#Vile Verminious

[fountainpenguin]

Been bingeing T.U.F.F. Puppy and Bunsen Is a Beast while I've been sick. Here's a liveblog of highlights I enjoyed:

Every line of dialogue in these shows is fantastic...

- "You don't need to breathe- You just need to obey my every command." - "In the interest of our friendship, which is way more important to me than anything in the world... I'm taking the speedboat. Think about it- You don't want the hassle of owning a speedboat!" - "I've been nice this year. And by 'Nice,' I mean I've kept my more sinister acts on the downlow through deception, deceit, and occasionally framing others." - "This is the greatest moment of my brief life!" - "Anywho, Santa... You're looking buff! Have you been hitting the gym~?" / "Are we seriously doing this?" - "To protect my standing on the nice list, can you please refer to me as Marsha during this particular evil mission?" - "You guys have to save Christmas! ... I would, but I'm in a box and I'm 5." - "You don't need to know the laws when you're a criminal. Or a baby! Just a little fun fact I thought I'd throw out there." - "I know you are lying to me... Your status says I'm lying to The Chameleon." - "You voluntarily touched me in an affectionate way!" - "I love our new crib! It was an impulse buy. (Gasp)- We should steal a baby to put in it!" - "If I'm so dumb, how come I've been getting away with slowly poisoning you?" - "You're going down for armed robbery!" / "They're not armed." / "Are you kidding me? Have you seen this man's guns?" - "Let me leave! I'm not even helpful!" / "I'm never helpful and I'm still here." - Okay... Such good animatic redraw material.

- So many silly characters, many of whom look like cinnamon rolls but would actually kill you. I love them. I should finish my 'fic WIPs. Dudley's later flanderization-characterization still makes me sad... He cared so much about working in Season 1 that he couldn't settle down on vacation. He'd explore, he'd volunteer for things, he obsessed about paperwork... That's who he is... He was good at his job. I miss him.

- Who do you think has the higher kill count: Chameleon eating [confirmed sentient] bugs his whole life, or Keswick wiping out his home dimension? ... I guess it would HAVE to be Keswick because he would've killed the bugs too, huh?

- I really love the worldbuilding vibe of "You're allowed to kill other creatures, but if the ambulance is called, everyone is treated equally." Yeah, we sell flea collars and body spray. Yes, the Chief got incredibly sick when Dudley wore a flea collar into work; that is a thing that happened.

- Making one of the main characters a flea was pretty fantastic in itself, let's be honest. How many anthro shows have a bug main character (unless the show is all about bugs), and how many of them have a special mobility aid thing that magnifies their appearance, keeps them off the floor, gives them extra strength, etc... It's great.

- I love the Chief's monitor cart:

Why does it sit in chairs? How can he use the hands? Outrageous.

- It's heavily implied that even the creatures that look and act feral are actually sentient, which just makes Kitty bringing the Chief dead mice as a form of affection so much darker...

[cnt'd]

- How on earth did The Chameleon get invited to career day to speak to little kids about being a super villain? Whose idea was that?

- I love "Guard Dog"- It's probably my favorite episode. So many good quotes, such a goofy set-up, you get to travel outside Petropolis, it delves into some of the in-universe witness protection lore... It's great.

- I love Chameleon snuggling with Dudley because they're handcuffed together and he's cold-blooded. I like the end when Kitty is handcuffed to 5 people at once, but Dudley leaving her that way feels justified because she left him for the entire ride to Petsburg.

- I particularly enjoy Kitty only having 4 limbs, so Larry and Francesco are both chained to the same leg. I feel like they could very easily rip that off, especially with how often Francesco tries to eat stuff.

- I wanna talk about Chameleon's side hustle of going on dates with people who ask him to shapeshift into their dream person.

- Wannabee was forced out of the auditorium halfway through his evil scheme so the students could have play rehearsal.

- I will never be over Wannabee gushing over how cool he thinks it is that he can make honey and that he will outright tell you he makes it mouth to mouth. They could've given us bees passing the honey by hand, but no... No, we get to see them do it mouth to mouth and Wannabee brags about it. Hilarious.

- My adoration for Birdbrain is also growing. What do you mean he's lonely and cloning himself to save his species? What do you mean he can just walk into T.U.F.F. headquarters and shred their files for his nest material because he's endangered and they can't hurt him? That's hilarious.

- I think I said this years ago, but I really like how there's no romance between Birdbrain and Zippy. He hates her equally to all his other henchmen. Everyone he works with is useless, so he leaves them in the car with the window cracked instead of bringing them to heists. Man wants a partner and kids so bad, he puts up with the most annoying people you've ever seen... He hates them so much...

