cGrian is getting worse
Aka I plunged headfirst into analysis trafficblr and now I wanna share my thoughts on Grian who is the only cc I watch nearly enough to justify talking about.
(Also disclaimer this isnt rlly an analysis cuz a lot of this is headcannon based)
So its agreed upon in fandom that the most significant backstory Grian has is his background as a Watcher. The headcannons vary but its mostly agreed that he does participate in the series as both a player AND. Watcher (bc he's the admin)
Its also interesting to me that most people paint his involvement as a Watcher to be reluctant and best, forced and unwanted completely at worst, despite the fact in the recent life series Grian is very pleased and self-satisified with the admin based shenanigans (eg. he loves the snails, he takes amusement in knowing whats going on when everyone else is confused) and more and more comfortable exerting his admin authority (ending/prolonging sessions when he finds it funny, enforcing the rules of secret keeping in secret life, giving himself arguably one of the best superpowers in wildlife).
Coupled with his recent (wl and pl I believe) vehemence in actively enforcing jimmy's canary narrative and more uh I cant really think of the word but he's fixated on getting another win, plus the uptick in asshole behaviour (especially to people in his own damn teams) I think we may be looking at a narrative where Grian has accepted his role as a Watcher by desensitising himself to the game and treating it more like an actual game.
I think this is really interesting because if you subscribe to the idea that he's either forced to make the games by other Watchers or his own need to feed, it creates a narrative where Grian who has very little control over the situation, takes on an instigator role by playing into what little power he can find in being an admin. He also does this on a smaller scale between other players where he does and says mean things to them to feel in control. (his behaviour towards pearl, constant dogging on jimmy, complaining about skizz and mumbo being terrible at staying alive in wl)
Another way I think he's emotionally disconnecting himself from the deries is by self enforcing the idea that this is a game and trying to be less invested in the interaction aspect of the game (because rhat requires him to emphathetic which reminds him that other people are actually being harmed by these games) and being overly invested in the idea of being singlemindedly 'strategic' and focused on winning (which is 100% backfiring bc his social game this season is ASSSSS and not strategic at all).
Im veering into complete speculation/headcannon territory now but I this this also creates a toxic self-sustaining cycle where he dehumanizes and caricaturizing his perception of the players (even himself!) to feel less bad abt making the games, which leads him to treat them badly, which leads him to further distort his view of the players to ease his guilt for acting in certain ways during the game.
Worst part? I dont think he's doing it on purpose. He's not aware of the toll the game is taking on him and even the effects of his own actions sometimes because he's so desensitized to the reality of the game.
Tldr; Grian is grasping for a sense of control and trying to minimize his guilt by being less empathetic and rejecting the social aspect of the games which is manifesting as an uptick in asshole behaviour and an increasingly self-serving win focused mindset (which in incompatible with his other thing bc he cant win without the social aspect). So ironically its amking his game worse.
This might be incomprehensible and is probably super inaccurate but I'm posting it anyway.
