#MEPHONE WILL LIVE I BELIEVE IT

[just-a-toast]

Inanimate insanity edit!!

This took a while but I’m glad I finished before the finale!!

[oscconfessions]

Now that the askbox is back open and it has been a couple weeks:

The II twist is good and you all are misinterpreting it

When Steve Cobs said 'Mephone didn't just make the show, he made you' he means that Mephone created the contestants as real living people of whom are equitable to original characters

This means YES you CAN SHIP MEPHONE WITH HIS CONTESTANTS as that's just like you shipping yourself with your oc.

THIS ACTION THAT MEPHONE DID WAS SOMETHING HE DIDN'T REALIZE HE WAS DOING. He unintentionally created the contestants with his powers. This is why when he is asked by Cobs 'Why (he) did it', he responds with a very confused sounding '...What?'. That means he didn't put thought into their flaws and attributes, all of those things were unintentional.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, THIS MEANS THAT ALL THE CHARACTERS ACTIONS ACTUALLY DO MATTER. They all ARE real people. The show IS REAL. Just because Cobs told them that Mephone created them doesn't mean that they are not real in universe.

ANOTHER THING!!! WHEN COBS IS TALKING ABOUT MEPHONE AS IF MEPHONE IS A CHILD, THIS IS A TACTIC USED BY ABLEIST PARENTS TO MAKE THEIR ADULT CHILDREN SEEM AS IF THEY NEED TO BE CONTROLLED BY THEM. THIS IS LITERALLY AN ABUSE TACTIC. Yes there are people who do need to have support from their parents but Mephone4 has been proven to be able to function without the help of Cobs. That being said, IF YOU BELIEVE MEPHONE IS A CHILD, YOU ARE BEING MANIPULATED BY STEVE COBS TOO!!! YOU ARE BELIEVING HIS LIES!!! Yes, Mephone4 has done actions that are very immature, but, get this, Mephone4 is very developmentally disabled!!! It's literally shown to be a trait of his throughout the entire show!!! He can't do the things other Mephones are able to do while at the same level as them! Mephone4 is developmentally disabled, and Steve Cobs is using that flaw to make it seem like he's a child, WHICH HE IS NOT, in order to gain control over him.

Now, onto my theory for the next part of ii16;

Cobs will use this information against Suitcase and Knife. Cobs will most definitely make it seem like Mephone has been lying to them all this time about the competition. Cobs will most definitely try to manipulate them to get what he wants; control over the show and therefore Mephone4's actions. Now I know for sure Knife will not get this easily swayed by Cobs; Knife's entire arc in season 2 has consisted of trying to get people to stop being manipulated by others. Suitcase however... as strong as she has been throughout the season and as strong as she's slowly gotten, I am still unsure on whether or not she'd be able to see through Cobs. Part of me believes that she'd immediately believe him and decide that the only good way things can 'end' is if Cobs has control over Mephone4.

Anyways. Really needed to get this off my chest bc Jesus mcfucking christ ppl's media comprehension is TERRIBLE!!!!!! Go outside and touch some grass!!!!!

thank you anon for saying what needed to be said-📻

[numberonetacostan]

TACO IN III AU

HELLO HELLO HELLO EVERYONE I COME AT YOU WITH AN AU I HAVE!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D IT’S TACO IN SEASON 3 THAT’S THE AU YUP YUP YIPPEE!!!!!!! I HAVE DESCRIPTIONS FOR HOW EACH EPISODE WOULD CHANGE WITH TACO’S PRESENCE!!!! IT’LL CHANGE MORE AS THE SEASON GOES ON BUT I WILL BE STICKING MOSTLY WITH CANON HERE OTHER THAN ONE NOTABLE EXCEPTION!!!!!!! HOOOOOOOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!^^^^ ENJOY!!!! (especially you, sanon!!)

Episode 1 (Stranded in Paradise): Okay!! So the episode here starts as normal, favorites (not Taco!!) are all on the boat, that line about Box that’s really dark in retrospect, they crash onto Paradise, fans are introduced!!! Before the teams are made though, Mephone says they have ooooooone more favorite to bring in, who couldn’t come on the boat since she wasn’t in the hotel. Balloon and Painty offer their own guesses (���Is it Suitcase?!” “Or Lightbulb?!”) and Mephone gives a pleasant little “Nope!!” Before snapping open a portal that Taco falls out of!! She lands face down on the ground with a little “oof!” [sidenote: her little oof in episode 13 is so damn cute if you don’t remember it go listen to it its adorable]. Anyways, the s1 favorites are all VERY surprised to see her again, as it’s already been years since any of them have seen her at this point. Mephone welcomes her to season 3 as she’s getting up, and Taco is NOT having it. She does NOT want to be part of ANOTHER season of Inanimate Insanity. Inanimate Insanity sucks and she wants the entire show to end actually, she’s tired of it! Mephone just gives her a similar response about swimming as he does to OJ when he wants to leave, and jumps to dividing up the teams! Paintballs explode, Taco is on the yellow team. Aaaand Mephone introduces the cast to his quirky new assistant who strapped the paintballs to them, The Floor!!!! :3!!! He is Mephone’s assistant the entire time in this AU to make room for Taco in the cast.^^ If you’re wondering where she would go in the intro, she would still take Floory’s place because she is refusing to participate. This will become a common sight in the early episodes of this AU. Speaking of Taco not doing these bloody challenges, cliff jump time!!!! Remember how Yin-Yang kicks OJ and Painty off the cliff? Yeah he just grabs Taco’s head while she’s busy being sad and shocked about getting portal’d into another season of ii. Episode 14 happened so recently for her, she has so much to think about, and now she’s not only been forcibly taken out of hiding, but placed into another season of II against her will!!!! She is at the height of her mental health being bad. That Taco can fit so very much self-loathing in her. And having OJ of all people on her team doesn’t make that better. Anyways, Blue still loses, Blueberry is still eliminated, the season’s a-go!

Episode 2 (The Shame of the Name): Okie dokie uh I do not think Taco would show up to Boaty’s funeral she is avoiding everyone else as much as possible. She would not be interested in the challenge nor the team names either. However!!! Without The Floor, the yellow team would not know about the Sinkers’ team name,,, although to be honest I do believe that they could end up with the name ‘Thinkers’ even without that knowledge. Also I am bad at naming teams. So. Thinkers it is!! The team name isn’t that important anyways. [But if anyone has any other ideas, I’d be happy to hear them out!!] Taco does not link minds with everyone else. I do not believe she is even present for the contest. She does not want to be a part of this season. If she can’t leave, she will minimize her own involvement as much as she can. She has walked off, and is probably working on making herself a little hut to live in away from where everyone else is staying. 

Episode 3 (Snapshot Showdown): Here’s another one in which Taco doesn’t really participate… I promise this is going to get more interesting. No pansexual camera for her :(. I’m being so real here guys Taco is just hanging out in her hut this entire challenge. She is the only one who has a calm evening. Honestly if no one goes and gets her, which I doubt they would at this point, I don’t think she’d even know a challenge was happening. Until The Floor tells her!! He knows everything about the terrain, because he is the terrain, so he’d know where Taco’s hut is!!! He would probably inform her that they’ve started a challenge :). She would not care though she is too busy thinking about how she fumbles every relationship she forms and how she’s trapped in another season of Inanimate Insanity. If you are here for Taco to be having a good time I am so sorry this is not that au. 

Episode 4 (The Overthinkers): They’re up for elimination because Taco continues to not participate. She is not even at the challenge, which means she doesn’t reach the top of the volcano nor press the button, so Thinkers lose! NOW you might think that this makes the episode very short. Because they would all agree to vote Taco out. But this is not the case!!! Because Silver has access to the viewer vote stats, and a certain british foodstuff has been consistently getting the most votes. So the episode would continue mostly normally!! Meetings, anti-girl club, inner flame, press the button!!! I love Overthinkers :3 such a funny episode!!!!! So, elimination time!! The Floor lets Taco know that an elimination is going to happen and she shows right up!! She’s confident that she’s going to be eliminated and will finally get to leave this awful island and this horrid game and go back to. Huh. She doesn’t really have anything to go back to, really. Mepad’s comatose body? Another scheme? :(. But!!!! At least she’ll be out of the game. So anyways yeah Taco gets the immunity votes. Taco does not count :). Yin-Yang’s self confidence is spared!! Taco’s emotional state is not, not that it really could be at this point. OJ is still eliminated, but Taco is still too shocked and upset and in despair to feel anything about that. Silver does direct part of his speech towards her, though!! He admires her!!!! He wants to be in an alliance with her, and proposes it to her!! He would have approached her earlier, but since she’s been walking off and not participating he does in here in his grand triumphant speech. He got rid of her biggest competition, they could go far together!! Taco is not receptive at all, she doesn’t want to be in an alliance and “go far”, she wants to leave!!!!! The cracks on her shell get worse here!! She cracks more due to the emotional distress, poor thing. This is going to keep happening btw, it gets worse and worse because I like to hurt my favorite characters. Also because her mental state gets worse and worse the longer she’s forced to be in the game. She got the most votes, but still wasn’t allowed to leave. She’s still trapped.

Episode 5 (Tragedy at 60 Feet): Floory shows the Thinkers where Taco’s hut is at their request, and they drag her along to the challenge!! They do not want to risk her lack of presence making them lose another challenge. She’s still not participating tho lol, their egg-box-thingy is even worse than before, not even a lid this time, and their egg still breaks. Womp-womp!! The Thinkers can still have their leadership crisis, Silver can still tell everyone off about it, although his ice is noticeably thinner with Painty due to him adding his attempt to ally himself with Taco into his victory speech from last episode. Candle tries to reach out to Taco a bit during this ep, she can tell that Taco is messed up and doing TERRIBLE mentally, but Taco is very unreceptive and tries to get Candle to leave her alone. Candle does, but only after giving some of her sage advice, maybe about new chances and connections and apologies and such, yeah? Taco isn’t interested, though. I don’t think Silver would try again with Taco after this, he doesn't like being told no, especially with how annoyed she was at him and how public it was, yeah?

Episode 6 (Try Not to Laugh Challenge): Taco is the nuisance just like Floory was! Which is not good for the Thinkers because she is once again not doing anything. The only person the Floor gets out on their own is Goo, who is trying to cheer up Clover with Bot. Maybe he can end up making himself laugh while he tries to cheer up Clover? Oh my god the sour cream line. And if Taco is taking the floor's place then she's on the stage for that. Everyone goes quiet. Looks from Bot to Taco. Her shell cracks more and more as the season goes on; This would be one of those moments. She already wasn't really trying to do anything but she's just silent for the rest of the challenge if not the rest of the day. Pulls her arms in for self soothing and just walks off. Not far, though, she just curls up behind the stage. I’d say she’d cry a bit but I think she just dissociates altogether :(. Bot still goes after Balloon on their own instead of teaming up with the floor/Taco but it's bc they'd feel bad about getting Taco's team out after that. Candle would go to help Taco once she’s released from jail. She was not supposed to be as involved in this au as she’s becoming whoops. But!!! She can tell that Taco isn’t with them at the moment, so she’d go and help ground her. Grab something frozen from the Pick-Nix table for her to hold, run through her 5 sentences, etc. Gah!!! Here we have some of what Taco needs!! Kindness and understanding to help her emotionally recover to a point in which she can start to better herself and AAAAAAA!!!! I love Taco so much. Okay that’s it for this episode onto the next one!!! I change up the disarranged teams because of some character interaction that I want. These teams are only for like 2 episodes anyways, so. 

Episode 7 (Best Served Cold): Okay! So for the two new teams- I am significantly less creative than the show. The Thinkers and Pinkers stay the same, just with Balloon added to the Thinkers and Nickel added to the Pinkers. Testy still gets Cabby voted out in this episode Taco isn’t present for the aura scene, she is continuing to avoid everyone, but please know that her aura is full of regret, stress, and suffering <3. Something like a deep navy blue or black sort of color, yeah? So kind of vaguely not very new teams make the mile high pies! I think Balloon and Taco could also start to connect in this ep! Well, at least Balloon tries. I mean, he doesn’t really know Yin-Yang, Candle, or Silver that well, and even Painty isn’t one of the fellow s1 contestants we see him interact with very often. And Balloon would see she's doing so very bad and try to help!!!! He’s been there before, yeah? Candle would probably mention she’s still rather upset after the sour cream incident from the last challenge at some point, and could tell Balloon where her little hideout is. And a Balloon and Taco friendship could actually contribute towards conflict between Balloon and Nickel if Nickel sees Balloon hanging out with someone else he distrusts even if (according to Brian!) he low-key respects Taco. But this isn’t about Nickloon!!! And that’s not to say that Taco is at all receptive to his attempts!!! She would probably just try to ignore him, and does the same thing with Candle. She is doing so very awful!!!!!!! Mental health is in the negatives here, people!!!!!!! Oh right uhh the pinkers lose because. Uh. Idk Nickel stacks two half mile high pies and Mephone deems that worse than flower instead of flour in the crust? It doesn’t really matter why they lose I think, this au is focused on Taco anyways, but Cabby is still voted out just like in canon. 

Episode 8 (Out of Body Experience): I am killing Nickel. That’s the only note I previously had prepared for this episode lmao. But yeah, Taco can’t die yet because she still doesn’t believe she can be revived :3, and I fully intend for her to suffer with that as long as I can make her. So I suppose Nickel and Paintbrush swap instead of The Floor and Paintbrush. Taco comes over after the bridge crushes everyone because the loud noise gets her attention. And everyone is dead. Yikers. Taco would be a bit meaner about Mephone accidentally killing and incorrectly reviving everyone, though. Like when he tells BP that “We’re all very close here”, Taco would immediately and firmly refute that. And she is not quite as freaked as Nickel when Bot talks about them never dying, because Taco fucking hates Bow after she made her lose the s1 finale. Taco does not give one shit. Also, Taco would warm up to Candle a bit more here!! Sort of. After she lies to BP about why they’re all acting different!! I mean, Taco wouldn’t like Mephone getting out of trouble, but seeing Candle lie would make her more… down to Earth? To Taco, I suppose. Not enough to make significant progress, but Taco wouldn’t hate her as much. Might actually have a good think about her advice, yeah? Nickel would still be the one to realize that Clover’s luck had caused the incident, and she would still be voted out. 

Episode 9 (Title TBD): Last episode before the merge!!! Almost time for things to start ramping up!!^^ Taco would point out in front of everyone that Mephone was fudging the review score, because she’s a little hater <3. With the Thinkers, roles would change a bit!! Taco, who is known for adamantly not participating in challenges, would be made the director. Painty, with Bot on the other team, would be the artist. Yin-Yang still produces chaos every day, so they’re producer, Silver makes sure he gets to write, so Balloon is craft services. Candle is here too!! I’m kidding. She’d be co-artists with Painty, but end up helping out Yin-Yang like in canon. I think Yin might ask her for help here though, since Taco would be adamantly not participating, and thus wouldn’t really care if Yin-Yang wasn’t getting money. Candle would also have another little talk with Taco, pushing her a bit more towards new connections! There are people who will give her a chance, she doesn’t have to be alone, she just needs to open herself up to those connections. Things can get better for her!!! Taco acts quite unreceptive, even if what Candle said is making her feel emotions she usually pushes deep down. A certain salmon contestant also overhears what Candle says… I wonder if that will be super important for the rest of the au, yeah? Goo still writes his appreciation, uh, soliloquy for Bot, and between that and the fact that the Pinkers are currently a team of four versus the Thinkers 6, they lose again. Goo is voted out, unfortunately for me, because I love him. He really is the happiest little guy of all time! 

Episode 10 (I Am Chocolate!): Well, the participating cast members don’t get all that much screen time in this ep, yeah? Cabby still rejoins, good for her, and Test Tube is still eliminated, bad for her. Taco isn’t with everyone, so she doesn’t join in the tasty treat tasting time at the pick-nix table. However!!! Balloon does generate a few tea biscuits, and brings them to Taco’s hideout!!!!!!!!!!! It’s finally time for Tacloon friendship to begin!!!!! Yeah yeah yeah!!!!! He brings her the plate of biscuits because they’ve all seen her drinking tea, and?? Offers her connection!!!!! He’s been where she is right now, he gets how hopeless it can feel, but someone very important reached out to him, and if she’s willing, he wants to do the same for her!!!! He believes she can change and be better and happier!!!!!^^ Taco is more or less speechless, but does give a little thank you as he’s leaving. 

Episode 11 (Pesty Besties): Even if he was designed based on The Floor, I think he still works really well as Taco’s Inani-mate!!! I mean his whole thing is being against the competition and trying to get his fellow inani-mates to quit and well... that lines up pretty perfectly with Taco. She wouldn’t be forcing him to fight, but he would do it in a last ditch attempt to get his fellow Inani-mates to stop the madness!!!! They didn’t do any training though, they just chatted for a while. Oh but btw Taco would not name him Tootsy Wootsy. I have a name in mind though!!! "So... do you have a name?" "I am a cosmic being, beyond your comprehension." "..." "...Cosmo for short." Uh yeah he still dies. Taco loses him to the game just like she has lost everyone she cares about because of it :). Her shell cracks some more :). Balloon gives her a few pats on the shell though, to try and help, so that’s nice!!!!!!!!!!!! Silver is gonna get eliminated instead of Taco/The Floor anyways so I have some shuffling to do!!!! Okay so The Floor gets out when Silver and Candle switch alliances, so I guess in this uh. So Candle doesn't confront Silver about switching, instead reports that he's doing so to the rest of the Thinkers alliance, the vote ends up in a tie since Taco always votes for herself (despite getting immunity every time) and Candle beats Silver in the tie breaker. That's what I'm thinking!!! I’m sorry Silvercandle fans. 

