#Ben 10 OS

[cat-scarr]

Omnitrix City | concept art

[aimeeilustrating]

Some dummy things i was thinking of.

And this.

[gooeykit]

His name is Shithead and he's 3 molecules tall

[geekgirles]

Nothing I want more than more expansion on how Kevin must’ve felt during the Dagon arc when Gwen was possessed. The ANGST potential if they expanded on that 😭

OH MY GOD, YESSSSSS

The brainwashing!

The Apocalypse Maiden Undertones!!

The potential angst!!!

How it was pretty much glossed over even though it was featured several times in Ultimate Alien!!!!

If I have to choose a favorite Ben 10 iteration, that would be UAF, and especially Alien Force seasons 1 and 2, but even they aren't exempt of flaws or missed opportunities.

For example, is it just me, or is the Gwevin angst always coming from Kevin?

Whenever the focus was on whatever kind of strain their relationship was going through at the moment, the friction always came from Kevin or was related to something he was going through.

I'd say the first time would probably All That Glitters, where Gwen was willing to try going out with him, but Kevin's hesitance kept in the way. Which combined with the hold Michael then had on Gwen, spurned her into trying to move on, while making Kevin jealous.

Then we have their season 3 drama. Which was caused by Kevin's new mutation but, again, wasn't a result of Gwen's actions or her rejecting Kevin now that he was mutated. In fact, Gwen made it clear practically every time the issue came up that she loved Kevin regardless of his outward appearance. It was never her actions that put a strain on their relationship.

It was Kevin's actions and insecurities that got in the way. Which is realistic and to be expected, truth be told. Given how heavily his original mutation back in OS hung on him, anyone would have deep-seated insecurities linked to their looks and the side effects of their powers in Kevin's shoes. But the thing is, during season 3 nothing Gwen did was the origin of the tension between the two, she wasn't the source of the drama, it was Kevin convincing himself that, either Gwen wouldn't love him now that he wasn't "handsome", or that she was taking advantage of the situation to keep him to herself.

In season 3, the source of the conflict was Kevin unknowingly sabotaging himself and his relationship with Gwen.

And then we have the first season of Ultimate Alien, where once again the main conflict between the two is sparked first by Kevin's Osmosian heritage and his relation to Aggregor, and then by another mutation. Only this time, his mutation drives him crazy and power-hungry, so much so, he becomes an even bigger threat than when he was 11.

In my honest opinion, the Absolute Power Arc was top notch in terms of drama and angst. It delved into Kevin's past in the Null Void, we went back to some Tennyson Cousins Quality Time like we hadn't had since the Original Series, the Gwevin scenes were heartwrenching... The actual end, though, is a tad lackluster.

And by this I mean the last scene where Ben and Kevin decide to go grab some Mr Smoothies while ditching Gwen felt like a huge kick in the gut. I'm sorry, but no matter how you look at it, Gwen is the real hero of the arc, not Ben. Sure, Ben had to go all serious and homicidal to highlight the how high the stakes were, but the one who ultimately saved the day was Gwen.

She believed in Kevin from the beginning, which was proven true when he revealed he was actively trying to stay away from her to protect her.

She tracked down Darkstar to recruit him for her plan to bring Kevin back to normal.

She acted as bait to lure Kevin to them.

No matter how you look at it, it was Gwen's beliefs and efforts what brought Kevin back. In the meantime Ben was planning ways to kill him! And you're telling me the two would just shrug her off like that?

Hell, no! Come back and thank my girl profusely, you morons!

Nevertheless, my point still stands: whenever the writers needed to spice things up a little with Gwevin, they went the Kevin angle, never Gwen's.

Par contrast, whenever it looked like Gwen was in danger or risked crossing over to the dark side, it was but an appetiser. The possibility of Gwen going rogue was an idea they kept bringing up, but never took the chance to materialise.

While Kevin got several arcs all about his inner conflict and his mutations and his backstory and whatnot, every single time Gwen was in any sort of danger of suffering the same kind of fate would immediately be resolved or glossed over until it became relevant again.

Literally most of the times Gwen put herself in danger all it took was for Kevin to say he couldn't afford to lose her, or come up with some sort of half-baked plan and POOF! Crisis averted.

No, Gwen will not be going full Anodite on us and lose her humanity.

You think Gwen's going to carelessly put herself in danger even though she's vulnerable to mind control? Dont'cha worry, Kevin's got ya!

And speaking of mind control, you actually thought we'd let Gwen be a pawn to the season's Big Bad for more than two minutes? Oh, you silly goose!

Unfortunately, Gwen getting the short end of the stick happens constantly in this franchise.

No, I'm serious. Even though in UAF the focus was supposed to be on the Ben, Gwen, Kevin trio, the actual focus was always on either Ben or Kevin. Gwen didn't have nearly as many episodes/plots that were indeed focused mostly on her. Even in episodes that were all about magic/mana and sorcery, most of the time she shared the spotlight with another character, if she wasn't outright eclipsed by them. It was usually Charmcaster, but Kevin and even Darkstar stole the spotlight from Gwen.

The only episodes from UAF to Omniverse that I can think of right now that were indeed about Gwen would be What Are Little Girls Made Of?, Time Heals, It's Not Easy Being Gwen, Mud Is Thicker Than Water and maybe Charm School (and even then, a huge part of the episode featured both Hex and Charmcaster more prominently than it did Gwen).

That's it.

Which is why I am so bitter over the fact that we never got an Unhinged Anodite Gwen Arc. Not only because it would have been amazing to see what an Anodite can do when they're not holding back, or even the fact that I am a certified sucker for when one of the most powerful characters in the cast of a show temporarily joins the bad guys, but because it would have been the perfect chance to finally explore the impact Gwen has had on those around her.

And yes, it would have made for some very sweet Gwevin angst.

TL;DR: we were robbed.

[itstheinktank]

The Ink Tank’s most popular video is almost at 8 million views! Check it out if you haven’t seen it yet.

[suethesocks]

Battle damaged wildmutt

Ive always wanted to see ben 10 aliens acknowledge the fact that theyre wearing clothes. And part of that is having the clothes get torn off in battle damage, which is also something i really wish we'd have gotten at some point. I think its really cool when cartoons get really violent in their fight scens, like how spectacular spider-mans soundeffects made you feel like peter was really getting his shit kicked in lol. Or in the episode with the squid robots where ripjaws would punch his way through their "cameras" and rip out "wires" and "oil" would flow out. Pretty cool stuff

[abcleverun]

Hello Ben 10 fans!!!

I am currently working on an essay on the relationship between Ben 10 and queerness, and I was looking to get different fan’s stories and experiences with how Ben 10 has affected their queer identity/etc. Responses are greatly appreciated!!

Please share!

[lowder-the-koopa]

Lowder Reviews: What's Next 2

This is for future proofing reasons.

[jacob-the-human]

[kick-asmuth-2k21]

Ben: hey grandpa there is a big monster in the lake

Max: oh how silly. A monster? In the lake ?

That's so silly kid who can turn into ten aliens with his watch

[volk-swag-genitalia]

the thigh highs, the body suit, the gloves, giiiiirl 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[cat-scarr]

Appreciation post for the cyberpunk aesthetics of Omnitrix City.

[the-phantom-otaku]

So so so I had a thought. We know for a fact that Vulpimancers grow tails at some point in their lives, right? Presumably sometime during their "teenage" phase. We also know that sometimes an alien's natural physiology can affect Ben's human form, so what do you think would happen when Wildmutt starts to grow his tail?

Personally, I think his back would just start aching out of the blue. A little boring Ig, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

Also an extra thought: Wildmutt with a little nub tail bc the process just started and it takes time for the whole thing to grow.

[gooeykit]

FUCK MY GAY BAKA LIFE Looping + nonlooping

[geekgirles]

So I know a usual criticism regarding the introduction of Anodites, and hence linking magic and more specifically Gwen's powers to aliens, is about how they sort of "robbed" the franchise of one of its core elements. But have you ever thought that, given the additional information from the OS, something like that might have been Man of Action's intention all along?

I mean, Omniverse retconned Bezel as a part of the franchise. He was introduced as the greatest sorcerer in the universe, as a person, but that was only because the team couldn't get their hands on all the pop-ups from the original show.

You know what the pop-ups said?

This:

Bezel was never supposed to be a great sorcerer, but a different dimension that was more technologically advanced than Earth! The charms only seemed magical because they were literally too advanced for humans to really understand how they worked.

That's how Gwendolyn was able to wield them in the future even though she destroyed them years ago. She went to the dimension of Bezel and asked for new ones.

So given the charms' initial origins, the fact that there were more advanced magical artifacts that, for some reason, Gwen could handle just fine (the Staff of Ages), and the heavy sci-fi setting of the show, is it really that difficult to believe what we came to know as magic was, deep down, some sort of alien energy/technology we didn't understand or know of?

Because it that was Man of Action's intentions all along, then having Gwen's proficiency with magic be due to belonging to a race of mage aliens is a perfect way to answer the questions raised back in the OS.

Now, this admittedly seems like it's disregarding a beloved aspect of the franchise entirely. I personally would feel cheated too if it turned out there was no such thing as magic in the first place, but luckily UAF managed to avoid just that with the introduction of the Alpha Runa and Ledgerdomain.

Although I just found this pop-up that seems to indicate Hex and Charmcaster were originally intended to be from Bezel, as well.

Having said that, if you ask me, I think that in the end the UAF team did a perfect job at blending both interpretations.

If Man of Action did intend to reveal magic was just something too advanced for humans or that we simply didn't understand or know of, the introduction of Anodites and mana covered that splendidily. And on the other hand, the Ledgerdomain lore served its purpose of keeping magic alive and real.

[galvanb]

People on September 30th versus October 1st: