#i just another episode of them being a sitcom family

[taahko]

I just found your blog today can you please explain or point out a post that explains the MASH timeloop thing? I love the show but I've never heard anyone talk abt it that way before

oh yay hurray ive been waiting for an excuse to talk about this lmao sorry this is long

ok so basically maeve (my gf) and i started watching mash for the first time about a month ago and we started joking about it being like the characters were stuck in a time loop mostly because the same basic episode format is repeated over and over, because it's a sitcom from the 70s and the episodes arent meant to be watched en masse where you can start noticing all the little repetitions and plot holes and inconsistencies that naturally occur in longform tv

but then i started to pay attention to the dates being mentioned in the show - famously the korean war never technically ended, but american troops were involved in active on the ground fighting between 1950 and 1953, so the entire 11 seasons of mash have to be squeezed into that three year period. with 251 episodes occurring within 1,129 days, that gives every episode about 4.5 days of real time. so it works right? no time loop right? well wait a sec

for the first 5 seasons or so of mash they give very consistent dates about when things are happening. for example, bj arrives in korea in september of 1952, at the start of season 4. colonel potter arrives about a week after him, and talks about how he has 18 months left before his retirement. that gives us about 7 months for the shows final 7 seasons to take place in, meaning that by the episode 'point of view' in season 7 we should be around december of 1952. in that episode the pov character starts writing a letter home and in the corner he writes the date:

september of 1951. ok, could be that this episode isn't meant to take place in the regular timeline of the season - maybe for some reason its just like, a random flashback episode. but bj, charles, and potter are all present, even though none of them got to korea until 1952. now i KNOW that this is not like, the True Hidden Secret Lore of MASH, this is the writers realizing they were running out of road and turning back the clock a bit to accommodate for how long the show was running on. but play in my time loop space with me please

more talking points:

consistent jokes about time zones and how difficult it is to call the states because "our today is their yesterday but if you call them now it might not reach them until our tomorrow and by that point our yesterday will be their today"

hawkeye's increasing mania over the seasons and his conviction that the war will never end, comparing the camp to dante's inferno multiple times. maeve once pointed out that the closer hawkeye comes to realizing that he's trapped in a time loop the closer he gets to being institutionalized - and what does the series finale cold open onto ? hawkeye in a mental institution. the only way out is to lose yourself etc. sidenote frank also escaped the time loop by going insane and getting institutionalized

in a war for all seasons bj potter and charles are all present at the 1951 new years party as well as the 1952 new years party

there are three christmas episodes, two of which bj is present for even though he should only have spent one christmas in korea

details of people's families and lives shift around - sometimes potter's got multiple grandchildren, sometimes he only has one, sometimes its a girl, sometimes its a boy, sometimes she's 5, sometimes he's 2

we're not the first people to talk about this either, here's a good video compilation posted a couple yrs ago of time loop moments

overall ive been using the time loop thesis to add another layer to my mash viewing experience. it increases the already present sense of constant dread, anger, frustration, and disgust with their situation that the characters feel, plus it feels like a very poignant take on the united states' constant warmongering and violent existence. it really never ends, it just goes on an on. the future's been canceled by the war department- we're just gonna replay the past.

#shut up aggie #mash #might add more to this later

[animentality]

I miss sci fi that had the character dynamics of a work sitcom.

like so much modern sci fi is sad brooding dystopias where people are planning on backstabbing each other or they have nefarious dramatic plans and it's all angst. it's all, oh she had sex with Him but he's secretly a SPY and that guy's entire family was killed by the Reaver Death Squadron that runs his planet with an ironfist and that's why he can't have friends and doesn't trust anyone ever- and none of these people like each other, they only tolerate one another...

Sci Fi can work as a soap opera, but I miss when it was more like the Office in space.

they don't seem to make sci fi where a bunch of fucking weirdos get thrown into a Situation together and they feel like a crew that becomes family over time.

they don't live together and work on solving problems with the Tachyon Beam Particle Generator suddenly turning the walls into pudding.

they gotta be gritty and realistic... and depressing.

now it's like, we only have 8 episodes so let's just make them tolerate each other until they inevitably shoot someone with a blaster and vaporize them right in front of their nan.

it's weird because it's not like shows couldn't be dark AND goofy.

farscape exists.

Crichton is a goofball wearing a tinfoil hat one episode and being tortured for information by Scorpius the next.

stargate treaded that line pretty well too.

it's mostly realistic but it's not grimdark and angry all the time.

ds9 had its baseball episode in the middle of a serious war drama.

you can't like... lighten up?

for fucks sake.

it's the future.

can you please pretend, at least a little, that maybe humanity persists beyond 21st century values?

#star trek #sci fi #farscape #stargate

[littledollll]

Hey...sorry it's me again, but since you write for wanda, can I maybe request something with a fem reader where there's a little bit of mindfuckery going on? Basically reader wakes up in some sort of new reality, in a bed made for two rather than one, blinds to let the sunlight in rather than curtains to keep everyone and everything out, but they don't really question it because it almost doesn't feel real? Kinda like a dream? And suddenly they have a girlfriend, Wanda, who dotes on them, snuggles them in bed, watches sitcoms with them, somehow knows all their skeletons in the closet (mind reading hehe) and lets them curl up on her chest and cry it out as she soothes them, makes them snacks, helps them do basic tasks when they're (super) depressed. Unbeknownst to reader, Wanda has actually torn apart the multiverse to be with them once again after having already lost them in another??? I'm sorry if this is way too much

-🧸 anon (loves you)

Mastermind

Wanda Maximoff x reader

A/n: im so behind on requests im trying believe me! Writing is getting hard :/ but! this was so fucking nice to write, yk that random motivation. when I tell u it just came to me and I couldn’t stop writing- I love love love Wanda, specially her being rly soft and lovey:( ty for your request hun.

Warnings: kinda manipulation? Hex pt.2, slightly suggestive if you squint, lots and lots of soft kisses, mentions of r struggling with anxiety and depressive episodes, lots of comfort, mostly narrated.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

A kiss. It was so soft. Intoxicatingly so. Her gentle hands cupping your face, the comforting weight of her straddling your lap made you feel grounded, and so safe. You whimpered when she parted from you, nuzzling into her chest while your arms wrapped around her. “My sweet little darling.. oh how I love you.” She whispered, her hands brushing your hair back and away from your face.

You didn’t know where this came from. Some day long ago you simply woke up and there she was. Wanda. You had a whole life with her. And somewhere between the fuzziness you remembered it all. How you met, everything from your first conversation to your first time. Your life before you got married, how you moved in together before then, and how your family disapproved of it. And god. That perfect wedding. The happiest day of your life, when it all finally came together for you, this was it. The stars aligned and have you this, gave you her.

In some part of your mind you didn’t know this woman, but at the same time you always had. You knew everything about her and she knew everything about you. Every little thing. You couldn’t bother to question it, if it was a dream then so be it, it was such a lovely dream, everything you could possibly ever want was right here. A beautiful and kind woman, with so much love and comfort to give. Wanda understood you, she allowed you to feel and cry but never alone, she was right here through it all. Allowing you to hide against her chest and pet your hair when you cried, telling you the most reassuring words, ensuring your comfort at all times.

It wasn’t a one time thing, you quickly noticed. Every day felt like a movie, every day she was the perfect woman, and she was yours. You’d watch tv together, listen to music and dance your hearts out.

Your favorite part was the cooking. Just like you were now. Both hands wrapped around her torso as you hugged her from behind, your girl, your wife. She let out an adorable giggle when you nuzzled into her neck and squeezed her tight.

“Are you planning an staying there the whole time darling or would you bother to help me out with our dinner.” She teased, her tone was scolding but so obviously not genuinely upset.

“m okay right here, my love.” Almost as if on queue the tv switched to play one of your favorite songs. You swayed with Wanda, holding her impossibly close and effectively preventing her from getting any actual cooking done which she was quick to scold you about yet again.

“If you want dinner you need to let me cook, dear.” You ignored her, sighing contently against her neck and closing your eyes. “Just gimme a minute to love on you, nothing wrong with giving my wife a little affection.” She let you. Her own arms coming to hug around yours, a bright smile painted on her face. She always looked so happy with you, even more so. It’s like all her energy recharged when you did little things like this, and the second you noticed you started doing it non-stop.

Wanda always gave you so much. She gave you her everything. The least you could do was give her these moments, ones where she took a deep breath and let her head lull to your shoulder, eyes blissfully closed and an always beautiful smile on her face. You loved this woman. Your beautiful Wanda.

“Let’s finish cooking mamá, I’ll help you.” You parted with a kiss. A sweet kiss like always, those kisses she’d giggle or smile into and give you a flirty little look, then go about her day like she didn’t know what she was doing to you. “Cut this up for me will you, darling?” You hummed and did a she asked, shaking your head to think about the now and not the events awaiting later tonight.

“Get your mind out of the gutter!” Wanda smacked you with an oven mitt furrowing her brows at you. “Dirty dirty mind.” You chucked and looked back at her. “What! I didn’t say anything” she let out a drawn out, “mhmmm” before turning back to put some ingredients in the pan. “I just know what you’re thinking. Hurry it up I need those!” “Right right! I’m sorry!”

Wanda found it odd, that making this reality with you didn’t take so much of her power like others had before. Like your own mind was subconsciously giving into her without her trying to force it. When Wanda occasionally peaked into your mind to see if any dreams or memories about your old life haunted you there was nothing. When she searched for doubts about your life or any clue that you might be figuring things out she only saw the slight confusion of those moments there your mind briefly recalled having a life without or before her, but you didn’t dwell on them, in-fact you thought of them as your anxiety messing you up but never once did you doubt her. Like you subconsciously simply refused to believe there was ever a life without her.

It was perfect. She didn’t really trick you. She just treated you like she did you from her universe, gave you their memories and anything you could possibly need. And you seemed more than content with this life, with her. She was your perfect girl, and you were her darling little love. Both of you living the life of your dreams, together.

#wanda x reader #🧸 anon #mcu wanda #wanda maxmoff x y/n #wanda maximoff #wanda marvel #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda multiverse of madness #Wanda maximoff fluff #wandavision #wanda maximov #wanda mcu #wanda fanfic #wanda x you

[the0retically]

The Suckening thoughts-#6 Meet Your Maker:

Spoilers below but my god that was a cool episode

- The intros get crazier and crazier and I love it

- Part 2?? Oh!! Goodness I have no idea how many episodes there will be of this and I’m so Scared because they all said it emotionally destroyed them

- …why are they spending this long on this intro,,,,please

- GOD THE MUSIC SLAPS SO MUCH NATHAN HANOVER THANK YOU FOR MAKING AN AMAZING SCORE

- GREFGORE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CHARLIE PLEASE

- Emizel’s “I HAVE QUESTIONS!” makes me So sad

- “Arthur do you see Grefgore anywhere?” SHILOOOOOOO :((((((

- “Arthur please just wait for like 45 minutes” “….is there a pet store nearby” PLEASE??

- SIBLING BONDING EXERCISE!!

- God why are they going back in????

- Ok yeah cat emizel, he has claws

- This is a nightmare what the hell, but good! Go get Grefgore!

- SHILO?? GO WITH YOUR BROTHER

- They’re just redoing it??????? Y’all pleaseeeeee…Charlie’s just like “yeah this will be Exactly the same!!”

- “What is another life for Grefgore!” Shilo I love you, thank god you’re going to try and get him

- And god emizel is Alone what the hell

- And they had to leave Condi alone goodness

- NO! THATS THE QUESTION HE WANTS ANSWERED?? brooooooo

- Ok that entire exchange made me so sad, he lost when him and the demons got their hideout, sure he was able to get Grefgore back (LETS GOOOOOOOOO!!!!!) but he Still does not have an answer to why he was abandoned and Shilo got to stay :((((( emizel buddy :(((

- Rip Arthur Petco is closed

- BIZLY IS SO HAPPY ABOUT GREFGORE BEING BACK!

- ……….weird digital glitching?? Excuse me?

- Also god why is Shilo’s aura mortal

- Awwwwwww shilo goes to hug grefgore!!

- “Can vampires regrow their heads?” “……………….what?” Oh god Grizz please don’t cut grefgore’s head off

- “Permission to hug you back my prince?” “Of course!” “Big day for grefgore!” PLEASE :)))

- “You still have many hours for the night” “is that true?” “….yeah?? No! You caught me in one of my DM lies!” iconic exchange

- Oh my god what is happening with this poor nurse, just let her go!!

- Oh god now this has become a sitcom bit what is happening, shilo is just concerned for this woman’s life but emizel and Arthur are trying to get her to get Vanya’s schedule

- :( Arthur telling the boys they don’t have to come with is Very sad

- “If Grefgore is truly a burden to you then I shall go get blood” GREFGORE NO YOURE NOT A BURDEN

- No vents? Damn rip

- Thank god no Arthur frenzy

- LAZARUS????? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE

- He’s in the toilet???

- Oh a little family reunion!

- ……….why is this sus, is that really Lazarus?

- WHY IS HE PUSHING A PHEASANT THROUGH THE TOILET PORTAL?