Episode 12 (Not Home is Where the Heart is Nope Actually): Tacloon bond more in this ep with the new challenge!!!! Getting rid of The Floor can’t exactly be the challenge when he’s been an assistant the entire time, yeah? The new challenge… the.. new…challenge… uh… Toboggan races? Sure. That’s the first thing I thought of but I guess it works okay. Contestants split into pairs and must build a toboggan to race across the track that Mephone made. Fastest time wins! Yeah!! They can have their talk in this ep while they’re building their toboggan!!!! Balloon is going to be having a heartfelt talk about changing and becoming better and Taco is going to lash out at him. But Balloon is still going to help her!!!^^ He's talking about changing and Taco gets upset because he was never actually a mean person. More shell cracking here!! He was pretending and she's actually just awful. His actual first thoughts aren’t to be violent or try to manipulate others like hers are!!! He hasn’t ruined every single relationship he has!!!! He can apologize better than sending letter and useless letter that all get burnt anyways!!! Her whole slate has fallen apart and all that!!! She sees it as Balloon not having really been a mean person, he was acting, so he could change, but she really is a mean person so it's not possible for her!!! Well that's what SHE thinks. She believes herself to be incapable of starting over in more ways than one, people!!!! And he could be the Mepad (rip my prince) in this situation. You're no menace Taco etc etc. And!!! They connect!!!!! Relationship formed!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!^^ Anyways I want to keep the elimination order as close as possible so it still has to be Painty that gets voted out, but bot wouldn't vote for them, so I guess Taco will finally have to actually vote for someone!! Maybe since by this point Balloon and her have a bit of a friendship going, even with how hesitant she is, when he asks her to vote Painty she does, yeah? Since she and Balloon are buddies now, Taco would get (re)introduced to the Looney Balloonies!! Nickel is… himself, but he is so close to starting to change and also wants more numbers so keeps his yap mostly shut, and Bot is friendly!!! <3 To be clear though, Taco is not part of the alliance!! She still wants to be eliminated asap, since Mephone won’t let her quit, and by now she has had enough of alliances, yeah? Even if problems with her previous ones were primarily on her. OH BTW IMMUNITY VOTE STICKS AROUND IN THIS AU. Taco would be trying to get everyone to vote her out still if she wasn’t invincible every dang time so. Mephone doesn’t want the game to be predictable? Why would he let the contestant that he literally made to be unpredictable leave?

Episode 13 (Friend or Froze): Anniversary episode!!! Silver isn’t here, so Candle is scheming with Yin-Yang. With Taco hanging out with the looney balloonies, the new old thinkers are worrying about their numbers disadvantage!! They’d be scheming to try and get lucky lil Nickel on their side, with the help of Cabby who offers her file willingly to her alliance members. Taco would also be annoyed that the cliff jump was back lol. So Taco crosses to the pipe along with the looney balloonies and makes it to the iceberg!!! Candle has to be there, and I’d say Yin-Yang makes it too, this time!! So does Cabby, actually, but wheels + ice = slippy, so she slides off right away. Poor Cabby. Candle and Yin-Yang get Bot and Balloon out as they do in canon, and Taco doesn’t even want immunity so she just walks off. They manipulate Nickel, Nickel is still angry about his luck and gets crushed to death by Floory because of it! But!!! Balloon isn’t made to give away his immunity in this episode, since there’s no milk drama, so the looney balloonies don’t fall apart quite yet!!! …quite yet. Taco does notice Balloon seems upset after the challenge though, and trying to be a good friend, I think she’d ask him about it!!! In her own awkward way, but regardless!! He talks about it a bit, yeah? He would be really upset about what Nickel said, even without the cookie thing tipping him over the edge. As per canon, Candle is eliminated in this episode. Not a big Taco episode, but she’s so miserable in the next one she’d definitely need this reprieve. 

Episode 14 (Spring on the Breakfast): TACO MISERY EPISODE WOOOOOO!!!!!! I LOVE IT WHEN MY BLORBOS ARE MISERABLE!!! She’s paired with Yin-Yang in this episode, both having been on the Thinkers, so the other pairs are the same. Nickel and Balloon start their little divorce here rather than in the last ep. Suitcase wouldn’t have wanted Balloon pushing it aside when Nickel hurts him, yeah? Anyways. Unfortunately for me and @galacticrain they do not have a fun time together. Yang still gets them attacked by a bear. Taco having the worst time in the s1 loser room. Oh my god. Memories and regrets are flooding back!!! Yang has her do the room since she would know the elimination order, and she does, but she stops when she gets to Pickle and just… stares. Reflects. Misses. Regrets. Hurts. Cracks. For quite a while, until Yang gets tired of waiting and presses it himself, making it disappear. He finishes the room, and heads through the opened doorway. And now that there’s nothing left there, Taco leaves too, after another moment. I'm not 100% sure what to do with the fake person because it's supposed to be someone who means a lot to both the competitors and I don't think Yin Yang and Taco have a person like that that they share. Candle interacted with both of them, but she herself never really connected with Taco. And she never betrayed Yin Yang, so Yang would just be happy to see her. So. Uh. Well this AU is about TACO!!!!! So I’m putting Mic there :) Taco’s shell cracks once more upon seeing Mic. She'd probably back away from said Mic and fall down the pit trap thingy. So yeah. Misery for Taco!!!!!!!! B). She is very quiet and sad after this challenge!! And Nickloon just had their fight, so she and Balloon get to be sad, together!!! How lovely. Anyways!! Elimination time- and I’m changing things up!! Instead of Bot being eliminated in this ep, it’s Yin-Yang. With Taco added, the tiebreaker doesn’t happen, so. They don’t have the immunity vote nor milk, so there’s nothing to save them here, unfortunate as it is for them to be out. But!!! They’re still doing well without Candle’s betrayal upsetting their balance, so that’s a personal victory for them at least. 

Episode 15 (Blue Buried): GOOCO PROPAGANDA MUAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! THEY WILL BE FRIENDS IT IS INEVITABLE!!! So. You know how Taco was made to be manipulative. Taco is the manipulation queen, for better or for worse, yeah? She can absolutely tell that Blueberry is faking it. She doesn’t care enough to call him out on it when he first starts playing dead, but she’d call him out on it in the end when no one else gets it. She’s paired with Goo, so he gets to rejoin!! Yay!!! Their investigation is like that one spiderman meme in which the older spiderman is thinking and the younger spiderman is watching him think. I do not know much about Spiderman. Goo is very thankful that Taco figured it out and he could rejoin thanks to her!! Hooray!!!!!!^^ Taco gets the immunity cookie, which she does not want, and she offers it to Balloon!! But Balloon is pretty safe anyways, yeah? So he hints that maybe Taco could use the cookie to make some new connections, just like he was able to with Suitcase. Someone so friendly is a great place to start!! So she, awkwardly, since it’s Taco trying to socialize normally, gives him the immunity cookie!! And it’s Goo, so he’s happy and thankful and baby!!! And considers Taco a new friend!!!! Yippee!!!!!!! Sorry guys, I really love Goo. But this is my au so I’m not sorry actually. If you want a taco-in-iii au in which she isn’t friends with goo then make your own. Anyways, yeah, Goo rejoins, but Bot is eliminated in this episode. Same reasoning as Yin-Yang is eliminated in canon, they would destroy everyone else in the jury vote. 

Episode 16 (The Great Bluish Bake Off): This episode is quite different, yeah? No Blueberry to… drive the plot. Ah. Well, okay, the challenge is the same, travel through the dessert desert to the dessert island, bake something, Mephone’ll rate it, highest score wins! Taco would think of the hot air balloon idea, because she’s my smart lil’ cookie, and would even bring Goo and Balloon with her!! She’d initially want to just bring them, but Goo would want to invite everyone!!! And they’re buddies, so Taco lets Cabby and even Nickel in too. So they get to the desert much faster!! And they still have their ingredients, so they can actually bake!!! Except they actually need their ovens this time. Which are going to take a while to turn on. So they have some time to chill!! And Talk!!!! Mostly Talk. Nickloon are talking through their issues!!! Nickel gives his apology!!! They make up!! And Taco overhears it and thinks about apologizing to the people she’s wronged!!!  And how Nickle mentions that Balloon doesn’t have to forgive him but he still wanted to apologize regardless!!! Yay!!!!! And she and Goo get to chat for a while!! Even Cabby can join in! Speaking of Cabby, she wins immunity!! She had Mephone’s favorite cookie recipe on file, so it was pretty easy for her :]. As for the eliminated contestant? I’m killing Nickel again. Not literally, but he does get eliminated. Cabby is out of contention for voting, and Taco, much to her chagrin, still has her voted immunity. So it’s between Goo, Nickel, and Balloon. Taco, Nickel, and Balloon wouldn’t vote for Balloon, and Goo, Cabby, and Taco wouldn’t vote for Goo. That just leaves Nickel. Only Balloon and himself would be unwilling to vote for him. So in a 3-2 vote, Nickel is eliminated. But it’s okay, because he made up with his buddy and they still hug <3. 

