#dcas cyan team

[lampadinarotta]

I just had a vision

all members of the cyan team having some kind of european heritage

Here's my hcs (based purely on vibes but still)

anyways I love them a lot and they make me very much insane 💕💕💕💕

[thesoccerenthusiast]

OK, so I am VERY behind. We had a death in my fiancé's family, so we've been busy getting ready for the funeral.

Without further ado, let's play some catch up!

12. Worst Villain

I'm a Riya hater, sorry not sorry. I don't care for the whole villain arc and how the writers tried to make us sympathize with her — i.e. looking at the cameras with some very big sad eyes when she threw Connor off a LITERAL HORSE. I do appreciate that she won All-Stars, cause it wouldn't have made sense for her arc to be 'super big villain stuff' and then lose twice in a row. Her ending was fitting. That was her best writing of the All-Stars season.

13. Most Overrated Character

Don't get me wrong here, I really like Lake's character. But I've seen a lot of those tier lists and those posts about 'who should've been in the All-Stars final three' and damn-near everyone puts Lake. I thought her arc in Season 2 was done so well. I was kind of surprised when she came back in All-Stars because of her S2 journey. She was essentially 'canon fodder' because they needed someone for an early boot — and I was OK with that. Her story was done in S2. She didn't need super fleshed out in S3, in my opinion.

Great character, though, and I absolutely adore her re-design!

14. Most Underrated Character

I think the first time I watched Disventure Camp Season 1, I didn't really appreciate Lill. Watching it back, I really like her character. I like how she got the alliance with herself, Will, Nick and Ashley going, and how she maneuvered around the Fiore fake-innocent-child act. I wish we saw more of her, I really enjoyed her character.

15. Best Team

I mean, come on, Magenta team literally had 2 people in the Final 3, and on top of that, two more members from Magenta were helpers since they found the totems — or, in James' case, it fell on his lap! Either way, with James' early boot, that was going to happen regardless since he was the S2 winner. But that legit bolsters the legitimacy of Magenta being the best team.

This team was full of rock stars. No joke.

16. Worst Team

Ellie said it perfectly in the post-game media interviews she did: "The purple team was a mess." Not my favorite by any means. Oh, and to add more flame to the fire... Nick is one of the worst DC characters of all time, and he's on this team, so...

17. Best Song (& 18. Worst Song... Because there is None)

I was REALLY surprised with how much I liked this song, and equally as surprised with how impressed I was with the voices in this song. Tom's VA (Jayce Hanson), Gabby's VA (Anna Grygorowicz) and Ellie's VA (Rachel Flakes) really impressed me with their sounds. I had a feeling Aiden's VA (Viester) could sing, but man, his voice is SO GOOD. I love hearing the Aiden-singing greetings so much. Viester really has a beautiful voice!

Also, I absolutely adore Magenta Team's song 'Born to Drive Me Crazy' and Yellow Team's song 'No Matter How Hard We Try." There is not a single bad song, so that answers question 18, too!

Decided to do this! I know it’s the second day of September so let’s just combine Nos. 1 and 2!

Template Credit: @dc_hunter_101 !!

1. Favorite Male

Thomas Reed: This adorable doofus who simply needs to tell Jake he loves him and carry him off into the sunset! 🌅

2. Favorite Female

Tess Morgan: Gotta be my girl Tess! Her growth from being a loner in season two to having two incredible friends (or lovers? The world may never know!) is such good writing.

As you can tell by my icon… Gabby is a VERY close second. Her moments with Ellie and Grett in All Stars were SO good!

[canonically47]

WHAT DID U THINK OF THE NEW EPISODE

ATE. DEVOURED. LEFT NO CRUMBS

[accirax]

https://x.com/batawall/status/1753182332947980313

Huh. I guess that's one way to look at it.

(for those who don't want to click on the link)

indeed! i definitely agree that Jake and Ellie are both (intentionally) very flawed characters. although, i don't necessarily think that Ellie's flaw is that she gets over things too quickly-- otherwise, why would she have been so mad at Alec after he and Fiore attempted to vote her out in S1, and why would she have continued to have beef with Jake when they came back for DCAS?

instead, i would argue that their shared flaw is hypocrisy, with Jake being hypocritical about misunderstandings and Ellie being hypocritical about backstabbing. Jake will blow up at someone when they assume the worst of him (for instance, when Tom is mad at him for being careless with his secret, or Ally in general in DCAS), but expect to be wholeheartedly forgiven and pitied when he makes a similar screwup. Ellie will endlessly complain about those who have screwed her over (like the aforementioned thing with Alec and the Gabbellie vs Tomden voting on Cyan Team), but expect that anyone on the receiving end of her manipulation should just get over it because that's life.

they're definitely still two sides of the same coin, though. i'm glad that ONC decided to highlight their contrasts in S1, because they made some really interesting characters!

[td-frog]

thoughts on dcas e9

elimination (& cyan team)

tess is just hands-down the best person on this show. as soon as they revealed the joint elimination i was pretty sure she was going home bc it made sense for gabby to join the villains and tess was the most likely candidate

that said she was so mature and genuine throughout this episode and is maybe the only person who just refuses to get caught up in the drama. i'm so curious to see ally's reaction and how it compares to hunter's elimination.

i do think this guarantee's cyan team can't lose again before the merge, although merge is probably soon so that doesn't necessarily matter. tom and aiden is an interesting alliance in this game bc they're so close but really only with each other, and i think might have a hard time building bridges post merge as well.

also i get why gabby is the way she is but she is very much a type of person i find very frustrating irl (specifically the "how can you expect me to not take ellie's elimination as a personal attack?" stuff) which i think is why i'm not enjoying her character as much as i'd like

tomjake (& magenta team)

kudos to aiden for calling tom out on the boyfriend lie so they could actually talk about it and maybe work through something

i do think it's funny how tom finally got to be like "okay i should actually address this" but jake is at the point of "the only reason you'd be bringing that up in the middle of a challenge is to distract me." miscommunication kings

also i would like to see jake and ally become friends. i think they could do it. idk if they will.

yulgrett (& yellow team)

god i need this man out of the team. actually i think i really need grett on a better team. i totally get why she's not standing up for herself but she needs better support- riya telling her yul's a shithead was good but she was so mean about it :( give grett a friend!

alec being a comically bad father tho is so funny "oh i couldn't enjoy the beach bc my son got badly injured in a sandbox and i didn't notice or care bc i was busy reading. so sad for me :("

predictions

i'm thinking maybe one more challenge before the merge, that i'd expect yellow team to lose. i don't think cyan or magenta can lose again now, cyan bc they'd boot gabby which kills her narrative too early, and magenta bc jake and ally both have Stuff going on (love triangle and tess leaving) that feel like they need to play out more (and ashley wouldn't go home).

(i guess cyan could lose if gabby had immunity, but i doubt that)

reason i'm not expecting the merge next episode: with gabby joining the villains it'd be a 5v5 split of villains/non-villains, and i just don't see tom/jake/aiden working together this soon, especially if the best they can do is tie. it makes more sense to me that they'd cut out one of yellow team (probably yul, if grett can finally stand up to him) so that post-merge it's 4v5 and they have the drama of "non-villains have to ALL work together to win"

i think villain drama will blow up completely next episode regardless, and most likely yul goes home. there may also be something with the bit at the end about rule breaking, which i'm guessing was emily helping yul? but idk how that'll play into it.

i think ally will be way more torn up about tess leaving than she was about hunter (that's been my prediction since hunter got out). they could do something interesting with her and jake's respective relationship drama.

[disventure-rewrite-takes]

i just thought of something really random from dcas that i want to explore a little. i dropped off watching s3 after the first few episodes, but there's a specific scene i do remember from the few episodes i watched. it was storming,cyan team was talking in their tent, and i remember that Aiden seemed kinda scared by it and wondered if the rain would ever stop. i don't know if this was ever elaborated on or mentioned in s2 bc i forgot everything that happened in that season tbh, but i feel like having Aiden canonically be afraid of storms (if he isn't already and that scene was just a one-off) would give us so much more to explore about his character and give him more depth!!

also Tom should be allowed to be funnier. having a serious character arc for him i think is really cool (even if it was butchered in some ways), but he's also so damn hilarious and i want more than just his patreon bits and a few random scenes. let the man be comical!

- 🎃

actually aiden does have a fear of storms from what i remember in season 2!! i think they use it as a way of him and james bonding 🤔 i have a pretty bad memory tho idrk 😭

i want tom to be funnier so badly too but also somewhat serious??? like in season 1 they went full-on with the serious stuff and in season 3 they made him a comedic relief. girl yall cannot be this bad at finding a balance be so fr

[thedemonscrawler]

7 + 9 :) also 12 because hello I enjoy your writing immensely :D

7.🖍Post Any sentence from your wip

I'mma give y'all one from each!

Permission Slip:

At that moment he hears a voice, too far away to make out the words, but the tone and pitch were probably seared into his skull by now. There was an answering growl from Moon’s chest, the animatronic’s grip tightening on Gregory and his gaze fixed back the way they’d come.

Vanny was on the hunt again.

Beggars:

A hand slams into the side of an arcade machine, splintering the wood cabinet. The screen flickers before going dark, cyan sparks dancing over its surface, drawn to Eclipse by the magic writhing under his casing. It burns, and he revels in the burn.  “I don’t care about Moon! You cheated somehow, didn’t you?! Ran a magnet over your head just in time to avoid any messy consequences."

9. 🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

So you guys know the DCA visual novel made by @/snowyrey, right? After Hours? Ever since I've watched my buddy play it I've been toying with an idea very loosely based on it. Most of the time the story goes either that the reader/main character gets hired some length of time after the weirdness starts, OR they get hired and then the weirdness starts happening weeks/months later. Right?

But what if the weirdness starts on the same night they got hired? And both the main character and the DCA are like "??!?!?!? Do you know what that was? No? Neither do I!" and they team up to figure out the mystery as the only folks they feel are 'safe' from the weirdness.

Anyway I think it'd be a lot of fun!

❤️Not a question, just a second kudos to send.

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 8

having just rewatched S1 with my sister (and even while genuinely, actually looking at the screen instead of putting the show on in the background while multitasking), it is so wild to see tomjake in this season as opposed to S1. like, Jake is more or less correct here: although Ellie's meddling and Tom's own dumb moments are also to blame, it was mostly his fault that the relationship fizzled out. how far they've come, to where Tom is the rash fool and Jake is the (mostly) rootable victim...

i KNEW homegirl would be idol hunting this episode.

absolutely baller comeback from Tess. i doubt they increased the prize money from $1mil to $3mil just for this exchange, but what a power move if they did.

if anyone (in the audience) truly believes that Tom has a real boyfriend at this point...

this was a weird ass way to phrase it but okay Emily pop off i guess.

ooh, time for Yul's psychological issues? 👀

wait, isn't Emily hired by the show, not Yul? how would Yul be able to fire someone under Kristal's employment? is this just Yul firing her from the unofficial job of watching over his image, or is it a soft confirmation that Emily has been hired directly by Yul('s manager) all along?

i'm so desperate for Fiore and Alec to like each other again that i'll be happy with literally any vaguely positive note they end on, as long as it's not hating each other. i still hope that All Stars will be able to acknowledge and expand upon their relationship a little more in upcoming episodes, but if this is the end, at least we know that Alec was trying to have her back one last time.

forgive me if i'm wrong, but, would going to space really trigger someone's fear of heights? like, the "heights" are on such a high scale and there are so many other things to be worried about that i feel like your brain wouldn't really process it as "gee i'm going really high up." still, it's always interesting to see how Kristal has more of an established relationship with her (S2) campers. it makes sense, but it does seem like she's not afraid to show her bias in that way.

damn, Trevor must get paid a LOT! even if the vehicle didn't actually take them to space, it's still a huge building with many rooms that can actually fly. makes me wonder how much the producers/hosts are getting paid. (i understand this was just a joke line but it is technically canon now)

this line was only mildly funny to me, but Ally's face is great. she really hasn't had to spend any notable time around Gabby before. get ready for it, girl, because you'll probably be on the same merge tribe sooner or later.

oh dang, he's directly asking Kristal out.

this was an interesting response, especially with Kristal's later agreement to go upon hearing that they had a pool table. Kristal could have either been letting him down gently, or have genuinely not realized that this is flirting. i think it's the latter. that leaves the door open for Kristal potentially reciprocating Derek's feelings later down the line... also, where the hell is Oliver?!

Tess proves that she can be the goth gf AND the gamer gf. step aside, Ally.

they've done SUCH a good job of making Yul continuously pay for his actions this season as opposed to S2; it makes me like him way more. the fact that Alec is the one handing out the punishments just makes it all the sweeter.

ALEC DRINKS HIS RESPECT WOMEN JUICE!! (is that an outdated meme/saying at this point?)

while Jake is still mostly at fault for this conflict, i do like how they're making sure that Ally isn't just an innocent victim, too. she's stooping down to Jake's level of childishness instead of being the bigger person and handling things maturely. it makes both of them and their conflict feel more well-rounded, even if it makes them more annoying as well, lol.

Trevor was right; this particular iteration of the space challenge, at least, is bad. the fact that the Cyan team (Aiden by extension) got literally no advantages or head starts from arriving to this room first means that the first half of the challenge didn't matter at all. even if there's the Survivor saying that "it all comes down to the puzzle," the physical challenges beforehand can at least give one team a head start at looking over the pieces. as it turns out, fucking around on the ship was just a waste of time. it diminished my enjoyment of the episode a little :( (sorry for being a downer)

glad we're revisiting Aiden and Riya's relationship a little more, probably in preparation for them reuniting at the merge. given that Jake and Riya both don't like Aiden, i wonder if they could gather their allies (Ashley, Alec, Yul, Grett) to fuel an Aiden elimination soon.

Emily has to be gay right (/j)

this staging is really great at quickly visualizing the dynamics on each team, and may be foreshadowing for future events. the Yellow Team has completely shut Riya out, with Yul not even being visible, but Alec is still smiling at her from inside. not leaving the door open for Riya will actually waste Yellow's time, but they're so eager to win the challenge that they've actually made things harder for themselves. Magenta leaves the door open for Jake, with Ashley's face expectant and unobstructed, while Ally has retreated inside. despite their disagreements, the Cyan team all waits for Aiden outside, not even opening their door until he gets back. the storyboard artists for DC are a talented group!

Jake, too, is making his case for the villains' alliance.

i liked this sort of rationale from Tess; it feels in character with how they're portraying her this season. i also hadn't considered it as a reason why they would be steadily ramping up Ellie's villainy even as a pre-merge boot. but like... she's totally right.

THEY'RE SO CUTE!!!!! thank god the writers didn't decide to destroy gabbellie this season. instead, it seems to be a basis to set up something even greater...

I'M SO GLAD THAT THIS IS THE DIRECTION THEY'RE TAKING GABBY'S CHARACTER!!! i thought it would be a really good idea, but i didn't know if the writers would wind up taking that path. but it looks like we may be getting our true "explosive girl" back now that Ellie is gone, and i couldn't be more excited. i just know it's going to lead to something buckwild.

