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Lol this is kind of overdue. I'll probably get a Cruise edgic going soon too.

1st:
Bailey: I want to brag about him being my top contender in the first episode, but I did have my doubts about him there for a bit. Such a pure soul couldn't possibly win a cutthroat game like this, especially with this super aggro cast, right? Honestly, that just made it all the more satisfying. Him being *the* positive character of the season - aside from Marlon, who went home early - made him an always welcome presence, especially with his fun and creative shtick. Always a standout for a multitute of good reasons, Bailey is the winner this season deserved.

2nd:
Zach: We love rando annoying side characters worming their way into main antagonist territory <3. Zach was someone I loved from the start. I've always been a huge fan of characters who have a clear and fun shtick *and* an entertaining personality at the same time. Being a papparazzo in a season where half the players are minor celebrities was a great inclusion, and him being so unnecessarily smug about everything opened him up to great interactions with the rest of the cast. His gameplay was absolutely nothing to scoff at either; I'd argue he played the best game of the season rivaling the likes of Marky and Chloe. I'm glad he got bumped up to 2nd, because he and the season both benefited greatly from it.

3rd:
Rory: Lmao. All the talk I had throughout the season of "We'll see how well he does once Bailey's gone" and then they both just make finale. <3 These two bumblefucks who absolutely should have been broken up as a duo but nobody was threatened enough by them to prioritize it that much. Rory himself actually served as an effective winner distraction for Bailey. He has the more explicit winner's arc right there, but, like Bailey, he only developed a tiny bit, so the audience was always left wondering what fate would befall either of these two. I feel like Rory was just annoying enough to where I was never actually annoyed by him, and that works for a third-place finisher.

Eliminated:
Billy: Didn't care for him, but he died first so it's whatever.
Adrian: He had his purpose, and I wish he could have branched out a bit more, but I'm not shedding tears over him.
Sonica: Her arc was low key brilliant, and she had a lot to her for such an early boot. Good character.
Gloria: Possibly my favorite take on the Shannon archetype. Really fun and I loved her dynamic with Darren and Zach. I hope she returns.
Darren: Ngl, I did not see him going this early. He wasn't the biggest character in the fic, but his down-to-earth personality worked well as a foil to the more cartoonish personalities of everyone around him.
Marlon: Probably the biggest shock boot of the season thus far. Team leaders like him usually don't go home sixth lol but at the same time I don't think losing him now is going to be any huge detriment to the story? He was nice, but with all the big personalities in this season, "nice" alone isn't enough to really stand out? He was cool, but him leaving is fine by me.
Jeffrey: Obnoxious god-king <3 <3 <3. He absolutely stole the scene whenever he showed up. Annoying OTTfun rando who's randomly great at challenges is an underused character type, I've come to find. It's the same reason I liked Blaine so much in Armageddon. Am I crazy or did Jeffrey's popularity bump him up ahead of Marlon, the would-be traditional last premerge boot? Either way, Jeffrey was a blessing, and while it's a shame to see him go, I won't cry because it's over, I'll smile because it happened. :')
Ada: She was decent enough. Never my favorite character, but never my least favorite. She had an interesting insight into the game and relationships with the other characters, but she also felt kind of stiff at times, which I guess makes sense with her character. She makes sense as a merge boot, and I'm interested to see where the game goes from here with such a big player out.
Michelle: She was cute. I liked her little dynamic with Terra, and having someone just literally unswayable in how they want to vote in spite of everything was a neat concept that I think was played as much as needed. I don't think I'll sorely miss her, but she was a fun character to have around while she was here.
Sybil: Lmao <3. Her just being a parody of Desdemona and yet somehow successfully leading an alliance only for Terra to just off her randomly. I liked her fun little character moments where she was like "Voting with me is good, I feel it in the wind or some crap" and how she just could not give a fuck about anybody whatsoever. I think this was a good place for her to go.
Emily: I never really felt Emily. I think if she just had less visibility overall, she might have worked more as a joke character. I get she was supposed to be kind of obnoxious, but past characters like Skye and Missy have done this kind of thing better. She worked in her boot episode, but that might have been because it was pretty obviously her boot episode. I don't know. She isn't a massive stain on the season or anything, but she's contesting with Billy for being my least favorite of the cast.
Seth: He was fine. I never had much of an opinion on him one way or the other. If he was played up a bit more, maybe he could have been a fun joke character, but I feel like Dylan from TD Cruise was just the better version of Seth. I didn't dislike Seth, but I rarely remembered he existed when I wasn't reading the story.
Mimi: She was a fun rando number for the Legends, head half in the game and head half in her passions. She truly did feel like someone who had barely even heard of RTV playing an RTV game, kind of a Celebrity Big Brother sort of vibe, which makes sense I suppose since she is a celebrity in-universe. I think she lasted the perfect length of time, GG Mimi!
Terra: Goddess??? Her arc of going from OTT annoyance to actually kind of competent threat to OTT annoyance again was so bizarre and yet so entertaining, and her just being an obnoxious brat that nobody actually likes but isn't a big enough fish to fry was a ton of fun. I think she was one of the most realistic flavors of OTTN I've seen in any fic, and she was an absolute blast from start to finish. Truly a legend among legends.
Marky: The arc of villain-turning-good isn't new by any stretch, and I won't tell you that I think Marky is the best example of it when Jacquie is right there, but as a protagonist for the Legends and an eventual underdog in the merge, he served his purpose well in being a grounded presence as he's being surrounded by nutjobs. I loved his one scene with Rory where he gives him a "reason you DON'T suck" speech, and his dynamics with his others were always entertaining, especially with Grace.
Grace: A consistently entertaining, lower-key presence. Her bizarre upbringing and complete lack of social awareness made for a pretty fun personality that was just as easy to get annoyed by as it was to be endeared by, and that's absolutely a compliment. Her relationship with Marky was great, of course, probably one of the highlights of both of their characters. She truly lived up to being a Legend, iconic that she was the last one on that tribe standing.
Chloe: I wasn't sure about her at first, but she definitely overcame her growing pains and then some. From the beginning, she was always someone who was going to be dead set on being a factor, and she absolutely was. A challenge beast and a strategic threat as well, and a compelling personality besides with her philosophy on winning. Her weird vague relationship with Zach was definitely a highlight - I feel like the two played off each other really well. She added a lot to the season.