I can't stop thinking about the B-plot in "Pup In the Air" of Birdbrain trying to keep his deposit on the house he rented, but his henchmen just keep making terrible choices-

- Every time I think about how Owl's name is Terry, it just cracks me up. I don't think Birdbrain knows Owl and Bat have first names because the only two things they ever say are "Who?" and "Where?" so they can't communicate who they are as people.

- Also, shout-out to the commitment to Bat being blind. Unclear if he uses echolocation... He just kinda runs around. Why on earth does he have a gun?

Bonus screenshot to highlight Bat's gorgeous wing design:

- Why don't Owl and Birdbrain get feathered wings? DO they have feathered wings? I assume they don't, because Owl flies like this:

And we know Birdbrain can't fly, but his arms don't become wings either:

- Obsessed with Snaptrap having the power to erase minds and the only time he uses it is when wiping the minds of critics who were mean to his dancing clone.

- Some of these hero-villain relationships are so good... Dudley broke The Chameleon out of the holding cell so they can enter a two-person contest. Dudley pretends he's been poisoned and The Chameleon just goes along with it because it makes him look like a cool villain. Kitty gets dance lessons from Snaptrap... Dudley and Snaptrap were roommates... Snaptrap dated Dudley's mom... Dudley dated Birdbrain... They are so goofy.

- Speaking of Dudley dating Birdbrain, that episode cracks me up for many reasons, but one of them is definitely "Dudley getting in the way and being a pain even when he's trying to do his best job being sweet and helpful." "I'm blowing kisses~ And now they're hitting you~" /starts jabbing his fingers all over Birdbrain while Birdbrain's driving

- Can't stop thinking about how much I love Larry. Him and the evil crew he pulled by being a silly brother-in-law <3 I wish they would've delved into the Larry & Snaptrap are brothers-in-law thing in-show (It was only confirmed in outside trivia iirc), but... them.

He sit:

This would make a great "Draw the squad" meme, actually.

Oh, I just looked it up to see if I could find a source (because it was years ago that I read this fact and I suddenly worried it wasn't real). No direct source link, but here's what I found on the Wiki:

I've always assumed that means he's married to Pat since she's the only confirmed sister Snaptrap has-

But like, I think about this all the time... The Snaptraps are canonically a crime family, so did Larry know what he was getting into? Are they on good terms? They're not divorced. Is it a forbidden love? I still want a huge rivalry between the rats and the shrews... It would be so funny...

We know Snaptrap and Francesco share a bunk bed (or at minimum, a room with bunkbeds in it). I assume Larry goes home to see his wife, right? We know she's an actual successful criminal who thinks her brother is a failure, so, like... why does she let her husband hang out there where he's being tormented daily?

I watched the episode where Snaptrap gripes that Larry's face scares off girls, but like... that's so funny. Is it because he's married? Some of the other members of D.O.O.M. - like Ollie - are sad that girls don't talk to them, but Larry doesn't, like... ever discuss that. I wish he would've bragged about being married. I think it would drive Snaptrap up the wall. Maybe he does. I really wish we would've seen Larry at the Snaptrap family reunion. Larry, your wife...

I doodled Larry with his Murray hair because it's cute when he ties it back :)

- It will never not be funny that when Larry defected and founded his own league of villains, he broke the entire crimefighting system by refusing to call in advance to tell T.U.F.F. what he was about to steal. Overnight sensation. Everybody hates him for that.

- Once upon a time, I joked that Larry probably worked with his brother-in-law instead of his wife because Snaptrap's crimes are smaller, so Larry probably gets out of jail sooner and can spend more time with the kids, house, etc. Knowing what we know about what a meticulous planner he is when he takes over, I think that sounds about right. It's all one big, elaborate thing... That's very Larry.

- There are so many little moments of the Snaptrap-Larry hatred I enjoy, like how they play word games together and Larry just gets in his face about it. Larry rarely communicates directly with T.U.F.F. (barring the episode he's his own villain), but in "Girlfriend or Foe," he jumps on the call just to brag about how he's beating Snaptrap in the game and I think that's fantastic. Even back in "Share-a-Lair," they were playing word games.

- In the truth syrup episode, Snaptrap admits he doesn't actually hate Larry, but he's hard on him because he thinks Larry has the most potential to be evil... but Larry straight-up confirms that he's been putting black widows in Snaptrap's gym bag. It's so funny to me... Snaptrap is mean in predictable ways, but do not mess with Larry. He'll get you back.

