HOME | DD

Description
We stan half seasons.

Winner:
Fabio: You fuckin know it! Fabio was a favorite from day one, and I can't remember the last time I was this happy to be wrong about an edgic. My guy starting off in a clear underdog position, combined with his fun personality and interactions with others, made him very easy to root for. Him being just game savvy enough to get by without being a big threat was always interesting, and I am glad Parrot didn't go for the obvious play of giving the winner much depth. Great winner to a great season.

Runners-Up:
Nora: I've toiled for a bit on why I was never really on fire for Nora. Like, an OTT fun disco queen ought to be right up my alley. Nora was cute, and the endgame would have been worse off without her, but as a character, I thought she was just alright? I joked once about how my favorite thing about Nora was Kirby, but looking back, I think that about sums it up. Kirby was her only relationship where it felt like she actively put something into it beyond her usual brand of chipper talking-a-lot-without-saying-much. That may or may not have been intentional knowing she's the runner up? Either way, she was decent overall.
Misty: Fucking messy queen. Her starting off as like a legitimate threat, only to lose her influence once all the joke characters leave and she ends up becoming the joke character... I mean, what an arc, right? Like, you never really expect her to win, but she's so bizarre and hilarious that it's like, what if she does? She's still here, isn't she? If she was in a different F3, I probably would have rooted for her, but being a finale flop suits her well, despite her best efforts.

Graveyard:
Zenika: I think I actually forgot to put her in my Ep 1 predictions, which I guess says all you really need to know about her. Never really on the radar as a potential winner. Her shtick was alright, but she was easily the weakest member of her team, and one of the weaker members of the cast. No tears shed tonight, but she did what she needed to do.
Sammy: I mean logically, there's zero reason his team should have kept him, but I certainly wouldn't have minded if he'd stuck around a bit longer. His absolute refusal to be even remotely helpful or competent kind of hearkens back to the old school TD fics where people like Sammy were just put in there to be annoying and useless early boot fodder. He was played so tongue-in-cheek that I couldn't help but enjoy him, though.
Josiah: Hard mixed tier with him. He had his moments, but he never clicked with me the same way that other OTTN characters this season did, and him going berserk at Corny just felt kind of excessive and unnecessary. Without him, I can only see Misty getting better as a character, so I think his elimination is going to be a net positive overall.
Yuka: Robbed goddess. Her just refusing to form any actual meaningful relationships with anyone and just yelling at them all for being weak and useless and how they'd never survive in The North <3 Her doing stupid shit that always made things harder for her team because that's how people are supposed to get tougher <3 Her hunting for her own food and refusing to take any form of luxury or comfort because The North doesn't coddle people <3 So glad she was bumped up from being the first boot, she made the most of every scene she was in.
Eden: What a Robyn-tier upset. Absolutely stole the show in every scene - she practically was TD Resort for this first half of the season. Any of the Seaside Suckers going at any point was and will always be tragic, but I wasn't expecting her to be the first, and this early no less. (Yeah I know Zenika existed but she didn't really have time to feel like a true Sucker.) It feels weird to not have much to say about her, but she really spoke for herself. She'll definitely be missed.
Natalia: I appreciated her take on the "gloomy character who develops out of it after making a friend" trope where she just found Lex annoying and patronizing. Sometimes she came off as tryhardy, but I guess she was trying to on some level to get people to leave her alone. I don't remember if she ever explained why she signed up for the show in the first place if she hates being around people so much. Either way, I liked her more realistic response to her plot. Would have been interested to see her outlast Lex, but this is a good place for her to go if that's not going to be the case.
Kirby: He was here to be a fun himbo rando, and he absolutely delivered. I'm not sure what else to say. His dynamics with Fabio and Nora were golden, and every time he opened his mouth to say something tangentially relevant to the conversation and make it about the sea somehow, he brought a lot of charm to the room. I wouldn't have stanned the Seaside Suckers so much if all the pieces weren't there, and Kirby was integral to making that team so great by bringing some lighthearted weirdness to this team of annoying assholes. I already miss him.
Omber: I've always had a soft spot for villains who aren't malicious or mean or anything, and if anything try to be as nice as they can while still getting stuff done. Omber wasn't here to be a multi-dimensional case study or anything, just to push the plot forward on the Hilltop Heroes and get its other members to take on their character arcs. He was an interesting and engaging presence, and I always looked forward to seeing how he'd analyze the state of everyone else's dynamics and try to figure out how to spin it to his advantage while upsetting as few people as possible. I would have been fine if he stuck around, but it seems like he def needed to go here for plot reasons, and now isn't a bad place for him to go at all.
Corny: I feel like I was kind of dismissive of Corny throughout the fic because his character was so strongly defined by his relationships with Ander and Misty. He did have good points beyond that, like his weird dynamic with Fabio and his strong sense of optimism, but... I don't know, I never felt like Corny had much stake in the story. He had his good moments, and I do count him as an overall positive inclusion, but on some level I don't think the story would have been shaken up too much at any point if he went home. Sometimes you need characters like that to keep things from getting too strat-heavy.
Lex: Ironically I liked them better before they started their plot and character development, but they weren't necessarily bad after developing, especially post-Natalia-leaving. There's always merit to a plot where someone shy and insecure steps out and makes notable game moves, and they always felt like themselves even at those different points in their arc. As sure as I was that they were winning, I'm glad they didn't, not because of any disdain towards them, but because their arc was just that straightforward that it already felt concluded without a W, unlike the rest of the F5. Good character, they definitely added to the story.
Ander: He really had no right being as good as he was for being a straight-CPs challenge beast male. His generally uncertain position in the game, humble yet blunt personality, and incredible grasp on the social and strategic game made it especially easy to root for him, though. He didn't stand out in the earlier episodes, but he didn't really need to. Those were for the likes of Sammy and Yuka and Eden to do their thing. When Ander broke out, though, he really broke out; someone I liked consistently from like Episode 4 onward. A very worthy inclusion to the cast. Shame he couldn't win, but he absolutely brought it out there.

