#Life series analysis

[astronomodome]

(link to twitter post)

This is so right though… I feel like this is a feature of the ‘new’ kind of life serieses (NOT to make that a term or to imply any stage of the life series is any better or worse than another) where things are more well understood. It’s not Grian’s experimental miniseries anymore; it’s its own thing with expectations behind it, one of those being that players will separate out into teams as units through which the season will be understood. And I feel like, especially in later seasons*, this has led to a sort of unnatural drive during the first session or two to sort themselves and each other out into teams. Instead of the players being separated in (often fluid) allegiance based on interaction and genuine points of conflict it feels noticeably more arbitrary, based on the understanding that they should have a (marketable) team dynamic ready to go day one.

Not to be all hurr durr new life series bad, I feel as though this not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s something I think should be understood from an analysis standpoint. Especially as we look at arcs like sl!scar and the heart foundation where they were very much shaped by (failure or struggle to) sort themselves into a coherent unit

*I feel as though this really started in limlife though I think this may be a personal bias thing since that’s the first season I watched live

If anyone has further thoughts on this I’d love to discuss with the class :3

[allay-uxini]

Thinking about the blue sword boys and the fact that even though they were one of the first alliances in the entire series the three of them never teamed up together with only two of them ever teaming up and the third being an enemy.

In 3rd life Grian was serving Scar and was opposing Martyn and BigB of the red army

In last life Grian and Martyn were teamed up as the southlanders with BigB in the fairies of the castle alliance (hilariously Martyn then betrayed the southlanders to join BigB and become the shadow alliance)

In double life Grian and BigB were secret soulmates with Martyn joining Ren (the guy BigB was cheating on) and Pearl to become the broken hearts club. Grian and BigB were part of the red team and Martyn the yellow team.

In limited life after Grian lost his bad boys he joined BigB's alliance of the nosy neighbours who were enemies of the Mean Gills, Martyn's alliance (not 100% sure I haven't finished watching the finale)

Somehow it was only until secret life that the three of their paths (at least in terms of actually being allies/enemies) never crossed which hilariously means that this alliance has a more convincing "bound by faith" narrative than desert duo, renchanting or box boys (not to throw any hate to them I LOVE those duos don't worry)

Something also needs to be said about how back in 3rd life BigB was the ONLY one to still use a diamond sword with Grian switching to a netherite sword (he no longer uses diamond, he's no longer by their side but he's still the same Grian from day one, a Grian who still loves BigB) and Martyn a diamond axe (he's still blue, he's still by BigB's side but their dynamic has changed into something unrecognisable, no longer two blue boys but rather a hand and a soldier in a brutal war).

I just think there's a lot of untapped potential with this trio that the fandom is sleeping on.

[samathekittycat]

inside the life series universe, of course it's fun to mess with jimmy! look at the guy, no one respects him!

"jimmy died first! again! how clumsy, how stupid! he's bad at the game, what a loser!"

but you want to know what i think? i think that it's all a front, a lovely comedic shield to hind behind.

how terrifying the mere concept of jimmy solidarity is: The Canary in the Life Games. he's there, trying to survive, just like the rest of them! gathering supplies and finding allies...

everyone knows he's going to die.

well, obviously everybody's going to die. that's the whole point. but these games are uncertain, literally amything is possible! all except that First Permanent Death

how reassuring must it be for them, to know that they are safe as long as the canary stays alive! they have a security blanket, they can rest assured that even if they lose everything, even if it all burns down, at least they'll survive! at least they have a chance to win!

how do you then treat the canary? do you confront your ugly feelings of pity and shame? shame at your relief that it's him instead of you?

is it really any suprise they all refuse to take jimmy seriously? if they did, they'd have to acknowledge the horror of his existence.

[crystaljellie]

There's gonna be a big long post coming later today, got really inspired by all the love on my song analysis post so I've decided I'm going to take every song in my Scott playlist (There's 46) and go through and do a mini analysis for each of them! This'll be a bit of a project since I'll try to do this for every lifer of course some playlists are much shorter than others with my smallest playlists (BigB, Mumbo, Impulse and Bdubs) only having 8 songs, but this is something really fun for me and I hope it's enjoyable!

[mleemwyvern]

Life Series Solar System- a Winner's Symbolism Ramble

So we all know the winners of a life series get assigned space motifs, right? We've got sun, stars, and moon solidly covered. What about the planets?

