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accirax · 8 months ago

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Disventure Camp All Stars Power Ranking (Round 12)

Well, I can already tell that this is going to be a SUPER episode! (Also, @venus-is-thinking is finally caught up and is joining me this week, so make sure to check her rankings out too if you enjoy mine!)

In case you haven't seen my previous power rankings ( 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11), 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 - Tom's Elimination

Current Score: 49 acquired/73 total

HOW THE FUCK DID YUL NOT GO HOME?????

Anyways.

The fans have been rooting for a Tom/Jake/Aiden elimination for a while now, and I think it will be beneficial for the show moving forward to not have all three of them in the heroes' cast. I'd still probably call myself a Tom fan overall, but... goddamn did this guy make it hard to like him sometimes. Between the three of them, I think I baseline like Aiden the most, and I think Jake has the most potential, so I'm glad it was Tom of the three of them. I also got a whopping 8 points from him, so haha >:D

(I was SO worried about my score if Gabby had gone home... I still don't really understand why they targeted her in the first place, but, no matter.)

It's really weird to finally have more S2 characters than S1 characters given how the season started, though. I guess these guys are finally getting their time in the spotlight.

Trailer Analysis

IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER THEMED EPISODE!!!

Therapy from Nina? This will be interesting...

Alec will get #whitegirlwasted at his reward. I know he's neither white nor a girl, but it's the vibes that count.

THE INTERVIEW ROOM??? Is Emily back?! :D

Quirk analysis time! I very much assume that this will be in the same simulation program that presented the zombie apocalypse challenge in S1, although this time, it seems participants will be aware of it ahead of time. Yul appears to have lightning powers, and possibly the ability to teleport, although that's very likely just him spawning into the program for the first time.

Riya's repping the fire nation.

Aiden has super speed and a great expression. The fact that this is his power is part of what makes me thinks Yul won't be able to teleport.

We "don't see any scenes of Connor using his powers"* (I'll come back to this later), but we do have a suit design for him. The gray color and geometric shapes make me think he could have some sort of earthbending-like ability?

Grett appears to be the water to Riya's fire. Do all of the former Yellow team members have elemental abilities? That could fit if Connor is earth, and Alec is air.

Gabby can turn into an eagle at least, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was just animal shapeshifting in general. Very fitting ability for her.

Another fitting power, because Jake is really fruity--

(I really hope he can only manipulate bananas instead of having telekinesis in general.)

Ally has stretchy powers, representing how she's carrying all of the other characters on her back. (/j) I would say that this scene is an argument against Connor being able to move rocks, though, because then it seems like he would have made a bridge.

These could be random creatures on the island, but I wouldn't be surprised if one or both were actually Gabby.

Beyond being hilarious, this is where we come back to that asterisk from earlier! I think this scene could be evidence of Connor having super strength as his power. That seems fitting with his character.

"And you never will...!"

Riya's definitely showing off her fire abilities here. My guess is that this could be in response to Connor trying to "get under her skin" (AKA genuinely help her) again. Riya would see that as a threat to her game, or possibly just to her winning immunity this episode.

Another really weird thing to note is that we don't see Alec's superpower in this trailer at all? The team seems pretty cavalier about showing off what everyone's abilities were, so I doubt they're concealing it for spoilers' sake. Here are a couple of my theories on that:

Alec gets so intoxicated before the challenge that he can't compete/gets eliminated instantly.

Alec is actually the dinosaur/kaiju that I mentioned earlier could be Gabby. However, I don't know if they would really want to make two different competitors' abilities "going beast mode."

Alec's power is invisibility. He could even be whatever Riya hears in the bushes and starts to throw a fireball at in that one scene. I think I like this theory the most, because invisibility matches Alec's cunning well.

Power Ranking

#1: Grett

I don't think I need to repeat my same argument again. Who is targeting Grett? There are far more problematic villains to target, from both the heroes' perspective and the villains'. We also know from last episode that, when Ally, Aiden, Connor, and Jake (and Tom) had the choice to vote for Gabby, Grett, or Yul, they chose to vote for Gabby. That makes me think that Grett is in less danger than Gabby at least.

Then there's all the stuff about Grett's character arc and how it would feel weird to eliminate her before Yul at this point... But, hey, didn't I say that I wasn't going to waste my time repeating myself? I would be incredibly surprised if Grett were ousted this episode.

#2: Ally

I have to admit, Ally's placement here is mostly a meta read as opposed to actual character dynamic analysis. Simply put, she's (currently) the only female hero left in the game. If Ally were eliminated now, it would leave Aiden, Connor, and Jake as the only heroes, which would just feel... weird. She also hasn't done a lot in the last couple of episodes, which would make the villains targeting her feel pretty random.

There's also that fake alliance that Riya attempted to set up with Ally last episode. Despite me arguing that Riya should actually be trying to set up Alec-less endgame options, it seems that Riya isn't actually intending on working with Ally at all at this point. Still, if Riya at least intends on keeping up the illusion of forming a women's alliance with Ally, she probably wouldn't be the one pitching Ally's name to an otherwise seemingly disinterested group.

There is still the argument that Ally doesn't seem to have a lot going on right now, so you could say that having her unfruitfully taking up space as an actual competitor would be worse than suffering one episode of a mediocre elimination. However, it seems like Ally and Connor will be spending a lot of time together in this episode, so I'm hopeful that the writers will capitalize off of the brief bond that Ally and Connor formed in S2 to create a new relationship for her to bounce off of in upcoming episodes. Well... assuming that both of them make it through this elimination, anyways.

#3: Jake

I can't really tell if Tom getting axed makes it more or less likely that Jake would be going home soon. On one hand, now that the TomJake plot is "over," Jake theoretically has fewer plotlines to justify his continued inclusion in the story. He made enough progress in his character arc of becoming a better, less paranoid person that he could exit the competition on a good note at this point. The writers may also want Tom and Jake to both be eliminated at the time of the fabled Loser's Motel episode so that we can wrap up their story with a heart-to-heart conversation.

However, with Tom gone, Jake also gains more opportunities to explore plotlines on his own, like his growing friendship(?) with Aiden. He has made progress in his character arc, but there's still a ways to go if his former backpedaling foreshadows anything. And, well... even if that Loser's Motel thing is true, they might want to eliminate Jake closer to when it would actually happen, so that they don't have to explain why Tom and Jake wouldn't have talked to each other for the entire time period before the episode takes place. (Venus theorized that the Motel episode will take place pretty close to the end of the season so that they can have as many characters in it as possible. That made sense to me, so I'm sticking with it.)

At the end of the day, Jake winds up pretty high because I overall think it's more likely that a villain will go home than a hero, and I think that the villains have two heroes that they're more likely to target than Jake. The votes simply don't seem to be there, in my opinion. Also, he still gives me some winner vibes, no matter how bananas that may sound to some.

#4: Aiden

Yeah, I know. I talk some big talk about there being two heroes that the villains are more likely to target than Jake, and then I put one of them directly below him. But, look, one point in ranking differences is a huge gulf at this point! And I do think that the villains are more likely to target Aiden than Jake, I'm just not convinced that it would actually go through.

Aiden still has a lot of enemies in the villains alliance. Even if Gabby confirmed last episode that she doesn't really have it out for Tom or Aiden anymore, Riya and Yul still dislike him. If there's some reason why they aren't allowed to target Connor this episode-- such as, if Connor wins immunity-- I imagine Aiden would be their most likely backup plan. And, if the heroes can't manage to do anything to split the villains up at this point, they have the majority, and Aiden is gone.

That possibility relies on a lot of contingents, though, and is overall pretty unlikely. Still, it's not like I would be stunned if it happened. I don't really think that Aiden is going to be a finalist again, so, if that's true, he's gotta go home at some point or another. It could be now! However, there are more compelling reasons for me to think that others might be eliminated, so I'm sticking Aiden here.

#5: Gabby

Trust me, I want to put Gabby higher. But, after last week's scare, I'm afraid that I have the wrong read on the group's dynamics. Clearly, the heroes thought there was something to worry about with Gabby, and she got a whopping five votes last episode. Being that close to elimination can't bode well for her odds in this round.

However, now that the heroes are down in numbers, it seems like it'd be a lot more difficult for them to actually manage to eliminate Gabby. This is because, now, they'd have to convince one of the villains to vote for Gabby with them. I can't imagine that Alec or Riya would be down for that for strategy reasons, and, despite Grett's complaints, I do think that she would struggle to vote Gabby out after all Gabby has tried to do to help her.

Really, their only option is Yul, but I do think that's possible. If Yul hears wind from Riya that Gabby wanted to flip on the alliance and vote him out, he could panic and decide to work with the heroes to vote out the biggest threat to his game. If that did happen, it could be the final nail in the coffin for Grett, who could work with the (still) four remaining heroes to eliminate Yul next time. You know. Because Yul's elimination seems to be a next time issue.

However, that fringe scenario would require the heroes to actually choose to work with Yul to vote out Gabby instead of working with Gabby to vote out Yul. Even if Gabby wouldn't have heard of that plan on her own, the heroes could always pitch that vote back to her, and she would presumably agree. That would be good for their games, because a vote would further cement Gabby with their alliance moving forward.

Wait, I'm not supposed to be writing about why Yul would go home! This is about Gabby being eliminated! I do definitely think it's possible. But, there are flaws with the premise as well. Thus, she winds up in the middle. That's what happens when half of me wants to put her higher, and half lower.

#6: Connor

I mean, what am I supposed to do in the face of the villains alliance directly saying last episode that Connor would be in trouble as soon as he didn't have immunity? Assuming that he doesn't win immunity again this episode, I find it incredibly likely that the villains' plan will be to throw all five of their votes on Connor. And, if everything goes according to plan, he would be eliminated. But... will it go to plan?

Yes, Connor has had one episode back in the game at this point to do things. And, do things he did! His motivational speech got all of the heroes to finally put their personal agendas aside and work as a team. Even if they lost the tiebreaker competition, that was a big step. Connor had an impact. He could be voted out.

Except, having your returning competitor be back for two episodes, only surviving the one because the host gave him immunity, is still pretty lame. It feels like we're on the precipice of a villains loss, which would be the perfect excuse timing for keeping Connor in the game for a little bit longer, even without immunity.

My internal feelings say that Connor wouldn't be voted out so soon, but, I've certainly been wrong before, so I'm trying not to rely too hard on gut instinct. Unless he has immunity, there probably will be votes headed his way. It's just a question of whether there'll be enough of them to knock Connor down.

#7: Alec

Alec... I really don't know. He's such a threat. He has too much power! People have to be coming for him at some point. He wouldn't win immunity again now... could he? What is this man doing?!

I can't help but feel like we're reaching the point where Alec's game takes a turn for the worse. The fact that he seemingly gets drunk at the reward bodes poorly for him, in my opinion. He's in control, and he's getting sloppy. He could even make a mistake directly as a result of him being drunk/hungover, like accidentally revealing too much of his true opinions. Opinions about what? Not liking Yul? Actually liking Riya? I can't say, but it could stir up trouble with the villains for the future.

Still, even if Alec will be in trouble soon, would it really result in his elimination now? Well, maybe. I maintain that if the heroes could eliminate anyone of their choosing, they should pick Alec. The issue is, he does seem pretty well insulated within the villains alliance, so getting Grett, Gabby, Yul, or Riya to flip on him could be tricky. Honestly, despite all my praise for their friendship, I feel like Riya could be the best choice. After all, she would be the most likely to realize the true threat that he poses.

Here's a classic Accirax Crack Theory: Maybe Alec does have the power of invisibility in this episode, but, not being able to see him, the other competitors assume that he was too hungover to compete, or that someone else eliminated him without their noticing. At the end of the challenge, someone will believe that they've won, only for Alec to sneak attack them and steal immunity from right under their nose. While he celebrates his third straight victory, Riya will have a sobering moment realizing Alec's ability to sneak, deceive, and win challenges. It plants the seed in her mind that she needs to get Alec out sooner rather than later, especially because the friendship she's been building with him (showcased in this episode with the reward) has been keeping her from seeing him as a threat. That's dangerous. He needs to go.

Now, you may have noticed that that Accirax Crack Theory does not actually support Alec going home in this episode, because he would have immunity again. Yet, I still have him at #7. Oops. Well, it's because, even if that theory isn't exactly right, parts of its logic could still be used to justify an Alec boot. Maybe that exact thing is about to happen, except Alec's sneak attack doesn't succeed. Maybe it's just that sloppy gameplay that causes Riya to panic and seek out that "fake" alliance she built with Ally.

I don't, like... really think that Alec is going home this episode, but there's still enough going against him that I feel okay putting him down here. There are still obvious reasons why Alec would go home, even if the votes aren't necessarily there. Although, hell, if the villains are split between voting Gabby and Yul (like Yul/Riya/Alec on Gabby and Grett/Gabby on Yul) or whatever, it would be really funny if the heroes could use their four votes on Alec in the exact same way that the villains did on Ashley. Weird things can happen, and I do feel like Alec's timer could be running out. It could just be pessimism, though. Can't forget the pessimism.

#8: Riya

Much like how Riya feels about Connor, I'm sure that, now that Riya (theoretically) no longer has immunity, Connor will want to vote her out if he has the chance. Aiden and Connor both want her gone, so I wouldn't be surprised if the heroes wind up throwing their votes on her if they don't have a better plan. The main point against that plan is that throwing four votes on Riya won't do a whole lot unless you can get a fifth vote or if the villains split their votes. Could that possibly happen?

Well, the "splitting the votes" option is basically the same thing I described for Alec, just with the heroes' votes landing on Riya instead of Alec. It could be a result of Alec having immunity again, or of them just having more of a personal vendetta against Riya. But, how could a fifth vote happen?

One option is definitely Yul. Despite working together for so long in DCAS, Riya and Yul definitely don't like each other, so Yul could flip to take her out. Remember that vote that Riya cast on Yul for funsies back at the Miriam vote? Now that Connor is back in the game, he could once again try to prove to Yul that it was Riya who cast that vote. If he could come up with some convincing proof, it could set Yul off. Wouldn't it be fitting for Riya to be eliminated as a result of her former pettiness?

This would also work in terms of Connor being the one to get Riya eliminated. I assume that, much like they were going for with Ashley and Fiore, the writers will want Connor to get his revenge on Riya at some point in this season. It could be now.

The dialogue scene shown in the trailer also gives me reason to worry for Riya. She seems to be having a dramatic and emotional moment, possibly losing control of the That Bitch(tm) persona she's tried to cultivate and reestablish in Connor's absence. If she freaks out in a way that winds up losing the challenge for the villains, it could remind the former Yellows of the way she lost them the musical challenge. It could be additional fuel to the fire of Yul's flipping, or even convince Alec that she's too much of a liability...?

I don't know. I definitely feel like there's something there to support a Riya elimination, but I sorta worry about putting her this low, because I might be calling it too early. But, it's gotta be #9's time to go, right?!

#9: Yul

I'm NOT making my Ellie mistake again. I'm not going to let the fact that I feel like Yul should have been an obvious boot an episode or two ago cause me to gaslight myself into moving him away at the eleventh hour...!

I already talked about one way that Yul could be eliminated back in Gabby's section, and that's not even the most obvious way he could get axed. Gabby and Grett just straight up turning on him seems far more likely. I'm sure that the skin tight superhero suits will only invite more negative commentary from Yul to Grett, which could further motivate Gabby.

This point isn't necessarily directed at solely Yul, but, the superhero imagery certainly seems to bring a heroes' victory in this episode to mind, doesn't it...?

Yeah, I don't have much else to add about Yul. I think that I've already said everything I have to say about him in prior power rankings. Other than that the tiebreaker loss thing probably isn't happening anymore, just because I doubt they'd want two tiebreakers in one season. Ah well. You can't win 'em all... but hopefully I'll finally win by putting Yul at the bottom this week.

Well, that's it! I'll once again plug @venus-is-thinking's own power ranking if you want something else to read now that you're done with this. See you all on... Saturday? Woah, what a twist! We're really picking up the pace heading into the Disvengers: Endgame. I'm sure the superhero timing was purely intentional. Until then!

#disventure camp #dcas #dcas power rankings #disventure camp spoilers #hehehe now i finally have someone to fight against >:)#(she says as if she isn't worried that venus will come in and instantly deck her)#(putting the several rounds of practice she has to shame)#(eek)#i really feel like i fucked up this week but maybe it'll just be yul we'll see wheeee!#grett disventure camp #ally disventure camp #jake disventure camp #aiden disventure camp #gabby disventure camp #connor disventure camp #alec disventure camp #riya disventure camp #yul disventure camp

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venus-is-thinking · 7 months ago

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Disventure Camp All Stars Power Ranking (Round 16 - Venus)

Recap: Alec's Elimination (4/6 pts)

(Total: 19/29 points acquired)

I was so close. I was SO close. Why did they have to get rid of Alec instead of Riya!! It was perfect!!!