- I like how they went on a gameshow where Snaptrap had to guess Larry's secret desire, and it was-

The reason they lost out on their free vacation to Maui was because Larry stuck a rattlesnake in Snaptrap's pants at the airport and they couldn't get on the plane. He just can't help himself... He hates him so much. I just love them. He sit...

Why does Larry just have access to rattlesnakes and cobras? What does he do in his spare time?

- I like when Snaptrap breaks out of the holding cell to get snacks and then he goes back. That's always great.

- I love how committed Mikey is to being president of the Beast welcoming community. He has ONE JOB and he's going to do it. He loves his gift baskets. What do you mean Muckledunk's biggest export is silent whistles and they sell 9 per year? What.

- Everything Mikey says is fascinating to me. Also, within the first ~60 seconds of knowing him as a character in Episode 1, you get so much... He's an extravert, he does his research, he knows his town history, he plans ahead, he gets excited when he doesn't mess up his prepared speech, he's savage for no reason... It's great. Flawless character introduction.

- Like... Just the entire dynamic of "Bunsen is the first Beast to come to human school - and he's a member of a species known for eating humans - and it's on Mikey to make him feel welcome, not just as a fellow student but as an authority figure" is really interesting to me. Most of Bunsen's friends throughout the series are Beasts, which makes sense- Bunsen's actually pretty shy. Like... you wouldn't guess it by looking at him and his role as comic relief, but he's definitely less social than Mikey.

This screenshot just tells you the whole series dynamic:

It's Mikey and Amanda at each other's throats and Bunsen anxious in the background. SO funny. I also watched "My Gym Partner's a Monkey" years ago (and a little bit of "Squirrel Boy"), and both those shows lean into the "human is the comedic straight man and the non-human is the wild one" vibes.

But no... not Bunsen Is a Beast. It's Mikey who's the energetic, off-the-wall wild card. Bunsen just lives here. He's straight-up just a nerd who got sent to human school. Love that for him. Mikey's driving this car, but Bunsen keeps him from plowing into buildings and lakes.

Literally your best defense against Mikey is that when he gets too excited, he faints. This happens in multiple episodes.

Bunsen has such incredible "Perfectionist, told he's mature for his age" vibes... In Episode 1 when he almost eats Mikey, he whimpers, "Sorry, Mikey... I failed to co-mingle..." Everything in Bunsen's plot line comes back to "If you screw up, we can kick your whole species underground again." That's so much for a little guy. Ugh. My heart. I think he'd get along fantastically with Hazel. Mikey would be a lot for her.

- Every time Mikey and Bunsen try to say something in sync, but fail to do so, it's funny to me...

Your honor, this is a show about friends and kindness...

- I totally forgot the person Amanda invited to school for the "someone you wouldn't normally hang out with" event was someone with a restraining order against her. That's objectively hilarious.

- Cracking up at Mikey asking Amanda for break-up advice. Also, Bunsen warned him that if he tried to have a break-up talk with Willa, she might just eat him, and Mikey did it anyway. There is one thing this boy will not compromise on and it is "I am not comfortable with this. Stop coming onto me." Love that for him.

- I forgot Mikey got invited to a dance by Bunsen's cousin and he was so terrified he stopped breathing.

- "Extremely horny rich girl" & "Guy who will lure her in with promises of kisses and then dodge at the last second so something horrible happens to her" is such a funny combo. Mikey-Amanda rivalry, you will always be famous to me... You cannot get Mikey to accept her flirtations... He would sooner chew his arm off, I think.

- I can't believe Mikey threw Amanda off Santa's sleigh. Flying above the city. Really high. On purpose. Of course he would.

- I always forget Bunsen's house was just, like... built in the middle of the decorative roundabout piece.

- Mikey sending his own clone to run his conspiracy club is still one of the funniest plot set-ups I've ever seen. I didn't see it coming because Mikey was bringing in clones for every club he's in, but... yep. I can see how this went wrong. Mikey is such a terrible dad to his clones; it's so funny. He just dunks on them every time he sees them.

- I like how Nerd Mikey is equally as unhinged as regular Mikey. Logically he would be - He's a clone - but what is going on inside his head... Sir, you can't just leave school property to go back in time...

- What do you mean Mikey is in the "Amanda Stares at Mikey and Makes Tiger Growl Sounds" club. I mean, by default he kind of has to be there, but that's so funny...

- Totally forgot Mikey wants to write a song called "Hey Mom- Get Out of My Room." His hatred for his clingy parents plagues him constantly.

- Amanda- "I'm going to watch Munroe change his shirt. Raowr." / Mikey, screaming- "I will DIE in this shirt!"

- It is SO funny that even if you ask him directly, Bunsen will avoid questions about whether he eats people, but his first instinct to smelling Mikey covered in barbecue sauce is to tell him he smells delicious, and his first response to his BFF Wolfie suggesting they eat Mikey on a plate of noodles is "That does sound good." Hey. what.

And Wolfie knows Bunsen's hesitant about it, because he blatantly calls Mikey delicious, removes Bunsen's eyes, and tries to eat Mikey while Bunsen's looking for his eyeballs. Later he actually does get him in his mouth. And Amanda. omfg Wolfie...

We literally get to see a health class short film that's like "Let's talk about people-eating urges and feelings of guilt that come with it!" omg. Bunsen, why is that in your house? Why was that already on your person? Do you wanna talk about it?

I wonder if BiaB would've done better if it had been played with Invader Zim vibes. These shows have similar energy, but Zim has the colors and music to match its dark vibe. BiaB also gets pretty dark, but the colors and music make it so peppy and cheery... I think that's silly. You can tell it's got FOP energy (Sweet on top, horrifying underneath).

- Bunsen has so much anxiety about following rules even when they're in direct conflict to his happiness... He is doing his best...

- Forgot Bunsen is personally offended to learn that humans don't give Santa gifts, because Beasts give gifts to their present-giver. He just has such a strong sense of personal justice and loyalty...

- I cannot get over Bob slowly fading from the timeline, but continuing to report the news anyway. He's flickering, gradually losing his legs, but he acts like nothing's wrong.

They brought him a stool because his legs got disintegrated... They throw things through his head..

- I can't believe Amanda almost put a kitten in a woodchipper.

- Mikey's parents are so overprotective, distant, and weird about him, they canonically have not given him The Talk about where babies come from. He doesn't know his middle name.

- I LOVE how Mikey's relationship with his parents is just, like... him screaming that he wants them to back off and let him grow up. They just spy on him with a drone. "Stalked by his parents" is such a silly thing to do with your main character.

- They leave him at home to fend for himself, but still micromanage what he's allowed to do (Ex: He can own a llama and a scary praying mantis, but not a dog). Heavily implied they avoid their son because germs. There is no doubt in my mind they will continue spying on him when he's an adult. That's rough, buddy.

- Is Mikey a kleptomaniac? He just steals things... Amanda's dog. A shopping cart. He took some guy's lamp for no reason. He just took it on his way out.

- It's not like "Mikey is a massive guilt-tripper" was new to me, but it's still SO funny to watch him blatantly take advantage of Cosmo and Wanda even after Timmy repeatedly asked him to stop wishing. Timmy gave him an inch and he fought for a mile.

- Perfect depiction of the Mikey-Timmy relationship:

Mikey, please stop running Cosmo and Wanda ragged- / I totally hear you. No <3

- Mikey is older, but Timmy is unquestionably the more sensible and responsible one of this duo. Which is horrifying.

iirc, the "Beast of Friends" crossover took place when Season 10 was airing, though it's probably pre-Chloe since she wasn't there. Consider: Timmy resisted Chloe as a godsister because Mikey had already turned him off to the idea of sharing fairies.

- I totally forgot Mikey got sent to the future once. I can use this...

- Timmy calls Mikey "kid who's older than me" because Mikey didn't like him just saying "kid"

- Mikey adored the crossover. I think Timmy's glad he didn't have to hang out with Mikey any longer than he did. Just in August, I scrapped my "Best. Day. Ever." prompt for the 130 which was about Mikey running Timmy ragged, but... I kinda want to bring it back. Mikey is exhausting. He will break you down.

- I like how Mikey was excited by everything Timmy showed him, but Timmy was uneasy about Bunsen's house; it's Timmy who took charge of trying to explain things as realistic to his confused dad. Mikey literally did not care if people were put off.

- I still think it would be funny if Mikey and Dev switched drones for a day. Also, you'll see this in my Dale character profile on the sideblog, but my headcanon is that Mikey grew up and went into security with a pinch of robotics on the side (taking after his parents), so he just, like... bothers Dale. They met as kids when Mikey tagged along on an installation trip for the Dimmadomes, playing into my long-time headcanon that all the rich people in Dimmsdale have wild security systems because of Mikey's parents. Dale does not like him. Mikey's been mailing Dale Waffle House coupons for 20 years. There are no Waffle Houses in California.

- Mikey would snap Peri like a toothpick. He's just a lot and I cannot imagine a world where Peri has the patience for him.

Anyway, thanks for reading my liveblog. Silly, silly...

[fountainpenguin]

I like how Snaptrap had to wear reflective glasses when he was holding the Kruger Rat so it wouldn't mind control him along with the rest of the wharf rats (S1 E1).

S3 E1 Snaptrap, who unthinkingly decided the best way to eliminate the evidence of his crime was to drink his mind control mustard himself, would be proud.

[fountainpenguin]

Your Beverly post (wow I have not thought on that show for years) suddenly made me try to imagine how she would interact with Chloe Carmichael. Any thoughts? (and prayers, let's be honest)

Yoooo! I wish we'd had a Bunsen Season 2 just so I could find out if they really were setting up a "Beverly backstabs Amanda and now she runs this show" plot. It's right there... C'est la vie!!

I've been sick this week and bingeing T.U.F.F. and Bunsen Is a Beast... Every time I've gone back to those shows after time away, I'm like "Wow, every line of dialogue is SO GOOD... I missed this so much." Insane amount of animatic potential for other fandoms.

I want to do the "Well, look what we have here... SOMEONE TO BLAME!" sequence (T.U.F.F. - "House Broken") with Dev and Peri so badly... It's so "Peri trying to sneak back into the Dimmadome household after the finale" coded...

I actually have a nice-sized liveblog post in my drafts that I was leaning towards not posting, but... Bunsen is so ridiculously close to my sense of humor and T.U.F.F. to the way I like worldbuilding for animal people that it's hard for me not to fawn over them, haha. I am cringe and free. Maybe I'll post that tomorrow.

I've always wanted to write a nice 'fic for each of my fandoms. I have a whole Keswick backstory I outlined years ago (centered around the canons of Keswick fighting his clone to the death, destroying his home dimension, striking a deal with The Chief for three-hearted bloodsucking rights, stuff like that).

It's one of those "I can't spend time on this without cutting into something more important" situations... C'est la vie! Life's too short, but Keswick cracks me up. What do you mean he killed everyone on his home planet and now he has a fear of being attacked by orphans? What do you mean he drops lines like "If I didn't work for the good guys, nothing I do would be legal." What do you mean his boss drinks his blood without consent? Hey!!

I have some other T.U.F.F. drafts that mainly revolve around Snaptrap and Larry being brothers-in-law (Canon, but only confirmed outside the show) and what that's done to their family, plus some other fun stuff with Chameleon and Meerkat... I might finish those because they were going to be quick one-shots anyway and they are ITCHING at me... We will see.

I just think Meerkat's sheer desperation to get in the cool kids' club despite it being painfully obvious he doesn't know his rights or why the other villains do what they do is really funny... Snaptrap, Birdbrain, and Chameleon know they're better off calling in to inform T.U.F.F. about their plans - because doing so legalizes breaking out of jail - but Meerkat doesn't know that's allowed... He waited out his whole sentence... I love him. I can't believe Wannabee got left to pull off a crime on his own because all his teammates had jury duty... He's just a little guy...

Also, I still love Mikey Munroe... He's my favorite. He is consistently mean and manipulative... That is a CHOICE for your protag, and it's fascinating. He's the epitome of "Looks like a cinnamon roll, but would kill you." I would've loved to see a Season 2 just for more Mikey. I ADORE him <3

The thing about Bunsen is that it is silly and goofy and it's just really funny to me. What do you mean Bunsen is regularly tempted to eat Mikey and he carries reminders that these urges are natural, but he needs to resist? what. excuse me?

Anyway, I'll have to post that liveblog... I just have feelings... I can't stop thinking about Dimmsdale and Petropolis being very heavily implied to exist in the same location, but in one of these worlds, the magical forest is held at bay and in the other, it's not, so it's grown out of hand and trying to eat people... I'm screaming.

ANYWAY! It's hard to wrap my head around Chloe and Beverly interacting, but I think you're onto something there- It's the "I've been working hard since I was a preschooler" energy.

But Chloe tries to be Lawful Good and Beverly is somewhere between Lawful Evil and Chaotic Evil, so they're gunning for completely different things.

I have a headcanon that at her first Fairy World Games, Chloe tries to play for the Anti-Fairies and Pixies because she feels bad for them. This gives me the same energy... Chloe feels bad for Bev and wants to help her.

I feel like Chloe would be hugely supportive of Beverly's attempts to enroll in middle school despite being a preschooler. She'd want to be her friend. Beverly is just nice enough that it's easy to overlook how unhinged she is. I feel like Chloe could easily be suckered into helping Beverly, and by the time she realizes "I'm the assistant of a child running the park like a dictatorship," she'd be in too deep.

Chloe has such "I try to see everyone in a good light" energy, and we know from canon that this gets her suckered into doing a lot of things she doesn't want to do. Beverly apparently has enough authority to organize a picket line (At least, she was the one who dismissed everyone after the picket was over), so...

I think Bev would run this show and Chloe would have a hard time getting untangled from that. Chloe is the right-hand man who would get excited when she sees the hero showing up.

"You came back!!" [following an argument where Chloe defended Beverly] and then she glances sideways at her boss. "I mean... Oh, no... We're about to be defeated..." (Said in the same monotone as "Oh no, I have tripped on my cape").

Insert joke about Amanda and Chloe having the same VA, so they can perfectly mimic each other's voices to confuse Bev :)

[fountainpenguin]

Where do you watch Tuff Puppy?

Hello, I'm sorry for the long delay in answering this message; I was on Tumblr hiatus last year, but wanted to come back and answer in case you're still interested.

I watched it via Hulu 30-day free trial back in early 2019 I think. It might still be there, if it's not it might be on Paramount+

Thanks for reaching out, and good luck in your future pursuits!

I definitely went into it thinking the target audience was probably 7-year-olds and that I wouldn't like it, but I honestly think it's my first or second fave of the Hartman show quartet. I love worldbuilding and writing 'fics for FOP, but that also makes watching FOP episodes "work" for me, as I feel like I need to be in "on" brain in case I catch something new.

Ergo I rarely turn on FOP episodes when I'm feeling down or want to turn off my brain, but I watch TUFF all the time. It makes for a fantastic "comfort and uplift" show. It also has some fantastic worldbuilding elements, some of my favorites being:

The multi-species bathroom set-up

Endangered species rights

Toy stores that sell actual pet toys

Weird hamster tunnels between skyscrapers are an actual part of the city's design

Still have to wear the cone of shame to avoid chewing on your butt

Flea collars are legal, but deadly, and the ambulance will still treat insect patients with full respect

The boss in the show is a flea and there's one scene where an employee has a bug bite and the boss just mumbles an apology for the bite because "He got hungry"

Snaptrap is actually a capable villain but he lives in a city of people who put yarn and tissue boxes in their safes

POV: You're an ectothermic prisoner so you beg your warden for snuggles because you're on a train with no blanket

It is made explicitly clear that the anthro bees still transfer nectar mouth to mouth like real bees and for some reason I find it hilarious, they very easily could have anthro'd this to be bees handing nectar to each other via basket, they just chose not to

There's an episode where Snaptrap opens a dance studio and all his dance moves are named after actions he does while committing crimes

The character who accidentally destroyed his home universe has a fear of being hunted down by orphans, these came up in completely separate episodes and I think about this a lot

Keswick swore an oath that he wouldn't work for villains and that's the excuse he gives when they try to recruit him, it's not "I choose not to do crime because it's bad," and he even says once that if he "didn't work for the good guys then nothing he does would be legal" and he's also been known to sadistically laugh when random civilians get hurt from his own inventions, and sometimes hurts people with inventions that aren't even part of the plot and I think about him a lot, I love Keswick and I'm glad he's so weird despite being on Team Good Guy

Also unrelated to worldbuilding, but there's one scene where two members of an evil villain squad can't show up to a crime because they have jury duty so their third member has to commit the crime by himself and it's my favorite joke.

Also one of the villains has the power to break out of jail any time he wants, but he chooses not to because being locked up with a cellmate is the only time someone will willingly hang out with him. He's also an unpublished pop-up book author.

The worldbuilding is really fun and there's a ton of quirky, silly dialogue, so I hope you get to watch and enjoy! Sorry again for the delay!

[fountainpenguin]

Snaptrap is the PERFECT amount of dumb

[fountainpenguin]

I had a mighty need for a good Homies of Horror compilation on my blog.

[fountainpenguin]

T.U.F.F. Puppy Villains

Snaptrap: I was born into a massive crime family and all my relatives bully me for failing to succeed at villainy. My crimes began with acting out against a system that didn't give me alternate food options despite my horrific allergies and now I'm in too deep.

Chameleon: My entire family cut me from their lives with no warning. Now I’m so touch-starved that I accept punishment as affection, and being locked up with a cellmate is the only form of physical contact I can get.

