#Jo vs Lightning

[elijones94]

Jo from “Total Drama: Revenge of the Island” in one of her definitive scenes

[i-wanna-show-you-off]

Jo v Lightning wins in my eyes because the writers didn’t make them viciously make out every episode

ALSO the whole “You don’t like me, and I definitely don’t like you, but we should leave each other alone” during all stars? 💔 (I wish they didn’t both get eliminated so early)

Let’s not forget “And I’ve never kissed a guy!” “..Oh! It’s cool bro, Lightning don’t judge!”

I feel like their rivalry worked more than ripaxel because whereas ripaxel quickly became one-sided and were constantly arguing to the point of ruining their team’s performance, Jo and lightning had their moments where they reasoned with each other and (lightning pointing out jo’s badge turning orange in the mine episode) even gasp showing concern for the other person. in short? Jo v Lightning works more for me because it feels more realistic and also they didn’t start violently kissing at any point during either seasons

Round 1 Match 7

Propaganda

Ripper v Axel: Rivalry so good it became yuri

Rivalry so good it became yuri

I think they’re funny as hell

i love how they fought for like five (?) total episodes then made out another three. i love how they are straight, yaoi, and yuri at the same time. i love them. love wins

Lightning v Jo: Lightning literally helped to convince Cameron to betray her

I mean, come on, Jo and Lightning had a really good rivalry. Having some passive aggressive arguements.. The manipulation, and just Lightning mistaking Jo for a boy is litterly.. wow!!

[brookiidookiii]

ROTI contestants in the hunger games.. what if we did that huh

OKAY IM GONNA GO INTO A LOT OF RAMBLES AND RANTING UNDER HERE LMAOO I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS i need to get it out my system. ofc since theres only 13 contestants for ROTI, id have to include some pointless ocs that only serve the purpose of getting slaughtered but ehhh theyre not that important. for the districts-

district 1- lightning and dakota (altho dakota is more trained for the cameras than actual combat)

district 2 - brick and jo

district 3 - B and female tribute

district 5 - sam and staci (i have no clue where to put him since realistically theyd die first thing in the bloodbath. "yeah, did you know my great great great great great great half aunt susan invented the hunger games? ya, before them people just watched TLC")

district 7 - mike and zoey

district 8 - anne maria and male tribute (once again didnt know where to put her. maybe id switched mike and zoey to be district 8 since zoey can make clothes)

district 10 - dawn and male tribute

district 11 - scott and female tribute

district 12 - cameron and female tribute (maybe ill put him and staci together)

any unnamed districts or characters, just assume theyre filler characters . mikes alters are still here, except mal because i dont like mal and hes too OP. and for the winner??? im sticking to the elimination order in the show for this one to avoid any problems (also itd be fun to see how cameron could kill jo) so the finale comes down to brain vs brawn once again

cameron, zoey and mike all have their little alliance for a while (until scott kills of mike at the feast) and for a while it comes down to cameron feeling guilty and upset because he knows that if the three of them made it to the final 3 together, cam would be killed off immediately. brick jo and lightning and the other careers (minus dakota) all have a little alliance and until it comes down to just brick jo and lightning, jo and lightning are planning to kill off brick together. that is until brick sacrifices his life for jo (im thinking a collapsing cave?) and dies and jo feels guilty forever

dawn and scott have an alliance as well until dawn tries to poison his drink, but since scott is a farmer boy and would know a lot about how to recognize tainted water, he swaps his drink for hers, killing dawn with her own drink.

manitoba, svetlana, and vito are all mikes alters and theyre careers. chester is just chester he doesnt do much.

btw there wont be that much romance, only between mike and zoey (though a svetlana and anne maria mutual attraction isnt that bad..). ofc i also have my bias as a jock shipper too but thats all for now. ill probably make more with this au lets see

[mangora]

Was thinking about this at work but as much as I love the twist at the end of No One Eggspects the Spanish Inquisition and actually enjoy the whole episode, I also think it’s kinda…misplaced?? If that makes sense? Like I think Alejandro switching out the idols was clever, I genuinely didn’t expect it, and I thought the dialogue during the confrontation and the other cast reactions were pretty solid; but the thing with Aleheather for me is that they’re perfectly matched. Having Alejandro pull one over on Heather like that just felt unsatisfying, because it wasn’t like in WT when Alejandro and Heather would both win some interactions and lose others until Heather eventually won because she leaned into her more heroic side and/or Alejandro was defeated as both a symbol of antagonism and as a climax in his characterization wherein his pride and manipulative tactics finally resulted in his own downfall— Heather spent her time bickering with Jo or trying to prove Alejandro was lying, he spent it mostly being snarky with her, and then she got booted because he just…did something kinda clever that he would’ve done to anyone else who also posed a threat. It wasn’t a constant power struggle like it was in WT, it was Heather losing because in the AS narrative specifically, Alejandro simply was smarter than her; it felt empty, especially when held up to her victory in WT— which, side note, why is Heather exactly the same personality-wise as she was in the beginning of WT instead of growing since the end of it?? It would’ve been a lot more interesting for Alejandro to see Heather leaning into her heroic side more while still being on the villain team for her past, and maybe struggle with connecting with her because of that, or start picking up those characteristics when interacting with Mal, or become angrier and more distant and villainous in a cry for attention or an attempt to feel in control still despite being more pathetic than ever. And conversely I think Heather seeing who Alejandro’s become after her win/loss (depending on the ending) and feeling guilty or angry, and maybe struggling to relate to the other villains as much while still being hated by the heroes as well, would be really cool to see; it would also maybe add some flair to her rivalry with Jo, who maybe has a similar internal struggle or even has gotten worse since ROTI. There were so many other options that would’ve upped the heroes vs villains/good vs evil motifs and elevated their characters and tied up their storylines for the final season they appeared in, maybe showing the depths of what competitive reality TV has done to them and made them crave. But instead it was just kinda nothing. I feel like the twist would’ve worked better if it was reversed so Heather got Alejandro out while he desperately tried to stay in a game that was hurting him, or if Alejandro got someone like Jo or Lightning out instead— maybe because he sees himself in them and feels guilty or scared, but justifies this to himself because they’re “threats” (even though, to him, they certainly aren’t) because he’s afraid to admit that he’s still soft somewhere deep down— which he uncovers by working with Heather or working against Mal or etc. Idk something like that, maybe I’m talking out of my ass here because I haven’t seen WT or AS in a while but I feel like, while the twist itself was good, having Alejandro get Heather out specifically (especially considering how poorly the writers portrayed Heather that season within the context of her arc in WT) felt cheap and almost cynical.

[lookismstuff]

Reaction to Ep 461

SPOILERS ALERT

I've been rooting for Daniel (Hyungseok) vs Logan (Taesang) forever so I'm pretty pleased. Then again now that I remember it, wasn't Logan defeated already in the homeless/first love arc?? I thought it was impressive that Danny did it but did later events make Logan dismiss it as trivial? Or did PTJ forget it? But then again in one of his vlogs he mentioned that older arc specifically as Danny's trigger for growth so yeah maybe Logan simply just deleted it from his brain?

Anyway some of the other fights unfortunately happened off-screen when in fact these are what readers had been waiting for.

Well, let's open for a jump scare review.

HAHAHAHA [INSERT EVIL LAUGHTER]

The fight between Vin (Hobin) vs Changyoong itself imho is a bit underwhelming, but the fun side of it is Changyoong is utterly traumatized by scared of Vin.

Vin has no choice but to show his polycoria now since there's no replacing his super dark sunglasses for now (here's my begging PTJ to insert real consequences of this condition, especially since Vin's happened because of an accident).

Again I'm pretty satisfied with the Daniel vs Logan fight, even more so because there's a new flashback of a humiliating bullying scene that we've never seen in the school episodes (earliest arc). And to those who think that it's too much...well where I come from there are such awful bullies it's bordering on human rights violation (or even a crime).

But the most satisfying comeback from Danny is not the fight itself imho. It's the way he basically told Logan that he didn't care anymore (in my last review I mentioned that he doesn't think Logan is worth his time...and I was right).

Also glad that PTJ erased whatever feelings of amicability between Vin and Logan that was briefly present during the God Dog arc. I feel like it's distanced Vin further from his earlier bully self (I do wish that he would apologize to Duke/Deokhwa tho, especially since he's now a huge fan).

Also too bad that we are not privy to two action scenes. First, no onscreen action scenes with Jay at all. Like none. I get that things are going at the speed of lightning right now but I enjoy watching Systema and Arnis duels and Jay's action scenes were always enjoyable to me due to the elements of surprise (kinda like reading Gray/Sieun's fight scenes from Weak Hero).

Second, Jake (Gimyung) was there (he's the sleeping dude in the ambulance) AS AN ALLIED MEMBER HECK YEAH. AND I'M GLAD TO SEE HIM IN CASUAL CLOTHES (looking much younger and fresher after a staycation in a hoodie). But we saw nothing of what he did.

Well at least he left this in his wake (which impressed Taejin and a new goon Jo Yisoo).

Overall, I'm looking forward to reading the next episode. I suppose having Jake around means that out of the three experiment victims, Samuel (Seongeun) is going to be rescued by Jake, then Johan (Yohan) by Zack, and Big Danny by Danny.

[talesfromtherollingmountain]

I have an obsession over the idea of all my Main Gals going with Sanji during WCI. Unaek being there is angsty and complicated enough, but Jocasta going there is a whole other situation and I fucking love it.

Jo used to be a queen of a small kingdom. She may look awkward and kinda dumb and way too friendly to be a queen, but she KNOWS her shit. When she needs to tap into that, she can and will.

Im feral for her going head to head with Germa leaders with all the facts and knowledge to hold her ground and basically give a completely professional verbal smackdown.

And Im ALSO obsessed of some sort of showdown between each of the Vinsmokes vs each of the girls

Eleni vs Ichiji (Captain vs #1)

Jocasta vs Niji (Woman who was nearly killed by lightning vs Man With Electricity Powers)

And Unaek vs Yonji (tbh they're just the two left over, I have no symbolic reason to pair them up other than it would look fucking cool)

[totaldramacruisecontrol]

Last Time On Total Drama Cruise Control: Can You Take the Heat?