... wait what do you mean Ellie isn't doing the patreon reads? is she going to be the real returning player?!

for a somewhat disappointing challenge (for the reasons i described earlier), i'm really happy with this elimination and the direction they're taking the season. some sort of merge or tribe swap has to be happening soon, right? that next episode trailer can't come soon enough!

[canonically47]

DCAS predictions (slight spoilers for episode 8):

yellow team’s next vote is yul. alec and riya dislike him, it’s only a matter of time before grett finds out the truth about their relationship as we are already one third of the season in. however, i do think the merge could happen soon and he will be one of the first merge votes instead.

cyan’s team next vote is tom. tess will refuse to vote against gabby and aiden will need a bit of convincing, but i couldn’t see anyone except for him leaving.

magenta team’s next vote is ally. ashley will be caught between the two and will ultimately choose jake to remain for whatever dumb plot reasons to further develop the jake-tom-aiden drama/love triangle.

the finalists will be tess (s2) and any two between alec, grett or gabby (s1). tess is logically the only s2 finalist candidate left since yul should get his shit handed to him, ally is irrelevant and riya and aiden have already been finalists, while the three of s1 i mentioned have contributed greatly in their respective seasons and in AS.

either ellie or james come back, which i think is possible because they didn’t read the patreons names, but markus and derek did, respectively, in their elimination episodes.

[canonically47]

sending the request for a review in now so you have time to prepare!

OUGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHHG GUYS...

DCAS episode 6 spoilers!!!

(but you knew that)

i surprisingly don't have much to say about this episode despite being a musical nerd but.

never expected to... genuinely care about connor, but he's a good guy. i really wanted yul gone, but i know his arc isn't quite finished yet.

the yellow team's number was surprisingly underwhelming, i think my favorite was cyan team's, IT ATE SO HARDDD

i love that aiden is chill about the kiss like "anyone can tell it was just acting lol" and it cuts to jake like "I FUCKING KNEW IT."

also. wh. why did this episode have me actually caring about jam again. like. i want them back. wh. what is happening to me

FORGET JAM OH MY GOD GABELLIE. GABELLIE I FUCKING LOVE YOU THEY SLAYED SO HARD THEY LOOKED SO CUTE AND IN LOVE AND. AURURURUGHGGHGHGH GABELLIE <333

jake and ally ate. idrk guys. also marcus and nina. fuck yeah. fiore's outfit was underwhelming but going full glam on a child must be hard so i get it. ashley on the other hand had no reason to not eat

conalec vision is getting to me and of fucking course it also happens to be connor's elimination episode. ourhg

kinda sad that the episode had to be premiered early, but i ultimately don't regret staying up for it. now excuse me as i pass out (it's almost midnight)

[accirax]

Disventure Camp All Stars Power Rankings (Round 10)

It's time for a very special episode of the DCAS Power Rankings! Previewheads know what's up.

In case you haven't seen my previous power rankings ( 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9), the Power Ranking Format is essentially a way of ranking how well each player is doing in the game. So, in essence, this is a long form way of predicting who I think will be eliminated from the competition in the next episode. There will be spoilers for last week's episode (obviously) and its power ranking, so make sure to read that first if you don't want to be spoiled on how I ranked our last boot. If you want more clarification on the rules, that first post will help you out as well. Furthermore, I'm going to be spoiling the preview for next episode, so if you want to go in TOTALLY blind, save this for later. Let's go!

Recap - Ashley's Elimination

Current Point Total: 41 acquired / 63 total

Even though I didn't particularly claim a points victory on this one, I am absolutely claiming a moral victory here. Because, I was totally right on the reasoning behind an Ashley boot! Ashley was a challenge threat, a conflict negotiator, and, overall, the most heroic hero. (Alec even said something really similar to that descriptor directly; that filled me with pride.)

As I said, if the villains had a free shot at any one in the heroes "alliance"-- if you could even call it that-- it 100% made sense for them to take out Ashley. And, given the emotional state of our would-be protagonists, they got that without even having to try.

I think Ashley served her purpose in the narrative pretty well, all things considered. Sure, she was mostly playing second fiddle to Jake. But, honestly, who isn't in this season...? She stuck around for long enough to tie up her loose ends from last season-- AKA, eliminating Fiore-- as well as establishing some iconic new relationships with Jake and Ally. And, losing such a likeable compatriot at this midpoint of the game is sure to kick the heroes (especially Jake) into high gear, reminding them just how precarious their position is. They did about as well as they could have with Ashley's character going into this season, in my opinion. I'm happy to lose her in this way.

Trailer Analysis

Another big one out of the way-- we're finally getting our returning camper this episode!!! Gosh, watching the trailer and seeing everyone back and at it again made me so happy. Why do we have to keep eliminating people again? Ah, right-- the drama. And oh, what a dramatic trailer it is.

"I ain't no quitter!" "Ugh, I'm about to... to throw up...!" "This could decide my streaming career..." "Nothing's in our way." "What happened here?" "Do I look like I give a shit?" "Are you okay, Jake?!" "Loser!" "You BITCH!"

We got some bonus dialogue for this episode's preview! I used the color coding to attribute characters as best I could, but for the sake of clarity, the people speaking were Miriam, Gabby, Ally, Fiore, Lake, Riya, Ashley, Yul, and... someone. I couldn't really tell who was saying the last quote; sorry. It sounded like a feminine voice to me, but I couldn't place exactly who. Thoughts on each quote individually: Miriam's quote is pretty standard "get back in the game" type stuff. Gabby could be experiencing nerves or a harrowing physical experience. I assume that Ally is talking about Hunter in some capacity-- we saw in Episode 1 that Hunter has joined Ally on her streams, so if they broke up or something, that would change the trajectory of Ally's career. It could also just be about winning $3 million, though. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that Fiore is talking to Alec, trying to reignite their alliance, although the jury's out on how well Alec will respond to that pitch. Lake could be talking about a physical environment here, but, honestly, I think that quote will relate to how the Cyan Team's social connections imploded after Lake's departure. Riya is being Riya. With this quote from Ashley, I'm more inclined to think that Gabby's nausea was caused by something physically difficult/threatening, to pair with Jake being in danger. Yul is being Yul. That's what I got so far.

Finally, Trevor and Derek are going to talk to each other again! I feel like they haven't actually had a conversation with each other since Episode 1. However, between Derek's smugness and Trevor's surprise, I'm worried that things won't go well for Trevor here. Specifically, I'm theorizing that, before Trevor can confess his feelings for Derek, Derek is going to tell Trevor about his crush on/"date" with Kristal, and Trevor will have to pretend to be supportive. Classic romance trope type stuff.

I missed these guys so much :,)

This entire trailer definitely supports the idea that the eliminated contestants and the surviving contestants will be participating in a challenge together, not just that the eliminated people will be fighting for themselves. Based on this screenshot (and other parts of the trailer), I think they divided themselves into pairs: Ellie and Gabby, James and Yul, Lake and Aiden, Tess and Ally, Connor and Riya, Fiore and Alec, Ashley and Jake, Miriam and Tom, and Hunter and... Grett??? Hunter and Grett being paired together makes the least amount of sense, but I think it's still viable. Let's say that the teams are decided via a schoolyard pick. If, for whatever reason, Grett gets to pick last, Hunter could be the only one left (after Ally picks Tess). I think that the surviving contestants getting to sponsor an eliminated contestant makes sense rather than the other way around because of James winding up with Yul instead of Aiden. And, of course, there's the potential for additional TomJake drama if Tom chooses Miriam before Jake can. We can't live without more TomJake drama. (/s)

THE TEAM EVER!!!! Please don't be smirking because you're about to intentionally screw Fiore over, Alec. She's literally eight (and your daughter).

