Golf Ball is lowkey spoiled as far as fun dynamics go
1. She has an assistant about as smart as she is who obeys her every whim and genuinely enjoys her company (who she likes as well!). They're supportive towards one another and are able to disagree without fighting and respect each other a lot
2. She has several various types of opps who dislike her for a variety of reasons and most of whom she has either killed, had killed, or been able to tell "I told you so" to on multiple occasions. She's got Snowball who she survived in tpot (even doing HIS signature smile in the bg when he went out, the beef will never die) who was the dumb jock rival to her nerd. Pencil who is the POPULAR GIRL rival to her nerd. Basketball who is the cooler, nicer nerd rival to her nerd... GB's staunch self-confidence making an enemy out of almost everyone so so easily is hilarious because there's always something fresh about it, whether it be people just obeying her, actively opposing her, or attempting to ignore her, she's such an active player she automatically makes other characters feel stronger just by interacting with them by giving them an opportunity to HAVE an opinion on her. ❤️ she even has beef with the one "child" in the cast, Grassy, because she won't stop insulting him ❤️❤️ my totally-lacking-maternal-instincts Queen
3. she ALSO gets a glam party girl fun friend in Puffball, who can fly and who also enjoys mischief and shenanigans!! Who clearly wants to be admired by GB as much as she does anyone else ("impressed? 😏") and is sooo upset when her efforts are not respected or appreciated by GB specifically. the mutual respect that grew from the beef they had was just. mwah. delightful.
4. Donut. Her whole thing with Donut. Her anger and jealousy at him being immediately accepted as leader where she was rejected. Her feeling totally lost due to having absolutely no one on her side and Donut, despite being very compassionate, just not understanding what she's dealing with at first and lecturing her on her tone... he doesnt understand that his usual tactics do not work with GB. The way Donut kickstarted some of the most major character development she's has the entire show, the self-awareness she develops while on Cloudyay and her attempts to talk sense into Pencil. . . I love it for her so so so much and now she and Donut aren't, like, BUDDIES, but they work together well and trust one another so much more? It's so much better than them becoming close friends to me, at least at this point. It's like they've become positive coworkers ... again, a unique and fun dynamic to have, especially since Donut now understands GB well enough to know when she's blowing hot air and to be amused by it lol ("couldn't think of a name for it, huh?" "Not a single one.")
love when a character is a scientist and their speciality is science and they do science in a science lab. no specifics no clear goals no clue where their funding comes from. dont even worry about it. science.
Reason #3972 Golf Ball is so so interesting and great and funny: although she does feel affection towards her friends and teammates, she often forgets to express that affection until she sees an active reason to.
It doesn't usually occur to GB to soften her orders towards others with flattery; she's the exact opposite of manipulative. She expresses what she wants and says exactly what she means without a single thought as to how it will come off to others, which is so refreshing to me. Even when it gets her in hot water or pisses people off she's saying ANYTHING.
But occasionally, it's like she remembers that she does care about some people and wants them to know. Rarely she will (extremely awkwardly) try to express her attachment!! Actively considering how the other person is feeling!!
After TB called her Golfie, upset bc of her elimination in BFDIA 14, she whips out an extremely clunky nickname of her own lol
She also goes out of her way to affirm her bestie when he seems to think she.... might not let him on her team?? But she HAS to address his grammatical error too 😭❤️
Anyway there are other subtler examples of this as well, examples where Golf Ball is kind in her own way & speaks slightlyyyy gentler (even sometimes verbally affirming people's feelings to them before trying to order them around!! Queen of character growth!!!!) but these are my two favorite examples because they both are sooooo clunky and funny. She's genuinely doing her best and her friends (TB especially but as of TPOT, Puffball and Donut as well!!) absolutely recognize that.
i would love to hear about how you came around to tengolf! i love ur analysis/essays :)
Hey thank you so much!! I've gone into it a little bit before but I'd be happy to discuss it again. I'm afraid this won't be as much an essay as a stream of consciousness because my liking of ships has little to do with my intellectual analysis and far more to do with my emotions, favoritism and whatnot.
Very long answer under the cut!! 🎾⛳️
The very first ship I liked in bfdi season one, while watching it totally blind to any fandom or community, was snowgolf lololol. I loved Golf Ball more than anything and I felt like while her friendship with Tennis Ball was cute, it was actually sort of bad for her in terms of developing or improving her as a person 💀 hahaha. (For context: Fireafy was sorta cute to me but I only really started loving it after the hang glider scene and his subsequent ignoring of her - I love conflict I love narrative. Give me anything but Boring and i'm there! My favorites in s1 were Golf Ball, Flower, Blocky, Match, and Leafy - in that order.)
GB (was perfect of course but) in season 1 was very bossy and did not like listening to others at all. I felt that having a yes man by her side did nothing to actually benefit her as a person, and I never got the sense that GB really respected TB in a way that could be translated as romantic. I liked her bickering with Snowball because they felt like equals (her intellect was easily a match for his physical strength/brutality) and while I'm a little embarrassed to admit it now I still feel like I can appreciate their dynamic a lot for what it is... they reminded me of myself and a guy I loved to hate in elementary school. He pissed me off but i liked when he was around because it was entertaining. I dont know if this is the vibe i give off online, but irl, i really like people who are fun to fight with 😌. what I truly liked about it was Snowball and Golf Ball pointed out one another's flaws very bluntly, which at least opened a door towards introspection on either end(even if it took 4 seasons to end up happening!).
so basically: My initial opinion was that Tennis Ball seemed to be too invested in his friendship with Golf Ball to want to criticize her at all, and let her walk all over him. He was boring for this and I wasn't into it.
I also........... didn't really find Tennis Ball that interesting at first sorryyyyyy hahaha. I felt like he was kind of GB Lite, smart like her but without her edge and funny dynamics with literally everyone she spoke to. Tennis Ball's running bit of caving to literally no pressure is something that had to grow on me. He just had to get out of Golf Ball's shadow in my mind , that's not his fault or the writers', it's my own expectations being in the wrong place because of my blatant favoritism LMAO. TB was too close to my favorite for me to appreciate him!
After season 1 and into BFDIA, when Snowball didn't make the cut, I was like OK whatever and golfcil jumped out at me instead. I felt like Pencil's criticism of GB and openly butting heads with her was awesome and I liked that GB had her murdered in her lab ❤️ coolness. This was around when I started to slowly get exposed to the fandom - my brothers had me watch the show in release order rather than chronological order, so we jumped right to BFB (to my dismay. Massive cast I didn't gaf about yet 😭 I already didn't know the existing cast well enough!!!) That's when I started feeling like tengolf was being pushed and I got actively negative towards it for a second whoops. AGAIN: Golf Ball was not in a good place, and instead of assisting her in any way, Tennis Ball immediately abandoned her to make sure his status quo was maintained! He was chanting treason with everybody else. I was like what's up with this guy lol I'll kill him... I used to really not like him at all!!! Embarassing for me!
What started to change my opinion was the genuine care I began noticing that TB had for GB. He had a hard time criticizing her, sure, but he usually tried to support her and listened to her even when he was clearly annoyed. One moment that I was like "oh wait I see it" was when Golf Ball was adorably running around keeping Iance underground, and Tennis Ball said "yup" flatly in response to Basketball's question ("ohh, so THIS is how Golf Ball has fun!"). His tone was so funny to me. So it DOES annoy you!!! Why do you hang around this girl??? Why do you do her bidding, man???? I think I wasn't paying attention to him much and kind of saw him as a sidekick who didn't think much, but it's as I started to warm up to TB as a character in his own right with his own opinions that I started being OK with him being with my queen.
BFDIA sealed the deal though from my passively being OK with it to me actively really liking it. Tennis Ball having an arc where, as soon as he's separated from Golf Ball, we see exactly WHY he should be with Golf Ball. Having someone smarter than he is(or in the least, more inclined to leadership) who he respects the leadership of and enjoys the company of was keeping him restrained. Once she was gone he got so full of himself which I found so funny and endearing. Knowing that he ends up CHOOSING to go back to her and stick with her , even if I don't know how it will happen- it's very endearing and it strengthens their bond for me in idfb and beyond retroactively.
I also am not under the impression that Golf Ball needs some sort of outside intervention to help her become self aware - we are seeing in tpot with Donut how amazing that development can look not in an antagonistic way as much as a collaborative way. If that makes sense. Donut has no interest in GB really, but both of them want to be leaders in different ways and I love how they have helped one another.. but more importantly, there are so so so many people who are happy to tell Golf Ball that she sucks and is bossy and not fun :( she's had that since season 1 and it has only made her more determined to be the only person in charge because obviously everyone else is stupid. As Golf Ball is Tennis Ball's silent restraint from becoming the worse version of himself, I think having TB to respect GB for what she is good at, like her despite her bluntness, and choose to stay by her side... keeps her sane as well. it really became so sweet to me. Especially now in current TPOT, with the two on different teams but consistently meeting back up whenever they have the chance - they just enjoy each other's company.
Though that has been obvious since s1- at first that wasn't enough to be an enjoyable ship to me, because I lean way more towards conflict, seeing parallel or rhyming development & arcs, or narrative foil action. Two characters who feel very similar on the surface I will not usually ship unless they butt heads in some way or create an opportunity for growth/adaptation. But GB DOESN'T need any more conflict- she picks enough fights as it is. I find it more entertaining now to see her positive relationship(s) - the people she chooses to return to and rely on. She fights with everybody- the folks she gets along with who like her are so far few in between. Those are the interesting ones to me now haha.
Golf Ball simply hearing TB's voice in the storm and instantly trusting that he was there to help her, against her own judgement & plan to stay underground ... it speaks volumes to how implicitly she trusts him! It's crazy that GOLF BALL of all objects would make such a dumb decision as to head back out into the storm. But for Tennis Ball, she will listen to him without thinking twice. She doesnt have a sliver of doubt in him - neither his intelligence nor his goodwill towards her. I want her to have a safe place to return to and Tennis Ball genuienely is that for her.
If I had to rank it, I'd say the game changer moments were probably
5. TB saying "yup" to BB in early bfb - showing a Reaction to GB's antics that made him seem like a distinct character to me
4. GB telling TB they'd meet up again after the merge and to stay alive as long as possible. She wants him by her side ❤️
3. GB hearing TB's voice and following it without hesitation to her own death
2. the scene in bfdia where TB lasers a chemical compound onto the moon and GB recognizes it. Cute af they were on the same page with it. Bonus for how cute GB was standing there while she got crushed lol
1. Final nail in the coffin: GB calling him Tennis Friend when she gets eliminated in bfdia.
Bonus moment I really liked: GB yelling at the WTFers to stop sabotaging Tennis Ball from winning the contest in bfdia even though she just said A) she was annoyed at him and B) they shouldn't do anything to influence the results in anyone's favor. She switched real quick. "Don't you want Tennis Ball to win?!?"
Anyway, big long somewhat dumb personal answer to a more personal question. An essay about why exactly I think they are GOOD for each other is a different thing... I don't always like ships that are healthy. But I do like ships that are fun to me or unique in some way. Mad scientist X mad scientist who is in love with her is very endearing to me. I hope this was an okay answer!!!
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