#there's a lot of bots on here but usually they don't insult me???

[thinking-emoji]

Um question to all my followers. Can you just quickly let me know what vibes I give off in general because ...

[refriedrambles]

Okay! Note for Gir Goes Crazy and Stuff

The voot changes size between shots, but it's definitely bigger then it's normally portrayed in general

GIR does love his animals

And back to the yelling

"Cows are my friends," whispering into Zim's ear like a little creep. "I don't like you." Coming in hard here Zim.

Operation Dookie isn't a bad plan, but I like how Zim's not realizing or upset about his name being synonymous with shit

Ooo a glimpse into GIR's head. Dancing weenies. How much of this is tv poisoning his brain and how much of this is being wired different

Okay so Zim's quite literally covered in shit on the way back I can get why he's so pissed, but he's keeping it mostly together

Did Zim make the behavioral modulator? Is it based off an existing piece of equipment?

"No more distractions GIR. Attack the human! This time on a dangerously high setting" Like lethal force or is this behavior modulator potentially damaging to GIR at the setting it's on now? Zim? Zim???

He keeps up the duties even after being forced into duty mode. Which is an interesting bit only because he always snaps out of duty mood when doing random shit. He can't shift gears here and I think that's what the eye twitch is about at the end of this scene. That energy's still building up and he can't effectively release it

Even in duty mood he's keeping up the yays and shit. He's being force to be serious and profession and he's still struggling

Zim's so excited when he thinks he fixed GIR and just loses all momentum.

Oh Squid Cop my favorite background human (Squid Cop for best henchmen 2023!)

GIR has so much info on humanity, he probably would have told Zim that was a cop car in his normal mode and still chased after it (with less damage in the process)

Zim is no longer keeping it together

Throws cop to the ground tied up in his own seat belt, "I have captured the enemy for meat testing. Praise me! PRAISE ME!!!" posing the entire time. He is copying Zim's behaviors here

Squid Cop point out aliens and begging for his life in the most cliche, but also some how funny way. "Please! I have a house and children and pets and a toilet- toilet children."

"Make silence now human." is a perfect line and no one can convince me otherwise

Zim experimenting on random children in his free time checks out. Why the happiness centers of his brain specifically? No one, but Nick will know

"With all due respect, you must know the SIR unit code enables freewill in the event that the mission is threatened. This police human was a threat." Very very interesting line here but dude this whole interaction is great.

"You dare tell ME what I already know?!" "Did you know that?" Zim's gonna popped a blood vessel and just lashes out with "Your legs are stupid!" cause he still thinks GIR isn't gonna get it if he tries to explain that yes in fact he did know that

This is all ignoring the fact that said police human would not have been a threat if Zim hadn't ordered GIR to check out the noise or if GIR had put on his disguise before he jumped outside

Duty mode GIR is still just as defective as before

Look the problem in this episode is even after Zim traps GIR in a state of focus that is highly stressful for the bot continues to treat him like he's stupid and he isn't really to begins with. Normally he'd be able to move on let the insults and slights slide off of him, but now. Now he's forced to focus on them. Let them linger in his head because his programming is forcing him to. Especially given who's saying it. He goes into duty mode when he's given orders. Zim's words carry a lot of weight for the bot even if he might not want them too

Zim's probably heard all this shit thrown at him countless times, it's his norm, he knows how to cope. GIR does not

You just don't like him my guy. He's not wrong that switching this guy's brain is in fact a huge waste of time, but he IS being more of a dick then usual

Like GIR's fighting himself on calling Zim here sir and I definitely think it's more because of how he's being treated then what Zim's actually doing. GIR gathering intel from broadcasts isn't even a bad idea even if he was actually functional. In his normal state it kinda good idea, it keeps GIR occupied and away from what Zim might be working on. But like its also why he knows way more about earth and humans then Zim does. It's what typically works the best

GIR's "purpose" and him feeling like his potential is being wasted, who's that remind me of?

