Chapter Text
Exit Interview #1:James Costa
A camera cut into the Motel. Emily was smirking as she relaxed on a chair, sitting across from James who was on the couch, a relaxed smile on his face with his arms crossed, seeing quite satisfied with himself. Emily turned to look at the camera and her smirk grew.
“Welcome one and all, to a new segment! Disventure Camp All-Stars is now having Exit Interviews! That’s right! We thought we’d give you all something to chew on in the downtime in between episodes.” Emily explained. She turned to James who opened his eyes, and smirked back at her as she smirked at him.
“And today’s guest is none other than our resident first boot, James Costa! How are you doing today, James?” She asked as she leaned back in her chair, a grin on her face. James chuckled.
“I’m doing well today. Thank you, Emily. It’s an honour to be the first guest on this new segment. And it’s a great time to advertise my Social Media again!” James remarked with a chuckle. Emily nodded, a sly smirk overtaking her features.
“Mhm. Probably not as much an honour being the first boot of the All-Star Season, though, I take it?” She asked. James blinked, before giving her a bashful smile and scratching his head/
“Geez. Really coming in hot with the questions, huh? Ouch.” He replied with a chuckle. Emily crossed one leg over the other and checked her nails smugly.
“Well, what can I say? There’s a reason why they call me one of the best interviewers in the business.” She remarked smugly. James nodded.
“I certainly don’t doubt that. Well, to answer your question, yeah, I won’t lie and say being the First Boot stings. After spending a lot of time on Season 2 being distracted by my Social Media and then having all the melodrama with Aiden, I was hoping I could redeem myself this time around and actually focus on the game… Well, safe to say that didn’t happen.” James chuckled. Emily nodded.
“Right, right. You were a fan favourite on Season 2. The fans LOVED you and Aiden’s relationship- And all the drama and angst that came with it, of course. Everyone loves a good dose of doomed yaoi.” She remarked with a wink to the camera. James looked amused by this.
“That they certainly do. I’m well aware Aiden and I’s relationship ‘selled well,’ but I’m quite lucky things even ended as they did. To be honest, I’m not really sure if I even still deserve him… Especially after using him at the beginning, but we talked that out and Aiden’s got me to be less focused on social media, and to just enjoy the casual wonders of life. Of course, I still love being an Influencer.” He chuckled. Emily nodded, humming in agreement.
“Right, right. Are you disappointed you left this early, knowing that you could’ve potentially been involved in a good yaoi storyline~? I mean, with Jake’s jealousy and all, we could’ve been looking at a love Square over there.” She chuckled. James crossed his arms and faced her with a frown.
“No offence, but I’d rather not. In a sense, I’m glad I was the First Boot. As embarrassing as it is, I’d rather not get caught up in any more love drama. I know I kind of dug myself into that hole in Season 2 since I used Aiden as bait to begin with, and that was essentially asking for Drama, but this time around I was hoping to mainly just focus on… Playing the game. It was pretty mentally taxing last time and I was hoping to avoid being involved in any… Personal dramas, even if it WOULD have been good for ratings.” He explained. Emily raised an eyebrow at him.
“On that note, what do you mean, exactly, by ‘playing the game?’ What was you’re strategy going in?” She questioned. James frowned.
“Well, it was pretty simple. I was mainly just planning on being more strategic from the start this time. Not being super cutthroat or villainous or anything like that- But I was going to use my prior connections from Season 2 to help me out. If I had made it further with them I would’ve linked up with Aiden, Lake, and Rosa to form an alliance. And of course, you already saw I allied with Hunter as well. It was essentially always my goal to get the Season 2 players to work together- With the exception of Yul and… Karol of course.” James said the last name with a sneer. Emily nodded.
“That makes sense. Where would you say you’re game went wrong? And if you could go back in time, would you play any differently?” She questioned. James scratched his head, deep in thought.
“Well, it would be easy to just get mad and blame my elimination on Jake, and yeah, obviously it’s because he’s an annoying baby and got delusional over stuff. But I won’t lie and say I couldn’t have handled things better.” James admitted. Emily smirked.
“And how did you mess up?” She asked. James sighed, looking mildly annoyed.
“Well- I could’ve responded to Jake better. The entire reason I got targeted to begin with was because I acted hostile back toward him. If I had been more patient and not lost my cool, I probably could’ve been able to assuage his worries and avoid that entire fight. Also- I’ll admit targeting Jake wasn’t that smart. Especially considering I already placed a target on my back, so I should’ve known we’d end up in a tie. Hunter had the right idea about voting Fiore, and in retrospect, I should’ve listened to him. I guess it wouldn’t have mattered anyway since Rosa wouldn’t have voted for Fiore. I also should’ve done a better job at getting my allies on the same page, I didn’t really discipline either of them and that’s what led to us splitting our votes. If I could go back in time I’d change things so I never blew up on Jake- And I’d act with more rationality and logic by proposing Dan as a compromise target. If the tiebreaker was physical, we’d stand a good chance at beating him.” James reasoned. Emily blinked, seemingly surprised by James’s in depth explanation, before nodding and smiling.
“Well, that’s an interesting analysis. It seems you’ve been able to reflect on you’re elimination and see how you went wrong. I take it that means you’re interested in playing again?” She questioned. James chuckled, a sheepish grin on his face.
“Well, yeah- When you get eliminated first I feel you need to do a bit of reflection on where you went wrong. And as for playing again… Consider it a maybe for now. I’m not really opposed to it- I did come back to this season even after what happened in Season 2, but I’m also a busy guy. I’ve become an Actor recently so it doesn’t leave much time to do anything else- Miracle I managed to make this season to begin with. But in the future when I’m less busy, who knows? I’ll be sure to accept if I have the time when I get an invite again.” James explained. Emily smiled.
“Well, in any case, thank you for you’re time today James. That’s all we have for today. See you in the next episode.”