Episode 17 (The Show Must Go On): Last episode before the finale!! Goo would love this challenge actually he gets to pitch all of his silly little ideas!!!!^^ And then he would hate it with all the burnout and all the ai “art” undertones, yeah? But uh yeah silly pitch episode my beloved, Goo makes it extra silly as he does. They still walk out at Cabby’s prompting, but since Silver isn’t here to… Silver all over the place, everyone walks out, so Mephone feels even worse about the automated episode thing! I don’t actually have too much to say about this episode, not a lot changes, it’s still a fun and silly episode full of fun and silly fake scenarios. Goo is voted out by Cabby and Balloon, unfortunately. He is another that would do quite well in the jury vote, I think. He is just too charming and cute for realsies. Taco wouldn’t take this well!! But not in the way you might think!! She isn’t angry with Balloon and Cabby, she’s angry at the game!! I mean, she has been the entire time, but Goo leaving sparks her flame up!!!! It’s not Cabby and Balloon’s fault that Goo had to leave, it’s the game!!! That she, and everyone for that matter, is forced to compete in over and over again!!! And she’s still tired of it!! She’s tired of all the grief the game causes!!! Losing friends, arguments that could be solved with just a talk if it wasn’t for the game making everything difficult, dealing with Mephone offloading his problems onto them, and refusing to let her leave!! She is pissed at him going into the finale fr. Her shell cracks more here!!!! She is so breaking literally and metaphorically I’m serious.

Episode 18 (A Jury of Your Fears): FINALE TIME!!!! They discuss season 1’s finale right at the beginning of the finale… yikers!! Taco was already having a bad day, and it just got worse. You see that that’s a theme of this finale. Taco feeling worse. Her opening statement is something simple. She does not want to be here. Do not vote for her. She is a tad grumpy, understandably so, even before her full speech. Augh and her final 3 speech is similar to her speech in Truth or Flare but like. Even more upset. Because with her getting to the finale in both s1 and s3 and having been watching for all of season 2? She's seen everything the game has done!!! Is one of the contestants who has suffered the most!!! OUCH she's carrying it all the whole time!! I mean, she’s talked to Balloon about the Pickle stuff somewhat, but he doesn’t know about Mic beyond Taco mentioning that she was meddling in season 2 And her having been homeless for years!!!! Because no one there besides Balloon knows she was watching season 2 so when she starts talking about it they're like "You were still around?? If you hate the game so much, why didn't you just leave??" And there are very much themes of her feeling trapped in the game, in her past, in her guilt, in her solitude, etc etc and with her being literally trapped in s3!!!!!! All she has wanted was to leave this entire time she just?? "It's an island! Where did you expect me to go?!" Or something!!! She has never been able to leave. Her entire life has been the game and she has lost everything because of it. She’d also bring up how they still don’t even know what this season’s prize is!!! They’re all competing and for what?? They don’t even know!!! No one unexpected needs to come. She's been cracking the entire season and finally breaks here. She is having the worst time!! Uh, oh, by the way, Candle doesn’t get upset about what Silver does with the flame here, because he doesn’t do anything, so she heads into the cage with everyone else. So no epic fight scene here. Womp womp for Candle. So yeah uh Mephone also doesn’t recover Taco. He is so very in his issues about the show ending, and just like in Truth or Flare, he isn’t eager to recover someone who just monologued about how the game sucks and how it should be ended forever, yeah? So she stays dead for a bit. Doesn’t find out about the lack of prize when Balloon and Cabby do. And then the Unvitationals jump in!! They may want the game to continue forever, but they also hate Mephone, yeah, so they recover Taco when they get control over Mephone!!! She’s not cracked anymore, having been recovered, but she’s still pretty pissed and agrees with quite a few of the Unvitationals’ points. Other than wanting the show to go on forever. She would rather it died a violent fiery death actually <3. Remember like two sentences ago when I said she’d be pretty pissed? Well she would be UNBELIEVABLY PISSED when she finds out about the plans for a fourth season. That included her. Honestly Taco would high-key want him melted. But again, she’s a smart cookie, she knows that would mean no more recovery system and she is buddies with Balloon now. Even if she would want Mephone to be dead in her heart, she wouldn’t want it in her brain, yeah? But that all brings us into the last episode of the season!!!

Episode 19 (You Can’t Do This Forever): So Taco is pretty unhappy. I don’t think she’d be big in on the Mephone’s defense. She’s angry at him, she does not have anything nice to say, so she will say nothing. She could be convinced to help by Cabby and Balloon to save everyone I think!!! Not for Mephone’s sake, but because it’s the right thing to do!!! Yeah, I don’t believe that either lol. She does it because Balloon asks her to help, and because he is at most risk of dying forever without a recovery system, especially with Walkie having just tried to kill him. She’s not losing another friend because of this stupid game. Votes are the same, not-melt still wins out, Walkie takes matters into her own lack-of-hands, lava time. So she’d go with Cabby and Balloon to the volcano!!! Unlike Silver, Taco doesn’t have an inner flame power to pretend to use to threaten Walkie-Talkie. But you know what she does have? HER GAY-ASS PINK LASER GUN THAT SHE LOOTED FROM HER OWN CORPSE!!!! Screw the inner flame, she just straight up holds Walkie at gunpoint. That’s my queen <3. Annual finale 4S appearance, Springy is revived, they go on with the voting as was the plan!! But before that? Mephone finally lets Taco quit. He offers the option if she still wants it, with an apology, and she takes it. She isn't interested in any prize, she’s only wanted to be out of the game, and Mephone finally lets her. 3rd place for Taco <3!!!! She joins as the final member of the jury. And in a close 7-9 vote, Cabby wins III!!! Good for her. Taco chills out in the library with everyone <3. She does return to Inanimate Island with the others though!! To apologize to Mic and Pickle, and also to retrieve Mepad from the forest. Oops. She’d apologize to him too. 

THE END!!! THANKS FOR READING THIS TOOK ME LONGER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BUT I STILL HAD FUN!!! <3 <3 HOPE Y’ALL ENJOYED MY RAMBLES!!!!! :D

[smile-files]

i almost forgot i was right in the middle of the ii3 finale???? more analysis with context from ii16. this is a long one!!

how springy talks about spring-bot like an itty bitty baby is reminiscent of how cobs infantilizes mephone and how bot themselves is also kind of infantilized... there's a point here about how having consciously created someone makes them feel like less of a person and more of an object in relation to you, with less human agency. you're the parent, and they're your child. the dual definition of "child" as both offspring and youth really plays a part here. even if your creation is mature, they'll always be a child to you, if you know what i mean.

interestingly, springy singles spring-bot out from the other spring-toys. as we know now, there is something more "real" about bot than the other contestants in that they weren't created by mephone, in that they are consciously aware of their creation and purpose and can thus choose their own path in that context. springy has fixated on bot ever since they first interacted; does springy somehow know they're the one exception?

and speaking of exceptions, bot is one of the only two nonbinary characters on the show, and given how they only came out as such right when the only other one was eliminated (paintbrush), they went on to feel really alone in that for a while; this is tied into the symbol that is bot being, well, a robot, which they are also alone in. bot had a whole speech to n/a about how both of them are "the only one of their kind" in a sense, and how there should be more of them, but for now they can find solace in the other people who'll support them anyway.

but springy is artificially making more of bot's kind, more robots artificially aware of being robots, more symbolically queer people. springy is terribly misunderstanding what makes bot special: they weren't programmed to be nonbinary, or programmed to be self-aware, or programmed to behave like someone aware of the fact that they were programmed... no, that's something bot did themselves. bot could've chosen to live forever under the guise of bow, under the guise of their "purpose"; but who bot is as a person, everything springy fixates on and fetishizes and wants to recreate, is everything bot wasn't created to be.

"i wish this was a mask!" ...bot realized they were being forced to wear the "mask" of bow, being forced to fulfill a "purpose", and was able to choose who they were because of that realization. but springy is denying that his purpose is any different from who he is: it isn't a mask he puts on. according to him, springy is indistinguishable from his purpose. springy idolizes bot's self-discovery, but doesn't believe in the agency behind it - and so springy wants to artificially recreate it without any agency involved...

...but in trying to do so, springy is undermining that self-discovery entirely. they clearly desire the ability to defy purpose, but they simultaneously submit to it, and thereby see purpose as a worthy means to an end: just as test tube and fan imposed the purpose of "being bow" on bot, springy is imposing the purpose of "being bot" on spring-bot.

springy is still caught up in the idea of "purpose", even if he thinks that idea is bad, something especially apparent when he begs for approval of having fulfilled his purpose of being helpful and making others smile.

springy, following their interaction with cabby about spring-bot, realizes they can be more than just their purpose; however, as the spring-toys were made while springy was still following his original purpose, and were thus made to take down mephone, they still obey walkie talkie in doing so.

in this episode, walkie talkie and springy talk a lot about their own "purpose", what they were "built" to do. there are a lot of implications that these two were also created by mephone, though definitely not consciously; they're more so projections of some of his inner desires, like having the show continue indefinitely or having it be lucrative (and treating the contestants like "toys" in a sense).

springy takes pride in being more than just his purpose; walkie talkie, meanwhile, takes pride in still having her purpose and still fulfilling it.

as walkie is antagonistic toward mephone, he immediately assumes she's working for steve cobs -- which is strikingly similar to his accusation of toilet working for cobs. toilet wasn't antagonistic, no, but he was incredibly annoying to mephone; and we know from the ii14 ending scene, and with the current context, that toilet was made by mephone (as he was attacked by mephone x and presumably deleted). walkie, too, was made by mephone; we get this thru-line here of mephone despising people who bother him, people who are really extensions of himself... people who want to defy what they were made for, but have difficulty doing that...