We need Miriam back for one episode so that she can smack some sense into Jake and Tom. Specifically Tom, it seems.

Oh, hey, I was right about Hunter and Grett being paired together. I forgot this scene was in the trailer when I wrote that other part. Yeah, those pairs are definitely correct.

The girls are fightinggggggg. Forget Alec intentionally screwing over Fiore; I wonder if Riya will be attempting to do that to Connor so that she doesn't have to confront her relationship with him again. Probably not, though-- this is more likely that Riya is going to suggest, like, cheating or something, and Connor will tell her off for it.

So, these teams are going to come into contact at some point. Makes sense, given how close Alec and Riya are.

What the hell is going on in this challenge? We've got running, wrenches, motorcycles, and cliff diving. I've got nothing, honestly. Seems like a pretty physical challenge, though.

"There's no honor among thieves." "Are we stealing something?"

Sounds like Ellie is probably trying to convince Gabby to not continue working with the villains alliance. It makes sense: working with the villains was what led to her own corruption/downfall, she still harbors annoyance towards Alec, and probably doesn't appreciate how Grett treated her girlfriend back in S1. The question that I (and possibly Gabby) have to ask, though, is... what else would Gabby be meant to do at this point? I guess it partially depends on who's coming back.

Power Ranking...?

So, obviously the Power Ranking is going to be a little bit different this week, given that, as far as I'm aware, no one is actually being eliminated. Instead, someone will be coming back into the competition. Whatever happens this episode, I don't think I'm going to score any points for it. If it so happens that someone is eliminated as well, then, so be it.

However, I am going to rank how likely I think it is that each eliminated contestant will be returning to the show! It won't affect my score at all, but I think it'll be fun. I'm going to go backwards, from least likely to return to most likely to return, this time in order to keep up suspense. So, who do I think is least likely to return...?

#9: Ashley

Yeah, I just really don't see this one. Obviously, in a real life reality TV show, sometimes the person who was just eliminated is the one who manages to come back into the game. But, when you control the script of a complete fiction, is reversing the move you just made really the best decision? In this situation, at least. It'd be one thing if, like, Gabby was eliminated and then came back swearing revenge on everyone again, but I would have to imagine that Ashley would behave much of the same. That's not very compelling TV, imo.

Along those lines (but even more importantly), I wouldn't want Ashley to come back because it would likely undermine the emotional moment that she and Jake just shared due to her elimination. The appeal of Ashley's exit was that, now, as a repercussion of his actions, Jake will be truly alone. If Ashley immediately came back, that just wouldn't be true any more. And that would really suck! So, I think that, like she said, Ashley will have to save her farm on another season, and not this one.

#8: Miriam

Although Miriam has the appeal of being one of the earlier boots of the season, meaning that we didn't get to see much of her before she went, she shares the same problem as Ashley of giving Jake a decided ally back in the game. No matter how much farther Jake goes from here, I think a satisfying ending for him will be ultimately succumbing to or conquering his problems on his own, without guidance from Ashley or Miriam or whoever. I fear that Miriam would simply solve too many problems if she were to re-enter the game now.

Also, while it's not a death sentence, it really seems like Miriam wasn't always planned to be in this season. Silly Billy (a DC YouTuber and the voice of Trevor) said in this video that (paraphrased) "there was a point where the first boot of one of the seasons was considered to be included as an All Star, but the winner wasn't." Given that the first boot of S2, Oliver, was almost certainly never considered as a competitor for All Stars, it seems pretty likely Silly Billy was talking about Will, and therefore Miriam. Obviously, plans could have shifted to both put Miriam into the season as well as giving her a larger role in it. However, it likely implies that Miriam was chosen to be included as a minor character in All Stars, especially after the focus she received in S1. I'm just hoping that all that talk about her medical issues doesn't suddenly become relevant in this episode.

#7: Hunter

After receiving a bit more context about what exactly happened to Hunter between S2 and All Stars, I feel pretty confident in saying that they wouldn't want to bring him back. Like, if his and Tess' eliminations were meant to more or less bury that trio of characters, why would they suddenly choose to unearth the most problematic one at this critical juncture? It just seems strange.

Still, I put Hunter above Ashley and Miriam because I don't think his return would bring about any genuine narrative problems. Now that he and Ally have had some time apart, and Ally has developed some other enemies, it could be interesting to see them come back together. Would they grow closer again when faced with external pressures, or would they find that the rough situation only further exacerbates the problems they're having?

Hunter's skill in immunity challenges could also be relevant in preventing members of the villains alliance from gaining immunity at certain points in time. At the very least, it could be an in-universe explanation for why the returning player wouldn't be immediately eliminated again.

There's a lot that I wish the DC writers would do with Hunter, because I like him, but I understand why they might not. I don't think that being paired with Grett is a great sign for his return, either. Not that Grett is terrible or anything, just that it's a signifier of Hunter not having a ton of important relationships (or at least ones that they choose to directly focus on) in this season.

#6: Ellie

Honestly, I'm surprising myself with how low I'm putting Ellie here. The fact that she didn't do a patron reading isn't doing her as many favors as I'd initially assumed. She also still definitely has beef with Jake and Alec which haven't gotten a ton of particular focus this season, which could be expanded upon if she were to come back. Why not Ellie, then?

The thing is, I just feel like Ellie had such a nice sendoff that it'd be really sad to undo it. We came to the conclusion that Disventure Camp is bad for Ellie. In that case, why are we meant to root for her of all competitors to come back?

Having Ellie suddenly re-enter the game would also probably be weird for Gabby's character arc. Somewhat like Jake, I think that Gabby needs to be the one in charge of her own fate at this point. If Ellie came back, there could be an interesting conflict of where the girls would land as a duo (stick with the villains or flip and work with the heroes to get revenge). But, in either case, Ellie would probably become the main decision maker again. Gabby's personal vows to eliminate Tom and Aiden would go unfulfilled-- either the situation would likely read as Ellie seizing revenge for herself, or, with Ellie back in the game, the need for revenge would be diminished.

I'm glad that we have Ellie back for this episode because, much like Miriam with Tom/Jake, I think that this is a good time for Gabby to be able to check in with Ellie and have a trusted companion to confide in. However, I don't think that that moment needs to last much longer than this one episode. Gabby needs to continue to face her fear of being alone.

#5: Lake

I really don't know how to feel about Lake.

On one hand, I understand why they'd bring her back. Lake was eliminated pretty early into the season, so it would be nice to give her some more screen time. She's also really close with Aiden, and could therefore be a useful addition to any moves in which Aiden is looking for numbers (like in a Jake or Riya elimination). Also, she's a definite physical threat. That could give her an advantage in simply winning this challenge to get back in, to the extent that matters.

However... I don't know, the more I think about it, the more it just feels wrong to me. Lake finished her character arc in S2. Other than Aiden (and I guess kind of Gabby), she doesn't have much of any other relationships to further new plotlines with. What would she be doing in this season, really?

Yeah. I don't have much else to say, which I'm taking as a bad sign for Lake's odds. I'm excited to check in with her in this episode, though!

