#not only with the family but also Martyn

[probablyethan]

Grain totally did not regret his team choices nooooooo

[ivys-garden]

Another season, a new winner, another card flipped over.

It is that time again, blessed listeners, to assign a winner a new Tarot Card.

For those joining us are previous cards in the Tarot Symbolism are:

Grian: “The Sun”

Scott: “The Star”

Pearl: “The Moon”

Martyn: “The Tower”

Scar: “Wheel Of Fortune”

Cleo: “King Of Swords” (liable to change if there's not another special one off event)

And so, what is the card of Joel? Why, it could only be...

THE CHARIOT

In tarot The Chariot represents confidence, willpower and ambition, both if which Joel has had throughout the series. But it also represents balance between forces, much like how Joel has to balance his eagerness to win and his aggression with making friends and supporting allies in order to win, as in previous seasons where he lacked balance and was aggressive all the time, he lost.

The Chariot represents moving forward and forging new paths for yourself, such as with Joel forging his path with iron strong bonds instead of the bloody vengeance he's used in previous seasons. A new path for a new man.

When used in terms of relationship readings, The Chariot reversed means to take things slow, much like how Joel had to take things slow and not mindlessly attack people to win. Reacting instead of acting.

The Chariot represents trust and acceptance that we can't do things alone, fitting with Joel being so close with his team to consider them family. As opposed to previous seasons where he was more of a wildcard or lone wolf type

When The Chariot is reversed in normal readings it means aggression, impulsiveness, lack of control, indecision and inevitable defeat, which was Joel's experience for the series up until now. But now he has revered the card, becoming the opposite of these negative traits.

Oh also if we use The Chariot then his stupid bloody car can be on the card art.

So there you have it, Joel “Toretto” Smallishbeans is The Chariot

15 cards remain.

(To be clear I didn't mess up my math, The Fool is reserved for when Jimmy wins. That's why it's 15 left and not 16)

[izelthewashbear]

Life series theory / analysis

// SPOILERS for Wild Life finale!

Okay so I have a theory about the winners and their character development throught the series:

Is it just me, or is Joel the only winner who had a positive character development through the series?

Just so that we're on the same page: Character development refers to cultivating certain traits in individuals that help guide their behavior. That means positive character development cultivates positive traits in a person, and negative character development (yes it's a thing) cultivates the negative traits. I was thinking about the finale of Wild Life and all of the winners and honestly? Joel seems to be the only one with positive character development. Also, I'm only talking about the characters, not the content creators, just so that there are no weird insinuations.

Let's go over the winners first, shall we?

Grian - the creator of Life and the one establishing the rules - immediately goes on to break them with an unprovoked green-on-green kill on Scar. Not to mention the toxic codependent yaoi these two developed on the desert and still can't leave behind.

Scott - the guy who was seen as one of the most loyal, ended up winning while avenging all of his fallen allies - learning that even alliances are fleeting and he can't keep himself too tied to anyone. The moment the next game starts, he almost immediately bounces from his goverment assigned soulmate and isn't really keen on making things even between them. Even at the end, the decision to sacrifice himself for Pearl is his and his only.

Pearl - do I even have to say it? Being rejected by the one person who was supposed to have her back, she turned on everyone and seemed better for it. Her trauma was not her fault, and neither was the negative character development - but it did occur.

Martyn - I could write a whole essay on LimL!Martyn and one day I shall do that. The guy that lost his therapy dog for 24h and proceeded to make enemies all across server, gain one (1) ally and backstab him at the final moment. Like cmon.

Scar - the somewhat oblivious, but kindhearted social butterfly (U think I can call him that?) decided he's better on his own and withdrew from the others, slowly turning into the villain of the server. Every time he had allies, he ended up worse for it - but this one time, even he couldn't believe "How did the guy with no friends win?"

Cleo - okay this one is a bit murky, since Real life was so short (and some people even consider it non canon but I digress). I'd just say that it was so short, they didn't really have any time for character development - but if you saw something interesting, lemme know.

And then there's Joel. The guy who struggles with keeping alliances and the moment he turns red, he only sees red. But the one time he starts depending on his family, the one time when he tries to keep himself out of red for as long as possible and doesn't fully give in to the bloodlust after turning red - he wins.

Anyways thank you for coming to my TED talk, if you noticed anything interesting lemme know Also this is like not very serious, I haven't watched all winners POVs so sorry if I accidentally mixed something up

[my-craft]

Since I was asked about it and I really love yapping about symbolism, here’s the breakdown of what flowers are in each bouquet and what they mean

(Disclaimer I’m not an expert on flowers and am going off of google and a Victorian flower language book, alright, disclaimer over, let’s go!)

Full explaination of the symbolism under the cut!

Desert Lily- overcoming challenges

Rue- regret (Grian immediately regretted killing Scar at the final duel)

Marigold- grief (same as above)

Desert rose- resiliency

Desert rose- resiliency

Cactus- they never left that ring

Amaryllis- pride, strength

Poppy and Lilacs- desert duo was such a big part of this series and I’m a sucker for a good overarching symbol

Scott:

Heather- protection/ luck (I was thinking with him and his axolotl, he protected the axolotl and it ended up being a bit of a good luck charm)

Violet- modesty (he started with only two hearts, a modest amount)

Magnolia- dignity

Jasmine- Amiability, Cheerfulness

Clematis- Ingenuity, Cleverness (he prepared well and thought out his endgame strategy, very clever)

Rosemary- remembrance, wisdom

Orchid- elegance (partially because I really wanted some pink in there for his axolotl but also it was a well played game)

Pearl:

Wattle- flower of Australia

Dogwood blossoms- for Tilly 💜 (it also means ‘our love will overcome adversity’)

Begonia- to repay a favor/ a warning

Nettle- revenge

Alyssum- literally translates to ‘without madness’ and also has ties to witchcraft and apparently was used to treat rabies

Anemone- forsaken love

Wormwood- bitterness/ grief

Primrose- luck, joy

Daffodils- unrequited love

Martyn:

(I was a little mean with his, I’m sorry Martyn)

Cherry blossom- symbol of time passing, and how short time is

Gladiolus- you pierce my heart (he killed the last two contestants with a sword, I think he’s the only winner to kill the opponent with a sword) (Grian-fists, Scott- arrows/zombie, Scar- fall damage, Cleo-zombie (ha) Joel- fall damage)

Bilbery- treachery (he backstabbed his former teammate)

Tansy- hostility

Laurel- victory

Orange Lily- good luck

Coral- homage to the mean gills

Fir- an evergreen tree, another symbol of time and a nod to him now having all the time in the world now he’s won

Petunia- resentment (it’s harsh but he kinda resented the idea of a fair fight between the three of them)

Scar:

Sunflower- false riches (it’s scars chosen flower and it fits so well for the trader that never had any good trades)

Foxglove- riddles, secrets (its called Secret Life, I thought it would be perfect)

Datura- deceitful charms (scar was incredibly shrewd, clever and charming, this is an excellent flower for him)

Crocus- cheerfulness

Dandelion- magic, transformation

Poppy and lilac- hey, I haven’t left the desert either

Fern- magic, secrecy

Cleo:

I didn’t have much for them because it was only one episode but I’ve got a few

Larkspur- levity (it was a fun session and they seemed to have fun with it

Sweet pea- ‘thank you for a lovely time’ (they had a lovely fun time!)

