i'd love to hear ur complaints abt modern geronimo! If u'd like to share that is
Thank you for asking anon, I’d love to share and you have inadvertently entered the dragon’s den/lh
But fr tho, it’s a lot. It’s mostly pertaining to the writing.
The reason why I hate modern Geronimo is in the biggest nutshell possible, they screwed up the original dynamic for the Stiltons, a majority of the books is just one big game of Geronimo torture porn between the other characters, and overall a lot of wasted potential for unique interactions between the wider cast and the rest of the Stiltons as its limited to just Geronimo himself. Hell a lot of the plots could have the input from the other Stiltons if they were brave enough. And there seems to be a new character every few books and there’s no rhyme or substance to it anymore. Since when did trap reproduce???
And you’re telling me von Volt has another relative???? Yk at some point you just stop reading the books. Oh and do not get me started on the Thea problem…
Let me start with the Stiltons real quick, somehow they got worse by watering down their personalities to a bunch of cheap jokes.
What made the classic (or early) books work was that the whole point of Geronimo’s character is that yes he’s a wimp, but that’s because he’s a tired boss who gets dragged into his family’s shenanigans, and by extension his friends and allies around him. Everyone has some eccentric personality that shocks or baffle him in some way, and that’s where the comedy comes from. He’s able to stand on his own because of his duties and eagerness to stay in his comfort zone is where the meat of the interactions come from.
His family especially Trap and Thea were meant to be respective foils to him. Trap consistently bullies him and Thea is meant to be the direct opposite of him, she’s the driving force in the group and has more pants to cover up what Gerry doesn’t have. She’s the one behind a lot of their adventures or scoops, hell she’s also the one who keeps finding them in the first place and drags her family and connections into them which makes sense because that’s her job and also where a lot of the plots start from. She fills out the spots that Gerry doesn’t have. Trap is just pure comic relief and is basically that outside force to the group. Hell the two even have a dynamic of their own where’d they just fight over the most trivial things and that makes us side with Geronimo more because of the ridiculousness of his family, that’s what made it click (to me). Highly recommend you read the early books, it shows the strongest character imo (#1-20).
Now Geronimo has all his autonomy stripped away and he’s been reduced to a nothing but a punching bag for everyone around him. I hope I’m not kidding here but try reading a classic book (let’s say #7 or #26) and compare it to the writing in a modern book (let’s say #46 or #74) it’s very jarring. They put more emphasis on different ways his day is ruined and give him no room to breathe or stand on his own. There’s just no charm to that anymore. There’s no fine line with his relationship with the other characters (Run for the Hills Geronimo is probably the worse one and represents everything I don’t like about the new dynamic)
Now over time that initial draw to action is also done by Trap, which I thought was cool because it still plays into the idea of Geronimo’s family dragging him into their shenanigans and the motives make sense to him specifically. It’s like he keeps getting calls from his relatives on schemes which is fun. But the more you keep reading the modern books the dynamic gets skewed over time and here’s the part I’ve been waiting for…Thea gets shelved completely. And now it’s somehow the GOD DAMN GINGER BROS SHOW?????
Now I think about it, Trap used to be a lot more clever in the classic books as well, he’s essentially a bumbling fool who keeps falling into the wrong situations to make a quick buck which slowly backfires on him. If you know me that well you know I’d call him a less scummier Grunkle Stan. The fact that there’s no Thea to balance it out or at least ground the dynamic to some level feels really annoying now.
You don’t really see much of her anymore as she’s either smiling at the back or doesn’t say more than five lines anymore, which is baffling because she’s the one who can pick up the pace the most. I really wished they showed more of her involvement again…They’re a trio, not a duo…and the books are suspiciously phasing her out to make room for the ginger bros fail routine and it ultimately feels very empty…there’s not much acknowledgement or involvement from her really like they could say she’s busy at mouseford or something but nope! Shelved completely without an explanation or a missed opportunity for a tie-in mention.
So far the only redemption I see is the Mayan Mystery one and the Soccer one where she had a more integral role which are way more recent but it still bothers me that they just shelved her for a majority of the modern run.