Well, the answer why they had to get rid of Alec instead of Riya is because Grett wanted to keep more disagreeable personalities around. Fair enough; I'm glad we did get a game reason to do so. Plus, I thought the Connor/Riya perfume scene was interesting and we wouldn't have gotten that if Riya went, nor would we get the incoming girls' alliance.

This does make some sense, though, and I think it makes it much more possible to get Ally to the final 3 this way, lol. In my end game prediction thing last time, I couldn't get the numbers to crunch out for her getting there without back to back immunity wins, and I think that's possible now! Winning.

@accirax is GOING to beat me this season. At this point, I'm just going for a passing percentage (70%). I'm still feeling the Gabby elimination...

Onto the new rankings!

1: Grett

This is unexpected to me, considering that after last episode, I'm a firm believer that Grett is a final boss (rather than a winner), and most likely one that goes out via vote rather than in the final 3. So, if I think she's going to get voted out, it's rather bold to put her as #1 in one of the only two vote-outs remaining.

This is really an in-universe read for me. Who the hell is voting for Grett?

Grett is the swing vote between Jake/Connor and Riya/Ally, who seem to want to take all 3 women to the final 3, as per the trailer. Grett has the flexibility to work with either; she gained trust by tipping Connor and Jake off about last week's Jake vote, allowing them to idol out Alec, and she still has some trust with Riya and Ally for voting with them.

Besides, even if either of the duos are onto her playing the middle, I don't think it really benefits either side to target her right now. Both pairs would need to agree to take out Grett, and I think it's much more likely that whoever proposed taking out Grett first would get snitched on to Grett by the other two. Like, if Jake goes to Riya and says Grett is dangerous, let's take her out, there's like a 0% chance that Ally DOESN'T go to Grett and say "hey Jake is pitching your name. Let's vote Jake out." Same for Connor with Riya, Riya with Connor and Ally with Jake. The pairs have too many problems between them to work together when they're hypothetically fairly even on power.

So, while I strongly expect I'll be putting Grett on the bottom of my next week's rankings, I'm actually putting her at #1 on this one. Who would've known!

2: Ally

I THINK Ally is going to make the finale now. She gives me big finalist energy for this season, and I think Alec's elimination opens enough doors that it's possible. Connor and Jake also proved last episode that they're willing to axe people off strategy rather than personal relationships, so I don't think Ally is TOO threatened by virtue of being Jake's worstie. Even if the women's alliance doesn't pan out, I think it's plenty plausible she'll survive.

However, I do want to say that I think it's really hard to be confident in anyone's survival chances now that the group is so small. I used to say things like "I think Aiden is the less important Jake for the future narrative" to explain why I was really confident Jake would survive, from a narrative perspective. In final 5, though, everyone is the unique copy of their character slot. Even if some people, like Connor and Jake, have similar narratives and are aligned, they bring distinctly different energies to the group dynamic. As such, the writers might decide to cut off anyone for a specific narrative choice that I didn't see coming. That's what happened to Alec last episode, and I'm very aware it could happen again.

However, I don't THINK they're done with Ally yet. Her villainy is starting to go higher, and I think cutting her off here would kill her current momentum. I feel like they're going to want the momentum to take her into being a losing finalist, where she'll get to process everything at the very end of the adventure. Plus, like, sometimes Accirax and I talk about bench distribution, and I feel like if Ally ISN'T a finalist, there's a lot of people I have no clue whose bench they'd be on. Like, would Hunter be on Connor's bench? Riya's?? Jake's???

So, long story short, I don't have a ton of concrete reasons why I think Ally is safe. I just have less concrete reasons I think she's not safe.

3: Connor

Connor is obviously in potential danger in the dawn of the girls' alliance era. I also think Connor could be in trouble because the writers might have some interest in him talking to Alec in the losers' motel episode.

I also think Connor is in an interesting place in terms of power rankings, because I could really easily see him being in the next two boots OR in being a finalist. I could even see him being a winner; I wouldn't love it, just because he was already eliminated once this season and I'd rather see someone else take it, but he's probably my third pick for winner after Jake and Grett. He might even beat out Grett at this point, idk.

So, basically, Connor could go in like any direction. He could die here, he would win, who knows! That's why he goes in the middle, I guess.

4: Jake

I wanted to put Jake above Ally and Connor soooo bad. Not because I think he's in-universe safer than them, but because I just really think he's the winner.

Let me start by outlining the reasons Jake is not safe.

If the women's alliance happens, Jake or Connor is going home.

Ally clearly has an agenda about eliminating Jake, and has previously said she'll withhold her vote against anyone other than Jake.

Jake has already escaped elimination once recently by winning immunity (with Aiden going out in his place), so it'd be kinda lame if he survives elimination with, say, Connor going out because he wins a clutch immunity AGAIN. (I think the best way to combat this would be if Ashley had somehow taught Jake something about horseback riding, but I have no idea how or when that would've happened).

These three things together mean that, assuming the girls' alliance does get control and vote out one of the guys, it really SHOULD be Jake. Like, it makes the most sense by a lot.

He's also recently talked to Connor and fully stated the theme of his character arc (even if he messes up, he can still try to change and be better). If it was literally anyone else, I'm sure I would've been screaming "death flag" instead of "winner's cut moment."

However, I do still firmly believe Jake is the winner. That's why I didn't put him in fifth. Even though Jake would make an incredible amount of in-universe sense as the boot here, I'm still a believer. If I suffer for it, at least I talked myself into putting him fourth instead of second.

5: Riya

Here we go again.

Okay, so it really seems like this girls' alliance thing would imply a male boot. It's very clearly advertised in the trailer; Ally even says something about making final 3. The only thing is, I don't really think they're going to want to let the 3 girls cake walk to the final 3. If they do take out, say, Jake here, I don't really see any way other than a Connnor immunity win to stop them from doing so.

However, I do think it's possible the girls' alliance is getting hyped up before it crashes and burns. Like, it sounds like it would get at least one win, but if you think about it, it really shouldn't be all that revolutionary. Like, wow, the 2 guys who were on the outs will continue to vote together, and the 3 women who were in the power position (only stopped by an idol) will continue to vote together. That feels... default, I guess?

Default doesn't equal impossible, obviously, but I also think Riya might run into trouble with that promise Grett made to not forget Riya and Alec voting with Yul in his boot episode.

I think it's entirely possible that this episode is where Grett makes it apparent that she's been working with Connor and Jake and takes out Riya. Then, if Grett is the boot next episode for her downfall as the final boss, the finalists are Ally, Jake and Connor. Connor probably gets eliminated at 3, resulting in Jake vs. Ally for the final 2 with Jake emerging victorious as a sign that he was able to grow and succeed. It just makes sense to me.

So, I still think Riya is the most likely. I think the womens' alliance is a way to make it seem like it isn't obvious that, with Grett in full control, Alec and Riya aren't just getting booted back to back. However, it still makes plenty of sense that that would be the case, so while it might be a surprising vote, it won't feel confusing or random.

#dcas #disventure camp #dcas spoilers #disventure camp spoilers #dcas power rankings #is this the lowest i've ever ranked jake #funny if true

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sunnydaleherald · 1 year ago

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The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday, August 24th and Friday, August 25th

DRUSILLA: (leans toward Angelus) Psst. We're going to destroy the world. Want to come?

~~Innocence~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

dreamer by voices_not_echoes (Drusilla & Dawn, T)

fate’s already fucked me sideways by JustGail (Buffy/Spike, E)

His Dark Childer by EustasiaVye13 (Angelus/Drusilla, Angelus/Spike, M)

Dare by simmony (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

BTVS plays Among Us by DeamonQueen (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Eurotrip - Ch. 1-3 by RavenLove12 (Buffy/Spike, Willow/OFC, M)

The Year With No Slayer - Ch. 22 by Nonkosherian (Fred/Gunn, Buffy/Faith, Faith/various, Willow/Kennedy, T) COMPLETE!

Doing my best to get back to you (Ain’t nothing I’d rather do) - Ch. 25 by My_Barbaric_Yawp (Buffy/Spike, M) COMPLETE!

Batman: The Buffy Chronicles - Ch. 9 by BrennaLynn (Buffy/Bruce Wayne, Batman xover, T) COMPLETE!

The Time We Had - Ch. 51 by Dusty87 (Buffy/Spike, M) COMPLETE!

Seven - Ch. 52 by HollyDB (Buffy/Spike, E) COMPLETE!

The Nips! - Ch. 4 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

California Sun - Ch. 5 by To Be Hers (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

The Plunge - Ch. 18 by Harlow Turner (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Oh The Sights You'll See - Ch. 28 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Neighbor's Point of View - Ch. 37 by the_big_bad (Buffy/Spike, PG)

A Family Room at the Heartbreak Hotel - Ch. 9 by Julikobold (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

From Hell with Love - Ch. 23 by temporarytitle (Buffy/Spike, R)

In The Dark With You - Ch. 18 by Geliot99 (Buffy/Spike, R)

A Spark of Hope - Ch. 1-2 by DrThothEvans (Xander, multi xover, FR13)

Impression, Sunrise - Ch. 26 by EnergyBeing (Buffy, Star Trek xover, FR13)

I Remember You - Ch. 1-2 by DeamonQueen (Buffy/Spike, R)

The Nips! - Ch. 4 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

A Call from Home - Ch. 5-6 by DeamonQueen (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Alphabet of Spuffy - Ch. 23-24 by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Other Side of the Door - Ch. 12 by myrabeth (Buffy/Spike, M)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Icons: 20 BtVS Icons [one with nature theme] by debris4spike (ensemble, worksafe)

Fanvid: DC-SlashCon 2023 Opening Vid by Aaronantium (multi fandom, brief Buffy/Faith, worksafe)

Gifset with lyrics: [goodbye, goodbye, goodbye...] by detectivedawnsummers (ensemble, worksafe)

Gifset: dailyats : 2.21 – "Through the Looking Glass" || 3.06 –"Billy" by dailyats (Fred, Angel, Wesley, worksafe)

Gifset: Anya becomes a vengeance demon again // Spike gets his soul back by andremichaux (Anya, Spike, D'Hoffryn, worksafe)

[Reviews & Recaps]

PODCAST: 5.20 The Girl In Question by Angel on Top

PODCAST: Buffy S6E17: Normal Again by Booze & Buffy

Beyond Buffy's Impact: Ranking the Most Powerful Faith Episodes in the Buffyverse by Brandon Page and Lee

[Recs & In Search Of]

ISO: ddeeramone seeks [advice] What do I do with this huge trove of Buffy memorabilia??

ISO: pinenutty23 seeks [Spike poster] HEELP! Intel needed on sourcing a good Spike poster? : buffy

[Fandom Discussions]

Why don't Willow and Tara get jobs? updated by various

Season 4, Doomed - is Giles lip syncing? by InterestingSecurity8

Weird question, but who would you ship Anya with if not Xander? by Imaginecoolname

Who here has read all of the Season 8-12 Comics? [discussion of various seasons] by GarthTDdraig

Charles Gunn by Fantastic_Active_899

Cordelia Chase: How do we feel about.... ?(spoilers for Angel and Buffy) by kipcarson37

Better Idea for Season 4 [ATS] by kipcarson37

Y'know, as much as I hate Connor and everything to do with him in season 4... by kipcarson37

Season 1 as a camp horror movie! by justtakessometime48

POLL: If Buffy did a crossover what franchise would you like to see the Scoobys crossover with? by Quiet-Living8975

spike’s backstory [his mom] by Low-Cockroach-3141

Spike and the Witches had an underrated dynamic by The810kid

Complete List of Spike Lines A-Z by ginime_

Dawn and Spike [they're family] by mskisskissbang

so here are my thoughts on Warren... by Quiet-Living8975

What's a divisive situation in the show/s you have a more positive/empathetic take on? by illvria

POLL: Best character's return in one-off episode (spoilers) by ethihoff

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warningsine · 2 years ago

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favourite succession episodes?

My favorite episodes are—naturally—the ones that cause me the most pain. Either they tear me apart emotionally or they terrify me with their spot on sociopolitical commentary.

It's hard to watch a democracy crumbling in such plausible ways when you take a look at what's happening around the globe, you know?

Anyway, my top 10+1 episodes are:

All the Bells Say (Season 3, Episode 9). The back-to-back epic betrayals and tragedy (Shakespearean, Greek, Roman, Jacobean — you name it) have bewitched me body and soul and I love them. And the cinematography? Some frames look like Renaissance paintings.

Connor's Wedding (Season 4, Episode 3). Honestly, this episode is why I watch television. Now excuse me while I sob.

America Decides (Season 4, Episode 8). Give Kieran all the trophy awards for managing to make Roman so loathsome and disgusting when 5 episodes earlier he had me crying like a baby because of how pitiable his character was. "Succession" had always made it clear that these characters are awful yet human. That being said, I love how this particular episode focuses on how complicit they all are (Jess, Greg, Hugo, Gerri, Karl, Frank, the dude that takes the "pending call" decision) and how it makes you hate the Roy siblings for damning an entire nation. Kendall? Unlike Roman, he knows right from wrong and how terrible of a father he is, but when it comes down to it, he's a spineless coward. Shiv? Believes that she cares for the world (democracy, misogyny, racism), but is actually a huge hypocrite. When her country is about to succumb to fascism, the first thing she can think of is to double down on her deal with another amoral and abusive billionaire. She cares more about sticking it to her brothers more than anything else.

This Is Not for Tears (Season 2, Episode 10). Everything about this episode is perfect: the music, the script,the direction, the acting. I'm a Shiv stan, but Tom's "I wonder if the sad I’d be without you, would be less than the sad I get from being with you" absolutely breaks me. Logan mentioning the Incas and Kendall Judas kissing him before fucking him over? [chef's kiss]

With Open eyes (Season 4, Episode 10). Sad to see you go, happy that you chose to keep your legacy and not drag, beloved show.

Church and State (Season 4, Episode 9). Please respect my privacy while I cry. There was Roman's heartbreaking breakdown of course, but what really got to me was Marcia touching Kerry's hand and then telling Shiv that Logan hurt all of them. Hiam Abbass is there for 5 mins and unsurprisingly manages to steal the show.

Nobody Is Ever Missing (Season 1, Episode 10). When the series turned from capitalist satirical drama to tragedy of the highest caliber was when it really won me over. "You're my number one boy" indeed.

What It Takes (Season 3, Episode 6). Like Shiv said about Jordan-Peterson-meets-Trump Mencken, it's terrifying to watch a “YouTube provocateur” whose vibes are “aristo-populism … ‘rape is natural, it’s all red pill, baby'" gain power.

Chiantishire (Season 3, Episode 8). Dickpicgate, comedy gold. Hearing your mother tell you that it'd have been better if she had had dogs instead of you and that you'd make a terrible mother too? Harriet Walter, the actress that you are.

Tern Haven (Season 2, Episode 5). I love season 2. I love the Pierces. I love Rhea. I love Nan. Holly Hunter and Cherry Jones should have been regulars is all I'm saying.

Dundee (Season 2, Episode 8). "L to the OG" way before "R to the IP" took place.

Honorable mentions:

Tailgate Party (S4E7). That Tom/Shiv balcony scene... Give Snook all the awards.

DC (S2E9). When Shiv manipulated and silenced that victim of sexual harassment and abuse, showing us her true colors. When Rhea proved that she had something resembling a moral backbone after all. “This doesn’t feel right" indeed.

Rehearsal (S4E2). Because the last thing that Logan said to his children was, "I love you, but you are not serious people."

Honeymoon States (S4E4). Had not expected this episode to be so funny and yet.

Too Much Birthday (S3E7). Always a pleasure to watch Kendall fall apart and the 3 siblings backstab and be awful to each other.

Which Side Are You On? (S1E6).

Safe Room (S2E4).

The Disruption (S3E3). For Snook's acting after Kendall interrupts Shiv with Nirvana's "Rape Me" and Kendall's cowering in the server room after Shiv published that letter about him. Jeremy Strong's acting says so much even when his character doesn't utter a word.

The Munsters (S4E1). Greg's "Where are your kids?" was pure savagery. Logan should have been given some aloe vera for that burn. No, but how dare Brian Cox make me feel bad for the fallen king? It's "Breaking Bad" all over again.