#4: Tess

As the outcry rang following episode 9, there's definitely still more potential to be had with Tess' character. The contestants pointed out that all Tess wanted to do on this season was reconnect with Ally and Hunter, which she didn't get to do. If she got to re-enter the game, she'd get that opportunity, which would be nice. With Ashley gone, Ally is also potentially in need of someone to align herself with (god knows it will not be Jake). Giving her Tess as a partner could be useful in that sense.

Another thing that I haven't discussed much until now is the impact of inserting another person into the current 5 villain/4 hero divide. If you add another hero, you go back to the 5-5 faceoff, whereas adding another villain could cause the villains to further steamroll. The reason why I hadn't brought it up until now is because I think it's a hard metric to determine. Giving the villains even more power seems unnecessary and unfair, but it could also be a good inciting incident for the villains turning on each other. Putting the tally back to 5-5 seems repetitive and therefore silly, but it could be giving the heroes a chance to right the record and eliminate a villain this time.

Tess would certainly be returning to the game as a hero, and a pretty loyal one. She'd be close to Ally, and has a past history of working with Aiden and Tom. Therefore, I think she could be a good addition in terms of unifying the heroes as a group. As a quick possible-but-unlikely Episode 12 pitch, let's say Tess is back, and, I don't know, Tom wins immunity. Alec, Riya, Yul, Grett, and Gabby are all going to vote for Aiden, and Tess, Ally, Aiden, and Tom are all going to vote for Yul. Jake then has to decide on whether he's going to be petty, side with the villains, and vote for Aiden, or take a stand with the heroes and join them in a Yul vote. Then Jake could be heroic and Aiden could take out Yul in a tiebreaker or something like that. As I said, unlikely, but possible. And, Tess could be a key player in bringing that about... even if it wouldn't have much to do with Tess as a character herself.

However, I don't think that Tess will come back, partially because of the whole huntessally debacle. But, more than that, it's Tess' contentment at her elimination that makes me think it wouldn't be her. She was so chill with being eliminated! I know that there are other characters with more of a passion to be back in the game than Tess, so, personally, if she was the one to return, I'd just be, like, "oh." That's probably not the reaction they want. Plus, even though she wasn't literally the last boot, she still got eliminated fairly recently. It could be more interesting to pull from someone who got eliminated a little earlier on.

#3: James

I'm fully willing to acknowledge that I might be biased here just because I miss James so goddamn much. HE DIDN'T GET TO DO THE PATRON READINGS, ALRIGHT?! IT'S A SIGN!!!!

I definitely think that there's some appeal to having the literal first boot be the one to return to the competition. Both in the sense that James has gotten to appear in the fewest amount of DCAS episodes thus far, but also just that it's satisfying to have the competitor that (placement-wise) you would least expect to return be the one who manages to do it. James got a pretty bad tribe draw landing on Magenta, so landing in the merge could be a better way to test his skills on this new season.

Pretty much any positives that Lake was bringing to the table, James could do better. On top of having a stronger relationship to Aiden, he also has connections to Yul and Riya that he could cash in on, as well as this season's animosity towards Jake. I also think it would be interesting to see Tom and James interact after everything that's happened with Tom and Aiden this season. Even if James was generally cool with Tom and Aiden kissing, there've gotta be some weird yet interesting vibes going on there, right? James is also a fan favorite that I think audiences would generally be happy to see come back. Especially if there are jaiden moments in tow. Please, let there be jaiden moments. Even if they're cringe as fuck (affectionate).

However... I don't really know what James would bring from a gameplay perspective. He, too, would be another number to the heroes alliance, and be down to work with Aiden and Ally, at least. But, James would draw an even bigger schism between Jake and the rest of the heroes, which would be... interesting. Would James be re-entering the game just to get voted out again almost immediately afterward? That doesn't seem worth it. There are also still those oddities about elimination order regarding Aiden and James that I described back in Round 7 that I still don't know the answer to. And the looming threat of James' voice actor being too busy to record too many lines for the show.

So, maybe the prospect of bringing James back into the show is too good to be true. I want him back, though. I miss my boy.

#2: Fiore

If my ranking of James was biased, my ranking of Fiore is probably even more so. It's really hard for me to tell how much this placement is an attempted manifestation as opposed to a genuine prediction. I think there are real reasons why it would make sense to have her back, though, so let me explain them.

As a big fan of Alec and Fiore's dynamic, I would be remiss to not mention how this season feels like it's lacking a true, proper conclusion to the conflict that began at the S1 semifinals. Letting them finally be at the same camp again would allow for them to definitively choose whether they're ending their DC experience on positive terms or negative ones. Additionally, Fiore has a lot of potential to develop further plotlines with other contestants! It would be nice to see more of her reactions to what's happened with Grett since S1, and reuniting with fellow Magenta teammates Jake and Ally could certainly bring some spice. Fiore also barely interacted with anyone from S2 other than Hunter and Ally, so seeing further animosity between her and Yul, for example, could be really fun.

Speaking of Yul, Fiore would also be a good choice of returnee from the villains department. I've described how Tess or Lake could make narrative sense as a heroic addition, but I think Fiore would be a perfect choice for the option where they decide to establish 6 villains instead. Namely, this is because Fiore has the potential to possibly break up the villains in a number of ways.

Scenario #1, Alec, securely having Fiore and Riya on his side, feels confident enough to slim down the villains alliance to get rid of some of the extra weight. The ramifications of sending home, say, Yul, could give the heroes an opening to exploit further weaknesses. Scenario #2, Fiore and Riya start fighting over who Alec's number one ally is, causing a schism in the alliance. They refuse to work together, so Alec has to choose whether he wants to return to Fiore or stick with Riya. Scenario #3, Fiore nominally joins the villains alliance, but hates being on the bottom. Thus, she double crosses them to work with the heroes, giving them a secret additional number to work with (maybe alongside Gabby or Alec to flip it to 4 villains/6 "heroes").

In terms of negatives, Fiore has already had a lot of time in the spotlight, so you could argue that other characters deserve that boost in screen time more. However, I would say that the biggest problem with Fiore coming back would be the indirect effect it would have on Ashley. It's a lot easier to feel good about Ashley's elimination when we know that, even if she didn't win, she got to accomplish her goal of getting revenge on Fiore. If Fiore returned to the competition literally immediately after Ashley left, it would make that victory feel a little hollow. If I were an Ashley stan, that would probably upset me. So, in that sense, I'm sort of rooting against Fiore here.

However, I am a Fiore stan, so in that sense, I absolutely want her to return. C'mon! She can weasel her way out of elimination again!!!

#1: Connor

When compiling this list, I kinda divided the contestants into three tiers of three. Ashley, Miriam, and Hunter were my "unlikely" tier; Ellie, Lake, and Tess were my "possible" tier; and James, Fiore, and Connor were my "likely" tier. There was really only one issue with those tiers for me. It was that, if I could, I would put Connor in his own tier for (in my opinion) being way more likely than anybody else.

Let's run through all of the reasons why it would totally make sense for Connor to be the one that comes back into the game. Number one: he was an early boot in All Stars and S2. I wouldn't be surprised if, out of all the DCAS contestants, he has the least amount of overall screen time thus far. Therefore, Connor would merit returning far more than, say, Fiore or James, who were both finalists on their original seasons.

Number two: Connor's elimination feels somewhat unresolved. While he isn't the only one this is true for, it is still the case. Tess accepted her elimination with contentment. Ellie learned to care more about her priceless girlfriend than the three million dollar prize. Fiore might've been mad, but, hey, at least she was a villain! She deserved what was coming to her. Connor was just... sad. He got betrayed by both the person he cared for most from S2 and the new friend he made this season. Giving him a second chance could be a good opportunity for him to turn his story around and achieve some kind of happy ending (even if I doubt it would be winning).