I'm Mleem, I go feral about symbolism in an unscripted block people series, and here's the list of which lifer I would assign to each of the planets. This list does not contain all lifers. I do not have ideas for all lifers. I have planets and I'm a space nerd.

MERCURY- SCAR

All planets but Earth are named after Roman deities. Some domains of the god Mercury include trickery, thievery, and commerce. Sound like anyone? GoodTimesWithScam himself is right at home with all of that. It's also the closest planet to the sun [gestures at desert duo] and its very high temperature seems fitting for HotGuy.

VENUS- SKIZZ

Venus is the goddess of love. Love is stored in the Skizz. He's been the kindest person throughout his series, and puts his love for his friends over all else. Plus, Heart Foundation. Venus as a planet, however, is an extremely brutal and deadly place, just like how Skizz can easily succumb to bloodlust. He may be loving, but he is not harmless.

EARTH- GEM

Gem is extremely associated with nature, with her cottagecore aesthetic being one of the reasons. But Gem also embodies the darker parts of nature- she is deadly and predatory. She is life in all its parts, fitting for our living planet. She's also a great duo with Pearl, our local moon!

MARS- MARTYN

Listen, I know Martyn's cosmic motif is debated, but I really think Mars fits him. First off, his name means "devoted to mars". Secondly, the hand of dogwarts and the victor with the most brutal win works very well with the planet named for the god of war.

JUPITER- IMPULSE

The biggest planet, named for a god of storms and lightning. Electrical impulses, perhaps? True to its name, Jupiter is a stormy planet, with its very well-known Great Red Spot being a storm that never stops. Seems fitting for the guy who never, ever lets a grudge go. Also, fun fact- Jupiter has a nearly identical composition to that of a star. And they're both Scotts.

SATURN- BDUBS

Yes, I know he built the earth, but hang on a second. While Saturn, in Roman mythology, is most well known for. uh. something horrible, he was also the titan of time. Something Bdubs is very, very associated with. Saturn as a planet is known for it's beautiful rings, which. Just feels very Bdubs to me. Maybe it's the canonical marriage in Double Life.

URANUS- JOEL?

This is the one I'm least certain on. The Joel association is mainly vibes, pulling from the fact that Uranus in mythology was a sky god (the first one, before Jupiter showed up) and so was Joel in Empires. But really, it's mostly because he'd find the name funny. Someone had to be it.

Uranus is also sideways. The planet is on its side compared to everything else in the Solar System. This doesn't help the Joel vibes, I just wanted to mention it.

NEPTUNE- LIZZIE

What better lifer for the planet named after the god of the seas, than the Ocean Queen herself? An incredibly distant planet, and a player that hasn't joined many series, Neptune also has a very interesting trait to its orbital path- very rarely, it will cross that of Pluto, making Neptune the most distant. And that brings us to...

PLUTO- JIMMY

Who else but our canary in the coal mine, first to fall all but once, to take the (dwarf) planet named for the god of the underworld. Death, and the underground. Demoted once-planet with cringefail swag, yet still beloved by many. The furthest away from the center of our solar system, and perhaps thats why he's so vulnerable to dying first. Maybe Lizzie and him crossed orbits, and that's why she fell first instead.

[allay-uxini]

Ok so there are a lot of thematic parallels and subversions in scar’s ending and I highly doubt I will be able to scratch the surface of all of them but here are the main ones (warning this is a lot):

3rd life parallels

-Before the final dual Pearl asked Scar to take her out for the hearts but Scar refused as he wanted a fair fight which is similar to how Scar told Grian to kill him but he refused

-The final dual was a 1v1 between Scar and Pearl reminiscent of the cactus ring where the loser died from falling from a height however this time scar was the victor

-The person in chat who let Scar know that he won was Grian which can be interpreted as Grian congratulating a former ally and him showing scar his sympathy as they now share the same pain of killing an ally and being left complete alone

-Grian won on a cliff during the day, Scar won in a ravine at night

Double life

-Scar won without any proper allies which is very similar to Pearl’s win in double life where she was completely alone and abandoned by everyone with both of them vilified by the rest of the server and not being in the best mental state because of it

