#squuote

This bestie is in just one ending and got the whole fandom do great yuri. Slay queen. Slay.

Serious though - the fact she's representing the need for normality. The way she's so caught up in judging Stanley instead of checking if he's okay. She just accepts he's dead. She CANT check. That would disturb her schedule. It would ruin the routine. She has to reinforce herself as The normal one.

She's the good one. She has the morale. Others don't understand life as much as she did. She is good. She's okay.

Doesn't that sound familiar?

Both her and Curator judge their counterpart because they need to be better. They need to be OK.

In the Bucket version, she projects her sanity onto the Bucket. It's representing order, control, good mindset. The backflip is just the way we sometimes feel when someone else's life seems worse. Yes, yours in comparisment looks better.

But the fact right before that, Stanley is stuck in a looping hallway, losing his mind, feels like that's what's happening with her, too. She has to be in control, otherwise, she spirals.

Search for order and normality.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I said so before but - romance,,, eeeh. I like Curiella, don't get me wrong, but it's not an OTP.

In my Jester AU - each of the members has fake memories of their life. Mariella had ones about being Stanley's ex wife. I wanted to make it so that the search for normality is in the wife stereotype. She doesn't love Stanley, but she doesn't understand why he doesn't love him. What she has done wrong fitting the role she was supposed to play so well. She had an image of being so perfect and she can't confront stanley about it, as anytime he comes close, he dies.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

I like sometimes making her concious of 432 since she spends time with Curie. I also think her and Stanley's relation could be interesting.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Again, dunno what's unpopular. But here are some headcanons

- Mariella is stuck in a loop like others. Depending on my Aus, she either uses the time well for herself or spirals out of control outside of it.

- She knows she only resembles a human but isn't one. That's another 'normality' she searches for.

- she loves her outfit a lot. Feels proud of it.

- mentioned earlier but I headcanon she was the one who was supposed to play the role of wife, before she got scrapped to Insanity.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon

Again - I love the writing in the game, it's hard to even ask for something more. She plays her role well.

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STANLEY

How I feel about this character

Lort. A lot. Truly a lot and squoote , you're one of folks who made me respect him even more through your interpretations of him being his own. The trailers esp, bucket escape pod when he's in a cutscene, being himself. He is more than a vessel and yet, he's stuck with us. He has a mouth yet he can't scream.

Anyone having their Stanley see a version of themselves in him. I know two main ways of looking at him, either very silent bland guy, or very opposite to the Narrator.

I'm Team - inhumanity. You can see it in my writing often. I consider him as a model that knows he is not a human. That in a way, he accepts his fate. He's okay with playing his role, he lets you control him. And yet, there is a lot of anger. Resignment. Hatred. Sadness. Freedom.

I adore protagonists like him. Looking bland but having lots and lots to offer.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

NarratorxStanley and 432xStanley. But well, in my aus,,, love is an interesting thing.

With the Narrator - they are in the front. They're both seen. They both live the story the most.

With 432 - he talks to us but he used to be an employee. I like to write universes where player left and all that's left are them. I hope to write one more fic for them cus I been insinuating this relationship for a while and not long ago wrote an epilogue for a fic.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

BucketxStanley. Cus Bucket represents the Narrator. And objectum freaks. It's silly.

My unpopular opinion about this character

- he DOESN'T hate Narrator nor loves him. It fluctuates. They both do. They have to play a role, they're coworkers.

- He can form his thoughts but we can't hear them. He observes how we play as him.

- he roams around when we are not looking. It's his right to do so. People think of Not Stanley ending as the normal Stanley. I think of it as him playing his role. He is a vessel but, what happens in his mind, is his. And none of our business.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon