#also like bowie and raj get to be characters in their own right too. which is also important

[semiconducting]

ik its not most ppl but there are ppl in the td fandom who are SO nasty about rajbow like idc if you dont like them specifically but being all "ugh the stereotypical uwu boring gays, why did they do that they should have done literally anything else" is uh, yk. homophobic

[miss-bluerose]

TDI23 Season 2 ep 5 and 6 thoughts and theories. Spoilers ahead.

*I have seen the character spoilers for eps 8-10 but I'll only mention the challenges in this post.*

Ep 5: Running around an ice berg doing either an obstacle course or a maze to collect keys that will open a safe to retrieve a coin and bring it back to the island. This challenge was alright and the angry baby seals were funny. And the Yeti showed up again but didn't do much.

Ep 6: Partner up with someone, grab a canoe, get it to the water, then joust against your partner with a dueling stick to win and advance in the bracket. This is the third reference to Squid Game and I'm a little disappointed with some of the duo's tbh. I would have loved to see Raj vs Wayne and Julia vs MK but at least there was Axel vs Ripper. The final part with the horses on water skis was wack but at least they didn't get hurt.

*Ep 7: cake baking and a special guest judge

*Ep 8: human pinball

*Ep 9: tearing apart large objects

*Ep 10: memory game

*Ep 11: hunted by attack dogs and a pug

*Ep 12: fishhook challenge involving their worst fears

*Ep 13: final episode of the season

Merging the teams with 11 people left is crazy to me but I guess Chris just wanted to make MK suffer right away after she stole his hairdryer. There is also an immunity idol hidden somewhere and I hope Zee finds it, I'm still rooting for him to win! 💪

Chris:

I enjoyed him suffering through a bad hair day and loved how Chef kept giving him funny styles. So he did know about the cheating but didn't do anything about it until MK crossed him personally which doesn't shock me at all tbh. I'm glad he made her suffer though but Julia still needs to get her own dose of karma too. 🙏

Chef:

Owned a hair salon in the 80s and it shows lol. I laughed at his medieval outfit and his small moment in the confessional.

Eliminated contestants:

16th: Lauren/Scary Girl - still no sightings but ep 12 is going to involve the contestants worst fears so maybe she'll show up then? 🤞

15th: Chase

14th: Millie

13th: Emma

12th: Nichelle - She did pretty well in the challenge and I loved her sass towards Julia at the beginning but then she gets hired for a movie trilogy and quits the show just like that??? I feel bad for her since the contract is fake but she did save Zee from probably being eliminated but damn, what a way to end a character arc if there isn't a season 3. Hopefully she'll get taken back by Hollywood anyway now that she's a badass.

11th: Bowie - He let the girls + Ripper cheat in the ice challenge but put his foot down when they went too far in front of Raj and Wayne which was great to see. He didn't have too much angst with his boyfriend and they are staying together. His elimination was complete crap and no one can convince me that the Rat Faces dislike him more than Julia or MK.

Merge

Priya:

I still don't like her crush on Caleb and now that the teams are merged it's only going to get more annoying I fear. Her kissing her pillow was weird and telling her secret to Zee was a bad move. They both have controlling/strict parents and are starting to bond more than they were before but drama is likely on the horizon.

Caleb:

He really is as dense as plywood. Of course he's started to develop feelings for Priya right after he told Zee that he's only spending time with her to make an alliance with her. 🙄 The drama is coming, I can smell it.

Damien:

I laughed at him sassing Chris about being a bad person. He picked up on Priya's and Caleb's closeness, plays DND and he won the jousting challenge somehow, good for him! Ep 12 is the fear challenge so I can see him sticking around to face off against Lauren which would be really great to see. 👀

Axel:

She's just making out with Ripper a lot and not much else, super disappointing to see. 😔

Zee:

He found out about Priya's crush but is terrible at keeping secrets. I thought it was funny how the soda cans kept multiplying every time he was in the confessional. Pee isn't strong enough to melt that much snow/ice at once. He barely avoided elimination thanks to Nichelle quitting but I'm really worried about him. He thinks that Caleb just wants an alliance with Priya and doesn't know that he's started developing feelings for her which will most definitely lead to him spilling the beans and possibly being targeted for elimination. I really hope he finds the immunity idol to stay in the game longer or wins immunity when he needs to. I'm not ready for him to go home yet! I also want to know what he was going to ask Priya when he walked in on her kissing her pillow. 👀👀👀

Raj:

It was great to see him angry about his team cheating again but I'm glad that he didn't break up with Bowie. I hope he gets back at Julia for getting him eliminated somehow.

Wayne:

He was angry about the cheating too but it came off as more comical than Raj's anger. Him looking in two different directions freaked me out and apparently he has a really thick skull that got him included in a medical journal. I laughed at him annoying Julia and I hope he helps Raj get back at her.

Julia:

She is an absolute savage and has no qualms about being as underhanded as she needs to as long as she gets what she wants. She also has mile-thick plot armor to not get eliminated in the first episode of the merge. I'm beginning to think that she'll be the one to betray MK first before the reverse can happen. I can't wait for her to get what's coming to her.

MK:

Cheating has consequences, especially when you screw over Chris. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her suffer for everything that she's done but she didn't get eliminated which means that there could be more karma to come her way.

Ripper:

He's just making out with Axel a lot and is apparently fine with cheating in challenges. Not sure when he'll get eliminated but hopefully soon. I think he's the pain magnet for the season.

Each week I get more stressed out about what will happen next and I think that is a pretty impressive feat for a cartoon show meant for a younger audience or I'm just weird like that. 🤪 Excited for tomorrow, thanks for reading!