#honestly i love the whole show and you can't go wrong with any episode 'cause even its worst episode(s) is still better than 98% of what's #on tv #anon #sc

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quaranmine · 2 years ago

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AO3 link and notes below the cut:

PEARL HAS APPEARED IN THE FIC!! Y’all, there were NOT supposed to be other characters than Scar and Grian (and briefly Mumbo) in this fic but she just snuck in. Also, my recommendation? Do not show up at anybody’s house uninvited for a vacation, it’s really rude to put that on someone else last minute. Like in some situations surprise visits are fun but I think a lot of the time…it’s just so stressful on the “host.” Pearl knows Grian well though, and she’s super worried about him, so her reasoning was that if she arranged it ahead of time he would have plenty of time to perfectly clean up his life and pretend nothing was wrong. Part of the reason she wanted to visit him was because she knew something was wrong. I think Grian’s friends and family, most of them in England but Pearl in Australia, have been worried for quite some time about how he’s doing, but living on a different continent is a great way to self-isolate.

Also I shouldn’t have to say this but don’t read anyone’s mail, even if it’s out. Pearl is allowed to be a little dysfunctional, as a treat…. hashtag god forbid women do anything. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for friends to ask for financial help from friends, or for friends to take it on themself to help out where possible and maybe slip you something. but girl there’s a time and place for it!!! LOL anyway you know that the woman who created a whole cleaning service in HC S9 would be happy to help Grian declutter in this situation too haha

As for architecture, there’s a bunch of different programs but the one I’ve been using as reference for this fic is a 5 year degree with around 2-3 years of apprenticeship/internship/field training. It is generally a pretty intense job to get. Grian did his whole degree in England plus part of the training, but finished the rest and got his license while in Colorado. He did not have his license very long at all in the beginning of the fic, which is partly why he was so resistant to taking off work to go with Mumbo–he was brand new and had to prove himself! Also, architecture work often includes compliance related things in addition to designs (from what I have read.) Grian got demoted after his stunt in the last chapter, so he mostly does things like “contact the electrical company to get power to this person’s house” or “call the county to get information about the local building codes” and so on. Mumbo is a mechanical engineer.

Did you know it actually didn’t snow til really late in the season in Denver in 1988? It’s an interesting juxtaposition for how early the snow was in Yellowstone that year. I’m not from Colorado but from what I googled most ski resorts have at least limited runs open by Thanksgiving so I think it’s reasonable for them to go together. Higher elevation places in the mountains likely did get snow by late November. Anyway, I like skiing. I went twice as a kid and it was a lot of fun but unfortunately now i'm cursed with knees that like to dislocate so i don’t dare go again and risk injury

Also yeah I’m not gonna list out specific numbers but the long distance (especially international) rates WERE atrocious then, and grian is just not getting paid as much as he used to on top of having to cover all the stuff Mumbo used to. It’s not sustainable in the long run, both financially and in that it’s far too easy for him to isolate from everyone who cares about him.

Finally, a lot of the little bits of day to day lookout information I have comes from the book Fire Season by Philip Connors, that I’ve been slowly reading while writing this fic. I think I’m around 160 pages into it? It’s a very interesting book, I recommend it. You will also get a lot of information about forest fire history and wildland firefighting in general. So much of my information about when fires are left to burn, when they’re suppressed, when they’re monitored, helicopters and smoke jumpers, Grian’s work schedules and days off, etc all comes from that book.

Oh, I finally mentioned Grian’s age in this. He’s 28, turning 29 in a few months.. That’s why he says he’s floundering on the cusp of his 30s. To be clear, I do not think there is anything terrible about being in your 30s. I do not think he is old. I do think, however, that he’s looking at a couple of fresh 21 year-olds doing a summer job in between semesters and thinking about how thoroughly he’s torched his own career and life (and how life has hurt him first) to end up where he is right now.

Cicadas! Yes, England does not have them (as far as I could tell through research.) This is shocking as a Texan, given they have been the staple summer background noise of my entire life. I would not know what to do without them doing their little calls nonstop. Also, I lied a bit in that second sentence–England DOES have a species of cicada, but it’s so endangered it hasn’t been seen for over a decade and only lives in a specific forest. RIP.

The Incandescence of a Dying Light (Chapter Six)

Someone’s worried about Grian, and the Forest Service comes to collect Mumbo’s bike.

Chapter Six: 8,724

<< Chapter Five | Masterpost | Chapter Seven >>

The other half of the fifth chapter! I hope you enjoy this 1988 sequence especially, I was looking forward to it a lot (and it single handedly made the chapter so long it had to be split in two!)

No real CWs this time. I personally think that if you have made it this far then I don’t really have to warn you about the themes of loss and grief anymore, but just in case: yep, still very present.

November 20, 1988

It’s about noon on a Sunday, and Grian is…not doing much, actually. He has a thousand things he needs to do, ranging from cleaning out the refrigerator to trying to change his car’s oil to looking into a part-time second job, but instead he’s lying on the couch trying to watch TV. Somewhere along the way he tuned out of the program and started staring at the ceiling instead, mentally tracing out the patterns in the spackle.

The man on the drones on and on in the background, until he’s just part of it. Grian can feel himself starting to drift to sleep.

Then the phone rings.

Grian startles awake and sits up, scowling at it in the kitchen. He hasn’t the faintest idea who is calling him, other than maybe a telemarketer, but do those people work on Sunday? Well, perhaps they do. Everyone is home then, afterall.

It rings twice more, so he gets up and answers the phone. “Hello?” he says.

“Griba!” shouts a voice on the other end of the line.

And–it’s a very familiar voice.

“Pearl?” Grian says, just the slightest bit baffled. “Is that you?”

“Hi!” she says. “How are you doing? Are you busy?”

“I’m fine,” he says. “How are you? What do you need?”

“Can’t I just call to say hi?” Pearl asks.

“Of course, but–”

“But the international rates?” Pearl says. Then she laughs. “Oh, shush, I know you were thinking about it.”

“Oh noooo,” Grian says. “I don’t care about that at all, we can talk as long as you like.”

It’s a lie. He was definitely thinking about the international rates, and then immediately feeling bad about it because Pearl is a friend. He puts friends before money, of course, it’s just…well, it was expensive. But worth it! Pearl is Pearl. But every minute on the phone eats into his checkbook, and it’s hard not to think about.

Pearl laughs again. “Well, I’m glad you don’t worry about that. Not that it matters anyway; this call is local.”

Local. Local?

“Huh?”

“Yeah, you were right Griba, I did need something when I called,” Pearl says. “Can you pick me up from the airport?”

Grian’s head is spinning. “You’re at the airport?” he says incredulously. “Like, in Colorado? In Denver? Right now?”

“Yep,” Pearl says. “And I need a ride. Well, I could go get a taxi somewhere. But I figured I’d ask my friend first. Are you busy?”

Yeah, busy falling asleep to daytime TV on the couch. “Um, no,” he says.

“Great! I’ll see you there!” Pearl says. “Wait, how long will it take? I don’t know where you live, actually. Ooh, this is exciting! I’ll finally get to see your place.”

“Um, give me like half an hour and I’ll be there,” Grian says slowly.

He and Pearl say their goodbyes for now, and after she hangs up he finds himself staring at the phone for several moments. What just happened? First of all, Pearl’s in Denver, apparently. Second of all, he did not know this was happening. Thirdly, his afternoon just got way more interesting.

He grabs his keys off the counter and makes his way downstairs.

»»———-　　——��-««

When he arrives at the airport, in the long line of cars waiting to pick people up and drop them off at the terminal, he does not expect to see Pearl waiting outside for him. Yet he picks her out instantly, a familiar face in a crowd of strangers.

She’s bundled up in a black hoodie. The hood is up over her head, but he can see the long wavy tendrils of brown hair peeking out from behind it. Her hands are shoved in the hoodie’s pocket, and her nose is pink from the cold. When she exhales, he can see the faintest cloud of her breath.

He can hardly remember being so happy to see someone before. The second he sees her face, any doubt or mild annoyance at her unexpected stay just melts away.

He pulls his car up as close as he can to her, and throws it in park. She doesn’t know what car he’s driving, of course–she’s never visited him here. He leaps out and calls her name.

“Pearl!” he shouts.

She spins around and a grin breaks out on her face the moment she spots him. He races up to her on the curb and she throws her arms around him in a hug immediately. They cling to each other for a moment, before letting go.

“Oh, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you!” Pearl says.

“Oh, yeah,” Grian says. “A few years, right? Not since I’ve been here.”

“Ah!” Pearl squeaks. “I can’t wait to see it. I should’ve come for a visit so much sooner.”

Grian breathes a sigh, not of any annoyance or tiredness, but perhaps–of relief? Relief from what, he doesn’t quite know, but he’s so happy to see Pearl it’s like he can hardly speak. His breath clouds in front of him.

“Let’s get you in the car,” he says. “It’s so cold out here, why weren’t you waiting inside?”

“Well, it might be cold out here,” Pearl says, attempting to pick up her bag. Grian steals it out from under her grasp before she can, though, so she just trails after him to the car. “But it certainly isn’t cold at home. It’s kind of nice, actually. Anyway, I wasn’t out here waiting the entire time, I just walked out a few minutes before you came.”

“Well, don’t freeze on me before you even get here,” Grian says. He loads her things in the car, and they hop in. He starts to navigate out of the airport traffic. “How long was that flight?” he asks. “I mean, I assume you flew in from Sydney.”

“Ugh, it was never ending!” Pearl says. “It was like 12 or 13 hours, and that only got me to Los Angeles. Then I had a connection here.” She glances at the clock on his dashboard. “Did you know it’s almost the same time I left?”

“Huh?”

“Yeah. I left around noon on the 20th. Then I landed and now it’s around noon on the 20th again.”

“Wow.”

“It feels like I got put in a time vortex or something and they zapped a whole day from me. And then I woke up and I’m repeating the day again.”

Grian side eyes her in the passenger seat. “Are you, perhaps, a little tired?”

“Exhausted.”

He smiles just a little. “I bet you’re hungry too,” he says. “Let’s get lunch on our way back to my apartment.”

»»———-　　———-««

They get lunch, and it’s great. They talk about various, mostly mundane things about their lives over the past few years. They’ve kept in touch ever since graduating university together, even as their lives diverged on totally different paths on totally different continents. But that was mostly just letters and phone calls. It’s entirely different to be face to face again. It’s so much better to be face to face again.

Grian asks about her career in Australia. “So, have you designed the next Sydney Opera House yet?” he teases.

Pearl gasps in fake horror. “Of course not! There can’t be a ‘next’ Opera House, it’s iconic!”

“Eh,” Grian says. “I think you could come up with a cooler one.”

She rolls her eyes affectionately. “Alright, stop it.”

“I’m dead serious. I think you could make a better one.”

She laughs and shakes her head. “Seriously though, I mostly just do office buildings.”

“Hm, well that’s boring,” Grian says and takes a sip of his water. “We for sure don’t need any more of those.”

“That’s what most of the work is,” she says. “Lots of new development to work on! So what have you been up to? Any interesting projects lately?”

Grian hesitates a bit in replying. The answer is no, of course. Pearl’s aware of his job from some of their previous communication in the past three years, but now that they’re sitting here face to face she clearly wants to hear all about it without the constraints of a phone call or letter.

He just, well, has nothing to say. He hasn't even really received projects lately.

He and Mumbo came to Colorado a little over two years ago after Mumbo was offered an engineering job in Denver. Grian had figured he might as well dust off his completely unused dual citizenship and follow him here–it’s not like it was even a difficult process for him. It was the perfect sort of adventure to follow up five years of intense schooling, and an interesting place to put his new skills to test.

It had been that which enticed him to go with Mumbo. That, and the way his stomach had twisted when he thought about saying goodbye. They’d been inseparable for over a decade and Grian refused to accept a reality where his best friend lived so far away. Truthfully, Mumbo was a little apprehensive about moving to an entirely new country alone, so this had worked out perfectly.

Grian would go with him. They’d split an apartment and get settled in for a while and experience life in a new country. Grian would finish the rest of his architecture field training in Colorado and finally get his license. Mumbo would work on creating machines and learn about computers.

It was fine. It was fun. They had a good time–there were endless things to do, from skiing to hiking to rafting to biking.

Then Mumbo went missing, and Grian was just…still here, but missing everything that was worthwhile. He was struggling. Not showing up to work. Getting demoted.

“I haven’t really had anything interesting to work on,” he says finally. “There was this one house–way too massive, really, and the owner could never really decide what he wanted but he wasn’t so bad. But then I had to leave to…”

He trails off. Pearl glances at him and opens her mouth, but she rethinks it after a moment and shuts it again. She’s smart, and part of that intelligence is knowing when to not poke around.

“Mostly they just have me working on codes and compliance right now,” he finishes quietly.

It’s still an important part of the process, making sure that all of the projects are in alignment with local building codes. Sometimes it’s even frustrating, when he has to figure out things like getting a water line from whichever locality is closest for someone’s house perched high on a mountainside.

But he doesn’t have any of his own clients anymore. He does work for his coworker’s projects. He doesn’t do any drafting. He doesn’t touch any blueprints. He doesn’t design anything.

It’s not really the update that he wants to give Pearl. They met each other in university because they studied in the same architecture program. They spent long nights in the library together. He’s seen her rip up her papers in frustration when things weren’t working quite right, and she’s seen him start crying on the floor of her dorm room the night before a particularly major test. They graduated together.

It just doesn’t look good. Of course, he knows Pearl very well. She isn’t going to think anything less of him. It’s more, well, himself that he has to worry about.

Pearl purses her lips, and moves on. “Well,” she says, “that’s all very important. God knows we studied it enough. Don’t worry about projects, you’ll find some cool work soon.”

“As cool as office buildings?”

“With any luck, even better,” she says.

“How long are you staying?” he asks, realizing he still doesn’t know.

“Little over a week,” she responds. “I’m leaving next Monday.”

He frowns. “I probably have work, but maybe I can take off a morning to take you back to the airport–”

“I can survive in a taxi,” Pearl says. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Well, you asked me to pick you up this time.”

“Mm, well, I wanted to see you,” she says, “and I had a feeling you weren’t going to be busy.”

He hates that she’s right, but only just a little. He’s sort of glad he wasn’t busy so that he could see her, since she’s apparently decided to drop this entire trip on him with no notice whatsoever. It does not miss him that she could have done this basically any weekend in the last several months and landed on a day where he wasn’t busy.

“What are your plans for this week?” he asks.

“I want to see everything!” Pearl says, and stretches her arms wide to accommodate the words. She has to pull her arm back in quick, since she nearly smacks a waitress walking by. They both descend into laughter.

“Pearl,” Grian hisses, “we’re in public!”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she whispers. “I’m just so excited! I want to sightsee!”

Grian leans back in his chair and regards her with a critical eye. He’s smiling. “I don’t know if a week is enough to see everything,” he says.

“I am going to do my best,” she says, mock-serious.

It suddenly hits Grian. “Wait,” he groans. “I seriously have to work tomorrow. And Tuesday. I could ask off, but…” He winces as he trails off. “I kind of have a track record with my boss and I don’t think he really appreciates me calling out last minute.”

“That’s fine,” Pearl says. “What? I know I came here without telling you but it’s not like I wasn’t prepared to take care of myself. I’ll just see some things on my own.”

Grian nods. “I have a half-day on Wednesday,” he says, “but I think he’d be more amenable to letting me have that as a full day. Then Thursday’s off for Thanksgiving, and Friday too. Then of course the weekend.”

Pearl looks self-satisfied. “Good. I meant to plan it that way so you’d have a little time off.”

“So what do you want to do?” he asks. “One of them, I guess, since everything’s on the table.”

Pearl leans closer to him across the table. “Please,” she says. “I want to go skiing. I’ve never been skiing. Can we please go skiing? Please?”

Grian laughs again at the face she’s making. She’s so dead serious in her begging. “I’ll call around and see if any places are open. As you can see, we don’t have any snow around here right now. But further up into the actual mountains probably does.”

“Eee!” Pearl squeaks in excitement. “I’m so ready.”

“Oh?” Grian says. “I will literally bet you on how many times you fall.”

“I’ll take your money,” she says. “I’ll be the greatest first-time skier there ever was.”

“You will fall on your butt no less than a dozen times,” he shoots back.

They continue talking for a while, back and forth. Pearl tells him about various stories and adventures from Australia. She begs him to come visit–she came here, so now it’s his turn to come to her. Maybe next summer, when it’ll be cooler in Australia and hotter down here.

She’s obviously prepared for their trip and seeing him again, because she’s also brought photos to share with him. He looks through a few photos of what her house looks like, what a few buildings she’s worked on looks like, a picture of her by the ocean (she says he can keep that one, as long as she gets to go home with a photo of him), and even the two cats she has adopted.

They get the check–Grian pays for the whole thing without blinking–and head back to his apartment.

They’re discussing sleeping arrangements as they walk up Grian’s stairwell. He has his keys out already, and they clang a little step-by-step.

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” he declares. “End of story.”

“But,” she says, “I’ll feel so bad taking your bed from you.”

“You’re a guest!” he says. “I’m not letting you sleep for a week on the couch! You can take my bed.”

Neither of them mention that there’s a third option. Or really a fourth, because Pearl could always get a hotel room if it didn't work out, but she had asked to stay with him. She must have spent so much on flights already, it was the least he could do.

So there’s really only three options, and only two are being discussed. The apartment is a two bedroom. Mumbo’s room has sat empty for five months now, completely untouched. But that room isn’t up for grabs–it’s a time capsule, frozen from the moment he left it. Grian doesn’t mention it. Pearl is smart enough to not ask about it.

“Ugh, fine,” Pearl says, rolling her eyes. “I guess I’ll take your room. If you make me. I still feel like it’s weird though.”

Grian freezes on the top step, and Pearl nearly bumps into him. “Oh no,” he mumbles. “My apartment is–Pearl, listen, I didn’t know you were coming, so I didn’t really take a chance to clean up anything, so it’s definitely a little messy in here, and–”

She cuts him off, voice bright. “So what I’m hearing is the couch might be better than your room?”

“No, ugh, I’m just saying I’m sorry that this place looks so bad.” He sighs.

“I get it,” she says. “Don’t worry.”

“It’s not how I wanted it to be,” he says softly, and slots the key into the handle. “Just let me work on it, I’ll get it fixed up.”

They go into the apartment. Really, it isn’t that bad, but he’s embarrassed about it nonetheless. It isn’t filthy or grimy, it’s just cluttered. He’s always been a cluttered person. There’s stuff lying randomly about, like the somewhat muddy shoes by the door, the jackets shed across chairs, or the laundry basket of unfolded clothes sitting on a dining room chair. At least three random empty drinking glasses are sitting on the coffee table in the living room. And, well, he could have probably bothered to do the dishes from the last three days, but there’s only one of him and he doesn’t cook much, so really it isn’t very much even if it looks bad.

Everything in here would be so fast to clean up, but whenever he tries it feels like an insurmountable barrier. He does things a little at a time, so that it never gets too out of hand, but he can’t remember the last time it looked good. It’s just something that’s continually slipping further and further away. It feels like one day he’ll wake up and it will finally be completely out of control.

Pearl doesn’t say anything. She just walks in and drops her bags–which she had insisted on carrying since he insisted on paying for lunch–on the floor and puts her hands on her hips. “This is a cute place,” she says. “I like the lighting from the windows. And you’ve got a view of the mountains!”

“It’s cute when it’s clean,” he mutters. It’s like he knows how to be ashamed of how the place looks, but not how to do anything about it. He’s got the external motivation of another human being seeing it now though, and he’s itching to work and hide everything here.

Maybe it’s concerning that his main motivation after months on end is just so that he can hide. This thought does not cross his mind, because the sort of people who hide things from others are fantastic at hiding things from themselves, too.

“I saw your dorm room in university,” she reminds him. “You can’t seriously think I wasn’t prepared for your clutter.”

“This is worse,” Grian groans.

“Eh, not really,” Pearl says. “I think you’re doing well, all things considered.”

All things considered. Grian bites his lip. It’s nice that she thinks so. He isn’t sure where she got that impression, but if he can spend the rest of the week cultivating it then maybe she’ll stop worrying.

She walks over to the laundry basket on the chair. “Is this clean?” she asks.

“Yes, of course,” he responds, and he wants to add “I’m not that bad" to the end of the statement until he remembers the floor of his bedroom, which is exactly “that bad.”

“Great!” she says. And then she sits down. And starts folding it.

“What are you doing?” he asks, and snatches the basket away from her. “You’re a guest! You’re on vacation! Don’t be doing that?”

Pearl frowns. “Um,” she says. “Just helping?”

“I don’t need you to help,” he says, and it comes out a bit harsher than intended. “Just, like, go relax or something. Take a nap. I know you’re exhausted.”

A brief look of hurt flashes over her face, and vanishes almost as quickly as it arrives. “Grian?” she asks. “What do you think I’m here for?”

“To see me?” he says, confused.

“Yeah,” she says. “Of course it’s to see you, I missed you. But also to help.”

“I missed you too,” he says automatically, but when the rest of the sentence catches up to him he shakes his head. “I don’t need help.”

She raises an eyebrow. “You don’t? Then why can nobody get a hold of you, Grian? Why does your apartment look like this? Why do you deflect phone calls and make excuses? We’re all worried about you, you know. We don’t know what’s going on.”

“We?” Grian says. “You’re talking about me behind my back? Who’s we?”

“Well, we wouldn’t be talking behind your back if you talked to us,” Pearl replies, matter-of-fact. “And the ‘we’ is your friends. Your family, Grian.”

“I’m fine,” he snaps. “I’m sorry to have you worried but you don’t need to be.”

“You don’t get to try that on me,” Pearl says firmly. “I know you too well.”

“Maybe that’s why I don’t talk to you,” he says.

Pearl looks back at him, for a long time. He doesn’t return her eye contact, and instead begins to pick up the glasses from the coffee to take them into the kitchen. He knows looking at her will just make him sad. He also knows that he really, really wants to look back at her.

He misses her so hard it hurts. Mumbo hasn’t come back, but she did. She was never really missing, though–just separated far, far, away by circumstance.

She takes a deep breath. “Well. Maybe that’s why I didn’t tell you I was coming.”

He says nothing, and turns on the tap. It’ll take a moment for the water to heat up.

“You always try to hide,” she says. She picks up another item out of the basket and begins to fold it. “But you can’t hide if you didn’t expect me to come.”

She reads him like a book every time. It was a definite contributing factor to their friendship–they’d clicked fast and gotten very close in university. They understood each other well, and shared not only the same area of study but also the same ideas about pulling mischief on campus. There used to be a point in time where her reading him like a book served both of them well, but not today.

“I told you to stop folding that,” Grian says.

Pearl drops it with a huff. “No,” she says. “I’m not going to stop. You said I was the guest, right? Guests get to do what they want. And maybe I want to help you clean up.”

He finally turns to look at her. Her blue eyes are wide and just the slightest bit watery. He’s done that–he’s been the one to make her that worried. He turns back to the sink.

“Okay,” he says quietly, words almost lost in the water running into the sink. He says okay because he can’t imagine even trying to fight her on this. “We can work on it together.”

»»———-　　———-««

The cleaning goes well, up until it doesn’t.

“Grian, what is this?” Pearl says from the other room, loudly. She’s finished folding his things and has fortunately just left them all in the basket for him to put up himself, declining to go rifling through his dresser and closet. The next task she has taken upon herself has apparently been working through the clutter in the living room area, which is always a dangerous place.

Grian sticks his head around the corner from the kitchen. He’s finished doing the dishes, and is just drying them off now to put in the cabinet. “Let me see,” he says.

She turns around and Grian’s heart sinks immediately. She’s standing by his desk, the nice one by the window that he always liked to sit and draft at. She’s holding a few pieces of paper that Grian really didn’t mean to leave out. Because he definitely did leave them out–Pearl is nosy, and she’ll fly all the way across the world to drop in uninvited, but she isn’t the kind of person who goes through drawers.

But he did just say she was nosy. Nosy enough to read something he left out.

He drops the dish towel. “Give me those,” he says, and crosses the living room to the corner she’s in. He tries to snatch it out of her hand.

“Nope, not so fast,” she says, and holds them higher, squinting at them so she can read. Grian is, at this moment, extremely annoyed that she is so much taller than he is. He can’t quite grab them out of her hand.

“Pearl,” he whines.

“Shh, I’m reading.” Her eyes widen, and she looks back at Grian. He feels the slightest bit locked in her gaze’s intensity. It’s equal parts scrutinizing and empathetic. Like she feels bad for him, but is also a little disappointed. “Are these late notices?”

She files through them one by one. Grian cringes. He’d rather melt into the floor than be here. “Most of them are already paid,” he says feebly.

“Most of them?” she looks back at him. Her brows are knit up, and it creases her forehead.

“I, uh, get paid this week,” he says. This is another lie. He gets paid at the end of the month, but she doesn’t need to know that.

She doesn’t seem fully convinced, but she hands them back to him and he takes them from her so sharply he almost tears the paper. He puts them in the drawer and slams it shut. It rattles the whole desk.

“The top one was about your credit card payment,” she says slowly, as if she’s halfway between deciding whether to say something and not, but was already saying it before she could finish the debate.

Grian fixes her with a glare and she wilts under it, immediately looking away. He shoves his hands behind his back, because suddenly they seem shaky. His chest is tight, and his jaw is set, and–he’s angry. He’s so, so angry, and it feels like it’s burning him up, white-hot.

“Why did you read those?” he demands.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to find it, it was just laying on the desk–”

“You could have ignored it.”

Pearl crosses her arms. He’s activated her fight mode, and he rarely does well against her when she tries to be stubborn.

“I’m just worried about you,” she says.

Grian shakes his head. “I can’t with you right now,” he says. His tone is icy even while his whole body feels hot. “They were laying on the desk because I didn’t expect to have any guests.”

He turns away from her and walks partway across the living room floor toward the kitchen, and then whirls around again. “You’re just..showing up uninvited, messing with my stuff, reading my mail? Is that where we are now?” his voice cracks a little on the last time. “It’s the first time I’ve seen you in three years and this is where we’re at now?”

Pearl takes a breath. “I just wanted to help,” she says. It falls flat.

“It isn’t your business.”

“You never said you needed money.”

“Because it isn’t your business.” He enunciates every syllable clearly.

She runs a hand through her hair in a nervous, agitated gesture. “None of know what’s going on with you, Grian,” she says. “We didn’t know about this, so what else don’t we know about?”

He doesn’t answer.

“Okay, fine,” she says desperately. “This wasn’t my business. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have looked at it. But I meant what I said, okay? We don’t know anything about what’s going on with you!”

“There’s the ‘we’ again,” he says.

She shakes her head, incredulous. “Do I have to literally spell it out for you? Did you forget our names when you moved to America? It’s Jimmy, and Joel, and Martyn, and Netty, and Lizzie. It’s your mom. It’s Mumbo’s parents.” She pauses for just a moment, taking in a short, if slightly hysterical, breath. “It’s me.”

He doesn’t want to hear their names again. He misses them enough already.

“I’ve talked to them,” he says instead. Simple.

Pearl throws her arms in the air. “For hardly more than five minutes!”

“Well,” he says, with a bitter laugh, “you certainly know I don’t have the money for long-distance calls.”

“I guess I walked into that one,” she says. She stops, but there’s a funny look on her face that keeps Grian quiet. He’s still standing a few feet away from her after he walked off earlier. Her face scrunches up, like she’s trying not to cry, and after another moment she speaks softly: “Mumbo was my friend too, you know.”

It’s soft, but it still hits Grian like a ton of bricks.

She continues, and doesn’t look him in the eye. “I know he was your friend first, but I cared about him too. We all did.” Suddenly she’s crossing the floor toward him again, closing the distance he had put between them. “But it almost hurts just as bad to know you’re still out here alone. And that you aren’t okay.”

Grian swallows back against the lump that is rapidly forming in his throat. “I’m fine,” he whispers.

“I don’t believe you,” she says.

“I’m fine,” he insists.

“You need to go home to visit,” Pearl says. “Even just for the holidays. Please. Everybody’s worried about you.” She huffs a small little laugh. “They’re all worried and then they’re calling me because they think I know what’s going on. Because I always used to know what was going on with you. And then I have to tell them I don’t know either.”

Grian doesn’t respond.

“They’d be so happy, you know,” Pearl says. “To see you.”

“I’d never come back,” Grian mumbles. “If I went.”

“What?”

“They wouldn’t let me leave,” he says, stronger. “If I went home they wouldn’t let go.”

“Is that such a bad thing?” Pearl asks.

Grian shakes his head like he’s breaking free of her request. “I have to stay here, because Mumbo is here.”

Pearl blinks, and then sighs. “Okay. I still think you should visit, though.”

Her eyes drift away from his face and over to the hallway behind him, the one all the bedrooms and bathrooms break off of. She speaks again sharply. “The money problem, it’s because of Mumbo isn’t it? You used to split all of the rent and stuff because he was your roommate. But now it’s all on you.”

“Something like that,” Grian admits, and it feels like he’s speaking around a block sitting in his mouth.

Their apartment is nice. Not luxurious by any means, but still a decent place to live. His neighbor down the hall yells at him sometimes if he comes back home too late and their door used to slam unpredictably until the landlord finally fixed it months later, but isn’t that all just everyday woes of having an apartment?

The apartment is nice, but it was never meant to be paid for by one person. Well, maybe a well-paid person. It’s not like his landlord wouldn’t have rented it out to a single person if they could pay. But Grian had never planned to pay for it by himself. And while architecture could be a well-paying job, he was very much still at the entry level. He’d only barely gotten his license after years of schooling and on-site training.

And then he’d gotten demoted for not showing up. The demotion wasn’t in job duties only, as he’d discovered on his very next paycheck.

So now he does what he can. He pays the major, important things first. Sometimes they’re a little late, depending on if his check has hit his bank account yet, but it gets done. He starts to depend more and more on his credit card for other things. He pays his minimum payment every month but he doesn’t feel good about watching it accrue.

“I can help you pay it off-” Pearl starts to say.

“No,” Grian says. “You aren’t doing that.”

“I can help you pay it off,” Pearl repeats stubbornly. “But Griba, if you can’t afford this place by yourself, you need to just move to someplace else. Smaller. Cheaper.”

“You know I can’t do that,” he says.

She tilts her head, expression gentle in a way that makes him instinctively recoil. “You can’t keep living here if you can’t pay. This is bad.”

“It’s okay,” he says distantly. “It’s only temporary.”

Pearl pauses. She has a horrible look on her face, so Grian looks away from her instead. “Temporary?” she asks. The word is tentative.

“Until Mumbo gets back,” he says. He grabs her hand, and pulls it closer to him, feeling suddenly like it’s very important that she hears him and understands this. “I can’t leave,” he says earnestly. “All of his stuff his here. It’s his home too.”

Pearl’s eyes are wide. “I can help you pack it,” she says. “You don’t even have to mess with it, or look at it, I can do that for you.”

He drops her hand. “No,” he says, baffled. “I’m not moving anything of his out of here. When they find him, he deserves to actually come home. He can’t come back to a strange place!”

Pearl squeezes her eyes shut. “Griba, please,” she says. He notices all at once that she’s brought his nickname out these past few times, which is a fact that should be comforting but instead starts to set off alarm bells in his head.

“I’m not moving, and that’s final,” he says. “I’m not going to abandon him.”

“You’re not abandoning him, you’re just…”

“Just what?”

“Being smart.”

It hurts Grian. “He deserves to come home,” he bites. “I don’t care if it isn’t the smart thing to do, it’s the right thing to do.”

Pearl backs up. “Okay,” she says. “Okay.” She takes a deep breath and exhales long and slow. “You’ll stay. I’ll just help you then, yeah? Bills, cleaning, everything else…”

She turns away from him, and starts picking up various items once more to organize them. “I’ll just help,” she repeats.

She wanders around the room. She’s not getting much done, but she looks busy, inspecting everything around her for one more easy thing to do. Grian just stands in the middle of the room stock still, and both says and does nothing.

Pearl continues to busy herself for a few minutes before grinding to a halt again. “Griba?” she asks, and Grian turns to her again as an answer. “You do have other people to talk to, right? People who live here?”

It’s a valid question. It’s a hard question.

“Of course,” he says.

“Stop lying to me,” she pleads. “I already told you I know you too well.”

He swallows hard. “I have people,” he defends. “Had people.”

It’s just that–it was difficult, after Mumbo disappeared. The new friends that Grian and Mumbo had made, they had mostly made as a pair. They each knew a few people from work, but nobody to really hang out with. So most of the friends they met were people they met while doing an activity together some weekend or evening after work.

So the new friends missed Mumbo too, when they heard about what happened. But they didn’t know Grian the way Mumbo did, or the way Jimmy or Joel or Martyn or Netty or Lizzie or Pearl did. They knew Grian as one half of a pair who was missing his other half. And Grian didn’t know how to interact with them alone. He didn’t know how to go to them for help when they’d barely been in his life for a few months or a year or two.