Chamomile- energy in adversity (they were having a tough time with the vr aspect and still kept up energy)

Cattail- peace and prosperity (they kept fairly peaceful with everyone until the end)

Joel:

Honeysuckle- devotion (he was incredibly loyal to his family

Yellow Azalea- friendship, family

Ivy- fidelity, attachment (once again, incredibly loyal and stayed true to his family)

Yarrow- love, strength, courage

Cornflower- hope in love

Zinnia- everlasting friendship (family is advanced friendship)

Blue hyacinth- sincerity (he kept true to his word)

[jadienjaystoriesandart]

I’m tempted to write a sit com style of Limited Life.

It follows the Clockers, a family of a single mom, Cleo Clocker, and her two sons (who we think are adopted) Scar and Bdubs Clocker (who we also swear that those aren’t their real names).

The local biker gang, Bad Boys, Grian, Joel, and Jimmy (who we aren’t sure are related but people speculate Jimmy and Grian are. And that Joel has a wife we don’t see)

The neighbors, Pearl and BigB (of which we think Pearl is Grian’s sister but isn’t confirmed. And is dating BigB to piss off her brother.) who are very nosey and tend to get involved in the family drama because of this.

Their absent dad, Etho Slab (Formerly Clocker), as he causes problems in the families life trying to ‘reconnect’ with his sons. And running a bar with his old college buddies Tango, Skizz, and Impulse. (We think they are in a poly or something. But none of them are straight.)

And the two resort owners, Scott and Martin, well ‘resort’ is an Airbnb they rent out and make great money with. (We think they are in a relationship (?), but Scott acts weird around Jimmy, and Martyn seems to have some weird trauma around Cleo. We aren’t sure why, but something happened.)l

Noted Plot points.

- Grian and Scar used to be a couple when teens, and Grian cheated on Scar with BigB.

- BigB was under the assumption that Scar was into this, and has tried to get Grian to do a threesome.

- Pearl is ‘dating’ BigB because both want to make Grian jealous. (It’s working)

- Scar still has feelings for Grian but also hates his guts. Several times through the series they have hate sex.

- Bdubs has some ‘dad’ trauma. And constantly looking for Etho’s approval.

- Etho only ever liked Bdubs and doesn’t like his eldest son Scar. He thinks Cleo had an affair. (Fans speculate that Scar is adopted)

- Fans speculate Joel has a secret wife that he hides form the Bad Boys and her name is Lizzie. They think she’s Pearl’s best friend or former girlfriend before she got with Joel.

- Gem is Cleo’s girlfriend in this, but people seem to think she’s Cleo’s sister which is confusing as to why.

- Renchanting is a closed down shop after Ren broke up with Martyn and left for a different city.

- The place takes place on a costal town a few miles away from a city. So Beach shenanigans (And Scar in a tight swimsu-)

- Jimmy is always having doubts of being a Bad Boy and seems to have a crush on Tango. (Fans love the angst for this shit).

- Bdubs and Scar have a great brotherly relationship even if they don’t see eye to eye.

- Tango, Impulse, and Skizz all keep trying to get Etho to ‘man up’ and actually be there for his kids. (Or at least Bdubs, Scar is doing fine on his own it seems). While also being bad influences on him for ways he can get Cleo to not hate him.

- they also own a tie shop business on the side of their bar. And no one knows why.

- Fans speculate the family is in a gang or mafia, but aren’t sure what. There is little evidence but it is scary how this little bit shows a darker picture.

- fans also speculate both Scar and Bdubs aren’t Cleo’s or Etho’s kids due to the stupid always changing their ages. Hence the mafia theory.

- both Scar and Bdubs are whores, and so is everyone else. I don’t make the rules.

-0-0-0-0-

This is about all I got for now. But if I come up with more ideas, I’ll let you know.

[fr-likes-chocolate]

My sibling headcannon has started to grow…

So it starts with the OG 5, Philza Martyn Pearl Jimmy Grian. They are all biological siblings.

Then one day Phil stumbles across Technoblade, and they become instant best friends, then they become brothers in arms. Techno slowly worms himself into the family and everyone is glad to have him.

Then during empires season one, Jimmy gets close to Lizzie. Pearl agrees that Lizzie is sister material, and after speaking to the other siblings they agree to make her their sister.

Joel is now brother in law whether he likes it or not.

One day False decides to follow Grian and Pearl off the server to a meetup with Martyn and Jimmy. That was her mistake because they almost immediately assimilated her into the family.

Eventually Techno and Phil bring along Tommy to one of the family events (there's no way in hell they are leaving Tommy with a certain green bastard whaile they are gone) Tommy just slowly charms the other siblings and they ask to have him come for the next family event.

Evbo is also there. No one invited him, no one knows how he got in. He is just simply there and no one had the heart to kick him out.

At this point in time the family consists of: Philza, Martyn, Technoblade, Grian, False, Tommy, Pearl, Evbo, Jimmy, Lizzie, and brother in law Joel.

Half of the family isn't related by blood and I havent even talked about kids and only mentioned Joel for spouses

[lillypad-monopoly]

Wild Life Episode 5 Thoughts

(Except I'm insane about Martyn's ep)

LIFE SERIES TRIVIA is DIABOLICAL! The watchers literally being like "how well do you guys know your pain and suffering?" (also sorry only winners remember theory truthers)

The way Grian and Scar are such bitter ex-soulmates that Mumbo has to point it out is hilarious. (also them getting even and saying "Just like Third Life" hurt my heart)

Grian not remembering iconic moments from his own series is so funny. What do you mean he only knows Martyn beheaded Ren with an axe from fanart? Grian gaining possession of the Red Winter Axe was a whole plot point.

MUMBO FIRST OUT! IN SESSION 5! The canary curse is broken for real now guys but at what cost.

Grian standing on the ruins of the tower by himself going through the five stages of grief over Mumbo's death as the sun rises in the background is a gorgeous piece of fanart waiting to happen

Martyn you didn't need to start the episode by talking about how Ren is providing for you, you're asking for the shipping at this point 🤣

MARTYN YOU DO THE LORE OFC JIMMY AND TANGO WERE OUT FIRST. Also REN YOU WERE LITERALLY IN DOUBLE LIFE. RIP Ren/BigB we know where his true loyalties lie

THE TWO NICKLES MEME BREAKING CONTAINMENT I CAN'T

Ren inviting BigB to join the RenWood Mound alliance WITHOUT REMEMBERING DOUBLE LIFE is so insane I don't even know what to say.

OF COURSE SCAR REMEMBERS THE DESERT DUO FLOWERS I'M GOING TO BE SICK

Martyn and Ren saying they're going to be boat bros. This has been coming since last session but I NEED Joel and Etho to call them out on it

"We're boat boys," MARTYN INTHELITTLEWOOD WHEN I CATCH YOU-

Etho yelling for Bdubs to hit him so they could test if the wildcard affected damage and then Tango going "smack me harder~" in the background was diabolical. Suuuure you guys are all PG.

Etho sitting in a boat for Joel to jump over him feels like some boat boys relationship symbolism I'm not smart enough to explain

So Etho is currently living with team BET, but allied with the Four Gs, and in the family with Gem and Joel. Wildcard Etho is so back!

Of course Impulse immediately remembered the clock question.

Joel boasting about how he immediately knows all the questions is peak Joel form and I would expect nothing less. It is kind of warranted though because everybody else is waffling on the simple ones.