-In double life Scar was the only person who consistently cared for Pearl and supported her in her crazy antics and he never tried to seriously hurt her even after he turned red, sure she did end up forming the broken hearts alliance with you and Ren but only after you both left her. Pearl letting Scar into the mounders alliance feels like Pearl’s way of repaying him back for the kindness he gave to her

-Pearl letting Scar join her alliance can also be seen as her making sure Scar doesn’t go through the same thing as her allowing him to have some form of friends, to not feel so alone like how her victory was even if for a short time and she also let’s Scar have his dual as a way to not repeat Scott’s sacrifice

-Pearl is said to have “left the tower” as she has proper allies now who she loves and is loved by and people are now saying that Scar has “left the desert” as he fought in a 1v1 and won and he never teamed up with Grian finally letting him go. They have left their trauma and can now heal.

-The fact that the final battle was between Scar and Pearl makes the Scarlet Pearl parallels much sadder

limited life

-You and Scar both only won when you weren’t with your 3rd life ally (Ren and Grian) and you both won with the main symbol of your 3rd life alliance (dogwarts banner for you, lilacs and poppies for scar)

-You both defied a main convention of winners in the life series with you winning by not having a fair battle and going insane and Scar being the only winner not to die

-Scar killed both Cleo and Etho who were his “parents” in limited life

-Scar's response to being accepted into the mounders was "so you're saying I have a family now" which is reminiscent of the clockers family which was arguably his happiest and healthiest alliance

Non-specific

-Scar was the only winner who chose to not die in the end and is still alive. He could have died by letting the zombie that was attacking him kill him but he didn’t. Is trapped by the watchers or has he escaped them, is he eternally alone or is he the only one free? Who knows but the fans will go insane about it regardless.

-The first one out, Lizzie, and Scar the winner were both the ones without allies and were completely alone in the series

-The mounders alliance that he joined has Bdubs who was his limited life ally and Joel who was his Last life ally

-Scott didn’t want Scar and Jimmy to team up initially because of Jimmy’s curse and Scar's notorious bad habit of not paying attention to how much damage he taken, out of fear that they'd get each other out but the canary curse was broken and scar won

-Earlier in the episode Scar said "who cares, really, know, at the end? we all just die, and then it's just nothing, after this" however he never died in the end subverting his own line

-Scar was alone and isolated for the whole series yet he has the thematic parallels to 3 out of the 4 winners (I only watched last life in Lizzie’s perspective so I got nothing for Scott)

Rn now these are only ones I can think of. If I missed any then everyone else will have you covered. Inthelittlewood if you have read all of this then I hope this was entertaining. I absolutely loved this series and everyone did such a fantastic job. I hope you have a wonderful day and can hopefully endure the insanity that has descended onto this fandom.

how you feeling about scars ending? there were so many little nuggets of stuff that what really kinda poetic- whether it was purposeful or not

Please elaborate on the poetic bits, I've yet to watch his episode yet. I'm actually clueless as to what happened after I died because life has been none stop for me since that session!

Would be good to have those deets ahead of my lore chat stream in a few days

[nerdyenby]

Sorry, your boyfriend got reincarnated. Yeah, he doesn’t remember that time you murdered him with your bare hands. He doesn’t know how much you love him. He doesn’t know that you’ve killed for him. He doesn’t know that you’ve killed him. He doesn’t know it’ll happen again. As he takes your hand and your heart, and you laugh from atop an animal the two of you ride together, he doesn’t know you’ve been here before. He doesn’t know it’ll happen again.

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Just thinking about how when Nina was taken captive by Drüskelle not only was it obviously awful but it was also probably acting on something that Nina already struggled with because she was held captive by the Darkling on a skiff when she was 14/15 with the other Grisha students who were evacuated to Keramzin and I don’t think that being held captive belowdecks of a ship and a skiff would feel all that different

[allay-uxini]

YOU PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS

One is the champion of the stars and the other the champion of the moon

One dances at the top of the world and the other used to reside there

One who had to accept a sacrifice and the other who refused it

One surrounded by friends and companions, revered and respected by all and the other alone, forgotten and underestimated

One who's feared by all during secret life and the other who was feared during 3rd life yet deep down they're both kind souls who just want to have fun and be free

Scar was once like Gem, bold and adventurous, didn't care for the rules placed upon him, viewing the world as nothing but a silly game, always taking everything for granted..... That is, until he couldn't anymore

