The Red General And Her Scotts

The Red General and Her Scotts

These are the more blah photos I took of the work.

And here beneath are some of the wonky photos that I was experimenting with. I think I actually prefer the first photo of the wonky three shown below.

Gem was a destructive force in episode 7 and I can't get over how many players were eliminated in one fell swoop.

She facilitated a literal massacre in a zombie apocalypse and I couldn't be more hyped for her being a red name.

He didn’t die.

He didn’t die at the end.

Grian jumped off a cliff. Scott was slash killed. Pearl was blown up. Martyn was struck down.

But not Scar.

Scar escaped. He ended with 5.5 hearts. He’s still alive. The watchers didn’t take him back.

He’s… free?

. . . . and racist for us to draw from?? Spelling error, perhaps???

Now that Scar's won, it's that time when everyone comes together to choose the winner's motif/symbol.

Grian is the Sun, Scott the Stars, Pearl the Moon, and Martyn is Mars.

Now what of Scar?

I definitely like the idea of Scar being the Earth, as many people have proposed.

I've also have seen some people propose Pluto.

However, I'm not a big fan of this one.

My reason for not agreeing with this option is pretty simple. Pluto, while sharing some similarities with Scar (like loneliness and being an outcast), doesn't really have enough meaningful connections or parallels for it to be used as a motif.

I think that since Scar's theme is so full of flowers this season-- Sunflowers, Poppies, and Lilacs-- this naturally connects back to the Earth, which also ties to a lot of other symbolisms as well, making it the better option out of the two.

So I've decided to throw my vote in for the Earth as Scar's symbol.

I think it just fits, in the end.

The Sun and Moon are both in close relation to Scar, with Pearl and Scar being each other's foil, and the Sun being vital to the Earth (desert duo aaaangst!!!). And the fact that all three are stuck in each other's orbits is perfect.

And on top of all this, is that the Earth is lonely. Just like Scar was this entire season.

The Earth is the only planet we know with such an overflow of life. The only one in this solar system that is covered in plants and animals and people. There is no other planet like it. It is alone in its uniqueness. And just like the Earth is alone in the solar system, Scar was alone in the game.

I think that loneliness, paired with Scar's flower themes, and the relation to the Sun and the Moon, is what makes the Earth such a perfect symbol for Scar.

I feel like any other symbol would leave out important aspects of his character and his story.

Anyways, what are your opinions on the matter? I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Don't hesitate to mercilessly poke holes in my argument. It builds character.

Joel is so perceptive-- or maybe he's just in the right place at the right time.

He just seems to pick up on things really fast.

He was one of the first people to smell something fishy going on with Gem and the zombie apocalypse.

And in the last episode, he was one of the first people to catch on to the Roomies trying to fortify Joel's MLG Fail Tower. Not only that, he immediately started to think about how he could find higher ground in Mumbo's tower to get the advantage.

Joel's just very fast at assessing the situation and coming up with a quick and advantageous reaction to what he sees.

(Though that doesn't really help him when he blows up his own tnt minecart trap . . .)

I'm not sure if he's this perceptive in the previous series (it's been too long to recall specifics) but I wonder if this is just a double-coincidence in Secret Life or if this perceptiveness extends to all the past Life Series and I just didn't notice.

A Ghostly Snitch.

Martyn was shitting his pants and Grian nearly did too when Jimmy decided to whisper in his ear like that, lol.

And the angle I was trying to go for with Martyn's ears was so hard to draw man, and it still doesn't look quite right :/

AAAAH this series has me in a chokehold-- the angst, the drama-- I just gotta talk about Scar's final episode! I can't stop chewing on the ideas it's spawned in my head.

I mean, Scar and Bdubs' dynamic has to be addressed. They felt like proper siblings in this. From the way Scar was like an older brother praising his younger sibling's efforts, to Bdubs boasting about his success to get his older brother's approval. . .

And for Scar, I might even go as far as to say that he was protective. How he was constantly in a state of hypervigilance about their safety. How he was constantly offering resources and support.

(gosh, I can feel the possible fanfics boiling beneath my skin)

And the fact that Scar went and killed Cleo for her favoritism, rather than taking out his jealousy on Bdubs.

Not to mention that Scar was absolutely brutal this entire season (this last episode in particular) yet to Bdubs he was almost gentle in this last episode. This is the same Scar who looked at Etho, his "father", and saw nothing more than an animal he needed to put down. The same Scar who pushed Bdubs into a pit of zombies for the giggles.

Yet when it came down to their red lives, Scar was more than willing to set aside his need to bully Bdubs and instead look out for their little group. (Even if Scar never planned to really end up in any group specifically, I feel he was more than happy to side with his brother.)

And Bdubs was also more than happy to have Scar join their group-- even after being pushed into the zombie stream. (I like to think this is because, while Bdubs was angry at Scar at the time, he more easily forgave Scar because of their familial ties.)

And in the end, it just feels like a sibling relationship-- you'll fight over petty things like they're the end of the world, but when the end of the world actually arrives you stick together and are as thick as thieves.

I'm just dying to see art or read fics about this complex dynamic and their messy past. I feel like there's so much potential.

I have so many thoughts about this last episode and this is only skimming the surface.