#this is all under teh cut cause I know some people are ride or die for AF and I respect that

[redrobin-detective]

So I’m actually taking the time to watch Ben 10 Alien Force and it’s, okay. I can admit it has a more cohesive long term plot process than Omniverse and some of the stories ARE good I just can’t really vibe with it. I’m still watching it but it’s not the same burning need I felt with OV and I’m not sure how much further I’ll get before I entirely lose interest. 

I know a lot of people like AF so I’m going to put my slightly critical thoughts under a read more so those who don’t want to see it can skip it.

The reason I can’t get into the series like I did OV, for me, is the characters are lacking in any true dimension making me not invest in the series. Ben in particular, the heart and soul of the series, feels like a cardboard cutout of a character without much defining personality to make me believe he’s Ben much less an actual person. Having watched both OG and OV I can describe, off the top of my head, what Ben is like. 

Ben of the original series was a horrible little gremlin child with a heart of gold in there somewhere. He was childish and reckless, sometimes acting out or going too far with his pranks. He has a variety of interests and things he doesn’t like but finally gets a handle of his abilities and learns that being a hero isn’t just about beating up bad guys, it’s about standing up and protecting others.

Likewise, OV Ben has been around the block as a teen superhero. While he is still a bit full of himself and reckless, a lot of it is a carefully constructed façade so people don’t see how stressed and nervous he is about the heavy burden on his shoulders. He’s desensitized to how weird his life has become and is good at adapting and thinking on his feet. Like his younger self, he has a variety of likes and dislikes, some the same and some different as he grew up.

15 eps in AF and I still can’t really think of how to describe Ben, he’s got the personality of a freezer burned low fat waffle. He’s just a very standard teen boy without any true defining traits. I haven’t seen him talk about any interests, express any real opinions on anything. Like he had to put on the Omnitrix again after taking it off for a normal life and it doesn’t seem to have any impact on him. AF Ben is also almost always in the right, always the calm one (esp compared to Kevin who’s his own mess of one track stereotypes) with a perfectly straight moral code. He’s quiet, polite, he makes a few quips but otherwise is just kind of there. When he’s not actively engaged in the plot, he’s just sitting there with a vacant expression and a half smile. In an attempt to make him “normal” and “relatable” they not only stripped the character of anything that makes him stand out but also anything that makes him Ben Tennyson. 

OS and OV Ben are always moving, either fiddling with the Omnitrix or bouncing their leg or lounged in a precarious position while mouthing off. He’s a very energetic sort, spirited in a way that’s as admirable as it is aggravating. To watch AF Ben sit passively in Kevin’s car, hands on his knees, back straight. It’s like looking at a stranger. 

I loved Ben because he was fiery lil shit, half feral and running into everything half cocked because he’s stupid but also has a big bleeding heart. He’s a good boy, theoretically and gets better as he matures but he struggles with his self image and decision making. Kid has also straight up, and knowingly murdered and will do so again. He is a one universe force of nature running around, causing and fixing problems in the same breath. God I love this disaster. AF Ben feels so far removed from this Ben and it frankly bores me.

I’ll keep going but I remember when I first watched AF years ago when it first aired, I watched at least the first 10 episodes before I quit. I recall thinking that it didn’t feel like Ben 10 anymore and it really doesn’t. Yes it has some interesting storylines, yes the worldbuilding and lore expansion is appreciated. But god I just can’t invest in these characters. For all of Omniverse’s faults, at least the character felt not only like an actual person but who Ben is supposed to be. Ben is not and never was your ‘boy next door good boy superhero’ he’s ‘local child menace gains infinite powers uses them to steal a golf cart’. 

[vermiliondrug]

I finally finished ME3 and I gotta say, no matter what, Destroy is always the ending I prefer. Ramblings under the cut so it doesnt clog your dash.

Yeah I know, the geth and EDI and all other synthetics will die, but I think it is worth it.

At some point you have a conversation with EDI where she states (paraphrasing here) that she wouldn’t mind dying if it meant the safety of Joker. From what I understood from the last conversation you have with her before engaging the hell-ride of an ending, she states and thanks Shepard for helping her feeling “alive”. Making peace between the Quarians and the Geth is what I consider the best solution as well, because while the Geth will perish too, since they are synthetics, their time together meant that the Quarian’s had a good start to rebuild their homeworld and possibly be able to get rid of their suits as well. Losing them would probably halt things, but I believe that the time they had together left a good enough impact on the Quarians to maybe understand the mistakes they had made, and how much they should appareciate the things the Geth did for them the time they were alive, but also make the understand what to do or not to do when/if they intent to re-create teh Geth or any kind of AI/synthetic life.

I feel like picking the two other endings would mean, IMO, that you’ll shit all over Shepard’s mission since ME1 and that you’ll make Anderson turn in his grave. Controlling the Reapers would make you nothing better than TIM himself, and even though Shepard would overwrite the Catalyst and become the one that controls the Reapers, what would stop Shepard from ever becoming just as “bad” as the Catalyst... From all we know, the Catalyst could have had the same intentions as Shepard and it all just went wrong since they harveste the Levianthans. Besides, Andersom literally died to make Shepard understand that whatever TIM is saying is BS about controlling the Reapers and that would go against their mission since ME1.

Synthesis is probably the ending I have heard a lot of people preferred? I can see why they do tho, ‘cause it sounds like it is the ending which makes peace between the organics and synthetics, but the Catalyst also states that organics thrive to evolve and that is why they created synthetics, however, at some point they cant develop further... So merging the two together would make organics evolve to the point to being, i dunno, immortal? Have crazy ass thinking processes like an AI? Honestly, it makes me feel a bit... weird to force such a thing on everyone in the galaxy. While synthetics would have the free will to do whatever they want, and also have a proper understanding of organics, it doesn’t mean that there will be peace forever? I mean, Reapers are HUGE AF and what wouldnt make them want to start up the cycle again? Because understanding their former enemy doesn’t mean they would never come to the realization of why the cycle happened in the first place.

So yah, Destroy is always the ending I prefer because while synthetic life will die, it doesn’t mean that they won’t happen again. Synthetic life was created by organics, and it is possible to do it again, especially when humanity now knows how dangerous it can be. It is inevitable that chaos will happen, but the Geth died with a positive conscious and EDI dies while Joker is safe... Don’t get me wrong though, I DO want synthetics to live, but I honestly don’t want the other two endings? They just make you no better than the enemies you claim to oppose...

Anyway, I am done rambling. Now to make a thousand headcanons of Shepard and Garrus living a fucking happy life.