Moody Contestants

 So I'm rewatching SE12 of Ink Master, Battle of the Sexes.  I'm on Ep 3 and already fed up with the women's team.

First of all, Ink Master now has maybe 17 seasons now, and I've watched most of them. I've been watching them in reverse order, just because I missed a couple of seasons, and couldn't remember who won.  When I got to SE13, the one which didn't have a finale, I had to go to YouTube to see the final master canvases.  I also learned that the show had a streak of sexism in it, which was obviously blatant in the 1st elimination tat of this season.

Case In Point:  Only 2 contestants had clean tats:  An unfinished tat on the men, and a finished tat on the women.  But Oliver and Chris 'decided to go wild' and chose the best tat as the unfinished one.  Only Dave sided with the women.

Now, to the moody players.  

Let me preface this by saying I'm not bashing mental health issues.  If you struggle with criticism, by all means, don't put yourself out there, and practice self-care.

But TWICE now, contestants have claimed 'mental health' as their reason for bowing out.  One guy did it in SE13, and Elva did it in SE12.  She was on the bottom and after receiving her critique, thanked the judges and said she realized she was not cut out for this competition and was excusing herself.

-Why the hell would you wait until your final critique?  The 1st guy bowed out BEFORE the critique even began!

-She already had a confrontation with one of the stronger personalities; if she was fed up, why continue?  Go get your blankie and go home.  You knew what you were signing up for; grow a thick skin and compete.

But she's not the only one.  Ash is constantly complaining about the other women on her team, and even getting fed up with one of the men's egos.  Her constant pout is really grating on me at the moment.  And in Ep 3, her lack of confidence is really irritating. Is it your time of the month?

Cam and Ash.....go get a room and get over this tension already!  You're like Sam and Diane.

Ash, pull your damn jacket or shirt up over your shoulder!  It looks sloppy dangling down, with one up and one down. Congratulations, you live to compete another week.

Ep 4:  Oooh Laura,,,,consorting with the enemy?  Telling Cam he's a damn good artist and you're not threatened by him?  What will your teammates say?  *insert sarcasm*

Ooooh, Ash....'tattoo is washed out, looks like it's 15 years old.'

Ep 5:  Ooooh Cam....got caught 'helping' Laura with her tat?  

Then there's Pony's canvas.....in pain and decides she doesn't care for Pony's 'bedside manner'???  You signed up for the free tat, chick.  Sit your ass down and let her finish!

Oh jeez Ash....your sarcastic attitude toward Janelle is irritating.

LOL....Alexis called her out for a face off!  BUT, Ash delivered, while the others had issues.  In the end, Pony went home.

I finally realized WHY Ash drives me nuts; she reminds me of AOC.

Ep 6:  Ash didn't understand cross-stitch??  Yet she survives again.

I'm also pissed.....Dani did the BEST cross-stitch tattoo; Dave even SAID a lot of people are going to want it, but they gave Tattoo of the Day to Cam and his Atari Video-Game-inspired look?  *eye roll*

Ep 7:  Another face-off, and surprise, surprise, Ash picked Cam!  He beat her, but she ultimately beat Tito in Japanese Traditional Hanya masks.

Tito:  "She's got more lives like a cat!"

Ep 8:  Alexis tries to talk Ash off the ledge, figuratively.

Laura finds herself aligned with Cam and Creepy Jason, which creates conflict, b/c the other girls want Cam to be eliminated.

Alexis wins Tattoo of the Day!  1st time the women are in charge of elimination nom!

First time Ash is NOT in the bottom!  Jake, Cam, and Fon.....who will be eliminated?  Fon leaves, due to the fact he had to rush and made some serious mistakes (upside down horseshoe, boot running into existing tat).

Ep 9:  Laura, Laura, Laura.....don't go talking about your friendship with Cam and Jason within earshot of Holly and Ash.....they're gonna target you!!!  Ash and Holly went to Pon and Jake to complain they felt targeted b/c they're friends, when that WAS NOT THE CASE!  Don't jump to conclusions, little girl....

"I don't like to draw on the skin...it's so hard....I don't like it...." (insert whine)

Good for Janelle for shutting down the alliance thing that Holly and Ash misconstrued, but also called out Laura, Cam, and Jason for their plans to be final 3, which blew everyone's minds.

Alexis, what did you do to your hair?  It looks sooooooo much better when it's curly!

Laura cleared up the 'I wasn't talking shit about Holly' rumor, but confirmed her friendship with Jason and Cam was NOT an 'alliance'; it was FRIENDSHIP.

With six women and four men, the women have really come into their own....now if they can curb the paranoia and catty tendancies.....

Ash can take her pouty-ass self home!  Whoot!

Score:  5-4

Ep 10:  Why does Janelle wear a headlamp when no one else does?

Thank you Holly for talking Laura down off the insecurity ledge, and psychoanalyzing Cam!

Score:  4-4; bye-bye Alexis with her purple hair.

Ep 11:  Score 3-4 Bye-bye Janelle

Ep 12:  Laura's pissed because she didn't get picked to do a tattoo.  Only 4 canvases chose, based on the 1st tats the artists did earlier. Jason got a Japanese frog; Holly a new school bearded dragon , Jake the Koala bear, and Dani the Athena.  Jason is the ONLY one safe from elimination.

How the hell does Holly get the ax?  Cam did two similar tats!  Not fair.

Score: 2-4

Ep 13:  How many tank tops/cardigans does Dani own? And why does Cam seem to wear the same tee all the time?  Lucky shirt?  Holly wore the same leopard print dress several times.

Cam gets to close shop.

Score:  2-3

Ep 14:  Illustrative Portrait Day:  Laura's worried; Pon's worried.  Pon packs up.  Score 2-2

Ep 15:  Face off:  Laura:  Jake's Plague Dr; Jason:  Laura's Alien holding a space galaxy;

                             Dani:  Jason's Broccoli Wizard; Jake:  Dani's Witch.

Laura and Dani made the finale, along with Jason.

Jake packed up shop.

Score:  2-1

Finale:  Jason, last man standing:  B/G realism

              Laura:  Traditional Japanese

              Dani:  Full Color Biomech

Give it a rest, Ash...(to Alexis):  'You never really had my back..('I had your back, except that one time when I put you in the bottom') See???"

Jason:  Female pirate, which I think wins.  It's so clear!

Laura:  Japanese god of thunder, which for me, is hard to see.

Dani:  Biomechanical, which looks cluttered, imho.

WOW.....they eliminated JASON???

Winner:  LAURA!  Chris and Oliver voted for her; Dave went with Dani.

Battle of the Coaches:  Ryan, DJ, Duffy, Bubba, Megan Jean, Nikki, and Jimmy

Winner:  Ryan!!!!

DJ-2nd

Nikki-3rd

Bubba-4th 

Duffy-5th

Jimmy-6th

Megan-7th