#which then leads to ben and gwen and kevin not trusting him

[fisksaturday]

i have this terrible disease that makes me spend several hours drawing zak's hair and then lose a bunch of detail bc its mostly black anyways

[bubbloquacious]

🌻

So I've been rewatching Ben 10, which I watched as a kid, and recently I reached the second series, Ben 10: Alien Force. I always liked this series better as a kid (I preferred slightly edgier cartoons I guess) but what struck me about the start of the first season is that it's so much more thoughtful and subtle than the original series.

There's a scene in an early episode where the three main characters (Ben, Gwen, and Kevin) are looking around this warehouse at night, and Gwen makes a glowing pink ball of her magical energy powers to get some light in the room. When they hear the bad guy approach the door, there's a shot where they all look at the door, and then Gwen turns off her light and the screen goes black. A second after the door cracks open and lights the place up again but they have all silently agreed to hide somewhere. I thought that was a surprisingly cool moment for what is still very much a children's cartoon.

Another thing that has stuck with me is episode 5: All That Glitters, which is notable because none of the characters ever really make a stupid mistake. What usually happens in Ben 10 is that someone gets passed the idiot ball and that allows the villain/heroes to escape and curse the other team for getting in their way or whatever. In this one, the gang meet another superpowered kid who has inherited a plumber's badge from one of their space cop parents, which is a big thing in season one.

He's named Mike Morningstar (lol), and he can fly and shoots energy beams and he pretty much uses his powers to be a superhero, so Ben is instantly like let's get this guy on the team we need all the help we can get. Gwen thinks he's kind of cute and also she wants to make Kevin jealous because he didn't ask her out (she literally said "why haven't you asked me out yet?" at the start of the episode, when has there been a teenage romance like this?). Kevin doesn't trust him both because he's jealous and because Mike is kind of sleazy, but Ben and Gwen both have their reasons to not be that suspicious. Turns out he is obviously bad and he puts some mind control thing on Gwen.

After they fight some zombified teenage girls Mike asks Gwen out and they go for a drive, and after they've left Kevin tries to convince Ben that he's bad for business. They puzzle out the clues and chase after Mike and Gwen, where they discover he's an energy vampire and has sucked Gwen dry. Gwen is like mega powerful so Mike wipes the floor with Ben and Kevin, but then Gwen grabs Mike's arm and absorbs her own powers back, which takes out Mike and he's swarmed by the other girls whose energy he stole. At the end Ben is like "I should have listened to Kevin and not be so quick to trust" and like yeah! That's exactly what went wrong and the lesson you should take!

Gwen was hypnotized before she reasonably could've been suspicious. Ben was understandably eager to get someone powerful on the team, but also in the face of the evidence he was convinced and came to the rescue. Kevin was suspicious but couldn't quite place the evidence, so he let his gut feeling lead him to the correct conclusion. Mike had a perfect plan, and he was winning, he just did not know that Gwen was part magical alien and could just absorb her energy back when she snuck up on him. No one was an idiot!

Anyway I'm in season 2 now and there's definitely some more idiocy lmao, gonna keep watching though.

[siren-virus]

There's some stuff that has been going around in my head regarding Luckuboy!AU, so I'll just dump everything here and see how you might adapt/change/evolve some of these ideas, or don't use any of them since that's perfectly valid too and it's your au, not mine :3 anyways, this is a long idea that can be divided, so I'll do just that and make a paragraph for each sub-idea.

1) Ben's daily schedule: Ben most likely has a morning schedule in the coffee shop, and as such he would get to work early, now idk how they work, but I imagine Ben's day to day life would go something like this: Ben's alarm goes off at 7:00, he wakes up and leaves bed at 7:15, breakfast and shower before arriving at work at 8:00 (do shops open at 8:00? 8:30? idk :V), keep working until 16:00 with lunchtime tucked in the middle, hang out with friends/relax/naps until 20:00, start his own vigilante work until 2:00, where he goes to sleep and repeats. If his patrol is slow then he would go home earlier to sleep more, if it's hectic and he doesn't get enough sleep, then the afternoon/evening would be used in powernaps.

2) Ben the info brooker, I imagine that Ben would eventually get to know a lot, and I mean A LOT, of information about everyone and everything important that's going on in Undertown (which, considering the situation of Earth and the Plumbers, is probably the only alien world center, would be everything), and when he hears of someone having some kind of trouble, he gives them a nudge in a certain direction for them. Eventually word gets out that there's a new information brooker in town that has scarily accurate info, he works at a coffee shop and you better give him a big tip if you don't want some of your info to get out fast (how real this info is nobody knows, and since Ben hasn't heard of it he can't correct them)

2.5) One day Argit appears and asks for a coffee under a different name, when it's ready Ben calls for him (he used a fake name) and writes with an alcohol marker on the cup "Argit", scaring the hell out of him. "How did you know?" "I'd be shitty at what I do if I couldn't recognize you *wink*", then he tells him that as long as they do nothing dangerous near him he won't tattle him and Kevin to the Plumbers, or worse, Gwen. "Don't you dare" says Argit aghast, "Try me bitch" answers Ben grinning, almost double daring him into doing something dangerous only so he can call his cousin and set up a date

3) The coffee made in the shop is delicious, caters to every species needs, alergies, likes and dislikes, and everyone agrees that the place is the best of the best in the whole world for these reasons and more; thus the shop has been a tentative neutral zone for years, however the lack of "people" (idk what word to use that captures everyone, human or alien) that knows how to fight there has severly dampened the opportunity of it becoming one. Cue Ben beggining to work there, in the beggining it's nothing special, he's just a human who makes good coffee and is surprisingly charming, come a few weeks and months and everyone starts noticing how he's the infamous information brooker that has been the talk of Undertown, thus gathering a bit more attention. Eventually someone (Plumber, civilian, villain, whatever you choose) is more rude to him than needed and tries to get some info from him, even if it's by force... Ben decks him, like, he kicks their ass, defenestrates them, break a chair on them and hands them unconcious to the closest Plumber, bleeding and all while still being intact himself. Everyone glares in awe at the show of badassery and oficially the coffee shop becomes the new true neutral zone, where everyone can get coffee, exchange information and form unlikely friendships. Whenever someone tries to mess with the shop, if Ben isn't present, is busy or it's too much for him, everyone else, Plumber, villain and civilian joins him in defending the shop and getting rid of the nuisancess that mess with the shop.

4) With all the info that Ben gets both as a barista and as a vigilante, one would think that he would give everything out as long as you paid the prize, but surprisingly he has a strong code that he never breaks. If he EVER learns that a piece of information he has with himself is considered confidential, then he'll never speak about it with anyone, no matter how much they offer to pay him. He can't answer for the ones who talks about this info in the shop without saying in any moment that the info is supposed to be confidential, he can't read minds, but everyone catches on fast on this, and some say the keyword when talking in the coffee shop. However many still forget about it once in a while, since the calm atmosphere of the shop is too powerful and slip up often happen. Still Ben can't be blamed, how is he supposed to know if some piece of info is confidential if no one ever says it is? Again, he's not a mindreader nor a telepath.

5) Any info on his vigilante persona he never gives out, however it's not because of not wanting to give out any of that info, but rather because another part of his code is "If I haven't heard people talk about something, then I don't know information about it. All my info is second hand, so unless someone else already knows about it, I won't know about it". That can come in very handy considering the surprisingly little info there is about his vigilante persona out there, despite how famous he kinda is. This more often than not drives Jimmy mad.

Love brainstorms, hate the alien.

1) Most cafes open at 7am from my knowledge, 9am if you're in a sleepy town, so it'd be more like a 6am wake up, optional breakfast- (who eats breakfast these days?), straight to the cafe around 7ish to help with cleaning and setting up for the day.

This cafe is more of a 24/7 place. With 24/7 breakfast! (don't you hate it when places stop doing breakfast at a certain hour?)

Apart from that love what ya got there.

As for the vigilante side, he starts whenever is easiest, it's all dependent if things are hectic or not. Sun goes down roughly 7PM (pretty late I know, but where I live (during summer at least), sun won't go down til 9PM). Sometimes he finishes at 2AM, sometimes a few minutes before work (Incoming animatic!)

2) Love everything about that too! I'd like to think Ben has no idea about it at first, he just notices some days the tip jar is fuller than others. He chocks it up to his charming personality. But eventually he catches on.

Another thing to add, at some point if people wanted to get info from Ben they'd order a "whipped caramel latte with icing sugar, honey, and salt" (gross) Ben has no idea of this, but the weird amount of customers ordering that and asking for intel, kinda makes him think about it.

2.5) This!! good shit right here! Except, you can't call a customer a bitch, trust me... Karen's and Kevin's exist in all shapes, sizes and forms. So Ben uses the kill them with kindness, customer service attitude.

Additionally, sometimes Kevin, although rarely, comes by, hovers around the counter. He'll order a coffee and glare at Ben until, he gets his attention.

"You staring at me for a reason?"

"I need to know about Gwen 10."

Of course, at this Ben would grin devilishly and respond with, "Oh, you wanna take her on date? She loves sappy romance movies, she's also a nerd, so get her a math book instead of flowers."