[resisteverything]

How I would arrange total drama eliminations and why.

Ripper

His character is obnoxious and adds nothing. I've had to cover my eyes multiple times because of his fucking farting because I couldn't watch this shit. And he was annoying me even before the farting. Get him off the show as early as possible. This is the most dramatic choice.

(Caleb is gone because Wayne and Raj are leaving at different times now, and Caleb has literally been done before, more than once)

Damien

He's really boring. Like so boring. His story arc isn't something if miss, and it would be honestly more satisfying if he got a happy ending where he was able to leave when he wanted to. Make him want to leave back in episode one and get eliminated then.

Nichelle

Nichelle is the only character I didn't want to give more or less screentime. So I guess she ended up here by chance.

Axel

She was too fun to have eliminated this early on. Like there was so much that could have happened with her that didn't, but not that much. So episode four she goes.

Chase

He's only this far in because I want to have Emma's story with him play out, and also have a big part of it be her getting him kicked off. That's a way better ending then them getting back together.

Lauren

Her leaving as soon as the alliance started was so disappointing. She could have been a tension inducing wild card that had Priya and Millie never sure if they could really trust her or not, with the audience not knowing either.

Zee

I don't really have a reason for this choice, he just had to go somewhere and this is where he ended up.

Emma

Emma goes here because I want to see her confront why she is the way she is, and also confront her issues, but also I'd rather see other characters more than her.

MK

MK should have done more than this, so here she goes. She seemed to be going somewhere with her story but then she wasn't.

Wayne or Raj

I don't know which one should go first. Maybe Wayne has to spend time without Raj and find interests of his own, because Raj has a whole thing with Bowie but Wayne is just heterosexual Raj. Or maybe Wayne goes first and Raj gets an episode without him that he spends with Bowie.

These two definitely go here because how could you get rid of Raj right as his relationship with Bowie was starting? Especially when Raj is so pure and wholesome and Bowie is a self-identified villain who manipulates his way to the top. The drama/comedy/character development practically writes itself.

Julia

Millie

Priya/Bowie

These are just the choices the show made so... I don't think I need a reason to leave them like this.

[pennypenpen]

Why Total Drama (2023)'s Finale is some of the worst offical TD Media I've seen, and how overall, ruin my enjoyment of the season.

[OBVIOUS SPOILERS FOR THE FINALE OF TOTAL DRAMA ISLAND (2023) AND TW: MENTIONS OF SELF-HARM AND SUICIDE]

So, I was watching—or should I say rewatching—the finale with a friend of mine, and I noticed the mistreatment of Millie has got to be one of the worst things that Total Drama has ever approved of. Not only is it realistically upsetting and sad to see but the episode itself was just one big “Bully Millie” party for Priya and Bowie. 

Priya was justified in getting angry with Millie about the notes, yes, I will not deny her that; however, her treatment with Millie was not only uncharacteristically awful but disgusting as well. Not only did she go in-depth about how much she wants to put Millie down, but is also shoving it in her face because of what? Not to mention, nearly killing herself just because of what Millie did, literally almost dying in a pit of lava. Honestly, for 12 episodes straight, Priya was an okay character, a bit bland but alright. However, in one singular episode, she basically became unredeemable, and no. Her asking about the last page of the note and forgiving Millie is not only a rushed conclusion but unjustified by Priya’s behaviour as well.

Bowie isn’t innocent either, matter of fact, he’s nearly worse than Priya. Of course, he was playing the game (I’m emphasizing on was) but the fact that he not only shared Millie’s notebook—RIGHT AFTER they became legit friends, and they're only friends, he decided to rip them apart and show BOTH of their true colors (Millie was the target but it also showed Priya’s color as well.) Afterwhich, not only did he celebrate their breakup but also basically left Millie crying after she got eliminated by telling her that he ripped the last page where Millie wrote a lot of good things about Priya, just to make her feel even worse.

I do not care if Priya and Millie made up, this was just disgusting. Like genuinely, disgusting. From Millie crying all night and lamenting how she lost her only friend, to Priya basically telling Millie to kill herself and Bowie just not caring about the mental damage he just gave to someone—when it’s clearly shown that they were genuine friends.

Total Drama can get realistic. Yes, it’s low-key the backbone of the series, but this was too much, and left a horrid taste in my mouth. And besides that, no one else was better anyways. Julia….is not a good character—matter of fact, I consider her a bland character, because we’ve seen this archetype so many times in Total Drama that she doesn’t really have an identity of her own; Damien’s a nothing character, the only thing that he’s notable for is him being good at science and wanting to leave (Of course, total drama flipped this for the sake of it “being funny” which wasn’t, I’m sorry). The only redeemable thing about this episode was the constant love that Raj sent Bowie’s way and Ripper just trying to help Millie out as best as he can (honestly, it’s one of his best episodes—dare I say, it IS his best episode). But other than that, it’s nothing but a cesspool of just people bullying Millie for their own selfish gain or not hearing her out and just adding in the piece themselves—even if they don’t even have the foggiest clue on where it went.

This season was such a massive disappointment, there I said it, and I’m not going to repeat myself otherwise. From actual compelling characters (MK, being the best example) being kicked for characters that we’ve seen before (Julia, being the best example), the overuse of potty humor (episode 5 being the most prime example) and the writing going from serviceable to down right horrid. I can’t even say with a fake smile on my face, I do not like this season. It was just wasted potential that turned into a want—no, A NEED—of a rewrite because of what I’ve seen on Monday and again today…. It was gross.