Joel is now two for two on unquestioningly trusting Etho only to have something bad happen to him and not even being mad about it what is wrong with this man 😭

Does Joel have the censor bleep on his keyboard or did he just straight up start swearing at Tango and know they would both have to censor it in post to get the effect that he was also making the noise?

Scott's gone from a creaking fanboy to a body horror situation and I'm living for it (also considering he's agreed to "go wild" this session--am I sensing a Scott corruption arc?)

Scott cutting directly from saying he and Jimmy were never married even though they called each other husbands to a scene WITH Jimmy was kind of an insane choice

Gaslight Gatekeep Girlboss Girldad has been confirmed by Scott as the actual reason for the 4Gs. I still think Gaslight Gatekeep Girlboss ImpulseSV is funnier but good to have an official ruling

Scott giving up his life for Pearl and them being good natured about it and calling it therapy! I love them so much!

Lizzie being the only person who's not exicted when a trivia bot spawns is so funny. Even the other players who weren't in all the seasons don't seem to be as miffed by them as she is.

Lizzie's flaming snail arising out of that hole while smiling is potentially the funniest thing I've seen all day. Why did it look like that 🤣

[astrowarr]

""do the watchers think any emotions taste gross/revolting?" love. Love. I mean, generally, any positive emotion. the one they hate the most- like, love is, love is one of those ones that a lot of people can feel, but not necessarily understand it. trust is probably the one they hate the most. trust is one of those things that kinda transcends all dynamics. it doesn't matter if you're family, friends, acquaintances, y'know……….…….. whatever it is, trust is like, trust is like a different kind, ykwim? trust is, trust has, like, foundations to it, whilst as love can be kind of blind and can be rose-tinted whereas trust is, trust is another level. But Also, as much as they hate it, it needs to exist, because when trust is broken, That's when they get their best feed." martyn thinks renchanting are sooooo much better than desertduo. also i'm just catching up on the lore does grian taste emotions or is he a special watcher boy. because if he does.

you're insane (/pos) for transcribing this entire clip like this god bless you. you're so right btw i did only just realize he truly was calling out the difference between the desert duo and renchanting dynamics.. as for grian lore, i can't remember what exactly martyn has said about that, but he has always stressed that grian is the same kind of higher being that the watchers/listeners are, and has even said in the stream today that he has the same powers (albeit weaker). so i would say yes, he also feeds on emotions? but again i could totally be wrong, its been SO long since i watched martyn's lore streams.. tbh im thinking of rewatching them all and taking extensive notes

[goodqueenaly]

do you have any theories as to why Ned didn't return Willam Dustin's body to the North? Even accounting for the fact that he probably couldn't have reasonably suspected that this would lead his widow into nursing a decades long grudge against House Stark, it seems out of character for him to just leave the corpse of a cherished northern companion in Dorne

It’s important to remember the context of Willam Dustin’s death - that is, the events of the tower of joy. Net had not just experienced Willam’s own death (not to mention the deaths of his other northern companions, still less the deaths of the Kingsguard members). He had also witnessed the death of his beloved sister, while simultaneously discovering the existence of (as yet unnamed) baby Jon. Ned was dealing with a situation both personally traumatic and practically highly complicated and delicate - one in which Willam Dustin’s death, and the question of his body’s fate thereafter, was only a single part.

In this situation, I think Ned had to make hard decisions about how he was going to proceed. He had to dispose of the bodies of both his comrades at arms and the fallen Kingsguard in a way that wouldn’t arouse suspicion about the circumstances of their deaths; he had to provide for the baby nephew whose mother may have made his welfare her dying wish to her brother, and whose very existence was a potential bombshell for the rebellion he, Ned, had just helped lead to victory; he had to return his much-loved sister to her final resting place among the Starks, as she had also requested; and he had to go back to Winterfell, along the way breaking the news - or a version of the news - of the tower of joy to those families affected - not just Lady Barbrey, but also Ashara Dayne (not to mention the Glover, Cassel, Ryswell, and Wull families presumably as well).

So I think Ned decided that the best course of action with respect to Willam Dustin’s body was to bury it at the site of the now-demolished tower of joy, along with the bodies of the rest of the fallen men. As a matter of practicality, it would be much easier burying Willam and the others there than try to drag the bodies of eight men however far it would be from the relative remoteness of the tower of joy to the nearest silent sister to strip the bodies to bones (a rather specialized skill, as Barristan ruefully reflects when considering what to do with Quentyn Martell’s body in Meeteen). It was not, I think, that Ned did not care about Willam Dustin: indeed, the fact that Ned selected Willam as part of the very small party Ned compiled to accompany him on his mission to find Lyanna speaks I believe to Ned’s trust in Lord Willam’s skill and discretion. Nor do I think Ned was trying to insult Willam’s memory, the Dustins, or Lady Barbrey in this moment; after all, I don’t think Ned was trying to insult the memory of Ethan Glover; his own beloved late brother’s squire, or that of Martyn Cassel, a familiar face of Winterfell Ned had likely known from early childhood and his trips home from the Eyrie (not to mention Arthur Dayne; a knight Ned seems to have deeply respected). However, in an extremely sensitive situation, where the greatest level of secrecy had to be maintained, trying to get the five dead northerners, not to mention the three dead Kingsguard, to a silent sister or a motherhouse of silent sisters to have their bones preserved might have seemed like an excellent opportunity to raise questions about what the Lord of Winterfell and the Lord of Greywater Watch were doing with so many notable dead warriors (including Kingsguard missing from every major latter stage battle of Robert’s Rebellion), beyond the considerable practical impediments to doing so. If Ned cared most deeply about his late sister, and his promises to her, above anyone else who perished at the tower of joy - and I’m sure he did - it was also practically much easier for Ned to take the single body of Lyanna to be stripped to its bones without as much in the way of questioning, and leave his dead companions and the dead Kingsguard as fallen in battle not otherwise specified.

Of course, because Ned had to maintain strict secrecy around what truly happened at the tower of joy, there was no way to explain all of this detail to Barbrey. If Ned was willing to intimidate into silence even his own wife on a line of questioning dangerously close to the events around the tower of joy showdown, he was certainly not going to tell Barbrey the full circumstances of Willam’s death and burial. Barbrey’s feelings of grief for the man I think she loved were undoubtedly real and valid, and by extension her bitterness toward Ned for seemingly prioritizing his sister over her late husband, but Barbrey also could not know why Ned had done what he did, nor what personal cost Ned believed he bore in being unable to return the bones of any of the men who had perished in the shadow of that tower.

[pseudophan]

Do you ever think about how phil's family hit the jackpot when it comes to relationships? His parents are still together and happy (from what he's told us) his brother is in a long term relationship and so is he. Like what the fuck. This is insane. Statistically improbable.

honestly i haven't thought about it but you're SO right. i think a lot of it just has to do with the fact that they seem to be genuinely really good people. like i won't pretend to know anything beyond what we've been told but clearly phil and martyn were raised right, that whole family is so wholesome. it makes me very very happy that dan, who comes from a much more turbulent family dynamic, not only found a soulmate but also a very stable and loving family to go along with it who seemingly immediately embraced him as one of their own. i'm not saying dan's family sucks or anything, don't get me wrong, turbulent doesn't mean Bad. but he was so clearly craving that stable, unquestionable, unconditional love the lesters seem to have for each other and i just... i'm so happy for him :(

[moseslikellamas]

♱𖣂 Redfork Menace ♱𖣂 pt.2

Benjicot Blackwood x Bracken!OC

Summary - Following the shock of a lifetime while out scouting the borderlands, Shanda deals with the fallout of her actions and makes plans to repeat the same mistakes.

