#Benlie ranting

[oopsallbenlie]

No because this scene is actually so impactful in terms of their dynamic. It’s so perfect. It’s everything to me.

I think I personally tend to focus a lot on how Benjamin felt when Charlie went to Bloor’s because he initially reacts dejectedly and just. Sadly. And feels somewhat betrayed as he hears the news. Obviously like any normal kid he’s not happy about losing his best friend in any sense.

But here we have a scene that’s (supposedly) about Charlie’s perspective, showing how he feels nostalgic in a way for that one normal weekend, how he doesn’t want things to change. He also doesn’t want to lose his best friend.

And while that feeling should be a-given, the fact that it’s demonstrated is SO important to me. I’ve seen people say that Charlie really only pities Benjamin (and I believe that’s only based on a singular line at the beginning of the book) so it’s very nice to see a scene that’s pretty much outwardly saying “This is Charlie and his best friend’s possibly last normal weekend together, Charlie doesn’t like that things are changing so drastically, and he’s worried for his friends wellbeing.”

AND THE LAST SCENE. God the last scene. I don’t have words to describe it but like. Yeah they love each other, romantic or not they have one of the most meaningful bonds ever I love them.

[comrade-emma]

When your favorite ship is one of the least popular in the fandom and you can barely find any content for it (AMVs, fanfics or fanart) or anyone else who ships it. Bonus points if you feel like people are constantly mischaracterizing it or if you’re worried people will call you a misogynist or homophobe for preferring it over a popular gay ship.

[ben-10-setting-omnicrom]

🙄

Not this shit again holy fuck. This is a prime example of Julie being a narrative black hole to paint Ben as a bad guy when he was the only one there that had his priorities in order.

Stopping the Forever Knights (who Gwen STRAIGHT UP ADMITTED IN THE EPISODE) are always trying to take over the world, is the most important thing. Would it suck to miss Julie's game? Sure. But there'd BE no tennis matches in a world ruled by the Forever Knights.

Just because the narrative constantly tries to paint Ben in the wrong doesn't mean he actually is.

Girl, it's 2024 and this guy think he's funny 🙄😒

are you fucking serious

and ofc it’s about Duped 🙄 someone in the comments said it’s Ben vs The Writers and you know what yeah. Ben gets dragged through the mud with a badly written plot line but he himself isn’t a badly written character. And this episode ENTIRELY ignores who he really is in favour of making him the bad guy for “conflict.” If we want to be mad about bad writing how about we acknowledge that first. Even the episode itself does that considering they have to make Ben split his personality into three parts to make him look like “the worst boyfriend in cartoon history.”

[justarumihere]

*cries* ...what if i just wanted benlie to be cute and everything but ultimate alien had to assasinate ben's character :,)

[ben-10-setting-omnicrom]

Ugggggggggh. I think I now get why some of you hate Ben. Because you completely disregard context and blatantly ignore canon. I really should make a tag for shit takes like this one and that Ultimate Kevin one

First of all, NO Ben isn't a bad boyfriend as I've already gone over myself and so has @xcatxgirlx , all he's done is do the best he can while keeping his priorities right. Saving lives will ALWAYS trump date/hang out time.

If anything Julie was the one always being unreasonable even when the narrative tried to make her be right. Just because Kevin and Gwen agreed with her multiple times DOESN'T mean she actually has a point since they also act OOC as fuck.

Stopping the Forever Knights will always be more important than being on time for a date since Gwen STRAIGHT UP ADMITTED that they are always trying to take over the world. Julie getting mad at Ben for consequences of his fame he can't even control (fame he's straight up admitted to not wanting) is absolute shit.

Also when the ever loving fuck did Ben EVER cheat on her??? If anything SHE'S the one who cheated on him when she got Harvey behind his back when Ben still thought they were together.

Ben has NEVER ONCE complained about all the time Julie spends on Tennis, contrary to all the times Julie was almost narcissistic in her need for Ben to prioritize her over SAVING LIVES.

[debushit]

i will never forgive krista vernoff for the benley baby

[geekkatsblog]

Ummmm tf.........??????

Been catching up on Grey's and Station 19 since I finished my latest project for the semester (I still have like 3 or 4 more to go someone sedate me.) Anyways I just wanted to know who tf is Ingrid????

I know who she is, I just need to know what tf she wants because if she's here to break up Ben and Bailey's marriage or throw a wrench with it, I'm gonna have a huge problem. They literally are the longest lasting couple on the show and therefore is one I hold near and dear to my heart, not every couple needs to have adultery.

She better be a psycho or be some kind of person who can help them gain custody of Prue or something like that, because if she isn't and she ruins Benly imma be picking a fight. Ingrid need to go back to her shop and leave Benjamin Warren alone.

This rant was sponsored by my in ability to predict or at least see where this Ingrid story line is going.

[sin-u-san]

İmhadan ihyaya 24 Mayıs 2017 Selim Temo Teorik olarak sömürgeli kentleri sömürgeci kentleri kadar güzel olamaz. Albert Memmi diyor bunu. Bunun daha ötesi de var mı? Yani sömürgeli kendi kentine sömürgeci gözüyle bakar mı? Aman ne pis, ne kaotik bir kent der mi? Eh, diyenleri gördük. Baudelaire, Amsterdam’dan sıkıldığını anlatır, çünkü orada vitrin yokmuş. Mayakovski, kafasını St. Petersburg’daki Nevski bulvarının kaldırımlarına vura vura kırmak ister. Kavafis, yeni bir kentin bulunamayacağını söyler. Cemal Süreya’nın hiçbir mahallede berberi olmamıştır. Yine de bu Çarşamba gününü Pazar yazısı havasıyla doldurmayacağım. Althusser’in neden kenti de devletin ideolojik aygıtlarından biri saymadığını aklım almaz. (Bu “eksikliği” Hakan Kaynar duyurmuştu bana, yıllar önce, lisans öğrencisiyken.) Zira iktidarın kendini gösterip görünür kıldığı alanlardan biri de kenttir. Daha önce Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin il ve ilçelere yaklaşımı hakkında yazdığım gibi (*), iktidar kentleri örmüştür. Peki bu kent politikası, son dönemdeki kent savaşları açısından nasıl işliyor? Kürt kentlerindeki karmaşık yapı, aslında silahlı veya silahsız muhalefet için bir imkândı. “Çarpık” yapılaşma, otoritenin “içeri” girmesini bir dereceye kadar engelliyordu. Belediyelerdeki iktidarla birlikte serpilen Kürt orta sınıfı, bu mahallelerin politik katılığının kaymağını yiyordu. Bu yüzden oralarda “iyileştirme” yapmak akıllarına gelmedi. Bunu akıl ettiklerinde ise, şimdiki yıkıma karşı çıkamayan egzotik sivil toplum örgütleri Kürde karşı çıkmanın konforuyla karşı çıktılar. İyileştirme yarıda kesildi. Yoksullar dört asansörlü towerların, plazaların, residenceların garantisi ve bekçisiydi çünkü. Aynı zamanda Memmi’nin teorisi de çalışıyordu. Güzel bir kent görmek ya da orada yaşamak isteyen Kürt orta sınıfı, Batılı sınıfdaşlarıyla epey Batıdaki bakımlı balkonlarda selamlaştı. Büyüyen kentler, kentin içinde kaldığı için rant değeri yükselmiş yoksulluğa da göz diker. Ankara’daki Çukurambar’ın bugün mutena bir semt olmasını hatırlayabiliriz. Ama oradaki iyileştirme ile Kürt kentlerinde gerçekleşen şey farklıdır. Oradaki sosyal ve hukuksal konfor, Kürt kentlerine tedip/sindirme/“rehabilitasyon” olarak yansır. Kendilerine “Teröre Karşı Akademisyenler” diyen ve çoğu sonra FETÖ’cü damgası yiyen güruhun bizim barış bildirisine karşı yayımladıkları bildiride dikkatimi en çok çeken ifade, “bölge insanının sosyal rehabilitasyonu” idi. (Bu metinde zibille sinik Kürt akademisyenin de imzası vardı.) Bu ifadeye göre “bölge insanı” hastadır, daha doğrusu hastalığın bizatihi kendisidir. Bunun için “sosyal rehabilitasyon” öneriyorlardı ki bunun adı Nazizmdir! Bu müptezel ifadenin bir gün nefret suçu kapsamında cezalandırılmasını umalım. “Rehabilite” etmek, “hasta”yı topluma tekrar katılacak kadar iyileştirmek demek. Ya ilaç verirsin ya da hastalıklı uzvu atar yerine başkasının sağlıklı uzvunu takarsın. Öte yandan “bölge insanını kim hasta etmiştir”in cevabı, hatta sorusu yoktur bu akademisyenlerin dünyasında. Fransız meslektaşlarının bir zamanlar Cezayir ve Fransa’daki vakaları karşılaştırıp sömürgeci lehine yorumlayan çalışmalarını bilseler keşke. Hiç değilse feyze müptela kişiler olarak feyz alırlardı! Aynı akademisyenler sosyal rehabilitasyon mücadelesinde görev almak istediklerini de beyan ediyorlardı o meş’ûm bildiride. Aslında bu bildiri, yeni siyasetin ruhunu da açıklıyordu. Zira önce kentleri sonra Kürtleri rehabilite etmek istiyorlar. Bu noktada Sur için kullanılan “ihya ve daha güzel bir kent” sloganı yeterince açıklayıcı. Barikat-hendek çatışmaları, kentlerin en çarpık semtleri ile en çarpık yerleşime sahip kentlerde gerçekleşti. Orada çatışan insanlar kadar evler ve yapılar da hedef alındı. Böylece “suç” ya da “direnç”in örülebileceği çarpıklık ortadan kaldırılmış oldu. Silahla karşı koyanların çekilmesi ya da sindirilmesinden sonra da yıkımın sürmesini ancak bu şekilde açıklamak mümkün. İktidar nasıl güvenlik barajları ile topografyayı bozuyorsa çarpık olanı yıkarak da örgütlenmeyi bozup dağıtıyor. Peki yerine ne koyacak? Teröre karşı şanlı akademisyenleri silah başına mı çağıracak, nüfusu rehabilite mi edecek, “bölge insanı”na okunmuş su mu içirecek, yerlerine “başka ve ‘sağlıklı’ bir nüfus” mu yerleştirecek, imha etti��i kentleri ihya ve inşa mı edecek? Toledo yapacaklarmış. Bense yüksek duvarlar ve tel örgülerle kapatılmış savaş-yıkım bölgeleri açıldığında ne ile karşılaşacağımızı tahmin edebilirim: Beypazarı-Safranbolu mimarisi. Her tarafta tuğralar, fıskiyeler, kitsch beyitler. Sur, Ankara-Hamamönü’ne benzeyecek mesela, Şırnak ise Selçuklu mimarisi imitasyonu bloklarla örülecek. Çünkü bunun adı ihya filan değil, imha ve fetih. Fetih ideolojisi bu. Kulağımda yankılanan o çok çalışılmış diksiyonu ile Davutoğlu bir Cuma günü Amed’e gelip zafer hutbesi tertip etmedi mi? Yanında rehabilite edilmiş çok sayıda Kürt de vardı. Böyle bir konsantre iman ile kentlerin fethedilememiş bölgelerinin fethi tamamlandı. Kent, devletin ideolojik aygıtlarından biri sayılmalı. Ama kentlerin tarih boyunca iktidara nasıl karşı çıktığını da biliriz. Fransa’ya karşı yeniden bir labirent olan Marakeş gibi. New York’u, içeriye karantina koridorlarından alınan köle ve göçmenler yönetiyor şimdi. Londra nüfusunun yüzde 42’si, sömürgelerden sökülüp gelenlerden oluşuyor. İki şairi daha analım. Nâzım Hikmet, çok gençken yazdığı “Ağa Camii” adlı şiirinin üstüne şöyle bir ithaf eklemiştir: “Beyoğlu’ndaki tek Türk yapısına.” Yahya Kemal’in ise “Türk İstanbul” adlı bir yazısı vardır. Anılan şiir gibi bu yazıda da fethin tamamlanmadığını görürüz. Buna göre Eyüp, Üsküdar, Mustâpaşa gibi semtler yoksul oldukları için vatanı ve Türklüğü temsil ederler. Beyoğlu hariç. Oysa Yahya Kemal ömrünün son 19 yılını Beyoğlu’ndaki Park Otel’de geçirmiştir! Başka ulusların nefesiyle terleyen binalar yakılıp yıkılsa da, fetih bitmeyen bir şeydir. Camiye çevirmek ve altına süpermarket açmak istedikleri Ayasofya orada işte. Yani yıkılan kentler de yeniden örülecek. Yoksullar, TOKİ’nin devlet bursuyla okumuş mühendislerinin öngöremeyecekleri şekilde dönecek ve gasp edilen hayatı yeniden kuracaklar. Çünkü kentleri örenler devlet ve müteahhitleri değil, insanlardır. BİR GÜN Bir sempozyum için Mardin’e memleketin her tarafından edebiyatçı akademisyenler gelmişti. Bütün taşralı ezikler gibi çevre gezisi tertip edildi tabii. Görevlendirme ile eşlik edeceğim mecburen. Dara Antik Kenti’nde mola verdik. Köyün delisi çıktı geldi. Beni görünce iyice keyiflendi tabii. Başladı bir dizeden oluşan ama onlarca kez tekrar edilebilen şarkısını bass profondo sesiyle söylemeye: “Warê Warê gundê min a / Warê Warê gundê min a…” Karı koca profesör olan misafirlerden hanım olanı enişteye dönüp, “Bak işte, Kürtçe Farsçanın lehçesidir diyoruz ya, doğru. Bu adam ‘minare-yi şeymâ’ diyor, ‘benli minare’ demek bu.” İtiraz ettim, “hayır hanımefendi, ‘Warê benim köyümdür’ diyor” dedim. Gözlerini kocaman açarak, “Öyle mi?” dedi, “siz Kürtçe biliyor musunuz?” Deli dostuma doğru bakıp, “Yok” dedim, “Kürtçe diye bir dil yok ki, nasıl bilebilirim?!”

[oopsallbenlie]

Hi guys new book was announced here Nimmo’s working title “Charlie Bone and his gay best friend fight the demons of heterosexuality together”

[emperorsfoot]

And this right here is why Gwen/Kevin is the healthiest romantic relationship in the Ben 10 franchise. 

Gwen was assertive and went after what she wanted. Kevin was uncomfortable being the one that was pursued instead of perusing and so rejected her. Instead of pressing the issue like Ben would have done, she dropped it, gave him his space, and looked for other suitors. While Kevin took the time he needed to decide if a relationship with Gwen was something he wanted. 

Kevin didn’t confess his feelings for Gwen until the final battle with the Highbreed, that was the end of the second season. It took Kevin two seasons to figure his own feelings out and that he did, in fact, want a romantic relationship Gwen. The fact that she gave him that time is a testament to how much she values him as a person. 

Now, think about Ben. I confess, I don’t actually recall him being rejected by someone he asked out before (except for Kai when they were 10, but that shouldn’t count because they were 10 and too young for romantic relationships). But imagine Ben asking a girl out, and her rejecting him. I am 100% sure his response would be something along the lines of “I’m sorry, maybe you didn’t realize, but I’m the Hero of the Universe.” And continue to hound her relentlessly, whilst ignoring Rook’s and Gwen’s advice to stop, cut his losses and leave the poor girl alone. But, ya know, as I said, I can’t recall Ben ever being rejected in canon, so that particular example is up for debate. 

Lets talk instead about some of Ben in-canon relationship behavior. 

Ben had a steady girlfriend through almost all of Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, Julie Yamamoto. He spends the majority of their first date avoiding her and lying to her. Admittedly, he IS being pursued by a Galvanic Mechamorph spawn (Ship) that -for all he is aware- is trying to harm them. He does have the best of intentions and does think he’s protecting Julie. So, I will give credit where credit is due. But what she should have done was just be honest (or as honest as he felt comfortable with seeing as he was still trying to keep the Omnitrix and aliens a secret), told her that something came up, apologized, and asked if they could reschedule. Julie even asked him if he was alright and asked if he wanted to try again some other time and he said no. He though of her safety enough to try and avoid her while an alien was after him, but he didn’t actually CARE about her safety enough to send her away while he was an active target. 

Now let us move onto something that was not an official date. Julie invited Ben to watch and support her at one of her tennis matches. What does he do? Shows up late, makes a big scene as an entrance, then proceeds to make loud obnoxious comments about how board he is and how boring the game is. Comments that Julie can hear. That in and of itself was bad and show that he does not value Julie or care about her hobbies or the things that are important to her. But then Ben has to go one step further and use his Omnitrix to split himself into 3 bodies so he can do other things that he wanted to do more and still pretend like he gave a damn about Julie’s game. While one third of him went to wait with Kevin on a Forever Knight stake-out, and one third of his went to watch a freakin’ movie, the rudest and most abrasive third of him stayed to embarrass Julie at her game. He flirted openly with other women, heckled the other player, insulted the referee, and just all around embarrassed Julie in front of the competitive tennis community. When Gwen called him out on this, he brushed it off and stormed out. 

But the worst example of Ben being a shitty partner in AF/UA is when Ship is kidnapped. @pinky-keene and I have discussed this one at great length. She has very strong feelings about it. I will try to only give the canon facts, however. Ship is the Galvanic Mechamorph spawn they met on their first date. He has extreme sentimental value to Julie as he connects her to Ben. Not only that, but Ship has been living with Julie as a pet, and loves him the same as any terrestrial pet. When Ship is taken from her, she goes to Ben for help getting him back. Ben is extremely reluctant to help her. In fact, Ben is not persuaded to help his girlfriend get her pet back until Gwen and Kevin step in and have to practically twist his arm to get him to go after Ship. 

But that was all in Alien Force/Ultimate Alien. Surly our Hero of the Universe isn’t so bad in Omniverse. Right?

Understandably, in Omniverse Ben and Julie are broken up. We don’t know why they’re broken up exactly because the last time we saw them in Ultimate Alien, they seemed tight. But now they’re clearly not and Julie has moved on with a new man. Good for her! 

And Ben... Well, he’s got a whole harem of ladies to choose from. But for the purposes of this post, I’m just gonna focus on one scene which I think perfectly captures Ben unhealthy relationship behavior and how much he under-values the women in his life. 

In “A Night At the Museum” he is invited by Ester on a date to a new museum exhibit. Now at first Ben doesn’t realize its a date, he makes this fact clear in dialogue when he has to ask Rook if it was a date. We, the audience didn’t get to see the actual asking, so we have no idea what Ester did or did not say that might lead Ben to believe this was a platonic outing, but Ester seemed pretty damn confident that Ben should have known it was a date and was very upset that he invited his partner, Rook, to tag along. Now, at the point where he realized it was, in fact, a date he should have apologized, explained the misunderstanding and either have been clear with her about his feelings, or else rescheduled their date for a time when Rook wasn’t around. But he didn’t. What does he do instead? Starts flirting with another woman! 

Well, partially flirting. Ben flip-flops back and forth from flirting with Kai Green, and flat out insulting her. In the same breath, Ben reminds Kai of how much fun they had when they were kids together, then proceeds to inform her that her exhibit is inferior to the dinosaurs that used to he in the exhibit hall. But Kai’s a strong girl, she brushes off his disparaging remarks and continues with the tour she was giving. But, as Ester and Ben follow Kai’s tour through the exhibit, Ben continues to tear Kai down, asking why they should even care about old alien junk, and completely ignoring the fact that she and her grandfather spent years studying and curating the artifact to share. Please remember, Kai Green is supposed to be the woman he eventually marries. 

Julie breaking up with Ben makes perfect sense. 

Ester losing interest in Ben makes perfect sense. 

I don’t understand how Kai could ever agree to marry Ben when all their on-screen interactions are just them belittling one another and trying to break each other down. Like Gwen and Kevin are the most healthy romantic relationship in Ben 10, Ben and Kai have to be the most toxic. 

Kevin what is your face though

You have like 20 different emotions happening and you haven’t felt any of them before, have you?

I’d love to talk about how great it is that Gwen isn’t sitting around waiting for Kevin to ask her out after their little exchange at the beginning of the ep, but we can’t forget that there’s magical coercion at work here influencing her decision to pursue Michael.

Still, from day one Gwen was all about teaching Kevin that he’s worth more than he gives himself credit for, and I think the first step would be making it clear that his wishes are something to be respected. When she started coming on to him, he basically told her to back off – so she did. Had there been another guy Gwen liked, one who legitimately caught her eye, I think she would have had no problem going out with him, too.

But at this point, Kevin’s got no reason to believe Gwen isn’t legitimately charmed by Michael, and going with him of her own free will. I love that Kevin is SO OFFENDED AND JEALOUS and I don’t think he even realizes it. I mean yes he has legitimate reasons not to trust Michael, but I don’t think he would have looked hard enough to see them if he didn’t already perceive Michael as a challenger for Gwen’s affections. I have a huge headcanon (with evidence to back it up) that most of Kevin’s knowledge of Earth culture comes from television, since he didn’t grow up on Earth or around other humans. I kind of get the sense that Kevin expected Gwen to wait around pining for him while he worked through his emotional issues enough to feel comfortable dating her, which is what a person might come to expect if TV dramas are your only example of how relationships work. Or, more likely, he expected her to take the RomCom route and continue to make aggressive passes at him until she finally wore him down. But that’s not what happened.

She asked him out

he told her no

and she’s actually respecting his boundaries and he has no idea how to handle that.

[execatrix]

Hi,

I hope you are doing well. I read your posts on Ben 10, and could not help but feel that you are right that he does get a lot of unfair blame.

One thing that has confused me regarding Ben's relationship with Julie in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien is why didn't Gwen and Kevin at least try to understand his side, for example in Pet Project, because Julie may see Ship as a pet, but that episode also demonstrated why Ship is dangerous, and Ben would know that, considering what he's been through since he was 10. I feel like either its bad writing or they consider Julie to be on their level, when she's really not. I would like your thoughts on this matter.

Of course! I like how you said that the episode demonstrated how dangerous Ship was. Because it REALLY did. Pet Project went all out to put on display exactly what Ship is capable of when used as a weapon, like Ben said in that exact episode. 

You're also correct to bring up Gwen and Kevin's...lack of support.

And, attempting to put myself in the writers' place, I have a couple guesses as to why that may have been the case. Most of the time I prefer to attempt to understand what they were trying to do but hear me out…I think they struggled to give Ben flaws.

If the characters around him act like he's in the wrong, he must be, right? Well, no, actually. But that's a recurring thing because having a character be as too-good-for-his-own-good as Ben is makes it hard to make him anything less than well, a good guy.

This extends to his relationships. It’s easy to write a “perfect” relationship. The only problem is that that’s not realistic or interesting in a series where there needs to be a conflict driving the story. It doesn’t fit. And because Ben is the titular character, he has to be involved in some kind of conflict for the plot to exist. And because conflict drives the plot, a relationship with no problems (often how Benlie is seen in the early episodes) will inevitably be given problems just by being involved in the conflict driven life of the titular character. 

Even Ben himself finds it out of the ordinary for there to be no conflict in his life. 

“Two weeks. Two whole weeks. Nobody's tried to blow up the Earth, nobody's tried to kill me and take the Omnitrix. Everything is just fine and boring!” (“Something Zombozo This Way Comes” - Omniverse) 

Pet Project is a perfect example. Julie had developed such an emotional attachment to Ship that she almost comes off as caring more about Ship than her boyfriend. She was introduced to Ship literally as soon as Ben’s secret life was revealed to her. Prior to going out with Ben, she had no connection to aliens at all. This alone has had a HUGE impact on her life already. Even if it was only by the events of the next two series that aliens would become more commonly known among regular humans, Ben and Julie could not have had a “normal” relationship. Unless of course, he wasn’t an alien superhero. 

And, as we saw, that creates conflict.

Julie - coming from a regular human upbringing - cares about what she has accepted as her new “pet.” Her response is empathetic.

Ben - coming from a family with alien ties and having been taught the dangers of alien technology - displays exactly that in his stance. His response is practical.

Julie isn’t necessarily wrong to want to protect what she cares about. Ben does the same thing. However, Ben is still objectively more correct. Acting like he's somehow in the wrong doesn't make him wrong. He isn't. And ultimately, the problem is not that they have different responses, but that they don’t find common ground when they could.

While it is also reasonable for partners to also come to the conclusion that the relationship dynamic is not something they’re willing to accept (and instead move on, as Julie did eventually), romantic partners need to be able to deal with or work through conflict, not have their entire relationship be threatened by it. If that’s the case, you’ve got a weak relationship foundation. Which, yeah, you could consider as “bad writing.”

But it isn’t even that it couldn’t work. It’s that they didn’t want to make it work. Conflict is unavoidable. Cooperation is not.

[ben-10-setting-omnicrom]

Lmao who said what.

What does that even mean?

Ben has literally always been visibly uncomfortable whenever someone hits on him and he's in a relationship. It's why he was so shocked when Julie apparently got Harvey behind his back, she's literally the only one to cheat in their relationship.

me, finishing up my longest defence essay: ok slay now to plan out my upload schedule and edit this over the next few weeks

some stupid guy on yt: oh btw out of the 7 deadly sins Ben is lust because he's a manwhore lol

[ben-10-setting-omnicrom]

ALL OF THIS!

Hopefully this brains some sense of the people who insist he's all these bad things with lies as evidence but I doubt it since they're literally delusional lmao.

In Defence of the Superhero Boyfriend: An Analysis of the Questionable Romantic Subplots in Ben 10 (& Masterpost of All My Points) | Catgirl (2022)

No, Ben is NOT a “Bad Boyfriend” (2018) Revamp

Literally half the fandom:

Well, I beg to differ.  

Because, this argument is insisted far too often when most of what I’ve seen points to the opposite. If you’re familiar with previous writing at all, you should know that Ben is my favourite character from all of fiction. So, while I’ll admit my bias (and by extension, motivation for writing all of this), the facts of the matter do not lie.

The following episodes supposedly prove the argument in question correct. I disagree. So, to make sense of why that is, let’s tear them apart, shall we?

Pet Project. + Don’t Fear the Repo. 

I won’t call out specific critics, but I did want to call attention to this episode first because it introduces the basis for all conflict between these two for the rest of their relationship. And that is a misunderstanding of perspective. 

Ben: “But why would the Forever Knights want to steal Ship?” Kevin: “Please. It can turn into anything it touches. It’s like a cup of instant weapon.”

After this exchange of dialogue, the screen cuts to this shot of his expression. 

This is where I’d like to remind you that this episode takes place before the episode where Max is revealed to be alive (“Voided”), and after several similar situations where Ben thought he would lose those closest to him (Secret of the Omnitrix, and “The Alliance”). More on this here.

My point is that because of his past experience, he sees where this is going. The idea that being proactive is somehow “wrong” is already backwards.

Next, as has been stated and argued several times on this blog, SHIP IS NOT A DOG. Ben is right to see Ship for what he is. And in doing so, by extension, it proves he cares that his girlfriend is in possession of what could be highly dangerous alien weaponry. And, let’s not forget, she has very little experience with it. 

All of his experience with alien technology has been shown on screen. On top of that, due to the alien tech literally strapped to his wrist 24/7, he even has the same powers as Ship. He knows exactly what that species can do. He would know what he’s talking about. At this point in the plotline, Julie doesn’t even know the half of it. She should realize that he’s looking out for her.

This same conflict is brought up again next episode (“Don’t Fear the Repo”), proving that as much as it can be used in her own self defense, it can absolutely be a lethal weapon. He shouldn’t even need to go halfway across the galaxy for that to be obvious. 

Duped. 

This is the beginning of something strangely recurring during the rest of the series. And that is making Ben out to be the bad guy unreasonably. 

Following his rise to intergalactic fame after “War of the Worlds,” by Ultimate Alien, Ben's name has spread across the earth itself. And, becoming famous on that level changes a lot. The most obvious thing being the fact that he can’t go anywhere without recognition. And, considering why that’s even happening, he shouldn’t be villainized for it. 

This episode isn’t generally regarded as good because of the way Ben is written. And, despite trying to put him in a negative light, he split himself into three to try to make everyone happy in a situation where making the “right” choice was practically impossible. So, he didn’t choose. 

The fact that his solution was to try to deal with everything at once should show you his true intentions. 

In this episode, he can be quoted saying, “[I was] trying to be sensitive to everyone’s needs.” Later in the same series, he can also be quoted saying, “Now I can help everybody at once.” Previously, he can be quoted saying, "It's in my interest to help anybody who needs it." Evidently, the fundamental basis of his job is to be of help, and excels at that job due to the fact that the basis of his character aligns with it.

What kind of bad guy does something with good intentions? 

Hero Time.  

It's justifiable to be angry when someone else kisses your significant other. However, I think his reaction to the kidnapping of his girlfriend speaks for itself.

In regards to Jennifer, it was very clear that he was only hanging around her because it gave him the opportunity to meet his childhood hero. It seems to be forgotten that, since then, she has actually tried to kill Ben twice, along with Nemesis. 

Which brings me to my next point: how damaging must it be then to look down at your childhood hero, defeated by you? Watching him become a villain, who would have killed two people if a real hero had not intervened?

In the end, this episode serves to display the ways in which intergalactic fame can complicate life. From excessive attention, to unexpected rivalry, and how that has the potential to take the hero down a less than heroic path. It’s supposed to show the things that could go wrong - all the ways in which the life of a superhero isn't so black and white - and, again, display how the hero instead chooses to do “the right thing.” As established by the end of the continuity, despite obviously being disappointed by those he looked up to, Ben went on to surpass his own heroes. 

In case it isn't registering, all this conflict was introduced in order for it to be overcome by the hero thereby proving himself as a hero by continuing to do the "the right thing" in the end. The story does not end with the fact that his relationship has issues. What counts is how he resolves them, and that he does try to at all.

The Transmogrification of Eunice. 

(That episode which some people had very...concerning opinions on. More on that here.)

At this point (two seasons into Ultimate Alien), Ben doesn’t have much time for a stable relationship. This isn’t entirely his own fault. Prior to this, he was dealing with Aggregor threatening the galaxy, and subsequently, Kevin losing his mind. So Ben was, in fact, very busy. Regardless if you view him as sixteen or seventeen by the end of Omniverse, all the battles he fights from this point until the end of the continuity happen one after another.

During this part of the series alone, all this had happened: 

In “Map of Infinity,” Aggregor almost kills Ben and his team while they are trying to prevent power from falling into the wrong hands. 

In “Deep,” Ben’s team initially thinks he dies by sacrificing himself to save a planet. 

In “Where the Magic Happens,” the whole team actually does get killed temporarily by Charmcaster. 

Obviously, his team was there, too. So they can, and should, back this up. 

Considering the experience they already have with aliens and especially alien criminals (some of which I have just outlined), why should they even take anything Eunice says as the truth? 

But wait, look at that - the main hero doing “the right thing.” Again.

Ben: "You can't just store a human being." Azmuth: "She's not human. She's a construct. No more alive than any of your transformations. She's not real." Ben: "Who are you to say that? My transformations are real and she's way more human than you are." 

And that’s besides the fact that he was under the impression he had been broken up with. I doubt his stance on the matter would change, regardless.

Eye of the Beholder

My original arguments on why this episode actually portrays him as a good boyfriend can be found here. Once again, the entire episode’s plot is about how he is actively trying to do “the right thing” because, once again, they’ve set him up to be a character inclined to do good.

I mean, imagine being so morally correct that you can't even tell a lie without your eye twitching. (Ben 10: Alien Force - “Good Copy, Bad Copy.”) He’s so morally correct, in fact, that it is an inconvenience to him and sometimes a threat to his life. He will literally die to do “the right thing.” (Ben 10: Ultimate Alien - "The Perfect Sacrifice") And consistent with his moral code, Ben is doing the opposite of everything an actual “bad boyfriend” would do when confronted with issues in their relationship.

In fact, I’ll give you a list:

The screen deliberately shows his face to prove that he immediately regrets being even remotely rude to Julie, and half a second later beginning to go after her to imply that’s what he would have done next.

Give him an entire monologue talking about how Julie really matters to him, despite all the problems rising up between them. Here it is, word for word.

“So I let her go. I guess I shouldn’t have. But I still had Forever Knights to trash! And after that, there’s always the press. But you know, they’re ditch-able. Kind of. You don’t have to do their interviews but they’ll still trash you on their stupid cable shows. I guess there’s no way to escape the things that really matter…like Julie.”

Showing him then proceeding to go after his friends (who ditched him) by literally flying into space, because he wants to communicate, instead of ignoring them the way they had done to him.

Staying with them once he catches up despite constantly being disrespected. No, not rightfully, because he’s literally in the process of righting his ‘wrong’ behaviour and is still being treated like he’s doing something wrong.

Taking initiative to own up to his mistakes and acknowledge how he might have made Julie feel, whether intentionally or not, and literally making a promise to try to do better just like she asks. And, might I add, keeping that promise in a later episode.

Seriously, how many of us actually go out of our way to do all of this after a petty argument?

All of this happened to begin with because of his job. She threatened to break up with him because being a superhero is a 24/7 job. It’s what he always wanted to do, and now it’s destroying his relationship. That’s a valid reason to be upset.

Revenge of the Swarm. + The Perfect Girlfriend. 

You know that scene I just mentioned where he promises to try to do better? Here he is doing exactly that.

This episode uses it’s conflict to display how the hero chooses to do the right thing (again) instead of losing themselves to power - how it had unfortunately played out for Elena, whose story is used (at least in this episode) to portray that idea.

And, the next time she shows up, the only reason Elena gets caught is because Ben was trying to be a good boyfriend and do something with his girlfriend that would make her happy in return for the sacrifice he thought she had made for him. 

The Flame Keeper’s Circle. 

This one has a very similar conflict to a previous episode, (“Pet Project,”) and, big surprise, a similar response from the main hero.

Despite meaning well, Julie gets herself into trouble with none other than one of Ben’s most dangerous enemies - Vilgax. And, Ben spends the entirety of this episode trying to cooperate with her so that she could understand that his past experience gives him the credibility to say when she’s in danger. It should go without saying that he disagrees with her stance for her own good. You can read my full analysis of this episode here. 

Rules of Engagement. 

In which Ben learns that he’s been dumped based on a complete misunderstanding (and hypocrisy, considering the insistence you “may as well be broken up” is not a break up, apparently, but a distracted phone call, where Ben clearly tells her that what he is saying is NOT directed at her, is supposed to be one in her mind). 

Take a good look at this scene. Ester gets thrown across the room, her limbs literally tangled in knots, and in the process knocks Julie over. In response, what does Ben do? 

Specifically runs over to his now ex-girlfriend (who can absolutely get up by herself) to help her up and remains there on one knee with his arms around her in this protective position while he argues with Looma about how what she’s doing is wrong. You know, his usual behaviour. 

During the confrontation, Ben can be quoted saying, “You need to put this right." and "You’re hurting people.” 

I don’t want to hear another word about how horrible he is.  

Dare I reiterate the obvious? Since the writers are clearly attempting to write a character inclined to do good, they even allow Julie to have a moment of doubt when she comes to the realization that her ex-boyfriend isn’t actually all that terrible. But, most importantly, she realizes that his dedication to his hero work also shouldn’t have been seen as wrong. (Neither should being successful in his career, or confident in his accomplishments, for the record.)

In her own words, “At the end of the day, he does a lot of good. So cut him a break.” 

Have you ever considered that, based on their individual careers and lifestyles, they just weren’t right for each other? Being a bad partner and living up to someone's specific standards are two different things. If your partner wants you to be someone you're not, or can't be in Ben's case, it's not your responsibility to change your entire life to suit what they want. That's exactly what Elena was doing in "The Perfect Girlfriend" and, as was established in that episode, it's unhealthy. 

Catfight

If he isn’t boyfriend material, explain to me why then, does he have so many girls fighting over him?

The logical answer is that there must be a reason. The idea that the existence of so many girls in his life lends to the argument I’m fighting misses the reasons why they’re even there - out of their own volition. He didn’t deliberately go out looking for them. They came to him. And, the more famous and successful he becomes, the more of them there are. 

I don’t personally like the…questionable reoccurring focus on forced marriage. However, it does bring up a valid point. Every time this is a plot point, it ties back to his job. And that’s because he and his work represent something. On a galactic level, his name carries a sort of weight. And, anyone married to someone of that legacy - a living legend, if I may - is tying themselves to something extremely important to the entire universe, for better or worse.

That being said, I will resist the urge to reiterate how much neither of these two nuisances princesses deserve him, but I will present to you this quote. 

Ben: “Listen to yourselves. You’ve both defeated me at some point or other. Neither of you need some trophy guy hanging on your arm. You’re both strong, capable leaders on your own. And it’s high time your four-armed and froggy followers respectively, well, respected that.”

Wow, Ben 10 just said “respect women” to women who don’t respect him. You hear that, fandom?

Fight at the Museum + The Most Dangerous Game Show

With these two final episodes, the series continues to stress that a lot of girls are willing to fight over him. So…don’t you think it’s slightly nonsensical to villainize the guy that several girls are apparently fighting over? 

And that’s disregarding the quality of these “love interests,” mind you. Ester particularly has a reputation in the fandom for being the “best girl” out of all the love interests despite taking the side of another problematic character.

According to Kai, her work is for the purpose of uniting humans and aliens by showing them how they are similar, right? Well, because of all Ben has done, by Omniverse, humans and aliens live together in harmony already. It’s extremely stupid to act like he doesn’t realize the importance of what he has already done. He’s the reason all the people visiting the exhibit - human and alien alike - can peacefully stand in the same room. 

And yet, despite all of that, the plot continues to prove my point. When confronted with conflict, it is made apparent that time and time again, Ben tries to “do the right thing.” Azmuth even said so himself that Ben keeps ultimately “doing the right thing” in the end, because - as this is a story about how and why he remains a hero - that was the whole point. 

The romantic subplots are there to expand the universe of Ben 10. And, as the universe exists within a story about a superhero, it is important to take into account the conclusion of each conflict instead of solely the conflict alone since a hero's job is to resolve conflict. Again, that was the whole point.

In conclusion, if this still is what you believe makes up a bad boyfriend, then I suggest you take a look at people who have done significantly worse. Yes, they exist. Shocker.

Perhaps he was right to laugh, then…calling him a terrible BF really is a joke. 

[ben-10-setting-omnicrom]

Not this shit again holy fuck.

Saving lives is literally more important than anything else lmao especially if you live in a setting where death is permanent unless outside of special circumstances.

Media literacy is dead lmao

Me: *presenting 12037474920 arguments on why Ben actually isn’t a terrible BF and why the conflicts in his longest lasting on screen relationship have more to them and serve to display how he will go on to solve that conflict and ultimately prove the opposing argument wrong* The fandom:

[ben-10-setting-omnicrom]

You're god damn right lmao.

This is another thing I find baffling about the vocal minority in the fandom.

Like.... What?

You (hopefully) wouldn't tolerate being mistreated like Ben is in YOUR relationships right? So why the fuck is it ok for Ben to have toxic relationships (Julie/Ester/Kai/Looks/Attea/Nancy/Elena)?

Fuck that shit.

I think the things that people point fingers at Ben for are very funny. This is the same guy who can't do something slightly morally incorrect like tell a lie without having a visual reaction that gives him away (his eye twitching when he lies). His literal job aside, that should tell you all you need to know about how he approaches doing something "bad."

Ben gets angry over a video game? The appropriate response is to cut off all contact with him and get a new man because this is unforgivable behaviour. It definitely would not have been more reasonable to just laugh at the situation and move on.

Kai displays several signs of blatant abuse at worst and bullying at best? Oh no, it can't be that bad. You're reading too far into it if you're actually pointing out what was shown on screen. He can handle that because he's been through worse. She's actually the best match for him. Besides, it's funny if it's at Ben's expense. It's all a joke.

Do you see the problem here?

One tiny mistake and he's deserving of the worst.

Several instances of mistreatment done on purpose and it's all glossed over.

[ben-10-setting-omnicrom]

Man don't even get me STARTED on how annoying it was whenever Julie acted like a narrative blackhole and made Gwen and Kevin act OOC while painting Ben unfairly as the bad guy.

I hated that shit so much. Julie finding an excuse to break up with Ben in Omniverse (which is exactly what the call was, an excuse, because Ben not only told her he wasn't talking to her that way, but you could CLEARLY hear Ben curse Kingo who she'd know was a character from Sumo Slammers if she paid the slightest bit of attention to Ben's favorite series), so Julie could get the attention she so clearly wanted from Harvey that Ben in good conscience couldn't give her.

It's wild to me people constantly say Ben cheated on her when Julie is the only one who did. Ben was under the impression they were still together before she showed up with Harvey. He NEVER ONCE complained about her being gone or unavailable for weeks due to Tennis.

Is it REALLY that hard to give Ben a actually good relationship???

Gwen and Kevin are literally right there.

Quick question and maybe a bit no duh type but you still rocking with Omnichip?

Lmao of course. It's literally the only ship with Ben, besides Eunice, worth stanning. A reformed Elena has basically infinite potential story wise and she's the only one besides Eunice who actually cares for Ben for Ben lmao.

Every other love interest is some flavor of abusive or narcissistic and toxic. Which is honestly super sad. No such relationship should be glorified.