Its really funny, because they're both kinda clueless in romance. They keep getting that one cut scene where they're trying to hold the others hand. But One is definitely the more openly loving one. Though she tries to remain reserved and controlled. But, she SEETHES with jealousy. Pencil is just nonchalant, but she does express her love openly. She just has a lot of friends on the island. I'll go to check up on her and ALL she talks about is One. 'One makes me laugh', 'One has such a way with words', 'One is so adorable', One, One, One, One.
A funny thing I noticed is that, after One mentions that she tries not to let jealousy consume her, she starts befriending Pencil's closest friends.
Oh, and One hated Book because she HAD a crush on pencil. After their wedding she went back to friendship.
I have a screenshot where Pencil and Book are talking, and One is there glaring at Book.
So I've been sucked into the Tamodachi Life propaganda, and here are some funny things that have happened:
Onecil are together and live together on my island, but I don't think Pencil is happy in her relationship as she has constantly been flirting with everyone. One is none the wiser, as she keeps hanging out with Pin and Leafy.
My OC, Robin, fell head over heels in love with Firey and confessed. Though, Firey was already in a relationship with Leafy. Robin got rejected but was still there for the fireafy wedding later that same day.
Leafy and One being Pin's wing girls with her hopeless crush on Coiny.
Coiny and Pin both have desperate feelings for each other but refuse to do anything about it. Pin even lost feelings at some point.
Before Firey and Leafy were married, One caught feelings for both of them at some point. I shot the idea down both times, but she was still there for both of them while they were pinning for each other. She let Firey practice his song for Leafy on her. And helped Leafy make up with Firey after their fight. SHE SANG AT THEIR WEDDING YALL. All this while she was pining for Pencil. So now I have the thought that One really admires the relationship between Firey and Leafy and wants one like that, too. Though Pencil does not feel the same. (Canon).
One catching feelings for Coiny at the same time.
I think One just settled and Pencil now realizes she doesn't like One as much as she thought. (Canon)
Leafy seeing Robin and Firey together and getting majorly jealous, that her and Firey fought. She later sees Robin's face in the garbage can. I think he's haunting her.
Coiny fell for Firey at some point, with the lines: "Firey, holding my tree branch, that is a good look!" (EXCUSE ME SIR?)
Let me say up front if TPOT 19 proves me wrong it proves me wrong (i have not seen it and I am very excited to) but I think the parallels that are building up are too good to be accidental.
Spoilers for the entirety of BFDI seasons 1-5
What we KNOW:
Pencil was a natural leader. She was generally very successful at it and she had a lot of people look up to her and appreciate her. There are still some people in her group who have loyalty towards her (Match, maybe Ruby?) despite her slow descent into power-hungry inconsideration and outright nastiness. Even the beginning of IDFB, Pencil is on good terms with Book and the rest of Freesmart, but by the beginning of BFB, Book & Ice Cube are ready to cut ties (& we also see the beginnings of Bubble being unhappy with her friends in this ep as well).
She gets voted out in BFB by the audience as a direct consequence for her actions during this season. Then she is in the EXIT for six years, developing a fear of Four. She finally escapes and is voted back into the competition, but everything has changed. Pencil doesn't realize what she wants is companionship, not an alliance in a game. She wants to win, but her heart is with her friends, even if she doesn't realize it and doesn't treat them well. It's an internal dissonance she struggles with.
However, instead of choosing to recognize the relationships she valued needed repairing (like Leafy eventually did when confronted by Firey about how her actions hurt him and she never apologized, like Match did when Bubble called her out right before her elimination) Pencil chose to constantly double down on her set habits, expecting everyone to bow to her will because she's the leader. She feels like because she is confident and in charge and has a plan, everyone else will eventually fall in line with her, inevitably. And when they don't, she gets extremely angry and lashes out, claiming the person is useless.
In the Seasonal Shift episode, when Pencil realizes she's in danger due to her decisions, she chooses to try to fuck over everybody else to prevent her team from being UFE. Near the end of the episode she very nearly DOES totally fuck over the entire timeline because she wants to retcon her own story. She constantly makes selfish choices out of desperation, hurt, and fear in order to be in charge and avoid failure.
We don't know a ton about One. We know it's implied she was locked in the moon on purpose by the other algebraliens, specifically Four.
We know One has a grudge against him specifically. We know that One feels comfortable imposing her will on others because that's basically all we see her doing. And we also know she does not take well to people turning her down.
So there's a clear parallel here, but I want to draw an actual conclusion from it. I think that One, Two, and Four had a Freesmart-like connection or in the very least were friends. (I believe Three was also involved but that is another theory lol.) I think FOUR is responsible for locking One away even if the whole group did it. I think One does not blame Two directly (consciously) for this, but I think she holds resentment towards them for not helping her. (Think Leafy's opinion on Firey during BFDIA/IDFB/BFB.) One wants POWER. She just hasn't explained why.
If you buy into the Pencil parallel, it kind of all falls into place: One wants to be so important that she is not able to be ignored, she is not able to be locked away. No one can afford not to love her.
It comes down to entitlement.
I believe that One also sees Two as a means to an end, despite thinking that she thinks of them as friends, like Pencil with Freesmart, especially Book and Ice Cube.
Someone else pointed out that the purpose of 'rushing' Match & Bubble's arc in TPOT 18/BFB 31 was so draw a healthy parallel to Pencil and Book. Where Pencil was pushy and entitled with Book, Match was cautious and double checked with Bubble that it was OK she was spending time with her. I genuinely believe we're going to start seeing some really obvious parallels between these guys as well whenever we get to see the algebraliens interacting with her.
The tragedy of One and Pencil is they both have 'good' intentions. They don't wish ill on anybody else, but they have no issue letting it happen if it furthers their own goals. They 'care' about the people around them, but the more they focus on their own goals and desires the less they're able to actually care for those friends - as in, prioritize the other person's good above their own. I think they both genuinely don't understand how much their actions hurt others. The only difference is One clearly doesn't care.
Because what other time am I gonna talk about it!? And she's my favorite design, aside from Leafy. Plus, she's fun because she has a bit more little details about her, and I always wanna yap about them.
Anyway.
I'm mainly yapping about her TPOT design.
Pencil has quickly grown to be one of my favorite characters. I adore her arc, and I love making designs that reflect changes in a character. One thing I especially love is hair! The different style and length is something I cherish!
Pencil's hair is very long. It has always been long, but her length in TPOT especially.
She's also naturally a brunette! Dyes her hair blonde. Her hair is actually a much darker brunette. This image is inaccurate. It's not naturally straight either, it's curly. Her hair definitely faded and grew a lot while in the Exit.
I subscribe to the idea "hair holds memories", and my note here is that when Pencil escapes, she doesn't cut her hair. Only dyes it. Pencil still holds onto her trauma from the Exit. She's mentally still there. But I also think that she keeps it because she hadn't cut it since bfb 1. Aka, one of the last memories she has of her friends before the Exit.
I think she did try to cut it, hence the botched bangs and ends, but couldn't bring herself to. Instead, opting for her usual blonde, now with a pink ombre and pink streaks.
I like to think she has a tendency of pulling her hair when distressed.
I don't think Pencil will keep her long hair. I figure after her arc she'll cut it, finding peace with the severance. That's a future drawing that I'll do only after her arc ends though.
Now funny thing about her hair color. She has raccoon tails. Ruby is one of the only other people to have this addition as well. So, I like to think she dyed that part subconsciously thinking of Ruby. This started a subconscious trend. Both with me and Pencil.
Basically, she has design elements taken from other freesmarters. But technically, I made her design first, so I guess I subconsciously added things from her to them. But it makes sense to me for Pencil to have these details! She misses what she used to have! She misses her friends! Her status! I think it's funny there's a nod to almost every one of them!
Listing some features:
Raccoon tails - Ruby
Spiky make-up style - Ice Cube
Her hat looks similar to Book's
Silver hoop earrings, matching "M & P" necklaces, and overall red (could be attributed to) - Match
Bubble doesn't really have one, but I think that should say something. Neither does Needle. But to be fair, I haven't made a Needle design yet, so who knows!
But speaking of the red! Let's talk about the colors! She has two main colors, red and black. Her upper body, aside from the hat, is all red! With the bottom being all black, with red shoes. Hopefully, I did a good job with her edgier look. The only things that aren't red & black are her hair, make-up, and eyes! Though her eyes are usually darkened because of her hat. There may be some symbolism to that. I don't think that these are colors that she usually goes for. But, Pencil's always been bold. I think the red is a good way of showing her disarray. Coupled with the spikes on her jacket, the best way to put it is, she's prickly. She's sensitive, she's cautious, she's in a state of panic, she's irritable, and she's aggressive. She's someone who warrants alert. Both because of her mental state and her violent tendencies. The black makes the red stand out more, so it's something you notice quicker.
In some ways, her jacket can be a warning. I like to think that in her more vulnerable moments, she'll take it off. But then there's her red top. Showing she's still someone to be cautious around.
Something I don't draw enough of is pre-bfb & tpot Pencil. Admittedly, her tpot design speaks more to the other freesmarters than her. In tpot, she's more covered. Her hair sometimes acts like a tent. In the clubhouse, when she's sitting down, it literally engulfs her. This also goes for her jacket. I imagine she didn't use to wear jackets or sleeves often prior. In a way, this is her hiding. Going back to her in the clubhouse, it's way more apparent, I imagine her completely balled up. Only lifting her head at times so you can better see her eyes. You can hardly make out her figure.
I love her hat, too! The spikes around it! The way it hides her eyes in a way. As they say, "eyes are the windows to the soul," and she won't even let you have that!
In my pre-bfb & tpot drawings of her, she'd usually keep her hair up, straight and blonde. With her usual style being some kind of sleeveless top, with either shorts or a skirt. Her colors were usually orange, yellow, beige, and brown. Hopefully, I'll draw a comparison another time. It would make my explanation clearer.
Extra note: Pencil being mainly red & black is actually a really good contrast to One, who's main colors are white & blue. They are opposing forces, even in their designs!
I like how I tend to subconsciously add these tiny details and even surprise myself at times!
All this word vomit to say that I love Pencil and the design I've given her! I didn't even really mean for these elements to become such a talking point! But here we are! And I absolutely love talking about the things that I do think about when making designs!
Onecil is such a beautifully horrific pairing. And it's very dear to me. As soon as finals finish up, I'm writing my relationship deconstruction of them.
I've been rewatching tpot 20 again (idk how many times i've rewatched the episode i've lost count) and there's something i've realized that I don't think i've seen anyone else mention before.
Like, the way that One would manipulate the contestants to sign her contract. What a lot of the things she says have in common is how she threatens to isolate them. And in turn, isolation DOES scare the contestants, an example being Bell who was terrified of being in a black void alone, and Needle who seemed hesitant on the idea that she'd get left behind by her friends.
This is also further supported from the recent episode where they first thing they do when they realized they were in an isolated, enclosed space, is to escape (The exception would be Pie but im pretty sure they don't want to be completely alone either, given that they were waiting for someone else to show up for months)
I think with all the observation that One has done, she's probably understood enough that they have that fear and they don't want to be isolated, much like her. Another thing would also be that it's the most traumatizing thing that happened to her, and since she has went through that, she's basically pushing that kind of suffering onto others.
Idk i guess i thought of that as rlly interesting, especially with the recent episode when Two said this:
It's kinda getting more obvious how they're really leaning into this theme of isolation throughout the series. This line in particular honestly gives us a lot more perspective that these algebraliens are really just. Aliens. They have nothing to go off of other than what transpired in the first season of BFDI. And mind you, the announcer was already locking objects up in confined spaces like the TLC that time too so i think maybe this is just a common mindset among those who aren't from Earth.
Four in particular, who trapped One in the first place, probably believes that isolation is a good thing when he himself have expressed isolating himself in BFB 28. And, well, he did! (i don't wanna go scouting for that screenshot but you get the idea)
With his self-isolating ideology, he also has that tendency to push that onto others, not knowing (or caring) that most other people don't share those ideas. Plus, he also believes that isolating could help you as a person
If we think about the stuff he went through in the BFB Finale, we could technically say that the isolation was part of the reason why he developed more of an understanding towards the objects and they're complaints towards him, but with how BFB set that up, it was a pretty bad lesson to take from it. Cuz it sorta confirms Four's idea of isolating being a good thing even more, which uh, we all kno it really isnt'. The idea itself is only situational. It might've worked for him, but not everyone gets the same experience from isolating, and to most people, it gives more negative effects when forced onto someone who's clearly unwilling.
Both Four and One have clashing ideologies related to isolation, one being for it and the other against it, and at the same time, projecting those ideologies onto others. The only one standing in the middle of this is Two.
Two has a more open mind than Four and One and is clearly doing they're best to accommodate to the contestant's needs. If anyone's gonna break this cycle of isolation, it's going to be them.
anyway uh, sorry for the random yap session! I just wanted to type these thoughts down somewhere so I don't forget about it. I need to continue my painting homework now, it's been sitting in front of me the entire time i've been typing this pF
I VERY MUCH subscribe to the idea that dance can tell a story. I especially love showing character dynamics through dance. I will spend a stupid amount of time meticulously picking out tiny details and how I want their positions to be. Who's leading, who's following, if they're in sync, if they're in rhythm, out of rhythm, how they look at each other, etc. I may not be able to animate, but by the stars, I will still try my best to communicate what the two characters' dynamics look like through dance.
I FINALLY FINISHED MY FOUR GIJINKA REFERENCE SHEET AFTER MONTHS OF LETTING IT SIT ON MY LAPTOP
Look at himm he's so silly and awesom
Here's some other extra stuff with himmm
I put in a lot of headcanons for this design and i'm very proud of them!! I'm planning on making an "alternative outfits" thing for him later on when i get the time along with a timeline of those specific outfits.
But anyway im gonna be focus on making the X reference sheet next :]]]
tangentwithtanner
izzy806
dailybridgerton
vaporwave
turnnoffyourmind
2087
titsay
gummygunk