Warnings - fem!reader, strained family dynamics, adult language, obsessive behavior, reckless behavior, braindead behavior, not cannon compliant, kieran burton fancast,

Word count 2.1k

2/6 currently

!Minors DNI!

Ahaha, this is going to be a pretty slow burn type of deal I think. But I am unhinged and cranked out another one before work 😤👍🏻🗣️ Next chapter will be more exciting, I promise. Also everyone involved in any romance is of age of course bc I don’t care about canon and no child marriages here.

Shanda didn’t stop running until she was back home in her own chambers. Shutting her door quietly, she stripped her soaked clothes off. The cloak would have to be mended and she would have to convince Royce, her younger brother, to take her out riding to cover for the rip. That would cost her but it was better than the alternative. Shivering, she quickly dressed for sleep before adding more logs to the dying fire in her harth, then seated herself in front of the flames. Only then did she allow her mind to wander back to the horrible encounter she’d just experienced. Why was the Blackwood heir on guard duty in the borderlands? It didn’t make any sense even if he had spoken the truth earlier. She moved like a shadow but no woman can be invisible. To send Benjicot to deal with a once off rogue spy was a move that was so strange it made her head spin.

Tomorrow she would talk to Martyn first, tell him mostly the truth of what happened and then convince him to let her out again. She had a good start on information for swaying her father but it wasn’t enough. If she went with tales of the heir and half heard secrets, he’d lose his mind at her irresponsibility. But if she found out what the heir was up to and confirmed what real problem the Blackwoods were having, well then he might see reason. He might for once appreciate having a slippery sneaking daughter who doesn’t know how to mind her own business.

Shanda awoke with a start, nearly toppling herself from the chair she’d fallen asleep in. No light shone in from the windows, her room was damp and muggy. Her night clothes stuck to her in an uncomfortable manner, sweat beaded on her brow as she rose to wash and dress for the day. The riverlands were often damp, hot and moist, the air thick with water. Gazing out the window she saw the torches lit and in the distance gathering clouds like a bruise against the gray sky.

Leaving her room, Shanda slowly made her way downstairs. She stopped along the way to make a comment to anyone passing by, making a point to be seen by many and accounted for undoubtedly. Then without pausing in the main hall, headed straight out into the yard to find Martyn. The guard shift was up at first light and though there was no light outside, she guessed it had only been a few minutes since the shift changed.

Martyn was waiting for her outside of the barracks and he motioned for her to walk with him. They began to circle around the yard, walking quietly and slowly together. Her brother was a short man barely an inch taller than her but he had eyes like a hawk and could shoot a field mouse clean nearly a mile away. Which was why he was always stuck on guard duty.

“Well out with it. I’ve gotta have a sleep too, you know?”

Shanda hesitated. What exactly was she going to tell him? ‘Hey so I got into a knockdown fight with the Blackwood heir last night who threatened to arrest me by the way for a made up list of crimes’. Well mostly made up crimes. That didn’t sound like a good idea.

Martyn spoke in her silence, “Did you bring the knife back?”

Shanda inhaled sharply, grimacing.

“About that, I maybe sort of-“

He cut her off, “Shanda please tell me you didn’t leave it.”

“I didn’t leave it per say. It was jostled from my hands, let's say instead.”

The look Martyn gave her was incredulous to the point of absurdity and it took all of her willpower not to laugh.

“Okay listen. Last night I found out the Blackwood heir has been relegated to guard duty. Overheard an argument between him and another guard.” She glanced around before continuing, the yard was still mostly deserted. “They were arguing about crimes being committed on their lands. I don’t know what crimes but it didn’t sound like they were too happy about it.”

“Benjicot was on guard duty? Wait, and you said the knife was… Did you fight the heir to Raventree?”

Shanda pointedly avoided looking her brother in the eye, a bit embarrassed of her behavior in the light of day.

“To be fair, I didn’t know it was Benjicot. I thought it was just some nameless guard!” She hissed agitated at having been caught in such a situation.

“Shanda, do you have any sense? The mother save you, I certainly can’t! If father were to find out...”

He didn’t have to finish that sentence. Shanda had been walking on thin ice lately. But it wasn’t her fault her father had no vision for house Bracken. She didn’t want to play second fiddle to the Blackwoods for the rest of her life. But he was set in his ways at his age and that meant ‘no sneaking into the borderlands to spy on our sworn rivals’. A foolish and dangerous act that she just couldn’t abide. Hence the sneaking tomfoolery.

“Look I need to get the knife back and I need to figure out what they’re up to. Surely this is suspicious behavior!”

Martyn only shook his head looking thoughtful.

“He could just be doing rounds.”

“In the borderlands? You don’t see our father wasting you there, why would they?”

Sighing heavily he replied, “I don’t know dear sister and I’m too tired to care. Don’t do anything stupid and I’ll see about getting you out again.”

Despite her best efforts her face still lit up at his proclamation.

“No promises. Now go away and annoy someone else for a change huh?”

“Sure thing Martyn. Sleep well!”

Waving him off, she waited til Martyn was out of sight before booking it to the stables. It was time to convince Royce now. A much harder brother to move. Royce was three years younger than her and though seventeen, still incredibly immature. Which was why he was in the stables and wifeless. Not that she had a better track record when it came to potential suitors but she could sympathize with women not wanting to spend a significant amount of time around him.

Entering the stables, Shanda could smell the fresh hay that was being spread out. Reminding her of her own duties she was neglecting while outside brother negotiating. The tasks would hold, this could not.

“Royce? Are you here?”

“No, go away.”

Groaning and already regretting the decision to talk to him, she made her way back towards the corral.

“Wonderful to see you brother.”

“As wonderful as an arrow in the eye. What do you want?”

Royce sat on a barrel, cutting an apple open and eating slices from the blade. In the distance, sounds of horses whinnying could be heard. Shanda decided to cut the pleasantries and get to the point.

“I want you to take me riding. Name your price.”

He smirked, weighing the statement while continuing to eat the apple. Mouth half full he said, “Get me out of the Sept gathering.”

She stood there mouth half agape. Get him out of the mourning ceremony? Genuinely speechless, she just stared at him for a full moment before shaking her head and gathering her thoughts.

“Right. That isn’t for a fortnight though and I need to go riding soon.”

He shrugged.

“Ugh. What else do you want?It’s already going to take a miracle to get you out of the ceremony. Which you should go to. ” She pinched the skin in between her eyes, exasperated.

“Well you shouldn’t sneak out at night but then neither of us is exactly the picture of a perfect person.”

That made her look up. “How did you..? Nevermind, mind your own business Royce. Figure out your price, we ride today. I don’t care if it storms, all the better. I’ll be back after dusk.”

Not bothering to hear his reply she left in a huff. Crossing the yard swiftly she made her way back inside, heading up the stairs into the library tower. Arriving in the room, the familiar sight of rows and rows of shelves met her eyes. Shanda takes the first real deep breath she’s had since yesterday as she sits at her desk. Already two messages have arrived, one about the recent steel shipment that she files away for a conversation with her father. The other is a letter from another of her brothers, Gerald who was currently doing bridge repairs.