There’s layers to friendships, everybody knows that. None of the people Grian had met in Colorado had made it to the layer where he could talk to him. They were nice people. They wanted to help. Grian didn’t know how to let them.

So he withdrew.

“You had people. But not anymore?” Pearl asks.

“I didn’t know them very well,” is all he says.

Her expression breaks again. Grian has to stop doing that. “But you know us and you still don’t talk to us.”

“I just want to be alone,” Grian says. “Please, it isn’t personal. I just want to be alone.”

“I guess you’ll have to suck it up,” Pearl says. “Because I’m staying here for a week. And I will drag you outside to go skiing with me. I’m going to make you leave this house and we’re going to have fun together. Because I think you need that. And so do I.”

He turns and stalks back into the kitchen. He’s flipping between so many emotions that he doesn’t know which to settle on, so he seeks out something to busy his hands with instead: the dishes on the counter that still have to be dried.

If he stays in the living room, he might start arguing with her more. He might say something that will make her not want to visit again.

He’s angry at Pearl. Furious, even. Offended. He could look past her coming unannounced to visit, but the whole thing seems like a plot now. She’s got ulterior motives. She’s purposefully trying to catch him unaware and sneak past all his guard walls. She’s snooping through his things–his mail. It makes his spine crawl to think about. She’s literally trying to get him to move, even though she’s barely been in the state of Colorado for three hours, and even though it means Grian would have to disturb Mumbo’s belongings.

And still there’s another part of him that just really, really wants to go skiing with her.

Because–he misses her. He cares about her. And he misses even the simplest things, like getting out of the house to go do something with a friend. It’s just the littlest piece of normalcy.

So he dries the dishes, and she finishes up in the living room. Then he goes to his bedroom and starts working there–without her, because he doesn’t want her in the room until he’s made it look nice. Safe, even. Clear of any items that could incriminate him in anything at all. The sheer irritation of the afternoon fuels him harder than anything in months, and he finishes the task even quicker than expected, his movements stiff and jerky with anger.

On one of his trips back and forth to put things back where they need to go, he spots her sitting at his desk. She looks a little sad, staring at the pattern of the wood grain instead of the pretty view outside. He ignores her and goes back to work.

They exist like this in silence, for a little over an hour.

Then Grian walks back into the living room, picks up the phone book from the shelf, and sits down at the table by the kitchen where the phone is.

Pearl whirls around and he can feel her watching him with intense eyes. “Griba, I…” she trails off. “I wanted to say I’m sorry again. I shouldn’t have pressed you like that. I shouldn’t have looked at your bills. And I shouldn’t have come here without telling you.”

Grian just nods slightly. “Yeah.” He flips through some more pages. He doesn’t say anything else to her, just continues on his search.

She cocks her head slightly. “What are you doing?” she asks.

“Trying to find a ski resort to call,” he says with a weak smile. “Because I still really want you to drag me out skiing with you.”

»»———-　　———-««

June 1989

It’s two days later when a pair of rangers come to collect Mumbo’s bike.

They ask him if he has everything he needs, or if he has any requests for supplies that they can pass on to the main office. So Grian takes the first opportunity to ask them about the Cloud Lake Trail, and if it was really closed last season.

It’s then that he realizes that these two probably aren’t actually rangers at all. They may be dressed in uniform, but they’re just a couple kids several years younger than Grian is. They want to be helpful so earnestly, and their disappointment is clear when they can’t answer his question.

They inform him that it’s their first season working here, so they’re not exactly sure about what the Cloud Lake Trail was like last year, but that it’s open right now if he’s interested in it! Grian realizes that they’re a couple of seasonal workers just like he is, except they’re on summer break from college and Grian’s floundering on the cusp of his 30s.

They’re friendly. Grian tries his best to match the energy, for the sake of politeness.

He asks them what the plan is about Mumbo’s case, and doesn’t really expect much. Apparently, there’s a bit of gossip about the case around the ranger’s office, so they do know a little. The plan seems to be to conduct a few aerial searches of the area the bike was found in with a helicopter. They also told him he could expect a more detailed phone call soon from the main office.

That’s a little amusing to Grian, given his tower does not have a phone line.

He bids them farewell at midday and watches them disappear into the woods. Then, he decides it’s about time for lunch. He takes an hour, locks up the cabin behind him, and heads to a rocky outcropping he knows nearby to the tower.

It’s a beautiful spot to sit and stay a while, and a good vantage point into a little valley. Grian sits on a boulder and finishes his lunch, and tries to think about things that aren’t so negative for once.

He’s so used to looking. Looking for fires, looking for helicopters, looking for storms, looking for lightning, looking for Mumbo. It’s what he’s good at, so he tries to challenge himself to look at something else for once.

A few feet from him, there’s a small stand of light purple flowers with narrow, silvery green leaves growing. They’re snagging their spot in the ground amidst the surrounding rock. One of the features of his tower is a somewhat excessive amount of posters left there from years past, most of which were fire, forest, rock, or plant related. Grian thinks he’s seen this little plant several times before. He’s watched it spread from just a few sprouts in May to coating the meadows in a wash of purple the past few weeks.

It’s a lupine. Growing alone, but steadily.

He looks more into the mini valley below. It’s not so much a vast sweeping valley as it is a wide little canyon for the stream that flows at the bottom. It’s fascinating to look at though. To think how long it might have taken for that little body of water to have carved it down like this. There’s some small rocky cliffs along the edges in some places, and he can see the darker parts of the rocks where the water pours off during a storm.

It’s as quiet as the forest can be. Which, in the summertime, isn’t very quiet at all. There’s cicadas buzzing all around him right now. That was something new for Grian ever since he moved–they didn’t have cicadas in England. But as loud as they are, it’s a pleasant background noise he’s become adjusted to.

He leans back on the rock and stares into the sky for a bit, watching the handful of clouds that there are today drift along. There’s a hawk or an eagle or something flying high up there too, gliding effortlessly along the air currents. He watches it for a while.

When Grian’s hour is up, he gathers his things, and walks back to the tower.

Scar calls him on the way.

“Are you there, G-man?” he asks.

Grian pulls out his radio from his pocket.

“Yeah,” he says. “I am. Some kids came and took Mumbo’s bike away earlier.”

“Yeah?” Scar says. “How was that? What did they say?”

“They didn’t know much,” Grian says. “A couple of seasonal workers. But it’s fine, I guess. I know the main office will be looking into this again. They told me there might be some aerial searches in the future. I just wish it was higher on the priority list, I guess.”

“Well, they have their priorities and we have ours,” Scar declares. “But I think I can shed a little light on it, maybe. I spent most of the morning on the phone.”

It’s kind, what Scar is doing for him. That Scar is helping him like this at all, not even accounting for spending time scouring his notes from the prior season or spending all morning on the phone. Grian needs to thank him, or convey his appreciation somehow, or apologize for snapping at him so much, but instead all he says is: “What did you find?”

“I wish I had better news,” Scar says.

Grian locks away the part of him that is always stabbed with instant anxiety over statements like that. He takes it, locks it away, and smooths it over. He’s walking on the trail back to the lookout right now, one foot in front of the other. He can handle just another conversation.

“Well, I seem to always be lacking in good news,” Grian jokes lightly. “So just give me what you got.”

“I talked to a friend in the main office, she’s really sweet. She went to pull the records for me.”

“They’re still on file? Good.”

“Everything’s on file, Grian,” Scar says. “The government will keep an old shoe for a decade if they think it’s a record, let alone anything that relates to an open case.”

Grian grimaces a little. “Well, go on then.”

“She found his backcountry permit information from last year. And…” Scar trails off for a bit. “He’s permitted for Cloud Lake Trail. He even had designated camping spots, she even told me which ones.”

“So the trail was open?” Grian says.

“Not exactly,” Scar says. “The trail was closed.”

“What?” Grian says. “They permitted him for a closed trail?”

“Apparently?” Scar says. “That’s what I got.”

“Why?”

“I wish I knew.”

“What else did she say? Who issued the permit?”

“She didn’t say anything else, so I don’t know. I’ve never worked in the main office. I don’t think she was even supposed to tell me that, honestly, but we’ve always got along pretty good since she started working here.”

“Right,” Grian says. “You’re not an information wizard…”

“I have no more information to give, unfortunately,” Scar says. “I am a wizard, though.”

“You are not a wizard.”

“I’m many things, Grian. You’re just a nonbeliever.”

Grian just shakes his head at that, leaving that thread of the conversation behind. There’s just so many questions that keep coming up.

“So we can agree he was on Cloud Lake,” Grian says. “Right? Regardless of all that, we can assume this right? He told me he was going there, his car was there, he was permitted for it, and someone said they saw him there. So he was there, right? We searched there, and he was there.”

But…

“It seems likely,” Scar says. “At one point, at least.”

“But then someone found his bike over on Pinnacles. How did it get there? Did he go there for some reason?”

“There isn’t an official trail that connects Cloud Lake and Pinnacles. It’s not a loop or a network or anything. Maybe he could have found a way between them or went on an unofficial side trail. There’s a lot of things that look like they could be a trail that aren’t really trails.”

“No,” Grian says. “He knows better than to take an unmarked trail. He said he was getting maps at the office when he got his permit too, so he would have known where the trails were. He wouldn’t have done that.”

“Grian.”

Just his name, the weight it holds, and nothing else.

Grian’s face crumples a bit. He doesn’t want to admit it. It hurts to admit it. “Okay, fine!” he cries. “Maybe he did go off-trail, maybe he did make a mistake, whatever. But it’s not his fault if something bad happened, okay? It isn’t.”

There’s another option to all of this that Grian hasn’t said out loud yet. He’s been thinking it off and on though for a long time, as he tries to fit these pieces into the larger puzzle. Nobody had any reason to think about foul play but him. There’s no evidence. But what other evidence do they have?

He went camping. He went missing. The search failed. Some of his belongings were found in the wrong place.

And that is, essentially, it.

“Do you think what happened to him…” he trails off. “Do you think it could have been someone else?”

Maybe Mumbo never did make a mistake. Maybe he was exactly where he was supposed to be, sans closed trail, and there was just something else that got in the way.

“Someone else?” Scar says, tentatively.

“Do you think someone out there might have taken him? Hurt him?” Grian is back at the base of his tower now, and he looks up at its spiraling staircase. He begins to take the steps one by one, watching as the horizon slowly inches into view as he climbs above the trees. “Did someone steal his bike? Is that why it’s somewhere else?”

“I…” Scar trails off. “I guess we don’t know if something like that happened. G, there’s a lot of ways someone can get in trouble back here.”

“And one of them could have been someone else,” Grian says. “Doesn’t this connect some of the dots, Scar? So much of this doesn’t make sense, but if someone else was involved, couldn’t that answer some of these questions?”

But the words hang heavier in the air now that he’s spoken to them.

If Mumbo had just gotten lost, or injured, or something else while alone in the woods, Grian has some hope of saving him. Mumbo is blindingly smart, with an engineer’s eye for designing devices and contraptions. He could be okay. He’s a little lost, but Grian can find him.

But if Mumbo’s incident was linked to another person, the odds in Grian’s mind plummet. If Mumbo ran into someone bad at some point during his trip, would he have escaped that confrontation? If someone had decided to hurt him, or take him, or rob him, or whatever–then Mumbo’s continued absence just looms more and more ominously.

Would he make it out of something like that? Would he survive it?

Grian reaches the top of his tower. If he looks straight through the windows of his cabin and out the other side, he can see Scar’s little cabin far in the distance.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “But I don’t think I want to talk about this anymore. Thank you for the new information though.”

He turns his radio off and goes inside. He spends the rest of his work day in silence, watching the smoke twist in the air.

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reinalili19 · 3 years ago

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My Titans S4 Priorities

As Titans season 4 comes closer to being released, I find myself constantly looking for new updates/content or trying to forget about it. I am so excited but so scared because if the following things don’t happen this season, I’m going to cry:

List of Titans S4 Priorities (in order):

1. DICKKORY CONTENT - We want, no let me rephrase that, NEED Dick and Kory to develop this season. They need to have a storyline, and it better not end in disaster or I’m suing for emotional distress.

2. More of Gar - I know that Gar is finally getting a supersuit, but I still need more development for him. We’ve had storylines primarily focused on Dick, Kory, Rachel, even Connor, but we have yet had a full season of a storyline for Gar. I want him to develop his powers and for us to be shown more of Gar’s actions.

3. More lighthearted tones - As much as I love how dark this show is, I need for it to not be so serious around. I want the titans to have fun, laugh, and able to enjoy life for a little bit...you know before Brother Blood ruins it for them lol.

4. Captain Kory - I need to see Kory take on more of a leader role. We know that she is supposed to be, but we never really get to see her take charge. I want to see not only Dick be more of a leader, but Kory as well. I want them to have equal leadership roles (and also maybe develop on a more personal level idk...)

5. Explanation of Kory’s powers - As most of you know from S3, Kory found out that the orange fire, which resembles her original powers in the comics, that she possessed wasn’t really hers, it was Blackfire’s, who later takes back her powers. But Kory then unlocks her hidden true powers, which are closer to the teen titans cartoon version of her powers, but they are blue. I don’t know why it is blue. i am going to assume that they aren’t going to stay blue and will eventually turn green, but I am just wondering why they chose to have her new powers be blue. I wonder how they are going to explain her change in power color because I am going insane trying to figure it out.

6. Tim Drake storyline - As much as I love Tim, he shouldn’t be in full costume and out fighting with the Titans in this season. If he is, it has to be at the very end of S4. If you look at all of the characters, the only ones who started fighting crime right away, such as Connor, Blackfire, Gar and etc., they all have superpowers and abilities that make them pretty invincible. Even before Blackfire retained her true powers, she still had special abilities and she benefited from having Tamaranean physiology, which granted her super strength, durability, and healing. Tim Drake will be the first Titan joining who doesn’t possess any supernatural abilities. All of the Titans who are like Tim ( Dick, Jason, Hawk, Dove), all of them were already heroes and went through training. I’m not saying that Tim can’t be fighting at all or involved in crime fighting, but it would be better for him to be mostly in the background or off the field for this season. It wouldn’t make sense for Tim to be already regularly fighting crime before the end of the season.

That’s all I can think of for now. If anyone has similar thoughts or ideas, feel free to reply!

#titans #titans season 4 #dickkory #gar #tim drake #kory anders #dick grayson #nightwing

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peterstanslizzie · 5 years ago

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Reacting To: The Hollow (Season 2 Episode 2)

Episode Title: Hollow Games

Key Highlights (Spoiler Warning): Kindly proceed if you’ve already seen the episode or simply don’t care about spoilers.

This episode was amazingly gay, wasn’t it? Let’s begin:

1. The episode picks up where things left off in episode 1. Our favorite trio are being cornered by their greatest childhood fears.

2. Mira decides to confront Adam’s fears for him and the rest of them follow her lead with Adam taking on Mabel, the giant chicken and Kai taking on creepy doll. The guys take on a physical approach but Mira tries to reason with the bullies. Unfortunately, none of their methods are working.

3. Amidst all of this, we find out that Mira has an older sister on top of her younger brother, Miles.

4. At one point, Adam is pinned down by Mabel with its foot and Kai sees that he’s in trouble and goes to rescue him.

5. Kai yells and tells Mabel that he’s not afraid of it and as it’s about to charge right at him, it disintegrates. I like how Kai is the one to save Adam this time around instead of the opposite because it’s usually Adam who saves him. Basically, they discover that facing their own fears is the way to go. Well, it’s pretty obvious, no? But it seems a little too easy for all of them to conquer their fears by just yelling at them. Oh well...

6. After the showdown, they head back to Kai’s big mansion to make sense of what’s happening to them. During their discussion, Kai seems to regret having had a crush on Mira because she’s Miles’s sister. What’s the deal with her brother, Miles? Oh right, we’ll find out later in the episode.

7. Hold up, hold up, hold up! Kai still thinks that Adam and Mira have a ‘thing’ for each other and he doesn’t want to get in between them. Is this going where I think it’s going?

8. OMFG!!! Stop everything! Drop everything. Kai said “I’m gay”. He said the word GAY. And he said it so casually! I didn’t expect this coming out to happen so early on in the season. I love it! Kai’s reaction was cute and totally chill. But poor Mira almost had forgotten that she actually kissed Adam. She apologizes to him and blames it on the memory block she had due to the game. Sure Mira :)

9. But seriously; It’s pretty clear Mira knew that he was gay all along and I’m sure if she had her memories with her at that time, she wouldn’t have kissed him. Oh and Adam is aware he’s attractive. Of course he is! How can anyone resist someone who is as tall, dark and handsome as he is.