Until he had to learn what it's like to be alone, unable to escape the rules of the game forcing him to fall into solitude

Perhaps he sees his past self in Gem, bold, naive, not a single care in the world

Perhaps that's why he can spot Gem's trap, because he too was once unafraid of taking risks and overconfident, willing to take his chances even if they don't work out

Perhaps that's why he had to kill her, to finally kill a version of himself long gone, a version who would choose to create a sand monopoly rather than mine for resources that would actually help him, a version who isn't afraid to step on the toes of the members of the server with the strongest enchantments, a version who was willing to start an entire war for the sake of a llama, a version who took his only companion for granted

save me sl!gem and sl!scar as character foils save me

[allay-uxini]

Scar, the Mounders and the Roomies

So you remember how during secret life the mounders and the roomies had their battle in the towers and how Scar just kinda showed up and on a whim decided to join the mounders. If you really think about it Scar should be nowhere near this battle, it does nothing for him as he could have just stayed on the ground to preserve hearts and avoid taking damage, he has zero loyalties to either side and barely cares for which team would remain on top. And yet, somehow, this battle had Everything to do with Scar.

Why?

Because EVERY single person he had ever had a connection to was in that battle

let’s look at the mounders

Joel: last life ally, were once Magical Mountain and even though their alliance was short, he still was one of the (surprising) few people scar had a connection with (I need to make posts about “looks like you’ve found your alliance Scar” and “Scar sends his regards”)

Bdubs: limited life ally, his brother from the Clockers family

Pearl: though weren’t quite allies they had a strong friendship in double life with torturing each others soulmates with powdered snow

then there are the roomies

Cleo: limited life ally, his mother from the Clockers family

Etho: his absent father in limited life who he had a messy relationship with but he had plenty of moments with him so it still counts

Grian: 3rd life and double life ally, his soulmate and partner in monopolies

There wasn’t a single person in that battle who wasn’t strongly related to Scar and every person Scar had a proper relationship with in the life series was in that battle, yet he was an outsider, never supposed to be in the fight, but he somehow still manages to get involved. The fact that this was all COMPLETELY unscripted yet stuff like this happens blows my mind

[moon1ee]

can we talk about how crazily devoted to his team joel "is eternally lonely in every life series" smallishbeans is to the bad boys?

screeching YOU CAN'T TAKE OUR GRIAN!!! and panicking the second anything happens to him? shoving people off bridges and threatening them after they try and attack jimmy? that incredibly smooth disarming of a tnt minecart and his absolute rabid kill on martyn after he stole grian? plus the way he was visibly restraining himself from killing people after getting turned back green was so funny.

he's absolutely batshit insane and devoted to a goal and it's so interesting to see that single-minded focus turned on protecting a group of people.

[ladidatt]

This session was something for sure! I was constantly bobbing between ecstasy and depression. (I was left in depression as mumbo died😢). What with the almost pointed questions (why did the bot have to do scar like that) and the mace alliance (is it even an alliance?) it all seemed a bit specific to desert duo. Can all that really be a coincidence? Here's my headcannon.

The watchers made this series to mainly feed off the emotions of the players. Out of all the emotions they have had, grief was their favorite one (they generally preferred negative emotions). So, they put them in a game that one could not really win.

The first season was Grian's win. To the watchers this was almost perfect (the only thing they were unhappy about was that Grian had won). After killing Scar he was a sea of grief, and the watchers could feast.

The second season, they considered a failure. This time Scott won. They would have preferred almost anyone else. Even after winning the death game he did not have much negative emotions. In fact, he had a sense of victory. The watchers out of anger and shame killed him on the spot.

Double life was much more successful in their eyes. Pearl had given them a constant stream of negative emotions. Upon her death she left behind a huge amount of rage and not enough greif. She even left behind relif. This was far from perfect.

In limited life Martyn gave them a huge mocktail of negative emotions, but his cons overweighed his pros. He was aligned with the listeners. He asked much too many questions. Upon his win they sped up the clock and waited him to die. He left behind grief but it wasnt nearly enough.

Scar constantly radiated greif and lonliness in this season. They decided to keep him and feed off him until the next games. But they still longed for the huge amount of grief that had cured their hunger for weeks during the first game.

I think real life was not something the watchers had control over. It was a regular minigame conducted by the players which they subconsciously built to resemble the watchers games.