Number three: Connor creates possibly the most interesting camp dynamic out of any contestant that could come back. 'Cause, like, he's a hero, right? He's a nice and friendly guy, and he wants to play the game with integrity. But, also, his closest allies are both parts of the villains alliance. Hell, literally his entire former tribe is in the villains alliance, so if he wants to go back to them, he'd have to join their ranks. ...Does he want to go back to them? They voted him out!

I think that Connor is the closest we can get to a neutral party being injected into the show, which makes him unique and therefore exciting. He could also accomplish a similar thing to what I described in Scenario #1 with Fiore.

Number four: Connor is a fan favorite, in his own weird way. People seem to really like him, even if I don't totally get it. (I didn't love Connor in S2; I thought the "adultescent" thing was kinda overdone and the dynamic of "rich old white guy hits on/saves struggling young POC woman" was a little icky, but I harbor no ill will towards Connor fans. All Stars made me like him a lot more, anyways.) I've seen multiple people cite the moment that Connor was sent home as the moment DCAS "started to go downhill." I'm sure many people would be thrilled to see him come back, and maybe even regain some faith in the show's writing.

Connor coming back has character reasoning, strategic intrigue, and fan support, which is why I think it would by far make the most sense for him to be the one that's coming back at this point. Although, that's not to say that there's no evidence that he isn't. He did already do the patron reads, obviously. If he's paired with Riya for this challenge, I'm not sure what about their teamwork would propel them to the top-- if anything, I feel like working with Riya would decrease Connor's chances of winning the challenge. I do also think there are ways to give Connor a satisfying ending without having him re-enter the competition. One scenario I've been mulling over is if he could be the teammate that helps Alec to win in the finale, getting redemption for how he and Riya flamed out in S2. Things to think about, I guess.

So, those are my predictions! Lower stakes this time because we won't be scoring any points, but also higher stakes because the person that returns can really set the tone for how the latter half of the season will pan out. I can't believe All Stars is already halfway over... or, at least, it will be on Thursday. See you then!

[td-frog]

thoughts on dcas e7:

tom+jake+aiden

god this season is doing such a good job with jake. after last episode it'd make so much sense for him to just be jealous and upset, but instead he's genuinely trying to communicate. and literally saying "you always wanted me to do this, so i'm trying, please talk to me" is like. really good.

idk for sure but it does feel like tom's lying about the boyfriend. at the very least, not giving any more information (valid choice if it's true given they're on tv and that ruined his life in s1) makes it seem like he's lying, which sucks for jake because at this point he is doing everything right.

not really surprised that aiden's mad at jake about it given he and tom are friends and he and jake don't know each other, but it is a little disappointing given how clearly (to the audience) jake is Trying His Best

also i do kind of love that this very much could have been the end of it if it weren't for ellie intentionally fucking it up.

villains alliance

i fully forgot that alec didn't know about the letters. of course he didn't, he would absolutely have taken it seriously because he's the only person in the alliance trying to make it work. i do think it's funny that he and riya had a conversation about it without even checking if anyone was listening tho.

gabby finding out was inevitable, ever since the "ellie would've told me line" but i do feel bad for her. i'm worried this is going to backfire on tess tho, since she offered to talk to ellie first. their relationship is really sweet and it makes sense for the game to mess it up, but yeah :(

magenta team

prediction from last time: "if it's magenta team it's probably fiore, which makes me think it won't be magenta team." well i was half right!

i love fiore so much and i'm sad to see her go, but honestly i really really love what they're doing with jake here.

like the theme of his character is Trust Issues, and in s1 that was a lot more lashing out at people over tiny slights which was not the most likable trait. but now he's learned that that's not healthy and is trying to correct it, but the core issue is still there. the fear and worry at being hurt or abandoned hasn't gone away, he's just not externalizing it as much.

like i genuinely don't think ashley is wrong for hanging out with ally, not eliminating ally, not picking up on the severity of jake's anxieties, etc. in fact i think kicking ally out would've made it worse, bc what he needs more than immediate reassurance that he's her ultimate bestie is to build up resistance to the fear of abandonment- being able to experience the worry and have it turn out okay without needing ashley to do something dramatic will help demonstrate that it doesn't have to be as big of a deal as his relationship trauma is telling him.

but also i get it. and i'm not worried about ashley turning on him, but i do think he's not going to handle it well bc he needs to be liked so bad and is not having a good time.

other thoughts

yellow team took more of a backseat this episode (besides the villains alliance thing, but that was a bit more ellie focused), but yul continues to be the world's shittiest boyfriend. grett has grown so so much since s1 and it's gonna hurt so bad when this gets exposed i know it :(

#trevek confirmed ig, still kind of largely ignoring it for personal reasons.

predictions

cyan team should be high focus next episode, mainly bc of the villains thing. i think it's likely ellie will react badly to being confronted about it, and i can see it causing team tension esp with gabby. if they end up having elimination i don't really see ellie surviving at this point? mostly because tom and aiden are already biased against her and while i can see gabby sticking with her i don't think she could convince tess.

i don't think magenta will be up for elimination again, mainly because i think their current drama needs some time to marinate. ashley won't turn on jake unless he gives her a Really Good reason, and i don't see that happening in a single episode. and if they take ally out that kills the tension of jake not knowing how it'll go. so that (along with them having the smallest team) has me leaning against them.

if it's yellow, it's probably yul. riya and alec have not been subtle about their dislike, and there's no longer a non-villain option. i guess if grett hasn't figured out his act by then it could be a tie (in which case i think yulgrett would vote for riya, and yul would win the tiebreaker for narrative purposes (it not making sense for him to go home before being exposed to grett)), but it could go differently. i think it's more likely to be cyan tho.

i should note i have no idea when to expect the merge. it feels too soon right now though.

also! i don't really think tess is in danger (although as team mediator and the tiebreaker between gabellie and tomaiden, she is the obvious candidate for getting out via trickery), but i do think she might be out soon- mainly, i'm expecting ally to be the one from her trio that lasts the longest, and i'm really interested to see how she reacts to tess elimination vs hunter. i also think it'd be interesting if tess gets out before they get much of a chance to catch up, and how that would affect things. anyways not likely to be next episode but i can maybe see that coming up at some point.

also also! i will very much enjoy seeing alec's response to fiore's elimination :3c (not that there will be one, of course, because he does not care :3c)

[canonically47]

who do you think is mostly likely to get the boot next, from each team?

so far we've had james from magenta, lake from cyan, and miriam from yellow. a solid line-up, three exceptional players, each from a different team. i think the next three eliminations should break the pattern: get out good-to-medium players, at least two from the same team.

of course that's only what i think should happen. from the new trailer, i think tess or ellie have a good chance of being eliminated. they're pictured fighting, so probably one of the two sides will get the boot. however, i have a theory that the episode is a non-elimination one. in that case, then maybe the blame will be directed towards someone else by the time of episode 6. cyan team - ellie or tess

on yellow team, it's hard to say, with the villains alliance and all. i still think riya's arc is unfinished, and i wonder if connor would get caught in the crossfire. we still haven't gotten the story of grett's weight loss which was hinted at in her DCAS introduction post, and i think yul might have something to do with it since he seems like the type of guy to be, well, an asshole about different body types - so unless they throw it in one of the next episodes, i can't see her going anytime soon. yellow team - connor (?)