That always shuts Kevin up, makes him leave most occasions.

3) Everything about this is just!!! Love it. Wouldn't change a thing.

4) Yes yes!!Sometimes, a customer will demand classified info (those that aren't initiated to how the cafe works). When Ben refuses to squawk this can lead to some shouting from a customer sometimes, which leads to a coworker, or a regular shoeing the nasty customer away. Ben can hold his own against most people, as a human, but sometimes they're just a little too big or a little too tough to be able to defend himself against.

5) I like that a lot too.

I also like to think that sometimes, if Ben wants to mess with someone, especially Jimmy. He'll slip a piece of information out that no one else knows.

"I heard from a plumber, that the vigilante guy likes smoothies- specifically [insert favourite smoothie flavour of the week]"

Cue Jimmy buying several of that smoothie to try and lure Luckyboy (still haven't thought of a namee!!!) out. It works, and Ben gets free smoothies almost every week.

This could backfire immensely though.

Woo, sorry about the delay there, been working a few shifts. Work is kicking my ass as usual...

[emperorsfoot]

I’ve posted about this before, but it’s time to go off on the Ben 10 arc that I hold deepest in my heart.  

The Ultimate Kevin arc of Ultimate Alien

Let’s begin with how Kevin became Ultimate Kevin.

The Defeat of Aggregor

Aggregor was the main villain for the first two seasons of Ultimate Alien. We went through two arcs with him. One where our heroes had to protect his alien prisoners from being re-captured (a task they consistently failed at in every episode), and then after Aggregor re-captured them and absorbed their powers, the Map of Infinity arc where they had to stop Aggregor from collecting all the pieces of a map that would guide him to the Forge of Creation where the “ultimate prize” was (another task they consistently failed at in every episode). 

Aggregor got all his aliens, and he got all his map pieces, and he made it to the Forge of Creation, and he had beaten Ben!OS, Ben!AF/UA, and Gwen into submission. Our heroes were not doing well. Kevin and Ben!OS were the only ones even still conscious and Ben!OS’ Omnitrix was timed out and non-active. 

So, Ben comes up with a plan. 

He offered the power of his Omnitrix to Kevin in order to defeat Aggregor. 

This is a very jarring moment because, remember, THIS version of Ben has only ever known Kevin as an enemy and not someone to be trusted. But he also recognizes that his other self and Gwen were both unconscious and unable to do anything. He himself is unable to do anything because without his Omnitrix, he’s just a tiny little 10-year-old kid. But Ben recognizes that Kevin can do something if he uses his Osmosian powers to absorb the Omnitrix. 

So, he offers that power to Kevin. 

That’s very important. 

As we move forward in this post (and all my rants about this arc, to be honest), I want you all to remember: Ben offered Kevin the Omnitrix. 

Kevin has his misgivings and refuses at first. The reasons for this should be obvious, but I’ll list them for you anyway:

Kevin loses his mind when he absorbs too much power

Absorbing a lot of power overloads an Osmosian’s mind and they lose their sanity

If Kevin absorbed and Omnitrix, any Omnitrix, he will cease to be himself

Do all three of those sound like the same thing to you? Good. They should. It’s very important to this essay, so I had to say it three times. Kevin does not want to absorb the Omnitrix or the Ultimatrix because Kevin does not want to lose his mind. Kevin does not want to lose the stable life he’s built for himself. Kevin does not want to lose the healthy relationship he has with his mother. Kevin does not want to lose the friends he has made. Kevin does not want to lose the love he has found with Gwen. 

Kevin has everything to lose by following Ben’s plan and absorbing an Omnitrix. 

But, Kevin has even more to lose if Aggregor absorbs the power of a god and can un-make the universe. 

Realizing the necessity, Kevin, accepts this plan, but goes for his Ben’s Ultimatrix instead. 

He absorbed the Ultimatrix, as was Ben’s plan and becomes Ultimate Kevin. This gives him the power needed to defeat Aggregor. 

The universe is saved! Whoo hoo!

The universe is saved and Kevin was the one who saved it. 

Ben didn't save the universe. Kevin did. 

It was Kevin. 

Kevin is the hero here. 

But at great personal cost.

He’s now off his nut. He even says, out right, very clearly, in plain words, that he could absorb all of his friends right now. Both Bens and even Gwen. He could even do what Aggregor was trying to do and absorb the Celestialsapien and become a god. 

No one can stop him. They’re all still too weak from having their asses handed to them by Aggregor. 

Everyone is 100% at Kevin’s mercy. And they all know it. 

But Kevin doesn’t absorb anyone. He doesn’t absorb either of the Bens. He doesn’t absorb Gwen. He doesn’t absorb the baby god-alien that’s right there. 

Instead, he leaves. He has just barely enough control of himself to do it. But he does it. Because he just sacrificed -literally- everything else he has in the universe to save these idiots. 

Cue the wrap-up. Professor Paradox sends Ben!OS back to his own time, and Ben and Gwen wonder what’s gonna become of Kevin now that he’s... changed...?

And that leads us into the next segment:

Trying to Convince Us Kevin is an Unforgivable Monster

So now we have an arc of Kevin being a villain again. 

Sure. I’m down. 

I love a good “good guy turned bad” arc. It... does things for me... 

But, the very first episode of the “prove Kevin is evil” arc only shows us that he’s not evil at all. All it does is show us that Kevin Levin has had one of the hardest and most unfair lives of any character from the Ben 10 franchise. 

Let’s begin. 

The Episode opens in the Null Void in a prison called Incarcercon, and introduces the characters that are going to be important for this episode. Two convicts, Trukk and Quince, and the Warden, Morgg. We’ll come back to them. 

Then it cuts to our “heroes” Ben and Gwen. 

And Ben is already on his “Kevin needs to go down” bullshit. 

They are desperate to find Kevin. Gwen, to help him and return him to some version of sanity and normalcy. Ben, to beat the shit out of him and “stop” him like any other villain in his rogues gallery. 

After this conversation we learn that Kevin has actually hurt someone, so he’s not completely innocent. 

This Guy ^

Whom we have never seen before and we will never see again. 

According to This Guy, Kevin claimed he owed him money and then attacked him, and Kevin’s into some pretty sketch stuff so I’m willing to believe that. Sure. 

But Kevin also, right now, has the power to fly through space, race the Rust Bucket, rip into Plumbers bases, somehow get to the Null Void, and a whole bunch of other stuff. He could kill an average earthling with a sneeze, and this guy looks like an average earthling to me. I’m honestly skeptical Kevin actually hurt him at all and he didn’t just see Kevin, get scared, and trip down some stairs. 

But whatever. 

The testimonial from This Guy, whom we have never seen before and will never see again, bolsters Ben’s resolve. “Kevin must be stopped, no matter the cost!” (<--Optimis Prime voice)

So, where in the universe is Kevin Levin?

You guessed it! He’s in Incarcercon that was already explained to us at the beginning of the episode! 

One of the other inmates approaches him because he thinks he recognizes him. Kevin is his normal abrasive self. Ben and Gwen teleport into the prison. Then we get a flashback to Kevin’s past to explain his motivations for coming to this prison in the middle of the Null Void. 

This was the prison Kevin was sent to when he was just 11 years old. (I have more comments to make on that, but that’s a whole other post!) And it’s the place where -objectively his best- father figure was murdered. 

Y’all remember in the OS how Ben finally “defeated” Kevin was to trap him in the Null Void, right? 

Welp, once he was in the Null Void, they went even further and locked him up in the alien equivalent of a Turkish prison. 

The flashback opens up with Kevin being attacked by multiple other inmates at once. 

The fight is seen by two other inmates, Quince, the one we already met in the present who approached Kevin, 

and Kwarrel. 

Kwarrel approaches Kevin and offers to help him. 

And thus, Kevin Ethan Levin gets the first positive father figure he’s had in his life. (At the age of 11, but once again, that’s another post.) 

Kwarrel teaches Kevin how to channel his anger, control his powers and... TURN BACK FROM A MUTANT INTO A REAL BOY! 

Oops. Sorry. Wrong image. 

Here you go. 

We also learn why Kwarrel wasn’t there at the beginning of Alien Fore when we run into Kevin again. 

He dead. 

He super dead. 

He murdered. 

Shot in the back by Warden Morgg, the current Warden of the prison Kevin has snuck into. Kevin has come back now that he’s Ultimate Kevin and has all these extra powers, so that he can avenge his father-figure’s murder. 

That really does not sound all that villainous to me. 

Morally questionable, yes. But not “evil”. 

Kevin want’s justice, not senseless mayhem. 

Ben and Gwen expose a slave labor and drug smuggling plot. The corrupt Warden is defeated. Ben and Gwen are the heroes. Kevin escapes. End Episode. Okay. 

Let’s keep it moving.

Next episodes begins yet again with the supporting characters that are going to be important in this episode, before cutting to Ben and Gwen. 

Ben is still on his “Kevin’s gotta go down” bullshit. 

Then Argit practically jumps in front of their car and explains that Kevin is after him. The main conflict of this episode is Ben and Gwen protecting Argit from Kevin. (There’s also a subplot of the Vreedle brothers becoming Plumbers, and Argit trying to scam a Plumbers base, but this post is about Kevin, not them.)

Argit, of course, played the innocent victim. Gwen does mention that Argit has betrayed not only Kevin, but both her and Ben in the past and asks why they should help him. But they end up helping him anyway. 

Trying to protect Argit from Kevin who wants to murder him now. 

The thing is... the first time we met Argit, he paralyzed Kevin (and Ben and Gwen), and tries to steal the Rust Bucket 2. 

He also sold Ben, Gwen, and Kevin out to the Vreedle brothers.

Kevin finally breaks off his friendship with Argit in “Andreas’ Fault” of Ultimate alien, when Kevin witnesses his treatment of Andreas (one of the prisoners of Aggregor). 

In this very episode where Argit is the “victim”, Argit is trying to defraud the Plumbers.

So, while Ultimate Kevin trying to kill him is very extreme, for sure! I don't think it’s all that “evil” considering the history they have. 

Once again, Kevin wants justice, not mayhem. 

Obviously, this is a kids show and so some black and white morality is to be expected. Killing is wrong and so if Kevin wants to kill someone then he is wrong. 

I just don’t think he’s acting “irredeemably evil”. 

Certainly, he’s not acting bad enough to earn him a death sentence of his own! 

Which is exactly what Ben tries to do to him in the third and final part of this arc.

Operation Kevin Must DIE!

[catgirlxox]

What I Love About "So Long and Thanks for all the Smoothies"

A controversial episode to like, I know.

Just to get the obvious out of the way, I don’t think it’s reasonable to come to the conclusion that Ben is portrayed as a “sociopath” during the events of this episode, specifically near the ending. I realize that perhaps it would have made a clearer point to address the concerning truth about the old universe and everything in it being dead and gone, but I feel as though the target audience for this series was a factor in the decision to keep it simple, so to speak. 

I don’t want to believe that the writers intended for Ben to come off as some kind of emotionally detached “sociopath.”  

On top of that, resorting to calling him names solves nothing and only unnecessarily creates a bigger problem, especially within the fandom. 

Anyway, what I do love about the episode “So Long and Thanks for all The Smoothies” is the maturity, level headedness, and leadership Ben displayed in the moments leading up to the accidental destruction of the universe. 

Unfortunately, those rational, dare I even say admirable actions, have gone unnoticed due to his “failure.” Because he had “failed” to save the universe from total annihilation, he is not worthy of being seen as a hero, apparently. 

It’s not like the first step to being a hero is possessing the courage to try, right?

Back in Ultimate Alien, we were introduced to Sir George - the founder of the Forever Knights, and by extension, the first ever Forever Knight, who was trusted with the power of Ascalon to defeat Dagon.

Similarly to Ben, he was viewed as a hero because of his dedication and courage...but he didn’t succeed in his mission. He failed, and then, as we know, it was up to Ben to save the world from Dagon.

But do you think that George failing to stop Dagon, even while armed with the power of Ascalon, made him less of a hero in the eyes of the Forever Knights? 

I wouldn’t assume so. He shouldn’t be discredited for all that he had done.

Even if George’s failure meant that Dagon would win and take over the world, he would still be regarded as a hero for his courage, persistence, leadership. and years of dedication to his cause. 

Did Ben not display those same heroic traits in the moments leading up to the Anihilaarg going off? Why are those so disregarded? 

And then to blame him for the destruction, and call him a sociopath? That’s insulting. 

The episode opens with Ben and Rook protecting civilians from what we later learn to be the Contemelia ship anchoring itself to Earth, before heading up to space to investigate further. During this scene, this dialogue takes place:

Max: “Now, remember, Ben. We don’t know anything about that ship or what’s on board, so be careful.”

Ben: “Come on, Grandpa. You know me.”

Max: “Uh huh, that’s why I said it.” 

A common theory about Ben is that he puts up a ‘front’ to hide his true feelings, so as to not come off as less of the hero he knows he is capable of being. That is possibly what his behaviour at the end of this episode, after all is said and done, could be attributed to as well. But, while that is true to an extent, as shown in certain scenes throughout the series, I don’t believe that is always the case. 

What his line here shows me is that he believes in himself and his ability to handle the situation. And, logically, when one believes in themselves, they translate that confidence in a genuine effort to do their job properly. Which, up until a certain...less intelligent character causes catastrophe to strike, Ben was doing. 

I’ve theorized about this phenomenon before, but it seems as though if another character, who, for whatever reason, is seen as more ‘credible’ than Ben (most often Max, Gwen, Kevin, or Rook) comments about him in a way which is not entirely positive, it implies, to some of the audience, that Ben should not be taken seriously because he is not “mature” enough to be doing the job that he is. 

And, by extension, calling him names becomes justified. 

Max reminding Ben to be careful seems to make some of the audience expect him to not do a good job, or fail, as if he is too reckless or immature to be responsible or careful. However, his actions following this interaction show the opposite. He takes his job seriously enough to do everything in his power to prevent this potentially extremely dangerous device from falling into the wrong hands. 

And, that effort should be valued and acknowledged. 

Once Ben and Rook enter the ship, they are met with multiple morally conflicting characters. Namely, the Vreedle brothers, self proclaimed fugitives who are here “scavenging for weapons”, and Argit, who is in possession of the Anihilaarg, which he most likely stole from the ship earlier.

Not long after, an arguably even more dangerous character is added to the situation - Emperor Milleous, an Incursean dictator, who also conveniently has “destroyer of galaxies” as a part of his title. 

Now that is someone Ben would reasonably consider a threat! That is why he immediately begins to put together a plan and give out orders because he knows what to do. What I like about this is that his actions are rational, level headed, mature, and careful.

Ben: “There's no way that, uh, whatchamacallit's real, but the Incurseans are, and they're bad news.”

Just like Max asked of him, he displayed admirable leadership skills in what is arguably a high stress, highly dangerous, situation. 

Ben: “We've got to catch the Vreedle brothers before they set off that...[Annihilaarg]! Whatever. I still say it's not a real threat. But I don't want to take any chances when it comes to the Earth.”

I want to address this next point simply because I just know that someone would inevitably bring it up against Ben: that he didn't initially think the Anihilaarg was a real threat until it actually destroyed the universe. 

It's a tiny box with a red button inside. Would ANYONE seriously take that as a threat?

Besides it’s appearance, he did take the fact that this potentially dangerous device was in the hands of irresponsible, and known to be chaotic, fugitives, as well as being sought after by an Emperor, who has “destroyer of galaxies” in his title, and who probably wouldn’t hesitate to set off the Anihilaarg himself, given the chance.

Ben didn’t want to take that chance, especially when it comes to the Earth, like he said. THAT was the real threat. 

You could say that this is nothing new, because that is what his job entails and that is what he does every episode. But, that’s it exactly. That’s what he does. That’s what he did. 

So why is he still being looked at as a sociopath?

Why isn’t somone like Argit, for example, being seen as a “sociopath” when it is ultimately his fault that the universe was destroyed?

Argit: “The Vreedle brothers have left the building!”

Ben/NRG: “With what might be the most destructive device in the universe?! And they're heading to Earth with it! Argit!”

Argit: “Oh, like this my fault?” 

I don’t see anyone talking about how he willingly handed the Anihilaarg over to the Vreedle brothers, knowing far better than Ben at the time what it was and what it could do. Besides the fact that Argit is already a morally conflicting character, he actually seems pretty loved by this fandom, but that’s another discussion entirely.

What made Ben a “sociopath”, allegedly, was that he was not shown having some kind of emotional existential crisis, directly after the recreation of the universe. 

And, like I had stated earlier, that most likely was due to the fact that the target audience for Ben 10: Omniverse is 8+. That is something we have to acknowledge, even if older audiences still enjoy the show. 

The show is not intended for twenty somethings and, as you can probably tell, does not include the use of explicit language or mature themes that take things to the extreme. And before you say that this is why UAF is superior, even the guns used by police in an episode of Alien Force replaced bullets with lazers to accommodate to the target audience. Which, for the record, was also 8+.

(Ben 10: Alien Force - “Save The Last Dance”)

If the writers were going to include a storyline about a device which destroys this fictional universe, and how the superhero Ben 10 makes a whole new one to “bring everyone back to life”, they are going to do so lightly. I’ll agree that the implications of such a thing happening in the real world are concerning, and it would have been appreciated by older audiences if those implications were further explored. But, because the writers are catering to a young audience which they are probably not expecting to jump to the conclusion that their hero is a “sociopath”, that was left out. 

Ben, in the episode “So Long and Thanks for all the Smoothies”, was shown taking responsibility of his role as the leader, doing everything in his power to prevent a catastrophe. That teaches the young audience how to maturely handle situations, and prioritize what is important while staying rational and reasonable. When disaster does strike, he is also shown doing all he can realistically do. 

It should be admired that, if all he could do at that point was recreate the universe, he brought back everything and everyone the same to the best of his ability. He could have left out the things that would inconvenience him, like Vilgax, or Will Harangue for instance. But he didn’t, probably because it wouldn’t be morally right. 