really, we don't know how much mephone knows now; he knows that, to some extent, these people's purposes revolve around him, but i'm not sure if he'd be fully clued into the fact that he made them. in any event, this is all a troubling revelation to him.

weirdly, while the other spring-toys deactivate when walkie talkie is turned off, the toy version of bot doesn't. well, given how spring-bot was programmed to defy programming, one would expect that it wouldn't "obey" being stopped. it's funny: effectively, spring-bot is more obedient to purpose/programming than the other spring-toys, because of its unnuanced defiance.

who is springy saying this to? spring-bot... or himself? he's sacrificing himself to save mephone, truly defying his purpose of being self-serving; he's ultimately choosing who he wants to be. we don't see spring-bot for the rest of the episode, so it's unclear what happens with it.

interestingly, though springy was created by mephone, mephone had to make a melife icon for them: springy didn't automatically have one. perhaps mephone technically has the capacity to regenerate anyone he creates, but he only naturally has the option to do so for his contestants? cuz reasonably, they'd be the ones dying over and over in his challenges?

at the same time, though, didn't dough turn into a ghost because he died before mephone created a melife icon for him? my theory is the following: if a person mephone creates dies before having a melife icon, mephone has a short window of time to create their icon and regenerate them before it's too late, at which point they'd die permanently and turn into a ghost.

balloon seems surprised that mephone's able to recover a non-contestant; as it is, now that mephone knows he can do so (on account of what walkie said), he does do so.

mephone comparing himself to cobs!! his seasons as his creations!!! something something that cool "we both reached for the gun" ii amv. you know.

i love how ambiguous his wording is here. "responsible [...] for these guys" could mean anything from mephone being in charge of their safety and happiness to being the reason they exist. and he's saying he's "responsible" for more than just his contestants, and that he "can help them, too"; does "them" refer to his contestants, or to whatever it is he's referring to aside from his contestants? is that folks like walkie talkie, springy, toilet, etc? those non-contestants he made and whom he knows revolve around him, even if he doesn't know directly that he created them? so many double-meanings here.

...

i've been able to understand the unvitational committee a lot more this time around, especially walkie talkie and springy; knowing their motivations and "purpose" in the context of ii16 makes it a lot more meaningful. the ii3 finale overall was pretty well-written i believe! not my favorite part of the season, but it wrapped it up pretty well, i think.

i must apologize to ii3! i used to be so negative about it all... but it's actually pretty darn good. very flawed in a lot of ways, certainly, and those flaws make me very mad (the way the show treated bot and cabby in particular), but the season overall is enjoyable and fascinating, and it fits into the lore very well :) love you ii3!!

[redacteddoesstuff]

Inanimate Insanity S2Episode 16 Spoilers (again)

So, I have an theory that the contests aren't gone gone. Most devices store deleted files in the trash, where they're in a state that can't be accessed but can be recovered.

This scene with Mic and Soap is practically begging you to draw that parallel.

That's probably how Mephone will get them back. Also, I refuse to believe that they're just dead forver.

Speaking of death I wonder how dough and bow fit into this. I can probably excuse dough as he was brought into the show midgame, but that still leaves bow. Because if she was created by mephone then that means that Mephone not only has the ability to create living people but also souls (or at least the closest alternative).

Also, is Mephone even aware that he can do that. Because that leaves two alternatives, 1 Mephone does know what he's doing and just didn't tell anyone or 2 he doesn't know and was doing it subconsciously. I personally am leaning towards the latter.

If we go off of what Cobs says here and how Mephone reacts then we can assume that he doesn't know. Just look at Cobs' face when Mephone says "what". Like he's genuinely surprised that Mephone didn't know what he was talking about.

Plus, Walkie talkie says some interesting things at the end of s3. When Mephone says that he knows who sent her we can guess that he means cobs, but Walkie Talkie shuts that down immediately. Watching this scene after ep16 shines a whole new blue light on everything. Especially that last line.

"Whether it's the one's YOU'VE built." She literally says in this line that Mephone created her, how did I not realize sooner. And the "we're all for you." She's being literal again, they contests are FOR him, for his show.

Also him not knowing explains why he assumed that Cobs created and sent her here. It also makes sense why his partnership with springy and why he was so intent on giving Mephone a "better" cast. "One that won't leave him" in his own words. Sure he wanted to make profit, but why would a company be so intent on fulfilling Mephones wishes.

I think that Mephone created springy and Walkie Talkie from his desire to continue the season.

My final theory for this post is that the egg was used to create Mephone. I also think that extends to Mephone4s as Mephone still has all the same abilities while in 4s' body. I don't have much evidence for that other then it explaining how he's able to do all that.

But you know, that's just a theory, an II theory! (Sorry, I need to say that)

[ghostsandfools]

I think about the Meeple headquarters a lot.

Like… Mecloud…. It’s a cloud……. And obviously the whole joke is like, yknow computers save stuff onto a cloud drive, blah blah blah, but I think there’s SO much more to it.

Mecloud isn’t just a computer joke, it’s symbolism. Cobs lives on a cloud, a false version of heaven. White and pristine and mystical. He views himself as a god, somebody worthy of worship. Everything he discovers, everything he creates, everything else in the world is below him.

Except Mephone4.

Because Mephone was one of the Shimmers. Mecloud may be high up, but it’s not in space. The Shimmers are a higher power beyond Cobs’ understanding, something he’ll never fully comprehend.

I think deep down he’s scared of them. Hes a genius, he knows everything about computers and the way the world works, but the Shimmers are something out of his grasp. A divinity he will never achieve.

And I think that’s why he belittles and criticizes Mephone so much. Deep down he knows Mephone is genuinely, truly divine. Mephone can create life, create worlds, create things Cobs could never even dream of. The only reason Cobs has so much power is because of his ability to manipulate. He makes everyone believe his false mockery of divinity is the real deal.

[ii-darkfic-confessions]

Mepad darkfic woohoo??!? Pretty inspired by heathers the musical

Mepad, as much as he tries to help the contestants a lot of the time his efforts are just futile. He has a bit of a struggle trying to be an unlicensed therapist until,, taco kidnaps him yayay

This is where he sees how bad it's really getting (during truth or flare) . Everyone hates each other and themselves, everyone is close to the edge for that damn million, they disregard their own safety. This truly is insanity.

Mepad thinks that if he ends all the conflicts everyone will be free. Taking everyone out. First, Taco and Mepad find a way to disable Mephones regen (I dunno how) or just take him out. They then go for the current contestants. The sooner it's over for them, the better.

Soon they move to the hotel. Whenever Taco starts to question things she'd be met with "Taco, trust me." Or "It is too late to turn back now." So she stays. This carries on until Mepad finds a quicker solution. Bombs.

They presumably steal stuff from hotel oj while everyone else is panicking. Build the explosive that connects to the boiler room. (Heh..heathers ref)

Last second, Taco has a change of heart and steals the bomb. She brings it in front of hotel oj and with no way to turn it off decides to her own life for all the lives she already took. Mepad comes running up after her. This is where a split happens

1 . Mepad convinces Taco to give him the bomb, also tarnished by guilt

2 . Taco refuses and dies

3 . The bomb gets chucked into the lake and they both live with the guilt and have to confront the contestants

Can't decide bru

-🦄🐋

Heathers is a classic. I never thought I'd see Taco and MePad in Veronica and JD's roles, but I believe it could be an interesting story.

[gemini526sdumptruck]

Inanimate Magic Insanity AU

Explanation Post

Can’t believe episode 17 shook me enough to make me genuinely redraw an AU I made when I was 11 but here we are.

So yeah, with II coming to an end this month, I got nostalgic and decided I wanted to modernize an old II magical girl AU I made in 2016 called "Inanimate Magic Insanity", and try to actually make a story out of it!

I wanted to share a few of the designs I came up with, so here's Lightbulb, Paper, Marshmallow, and Apple, since they were kinda "main characters" in the original AU.

I'm gonna do my best to describe it, because this rework is this in a bit of an early phase lol.

Onto the actual AU itself (Notice: Very mild spoilers for II 2 Episodes 16 and 17, just in case):

So essentially the story takes place in a currently unnamed object city. Everything there was perfectly normal, everyone was doing their own thing and whatnot. But then one day, a mysterious force came and started attacking the city (atm I'm not 100% sure on what the "monsters of the week" are, but I'm thinking that they're like robots and robot phones, related to Meeple).

Enter one MePhone 4, who lives somewhere in town in a seemingly regular house. He saw all of this happening and basically thought "what if I could do something about this". So this led to him creating the heroes (I like to think he made them Powerpuff Girls style lol)! 19 (later 20) objects who would be normal civilians most of the time, but when there's trouble, they'll have the ability to turn into superheroes!

Little does anyone in the city know, that MePhone 4's normal looking house hides a super expansive, high-tech HQ which is sorta like "Mission Control". This is where the heroes are told and given their missions, where they eat, sleep, and hang out. Basically their home. It's very important to MePhone that nobody outside of the hero team discovers "Mission Control".