Bird Brain: All my family were wiped out and except for my clone, I’m the last member of my species. I'm new to the adult world and trying to provide for several henchmen who can't be left alone. I can hardly make it to crime scenes by taking the bus, so forget commuting to a regular job.

Meerkat: I'm desperate to get with the "in" crowd and will imitate everything my idols do despite immediate risks to my health and my total misunderstanding of villain social etiquette. There's a staggeringly high turnover rate for my friends and I refuse to acknowledge the problem may be me.

Jack:

Larry: I was roped into a criminal organization by marriage and there is no way out. Every day is one cruelty after another and even when I quit, I couldn't escape it. I feel like I have no real friends and no real support.

[fountainpenguin]

How is that more threatening than a regular volcano

[fountainpenguin]

FEET!

[fountainpenguin]

Snaptrap is actually a capable villain he’s just trapped in a city of people who fill their safes with yarn and tissue boxes

[fountainpenguin]

Get you someone who looks at you the way Snaptrap looks while announcing his plan to decapitate the Chameleon.

[fountainpenguin]

“Come on! If there wasn’t a spark, would you have so many pictures of me lying around?”

“Snaptrap these are your mugshots please get out of my life.”

[fountainpenguin]

I actually... really like this trio of evil goofballs a lot...

[fountainpenguin]

What do you think of TUFF Puppy? I see a lot of people give it flack for one reason or another, but do YOU think that’s warranted? Would you recommend the show at all? Hopefully that’s not a loaded questions. Thanks!

I was able to watch the show with my free 1-month trial on Hulu (as opposed to buying the episodes on Amazon or something), so that’s always nice, and it was a good way to keep entertained during my study breaks this semester.

I previously wrote out my general thoughts about “T.U.F.F.” in THIS post just after I finished my binge-watchif you’d like to read that too. I can expand on some thoughts in more detail more below the cut.

“T.U.F.F. Puppy” isn’t the first show that pops into my head as a recommendation for its genre (“WordGirl” is the superior crime-fighting cartoon in my mind). When it comes to secret agents, I do enjoy a good “Bruno the Kid” for its wit, slow burn character development, and the fact that some of its villains legitimately die. And when it comes to cartoons that really explore animal behavior and what it would be like to live in an anthro animal world, I’d point first to “My Gym Partner’s a Monkey.”

But for what it’s worth, “T.U.F.F. Puppy” was enjoyable. It didn’t feel like a repetitive Monster of the Week show and it had its share of fun and engaging plots. There were some worldbuilding elements I really enjoyed (such as laws protecting endangered species - including villains - and the aquarium doubling as prison for aquatic criminals). There were some fun animal behaviors that I enjoyed seeing anthropormorphized, such as Kitty bringing people dead mice to express affection and the Chief (who is a flea) sneaking drinks of Keswick’s blood when he gets hungry. Many of the jokes were creative and worked for me- for example, a background character ended up committing crimes solo for a day because his usual partners in crime were on jury duty.

It is a show aimed at 7-year-olds, so it has its share of simplistic characterizations, crude humor, and a preference for action over long-term character development. And blood. There will be blood.There are a few continuity issues as well, but they’re pretty minor details. If you’ve enjoyed the other Hartman shows and are itching for something to watch this summer, it’s a fun choice if you can find it for free. I will say that now that I’ve watched it, it’s fair game for headcanons and ‘fic allusions.

I’ve been re-watching the series with my little brother (skipping around to see my favorites instead of going chronologically this time) and it’s been enjoyable. He’s gotten really into it and we like quoting random lines at each other (There’s an entire song about how to defuse a nuclear bomb that we’re particularly fond of).

The way I see it, if you go into it with an open mind, you’ll enjoy it, and if you go into it looking for reasons to dislike it, you’ll find them. I’ve been thinking about it for a few weeks now and I think that “T.U.F.F.” might actually be my second favorite of the Hartman shows. I’m more biology-minded than tech-minded and worldbuilding-oriented than action-oriented. I could never get interested in much about “Danny Phantom” except Youngblood psychology, and as much as I adore Mikey being a manipulative narcissist, the rest of “Bunsen Is a Beast” is a little hit or miss for me. 

I enjoyed how “T.U.F.F.” really drew me into the world. If you watch the show starting from Episode 1, you learn everyone’s names extremely quickly. That means every major character at T.U.F.F., every single villain, and every henchman every villain has. I believe the exteriors (and some interior rooms) of every major character’s home were seen within the first half of Season 1, except Keswick’s which was seen in Season 2. We even learned the streets of several major locations. Details like that helped strengthen my belief in the world and follow along without getting lost. Villains were often defeated through clever plots rather than just punching them into submission, which was nice too, and they were a nice blend of being goofy and legitimately threatening.