In wild life, I feel the watchers are chasing that perfect formula they had in third life. Renchanting is back, and they are trying to bring desert duo back through the bots and stuff. They had tried the same in double life but that had failed. They hope for better results this season so they can once again make them kill each other.

[allay-uxini]

OMG THIS WAS MY ANON ASK!!! (My sincerest apologies for how long this post has become but you've enabled me and I NEED to talk about how fitting this song is)

I've been having plans on trying to assign every single life series character with a Vocaloid song and I wanted some second opinions on Joel cause I only watched his secret life pov and only know him from Lizzie so I sent this to you and I feel SO VALIDATED RIGHT NOW!!! I was actually thinking of one of your posts when I first made the connection to this song with Joel but it wasn't the two you thought of but rather this one as this song is about not caring about the meaning of life and just dancing which I feel is very appropriate for Joel "killer of lore" smallishbeans. So many of the lyrics just fit:

"After all is said and done, a revolutionary agenda. Well, then, should I stop my finger right away?" This is 3rd life and how everyone was split between two fractions but Joel doesn't have a strong loyalty to either.

"A mental image that reminds me of my previous existence, a capital fallen in ruins" [insert magical mountain here]

"I'm ready, ready to go, going back is scary. Then, should we move forward until the end without turning back?" This is just accurate to Joel's character in general

"Ahh, no matter how much you sigh, tomorrow won't wait" I personally like to interpret this as Joel talking to Scar when he was hesitating in breaking the cobble bridge as a kind of "you can cut me off, it's fine" but this can be Joel talking to any of his allies

"If this world were to come to an end right now, I wouldn't care one bit" [insert "the ship burns everything burns" here]

"Everything is just nonsense. Give me all these priceless feelings" Again this post

"The reason of my existence, the reason why I was born. This empty head of mine can't understand them at all. Even if I dream of the other world, right now, I'm in this one." THIS! This is PEAK Joel. This is just so perfect to his character it's insane!

"The frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean yet so crawl up from the bottom and look at the world" reminds me of the way Joel doesn't let the pain from the previous seasons define him, always letting him laugh and love despite the blood (again it feels like him talking to one of his allies, probably Grian)

"God too, right now, let's dance!" I feel like this is Joel talking to Grian and just telling him "So what you're some kinda watcher thing, just dance!" Just completely disregarding the lore in typical Joel fashion

Thank you so much for seeing my vision and thank you for spreading my Life Series x Vocaloid propaganda and another apologies for how long this got.

Hey so since you have one of the best if not THE BEST takes of Joel Smallishbeans character I wanted to ask how accurate is this song to his character: https://youtu.be/w8o1R8zmcnk?si=A0ksQfNv4Mvcx3K7

I was listening to it again after I got into the life series I feel like the whole "not caring about the past/living in the present" energy if this song really fits him!

first of all, thank you so much, anon!! i'm so honoured that my takes are that well appreciated, and that you wanted to hear my opinion on this song. speaking of which, holy hell, you're onto something. it reminds me specifically of this and this post - the mood the lyrics give off, in my opinion, is one of kind of having your eyes unveiled as to the meaninglessness of existence and consequently deciding not to give a shit anymore, in a way? its vibe is very going-off-the-rails, which fits perfectly with my idea of a joel who, after seasons upon seasons of trying desperately to keep his humanity, eventually gets consumed, is broken by it all and decides, fuck it. nothing matters. everything does. basically just. joel slowly losing himself, and this song captures that concept very well. once again, thank you, anon, i have been enriched <3

[funkyplantguy]

something about mumbo consistently dying by his own hand. something about mumbo being the harbinger of his own doom, his own demise. something about him being so terrified of death but constantly wishing it upon himself

[arbitersart]

Had some thoughts on the structure of recent life series seasons and went into english major mode. Thought it was worth sharing here too!