CHALLENGE 13: Kingston, Jamaica

“Hello, contestants! Are we feeling…hungry,” Chris grins. “Actually, I have an important announcement for everyone! Mascots, please come forward...” The Beaver and The Tapir waddle their way up the front of the bow, each holding their mascot flags. Neither speak. “Starting today, teams are no more. Yep, merge is here baby! Say goodbye to your lovable mascots! Buh bye-bye!” The Mascots silently wave, but Chris suddenly shoves them both overboard! You hear two distinct splashes… and silence. “From now on, you all will be fighting for immunity, and the winner of each challenge will get the luxury floor all to themselves! Well, actually…they’ll get to pick one person to join them and reap the spoils, if they wish. Yep! Your last chance to grab any hot Mascot merchandise is gone now. We're dumping all of it into the ocean!" “Well, enough talk. I hope everyone is ready to expand your flavor profile!” The boat bellows, docking on yet another beach. Wait, this place, to some of you, might be familiar! “The kind people of Jamaica were so gracious to overlook my last visit and allowed us to visit once more! WELCOME TO KINGSTON, JAMAICA!”

Chris leads everyone to the beach, where a delicious smell wafts through ... it's so good, it almost makes your mouth water! “See? I told you there was a reason Chef didn't serve you all breakfast today! Or lunch...I wanted everyone to be HUNGRY! Awww. Don’t give me that face, I didn't hire just anyone to make us food…everyone say hello to our guest star, DJ!” DJ is stirring a pot, the contents inside smelling absolutely divine. He adds a dash of his special spice with a smile. “Hey everyone! Long time no see!” He takes a taste test, content with his cooking. “Chris! It’s almost done!” “Awesome! Today’s challenge is an eating contest! But we aren't eating hotdogs or pie...we are eating DJ’s famous jerk chicken! And it's SPICY! This is an endurance test for your tastebuds!" “Wait a minute….I thought you said this was for the locals! No offense but this…this is too spicy for...um...C-Chris!” “They’ll be fiiiine! I've got milk for them! Uh…I think…uh…hm. Well, we had milk.” The mascots were supposed to wheel in the cart full of milk...uh… “....oops! Well, DJ, get to plating, and everyone else, sit down and get ready!” DJ scoops out a plate of jerk chicken, handing them out to each and everyone. He gives a soft, nervous smile and a tiny, “I’m sorry…” under his breath. "Be careful, don't eat it too fast. I don't want anyone getting a stomachache...." The jerk chicken smells amazing, but you can feel the heat radiating from it… “OK! Are you ready? Get set, GO!” ROUND ONE! Everyone passes with flying colors! ROUND TWO! RAJ, LIGHTNING AND ALEJANDRO COULDN'T TAKE THE HEAT! It's like a dice bot is against him or something. Alejandro freaking taps out. Lightning coughs out his food! "Man, that spice was rough!" Raj starts coughing. Ough. He pushes his plate towards Wayne. ROUND THREE! WAYNE, MK, AMY AND RIPPER ARE OUT! TOO HOT TO HANDLE! As Wayne kept eating Raj’s seconds…oh oh! It’s coming back out… Wayne spits out an actual fireball out of his mouth, dragon-style…he passes out with smoke emitting from his mouth and nostrils. coughs smoke…Did I win, Rajie? Amy's coughing so much. She's OUT. sorry alejandro </3 MK’s still eating and… Oh fuck turns out she had tastebuds the whole time. She practically snorts out smoke. Ripper's stomach gurgles dangerously, and a fart follows. Oh. THAT hurt. Another. That REALLY hurts. The plate in front of him is pushed forward. He freezes, a look of contemplation on his face. ROUND FOUR, FINAL ROUND! JO VS BRICK VS HAROLD! Brick tries to take a bite....he tries......he finally gives out! "Yeah, I'm here too," Harold sulks as he eats more freaking chickeng. There's a gurgling most unpleasant in his stomach. He fears there is not much time left for him. bathroom NOW

THE WINNER OF THE SPICY JERK CHICKEN CONTEST IS...JO!

Jo sneers at DJ, the plate empty in front of her. “That was supposed to be spicy? Give me a break.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------

ELIMINATION:

It was Brick who was served the Mocktail of Misery and walked the Plank of Shame. Brick marches up to the plank of shame, he turns around to look at them all. "Don't worry. This is a good thing for me. I am free from my torment. I was never very good at this game after all." His eyes land onto a certain individual.... "Be careful. Not everyone on this boat is who they say they are." Brick salutes one last time, and jumps off the plank! THANK YOU FOR PLAYING! HAVE A GOOD TRIP, SOLIDER! ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>The Sea Tails (Wayne, Raj, Ripper, Amy and Alejandro) celebrate Ripper's return with dinner at a sports bar. Wayne and Ripper share a gross fry kiss. Amy and Alejandro leave early. There's ketchup everywhere. >Ripper wins a live cassowary from the crane machine! It attacks him, makes Trent bald, and chases Raj. It attacks the door to the confessional he's hiding in and runs off of the ship. >Raj is freaked out because he's afraid of birds, which Lightning finds out about. Wayne tries to comfort Raj while Lightning helps Ripper in the med room. Wayne and Lightning go off to find the cassowary while Ripper and Raj stay in the cabin. >Ripper and Raj talk through trauma and try to comfort each other. They do a little counting thing together that Raj taught Ripper in order to calm each other. >Raj has a nightmare. Wayne and Lightning finally return after the cassowary is eaten by a shark and dies. Wayne, Raj, and Ripper throw fries into the ocean for fun and Raj refuses to sleep. >Lightning tells Amy and Alejandro about Raj’s fear of birds without knowing it was a secret. They throw Lightning under the bus to cover up the fact that Amy already knew. Raj gets upset with Lightning and ends their friendship. >Wayne almost reveals the bird secret to Harold. He has a panic attack and thinks that he disappointed Raj. Raj tries to comfort him. >Harold tries to see if his vampire cure potion works. Amy and Raj are there and so is Trent very briefly. It didn't appear to do anything. >Ripper and Wayne work out together, bake a cake together and plan a prank on Raj, running around to gather the things to pull it off. They also go grocery shopping together and Wayne gifts Ripper a little spinning top. >Alejandro and Raj finish a Lego set together! >Jo is in mourning after Brick's elimination. >DJ does improv therapy with Harold and Jo at his jerk chicken stand. He plans on meeting up with Harold after the game. Ripper visits at the same time Harold does and attempts to break his new record right there in the middle of their conversation. He does not succeed, but he does discuss cooking with DJ. >Ripper and Lightning share drinks at a bar. Ripper asks Lightning for an alliance, and he agrees to it. >Sierra is following the ship, and MK has a conversation with her. Sierra mentions that MK was dating Caleb in the past. They discuss shipping discourse. >Ripper also has a conversation with Sierra. He is loving all of the attention and talk about he and Wayne's relationship until she reveals she got information about him from his dying Nonna on the phone. She actually initiated the conversation using his real name. > Jo has a conversation with Sierra at a bar. Sierra learned information about Jo by calling her parents and paying them to give some to her. They discuss her time on Revenge and as well as her relationship with Brick, Courtney, and Scott. The mention of Brick makes her upset, but her mood returns very quickly after Sierra offers to make fun of people with her. >Harold and Amy go wig shopping. Harold also buys a stuffed puppy that he gifts to DJ. > Alejandro and Amy sit at a park together. Alejandro discusses a heavy conversation he had with Ripper at a bar in the Bahamas. It was a personal conversation and Ripper shared parts of it with her. Amy comforts Alejandro and they swap their phone and camera, two items they've been sharing.

[total-drama-brainrot]

I’m curious to see your opinions on the ROTI finale since I think Jo vs Cameron would’ve been a much better set up. They’re still brain versus brawn and Jo’s still highly intelligent so it’d force Cameron to use more of his own brawn. Plus it’d be a good callback to that “you’re crazy if you think you can win total drama without getting physical” line Jo said to Cameron back in ep2.

I can finally answer this anon now!!

I was actually all for the Zoey Cameron Friendship Finale the show kept "teasing", since- as much as I like him as a character- Lightning doesn't really have much... substance? He's a fun comedic relief character, sure, but the audience doesn't really have any reason to root for him; across the series he's been shown to be callous and self-serving, he doesn't really have much character depth, and the only time we ever see him break from the almost plastic façade of Sha-Lightning is when his pops is involved.

Which is a whole different can of worms I'd love to delve into, but I'll probably have to marathon a "Lightning Moments" montage before I can really comment on his relationship with his dad.

But my ideal final two would've been Cameron and Jo, like you said.

Jo's been set up as more of an actual person than Lightning ever was, and she already had a pre-established pseudo rivalry with him before her elimination (which, I get why Lightning suddenly became super hostile towards Cameron for "stealing his win", but it kind of came out of nowhere). I think having a final two who actually respect each other is a lot more fun to watch than Cameron cowering away from Lightning for three-ish episodes before pulling an Iron Man suit out of his ass.

Not that I didn't like Lightning and Cameron's dynamic in the last episodes, though I wish Cameron had more moments where he actually stood up for himself, since that was the whole point of his character arc (which almost seemed to die with Jo's elimination, since he loses a lot of his spine once Lightning's whole animosity arc comes into play).

Cameron was actually my favourite part of the last few episodes. I like the concept behind his character, and I mostly liked how it was executed- barring some character recession in the final two episodes. He's my pathetic bubble son.

As for Zoey... I really didn't care much for her. Not that I dislike her, she's just, uh, sort of there? She spends the majority of the season oblivious to Mike's DID, but as a relatively kind and friendly presence among a cast full of comparatively bad people, which was a nice contrast! She's what I sort of expected Dawn to be, just preppier and with a miscommunication-central romance plot. Plus, her central character focus of making friends is really sweet, even if she does come across as a bit of a pick me.

And then she pulls Commando Zoey out of her ass (which I did initially like, as a 'nice girl finally snaps and goes apeshit' arc- exactly what I wanted for Priya is season two of the reboot) and her whole character does a 180 for two episodes, with the sole purpose of teaching both her and Cameron the Power Of Friendship, only to discard that whole lesson when they don't get the Friendship Finale. I wanted to like Commando Zoey but her behaviour in the Larry episode just kind of left a sour taste in my mouth; it was like the writers couldn't decide if they wanted her new disposition to make her a last minute twist antagonist or not.