Neither captures her attention and soon she finds herself in front of the window gazing out. Not at the yard below but at the trees in the distance. The leaves shimmer and twist in the blowing breeze, almost as if dancing to a hypnotic rhythm. What is the heir doing in the borderlands? The tall grass looks dark and forbidding, jutting up in front of the keep, weaving and swaying back and forth. How long has he been on guard duty? The clouds now a deep rolling luster of plum, illuminate as lightning strikes down the sky. Silently and slowly the rain begins to fall resolute. Would they put him on guard two nights in a row?

The first slow roll of thunder startles her back into the present moment. It didn’t matter, she decided, if he was on guard or not. She had to go back tonight, without Martyn. She’d wait longer, spend the day leisurely and then steal out in the dead of night. It was, of course, a foolish plan. That didn’t matter though, she’d be more prepared tonight and have a solid alibi lined up. It would be more foolish to waste this golden opportunity. All she had to do was make it through dinner, ride out with Royce, avoid martin and then sneak out of the yard tonight. After that she hoped only to find her knife and continue reconnaissance from a safe distance. Easy peasy right?

It was not so. The gods must truly find the riverlanders to be the most accursed of all beings. As the day progressed the storm grew to such a height it would’ve been impossible to ride out in it. It built much like it had the night before, growing to a cloying suffocating state that drenched any and everything. But it had given her an excuse to pull the ripped cloak out and wear it outside as she raced to meet Royce in the stables. Unable to ride didn’t mean he was unable to assist her in this endeavor. All she needed was a warm body and a viable excuse for why her very nice cloak had a nasty gash through the side.

The storm raged against the stables and the horses were restless in their stalls. Royce was sitting, relatively dry she noted, on a stack of hay.

“No riding out in this, sister.”

Shanda smiled, nodding. “I agree.” Then she grabbed a horse shoeing tool off the table and ripped at the already torn cloak.

Satisfied it looked like she’d clumsily tripped into a workbench and once stuck had ripped herself free of it. It was believable enough and she’d already made a deal with Royce for his support should she be questioned too much about it.

“No worries brother. We spent the evening playing games and watching the storm clouds. After which I tripped and ripped my cloak. Very sad and wholly unavoidable.”

“Whatever. Just get me out of the ceremony.”

“Of course. Anyway, I’m going to my room now.”

Departing from the stables, she was immediately soaked through but she did not return to her chambers or even the main keep. Instead she made her way into their private sept. It was freezing and the dim light threw wild shadows against the white stone walls. Only a few small candles lent any light to the room but she was unafraid, striding in and standing before the one stained glass window they owned. On it was a rainstorm depicted and in the dim flickering light the window shone iridescent. The window also depicted a large tree, white with branches ever reaching up. She felt small in the shadow of it.

“Can I help you dear?”

The scratchy voice of old septa Beck made her jump. Her head was in knots today. Why had she come here again? She couldn’t remember. Did she even have a reason? She glanced back at the window, forgetting about the septa. Lightning flashed and the leaves on the window seemed to weep red in the light.

“No. No thanks, Septa Beck. I was just saying a quick prayer before bed.” Shanda smiled gently at her before casting the window one last look and leaving the sept. From there she did return to her chambers, it was time to prepare and plan

Pt.3

[ivys-garden]

Life Series Recap Finale.

The end has came and went. All Wild cards are spent. Who lived, who died? Brace yourself, its a wild ride.

Bigb

And so the first falls.

First, Bigb says goodbye to himself. Or more accurately, his giant face in the woods. He then meets up with his team, saying how proud he is that they stayed together. For a team who didn't trust him they work very well together and trust each other very much, white Pearl giving Bigb her chest plate to help him survive just a bit longer.

Bigb and his Bestie, Ren, are chosen to be the distraction force so the team can go and put Creakings in the Bammers base. Unfortunately this plan didn't work and so the Team has to wander around and try to find a new plan. During this time Bigb charms his way into Ethos heart and gets some of his old gear too.

He then tries to kill him with a mace. Ethos is a good sport about it though.

But, as they both are distracted by their trivia bots, neither is looking at Bigbshell and it is able to seek up on his human and kill him.

A shame too, he was one of my roots.

14 remain.

Scar

He did it. He built his roller coaster. Sure it took the death of both a dog and a skizz, but he did it. And with a really sick design as well! He was able to launch people F A R with this thing, and the people who rode it really ilenjoyed it, even if bdubs almost died to it unintentionally.

That's not to say it wasn't a coaster of death though, he did try to kill Joel with it, but unfortunately this did not pan out. In fact none of Scars Murder attempts panned out, with both a raid at the Cake Tower and a plan to murder Etho falling through, once due to wild card and once due to Scar being too nice a guy.

But, unfortunately, as Scar is doing a bot, eSCARgo is able to seek up and obliterate him. The coaster lays dormant for the remainder of the session.

13 remain.

Lizzie

Throughout this session Lizzie continues her role as the dastardly planner of the bammers, both in planning how to keep her team safe and how to kill the others.

She plans to use small size to avoid others, acts as snail duty for Jimmy and Scar and Was the one to help Scar finally finish the roller coaster, even losing out a zombified Skizz to be a glorified crash test dummy.

Oh yeah, Lizzie became a lich! Getting a Zombified Martyn, Skizz and…. Huh, guess the Watchers got to that one early. Anyway, she orders Martyn to bring her husband and gem to the mountain so she can blow them up with a newly built trap, unfortunately this doesn't work and the Wild card fades before her Lich-jesty can do anything more with her goons.

Aside from the Zombie shenanigans, Lizzie also plants a trap under the main bridge in the form of a Pufferfish. While her she uses her new shapeshifter powers, which were previously only used to mock Jimmy, to copy Scott's DNA. They then do what anyone would and start messing with people. Lizzie is able to convince Scott to let HER go on Scars rollercoaster so he can brag he's been on it for “marketing “...I think lizzie just wanted to go on the rollercoaster… shame since Scar had already converted it to a murder coaster at this point and she couldn't ride.

And then Scar died. Distraught and Robotizised she calls Jimmy back to the Bam-Bunker…. And then in an instant, Everything is gone.

12 remain.

Jimmy

He made it. He made it to the end. To the finale.

Naturally this makes him a lot more paranoid for both himself and his team. He's way more perspective, picking up on Scott's plan before he even executes it. And of course catching them and grian actively trying to kill them.

That isn't to sat he doesn't fall for traps, he almost kills himself accidentally by opening a trap chest gem made. Ironic with how close the bammers have been with the family, with joel saving Jim from a ravenger and giving him a diamond just this session.

But when Lizzie calls him back to The Bambunker, he responds immediately. But little could they know this sealed there fates. Grian, the maker of destiny, called to Jimmy at this moment, saying how “it was always gonna end this way” before Jimmy finally died. Try to find a more Watcher coded moment I dare you.

Also can we just appreciate how good the Bamboozelers were? One of the loyalist, most successful, well prepared and well planned teams we ever had. Genuinely great job, but still they are first out.

11 remain. So close, fly high next time, great Phoenix.

Impulse

Oh no, impulse.

The Gals weren't too happy that Impulse completely wiffed his Totem, apparently as a result of bad foot coordination and playing Minecraft with footpedels. I'd you ever need a reason to not play Minecraft with footpedels, there you have it. Yknow, apart from that being completely Wack.

