire time they were with Saltbaker. Literally was never a FOOT apart aside from the wash up 😭😭😭

Chalice is impulsive and thrill seeking, pulling pranks and looking for excitement, yet obviously desperately yearns for her life. Oh sweet silly characters with a deep sad dark desire that would eat anyone whole how i love you. Oh and did I mention impulsive? The way her ass so excitedly told the cupbros about Saltbaker and was surprised with their reactions 😭 I can't fully blame her of course! He was one of their best chances to give her a permanent body!

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I find it hilarious how Elder Kettle still fusses over them at their Big Adult Age™️ 😭. Like yeah that's his babies, don't mind the fact they have 21 years of life up their ass they're his children. Grown ass chud babies . And how in turn these grown ass adults keep secrets about where they're going/doing and start sweating like Waterboy from Dispatch the moment it's mentioned from another's mouth while ELDER KETTLE IS SEVERAL ARCHIPELAGOS AWAY.

I'd give my inner organs to see Elder Kettle's reaction to all the bullshit the cupbros have done. Like yeah pops dw we're just here dying, reviving, fighting several HIGH powered ppl, yk like the devil, the salt shaker guy that bakes, a dice head. Oh and did we mention we're friends with a SEA MONSTER? she's gorgeous btw. Oh yeah and this is our new found sister who's a ghost from heavens know what century. I think there's things worth far more concern than a crisp burnt fence, could j be me though

I'm sure all the callbacks to past bosses/enemies sent cuphead show fans to the sky

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Now on to the Saltbaker theory part

Back on to Chalice's fucking impulsivity 😭😭😭 this girl finna be the death of me. She planned a whole prank where she DIES at the hand of SALTBAKER of all people. She had good intentions yes but mind U she tried so hard to convince the cupbros to visit Saltbaker despite what happened 😭. And then runs off to find the guard with a soul helmet disregarding the fact she's a ghost. Poor guy. And her constantly getting stuck in moselaeums idk how to spell that shit.

Saltbaker is an ABSOLUTE NERD 🫵🫵🫵. Literally cannot convince me otherwise. All his theories were on point and even drafted up a method to bring a centure old woman back to life that even the cupbros didn't know about. And mind you these guys have been fighting people with soul-imbued weapons for YEARS. Not only that but he was also determined to sacrifice someone to complete his new project??? My guy bakes more than pastries I tell ya.

I love how Mugman was absolutely READY to throw hands the MILLISECOND something was off. Buddy holds a grudge and SHOWBIZZES it. Pulled out the old sparker when he saw Chalice's head and I swear his hand was on cuphead 80% of the time. My man's FIGHT or flight was clockin in 😭.

But at the same I love the fact that despite having a vendetta reservations against Saltbaker he entrusted the decision to Cuphead instead. He was the most affected by the ordeal and instead of trying to get him as far away as possible, he let Cuphead decide. He knows Cuphead's an idiot (I mean going into a temple drunk??? Cmon man) despite that, he still trusts that he'll make the right decision and treats him like an adult.

And just the way Mugman literally folds the minute puppy eyes are in his face 😭😭😭 and his pure unadultered excitement when a lil sing n dance is mentioned, he's so real for that

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Now the Darlin Duo!

RAHHAHAGGAHAGAHAGHAGAHAGHA OH MY GOD I COULD NOT STOP GIGGLING KICKING MY FEET AND HIGH PITCHED SCREAMING THE ENTIRE TIME I WATCHED THE VIDEO HELLLO???? I still do every rewatch

Alice's voice? Her eyes? Her hair?? Mugman CANNOT handle ALLAT. Godbless whoever voiced her YOU'RE DOING AMAZING SWEETIE!!! IM ADDICTED TO HER VOICE 😭😭 the way it's deep and so alluring oh my god HELLLOOOOOO. And Bendy well-... I'm joking I'm joking I loved how his voice sounded at the end, the accent and how high it was. He sounds exactly like how he looks and I couldn't imagine a better voice for him. I rlly wanna hear what a duet with em sounds like