[royallygray]

obsessed with the way op analyzes everything oh my gods

Again, if you found this before the Start Post or TIES’ post, go back and read! I’m going through and analyzing the matching wounds for each LimL alliance

Continuing off of TIES’ section; they all had a shaky past with Bdubs, so it’s really no surprise they ended up in conflict with the Clockers

But speaking of the Clockers, let’s look at them next. For the Clockers, all three of them have issues with day 1 crews, on how they focus on this randomized group above all else. Except they have different issues regarding it

There was a lot of Bdubs slander in the TIES section so let’s start with him. I’ve already mentioned that he’s very headstrong, but he Is well meaning. For the Crastle, he was acting in defense of Cleo and everyone who sought shelter in their walls. For the snow fort, he was acting in defense of Etho, seeing team BEST as a conduit for this. In DL he poured his heart and soul into his alliance with Impulse. The connection with these three is also shown symbolically- remember, it’s canon that he was married to all three in their respective seasons! His loyalties lay with them above all else, and everything he did was always done For Them

(And yes, the marriage thing makes it Hella Weird with LimL introducing family dynamics. Personally, I go chronologically with things. If the marriage was introduced Before the family dynamics, the marriage is what I go with. If the family dynamics were introduced Before the marriage, the family dynamics are what I go with. It’s not perfect, especially with SL calling back to LimL, but moving on)

But with him pouring everything into defending his One Person, he has a bad habit of either disregarding or outright hurting other allies. In his mind, once they’ve become a threat, they will always Be a threat to him and his One Person.

In 3L, I would argue the firing squad wasn’t about the helmet, but about Dare to Flare, the deadly minigame Tango had set up as a loophole for murder. Bdubs thought the lesson would be learned and Tango would just. Go back to being their ally, but he didn’t see that he’d just pushed Tango away. Bdubs was also quick to catch that Impulse was playing all sides, losing his trust in him even as Cleo wanted to keep Impulse as a double agent.

Bdubs went along with it for her, the same way he went along with other alliances that Cleo had decided to negotiate. But when Cleo was gone before him, he was completely lost! The moments after Cleo’s death are honestly HARROWING from Bdubs’s point of view. One moment they’re talking, the next Cleo is attacking Ren and is struck down. Bdubs is surrounded, he is alone, and is made to understand that nobody is coming to save him, not even Impulse, who was present for this! I think a part of him blames Impulse specifically for Cleo’s death, with Impulse failing to act against Dogwarts in that moment. It’s irrational as hell but that’s where he’s at. Impulse was playing all sides and, in Bdubs’ mind, had just cost him the One Person Bdubs truly cared about

So again, OF COURSE he turned on Impulse!! He had zero reason to trust him!!

In LL things got oh so much more complicated. I don’t think Bdubs ever intended to be a part of a larger group, he only intended to be with Etho. So he was Mainly tolerating Tango and Skizz so long as 1) they helped the overall group and 2) Etho wanted to stay. Except Tango and Skizz were clumsy on missions and had issues communicating with him and Etho, who were very close and had an easier time planning and communicating. Etho’s lighthearted jabs at this turned sharper through Bdubs’ comments and actions. I think Bdubs was frustrated with being put in the same situation he was in last season- having to stay with an alliance he Did Not Want for the sake of his One Person, and his comments/actions reflect that

He was willing to see them die and use them for Lives for the overall group, but he wasn’t willing to let Etho go down- which is again seen in the Wither fight. It’s also seen in his final death, with him turning on his fellow Reds since he thought it meant he could make it back to Etho’s side

Then in DL, he doesn’t learn his lesson! He only doubles down, making it clear to Impulse where his loyalties lie. Bdubs Only Cares About Impulse, and they’re more than willing to watch the world burn as a unit. Bdubs wanting them to be home wreckers also serves as him putting his foot down- refusing to be a part of alliances he doesn’t like. I don’t think they had any allies this season aside from one another, which honestly worked perfectly for them in DL!! Bdubs was able to fulfill a role that came naturally to him and Impulse didn’t have to worry about the stress of maintaining a larger group

And it’s because they worked so well together that Bdubs can’t wrap his head around the idea that He Killed Impulse. Bdubs knows that he would never, EVER, do something like that to his One Person, so Impulse asking for an apology in LimL comes as a complete shock to him.

And I think it’s something that affects LimL for him as a whole, but also ties back to the setting. Again, it’s made clear that Nobody is surviving this, so it would be pointless for Bdubs to act in defense of his One Person. With him being unable to focus on this as his motivation, he’s forced to focus on a group, on the Clockers (HOWEVER he still has his devastating connection to Etho and that’s not going away anytime soon). This also forces him to confront the issues that caused previous teams to fail

And I’d argue Cleo’s in a very similar spot as him

Cleo’s loyalties had always been her day 1 crew, with her standing by them regardless of what happened. They belonged to the group and the group belonged to them as equals. If the ship was going down, then goddamnit Cleo would go down with it, which is especially seen in 3L with her attacking Ren. Cleo wanted to be done with this war and this entire conflict and thought that if they just struck now, if they just killed Ren, their issues would be over. Remember, the Crastle’s main conflict was regarding Dogwarts! Cleo didn’t know who to trust because Impulse was always acting all buddy-buddy with the red banners and Tango was off doing his own thing.