The kinds of missions the heroes go on range from simple public service to actually fighting the big bad villains. One group of heroes might be saving a kitten from a tree, another group might be fighting the villain of the week! Outside of going on missions, the heroes also get to do things in the city. Like hang out at the park, or go to stores, get jobs if they want to. They just can't tell anybody that they're the heroes or tell anyone about "Mission Control".

The Heroes (really gotta think of a team name for them lol):

Lightbulb- Power of Electricity

Paintbrush- Power of Colors

Paper- Power of Creativity (basically he has a magic pencil and whatever he draws with it comes to life)

Marshmallow- Power of Sweets

Apple- Power of Truth (that was her power in the OG idk lol)

Test Tube- Power of Science (and to a lesser extent Technology)

Bomb- Power of Fire

Tissues- Power of the Cold

Cheesy- Power of Comedy

Cherries- Power of Duplication

Microphone- Power of Music

Balloon- Power of Air

Suitcase- Power of Safety Nets

Nickel- Power of Metal

Knife- Power of Strength

Soap- Power of Bubbles

Yin Yang- Power of Light Manipulation

Lifering- Power of the Sea

Clover- Power of Nature

Bot- Team Mascot (they were still built by Test Tube in this AU, Bot joins the team later on)

As for all the other characters, they're either civilians living in the city or antagonists. They weren't created by MePhone in this AU. These guys are real.

Some notable ones atm are:

Baseball (he would befriend Suitcase, Nickel, and Balloon)

Fan (he's a huge fan of the heroes, he would spend his time theorizing on what the monsters are and who the heroes really are)

Goo (would eventually befriend Bot)

And yeah, that's most of what I have rn! Will add more if I come up with anything.

Character designs coming soon.

[wisp-wandering]

For those of you who don't understand Taco’s complex character, think she's a straight up terrible person, or just want to know my view on her... this is the chapter for you! I will be going over analysis, psychology facts, and head cannons that align with her character.

Let's start with copy and pastes with Ideas I've already conveyed in other media's;

(This is me):

How come nobody here actually sees II in the light of a *REALITY SHOW*. A thing that's meant to bring out the worst in people? Like genuinely it makes me so frustrated that people can't see that. Characters like Steve Cobs/Walkie/Springy have no excuse, as they were never shoved into the environment. But the Gameshow was not only nonconsensual but offers 1 MILLION DOLLARS. in the light of 2011? THATS A LOT OF DAMN MONEY. most gameshows offer 10k, or 100k? 1 MILLION IS A LOT. Just to put it into perspective try to imagine the difference between 100k and 1Mil in marbles.  the human brain simply can't process that high of a number.

Onto the psychological effects. IT CAN PUT HIGH STRESS ON IT'S CONTESTANTS. and I'm just gonna say it right now. What Balloon, Trophy, and Taco did isn't that bad. LIKE I SWEAR. PSYCHOLOGICALLY IT MAKES SENSE FOR THEM TO USE STRATEGY LIKE THIS. The only thing I'll call Them out on was their rude comments and nature after the fact, but you also have to realize it's to exaggerate their negative antagonism towards the other contestants. In a game show like that it invokes behaviours that would otherwise not be part of their character. Trophy can be seen being a better person once not in the Gameshow. Cheesy was rude as shit until he wasn't in the Gameshow, Balloon reflected on his character when he wasn't in the Gameshow, Taco— oh! Would you look at that! Became better when she wasn't in a game show! Sure she acted shitty in some cases, but that was when money was still put on the line. I'm absolutely furious people can't realize that the Gameshow invokes that behaviour. Nobody cancels people from survivor when they act shitty. In fact, they Invited the shitty people TO PLAY AGAIN??? AND PEOPLE ROOTED FOR THEM??? People actually need to look at it from a bigger perspective.

Taco has conveyed the thing I've believed and tried to communicate on multiple occasions. THE GAMESHOW BRINGS OUT THE WORST IN PEOPLE!!! The only problem is that SHE DOESNT BELIEVE SHE HERSELF IS EFFECTED SIMILARLY. She's been berated and convinced she's a horrible person, and that she needs to act the way she does because that's who she is. Taco probably thinks she deserves what she's gotten, and was always too scared to confront Pickle directly. She probably thinks she needs to have circumstance around her change in order for her too aswell, considering how she wanted to go back with the Time Machine, but, when confronted by Mepad she denied it. I feel like the plot is pointing towards a situation where she tries to save everyone, and when confronted by Microphone she breaks down and curses herself out for being a horrible person, friend, and other things similar. Microphone and Pickle. Creating a situation where they show Taco that the game made her the way she was too. That she didn't have to be the villain.

Notice how Taco never blamed Mephone directly for the shortcomings of others? Sure she did say it was for his entertainment, but never that it was his fault. She blamed the game. Something NO OTHER VILLAIN HAS DONE. She taking account for her mistakes, THINKING ITS HER. And not stressful circumstances! She doesn't understand she's not a villain, She's just *human* (or object for that matter). A living breathing being. Mistakes don't make you the bad guy.

Also saying Taco has no will to make try and apologize for the sake of others is stupid too. She clearly wants to. She REALLY does. She's scared to hurt them, she's scared she will hurt the again.

(Spoilers for a Spider-Man no way home)

Its a similar trip to what happens at the end of Spider-Man NWH, she isn't going back because she thinks she's protecting them from herself. She genuinely believes she ruins everything she touches. She tried to do so by sabotaging the challenge!

Taco didn't really manipulate Microphone—??? I know what you're gonna say. "Ohh!! Wisp! Yes she did!!!" But— I mean... Rewatching it? If she is— it's... more of peer pressure than direct manipulation??? I mean. She never forced Microphone to do anything. Applauded her input... LET MICROPHONE LEAVE? There was no guilt tripping or alienation, Direct threats to Microphone and her friends. It was more so pressure about the game. Which was— probably Taco perceiving herself as still in the competition. Needing to out smart the others to get Microphone further. Taco seemed to admire Microphone's pacifist nature after a while. And I believe when she Attacked the aliens in ii14, she acted out of blind fear, like an unexpected twist in a challenge. You could tell her initial reaction wasn't malice, it was more of a natural response. She was more protecting Microphone than anything else. Trying to get her out as fast as possible.

I myself have been through a manipulative relationship, and... While I know all experiences aren't the same.

It doesn't feel malicious. Taco felt genuine. She wants to protect others from her own mistakes and herself. She's unknowingly putting others first! She doesn't even realize it! Taco is trying to be a villain only to mistakenly be good, and when she tries to be a hero, she's mistakenly bad... I feel bad for her. She doesn't understand she... Has it right now. It's sad...

What about the situation with balloon?

Well...

She tried to convince Mic to harm him, but never threatened Microphone or herself. Nor did she try to alienate balloon to make it more appealing. Taco pointed out a situation and gave a morally Grey solution. But she never forced Microphone to go with it, she just warned her of potential consequences.

People often mistake her strategy with manipulation. When... Taco didn't really manipulate anyone. She pretended, and provided input. Knowing actions have consequences from her own experience.

Taco is experiencing the "illusionary truth effect" otherwise known as "gaslighting":

(Online statements)

—...However, repetition itself should not serve as a signal of truth, since it does not add anything new to the conversation in terms of credibility. For this reason, the repetition bias is also called the "illusory truth effect"

the fact that repeated presentation of information or items typically leads to better memory for the material. The repetition effect is a general principle of learning, although there are exceptions and modifiers

In relationships, an abusive person may use gaslighting to isolate their partner, undermine their confidence, and make them easier to control. For example, they might tell someone they are irrational until the person starts to think it must be true.

It is a psychological FACT that if one, or other's repeatedly give you information, even if it's false, eventually your mind will begin to perceive it as true. It's why bullying can negatively effect someone, or even just simply saying, "hey fatty" as a joke. Even if you're the skinniest human being on the planet, If you or another says say it enough, the subconscious will inevitably perceive it as true, despite if you know it's false. Even something stupid, like, "The sky is red." Well, no. The sky is blue. You think. But, if someone were to bash that into your skull every day. Ranting on about how the sky IS RED. You're mind will betray your knowledge.

Everyone constantly talks about her in a bad light. Say she's horrible. A good for nothing liar. She's going to perceive it to be true in the end. And she has...

Saying Taco is nothing but a terrible person, and a villain just isn't true. She's an Anti hero, anti villain AT WORST. Not to mention her childish decisions and mind sets make her seem in her teen years, as per my head canons. That only makes her mind MORE malleable and vulnerable. Taco is a complicated Character. But that doesn't mean she's the worst human on the planet. Please, if you don't agree with what I've said, before you berate me, rewatch the show, or atleast look up the psychological effects and other such I included in this rant. I may add onto this in the future, so keep an eye out for a future Taco analysis.

Thank you for your time.

