#i watched every pov and i think this episode grian's is my favourite (even if he cut out most of my fav scene overall)

[klbzplb]

honestly still the biggest personal tragedy of session 5 is that when grian joined gem in the tower building. in gems episode, there were almost a solid 10 minutes of just that. them hanging out, calm, peaceful, no danger, away from people that could hurt them . and guess what ? grian left LESS THAN 3 MINUTES OF THAT IN HIS EPISODE dbjksffejw

[thecoolerliauditore]

Interesting perspectives.

I'm a big baby who mostly just dislikes LL for being the "meanest" season, with everyone backstabbing each other, no compelling dynamics as well as some of my least favourite dynamics in the whole series (truly it was the season that belonged to my beloatheds), and too many big groups (not fond of groups larger than 3, more than that makes interactions get lost and alliances weak in an uncompelling way. a duo/trio can realistically trust each other and have a personal dynamic, a quartet+ are just early episode roommates (this is a problem that is a result of the length of the seasons, I think if they were closer to 12+ episodes larger teams would work better, but I also think if a season stuck around that long everyone would be sick of it)).

And also yeah if you ask me to remember much of anything that happened in the last 2/3s besides an unrelenting wave of betrayals and abandonments I'd be hard pressed to think of anything. I can't even remember most people's last deaths. The map was also the most Eh map in the series, never knew where anything was, was all just ambiguous forest. Session 2 was good, though, entirely because of Lizzie. And, I also watch things as casual entertainment first and foremost, so most of my first watch enjoyment is "did this pov make me laugh/cheer on their antics". LL very rarely made me do either.

I waver back and forth between it and 3L being my least favourite, though, cause 3L was genuinely just kinda boring unless you cared about either desert duo or renchanting. And I kinda liked both but I didn't love either. People weren't as funny and didn't know each other well so they were awkward, they still didn't know what they were doing, and the map outside the desert was wasted (a particular quality of each season that people don't talk about nearly as much I think, setting quality). I can only enjoy it casually as background noise, I rarely get pulled in.

I know this one is an unpopular opinion because the last two seasons can't go a single episode without some controversy by monday, but to me the life series generally is one that gets better every season. Though I think SL was its peak even if it didn't have any particularly compelling teams, the gimmick was the best and everyone was at their funniest and enjoying themselves the most, the gimmick lent itself to being bent to the needs of the game such as lightening the blow of the wider gap of final deaths by having Jimmy return as a ghost, or giving the reds tasks to do damage. It was good at creating both personal moments and server-wide moments.

Double life is my favourite though, because no objective qualities can beat out favourite characters and first entry bias. Also the small amount of deaths and inherently having someone to share it with made every single one memorable, and it had one of the best maps with the ancient city and canyon. And every single team memorable and well-utilized base, as well as being the season that finally forced everyone to get to know each other which the later seasons benefited from greatly.

Yeah, in my head 3L and LL are slightly like test runs and DL is where the series really got on a roll. Grian said they didn't even know what they were getting into with 3L and I think you can tell that by the over-correction into DEATH game territory LL did before DL reeled it back in and they found more of a balance for the rest of the series.

(Actually "5th is the best, 3rd is my fav" is the exact same opinion I have about pokemon, funny enough. Maybe its something)

But I also think that comparing seasons is a bit like comparing apples to oranges since every single one is so different besides the base 'death game' concept. Like I like 24L and WL equal amounts but also they don't have a single thing in common so I find it hard to even put them side by side. And, of course, RL is just... its own thing entirely.

This is why I rotate stuff like the funny evil bdubs interpretation chart/cycle so much because essentially all the reasons you listed for disliking 3L and LL are reasons they're my favourites e.g. the awkwardness, the distrust you could feel in larger groups, the overall meanness, so on.

They felt absolutely like. the most DEATH GAME out of the series, DL still felt like a death game to me albeit with a slower pace and much more focused on conversation and drama than action. LimL marked a very distinct shift in tone for me although that was also the first one I watched as episodes were coming out so that might've been a factor. SL and WL so far feel more like Mario Party than Death Game with maybe the exception of the very last episode of SL feeling much more like something that should've been in an earlier season due to the lack of tasks.

I think we're all biased towards our own fav seasons but tbf I think the "controversy" with each new episode of WL is more. me being grouchy than any real significant drop in retention? You can correct me on this I am absolutely not watching the numbers but I've definitely seen people like the direction the series is taking which is honestly cool w/ me cus I feel like Grian knows that in competitive situations with time it either goes the funny minigame RNG route or the sweaty min-maxxer route and I and most people I feel like would much rather watch the series go more in the direction of funny RNG than Last Life 2 where everyone employs the smajor strategy of not making enemies, making a base in the corner of the map, only teaming with 1-2 people, etc. Plus it's going to be kind of hard to fish back the distrustful atmosphere of 3L/LL when it's six seasons in and pretty much the entire cast are friends.