[totaldramayuri]

characters to draw.... may i request jo? she is my girl. i wanna hear ur thoughts

JO!!!! she’s one of my favourites, esp bc of how much I relate to her gender nonconformity (girls who get mistaken for guys constantly club) and her complex relationship with femininity (which is something I wished they explored more!!!!! could’ve let her have some more interactions with the maggot girls, which was definitely needed in a season where most of the girls got done dirty). speaking of what could’ve been, I wish she was the finalist alongside cameron in roti; I’ve come around to lightning as a finalist but come onnnnnnn her vs cameron makes so much more sense, esp given how their interactions span back way longer than cam n lightning - it still keeps the general brains/brawn theme of the finale, but instead it’s a seemingly unbeatable Jo versus her underling turned enemy who she has constantly underestimated since the very beginning. ALSOOOOO HER IN ALL STARS… she shoulda got so much further like I GET that a few characters have to get thrown under the bus in a 13 episode season but why the snarky lesbian,, whyyyyy we could’ve had 2x the amount of episodes of mean butch vs mean femme power struggle on the villains team. Oh yeah she’s a lesbian 2 me bc projection also she has the most insane chemistry with almost every woman she interacts with it’s not my fault

(art ref image under cut)

[changanomaly]

an assortment of unorganized total drama headcanons I have (some probably contradict the timeframe when the td timeline takes place in but whatever):

Courtney and Heather pretend to have refined taste in music but blast Mitski full volume when they're alone

Heather and Harold are still actually really great friends after TD and find that they have a lot in common. Exhibit A: Their MLP phases

Noah's 15th birthday gift from his mother was a Miku binder. Also yes Noah's transmasc keep scrolling

Izzy, Eva, Owen, Noah and Emma are all in a polycule and currently live in a big apartment. (for more info um here)

Prior to it, they'd been kicked out of 4 consecutively for 2 straight months due to a fire break out from an 'undetectable source'. Surprisingly none of them were caused by Izzy, but Owen repeatedly cooking/reheating food at 3 in the morning

The ROTI cast in comparison to the rest of the casts are incredibly tight knit and go out of their way to meet up and keep in contact with each other. Anne Maria and Dawn are definitely the mom friends of the group.

Scott can be slimy, but he sure do loves his family a whole lot, and even though there's a lot of them, they're all really close. Initial reasoning to going back on TDAS was to help them cover what the entire family had given to get him to recover from being attacked by Fang

After a recording of a season is over (other than TDI), all contestants- former, current, the ones who aren't arrested- are all invited to stay at Playa Des Losers for a week (a shitty excuse to get all generations of cast members to interact to each other in my head...why yes)

The pinnacle of wealth to Scott was watching Shrek the Musical live and his first thought in what to do with the million in ROTI after the vague idea of investing in stocks was to bring all his family (and briefly in TDAS as a date with Courtney) to watch it

Duncan has a soft spot for Izzy. She's one of the only people who visit him while he's in prison. She drags along Team E-scope (+ Owen and Emma) to her visits sometimes

Shawn's first exposure to zombie related media was Plants vs Zombies. He has several sunflowers, pea plants, potatoes and a couple of walnut trees outside of his house that he says will mutate alongside the zombie virus pandemic to protect him. He owns and plays a lot of zombie video games in general alongside his huge collection of zombie movies and other zombie related media- other than PVZ, his favorite's The Last of Us

At Playa, Courtney and Gwen talk. It's one of the rare times Courtney owns up to her faults genuinely. And she tries to do the same thing with Scott but she can't bring herself to knock on his door. The prospect of things turning out like Duncan- even vaguely- made her blood grow cold.

Jo, Lightning and Brick meet Sky while they're hanging at Playa after the TDPI finale and chat her up while she seemed really down abt it all. After some chatting, a bit of insults thrown (thanks Jo), Brick's understanding sympathy, seldom seen empathy from Lightning, and a lot of racing and competing with each other, they become quite close. They keep in contact with each other afterwards- which is more than Sky can say about most of her relations on her own cast.

Speaking of; Sky keeps in contact with Ella, Jasmine (and since they're kind of a package deal, Shawn), oddly enough- though they weren't in the same team and didn't talk much on the island- Sammy, even more oddly enough Beardo- who she finds out just had a hard time opening up, and most oddly enough Leonard- who she finds out doesn't actually think he's a wizard and was just playing up one of his characters since he wasn't skilled in much anything else and wanted to see how far he got into the show with his whole wizard act. He even went out of his way to try it again alongside his friend Tammy in TDRR.

The small group does online DND campaigns that Sky occasionally joins in on in between juggling Olympic training, but they're mostly dominated by Sammy, Ella, Shawn, Beardo and some of Leonard's irl friends. Leonard DMs.

Eva knows how to crochet. Beth finds out in one of the Aftermath shows backstage, and they actually bond together over it. Well, after Eva threatens to kill her if she tells anyone

Courtney's really into musical theatre (won't admit to it but love West Side Story and Heahers). So are Mike (who's fav musical is Les Mis and Hadestown) and Ella (duh) (her favorite musical is Robert and Hammerstein's Cinderella)

Ella and Gwen are close cousins (as seen in TDR, but is otherwise not canon), and most are kind of shocked to find out. Ella would often bring up how Gwen would always gladly play the Evil Queen to her Princess when they were younger, where Gwen would retort by bringing up how bad Ella's tantrums were when she didn't agree.

The Best Friends subplot was scripted. Carrie is a lesbian, and Devin's aroace. A couple of d-list actors who also coincidentally are best friends

The Drama Network (as I'll call it) gets sued hard after Pahkitew airs. Not only for what happened in the season but a lot of prior incidents that weren't brought up in court- like Dakota's mutation, Scott being attacked by Fang, and the general endangerment of minors that happened in ROTI. Ditto with Pahkitew. Since TD was still a big hit, it didn't make much of a dent with the Network but still made it so they were weary of bringing the show back- which is why there hadn't been a new season for more than a decade in universe

[canonically47]

canonically47.tumblr.com/post/742593997706559488

this one

okay well total drama has a LOT of obvious mistakes and most of them come from the time in which it was written and published and the rushed season of only 13 instead of 26 episodes starting with ROTI

i also feel like they treat their characters and ships very badly, making them go right back where they started if they ever get any growth, which rarely happens. or their development is too sudden and not believable. priya, max, scarlett, that mini-arc shasmine had about splitting the money, aleheather in TDWT, prileb in TD 2024...

i rewatched ROTI and the girls were mistreated horribly. what can you expect from a season where the finalists are two guys? dakota’s internal issues were never discussed further than a funny haha moment when dawn read her aura, dawn never got to do anything for her team and her elimination was rushed, jo’s internalized mysoginy was a haha joke and never adressed properly, zoey had a whole villain-and-back-to-hero arc and STILL didn’t make finale???

also i hate when they introduce some groups and never further develop them, or develop them very little. lindsay, beth and ezekiel could’ve been an ICONIC trio. i miss leshawna and gwen’s friendship so much, and same goes for bowie and emma. jo and brick had so much potential to become allies or at least frenemies, amy and sammy were not handled well, THE E-SCOPE TRIO!!! i’m in shambles

so if i wrote TDI i’d just give the characters some proper development, more moments to shine, more fun relationships with the others. this show is based on its characters, they’re the stars!! so why not make them shine instead of burn??

gen 1 is too much work to rewrite but i’d keep TDI about the same except have a leshawna vs gwen finale, with leshawna as a ‘canon’ winner. TDA would have a harold vs lindsay finale with harold as the ‘official’ winner.

in TDWT i’d cut the duncney-gwuncan arc, make duncan never come back cuz fuck that guy, gwourtney wins. sierra gets better development. noah makes merge and fulfills his schemer role, constantly sabotaging alejandro. they become frenemies. aleheather still wins and goes to finale. alejandro doesn’t get the robot costume and we don’t hear from him again until TDAS.

for ROTI, would make jo a proper antagonist and make her butt heads with scott when the merge happened. my final six for ROTI would be scott, jo, zoey, brick, lightning and anne maria. yes, brick and anne maria, you read that right.

i still think scott shouldn’t make finale, and jo only if she got development. so maybe the merge could happen just two episodes earlier to get more stuff out of them, so the merge would include cameron and mike. scott would go before jo, and jo would be left to fend for herself after scott got cameron eliminated. this is where i would make her develop a friendship with anne maria and brick. get zoey in there and you have the anti-scott alliance. they get him out (NO TRAUMA CHAIR NEEDED, HE WILL BE FINE) and then lightning, then the girls unite against brick. sorry man.

the finale would be between two of the girls, i’d like to see jomaria or joey fight, jo needs that development. the one who gets out previously is an insta-elimination and not decided by the others.

and voilá! jo gets development and some healthy friendships! her and brick could also get together but maybe in another season. this season is for her alone to shine, she deserves it.

oh, and that’s the main thing about ROTI - i’d give them two more seasons. they deserve a WT-esque season.

i’d completely rewrite TDPI. make rodney first diss when the girls are disgusted by him (and also shit him cuz fuck him), dave an earlier boot, get beardo like third or fourth cuz i wanna see more of him, give scarlett a proper character arc instead of a rushed one throughout just one episode, make max a bit smarter and let him become a ‘hero’ rather than a villain he wants to be by rescuing everyone from scarlett since he knows her weaknesses best...

my ideal final five are shawn, jasmine, max, topher and ella. also my five favorites so no wonder. i’ll explain their arcs.

topher - 5th: shawn and jasmine, as well as max and ella, become duos after the scarlett incident (maybe it happens earlier?), and topher is outside of any alliance. plus he was getting kinda annoying, not to mention he gave chris too many ideas for challenges. damn it, topher!

ella - 4th: when she is forbidden from singing, she still goes behind chris’ back and does it, only that she intercepts sugar’s note and burns it. sugar is an earlier boot than originally because ella realizes she just hates her guts and she’s trying to befriend her for nothing. when ella stops singing, she puts her head in the game more than usual, but her refusal to hurt animals and serenade them instead gets her out eventually, by chris, not by the others.

max - 3rd: with no alliance and a softer spot than usual, he gets out at his own, last challenge.

finale: shawn vs jasmine

the same conflict about splitting the money, only that it comes earlier and is developed more. for one, chris shows jasmine the confessionals right after max’s voting ceremony.

shawn’s helper ends up being ella, but she’s been watching from playa des losers and is unhappy with how shawn treated jasmine. meanwhile, max is jasmine’s helper. max and jasmine sabotage shawn, ella doesn’t help him, but then when max and ella are given the controls for the island, they both realize the gravity of what they’ve done when they see shawn and jasmine buried in snow.