Feel free to skip anything containing the Caped Cod, though, because he’s a piece of work and you’re not missing much.

Character-wise, I would have liked to see more female characters, and more villains too. One of the awesome things about “WordGirl” is that is has a truly massive pool of villains to draw from, and they’re all fleshed out in lovely shades of moral gray. In “T.U.F.F.” you will get the same few villains over and over again, so you’d better learn to like them. Some of the villains didn’t appeal to me, while others are fascinating from a psychology / writing perspective.

I wasn’t very interested in Snaptrap (the show’s main antagonist) during my first watch. He’s your typical evil megalomaniac, but he’s also dumber than bricks and doesn’t have a lot of redeeming qualities to choose from. During my second watch, however, he’s grown on me. I’ve realized that I like him more when I listen to what he says instead of overthinking what he does. He’s probably the funniest character in the entire show, and has a whole slew of quirky lines like “If I’m so dumb, why have I been getting away with slowly poisoning you?” and “I love our new crib! It was an impulse buy. (Gasp!) We should steal a baby to put in it!” One of his quirks is that ambiguity trips him up, so he’s easily confused and has a lot of quasi-insightful thoughts about mundane things… it’s hilarious.

Snaptrap’s not that bright, but he’s incredibly impulsive with a knack for building destructive weapons and promptly losing them. He also has a streak of affection for kids and is a surprisingly good parent when put in that position (He’s absolutely the type who would encourage his kids to follow their dreams and would support them every step of the way, which is an interesting quality for a villain). Literally the first thing he did when he realized he’d accidentally cloned himself was send his clone into the world to live the happy life he didn’t get to have. He grows on me more and more each day. He’s fun.

I like the Chameleon (the second main antagonist of the show) a lot. I favor neutral characters, and the Chameleon tends to base his loyalties on the kindness others show him. Sadly for him, both the good guys and the bad guys find him clingy and annoying, so he ends up ping-ponging back and forth between whichever side he believes will cause him the least amount of pain (When he knows he’s upset powerful enemies, he’ll try to hide in either jail or witness protection to avoid facing consequences).

His motives for most crimes are hilariously petty. He’ll target vacation spots where he had a bad experience or attempt to burn the whole city because he thinks the heating company takes advantage of him for being cold-blooded. He’s the type of villain who commits international crimes purely to earn the “international criminal” bragging rights, but he’s also the type of villain who will drive random strangers to the airport mid-crime attempt despite it being out of his way. He’s described himself as someone who “doesn’t always make the best choices, but you just can’t help rooting for anyway.”

The Chameleon is arguably the smartest of the main villain trio, but his weakness is that he’ll let his “friends” walk all over him in a desperate attempt to maintain one-sided friendships. In Season 2 he got himself tangled in a terribly abusive relationship with his girlfriend and is completely in denial that she’s only interested in him for his money. He’s exactly the type of quirky villain I’m interested in. I’d love to tap inside his head for a ‘fic or two.

The third main villain, Bird Brain, isn’t one of my favorites. I did enjoy a lot of the minor villains, such as the members of F.L.O.P.P. (the Fiendish League of Potential Perpetrators) who think they’re way more evil than they really are. Meerkat is particularly interesting. He’s obviously in the criminal business for fame rather than fortune, but planning isn’t his strong suit. He can organize a get-together, put together an evil lair, scout for useful weapons, he’s great at pep talks, he has connections- he can do EVERYTHING on the spectrum to put a criminal organization in motion, except actually think up ambitious plans. He works so hard, but he’s his own worst enemy.

He’s like an evil secretary.He really needs a boss to design plans for him and keep him on track and pat him on the head and tell him he’s doing a good job. If Snaptrap ever took him into D.O.O.M. (and listened to him), he’d have organization and Meerkat would have muscle. Seeing ‘kat run with the big kids for a day would be interesting, I think.

Anyway, there’s a nice handful of engaging characters in the show and some fun episode plots as well. The worldbuilding is decent, though there’s still room for headcanons to expound upon. I’d recommend it to anyone who thinks they might like it, because if you have a good attitude, you’ll see it as a good show. It has its ups and downs, but it’s cute and clever overall. There are three seasons worth of episodes (Seasons 1 and 2 have 50 individual episodes each) so if you watch it, you’re sure to find something in there you enjoy!

[fountainpenguin]

I just...... appreciate this.