Oh but that's not Impulses only failure, as he also revealed that he messed up his pitfall trap. After this humiliation and constant ribbing from his team, Impulse is kind to do some killing. He takes Cleo and Ren to raid the old base, gets ridden by Scott, and makes plans to finally kill Gem & Joel.

His first plan comes when Gem is distracted by Pearl being pathetic in front of her and boils down to just slapping Gem with a sword while Invisible. He thankfully backs off when Gem actually offers to fight back. He instead tries some trivia and almost dies to bees. He then rides Scars rollercoaster to calm down and OH FUCK THE BEES ARE BACK RUN AWAY

OK OK, Impulse has a new plan. Using the stupid amount of pearls he got from last episode he gets onto Gem's old shitty watch tower and builds a super TNT launcher. But, he doesn't watch his six and so iSnail is able to sneak up on him.

Impulse is desperate. Thirsty for blood. And so when he gets the Zombie power, he sticks most of the server on Joel, even joining the fray himself.

But in the chaos, etho gets confused, places just one Creeper and away went Impulse.

Maybe aggression won't win the season this time.

10 remain.

Scott

Scott dying before Joel? It's a Christmas miracle! Wait Scott is being really aggressive as well, we sure this is the same guy?

Scott starts the episode celebrating that his desire to spite us was actually able to keep the team together despite all odds and he reaffirms everyone's complete devotion to each other. Before immediately formulating a murder plot. The Gals go to the Bammers base to spawn every creaking they can, but are spotted very quickly. But if these results one thing scott is, its persistent, so He and Pearl go for round two. But anything scott is is easily distracted, so he ends up using his powers to become.murdr twinsies with pearl and just sit around in a whole as she astrals.

When they realise this plan is kinda stupid they decide to get Gem and Joel with it instead and are immediately discovered. Damn. But they go again next time there away and manage to plant all the hearts

… it took Gem like a minute to dig them all out.

Speaking of easily distracted scott also forgets who he's targeting repeatedly and just goes off to dick around. Doing stuff like riding an invisible Impulse or threatening Scar with a bamming of the mountain

But when Scott gets focused again he does so in a big way, being the only one to be able to go toe to toe with Joel during the massive manhunt for him. And as Scott has him cornered, he strikes Joel down.

Only for etho to academically shoot him.in the neck goddammit etho, again?

Hey at least Scott got to feel what it was like for Joel every season.

9 remain.

Gem

Gem counts to be paradoxically paranoid & bloodthirsty and.eager to befriend anyone who tries to kill her. She starts the session by trapping her own base with trapped chests, historically trapping your own base has been a crazy idea but it actually works very well here, nearly getting bdubs and Jimmy.

Joel then convuces Gem to come congratulate Jimmy on surviving. Resulting in them both reluctantly giving Scar and Jimmy diamonds as a reward. Then Lizzie turns around and sends a zombified martyn to lure them into a trap. Apparently there were no hard feelings about this though as Gem continues to be besties with lizzie literal seconds after she tried to atomise her.

Speaking of befriending your enemies, it's what you all been waiting for, the conclusion to the ongoing jewel box drama….

Gem runs around in a circle calling pearl Pathetic and cute as she tries and repeatedly fails to mace her in the face

Yep. That's how the drama ends. Honesty makes a lot of sense with the series as a whole, we might say that things are dramatic or Angsty or edgy or other words, but in reality everything is stupid and doesn't make any sense, so just have some fun and try to kill your friends!

But eventually Gem would have to die. When talking to etho about how great they all were, Etho just straight up blew her up. Like etho killed her, objectively and intentionally. Her family killed her. Needless to say she wasn't too chuffed about that, or the fact that he joined in when everyone started their manhunt for Joel.

But hey, now shes gotten rid of one unstable alliance and can get a new unstable alliance with Pearl! Yippie! Yeah pearl and gem TRY to become murder besties, despite the repeated interruptions of Joel and Cleo trying to kill one of them.

But, the worst interaction comes as a result of the world itself, as every wildcard becomes active. All at once…. Except hunger.

Either way the result is the same, in the chaos Gem experiences death via…. Vex. Really?

But hey, she died as she lived: not being killed by Pearl.

8 remain.

Etho

What did this little weasel get up to? Well he starts by gearing up his tuff guys with arrows and sending them off to go stealing things before meeting up with Cleo to see if the Gals need him to do anything. Using the arrows he had, bdubs stole and he got from cleo he Carstens a plan to Crossbow span anyone who comes near him. He also builds several traps underground he can activate with wind charges.

Now, Gem & Joel already distrust him now and he hasn't given The Gs ant reason to trust him and he isn't doing himself any favours as immediately after finding out scar rigged his roller coaster to kill people, he tries to get Joel to go on it. Later, when he gets the Zombie power he tries to get Skizz to blow up the car again and gets martyn to go after Scott for punching him off Bam mountain. When this fails, he instead tells them to try and kill Impulse for actually no reason.

Speaking of killing people for no reason, he blows Gem up when she's talking about how good a team they are. And then tries to gaslight Joel into thinking it wasn't intentional. Luckily Ethostropod gives him insta karma.

He then joins in the massive hunt to kill Joel. Using the strategies of Crossbow pelting and Creeper spam, one of which is countered by a Lava bucket and the other of which kills Impulse. He then continues trying to kill Joel and accidentally shoots Scott in the face.

Naturally, no one but his tuff guys are willing to trust him. And as Pearl, Cleo and Ren storm the Tuff Towers, Bdubs and Tango fall back. Etho, paranoid, believes that he's being abandoned, and activates his trap, killing himself.

This man, who tried to weasel into any team he could, ended up only being trusted by the team he shut out.

Etho’s last words were “my team is abandoning me” but they stuck by him. It was etho who abandoned them.

7 remain.

Bdubs

Bdubs marvels at how the Tuff Guys stuck together throughout it all. Reflecting on the start of the session, in that vast green pasture where the horse drama started. Where he said that they weren't a team, that they wouldn't help each other. Was it ever true?

No. Bdubs always wanted this team to succeed and will ensure it does, starting by trying to cripple gem and joel. He and Tango go in and steal anything they can carry, they may have triggered a trap and rolled a Nat 1 on deception when gem and joel returned, but all in all it was a fruitful trip.

After affirming that the Tuff Guys will stick together, he's given Ethos mace and promotions to use it wisely. Of course, as all wildcards are active weapons aren't the only way you can hurt other teams, he also feeds pearl the wrong information so she gets trivia wrong, and is swarmed by angry bees.

After this some relaxation is in order and so he goes to Scar and after handing over his spare boots and a frankly pathetic attempt from Scar to convince bdubs to kill tango, he's let on the rollercoaster of fun. He somehow manages to almost fall off and die. How.

OK back to murder, he sees his sights on Gem, tuning invisible with his powers and aiming to mace her. He misses every shot and Gem doesn't even notice. Pathetic.

Hey, at least he got yo hit etho with it in the end.

And as Bdubs flees from Cleo as they kill his dogs, he finds himself in the spider nest with Grian and Joel. Tango, below him, shoots a wind charge at grian… and accidentally hits Bdubs.

After all the reaffirmation of trust and reconciliation, still the Tuff Guys fall to each other's hands. The irony is poetic.

6 remain.