[lampyoil]

ii 17 spoilers AGAIN AGAIN im gonna be yapping a lot

Ok WHOEVER on Animationepic decided to WRITE THEIR WEAKNESSES/BAD QUALITIES ON THEIR DEAD BODIES JUST KNOW I AM RAPIDLY APPROACHING YOUR DESTINATION.

i cannot beLIEVE WHAT I AM SEEING

UNSERIOUS FOR CHEESY FUCK DUDE

his whole life was literally a joke. like.. he was named cheesy because he made shitty cheesy jokes and his entire purpose was to be annoying and unfunny but also unable to fully get it

like.. literally his whole purpose was to be a joke. One that Mephone obviously didnt even like considering he was happy when Cheesy was voted out (Not blaming Mephone but it sucks)

cheesy just genuinely wanted people to be happy and to laugh but instead he was hated by his team for being annoying for the majority of his life considering he was made JUST for the show.

Im glad atleast in his final moments he was friends with people but even that was short lived because he died for no good reason other than cobs’ messed up ideas. it sucks so hard

im very emotional over cheesy especially because even before i was in the fandom and i just got a few edits of ii here and there, i was already a fan of cheesy. id doodle him before i even knew anything about him just from small info i learned through edits! he was the REASON i even got into object shows in the first place, seeing him die in such a quick way where he was obviously scared and then to have him drawn on after he literally DIED just.. sucks. im probably being way to emotional over this all but in my defense ive obsessed over this guy for the last like.. four or so years

if you excuse me i have to go make a shitty au where everyone comes back and is happy and joyful and cobs dies in a fire

[asideofchaos]

II 16 Spoilers Ahead!

So I see a lot of people panicking that the contestants aren't real, but I don't that's what the whole "MePhone Created Everyone" was supposed to mean.

Because yes, MePhone made them and we see Suitcase and Knife glitch at the end, but we also see repeatedly that the contestants have their own souls and free will. Sure, there is definitely parts of them that MePhone came up with; such as PB's fire and the S2 Finalist not remembering the S3 time skip, but we see again and again the contestants doing things that MePhone does not want.

Case and point: Taco. Everything about Taco. Not only was she secretly smart without MePhone knowing, but she 1. tried to steal the million dollars, 2. hid in the woods for who-knows how long, 3. conspired with and manipulated running contestants, 4. kidnapped his assistant, and 5. took over the show for an entire episode. If MePhone had control over her then none of that would have even happened.

Outside of Taco, almost all of the contestants do things that MePhone does not want, such as:

Bow never leaving no matter how many times she was punched with the Fist-Thingy

The eliminated S1 contestants trying to escape Idiotic Island

Paper going insane and everything with Evil Paper happening

The Cherries launching Marshmallow to space where she would be unrecoverable

OJ suing MePhone and threatening to do it again

Tissues making MePhone sick

Suitcase developing horrible anxiety and hallucinations

Microphone taking Taco's deal

Lightbulb using Fan to fly (which we see MePhone call out as cheating)

Marshmallow running away to live in Purgatory Mansion

Lightbulb and Test Tube traveling back in time

Paintbrush painting Steve Cobs and then burning the entire field

Lightbulb and Test Tube finding the Gemories

Fan rushing out to get the egg

Knife not telling MePhone about Taco

Fan and Test Tube creating Bot to bring back Bow; who MePhone did not like

The Eliminated S3 contestants being able to go back to the hotel

Box getting hit with a hammer, falling down a mountain, and then bursting into flames when MePhone did not have a medic

The Floor not being able to be eliminated and almost erupting the volcano

Blueberry faking his own death

Silver Spoon letting his aura get the better of him and almost killing Candle

Lightbulb avoiding telling everyone about what is happening

And those are just the things that are coming to mind, I'm sure there are things that I missed, but there's even more compelling questions. If the contestants are fake, then why do they need a place to go when eliminated if MePhone could make them not exist anymore? What about everything going on in Hotel OJ, Idiotic Island, and Indefinite Island without MePhone knowledge; especially for the last one since he didn't even know it existed until Ep10. If the BFDI crossovers and Nickel's early comments in S1 are to be believed, then at one point Nickel had somehow tried to join BFDI instead!

Even in II 16, we see that the contestants can have their life sucked out of them, which shouldn't be possible if they don't have souls, meaning that they have to. There's also how Bow and Dough are both ghosts and how everyone can be body-swapped in S3 Ep8, or even how MePhone can revive them in the first place with all of their memories and personality intact. None of this should be possible if the contestants are fake.

That's not even mentioning that we already know what a fake contestant looks like with the replicas that Spring made in S3 Ep13! They can't talk and they have few emotions, which is in complete opposition to everyone else in Inanimate Insanity.

Even if MePhone made them in the first place, there is so much saying that yes, the contestants are real.

[enbypotat53]

OKAY so I just spent an hour collecting screenshots, time for the analysis!

(AS ALWAYS, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR INANIMATE INSANITY EPISODE 18 UNDER CUT!!!)

So I'll be tackling this like the episode 17 analysis, breaking it up into parts (except probably many, MANY more parts), but I'll start with Inanimate Island! (This won't be chronological, mostly just a by-area thing!)

And by god, do we start off strong. AN ANTHONY KOS SONG RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE?? HOLY SHIT.

Mephone thinking back on everything, his regrets about how he treated the contestants, his fears.. just. Wow. STRONG opening. (Also his little infodump to Mepad whilst they're still asleep/booting up, me too bud. Me too.)

Gotta admit I got choked up as soon as we started, both from built-up emotions whilst waiting, and just.. how powerful this was?? He cares SO damn much about the contestants, and Cobs destroyed EVERYTHING. This was his life, his escape (and we'll get to that later). Jesus, dude.

SPEAKING OF.

FUCK THIS GUY.

Holy SHIT did Joshua Waters do a phenominal job voicing him. I don't know if I've said it before but the II crew did SO good when they recast Cobs. Genuinely I don't think I could've asked for anyone better - you KNOW a VA is great when they can make you feel PHYSICAL RAGE just by saying their lines, y'know? When I first saw the trailer I had to actually take a break because I felt sick to my stomach just HEARING how this fuckass corn cob speaks to Mephone. His frequent infantalisation (both of Mephone, the contestants, the creatorbots, AND the viewers), and his manipulation, just.. eugh. He's probably the most well-written villain I've seen in a WHILE. AND HE'S SO PATHETIC?? He's a disgusting manchild who abuses his creations because it's the only semblance of power he'll get, and IT'S GREAT. I HATE HIM (/POS).

And ngl the self aware "it's good, just don't watch S1" gag made me choke on my lucozade, so thanks AE.

AND HOLY SHIT?? MEPHONE ACTUALLY FINDS HIS VOICE AND REBELS?? I'M SO PROUD OF HIM 😭💙

Again, more of Cobs being an asshole, but bless the Shimmers - they were so damn naïve, I'm glad they were warned and managed to get away, they just wanted their child back, man :(

NOW ONTO THE SCENE THAT MADE ME AUDIBLY SCREAM AND PUNCH MY BEDROOM WALL.

THEY KILLED MY BOY. MY BABY BOY.

Fun fact: I sent this message to a friend 2 hours before the episode dropped

Yeah I'm not okay.

Not gonna lie, I had a feeling it might've gone this way but I was PRAYING it didn't. Fuck, man.. Mepad is one of my absolute favourites for a multitude of reasons - he loves the contestants with all his heart, he'd do ANYTHING to protect them, and even though we could see how angry he was at Mephone in episode 17, he still gave his life to save him (and by extension, everyone else). He's a goddamn hero, but I wish he didn't have to die (and yes, I will be drawing fanart to cope). Glad he had a moment to be a badass though, Mepad is the living equivalent of "when the calm one gets mad, you know shit's about to hit the fan" and I love him for that 💙

ALSO LOOK HOW DISTRAUGHT TACO LOOKS?? MY BABY GIRL NO 😭😭😭

You could tell how much she cared about Mepad, and their friendship was SO important to me. I'll touch on this later but end song hurt my soul, ngl

AND WE OF COURSE HAVE COBS' DEATH.

So 10 image per post limit on the app fucked me over yet again, but I wanted to also briefly talk about Toilet so no popcorn image :(

I honestly think this death was so damn fitting for Cobs. It simultaneously feels dramatic, yet so utterly pathetic. It doesn't take itself too seriously, yet it's so built up and suspenseful - this is the moment we've ALL been waiting for. Seeing this bastard get his comeuppance. And to see his demise be a consequence of his vanity? He believed himself to be above everyone - he placed himself on a golden pedestal, thinking himself to be untouchable; he never would've believed he'd fall for such a simple illusion from "feeble minds", yet he did. He's a washed up old hack, through and through. All that grandeur? Just a façade. And honestly? The popcorn scene was so damn funny. Suitcase just casually offering Mephone a part of his father's cooked corpse had me cackling like a madman, it makes Cobs seem even more pathetic than he already was; reduced to a soft, delicate, utterly flavourless food that (if we're thinking about real-life movie theatres and how much popcorn people leave on the floor) is commonly stepped all over by everyone around. He remains in death how he always was in life.

(As always this'll be part one of the analysis, so strap in, folks! This'll be a long one!)