Description
We stan half seasons.

Winner:
Fabio: You fuckin know it! Fabio was a favorite from day one, and I can't remember the last time I was this happy to be wrong about an edgic. My guy starting off in a clear underdog position, combined with his fun personality and interactions with others, made him very easy to root for. Him being just game savvy enough to get by without being a big threat was always interesting, and I am glad Parrot didn't go for the obvious play of giving the winner much depth. Great winner to a great season.

Runners-Up:
Nora: I've toiled for a bit on why I was never really on fire for Nora. Like, an OTT fun disco queen ought to be right up my alley. Nora was cute, and the endgame would have been worse off without her, but as a character, I thought she was just alright? I joked once about how my favorite thing about Nora was Kirby, but looking back, I think that about sums it up. Kirby was her only relationship where it felt like she actively put something into it beyond her usual brand of chipper talking-a-lot-without-saying-much. That may or may not have been intentional knowing she's the runner up? Either way, she was decent overall.
Misty: Fucking messy queen. Her starting off as like a legitimate threat, only to lose her influence once all the joke characters leave and she ends up becoming the joke character... I mean, what an arc, right? Like, you never really expect her to win, but she's so bizarre and hilarious that it's like, what if she does? She's still here, isn't she? If she was in a different F3, I probably would have rooted for her, but being a finale flop suits her well, despite her best efforts.