10. I’m smiling so hard right now. But anyways, back to the situation at hand; They’re now talking about the glitch they saw when they were playing the game (back in season 1) and how the glitch was able to create such an accurate depiction of their lives. Adam thinks that they’re now on Level 2 of ‘The Hollow’ but Mira isn’t buying that theory. Master Kai still thinks it’s all a dream. Will he just stop?! LOL

11. They call for The Weird Guy’s help but nothing happened. Mira thinks they should look for him at The Hollow Games studio. But before they could all leave for the studio, they’re stopped by Davis, Kai’s butler. He insists that Miles should head to bed and that Mira and Adam leave the mansion.

12. If you look closely at his sleeves, the initials K P are on it. That means Kai’s last name starts with a P. I wonder what it is? Maybe it’s Parnall for Connor Parnall, the voice actor for Kai? I think it’s adorable how he says, “Silly Adam” before going to bed.

13. Mira drops Adam outside his home but she’s too wary of everything that’s happening around them and isn’t convinced that Adam should trust his parents and stay with them. I completely understand Mira. She really wants everything to be solved asap and she wants to go to the studio to see The Weird Guy tonight. But there are too many uncertainties and she has to consider what both Adam and Kai want as well. She also feels like she can’t trust Adam because she doesn’t know if he’s real or part of the game mechanics.

14. On the other hand, Adam thinks that they’re on Level 2 of the game and they just need to live like they usually do and wait for quests or challenges to appear before them. It’s sad to watch them argue. I guess that’s how being in a complex game/experiment-thingy does to your mind; You can’t help but to come up with any sort of scenario.

15. Okay, so we now know that Mira and Adam are actually childhood best friends prior to starting the game. They even carved their initials on a sidewalk.

16. Remember in my episode 1 review when I said Adam’s mom is creepy. This scene right here takes the entire cake for me. *Shudders

17. Adam is busy searching for clues in his room and finds a Moby Dick book but with completely blank pages. How strange. This world is really messed up. Mira is driving through town and sees Skeet speed-running on the streets. This should be interesting. Since last season, I’ve always thought of Skeet to potentially work with the main trio one day since he was so reluctant to fight them. We shall see what happens deeper into the season.

18. The next morning, Adam and Kai meet up outside the donut shop and Kai is freaking out because he says he hasn’t woken up from his dream. He tells him about a new theory he has to explain why everyone is acting so weird: an Alien Invasion. I honestly can believe any explanation at this point because everything is so messed up.

19. Mira didn’t show up and they become worried. They walk over to Mira’s house and ring the doorbell. It’s Miles! And he immediately recognizes Kai. Miles and Kai seem to be gaming buddies.

QUESTION: I’m now wondering about how long Kai has known Mira and Adam prior to ‘The Hollow’. I guess he could be childhood friends with them too?

20. Adam thinks that Mira probably went to the Hollow Games studio last night and they make their way over there. They are stopped by a security guard who doesn’t even know what building she’s guarding and isn’t aware of ‘The Hollow’. I guess this supports my theory that only current game players know what ‘The Hollow’ is.

21. Is it just me or does Adam always feels like he has to touch Kai in some way or form, every chance he gets? I’m not complaining though.

22. Darla is hilarious and I totally stan her. We need to see more from her and her ex, Steve. Apparently Reeve is or was friends with Adam and Mira in real life. From my understanding, all three of them were in a team (for The Hollow?) before something happened and they had to recruit Kai as his replacement. I love all the backstory we’re getting. This season is doing a good job with that. And this explains the picture of the 3 of them in Adam’s room last episode. It’s such a contrast because they were kinda direct enemies last season.

23. They sneak into the building to find Mira and they’re pretty sure she’s in there because her scooter is parked outside.

24. It looks like it’s ‘The Hollow’ champions wall. We see a picture of Gretchen Aguilar and her team but no sign of Adam, Mira and Kai on that wall. This further confirms their suspicion that they haven’t actually won the game yet.

25. They head to the stage room where the participants would wear their VR-looking googles and play ‘The Hollow’. Kai trips on a cable that he suspects is connected to a server room that powers the game. But Adam calls him from what it appears to be the control room as he is looking through files to gather more information.

26. After surviving a random and sudden earthquake, they come across the server room but they are swarmed by a bunch of laser-shooting bots. They barricade themselves inside the room, which has a broken wall that leads to a big portal. They suspect that Mira jumped through that very portal.

27. Adam isn’t sure if they should enter that portal but time is running out and they need to make a decision fast.

28. Any excuse to touch Kai huh? He is so smitten by him (I need to stop lol)

29. The episode ends with the two of them literally taking a leap of faith into the portal. Stay tuned for my reaction to episode 3, which will be out very soon. BTW y’all, I’m still not over Adam’s coming out scene to Kai! Cue me replaying that scene over and over again.

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callunavulgari · 5 years ago

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TOP 25 FICS OF 2019

1. these roads will take you into your own country by @notbecauseofvictories | American Gods | Laura Moon/Mad Sweeney | WIP | 33k

Here’s a joke for you: a Muslim, a zombie, and a leprechaun walk into a bar in Misery, Indiana. No one stares, because no one in the puckered, shitty asshole of Misery, Indiana gives a fuck. The Colts are playing.

Heather Says: So. It’s funny that another of @notbecauseofvictories‘s stories is at the top of my list again this year. Keep in mind this list is sorted by when the fic was read rather than favorites (because that would get real complicated real quick). Clearly there must be something about January. There’s just something about the writing that is easy to slip into, be it a Star Wars fic or a Labyrinth fic or even a fic about Johnny and the Devil. This was lovely and I can’t wait until it’s finished.

2. eighteen wheels on an uphill climb by @honkforhankcon | Detroit: Become Human | Hank/Connor | 91k

Hank is going to die. He’s going to die right here in Kentucky, 53 years old, halfway to broke, and tragically sober. Survived only by a nine-year-old St. Bernard and the 31-year-old twink who delivered the fatal blow.

Heather Says: I don’t think that this is the first DBH fic that I sought out after beating the game, but it is the first that I loved enough to make it to this list. I didn’t think that I would go for a modern au for this fandom, certainly not a modern au wihere Hank is a truck driver and Connor is a sex worker (albeit briefly?) but here I am.

3. Fuck pride (pride only hurts, it never helps) by ImogenGotDrunk | Detroit: Become Human | RK900/Gavin Reed | 41k

After the android uprising, Connor becomes a permanent fixture in the DPD. That’s fine. Gavin can accept that. The dipshit’s more human than he used to be, and a decent detective to boot. Gavin can deal with him being around. What Gavin cannot deal with is Connor’s replica; two inches taller, blue-eyed, and with a mouth that Gavin doesn’t know whether to punch or take between his teeth. The RK900 model has been assigned as his partner for the foreseeable future.

Heather Says: I also never thought that I’d like a fic with Gavin in it. But I got curious about all the Reed900, and well, this fic really won me over. The writing is fantastic, and it softens Gavin while still keeping him believable. Also, well, I like the enemies to lovers thing.

4. Almost Cool by @blacktofade | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 30k

While filming the Yuma Territorial Prison episode, Shane gets bitten by what he thinks is a bat. Spoiler alert: it's not.

Heather Says: This is actually the first thing that I read for this fandom. In fact, this is the fic that got me into Buzzfeed Unsolved in the first place. I’d seen a lot of art and gifs and fics pass my way, but I was only ever slightly interested in what I saw until this fic came through my inbox and piqued my curiosity.

5. Pride by @astolat | Game of Thrones | Jaime/Brienne/Cersei | 22k

Jaime didn’t understand why Cersei suddenly insisted on trimming his hair and shaving his beard, but he also didn’t care to fight her on it, even though he’d just as soon have kept the beard: it was bitterly cold in the small tower room with its arrow-slits.

Heather Says: Wowza. This fic was intense. I’ve always loved Jaime and Brienne. I’ve loved them since the second book, which was read at least a few years before I started loving them in the show. Adding Cersei to their dynamic would have probably been almost impossible to pull off if it was anyone else, but @astolat lives to surpass my expectations.

6. Skin and Scales by Ernmark | The Penumbra Podcast | Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla | 18k

The man glares, and this time, Damien is certain it isn’t a trick of the light: those eyes are violet as amethyst. He wears disdain like a second skin–- or, perhaps, like the scales that he is missing. “Lord Arum?”

Heather Says: I was one of those people who skipped through all of the Second Citadel episodes during my first listen through of Penumbra. The stories were good, but the pull of Juno was too great. A couple months after I finished, I went back and listened to everything I didn’t. And let me tell you. Lizard monster. Honorable knight. Bookish girlfriend. Poly. It hit every single button I had and then some. This fic really hit the spot when I ran out of story.

7. someone you like by caela | She-Ra | Adora/Catra | 5k

catwithabat u think ur so hipster but u just look like a lesbian 27m she_ra @catwithabat bc… i’m a lesbian. lmao 5m

Heather Says: Noooot usually a big fan of high school fics. Namely because I’m not in high school anymore and well, after you read so many in your teenage years they sort of lose their luster. This one was phenomenal enough to change my mind.

8. Sands of Time by @tirsynni | Legend of Zelda | Ganondorf/Link | WIP | 98k

Link awakens in the desert with no idea how he got there, to encounter his worst enemy...except it was the King of the Gerudo, not the King of Evil, he faced.

Heather Says: I have seen a lot of really good Link/Ganondorf art over the years, but never really stumbled across a fic that didn’t have judicious amount of non-con involved. But the Breath of the Wild 2 trailer happened, and everybody started drawing really pretty art, so I went looking. And lo and behold, @tirsynni saved the day with this gorgeous time travel/fix-it fic.

9. killed with kindness by veterization | Persona 5 | Akechi/Akira | 52k

Goro can't quite figure out why so many people keep acting like they're his friend. (Or: the one where the Phantom Thieves decide to know thy enemy, befriend thy enemy, love thy enemy, crush on thy enemy).

Heather Says: I’ve read a couple of veterization’s fics over the years, and to date they have never disappointed me. They published this in June, and I think I clicked on it mostly because I was bored and hadn’t read any good P5 fic yet. This was basically just what the doctor ordered, and I was really happy to find something where Akechi’s story went ever so slightly different.

10. paper thin by @ebonybow | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane/Sara | 9k

Shane’s new neighbors are a morning-sex kind of couple.

Heather Says: So I went into this one knowing very little about how Sara fit into things. I didn’t know she was Shane’s girlfriend. I’d never even seen her, but I clicked because I like poly and I trust the author. I was 100% not disappointed. There’s also another fic with a very similar dynamic here, which is also aces.

11. damn.nation, now available on itunes by @kaikamahine | Good Omens | Aziraphale/Crowley | 11k

When lowly tempt-pusher Amphora (formerly of Stairwell 7B North, before she Fell,) gets the notice that end times are nigh, she gleefully quits her job and cancels her Netflix subscription and takes her place among the legions of hell. This, it turns out, was a bad plan.

Heather Says: Elizabeth may have only written one fic this year, but she made it a damn good one. I’ve always loved her OCs especially, so I was pretty tickled that this is 10k+ of outsider pov. Also, demons! Demons are great! This demon is great! I want like 9 seasons and a movie about Amphora, just saying.

12. The Dragon and Her Wolves by hapakitsune | Game of Thrones | Jon/Sansa/Daenarys | 60k

When the truth of Jon's birthright is revealed, control of the North and Daenerys's claim to the Iron Throne are both called into question. To preserve their tenuous alliance and secure her rule, Daenerys puts aside her personal feelings to arrange a marriage of political convenience between Jon and Sansa Stark.

Heather Says: What do you mean season 8 didn’t exist and the show totally ended with a three way relationship between the two most powerful women in Westeros and Jon Snow? Never been a big fan of Jon/Sansa before this, but this is another of those writers that I would literally trust if they wrote a fic about a fork and a spoon.

13. never tell me the odds by @wildehacked | Wolf 359 | Eiffel/Hera | 9k

“I tried Star Wars," he says, adjusting the phone under his neck, "and it was way underwhelming.”

A shaky breath from her end. “Well, where did you start?”

Heather Says: I don’t remember which of @wildehacked‘s fandoms I started reading first. Most recently it’s been The Magnus Archives (more on this later). The point is, they’d written Wolf 359 fic and it had Hera and Eiffel and it was literally everything that I’ve been looking for since the series ended.

14. Find Me Somebody by raiining | Good Omens | Warlock/Adam Young | 11k

“You left me,” he said. “You both left me, for him. And I can’t even blame you, because I’d have left me for him too.”

Heather Says: There was an Art. The art was lovely. So I went looking, because that’s what I do when faced with beautiful art depicting a rare pairing. And I found the holy grail. Like, possibly my favorite Good Omens fic? Ever?

15. flirting with fire by @brawlite | Stranger Things | Billy/Steve | WIP | 7k

Steve's a cop, Billy's a firefighter. It's not a grudge, it's just a regular old small town rivalry.

Heather Says: Okay so brawlite has written a lot of great stuff this year (more on that later), but I read this in bed at the beach house this August while I was reeling from both a horrible sunburn and like seven hours of mild to moderate day-drinking while everyone else was still throwing back shots right outside my bedroom door. Jaws was playing on the tv and I wasn’t even paying attention to it, because THIS. Long story short, I’ve been thirsty for more ever since.

16. gold, when you find me by mmtion | The Flash | Iris/Barry | 53k

It's not that Iris hates The Flash, per say - more that she hates writing about The Streak in a weekly, pun-heavy comic based on The Flash.

Heather Says: I never would have thought that a canon pairing would make it to my Top 25 list, but here we are. I like Iris/Barry a lot better when they don’t grow up together and spend a lot of time playing the Superman game, apparently. Also, this was really well-written, and sexual tension has never been something I’ve felt from Barry and Iris, but I felt it in this fic. Just. Damn.

17. never gets old by @brawlite & @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger| Stranger Things | Billy/Steve | 78k

Falling in love with a cam boy named KingSteve isn't the smartest thing Billy Hargrove has ever done, nor is it the most healthy -- but the good choice is rarely ever the fun choice, and Billy is all about living life fast and loose.

Heather Says: Told you I’d come back to it. brawlite and toastranger are a fantastic team. last year was cherry pie and under the covers, this year it’s camboys and cop/firefighter dynamics. Also, I have a really strange fascination with fics where a character has an instragram. It’s really, incredibly strange. Also also, every time I see this fic title I get that one Discovery Channel song stuck in my head. And no, it probably isn’t the one you’re thinking.

18. ways to save the world by @wildehacked | The Magnus Archives | Martin Blackwood/Jon Sims | 19k

“I left you,” Martin says softly.

Heather Says: And we’re back at wildehacked too! The Magnus Archives was a thing that happened to me. This is I think the first fic I read for it while listening, and it was so very close to what we got in canon. I think when it comes down to it though, I still prefer this fic, even if the ending of this season was pretty fantastic.

19. The Denial Twist by beethechange | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 35k

“This is kind of surreal,” Shane says, taking a sip of his tea. It’s piping hot and delicious, except it tastes like hot chocolate and not like tea at all. “Sort of—Wonka-esque, right? Or Alice in Wonderland.”

Heather Says: While the vampire one is my favorite both because it is excellent and because it was my first, this one was bizarre and sexy and also I read it like only a month or so ago! The dancing was my favorite part, but having dreams to work with made this story fantastically interesting and I loved every second of it.

20. silver in our lungs by taywen | Spinning Silver | Miryem/The Staryk Lord | 4k

The marks had been with Miryem for as long as she could remember. There were a number of them, all the same shade, following one after the other around her left wrist. They were pale as old scars, though they felt no different from the rest of her skin, and her mother claimed that Miryem had been born with them.

Heather Says: I really like soulmate aus. There’s so many different ways to twist them and the way they can sometimes change the dynamic entirely and other times not change them at all is just fascinating. I’ve been hoping there would be more Spinning Silver content on ao3 and running into this while I was trying to decide what I wanted to do for yuletide was a real treat.

21. you got me begging, begging, i'm on my knees by plalligator | The Queen’s Thief | Attolia/Eugenides/Costis | 5k

Costis has a particularly enlightening evening. (or, that struggle when you're a guard who's in love with your rulers and it turns out you would kind of like it if they bossed you around a little)

Heather Says: I accidentally re-read the King of Attolia and it made me consider ships I had perhaps not previously considered. This was really lovely and just steamy enough.

22. something more alive than silence by pageleaf | The Queen’s Thief | Attolia/Eugenides/Costis | 21k

It was a good thing that six months after the king had promised to halve the guard, he still hadn’t done it, because since then, there had been two attempts on the king’s life.

Heather Says: I want to only type the words AGONIZED NOISES to describe this fic because that’s basically my headspace when I get 21k of a shiny new ot3, but I mean. Really. This is super good and maybe my favorite yet? Why didn’t I start reading this fandom when I first read the books?

23. Timing it Right by DragonBandit | The Bright Sessions | Mark/Damien | 14k

The dragon chooses, Mark knows that as well as any boy born in a weyr. He'd never considered what that would mean if the dragon picked someone you hated. He's starting to think that was a mistake.

Damien's gold rises at Whitney. Mark tries to make things right.

Heather Says: This should actually be somewhere back in March, but I apparently closed out of the tab at some point. I never really got into Pern much. I have the first three books, but got most of the way through the first one a long time ago and then never picked it back up. I didn’t think I would like this, mostly because of the fact that I hadn’t gotten into the books, but was surprised to find that I absolutely loved it.

24. Keep It In Your Sights Now by LuckyDiceKirby | Shades of Magic | Lila/Kell/Holland | 9k

Holland travels with Lila and Kell. Somewhere along the way, they reach an equilibrium.

Heather Says: I love the new things I’ve discovered during my yuletide trompings. I don’t think I ever actually considered this pairing when I first read the books, but I am just so enamored with the idea of the three of them together. Like, why did I not realize that potential back then? This was lovely, and I loved it, and I want so much more out of this pairing than what ao3 has to offer me.

25. Charioteer by petrichoral | The Queen’s Thief | Gen & Costis | 13k

Captured in battle and stuck in the Mede capital, Costis has given up all hope of seeing his country again. But Eugenides has a habit of turning up where he's least expected.

Heather Says: Technically this shouldn’t be on here because I only read it today, but it was really wonderful and so canon typical. Gen and Costis were perfect in it, Irene was perfect in it. Everyone was perfect and nothing hurts.

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i-am-the-entertainer · 6 years ago

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The Power of Ambiguity: When Some of RWBY’s Questions Are Better Left Unanswered

So, full disclosure: Volume 6, Chapter 9 “Lost” is one I have mixed feelings about. I think it fails to deliver on some major story threads this volume has introduced, and thus it stands out as a disappointing installment in what has otherwise been a stellar volume (I go into more depth about that in my full review).

But, paradoxically, I also think it contains the best scene in the volume, potentially in the show as a whole. And that scene is the one with Jaune and the Red-Haired Woman.

If upon her appearance you assumed that she was Pyrrha’s mother, you may have been left confused by her sudden disappearance and her credit as merely the “Red-Haired Woman.” I certainly was among that party, and there are still people who are unsure what to think: I’ve seen comments on the video from people who legitimately cannot figure out why the scene is framed so mysteriously.

It took me a little bit of time to realize the implications that there was more to the woman than you’d think at first glance. First up was that an autumn leaf just like the one Pyrrha saw in Volume 3′s “Destiny” was the thing that led Jaune to her statue; how does a leaf like that just magically turn up in the middle of the winter? Then there was her sudden appearance, right when Jaune was tempted to just walk away. Then we have her not introducing herself to Jaune despite clearly recognizing he knew Pyrrha, and then inexplicably disappearing right when Nora and Ren showed up with no apparent time to have left the flowers and walked away liked that. All in all, there were a lot of things about the woman that just didn’t make sense if we accepted her as Pyrrha’s mother or some kind of relative, unless she didn’t have a reason to introduce herself to Jaune: unless, and this seems almost unbelievable, she was Pyrrha herself, paying Jaune a visit from beyond the grave (or, well, dust).

Of course, you could also argue the opposite: if she’s Pyrrha’s mother then she absolutely already knows who Jaune is from watching the tournaments and presumably from Pyrrha’s communications, and she figures Jaune could probably put two-and-two together to figure out who she is. Additionally, we do hear her walking up to the statue, implying she didn’t necessarily just appear from thin air. Then you have the fact that she left the flowers on the statue, which is physical evidence that she had been there. But honestly it really could go either way. There’s nothing definitive going on here where you could say “She was Pyrrha’s mother” or “She was something supernatural.”

The thing is, it looks like some viewers are having trouble accepting this ambiguity. When I explained to one of the commenters that it was framed mysteriously to imply the Red-Haired Woman may have been Pyrrha’s spirit, the person flipped out. They claimed that having a ghost appear on a show where paranormal occurrences aren’t part of the established mythology opens a whole can of worms that would just complicate everything. In their view, the way the scene was framed implied Miles and Kerry couldn’t decide on who the woman was, so they decided to be lazy and not make a firm decision either way. That the ambiguity was an unintentional result of the writers’ indecision.

Although I understand why this commenter thinks this, they’re wrong. According to Jen Brown (the voice of Pyrrha and this mysterious woman) on her Twitch stream there is, in fact, a definitive answer as to who the woman is but she cannot give the answer and doesn’t know when or even if the writers plan to reveal it. Hero Hei speculates based on Brown’s phrasing that at least in the script, the woman is not intended to be Pyrrha’s spirit and is probably a separate character, and I would concur it does appear that Jen Brown does not agree with the “She was a ghost” camp. In their minds as the series’ writers, Miles and Kerry made a specific choice as to who the woman is.

But the thing is, on some level you do have to divorce the thoughts of the writer from the work, especially in something like visual media where changes may come in the actual scripting and direction of a scene. This sort of follows the “Death of the Author” concept of separating the writer and their thoughts from what they put down in the actual text: think JK Rowling stating all these “canon” facts about the Potter series despite not following through in the actual text she published (more info on this and the term “Death of the Author” in general in this excellent Lindsay Ellis video). Miles and Kerry know exactly who this woman is, yet they chose to write this scene in a way where her identity is not clear as written. Likewise, in film and television directors will make specific choices in how a scene is framed: Kerry and Connor chose to frame this scene in a way where the viewer cannot tell just from watching who the woman is. The woman having an answerable identity is a specific choice, but so is choosing not to give the viewer that answer.

So, you may ask, why did they do this? Well, to put it simply...it’s complicated.

It’s worth explaining that toying with the supernatural is actually quite common on television shows that don’t actively depict paranormal occurrences. It’s a trope called “Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane,” where an event is framed in a way that could lead the viewer to believe it is out of the ordinary or that it is a coincidence, and things are left just as that.

There was an episode of Bones called “The Hero in the Hold” where Booth escapes from a booby-trapped ship with the help of what he believes to be the ghost of an old army buddy who died on a mission years before: later in the season the incident is referenced when it turns out Booth has a brain tumor that is causing vivid hallucinations, and Booth’s belief that it was a ghost appears to become moot. Except in the case of this episode, this hallucination actually helps him out with escape methods that Booth could not have achieved by himself, like diffusing a bomb or retrieving a weapon that Booth cannot get to. Even Bones sees the deceased army buddy at the end of the episode without realizing who he is.

Bones has a couple of episodes where some happenings are implied to be paranormal, but the series remained to the end a procedural drama about forensic investigators––they didn’t become ghost hunters, they didn’t consult psychics on cases, absolutely none of that. And that’s the thing: writers don’t do this trope because they want to add a paranormal element. There are two things going on here:

1. It’s a narrative device designed to service the character more than it is a contribution to the series mythology

Basically, “It doesn’t matter whether or not it was magic or mundane.” With the Bones episode “The Hero in the Hold,” the fact that a ghost is haunting Booth is a framing device more than it is a plot device. Booth is kidnapped by a serial killer the team has been chasing for some time, and is left without their help. The episode is mostly about the team trying to outsmart the killer and Booth relying on his wits and resourcefulness to escape, while also dealing with the survivor’s guilt from watching his friend die years before. The ghost is there to give Booth the courage to continue, and to help him confront his past. Booth’s character development from this episode would have happened regardless of whether it was a ghost or a hallucination that spoke to him, because what happened felt real enough to him.

2. It gives the viewer something fun to think about

Think theory fodder. The writers are specifically leaving the decision in your hands––you have been granted power over a question they’ve left unanswered. How much fanfiction have you read or written about an unanswered question a show or movie or book or webcomic didn’t specifically tell you, like what happens after the story ends or where this character was when they weren’t the focus of the story? The ambiguity is trusting you to come up with your own answer. Your opinion is now an integral part of the story. Even The Twilight Zone, a show where paranormal occurrences were basically a regular thing, had one episode called “The Grave” with an ambiguously framed death which Rod Serling flat out asks the viewer to decide for themselves whether it was a normal death or caused by a vengeful ghost.

Let’s take a look at the scene of Jaune and the Red-Haired Woman again. What exactly did Jaune need in this moment?

Jaune never got any closure from Pyrrha’s death. She prevented him from helping her by forcing him to leave, and he ultimately did not witness it. He was told during Volume 4 that a choice was made for her that ultimately led her to confront Cinder. He was so torn about how she went down that he personally attempted to avenge her murder at Haven in Volume 5. Literally last episode he was told to his face that her death and everything that had led her to make the decision to fight Cinder had completely been for nothing. Seeing her statue in the park at a low moment, he is only reminded that she is not standing with the rest of her team, that she was killed in the line of battle for a hopeless cause. It’s an idea that viewers themselves have realized all volume, having learned Salem can’t be killed months ago from our perspective.

Yet the Red-Haired Woman suggests, without even needing to know everything about Jinn and Ozma, that this wasn’t really the case. “She understood that she had a responsibility to try. I don’t think she would regret her choice, because a huntress would understand that there really wasn’t a choice to make. And a huntress is what she always wanted to be.” Hearing this, Jaune adds to it: “Pyrrha never got the chance to graduate...but she was a huntress.” The woman, having needed to hear that, tearfully thanks Jaune for the words.

Now consider it: heedless of any debate of who the Red-Haired Woman is, through their conversation Jaune comes to accept that Pyrrha’s death doesn’t have to be thought of as in vain: she died as someone she had always wanted to be, a huntress who without question would fight to protect everyone, no matter the costs. When Ren and Nora arrive he shares with them this realization, and they all accept that Pyrrha’s choices were her sticking to her true self, and that they should continue their journey as she would by sticking to their devotion to be hunters and huntresses.

But now we’re back to square one. Was this woman really Pyrrha’s mother or Pyrrha’s spirit? Well, I’ll answer that question with a question: What interpretation makes this scene more powerful to you? That Pyrrha’s mother helped give Jaune closure and Jaune reassured her that her daughter was a hero? Or that Pyrrha’s spirit helped give Jaune closure and Jaune told her she died a hero? Which interpretation is the more interesting one to you?

Which brings us to a third variation of “Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane”

3. It’s both a narrative device and something fun to think about

Not only are you being provided a framework for a character’s development, you are also being given a choice to decide how you think the scene works. Whatever decision you make as to whether something is paranormal or not, it is your interpretation that maximizes the scene’s impact on you. The writer’s aren’t the ones who decide the answer, you are. And somehow, that kind of makes you part of the story.

This is why I consider this the best scene in all of Volume 6. Its main power is giving Jaune and the viewer some definitive closure over Pyrrha’s death, answers questions and conflicts over something that people have pondered about since the finale of Volume 3. And yet there’s an even bigger question posed over who the woman is. A question that the show has not answered and will not answer for sure. A question the writers have made the conscious decision to leave out of their hands.

The only person who can answer the question is you. Whatever answer satisfies you the most, that is your truth. And whatever your truth is, well, then let it be canon.

#crtq #rwby6 #rwby #pyrrha nikos #jaune arc #rwby6 spoilers #rwby spoilers #reviewby

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battle-of-alberta · 6 years ago

Photo

BATTLE OF ALBERTA: INTRODUCTION Pt. 2

[ first ] [ contents ] [ omake ] [ next story ]

[ read on tapas ]

Ed is a 220-something waste management enthusiast and part-time party animal; Cal is an up-and-coming energy entrepreneur with a fiery temper. Personifications. Ultimate Rivals. Best Friends.

Thus concludes the introduction comic to Battle of Alberta. I hope you enjoy it. :D

Page-by-Page Commentary below...

Page 6

- Trucks are silly but I have to resign myself to drawing them a lot.

- Once again Hapo proves the only thing she knows about Red Deer Culture (tm) is the Donut Mill.

- I was like why did i call her redison redford what is that a parody of and then i remembered that one rpg game where you can find the former premier hiding in the woods

- naruto runs to defeat an enemy

Page 7

- this was the hardest page because i wanted to communicate History (tm) and what better way than to use archival photos...

- The first image is of Fort Edmonton from the other side of the North Saskatchewan River. The fort was on the north side in more peaceable Cree territory and would occasionally be fired upon by the Blackfoot Confederacy from the south side. The territory of the Blackfoot includes present-day Calgary.

- The second image is the Columbia Ice Fields, the origin point of the North Saskatchewan River.

- The final image is the CPR station in Calgary in the 1880s.

- I think the Battle is Somewhere in between “stupid petty 80s hockey rivalry” and “ancient geological divide”. I think it’s only worth holding on to if it’s ultimately constructive, even if I have my own strong biases and tease people over it I only do so with the utmost affection. I think it’s fair that the younger generations see it as an Old People Thing that isn’t necessary but like... I also want to rationalize my own experience with it as something sort of Ingrained in you from a young age if not Inherent. It’s part of the ~culture~ and you gotta deal with it somehow.

- I also think there Are real differences between the north and south of the province historically, culturally etc. that should be acknowledged because, aware of them or not, they do affect things even today and even if subtle or trivial they are things that do matter to people.

- That all said Red’s not that much younger than the two, she’s about a decade younger than Cal. Technically she is closer geographically and historically to Cal as well, but she’s essentially a Neutral Party in this battle who might swing either way depending on the weather. There’s also long running jokes about Red Deer either being the site of a fake historical Battle of Alberta or as a meeting ground for hypothetical peace talks since it’s literally smack in the middle.

Page 8

- Ed has had a sudden very intense crush on McDavid for a few years now and it’s really hard for him to deal with it rationally. Please be careful with who you compare to Gretzky because he Will take it seriously. Especially now that Connor is creeping out of his Bidoof phase into his GQ phase.

- Ed is also only putting on the mature face for the moral high ground but I don’t think either of them ever actually get it because they’re both like 5 years old whenever they’re in the same room. Ed is literally only more mature in years, don’t be fooled.

- I dream about the Duke. I was exiled from Edmonton for nearly a year and the first thing I did when I got back was try to go get a Duke (but i got a seasonal grapefruit tart instead rip). I have had friends who don’t even like cake appreciate the Duke.

Page 9

- I could say something about how Actually the Airplane is a Symbol of their shared history but I won’t. It’s just Ed being petty.

- Red gets to share the cake as hostess, of course.

Page 10

- obligatory sERIOUS MUSHY PAGE and also a hint that Maybe more story will happen perhaps.

- me: more swears can happen if they are small for some reason

- If you’re wondering “is this a platonic or a romantic story” i literally do not care, draw your own conclusions, I’m trying to give you the space to do that freely. I personally love me a platonic forehead kiss but power to you if you want to read into it. Just please don’t assume they’re bio-siblings because No Thank You. I get that in some literature/news articles they’re painted that way but like... that’s usually in a specific political context painting them as subordinate to the “parent” provincial government and that is not the story or the angle that I’m trying to cover here because it does not make sense historically or the way that I’ve imagined these characters.

- Also it’s Really Weird if you read this as a love triangle with Red at the center because WOW what an unhealthy relationship for poor Red, I hope I’ve left no breadcrumbs to that conclusion! They literally are so obsessed with each other the minute she points out she’s self sufficient they’re back at it.

#aph oc #aph city #aph edmonton #aph calgary #aph red deer #aph ask blog #edward murphy #calvin mccall #elaine hartley #projectcanada cities #pc: edmonton #pc: calgary #pc: red deer #hapo art #comic #battle of alberta #battle of alberta comic #battle of alberta intro

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accirax · 8 months ago

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Disventure Camp All Stars Power Rankings (Round 11)

Heading into the latter half of the season, things are sure to get interesting! Let's hope we can reach a finale everyone can be happy with, hm?

In case you haven't seen my previous power rankings ( 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 ), 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 - Connor's Return!

Current Point Total: 41 acquired / 63 total (same as last time)

Mannnn, how come the one time I'm finally right, I don't get to score any points for it?! I should get to add a bonus +63, just for kicks. That wouldn't mess up my math at all.

Anyways, even though he's not a personal favorite of mine, I already detailed why I thought Connor would be the best character for the writers to bring back in the last power ranking. Plus, we get to hear Michael Kim's voice acting again. He's quite talented, in my opinion, and I felt bad that he was voicing two characters this season only for one of them to be eliminated really early (Connor) and the other to largely disappear for some reason (Oliver).

My current guess for Connor's character is that he'll be a finalist, but that he'll lose. I hope he doesn't win, just because, in-universe, his character needs the money probably the least. Still, after he managed to come back, I feel like it would make sense for him to be in the finale, and he's had a lot of talk about making it to the end now. He'd probably pair with Alec, and not Riya? But, that's assuming both that Alec isn't also in the final 3, and that the two of them proceed from this point to a conclusion of friendship as opposed to rivalry/detestation. Dubious.

Trailer Analysis

The trailer shows a lot of scenes advertising some sort of seemingly important conversation between Gabby and Grett on this beach. I don't know why Gabby is in her swimsuit and Grett isn't, but I doubt it's too important. If the scenes are shown in order, it seems like the pair are hanging out, Grett explains something, and Gabby grows fed up and leaves. Although, crack theory: that last image could be of or to the alternate version of Gabby.

Always nice to see some new relationships forming! Connor seemed to enjoy Advising The Youths in S2, and, boy, do Tom and Jake need some advising. And if he gets to solidify the bonds within the heroes' alliance along the way, all the better. Also, it looks like Jake is on the same beach that Grett and Gabby visit? Angsty beach, I guess.

It seems like this challenge may be some sort of capture the flag at night kind of thing? From what I've surmised, it might be that there's only one flag, and whoever manages to be holding on to it at the challenge's end point will gain immunity.

Yul and Grett are fighting again. Notably, 1) based on the light in the sky, this is probably at the beginning of the challenge, and 2) Grett appears to be sticking up for herself a bit more.

Yeah, here people are, fighting over that individual flag. It seems like Riya and Connor will be allowed to participate in this challenge, despite already having immunity locked in. If one of them wins, would they simply steal that potential immunity from someone else (AKA, only Riya and Connor are immune), or could they choose to give immunity to someone else (AKA, Riya, Connor, and Player C are immune)?

Perhaps Aiden is giving Jake a chance, as per Lake's advice. I just now realized that Jake and Lake are only one letter apart. Maybe it's Aiden's destiny to ultimately befriend people named -ake after the game initially pits them against each other.

Derek is sad about... something.

Ally will wind up with the flag at some point, but Gabby will steal it from her.

Also, there are wolves??? Wait a minute... are Jake and Aiden K-I-S-S-I-N-G?!?!?!? (/j)

Grett will trip Tom when he has the flag. Based on the lighting, this may be very close to the end of the challenge.

This scene might be pretty close to the end of the challenge too, though. Grett and Yul fight off Jake, with seemingly no flag in sight.

"That idiot does realize he's screwed the moment his immunity wears off, right?" "I can't wait."

Although this conversation likely takes place after the challenge is over, I really expect this dialogue to be about Connor (I doubt that ONC would want to spoil that the person who wins the challenge uses he/him in the trailer.) This doesn't really tell us much, other than that Connor doesn't do anything in this episode to rekindle any goodwill with the villains. Shocking. Also, I can't help but feel like this line is steeped in dramatic irony.

Power Ranking

#1: Connor

and

#2: Riya

Not much point in distinguishing between the two because we know for a fact that both of them will have immunity heading into this episode. I don't even know if they can give it up, and, besides, Riya is too selfish and Connor is too in danger for either of them to likely consider doing so. Barring a medical evacuation, there should be no chance that either of these two will be eliminated in the upcoming episode.

#3: Gabby

Why Gabby? Like, seriously, why Gabby? I suppose she could be considered too much of a loose cannon for the villains, but we've now reverted to a 5-5 split. If the villains somehow don't want to work with her, I'm sure the heroes would snatch her up as a free vote. Or, even if she voted completely according to her own whims, it would still be a 5-4-1 in which the heroes probably would not target Gabby.

I really just can't think of anything. It's weird. Like, vibes-wise, I'm not narratively opposed to Gabby going home, I just see no reason why it would happen. Even if she and Grett get into a fight, or if she starts talking to herself more again, is anybody really going to vote her off? Is she that annoying? Is she that threatening? I don't think so.

Gabby also still has some narrative threads that need payoff. First, the reappearance of her alternate self, which the end of last episode put forth as some big revelation. There's also the advice she received from Ellie, which was to backstab the villains before they could get her first. Either or both of things could probably be resolved within one episode, although, the latter would be weird if it ended in her elimination. If she didn't listen to Ellie, I guess? That's counter to, like, Gabby's entire character. She'll be fine for now.

#4: Jake

Speaking of narrative threads, if the writers decided to axe Jake here, it would be so bad. Or at least, it probably would be. You can't just have Ashley tell him to look forward to the future and then have his future be immediate elimination...!!!

But, seriously, it would be a weird turn of events. I guess maybe the plotline could be that Aiden listens to Lake's advice and decides to give Jake a chance, which Jake takes, because character arc. That decision to be selfless and care about others could lead to his elimination... somehow? And also we wrap up whatever the TomJake conclusion is meant to be during this episode? Yeah, seems unlikely.

That's also factoring in that I still see no reason why the villains would want Jake in particular out this time. In the last actual vote we had, the villains were able to seize power because of Jake and Aiden's quarreling. Until the two of them can provenly work together, they're an asset to the villains team. Jake has also competed in five individual elimination challenges without winning a single one. (The closest he got was the underground cave one where Ellie kicked his ass in the end, lmao.) He's truly not much of a threat.

Until he wins the season, that is. I'm sure that part of my want to rank Jake so highly is that I'm currently predicting that he'll be the winner of this season. We've just spent so much time on his various plotlines; it feels like this has to be the season of Jake. But, what do I know? I thought Fiore could win this season, and that was super wrong. We're a long ways out from the finale, but, still, I don't think Jake will go down here.

#5: Grett

As has been Grett's M.O. for a while now, I just don't understand why she would be the target of anyone's fire. Sure, Riya has immunity, which limits one of your villainous options. But, if you're looking for the most threatening villain, it would be Alec, and if you're looking for the villain you want to hang out with the least, it's Yul. Even Gabby is probably more prominent as the most likely double-crosser when it would come to a hit from within the villains alliance itself. It's possible that, if another villain (such as Alec) gains additional immunity, then Grett could become the most strategic or whatever by default. However, at that point, the level of coincidence would be so high that it would feel like the writers were trying to get rid of her, which I don't think they are.

It does seem like Grett is going to get a lot of focus this episode, though, which is theoretically cause for concern. I'd say that the most likely situation in which she goes home this episode is that she gets into a big fight with Gabby, resulting in Gabby agreeing to become a 6th for the heroes on the condition that they vote for Grett. However, this would require Gabby to side with Aiden and Tom, who she has personal beef with, over Grett, who she has a long history of forgiving. I also think that the scene of Grett tripping Tom could indicate that Grett will be the one to wind up with immunity (although the scene where she and Yul fight Jake might argue the opposite), so there's a chance people straight up won't be able to vote out Grett anyway.

While not impossible, I think it would be quite difficult to cut Grett off here while satisfyingly concluding her arc of standing up to Yul. Therefore, immunity or not, I don't think the writers will. And I don't think the players have much of a reason to can her, either.

#6: Ally

I guess it's fitting that Ally winds up in "technically the bad half" because, while I can't think of many particularly good reasons for her elimination, I wouldn't be super surprised if it was her time to go this episode, either. Mostly because of the whole love triangle drama stuff. You hate to see it.

I think it's really the current lack of character dynamics for Ally that makes me worry for her. Like, sure, she's got her rivalry with Jake going on, but... what else? I guess she kind of has an extant relationship with Connor from S2, but... only kind of. She was also in an alliance with Yul in S2, but fat chance that's going anywhere. She voted with Aiden and Tom last vote, and she's shown talking to Tom in the preview! That's... something? Ally isn't even Jake's #1 hater. Girl is suffering.

Furthermore, Ally could theoretically be voted out along the same lines as Ashley for being the least problematic hero left (other than arguably Connor, who has immunity). None of the villains seem to have a particular vendetta against Ally, but that doesn't make her immune.

The main thing is really just that none of those reasons are particularly compelling. Ally could be eliminated, I guess. I don't know. Nothing feels very right about it, though, which makes me think it isn't her time. We'll see. I'm sure Ally knows what a meat shield is, even if she never wanted or expected to be considered as one. Such is the narrative.

#7: Aiden

Aiden does have Riya, Yul, and theoretically Gabby gunning for him, which certainly puts him in danger for elimination. He clearly could be the villains' target... unless?

Hear me out. I think Aiden could be the one to win immunity this episode. What do we see in the trailer? Well, once the sun has fully set, we see Tom holding the flag, until Grett trips him and (presumably) steals it. However, possibly after that, we see Grett and Yul on the ground, Jake having tackled them, with no flag in sight. Where did the flag go? Well, earlier(?) in the episode, we saw Jake and Aiden hiding together in that tree, as well as generally strategizing together. I think it's possible that Aiden will decide to give Jake a chance, at which point Jake will offer himself up as a distraction/sacrifice so that Aiden can steal the flag and win immunity. That kind of plot would work well for where both Jake and Aiden's character arcs are right now, in my opinion.

Of course, it could also be Tom who wins the immunity. If the tackling scene happens fairly immediately after Tom falls, I don't know where the hell he went, and Jake definitely could have offered himself up to help Tom, too. You know what? Let's just...

#8: Tom

I really struggled with whether to put Aiden or Tom first. Even now, I feel like I put them in the wrong order. Hopefully my indecision foreshadows that it won't matter, because neither will happen. Do I finally have my finger on the pulse...?

Personally, I feel like there's been way too much setup for the heroes finally reuniting this episode for anyone other than a villain to go home. We've got Connor vowing to eliminate a villain. We've got Ellie urging Gabby to turn on the villains. We've got Lake advising Aiden and Miriam advising Tom to give Jake a second shot. We've got Tess giving Ally her full support to crush it in the future. We have Ashley's entire elimination motivating Jake! It's possible that the writers could try to make hero drama stretch out a little longer, but I think it'd be better for the show if they didn't. Everything is pointing towards a shakeup to the status quo, and (not that I think the writers should abruptly change their plans for the season to account for what fans want, but) I think that's what the fans desperately crave.

Along those lines, though, if we're going to punt for one more week and allow a hero to go home, I don't think Tom is a terrible choice. His elimination would shake up the very TomJake + Aiden status quo, as opposed to Ally, whose elimination would truly feel like killing time. Tom has erred enough this season with the whole "lying about having a boyfriend" thing that I think his elimination as a casualty of the "twink wars," as Kristal put it, wouldn't feel too unfair. If the writers want to focus on Aiden and Jake building a friendship in the future, I could see them wanting to get rid of Tom to give those two space to breathe. The TomJake angst likely wouldn't be resolved in this episode, but if, say, Jake is in the finale, I could see their plotline being resolved by Tom being Jake's assistant in the end.

The villains do also have reason to target Tom. Although he's engaged in his fair share of catty behavior, he was the one alongside Ashley to propose that Aiden and Jake put aside their differences to work together. More importantly, Tom is almost certainly the physically strongest hero left, so if the villains want to keep the immunities to themselves, it could be good strategy to eliminate Tom before he can go on a challenge run.

Then again, Tom has actually also won 0/4 of the individual challenges he's participated in so far, so. Maybe not as threatening as he seems on paper.

#9: Alec

If it ain't broke, don't fix it: Ashley was the most heroic hero, so if the villains had the choice of who to eliminate, they should take her out. Alec is the most villainous villain (or at least, the ringleader of the crew), so if the heroes had the choice of who to eliminate, they should take him out. Such simple logic turned out to be viable last time!

Yeah, Alec is mostly down here because I think a villain will go home, and I think he's the most sensible villain for the heroes to eliminate if they can. We've also gotten some closure for him and Fiore, now, so to the extent that was keeping him in the game, it won't any longer.

However (unlike Ally), Alec still has other relationships that I think it would be a loss if we didn't see play out more. For instance, what will it be like now that Connor is back in the game? Alec reacted with a lot more hostility to Connor during the last challenge than I had initially expected. But, I'm willing to believe that he was suffering evil brain rot from hanging out with Riya for the last few days and Fiore for the last few minutes. Whether there's a friendship to be salvaged or not, I'd prefer more than one episode to explore what's going on there.

There's also Alec's relationship with Riya, although, honestly, I could see that one turning out interestingly if Alec did go home this week. Thus far, I don't think their friendship has really been set up in a way that foreshadows either of them turning on each other. If I'm right, that would mean that, at some point, one of them will have to go home with the other not involved and still in the game. If Alec goes home as a result of Riya having immunity, I could see it further increasing the animosity between Riya and Connor, which could be cool.

I've made it pretty apparent... everywhere that Alec is one of my favorites, so obviously I'm rooting for him to survive this episode and make it even farther into the game. But, I totally understand if now is his time, and think his elimination could be used to set up cool things for the future. That being said, I do think there's one person who might be a little more likely than Alec to get booted in the upcoming elimination.

#10: Yul

I might have the exact timing slightly off, but personally, I've started to notice that big events in DCAS start being set up about three episodes before they actually happen. Ellie had about three episodes of behaving poorly with Gabby disapproving before it finally resulted in her going home. If Jake finally starts turning things around this episode, I think he vowed to do so about three episodes prior. Hunter was the fourth boot (Episode 5) after him being a subpar boyfriend was set up in Episode 1 and him being mean to Fiore was established in Episode 2. I think Tom coming clean over lying about having a boyfriend was about three episodes after he originally said it. You see what I mean?

Along those lines, although Yul has been a jerk throughout the entire season, I think that Grett started voicing serious concerns about Yul about three episodes ago. And thus, the clock started ticking. It's been long enough now that I think that timer is finally about to ding.

As I mentioned in both Grett and Gabby's sections, it seems like their chat will be important to what goes down in the episode. Personally, I think that either Grett and Gabby will both vote with the heroes to take down specifically Yul, or that Gabby will work with the heroes on her own to eliminate Yul for Grett, if Grett is too hesitant about it. That would be one explanation for Gabby walking out on Grett in the end-- Grett expresses her concerns with Yul, but still can't manage to turn against him, so Gabby angrily leaves, determined to do what's best for Grett even if Grett can't twist the knife herself.

As for Yul's relationships, well... he has Grett and Riya, but obviously neither of those are going to end happily in the long run. His role with Emily seems to have already elapsed. He doesn't have any really sincere or deep connections with anyone, which makes him a lot more expendable when it comes to ongoing plotlines. The most sincere connection he has is probably with James, who he got to talk to last episode. I honestly wonder if that conversation might have been the wrap up to Yul. We learned a lot about him in it: no jokes, no tricks, he really is just a bad guy who hates other people. The fact that he has no depth is his depth. With that answer given, I don't know if we need Yul around anymore.

Also, the fandom is getting sick of him, and for understandable reasons. It's still way better here than it was in S2, in my opinion, because Yul is not in a position of power like he was in S2, but it's true that Yul does bring a sort of foul, negative energy to any scene that he's in. I, at least, usually find it funny, don't get me wrong, but it still sucks to see your other faves get verbally abused, especially in the scenes that aren't played for laughs.

(Also, the Spanish voice actor choosing to improvise a slur is obviously not okay. Naturally, that wasn't accounted for when initially planning the season, so it shouldn't factor into the elimination order, but it's still true. I think we should allow everyone involved some lenience, because they're really young to have so much pressure, responsibility, and hostility thrown in their faces. However, it's also not like being a young indie artist on the internet gives you a full pardon to act cruelly towards minorities. In my opinion, either side stoking the flames with hotheaded and/or rash behavior right now seems like it will go down poorly for everyone involved. We should be aiming for a sincere apology and a tentative, yet calm reception for now.)

Well, those are my thoughts this week! After perfectly predicting Connor, I'm hoping this post-merge, post-return time period will be the beginning of a hot streak. But, we'll have to see what happens in the upcoming episode. For all I know, Yul could have immunity or something. That's the danger of the merge, I guess. Bye for now!

#disventure camp #dcas #dcas power rankings #disventure camp spoilers #check out who's BASICALLY ON TIME THIS WEEK!!! >:D #fuck everyone else this is MY redemption arc #connor disventure camp #riya disventure camp #gabby disventure camp #jake disventure camp #grett disventure camp #ally disventure camp #aiden disventure camp #tom disventure camp #alec disventure camp #yul disventure camp

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