Even if an older audience has a bone to pick regarding the implications of the plotline, you can not deny that Ben had been a good role model for a bad situation. That is what a young audience can take away from this, and I, personally, respect that about his character. 

[fly-pow-bye]

See It Firsts for 3/13/2020

Almost every Friday, Cartoon Network has put up See It Firsts, and this week’s is a pretty hefty one.

First, Ben 10 2016 gets six new See It Firsts.

Party Poopers - Ben completely ignores Gwen when she takes him to a family fun center. Meanwhile, Frightwig pushes Zombozo back into a life of crime after he ends up becoming a party clown. Now, both Ben and Zombozo will have to learn that you shouldn't ignore your friends!

Wind Some, Lose Some - At the Mojave Wind Farm in Texas, Max and Gwen plan to set Ben straight on his kooky ideas about how wind works, but when they find the Weatherheads using the towering turbines for their latest nefarious plan, will Ben face facts in time to blow them away?

Digital Quality - Ben and Gwen don't want to go to the CD Library. CDs are for old people. Ew. Once Team Tennyson is there, Lord Decibel traps them inside and demands a ransom. Ben and Gwen find Kevin inside on a potentially nefarious quest of his own, but it turns out that Lord Decibel may have already found the item that they so desperately desire.

Tim Buk-TV - Team Tennyson heads to the Okefenokee Swamp to witness the blooming of the Blushing Orchid, something that happens once every one hundred years. But their plans get disrupted when Tim Buk-Tu, trying to make his new 'reality' show more exciting, endangers the rare flower and everyone else at the swamp.

Growing Up is Hard to Do - Ben and Gwen are stoked to enter a skating competition, but when Nanny Nightmare shows up to teach the skater kids some manners by turning them into babies, it's up to Team Tennyson to up their game if they are to have any chance at saving the day.

The Hex Factor - When Hex mistakes an exclusive magic club for a top-secret Wizard society that snubbed him, Ben has to figure out how to work around the club's strict code of conduct to stop him without getting booted by security.

Teen Titans Go! gets four new See It Firsts, including a episode responding to the reaction to a certain reboot that isn’t Teen Titans Go itself.

Magic Man - In a quest to become a magic man, Beast Boy accidentally destroys Raven's spell book, so they must go find another one.

Titans Go Casual - The Superhero Board of Authority institutes a dress code which leads the Titans to introduce Casual Tuesday.

Rain on Your Wedding Day - While facing off with The Brain, Robin tries to teach the other Titans the proper definition of irony.

Teen Titans Roar! - The Titans are outraged when their favorite cartoon is rebooted so they come up with a plan to get this new show off the air.

Just as the television channel has caught up with the app with this show, the app adds five more episodes of ThunderCats Roar, including one we haven’t heard of yet.

Panthro Plagiarized! - Vultureman has got a brand new invention but there's one big problem: he stole the idea from Panthro! Oh, also Vultureman is using his invention to take over Third Earth. So, there are two big problems.

Warrior Maiden Invasion - Third Earth is being overrun by super tough, super buff Warrior Maidens and it looks like the ThunderCats are next on their hit list! It's gonna be up to the ThunderKittens to save the day even though the kittens are so small and the Warrior Maidens are so big.

Lost Sword - Lion-O is reminded that he needs to plug the Sword of Omens into the Cats' Lair each night or else the base will run out of power. That's fine, it's not like Lion-O's going to accidentally lose the sword or anything. Right?

The Horror of Hook Mountain - Tygra takes Lion-O climbing up the peak of Hook Mountain to teach him a lesson about trust. But when they get trapped by a snowstorm and take refuge in a creepy cabin owned by the creepy Snowman - it's Tygra's ability to the trust that's gonna be tested.

ThunderSlobs - Tygra's feeling unappreciated by the other ThunderCats so he starts hanging out with Mumm-Ra and cleaning his Black Pyramid?! Whaaaaaaat?

Finally, as tradition for the show, we get next week’s episodes of Transformers Cyberverse.

The Loop Part 1 - It's a beautiful day on Cybertron and only Hot Rod doesn't seem to be enjoying the festive Parade of Metals.

The Loop Part 2 - After escaping The Loop, Hot Rod, Clobber and Perceptor must stay one step ahead of their terrifying pursuers.

The Dead End Part 1 - When Clobber enters the Deception Loop to rescue Lockdown, she attracts the attention of a different Decepticon instead.

The Dead End Part 2 - Hot Rod and Clobber attempt to convince a disoriented and distrustful Dead End to join them in their fight against the Quintessons.

If one has a cable or satellite subscription, they can check these episodes out. Stay tuned.

[kariachi]

Okay, so, since I said we needed more stuff with Kevin being his golddigger self, figured I should lead the charge. Just a bit on the topic.

~~

The Tennysons weren’t coming to the wedding, which wasn’t surprising given they hadn’t come to the last three either on a range of moral grounds from ‘how could you use them like this’ to ‘how could you break Gwen’s heart getting married so soon after you broke up’.

Kevin still didn’t understand that last one- she’d broken up with him. They’d had a fight, he’d failed to bend to accommodate her, and she’d left him for it. It’d been heartbreaking at first, but he’d picked himself up by his bootstraps, reminded himself that really, between her shit and her family’s he hadn’t been seeing the sort’ve returns he would’ve wanted, and moved the fuck on with his life. Not a healthy way of viewing things, he’d been informed, but he had bills coming out his ass. Mortgages to pay, heaps medical bills to pay on both sides of the family, projects to fund, Sid to support (because fuck his pride, he was not starving to death in a cardboard box on the side of the road), family companies to back, loved ones to spoil, and a whole host of charities who deserved more than the few dollars a year he was able to throw their way at the time. People could bitch all they wanted, this was simple financial good sense.

He didn’t know how they’d thought they could throw accusations at him anyway for the first one. Jen’d been over forty at the wedding and he’d been only days into twenty, but yeah, he was the shitbag in the room. Had been a complete disaster of a woman, that one. Not a heart in her damn chest, but thankfully also not a brain in her fucking skull. What sort’ve moron agreed to no pre-nup? What sort’ve moron agreed to no pre-nup, let their husband set up a security system with video and audio, then proceeded to be a right piece of shit? Kevin’d put up with her for two years and waved off offers of murder thrice before gathering up all those tapes, picking a lawyer, and divorcing her on grounds of abuse.

When he was done she was back to the nothing she’d had before that lottery ticket, his mother’s house was paid off, and everyone in the family who needed a home had one.

The Tennysons hadn’t known exactly how to feel about the whole mess and settled on being glad he was out of that relationship and disapproving of everything else.

Jeff had also been a mess of a person, though thankfully a more condescending one than an aggressive one. Again, family and friends had offered to put him in his place and again Kevin had waved them off. He wasn’t a stupid man, he thought through these things, and by the third date he’d known that with the way the man behaved there was no way he was going to be alive more than four years. And he’d been right. After four years three months and twenty-two days of putting up with his bullshit an officer had shown up at one of Kevin’s garages with the sad news that one of Jeff’s employees had walked into his office and put fourteen bullets into his skull.

Kevin’d upped everyone’s wages and benefits, made some quality-of-life changes to company policy, and with the still-sizable profits from the business set up the sort’ve trust funds that made sure his kin and pack would never have to worry about medical expenses again.

This time the poor, naïve Tennysons had assumed he was done. A net value of a couple million dollars- or ‘too much money for one person’ as Ben had once put it, apparently not getting the hint that Kevin wasn’t just hoarding it like a fucking dragon, or noticing that he himself was worth like three times what Kevin was and looking to build a fucking Plumber base as personal home- as a result of two godawful relationships that honestly probably hadn’t done his mental health any good. They hadn’t. That hadn’t stopped him already having another man lined up by the time the ink was dry on the death certificate. A couple million would mostly take care of his family, mostly, for a decent while, but he intended to never have to worry about money again. Or at least not for the next generation or two of cousins.

As it was, there’d been maybe four months between Jeff’s death and his marriage to Daniel and he was still wearing that one’s ring. He hadn’t been perfect, he was seventy-two and marrying a twenty-seven-year-old, but he also had been the only one to go into the marriage with not only a perfect understanding of why Kevin was there, but also a perfect and honestly happy understanding of it. He was old, literally dying, and watching his loved ones circle like vultures, if a handsome young man wanted to be his spouse for the rest of his life he was cool with that. And actually cordial, and affectionate, and respectful. This was the sort’ve man you looked for as a golddigger and Kevin had spent those four years with Jeff looking. His grandchildren had been uncomfortable with the whole thing- which Kevin completely understood- and his children had been a nightmare- honestly, he was glad to be rid of them- but he’d been worth nearly every minute they’d had together before he died, peacefully in bed.

Despite his stepchildren’s attempts (which, really, they’d already been getting the majority of Danny’s money and property, it wasn’t like he was stealing their birthrights out from under them) his niblings and younger cousins had gotten the assurance of affording whatever schooling they wanted and a handful of charities for mutants, the homeless, and the disabled had all gotten sizeable donations, and still there was enough to work with.

And still the Tennysons were huffing, even though by that point pretty much everyone else had accepted the way things were or walked away. They did come to the funeral though, which was appreciated- Kevin had actually liked him enough to need the support.

So now here they were, with Kevin scheduling future fittings for this, his fourth wedding in twelve years. He was making good time and good profits. This one seemed like it’d be a long one though. There didn’t seem to be any imminent death, or clear grounds for divorce, and with a baby on the way he was wanting to kick back for a while. The pre-nup had already been drawn up with this in mind, with a ten-year span before getting anything worth while in a divorce was an option. Kevin figured it wasn’t something to worry too much about, after all he hadn’t needed to have Jeff killed himself but if worst came to worst murder was still an option on the table. The Tennysons would be pissed, but they already were. Just hoped anything like that would come out in the next few years, so he didn’t have to worry about traumatizing the baby.

Other than that, well, he was ready to see what sort’ve returns he got out of this.

[safitheartist]

@kariachi I’m mean. (Tw: mentioned child death, Blood, emotional breakdown, referenced human trafficing, claustrophobia (not sure about this one but they are in a dark cramped place) if you guys can think of any more please tell me.)

The rubbel was pressing on her force field, havey and threatening with it’s immense mass, reminding her that breaking her concentration even only slightly could lead to death’s cold embrace. She felt the stone shift over her head, incaseing them in darkness as the only light source was the dim pink glow of her aura.

She couldn’t open a portal now, they would get squashed immediately and a communication spell was out of question too. All she could do was keeping the barrier around them up or die, if it was just her alone, then maybe, maybe she would be able to get out of there, but as it was..

“Argit!” She said for what felt like the houndreds time since they got into this situation. “Argit wake up! Please!” She heared a groan in response and her aura flared up as relive floded over her.

“Red?” He asked, his voice sounded pained, Gwen felt the sweat burn in her eyes. “Yes, it’s me. How are you feeling?” She asked, she saw him hit his head pretty badly before she put the barrier around them and he’s been unconscious ever since. “Like my head has been put through a wringer…which is a good thing I guess, at least we aren’t dead. What happened?” He groaned out trying to sit up only to wince and lie back down immediately.

“You can’t remember?” That wasn’t good, that wasn’t good at all. “I um…there was a earthquake I think?” Something about a giant badger?“ It were questions, not answers, that was bad. “Yes, Animo, it was a mole not a badger. We were evacuating a building, it fell down on us. You fell out of the 7th floor.”

“7th? Gee, I must be getting soft.” Gwen could tell he was joking but it came out sounding more pathetic then anything. “Take this serious would you? You might be really hurt.” Gwen scolded him. “What about the kids? There where kids on the floor with me, right?” Gwen felt a cold feeling settle in her stomach. “I don’t know.” She lied.

“Oh..”

It was silent for a few heartbeats but Gwen knew it couldn’t stay that way. She had to check bad the damage is and she had to keep him awake somehow. “I need to ask you a few questions. Okay?” Argit grunted and Gwen took that as a ‘go ahead.’ from him. “Okay, do you remember my name?”

Argit snorted.

“I’m serious Argit, my real name, not the nickname.” She insisted.

“Gwendolyn Tennyson.” He replied, Gwen nodded, “Good, who is my boyfriend?”

“The pain of my existence.” “Argit.”

“Kevin Ethan Levin.” He winced again, Gwen felt sympathetic for him, but it was the only way to make sure he stays with her and it was helping her to stay calm too, so she knew she couldn’t let him quit.

“Okay, okay, you’re doing good. I’m the cousin of?” She asked, her aura flared up while thinking of Ben, her cousin, at least according to what their family has been telling them. She’s been having doubts about that for a while now.

“Benjamin Kirby Tennyson. This is boring Red, can’t we take turns asking questions?” He asked and Gwen thought about it. That wasn’t a bad idea, it would keep him from falling asleep at least, hopefully that is. “Okay, I asked a question, it’s your turn.”

“Why aren’t you teleporting yourself out of here?” He asked, he could remember that she can do that, good. “It’s too dangerous. Even if I managed to do it fast enough, I doubt I could get both of us out.” She didn’t mention how teleporting could make his condition worse or how the only thing keeping them alive was a barrier held up by somebody who had two redbull and a slice of toast for breakfast that morning. Gwen doubt she was in the condition to take risks right now.

“My turn, what’s your favorite animal?” Gwen was determined to keep this going, but she had to admit, she wasn’t the most creative person under pressure. “Seriously? Creativity much?” Argit asked with clear amusement in his voice, Gwen grunted, “You try keeping several tons over our heads, then we can talk about how creative my questions are.”

“I like Platypi.” He answered, Gwen had the urge to stare at him. “Platypi?” She asked and Argit grunted, “What’s so strange about that?” he asked and Gwen felt a bit embarrased, “I just wasn’t expecting it. I thought you would say something like opossum or hedghog.” She admited. “You humans are basically appes and yet *your* favorite animal are cats.” He countred.

“Fair enough. Your turn.”

“When was your first kiss?” Gwen snorted, “And you call my questions uncreative?” She couldn’t help saying. “12, Billy Mayson behind the school’s gym. His braces cut my lip open.” She remembered it like it only happened yesterday, it was a deep cut too, she had to walk around with a bandaid for weeks.“ “Romantic.” Argit said dryly. “Okay, since we are at *that* topic, first crush?” She asked. It turned silent for a few moments and Gwen was starting to worry that he might have fallen asleep on her again, but then she heared him mumbling something very quietly, so that she almost couldn’t hear it.

“Kevin?!” She exclaimed and her Aura again flared up. Argit winced at her sudden loud voice and Gwen looked at him apologetic, “Sorry, I just didn’t…I probably should have figured that’s the case.”

“Let’s just, not go there right now. Ack, okay let me think for a second. Um, siblings?” Gwen wanted to nod, but moving her head made her feel dizzy, so she made a mental note to no longer do that, “A older brother. His name is Ken.” Gwen answered, she hasn’t talked to Ken for quite some time, they had a fight the last time she saw him, the idea that they might never make up was painful.

Ben came to mind again, but Gwen ignored it.

“What about you? Do you have siblings?” She hardly knew anything about Argit’s family now that she thought about it. She still wasn’t even sure if he really did sell his mother or if Kevin was just messing with her. Arigt was a complicated person, he wasn’t to be trusted that’s for sure, but it wasn’t like he’s heartless too. He confused Gwen because for some reason, she couldn’t hate him anymore.

Argit was silent again, the only thing indicating that he was still awake were the small squealing noises he made now and then combined with his inregular breathing. “Yes,” he said, his tone caught her of guard, he sounded sad. “I do, 12 all of them were younger then me.” Gwen felt the cold feeling settle back in her stomach, the wight of the shifting rubble feeling more and more pressing.

“And well then there is also Kevin.” He added.

“What where their names?” Argit chuckled, “I believe it was my turn Red.” There was a pause and Gwen was half expecting him to just continue their little game, but then he started making a number of squeaking noises, which confused Gwen until she realized he was answering her question. “…..Argit isn’t your real name?” It was more an realization then a question, “Still breaking the rules I see, no it’s not. Kevin gave it to me when we were children, couldn’t pronounce my real name, bless his soul he tried. I’ve been using it ever since. Okay, my turn, why the cats?”

Gwen swallowed thickly as she tried her best to make her voice casual.“When I was really little I thought they were witches in disguise. It kinda became a obsession after a while.” She remembered how Ben once caught a stray cat for her when they were really little, they tried feeding her so she would trust them enough to transform for them, it ended with Ben having a really nasty scratch on his arm and Ken having to drive the cat to a animal shelter on his bike.

“You’ve always been into this magic stuff?” Asked Argit again, Gwen supposed it was just fair, she did ask three questions in a row after all. “I guess,” she answered after she thought about it a while, “It was more of an weird interest back then, I didn’t start really getting invested in it until….” Until she realized this wasn’t some silly game. There was a pause again, she was wondering what Argit must be thinking right now.

“Your turn.” He said after a while, Gwen was surprised. “Are you sure? You still have one left.”

“Can’t think of anything right now.” His breathing was getting faster, Gwen noted, she wasn’t doing much better really, they have been trapped under this thing for way too long already, she’s been trying her best to filter oxygen into her barrier but it was starting to overwhelm her.

Gwen wasn’t sure what to ask either, at least she wasn’t sure if what she wanted to ask really would be okay to ask. She knew for a fact that Kevin and the others didn’t like to talk about their time in the null void, but she really didn’t know how Argit felt about it. She supposed there was really just one way to find this out.

“How did you meet Kevin?” She felt the wight over her shift again.

“You already know that. Servanties used my DNA for his sick experiments.”

“You know what I mean. How would you two become friends?” There was a long moment of nothing, Gwen was starting to regret asking, she was about to take it back, tell him he didn’t have to answer if he didn’t want to, but Argit apparently had other plans.

“He just showed up one day.” He paused, Gwen didn’t push him. “I was sitting in that cage, scared out of my mind and starving convinced I would die in that damn thing and suddenly there he was. A little boy, looking just as scared as me. He gave me extra food and that became our thing.” His voice was soft, almost nostalgic. “The time in this hell hole was terrible, but Kevin made it bearable for me, he’s the closest thing to family I had ever since….” He trailed off, turning silent as he thought back to a time long ago, Gwen let him, she didn’t know how she should feel about this situation, she never saw him that vulnerable. She wondered how much there was to her boyfriends oldest friend she never even bothered learning about.