I feel like I've done notes on this episode before and came to a very strong (to me at least) conclusion, that I'm now very bias towards and that is likely tainting this batch of notes. But oh well

BUT LIKE AM I WRONG THO??? His threat assessment is off, he's running into things without necessarily thinking them thru (to the extent that the one thing he consistently remembers in his normal state, the dog suit, is completely forgotten), he needs praise, HE DEMANDS PRAISE, he's using the same insult Zim threw at him, everything is about the mission! But nothing is REALLY about the mission. There's this need to prove himself worthy of existence and Zim's attempts to alter and change GIR likely isn't that different to the robot to the threat of deletion. Something as flawed as Zim thinking GIR is broken must mean something is seriously wrong, right? The blow up, the frustration, and turning on Zim? That's self preservation. I don't think GIR hates Zim anymore then Zim hates GIR in this. And I don't believe Zim hates GIR, he might view him as a nuisance, or an obstacle, or even a test, but he could simply just shut the robot down. You know, if he did hate him

Zim is soft underneath everything. Specifically towards his minions, but he doesn't know how to treat them, because no one's treated him right

GIR's fear is being expressed as frustration and rage in the same way Zim typically presents his if he can help it. But there is absolutely some resentment towards Zim from how he's being treated too

I'm going in circles here

This is a stupidly high tech library

"I'm sorry, you have two disks overdue. We'll have to confiscate your retinas." The most annoyingly pretentious laugh leading into a "hmmn" as GIR beats down the door. Lady's got the biggest smile the whole time. Love this line

Her. Unhinged legend. She just goes with it.

This show is perfect. And I especially love the minor characters in this episode

Poor Squid Cop and his existential crisis. (Squid Cop for best henchmen 2023!)

Zim is just like 'I'm a cop now. No one can stop me.' Then immediately 'wtf happened here?!'

GIR is curious to begin with combined with the mission directive and his copying of Zim's behaviors, none of this is a surprise. I really like that he's still using Zim verbiage.

Squid cop just immediately trying to help Zim when he's asked is wonderful

You can't just curse snacks Zim! It goes against everything the Tallest stand for!

WHO SAVED THE DAY?! WHO STOPPED ZIM FROM BEING VIOLENTLY MURDERED BY GIR?! HMMM?! HMMMMMMMMM?!!?!?! (shaking you wildly)

But I do think when GIR says he didn't like being Zim's servant he meant that at least in the moment. Mostly from the stuff he experience while stuck in duty mode, but likely from some stuff before that too. Zim doesn't treat GIR right. I know. He knows too, to some extent, he typically backs off if there are tears because that's how he knows he went too far. But I also think Duty mode was forcing GIR to focus on the negatives, the imperatives and the mission directives. The only fulfillment his code was allowing was that which aligned with his "purpose".

We were robbed of the galactic space battle with Squid Cop. (Squid Cop for best henchmen 2023!) It's truly a crushing blow for humanity. I sob at night thinking of what could have been...

Idk man these are rough notes. A little more polished then normal, but I still haven't really put my thoughts together

Zim keeps his word more often then I'd really expect him to

And I love how Squid Cop turns purple

bye

[cookieslittleocs]

Oke doke! This is the introduction post

I made my own one on canva because its easier to me than the pronouns page [it needs redoing but I'm too lazy rn so just use it as a reference]

im astrid, @astridcookie , you can also me aserty, cookie, galaxy, berry, or anything in the pronoun list above ^^

im biro-ace, astralgender and autistic, and my special interests are the osemanverse and enchanted

Other interests include: centaurworld, the mirror visitor series, kotlc, toh, Harry Potter [i dont like jkr dw], school for good and evil, art, writing, stardew valley, wednesday addams, animals in general

I like collecting magazines and trinkets and essential oils, and i have far too many books and plushies

You know your pronouns? They're mine now! /j [all pronouns are cool!]

I will call anyone bro, dude, sir, babe, and/or darling, and i mean them in a genderneutral and platonic way! If you dont like how im referring to you, please tell me im really not trying to be rude

Contrary to popular belief, i have quite a few feelings, and will get very excited. I show a lot of affection and will tell everyone that i love them no matter how long ive known them for, so if youre uncomfortable with that please let me know! /gen

I also use exclamation points WAY too much

I mean everything i saw unless i specify otherwise, please take everything I saw literally

Also while other people can call me bestie i reserve that title only for my bestie lane, as it is very important to me. So yeah if im not calling you bestie back its not because i dont love you

Also i love being sent messages and asks about ANYTHING at all, even though sometimes it takes me a while to answer them [mental health issues are great arent they ! /sar] so yeah ask me anything you want on my main! On this blog i accept any asks about my ocs, or you can ask my ocs things !

I try to put trigger warnings on potentially triggering posts, but sometimes i forget. If something is triggering to you, or you feel uncomfortable with what im doing, please tell me and we can try and fix that

general tw for my blog:

lots of stuff on mental illnesses which may not always be tagged

sometimes on therapy

lots of agere content which is usually untagged [I can if yous want just ask! /gen <33]

in my likes page there'll be stuff on eating disorders, sometimes suicide kinda stuff

ed [tagged as #tw ed or #tw ed mention or #ed stuff]

swearing [im trying to start tagging it now but I forget sometimes and older posts don't have tags] and sometimes slurs

queer stuff and sometimes mentions of homophobia

occasional mentions of ableism [tagged as #tw ableism #ableism mention or #ableism]

aaand disability content, particularly neurodivergence

I tag anything negative with #negativity , so you can block that or something if you want.

Dni nsfw, homophobic, transphobic, anti-neopronouns, biphobic etc, terf, kink, ableist, porn bots, anti-hp [anti jk is fine ofc], anti-agere, nsfw, or if you dont like me!

Im currently making tags for when I interact with my friends on this site [usually silly petnames and occasional affectionate insults]

So yeah if you don't like the one I'm using for you please let me knowwww

Enjoy your experience in my cosy corner of the internet

Aight here's some hot choccie ☕️ thanks for stopping by!

Hello my friends! This is my sideblog, for posting anything about my ocs, including art, writing, an∂ anything else! You can ask me any questions about my ocs here, im happy to infodump about them! You can also request who to draw next

[poisonflowercorvidae]

Hey, can you make a list of wedgeshot headcanons? I've been craving for some all morning...

Wedge always reaches the Love Epiphany first. It doesn't always happen as quickly as it does in My Other Half/Hard To Be Soft; Tough To Be Tender, but in any universe where these two fall in love, Wedge is always the first to look up and go, "Oh scrap, I love him."

That being said, Hot Shot is usually the one to make the first move. Jokes about Hot Shot treating everything like a race and needing to be first aside, we've seen from things with Wes that even in platonic relationships, Wedge has this instinct of, "I don't think they're going to like me, so I'm going to push them away first." By the time Wedge figures out he has feelings for Hot Shot, they're already too close as friends for Wedge to cut him out completely, but he does try to keep Hot Shot at a(n un)comfortable distance. Hot Shot, meanwhile, is very "I want this, and I'm going to go for it" with most things in life, and that holds true when what he wants is Wedge.

AUs obviously affect the exact timeline, but if we stick close to canon, Wedge probably figures his feelings out during the events of Best Bots Forever. (Again, above fics have a more accelerated timeline for AU reasons.) I don't think Wedge is/was especially jealous of Scorch, but the possibility of Hot Shot being gone made Wedge look up and go, "Oh, ow. I don't like the way that makes me feel."

I have less of a solid feel on when Hot Shot figures out his own feelings other than sometime in Year 2, but for drama reasons, it's fun to imagine it coinciding with Wedge's Backstory Reveal.

I tend to subscribe to the headcanon of Decepticons and Autobots having different romantic norms (with Decepticons tending to be less private about relationships and viewing protectiveness and possessiveness as good qualities in a partner), and Wedge is kind of in this odd spot where he understands the Autobot norms and wants to fit in, but the Decepticon norms are still really deeply ingrained and what he gravitates to unconsciously. Because he's aware of this part of himself, once he and Hot Shot get together, Wedge tends to hold back a lot out of fear of scaring him off. Once again, Hot Shot being very "Step on the gas!" saves the day, with him being so free with affection and open about them being together that it soothes and satisfies the Decepticon-y drives and Wedge is slowly able to loosen up and just be freely affectionate right back.

They never stop trading friendly barbs and challenges, but they take on a kind of, "Hey, no one can insult him but me," attitude. They make more of an exception for the other recruits, but Wedge and Hot Shot will always be the first to jump to the other's defense when someone crosses the line.

At some point, Hot Shot points out the yellow in his own color scheme and the fact that he turns into a car and asks if Wedge just likes him because he reminds him of Bumblebee. It's a joke, but it does send Wedge into a minor crisis for a bit.

No one on Earth pays much mind to them dating (as long as it doesn't distract from class or rescues), but we know that Hot Shot is/was famous on Cybertron, so Wedge has absolutely been in the tabloids with Hot Shot at least once. Hot Shot plays nice for the cameras if he's alone or with Cube friends who are used to the attention, but he absolutely tells them to back off if Wedge is there

I could probably think of more given enough time and/or some prompts, but here's what I have off the top of my head

[safitheartist]

A closer look at the circus freaks and Ben 10 (2017)'s pretty amazing world building. Also potential Kevin forshadowing?

Okay, stay with me here for a second because I have very shocking news to you guys. Season 2 of Ben 10 so far was really good.