And the music oh my lord the music. I randomly sing last call now. I need to lyrics INJECTED into my vocal cords and that melody and instrumental forever in my eardrums. The way it's starts is slow and relaxing at first and then two sudden louder parts that has quieter parts in between and then ITS TIME FOR LAST CALL 💃💃💃 AND ITS SOO UPBEAT HALLELUJAH 😭😭😭 and the crowd "Last call"? OH IVE GOTTA KNOW HOW IT WAS DONE IT SOUNDS SO REAL

Oh my lord the animation? I've mentioned that right? I've mentioned the animation yes? OH MY GOD 😭😭😭😭 I absolutely LOVED the close up on Alice's lips, they way theyre animated and drawn MOVE MUGMAN MOVE. In all seriousness I love how bouncy??? Flowy??? The movements are hello??? And oh my god when she first opens her eyes HELLO ANGEL. And the initial dance was beautiful on god the way their feet moved, the constant side to side GORGEOUS. I finna be dunkin donuts the way I'm glazing the living shit out of this video but EVERYONE WHO WORKED ON IT DESERVES EVERY BIT. And I know this is gonna sound so weird but when Bendy and Alice put their foot down and it went from front to side view? CLEAN absolutely CLEAN that shit was SMOOTH. The spin around they did looked like so much fun holy shitttt 😭😭😭 probably one of the hardest things to animate but by god 👏👏👏 I can't believe I'm getting this for FREE. The way Bendy and cuphead were staring at each other? Analyzation aside the FRAME BY FRAME ANIMATION ON THAT BITCH theres smthn special in there I swear, throw me into a wall if I'm wrong but everything else was mostly tweened. It's gonna came back to slap us in the face methinks.

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Now on to the theoretical parts

Obviously these people were hired by the Devil and Dice as we did see Alice answering the phone. Now I'd like to think that the Darling Duo like to play with their food and they pick who gets who.

Bit of a sidenote here but I do think this'll lead to the Cupbros thinking Saltbaker had a hand on this considering that they were present during HIS party giving them the CHANCE to meet the cupbros

They both seem like they like to play mind games with their victims; Alice going the alluring route, being the siren to sailors on sea, and Bendy using banter and ragebait, taking a more arrogant trait of the two.

This is based off of the scene where Alice went towards Mugman and kissed him. (MOVE YOU PATHETIC PORCELAIN.) She knows what she has and knows how to use it -- the way she blinks her eyes, the way her lips move, everything! So she most definitely knew what she was doing and the effects she had on him. She's trying to ALLURE him to her instead of her having to chase him down. Meanwhile Bendy was definitely trying to bait Cups, not by flirting like Alice does, but by making him suspicious. It's highly likely the duo are aware of the Cupbros past with the devil and Bendy knows how obvious his demon self is. But we can very clearly see him staring down at Cups and holding it when Cups glares back. Like Alice, he's also aware of the effects he has on people and they're PERFORMERS, CHAT!!! PERFORMERS!!! They know how to act! They know how to get a certain reaction out of people! Knowing how to make your audience think a certain way is also a part of the art!

I think the matchup is perfect! It was mentioned in a character card that despite being overly paranoid, Mugman can be surprisingly naive; this strengthens Alice's hold on him even more since the bias adds to the naivety! Cups meanwhile already has a vendetta/grudge against demons with a very straightforward thinking: "they're demons, demons are evil." Which again *taps sign* MAKES IT EASIER FOR BENDY TO RAGEBAIT HIM

They've just met, but the game has already started and the Darling Duo are taking the lead of this dance!

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Now the opposing ways of manipulation/methods are actually genius! Mugs is now hypnotized by Alice while Cups is wary of Bendy. This has the potential of creating a divide between the two! While sure Mugs would trust what Cups says, the leverage Alice has with him is STILL THERE. This may be a stretch but this could lead to a PHYSICAL seperation between the Cupbros, if one isn't present then the other can't be revived, leaving the soul exposed. Can't wait to see how this'll play out 👀👀

Which actually we can already see in the animatic! Cuphead trying to tell Mugman about Bendy being a demon but can't bc he's too enamoured by Alice, then Cuphead's attention turns back to Bendy!