They/she/he - 🇮🇹 - 22. My main is @tomatosreblog but here is where I actually post, mostly BFDI analysis and the occasional fanart! Icon by shelter-600 on YouTube.
Rare instance of promoting my art instead of my writing! Of course it’s a Grassy gijinka, he’s my favourite after all. I also decided to make three different versions! There’s more details, design notes and fun tidbits below, since I wanted to pack these designs full of references!
BFDIE10 is dropping tomorrow, and the season finale brings with it the end of many small storylines and relationships. One such relationship is the topic of today’s analysis, a collab with the wonderfully talented @jadetheartist873 : an analysis on Money and Needy! If you’re a fan of one or both of these characters, like their pairing, or just like people who overanalyse object show characters, be sure to click on that Reddit link and give it a look!
Grassy is my favourite BFDI character, and I’ve made plenty of posts about him, mostly on Reddit. I genuinely think his character had been unappreciated and undervalued by the community for a long time, and now that the show itsel has now finally started to give him proper spotlight, I’ve jumped at the chance to talk about him more and more! This analysis is the third one out of a series of deep dives I’ve made on him in TPOT, talking about his development, potential storylines involving him, and what he can contribute to the season as a whole. If you’re a fellow Grassy fan, please please please let me know your thoughts!
Oh, and if you’re more interested in a general review of the episode… this post has that too! Along with a follow-up to another theory I had made about Two shortly before TPOT21 came out. Wouldn’t you know, I had actually correctly predicted a lot of their backstory! If you’re curious about that, check that out too :) regardless, thank you for your time!
With TPOT21 approaching, I wanted to get all my thoughts and theories on the season’s main host out of the way- they’re an interesting little fella, and I think they hold in themselves just as much depth as characters like One and Four.
In this analysis which you can find on my Reddit profile (as usual), I talk about many things, like their shift in character from BFB to TPOT, their struggles with being passive and not handling well conflicts or rejection, and what TPOT21 might have in store for them! If you’re a fan of them, or if you just want a nice spoiler-free read while waiting for the episode to release on YouTube, this might just be up your alley!
Hey there! If you want to read a very throrough overview of BFDIA23, including analyses about the final three, elimination predictions, theories about what the two possible final twos could bring, interesting statistics on challenges and more, check this post of mine out on Reddit! It can also link you to more fun posts similar to that to support other creators, analysts and theorists in the community!
(I promise it's more fun to read than the white sterile background makes it look like)
Being a fan of both Tennis Ball and Needle and having to see their fanbases at each other's throats is heartbreaking.
I understand Needle fans want her to the finale and therefore need TB out, and viceversa, but I have to admit the sheer vitriol I see for these characters... and sometimes their fans... makes me plainly uncomfortable.
Both Needle and TB are flawed but wonderfully written characters who got to shine this season and had a lot of development. I elaborate more under the cut, take this as a rushed attempt at a character analysis of both Needle and Tennis Ball.
Needle first. She isn't just a basic plain jane, she's a person with a genuine drive for helping people, that however noticed herself getting sidelined more and more as the episodes went on, with her closest thing she had for friends either getting eliminated early (TD) or hitting it off with someone else more than her(Coiny).
After bouncing from team to team in an effort to not disappoint anyone (and therefore not ruin any of her newfound, or newly mended relationships), Needle became more jaded, feeling like everyone saw her more as a tool than a genuine friend or ally. They didn't really want her as her... they just wanted her strengths. And she decided that enough was enough.
In BFDIA23, she was a lone wolf for the most part, only relying on herself because she didn't want to open herself up to someone only to get used yet again. Pencil gets through to her a little... but really, it's more because of Freesmart generally being the least worst thing Needle currently has.
Now let's tackle Tennis Ball. I fear he is one of the most misunderstood characters in the show. Possibly more than Pin was, as her suffering being so plain to see at least got her some degree of empathy from the audience, while Tennis Ball is watered down in the fandom as a mean manchild who simps for GB and hurts Book and Needle.
Tennis Ball's story is an arc. A corruption arc. He is, indeed, not morally good. However, he didn't "suddenly turn evil" like some people in the fandom say! In fact this arc has been building up ever since BFDIA8. You can check out this analysis I already wrote on him on Reddit if you want more information, but I'll briefly summarise it here.
Tennis Ball has long suffered with an inferiority complex regarding his inventive skills compared to Golf Ball, which hasn't exactly been helped by her uncompromising and even bossy demeanour in regards to him as well. However, even if their friendship isn't perfect, each of them work as a balancing force for the other: as an example, TB has always been very receptive to praise and has the ability to become a bit too full of himself if he doesn't have Golf Ball to keem him humble, even if she does so by overly strict means sometimes He still admires her a lot and feels indebted towards her, and wants to make her proud.
When BFDIA14 hits and she gets eliminated, Nickel comes in, and in a way briefly acts as a substitute for Golf Ball, even if he does it through sillyness instead of strictness. However, when Nickel gets eliminated too and Tennis Ball is left to his own devices, he realises how heavily the deck is stacked against him and how most of the remaining participants get through by sabotaging each other.
While Golf Ball might disapprove of his methods, TB has been cheered on by a lot of his now eliminated former teammates, which further proves him that his dubiously moral methods are accepted and should be used to their fullest. Although in BFDIA23 he only mentions GB, since she is his closest connection, you better believe all the support and validation from everyone else has also played a part.
TB doesn't want to be mean to hurt people, he doesn't enjoy tormenting Book or Needle because he hates them; remember he actually wanted to work with Needle but kept being rejected by her over and over, until he realised that if he didn't strike back she would walk all over him. He is indeed not a villain, even if he does villainous actions!
In fact, I think Tennis Ball and Needle have a similar theme of starting off as someone else's sidekick and trying to become their own person by acting in ways they wouldn't previously have considered.
I think a finale between the two of them would have been great, with the way they contrast each other and their relationship going from friend-ish to outright rivalry. However, that obviously can't be done, and I know one of them will be chosen and the other will be eliminated.
And yet, I still believe you can root for a character without bringing the other down. I understand voting propaganda is a unremovable part of the BFDI fandom, and it's great to see people talk about their favourite characters' upsides and why they deserve to stay. However, you can do that without watering the other character down or misconstruing them into a flat cardboard cutout with no nuance.
I'm not sure if this post will reach the people I want it to reach... but I hope it does. Please be kind to each other. They are all winners in our hearts, anyways.
Hi! I am back with another BFDI character analysis. This one is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s about Black Hole, and specifically how his development in the show, especially in TPOT, mirror OCD.
I assume most Tumblr denizens won’t find it very interesting, because if there’s a place that agrees Black Hole has OCD, it’s here, so I’m not exactly breaking any new ground from your point of view. Nonetheless, if you want a somewhat thorough breakdown of the parallels between his character traits and OCD symptoms, or if you simply like Black Hole, this might be an entertaining read for you!
As always, you can find the analysis here, in the r/BattleForDreamIsland and r/BFDI_analysis subreddits!
Both are quite good, even if not perfect, and I actually don't think either is top ten worthy (even if I still enjoyed them). But I'll have to go with TPOT19, because even if I think TPOT20 was well written and I'm satisfied by One's backstory, I just didn't feel as emotional when watching it as I did with TPOT19.
It might be because I just personally like objects more than algebraliens. There are a couple of algebraliens (Two and Three) that I absolutely adore, but for the most part, my mind still interprets them as external forces who don't completely fit in with the objects (which might also be why I like season one and especially BFDIA so much, no algebraliens there).
I cried when watching TPOT19, even if I had already gotten spoiled a lot of it beforehand. I still tear up when watching it today! With TPOT20, I appreciate the story, but I'm much more emotionally detached. The only part that made me tear up even a little was actually Needle's dialogue with One.
Since last time I promoted one of my Reddit BFDI analyses on Tumblr it went pretty well, I'm doing it again! And this time, I won't just be talking about a singular character, but a pair!
Although this analysis is mostly focused on Tennis Ball, specifically BFDIA Tennis Ball, it can also be seen as a look into Nickel and TB's relationship throughout BFDIA and how Nickel partly influenced TB's shift towards becoming a more morally gray character.
Here is the link to the analysis! I hope you all enjoy :)
Hi there! Do you like BFDI Nickel? Do you find his character interesting, but maybe also a bit puzzling, considering the many different behaviours and personalities he exhibits throughout all the seasons he's been in?
Well then, I know something that could be of interest to you! Here is a very cool slideshow-type analysis written by SuperSprity (u/NoLocal7705 on Reddit) and me, going through Nickel's appearances in BFDI and discussing what might have brought this weird but still charming dissonance to his character! I took care of the BFDI and BFDIA parts, while he handled BFB and TPOT.
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