Tango

Tango spends a good portion of the session gearing up his mates, creating a cow spawner for them and joining Bdubs in fobbing gem, including destroying her own cow spawner.

Aside from that he spends all session just trying to survive and help his team, oh and joining in the manhunt for Joel but everyone was doing that.

And at the very end, Tango got Robotizised.

He heard Etho say he was being abandoned, he ran back to tell him he wasn't, but he couldn't hear him.

He called out for bdubs, but couldn't find him. He was distraught when he killed him and he'll never know.

How fitting that this team in particular would fall to a lack of communication.

Tango scales the mountain, unsure of what to do, and is shot by Joel.

5 remain.

Pearl

Pearl is ready for some bloodshed. She's all for killing the Bammers and Family with Creakings, even if both attempts fail miserably.

Reconvening at the old base, Pearl realises she has the mace power and drags Scott away on a murder camel to mace gems face.

She misses like all but two shots. It's pathetic. Only Gem was rooting for her.

OK, but maybe she'll do better when they hunt for Joel, swooping in to Hotguy him with her flight power… or maybe she'll miss that too.

And then Impulse dies. And Pearl is lost. Unsure of what to do, she and gem TRY one last time to reconcile, and it goes really well! Even if Joel is actively trying to kill her.

But then gem dies. And Pearl is even more lost than ever.

With nothing to lose, the three remaining Final Gals strom Bam Mountain. Pearl tried to get the jump on Joel with an ender pearl and… Falls 5 feet and is one shot by grian.

Well, she died as she lived

Pathetically.

4 remain.

Cleo

Yeah if you've noticed the segments getting shorter, that's because I've already mentioned what most of everyone did. Cleo spends most of her session just helping there team gear up or answer trivia.

She has a cowboy duel with Bigb and Torments Jimmy and Joel with creakings. That's something

Oh and at the very end she summons basically all the servers as Zombies and orders them to kill Gem.

Unfortunately they're all on 4 hearts and have no gear and Scar straight up didn't listen to her so Gem became vex food instead.

And yes, that means that everyone but Tango, Bdubs, Joel, Grian and Gem were all on the Final Gals team at some point since cleo considers the Zombies to be team members

Anyway, she gets stabbed by Joel.

3 remain.

Martren

Something happened to Ren. As he merged with martyn last session, the DNA stayed in his genome. He became a DNA abomination of the class WL-8, known as Martren.

But, was it an accident? Or did be just want to keep martyn around? To never lose him again? Ren came back to save martyn, a man no longer puppeteered by forces beyond their control, to cure the evil that had placed in his heart… but yet it remained, because martyn was always this way to some extent. Always ruthless, always dangerous. And in tye exact moment ren came to terms with this, martyn died. In front of him. Again. After that, why would he ever let him go, even if it meant losing himself?

Anyway, enough being overly dramatic, that's Ren's job! And he does it very well, managing to act out the idea of a man split between bloody vengeance and a desire for friendship perfectly.

Everyone else isn't a big fan of Matren tho, ujderatanvle, this is the weirdest shit ren has ever pulled by far.

Despite being a literal monster, Martren does well for himself, making friends with the tuff guys, Jimmy and The Gs, being fully geared up by the latter

Ren also acts out a meeting between Martren and The Undead Martyn. Which like dam imagine fusing with your pseudo wife and then their Reanimated corpse says he doesn't recognise you and insults your face. I definitely wouldn't go camel boarding with them after that, even if it was to kill Joel

But, as he and the gals stormed Bam mountain, the fire of the beams proved too strong for martren.

At least now he may finally rest.

2 remain.

Grian

Grian starts with a tentative alliance with the Tuff Guys being formed, in which he promises to 100% never try to kill bdubs again.

Yeah he tries to kill bdubs again later in the session. Plops a TNT minecart right in his tower. I mean he's somewhat remorseful, so I guess that's something.

He has no remorse for Jimmy though. He's desperate for him to die. He tries to sneak attack them, but is distracted by running into Impulse and his team. Through, later he is able to rig the Bam-Bunker to explode. Now his family isn't too pleased with him blowing up there only allies, but not much they can do about it.

The especially can't complain as Grian repeatedly saves Joel, such as when he teleported him out of the fray when the entire server was hunting him, nearly at the cost of his own life.

In the end, grian promotions his life to joel as the two of the stand on Mumbo Tower, preparing for war.

But as the dust settles and their enemies lay dead, there is no sacrifice from grian. He tried to shoot Joel down where he stood.

But in the end, there is only one way Grian’s story would end

Like skizz

Like mumbo

Falling to the ground.

1 remains.

Joel Toretto. The Chariot

How fitting is it that the member most Wild, most aggressive, most dangerous, would win Wild life?

And how ironic is it that the only reason he does is by being none of those things?

Across this entire season Joel has been passive, even as Gem was starting drama or Etho was betraying him or people were trying to kill him, he never took action. He stayed with his family, in his ugly car, and simply lived.

This session is no different, he saves Jimmy from a ravenger, he takes gem caving, he refuses to go after Scott. He never takes action. Only reaction.

In other seasons, he'd have gone red early, killed have the server and died by Scott's hand in a Blaze of glory.

But here, by not provoking anyone, he was finally able to win.

He Barely even fights. He turns Impulses snail invisible and hits cleo and ren and few times, but that's it.

Even when the whole sever chases him down, he doesn't engage because it'll he did he would be surrounded and killed. Any beast, no matter how dangerous, can be slain. But you cannot kill what you can't hit.

In a way Joel's journey here parallels Scott's win more than anything he did in any other season. An honurable man never backing down, but never raising his sword.

And so it is Joel who is able to walk down the corridor, to face that red door with everyone watching, and walk into destiny

Unfortunately he himself built destiny, so the trap fails and he looks like a goober.

But hey, finally Joel Toretto can ride off into the sunset in that great big car.

No more players remain. This World Is dead

Until next time.

[panda-wearing-pants]

Reasons for and against each remaining Wild Life member winning (who hasn't yet won a season)

Bdubs: Still has a yellow teammate and has been in the final 6 three times, but hasn't killed anyone yet (other than Skizz once in session 7) and has never made it past 11th in an even numbered season

BigB: The winners usually have an alliance with Cleo in the previous season, but we're not on her team (other than Scar), and BigB was one of the last humans in ep 7 of SL, along with Cleo, he also has an alliance with 2/3 past winners, and is good at surviving, he is also one of the few non-hermits, and the winners have alternated between hermits and non-hermits, but BigB tends not to stick with his allies, which could be dangerous

Etho: Still yellow and has many allies, and has been in every finale, but can't trust his main team to keep him safe, and will likely be trusted less by his other allies due to being on so many teams

Gem: Two out of five winners have won in their second season, and Gem, Joel, and Etho are all still yellow, but Gem and Joel will likely be targeted, due to being two of the best at PVP

Impulse: Impulse is still yellow, has good teammates, and is almost always in the top 7, but he isn't good at defending himself, and gets eliminated because of that

Ren: Ren has the greatest average net change in placement, going from 7th to 2nd to 11th, so, following the trend, he should place very high, maybe even 1st, Ren also got the 43rd kill, and the only two other people to get the 43rd kill were Scott in LL and Martyn in LimL, but Ren did just lose his only teammate, which is not helpful

Joel: Joel is still yellow, has two very good teammates (they are two of the only four players to never miss a finale), is good at PVP, and has been waiting for this for years, he has also been consistently at the top of my statistical predictions, unfortunately, Grian's teammates don't typically survive long (Scar placed second, but was red by episode three), and Joel often gets reckless in finales

Tango: Tango has doubled his total kills, and is good at surviving, but his survival skills typically get worse once he turns red, and his final deaths are known for being stupidly avoidable

Cleo: Cleo won Real Life, has good teammates, and hasn't made many enemies, but they have only been in the top 7 once, despite almost always making it to the finale

Other things:

Bamboozlers: I felt like Jimmy and Lizzie had similar reasons, so I put them together. Jimmy and Scar are tied for the most kills out of all living players, Lizzie is good at surviving, and Scar and Lizzie have both had a teammate make the final 2, despite only having a combined total of 8 teammates (not including WL) over a combined total of 7 seasons. The bad news is that the three of them have only ever outlived 1 of their combined 17 teammates (Bdubs in LimL died before Scar), and Lizzie and Jimmy have never been in a finale.

Reputations: Gem's first ever episode was titled "I have a reputation," which may be the reason she can't win. I think people are going to be too afraid of the Family and the G's to let them live, which leaves basically the Tuff Guys' and Bamboozlers. People in 3L were more afraid of Scar and Ren than Grian, allowing him to get to the final 3 while yellow, Scott wasn't a threat in LL, due to placing 10th in 3L, Pearl and Scar were alone in their seasons, so they managed to survive (I guess this probably doesn't apply to Martyn)

Yellows: Grian and Pearl started on yellow in the finales they won, Scott had just turned red at the end of the penultimate episode, and everyone started on red in the LimL and SL finales, so Gem, Joel, Etho, and Impulse are in good positions.

In my opinion, Gem, Joel and Impulse are likely to win, followed by Cleo and Ren, then Etho and BigB, and Bdubs, Tango, Lizzie, and Jimmy at the bottom

[raindropren]

everytime gem mentions impulse and pearl I get really,,,, I think the word is uncomfortable?

It may be a fun storyline but i get so,, weird when a character is very clearly wanting someone to have a bad reputation with others instead of it happening gradually. Gem even says that impulse hasn't really done anything to her and joel, and yet,,,

not to mention the fact that the only thing Pearl did to gem was trying to get her to eat the cobblestone wall, which yes, would've poisoned her, but also was clearly for funzie's and something that multiple people had done in session 2 at that point, and maybe, maaybbee, be alittle agro with impulse during the cow stuff in session 1? but I,,, i have my own thoughts on that. Anything else is from the last season, and while referencing a past season is very fun, having a whole bias because of one makes me,,,, blah. It's not a bad thing, it's a fun storyline ngl, It just makes me,,, like,,, kinda ill,,,(and not in the "I'M ILL /POS" way,,,) like a,,, weirdly physical ill??? It's so weird to say because,,, I'm completely talking about the characters, I think CC gem is amazing, and really funny for this ngl, but stars above, the character makes me sick feeling.

Also, the fact that multiple other people have been,, eh,, meaner? to "The Family" and instead of also being rival's, enemies,,, not friendly?? with them, they are constantly trying to ally with them in a way. Biggest point is martyn, First session he killed one of their cows to try and force them into a trade, and it worked(kinda)! AND IT WAS IMPULSES COW!!! so ya,,, the fact the entire thing that,,, that was,, just vanished in her thoughts of them is,,, gvbiufhdbkgudfljnrioghdfjk

It's so interesting,, Fascinating, I love it, I hate it, It makes me sick, it's on a C!Scott level of interesting, WHAT IS GOING ON!!!!!!!

There's a weird level of nostalgia that I feel towards what C!gem is doing,,,, It,,, reminds me of a different,,, smp,,,, anyways

She's actively and constantly saying, especially to others, that Impulse and Pearl(But not Scott and Cleo) are basically the villains, that they should be harmed, die and such, to go after them. She tells Skizz to try and kill impulse actively, joel and her give him advice. She says something to Ren, Martyn, and Etho aswell(and I'm 90% sure there's more, i just,,, haven't finished watching the video,,,,) Bdubs and Tango? maybe BIG MAYBE!! they're around quite abit but I can't remember(my memories so bad oh my stars,,,) if She said anything to them. She talks to Scott about it AND I THINK SCOTT??? AGREES????

This girlie confuses me to no end,,, WHAT IS HAPPENING!!!!

Also the fact that They are CONSTANTLY on her mind, despite not interacting,, basically at all it seems in session 3. They are in her head, spinning while she desperately tries to get them out, of course, via death in-season <3

[toasted-banana]

okay so apparently people liked my ramble about two soon-to-be divorced gay block men??? so i’m doing another lmaooo

okay so at this point I feel like most of us know that only the winners remember the games (references in hermitcraft and anywhere else than the games be DAMNED) but imagine what Grian had to go through???

Like bro just killed the love of his life (/j but also not), yk’ed himself then woke up at home except everyone he knew there forgot EVERYTHING. like that allies he made, the enemies, the one he loved, LOST. And not to mention he couldn’t even speak to Jimmy or Martyn or BigB.. Like bro talks to them for the first time in YEARS then gets torn away from his old family??? Hell I would be traumatized too 😭😭

But ugh.. imagine Grian watching over Secret Life to tell Scar he won then avoid him for MONTHS. Grian knows Scar knows and can’t face him, so his mental health declines MASSIVELY.. And Scar forgives him and wants to talk to him but he doesn’t know how :(((

And Scar feels so bad then GEHAJDHS

Scar can also be left in Secret Life but im leaving that to a separate AU (literally the universe right now but just with Scar being left there.. look my poor little gay heart can’t handle it..)

anyways thanks for coming to my TedTalk 😍😍 (there will be more to come and maybe art if I feel confident enough)

[travellerflicker]

my wildlife thoughts about grian

(and the artwork/animatic plans)

Grian kept having flashbacks to the other life series during the finale, which was really confusing for him because he only really remembers 3rd life. This led him to become more frantic

Also, the Watchers had influence over him killing Jimmy. Lizzie was collateral damage.

during the finale he had a slight purple tinge to his eyes and wings. This was stronger during the final fight

he had flashbacks to 3rd life and limited life during the fight

whenever he had the 'mimic' power he had purple feathers and a hidden extra eye

when mumbo and skizz came back he was gonna hug em. then they started insulting him. and that'll relate to something I'll yap about next

the entire theme of this series was the Watchers whispering to grian 'watch helplessly. You can't do anything.' he almost did do smth when he came second, but he didn't, and they laughed

I have a drawing of the trivia bot asking 'They love torturing you, don't they?' and all the answers being 'yes, they do' it's not finished yet

anyway, animatics/art pieces

Grian Animatic of the final two sessions to Metaphor by The Crane Wives

trivia bot piece

The Bamboozlers as the following: Lizzie, the Ringmaster, saying 'Welcome in!', Solidarity, the trapeze artist/tightrope walker, with words saying 'Always teetering on the edge of life and death', and Scar, the magician, holding up a card and saying 'Was this your card?' It's a joker, and grian is the jester.

Martyn and Ren dual drawing- Martyn's final death, 'The king lives', Ren in the final episode, 'But who is he without his faithful knight?'

Grian as a jester, Grian being the wild card

Gem and Joel as the Ace of Hearts (Family)

anyway. I'll get around to watching everyone else's povs very soon- these art pieces are going to take a while.