No seriously, it feels like moa *actually* lead us on the entirety of season 1 and now they actually reached early SU level of subtle world building. It's insane.

For example, lets look at three characters all other incarnations of Ben 10 so far has been glossing over for the most part.

Acid Breath, Fright Wig and Thumbnail.

Because this time. They come with lore! And lore that leaves some pretty dark implications might I add.

So lets dig in guys, because there is a whole can of worms to devoure here.

Now lets have some context, the original circus freak trio were introduced to us as Zambozo's three henchmen in the original series and have been treated as a trio eversince, they never had much characterization out side of the fact that they are vilans and their only motivation seems to be money or other forms of profit.

Most of them time, if they aren't under somebody else's command Acid Breath seems to take the leader role.

The things interesting about them often were the fights they would have against Ben, due to their really unique powers. However, on the personality front there really wasn't much to work with.

Another thing to note is that they were introduced to us as adults.

Now the reboot, is taking a pretty different approach.

It's humanizing them.

First, we aren't even introduced to them alongside Zambozo, they don't even make a appearance in Zambozo's debut episode.

And they only get introduced as a trio after Fright Wig already made her first appearance where we learn that she apparently has encountered Ben on several occasions, that and later context lets me believe that the trio probably does their solo thing until Zambozo would need them. Luring them in with false promises.

It's also then that they establish that at least Fright Wig is significantly younger then her original incarnation. Something that striked me as odd and slightly insulting at the beginning but now, with the newly established context, makes a lot of sense really.

Now Acid Breath's and Thumbnail's introductions don't establish much other then their return as a trio unit.

It's not until season 2 that the big bombs regarding their characters are droped.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2 HERE GUYS!!!!!

In a episode where Zambozo tricks people with a convoluted hypnothis scheme involving a fake voting campaign done as a distraction so the trio can rob a bank we get something I honestly never expected for these three. Genuine characterization.

We find out in a conversation Ben overhears between these three that Fright Wig is really into science, apparently aiming to get new equipment with her pay. Establishing her as the brains of the trio and most likely to take on the strategist role.

Acid Breath comments that he wants to get mouth water 'for the ladies'. Establishing him as a lot more inmature then his original self and the disgnated goofball of the group. However later interactions also imply he still is the one who is in the leader position...my guess is because he's the oldest and has been with Zambozo for the longest time. It's a pretty big depature from his OG self which always seemed to be the most bitter and no nonsense kind of person. And that has it's reason as the episode establishs later.

Thumbnail doesn't talk, as per usual, but we get a glimpse of his personality as he imagines himself having a spa day with his cut. Establishing him as a rather sensitive person who just wants to enjoy himself a bit. It's again, somewhat different from his original self which honestly never had any personality outside of being the brawls of the group.

This seems minor but it is a very effective way to establish them as people outside of their vilan live. And it also serves as something the other serieses again never did.

Establishing them as friends.

They take interest in eachother. Want to know the other's opinion. Have playful arguments that don't come off as threatening at all. Again. It's simplistic but very effective to make them seem more real. It even translates into their fight scenes. In OG Ben 10 and the sequels the trio, while established as a team, never actually acted as such (if I recall right). They always acted as three individuals who attack Ben and the others together but never actually as a team.

The reboot has them leaping off of Thumbnail, throw eachother around and attack as a actual team unit. Similar to a circus act (and the scenes have some very nice camera angles too might I add. The animation is still meh but they use a lot of techniques to conceal that fact and keep the action dynamic).

Now the thing to keep in mind here is that non of their established desires are expensive, Fright Wig's probably being the most expensive, and even then she seem to only want some new beakers. Ben even comments on it, saying he almost feels sorry for them.

We then find out that Zambozo never paid them before, only having promised he would do so at a later date. Clearly having no intentions to actually follow through with that. Which actually ties in very nicely in the overall narrative of the episode.

Ben then makes them realize that Zambozo is playing them, as Fourarms might I add, either implying Ben himself has diplomatic talents or that Fourarms' dna donator had them (Achi, once you read this, you are very welcome).

The trio react very differently to that realization. Thumbnail gets furious, realizing he will never get his spa day. Fright Wig seems to see Ben's point and points out how Zambozo doesn't seem to care about anything but his own gain.

Now Acid Breath....is something alright.

At first he seemed hesitant to abandoning Zambozo until Fright Wig points out that Zambozo doesn't care about them...which prompts a series of flashbacks that clue us in to some really dark aspects of their relationship.

We see a slightly younger Acid Breath, with hair and teeth. Remarking how he thinks he should go to the doctor as his teeth seem too be starting to rot while Zambozo is uncaring and not at all bothered as he is too busy admiring his profit...which Acid Breath probably colected for him. This repeats a few times with his condition worsening over a seemingly pretty short period of time. At first I thought his mutation was only kicking in now, but what is more likely is that using his powers is causing serious health problems for him. At first I was confused why he was so gullible in the first place and didn't just go to a doctor himself (maybe stealing some money to go to a check up) until his last line....

He remarks, as his hair and teeth are falling out,

"Seriously, I'm only 16!"

.........ouch.

Now that puts his situation into a completely different context doesn't it? Not only does that mean Zambozo was employing children without paying them (again Fright Wig is also younger and I think it's safe to assume that Thumbnail is as well) essentially exploiting them. He also failed one of them as he basically was destroying his body for him, probably scared and confused about the situation and searching for comfort from the only parental figure in his live at the time.

Now that's just fucking depressing. It's pretty fair to assume that Acid breath probably is 16-17 still in the series, going off of context clues and his overall behavior. I think Thumbnail is around the same age if not a bit younger and Fright Wig probably is the youngest, young enough to pose as Gwen's friend, so I peg her as anywhere between 12-15 (probably looks younger then she actually is). That's just speculation on my part based on their behavior around eachother though.

After the flashback Acid Breath decides that they should ditch the clown (thank fuck.) aluding to him being the unofficial leader of the group as it's his decision that is the final.

They sent Zambozo a angry message consisting of emojis (again, heavily implying that they are teens....look, the show isn't perfect okay.) followed by them sending a picture with a 'we quit' sign.

In the end we get teased that we didn't see the last of them. Clearly establishing them as a separate entity from Zambozo, most likely for good as we get a glimps of them enjoying themselves on a vacation somewhere. Showing them still as a close unit.

Now this. This is some very, very dense world building stuffed into one episode and conveyed with very little exposition really. We get the most important context clues via plot development and the little exposition there was felt quiet natural.

It raises a lot of questions. Like 'how did these three get into this situation?' 'Where are their parents?' 'Why is no one trying to help them?' And most importantly, 'What is the follow up to this going to be?'.

Like, think about it. The episode went out of it's way to separate them from Zambozo while also making them more relateable. They wouldn't do that if it's not important. So what narrative purpose does it have?

Now I have a theory what they might be going for here. You see. This entire set up feels familiar to a very iconic character we had in the original show.

A kid with powers who was mistreated and exploited due to them. Somebody who got on the wrong course more due to the nature of his environment rather then his own wrong doings.

Boom. Now isn't that a interesting concept?

Do I think they will make Kevin one of the circus freaks? Eh. No that would be a stretch. I mean sure, it could happen, but we first have to wait and see how they are changing his character.

Do I think they are at least on a thematic basis forshadowing Kevin's introduction? Yes. Absolutely. And there are other clues as well.

Vilgax, on two occasions, has been teaming up with other vilans. Animo and the weather bots. With Animo he almost immediately betrayed him, leading Animo to team up with Ben temporarily and...well that's a bit too much of a spoiler but lets just say.....something very interesting happens that also ties into the thems of Kevin's OG character. The weather bots again, go against Vilgax, leaving him saying 'never again' which probably is a joke since from a narrative stand point there is no way this will be his last team up. Rule of three anyone?

Moa has been exploring a lot of themes that they never got to explore in length in their original show. Stuff Alien Force then took a dump on mostly (I don't fucking care what you guys say. On a writing stand point Alien Force fucking sucked!) They have been putting a lot of emphasis on magic in their show, establishing it as a clear and unmistakeable aspect of their universe. However another aspect Alien Force screwed up was the concept of mutants until Omniverse retconed that again.

In OG it was heavily implied that Kevin's mutation caused people to discriminate againt him. Show casing him having clear abandonment issues and triggers. However they never went into detail with these concepts. Causing....Alien Force to assassinate that entire concept (again. Alien Force was the worst Ben 10 incarnation and you can fucking fight me!!!). So for them to actually forshadow Kevin and making his entire storyline a lot more significant makes a lot of sense.

Anyway. I am actually enjoying the show so far and am very curious as to where stuff is going there. I hope the circus freaks are getting even more development and maybe even a redemption, who knows? I also hope they are keeping the 'found family' vibe they have alive. I'm a sucker for that stuff.