Description
Lol this is kind of overdue. I'll probably get a Cruise edgic going soon too.

1st:
Bailey: I want to brag about him being my top contender in the first episode, but I did have my doubts about him there for a bit. Such a pure soul couldn't possibly win a cutthroat game like this, especially with this super aggro cast, right? Honestly, that just made it all the more satisfying. Him being *the* positive character of the season - aside from Marlon, who went home early - made him an always welcome presence, especially with his fun and creative shtick. Always a standout for a multitute of good reasons, Bailey is the winner this season deserved.

2nd:
Zach: We love rando annoying side characters worming their way into main antagonist territory <3. Zach was someone I loved from the start. I've always been a huge fan of characters who have a clear and fun shtick *and* an entertaining personality at the same time. Being a papparazzo in a season where half the players are minor celebrities was a great inclusion, and him being so unnecessarily smug about everything opened him up to great interactions with the rest of the cast. His gameplay was absolutely nothing to scoff at either; I'd argue he played the best game of the season rivaling the likes of Marky and Chloe. I'm glad he got bumped up to 2nd, because he and the season both benefited greatly from it.

3rd:
Rory: Lmao. All the talk I had throughout the season of "We'll see how well he does once Bailey's gone" and then they both just make finale. <3 These two bumblefucks who absolutely should have been broken up as a duo but nobody was threatened enough by them to prioritize it that much. Rory himself actually served as an effective winner distraction for Bailey. He has the more explicit winner's arc right there, but, like Bailey, he only developed a tiny bit, so the audience was always left wondering what fate would befall either of these two. I feel like Rory was just annoying enough to where I was never actually annoyed by him, and that works for a third-place finisher.