both jasmine and shawn get an ending. in both endings, jasmine gets out of the snow, doesn’t pay attention to the finish line, and goes to search for shawn, who pops out in confusion. the two have a heart-to-heart interrupted by chris to announce the race is still happening, and they have ten seconds left. in shawn’s ending, jasmine just nods to him and he crosses; in jasmine’s ending, shawn insists she crosses. pretty similar endings, the outcome is about the same, but i like to think jasmine’s is the ‘canon’ one.

and then they get another season!

so, our seasons are...

gen 1 - 3 seasons: total drama island, total drama action, total drama world tour

gen 2 - 3 seasons: total drama revenge of the island, total drama retour, total drama cruise or lose

gen 3 - 2 seasons: total drama pahkitew island, total drama reaction

gen 1 x gen 2 x gen 3: total drama all stars

TDAS would include eight contestants of each generation. gen 1 gets heather, alejandro, owen, noah, gwen, courtney, sierra, and leshawna. gen 2 gets jo, anne maria, zoey, mike, brick, cameron, lightning and scott. gen 3 gets shawn, jasmine, topher, max, ella, sugar, sammy and scarlett.

and then for the reboot i’d just make bowie win for the first season. the second season would have more development.

emma and bowie become friends again. mkulia become reluctant allies but still dislike each other. eventually they warm up to each other tho 👀. ripaxel also happens over the course of more episodes. couples butt heads - mkulia, rajbow and ripaxel - but mkulia dominate the game. short ripaxel-mkulia alliance in which they get out prileb (who have a better development trust), wayne and bowie.

damien gets to keep his immunity idol but doesn’t need to use it until the final five: axel, julia, mk, damien and raj. the girls unite against him, but he and raj voted for julia, so you can imagine mk is unhappy, but damien wins immunity. yikes.

so finale time is damien, raj and axel. everyone gets an ending, but damien is the ‘canon’ winner because HE DESERVED IT COME ON.

[totaldrama-showdowns]

FAVORITE RIVALRY SHOWDOWN FINALE

Propaganda

Heather v Leshawna: The og

Do i need to say it

Arguably the og td rivalry and what a rivalry it is

literally the start of it all. the rivalry of all rivalries even.

the girls are fighting!!!!! they coulda been bffs

NO DUH... it's the first biggest rivalry of our beloved TV show so of COURSEEE i am going to submit them!! look at them insulting each other, pushing each other off cliffs, beating each other up, gazing into each other's eyes, longing to feel the other's lips with her own- oh i said too much. anyways VOTE LESHEATHER BEST RIVALRY 2024

Her throwing Heather off the cliff is iconic

LESHEATHER SWEEP FIRE EMOJI TIMES THREE

gay as fuck to constantly fight someone and then give them your wig as a parting gift

They genuinely had one of the best rivalries in Gen 1. In Action when they came to an agreement was good as well! (THEY SHOULD HAVE STAYED ALLIANCE MEMBERS AT THE VERY LEAST)

Unfortunately tdwt forgot that these two sort of became friends in tda

IDK they are just the more iconic.

This is so iconic honestly!! ONE of the better rivals. (Glad they got along during Action though..)

They’re just so awesome. Two absolute powerhouse queens pitted against each other OMGG dude I love them. Leshawna giving Heather a beta version of her hair loss and so many other moments they had so much beef in all of the main gen1 seasons!! Also the sheer tension idk man maybe (definitely) they should kiss

Jo v Brick: Do I even need to explain? Jo and Brick are the best rivalry in the whole series. Unstopable duo

He ran backwards with earplugs just to one up her U_U

See the exchange from the beginning of Episode 2

The Best part of RotI

They're so funny together oml. Wish they had even more time together as frenemies

what does propaganda mean

that whole scene when they’re arguing about who had the better run changed my brain chemistry

When even the official compliation of Jo vs Lightning moments just gives us more Jo vs Brick ones...

The roti rivalry

They were super funny in roti and I love them with all of my heart

save me jock

JOCK!!!!! JOCK NATION RISE UP 🙌

[sundaemuddysucks]

my unsolicited total drama opinions: who should've won every season

tdi

gwen and leshawna. leshawna's elimination was complete BS she didn't deserve it and we all know she would've won the season if they didnt rig her elimination. owen didn't deserve to win tdi. yes he was nice but there were way better competitors like gwen, leshawna, and heather who would've deserved it way more than him. gwen is a good winner. no change.

tda

lindsay and harold. come on. duncan is the most undeserved winner ever. beth is beth. they need to go. lindsay grew so much during tda and she deserves a REWARD!! as for harold he'd have awesome chemistry with lindsay in the finale and he was really strong in tda. i do think courtney might deserve the W here more than harold but harold has better chemistry and i prefer courtney as the winner of a different season

tdwt

the tdwt winners are perfect the way they are and if you disagree with me you're wrong

tdroti

this one is really biased because i have a deep hatred of cameron but i think jo and lightning would've been a really funny duo for the finale. it'd also be a fair fight. you know what wasn't a fair fight? cameron in the fucking ironman suit vs defenseless lightning. that shit was so boring to watch

tdas

zoey and courtney. first of all, mike deserves nothing after the horrendous character arc he had in tdas. secondly, courtney was the strongest total drama competitor to never win a season. i don't think anyone would disagree on that. courtney is THE all-star. zoey is whatever. she did place like 3rd in roti so it makes sense for her to be the winning roti contestant.

tdpi

i never watched this season but judging from the limited content ive consumed from it i think the short little fucker with the purple hair should win

tdrr

the cadets and the sisters. listen i think the ice dancers deserve the W more than the sisters but they'd be such annoying winners. i love the ice dancers tho. anyways the cadets deserved it 100% and emma and kitty were just such great characters like they deserved it more than geoff and mcstupidface (i forgot his name) and also it would wrap up their arc of learning to trust each other really well

tdi2023

bowie and julia. listen to me. hear me out. i do think priya deserved to win more than anyone else. i also think that her winning does her character a massive disservice. she could've lost and had an awesome rebellion arc. instead we got the most predictable winner ever. bowie was perfect though. and i am 100% biased towards julia but she was absolutely the next best player after priya and bowie. she didn't play the social game well but she was way stronger in challenges than bowie (and even priya a lot of the time)

[mangora]

So I haven’t been fulfilling my obligations as resident Scike enjoyer recently and I finally have a night with no coursework due, so here’s a meta analysis post about my interpretations of Scott and Mike’s characters, primarily as told through their relationship with one another. This isn’t necessarily accurate, some of these are definitely reaches or headcanons with little basis in reality, it’s not like a serious essay; this is just for fun since I find their relationship (or I guess, my idea of their relationship) fascinating 👍

So, naturally we start with episode one, where we’re introduced to Scott and Mike as well as the other generation two characters. Scott, off the bat, is unfriendly and untrusting; even before Jo says anything, he eyes her with malcontent. Scott looks at Mike with a seemingly annoyed expression when he’s introduced next. Mike, in contrast to Scott, is smiling and taking in the view. Scott notices immediately when Zoey nudges him and stares at her arm; I don’t think this demonstrates any sort of feelings for Mike on Scott’s part, yet at least, but rather it seems to display his social awareness. He’s already trying to gauge both Mike and Zoey’s personalities and dynamic— he could also be judging them, or a mix of that and the aforementioned gauging. Regardless, Scott’s already shown to be suspicious of others.

Meanwhile, Mike’s shown to form an attachment right away, specifically to Zoey. Their very minor interaction causes him to smile and espouse that the view is beautiful, though he’s obviously regarding her. This causes him to let his guard down, along with Zoey, which leaves both susceptible to being shoved out of the way by Lightning. Take note of this, as Mike’s desire to form stable relationships becomes a hallmark of his character. The dichotomy between Scott being untrusting when he should be and Mike being trusting when he shouldn’t be will become a running theme as well.

The next time we see them both is after the intro, when Scott refuses to help Cameron and calls him a “spaz”. This is contrasted with Mike being too kind with Zoey when they should be helping Staci out of the water, which causes him to be pulled underwater by her and could have led to them both drowning. This not only aligns with our theme of trust vs lack thereof, but also Mike’s goodwill vs Scott’s lack thereof again. It seems that what Scott needs, Mike supplies to a harmful excess; however, as we will touch on later, both of these incidents with Mike only occurred when there was another person there (Zoey) who he sought to impress or bond with. Right now all of these exist in an unjoined microcosm, but once again, scenes like this repeat throughout the season. 

Another scene worth noting is Mike’s confessional directly after. Mike’s already attached himself to Zoey, admiring her kindness and immediately jumping to the idea of a relationship with her. We’ve already established that Mike wants human connection, but here we also see the added element of insecurity; he already fears rejection for his “quirk”, which we will later discover is his DID (called “Multiple Personality Disorder” in the show; I am not fucking calling it that). He doesn’t state it to the audience yet, showing that maybe he’s not as trusting with people who he can’t directly connect with; even though he probably knows that he will inevitably be outed to them, for lack of a better term. Since he’s insecure about this, and because he says he hopes his “condition doesn’t ruin anything for [him] again”, we can draw the reasonable conclusion that Mike’s probably been rejected for his DID before, whether by potential romantic interests or by his peers more generally (with the added context of season five this could also be referring to how Mal got the system sent to jail, but honestly I’m not sure if the writers planned that far in advance so we’re not really gonna talk about it). It could also be possible that one of Mike’s motives for joining the show, besides the money, was to make friends or find a partner in a new group of people who didn’t know this detail of his life, and to do that by hiding his DID. Once again, this will seem like less of a reach as we continue to see this pattern unfold; it’s good to establish now the idea that Mike is heavily concerned with interpersonal relationships and self-image so we can continue compounding on that thesis as we go on. 

Next time we see either Mike or Scott is on the beach. Staci is talking about her family and Mike is obviously ignoring her in favor of looking at Zoey. This shows that while Mike is nice, he might not view everyone as an equal opportunity for human connection; he gets attached to Zoey instantly and regards her above everyone else, quick to establish a clear-cut and intense relationship in his mind with someone he barely knows. When Zoey even implies that they could become friends, he appears overjoyed. He’s so excited, and for what? Put a pin in this. 

Our focus shifts back to Scott briefly in the team formation scene before the first challenge. Scott and Lightning smile at each other (or maybe generally? It’s unclear if Scott’s looking at him) as they’re put on the same team. His smile fades when Brick shouts “Sir, yes sir!”, but rather than looking maybe annoyed or angry, he looks uncharacteristically concerned. His smile returns when B shoves Brick, then changes to annoyance when B’s put on his team. There are two major explanations for this. The first and most likely is that Scott’s scoping out his teammates and competition; he’s happy that Lightning’s on his team because he’s not very smart, then concerned and happy again when Brick’s put on the other team because he’s loyal and physically capable, and then he’s upset that B’s on his team because B’s intelligent and looks (is?) strong/fast. However, on the other hand, Scott’s expressions seem oddly earnest, especially considering how he behaves throughout the rest of the series. Maybe he’s secretly glad that Lightning’s here because he enjoys his company. Something that really caught my eye was Scott’s concern for Brick. Brick’s obviously military (likely due to family circumstances), and in season five, we learn that Scott’s dad is ex-military. Scott might be slightly worried because he knows what the military is like, or what military parents are like. We’ll talk more about Scott’s potential home situation later, but I dunno, something about him in this scene seems weirdly tame considering how he is normally; he seems oddly worried and not about the right people, like all things considered it would be best for his plan if his team was weak but he seems constantly annoyed by the additions of people like Dakota and Sam. 

Skipping over more of Scott being annoyed at people and Mike being anxious, when the teams get their names, Mike is the first to ask about the references to chemical waste. Though he’s very likely one of many to notice this, the fact he asked first and without hesitation shows that he’s both worried and quick to observe things. He continues to appear concerned by the growling of the “monster”, but seems to hold back from showing this, staying still with a worried expression. He might be trying to keep it cool to protect his image; or, maybe he’s trying to keep others from worrying as well, considering that Cameron’s already freaking out. When it gets closer, he holds Zoey in his arms. He has an urge to protect those he cares about, even if he has little reason to care about them yet. 

Later, during the actual challenge, while Jo and Anne Maria are outwardly annoyed by Brick, Mike tries to politely state that this isn’t working. This is the point at which Chester fronts; we learn later that Chester most commonly fronts to deal with frustrating situations. Mike himself cannot express frustration for whatever reason, likely because he’s afraid to. Meanwhile, Scott does his first confessional, where he states that he has a plan that’s sure to take down B (and implied to take down everyone else as well). Scott’s overly confident and expresses frustration with the gleeful notion that all will be handled eventually. Shortly after, Scott smiles as he and the other Toxic Rats overtake the Mutant Maggots; this is odd, as we will later find out that Scott wants his team to lose. This could be an example of him trying not to play his cards too early, but later it becomes apparent that Scott’s quick to snap when he’s upset. Was he perhaps earnestly excited to win as a team and had trouble masking that as well? Perchance (I can just say perchance, because it’s my meta post, and I do what I want). 

It’s worth mentioning now that we’ve covered episode one that Mike and Scott have somewhat inconsistent characterizations; as the series goes on, Mike is more prone to show annoyance or outbursts of fear, while Scott rarely shows genuine happiness when his plans aren’t working out. This could be a result of changing writers, a lack of ideas for one or both of them, or simply them changing and adapting to the game. Make of that what you will; I’ll try to explain things to the best of my ability and puzzle them together in a cohesive analysis, but shit’s a bit wonky. 

In episode two, we finally hear Scott’s plan: he’s intent on making his team lose the challenges to “lull the other team into a false sense of security, then pick them off one by one”. This is an interesting concept, considering how fucking stupid it is: if Scott loses most or all of his team and the Maggots continue working together, that security will become real, they will dominate him and any allies he might form (which he does not seem intent to do), and he will lose near immediately unless he’s already planning on how to split them up, assuming any of them would fall for his tricks. However, Scott himself is a little dumb, so this is fitting. He’s so unwilling to work with other people that he seems to have tricked himself into thinking that he can do anything by himself and manipulate people with no outside help. This is unrealistic, and gives the viewer a perfect insight into Scott’s antisocial and bleak worldview. He’s so unwilling to trust people that he hasn’t even figured out how to fake a relationship with any of them for his own benefit. 

In the scene where the teams are walking to the Bay of Dismay, Zoey and Mike have their first proper conversation, and it is approximately thirteen seconds long. Zoey brings up Total Warriors Two, and Mike is pleased that she knows about it. He states that if she likes kickboxing as well, he might have to marry her. First of all, film-enjoyer and kickboxer Mike real as fuck; but more importantly, this is another example of Mike attaching himself to Zoey incredibly quickly and incredibly closely. He’s desperate to be liked by her, desperate to be inseparable from her even. Unlike Scott who’s pushing everyone away without a plan, he’s seemingly nudging closer to someone without a plan or a concern for her actual, well, personality. I don’t think this is manipulative or weird at all, to be clear; and Zoey was likely trying to relate to him because he also clearly enjoys his company. It’s just endlessly intriguing how he’s already endeared herself to her. 

Once the game actually begins and the Maggots are asked which one of them wet their pants, Mike’s the one to pipe up with surprise, almost making fun of the person in question. Knowing that Mike’s afraid of his own secrets being revealed in this challenge, this clues us in that, while Mike might not have bad intentions, he does partake in judging (and depending on how you interpret his words, shaming) people for their own secrets. He might, to a degree, lack social knowledge (“this might make the person uncomfortable” etc.), empathy, or both. In this right, he’s somewhat selfish. Throughout the season, actually, he continues to show inklings of selfishness, even if they aren’t born out of malice. 

After this, the Rats are dunked into the water. Scott’s bitten and dragged out of the stands by Fang, and his team does nothing to rescue him. This upsets Scott, who then refuses to do the rest of the challenge. While this might be part of his plan to lose, it seems that Scott was genuinely upset and offended; he expected his team to help him when he would never do the same for them. More selfishness. Anne Maria seconds Scott, and Mike’s quick to join her since he’s worried about his own secrets being discovered— something that he insists to them isn’t true. I don’t have to explain this, I don’t think; Mike and Scott are alike in their selfish desires for preservation. The thing is that Mike backs down after Jo becomes upset with him, while Scott carries on. So Mike does care about avoiding conflict and being invulnerable to his whole team, but with Zoey specifically, he needs to be liked; not just regarded with neutrality, which appears to be his goal with other people; and he is afraid of being judged, or seen in a negative light.

During the challenge, Scott attempts sabotage for the first time, which fails. He tries to keep the rat from B, and is outwardly antagonistic towards him, which could have easily been used against him. This is another action that Scott seems to take strategically, but barely considers the consequences of. He just needs to be mean, apparently; he can’t control the urge to sabotage or insult, even when it would hurt him.

In the same challenge, Cameron catches Svetlana fronting, and asks Mike about it, which he denies entirely. The Maggots win, which Scott, again, seems genuinely upset about. This is where I’m laying out my theory officially that Scott takes these losses personally but is convincing himself that they’re sacrifices, rather than him genuinely not caring because it’s part of his plan. Maybe he knows that he could be on the chopping block every time and is bracing himself; maybe he enjoys winning each individual challenge for a sense of glory but won’t admit it to himself because it doesn’t work with this bullshit Lone Wolf plan he has. Either way, this brings us to episode three.

In episode three, Sam flings his breakfast into Scott’s face. Instead of pretending it’s okay, Scott throws a spoon at Sam. He then calls him a wimp for complaining about his food. Aside from this being another example of Scott being unable to mask his feelings for the greater good, this leads into the point of Scott’s home life. Total Drama as a series is full of bits that are normal in its cartoon universe, but are disturbing or terrifying taken in a real-world context; look no further than the season’s baseline concept of “we put teenagers on a nuclear island”. Scott living on a dirt farm is one of these things; having to eat dirt is bad in a literal context, and worse when adding the idea of it being a metaphor for not having food to eat. Scott is, quite literally, dirt poor; we’ll talk more about his audition tape later, but in it, we also see that Scott’s house is infested with rats and in a state of complete disarray. In season five, we learn that his father is ex-military and his mother’s a waitress; and since they own a farm, they did or do have two jobs. Scott’s also generally a country boy stereotype, and country folk aren’t exactly known for being well-off. We can almost guarantee that he grew up in a rough economic situation, and has ways of coping with or appreciating it while still working fervently to escape it. Take that for what you will.

Following this scene, Mike admits to the audience that he has DID with a shameful tone. He rushes to explain that he tries to control his alters, as if he needs to or should, but that they don’t listen to him. Mike not only lacks control, but is also attempting to control genuine other people, all for them inconveniencing him and making him worry about being judged. This is another point at which we must acknowledge that Mike is selfish, but also selfish with a sympathetic purpose; he doesn’t want to be judged, and doesn’t want to be alone. When confronted by Jo about Svetlana, he lies and says she’s a character, but fails to actually mimic Svetlana. He’s either a bad actor, doesn’t know Svetlana that well, or both. 

During the first half of the challenge, Scott shouts at Lightning to shut his mouth, once again showing how hard it is for him to hide his true feelings. Meanwhile, Mike helps Zoey up a ledge instead of helping himself, showing that he knows when to actually be selfless as long as it benefits someone he cares about. Once again, we go back to Scott as the Rats win the challenge; and Scott is visibly and audibly upset. He doesn’t bother hiding it now, so why would he before? Another point for the “Scott is genuinely excited to win/mad about losing” theory. When his team is mad at him for picking the bad snow fort, Scott acknowledges that this is bad, but rationalizes that it’s part of the plan. Dude, he has no fucking idea how this plan is going to work, does he?

Now we get to the point where Mike finally acknowledges Scott, and tells Zoey to watch out because Mike thinks he’s “psycho”. Mike is the first person to bring up how Scott’s acting irrationally or untrustworthy verbally; and considering they aren’t on the same team, that means Mike must have been, at some point, watching him. As we mentioned earlier, he’s observant, and will bring something up either if he feels it’ll be uncontroversial or if he’s very concerned. Before Scott’s other team caught onto him, Mike did, and before they became cautious or seriously concerned, Mike did. Why? Does Mike have experience picking out these types of people? Was Mike, for some reason, interested in Scott either out of fear or admiration, and therefore paid closer attention to him than anybody else? Mike’s not a very strategic person in the game, but he is a bit strategic and wary socially, especially if he’s afraid of the other person not liking him. Did Mike view Scott as a threat? Maybe something more? Why? Did he recognize Scott’s selfish or secretive behaviors, maybe in himself? These are all, certainly, questions. Perchance. 

In his scene with Dawn in the snow fort, Scott argues with her about how he’s not going to listen to the snowball, and says he’s full of negative energy; this causes a snowball to explode in his face. Scott’s unwilling to listen to others, even if it spells his own downfall. After this, Dawn claims that Scott wasn’t held enough as a child, which he stops to think about and is shown to be greatly uncomfortable with in the confessional. Dawn has previously been accurate about the home lives of other players (Zoey and Dakota), so we can assume she’s right. In which case, this is “Scott has a bad home life: part two”. Scott’s parents, at some point, did not meet his emotional needs; whether this was just in early childhood or whether it stayed consistent is unclear, but it’s likely that some of his behavioral issues would have been addressed earlier if his parents were attentive following his most formative years. Because his parents didn’t show him enough affection, he likely turned to either methods of garnering attention elsewhere or through other means, diverted that attention towards desiring victory and/or control for his own self satisfaction divorced from the opinions of other people, and/or a mix of both. We can also reasonably assume that Scott’s poor home life could go beyond simply emotional unfulfillment, since Scott seems worried at the notion of her knowing that, and likely wouldn’t be as concerned if he had nothing else to hide. 

Dawn later seems to compliment Scott, calling him a “beetle whisperer”. He turns up his nose and leaves. This could be because he finds the notion of beetle whispering ridiculous, but I just like to think that Scott’s not used to getting compliments and doesn’t know how to react. Just because that’s kinda more wholesome and Dott’s kinda baller. 

At this point, B melts the Maggots’ fort, and Jo asks Mike to do the “Svetlana thing”. Under pressure, Mike begins to panic a bit, unsure of how to escape the lie he’s found himself in, almost confessing; Cameron helps Svetlana front, saving him from this situation, and Jo regards Svetlana positively. This is just important to me divorced from Scike because not enough of you talk about Jolana. Moving on, Scott notices B melting the Maggots’ fort and momentarily panics, before melting the Rats’ fort instead and blaming B; while Scott has committed sabotage and swayed the team vote before, this is the first time his sabotage has actively caused the team to lose. You’d figure he’d be celebrating, but we don’t see that. After the loss, Mike goes to the confessional and worries about Vito showing up; we can assume that Vito is the hardest to control and/or would lend the most to affecting Mike’s social life, hence why he states that the situation has gotten worse and seems so on-edge. Scott’s finally gaining control in the game, while Mike appears to be losing it. Scott convinces his team to vote for B, and lies without a problem; Scott, it seems, is good at lying through his words, but has a hard time controlling how he emotes physically. Mike is the same; when he lies or hides information, his voice and face/actions don’t seem to mirror the stories he puts together on the fly. Mike’s not a malicious liar, he in fact has every reason to lie about his condition, if you consider lies of omission to be lies at all; but if you do, he is, in fact, a liar, and it takes one to know one. My Mutual Understanding clownery is all coming together. 

In episode four, we mostly see extra examples of previous behavior from Scott: annoyance at his teammates (mainly Sam), selfishness and a lack of consideration for others (not helping Sam up and not caring when his teammates go missing), and being oddly happy over success when he shouldn’t be (excited to find the key). At this point, I began considering the possibility that Scott only likes losing when he’s in control of the loss. To fail when he’s trying to succeed obviously frustrates him, but to fail when he’s trying to fail is a success at failing. In less words, it's the need for power and control, again. Maybe he likes to win sometimes for entertainment, or a sense of accomplishment; he might just do it because he can sometimes. In which case, Scott’s a bit more unpredictable than first thought; he does things largely with one goal in mind, but can push that goal off or come up with other shorter term objectives whenever he feels like it. He’s consistently driven, but the thing he’s driving towards is subject to fluctuate when he gets bored or competitive or wants to feel in control.

On the Maggot side, Mike and company are obviously unhappy with and wary of Jo, but none of them say anything. Mike does, however, tell Cameron that he did a good job. It’s possible that after the last episode, when the two worked together along with Zoey to get up the hill, Mike has started seeing Cameron as another potential friend, as he rarely interacted with Cameron before, and we know they will continue to interact more in future episodes. Zoey says he’s “always encouraging Cameron”, implying that he does this off-screen as well, since (correct me if I’m wrong) this is the first time Mike has directly encouraged Cameron specifically. Mike says that Zoey’s all he thinks about when he’s in control, then laughs nervously, as if he’s afraid this joke is too personal or unrelatable or odd. When Zoey goes missing, Mike notices immediately, and begins to panic; the person he’s most attached to here, his only real friend right now, has just left him alone, and the anxiety is all-consuming. He’s worried about her, and probably also scared of being left alone with the rest of the team, who he’s not as close to. I’m going to draw the line here and say that I think Mike might have social anxiety, just in my personal opinion as someone who also has social anxiety. He’s hyper-aware, afraid of what others think of him, and heavily attached with one or two people. He’s also, apparently, very loyal and protective. He abandons the rest of the group to find Zoey despite the challenge, and is relentless when looking for her in a way that no one else in the challenge has been or will be later.

When Brick goes missing, Mike is concerned for him, as are Cameron and Anne Maria; it’s unclear whether this is because they care for him, they’re scared of missing as well, or a mixture of the two. When Anne Maria stands up to Jo for having a bad attitude, Mike also finds the courage to join her. Having someone who’ll agree with him or make the first move once again gives him a sense of confidence to voice his opinion and, assuming he had Brick in mind like Anne Maria, defend the people he (possibly) cares about without as much fear. Shortly after, he injures himself looking for Zoey; once again, he puts those he cares about above himself, but himself over the layman. 

After Vito fronts for a while, Mike suddenly takes over when he hears Zoey cry out for help and attempts to save her instead of winning. His care for others (Zoey specifically but he could generally be concerned for everyone considering the state of affairs [big spider]) triumphs his need for victory, which again lends credence to the theory that he’s on Total Drama for social reasons more so than monetary ones. In the meantime, Scott’s unabashedly upset about winning the challenge, but again, appears concerned for Brick when he begins crying. When Brick’s switched to the Toxic Rats, Mike, Cameron, and Anne Maria are visibly shocked and upset, showing that they probably did genuinely care for him, making it more possible that loyalty to Brick factored into him standing up to Jo earlier.

In episode five, we start with Scott having a nightmare about a shark (Fang). He’s soon woken up by Brick’s alarm clock, though he’s not grateful for this; in fact, he begins punching the alarm clock as a demonstration of what he’s going to do to Brick later. Is it possible, then, that Scott would rather live in a nightmare, a place of strife and fear, than in a reality where he’s experienced a harmless transgression? Per freaking chance. Shortly after, Scott begins stealing from other players to frame Brick. It’s unclear whether this is because he’s mad at Brick for the alarm clock incident, or whether he recognizes Brick as a weak link on the team. Either way, this is probably the most premeditation we’ve seen from Scott, as his plan continues to develop throughout the episode, versus how he normally takes an action right after coming up with it to immediate success or failure. 

During the challenge, Scott tells Brick to prove his loyalty to the team. There are many reasons he might have done this. One is because it’s simply fun to him; he might like seeing Brick squirm. Another is to gauge his actual loyalty and scope out his strengths/weaknesses to exploit them later. Once again, this could be a combination of the two; Scott doesn’t think highly of Brick, but he seems amused by him being a “doofus”. And after this, we see another instance of Scott ragging on someone (Sam) for being bad at the game despite that working to his advantage. It’s probably another instance of hubris: something along the lines of “I could do better than that; I won’t, but I could”. 

Back to Mike, we see an example of him outright lying. Once again, I don’t blame him or necessarily think this makes him a bad person, but he is outwardly dishonest with Zoey when he claims that he just “gets so deep into character that he [doesn’t] know what [he’s doing]”. He promises to stop playing characters if Zoey wants him to, even though he can’t do that, and tells her she’s the most amazing girl in the world. His love for Zoey triumphs over his logic and planning for the future. He’s so desperate to be loved by her that he doesn’t even consider how to make that happen. This is similar to how Scott’s hatred for people or situations trumps his ability to consider consequences, as seen in episode three especially but also throughout the series. Both of them, despite trying to remain calculated and in control, are often so blinded by their emotions that they act or speak on a whim. 

It’s at this point that I must inform you that I forgot that Scott accused Brick of stealing while he was underwater, making that his motivation for sending Brick down there. However, I do stand by the point that Scott’s also a bit of a sadistic little freak and just likes being mean, because he is. Sailing along, I also find it interesting how Scott has to whittle when he starts getting bored; another addition to the point that he’s impulsive at times. And returning to Mike, Dawn claims that Mike “likes her a lot” and “it’s all over his aura”. And now it’s at this point that I am becoming increasingly aware that Mike’s kind of just Zoey’s plus-one in terms of characterization and this post is pointless in that right, but I’ll be damned if I don’t stretch his actions thin enough to give him an actual personality, and then do the same for Scott, and then make them yaoi out. Mike’s a person that cares so deeply for people that it permeates his aura, the very essence of his being; his priority is to love people (Zoey) and be loved by people (Zoey). 

When Scott finds out that his team got the better boat, despite wanting to lose, he doesn’t miss the opportunity to call them “suckers”. Once again, Scott’s goal is glossed over in favor of being a huge bitch to others. This reminded me of how, similar to how Mike’s a lover and wants to be loved, Scott’s a hater, and I think he might want to be hated. When you think about it, Scott hasn’t done a single kind thing to anyone on the island. He’s never upset when people dislike him, and takes every opportunity to be mean or sarcastic. When he does display a positive emotion, he never tells anyone or joins them in expressing it. Scott seemingly detests having positive relationships, perhaps because he’s simply annoyed and inconvenienced by them, but also perhaps because he’s afraid of losing them or feeling like he’s at the whims of another person’s emotions and wills. And in the end, as we know, Scott’s negative relationships will be his downfall, just like how Mike’s unwillingness to break his positive relationships will be his (as well as, y’know, Scott meddling). While it’s probably unintentional, they’re pretty decent foils for one another. 

We get another Scott lore drop when he says that he’s been shooting kitchen rats with his Pappy since he was six. I’m not sure what to make of this really, I just think it’s kind of fucked up to have your kid shoot rats but like I also didn’t grow up in a hunting area so maybe that’s normal and not psychologically damaging. Later, Dawn tells Scott not to fire anymore goals, and he does anyways, to her annoyance. Scott has to know Dawn is suspicious of him, but he can’t resist pissing her off. See, he needs to make people mad; maybe he does this often, maybe he just wants to be on someone’s mind even if it's negative. He eventually tries to get smart about it and he does get her voted off later, but like, hello. This fucking guy. Even though Scott dislikes Dawn, however, he stops Jo and Anne Maria from hurting her after he frames her for stealing. Either he revels in her misery, or he secretly cares about her a bit; this is supported by the fact that she was the only person he didn’t talk about voting off his team in episode four. Anyways, back to Scott being stupid, he openly brags about his knock-off idols as well, when that’s super suspicious; like he really needed to rub salt in the wound that badly. Dawn even refers to him as soulless and sociopathic, and she’s not wrong. He’s so unconcerned with the wellbeing of others, as well as himself. It seems that nothing truly matters to him in the long term, so long as he continues meeting his short term victories in pursuit of what I believe to be an excuse rather than an actual reason. I think that rather than calculating his actions beforehand, Scott acts and creates a justification later, or a justification he can routinely add to. It seems that Scott might’ve picked the Rats because they were close and therefore easy targets. It would make more sense than his actual “plan”. He hurts people and tries to convince himself that he knows why when he probably doesn’t, which is awful but also somewhat tragic. He might not have a real sense of priorities or identity, but tricks himself into thinking otherwise to, once again, give himself more control. Does this make sense? Whatever, we’re like 5763 words in, it doesn't matter anymore. 

Back to party sciking, in episode six, we see the formation of Team Men with Scott, Brick, and Lightning (and later, Sam). Scott’s finally making allies, and he doesn’t seem too upset about it. I think this might clue us into the idea that Scott does want positive relationships, but maybe doesn’t consciously understand that. He doesn’t fight Brick or Lightning on this when he normally would. Later, before the challenge, Mike tries to compliment Zoey, and in the confessional, she tells him to pick a side. And I feel like if you twist that enough we can get into bisexual territory, but I digress. Mike’s upset at his alters for ruining his relationship with Zoey, and while that’s true, he totally forgets to take into account that his alters are also people who also deserve access to the body. It’s more important to Mike that he gets what he wants rather than his alters get what they want, and above all, it's important that he maintains a firm grasp on his life with little to no interference. But he doesn’t seem aware of the fact that his alters are people. It’s almost like the personhood of someone can be diminished in service of his goals, and that he can cognitively distance himself from his actions if they become too (for lack of a better word) scary for him. This might sound familiar because it’s kind of what Scott does as well. They both hurt people in order to get what they want, it’s just that Mike’s unaware that he hurts people but aware of what he wants while Scott’s aware that he hurts people but unaware of exactly what he wants. 

Zoey talks to Mike again, excited to dress a model, and despite the fact that he’s never shown an interest in fashion, Mike smiles. This is because Zoey’s giving him positive attention again. Mf is a bit of a lapdog to be honest. Scott would probably like someone like that, who’s loyal to a fault. The vision is visioning. Anyways, Mike catches a frog, not much to add but he does do that. Fang tries to catch Scott, and Scott notices and catches him with his own trap. He’s observant. Like Mike. They observe each other. Gay style. Scott also grins when Brick proposes a plan and creates an explosive. While Scott’s probably excited to see it blow up in his face, I like to think Scott also admires him a bit, adding to the idea that he secretly likes some aspects of his peers and just won’t express it. Mike tells Anne Maria that the maggot looks bad, which is slightly uncharacteristic of him but okay. He and Anne Maria were friendly before; maybe he’s trying to pull back in service of making Zoey feel better. He’s kind of destroying this sort-of friendship because he likes Zoey so much. Adding to this, he appears excited when Zoey says she wants to dress the maggot. He appears nervous when Jo argues with Anne Maria as well; whether this is because he still cares about Anne Maria despite everything or because he’s afraid of conflict/Jo is unclear. 

It’s at this point that Scott begins manipulating Zoey. Just put a pin in that. Scott and Mike stand next to each other, if that’s anything? They also move similarly, like they’re subconsciously mimicking each other. Do you understand how difficult it is to write about Scike when it's episode six and the most they’ve actually interacted is standing near each other and looking in the same direction? Scott’s impressed by Sam, which is nice; he actually admires something about someone. I think being around people who he subconsciously wants to be friends with is making him slightly more willing to play the game and be nice to people in his own way. He even looks concerned when the yeti throws Sam, and again when the Maggots lose, like he doesn’t want to vote anyone out. 

IT’S FREAKING TEAM SWAP TIME BABY THEY’RE ON THE SAME TEAM WAHOO!! Mike is immediately concerned, the most concerned out of the maggots. This is in part due to him approaching Zoey, but don’t forget, Mike thinks Scott’s off, he notices the things that he does and the way he behaves. Oh BABY he needs to save his friends from this guy, I smell a hero complex brewing. 

In episode seven, the teams go into the mines. About eight minutes in, Mike finds a hat and excitedly explains that he’s always wanted one, to which Scott makes fun of him for being a “hat loving loser”. This is an uncharacteristically lame insult, which makes me think that Scott already has a distaste for Mike and is looking for any reason to insult him; this is probably because he knows that Mike’s onto him, and he doesn’t enjoy the mortifying ideal of being known. And it’ll ruin his plan or whatever. Later in the challenge, when Manitoba and Cameron are separated from Anne Maria, Zoey, and Scott, Scott tries to pin the split on Mike to get him booted. We can assume that Scott sees Mike as the biggest threat on his new team. 

Later, Mike carries Cameron on his back to safety, and says that he hopes Zoey’s okay, despite him also being exposed to radiation. He thanks Cameron for coming back from him and calls him a friend. He’s just, so loyal to them, I don’t think I can say that enough. His friends mean so much to him. And I think Scott could see that and relate to it a bit, because instead of continuing to badger him, he suggests they lose the packs and find Anne Maria. The two of them, along with Zoey and Cameron, all look annoyed at Chris for not helping them, and Scott follows Mike as he leads the team to Anne Maria. I think it’s interesting that Scott stays with them even as the situation becomes life-threatening, and he even shares their surprise when the other team grabs their statue. The two of them run together to grab the statue and they both look happy to find it, even though Scott supposedly wants to lose. Maybe in this life threatening situation, they found an odd sort of comfort in and appreciation for one another, just for a brief moment. And despite knowing what Scott’s like, Mike trusts him with the statue as he runs off to save Zoey and Cameron, putting his own life in danger. This was obviously a mistake, as Scott throws it out, but for a second, it seemed like Scott was happy for him, when it was just him and Mike. 

So Mike starts literally fucking dying defending his friends. Away from Scike, back to Mike prime, he’s about to be killed by the moles, has every chance to run for himself, and his radiation poisoning is getting worse by the second. But he still stayed behind to defend them. The situation got so dangerous that he even tried to tell Zoey about his DID, before Brick saved them. And that’s just??? SO fucking bananas holy shit. He cares about them so much, I dunno what to say. That’s his defining character trait and his fatal flaw, defending others; and it works even better juxtaposed with Scott, who’s defining trait and fatal flaw is only caring about himself. Foaming at the freaking MOUTH dude. He’s got issues, sure, but man he’s so sweet, love him. After this he’s the first person to confront Chris about this not being about the statues, but rather the mine; he’s more than likely upset that Chris put his friends in danger, especially for these ulterior motives. He’s so upset on their behalf, not even his own, that he stands up to the man who almost got him killed.

After this ordeal, Cameron confronts Mike about having DID. In his fear, Mike’s quick to ask who told him that. He’s afraid, first and foremost, that other people know and are talking about him; afraid that this has made him somehow unlikable or unlovable. At the mention of being able to control it, he’s overjoyed, and immediately agrees to help get rid of Scott. Scott’s the first person outside of Mike’s system who he’s been willing to genuinely disadvantage for his own goals. So Mike does not like Scott. But I feel like it’s an oddly intimate dislike. He dislikes him so personally, understands him so thoroughly with such disdain, for such little personal transgressions, that he’s willing to throw him under the bus to regain control over his situation. That’s special in a way, Scott’s the only person Mike would do that to. And considering how Scott treats everyone with hate as a way to cover his actual wants for human connection, and he hates Mike more than anyone else on the team, I feel like it’s safe to say they have strong mutual negative feelings in a way neither of them have experienced before. In a weird way, right now, with Mike having a sway over the team, he’s kind of more in control than he’s ever been. I can’t explain it, but the way they hurt each other goes beyond average contempt to me. In real life, yes, you shouldn’t hate someone that you have romantic feelings for; but I think something like this in fiction blurs the lines with intensity in regard for one another. It’s a blending of concepts. Lois it insists upon itself, but in a fun and intriguing way. I love when characters hate each other with the intensity and obsession that other characters love each other with. 

It’s 2:40 AM and I just hit my pen so I could really lock in for these last two episodes before Mike’s eliminated but idk if it’s going to work. 

In episode eight, we start off with the teams on the rafts. Scott comes up looking anxious about getting eaten by a shark, and Mike returns the expression, and says that the shark will never find them. This could be Mike comforting himself or comforting Zoey and Cameron, but do you know what it could also be? Comforting Scott. The person he’s responding to. Mike and Scott don’t like each other, but Scott still came to Mike first, and Mike still had it in him not to shame or ignore him. Am I making a big deal out of nothing? Absolutely. 

At this point, Cameron explains to the audience what causes each of Mike’s alters to front: Vito fronts when the body is shirtless, Svetlana fronts when there’s a physical challenge, Chester fronts when frustrated, and Manitoba fronts when the body’s wearing a hat. I’m not sure what to make of Manitoba’s trigger(?), but the others make it apparent that Mike isn’t able to handle or is rarely able to handle physical challenges, frustration, or being shirtless by himself. And this is where I should talk about Mike’s trauma, probably. I’m not going to get too into things here because I’m not an expert on DID and also it could be mildly upsetting, but DID develops due to repeated early childhood trauma and different alters may be better equipped to handle certain feelings, tasks, relationships, or memories than others. Mike had to have experienced this repeated trauma and it likely had some sort of physical component, considering Vito’s triggered by the removal of the shirt and he mentions in his character bio that he doesn’t have any good childhood memories besides maybe riding his bike. This, as well as the rejection we discussed earlier, explains a lot about Mike’s personality unfortunately. He’s used to being hurt, and seeks control, stability, and love for that reason. He’s loyal and quick to form attachments because he probably didn’t/doesn’t have any at home. And he’s self-preserving and protective and aware of his surroundings because of this as well, because he has to be. We don’t know exactly what happened in Mike’s life, though there is an “Uncle Vinny” in his character bio (mentioned by Vito) and it is possible that Chester is an introject of an older relative. Regardless, it doesn’t matter. I would like to return to Scott for a moment, and renew the topic of his home life. We’ve discussed how Scott’s family probably isn’t well off, doesn’t show him enough affection, and likely never disciplined him in a way that stuck considering how he behaves. And his father encouraging him to kill rats for him doesn’t sound great either. Like Mike, it would make sense for Scott to have an unstable/unhealthy home life, and for that to translate in his characters. He also needs power over other people, he pushes away people and refuses to make friends, he has patterns of violence, and he’s fast to learn what makes people tick. 

Back to the scene, Zoey starts by complimenting Mike, which he’s excited about (need for approval, ok). However, he becomes nervous when she says it feels like he’s hiding from her. Then when Dakota starts mutating, Mike is the first to diffuse the situation by stating that her hair is growing back. He also leads the charge in pulling the sign out of the raft. After Dakota throws out the sign, Mike also says that they have to get in the water instead. When Scott reminds him about the shark and tries to refuse, Mike shoves him into the water, annoyed. It’s sort of fascinating how much more dominating Mike is in this episode compared to others. Maybe almost dying (or rather, almost losing his friends) in the mine changed him. Or maybe he has more confidence now that he’s the strongest person in his friend group and he doesn’t care what Scott thinks of him, evident by him forcing Scott into the water when he never would’ve done that to someone else. Mike, again, tells the team to stay quiet to avoid provoking the kraken. Man is going off this episode. He’s instantly annoyed when Scott starts freaking out over the shark, he’s so done dealing with this man that he can’t handle it and Chester takes over. Dude they’re soooo in hate. <3 After this, Scott is irate over his team winning, more than he’s ever been before. His feelings are so strong that he’s focusing extra hard on this faux-goal to destroy his own team. Mike’s also upset because the challenge is dangerous, “even by [Chris’] standards”, probably because the last challenge was also ridiculously dangerous and he’s worried about a repeat.

While Mike and Cameron go ahead to win the challenge at Mike’s behest, Scott talks to Zoey. He knows that Mike has a secret just by watching them, and lets Zoey in on this to manipulate her. After this, Mike and Cameron tell Zoey that Scott’s bad news in return, and she claims that he still has a heart. Mike is saddened by the fact that Zoey trusts Scott more than him, and I just think that’s such a…thing to happen. In trying to keep Zoey close by hiding his DID, he just pushed her away more, towards someone who’s so similar to him yet so different as well. We find out from Cameron that Mike fronts when Zoey’s in danger, because he cares about her that much. Scott also steals the team’s compass from Mike and frames him for losing it, blaming him if they come in last, but he fails when Dakota clears the forest of thorns. Scott keeps losing to someone who should be so easy to beat and who represents everything that he hates: kindness, loyalty, and people who stand up to him. Meanwhile, Mike’s alters are becoming increasingly hard to control, and he’s still unwilling to admit to having DID, afraid this will dissolve the relationship that’s already crumbling due to him not revealing it; he’s stuck in an Ouroboros of fear. Scott, immediately after this, seems to be mocking Mike, loudly saying to Zoey, “Would I lie to you?” Scott just knows how to push this guy’s buttons in the perfect way to piss him off. 

When Scott loses the challenge for them, Mike’s probably the most upset we’ve ever heard him, at least in my opinion. He doesn’t hesitate to let Scott know that he fucked up and that Mike thinks he’s full of shit. Mike tries to get Zoey to vote for Scott, done with this charade; Scott feels the same about playing around like this, and gets Cameron to admit that Mike has DID— but he doesn’t want Mike out yet, he wants to toy with him some more. You can see the horror in his face when Scott pulls out the idol. In order for Dakota to go home, it couldn’t have just been Zoey to vote for her, and Mike and Cameron voted for Scott, and Dakota probably didn’t vote for herself. Scott had to have either voted with her, or voted for himself for fun; but irregardless, he didn’t vote for Mike, even though he’s clearly Scott’s biggest target. He doesn’t just want Mike out, but wants to use him first, something we haven’t seen before. And yes, this is because Scott’s a bad person, and taking advantage of his weaknesses; but having his weaknesses known and used by someone would be a sort of ideal scenario for Mike, despite also being his literal nightmare. He doesn’t have to hide from Scott at all, Scott’s probably the only person that Mike can fully be mad at and confront about that anger. Which is very fucked up, but also oddly close, I guess. It’s a unique relationship, it’s interesting to me. The mortifying yet somewhat comforting ideal of being known going both ways. Toxic yaoi. Hate as an allegory for love. Y’know, the usual. 

The toxic yaoi continues in episode nine baby, we freaking made it. The first line that catches my eye (or ear I guess) is “Multiple Mike thinks he’s a ladies man, what a loser”. First of all, reeks of gay thoughts and unaware jealousy; but second of all, notice how Scott and Mike continuously get more and more openly aggressive with one another. They’re falling into a routine with it, almost. 

This is where Scott introduces the deal— AKA, starts blackmailing Mike to help him win the challenge. Mike’s incredibly upset, and even considers telling Zoey about his DID, but is ultimately still too afraid. He’d rather be used than be abandoned. During the challenge, Mike tries to quip back at Scott for telling him to look in the broom closet, but retracts it when Scott threatens to tell Zoey. He tries to look tough to Scott, but fails. And when Zoey’s in trouble, Scott refuses to let him help her, in favor of making him go through the trash. Like with everyone, Scott likes to see Mike squirm, but I think he’s best at it with Mike, and the most enthusiastic about it too. 

I’d also like to mention here that Mike just kind of gives up and lets Scott pick him up and carry him. Just saying idk you know when you just pick up some guy who you hate instead of making him actually fight for you or run in front of you or whatever. Mike also snarks Scott when his car doesn’t work, which, ok, go off King. Mike finally stands up for himself to help Zoey, the desire to protect her stronger than his fear, but Scott remembers how to trigger Vito to front and uses this to his advantage. 

So, at this point, Vito gets clobbered and Mike has the fight with his alters, and it’s soooo bad, it’s so bad dude. They’re all fighting for control as if the moral isn’t that they should work together, it’s ridiculous, but I guess it also makes sense for Mike to be pushed to this considering everything? Glossing over this, anyways, Mike finally comes clean to Zoey and explains that he didn’t want Zoey to think badly of him. And I know everyone hates this scene, I hate this scene, “multiples just means there’s more Mike to —” yeah yeah yeah yeah fuck off idc that’s not how it works. But at least I think it does help draw a final parallel between Mike’s relationships with Zoey and Scott along with Scott eliminating him. Mike’s able to pursue his loving relationship with Zoey through her finding out about his closest secret, and Mike and Scott similarly are able to freely insult each other and develop this toxic almost-codependent-but-Scott’s-way-worse relationship because they also know each other, they know they’re hiding something and they’re familiar with each other’s personalities because hate drives them to look so deeply into each other. Mike gains Zoey and loses his dynamic with Scott, and vice versa, back and forth. These relationships can’t coexist, both because they’re so polarizing but also so similar in their intensity. 

I didn’t watch the entirety of episodes ten through thirteen because it’s 4 AM and this is a Scike post, a 9274 word Scike post. But I did scrub through them and I would like to throw out there the Icarus imagery in episode ten when Zoey burns Scott for what he did to Mike, like Scott got too close to the sun or too in over his head, and Mike was his ultimate downfall. I’m also just going to skitter on past the “Mike makes fun of Scott while he’s in the trauma chair” because what the fuck. What was that.

The relationship between Mike and Scott in canon is, admittedly, less significant in canon than it is in my head, and less well-written and intriguing than I pretend it is, and it’s not healthy, and no matter how I spin it they never actually made up or understood each other in a major tangible way. But I think they should have. I think having them be characters who begrudgingly understand each other and care for each other in a way they don’t acknowledge or even recognize would give them some much-needed depth and maybe consistency. Scott in canon has no close relationships, and the two that Mike has weren’t necessarily great throughout the season even though I like to think that they are. It would be good for them. Adding a few more layers to each of them would explain a lot about their goals, their mannerisms, the contradictions in their personalities; it would make them both more sympathetic and relatable, into some maladjusted teenagers looking for an outlet rather than just a good guy and a bad guy who hate each other. 

In conclusion, this post didn’t make much sense, and it was kind of a waste of time. But it was fun to think about these guys, and I could fix them, and also they’re more toxic in canon than first thought but I’m not necessarily complaining, because what’s a character without conflict and what’s a story without a theme? I didn’t edit or organize it, this was more or less my notes from rewatching the first nine episodes of ROTI. I’m aware it was super repetitive and rambly but I don’t have the time or energy to clean it up so, make of them what you will. Maybe this gave you a new perspective on Mike and Scott, maybe it didn’t, I dunno, I’m indifferent now, perchance. Like and subscribe for more Party Sciking. I need them to hold hands and wear the get along shirt and go to therapy. This ended up being more or less 9,738 words. Hope everything’s right in this, let me know your thoughts but please don’t tell me if you hate it. Goodnight Miami. 

[insanepoll]

INSANE CHARACTER TOURNAMENT: REVIVAL ROUND, ELIMINATION, GROUP 3 POLL 2

PROPAGANDA FOR MAHITO.

PROPAGANDA FOR DABI.

PROPAGANDA FOR SEO MOON-JO.

PROPAGANDA FOR JINX.

[ID: Background is a cartoon backyard. It is separated into 4 sections by golden lightning, intersected in the middle by a "VS" sign. On each section, there is a photo of a contestant. /End ID.]

[real-total-drama-takes]

https://www.tumblr.com/real-total-drama-takes/736503384328290304/httpswwwtumblrcomreal-total-drama-takes73525

you too! /j

in fact im gonna go further!

-the merge for every season except the current one (since i count the final 9 in rr as the merge) SUCKS!! theyd all be way better if their orders of elimination were flipped

-the only good gen 2 characters are staci, lightning, brick, sam, jo and s5 scott

-jasmine or sky shouldve been left on the island instead of dave (or leave ella and scarlett there in the max vs sugar finale that we shouldve got)

-dramarama had the only good theme song of the franchise. oh and all the world tour songs suck.

-kitty/mickey/taylor wouldve been a better love triangle than any ones we actually got

-*fred jones voice* I THINK SAMKOTA SUCKS!

.