Graveyard:
Zenika: I think I actually forgot to put her in my Ep 1 predictions, which I guess says all you really need to know about her. Never really on the radar as a potential winner. Her shtick was alright, but she was easily the weakest member of her team, and one of the weaker members of the cast. No tears shed tonight, but she did what she needed to do.
Sammy: I mean logically, there's zero reason his team should have kept him, but I certainly wouldn't have minded if he'd stuck around a bit longer. His absolute refusal to be even remotely helpful or competent kind of hearkens back to the old school TD fics where people like Sammy were just put in there to be annoying and useless early boot fodder. He was played so tongue-in-cheek that I couldn't help but enjoy him, though.
Josiah: Hard mixed tier with him. He had his moments, but he never clicked with me the same way that other OTTN characters this season did, and him going berserk at Corny just felt kind of excessive and unnecessary. Without him, I can only see Misty getting better as a character, so I think his elimination is going to be a net positive overall.
Yuka: Robbed goddess. Her just refusing to form any actual meaningful relationships with anyone and just yelling at them all for being weak and useless and how they'd never survive in The North <3 Her doing stupid shit that always made things harder for her team because that's how people are supposed to get tougher <3 Her hunting for her own food and refusing to take any form of luxury or comfort because The North doesn't coddle people <3 So glad she was bumped up from being the first boot, she made the most of every scene she was in.
Eden: What a Robyn-tier upset. Absolutely stole the show in every scene - she practically was TD Resort for this first half of the season. Any of the Seaside Suckers going at any point was and will always be tragic, but I wasn't expecting her to be the first, and this early no less. (Yeah I know Zenika existed but she didn't really have time to feel like a true Sucker.) It feels weird to not have much to say about her, but she really spoke for herself. She'll definitely be missed.
Natalia: I appreciated her take on the "gloomy character who develops out of it after making a friend" trope where she just found Lex annoying and patronizing. Sometimes she came off as tryhardy, but I guess she was trying to on some level to get people to leave her alone. I don't remember if she ever explained why she signed up for the show in the first place if she hates being around people so much. Either way, I liked her more realistic response to her plot. Would have been interested to see her outlast Lex, but this is a good place for her to go if that's not going to be the case.
Kirby: He was here to be a fun himbo rando, and he absolutely delivered. I'm not sure what else to say. His dynamics with Fabio and Nora were golden, and every time he opened his mouth to say something tangentially relevant to the conversation and make it about the sea somehow, he brought a lot of charm to the room. I wouldn't have stanned the Seaside Suckers so much if all the pieces weren't there, and Kirby was integral to making that team so great by bringing some lighthearted weirdness to this team of annoying assholes. I already miss him.
Omber: I've always had a soft spot for villains who aren't malicious or mean or anything, and if anything try to be as nice as they can while still getting stuff done. Omber wasn't here to be a multi-dimensional case study or anything, just to push the plot forward on the Hilltop Heroes and get its other members to take on their character arcs. He was an interesting and engaging presence, and I always looked forward to seeing how he'd analyze the state of everyone else's dynamics and try to figure out how to spin it to his advantage while upsetting as few people as possible. I would have been fine if he stuck around, but it seems like he def needed to go here for plot reasons, and now isn't a bad place for him to go at all.
Corny: I feel like I was kind of dismissive of Corny throughout the fic because his character was so strongly defined by his relationships with Ander and Misty. He did have good points beyond that, like his weird dynamic with Fabio and his strong sense of optimism, but... I don't know, I never felt like Corny had much stake in the story. He had his good moments, and I do count him as an overall positive inclusion, but on some level I don't think the story would have been shaken up too much at any point if he went home. Sometimes you need characters like that to keep things from getting too strat-heavy.
Lex: Ironically I liked them better before they started their plot and character development, but they weren't necessarily bad after developing, especially post-Natalia-leaving. There's always merit to a plot where someone shy and insecure steps out and makes notable game moves, and they always felt like themselves even at those different points in their arc. As sure as I was that they were winning, I'm glad they didn't, not because of any disdain towards them, but because their arc was just that straightforward that it already felt concluded without a W, unlike the rest of the F5. Good character, they definitely added to the story.
Ander: He really had no right being as good as he was for being a straight-CPs challenge beast male. His generally uncertain position in the game, humble yet blunt personality, and incredible grasp on the social and strategic game made it especially easy to root for him, though. He didn't stand out in the earlier episodes, but he didn't really need to. Those were for the likes of Sammy and Yuka and Eden to do their thing. When Ander broke out, though, he really broke out; someone I liked consistently from like Episode 4 onward. A very worthy inclusion to the cast. Shame he couldn't win, but he absolutely brought it out there.