- Charlie’s curse as a DM is just making insane animal noises

- …..is shilo allergic to birds?? Why is he sneezing bizly please let him enjoy the bird

- “Well it is what it is!” LAZARUS PLEASE

- The chaos of the twins to the seriousness of Arthur is Such a juxtaposition

- Oh…Arthur killed his family, god this is heartbreaking

- “Why did you use me?” “Because it was the most effective way” GOD PLEASE

- God props to Charlie and Grizz for this whole interaction, I love this

- OH STAKE RIGHT THROUGH HER HEART

- Arthur popping off, it’s incredibly sad but good for you! Burn her!!!!!! She’s the reason your family is dead, kill her!!!!

- Arthur I love you I’m so sorry your life has been this tragic

- EMIZEL DID NOT ANSWER AND SAY “YELLOW?”

- Jonny???? Oh god, why is there a hit on the demons??

- Thank god soda isn’t there! Please Charlie say soda isn’t there

- HA GRIZZ REALIZING THAT EMIZEL FORGOT THE GANG WAS SO GOOD

- But emizel remembers Theo at least!! That’s good!

- SHILO IS GETTING THE OLD PEOPLE TO BEAT UP EMIZELS SIRE????? IM CRYING OH MY GOD

- What???? Metal???? What is up with this vampire

- Please tell me emizel isn’t going to die again

- Why did they leave Grefgore behind???

- “YOU SHOULD’VE JUST LET ME SUCK YOU MAN!” “WELL I’M SORRY I SUCKED BACK!” ????????

- SHILO RALLY THE OLD PEOPLE!!!!!

- Charlie is that old man Earl????

- EMIZEL IS DEAD AGAIN??????

- “The Wylan twins send their regards” ??????? HUH??

- Shilo is just a sweet boy :( but GET OUT OF THERE

- SHILO GETS HIT TOO?

- “Next session is going to be the adventures of Arthur and Grefgore!”

- Shilo please get out of there

- GOOD RUN!! GET OUT OF THERE

- SHILO PLEASE YOU CANNOT DIE

- WHAT THE HELL

- TAKE GOD FOR REFLEXIVE HEALING

- MINUS FIVE TO EVERY ROLL??

- HE MADE IT! HE SACRIFICED THE OLD PEOPLE HES BLEEDING OUT BUT HES OK!!

- EMIZEL HI??

- Get out of the sun my boy!!

- Oh,,,,,,,oh no?? He has no arms or legs oh my god, he’s tied to a chair and his mouth is sewn shut????

- HORROR HORROR HORROR

- CHARLIE WHAT THE FUCK

- WHAT THE HELL??

- I don’t know why this encounter with the twins and emizel is the most terrified I’ve been with Charlie dming, holy shit

- WAIT EDWARD TWILIGHT?????? WHAT THE FUCK?????

- Emizel I love you, biting off your own tongue to spit at them is amazing he’s so iconic

- Viv and Vex,,,,,interesting

- GOD EMIZEL I LOVE YOU YOURE BADASS

- 7! God please don’t lose more I’m getting scared

- BUT GOD A GREAT EPISODE

#jrwi #jrwi thoughts #jrwi spoilers #the suckening #the suckening spoilers #emizel tucker #shilo bathory #arthur bennett #jrwi grefgor

[filmmakerdreamst]

“Life with Derek” is Back Again!

Life with Luca is a hour and a half spin-off movie based on the 2000’s Canadian Sitcom Life with Derek, set eighteen years after its predecessor. The story follows two step-siblings, Casey McDonald (Ashley Leggat), now a court lawyer and mother of three. And Derek Venturi (Michael Seater), now a successful musician in Paris and a single dad. As history repeats itself, they both have rebellious fourteen year old teenagers, pushing their buttons. So in order to get a break, they both have the idea of dropping them off with their grandparents for their anniversary, and to their surprise, they end up meeting each other instead. With help, they figure out how to co-parent their kids together for a weekend, and hijinks naturally ensue.

The original show Life with Derek was all about a blended family. In which two teenage step-siblings, Casey and Derek (the eldest children in the household and equally self absorbed), clash; fighting each other to take control of the house, their younger siblings, their school and their world.

The episodes consisted of simple, domestic family antics, containing smart jokes that would make adults and children alike laugh. The storylines were mature enough for teenagers to be interested but not so mature that it would put children off from watching.

Life with Derek was a show that prided itself in being character driven and more realistic than some of the family shows that was airing around that time, especially on networks such as Disney Channel.

However, it became well known and successful to this day for the slow burning subtextual “love affair” between the two step-siblings, Casey and Derek which undoubtedly acted as the backbone of the series. And the reason why it got picked up for a reboot fifteen years after the final episode aired.

When I first read the premise of Life with Luca (when the announcement came out that they were going to make a Life with Derek reboot in 2020), I was immediately judgemental as often reboots can erase character growth. It just seemed like another manufactured money making remake (a copy for the next generation) rather than an actual continuation of the original show.

And while the movie does have alot of tropes repeated from the original i.e. Casey and Derek’s kids Skyler and Luca clash from the beginning, two families not really knowing each other previously merging for the first time etc. The writers had the ability to make these tropes most importantly character driven and natural so the audience didn’t notice the similarities so much. And when they did, it’s treated as a familiar nod rather than a direct copy.

Luca and Skyler

Part of the fun of the original was the ongoing romantic tension between Casey and Derek, and I was worried we were going to have a repeat of that with their kids, Luca and Skyler but thankfully the casting and writing department was alot more thorough. And while they do clash at the beginning, its presented more of a culture clash because of how they were raised, and it evolved into a familial relationship quite quickly. I loved watching their bonding moments.

They managed to keep the core message from the original ‘of family and building a family even when you hate your situation at the beginning’. I felt they did a good job of mirroring that message with Luca and Skyler.

Out of the two, I felt like Skyler was the more fleshed out. The casting for her was amazing, she looks just like Derek’s daughter. I loved how, even though she was clearly meant to be the ‘Casey character’ — organised and dramatic — she still had her own vibe. She had the carefree attitude and style from Derek’s parenting, but still was able to be responsible as she essentially raised herself.

Luca, (the ‘Derek’ character) the more rebellious counterpart, is suggested to be acting out due to his chaotic home life, rather than that’s just “how he is” unlike Derek who was labelled as the bad guy from the start. He’s still very much Casey’s son as he doesn’t have some of the toxic masculinity that Derek possessed in the original show. And he has a few neurotic tendencies from her style of parenting as well. But I almost feel we didn’t get enough of him.

If and when Life with Luca does get picked up as a TV Series later on, it would be nice to flesh out his character alot more (and hers), because there was clearly alot of conflict that the two of them both had, his dad working overseas and her mum having a bran new family, that can’t really be fleshed out thoroughly in a hour and a half film.

George and Nora

George and Nora’s plot was by far the most ridiculous (hint, jewel thief car chase), but I loved seeing them on screen again. It was nice to see how their relationship was still going strong after all this time. Along with their cameo, there were some other great ones such as Sam and Mr Lassiter. It was a shame we didn’t get to see the rest of the blended family such as Edwin and Lizzie and Marti, even for a second at the anniversary party at the end. But I understand the screenwriters wanted to save that for a TV Series later on, so they could be fully explored more.

Simon

Simon, the youngest of the McDonald-Venturi’s (that was a storyline for the last two episodes of the original) was by far my favourite addition to the film. This was surprising, since that storyline in Life with Derek wasn’t exactly my favourite around the time of watching because I don’t necessarily agree that the step-family gaining a shared child made them “a proper family”. Thankfully, Life with Luca proved me wrong as he was so lovable. I loved how he was a perfect mix of both of the McDonalds and the Venturi’s, but mostly the Venturi’s as he was so clumsy.

Casey and Derek

As always, the strongest parts of the movie, were when they were focusing on Casey and Derek, individually and together. I loved how they went with careers that naturally meshed with their personalities. Casey being a married lawyer in Toronto and Derek being a travelling musician in Paris with his daughter as a best friend. Watching Derek be a parent was amazing, especially since he was shown to be really good with kids in the original.

When the two finally meet up again, the audience can see that their friendship has definitely progressed; they have finally learnt to respect one another even though they haven’t spoken one on one for a long time. But they still maintained their comedic banter. It was refreshing to see that character growth. It was nice that it hadn’t backtracked in typical reboot fashion for the sake of drama/entertainment since that relationship was the core of why the original worked.

Now in the original show, Life with Derek, it was never confirmed that Casey and Derek had romantic feelings for each other, but there was alot of speculation by the fans, because of all the subtext going on throughout the series.

The actors, Michael Seater and Ashley Leggat, put a rest to some of the speculation in 2016 and confirmed in a article by MTV that because ‘the fans were so into Casey and Derek being a couple, [they] would find subtext in their lines to give the fans what they desire’

Life with Derek was primarily about the first four years that they [Casey and Derek] lived together. Their relationship mostly consisted of an antagonistic push and pull/tug of war even though at the end of the day, they were always there for each other when it really counted. Even though Casey and Derek claimed to dislike each other, it was very clear that the two had developed a deep bond over the course of the series.

However, Casey and Derek’s relationship in Life with Luca is interesting in a way that they’re no longer in a “sibling dynamic” in which they were previously forced into. Mostly because they’re no longer teenagers and the fact that they’ve barely interacted or lived together in eighteen years since life both took them in very different directions. Which creates a paradox in itself.

It’s this incredibly grey area throughout the movie where they’re adjusting to each other again, slipping into their old bickering, confiding in each other about parenthood, all while transitioning into a mum and dad dynamic while they’re co-parenting the children they had with other people.

Before the movie came out, I was positive, because of the criticisms and hype surrounding the show and the pairing, that the writers were going to diminish the potential of a romance between the characters in fear of backlash. For example, have Casey in a happy marriage, Derek dating around and eventually gain a love interest at the end of the film. Also, trying to make their relationship as “Sibling- Esque” as possible.

Even though I knew from the premise of the reboot, that they were going to move in together, and there would be a few romantic undertones scattered in for the fans, I’d thought they’d play it off more as an “aunt and uncle babysitting the kids”.

But the opposite ended up happening. Casey has an absent husband who continuously leaves her and her kids alone while he plays hockey over seas — breaking his promises that he was going to retire before their kids were teenagers. Derek supposedly hasn’t dated anyone in fourteen years nor mentions flirting with other women. He even has a distant relationship with his daughters mum.

The moment Derek comes, he almost takes ‘the role of her husband’ as he sees Casey isn’t doing so well. He does the cooking for their kids — Casey even mentions that her husband does all the cooking while Derek is preparing dinner — babysits her little ones, attempts to calm Casey down when she’s getting too stressed, helps arrange an anniversary party for their parents so she’s able to get on with her work. And even though, they are referred as “Aunt” and “Uncle” in the movie, it’s also made apparent that they’re essentially “Mum and Dad” to their children as well.

One of Casey’s little ones, Molly even makes a “catch it or you’ll miss it” comment to Derek’s kid in one scene “I wish we were cousins AND sisters.”

Their last scene together at the end of the movie, Casey comes up to Derek saying ‘You’re gonna come home again soon, before the kids go to university?’ in which Derek heavily implies that he wants to move into her guest house to potentially raise their kids together, making a direct parallel to her husband not retiring from hockey and coming home from Europe, even after their kids grew up.

That moment is possibly why I came out from watching the movie thinking ‘If Casey and Derek don’t get together after this; then it’s bad writing’ because their scenes in the reboot didn’t feel like random “fanservice moments” like in the original; it felt like a genuine setup for a romance. Even if it can’t be written explicitly, due to the network, it is the most logical ending for their characters and the movie just made that ending seem even more inevitable.

Despite my enjoyment of Life with Luca, and overall it being a Great Comeback of a 2000’s Classic — it’s not a movie that can really work on its own. Finishing it left me feeling unsatisfied and wanting more. It felt very much like an introduction than a complete product. Its very apparent they made this movie so it could be picked up as a TV series later on, since there is alot of plot threads that are unexplored, unfinished or left open.

Life with Luca is not a reunion movie. It’s only page one.

“Life with Derek” is Back Again! by Ellie Hersey

#life with luca #review #lwl #dasey #derek x casey #article #life with derek #lwd #derek venturi #ashley leggat #michael seater #creative writing #writing #tv show #film #casey x derek #casey mcdonald #tv show review #filmmaking #film review #family channel #disney channel #disney

[smoothjazzdigit]

PLEASE expand on your thoughts for muppets abc i would love to hear them /nf /gen /pos

Okay for some reason I didn’t get notified for this ask so sorry it’s a bit late!

But YES thx for the opportunity to rant ab this show

Pros

I actually am a big fan of muppets abc. I’ll get into the cons later but I like the style of humor the show has (for the most part), I like when the muppets have more of an adult spin where it’s not like family guy humor but it’s a little more mature than most muppet projects. The modern muppets have been so heavily targeted toward children in many projects that it’s nice to see them recognize that a lot of modern muppets fans are adults (not that adults can’t like children’s humor, I for sure do, but y’know).

Also I really like a lot of the people they chose as guests for the show, and I honestly like the sitcom style following the muppets backstage of a show. I think it’s a good modernization of the original muppet show premise that allows it to focus less on skits and more on characters. Also normally I despise social media plot lines but I actually like the way this show handles pulling the muppets into the digital age, which is crucial for such a timeless property.

Also, as many problems as there are for muppets fans, it’s a really good show to watch with people who casually enjoy the muppets. This show’s style is more to the taste of some of my family members so I like watching it with them. And separate from the muppet’s characterizations the comedy is really good (but that’s subjective so I can see how it rubs some people the wrong way).