I think this is also why Cleo ran off to Scott as a backup alliance before then- Scott presents himself as being a safe person, someone who stays out of conflict but defends himself when needed. Cleo needed that backup alliance for reassurance, since it was clear that Bdubs was likely going to die before her. Not only that but the aforementioned trust issues with the rest of her party. (And yes! This is a contradiction of them “going down with the ship,” we call that a Character Flaw)

Except that plan falls through when Scott dies, by Ren’s hand no less, and Cleo’s right back in the scenario they’d been in before. They’re right back to wondering when the other shoe was going to drop

So them attacking Ren was a moment of frustration, wanting clarity and lashing out against the source of her problems; Ren

Except this act is what did Cleo in, and she never really got to see where any of them stood. Well, except for Bdubs but I already discussed him At Length

LL was again, an ENTIRE mess for Cleo. The whole gimmick in LL was there to make people distrust the people around them, and BOY HOWDY did Cleo distrust people! She was never fully sold on the Fairy Fort but thought that if they just stayed together, then they’d be able to defend each other- strength in numbers! Really, BigB was the only person that Cleo fully trusted, with them having their own separate base together and Cleo going to BigB when she didn’t trust the rest of the group.

Again, she values her day 1 ally above all else, and in this season that was BigB. They stood together as equals, even with Lizzie and Ren at their side.

Which makes it all the more heartbreaking when BigB turned on her, because she would never, EVER do the same to him. They were equals, it was them against the world and BigB had just gone against that bond. Cleo also refuses to emphasize with his perspective because of the fact that BigB had AMPLE opportunity to tell Cleo he was cursed, but he just Didn’t. She trusted him, she trusted the fort, and she would never make that same mistake twice

Cleo once again retreated to Scott. He and Pearl welcomed her with open arms and provided what stability they could for her, considering Cleo was flirting with death every other episode. They also helped Cleo get her revenge, making it abundantly clear that they stood With Her. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, both of them told her when they were the boogeyman. There were Zero secrets between the three of them and Cleo was never given a reason to question their loyalty. Communication is key!

And here’s where things flip. Cleo goes from supporting her day 1 crew above all else, to the understanding that a day 1 crew isn’t a guarantee. Said crew has only ever caused her problems, and Cleo only ever found stability with her second option

So when DL rolls around, Cleo’s left in a weird spot. Their day 1 ally is the one person who was ever stable for them, Scott, with her designated ally, Martyn, causing problems right off the bat. Except Martyn isn’t the only one that brings trouble for them, with Pearl being a near constant threat to her and Scott. Both her first option, And her backup are causing problems. So now it’s not a question of who’s loyal to her, but who she wants to align herself with.

And Cleo Doesn’t Know. She stays with Scott for the most part, but is also willing to hear Martyn out as he makes a fool of himself trying to get her back. But I think the main thing that draws Cleo back to Martyn is the fact that they’re linked- that if Martyn hurts her, he hurts himself. That’s a reassurance Cleo doesn’t get with Scott as an ally, and ultimately what drives their decision to turn against Scott in the finale

So in case you didn’t catch it- the similarity for Bdubs and Cleo is specific to their tie to their One Person/day 1 alliance. They’re willing to do Everything for this person/group but are consistently either harmed or causing harm through that connection. For Cleo it causes her to be paranoid but for Bdubs it makes him double down on that loyalty. They end up balancing each other out in LimL, but what about Scar?

