The Missing Link in Scott's Characterization
(Wrote this in a random document and I think it's good so I'm loosely transcribing it here)
These are some of my thoughts on a crucial facet of Scott's character in the Life Series that I think is overlooked by the fandom.
From my personal viewpoint, people put a lot of emphasis on Scott's caring about his allies over everything else. I think this is an important characteristic. However, I think this being shown as the most central trait is a detriment to how people read his involvement with the overarching narrative. It might be less of a problem if he wasn't directly involved with the final fight of nearly every Life Series.
Because of this combination of things, his main interaction with fans' reading of the final fight is being willing to do anything to make sure his friends win. It gives people the tendency to attribute some victories partially to him, which upsets people who want main read of the story to focus entirely on the winner. But this also has meant that one of Scott's main traits is overlooked.
Just as much, and often, more than Scott values his allies, he values fairness. To showcase this, let's look at Limited and Last Life, where he had the most control on how the final fight took place.
In Last Life, when it's down to the final four, Scott *could* have teamed up with Pearl, his ally all season, to kill Martyn and Ren. That aligns with wanting either your or your allies to win, no? But he doesn't. He suggests they split to the 4 corners of the map and have a fair fight on equal footing. Very fair.
With Limited Life it's even more apparent. Scott and Martyn have an impressive amount of time. They could both still die multiple times. Impulse is running out, and there's a numbers advantage. They could have killed Impulse and Scott could have let Martyn win, or Scott could have given Martyn his time to fight Impulse alone. But instead, he suggests they all go down to the same amount and have a fair fight.
In both situations, Scott puts fairness *over* an alliance victory. Even though Limited Life didn't end up ending fairly, that had nothing to do with Scott.
Double Life certainly has the strongest claim on Scott "letting someone win". That his death is an apology for abandoning Pearl.
But if you listen to what Scott says in the finale, he never apologizes. He says he didn't think they'd get this far, he says she deserves this more than him, and then he says the iconic "Tilly death do us part."
Scott didn't fight Pearl. But I don't think it came out of remorse. I think that too, came from a sense of fairness. Which is that Pearl, by all accounts, DOES deserve this win. If they fought it would basically be up to a draw. To chance. Scott has every chance of winning. But if you go over the events of Scott's final episode, he mostly runs. He survives. While Pearl 1v2'd two separate pairs and won! The only reason Pearl hasn't killed Scott already, who has been her enemy all season, is because they were randomly assigned to be soul-linked. A concept Scott has fought since the very beginning. He knows that while he never hurt their chances, Pearl is the reason they are here, and Pearl is the reason he is here. It wouldn't be fair for Pearl to lose to what is basically a coin flip. So, he doesn't leave it up to random chance.
So yes, Scott is loyal and does care about his allies, he proves that again and again. But the way he is involved in how the series end shows that his sense of order and fairness are equally important. Also, I think viewing his contributions from this angle help remedy some of the reasons people don't like his usual characterization because of how it effects the agency of other characters.
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@nacho-business1 I wanna super boop back so bad but I'm on mobile, I'm resorting to a ridiculous amount of revenge boops instead
SPAMMING BOOPS RN
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In my mind roams free
THE IDEA OF WHEN ALL THE CAMPERS ARE BACK....THE COCOAPUFFS ATTACK CAUSING THE CAMPERS TO RUN HAVOCK.
AND NICO...JUST STANDING THERE WITNESSING THE CHAOS HE CREATED
(Will too stuned to move because the campers were panicking)
(Mr.D not minding the chaos)
YOU CANT CHANGE MY MIND THIS WILL HAPPEN-
(and yes....nico ordered them to and the cocoapuffs were excited)
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𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 (ᵗᵃⁿᵍᵉʳⁱⁿᵉ ˣ ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ)
ᵐᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡⁱˢᵗ
𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬; none!
𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭; 544
𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭; can i request tangerine coming back from an assignment to his shared home with reader🙏🏾
︶︶︶ ୨୧ ︶︶︶
It was 2am. You had been dead asleep until about five minutes ago. Now you were awake and not even a little tired. Your phone was on your nightstand charging, but you didn’t bother picking it up, knowing that if you looked at it for a second, you’d forget about trying to sleep completely.
Of course, it would be easier if your boyfriend was here, but he was still in a whole other country doing god knows what. He said he should be back some time next week, so now all you had to do was work and wait for him. Every night was a struggle, not being able to text or call him unless he does so first. You wondered if he was even alive, which is a horrible but valid thought.
But every time you come even close to the conclusion that he’s dead, he shows up with just a scratch or two, like your own personal superhero. You lay on your stomach, your face pressed up on your pillow, thinking about him. How selfless he was, how he never expected you to do anything for him, despite the job he has.
You were right on the verge of sleep with sweet thoughts of Tangerine, until you heard the front door’s doorknob being rattled. You froze up and stared at the bedroom door. You shut your eyes as you finally heard the front door open, and it never occurred to you once that whoever got in had keys and the passcode. It never occurred to you that it was Tangerine.
Heavy but slow footsteps made their way towards the bedroom, making you more alert than before. Your hand made it’s way slowly to your nightstand, and when it was on your phone, the door opened gently.
Then a soft, "Babe?" made all your worries disappear. The lights turned on and when you could see him, you jumped up from the bed with your arms out, "TAN!"
“Nice to see you too.” You could feel him smiling into your neck and you could’ve melted right there.
You brought your voice to a whisper, remembering he was definitely tired. "How'd it go?"
"It went really well, actually. Mostly missed you." He smiled down at you and grabbed your hips, kissing your face anywhere he could.
You leaned into him, "I missed you more. I was worried about you."
"You always are, love."
You two stayed hugging in comfortable silence for about a minute before he spoke again.
"What were you doing up? Did I wake you?"
"No, you didn't wake me. I woke up like five minutes before you arrived, actually.”
He kisses you on your forehead one more time, “Alright, I’m gonna go shower and then come sleep for the next fourteen hours.”
You frown, “Just shower tomorrow.”
“I stink, love. I haven’t washed myself properly in weeks. I’m doing you a favor.”
“Can I at least help you? You can just lay there and I’ll wash you.”
Tangerine thought for a moment, “Well I don’t wanna be a both-”
“Tan, we’ve been together for YEARS. This is not even close to being a bother.”
Tangerine chuckled softly, finding it practically impossible to say no to you right now. "If you insist. Might fall asleep though."
“I’ll carry you to bed then.”
“Right.”
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