"Hey Red." He started the conversation again, "Could you tell Kev something from me? If I...you know? You have to teleport out of here after all." Gwen felt a cold shudder run through her as the implications of his request became clear to her, her aura flared up again, stronger then the other times even, "No!" She yelled at him, "No! Shut up!" 

"If it happens-" he tried again but Gwen blocked off. "I don't want you to die. Please, don't say stuff like this." Gwen tried her best to steady her breathing, why was it suddenly so warm in there? Argit was silent for a moment but then tried again, Gwen was to exhausted to stop him by now. "If something happens. I want you to tell him that I am sorry, for everything I messed up and I want him to know that there is not one day where I don’t regret losing the relationship we used to have. Can you do that for me Gwen?" Her vision was blurry and she felt gross out over the mixture of sweat, tears and snot on her face.

The sound of bones crushing under stone and little voices crying out, crying for a hero to help them, echo through her head. 

There was blood, everywhere was blood. 

She nodded, making her dizzy again "Yes, okay! Just stop saying this stuff, you aren't going to die! I won't let you die here." Nobody else. She wouldn't let anybody else die today. "You know," Argit started, "You are a very bad liar Gwendolyn." Gwen felt cold. "I can see some of them from where I'm lying." "Just shut up!" She screamed, her aura flared up. "Please just stop talking about this." She felt broken, like a failure. It was her job to help people, to keep them save and yet. Ben came to mind again, how would he look at her after today? How would he deal with his own cousin being a failure? "It's not your fault, you know?" Argit said but Gwen shock her head, she was at fault, she failed this children. "Please, I can't not right now." She was a mess, she didn't even notice when her nose stated bleeding.

She failed them. The thought echoed through her head and she felt how she was starting to lose herself. She needed something, anything to keep her mind off of this terrible memories.

"Y-your mother." Gwen stutered out between, Argit made a confused noice, "Your mother, Kevin mentioned her once, tell me about her." There was a small part in the back of her mind, screaming this was over steping he boundaries, that this wasn't a topic she should be the one to bring up, but she couldn't help it.

"She was a species trafficer." He said and Gwen felt like somebody punched her. She swallowed thickly as the implications of this new information caught up to her. "She sold me to Servanties, I guess I got better of then my siblings though. Oldest privileges." He chuckled but it sounded bitter. 

"When we got out of the null void Kev and me stumbled over her, she told me she had changed, that she regrets doing this to me, what a load of bullcrap. She tried selling us off to some psycho. She didn't expect getting beat at her own game though." Gwen stayed silent. 

 "I guess that's partly why I ended up being such a screw up....Red?" He sounded concerned, Gwen tried her best to response, "I'm fine, just...keep talking." She gritted through her teeth. She was shaking, it wasn't good to exhaust her powers like that. 

Argit paused, "If you can't bear it anymore-" 

 "Talk!" 

 "Okay...did Kevin ever tell you about-" They sat there a while longer. Argit telling her stories she didn't even really register, his voice was getting weaker, his pauses longer, Gwen could tell he was in pain too, that he wanted to rest too, but she couldn't let him. She doesn't know how long they stayed there, brushing shoulders with death, but at some point the wight over them stoped pressing down on her. 

 "It's alright, you can let it down now. We made it. You saved us Red."

Gwen passed out.

[catgirlxox]

A Rebuttal of Ohvist Small’s "Modesty vs Arrogance" Video

My first issue with this video clip compilation is the context of the scenes depicting the events in Ben's life. The “modest” and the “arrogant” clips go back and forth through different contexts. The actions which are considered as his "modesty" happen as he watches, what he was made to believe was, his Grandpa literally dying in an explosion, as well as before he even knew Max was still alive. This how any real person should react in that situation because it is traumatic. You can not compare a person's behaviour directly following a traumatic event to a later circumstance where the has likely recovered and is in a better state of mind. 

His "arrogance" is not as malicious as it is made out to be. 

Not only that, but this “shift” in attitude is shown to happen to Ben’s character frequently throughout the series, and specifically when something traumatic occurs or is brought up. He takes on this very “mature” and “adult” behaviour, but this is obviously his way of coping with situations kids his age generally do not have to deal with. He has to deal with grown up problems, so he better act like one. 

In the Original Series’ “Ben 10,000″ episode, future Ben was shown to do this exact thing, albeit to a bit of an extreme since he actually was an adult. 

In Ultimate Alien, Ben reverted to his part of his character during times such as the Ultimate Kevin arc situation, as well as the episodes “The Ultimate Sacrifice”, and “The Ultimate Enemy.” 

In Omniverse, we are introduced to Malware -  a villain who traumatized Ben at the age of 11 and returns to cause him even more trouble at 16. When Ben is faced with the trauma Malware inflicts upon him, this triggers him to go into that “mature” and “serious” character. 

The Omniverse episode “Malfactor” showcases the way these types of triggers affect the way Ben acts. One of the Nemetrix aliens, a predator to Ben’s chosen alien (Big Chill), manages to hypnotize him in order to distract him from Malware. This predator manipulates Ben’s mind to find what he truly wants deep down and manufactures a hallucination which displays Ben’s reaction that hypothetical situation. 

Crowd (chanting): “Ben 10! Ben 10! Ben 10! We love you, Ben 10!”

Ben (inside the hallucination): “Yeah! Thank you! I love you all, too! But not as much as you love me...”

Ben (outside the hallucination): “No. This isn’t what it’s about. I'm a hero.”

Ben (controlling inside the hallucination from the outside): “Being a hero isn’t about fame. It’s about putting other people before yourself or what you want. It’s about doing the right thing just because it’s the right thing to do. It’s about about making a difference.” 

From this scenario, we are shown that all Ben truly wants is some recognition for his deeds. He could very well have dreamed of more, considering there is an alternate Ben (23) who is rich and famous. But, because he has been criticized for being proud of himself in the past (for “saving the whole entire universe”), once he begins to enjoy receiving the credit and love he deserves, he doesn’t even allow himself to feel good about it. 

But what he does say in the end is still very admirable, smart, and “mature.”

The rest of the time, when he is not faced with these stressors, Ben is his regular optimistic, confident self. This is not a flaw. This is him in a positive state of mind. He does not lose this “mature” outlook. He knows very well why he continues to do his job. 

Moving on to clips included in the compilation:

“Vengeance of Vilgax”

Gwen: "I'm not kidding, Ben. I'm really mad at you! Kevin and I could have been killed!"

The reason Gwen and Kevin are mad is because they weren't capable enough to take down Sserpent on their own. They really should be, but, apparently, they've been fighting him for an hour since Ben wasn't there. 

And, reasonably, you might think, 'oh, how insensitive of him to forget.' 

What makes him seem like the bad guy is the fact that he does not seem very apologetic when he does arrive. The reality is that he was not there to see Gwen and Kevin having an usually hard time fighting Ssperpent in the first place, and probably assumed that they were capable enough to do so, or at least hold him off until Ben did get there. 

But the fact that Gwen and Kevin are mostly mad at him for not showing up earlier proves that they need him. They need him to ultimately solve the problem because they know he is most capable of that. Seemingly more so than either Gwen or Kevin. Even if this is slightly strange considering both of them have gone through their own battles and won, if Ben is just that good at problem solving...should he not have good reason to be proud of himself?

That is exactly how he stopped the Highbreed invasion. He didn't “win.” Nobody “won” that war. Ben only stopped the Invasion by solving their problem in a creative way and therefore saving everyone’s lives.

Why is Ben "obnoxious" when he is no longer suffering as much as before, and when he has a good reason to be happy now? 

Granted, perhaps it is slightly premature since other threats will be coming up in his near future, so he shouldn't get too comfortable. But, the most important motivating factor behind Ben’s choice of actions and perception of his hero duty in the previous two seasons was his Grandpa Max’s disappearance. Now, he has Max back and that is no longer emotionally weighing him down. 

But even though forgetting to do something is not a good thing to do, showing up late to a mission unintentionally is not a big deal in comparison to the way some other characters are portrayed throughout this season. Everyone harps on about how terrible they think Ben is, however, whether you like it or not, Ben’s point of view can be explained.

Multiple times in this season, Kevin actually seems to stray from the motivation he had to help Ben in the first two seasons. 

Coercing the team into hacking the Omnitrix...

Blaming Gwen for not helping him when it all backfired and hit him the hardest...

Having an increased interest in sneaking petty crime in wherever he could...

I am not saying that he has regressed, because I have no interest in jumping to conclusions such as those everyone seems to have concluded about Ben. But, these things are just never spoken about even though they happened. 

In the beginning, it was Kevin's idea to hack the Omnitrix. Ben agreed to do it as well, but Kevin had all the necessary equipment ready. He got hit the hardest by it as a cause of his own bad suggestion. Some have made the argument that it was Ben's fault because it was his Omnitrix. 

But...who put him in that position? 

By doing what Kevin thought was “helping”, he was actually setting them all up for this catastrophe to happen. He brought them to the garage, he set up the machines and devices, he hooked Ben up to it, and then it overloaded. He caused this mess for himself. 

“Con of Rath” 

Ben: "Don’t worry, Ambassador. We’ll get the Tiffin to his destination.You have the word of Ben Tennyson"  

Gwen: You’re talking about yourself in the third person now? 

Gwen has a problem with the fact that Ben is talking about himself in the third person. But, Ben, being in such a position of authority where these aliens trust him enough to put their baby's life and safety into his hands is saying a whole lot about how the Galaxy sees him now. He has to reassure them that he will, without a doubt, be able to do what they expect of him. 

You could look at this as "arrogant", but you could more so look at this as Ben living up too his responsibilities and the Galaxy's expectations of him. The Galaxy treats him like this now out of both gratitude and a realization of what this boy is capable of. 

Would it be unreasonable to assume that some may even fear this over powered human? Individuals such as Vilgax are well known throughout the Galaxy because of how capable and powerful they are. Vilgax even attempted to connect that and compare himself to Ben in Ultimate Alien’s "The Ultimate Enemy." But Ben has defeated Vilgax multiple times at this point. Ben is arguably even more powerful than “the conqueror of ten worlds.”

So, in order for these aliens to not fear him as well, wouldn't he want to reassure them that he is here to use his powers to help them rather than enslave and destroy them? 

Ben also ends up stuck as Rath the entire episode, which works both for and against them while they pursue their mission. It leads Kevin to this conclusion:

Kevin: “I'm almost starting to appreciate the old Ben.” 

“Ghost Town”

According to Gwen, it was stupid of Ben to jump in front of Vilgax, allowing Ghostfreak to possess him, which then would lead to Ghostfreak being out of Ben's control. Does that not imply that he didn't know what was happening outside his body since he was possessed? 

And because Ben is no longer in control like he expected to be, Ghostfreak takes that chance to try to kill everyone. This was not Ben’s doing. Even if Ben and Ghostreak were not morphed into one, Ghostfreak would most likely try to do the same thing.

Even aside from the indication that he could not have known what was going on around him, what if Ben got killed during this series of events?

Ghostfreak and Ben, two of Vilgax’s enemies, are now morphed into one. He has the chance to take them both down. And that is what he tries to do. 

Previously, Vilgax even asked to use the Omnitrix on his own to save his planet, which obviously Ben wouldn't agree to. Therefore, it seemed there wasn't much else he could do aside from reabsorbing Ghostfreak in the Omnitrix because then he wouldn't be free to cause harm to others. 

Contrary to popular belief, there are moments in Season 3 of Alien Force where Ben was still “mature”:

“Simple”

Ben gave up his three day weekend to voluntarily, and with a good attitude, travel to another planet just to try to solve their problems for them. It was his intention that counted in this episode, and it also portrays how willing he is to live up to the expectations everyone has for him. A little girl asked him to stop their war, and he didn't have a singe doubt that he could it. 

His motivation was good. His outlook was fuelled by his new found confidence. These are good traits for a hero to have. 

Kevin, on the other hand, had done something less than heroic while Ben was actively trying to get the War leaders to come to an understanding. 

Gwen: “You’re making money off of other people’s misery? I thought you were here to help Ben.”  

Rather helping Ben find a way to get the War leaders cooperate and stop fighting, he and Argit (who was conveniently on that planet as well) begin to repaint the soldier’s weapons and resell them, encouraging them to keep fighting.

I realize that this may have been because he wasn't in a very good financial situation a this point and still partially relied on this type of business to get by, but is that any excuse to be so indifferent to other people’s problems because they are not your own, and therefore do not affect you directly? 

Kevin’s character had shifted a bit in this arc as well, and, similarly to Ben, it had been as a cause of a traumatic event which occurred to him. Namely, the one in “Vengeance of Vilgax.” 

Being deeply affected by a traumatic experience with lasting psychological, and in Kevin’s case, temporally physical effects, causes one’s character and actions to be affected as well. This can mean for better and for worse. 

“In charm’s Way”

Kevin: Where's Gwen?”

Ben: “Went home. You hurt her pretty bad.”

Kevin: “I hurt her? I'm the one who looks like this, and she hasn't done a thing about it.”

Ben: “You are a giant, rock-faced jerk!”

Kevin: “Yeah, whatever.”

Ben: “Not "whatever. " She's spending every spare moment going through every magic book she can find to try and help you. She's been doing it since the accident.”

Kevin: “She never told me.”

Ben: “Should she have had to?”

In the end, everyone is capable of doing better and worse. However, this depends on having context in order to come to a logical understanding of where those choice of actions stems from. It does not excuse a bad behaviour, but it does shed light on the factors which have caused it to exist in the first place, and therefore can potentially prevent it in the future. Such as Omniverse Ben correcting his own thinking in “Malfactor” because of what he has learned from his past experiences. 

[kariachi]

A thing that started as what I would do to make a better Omniverse and has quickly gotten wildly out of hand

None of this going off to college shit, Gwen stays in Bellwood because goddamnit we’re not losing our one primary woman

Rook still joins up in the first episode- he, Gwen, and Ben make up the new Power Trio

Around episode 5 we get a Kevin-centric episode that includes a big, final, loud-ass screaming match between him and Argit that culminates in the realization that not only have they both been acting unlike themselves pre-AF, at least according to each other, but they’re both missing memories and get migraines when they try to think to hard about either fact

“Since when are you so callous about people you work with?!” “I don’t know, since when have you trusted the Plumbers with anything, after the shit we’ve dealt with?!” “...I don’t know...”

From then the show is basically split in two as we break up the Power Trio’s adventures and stories with Kevin and Argit’s attempts to figure out what the fuck is going on with them, why, and how to fix it. This becomes a series-wide build up to the final Rooters Arc

And includes a scene where Argit has a lesser breakdown because they’ve realized neither one can really remember how they met and that’s just too damn much

As their investigation goes on they find themselves tracking down and recruiting Alan, Manny, and Helen (who admit to having the similar issues with memory and migraines when asked) and Cooper (who doesn’t but like fuck you’re getting his team and boyfriend involved and not him)

They all become as much staple fixtures as Rook, with everyone getting their own stories and plots and character growth

Also Manny is still visibly disabled because fuck that shit

BTW, the whole thing would also be much more queer, with dudes kissing dudes and gals kissing gals and an episode where Top Nonbinaries Argit and Kevin take Baby Nonbinary Cooper under their wing

Looma is not a love interest for anybody, at least until the finale where she turns out to be Kenny’s stepmom via Kai (btw, Kenny’s sister is still a thing, plsthnk), instead she’s a friend of Kev and Argit’s and features in OTTO Motives, which doesn’t include Rook or Ben and is instead A Very Amalgam Episode

Weapon I and Weapon XI are replaced with a three-parter where the team finally traces everything back to the Rooters and everything comes to a head

Includes such wonderful scenes as everybody arguing about how the fuck to move forward in this whole mess, Helen and Cooper hacking into the Rooter’s computers and sending everything incriminating to everybody they can think of, Alan lighting Servantis on fire, and Phil ending up alone in a room with Kevin and never being seen or mentioned again

The team reunites with the Tennysons at the end of the three-parter, when a contingent of Plumbers show up at the Rooter base because, well, Helen and Cooper just spilled a lot of beans to an asston of people and also Argit has been making fucking phonecalls

The series ends with a big-wig party celebrating Rook’s rise to Magistrata (a level to which Max never fucking reached because fuck no)

He and Rayona are still together, they have like six kids, Rayona works for Kev and Cooper

Gwen is living her best life as the greatest sorceress of her time and Most Eligible Bachelorette in Our Galaxy

Ben keeps hopping from relationship to relationship, but he’s still a  great hero and a damn good father

Kai and Ben were briefly married, resulting to two kids, but since the divorce she’s 1) married Looma after Kevin introduced the two, 2) had two daughters and a son with her who spend as much time as possible with their older siblings, and 3) expanded her archaeology and adventuring out into the stars

Julie and Herve are still together, they got married just over a year after they met and have no children but a wonderful marriage

Ester continues to lead her people and has found herself both a nice Kraaho husband and Kineceleran wife, they are very happy

Charmcaster has gotten the help she needed and is now in place as a proper queen of Legerdomain, a friendly rivalry continues to exist between her and Gwen

Elena has not only gotten the help she needed, but also been absorbed into the Amalgam Collective, she’s become one of the biggest names in engineering on Earth

Ken has also been absorbed into the collective and after paying off his student loans and struggling to get the sort’ve jobs he studied for he’s turned to professional equestrianism. Bronze medal Olympian in it.

