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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.