magenta team is hard to say. all the adults look like they have their bonds going on in the new episode. ally and hunter probably fight, but then they are pictured with ashley and jake, respectively. if my theory's right, ashley and ally, as well as jake and hunter, will ally. jake and ashley will probably be unaware of the other alliances. the boys and the girls will vote in pairs so it'll be up to fiore to decide between the two lovebirds. even if my theory is incorrect, i think the lovebirds have decent chances of going home. their fighting can only get so old, i think jake and ashley's friendship still has more to show us, jake and tom's arc is yet unfinished, and we might get more backstory from ashley. of course fiore can't go because she hasn't made up with alec yet. so.. lovebirds. i'm watching you. magenta team - ally or hunter

[td-frog]

thoughts on dcas e6:

the songs

honestly wasn't expecting much (tho i didn't think they'd be bad) but those were actually really good

stylistically i think magenta was my favorite but they were all really good

tom+jake+aiden

this plot is so so funny to me. *tom voice* if i avoid my problems for long enough they definitely won't become infinitely worse

also theater kid aiden going "i need to think about it because i do have a boyfriend, but stage kisses are a thing and we don't have feelings for each other so i can be okay with it"

while tom's like "ah fuck. i really should've talked to jake by now. nothing i can do i guess!" and then afterwards is like "wait do you think he was mad at me?" comedy GOLD

like to be clear so much of the humor for me here is that aiden is Not Interested. literally the entire problem is that tom is not communicating and therefore jake has no reason to know any of that. and especially now that aiden's started picking up on drama it's like. how long can you run from this? maybe you should stop running? oh, no. no he's running faster.

magenta team

i really like ally/ashley friendship. very easily could've been an us vs. them thing even with hunter out, but it makes sense that ashley wouldn't go for that.

also i really like that ally doesn't miss hunter. i think a lot of the problems with their relationship they've been hinting at so far is that ally struggles a lot with personal identity outside of other people, and hunter didn't understand or accommodate that. regardless of whether they stay together in the end, they very much needed a break so she can figure out who she is without him again and whether she actually wants to be there (and i wish her luck).

yellow team elimination

connor vs. yul as the elimination makes sense, and the fact that it was connor also makes sense (especially since yul is now getting production help with his image)

i really really like the detail that alec betrayed connor for his own good. their alliance concerned me because i like the friendship, but with the villains alliance it seemed really dangerous. and alec going "i like this man and i want him around, but being here is bad for him" is actually a really honest and mature approach.

(i also can't be assed to check handwriting, but i did notice it wasn't confirmed riya betrayed him- one vote wasn't read and it could've been against yul- but also i don't expect that to really mean anything)

rest of yellow team stuff

grett :( baby :(

she does not deserve this treatment and i know yul's going down in the end because he is so intentionally designed to be so so terrible but in the meantime :(

riya fucking up was telegraphed so hard (not a bad thing) and i appreciate how it a) makes her the obvious boot from a single challenge perspective and b) has no actual effect on the elimination.

other thoughts

don't really like what they're doing with trevor and derek. i'm sure it'll work out fine in the end but for now i'm largely ignoring it out of mild squick.

predictions

cyan team is due for elimination, although idk that they'll get it. if they do i'm guessing ellie or tom- either because ellie villain plot finally goes down against her, or tom if the love triangle plot plays out. i could see others but tbh i think this team drama works better with them making it to the merge.

if it's magenta team it's probably fiore, which makes me think it won't be magenta team.

yellow team as always is such a dumpster fire of drama. if they lose it's probably yul vs. riya but they both could have plot armor protecting them so idk.

don't have much else rn because i need to leave but hopefully e7 is able to come out on time, and even if not that the difficulties the team is facing re: leakers aren't too devastating.

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 6

THIS EPISODE WAS SO GOOD!!! the fact that it was a musical episode is totally the cherry on top; i love it when series come with their own music (cough cough me @ project sekai). but overall it was also really funny, and had some great character moments, too.

i'll save my thoughts on strategy and where the season might be headed for my next power ranking post (whenever that is :,( ), but were some of my other thoughts/highlights.

specifically the phrase "fuck my life" and Yul saying it made me cackle. seems like Emily ISN'T Yul's manager, but she might still kinda take on that role this season? we'll see. the lack of phones is really having an effect on the plot.

they hate her so fucking bad

okay, i guess i forgot to consider this angle when i was saying it would've made more sense for them to vote out Fiore. however, having started with 18 participants, the merge will probably happen at, what, 10 people? (modern Survivor describes the merge as "at least 11," but obviously this isn't survivor.) sure, Hunter is a bit of a challenge beast, but he can't protect all three of them every episode. if this trio is only 3/10 of the votes, you could literally split the votes on Ally and Tess in a 3-3-4 if you can get everyone else to unite against them. you know what you should be worried about? THE VILLAINS ALLIANCE HAVING 6/"10" VOTES AT THE MERGE!!! sigh. why am i relying on Jake to be smart (/j)

i'm more impressed that there was hot water in the first place. this thing is in the middle of a field, no?

i'm finally starting to see how Yul can be a hilarious "love to hate him" kind of villain. he had some of the best lines this episode hands down.

TREVEK BECOME CANON???

there was absolutely no reason to put the apple on the stick other than to fit in. love this for her.

idk if this is a winner's cut moment or not. glad that the money would go towards schools and NOT the police force, though.

man, now i want to go back and check the other episodes to see if Tess has had the "Cyan Team narrator" role the whole time. in Survivor, that's indicative of a deep run. ...i really need to stop applying Survivor logic to everything.

and why are you thinking about what would make Oliver laugh, Kristal? ',:)

i appreciate the s1 callback, but Trevor doing this dance move gives me so much second hand embarrassment that i keep inadvertently closing my eyes every time i have to "see" it again. anyways, given how most of the episode songs had lyrics related to the Team's emotional state, it's interesting to see that Trevor is singing a romance song. trevek become canon pt 2?

this was an interesting parallel. with Kristal laughing at Derek's joke, it seems like they were trying to show how she's growing closer to Derek, in a way which Trevor might fear is romantic. were there supposed to be romantic undertones to Alec being the only one to laugh at Connor's joke? and, if there were, was that just a fun nod to the aleconnor shippers, or will it actually be canon/relevant to later in the season?

NOT a surprise. i need to see the "i want you died" poetry he wrote about Fiore after last season.

of course you were, you fucking fruit (affectionate)

the anguish: i love my gf :D let's frolick through a field together

"trust me dude i'm the divorce man"

GABBY?????

mood but also damn is Ellie really leaning into the villain thing this season. this doesn't even help her win the season, she JUST wants to see him suffer.

i forgot that the s1 contestants didn't know that Nina was her own separate being yet

they were NOT lying, Aiden's VA is a great singer! Tom's backing vocals and Ellie and Gabby's harmonies(?) were also really nice too, though. this was probably my favorite song of the episode just bc i think Cyan had the strongest singers. all of the rocking, shoulder-moving dances are also impossible not to imitate.

well, there's the thumbnail. their choice of thumbnail made me laugh bc i remember, back when i was watching s1, seeing all the thumbnails of Aiden kissing both James and Hunter and thinking that Aiden was going to be some sort of troublemaking flirty antagonistic character only to be blindsided by his actual characterization. i'm sure the s1 watching me would have only added this to her arsenal of evidence, although hilariously idk if i would have been able to tell the other character was Tom at the time. anyways, i was pretty certain from the start that this must be part of the performance. although, while i'm happy that Aiden seems to think that James will be okay with the performance, i wish we could have cut to James somehow just to confirm that that was true. i don't want the next time we see James, whether in the finale or some other time, to show that he was actually really jealous and upset at Aiden for kissing another man while in a committed relationship. also gabbielle(?) super cute in the bg :D

he's so fucking stupid... (/pos)

bold of you to say this to Ashley, who has been in a two year relationship with the guy who went home in episode 2.