Argit still ended up in politics and became President of Earth somehow. Everyone teases him about obviously cheating but really it’s because a platform of “Stop being assholes to each other for ten minutes so I can make the global economy not a flaming shitpile please” is surprisingly popular

Manny and Helen have been in charge of his security ever since he’s needed security, which has been about his whole career

Alan is not involved in the security thing because he has had more than enough excitement for one lifetime. He’s more than happy to keep helping his siblings-who-weren’t-his-siblings-but-still-are-fuck-you run the family farm, which has been greatly expanded

Cooper and Kevin teamed up to drag Darkstar to rehab and basic decency kicking and screaming and together the three have ended up starting a charity for mutants that takes advantage of having some seriously big-name supporters (read: The President of Earth, Ben 10, Warlord Looma Red Wind, and others) to provide free housing, healthcare, food, etc, to mutants, especially young mutants, who need it

Mike does most of the facework, and Cooper splits his time between engineering for a profit (which generally ends up going to the charity), while Kevin is loaded down with paperwork while also doing the ‘work-from-home parent’ thing

The Amalgam Collective and all individual partners share a property neighboring the Albright farm, a number of houses on said property, and possibly each others’ beds nobody is quite sure at this point. They’re raising their kids as one big family though, which is handy because between breeding and adopting and fostering there’s generally at least 8 children living there at any given time.

It is known that Helen has herself a woman, that Alan and Cooper are eternal, and Argit will fight you if you so much as think poorly about he, Kevin, and Ken’s relationship

All of Manny and Elena’s shit is less defined and more up in the air

Holidays with these people are wild

[kariachi]

I’m not completely satisfied but goddamn. One of the longest chapters in this damn story.

Ch12, the one where they have a house and maybe a home

The two of them stayed another few days on Earth. Not long, just enough to recover from the wedding itself, get over some of the initial awkwardness that came from sharing close quarters with a stranger. In that time they, didn’t really leave the hotel. Their suite had a kitchen which Kevin’s pack had been forward-thinking enough to stock with some basics, and their luggage had been there when they arrived, so there really hadn’t been much need. Instead they’d spent the time getting to know each other… more or less.

Okay, so it’d been fifty percent doing other things quietly in close proximity, thirty percent slowly lengthening conversations, and twenty percent ranting about random shit. Close enough.

~~

“-so we’ve got this message from the Tennysons’ grandpa saying we have to gather up other Plumbers’ kids to help us fight off this threat and immediately I’m on edge because number one these are my friends this guy is asking us to put at risk and number two these are my niblings this plan is asking us to put at risk, but the Tennysons are all gung ho about it so I go along as I’m considering the situation. Well, the first fucker we find turns out to be Mike- you know, blond, glowy?- and he was as suspicious as me just, ‘Does your brother know about this?’, no, he doesn’t, I kinda want to tell him, so we did.

And Argit he lost his shit. And then he called Pierce’s dad and he lost his shit. And Mrs. Armstrong, and my mother, and just down through the list and they all flipped. And that’s how the Highbreed plan got out and was stomped down by so many fucking governments, because rather than call Ben and Gwen’s cousin, or my brother, or any of the other adult Plumbers on the planet, this guy wanted us kids to handle things and so many people lost their tits. It was amazing.” Argit stared at Kevin as he settled back into his chair, mouth agape.

“…well, if I’d ever wanted to start shit, that dream’s gone.”

~~

“-look, I love my Pa, he’s an amazing warrior, great military strategist, good father, but Depths take me that man can’t administrate for shit. And who’s surprised, really, when his drive for so damn long has been a stupid watch? You know he once tried to bring Zs’Skayr, you know, the guy known for trying to plunge a planet into darkness? He tried to bring him onto Vilgaxia. Seriously. Because he might be useful in getting the watch. If I hadn’t pitched an unholy fit, and my siblings hadn’t been on my side, and we hadn’t basically threatened to kill him and usurp the throne, I don’t even want to know what would’ve happened.

Even outside of that, he wanders off for ages at a time, does no fucking paperwork when he is here. He can’t delegate for shit, straight up forgets planets he’s conquered once he’s not using them anymore- which hey, fine with me, but somebody has to officially give them back to themselves if he doesn’t want them- and don’t even get me started on his budgeting. You know what I do when I can’t figure out a solution to a problem? I call and ask his advice and then don’t take it. Always works. And Tiara is just like- What is that look?” Clapping a hand over his face, Kevin bit back the stupid smile that’d grown over it as the monologue went on.

“Oh nothing, nothing, continue.”

~~

But it wasn’t long before they had to head out. The ‘honeymoon’ wasn’t over, but they had a house to try to make a home together, and it was agreed that if they put off leaving too long Kevin might literally grow roots and refuse to go. So, with one final grocery run- which itself took way too long, because Kevin suddenly decided he needed to stock up on foods from twelve different places on the planet and Argit felt guilty enough about moving him that he didn’t say no- they were gone, with the blue and green ball that was Earth shrinking behind them and the orange one that was Vilgaxia at the end of the journey.

“Woah,” Kevin said, whistling long and low as he came in to land, “nice place.”

“Thanks,” Argit responded, “Earth wasn’t exactly a shitstain either.”

The planet really was lovely, at least there at the capital city. Farla was a massive city by the standards of the culture, sprawling out from the base of a low mountain range. The city itself looked eerie as they approached, lights and a few taller buildings like spotlights in the thick morning fog, but that wasn’t where they were headed. Argit instead directed Kevin to the mountain closest to the city border, apparently not having been kidding when he said he’d got them a place on the outskirts. As they got closer Kevin could identify first a large river running towards and under the city, then what he could only describe as large, coral-like structures followed by smaller fixtures reminiscent of things like algae and seagrasses, all in various colors familiar and new to his shape, until finally they came over a ridge and straight into view of their new home.

Kevin whistled again.

It didn’t look much different from other buildings on the planet- low-slung, circular, with a rounded roof and what was nearly a band of windows. A road wound up the mountain to the dark and colorful building, and the yard was done up in coral ‘trees’ and beds of soft corals and anemones.

“Lawncare’s gonna be a bitch,” Kevin said, waiting as Argit typed in the passcode for the ship-garage visibly sunk into the ground beside the house. Argit shook his head.

“Don’t need any care,” he said, “it’s all native, so as long as we keep pests managed everything’ll handle itself just fine.” Well, he was the local. Kevin put yardwork out of his mind as they landed inside and gathered up their things.

The garage was large, massive even, and Kevin was visibly planning a layout even before they were completely out of the ship. He just stood there at the bottom of the ramp, luggage slung over his shoulder, clearly figuring out what machinery and projects he would be putting where, until Argit rolled his eyes, grabbed him by the sleeve, and dragged him towards the stairs. It wasn’t a long way up, and immediately Argit began leading the way to the bedrooms so they could put their things away, only to be stopped short by Kevin planting himself like a tree.

“No, first things first, I’m seeing what sort’ve kitchen I have to work with.” Looking back at him with exasperation, Argit sighed.

“Really?”

“Look, I can live just about anywhere, and the garage is great, but if this is gonna be home there needs to be a decent place to cook.” Another sigh, this one more pained as Argit realized he was married to this man for the hundredth time, and the smaller hybrid turned on his heel and started down the hallway.

Thankfully the layout was as circular as the building, with most of the rooms connected with one long hallway that ran the whole of the house. Outwards-facing rooms with large windows on one side, and more private rooms without them on the other. The kitchen, being one of the outer rooms and one without a door, was easy to find. Argit stopped and stared when they reached it.

“That table wasn’t there before,” he said. And it wasn’t just the table, though that was odd. It was definitely Murran in design- low slung and round and as much bench as anything else- but he’d never seen a table made completely of solid glass, and definitely not one in a grainy white with fine purple edging like this. But there was more going on. On top of the table was a small wooden crate with what appeared to be fabric inside, though the more curious thing was the small potted trees- immediately recognizable to Kevin as fruit trees from Earth and various Ossy planets- that sat on the floor along the walls and cabinets. Laughing, he briefly dug his fingers into the fur at the base of Argit’s ear.

“That,” he said, gesturing at the trees, “is an Ossy thing, and the table is probably from pack.” It took a moment for him to figure out that it did double duty, which amused Argit enough to make him relax, and once he did he settled in beside the crate and pulled it into his lap. “This, on the other hand, I’m curious about.”

Argit didn’t trust it, visibly didn’t trust it, but though he kept his ears back and eyed the crate carefully, he did come closer. As he did so Kevin pulled a steel ball from one pocket and pulled a coating from it, stowing it away before getting to work prying the crate open. Once the lid was free and set aside he broke into a wide grin and Argit decided that meant it was safe enough to position himself right by his husband’s leg.

“Oh hello there,” Kevin practically cooed, pulling out a bit of yellow-stained fabric and reaching inside the crate to present a kitten-sized arachnid. Eyes going wide, Argit tilted his head and leaned closer. He’d seen things that looked vaguely similar to this, but the creature itself was completely new to him for all that Kevin clearly recognized the variety of spider if not the specific animal. Climbing up Kevin’s arm, it carefully seemed to investigate it’s surroundings, even reaching out one metallic, silvery leg to poke at Argit’s muzzle. He found himself resting his head and arms on the table and just, watching it as it settled in, entranced by the newness, the glint of metallic limbs and net-like markings, it’s firey blue coloration, even as Kevin laughed at him. It wasn’t a mean or teasing laugh though, and during the second Argit tore his eyes away to look at him his expression was distinctly fond.

“Pretty nice place you’ve got me so far,” he said, then looked around the kitchen with a laugh and smile. “And we’ve even got a bit of a start on making it a home.”