The Demons Continue Fighting. Meanwhile, I Have Delivered More Bad Content.

METS ARE HEADIN' TO CALI PEOPLE

it keeps going, it just keeps going. W a Lindor grand slam to make a 1-0 into a 1 - 4.

Holy heck, they have been incredible. These Mets are good, but they also have a CULTURE - memes, plenty of team spirit, resilience in their harshest moments. They are at the top of the game, but that's not too special, there's a fantastic team that makes it every year in the mlb - this team brings JOY to every victory, moments to every score card. That's what makes 2024 so magical. And actually, that's the energy that's brought the Mets to winning the World Series their first time right? The little team who was the worst in baseball in 1964 won 5 years later (ish, been a while since I've seen the stat). It's where all the losin' Mets jokes started, and where the Mets got all their quirkiness from. And then they smashed peoples expectations in 1969 and then they also got the "amazins" and the "miracles" and the "you gotta believe"s. It's the type of team where you're not looking for a result - ur watching a ride. And holy HECK we're getting it.

LGM!!!

I'm a tad apologist. I love the HELL out of Tad being Blakk's kid because a)it adds some damn horrifying context to will Shane and Blakk's history (how he know about the surface, was he up there???) and b) It thematically makes the blakk family feel like a threat to the Shane LEGACY, not just to two Shane's of 2 eras. let's be so honest - Tad just needed more time. Like, imaging if the show ended after ghoul from beyond? We'd all have much of the same complaints about Junjie and the eastern caverns, knowing little about them as they effect everything of the lore we've learned up till that point. But then they spend some wonderful 30+ eps on the topic and hey, Junjie is now everyone's wife. So...

yeah I think if they had more time, we would've gotten so much of the surface talk, and it would have pushed Eli's character by miles.

It’s so strange to think that like…on an inherent level Tad and Eli would understand each other better than anyone else in slugterra regardless of their surface experiences or whether they like each other. I know they’re probably from the same area, but even in the off chance/AU where they aren’t, large cultural phenomena are going to be shared (e.g. memes, movies, tv shows, music, pop culture in general) as well as general information (I kinda headcannon that things like the age of the earth are unknown/miscalculated just because they don’t have rocks from 4 billion years ago to date, they don’t have fossils from the Cambrian explosion etc. You can know everything about gravity and light and physics but know nothing about biology just because it’s more physical evidence based than mathematical recreation) and finally shared experiences (similar school systems, being allowed to do x at y age etc).

I know a lot of the fandom don’t like tad for various reasons, but there’s so much to work with in terms of Eli finally having someone he can just say shit like “do you think the king of sling would like Elvis music?” And just be UNDERSTOOD. Being understood would probably heal something in Eli’s soul because he just hasn’t had that in YEARS. The gang are nice and well meaning, but the whole slugmas episode made it really clear they don’t share the same culture or experiences as Eli, on some level, they genuinely can’t understand or relate to him because of that. They’re his friends, they’re his family, but they’re not the same.

Idk man, something about the one person who could truly know you on a level others can’t just does something to me

I don't think it's strange at all. In fact, it adds a strange, yet sad, i wana say charm? When you go back as re-watch the show with this kind of context and mindset.

Eli, to us, acts rather normal and makes references to things we get on occasion, but compared to everyone else in cannon, it's weird and doesn't make sense.

There has been more than one occasion in the early episodes when Eli says something the others give him an odd look. For instance, Eli mentioned Halloween in DeadWeed, and because Slugterra doesn't have a Halloween/anything equal to it, it's a weird thing to say, and Eli has to lie about it.

For an entire year, even after telling the Gang about the Surface, Eli Shane basically has to keep a part of himself locked away. Sure he can talk to the rest of the team about his home up top, but it's not the same as actually talking to someone about something familiar.

Slugterra may be his home now, but it will never change the fact he used to belong topside, and that try as he might, there are going to be things he misses.

So when Tad comes along, it's not just a new friend, or member, it's a connection to a world he cut himself off from. And Eli is so excited by notion of having someone to talk to, that he can relate to on a more personal level. Talk about holidays, sports, video games ect-

But a sad fact to that is that Eli has been gone a year, which means Tad is going to bring up things he had no idea even happen in the year he's been in Slugterra.

So, while it's awesome to talk to someone who can truly understand you, it doesn't change the fact that there is a disparage in common information or even interests, for that matter!

A lot can happen in 12 months. And while people can live on the same block, they experience things differently.

It doesn't change the fact that Eli is genuinely happy to have Tad around and a part of the gang because he gets to talk to someone like him and share his experiences. Form a different kind of bond.

This is why it probably hurts even more when Tad betrayed the Shane Gang when compared to Twist.

Time for a Barbecue!

Personally, Latino Eli's food would be too spicy for my white ass; old man Trixie would be gossiping about me as I served the cheeseburgers; Kord is my man, knows cpr and can make friends quickly. Who would you choose?

OOOOO, THE EAST! I was only thinking about the West, ur so right!!! I wish they went back to the East, though I understand the show's never been too big about dedicating episodes to culture alone (unless plot relevant).

Especially since the Eastern Caverns don't have a Shane-like figure that could upkeep some surface culture in their underground, I believe 2000 years is plenty of time for the culture to morph a little. Like, in a different environment underground, and mingling w cave troll and elf and shadow clan culture, I hesitate to mirror the Eastern Cavern culture directly with the Surface's Chinese/other Asian influences cultures, you know? Not to mention that the flora of the underground is different, so maybe the herbs trads had to adapt...and I really appreciate the show showing the audience that hey, slinging WAS inspired by previous religious practice! It's one of the cooler aspects of Slugterra lore for me.

Like, one little HC I have is that, when Junje speaks Cantonese in ROTE, he doesn't actually know what the words mean, or if he does, those are the only words he knows. Like, similar to how Christians/Westerners use Latin! Some words have passed on into the secular and/or religious vernacular (think "hallelujah", for example), and have been passed through time, in different cultural contexts than when it first became popularized. Junjie may know those words as Slug-Fu sayings primarily. I think we could HC so much about the East, because we really have artists choice on how their cultures has accustomed to the underground.

so long story short; I can totally believe they still have marriage, but I hesitate to say that with canonic certainty lmaoooo

horrifying thought for the day:

*takes big breathe* HOW DOES MARRIAGE WORK IN SLUGTERRA?!?

like, how do our religious and secular norms of things translate to down there? How does it legally affect couples in terms of owning property? And healthcare?!?

honestly, do they HAVE marriage as a concept legally? It's pretty anarchist/capitalist down there. Would they even HAVE a legal mechanism to tie 2 ppl together like that?

...genuinely, maybe they don't, or only some caverns do.

Fun fact: my friend thought cave trolls didn't exist in the eastern caverns for 6 episodes because she thought Hamengku was a HUMAN because he wasn't the RIGHT SHADE OF BLUE. I love Slugterra.

Also, happy slugtember! Consider these posts an apology for missing half of it :)

aww, thanks!!! That's one of my fav works I've made, I need to write more juneli :)

MIND BLOWN FOR THOSE WHO WATCH RAISE OF THE ELEMENTALS

THE SCENE WGERE KORD ASKS ELI

(this is based of a 11 months old memory)

“You’re choosing him, over us?”

GESTURING TO ELI SEEMINGLY CHOOSING JUNJIES ADVICE/HELP/PLAN OVER THE SHANE GANG

Now that is out there, look at it from a romantic perspective

Someone choosing their new partner over their closest friends. They’re only family left that they found and built connections to life multiple lifetimes.

HOW GUT WRENCHING IT WOULD BE TO SEE YOUR BROTHER BY CHOICE CHOOSE A NEW BOYFRIEND/LOVER OVER YOUR FAMILY.

Not that it was that serious (as in never discussed further) BUT MY GOD THE ANGST

I’m so rewatching Elementals because I need to rewatch the scene in this light

the only reason we won is because of divine intervention or something

the entire game felt like I was watching a child playing around on some high ledge and I just had to trust them to not fall but WE STILL DID IT METS WON BBY

also, was there a snake in the Dodgers Dugout?!?

Imagines the Slugs pop up in Gravity Falls?

I'm just imagining gravity falls having The Drop....yeah, that makes sense.

I think if they showed up without any talking slugterrans the slugs would just be seen as another creature/monster/anomally. Plus, if they stay in protoform, how would the town even know they can transform? they'de be kept secret well there, tho. They'de be a footnote in that towns history tbh. Out of all the places on the surface to know about the slugs, or even Slugterra, gravity falls is like best case scenario.

(btw I haven't watched it in like 7 years and barely remember it it's on my rewatch list - sorry if I'm forgetting stuff)

. . ."He is a bad boy with a tainted heart"