Cons

For one the cliffhanger ending kills me. Even if this show was weirdly received it had a really short run, they could’ve used a few more episodes or another season so we didn’t get left on such an annoying cliffhanger (that left Kermit and piggy still officially broken up since the show didn’t continue long enough for them to get back together).

Ok let me get into characters now, because that’s a criticism that I think is 100% valid (though I also think few people other than jerry juhl have properly understood the muppets and not flanderized their characters in some way)(but yeah it’s really bad here).

Scooter!!

How they’ve massacred my boy!

We’ll get to piggy but scooter is the one I’m most upset about. Why? Why change him from nepo baby humor to haha nerd comedy?? It was 2015 man we love making fun of nepo babies and rich people nowadays why would they change the character whose gimmick gets funnier with age?

His characterization feels pulled from the Big Bang theory. All his comedy is just “virgin nerd” comedy. I love that the show tried giving him more screen time than other projects but they fumbled the bag. He was a spoiled teenager who was wild and fun and could get away with anything because his uncle was rich. I get he’s older now but I refuse to think aging did this to him.

Because I’m a nerd I’m gonna pull some quotes about scooter from the new Richard hunt biography bc that man understood his characters.

“Like Hunt, Scooter is a born performer. Scooter also resembles Hunt in his amiable disposition and his almost nonchalant acceptance of the other characters and their quirks.”

“This acceptance stems from his own quiet confidence in himself… happily amusing himself and the people around him.”

“‘Scooter is a perpetual kid and very comfortable with who he is,’ said Hunt.”

HMMMM? CONFIDENCE? A PERFORMER? COMFORTABLE WITH WHO HE IS?

abc scooter just gives off such anxious vibes it really makes him feel like he’s lost the part of himself that made him so much like Richard Hunt.

Piggy

Ughhh she’s just not fun to watch for the most part in this show. I like the idea of her being the star of the show this time around, reminds me of her unexpected rise to fan-favorite muppet soon after Oz took over her character.

I also really like her friendship with deadly. I think miss piggy so often is boiled down to her love for Kermit that I really love the idea of having her explore platonic bonds. Her looking so hard for happiness in romantic relationships but eventually realizing that deadly is the one who’s been by her side, that he’s her friend and that she really loves him for sticking by her is a really sweet arc (for both of them. Love platonic piggy relationships and I like the modern fashion designer vibe they’ve been doing with deadly, I think it’s a fun reimagining of his original character).

But her diva meter really is pushed up to eleven.

Not to pull more from the Richard hunt bio, but Oz describes piggy as “The tough woman underneath the coyness. And the fact that she had to be coy to get things the way she wanted them, like most women at that time.”

Piggy is from humble beginnings and understands how she needs to act to get people to feel a certain way about her. She also won’t take shit from anybody, though. She knows her worth and knows she’s worked hard to get here, but it also was such an uphill battle to stardom for her I just refuse to believe she would become so selfish and act so privileged the way she does in the show.

ABC piggy doesn’t feel like a girl who tries to be coy but knows to be tough when she needs to be. ABC piggy is mean. She has a thin temper and everyone is scared of her and she’s so removed from the non-famous life that she has trouble bonding with people. She only does community service for publicity and can barely manage to do any manual labor. She’s not tough. She’s angry. She’s short-tempered and violent. And she has no trace of her humble roots, that gratefulness for the position of fame she’s in that she holds in so many other roles.

Others

Sam is pretty creepy. I love his gag of being the censorship for the show, him popping up saying “can’t say that” is a nice little nod to him trying to control the chaos of the original show and his little conservative speech sketches. His crush on Janice is kinda odd tho. I like him getting more modern spotlight, I really like his character in most wanted (though a rewatch of that is needed haven’t seen it in a while). But yeah he’s kinda weird here.

Also why were gonzo and Camilla broken up. Disagree. Idc about your relationship drama they’re the muppets otp.

Uhh trying to think off the top of my head, it’s been a few months since my rewatch of the show. I don’t like the mayhem fight. I think teeth and Floyd fighting over Janice is weird and off for them in modern day. Respect Janice rejecting labels, go off Queen.

Conclusion/TLDR

I had more to say than I realized but I don’t want to make too long of a post. Tldr, I really like the show and it’s humor but it does feel divorced from “the muppets” as a pre-established franchise and characters. The characterization is bad, even though I appreciate them trying to give more screen time to some lesser used characters, it didn’t really work. I just think it had a lot of potential, and I like the idea of a more adult but still family oriented muppet show, but the execution was really hit or miss.

Refer to my previous post about it for more condensed thoughts, weird show all around lol

Also stan abc Big Mean Carl. Stole the show, 10/10

#wow thanks for the ask sorry about the length of this post yikes #but lmk if there’s any other muppets projects you’d like to hear me rant about! #muppets abc discourse has been said before I know none of these are really new takes but these are my thoughts #the muppets #muppets #muppets abc #the muppets abc #muppets 2015 #scooter muppets #miss piggy #Sam the eagle #aghg this took me like half an hour to respond to lol. good use of time tho #ask #asks

[mymanyfandomramblings]

I was just thinking about Steven Universe, and I was joking about how in Beach City the dads are all mostly used for comedy (except for Greg bc he's a major character, but even he's occasionally used for jokes), meanwhile the mothers could kill a man, when I realised about how well Steven Universe, even with the background characters, deconstruct the 'bumbling dad/hypercompetent mother' tropes.

It's pretty common in TV shows to have absolutely terrible dad characters, who can range from mildly incompetent to straight-up abusive, and it's extremely unusual to see a show where the father is the more competent parent than the mother. Steven Universe, however, shakes up the normal dynamic. At first Greg is everything you'd expect from your bumbling sitcom dad: he looks like a bit of a slob, he's a hoarder, he's far less attractive than Rose, the Gems don't think very highly of him, and he works a rather unimpressive career, having failed to achieve his dreams. But Greg goes on to prove himself not only as a competent parent to Steven, but probably the most competent of any of Steven's parental figures (and we all know if Rose had been able to live, she would hardly have been a wonderful parent either). This is not, however, to say that Greg is perfect--far from it, he has plenty of faults, but no more so than any other character. The point is: Greg may have the outward trappings of a bumbling dad, but subverts the trope instead, by being a responsible, caring and genuinely good parent.

The show also deconstructs the 'bumbling dad's' sister trope--the badass mama bear who is incredibly competent at running their family, and is involved with their children's lives. The mothers we see around Beach City--Barb Miller, Priyanka Maheswaran and Vidalia (as well as the Crystal Gems, who are Steven's maternal figures) all pretty much fit this trope, although certain of them fulfil certain parts of the description better than others. However, the show does display that none of them are perfect parents. Barb would clearly die and/or kill for Sadie and would love to be a part of her daughter's life, but there's multiple episodes dedicated to showing how stifled Sadie feels by her mother's enthusiasm and desire to be involved in her life. Dr. Maheswaran is incredibly competent but is also hyper-controlling of Connie, leading to a breakdown in their relationship. Vidalia is clearly a cool mum who supports all her children's ambitions--which would be great, if one of her children wasn't Onion, who would probably benefit more from discipline, rather than just affirmation of his behaviour--which ranges from minor crime to full-scale mayhem. And this isn't even starting on discussing the Gems and their failures when it comes to their parenting.

I just think it's really intriguing how Steven Universe plays with and subverts the classic tropes when it comes to parents and the roles and expectations of each parent. It's another example of why the show is so good at deconstructing classic character archetypes and tropes.

#steven universe #my ramblings #steven universe meta #greg universe #character analysis

[leo-dooley-lab-rats]

On The Edge is Best of Season Four of Lab Rats

I have a few things to say about the On The Edge special. Out of the many specials in season four, it’s by far my favorite as it’s clearly a Leo focused special. I am a Leo fan girl through and through. Leo since the start of the Island stuff has been stuck as a student trying to prove himself worthy of being a mentor. The special brings out all Leo’s pent-up frustrations and allows him to express them.

I find the special to be a really good character study of Leo as well. Part one of the special has the more negative qualities on display(Leo’s recklessness, impatience, ego, arrogance, and even some his trademark sneakiness) while part two puts Leo’s best qualities on display(his fearlessness, his compassion, determination, etc.). The first part has Leo’s worst qualities blow up in his face to only have his best qualities shine threw and save the day.

In terms of season four, each of the many specials focus on one of the main characters. Bionic Action Hero is mainly a Bree special with Chase and Adam centered stuff thrown in. Space Colony is primary an Adam special. Bionic Rebellion is mostly a Chase centered special, if I had say anyone was focused on. The finale/The Vanishing is Douglas/Daniel focused special while serving as the series finale and last hooray for the cast/series. On The Edge is Leo’s focused special.

I think before going further its with pointing out that Disney+ took out some scenes for streaming, but for the purpose of this I will be talking about scenes and episode as it originally aired. I found the transcript of the episode along with OG broadcasted episode. I won’t link with the episode since it’s technically would be a pirated version. I do trust anyone who is interested in the OG version can find it themselves. The transcript is pulled from the Lab Rats Wiki, IMBd, and Quotes.net, but mostly the Wiki.

I want to quickly touch on some of acting in the On The Edge special. Tyrel Jackson Williams(actor who plays Leo) is one of the best actors in the cast of Lab Rats and I think most fans can agree on that. Williams acting in whole special is great. He isn’t often given much dramatic material to work with in Lab Rats since it is a sitcoms, but this special does. I think the On The Edge is some of Williams best in the show. The way he portrays Leo in this episode is just great. Leo is still as funny as ever, but Williams able to give weight Leo’s anger, frustrations, guilt, and joy. You can tell Tyrel put a lot of heart into Leo. Watching Leo on the bridge mission with Taylor and saving Chase are some Tyrel’s most dramatic moments on the show. The rest of the other members of the cast are great, but I think Tyrel brings just something more than usual in terms of acting in the On The Edge special.

The score for On The Edge is solid. There are a few spots where I think score just shines and goes above a normal TV score(I will point where that is when it comes up). Lab Rats score for TV sitcoms is decent and does it job, but I think for the specials, and On The Edge especially, the score is just a step above normal.

The special starts off with Leo is rightly upset that Adam, Bree, and Chase are getting honored with an award and tells his family about it. His family, namely Adam, Bree, and Chase, as usually don’t listen. A big thing with dynamic of Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo is the trio not taking Leo 100% seriously ever. The bionic trio didn’t believe Leo about Marcus, didn’t think bringing Douglas to help fix Bree’s chip was a good idea, and didn’t think Leo had a leg to stand on for his argument that he should be a mentor. Even Donald Davenport doesn’t take Leo 100% seriously. Leo not getting the award along side his family is just another thing in a long line of things that Leo isn’t believed or taken serious on.

“I worked so hard to prove myself but it doesn't matter. They're always gonna see me as their little barely bionic brother.”

As the special goes on, we see Leo air his complicate to both his new team and to his family. It’s paints a picture that Leo has been feeling undervalued for a long time.

Leo appears to appreciate all the positive feedback that he starts to get from Taylor and Logan(members of Leo’s team) and some of that is Leo’s ego. Even Logan’s hero worship of Leo means a lot to Leo. I can’t help but think a lot of it is also Leo getting some validation he hasn’t been getting anywhere else. It’s pretty clear that Taylor and Logan’s support throughout the special mean a lot to Leo. Leo does get a little arrogant as their leader by exaggerating his own successes/abilities.

“Talk about an underdog. He was just a regular guy. And all of a sudden he got bionics and became an inspiration to the whole world.”

Taylor and Logan(Logan especially) are there from story structure standpoint to help Leo have someone to listen and actual hear what he saying. Taylor and Logan listen to what Leo is saying and take him seriously as a leader while his siblings(mostly Chase) don’t.

There is unique to view Logan, Taylor, and Leo as a parallel of sorts to Adam, Bree, and Chase. Leo is Chase aka the leader of group. Logan is Adam aka the dumb but loyal protector. Bree is Taylor aka balancer/mediator of the team who sometimes acts in a leader role. Taylor is a bit of stretch, but I think it’s interesting way to look at Leo’s team.

“I am MORE than ready, and maybe I wouldn't feel like I need to prove that to you guys if you weren't looking down on me.”

A line from Leo “if you guys weren’t always looking down on me,” really stands out as to how Leo feels. He doesn’t feel like an equal in his own family. He was made a student upon arriving, not mentor like literally everyone else in his family(minus Tasha and possibly Douglas). There’s also the fact Leo wasn’t bionic for the most of the show and only recently got a bionic arm and later bionic leg. It’s not hard to see why Leo feels like he is not an equal in his own family. There isn’t much to suggest otherwise.

“Is that why you're always bragging about how you're not one of us? I think you're just pretending to be a student so you can spy on us for the enemy.”

When you watch back earlier episodes in the Island storyline, you start to notice that Leo harks on the fact he is family to the mentors and goes on missions. Leo even throw a tantrum when he was “assigned to live in the student dorm”(episode: Bionic Rebellion). Seriously, the Bionic Rebellion special has Leo spend a lot of time ranting the student about all this. I think Leo is trying to point out and cling on to all the ways he is different from the other student.

Sometime that really speaks volumes to how sort of clueless Davenports are to how Leo is feeling is that when says he feels like “always looking down on” him. Bree replies “we don't look down on you”. I find that pretty telling that his family doesn’t realize how Leo is feeling.

We going to take quick look at interaction between Leo and his team that I think highlights how Leo is feeling. The scene comes after Taylor and Leo show Chase their new combined EMP ability and Chase tells Leo and Taylor not to use the ability. The scene starts with Leo being frustrated that despite working hard to proving himself it doesn’t change how his family sees him as the “little brother whose barely bionic”. Leo takes Chase not trust Taylor and Leo to their new EMP as a sign of how his family sees him. Leo even states in the scene “I'm so sick of them not treating me seriously. It's time to prove I'm as much a bionic hero as they are”.

“I hate this. I've worked so hard to prove myself but it doesn't matter. They're always going to see me as their little brother whose barely bionic.”

Taylor and Logan actually try to comfort Leo about how he is feeling. Taylor even tells Leo that her and Logan they’ve got Leo’s back. For Leo, these appear to be the only two people that believe in him and his abilities right now.

When Leo tries to convince Chase to let Taylor and him use the ability, Chase doesn’t let them have a word in. Leo give a good reason that if this ability was when they were fighting Krane then the Triton app could be taken out much easier. Chase tells Leo that “doesn’t matter” and that ability “is dangerous”. In the long run, Chase is half right that ability was dangerous. The problem here is that Chase wasn’t willing to hear Leo out and due that the EMP ability became dangerous(because Leo was trying to prove himself to his family/Chase). When the ability was used again in part two, it wasn’t dangerous. The ability wasn’t dangerous the first times the ability was used by. It was only dangerous when Leo was trying to prove something.

You could make the argument that EMP ability is what symbolic of Leo’s journey. The ability is found by accident like how Leo often causes accidents and found the the Lab by accident. The ability wasn’t dangerous until Leo’s recklessness and need to prove himself took him. This often happens when Leo was trying to impress Jenelle or even other social situations. The ability becomes safe again when Leo is not trying to impress or prove anything rather he just trying to help.

Leo drive and need to prove himself leads to Leo seriously injuring Taylor. The injuring of Taylor is classic recklessness of Leo with a hint of ego/arrogance. Leo thought they could handle it while also rushing into using this new EMP ability without knowing much about it.

“Back off! This is my team!”

When looking at the scene where Taylor actually gets hurt it is the build of a lot Leo trying to prove himself once again, but feeling like his family is once again telling him he’s not good enough. The scene starts off with Leo and Taylor doing well training to use the ability. The problem starts with Leo and Taylor add more power to EMP because Leo wants to show-off a little. In the show that’s often where Leo’s problems start, when he is trying to show off to Jenelle or someone else. Chase and Bree telling Leo to stop using the ability doesn’t help. Leo is stubborn and I think he is done listening to them. He wants to show them he is worth taking seriously.

The score in the scene is just great. I love how sound effects and music mix together. The score helps sell the intensity of the interaction. I don’t have much else to say other than score is just great in these scene.

“Oh, please, you're just jealous that your team isn't as powerful as mine.”

Tyrel Jackson Williams acting in the scene is just amazing. The way Tyrel delivers the anger, hurt, and determination in some of lines is amazing. When Leo claims Chase is jealous the playful tone that underlined with angry and hurt is amazing. After Taylor is hurt, the way Tyrel acts is amazing. The guilt and shock is written all over the acting/character. It is just amazing how well Tyrel gets the emotions in the scene.

“I can't believe it. She's never gonna see again. It's all because of me.”

The next couple scenes after training mishap with EMP ability have Leo thinking everything will be fine and Taylor will be okay. Leo has had bad injuries and he just got bionics. It’s makes sense for Leo to think this way. It’s also very innocent way of thinking.

It isn’t until the news that Taylor is now blind thanks to Leo’s leadership that things change. Lab Rats doesn’t always have lasting consequences like this. Leo got his arm and leg crushed but he was fine since he got a bionic upgrades/replacements(not completely sure how that worked). Villains dies off screen or in the case of Marcus is technically a robot so the death can be shown. Taylor getting blinded is just brutal and sets up next part perfectly(we will get into soon). It’s honestly one of the worst and most lasting thing to happen on the show.

Side note: not completely related, but interesting to point out(I’m not the only who has noticed this). Taylor, formerly S-1, was the reason Leo’s arm was destroyed and now here Leo takes Taylor’s sight. Don’t know if was intentional, but interesting parallel.

Leo rightly feels a lot of guilt over what happened to Taylor and decides to leave the island. I know some people don’t like this scene. I find that it’s very in character character for Leo. Leo tends to put the protection of those he loves first and does whatever he can to protect them. I think in his mind by leaving he was protecting everyone. It is debatable if Leo made the right call here or not, but it was his decision to make at the end of the day.

“Taylor has to live with my mistake for the rest of her life.”

I want to actually take a moment to actual break down the whole scene where Leo leaves the island. It’s very powerful scene and sets the stage for the second part of the special. It’s very impressive that whole scene is carried by acting alone, there no music until the Leo starts to board the hytroloop.

Disclaimer: the photo edit above was created by me.

The conversion in the scene is mostly between Leo, Chase, and Donald Davenport. The special as whole does have Adam, Bree, and Douglas as features rather than a main focus. Adam and Douglas in the first part mostly work on making limo indestructible. Bree tends to be paired with Chase or Adam in scenes to help add to conversion, but her character isn’t really a focus in this special. Even Donald’s role in the overall story is small. In this scene and other dramatic scenes, Donald acts in his mentor/father role in the show. The special is mostly about Leo and his problems, but it’s feature Chase quite a bit. Chase arguably is the one Leo is most close to out of the trio. The special takes their stable relationship and breaks it down. Leo and Chase bud heads as Leo wants to step and be a leader. Chase doesn’t want to let go of being a leader and he doesn’t see Leo as anything more than his little brother. The whole point I am making is the scene here is the climax of the first part and it chooses to focus on these characters.

I think Chase’s line of “I never meant for you to leave” says a lot of what was going on. This clashing of heads between Leo and bionic trio on the surface didn’t seem like anything new to trio. If you look at Leo’s point of view this clash was culmination of everything since they got to the island. From the trio’s point of view it was just another disagreement to solved and fixed in a couple days. I don’t think Adam, Bree, or Chase actually thought Leo was this upset about Taylor or his place at the Academy until then.

Headcanon: I also like to think that trio never can imagine Leo up and leaving. Leo has never really left their side from extended period since the day they meant as the show explains. Leo is also the one who showed them the real world and was the first real friend outside the lab. He is an important figure in their life.

There is very interesting idea presented in the scene about mistakes and leadership. Donald Davenport states “part of being a leader is making mistakes. You learn from them, and you move on”. It’s actual a good piece of advice for life, not just leadership. Donald even points out Chase’s mistakes throughout the show as an example. Something I really like and is just a such a Leo thing to do, Leo makes a clear distinction between Chase’s mistakes and his own. That distinction is that Chase mistakes “never hurt anyone” while his mistake with Taylor is permit and hurt her.

In the scene Leo has clearly made up his mind and thought through everything he wants to say. Everyone else is a sort of shocked state trying to get Leo to stay, but he isn’t having any of it. Leo as a character is very stubborn so scene really showcases that. Leo has clearly also dealing with a LOT guilt and likely PTSD from what happened with Taylor.

“I'm going back to Mission Creek. I don't belong here anymore. I'm quitting the academy.”

I find Leo’s final words and his words beginning of the of scene to provide a bit of insight into Leo’s headspace. Let’s start with “I don’t belong here anymore”. Leo throughout the special has shown he feels like he not an equal with his family while the island stuff has shown Leo positions himself as not just a student(see above arguments). Leo never really belonged anywhere on the fully.

Leo made his own team in the special and I think that was the first time Leo felt he belonged on the island. Leo didn’t have student friends like Bob or Spin. He came to the understanding and respect of Spin. I think Leo puts up with Bob for Adam’s sake. The other students we don’t really see Leo interact with until this special. Leo clearly enjoys and loves spending time with Taylor and Logan. There is Douglas, Donald, and his siblings, but the Davenbros(Donald and Douglas) aren’t always around and the trio is likely busy with classes and stuff. Again, I want to point that Leo is student while his siblings are mentors. Even Leo’s stepdad is a mentor. It can create feelings of not fully belonging. I do want to point out that Tasha, Leo’s mother, isn’t around and I think everyone in the fandom can agree that if Tasha was around on the island then Leo would have had better emotional support.

“Give it[his mission suit] to someone more deserving… it's not your choice. It's mine. Bye, guys. Sorry I let you down.”

I see Leo giving back his mission suit as something very symbolic. In comics, a mission suit/super suit, the costume/suit is often seen something you have worthy to wear and something that is apart the hero’s journey/mission. Think back to Superman getting his suit in basically any origin show/movie/comic/story when he gets the suit it’s the moment where is ready or worthy to start saving the world. When Leo got his suit in the show it was the moment he was finally worthy and ready to join the team on missions. When Leo says “give it some deserving” it’s his guilt saying he is no longer worthy of the suit, going on missions, or being a hero because of he did to Taylor.

Leo goes further later on with this deserving idea with Logan telling him that deserves “better team. Or at least a better leader”. Leo’s guilt is speaking here and sees himself unworthy to a leader. This conversion also ties into the idea presented by Leo earlier when he made the distinction between Chase’s and his mistakes as leaders. Leo is pointing out that Chase is the better and more deserving leader in a way by stating this. Leo even earlier stated he wasn’t “cut out to be a leader”.

One last thing to touch on in this scene in the framing. Look at Leo in relation to everyone else(see image). Throughout the scene, Leo is apart from everyone else. It’s a good way to show just alone Leo must feel. Also, interesting choice to have Leo in red shirt in the scene which is the same as mission outfit(not sure if it has a meaning or not. Just thought it was interesting to point out). Leo being out of his student uniform and standing from the everyone else could also tie into Leo’s line of how he does not “belong here anymore”

Quickly before getting to part two of the special, a few notes on Leo’s worst qualities displayed during part one(I mentioned earlier this and wanted to make I touched on, but couldn’t find place anywhere else). The way Leo gets his team is rather sneaky. Leo knows Donald Davenport isn’t paying attention, so he asks then to ensure he gets what he wants. Leo is quick to inflated ego when Taylor or Logan even slightly build up. He is also somewhat reckless later on with EMP ability. There is a LOT of arrogance in the way Leo behaves in the way he believes that Taylor and him can just control EMP ability and his own leadership skills(not all unfounded though as Leo has many moments of leadership throughout the show).

Moving onto part two of the special, the episode cuts to two weeks later to check in on the character. The first couple scenes during part two of the special shows how Adam, Bree, and Chase come to realize how they were being unfair to Leo due to his departure. I do believe that Leo had to leave the island the island for Adam, Bree, and Chase to realize that how they really treating Leo and how Leo deserved to be treated better.

Side Note: I appreciate how the first couple scenes of the second part deal with the aftermath of Taylor being blinded and Leo leaving. I think a lot of fans watching On The Edge for the first time(didn’t watch the trailer or watched the show on a binge/blind) were surprised/shocked that Leo left at the end of part one. I think that episode taking time to show the characters dealing the emotions and aftermath of part one is a smart move that helps the audience process the information too and helps up some of future events in the special.

The first scene of the episode is a phone call between the bionic trio and Leo. The phone call between the the trio and Leo is just great to show the new status quo that has established on the island during time-skip of two weeks. Leo is still set on not coming back to the island or the team despite the bionic trio trying to convince Leo to come back during the call. I’ve always read this scene as this is not the first time the trio have tried to convince Leo to come back(feel free to read another way). That does run into headcanon territory, but I don’t think it’s that big of a leap to think that the trio on more than occasion tried to get their brother to return to the island.

Note: Tasha is mentioned at least twice in the phone call, but she never appears in the special. I wish she actually did appear since this is the big Leo focused special since Tasha is Leo’s mother and biggest supporter.

Something I find really interesting in the phone conversion is that Chase asks Leo, “when are you coming back?” Chase didn’t ask if he was coming rather when. It’s an interesting choice of words and says a lot about Chase’s line of thinking. I think another interesting comment comes from Bree stating “it's really weird not having you here, Leo”. I said this earlier, but this is longest time the characters have been split up since the the start of the show. Humans are creatures of habit so, it really must be strange to not have Leo around. Leo has been there despite the other changes in their lives(ex: moving to the island, new lab, etc), so it is just strange and new reality for the whole family.

“I feel bad. We should've given him more credit.”

After the call, the trio discuss Leo and the ceremony. I find the way the trio, mostly Bree and Chase, discuss Leo interesting. It’s clear they all feel guilty and realizes that Leo deserved more credit and be at the award ceremony. Bree talks her feelings and how had more credit. Bree got the heart of the issues fairly quickly(I think Bree is pretty good overall when called for at getting to heart of emotional problems). Then Chase jumps in states that Leo deserves the award as much as the rest of the team. I think it was good choice to give Chase this line. Chase at the start of the episode was the one(beside Donald Davenport) most against Leo getting the award with the rest of the team. Chase used the numbers/data to justify the decision rather than the actual merits Leo possesses that would make worthy of the award. Adam jumps in with the joke of cardboard Leo. I wish do we had a line or two more on the emotions in scene before cardboard Leo.

“He deserves to be up there with us at the award ceremony tomorrow.”

I actually think cardboard Leo has a bit more depth than most give it credit for. First off, I think Adam misses having Leo around and the cardboard cut out is a way to have Leo around(sort of). The audience is introduced to the cardboard cut after Chase says Leo deserves to be at the award ceremony, with Adam saying “that's why he's[Leo] gonna be”. I think Adam is trying to do a nice thing here by trying to bring Leo to the ceremony any way he can. Adam even puts the cardboard Leo in a tux and brings into the limo all so he take it into the ceremony. That’s a lot of effort for a piece of cardboard.

“When real Leo watches from home, I want him to feel like he's still an important part of our team.”

There is another side of cardboard Leo that is sort creepy. It is just a piece of cardboard, not the real person of Leo Dooley. It’s also clear that Bree and Chase don’t approve of cardboard Leo whatsoever and don’t want Adam to bring it to the ceremony. Still, everyone in the family lets Adam bring the cardboard cutout in the limo anyways.

“Have you lost your mind? This is not our brother, it's a piece of cardboard.”

The next scene deals with how Taylor is doing with her newfound blindness. Taylor is doing fairly well as she up and about and is good spirits. Taylor even asks if anyone has gotten Leo to come back to island. I actually like that she asks this since it show that Taylor doesn’t hold any grudges against Leo for playing a part in blinding her.

Note: Logan is also in the scene that is checking up on how Taylor since her accident. I really appreciate Logan being in the scene since it shows that Leo isn’t the connective tissue for Taylor and Logan being/staying friends.

I appreciate that the episode doesn’t shy away from the fact that Taylor is now blind, but doesn’t treat that disability as if it is end of the world. There is concept called ableism that basically means bias/prejudice/discrimination against people with disabilities hinging on the idea that people with disabilities are less valuable and have lesser quality of life than nondisabled people (further reading on the subject of ableism). I appreciate that the episode is firmly anti-ableism. Taylor’s quality of life isn’t lessen and she was still valuable to missions/the team. It’s just refreshing to have a piece of media that’s not ableist.

“Have any of you guys spoken to Leo? I was hoping someone convinced him to come back to the academy by now.”

I’d argue Taylor is the one who had to learn that she is still of value to the team. She was the one who thought she couldn’t go on missions anymore thinking . Leo told her that she’d “just be in the way”(episode: On The Edge). Leo counters this convincing Taylor she won’t be in the way telling her she still has a lot to offer and he needs her help. I’ll talk about this conversation between Leo and Taylor later, but I do appreciate it.

On last thing on Taylor being anti-ableism is Taylor on the bridge mission hears a snapping cable on bridge before Leo and Logan and she pushes them both out of the way saving all of their lives. Taylor explains that her senses have increased/improved since she lost her sight which is true to life. People who lose one of their five senses then the other four tend to improve(this fact is sort basis of Daredevil). I like that Taylor has this big moment that shows/proves that Leo is right, Taylor is NOT in the way. I also like that during the bridge mission Taylor is still willing to use the EMP ability despite being the thing that blinded her.

It is rare in media today to have disabled characters not be written with ableist, so I appreciate how Taylor isn’t an ableist character. It’s refreshing and nice to see.

I haven’t said much about indestructible self-driving limo that Douglas, Adam, and Donald Davenport were working on during the first part since it didn’t feel important until now. Adam and Douglas making the limo indestructible was just a fun side-story/b-plot of the first part, but I love how limo comes back in part two as major part of the plot. I know that’s basic writing, but I do appreciate it.

On a plot level, the limo being as high-tech with all the upgrades given to it in part one is the reason why the limo gets stuck on the bridge collapsing in the first place and traps the Davenports(Douglas, Donald, Adam, Bree, and Chase) inside. Since the limo goes into lockdown when an emergency is detected and the tech that makes impossible to get in the limo also makes it impossible to get out.

“I know you quit the team, but your family needs you.”

Before getting to big bridge rescue let’s go over the phone call between Taylor and Leo. I love the fact that Taylor first idea when she sees the mentors are in trouble are to call Leo for help. It shows that she still sees Leo as her leader. Also, a little ironic considering she was S-1 during the Krane thing and seemed to be one of leading solders there.

The phone call starts with Leo asking how Taylor doing which Taylor quickly shuts down. Taylor gets straight to the points stating “there's been a horrible accident with your family's limo”(episode: On The Edge). I like how Leo doesn’t try to say he is retired or doesn’t do mission anymore, he just asks “what? Where” (episode: On The Edge). That reply is just so in character for Leo. Leo doesn’t hesitate to help those he cares about. Examples being Leo going on the particle accelerator mission to save Adam, Bree, and Chase, running head first to Marcus and Dougls’ lair to save Donald and the trio, or bring Douglas to lab to fix Bree’s chip despite Donald not wanting Douglas there.

“Look, you're not gonna be in the way. You've still got a lot to offer, and I need your help”

I really like that Leo assumes that BOTH Taylor and Logan are going on the mission. He doesn’t think that any of Taylor being blind now. This line of thinking leads to a great conversation between Taylor and Leo. Leo in season four has been the character giving pep talks and talking down the bad guy. The conversation between Taylor and Leo here follows that compassion trend for Leo in season four and I want to break down the scene.

When Taylor tells Leo she’s not going, Leo simply asks her for a reason. Taylor thinks/answers that her disability/blindness is the reason she can’t go on the mission because she will just be in the way. Leo in early seasons(especially one and two) was clumsy and tended to make a big mess out things. He even created a lot of his own problems/the problems of the episode. As the series went on, Leo became more competent, less clumsy, and he didn’t make as many problems. Leo even worked his way from a kid wanting to go on missions, be on the team, and have bionic to mission specialist to member of the team with bionics. Leo had setback and missteps, which included going on missions before he was ready. That’s what makes Leo the best person to talk to Taylor here. Leo understand better than anyone that messing up/making mistakes is going to happen, but that doesn’t means to give up.

“Well, the only difference is, I was awesome and you're stuck in mud. Look, I get it. But just like Big D said, focus on your training. Trust me, you'll get there.”

I love that Leo draws on his own experience and asks Taylor “do you have any idea how times I've been in the way on a mission?” It is a sign of growth. Leo isn’t always the most humble person. He does have ego and arrogance, but when it counts Leo is willing to put both of these aside to help someone else. I actually think this is the first time Leo doesn’t try to add a level of ego/arrogance to the statement about his own experiences. For example, looking back at Leo’s pep talk to Spin when he was upset about not being ready for missions Leo starts with level arrogance saying he was awesome to able to go on missions when he was fourteen. Still, Leo does relate, tries to comfort, and give advice to Spin.

“Don't worry. We're gonna make it though this together. All three of us.”

Taylor is not completely convinced by Leo telling her she’s not going to be in way and he needs her help. I like that it takes one last little push from Leo saying it’s all three of them(Leo, Taylor, and Logan) in the mission today that gets Taylor to come. Leo and Logan are from my reading are closest friends at the academy(feel free to disagree with me on that).

“Get them[civilians] off the bridge and set up the triage area. Where's the limo?”

Let’s start looking at the bridge mission which is Leo’s big hero/leadership moment. There is one quick, easy to miss line/moment, at the start of bridge mission scene where Leo gives orders to student(who go mostly unseen since we only see like two or three students and civilians on the bridge) to get the civilians off the bridge. Later on, the special mentions Leo leading the mission so, it’s nice to know that special actually shows it rather than only saying it.

The next few pieces of dialog have Doanld Davenport tell Leo and his team to disable the limo’s computer to turn off car’s lockdown and release the locks. Leo immediately comes up with plan after hearing this information. Leo’s plan is using Leo and Taylor EMP ability with Logan using one of his abilities to guide the EMP to limo’s computer.

Leo’s plan is smart and will get the job done. The problem is that when Leo and the rest of team try to enact this plan, Leo has a flashback to blinding Taylor(see note below on Leo and PTSD). I say a flashback because, the editing uses the footage from when Taylor was hurt. Basically when Leo and Taylor try to use the ability, the camera intensely focuses on Leo, then intensely focused on Taylor. Then camera goes back to Leo. This intense focus on Taylor is mean to be from Leo’s perspective aka Leo looking at Taylor. As the camera intensely focused on Leo, there is a cut to footage from part one from when Taylor was hurt the last Leo and Taylor used their EMP ability. The way this part is edited, it makes the viewer think that the next cut from second shot of Leo will back Taylor in the present. It’s very clever and well-done editing.

Note on Leo having PTSD Headcanon: this flashback scene and the how traumatic of an event blinding Taylor leads a lot fans(myself included) to believe Leo has PTSD from the event. It is important to remember that flashbacks to the traumatic event are a sign of PTSD. I don’t have much to say on this. The writers don’t go into much depth on PTSD or if Leo has it or not. It hasn’t even been confirmed, as far as I know, by the writers/creators on social media or on interviews if Leo has PTSD. The writing and acting supports the ideas that Leo has PTSD. It is still mostly just a headcanon, but I think most fans can agree Leo does have PTSD from that the event of blinding Taylor.

Leo due to this guilt and likely PTSD(see above), can’t go through with using the EMP again. He doesn’t want to hurt Taylor or anyone again. That’s the core of why Leo left the island and being a hero in the first place. He didn’t want to hurt anyone else.

The score in this moment is amazing! I love the way the music has sort uneasy building tension sound(sort of like a train moving down the line) before Leo and Taylor attempt to EMP ability. Once they start, the music takes uneasy dip. The sound effects for ablilies, like lighting sort of sound is mixed in the score(really clever). The music keeps building and building, then it stops. Everything is silent. Leo has pulled back. I think reason why there is uneasy feeling with score in this section is possibly the music used a minor key (don’t quote me on that). The music/score adds a lot to internal conflict going on inside Leo head.

“I can't do this. What if I hurt you again? What if I hurt them[Adam, Bree, Chase, Donald, and Douglas]? I don't wanna ruin anyone else's life.”

I’ve mentioned this easier, but this is one of Tyrel Jackson Williams best acted episode. The way Williams acts this during this interaction is just amazing. You can see the all the uncertainty and anxiety that quickly became guilt and fear after the flashback. The way Leo, not only take his hand away, but pulls his body away says a lot. Leo’s line delivery after pulling back is just amazing. The way he sounds so defeated is so unlike Leo(normally one of the determined characters in the show) but considering everything Leo has been through in the special it’s in character when he says it now. Plus, the way Leo’s voice cracks when he says “what I hurt them”(‘them’ refers to his family in limo) is nice added layer to Tyrel’s deliver.

The acting on Tyrel’s part even shows the conflict of wanting to help his family, but feeling like he all he’s going to do his hurt someone again. Even Leo’s character and writing support this. Every time I rewatch this scene or the special, I wish that Tyrel did more acting after Lab Rats ended. He has real talent for it.

“Leo, you didn't ruin my life. It was an accident. And if I'm not gonna let it stop me from being a bionic hero, why should you? This is it, Leo. This is your chance to prove you're the leader I know you are. So...are you in?”

After Leo’s speech about not wanting hurt anyone, it’s Taylor’s turn to give Leo a pep talk. There is a real beautiful in what Taylor is telling Leo and it’s a nice role reversal. I like how Leo has someone who believes in him(minus Tasha and Logan). You can tell throughout the special, especially here, that Taylor and Leo have come a long way since when they first met and formed a close friendship.

There’s a really great moment of editing where after Taylor asks “if I'm not gonna let it[her blindness] stop me from being a bionic hero, why should you,” then there’s nat/natural rumble sound effect and cut to the limo. I don’t think that edit is to suggest that Leo’s family stopping Leo rather it’s meant to remind Leo/audience what he has to fight for. The look Leo has when looking at limo reads of confusion, worry, and doubt. Leo realizes he could lose his family if messes up and possible hurt Taylor again. It’s all over his face.

The way Leo during the last little half the speech where starts to understand how much Taylor actual believes in him is nice to see. The way Leo’s face start changing from confused, guilty, and worry to determined is great. There is even still a little doubt/worry about hurting Taylor in eyes, but you can tell Leo is truly ready to be back out in the field again. I really like how before Leo says he’s in, he take a quick look at his family. The acting is just so great here.

The next part in scene has Taylor hear a cable snap and pushing everyone out of the way. Another great moment of acting as Taylor explains how she hurt it before everyone else, Leo just gets look of understanding. He is speechless. I think he understood what Taylor meant when she told him “you didn’t ruin my life”.

The next part of bridge scene I want to cover is the Leo and Taylor using the EMP. After Leo and his team get back up after the snapped cable thing, we see Leo acting fully as a leader. He is giving Taylor and Logan orders based off his plan. This time when Leo and Taylor use EMP ability the frame and shot from earlier(when Leo pulled back) are basically the same with more triumphant and heroic sounding music. Leo looks less fearful and has that determination look in his in face. Leo even seems to have some confidence in himself back. There is an air of worry, but Leo is back in action. The way the acting and music are done here is just fanatic.

“Trust me. We got this”

That moment when Leo’s plan work, it feels like real victory. The music support this as well with the music reaching its climax when the doors unlock(which was Leo’s end goal with using EMP).

“I'll get Chase. You guys get everyone else out of here.”

The big part I want talk about is Leo’s rescue of Chase. I know Chase ends up being the damsel in distress(for lack of term) a lot during Lab Rats, but I think it works here. Leo and Chase during part one of special had a big falling out. By having Leo needing personally save Chase as a way mending fences.

I will never gets over how well done the acting, music, and editing is. The way Leo looks so determined and desperate to save his brother. Chase trying to Leo to leave to save himself. Leo unwillingness to just let Chase die. The scene is melodrama and over-dramatics. The scene doesn’t need to have so many shots focusing on Leo’s and Chase’s face and hands, but I think the scene is better for it. You can tell how much these two have gone through the past couple of weeks, all the unsaids, but right now they are focused on trying to save each other. Its desperate and intense scene and, its beautiful.

I see find the two hand reaching out for reach other to some what symbolic of Leo and Chase journey of the special of reaching an understanding/respect. Leo and Chase did have a failing out and here finally appeared to mend that rift. I don’t have much to back this up other than my reading.

Personal story: I remember watching this live back when it first aired and this scene had my heart pounding. The sigh of relief I had when Chase was safe is hard to describe.

After saving Chase gives Leo an apology that was a long time coming. I love that Chase finally admit he should have never doubted Leo. It’s nice to see Chase finally seeing Leo as hero properly and Leo getting to see that Chase sees him that way.

“Leo, you did it. You saved my life. Sorry I ever doubted you.”

What I always loved about what happened next is Leo didn’t really reply to Chase’s apology. He just says “I’m just glad you’re okay”. The relief and joy in Leo’s voice and face says it all. It’s such a simple and lovely reply.

“I'm just glad you're okay.”

There is still a lot both Chase and Leo would probable say to each other about what happened, but I love that in that moment they are just happy that they are both okay. It’s just a beautiful moment. I never get sick of watching it even if it only four lines of dialog. It’s says a lot in very little.

The final parts of the special deal with Leo finally getting the credit he deserves serving as epilogue of sorts for the special. The first scene takes the audience to the award ceremony and we see Adam, Bree, and Chase. It takes a few minutes, but Leo is revealed to standing next to them receive the award along side them.

Note: I forgot to mention the award(sorry).

I think some of the words president uses describes Leo extremely well. The words go as follows the “real way to measure a true hero is by their determination to never give up”. It’s perfect way to describe Leo’s character in the show and in the special. It’s clever that after President says these words, the camera reveals Leo is receiving the award as well.

“Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, but the real way to measure a true hero is by their determination to never give up.”

The next scene has Leo finally become a mentor at the academy. When Leo walks out as mentor, it feels like an end to journey. I have come to respect the decision to make Leo a student due to special. It would have been nice to see Leo be a mentor the whole time, but I don’t think it would be as good as season without it. Leo has always been the protagonist of Lab Rats. It’s his story and journey that the show follows. I think by having Leo as a student it allowed the writers to more easily follow the student while also giving Leo something to work for.

Leo always wanted be bionic hero and go on missions. Once the island stuff started, Leo wanted to be mentor. I think the deeper reason for this was that Leo wanted to like his siblings, respected by them, or at least fully apart of their world. The special has Leo finally gain the full respect of his family and the students on the island. The special is final piece in Leo’s four season long journey of becoming a hero. Leo has finally has everything he has ever wanted.

“Not only is Leo back at the island, but because of his bravery and leadership on the bridge mission, I have officially made him a mentor.”

The next couple interactions in the scene of Leo become a mentor just wrap things up. We have Chase telling Leo he’s proud of him and they hug. After seeing Leo and Chase at odds in part one, it is so nice to see them actually liking each other again. At the end of special Chase is the one to hoist Leo on his shoulders and start the whole academy chanting Leo’s name. The final scene here shows how much the who have mended their rift and are truly brother again.

“I didn't think I'd ever go on a mission again, Leo. But you changed all that.”

The next interaction is between Taylor and Leo both thanking each other for helping each each. Taylor thanks for Leo helps getting back out on the field and Leo thanking Taylor for believing him. Leo and Taylor also hug with Logan joining said hug. It’s a great interaction that shows that how deep Leo and Taylor’s friendship is.

“I'm the one who should be thanking you. You showed me I really am a leader.”

The last little moment I want touch on is that Douglas is crying during all of this. I love this. Douglas is the one who originally started training Leo and Leo and Douglas appear to have a strong friendship. It’s small, but sweet interaction.

On The Edge does work in many ways as the finale to Lab Rats. Leo is more or less the protagonist of the show. Leo’s journey is so well wrapped up by the end of these special that in the finale Leo doesn’t have much to do(he has stuff to do, but it’s very minor) I have a lot problems and issues with finale and Elite Force, but I do still love Lab Rats.

I find more and more I come back to the On The Edge special and appreciate all it’s done for Leo. I find the special does a great job handling the characters it focuses on and is honestly the most character focused piece in Lab Rats. Leo is allowed to tell other characters how is feeling. There is a lot time spent with the characters and what they are going through. I honestly love a good character drama(seriously, there is a real why the Titans are my favorite team).

I know there are fan that take issue with On The Edge and some of stuff that happens in it along with Island stuff, but I’ve come to really appreciate it over the years. The special has a job of finishing Leo’s character arch for island and the show in general which it handles incredibly well. There are things to be improved on like more stuff with Adam or Bree or having Tasha in the special. Overall, the special is well acted, well edited, and just has great writing. The special most of keeps in mind it’s main focus of Leo and his journey.

Question: what y’all thoughts on anything I’ve discussed here?

#lab rats #leo dooley #donald davenport #chase davenport #bree davenport #adam davenport #douglas davenport #leo #leodooley #labrats #my thoughts #thoughts #random thoughts #long post #lab rats bionic island #lab rats elite force #marcus davenport #disney lab rats #lref #extremely long post #on the edge #lab rats leo #lab rats movie #lab rats on the edge #tasha davenport #this took me over two weeks to compose so enjoy #anaylsis #sorry for the long post #I hope it’s not too long #I am proud of this

[twig-tea]

Rules: List 10 of your comfort shows, then tag 10 people

I was tagged by @sorry-bonebag and @bengiyo (thank you both!). It's funny to see so many folks talk about not having 10, when I had trouble narrowing it down 🤣 So, here are shows I've reached for for comfort recently, in no particular order:

Until We Meet Again. Listen, I get that it's depressing, but it also ends and mends the intergenerational trauma set up in the first 15 minutes, and in the Dean/Pharm storyline the show queues up typical drama problems just for everything to be fine, it is SO comforting. And if I need to cry, ep1 part 1 will get me there, guaranteed.

Azumanga Daioh. This show...is so weird lol. It's a 20-year-old anime at an all-girls high school. There is a 10-year-old prodigy, a weirdo transfer student, a butch beauty, a simp, a loud class clown...it's not exactly GL because the girl who has a massive crush on her classmate never does anything about it and that's not really the plot. There is no actual plot, it's extremely slice-of-life except when it ventures into absurdity. It's extremely quiet and chill for this reason. The stakes are so low!

Star Trek: The Original Series. Like Ben, I am a Star Trek fan forever. TOS is my favourite and I've rewatched... a lot. Rather than the stakes being low, they're high but everyone is exceptionally competent and can solve impossible situations. And I really, deeply love the problem-of-the-week style storytelling and found family vibes.

What Did You Eat Yesterday? Everyone already knows this one, it's so good. Their relationship is so wonderful and the food is delicious and inspiring. In this show, things aren't perfect and that's ok, and I get deep comfort out of that.

HIStory 2: Crossing the Line. I love a sports anime, and this hits the key notes: you have to have love for the game and play with integrity and with your team in mind, and never give up on your dream. And this installation was pretty short, so easy to binge.

Our Dating Sim. This is recent but I've already decided to go back and rewatch this rather than start something new at least twice, so I'm counting it. Something about how these two settle into the friends to lovers dynamic is just delightful their familiarity and ease transfers to me through the screen.

Ingredients the series. Everyone calls this our pandemic comfort commercial for a reason. I have rewatched it a LOT. It is incredibly domestic and very chill, and once again full of good food. It helps that the episodes are so short so again, it's an easy binge.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (series). Another one that lands on multiple people's lists. This show is incredible and has such good character arcs. I will never get over how perfect the change in Zuko was handled. This one is partially comforting because of how long it's been in my life and how many times I've watched it, but also the found family vibes and the problem of the week format once again is very comforting to me.

Love Sick. I know. But it is the first BL I saw, and it stuck with me. I usually skip around the BL cut when I go back to this (which I still do). Pun and Noh spend a lot of time together in silence or with the OSTs playing, and do a lot of talking in body language and eye contact. Even though they're young and awkward and things are unresolved for so long, when they're together just the two of them this show (and their relationship) is easy and comforting.

60s Batman. There are several sitcoms that I would watch an episode or two if it's on (Frasier, the Nanny, Third Rock from the Sun, Golden Girls, Schitt's Creek), but the Adam West Batman is just... incredible. It is so silly. It is so earnest. It was ahead of its time. And once again, that problem of the week storytelling with incredibly competent characters is deeply comforting to me.

[Also shout-out to sorry-bonebag's Taskmaster mention because i have definitely rewatched it a bunch too!]

Tagging @italianpersonwithashippersheart @callipigio @my-rose-tinted-glasses @chickenstrangers @justafriend-ql @belladonna-and-the-sweetpeas @visualtaehyun @solitarywandering @thewayofsubtext @respectthepetty no pressure as always!

#tag game #thanks for the tag! #until we meet again #uwma #azumanga daioh #star trek #st: tos #what did you eat yesterday? #kinou nani tabeta #history 2: crossing the line #our dating sim #ingredients the series #ingredients #avatar: the last airbender #love sick the series #love sick #batman #batman 66

[mx-piggy]

I've decided that I'm going to be reviewing every episode from the new season of Futurama. No one asked, but, hey, it's my blog and I like to think people may have mild interest in my opinion. So, here are my thoughts on 'Children of a Lesser Bog'.

Once again, if you wanna chat about the episode in the notes (comments, rbs) or via DMs, feel free!

I really enjoyed this episode, I think more than I enjoyed the Impossible Stream. With the Impossible Stream, you had the novelty of 'hey, new Futurama!', with an okay story and some good jokes. But, I feel like this episode worked better for me because I adore when Futurama allows itself to examine its characters in stories that have a genuine sense of emotion. Plus, I'm biased because I love Amy and it was really great to see a rare moment of her explored in so much depth. I feel like there are only a handful of episodes that focus on Amy, and even fewer that are so genuinely touching.

The plot was actually really good, in my opinion. I assumed the writers were just going to do something a little sitcom-y with Kif and Amy becoming parents and struggling to balance everything, so I liked the way the story went with Kif being away from his family and trying his best to get home to them, and Amy struggling to cope with motherhood as well as experiencing insecurity. I like how the plot was resolved in a genuinely heart-warming way, with the conclusion of Amy's love for her kids being more important than any biological link to them she lacks. Also, I'm interested to see how they handle this idea of Kif and Amy being parents going forward. In the Comedy Central years, they preferred to maintain the status quo of the show (hence Fry and Leela's muddled relationship), so I'm wondering if being on Hulu will mean that the show will be less afraid of shifting the status quo.

So, I want to get my more negative thoughts out the way before moving onto things that I liked/loved, since I'd rather emphasise the positives of the episodes considering I had a very positive opinion of the episode overall.

I only really noticed it in this episode, but a lot of my issues with the animation/writing from the Comedy Central era of the show, and probably before then, too, is how the show has a tendency to have very limited animation when a group of characters are gathered together but only a few of them are actually talking. It always feels clumsy and odd because there'll be so many characters just standing there, not reacting to what's going on, which is out of character for most of them. I understand that it's not really the fault of the animators and that it's a tough industry. It only really registered in this episode because of how it was strange to see Zapp just standing there in the background expressionlessly, without having said anything in the episode (or even this season, to my recollection) prior. Also, it was odd to see the Planet Express crew just watching on with unchanging expressions and without saying anything as the Grand Midwife threatened to take Amy's kids away in a genuinely heart-wrenching scene. I just wish there was more reactivity to the characters in the background, to make the characters feel more fully realised and as though they have meaningful relationships to one another. Otherwise, it has the same lifeless quality to most of Family Guy and its various knockoffs.

A problem I had with this episode specifically is that I found it a little contrived that Leela would forget that she knocked up Kif because the writers needed an excuse to exposition dump information that a lot of the audience would remember. It felt very out of character for her. In general, not a lot of this ‘reminder’ dialogue felt natural. I'm worried that this will happen in the show going forward when it continues plotlines from previous episodes (e.g. Parasites Regained). I feel like it's kind of a time-waster to have them spend almost five minutes of a 24-minute-long episode reminding the audience of information they could easily access from rewatching Kif Gets Knocked Up A Notch if they don't remember it. I feel like they would have cut this part of the episode out if it was airing on TV rather than on a streaming service, because of the differences in time-strictness.

That said, Sex Across the Universe and drunk Leela were pretty funny to me, so I guess I can somewhat get over this issue.

This is a very personal issue for me, and it's that I feel like Zapp didn't have as much of a presence in this episode compared to previously in the show. Don't get me wrong, I think it's fine for there to be an episode that has Kif and Zapp in it but has Kif be the focus rather than Zapp. What I mean is that Zapp is this larger-than-life character who has some of the funniest lines in the show even when he's a minor character in an episode, and I just didn't get that from him in this episode.

The show feels very different just vibe-wise compared to the original run and the Comedy Central run, but I feel like, at times, the CC run could also feel a little lifeless, if that makes sense. I don't know how to describe it, really. With the original run, there was always a sense of life to it, without any moment feeling like 'dead air'; maybe it was because of the animation had more of a human touch- or feels that way, anyway- than the more recent instalments of the show. But, the style and delivery of jokes at times have felt increasingly slow and empty to the point of feeling clumsy. It's something I've always felt about Futurama as well as the Simpsons, but I have no idea if I've effectively articulated it.

Now, onto the more positive things!

I'm so happy that they've finally figured out how to handle Amy and Leela in a way that doesn't feel irritating and at least mildly sexist. In the past, I've really hated how they've had the two main female characters of the show be so unpleasant to each other, whilst the male characters can get along just fine and have close, meaningful bonds. Like, it just felt like a bunch of male writers saying 'we think women are two-faced and catty so Leela and Amy will just be like that'. I'm in the process of writing a fic that explores Amy's harsh treatment of Leela as a result of the envy Leela causes her, because I'm so unhappy with their canon relationship and I wanted to see them to have a kind of meaningful relationship. Actually, I found it interesting that the conflict between Leela and Amy in the episode is sparked by Amy's jealousy.

After this episode where they have some of the most pleasant interactions between them out of the whole show, I'm actually optimistic that the show will make Amy and Leela have a pleasant relationship after this episode, though I can only hope they can have a somewhat meaningful relationship going forward, in the same way Fry and Bender have one.

I actually think the conflict between Leela and Amy in the episode is perfectly understandable and logical, more so than the random catty comments Amy would make at Leela's expense in the prior seasons. This time, Amy's actually really hurt and insecure about her kids favouring Leela over her. I feel like it was a good, compelling storyline, not only looking at Leela and Amy's relationship to one another but also examining the broader theme of motherhood or parenthood as a whole, and how Amy may not be the kids' biological mother, but she is their mom and she loves them. And, I really like how they didn't go down the route of Leela trying to take the kids away from Amy. I feel like it's a plot line you could kind of justify because of Leela's own issues with being an orphan and whatnot, but it wouldn't have been in character for her, at least in my opinion. I really liked how they positioned Leela as the kids' aunt, rather than her being jealous of Amy for having kids.

There were a lot of funny jokes in the episode, and I've compiled them into a bullet point list:

Bender coming third in Masterchef Junior.

The noise the Professor makes when his mouth is stuck together by the honey.

‘Buy A Church’ and ‘reassure Kif’ on Amy's schedule

Axl (the biggest of the three kids) in the stroller was a funny visual gag.

Kif being one of those wine moms with his mineral water.

Zapp's pleading cries as he is dragged into cave- it reminded me of Love's Labours Lost in Space, with Billy West's hilarious delivery of 'oh, God, no!'

“AND STAY AWAY FROM MY SCROTUMS!!”

"Daddy’s coming to tuck you in. To your graves.”

“Scruffy’s stuff gets around.”

Visual gag of Kif ripping off his shirt and proceeding to fold up his skirt.

“I did what a daddy had to do.”

Other little things I liked, compiled into a bullet point list:

I'm happy that they replaced Billy West as Mr. Wong’s voice actor. Sort of unrelated, I'm hoping that the King of the Hill revival does the same for Kahn.

I really liked how the kids kept going over to Leela. The first time especially, it was really funny.

Also, the kids were really cute! I like how they were different ages (physically/developmentally, anyway), because I feel like it'd feel too cliché if they were all babies. I don't know why; I think it'd just make it feel too sitcom-y having Amy and Kif take care of babies.

I loved Aunt Leela; it was nice seeing her interact with them.

I really liked seeing Zapp and Kif in action together. I feel like it's something surprisingly rare on the show to have Zapp and Kif doing something that doesn't directly involve the Planet Express crew, so it was interesting to see them together on a DOOP mission.

#episode: children of a lesser bog #futurama #hulurama #futurama spoilers #futurama season 11 #long post

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Rereading Emma, I’m noticing the degree to which it includes an inversion of Sense and Sensibility: in both of them, a young man is in a secret engagement with a poor woman of whom his family would strongly disapprove, but he appears to have fallen in love with another young lady whom he met after the start of the engagement. In both of them, the woman he is engaged to notices this other attachment.

The contrast is in the utterly different personalities of Jane Fairfax and Emma relative to Lucy Steele and Elinor. Lucy is posessive and feigns friendship with Elinor in order to taunt and watch her, whereas Jane is distant from Emma and would rather break the engagement than have him marry her out of obligation. In personality, the compare-and-contrast effect is heightened by Jane Fairfax and Elinor Dashwood - in opposite positions in the real or supposed triangles - having extremely similar personalities: reserved, polite, self-controlled, valuing morals and good behaviour over personal comfort, and willing to bear patiently with difficulties.

Emma, however, behaves extremely badly by Jane on spreading (if only to Frank) the groundless speculation of a romantic connection between Jane and Jane’s friend’s husband. In addition to this being extremely insulting in particular to a woman like Jane with very high moral standards, Emma (not knowing of the engagement) is under the impression that Jane is going to be a governess, and being suspected of such a thing, if it got spread around by gossip, could be extremely destructive to Jane’s job prospects. Though Emma has no real malice, one could easily see Jane feeling similar about her to how Elinor feels about Lucy.

The other contrast with S&S, of course, is that neither Emma nor Frank is either in love with each other; they just have a lively friendship and enjoy other people shipping them (Frank to conceal his actual engagement; Emma for reasons of vanity and because he’s really the only person who’s both socially eligible and close to her age that she’s ever met in her limited social circle).

The other thing that stands out is that, relative to Austen’s other novels, Emma is much more of a sitcom. Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Persuasion all have comparatively linear narratives revolving around 1-3 relationships involving the main characters. Emma’s much more episodic, without either Emma or Mr. Knightley realizing their feelings until later in the book, and with very low stakes for both of them through most of the book. Austen’s novels seem to alternate in this way. Northanger Abbey (written first, but not published at the time) satirizes popular melodramatic novels, and so to a lesser degree does Sense & Sensibility. The lighter and wittier Pride & Prejudice is followed by the more serious and sober Mansfield Park, which is clearly in conversation with P&P with the strong parallels and contrasts between the two in characters, relationships, and scenes. Then the lighter and more comedic Emma follows the more serious MP, and is in term followed by the more serious and dramatic Persuasion. This feels deliberate on Austen’s part, and would have given her contemporary readers a good amount of variety.

Emma’s an interesting character in that, while her flaws (mainly her snobbishness towards the Martins and how manipulative she is regarding Harriet’s interactions with them, as well as her bad behaviour to Jane) do bother me more than any of Austen’s other protagonists, she also has virtues I couldn’t imagibe having (her father is so aggravating, and she’s so patient and tactful and good at understanding how to manage his interactions with guests in a way that is comfortable for everyone). Really, despite very different social classes, Mr. Woodhouse and Miss Bates are notably similar in being very kind and well-meaning but also very irritating, and taking a long time to say very little. I feel like that may be an intentional parallel.

My sympathies in the book (apart from Jane Fairfax and Mr. Knightley) are most with Mr. John Knightley, Isabella’s husband, and if I were in the book he’s probably the one I would most enjoy spending time with. I too would get annoyed sometimes with many of these people! I too weary of meaningless small talk and local gossip! I could happily accept a little occasional ill-humour from him in exchange for the rare blessing of thirty minutes’ rational conversation.

#jane austen #emma woodhouse #emma #jane fairfax #sense and sensibility

[robinreflects]

I got an ask for you!

For both Hazbin and Helluva, what episodes of each respective series do you hate/are your least favorites thus far? And what are the main issues you have with them, if any specifically call out to you?

Personally for Hazbin it's Episode 3. It feels the weakest to me structurally speaking compared to most of the other episodes, like Alastor was going and doing this thing he's up to while the B plot does fuck all to actually show the characters bonding together. Charlie and Vaggie's conflict there felt like the most nothing thing ever, too. Zestial deserved way more than Episode 3, I hope he has something to do in Season 2.

I think Carmilla definitely needed to have more time at that point to have the Vaggie parallel as well -- Whatever It Takes was a great song but the parallel felt kinda out of left field to me beyond the premise of the two having people to defend/protect (though I suppose it could be interpreted as foreshadowing for the characters' interaction later on). Until Episode 7 with Out For Love, not only are the two characters actually interacting with each other, but Vaggie's character is a lot stronger here, and her conflict with Charlie was stronger than the one in Episode 3.

For Helluva, GOD it's a 1v1 against S2E4 and S2E5. Besides the stupid dick joke that killed the energy for S2E3 I liked the rest of it enough compared to these ones. It felt like they kinda character assassinated Striker for the sake of, yet again, ANOTHER dick joke despite...Also making him hate sex/dick jokes???

And the camp one was fun but just felt really unproductive to the narrative besides the stuff with Blitz and Barbie. Then again, I thought that should've been its own episode, instead of some forced B plot in an episode that could've easily been more like S1E1, where we get to see the characters actively doing their job and it being actually funny and entertaining. (Murder Family is one of my favorites btw, I've seen it several times when we only had the first few episodes out. I wish the show had a bit more episodes like it.)

Hello! Thanks so much for the ask anon! I started writing this as a short post, but it ended up being way longer than I intended so... the Keep Reading option it is!

I don't particularly hate any episode of either show, but there are a few where I stopped and thought this... isn't that important in an 8 episode season, especially for Hazbin Hotel. Both of those shows are framed like sitcoms; where you have an ensemble cast of characters in the same setting and put them into semi-realistic situations which creates a comedic effect, the problem is sitcoms are usually at least 13 episodes a season long, but most times one season of a sitcom has the standard of making their season a 20-25 episode one (or... at least they did before).

For Hazbin Hotel, the lack of extra episodes shows very much, episodes 3 and 5 are so far the best examples of this in my opinion, they both very much feel like filler episodes. There are some very important establishments in both of those episodes, as you mentioned for episode 3. The setting up for Vaggie and Carmilla as an interactable duo later on in the show, as well as most likely foreshadowing Vaggie's and Charlie's argument later on in the season. Alastor's plot serves as a "subtle" hint for his ties to Heaven, which is (I'd confidently say) revealed in the last episode.

The song between Carmilla and Vaggie felt really forced and it's my least favorite of the bunch, I have a general problem with the songs in the show, which I will talk about later on. Carmilla's part of the song I understood or rather I understood why she was singing her parts; Vaggie's worry came out of nowhere. It can be argued that the entire B plot of Vaggie trying and failing to take on Charlie's role served as build-up, which then culminated into her part of the song, however, it didn't come across that way. Characters trying something that is typically not in their comfort zone and failing due to the circumstances or characters around them is a popular tactic in sitcoms for a funny scene (I mean the reason why s6 ep15 of Brooklyn 99 is funny is because Rosa needs help but is unwilling to ask for it and it gets to an absurd point) so seeing Vaggie trying and failing didn't come across as serious and as of deeply ingrained insecurity of her's as it was intended, which adds to the song feeling forced on her part. The problem isn't the fact that her plot of the episode had that surprise sad moment, but rather the fact that it went way too deep into her insecurities; the start of this was the "never fail you" part, and most that came after.

Episode 5 is way more of a character-focused episode and a filler episode than episode 3. Again, it is an important episode and serves as a very nice segue to episode 6 (my personal favorite), as well as giving us, the viewers (not the fandom, but new viewers who have found this show and decided to watch it, maybe having not even seen the pilot) some context into Alastor's character and status. Which is a good thing, Alastor's backstory is good character-building. And of course, introduces Lucifer to us for the first time, we finally see the King of Hell.

But that's.... just what it is, establishing. I can establish Character A in my own personal story, however, if I don't use or mention said character at all until later on in the story, so much so that people might have even forgotten about them, then I didn't do a really good job. I believe it's safe to say that Carmilla and Lucifer are both iconic characters within the show, so I don't believe people have forgotten about them, but I don't remember Carmilla or her weapons being mentioned once throughout episodes 4-6 when she and her weapons were an essential part in the finale. These points apply to Zestial as well, as you said I really do hope he gets at least somewhat of a bigger role within the show in the second season.

I genuinely hate being a person who says this, as I am a big musical theatre fan, but the songs come out of nowhere; the characters just start singing for no reason whatsoever other than the crew saying "I'd like a song here", most of them are really good (and I won't even go into the fact they got so many Broadway legends on the show), but that doesn't take away from the fact that most of the time there is no reason for a song to be placed in that scene. As well as most of the visuals of the songs looking like a mesh of those cool shots we've all seen in animatics on YouTube.

For Helluva... Fuck that'll be somewhat of a convoluted answer. The entire show kind of got away from what it was presented as in the pilot, so I have very much a hard time picking out which episodes are my least favorite. What I got from the pilot (which is always there to set the overall tone of the show and characters, as well as just test out how successful the show/premise would be) is that it's a modern sitcom-y spin-off (think Brooklyn 99, New Girl, Modern Family, etc; also those sitcoms that have cut to the funny event mentioned scenes) of Hazbin Hotel. So I went into it with that mindset, and the first episode does keep up with the premise we were originally given, which is why I like it so much. As well as Unhappy Campers, I really enjoyed that episode because it felt like it was keeping true to the original premise of the show. The other episodes... it's not that I dislike them, I dislike the abrupt tonal shifts the episodes give us; for example, Murder Family (as I mentioned) gives us that funny quirky sitcom tone the pilot gave us, but then Loo Loo Land is a much more serious episode. It's not a bad thing for a comedy series or a sitcom to have serious moments or serious episodes, it's great in fact. That being said, those scenes/episodes need to be done either later on in the show when we are already connected with the characters (such as Marvin's death in HIMYM) or have to be shown later on in the episode itself (Angel's abuse in episode 4) because the introduction scene (or first scene) introduces us to the tone of the episode and most of the time in sitcoms or comedy series the tone of the episode is supposed to be comedic. The serious scenes hit so hard because of the emotional plot twist we as the viewers are experiencing. In Helluva Boss though, most of the "serious" episodes' intros already have a serious introduction scene, which gives off the effect of drastic episodic tonal shifts.

#hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel criticism #helluva boss critical #helluva boss criticism #robin reflects on hellaverse #robin reflects asks

[agentnico]

Ted - Season 1 (2024) review

Look, it’s a live-action Family Guy. Let’s not even sugarcoat that fact.

Plot: It's 1993, and Ted the bear's moment of fame has passed. He's living back home with his best friend, John Bennett, and his family. While Ted may be a lousy influence on John, he's a loyal pal who will go out on a limb for friendship.

The Ted movies are enjoyable if a tad forgettable pieces of comedic crudeness. Also they haven’t aged the best, so I was quite apprehensive when I heard that they were making a prequel streaming series based on the property. Originally I was not even planning on watching it, however upon its release on the streaming service Peacock, which by the way has anyone even heard of Peacock?? I swear there are so many streaming services around now that it’s hard to keep up with them all. That Weird Al movie that came out a year ago was on something called Roku. Still have no clue what the fudge is Roku! Can’t we just get these streaming companies to bundle up into one and give us all the content on one singular platform? Now is that too much to ask!? Apparently so. Regardless, with that rant aside, let’s talk about the Ted show.

Indeed it’s a surprise that the Ted series is actually kind of good! It’s a throwback to the 90s American sitcoms, with the show focusing on not only the bear but also on his family living in the suburbs. And each family members gets up to their amusing antics every episode, and though none of it breaks any new comedic ground, I must say this was a very enjoyable and easy watch. For one, this show is actually funny. From the ridiculous scenarios that occur, with Ted and John smoking weed for the first time, to their dad wishing upon a star and bringing his toy truck to life who becomes a Republican racist, to John going to buy a condom at a supermarket where an overly nice shop assistant helps him to pick what kind only to turn out to be a creep who runs away as soon as another shop assistant appears. Look, it’s all ridiculous and stupid, but for the most part a lot of the jokes land.

Also, it’s so easy for the teddy bear to steal the show, and of course Seth Macfarlane is on top form riffing and throwing insulting one-liners left and right, and there’s also so much physical and slapstick comedy that comes from the bear’s movements, from how he runs to the way he stares at people with emotionless eyes. The teddy is great, and also even though he’s crude, he never became tiresome or annoying, whereas in the movies he did get a tad repetitive. However the human characters also get enough development and focus that you warm up to the entire family. The kid that plays John was actually spot on with his Mark Wahlberg impression, nailing the accent, but also as a whole he did a great job having to act mostly next to CGI character. His chemistry with the bear was very good, and you felt their friendly camaraderie. As for the parents, the mum was hilarious as the innocently nice housekeeper who was super naive about everything, and the dad at first came off annoying and selfish, but as the show progressed you warmed up to him too due to the solid writing. Then Giorgia Whigham rounds up the cast as the rebellious cousin who disagrees with the old-school beliefs of the family, but also ends up being a key support to each character.

In terms of the negatives, for a show that’s billed as a sitcom, the episodes were way too long. The premiere alone was 50 mins, and then rest ranged around the 40 minute mark, and so pacing did drag at times. Especially when certain jokes were stretched out longer than they should be, they really should have been kept to around 20 mins. Aside of the pacing issues, this was a solid comedy show.

Ted by no means reinvents the comedic genre, however it’s truly an amusing show that will have you smiling throughout, and turns out to be way better than it had any right to be. Also the special effects on the bear are also really impressive. He really does look like a real talking bear, and the movements were all fluid and well done. So yep, Ted is a win. Here’s hoping for a second season!

Overall score: 7/10

#Ted #seth macfarlane #family guy #ted series #ted season 1 #Ted series review #2024 #streaming #tv series #max burkholder #giorgia whigham #scott grimes #alanna ubach #comedy #sitcom #ted tv show #peacock #2024 shows #everybody needs a best friend

[itsana004]

erm… Vetrix (Tron) for the character ask? He’s my silly idk

Hiiii kanamori! I just want to start by saying IM SORRY IT TOOK ME AGES TO GET BACK TO YOU PLEASE FORGIVE MEEEE

Ohhhh Tron! He's a character I posted a few times about in my blog but I haven't really got into how I feel about him so this is a really interesting character suggestion! So here lays my truest thoughts on Byron/Tron.

•How do I feel about this character

Omg, I have a love/hate relationship with him?? There is a part of me who thinks he's one of the best villains of Zexal, he's an evil freckin gremlin and he's so funny and just wanna squeeze him to death, but then there is a part of me who wants to squish him like a bug and wants to see him being obliterated.

Do I hate him because of episode 54? Not really, I hate him like in a funny kind of way, I like to make memes of Droite flipping him off or just stepping on him but that's it really, oh but I have a visceral hate for the writers absolutely! Tron is just a silly old deadbeat dad manchild whose not in fault for writer's questionable writing when it comes to women and their pleasure in utterly humiliating them but that's that.

Also I find it interesting that he took this childlike form, has a childish behaviour while having a calculative and calm demeanor of an adult at the same time?? It really makes his character very fun and he definitely teases Faker and Kazuma about his youth while they get wrinkles every year.

ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT TRON'S VISCERAL HATE FOR HIS SECOND SON IV??? I FIND IT SO FUNNY AND THE MEMES ARE GOLD BUT LIKE OMG IV IS BETTER THAN ME CAUSE I WOULD NEVER RECOVER FROM THAT.

•All the people you ship romantically with this character

Let's start with HOW THIS MAN IS SO FVCKIGN GAY FOR FAKER??? Like he goes through the effort to make him coffee because of how stressed Faker is and Faker destroys the cup AND HE STILL REMAINS COMPOSED AND CALM, that's like... toxic level of simping right there, yes, this man is a fvcking simp and his decision as Tron to still save his life and work with the man lured him and pushed him off a cliff, betrayed him, left his sons orphan, made him go through hell, AND ALL IT TOOK TO FORGIVE HIM WAS FAKER'S SORRY ASS AND THEM FLOATING IN THE BACKGROUND JUST BEING GAY ASF, yes, at this point no matter what Faker does, this man is gonna come back to him because that's just how much he's gay for him. Like look at him how he keeps showering Faker with compliments to Kazuma while Faker is not there to listen LIKE??? And they both lost their wife, just saying, more trauma bonding and free gay to roam idk

And the revenge plan of Byron, you know what they say, the greatest hate comes from deepest love, and just when his toxic bf apologies showing remorse, he goes back back to him just like that

In conclusion, Byron is super gay for Faker, like on a toxic level gay, but I guess that makes it hot.

•My non-romantic OTP for this character

OTP would sound weird so let's just say any non-romantic relationship, I guess that would be with his sons and I guess I'm mostly influenced by the fandom memes and his hatred for his second son, they are all funny and sometimes makes me really wish for a sitcom for the Arclight family.

I also love his friendship with his old buddies Kazuma and Faker and idk maybe should all go for a gay bonding trip again

•My unpopular opinion about this character

Honestly I'm not sure about this one, I think we all agree he was the best villain in Zexal I

I think he should have appeared more in Zexal II, is that an unpopular opinion?

•One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character

Like I said before, I really want a sitcom of Arclight family and them just interacting with one another they are so funny

Also I will hate the writers forever for pretending that Droite and Tron never dueled, BRUH, LET THEM EXCHANGE ONE CONVERSATION? ONE TINY BIT? NO? FVCK. YOU. WRITERS. There was this fanfic where all the people gather to the W.D.C. party (before the Tournaments start) to the next year one and they have such a funny exchange and I FEEL ROBBED.

And I just wanted to see him brew more chaos in Zexal II while he barely appeared, I really want to know how he would play out in Zexal III.

I'm again sorry for this very long post and for taking such a long time! And thank you so much for sending an ask it makes me so happy to see them even if I'm not the best at answering them right away 💞💞

#zexal #ygo zexal #yugioh zexal #tron arclight #tron zexal #byron acrlight #character breakdown #zexal asks

[devilofthepit]

also while i’m at it i just got caught up on wwdits and mannnn i wish it were better. that’s another show that i have so much appreciation for as it was a past hyperfixation and therefore it’s still so important to me but i really cant feel the way i used to about it. this season is better than s4 don’t get me wrong but it still has the same problem which is that there really is no plot. i get that it started out as the funny vampire show but then all of the contradictions and complications that arise from vampirism like guillermo’s familiarhood(?) and nandor’s existential crisis really end up grounding the show and giving it somewhere to go. these plots run throughout the first three seasons and by season 3 it’s evolved past just a funny sitcom about vampires who live together. i say this all the time but the end of s3 was so so well done where it felt like the stakes (hehehe) we’re continually being raised each episode and that was such a good cliffhanger and then it just went downhill. since then there haven’t been any really complex season long arcs that get the attention they deserve. s4 was almost entirely putting the characters in one situation or another without it affecting anything else. s5 feels like that a little as well although the writing is marginally better. at least we have guillermo’s vampirism and laszlo and nadja keeping it a secret i like how this heightens the tension but it always somehow feels like a background thing to all the other silly things that happen in the episodes, it really feels like the writers don’t know how to weight different aspects of the plot. and meanwhile the relationship between guillermo and nandor (and the rest of the vampires too) never seems to change. i know the point is that they’re vampires and they can never see him as one of them but there are sooo many times throughout all 5 seasons where the vampires’ mistreatment of guillermo is brought up but there’s absolutely No evolution which makes sense to some extent bc they’re vampires but at this level is so interesting like truly no one is changing from episode to episode except guillermo (quite literally) and even that isn’t focused on enough compared to like. various characters running for comptroller or nandor making a new friend. and all of this especially after nandor promising to make guillermo a vampire and the way their relationship evolved at the end of season 3. nandor and guillermo’s relationship is the most central relationship, even the most central conflict of the entire show. i love nadja and laszlo dearly but their relationship isn’t really going anywhere except for maybe the antipaxan family storyline which got resolved within an episode. guillermo himself could have been the most central character given that he’s the first person we see, the one we most relate to, etc, but he’s relegated to the background in favor of Vampire Antics. and when i, tumblr user boydykecreature, formerly bloodcreature and thousandyearoldvampire, am complaining about too many vampire antics, it’s a problem. i used to love the novelty of this show and now it feels like the same thing over and over.

#fang speaks #wwdits #wwdits spoilers

[just-miru]

I think Gumball's parents have a dynamic that is really fucking annoying in most of media (overworked mother who pulls the whole family and fat lazy father who doesn't get involved at all and just sits on the couch all day).

But tawog makes it actually enjoyable and fun because Richard doesn't do the insufferable "bahh I hate my wife bahh my wife makes me work bahh wives am I right bahh I just wanna do nothing all day but my overworked fucking WIFE wants me to actually be INVOLVED and CARE about my FAMILY?? Can you fucking believe it?" thing. He's not uncaring, he's just a massive idiot but, as far as I remember, he actually really loves his family and Nicole (even though she's bossy and scary), and Nicole really loves him (even though he's incompetent and lazy). And I think that's beautiful. Common tawog W.

Block of media analysis no one asked for

adevărat grăit-ai my man!!

they are not just your typical sitcom stereotypes. they are a family.

the way they interact with one another just feels genuine and real.. they care about and love each other very much.. sniff sniff sob.... + we see them struggling like any real family would (from their money related problems to conflicts between them, etc etc)

that's one of the reasons why 'the choices' is one of my fave episodes, actually!! the family is up to their usual shenanigans -> Nicole loses her temper and is about to snap at Richard and the kids.

as she's about to do that she asks herself how did she end up in that situation to begin with and. and she remembers the day she met Richard... she then starts wondering how her life would have changed if she made other choices and in the end, after some possible scenarios + a cute montage showing her and Richard facing together whatever life has thrown at them, she. realises she's truly happy with her life.. she's truly happy with her family. augh sniff sniff sob

and instead of snapping at them, they all end up laughing and having fun... being a 'dysfunctional functional' family, as anais put it in another episode asdfaga (if i remember correctly, anais said something along the lines of 'can you please tell us what's wrong so we can start functioning again in our usual dysfunctional way??')

also!! in the song 'nobody's a nobody' Nicole and Richard have a part in which they sing about each other - 'tu ești mâna mea dreaptă ș-un umăr pe care plâng / tu ești un braț de sprijin ș-o minte când sunt puțin nătâng' (only listened to the song in ro and im too lazy to translate the lyrics asdfaga-) - need i say more? these bitches love each other very much

idk man. I just think they're neat. and i love them

#please ignore the typos. if there's any- #I'm sure there's more moments #but I've only been seeing the same 2 (?) seasons they broadcast on repeat asdfaga- #3* (i think it's just seasons 4 5 and 6 they're broadcasting non stop) #anyway.