#alliance: freesmart

[xx-purg3-m4rch-xx]

(lollipop design by @anomadevotion :3) tpot18 release art dump. episode was perfect n we r married now. n w reference sheets maybe ill stop drawing everyone inconsistent lol.did you guys know i like pencil btw (divider)

[tangramkey]

POV: You showed up to the TCOA uninvited.

[return-of-the-vegetable]

she'll always hug me too tight

[bivdofbrokendreams]

my phonecase :3

i made the charm + drawing by myself!! :D

[mao-likes-2-draw]

reference under the cut

[randomuzerthelozer]

pencil and match would not be the salt and pepper of bfdi they would be the nickel/baseball of bfdi

--- More undercut--

the alliance arc strikers striking similarity to the armless alliance arc

of course it isn't a one too one, due to multiple aspects such as viewer vs character voting (and the writing in general)

However the arcs due strike a resemblance to each other

A alliance which has:

A "asshole"(not aggressively a asshole in pencil's case but still) who gets off scot free due to their established role(pencil being the leader, nickel having ties with baseball)(by asshole I mean like a character who just turns into a worse person during the arc)

An enabler whose too emotionally connected to the asshole to criticize them and ends up acting like them/in support of them (match and baseball)

A character who enjoyed being in the alliance at some point but decided to stand up for themselves/a friend (bubble and suitcase)

A character who has a negative relationship with the asshole and the enabler (supporting the "3rd good og member character") (I personally give this role to fanny, because ice cube represents a whole different aspect of the freesmarts arc yada... but for sake of argument you could say Balloon is if Fanny and Ice Cube mixed and were less negative/vengeful)

Of course with the alliance/freesmarts you have more members and more dynamics etc.

and the writing in the later in the show isn't a one too one yada yada

I know salt and pepper have a kind of similar thing on a surface level to match and Pencil, but they've got one key difference

Through all of II Pepper and Salt mostly have themselves

whilst Pencil and Match have a full ASS alliance which ALWAYS included bubble from the default

thank you for listening to this long ramble :)

(ps not directed at ANYONE who has made match and pencil salt and pepper in their au! this is just a personally opinion I have due to the fact I really love the alliance in bfdi and pour a lot into analizyng them, it's just a personal ick lol)

[looming-toons]

Freesmart and newbie alliance attack!!!

[bossyball]

she needs to be publicly executed

[evilherehotel]

one is a very interesting character to me. with most of the lore still up in the air as of the time this is written, it's hard to be sure who exactly she is; or, who she was. today, i want to take a closer look at what we have her character and try to figure out what that "was" could've looked like.

first, i'll start with what we know.

above all else, one is controlling. whether that be in a literal sense, when one influences the world and events around her, or in an emotional sense, when it comes to manipulating others in order to get them to agree to her deals.

in tpot 13, she tells basketball that something they have in common is not liking when things don't go their way. this makes sense for one; every little thing she does is planned, prepared, controlled. she knows the steps people will take before they even take them, she knows every move she needs to make to get under people's skin, and she knows how to make everything go according to plan.

but what about when it doesn't?

in tpot 17, it's as though that control slips. things don't go her way. she isn't nearly as put-together, nor is she calculative or patient enough to even try putting up her persona and coaxing donut in the same way she has with her other signatories. her room seems to reflect her state of mind, scattered and disorganized. she's not stable enough to think of a way to convince him, or even think to hold him down, and her lack of control in the situation gives donut more free will, the ability to reject her deal, and, more importantly, the ability to fight back.

this act is something so spontaneous, so unpredictable, that it causes one to snap and immediately try to grab this control back. she becomes blinded by rage and attacks him, yet her scare tactic only shows more of her weakness: one can't handle feeling powerless.

although she's stronger than donut and was more than willing to show him that, her behavior also seems to stem from a point of insecurity. being disobeyed, treated not as an all-powerful being but instead an equal - or even a lesser - is her breaking point. obviously anybody would be mad over getting kicked, but it's clear something deeper must've been triggered in one in order to get her that manically angry.

where did this need for control come from? how does this tie into her past?

to know this, we should first look at another key detail of her character: her deals.

on first glance, one's signatories don't have much in common. they're easy targets, people with weaknesses that one can easily find and exploit, with not much other correlation. but upon closer inspection, a pattern makes itself clear in every single person that one took into her room.

when fanny joined death pact again, she was taught to abandon her own beliefs and objectives and instead prioritize preventing death. for a while, she obliges by this, even as it causes them to lose challenges and causes her friends to drop out of the game like flies, until she decides she has enough of it and rebels against the others and their beliefs.

ice cube was used as a pawn of sorts by freesmart, a replacement for members that were held to more respect and value than her. her and the others always did what they were told for the alliance, and when she eventually splits off from freesmart, she is almost immediately coddled and controlled by book, still completely unable to speak or think for herself before she eventually snaps at book and leaves altogether.

basketball was completely complacent in bfb, her only feature outside of her loyalty to 8-ball being her empathy for others. this shines through in tpot when, even despite their differences in personality or team, basketball looks out for others more than herself, but nobody else listens to her when she tries to voice the problems she's seeing. this complete disregard for basketball and what she cares about is what causes a downward spiral of events beyond anybody's control.

gaty and two became attached to eachother very quickly, becoming almost codependent in a sense. gaty gives everything she has to two, and her willingness to stay in the hotel with them, to keep them happy - their willingness to keep her there because of their attachment - only puts her in more danger, and ends in them being separated for good.

it's stated outright by one that donut puts others over himself, even people like pencil and their mess of a team. he chooses to be selfless, a voice of reason, a leader that holds the team together despite the chaos it always brings in its wake.

her deals that weren't shown to us onscreen tie into this as well:

bomby, since his debut on bfdi, has been used as a weapon or tool by all of the people around him, mistreated and hurt and never taken seriously despite the fact that he tries to be strong and independent in the later seasons.

bell's privacy is treated as a joke by both the narrative and the others, and struggles to be left alone without help, help that more often than not isn't provided to her.

needle spent so much of her time in bfdia trying to appease others, which led to her being easy to take advantage of. she literally played on two teams at the same time in order to make everyone happy with her, but she eventually decided that she was tired of being used and left these groups, turning against them and deciding to win for herself.

barf bag's autonomy being tampered with started an apocalypse that changed the way she viewed herself and caused her to avoid her team for a brief period of time because she didn't want to be seen as a monster. in that same episode, her nightmare involved people doing things that she couldn't control and influencing her in ways that she couldn't stop.

what do you notice about all of these characters? all of them were overshadowed by others, either by prioritizing them over themselves or by being taken advantage of. all of them want to be recognized, respected, and heard, and despite that, all of them lacked one thing: control. if they wanted control in their lives, they'd have to fight for it, if they wanted power in their lives, they'd have to snap to get people to see that they deserved it. and if that weren't the case, the world around them would snap for them.

one seems to be very, very familiar with this kind of person. familiar enough for them to be her only targets, familiar enough for her to know exactly what to give them and exactly what they want to hear, familiar enough to suggest that this kind of person is much closer to her than just a means to executing her plan.

familiar enough that it could also very well suggest that this kind of person was one herself.

now, we really have no idea what one's past looked like, but we do have a crucial detail given to us by six in tpot 17: she was supposed to be gone.

this implies that one must've done something, something so bad that it made the other algebraliens decide to get rid of her for good. could this have been something ongoing until they decided enough was enough, or was it something bigger than that? had one, perhaps, snapped, the same way we saw her do when she was tested in tpot 17, the same way we saw multiple of her signatories do when they were tired of being pushed aside and looked down on?

in tpot 13, one expresses that she does have power, "but not enough." while this could easily be read in reference to her plan, it also hints at how she looks at herself: her power is not enough. one is not enough.

she needs two's power because she can't reach her goal without it. she needs to become something bigger, something more, in order for her to feel like that's enough for her. being obeyed and looked up to by her victims makes her feel powerful, like she's more, like she's enough, having constant control makes her feel like she's enough, having everything she wants handed to her makes her feel like she's enough, because maybe, she never had that.

maybe, one was just like her targets, selfless and almost complacent at times, observant enough to spot the issues others were having, even if she was the only person who did, even if none of the others took her seriously, even if they pitied her, treated her as a lesser, and acted as though she had no power in her own life.

and all of that lasted until she decided that everyone deserved to be a little selfish - it's only fair.

she became tired of giving herself and not getting anything back. she became tired of being looked down on, tired of not having control - all one wanted was control for once, and she would get that whether they liked it or not.

and that frustration was enough to make one snap and do something that earned her imprisonment in the moon, which only served as a painful and enraging reminder of how they saw her.

she was going to get out, and she was going to make sure that nobody ever looked down on her again.

for now, this is all theories, and it's a bit rough, but i appreciate you guys for sticking around this long !! lets see how well these theories hold up.. if they do.. at all.. um

[rory-multifandom-mess]

I finished catching up on BFDI and I wanna give my final (not really) thoughts on it. Yes I was thinking about this the entire time I was taking a shower. And yes I did accidentally spend too much time in there because I was focusing too hard. What do you want from m

Anyway I'm putting it under a cut because I'm so so nice

TL;DR: I REALLY LIKE TPOT & BFDI people aren't looking at it DEEP ENOUGH. AAAGH

Ok so basically. I don't think BFDI was ever about the prize. Well maybe in the first season when Cary and Micheal had no idea what they were doing because they were like 12. But y'know. Anyways.

I think, over time, the series became focused on the contestants more than anything. It started to focus more on relationships, how the characters interacted with each other and their surroundings and circumstances. It became like a ... not a message. What's the word. A story, I guess. About how easily relationships can be changed, good or bad, maturing and growing, learning to respect boundaries, finding a soulmate. All of this stuff packaged in like. 5 seasons. kind of.

Like. Firey and Leafy for example. They were good friends until Firey refused her entry into Dream Island when he won. She got angry and jealous and felt betrayed, so she Fucking Stole It from him, breaking his trust. And for the longest time they stayed strained. Nobody liked Leafy, not even Firey, and that hurt Leafy a lot, I imagine because she'd been isolated for so long. But through communication and almost forced proximity, they managed to work things out. While it took them a little while, they finally reconciled. They forgave each other. They realized that their friendship was more important than some dumb prize. This is really important to me I think. It's such a strong message- that nothing- nothing- is more important than connecting with other people.

And I think what perfectly contradicts this is Pencil in TPOT and. a lot of Golf ball too. Golf Ball says it herself in the most recent episode- she'd been so focused on winning that she hadn't realized she was hurting people- Donut literally had to shout that at her for her to realize that.

Meanwhile, because of Pencil's tarnished relationship with Book and Ice Cube - and the trauma that came with being trapped in Four's head for years - she's become jaded almost. She doesn't care who she hurts or what she has to do, she can't go back there. Even though she wouldn't-- there's a new host, with a new elimination area. I know her """"Crashout"""" scene gets dogged on a lot, but it's genuinely a super powerful scene. It's a view into her mind, into what she's thinking. She's not thinking rationally. She doesn't care if the timeline is ruined, she has to win.

I think another big reason why Pencil is the way she is is. well. she was away from everyone for years. Things have changed so much. Freesmart is gone. Match isn't by her side anymore. Everyone is so different. She wants things to go back to how they were before Four and X showed up, I think that's why she's so adamant on Book joining her alliance.

Meanwhile, Book is already learning to move on. She's making new friends like with Winner and Price Tag, she made up with Ice Cube and Gaty by giving them the space they wanted. In a way, Pencil and Book are very good foils of each other. One can't move on, while the other is already on her way, working her way towards betterment.

Pin and Coiny are a good example of another thing-- codependency. Ok that's not the right word I think but it's similar. She relies on him so much. They've stuck with each other since BFDI I think, they've been through so much together- him getting eliminated in TPOT was hard for her because of this. And also the fact his elimination was during a high-stress situation. She used his ass as a shovel wdym thats not love LMFAO. Anyway.

I just. AAGAH. There's so much more I could say, so many good examples, but this'll get way too long if I keep going. Final message is this:

Don't judge things at surface level. Looking deeper into things is how you find a deeper appreciation for it, even if there's flaws. The BFDI series is very good and well written, and the attention it gets is much deserved.

Oh and btw if anyone disses you for liking TPOT or any object show in general I will personally kill them for you ok? ok. Thanks for reading guys I'm totally normal about the characters in this show

[moonsandloons]

Taking a break from my grind session to say:

It’s becoming increasingly clear the Leafy’s actions have hurt more than just Firey.

Pin has been acting quite rotten lately, which is mostly attributed to her abuse from Freesmart. Her limbs and face were taken, she was shrunken, Icy didn’t swing with her, etc. But I think part of her behavior is coming from a deeper wound.

Pin and Leafy were the first ever alliance in BFDI (I think.) They were friends. Leafy and Firey may have been besties, the dynamic duo, but Leafy cared for Pin.

It makes sense that Leafy’s actions would’ve hurt Pin as well. And maybe this is a stretch, but I think that’s why she views friendship so differently.

Her friendship with Coiny is secondary to the competition. She cares about him, deeply and truly, but he doesn’t come before the game in her mind. Why?

Well, Leafy was friends with Pin and Firey, but when SHE lost, she stole dream island and then ran away. Maybe Pin has developed some trust issues because of that.

Pin cares for Coiny, but she doesn’t fully trust him. She doesn’t want to be in that kind of situation again.

Coiny, on the other hand, was completely devoted to her. He was willing to lose challenges for her. When she died, he recovered her, even though they weren’t on the same team anymore. And when he was met with more indifference, he reached a breaking point, which is what we see in BFDIA 20.

[emperorsdrewclothes]

FREESMART

Day 6 - Alliance

they all are in lesbians

[yunithyzt]

So yesterday I said what I liked about Tpot 18, but after letting it sit in, (spoilers below)

I kinda hated that episode. I agree with other people who said it was very post-splitty. And as for the good things from post split, some of that got ruined in that episode?

I don't need to talk about the pacing or how hard it was to follow what was happening, you already know it was horrible-

Now, don't get me wrong, I loved Lolli's extra sass but... I feel like she regressed as a character out of nowhere???? They made her much meaner than she's supposed to be. Sure she's always been a sarcastic person who's rude at times, but she's kinda of older-sisterly with the newbie alliance. The way she treated Gelatin and Flower in that episode was just... bad. I'm coping this by saying she was being meaner due to stress of her card going missing. That still doesn't seem in character for her, tho.

The Match arc- *sobs* WHY THE HECK DID THEY MAKE IT SO SHORT. That was an arc that needed to be longer seeing that Match was still like her old self in TPOT 11. Her becoming a better person after the whole exit stuff would've been way less forced then Flower's development (although I am fine with Flowers) because being trapped there so long could've persuaded her to become a more favorable individual. To see her still as uncaring and STEALING Lolli's card made me upset because she too regressed.

Last major point, most of the episode is very wasted screen time. Sure it was nice to see the post-splitters, but I feel like having Loser and the FreeSmarter's take up 50% or more of the episode would've been better because they're a lot more plot relevant.

Other random things I didn't like: the Woody thing with quicksand, the animation and quick acceptance during the puddle scene, explanation to why they needed to go to Taco's memories, and the explanation to who deserved the card.

[oscconfessions]

starting to obsess over match solely due to how fucked over she was by the writing

she's one of the founding members of the freesmart alliance and yet spent more time away from it than with it

i hope tpot gives her a small arc where she becomes her own person outside of pencil cuz we BARELY get anything of her where she isn't stuck by pencil's side

.

[bfdiredux]

i'd love to see your take on ruby! especially the entire situation with her sisters and so on

RUBY!! RUBY RUBY (I RUN AROUND IN CIRCLES) She's another BFDI character I associate heavily with ADHD. She's got so much spark to her I love her!

Redux!Ruby's Character Proposal:

Ruby is the youngest in a HUGE group of sisters. She's got so many. They're all greatly successful in their lines of work. Writers, doctors, inventors, scientists... The list could go on.

They don't all hate her for betraying and getting into BFDIA!! Her sisters are actually very supportive but because she has so many, Ruby isn't close to a lot of them.

Bubbly, curious, brilliant, and sensitive. She loves fun, harmless pranks, and making new friends. Not afraid to convey her emotions.

An aspiring actress. It came to me at 3 in the morning. She applied to BFDIA was to get her name out there.

ADHD friend!!

#2 Pencil apologist until BFB.

She meets Pencil and Match during BFDIA 1, where she goes right up to them and asks about an alliance. Pencil seems down to strengthen her team.

Match feels like an echo of Pencil. The two act so similar and so close it's no wonder that Match is Pencil's right hand.

Authority is authority. Ruby is LOYAL.

Bubble is a common spectator and eventually a temporary host for BFDIA. She seems hesitant about Ruby and that kinda hurts! Hopefully she'll come around.

Book!! She's agreeable and friendly-- a good team worker.

Ice Cube. Hmm. Pencil says she can be as stubborn as a bag of rocks. Honestly, though, Ruby doesn't mind.

There's times where Pencil snaps at Ruby for being "too much of x."(Her words!) Sometimes she says hurtful things and Ruby can't stop herself from crying.

Apparently that's the WRONG course of action because Pencil doesn't like that either. She'll berate Ruby for that too, call her a baby-- maybe it's better to walk on eggshells and watch Pencil's face.

Sometimes she's too distracted or too excited or too intense or too sensitive. Ruby sucks up and apologizes-- now she's being cringe. What???

Ruby is sure Pencil has a good reason to be that way. Surely. Don't ask her why, though. Ruby doesn't know.

Match is often the same but toned down, she doesn't scoff when Ruby apologizes and checks on Ruby after Pencil lights a fuse. That's nice.

IDFB... my favorite untouched territory

And where FreeSmart begins to fall apart.

Ruby and Bubble start to establish a stronger friendship.

Mid-late IDFB, Ice Cube leaves and Book follows. Ruby is out doing something during that time and comes back right as Pencil is telling Book to go.

Book looked so fucking hurt and Pencil looked pissed.

Ruby is sad to see Book go. Pencil is all "good riddance" about it and when Ruby asks, Pencil explains. Ruby now has Pencil's perspective.

Pencil also asks her to promise she won't be like Book. Ruby agrees.

Ruby does eventually come into contact with Book again. She hears Book's perspective and is quick to defend Pencil and after some back and forth Book tells her to just stop.

Ruby stammers and Book tells her to go. Ruby complies, feeling herself start to cry.

Push it down, don't make things worse. Ruby dries her tears before she returns to what's left of the alliance.

Ruby does get to see more of Pencil's meaner side throughout the end of IDFB-- the way she is with Book, the way she clings to control.

ALSO WITH FLOWER!! I want part of her character arc of being a better person to involve Ruby. Ruby is still nice to Flower even when Flower is being a jerk. Really, Ruby is still nice to everyone even when they're being a jerk.

BFB.

Getting invited to a new season of BFDI was not on Ruby's bingo.

She invites Flower to Iance by calling her pretty. Awh.

So, new teammates.

Fanny is negative about a lot of stuff. Ruby wonders why she hates and hates. Fanny is also mature-- she's able to recognize her own faults and for that, she has Ruby's respect.

Lightning has some problems to work out and Pencil treats him like a weapon. He also electrocutes anyone Pencil and Match asks him to soooo it's better to stay on it's good side!!

Snowball is an actual jerk. He's got this weird mindset about strength and it's going to take him a good minute to get out of it.

FLOWER!!! Pencil doesn't like her but Ruby does. She's learning to be better.

Pencil is the first BFB elimination. This leaves Match in charge.

To compensate, Match gets worse. She pushes the team to their limits and demotes Bubble twice. Is?? That even possible??

She insults Bubble too.

It gets to the point where Bubble snaps and calls her out. A small but loud argument starts-- in which Ruby tries to break it up and gets gently pulled aside by Fanny, who tells her to let it happen.

The results?

Bubble refuses to talk to Match. Ruby tries to comfort both of them.

Match eventually breaks down and apologized both to Bubble and Ruby. Bubble says she appreciates it and needs time.

Ruby tries to tell Match it's okay-- Bubble says it's not.

Match is eliminated.

Bubble and Ruby have a talk once the shock is over. Something about Bubble asking Ruby if she really thinks what Match and Pencil have done is okay. Like, she's never questioned them? Ever???

Ruby admits that she has but pushed it aside.

She was in denial. A part of her still doesn't want to believe it but...

The rest of BFB pre-split, Ruby is coming to her own conclusions and accepting that the way Pencil and Match behaved weren't okay.

Ruby could've gone to TPOT-- I think she and Two would've gotten a long real well!! But she stuck with Bubble and Flower.

My main goal with post-split Ruby is letting her be herself!! Nobody's scolding her for how she acts anymore, she can breathe.

Ruby is eliminated in BFB 20! She will cheer Flower and Bubble on.

Following the finale, I'll probably have Ruby take her leave for a bit-- she's still in contact with Flower and Bubble but now she's taking small acting jobs and visiting between them to experience joy and whimsy. #happy ending