For Scar, he ONLY has his day 1 ally and no one else. This was quickly established for him in 3L, with Grian being the only person to consistently stand by him. Scar didn’t see this as a part of their agreement, he saw this as a decision Grian made over and over again. This is even expressed in his speech at the end of 3L, with Scar offering his life to Grian in return for everything he’d done to keep Scar alive. They started out together, and they would ultimately die together. And, most importantly, Scar didn’t have anyone else to turn to. It was made abundantly clear that nobody else would take him in, both with Grian being the only person to attempt an alliance at the start and with Scar being put on his red name so early on. Scar ultimately decides that if people aren’t with him through fate, they will never stand by him, and he’s fine with it! At first

Scar goes into LL with the same expectation, that his team would stay together until the bitter end and everyone else is against him. Except Joel is extremely quick to go down to red, an alliance that Scar is never really able to salvage. This leaves Scar alone, and he accepts this as an immediate Fact. He doesn’t see the point in reaching out to anyone, opting instead for scams and empty threats, the same tactic that worked so well for him last time.

And that sort of becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, with him turning away potential allies through his actions. He thought he’d end up alone and created a scenario where he Was Alone. Really, this only serves to reinforce the idea that he will always end up on his own

Enter; DL

This season HEAVILY reinforced his previous mindset, but it also gave him a reason to fight against it. Scar didn’t Have a day 1 alliance, he was fully willing to base alone and to be without a soulmate. Except Grian comes along to drag him into an alliance

And this mirrors 3L to a T but it ALSO flips their dynamic. Grian wasn’t following Scar’s lead, Scar was following his. From his perspective, Scar was the one doing whatever he could to maintain them, and Grian was the one endangering himself. Again, this is opposed to 3L when Scar was endangering himself and Grian was doing everything he could to maintain them

Except Grian does nothing but sabotage their relationship. I think the flipped roles here kind of forces Scar to realize “oh, I’m not destined to be alone, I push people away.” But there’s also an added layer on top of that- Grian doesn’t respect him.

I’ve mentioned that little tidbit in other posts, but Scar really isn’t respected this season! 3L he was respected as a threat, LL he lost that respect through the travelling salesman bit, and DL puts him in a weird spot. He’s respected as a Loose Cannon but isn’t respected as his own person- as in people have a reason to be wary of him but don’t consider his opinions on plans and other things

So going into LimL, Scar’s fully expecting the same treatment and is more or less blindsided by how supportive the Clockers were. His day 1 crew stuck with him!! Not day 1 Ally, day 1 CREW. He finally had a group that stood with him

Somewhat unrelated but I think it’s also important to note that Scar doesn’t expect to survive in Any season. He’s operating under the assumption that death is imminent, wanting to live a life of fun and luxury in what time he still has. In other words, he’s staring with the worldview that’s taught in LimL!! It’s challenged repeatedly but keeps getting reinforced

But to recap; the three of them value their day 1 ally above all else, and are lost without said ally. Bdubs doesn’t know what to do with himself if he doesn’t have his One Person, Cleo becomes paranoid if their day 1 ally is distrustful, and Scar typically doesn’t form connections with Anyone if he doesn’t have a day 1 ally.

But on top of that, Bdubs and Scar are usually following in their teams. Bdubs is headstrong, but ultimately lives to support his One Person. Scar comes up with plans, but doesn’t necessarily want to be in a leadership position. Cleo, on the other hand, does very well in leadership positions because it gives her more control over what’s going on around her. Leading takes away the unpredictability that would come with following

Bdubs and Scar need direction and Cleo’s able to give that to them. While at the same time, Cleo’s learning to be more comfortable with unpredictability. They have! Two loose cannons! But Cleo knows they’re unpredictable and is better equipped to manage that “threat”

Really, together the three of them are able to confront how closed off they are, allowing themselves to trust one another. And this trust is tested!! Especially with Bdubs maintaining a connection with Etho, who’s on another team entirely. AND THAT IS!! SO IMPORTANT FOR BDUBS because he’s forced into a position where he has to realize the harm he’s caused

Looping back around to TIES, basically that entire team had previous issues with him!! They stay at odds with one another because Bdubs refuses to acknowledge he did anything wrong. No he never reconciled with them, but he did start to confront his own issues. He doesn’t single anyone out as a danger, he spends so much time proving he’s loyal to the Clockers that he never falls back on paranoia

Then in Scar’s case, he’s both allowed to be dangerous and respected as a part of the group. NOT ONLY THAT but other alliances respect him! He isn’t constantly running around trying to prove he’s worth people’s respect, it’s just automatically granted to him

I don’t have a neat way to close this off, but something something accepting danger and learning to trust regardless of that danger

Start Post | TIES | Bad Boys