[oscconfessions]

Toipad has become a huge comfort pairing of mine recently and I'm upset at how underrepresented it is next to Tacopad rn . I love how the basis for toilet and mepad's relationship is how much they love and value and respect one another and help each other grow. Toilet for sure contributed to mepad's arc since the beginning, helping him understand that life doesn't run on logic and it's not fair and mepad wanting to make it fair for toilet because he knew how much work and effort he put into being mephones assistant while never getting anything back for it and mepad always believing in toilet even when everyone just saw him for his flaws and mistakes believing he couldn't do anything right, when mepad always saw him as an equal and basically as two gears of a bigger machine- both making it keep going and contributing in their own ways. Yet at every turn, either because of circumstance or because of others, they got separated. Like some cruel joke on them that the first people to truly see each other as they are are constantly being split from them, and never by choice. I get why people like tacopad and are making more stuff with them since honestly people are just more attached to taco in general, but I don't think they're as doomed as toipad personally, especially since mepad is the only person toilet really bonded with in the show and now he's gone. He finally got Mephones approval sure, but after this I doubt they'll be in each other's lives much anymore and it's not the same as it was before, especially since their relationship was never good to begin with and was always built on a repeating cycle of abuse. Toilet couldn't even bring himself to go to Mepad's memorial and Brian said it's because it would've been too hard on him and on the viewers to see, I think that alone should show how he's dealing with it. So I think they deserve more fan angst stuff good day

.

[numberonetacostan]

thinking about how taco and the rest of the s1 contestants would react to finding out she was practically made to win. like mephone visits the hotel post-finale talking about how he thinks they deserve to know what he planned for them to be like, and literally everyone ends up staring at taco when they hear about it. she probably wouldn’t even believe it at first. and then to think that she must have done something to ruin it for herself??

i also personally like to think that taco may have been one of the first ii contestants to break away from her programming and become her own person, even if she didn’t realize that’s what she was doing

Hello there :D!!!!!^^ Welcome, and thank you for sending in your hc!!!!! :] XD

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THE MOST RIGHT EVER. FINALLY A REASON TO TALK MORE ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH ANON!!!! (also sorry because I have been thinking about this a lot a lot a lot so i might deviate a bit more from your ask than i usually do). SHE. WAS. BUILT. TO. WIN. BUT SHE DIDN'T.

A little tangent before I go into Taco finding out, I think the reason she lost despite having been supposed to win is actually because of Bow. Now, I've mentioned before how Bow is literally the reason that Taco lost- Taco getting attacked by her is how OJ was able to catch up and beat her in the final footrace. But on a more meta level, Bow disrupted the original plan for the season. She wasn't part of the original cast. Mephone was forced by A.D.A.M. to let her in the show after she appeared halfway through the season!! Her inclusion was not in Mephone's plan. Her showing up threw things out of whack, culminating in her influence causing the intended winner of the season to lose.

Taco having been the planned winner actually makes season 2's existence make more sense, too. OJ won and built everyone a big shiny hotel to live in, they had a happy ending and everything they could want! Had Taco won, though, she (most likely, I have thoughts on this but I won't go on a tangent for the tangent) would have left with the money!!! The rest of the cast would have been left with squat, and without even a winner to celebrate since Taco ditches them. Perfect reason to start another season, right there in the same spot as season 1 took place!!! Give someone else the chance to win after the last winner got her prize and dipped. I can see her taking on her "iconoclast" role even better here, too. She won, but she isn't happy. She accomplished her goal, has everything she wants, but she's alone. So she goes back and works behind the scenes to try and put a stop to the game that pushed her to such extremes. She sees how it impacts and hurts everyone involved, and wants to put a stop to it. She allies with Mic more altruistically, to try and help someone being hurt by the game as she works to put a stop to it!! Truth or Flare can still happen relatively normally, even, with Taco desperately trying to convince the contestants to quit before they end up like her! Having won the money, but really ended up with nothing. Her redemption arc comes as her trying to fix her wrongdoings by preventing others from making the same mistakes she did. She can apologize to Pickle, explain herself, and they can be friends again!

But that's not how it happened. The other "meaner" characters get their redemptions as planned. Knife in season 2, Nickel in season 3, even Silver apologizes and gets to continue to have a relationship with Candle after he punches her flame out, even if it's a but strained for some time. But Taco? Her programming couldn't properly execute. She was built to win, but she didn't. So Mephone no longer had a planned redemption for her, or any plans for her, really. In Truth or Flare, in which Mephone had his memories back, he is surprised to see Taco show up. He did not realize she was still around. Still running mostly on her old programming despite her hating herself for it, and trying to break out of it, because the previous conditions to begin her redemption arc were never met. She had to get to "winning the game, but losing what really mattered" in a different way, that way being winning immunity for Mic in episode 14, but losing her most important connection because of it. Once that happens, she can finally really begin to change and be better, because the condition has finally been met, even if it wasn't quite how it was intended to be.

OH RIGHT YOUR ASK IS ABOUT HOW TACO AND THE OTHER S1 CONTESTANTS REACT TO FINDING OUT. UH. OOPSIES. I AM SO SORRY. GETTING TO IT NOW.

I honestly hadn't though about Mephone telling them outright!!! It would be some good growth for him to be the one to decide to tell them something important like this, that they have the right to know. He'd probably have to leave again soon after though. I can't imagine Taco taking it any sort of well. You're right that she wouldn't believe it first, she wouldn't want to believe it at first. That all this? Everything? The years of suffering? Because she was defective? Couldn't win, even though she was made to? Was it all for nothing? Even if she had won, she still would have been alone? Pickle could have forgiven her, if only she'd been able to fulfill her purpose? Augh, that's all so scrambled, but that's how she'd be thinking, you know? She would be so overwhelmed, shocked, in despair, mourning, heartbroken, all at the same time wrapped up into one little Taco. She'd just be quiet and just staring at Mephone and in the littlest voice she's ever spoken in says she needs to be alone. Goes to leave, Mephone steps towards her and asks her to wait, because he does feel bad and wants to apologize, but Taco is so not ready for that. She's been trying to heal and be better after the events of the finale- but every single wound has been violently ripped open with new ones torn into her, and she just can't do it. She would give that sort of raw scream you can only give when you have so many feelings that they need to get out through your mouth and make it clear that she needs to be alone, now.

And then I think she would sob her little heart out. The messiest, most brutal breakdown you've ever seen. Panic attacks, scratching, shouting, sobbing, breaking things, you name it. They'd leave her be for a bit, but Mic would get worried hearing all the crashing, and go to check on her. Taco has destroyed whatever space she is in and is still sobbing and scratching and breaking down, and Mic gives her a hug. And Taco sobs more, but she's being held and she can squeeze Mic and cry into her shoulder. It's a bad day for everyone, all around. OJ is having a bad time too, but is taking it a lot better than Taco, and also this ain't about him. She has a lot of healing to be done from here, truly.

I'm going to stop here, because i think this answers your ask and i have been procrastinating on an assignment that i really do need to get done now, but I can talk more about this if anyone has questions or just wants to hear more!!!^^ please ask for more this is so so so much i love it so very much please i want to talk about it more please ask questions anything please please

[venixthelorekeeper]

Does MePhone4 Think Cobs has MePad?

Just hear me out as someone always asking why MePhone abandoned MePad and never tried to look for him. Why did MePhone never go back for someone he saved from Cobs? Does he not care?

What if he does care?

MePhone thought it was Cobs when what we know as aliens showed up in s2. He ran off and hid with MePad in that cave. Then MePad left the cave only to later get taken out by Taco. The Alien Debacle happens, then MePhone resurfaces, too busy hiding his nerves and having said nerves to process anything. Then he realizes MePad is missing and brushes it off.

As the viewers, we have all the context of both Aliens and Taco.

Did he? No.

What it probly looked like to MePhone was Cob's alleged spaceship showed up and all he knew he could do was hide with MePad. MePad left the hiding spot. The next thing a very terrified MePhone processed was what he thought was Cobs leaving. He then goes to the vote session, sees no MePad, gets all the more freaked out and can't process any further truth because of how worry works.

He then puts all this misinformation together and assumes Cobs took MePad, making saving him infinitely more complicated than just finding Taco.

Like.....??? Am I grasping at straws or does this line of thinking make sense? Like, a lot of sense?

He might care about MePad a whole lot more than we're lead on to believe, he's just either

Too scared of Cobs OR

thinks Cobs just scrapped his buddy because Cobs probably would do that to an old creation that didn't end up serving it's purpose.

And why in the world would MePhone go back for a (hypothetical) pile of scrap thats just gonna make him feel more things when he can live in ignorance? (aka s3)

(theory kinda supported by his not wanting to go back, I guess?)

idk if this even is something but it might be.

[orionshounds]

i've just been thinking about cob's monologue in the lead up to the new episode

because if you look past all the language used.....cobs is basically admitting to mephone4 being really fucking powerful

like, he created living breathing people! from nothing! and even if he didn't do it on purpose, thats almost more impressive! But, cob's doesn't want anyone to think that he's powerful, especially mephone

at every possible moment cob's uses such dismissive language towards him. he tears down his image even when mephone isn't on the line to hear it! i mean sure, mephone is inexperienced, even childish at times, but cobs is trying to paint him as incompetent. and i think it is very on purpose

because while i think he doesn't want mephone to have any faith in himself, above all else i think he doesn't want knife or suitcase to have any faith in mephone

because if the contestants start believing in mephone.....they'll start fighting back