#I couldve explained this way better but i came up with the thesis in the very last paragraph

[mcybree]

I prepared this ask in the Notes app only for Tumblr to not let me copy and paste the text so here’s a screenshot bc I’m not typing all that again lol

there’s this funny trend i see in trafficblr art, in that, when there’s a lineup of every past winner, most players will be surrounded by symbols that were relevant to their POV, and perhaps drawn with the last emotion they’d felt just before death (or maybe just whatever emotion the artist most associates with the character). The winners might be doing something, or in a pose that reflects how they won—there are a million ways to make a life series winners’ piece. What’s funny about it is that no one ever seems to know what to do with Scott. He’s most often just standing there looking mildly disgruntled. And for the symbols he’s most depicted with, it’s typically poppies, which are only relevant to the first season; last life scott does not place any importance on poppies, poppies dont ever come up beyond a brief interaction in episode 1, and jimmy as a whole is less relevant to scott’s pov in last life than he is in every other season.

not that this is an issue with the art; the pieces are beautifully done, it’s just representative of how little fandom discussion there is about scott’s win thematically. Most discussion I see are about the watchers and how they hate scott for defying him or whatever, but watcher lore is not discussion of the series itself as much as it is a fan creation that is retroactively applied to create meaning.

Scott’s Last Life win, to me, was achieved through accomplishing what Third Life Scott could not.

Scott spent 3L waiting for his day one ally to die. He kept Jimmy at a distance, often fully gearing himself up first before backtracking to help Jimmy along. There’s a funny disparity in episode 5, where Jimmy spends the entire episode trying to get good enchants on his iron armor, while Scott sets up a villager and gets good enchants for the full diamond set that he’d already had in storage, in about half the time Jimmy took trying to accomplish his own goal, iirc. This disparity is also something scott acknowledges with the “I’ll always be more powerful than you” line, but it’s been a while since ive written a post like this so i unfortunately do not have the episode number memorized on that one anymore. But Scott goes on to explain that he’ll always have better armor and weapons, which is why Jimmy could never kill him. This is all to say that Jimmy and Scott do not stand on equal grounds in their alliance, and, more importantly, Scott does not depend on Jimmy. The progress Scott makes in Third Life is entirely his own, with Jimmy as more of an afterthought than a teammate.

This is what landed Scott his all time lowest placement. After Jimmy dies first, Scott loses sight of his priorities and dedicates his remaining time alive to avenging Jimmy, rather than focusing on his own longevity (like he’d go on to do in future seasons). And, in that way, Scott’s attitude towards Jimmy (disposable, going to die, unreliable) was an indirect contributor to Scott’s low placement.

In contrast: Scott could not have won Last Life without Pearl. Scott has to rely on Pearl from day 1, having only two lives to start with himself. Pearl gives Scott two lives total. Pearl and Scott are almost always together. They made it to the final four by each other’s side. And that forced day 1 reliance on pearl breaks down the role scott typically assumes (*he’s* supposed to be the person people rely on, he’s supposed to be the one bringing everything to the table) which curbs his tendency to see himself as above others, which then allows for the most genuine happiness i have ever seen him have in an alliance.

The comparison between the way Scott talks to Pearl and the way Scott talks to Jimmy is like night and day. Scott doesn’t compliment or otherwise say anything supportive towards Jimmy (save for the “I believe in you! MCC has trained you for this moment!” during Jimmy’s dare to flare attempt) until after Jimmy has already died. With Pearl, however, Scott is much more open about his care towards her, saying that she’s his best friend and that he loves her as early as episode 2. There’s more examples but between last life and third life, Scott’s attitude towards his primary ally is completely different, and i think it’s symptomatic of Scott allowing himself to love and be vulnerable rather than keeping himself at a distance. And i think that it’s so special that scott won the season where he was so close with his day one alliance, directly because of his day one alliance.

because, to me, one of scott’s defining characteristics is his self reliance. He will have allies, yes, but he often assumes a supportive role and acts as a supplier. He doesnt like taking things from other people. Last Life is different because Scott relies on Pearl, too. It’s also not a coincidence that last life is the only season where scott is normal about jimmy but that’s a different post

tldr yes scott won last life with the power of love but not in the way people say he did (ignoring the boogeyman curse was strategy ☝️)

I SHOULD NOTE, though, that the boogeyman curse was still a fail. Although purposeful, Scott receives the penalty and apologizes to his team. He says he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. I do think that his words here aren’t fully honest— he’d admitted earlier that this choice was fully for strategy. But I also think his apologetic attitude here is genuine. Scott is a perfectionist, he needs to succeed; failing, though purposeful, still hurts. He feels the need to apologize. It means so much to me that his win in last life directly follows the choice to fail on purpose. I’m insane though idk

third life scott embodies scotts flaws while last life scott is him overcoming them 👍 is what im trying to say 👍 last life scott is everything that third life scott could not bring himself to be, in allowing himself to love and depend on other people and overall just be a person.

[rigginsstreet]

Maybe a hot take but I feel like Billy would have been blamed by the fandom for abandoning Max with Neil if he left Hawkins at the end of season 2 to try and save himself for once. He stayed and died for her and Eleven and he's still villainized. He can't win and it's so heartbreaking.

ok so i have complicated feelings about how billy feels about max lmao i know dacre has said billy was protective of her and loved her and fans have come up with their own thesis of how billy was protective of her in his own fucked up way. and i dont... entirely disagree. i just dont know if there was THAT much love to begin with? lmao i think maybe people are afraid to say billys feelings towards max arent that deep and loving. idk ive never had a tight sibling bond with my brother like we get along. now. because we never see each other but like.... hes not.... high up on my list..... ya know.... so. and im sure im not high up on his like he gets along with his other siblings far better than with me. i have no other siblings which is great. anyway i say all this to say, i dont know that billy stayed in hawkins for max. ive always seen it more as he stayed in hawkins because he had no other choice. the amount of times ive gotten into arguments with people who were like “well he couldve just left!” ... you are stupid. you are dumb. and i dont feel like i need to explain myself on that

of course i think at the end his love for max came out. life flashing before his eyes realizing all the mistakes he made, how he would redo things if given another chance, etc etc yeah. the thing with billy and max is there was no foundation for love. they never had a chance, not with neil in the picture, not meeting under those circumstances (if we’re meant to believe they didnt even meet until neil and susan were gonna get married ??? oh i would be MISERABLE)

but anyway. i think the fandom wouldve been like “thank god billys gone!” and then in the same breath villainize him for leaving max behind. but only if the duffers had bothered to keep neil around and actually show a storyline where without billy, his ire turned to max. which... given how season 4 went down.... i dont see happening. but if it had, then yeah, the fandom wouldve found reason to blame billy for that too. youre right theres literally nothing he can do to win because everyones mind is already made up that he’s the worst person in existence. he fucking DIED for everyone and that still isnt enough. once you get to that point theres just no arguing with people cuz theyre dying on that hill. the hill of fucking stupidity but thats the hill they want so