Anyway yeah the apples and oranges thing is very correct, it's more or less a different vibe completely and why death game stories that are intended as death game stories usually don't rerun the same cast lol <-- although the "they are stuck in a horrifying death game loop forever to the point where they dont care anymore and find it kind of fun" angle is something I find really cool to think abt with this series.

One of the reasons I like LL over 3L actually (other than the very strong first season I watched bias) is the fact that 3L was a rare situation where I felt like there was a very clear A plot/B plot that emerged with main and side characters. Bdubs' POV in his last episode was literally just brewing potions in his house whilst a million death messages flooded the chat lol.

I still think 3L might be the strongest narratively and its "b plots" although not as flashy as desert duo vs dogwarts have some really cool stuff that have left me fucked up forever mentally (flower husbands I'll never forgive you) but yeah. Compared to LL and the seasons that come after it does feel like the one where all POVs are equal but some POVs are more equal than others. Especially when LL was a massive fucking mess in terms of its alliances where every single team had some sort of massive dramatic moment.

Thinking about it now I think I like the life series for the same reason I like those. "100 player battle royale" videos where I more or less look at it from an angle of an unethical psychologist. Holy shit okay um I was about to make a joke about how I would be Zimbardo instead of Freud if Zimbardo was dead and I didn't think this would be the way I found out Zimbardo died last month holy shit post cancelled I feel bad now

[memryse]

Mem! Do you have any thoughts on 3rd life compared to last life?

ooh very interesting question, there's definitely i have a lot to say on this subject

i will say, i enjoyed both of them a lot. like a Lot. stares at my blog. but i am definitely more critical of last life - while i appreciate wanting to change things up and make them more exciting, which worked for the most part, i do think that in making some of those changes, you lose some of the magic of the simplicity of 3rd life.

3rd life is, essentially, a vanilla series with a limit of 3 lives and a world border. the rules are easy to grasp, and so... unobtrusive? that the series ended up being extremely story driven. the rules don't really impact anything other than the length of the series and the point at which people are allowed to kill each other. the reason for them killing each other was entirely their own choice. last life, on the other hand, had mechanics actively designed to force kills every episode: the boogeyman and the red lives alliance rule. this forces getting kills into the spotlight, often (though definitely not always) at the cost of natural story progression. in particular, the final couple of sessions felt very stilted to me, because all alliances had effectively been broken long ago; there was no real investment left in any faction other than grian and joel staying together until the end. it was just a battle royale. as much as i liked the whole "zombie apocalypse" vibes of sessions 7 and 8 in particular, session 9 fell a little flat for me. it was just fighting for the sake of fighting. and while i thought scott's victory was very poetic, the buildup to it? not so much.

however. last life was still a fantastic series. its main charm point to me was how these new mechanics gave focus to everyone. i still have not seen every 3rd life pov, or even half of them. and though i definitely do intend to watch them all, a lot of them are quite far down my priority list compared to other series rn, because i think you can safely say that 3rd life objectively does have main characters: namely, its four sets of duos. the others are great, but you do not need to watch very many povs at all to understand the main conflict. last life, on the other hand, doesn't have a main conflict. which made watching every pov every week so much more entertaining. there was a new thing in every video, a new reason to care about all seventeen videos each week. it was a lot, but it was SO worth it. every faction had equal importance in last life, and it was so much fun to watch them all and put together a true picture of what was going on in all corners of the server. which, again, all 3rd life povs are certainly good, but it ended in two distinct sides. last life was messy. in a good way.

i think some of the mechanics changes in last life may have detracted from what i initially liked about 3rd life, but they still made for an excellent series. the boogeyman mechanic? complex and forced kills for no reason, sure, but it also provided an excuse to put lesser known members in the spotlight. even if a player wasn't involved in a boogey kill, they'd often include their reaction to seeing the death in chat, which then incentivises people to go check out the players involved in it. and, again, it added to each faction's storyline to make them all equally important. the "red lives must break alliances" rule made alliances feel more fruitless sometimes especially at the end, but largely made for some really well-done goodbyes (or lack thereof, in bdubs' case). like, i have written essays before on session four of last life being my favourite episode of any mcyt series ever, and i fully stand by this. THAT is how you execute this sort of rule.

the life exchange feature made for some great moments: scar taking advantage of it to do Soul Capitalism, tango the life dispenser, etc. but the life exchange feature could never have worked so effectively without adding the extra lives, it'd effectively be one time use if you only had three lives maximum. extra lives also offset the change in pace that so many boogey kills would have caused. so even though i felt it went against the whole concept of 3rd life, and i wasn't too keen on seeing some players start on two lives, i do appreciate what these mechanics brought to the series and why they were all necessary to balance each other out.

so to conclude!!! i love both series! maybe i'm just a grumpy mentally-old lady who doesn't like change, but i don't think criticism of a thing you love is bad. it might not be what i originally fell in love with the series for, but i suppose as the name change suggests, last life is not 3rd life. it wasn't supposed to be, and maybe that's a good thing, because even before last life started i said i was apprehensive about trying to recreate 3rd life. it was magical in a very unique way. so i think ultimately i'm glad they went in a new direction for last life - it's not its predecessor, it doesn't pretend to be, and it very firmly cements itself as a fantastic but entirely different series. even if it's not perfect.

[trihardent]

Was watching back Scar's Episode, trying to pick a favourite moment and it's all so good like; Top 15 of things I loved below the cut. it's.... a little long. Spoilers for Scar's 3rd episode, obviously

In chronological Order

1. Scar saying Rapscallions. Happens a fair amount during the episode and every time it's fantastic. Bonus points for Grian and Scar Both calling Etho a Rapscallion at different times

2. "Now, you maybe be wondering what these friend certificates are backed up by, diamonds, food? No. Love. And it can't be disputed, love cannot be disputed!"

3. Grian pulling up in a boat and turning around so Scar can easily hop in. Like, theoretically? He could've right clicked in regardless. But the theatre of it all ! Fantastic

4. Bigb slowly backing away in his boat, Scar inching closer each time, "Man the currents here are strong, but our friendship will always bring us together. But we never certified our best friendness... [cue sales pitch]"

5. Etho's testimonial. I think the framing of him on lilypad from SCar's pov adds a lot to the moment

6. At like, 6:45 when he says "but I still really wanna trade up, and get an enchanter today" he sounds so villainous and foreboding iconic, he's an icon, who else brings this level of drama on a regular basis on the server?

7. The entirety of Jimmy coming over for cows; Grian and scar working together to get the diamond chestplate, Jimmy breaking under very minimal pressure, fantastic interaction, 10/10 I cannot wait for Solidarity's POV for that one

8. "Scar I can't give up the business it's not just me, it's- Martyn has kids he's gotta feed-" "When I Turn Red Ren, You're on My List" I appreciate the fact that Scar slowly walked away the entire time Ren was explaining, the cinematography... again, who is more dramatic?

-1. Negative 1, because Grian was very much helping Cleo out during the Pizza talks and it gave me pain, from telling her not to settle for paper, to sort of egging on the "how much is pizza worth to you angle", TELLING cleo about the diamond chestplate? TELLING her he was lying? "Might as well take his pants too" WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON? THE ANSWER SHOULDN'T BE CLEO HERE but it was kinda funny, but also a little sad

7. version 2: We're slightly off time here but Scar sliding into his salesman voice offering Cleo the friendship pack I-

8. Saying he worked hard for the diamond sword he "bargained for" with Joel- I'm wheezing. "That's not just a diamond sword that's a sword with great history behind it."

9. "I can't take off my pants! That's InApPrOpRiAtE!"

10. Turning to Grian the second Cleo was out of sight to say "Oh good I hid the chestplate"

11. The montage of 5 second clips of A) Cookie mountain B) There's some weird stuff going on in there C) Yeah that's a Bdubs Castle. Great 15 seconds 15/15

12. The entirety of both interactions with Joel. I would list the things I loved but it would make this post Even Longer, like Way Too Long and I should probably wrap it up soon. Again, skipping around a bit, but they were both so funny. His house feels like a drive-in, it's fantastic. "Hello hello hello it's uncle scar, coming to visit!"

13. Scar trying to explain why what he's been doing isn't blackmail

14. "Can we still be friends?" *throws flowers* - actually the entire Scar coming back was very funny

-1 for Grian not disagreeing when Scar said he was hideous :( /hj

13. Ren escaping from Etho's, "It's a shame there are others who decided... not to align with me..." zooms in on Ren swimming away. This episode I'm really noticing a lot of the ways in which Scar does a great job of positioning his camera for maximum comedy/effect, and the editting is really good too.

14. The 2nd Ren threatening scene..... "You said you'd kill me first" "Oh no I've come to threaten you first" ......... "I won't kill you or your- partner"........ "He's on the payroll. Disposable, some even may say"......

15. The Second Visit to Joel's

Anyway Stan GoodTimesWithScar I guess!