i also really liked this song :D i understand why they made Jake and Ally the main singers, because they best encompassed what the theme of the song was about, but i think i actually liked Ashley's vocals the best. i wish she'd gotten to sing more. also for a moment i thought Marcus had a trans flag on his hat. it's still close enough. trans Marcus canon.

this was probably my least favorite performance of the episode, although idk how much of that was just how much i hate Alec's outfit. glassesless Alec scares me so bad... no hate to the VAs, obviously, i think they have nice voices! it's actually the way that they didn't sound like they had confidence in their singing abilities that made the performance feel a little shakier to me. i do think that this song had the best lyrics in terms of encapsulating each member of their team, though. i really like how Yul and Riya are the ones to sing "i'm going to chase it" as a duo, because they're the ones chasing fame and the limelight, and then Grett sings that she can't ignore it, because eventually she's going to have to realize that her entire relationship with Yul was a result of him clout chasing. Connor only singing "live in the moment until i die" is also very fitting given his placement... in both seasons. L.

really surprised that Riya (or anyone else) didn't even mention Yul's foot injury as part of this equation. Riya just said that she didn't want to lose any more challenges, and Yul's bad foot could totally lead to a loss. maybe i'm just overestimating the extent to which that foot injury will stick around, though.

season 2 characters are REALLY suffering out here.

HELP??????

love to see Alec and Fiore's kinda sorta dual redemptions. i have high hopes for them.

and those were my initial thoughts, which got way longer than i expected. thanks if you wound up reading towards all the way down here. i have no idea who the leakers are, obviously, but i really hope that they stop acting up soon so that the series can continue. i would hate to have the artists have to take a pay hit and/or stop making the series just because of some people's impatience and delusions of power, or have the honest patrons lose out on being able to watch the episodes early to protect from others' immaturity. see ya!

[td-frog]

thoughts on dcas e5

villains alliance

i like that the notes at the end was just a reveal from miriam and not like an advantage thing for connor. that adds an interesting new layer to the whole thing.

i also really appreciate that only half the villain's alliance is actually being allies and that it's the original villain trio from s1. granted fiore and ellie are more motivated by being the only villains on their teams, but alec clearly meant it when he said they'd work together in spite of that and the rest of yellow team absolutely didn't. which like. obviously.

gonna be honest i assumed grett voted for yul because i saw people quoting it as fact (including the fandom wiki) and checking the handwriting seemed like a lot of work. but i was also surprised because literally in the last episode during their argument he said connoriya would probably vote him out because of his beef with riya and he hasn't even considered her as an option? esp when one vote wasn't revealed so they literally could have both voted for him.

i'm sooo curious what emily wanted to talk to him about. i'm still expecting yellow team villain alliance implosion of sorts but idk that i see yul going first anymore- it seems like they're planning more for him what with the cliffhanger here, his being shitty to grett, and his rivalry with riya. in terms of "who would vote for who" he has more things against him, but in terms of narrative i think he'll stick around. which might just mean yellow wins more for a bit.

magenta team

the hunter / tess conversation was really funny to me because it reads to me like hunter is just the absolute worst at a) situational awareness and b) effective communication. the way he presents the situation to her comes across as "i care and worry about ally because i love her but she's hard to approach when she's stressed" which i do believe.

but in pretty much every interaction he and ally have had this season she's been like "please work with me to help us get through this game and minimize hate" and his response is "why do you care so much what other people think?" like dude. read the room

like it does shift the perspective in that i think some of his shitty boyfriend moments were him (badly) trying to help address the source of her stress (like, in a "you can't control how other people feel so it's helpful to learn how to let go of it" way), but like. of fucking course she responds badly to that, you're essentially responding to "i care about this" with "stop caring" and being surprised when she takes that badly.

anyways i do like where it went. it seems like ally and tess might reconnect soon and i'm looking forward to that.

i also like the decision to get hunter out; i'm obviously biased because i love fiore but also from a drama perspective it makes more sense. his and ally's relationship is in a place where him leaving doesn't get rid of the drama, and the drama of fiore sticking around is better than the predicted 2v2 if she left.

it raises the question of how magenta alliances shake out next. i don't expect jake and ashley to stick with fiore bc they only voted out hunter because it was strategic here. it would make more sense for them to team up with ally now that she's alone (and she and ashley had a brief moment). but ally might not trust that because she'd be in danger later. also we don't know when the merge is and what would change then.

also shoutout to jake playing strategically here, i like the idea that miriam getting out pushed him to think harder about how to actually play.

cyan team

i mentioned in my last predictions that gabby hadn't really gotten to do anything plotwise and that's still sort of true but i can see how it changes- "if ellie were in a villains' alliance she would have told me"

like i love ellie in her bitch era but i think it runs the risk of getting old- she's not trying to be likable at all and that's bound to cause problems eventually, and this is fucking perfect. the thing she said to tess about how you can't trust friends in this game- ellie and gabby have never been directly pitted against each other and i bet that happens here.

i think their relationship is one of the strongest in the game right now, only really behind jaiden but james is out so that's irrelevant. but this raises the question of what ellie would choose between gabby and winning. she'd obviously choose winning over most everyone, but gabby? and i expect that to be painful even if it works out in the end.

also tom!! first off shoutout to aiden for bringing up the drama, he has no idea what's going on but is trying his best. but tom finally admitting to avoiding jake- and the reason is soooo funny.

like it makes sense. their relationship on s1 was tumultuous at best and neither handled it well. it genuinely makes sense that once he was off-camera he would worry that all the drama would continue to follow them and want to cut ties completely. it was shitty to ghost, but like. i get it.

but dude. you came back on the show together!!! you knew he would be here!!

(again i think this is great, i totally get why he's still avoiding jake, it's because he doesn't know how to communicate like an adult and hopes that avoiding all of his problems will make them go away)

i do think it's interesting in light of him being overly hostile to jake last episode? like i wonder how much of that is genuine resentment over stuff from s1 that's built-up unaddressed vs trying to push him away in advance because he's scared of them getting close again.

also he told aiden he was planning to talk to jake. i'll believe it when i see it buddy.

predictions

i think magenta team is safe, barring team change shenanigans.

i think yellow team could be in danger, because they have a lot of plot ready to explode, but they're probably also safe.

if it is them... i think it could be a lot of them. connor for being outside the alliance, yul for everything, alec for the villains alliance betrayal thing?, potentially riya although i'm less confident. i think grett is safe unless specifically sabotaged. but i don't think they'll lose.

i'm expecting cyan team. they're due for drama with the ellie villain thing, at the very least i think they'll be more focused in the plot of the episode.

i think tom and aiden are safe because i don't see the love triangle plot wrapping up so soon. it could be tess because she doesn't have an alliance, but i think she's more likely to be tiebreaker than targeted. i'm leaning one of gabby and ellie, depending on how the ellie villain thing shakes out. narratively it feels like sending ellie home here resolves a bit much, but idk why it'd be gabby. maybe an immunity idol type situation where ellie protects herself and it screws over gabby? or protects gabby and screws over herself? unsure.

aside from elimination

ally's gonna have some fallout from hunter leaving- probably talking to tess and maybe teaming up with either fiore or jake and ashley. but since i don't expect elimination the alliance part probably won't be a huge focus.

whatever happened with emily and yul- idk what it is so no idea how it will affect things.

i'm expecting drama on the cyan team, mainly related to ellie but idk exactly what it'll look like.

maybe tom will actually talk to jake??