Eliminated:
Billy: Didn't care for him, but he died first so it's whatever.
Adrian: He had his purpose, and I wish he could have branched out a bit more, but I'm not shedding tears over him.
Sonica: Her arc was low key brilliant, and she had a lot to her for such an early boot. Good character.
Gloria: Possibly my favorite take on the Shannon archetype. Really fun and I loved her dynamic with Darren and Zach. I hope she returns.
Darren: Ngl, I did not see him going this early. He wasn't the biggest character in the fic, but his down-to-earth personality worked well as a foil to the more cartoonish personalities of everyone around him.
Marlon: Probably the biggest shock boot of the season thus far. Team leaders like him usually don't go home sixth lol but at the same time I don't think losing him now is going to be any huge detriment to the story? He was nice, but with all the big personalities in this season, "nice" alone isn't enough to really stand out? He was cool, but him leaving is fine by me.
Jeffrey: Obnoxious god-king <3 <3 <3. He absolutely stole the scene whenever he showed up. Annoying OTTfun rando who's randomly great at challenges is an underused character type, I've come to find. It's the same reason I liked Blaine so much in Armageddon. Am I crazy or did Jeffrey's popularity bump him up ahead of Marlon, the would-be traditional last premerge boot? Either way, Jeffrey was a blessing, and while it's a shame to see him go, I won't cry because it's over, I'll smile because it happened. :')
Ada: She was decent enough. Never my favorite character, but never my least favorite. She had an interesting insight into the game and relationships with the other characters, but she also felt kind of stiff at times, which I guess makes sense with her character. She makes sense as a merge boot, and I'm interested to see where the game goes from here with such a big player out.
Michelle: She was cute. I liked her little dynamic with Terra, and having someone just literally unswayable in how they want to vote in spite of everything was a neat concept that I think was played as much as needed. I don't think I'll sorely miss her, but she was a fun character to have around while she was here.
Sybil: Lmao <3. Her just being a parody of Desdemona and yet somehow successfully leading an alliance only for Terra to just off her randomly. I liked her fun little character moments where she was like "Voting with me is good, I feel it in the wind or some crap" and how she just could not give a fuck about anybody whatsoever. I think this was a good place for her to go.
Emily: I never really felt Emily. I think if she just had less visibility overall, she might have worked more as a joke character. I get she was supposed to be kind of obnoxious, but past characters like Skye and Missy have done this kind of thing better. She worked in her boot episode, but that might have been because it was pretty obviously her boot episode. I don't know. She isn't a massive stain on the season or anything, but she's contesting with Billy for being my least favorite of the cast.
Seth: He was fine. I never had much of an opinion on him one way or the other. If he was played up a bit more, maybe he could have been a fun joke character, but I feel like Dylan from TD Cruise was just the better version of Seth. I didn't dislike Seth, but I rarely remembered he existed when I wasn't reading the story.
Mimi: She was a fun rando number for the Legends, head half in the game and head half in her passions. She truly did feel like someone who had barely even heard of RTV playing an RTV game, kind of a Celebrity Big Brother sort of vibe, which makes sense I suppose since she is a celebrity in-universe. I think she lasted the perfect length of time, GG Mimi!
Terra: Goddess??? Her arc of going from OTT annoyance to actually kind of competent threat to OTT annoyance again was so bizarre and yet so entertaining, and her just being an obnoxious brat that nobody actually likes but isn't a big enough fish to fry was a ton of fun. I think she was one of the most realistic flavors of OTTN I've seen in any fic, and she was an absolute blast from start to finish. Truly a legend among legends.
Marky: The arc of villain-turning-good isn't new by any stretch, and I won't tell you that I think Marky is the best example of it when Jacquie is right there, but as a protagonist for the Legends and an eventual underdog in the merge, he served his purpose well in being a grounded presence as he's being surrounded by nutjobs. I loved his one scene with Rory where he gives him a "reason you DON'T suck" speech, and his dynamics with his others were always entertaining, especially with Grace.
Grace: A consistently entertaining, lower-key presence. Her bizarre upbringing and complete lack of social awareness made for a pretty fun personality that was just as easy to get annoyed by as it was to be endeared by, and that's absolutely a compliment. Her relationship with Marky was great, of course, probably one of the highlights of both of their characters. She truly lived up to being a Legend, iconic that she was the last one on that tribe standing.
Chloe: I wasn't sure about her at first, but she definitely overcame her growing pains and then some. From the beginning, she was always someone who was going to be dead set on being a factor, and she absolutely was. A challenge beast and a strategic threat as well, and a compelling personality besides with her philosophy on winning. Her weird vague relationship with Zach was definitely a highlight - I feel like the two played off each other really well. She added a lot to the season.