#and keep in mind this isn't the end of the clown encounters

[survivalist-anon]

Log 1: The first encounter

It's been a year since my falling out with my boyfriend. What was supposed to be a trip back home to collect my gear has now ended up becoming a whole move back to Pine Hills....talk about going back to square one...

It's another lovely, foggy day in Chehalem Ridge. Hoping to bag at least deer for the next few weeks of meat rations. Honestly, I'm starting to become grateful for grandpa incessively bringing on his hunting trips, this move has done an absolute number on my bank account. Beef here is starting to get expensive ever since that garbage Wonder Mart bought out the local stuff. Well, times have changed. I've always liked the taste of venison anyway.

Things here have been even more worrisome over the past few years too.....farm animals being slaughtered left, right and center....those clowns from the National Guard Tillamook base have been hounding the town for answers on some sightings of "big, metal men". An absolute mess.

What has been giving me a biting gnash on the back of my mind is how poor ol' Grandpa passed away. Well....the fact he died on a hunting trip isn't what's surprising, it's the fact he was killed so brutally that even his buddies believed that no way a bear could have done it. Robbie (our local mortician, ex-butcher and currently the one braincell helping at City Hall) said that "no bear could just tear up a man like a chainsaw can"....the closed casket funeral was already a disaster.

Call it depression, call it suicide, but I going to the very place he died ...I need to know what happened. Yeah, naive on top of the cliche is definitely going to be on my tombstone. It's been 4 months since his death, will I find anything? Fuck no of course not...but hey, it's productive.

As I'm looking at the river bank, I'm not surprised to see what a shoty job local PD did in clean up the place....there's pieces of his old camouflage jacket. He didn't believe in the modern stuff, so he just used an old jacket he had back in when we enlisted in Vietnam. I glanced over the scene, trying to pieces together what the hell could it have been. Walking around, I'm not too surprised how much of a waste of time this was....at least the scenery was perfect...

At least, it was.

I suddenly realized that the birds has just stopped singing, all I can hear was the sound of my heartbeat. But there was something new, a heavy smell of metal and industrial chemicals? I know theres an illegal logging company around here but no one back at City Hall has been able to fight them for years. That's when I heard movement.

This is when I begin to regret not investing in a hunting rifle, but bow and arrow to the eyeball works just fine. I draw and scan for whatever that smell was coming from ....all I saw something big and metal....but for something to be that big....it was no man.

It was in the thicket of the treeline, glowing...angry eyes, it had spikes just absolutely everywhere, it's dark black body was interrupted but glimmers of bronze or gold....at it was coming right at me.

I couldn't move, I just stood there trying not to shake the fucking arrows out of my quiver, I don't even know what I was even doing from that point on.

It just stomped twords me, it knew I wouldn't be able to do much to it.

But like hell I wouldn't.

I locked up, and shot right it it's eye. Going straight in! It's head leaned back at the arrow sunk through......then...it chuckled....that sickening laughter you give when you know you're about to win...it looked straight back at me, still chuckling....now with my arrow sticking out it's face like a complete moron.

Looks like I'm going to get see grandpa. Hell I would probably get to tell him I found his buddy too.

"... aren't you... just adorable........thank you for your.... little gift", snapping the arrow yet keeping its other half in his eyesocket...."a most cherished gift.....from a weaklings like girl like you...just...like that old bastard....". He was now 10 feet away from me.

He pointed to a set of faded dents in his chest, three shots that only chipped the paint.

Grandpa's last shots

"....at least he went out fighting."...I stepped back and fucking tripped on the rocky bank...great I made it earlier for him.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, glanced at the trail behind me and growled.

That's when I heard the familiar click of a trigger pull, than the loudest gun shot I have ever felt! Closing my eyes, it was like a small rocket had been set off just feet away from me.

All I could hear was a loud ringing in my ears, I felt something warm and wet cover half of my body. Shaking, I slowly opened my eyes, and saw gore.... just where.... sprayed on me, on the rocks .....I looked up....half of that monster was there.....I couldn't take it anymore....and i blacked out.

I woke up in the hospital back home, Nurse Amila (town doctor at this point since the last guy quit) said I was found soaking wet near a sheep farm several miles off the course of Chelhalem Ridge. I told her everything I could remember but of course she told me to just rest so I can collect myself a little later. I was in shock, but I had to tell her. The look on her is what worried me, she.... wasn't surprised.

She did tell me that who ever it was that brought me to safe place, left me in good hands .....a gift?

Nurse Amila points to the hospital nightstand, it didn't look like any of the native tribal artifacts I've studied for....it looked.... Nordic? It was a huge candid tooth.

"Looks like a bear tooth, guess someone finally sees you're worth a look, right Lorey?", she chuckled.

"....I....think it's a wolf tooth", I feel like I'm going insane, first the absolute horror movie scene I've just experienced and now...possibly .... giant unextinct......dire wolves?

What the shit is going on......

End of log 1.

@kit-williams

[spector]

I saw you finished bg3, I'm too much of a baby to go past the second act : ( I've finished it but I've heard the third act isn't as good as the first two, can you share your thoughts? Spoiler free ideally, just... Did you like the third act? How did it compare to the first two? Just wondering as a person who has a chronic inability to finish things because of the risk of a disappointing ending 😭

OUGH I FEEL YOU, i put off finishing act 3 forever, i just kept doing sidequests and exploring , but first of all

act 3 is very badly optimized. even if you have the best PC ever or if ur playing on console, combat in act 3 will take a loooooooooong time bc the city is soo badly optimized. its not about frame drops or anything like that, its just that enemies most of the time will take forever to calculate their first move. someone told me its bc they're targeting unseen enemies or even targeting all of the superfluous items in the city which makes getting thru combat a CHORE. i dont know when they will fix it, i know they keep patching the game as they go but when i played it , it was a misery.

not to mention in act 3 theres just. so much fucking shit to do. good lord. in act 1 and act 2 i was sooo happy to explore and do everything but in act 3 it was just tiring. taking frequent breaks from the game might be beneficial as it was for me

in terms of quests/encounters in act 3 - a bit of hit and miss. in act 1 i think i enjoyed every single quest (but that could've been from the game being brand new in my mind still). in act 3, there are some fun ones (dribbles the clown im looking at you... or the quest where you have to intercept a newspaper article about you from hitting the press) but there are also some that r like ... ok..idc...

THAT SAID, i dont regret finishing it, at first i had a lot of issues with the companions bc none of them stood out to me but they're very malleable if u give them time - that is to say, they can have ambitions that align with your own personal story and that makes it fun, its like ur a team going towards a similar goal. i think that's why i was so motivated to finish, i had a concept for my player character from the start (paladin that breaks their oath bc of the circumstances and then fully embraces the no gods, no masters life by seizing total control) and i had to see it UNFOLD on da screen... and tbh i was very happy with the result, it felt like watching a movie of story plucked from my head

in terms of final fight - EH. it was very easy to me but i was on balanced difficulty so it had the right to be easy.

OH ALSO THE ENTIRE RAPHAEL QUEST WHERE U BREAK INTO HIS HOUSE IS SOOOOOOOO GOOOOOD THAT ENTIRE AREA IS SOOOO GOOOOOOOODODODODODODODOOOOODDDD ! ! !! i think i would recommend act 3 if only to play that part

as for the other 2 baddies (orin and gortash) - they didn't bang for me but there was some depth to both of them that maybe i would've gotten to enjoy if i didn't decide to kill em hehe

anyways, im rambling - the point is, the ending is really what you make it so if you picked choices that were fun to you, the ending should be fun as well. in terms of combat/boss fight mechanics etc, i found it too easy to enjoy. raphael boss fight, now that was a fun encounter. OVERALL, i think i recommend act 3 but maybe wait until its optimized? also get ready for a massive amount of content but just know you can skip things!!

[baldursarchive]

for the tav ask list! with mathilde? :3c Gen 4, Story 5, 11?

4. What sort of general actions raise or lower their approval?

anything that gets into a fight, she views battles and fighting through problems as something that is both important and gratifying, she kinda gets disappointed whenever a very obvious fight is avoided...also, i think in general anything with helping kids. she would disapprove of turning on the grove, mainly because those people are obviously not fighters and she likes it when you fight people who are capable not just abusing your strength against people with no fighting chance. if you manage to intimidate people she approves of that as well, since she tends to default to that. also like doing silly life things would also gain her approval like helping alfira with her song. in terms of character specific approval, if you give her a legendary item whether it is an armor or a weapon i imagine there is a whole scene with her talking about said item's value and her thanking you for trusting her with it. in some other specifics, she would approve of anything that ends up with you obtaining a weapon of some sorts, like the lathander quest, or the one where you get bark from a sussur tree and make a weapon, the forge is potentially where you could get most approval as she is a nerd when it comes to weapons. in terms of morals, she's very like good aligned, but she is very strongheaded. she likes a fight not because of the inherent violence but it is the reward of victory over their enemies. i feel like trying to talk down ketheric from a fight would get a disapproval from her. also anything that hurts either scratch or the owlbear would be another big disapproval. also aligning yourself with gortash would be disapproved by her. she doesn't think in terms of saving people but rather that her abilities are being used adequetly.

5. How do they react to the Player Character taking their first tadpole power?

she's very off put by the tadpole and the powers that come with them, she isn't very smart so she doesn't understand what it does or the consequences it might bring. she would comment on them making the pc stronger and how that is great, but she would mention to keep those things packed and away from her if they were to encounter more.

11. What do they say if the PC tries to force them to go up on stage with Dribbles the Clown?

actually she would be delighted, given how she experiences life to the fullest, she does not mind trying something new and maybe a little embarrasing, i think if you were to send her up there i mantain that she would not get the whole surprised ambush thing because she would react accordingly though. and it would result in her making a comment about how now clowns are another of her sworn enemies from that day forward.

[yulia-inferis]

Record Me All You Want

Record me all you want 

Within minding my own business, you try to make me look the fool 

So what if I'm different in the way I signal and flaunt 

You don't see me recording how square you really are 

But your followers lap it because their just as brain dead as you 

Splice the video however you want - fracture reality like your ego too

I might do silly things, I might do normal tasks 

But what makes it right to film me behind your mask 

You cower away as the filming ends

Using your phone as a shield of pretend

I see your type of people every now and again 

You slurp on your clown idols epitaph of self centeredness

And then mock your peers that emulate that content 

And then bitch and moan about how clowns turn into high status

When you record those same people by habit 

And upload and promote their non conformist habits 

Your the audience of consuming degenerates 

High on the pretense that you won't be the idiot 

On someone else's phone uploading to the internet 

I can't wait until your the one getting into it 

You'll see these fishers of content 

Baiting people with passive violence 

Aggravating the public with nonsense 

Just to cower away when finally confronted 

Under the guise of some victim card offense 

Then they hide behind their chamber of sycophants 

Justifying their inane predicimates 

Subconsciously eliciting the behavior they opt against

Wondering why they keep encountering similar events

Your egos your cage of mental impotence 

Failing to succeed in human life events

Just to laugh at some insignificance

Just to soothe your own insignificance

It's funny in this world of utopia 

Without the possibility for violence, cowardice is upon us 

A plague of immunity from our minuscule misconduct 

To be magnified into some social projection 

When no danger is a prospect

We amplify minuscule conduct 

To be a vector for attention objects

Since there's no danger really among us 

You see we're all clowns and objects 

To be duped and utilized by higher intellects 

In these digital mazes that were designed to elicit

A higher dot on average watchtime statements

Giving away data that was once difficult to be taken

Than utilized to manipulate your psychological estrangements

You gave away the source code of your soul for entertainment 

To be on a platform to exploit others for influential attainment 

And all us stupid people are aware and complicit 

In our self aware deprecating humor of “who isn't”

Only to claim mockery of social misfits 

To hide the mockery of our own psychological splits

I'm even doing it within this 

You’re a complacent idiot corrupted by adverts and the internet 

Yes I'm not like you people that are hideous 

In your lack of decency and etiquette 

[vermillioncrown]

What would you say midorima aomine and kise think of bil!kagami?

what i would say about their thoughts will be in future chapters, of course 😏

=

idk i feel like a lot can be extrapolated from the chapters already there, and knowing the canon characters. are you asking because you want confirmation?

=

tldr bil!kagami is not what any of them expect from a fellow sport boy. what they expect is different, based on how colorful (heh) each of their personalities are.

kise: finds him fascinating, doesn't know if it's an act or not, wants to keep poking him if not for being in an entirely different prefecture

midorima: grudgingly respects he's not a "mindless dunking monkey", secretly thinks he's someone not intolerable to meet on the street

aomine: aomine.exe is buffering, try again later

[zv5x]

Yan!Tricky • Reader

Because I'm out of my fucking mind! Reader is GN as always! ❤️💚 (Reader is also human btw!!!)

( :̲̅:̲̅:̲̅[̲̅:♡:]̲̅:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅)

Unhinged and deranged, once Tricky has his eyes set on you, there's absolutely no way of escaping him. Trying to do so will result in immediate repercussions. On top of that, your reasons for wanting to leave him are completely alien to him. The problems with his attachment to you don't cross Tricky's mind. His feelings for you are straight forward and indisputable. Clown likes you, clown keeps you. Plain and simple. Your fear is something he can never get behind or understand, and that just makes him noticbly angrier. In his eyes, you're just throwing him away from you for absolutely no reason.

The emotions you make the clown feel quickly become addictive. He begins relying on you for his "daily fixture", for lack of a better term. No matter how many times you show complete fear of a decomposed clown making himself known by clinging to you out of nowhere, he never stops to considers your feelings. His affections for you began as a simple interest. A human wandering around a place like Nevada like it was nothing. At first glance, he wanted to just rip your head from your body and call it a day, like usual. But somehow, something inside him told him not to. And so, his attachment quickly grew from interest, to a dangerous obsession that heightened his homicidal tendencies by tenfold.

As much as he loves hearing it from anyone else, Tricky despises it when you cry. He hates it. As soon as you start, Tricky enters the mindset of being willing to do absolutely anything to get you to stop. Coming from others, crying and screaming is something Tricky encourages. In his eyes, it means he's doing a good job. But, from you, his (Y/N), it makes him feel colder than he ever thought he could before. Tricky is not patient. He'll attempt to console you for a minute or two, before becoming incredibly upset and irritated. Why aren't you listening to clown? Clown said to stop crying. He'll scream at you as if you just awakened every inch of rage in his rotted body, grabbing you and shaking you until you force yourself to stop for your own good. Continuing to cry would only make things worse, so it's best to do what he wishes even if you end up encouraging such behaviors

If you somehow encounter anyone you could consider a friend in Nevada, rest assured your friend will be unrecognizable by the end of the hour. Tricky is always following you, making sure you're safe. And here this random person is, taking away attention that could have been for him. They're stealing you from clown. Clown can't have that. Tricky isn't conserned with the psychological consequences of seeing a zombified clown rip your friend to shreads right before your very eyes. All he's concerned with is seeing that homewrecker a bloodied pulp, their former appearance and life left as nothing but a concept. They deserved it. Tey deserved to stay alive for longer to feel every bit of what Tricky did to them, in fact. Their life meant nothing to Tricky, his only concern was you. The thought of anyone trying to steal you from him enrages him, and he'll grip your body with extreme force, your body trembling itself just from how intensely Tricky is shaking. You're his. You're only his. He can't stress that fact enough. He would scream it a million times if he could, just so you and your bastard "friends" could finally understand.

If your hatred of him somehow ever subsides (not that Tricky is even aware you hate him, he genuinely believes you love him just as much as he loves you), be aware he lives for your affection and praise. Please make clown feel loved! Tell him he did a good job when he ripped that random grunt he passed by in half! He did it to impress you, after all! Hold him and pet him and tell him how much you care! It's what Tricky's been trying so hard to get! It will be the perfect reward for all the effort he put in, so perhaps it's best that you just give into what he desires. After all, it will keep your risk of having your brains bashed in to a complete minimum. Keep yourself on his good side, it's for the absolute best

[inkla-kirisame]

Theory: Baizhu is...?

Disclaimer: this is a theory, it doesn't have to be true, if its false, don't blame me, I warned you beforehand

Also, take this with humor and not to seriously

And spoilers of Liyue's or Xiao's lore

Ok let's begin with this

It seems that Baizhu is an outlander like Albedo or Amber's grandfather (just examples, they had nothing to do with this) but he does have a vision, a Liyuan one, but Zhongli didn't seem to know about him... So he is probably of Liyue or he has more than he looks like

So either Baizhu is a snake like creature (like a lamia), or is he an Adeptus?

Exhibit 1: let's take a look to his face

Author, more close

His face seems familiar... Were did I see it? Oh wait-

They had the same make up, and believe me when I said that almost all the Adepti use the same make up (only Madame Ping and Mountain Shaper (I think)) use that type

Also, Xiao and Baizhu have the same pupils

Ok, maybe I'm wrong but as I said before, don't take this seriously, but if it's true I f-ing called it

Exhibit 2: Baizhu's sickness

If you have Qiqi or talk with Herbalist Gui, you'll know that Baizhu has a sickness that made him frail, Qiqi mentions that even tho she's a zombie, she's much better than Baizhu

So why this is important?

I don't know what sickness he has but if this is true, I may know were he got his sickness

'Some of the archons' souls were filled with bitterness at their fate, and refused to suffer it any longer. Their bitterness materialized and became evil monsters. The monsters' rage manifested itself in the form of diseases, monster infestations, and all kinds of other strange occurrences' is a little extract of the book Yakshas: The Vigilant Adepti, you can see were this is going

So, I think Baizhu was a Yaksha, to be more precise, Bosacius

If you did the Yaksha's wish, you'll know that Bosacius was the missing Yaksha, and is presumably dead

In this quest you encounter his statement, were he leaves his wealth to the one that's fated to it, in simple terms, you

So, this is my theory, Bosacius was contaminated by the corruption and disease, so once his duties were done, he would end his suffering, but he might failed and/or was saved by Changsheng

If this is true, Changsheng might be like Qiqi, someone who has Adeptal energy or because an Adepti, but my only exhibits with this are that she can speak, that she's been with Baizhu for a very long time and that she's diurnal

But hey, before you said 'BuT oZ iS-!' Oz is probably a manifestation of Fischl's vision's powers

Either way, at some point, Bosacius changed his name to Baizhu and at some point meet Changsheng, later open (or began to work at) the Bubu Pharmacy, he took Qiqi in, while trying to cure his disease, hint why Herbalist Gui tell us that he's ill since they first met til today and hasn't gone better

And if you look at Baizhu for the very first time, would you tell me that he's sick? Because for me, he isn't

Now this could apply to Rouran but we 'haven't' met him nor have a model of him, neither more information about him other than he's male, the owner of Pearl Galley, we meet him without noticing, and that he is physically frail

So that it, that's the theory

I'm going to admit that I was planning on taking about his medicines because they mentioned that they are traditional, and I thought 'oh! Maybe Guizong showed him how to made them?'

Anyways, sorry for not posting here (I decided to work on many oneshots and never finished them), many things happened but I got a Diluc (in Zhongli's banner (yay!)) a Jean, Wolf's gravestone and another Mona (got one earlier) on the Wanderlust Invocation while trying to get the Primordial Jade-wingded Spear for Xiao and thanking Paimon that I don't need any 4 star of Ganyu's banner nor their constellations, and I don't want Ganyu honestly (for now) I waited since the beginning for Xiao and I will get him

Have a great day/night, stay safe, take care of your self and good luck with your pulls

And for the Xiao's simps or stans, keep going! We only need to suffer for like 20 days before his banner (if he goes first (which I hope so))

Edit 1 (18/1/2021) (don't know how many edits this will have):

Thanks for the likes, this literally blew up, and I really wanted to say that I appreciate it

Anyways, this edit is short because I just saw Baizhu's vision and a little thought I had so

Exhibit 3: Baizhu's vision

That vision chain thing and Xiao's shoulder pad (?) look so similar (for me) that I actually suffer through an Mandela effect (I thought that Baizhu's vision chain was identical to Xiao's shoulder pad)

This doesn't add to much but I kinda find it curious (if you want, picture me with the clown wig and make up, I don't blame you)

By the way, the daughter that Huixin mentions she has is Yaoyao? Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me, someone tasked Ganyu to take care of her, and that someone is working in the Ministry of civil affairs, and the first thing that comes in my mind if you ask me of someone who's Ganyu's underling, the first thing that comes to my mind is Yaoyao, if it's true tho... I called it!

[safitheartist]

A closer look at the circus freaks and Ben 10 (2017)'s pretty amazing world building. Also potential Kevin forshadowing?

Okay, stay with me here for a second because I have very shocking news to you guys. Season 2 of Ben 10 so far was really good.

No seriously, it feels like moa *actually* lead us on the entirety of season 1 and now they actually reached early SU level of subtle world building. It's insane.

For example, lets look at three characters all other incarnations of Ben 10 so far has been glossing over for the most part.

Acid Breath, Fright Wig and Thumbnail.

Because this time. They come with lore! And lore that leaves some pretty dark implications might I add.

So lets dig in guys, because there is a whole can of worms to devoure here.

Now lets have some context, the original circus freak trio were introduced to us as Zambozo's three henchmen in the original series and have been treated as a trio eversince, they never had much characterization out side of the fact that they are vilans and their only motivation seems to be money or other forms of profit.

Most of them time, if they aren't under somebody else's command Acid Breath seems to take the leader role.

The things interesting about them often were the fights they would have against Ben, due to their really unique powers. However, on the personality front there really wasn't much to work with.

Another thing to note is that they were introduced to us as adults.

Now the reboot, is taking a pretty different approach.

It's humanizing them.

First, we aren't even introduced to them alongside Zambozo, they don't even make a appearance in Zambozo's debut episode.

And they only get introduced as a trio after Fright Wig already made her first appearance where we learn that she apparently has encountered Ben on several occasions, that and later context lets me believe that the trio probably does their solo thing until Zambozo would need them. Luring them in with false promises.

It's also then that they establish that at least Fright Wig is significantly younger then her original incarnation. Something that striked me as odd and slightly insulting at the beginning but now, with the newly established context, makes a lot of sense really.

Now Acid Breath's and Thumbnail's introductions don't establish much other then their return as a trio unit.

It's not until season 2 that the big bombs regarding their characters are droped.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2 HERE GUYS!!!!!

In a episode where Zambozo tricks people with a convoluted hypnothis scheme involving a fake voting campaign done as a distraction so the trio can rob a bank we get something I honestly never expected for these three. Genuine characterization.

We find out in a conversation Ben overhears between these three that Fright Wig is really into science, apparently aiming to get new equipment with her pay. Establishing her as the brains of the trio and most likely to take on the strategist role.

Acid Breath comments that he wants to get mouth water 'for the ladies'. Establishing him as a lot more inmature then his original self and the disgnated goofball of the group. However later interactions also imply he still is the one who is in the leader position...my guess is because he's the oldest and has been with Zambozo for the longest time. It's a pretty big depature from his OG self which always seemed to be the most bitter and no nonsense kind of person. And that has it's reason as the episode establishs later.

Thumbnail doesn't talk, as per usual, but we get a glimpse of his personality as he imagines himself having a spa day with his cut. Establishing him as a rather sensitive person who just wants to enjoy himself a bit. It's again, somewhat different from his original self which honestly never had any personality outside of being the brawls of the group.

This seems minor but it is a very effective way to establish them as people outside of their vilan live. And it also serves as something the other serieses again never did.

Establishing them as friends.

They take interest in eachother. Want to know the other's opinion. Have playful arguments that don't come off as threatening at all. Again. It's simplistic but very effective to make them seem more real. It even translates into their fight scenes. In OG Ben 10 and the sequels the trio, while established as a team, never actually acted as such (if I recall right). They always acted as three individuals who attack Ben and the others together but never actually as a team.

The reboot has them leaping off of Thumbnail, throw eachother around and attack as a actual team unit. Similar to a circus act (and the scenes have some very nice camera angles too might I add. The animation is still meh but they use a lot of techniques to conceal that fact and keep the action dynamic).

Now the thing to keep in mind here is that non of their established desires are expensive, Fright Wig's probably being the most expensive, and even then she seem to only want some new beakers. Ben even comments on it, saying he almost feels sorry for them.

We then find out that Zambozo never paid them before, only having promised he would do so at a later date. Clearly having no intentions to actually follow through with that. Which actually ties in very nicely in the overall narrative of the episode.

Ben then makes them realize that Zambozo is playing them, as Fourarms might I add, either implying Ben himself has diplomatic talents or that Fourarms' dna donator had them (Achi, once you read this, you are very welcome).

The trio react very differently to that realization. Thumbnail gets furious, realizing he will never get his spa day. Fright Wig seems to see Ben's point and points out how Zambozo doesn't seem to care about anything but his own gain.

Now Acid Breath....is something alright.

At first he seemed hesitant to abandoning Zambozo until Fright Wig points out that Zambozo doesn't care about them...which prompts a series of flashbacks that clue us in to some really dark aspects of their relationship.

We see a slightly younger Acid Breath, with hair and teeth. Remarking how he thinks he should go to the doctor as his teeth seem too be starting to rot while Zambozo is uncaring and not at all bothered as he is too busy admiring his profit...which Acid Breath probably colected for him. This repeats a few times with his condition worsening over a seemingly pretty short period of time. At first I thought his mutation was only kicking in now, but what is more likely is that using his powers is causing serious health problems for him. At first I was confused why he was so gullible in the first place and didn't just go to a doctor himself (maybe stealing some money to go to a check up) until his last line....

He remarks, as his hair and teeth are falling out,

"Seriously, I'm only 16!"

.........ouch.

Now that puts his situation into a completely different context doesn't it? Not only does that mean Zambozo was employing children without paying them (again Fright Wig is also younger and I think it's safe to assume that Thumbnail is as well) essentially exploiting them. He also failed one of them as he basically was destroying his body for him, probably scared and confused about the situation and searching for comfort from the only parental figure in his live at the time.

Now that's just fucking depressing. It's pretty fair to assume that Acid breath probably is 16-17 still in the series, going off of context clues and his overall behavior. I think Thumbnail is around the same age if not a bit younger and Fright Wig probably is the youngest, young enough to pose as Gwen's friend, so I peg her as anywhere between 12-15 (probably looks younger then she actually is). That's just speculation on my part based on their behavior around eachother though.

After the flashback Acid Breath decides that they should ditch the clown (thank fuck.) aluding to him being the unofficial leader of the group as it's his decision that is the final.

They sent Zambozo a angry message consisting of emojis (again, heavily implying that they are teens....look, the show isn't perfect okay.) followed by them sending a picture with a 'we quit' sign.

In the end we get teased that we didn't see the last of them. Clearly establishing them as a separate entity from Zambozo, most likely for good as we get a glimps of them enjoying themselves on a vacation somewhere. Showing them still as a close unit.

Now this. This is some very, very dense world building stuffed into one episode and conveyed with very little exposition really. We get the most important context clues via plot development and the little exposition there was felt quiet natural.

It raises a lot of questions. Like 'how did these three get into this situation?' 'Where are their parents?' 'Why is no one trying to help them?' And most importantly, 'What is the follow up to this going to be?'.

Like, think about it. The episode went out of it's way to separate them from Zambozo while also making them more relateable. They wouldn't do that if it's not important. So what narrative purpose does it have?

Now I have a theory what they might be going for here. You see. This entire set up feels familiar to a very iconic character we had in the original show.

A kid with powers who was mistreated and exploited due to them. Somebody who got on the wrong course more due to the nature of his environment rather then his own wrong doings.

Boom. Now isn't that a interesting concept?

Do I think they will make Kevin one of the circus freaks? Eh. No that would be a stretch. I mean sure, it could happen, but we first have to wait and see how they are changing his character.

Do I think they are at least on a thematic basis forshadowing Kevin's introduction? Yes. Absolutely. And there are other clues as well.

Vilgax, on two occasions, has been teaming up with other vilans. Animo and the weather bots. With Animo he almost immediately betrayed him, leading Animo to team up with Ben temporarily and...well that's a bit too much of a spoiler but lets just say.....something very interesting happens that also ties into the thems of Kevin's OG character. The weather bots again, go against Vilgax, leaving him saying 'never again' which probably is a joke since from a narrative stand point there is no way this will be his last team up. Rule of three anyone?

Moa has been exploring a lot of themes that they never got to explore in length in their original show. Stuff Alien Force then took a dump on mostly (I don't fucking care what you guys say. On a writing stand point Alien Force fucking sucked!) They have been putting a lot of emphasis on magic in their show, establishing it as a clear and unmistakeable aspect of their universe. However another aspect Alien Force screwed up was the concept of mutants until Omniverse retconed that again.

In OG it was heavily implied that Kevin's mutation caused people to discriminate againt him. Show casing him having clear abandonment issues and triggers. However they never went into detail with these concepts. Causing....Alien Force to assassinate that entire concept (again. Alien Force was the worst Ben 10 incarnation and you can fucking fight me!!!). So for them to actually forshadow Kevin and making his entire storyline a lot more significant makes a lot of sense.

Anyway. I am actually enjoying the show so far and am very curious as to where stuff is going there. I hope the circus freaks are getting even more development and maybe even a redemption, who knows? I also hope they are keeping the 'found family' vibe they have alive. I'm a sucker for that stuff.