Listen if the modern books weren’t cowards she would SOLO all these people
she’d probably have an interesting dynamic knowing that she gets along with everyone well and is technically an adventurer. It’d be such a good parallel to her brother to play off of.
hell it’s even worse in the comics. Like there’s legit no acknowledgment of her at all, when trap is absent that gets an explanation but she’s just suspiciously…gone and the only time she does have a major role is when she’s used as a fake mask for a psyche-out to the villains (I’m sorry but if the comics are gonna pull that shit then I’m baited to believe that Thea and (cat lady) would have a homerotic switcheroo fight akin to Ms.Bellum and Sedusa. SHES THE TOUGHEST AND SMARTEST RODENT, USE HER GODDAMIT)
Idk man I tried reading some of the comics and it never worked out that much, again the dynamic feels suspiciously empty with zero acknowledgment. It’s not the Stiltons it’s just the fucking ginger bros for some reason. It doesn’t feel solid like it used to. I really can’t get into them which is a shame, and tbf why would I want to read a comic where Geronimo goes back in time and helps a colonist do his thing 💀
I’d be very happy if someone here can give me one good reason to get into them somehow, I want to like modern Geronimo, please/s
Look if there’s one character I don’t mind them putting in complete absence it’s probably the unaccompanied minors/s…Or Petunia which makes much more sense since she’s a family friend!
Look I actually like Ben and Bugsy as a duo, I think their whole concept is really wholesome, but the books don’t really push their parts that much, like there’s no meaningful interaction they have with the adults which is a lot of missed potential that or it’s just limited to Geronimo. Like listen I get that the whole point of the books was that it was from Geronimo’s perspective, but it’s not like everyone else was just “present”. They had more active roles and Gerry would just write all his observations down. You want a good example? The Mona Mousa Code.
Still…Benjamin had more charm and a bigger role in the classic books…that boy can hyper fixate and master niche skills in anything and was the emotional rock for Geronimo. But now he just goes along with his uncle being a punching bag routine :/ and I KNOW they could do a lot more for Bugsy here, especially since the paws are practically family friends.
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But you know…I’ll do give it credit here this era has one of my favorite art styles in the series and notably the one I grew up with the most (classic books illustrations still hold more charm imo) but the way action and expression is illustrated is just *chefs kiss* there’s a certain bounce to it that makes it so memorable.
And I’ll do admit all those geography facts (even if it’s just basic facts I mean it’s a kids book) and long detailed lists or charts about a characters detail is really cool and somehow makes it more immersive.
And it’s really nice to see the universe get expanded.
But overall, the writing is not the same anymore, the original dynamic is screwed up, and lots of missed opportunity to round up the cast together. It’s either empty or I’m just getting too old…Maybe I’m just nostalgia-biased in different areas who knows. But that’s pretty all my thoughts I can pull out.
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Lately, I've been seeing way too many arguments about why Ben and Devi wouldn't be a good couple or why they shouldn't be endgame, and to be perfectly honest they are all stupid. So here is my long rant debunking all of those arguments.
1.”They are too much alike, their personalities are too similar”
First of all, having similar interests and goals is not “being exactly alike”. It means you are compatible. They may share some personality traits but that doesn't mean they have the same personality.
Devi is accurately described as “Hotheaded” and a “Firecracker”. She is the one to have somewhat explosive outbursts (see throwing the beaker, throwing the textbook, ect). Even though she has grown a TON this season she still gets fired up (in a good way, I love her hotheaded tendencies)
Ben on the other hand could be described as someone with a “coolhead” (is that a term? idk it is now), we have literally never seen him have any sort of angry outburst. The few times we have seen him angry, he still managed to keep his cool. In fact we have seen him be the voice of reason to try to calm Devi down when she is having one of her “outbursts”.
Example: Ben pulling her aside to tell her she shouldn’t get emancipated and that she should make up with her mom.
(Also opposites attract doesn't mean that two completely different people will work together. Got to have some common ground)
2. “They are way too competitive with each other”
WHEN???? Show me a time, post relationship, where they have been even remotely too competitive with each other. Oh wait you can’t. In fact we have seen them work really well together as a team (see the debate tournament)
3. “They argue too much”’
BANTERING IS NOT THE SAME THING AS ARGUING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BANTERING IS NOT THE SAME THING AS ARGUING!!!!!!!!!!!
Ben and Devi have been through an incredible amount of growth and have both matured a TON this past season. We have literally never seen them really argue at all this season and even before that i wouldn't call their interactions arguing. They just have flirty friendly banter.
4. “Devi was over Ben when she got with Paxton”
No she wasn’t!!! Are we watching the same show?? Did you not see the whole longing loving looks at the dance?? Devi has literally never fully been over Ben. (she is however fully over Paxton).
In conclusion, there really is no sound argument against Ben and Devi being together. The way they have been set up and built up since season one is pretty much flawless. They have never fully gotten over each other, they have attempted but it never worked. Devi LOVES Ben !!! SHE LITTERALLY GOT STOMACH KNOTS WHEN SHE LOOKED AT HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have you seen the way that girl looks at him? She has never looked at anyone else like that. She chose Ben at the end of season three because she loves and trusts him. SHE ACTIVELY CHOSE HIM!!!!!!
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