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gale-gentlepenguin · 3 months

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Gale Reviews: Netflix Avatar: the Last Airbender (Book 1)

(Thanks @knightsweeties for this cute GP)

Now I have AVOIDED looking at spoilers, and opinions of others until After I had made my own conclusions.

A lot of people are mixed on this series. With only one thing being consensus:

The last airbender movie < Netflix Avatar the last Airbender < Avatar the last Airbender

Aside from that, opinions have been all over the places. On how great or how bad the show is.

I will be going over my thoughts on it in the following categories.

The Action (fight scenes)

The Effects (from bending, CGI, and costumes)

The characters

The Plot

The changes

Does it capture the Spirit?

How does it stand on its own?

Conclusions.

(Spoilers below, but let’s get Right into it)

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The Action

So I’m going to say this. The action in this series is great. In my opinion it’s the strongest point in the series.

The battles from invasions, to simple one on one fights are very well done, some aspects even surpassing the original. Like the invasion of the Northern Water Tribe, you really feel the place is under attack.

And the bending battles are pretty gorgeous. It’s impressive to see the fight between Katara and Paku done serviceable well.

Though one flaw is the fact that sometimes showing the fight or attack actually took away from the impact of story beats done in the original. Seeing the attack on the Air Nomads actually took something away from it. Seeing Aang discover that horror is much less impactful.

And seeing Zuko fight in his Agni Kai against his Father also took a lot of bite from the scene. If Zuko never fought back it would have been so much more traumatic.

But they were still good fighting scenes.

Solid 9/10

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The Effects.

The Costumes in this are Gorgeous! Especially Kyoshi warriors. The characters mostly look as if taken straight from the cartoon. The Face stealer himself being ABSOLUTELY HORRIFYING to look at in Live action. He is a sleep paralysis demon.

Appa and Momo both look great. The effects of the cities, and the blending are beautiful.

The bending also looks pretty clean. Though I admit the water bending was a bit lacking but the Fire looked ESPECIALLY fierce.

There is so much detail jam packed in this it’s amazing.

Though, I will say that it’s not flawless, some of the things do come off a touch goofy. But that could be more of uncanny valley with some of the bending.

8/10

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The Characters

And it wouldn’t be Avatar without the Characters in it.

And before we do anything, let me say, ALL of the characters look like the character they are playing. It’s like Netflix genetically modified them to Look like the character.

Dallas James Liu’s Portrayal of Zuko is PERFECT. Matching Season 1 Zuko’s personality to a T.

Zuko actually gets more development and his relationship with Iroh and the Crew are expanded upon more. That Funeral scene with him and Iroh broke my heart.

Maria Zhang’s Suki is also an incredible performance.

DANNY PUDI AS The Mechanist. (They cast Abed!) that was a fun surprise.

But now that we talked about what I loved about the characters… now to get to the negatives.

Aang feels so mopey. Yes Aang has his sad moments. But instead of being a hyper optimist with a penchant for fun, he is more like a depressed kid that has occasional bits of being a kid. I don’t blame the Actor, I just feel it’s more the writing

But if Aang got a downgrade in character, Katara was SHREDDED to practically nothing. The strong yet caring Katara was so… Passive. Even her big moment fighting Paku felt so… lack luster. It pained me to see this girl who was so strong come off so… passive.

Sokka did lose a chunk of character and development, but it wasn’t AS detrimental as one would believe. It’s still cruddy. But there was some stuff added that helped cushion the blow.

Appa and Momo were not as present because expenses (but at least they were fine)

King Bumi is dead. I don’t know WHAT was the plan behind Bumi, but this felt so… twisted and off. This isn’t the Bumi that taught Aang the lesson about how not everything is as it seemed. It hurt me to see such an accurate look be so inaccurate.

Azula and her friends felt like a down grade. I know what they were trying to go for. But I just didn’t feel that EDGE she had. It felt so.. pitiful.

On a positive

Jet and his team were still fun and a bit psychotic.

Ozai actually coming off as more competent.

And Admiral Zhao being incompetent yet super Egotistical was a change I welcome.

The bounty hunter Jun, flirting with Iroh was a change I wasn’t expecting but loved.

The Face Stealer may have looked more terrifying… but his actual action was mid… aside from the nightmares.

The rest of the character acting was a mix.

I gotta put this at… 5/10

When most of the main cast feels so bland it really takes away from the story.

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The Plot

So the season still follows the general plot of Book 1 of ATLA.

Katara and Sokka find the Avatar who got frozen for a long time. They go travel to help Aang find a Waterbending master so he can start learning to bend and save the world.

Now interestingly since it only has 8 episodes it sort of Blends together several plots into one episode. And this causes a lot of changes… and the effects of it are… well… a mixed bag at best and almost completely undefinable at worst.

Episode 4 being especially messy.

Now there are additions and changes from the original because of the constraints of Live Action.

Like not specifying that Aang has been gone 100 years, and actually changing certain story beats to references in order to save on time.

In some cases, it’s understandable. In facts being a one to one retelling would be boring.

The problem is that the story feels more like it’s pushing the characters rather than the characters pushing the story. Aang had agency, but now there is even more forced Agency.

I did like the changes that made the fire nation more competent. (I’ll discuss further in the next section)

But overall, I felt that the story was speed blitzed and super monologue heavy at its worse. It’s nothing incoherently awful. But it’s very lacking.

4/10

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The Changes

There were a Lot of changes done to this in comparison to the original series. So for this. I decided to make a new system.

I will list the change. If you see this Symbol (+) it’s a change I am fine with. If you see (-) it’s a change I didn’t like. And if you see (\) it means I’m indifferent to it.

-Fire Lord Sozin wiped out Air benders in person (/)

- Aang got lost in a storm by accident, not actively running away (-)

- Katara and Sokka lose the feminist development (-)

-No penguin sledding (- -)

-No Haru (-)

-Avatar Kyoshi take over (+)

-Zuko has a journal about the Avatars (+)

- Jet in Omashu (/)

-Teo and his father in Omashu (+)

-Bumi is jaded. (-)

-Secret tunnel early (-) (it’s weird that Sokka and Katara go in there, there is more I don’t like but I will just leave that out for now)

-The Funeral for Iroh’s son. (+++)

-The Agni Kai with Ozai was changed (-)

-The crew of Zuko is revealed to be the division that would have been sacrificed. (+)

-Aang never Water bends (-)

-Azula’s whole character alteration, and earning the blue flames (-)

-Less Serious Roku (-)

-Koh’e whole deal (-)

- Zhao’s death is different. (-)

-Yue having a bigger connection to Sokka (+)

-Fire nation demonstrates far more competence (+)

There are more but most of them I’m more understanding because of Time Constraints.

I will give credit that a lot of the changes I didn’t like but they did try something.

3/10

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Does it capture the Spirit?

This is where I have to say Kind of.

When you see the references, Cameos, and the small details. You can tell there is some love for the original series. The attention to details and the bending choreography is gorgeous and Almost seamless.

It’s where we get to the core of the show that feels different.

For example. The Netflix version of One piece. There are a TON of differences, but the core of the characters felt the same. The spirit of the show was still clear. It was handled with love.

With this series, I can say there is a respect for ATLA, but the core seems to have a different focus.

So I put this at 5/10

As there are some things that you can see have reverence, but other things that don’t.

_________________________________________

Conclusion.

The stark defenders of the show say you shouldn’t compare it to the Original because it will seem worse. While also then comparing how much better it is compare to the live action movie.

Here’s the truth, if you watched ATLA, you are not going to expect this show to be better than the original.

If you didn’t watch the original show, you would probably be entertained, and since this show explains basically everything, you won’t need to know as much as the viewer going in… but there is also a lot going on.

If you were to go in and watch this show with 0 understanding of the show. I’d say 6 maybe 7 out of 10.

But if you are a fan that cares about the show. I have to put it at 5/10

And that’s where I put it.

5/10

It is watchable, but I’m not absolutely smitten with it.

I’m willing to give book 2 a chance… but I’m iffy. On it.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #natla #natla spoilers #avatar the last Airbender live action #atla live action #Gale reviews

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defectivegembrain · 1 year

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The thing with Community is it kind of gets into like what the most fundamental problem is with most fictional media that actually tries to be about autism. And I'm not saying it's actively critiquing that, but it does almost accidentally subvert it quite a bit. Like most of the time, when you see something about an autistic character, there's this overwhelming feeling that they're not really a character, they're just a plot device. Just there to create angst for other characters or to blame problems on.

And a really important part of Abed's character is that for so long he could never see himself as a protagonist, as part of life itself, he was just an observer on the outside. And then with his friends' help and especially ESPECIALLY Troy, he started to be more a part of things. In life and in movies. He'd play in the dreamatorium and make silly film reenactments and pretend to be a talk show host.

And I relate to that so deeply as someone who has had intense daydreams, complex stories in my head all my life, but they were about characters I made up. Imagining myself in any story was more of a strain. And it took me so many years to be able to even make up autistic characters who were characters in their own right, because I never got to see that. And when I saw Community, I started getting some daydreams about it where I was actually a character, I was in the story. That's never gonna be my preference for daydreams, but I can do it.

And I think of Danny Pudi relating it to the experience of growing up mixed race and never seeing anyone like him onscreen, and it's like yeah you get it. He might not get the exact same experience, but he gets it through analogy and empathy and similar experiences, and I think that's a really important thing that he shared.

I think that's part of what got disappointing in seasons 5 and 6 though. It dropped the importance of this. Sure, it couldn't be the same without Troy, but like. It feels like Abed spends so much time scrambling to find different ways to connect with people and I just. When he acts like they're in a show, he is shut down. When he tries to be more grounded, he is shut down by everyone who finds that inconvenient as well. He can't win really.

#rambling #community #nbc community #abed nadir #autistic representation

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blondedonaldduck · 6 months

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- Your top five DTs episodes

- Rant about anything

Astro Boyd (obviously fhfhdh), Let’s Get Dangerous, Whatever Happened to Della Duck, The Golden Spear, and I can’t decide on a fifth but I loved Louie’s Eleven when I rewatched it recently so I��m gonna go with that for now

Also I’m one of those people who totally blanks when not given something specific to talk about so I’m just gonna talk about random Ducktales opinions. Specifically, this show is WAY better to me now than it was in 2018. It’s not without its issues obviously (no show is), but the emotional scenes hit way harder now and it’s just one big masterpiece. David Tennant, Paget Brewster, and everyone whose character appeared in Astro Boyd especially did an amazing job selling the emotion in certain scenes. And they’re all really funny as well??? I love it

I have a soft spot for Danny Pudi in particular because his portrayals of both Huey and Abed Nadir make me feel so seen. Like, personality wise, I basically AM both of them combined. Outside of Astro Boyd, my favorite serious scene of his is the locker scene in Community. It hits so close to home and even with Abed’s usual vocal inflections you can almost feel Abed’s pain when he thinks about all the people who have mistreated him. I’m amazed by that scene.

Also, I really love how different Huey and Abed actually act. I almost consider ‘Abed Nadir Danny Pudi’ and ‘Huey Duck Danny Pudi’ to be kinda different because it’s like he just transforms when he plays these characters.

#even if i never mentioned having autism i think this post would make it obvious

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iraempirecom · 7 months

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Bridget Showalter Pudi

Bridget Showalter Pudi, the wife of the renowned actor and comedian Danny Pudi, stands as a testament to the strength, love, and unwavering support that often exist behind the curtain of fame. While the spotlight shines brightly on Danny for his comedic brilliance and acting prowess, Bridget's presence in his life has been the steady anchor, contributing to his success in ways that might not always make the headlines.

Bridget Showalter Pudi: Personal Life

Bridget Showalter Pudi is a name that only recently started to gain attention, primarily due to her marriage to the famous actor Danny Pudi. She is a woman known for her low-key lifestyle and privacy, so much so that little information is available about her on social media. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Danny Pudi (@danielpudi) This lack of information about Bridget Showalter Pudi doesn't come from a place of disinterest, but rather her choice to remain private. This trait is in stark contrast to her husband's career, which is often under the spotlight. This dynamic creates a balance in their lives, as Bridget Pudi's quiet support allows her husband to shine on stage and screen.

The Love Story of Bridget Showalter Pudi and Danny Pudi

No love story is complete without a touch of serendipity, and the story of Bridget and Danny is no exception. They first crossed paths during their freshman year at Marquette University. Little did they know that this chance meeting would blossom into a lifelong partnership. Danny Pudi and Bridget Showalter's relationship began as a friendship, gradually evolving into a romantic bond. After graduation, the couple decided to seal their love with marriage vows in 2004. Since then, their strong bond has served as a testament to their love and commitment.

The Pudi Family

Bridget and Danny's marriage has been blessed with two beautiful children, twins James Timothy and Fiona Leigh, born in January 2012. The birth of their twins added a new dimension to their relationship, transforming them from a couple into a loving family.

Despite being a celebrity couple, Bridget and Danny have managed to shield their children from the spotlight, ensuring they enjoy a normal, grounded childhood. This is another testament to their dedication to their family and each other. The Net Worth of Danny Pudi While Bridget Showalter Pudi's net worth remains undisclosed, her husband, Danny Pudi, has made a significant fortune from his acting career. His net worth is estimated to be around $3 million. This wealth not only symbolizes Danny Pudi's successful career but also the comfortable life he has been able to provide for his family.

The Career of Danny Pudi

Danny Pudi is a well-known name in the entertainment industry, with a career spanning acting, comedy, writing, producing, and directing. He gained fame for his role as Abed Nadir in the popular comedy series, Community. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Danny Pudi (@danielpudi) Before his big break, Pudi worked as a recruiter for an executive search agency. His flexible home-based job allowed him to attend auditions, leading to his breakthrough role in Community, which ran for six successful seasons from 2009 to 2015.

Final Thoughts

Despite her husband's fame, Bridget Showalter Pudi has chosen to stay out of the limelight, dedicating her time and energy to her family. Her story is a testament to all those who choose to remain behind the scenes, providing unwavering support and strength to their loved ones. In the end, Bridget Showalter Pudi may not be a household name, but she plays an incredibly important role in her family's life. Her story serves as a reminder that success is not just about the accolades and applause, but also about the love and support that make it all possible. Read the full article

#BridgetShowalterPudi

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pennyserenade · 3 years

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my lovers of ted lasso, i know you’re going to need something to watch after this last season comes up next year and i recommend mythic quest. i’ve recommended it a million times—a trillion even—but it’s okay, because apple tv won’t. i’ll take the initiative as long as they keep paying the bills for it. here’s some selling points for the show:

megan ganz—who wrote for shows such as community, modern family, and it’s always sunny in philadelphia—writes for the show and is one of the creators of it

also listed among the creators are charlie day (from its all always sunny) and rob mcelhenney (from its always sunny). rob mcelhenney also plays a lead in the show

there’s a lot of lovely characters who have a wide variety of jobs and positions. there’s the twenty-something video game testers and the 70-something writer for the game. it’s very cool

the show is about a video game! that’s a concept that hasn’t been done before (at least not to my knowledge). as someone who admittedly hasn’t played a lot of games, i had to seek out others opinions about how well they do in that regard, and it appears it’s pretty plausible. for those who don’t like video games, this show is still ridiculously good and, as a writer, made me have a newfound respect for those who do work on and create video games

talks about how ridiculously hard it is to be a woman in stem and a woman in gaming

it’s so funny and so beautifully made. the second season is truly one of the finest i’ve ever seen

if i still haven’t sold you, it also has oscar winner f. murray abraham listed among its regular cast, danny pudi from community (abed nadir), anthony hopkins narrates an episode, and one of the writers for the last of us stars, directs, and writers for some of the episodes.

#mythic quest #im selling this hard bc i love it dearly #it took me by surprise #based on the trailer i thought i would hate it #but i’ve watched it twice !#danny pudi #ted lasso #tv shows

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my-terrible-life · 4 years

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I wanted to say some things about the Arabic used in Community.

I'm not sure what the point the point of this post is but I just wanted to get the thoughts out of my head because they've been there ever since I first watched Community like a million years ago and found out one of the main characters is half Arab.

Long post I'm sorry!!

So in Community Abed is Polish Palestinian. My very first thoughts on this, so long ago, was huh what an unusual name! Because it is. Abed is not a common Arab name at all, it's pretty weird actually. The name itself means "Worshipper" which I guess should fit in with the ~theme~ of Arab Muslim names but it doesn't because in Arabic it sounds incomplete.

Boys names that follow the "theme" of Worship tend to be 2-parters, the Worship part and then the What part. What is he worshipping? God obviously, but God in Islam has many names and many descriptions, so the trend is 'pick one of the names/descriptors and put it right after the word that means worship' so we end up with names like Abdullah (for example). Abdullah in Arabic is a 2 word name, it is Abd then Allah, combined it means worshipper of Allah. We can have a name like Abdulrahman, which is a 2 word name that is Abd then Al Rahman, which combined means worshipper of the most merciful. The list can go on and on and they all mostly follow that pattern: Abd + God's name. That's the convention and that's what male Arabic Muslim names have followed for hundreds of years. So Abed alone is pretty odd, but not impossible I guess.

Now the writers could have consulted with an Arab at any point, there's Arabs literally everywhere in America, but okay it was during the time when casual racism was still something the audience didn't know we could be very vocal about, or that's how I think about it anyway.

Danny Pudi himself is not Arab so I don't think he could have accurately weighed in on this but again I don't know what it was like working as a brown actor on US television at the time. (We'll get back to Danny Pudi later)

Nevertheless, the initial oddness of Abed's name aside, I grew used to it and grew to really like the character. He's one of my 3 favorites ❤ and I don't have to repeat why he's awesome and how his stories are not stereotypes etc etc.

But the eps were his Arabic heritage and language come up were beefed. Hard.

You can split Arabic up into 2 umbrellas I guess: Standard Arabic called Fus'ha, and the common tongue or dialect of the specific Arab country you're in/writing about.

Most of us know and understand Standard Arabic because it's taught in schools and it is the language of the Qur'an so we learn it. It's also the language used for subtitles in film and TV, as well as any formal/official document, and when presidents give speeches in foreign countries so the instant translators can do their jobs without having to learn more than 1 Arabic dialect.

But here's a very big point guys... no one Speaks in Standard Arabic. As beautiful and flowery and vast as it can be we just don't use it like That.

Think of it like your everyday English you speak vs. Shakespearian English. No one talks like that unless they're on stage or they're trying to be funny.

So, it was very obvious when Abed and his Dad were talking that they put the script into Google translate and just went with that. They could have asked an Arab 🤦‍♀️ any Arab! There's so many of us everywhere just grab one off the street like a madman and ask 'em, they'll tell you. We Love correcting wrong Arabic 😂

Anyway, they had Abed speak in Standard Arabic.... cringe kingdom thanks... but Abed is Palestinian, which means his dialog should have been in Palestinian Arabic and that's hella different. (Now I'm personally Egyptian and while I would be able to understand Palestinian very well I would not be able to re-write his lines to reflect the dialect accurately, so I won't)

Of course their pronunciation was incredibly off as neither actor who play Abed or Gubi (weird name) are Arabs or speak Arabic. It just made me cringe so hard.

Now let's briefly talk about those yellow subtitles Community used for Abed and his Dad in that episode where they're fighting about Abed taking film classes... 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ yeah, not pretty, not only did just use Google translate, it was also unedited. I remember back then Google translate was still being filled up with vocabulary and different possible translations so for Arabic sometimes we'd get a very literal translation that made a whole sentence wrong. And boy did they mess that up!

The line was "The wrong person just left" and the translation was "الشخص الخطأ يسار" which is literally "the wrong person left", well what's wrong with that? Oh just that they used Left as in the direction.... the wrong person LEFT (direcrion) as in ur left hand as in let's go left instead of right 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ never mind that the entire phrase would not be translated that way to begin with but that they couldn't even bother to just double check their translation

Oh you guys know who sounded like they actually knew Arabic??? Abra! Her pronunciation was correct. Even if her lines were still in Standard Arabic her pronunciation and delivery showed she knew Arabic. (Another note on the name... I don't know what the hell Abra is, that's not an Arabic name I'm sorry) (neither is Gubi)

The last thing I wanna mention is from the Christmas ep, where Jeff gets in a fight, and Abed comes to their gathering with a dish from his culture, and he says "It's a traditional Muslim dish".....okay, Danny Pudi is not Arabic okay but he is Muslim and he should know there is no such thing as a Muslim dish, but fine okay maybe he couldn't say anything whatever who cares...

There is no such thing as a Muslim dish, or Muslim food. Or even Arab food, that doesn't exist... it should have been "it's a traditional Palestinian dish".

The Arab World is 22 countries, each very different from each other in culture, customs, food, language, whatever you can think of. We have similarities, we understand each other, we have a shitton of shared history but we are not a monolith.

Back to the Language aspect

Arabic is hard, Standard or otherwise, but especially Standard. The sounds you'd need to be able to make Arabic happen have to be trained into your mouth and throat, and it takes a long time. (I was lucky to grow up with it, not knowing the struggle, and major respect to those who want and try to learn it, whatever variation of it)

I was just spewing my frustrations here about a couple scenes and I'm glad there weren't any more tbh.

but I do hope this helps anyone who was curious about Abed's language.

Anyone writing about Abed or characters like Abed, I hope this can give a hint into what to research.

Also it's not pronounced Nadeer (with the emphasis on the second part) it's Naader (with emphasis on the first part)

Thanks for reading through this!

#abed nadir #community #trobed #arabic language in american media

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violetganache42 · 3 years

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DuckTales (2017)'s Best Episodes According to Entertainment Weekly

2018: S1E22 - The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!

This endlessly smart revival has a rapturous zigzag sensibility. The best surprise? Turning its funniest (and most devastating) adventure into a bottle episode set inside a half-crashed plane full of secrets. —Darren Franich

2019: S2E7 - What Ever Happened to Della Duck?!

This whole time, DuckTales had been hiding its best character off screen. But this episode finally showed us what Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s mom has been doing on the moon for the past 10 years. It’s heartbreaking to watch Della (voiced by Paget Brewster) reckon with how her love of adventuring has kept her away from her family—and her lullaby for her sons might break you—but the hope of reunion is powerful too. —Christian Holub

2020: S3E2 - Quack Pack!

In its first two seasons, the new DuckTales thoroughly surpassed its predecessor in humor and cleverness. With its third (and unfortunately final) season, DuckTales set its sights on the other Disney Afternoon cartoons as well—even though they all belonged to different genres. The Huey, Dewey, and Louie of DuckTales are death-defying adventurers, but the Quack Pack version of the characters just act like a normal sitcom family. This episode reconciled the two by using another element of Disney’s Duck mythology—Gene the Genie (Jaleel White) from the 1990 DuckTales film Treasure of the Lost Lamp. When Donald Duck wishes his family was normal, they get sent to a sitcom dimension; only Huey (Danny Pudi) senses something is wrong, and the resulting journey to convince his family evokes the best episodes of The Twilight Zone. The fact that Pudi also played iconic fourth-wall breaker Abed on Community is just one facet of this episode’s playful dance with meta absurdity. —Christian Holub

2020: S3E12 - Let's Get Dangerous!

It’s going to be tough to say goodbye to DuckTales when its current season ends, but we can’t deny the show is going out in style. Everything has been dialed up in season 3: The humor, the stakes, the meta-inventiveness. Showrunners Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones often talk about how they’ve drawn inspiration from every past incarnation of DuckTales: The original show, the movie, comics, games. In the home stretch, they started drawing inspiration from every other Disney Afternoon cartoon too. Season 3 kicked off with a magical riff on the Quack Pack and Goof Troop sitcoms, while this epic two-part episode used a quantum machine to literally pull supervillains out of the original Darkwing Duck show—thus giving DuckTales’ version of Darkwing (Chris Diamantopoulos) a true trial by fire. Watching goofball pilot Launchpad McQuack (Beck Bennett) evolve into a mature hero in his own right exemplifies what is so fulfilling about DuckTales, and the new adventure family he’s formed with Darkwing and Gosalyn (Stephanie Beatriz) offers a ray of hope in the face of cancellation. Disney, if you’re listening, please greenlight a Darkwing Duck spin-off stat! —Christian Holub

#my post #ducktales #ducktales 2017 #ducktales reboot #ducktales season 1 #the last crash of the sunchaser!#ducktales season 2 #whatever happened to della duck?!#ducktales season 3 #ducktales spoilers #quack pack!#let's get dangerous!#entertainment weekly #ew.com

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greenandhazy · 4 years

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There are two Abed moments in seasons 5 and 6 that I feel like are... quite underexplored in the actual text itself but which are sending me into a Hurt/Comfort emotional tailspin.

SCENE 1 (for those of you who didn’t watch past the first few episodes of Season 5, the context is that Abed, on his way to see a new Kickpuncher movie, unthinkingly sprays foam on a new-to-the-show professor’s cartoons, and the professor handcuffs him to a filing cabinet because he thinks Abed is spoiled and over-indulged.)

Oh, you have feelings?! Have you considered putting them into your work? Your cartoons are monuments to joylessness; nervously assembled jokes based on nothing from your life or anyone's life! You're furious at me for being creative because you want to be able to create. You have all this rage and shame and loneliness which I don't even know how to feel, much less understand and you decide to put what on paper? A duck? Jim the duck? You think I'm crazy? You think there's something wrong with me? Jim the duck! - Abed in “Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality” aka JUST TWO EPISODES AFTER TROY LEFT

Correct me if I’m wrong, but... this is the only time we see Abed lose control to the point of shouting, right? His anger and put-downs are usually cold and direct as opposed to loud--in most of the scenes where other characters are yelling, it’s even lampshaded by having him yelling nonsense rather than actually participating. And it is CHOCK FULL of projection. Like, the irony of someone yelling “you have rage I don’t know how to feel” is pretty obvious, not to mention the reference to loneliness; there’s a scene before this with Abed walking through the halls making Kickpuncher noises and then very clearly thinking “this isn’t fun by myself” and walking normally. And even though, in this speech, Abed describes himself as a creative person in opposition to Hickey’s formulaic work... he comes back later with a screenplay that is full of tropes instead of emotion and authenticity.

And it’s dealt with in a pretty subtle way. As viewers, Troy’s absence plays a huge role in this scene but it’s relatively unspoken--the closest we get is when Abed shows Hickey the screenplay and says “Troy thought it was hilarious. I didn’t have the heart to tell him it wasn’t a comedy.” There’s no “hey, sorry for yelling, I’ve been missing my friend” conversation or anything like that, which would be par for the course for this kind of show (and Community itself).

SCENE 2 has some more back-and-forth and I’m not going to type up the whole thing, but basically Abed is tasked with helping new character Elroy fix the wifi, which is down, and realizes it’s because a bird’s nest is in the router. He says “the mother must have built it there because of the heat. same reason my mom took my half brother to Arizona.” Then he says “If you move it, the mother won’t come back” and then repeats himself with more urgency when Elroy indicates he wants to move it anyway. Eventually the nest is moved, Abed takes care of the chicks, two of them die, and he comments that he’s worried the last one is “turning into a symbol of my own innocence.”

Again, this one does get some textual acknowledgement of what’s going on, but the reference to his own mom is pretty casual and it isn’t directly brought up again. I think it’s mostly powerful because the last real treatment of Abed’s relationship with his mom was “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas,” where it was such a Big Deal. and also because THIS IS HIS FACE WHEN HE REALIZES THERE ARE BABIES IN THE NEST:

HOW did Danny Pudi not even get an Emmy nomination? Literally, how? Like, damn, Abed is such a good, understated character that moments like this just wallop you over the head.

Oh, I lied, one more painful Abed scene post-Troy--in the first episode after Troy left, when Abed has “an intense burst of compatibility with a girl we never see again” as Britta calls it, only to feel betrayed when it turns out Britta bribed the girl to tell him spoilers for a TV show. And his reaction is “But I really liked her. I’m devastated.”

Which is also pretty unprecedented for him as a character. Granted, we don’t see very much of Abed being rejected romantically, but still, “devastated” is an awfully strong word to use from a character not prone to histrionics. Not to go to that Trobed well too often but... is it perhaps possible that he feels that rejection much more strongly having just lost his primary source of emotional support?? Again, unacknowledged in the script. They have Abed reunite with Rachel instead, which... eh. Okay, I’ll admit I’m biased when it comes to Abed ships, but I wouldn’t complain about a romantic relationship for him if it was handled well. My thing is... they could only get Brie Larson for two episodes. And you really can’t develop a good romantic relationship in two episodes--as evidenced by the fact that her disappearance in Season 6 is lampshaded with one of Abed’s meta jokes that offers neither an explanation or any hint of his emotional reaction. So I really do think the episode makes more sense, as a storyline, if you look at it as “Abed latching onto people in an attempt to fill the void Troy has left.”

IN CONCLUSION, seasons 5 and 6 are still not the best but GOD do I love me some Abed angst, and in that regard they do not disappoint.

#community #abed nadir #trobed

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1mechanicalalligator · 4 years

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This is a story about why I adore Danny Pudi.

And it's not because he's pretty attractive (although he is), or because he's incredibly funny (although he is). It's not even because he plays Abed Nadir, who I feel a deep, personal connection to, or Brad Bakshi, who can own me any time he wants, or Jeff Panares (from Babysplitters, which no one liked but me, apparently), who I also find shockingly relatable.

The story I want to tell is one about representation & diversity & willingness to share. Because Danny Pudi spends a lot of time talking about how he fits into media & into the world as a Polish-Indian person from Chicago, one who didn't grow up seeing people like himself on TV, or even necessarily in his community. He talks about people who can't pronounce his last name, who ask him where he's from, as though Chicago isn't a good enough answer. He talks about playing five different characters named Sanjay, about people believing his babies were "too white" to actually be his, about being called a terrorist, & being told to "go home."

And here's the thing. I'm not Polish-Indian, & I didn't grow up in Chicago, & I'm not an actor or a celebrity. But I am half Iranian & half Mexican-American, & I grew up in a small town without much diversity, & I definitely never, ever saw people like me on TV. And I got asked all the time where I was from, & how you say my last name, enough times that when I got married I just went ahead & changed it to my white husband's last name, to make it easier for myself other people (it's a little more complicated than that, but honestly, not much). I've been called a terrorist & told to "go home." I've been called too white, & not white enough. A lot.

I grew up being teased because I had bushy eyebrows & hair on my arms & legs, because the hair on my head was thick & frizzy & curly (& wow, what is with little kids & their obsession with hair?). I was different enough that I didn't totally fit in with my white friends, & a lot of them saw me as "exotic" & their mothers would ask me weird questions about my heritage, which was uncomfortable, & I wasn't Mexican enough to fit in with my Mexican friends, & there weren't a ton of Iranian families in Arizona in the late 90s/early 2000s (& definitely none that I was aware of).

There weren't kids like me in my town, there weren't people like me on TV. There weren't Barbie dolls that looked like me. Even within my own extended family, there is no one like me & my siblings, & I'm not close to my siblings at all. And it's the kind of thing that I got used to Not Talking About, because who would I talk about it with? It's the kind if thing I learned to ignore & try not to worry about, & it wasn't until I went to college that I even met another half Iranian person at all.

It's not that my experience is necessarily that similiar to what Danny describes. We come from radically different cultures with radically different perceptions & sets of baggage. But that feeling of being different, of not feeling seen, of searching for someone like you & never finding it -- that's a feeling I know very well. And it's amazing to see someone else describe it, explain how it affects them. Work on doing something about it.

It's amazing to see a character like Abed who is half Middle Eastern (& yes, I know it's problematic that they chose an Indian actor to play a Palestinian character, & that can be another post for another day), because Middle Eastern characters are rare & often villains. (For him to be neurodivergent on top of that is a level of representation I wouldn't have ever dreamed of.) I've never seen so much of myself in any other character. I can't imagine what it would have been like to see a character like Abed on TV when I was a child.

In conclusion, congratulations if you're still here (& I say that sincerely, as someone who usually hates long tumblr posts) & thank you so much for reading. And thank you, Danny Pudi, for being willing to speak about such a personal experience & share your passion for representation. It means a lot to someone like me.

The end.

#excuse me while i hemorrhage words for a second #i just have a lot of feelings #danny pudi #representation in media #maya talks about danny pudi

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everyepisodeofcommunity · 3 years

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79.

Herstory of Dance.

You're probably wondering how I got here. Well, I put the total number of Community episodes into a random number generator and hit go.

So we begin - in the midst of Season 4, with Herstory of Dance, the all time least watched episode of the show when it was on TV, which does feel fitting in a way. In the midst of the notorious gas leak year, Abed finds an opportunity to do the most classic of classic sitcom plots - agreeing to two dates on one night and trying to keep them both going. Right after in the opening scene he declares that he’s trying to move away from Filtering Life through TV, he finds himself in a wacky situation so goes with it. I don’t know, feels like circular plotting, but the end result is easily the best part of the episode. Abed runs that caper straight into more classic tropes (the girl he really liked was under his nose the whole time - the big rom com gesture) and it would all feel very Season 1 Abed were it not for his very real chemistry with Brie Larson's Rachel. Brie is so charming and fun here, I think an alternate universe where she recurred way more frequently would be a great one, with a better Season 5 ... but then I've always been more into the soapy relationship stuff than some people who love and/or made the show. Also, proof that Brie Larson should be in more comedies, imho. Kat presents a good example of a Season 4 problem though - the level of cartoonishness the show operates on suddenly fluctuates hard enough for her, a grown adult, even a very quirky one, to be so distracted by Some Bubbles that she runs around in a circle while Abed slips away.

Our A plot (citation needed) on the other hand feels very Season 4. Our now thoroughly dumbed down Britta (it's possible this blog will end up primarily being about how the entire show lets down Britta over and over and over, maybe) backs into a mistake and runs a Sophie B Hawkins dance on the night of a Sadie Hawkins dance and Sophie B Herself shows up just in time through the magic of rich people knowing each other. A character pointing out that Jeff is too mean to Britta is good if a little weird when the show itself is mean to Britta. That character being Pierce makes close to zero sense - it would honestly hold together better if he did it more just to fuck with Jeff. Either way, it's all basically fine - the Abed stuff is a lot more compelling to me. An episode that truly reckoned with how the group bullies the dumbed-down cartoon Britta that we're stuck with from S2-ish onwards would be interesting and worthwhile but this doesn't feel like that. This doesn't feel like much of anything except one of the many many examples of Gillian Jacbos applying her substantial comic acting chops to really bad material. All those people who didn't watch it weren't missing much.

Notes:

- Jeff saying “Britta for the whoops!” feels out of character, but seconds later his line read on “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover” is oddly satisfying

- Oh right, we’re also in the midst of The Kevin/Changnesia Nightmare. Awful!

- I think I followed Kat on here in 2009. Call me, although not if you’re still rhyming and launching into a cockney accent in normal conversations

- Danny Pudi is a good looking man but that hat and shirt are a fucking nightmare

- I am an absolute sucker for a Job joke. Everything in the cloakroom scenes with Rachel is great! “Well I think the dog is trained”.

- Fair play to Chevy Chase, his line read on “Has this been confirmed?” is wonderful

- Troy’s role in this episode seems to be “Troy isn’t really in this episode, haha!”, maybe Donald had to shoot a music video that week, but he does put in some solid physical comedy work when he stumbles across the background of a shot carrying a tower of cups

- “What is the nature of hope?” + Britta’s face when Sophie turns up <3

- Big fan of a text from across the room, on TV and in real life.

- Here’s a weird thing - it feels like SBH permeated pop culture in the US much more than in the UK (I think I encountered one of her songs on a covermount CD my mom got from a women’s magazine in the mid 90s and then I didn’t think about or hear of Sophie B again until Black Kids covered DIWIWYL as a b-side and sure, the second part of that sentence tells you more about me in the 00s than anything else, but still) and when this episode was first out nobody else I watched it with knew who she was - but weirdly, she has 4 Billboard Top 100 hits (2 in the top 10) to her 6 UK Top 100 hits (none in the top 10, but 4 in the top 40). In conclusion, the 90s were a weird time for pop culture and the music industry.

- And we’re off.

#Community #Herstory of Dance #Britta Perry #Gillian Jacobs #Danny Pudi #Abed Nadir

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siriusbunbryist · 4 years

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In defence of Abed x Annie.

Thanks to the magic of Netflix, I’ve rewatched Community at age 24, and still found Abed and Annie to have hit the heartstrings as much as I did when I was in high school watching the show for the first time.

But watching the series in its entirety just reinforces my thought that Abed and Annie had so much potential that was wasted, and it’s a shame that the writers planted all these seeds to only decide that perhaps this direction was not worth it / too risky / unfavoured by the audience. But I mean, Alison Brie herself (and I’m assuming Danny Pudi as well) endorsed them! Find here and here.

This was a pairing that with all the crumbs scattered throughout the show (I think we are all aware of these crumbs I speak of), could’ve easily played the “oh we’ve been secretly dating this whole time” trope during the last episode and it would’ve still made sense.

Naturally I did some scoping, and of course unsurprisingly the J.eff x Annie pairing takes the cake, while not a lot of love for Abed x Annie. So here are common points of contentions I see surrounding Abed and Annie, and my rationale on them.

Before I start, a note - I fully respect the J.eff x Annie ship and I don’t intend on starting a ship w.ar/debate. I understand where their support comes from! I just needed to vent because no one else in my social circle watches this show. No hate please.

1. Abed doesn’t see Annie romantically

I think on the contrary it’s been set up rather long ago that Abed at the very least is attracted to Annie.

Exhibit A: “What are you making” in Beginner Pottery

Exhibit B: “Flat B.utt and the one Abed wants to nail” in The Art of Discourse

This video basically explains it! The summary: Annie is Pierce’s favourite, Pierce constantly insults Britta, therefore Britta is flat b.utt.

Exhibit C: Not even trying to hide it in Accounting for Lawyers

But, a romantic interest has to be further built upon finding someone attractive right? There has to be intrigue to their character, such as

Exhibit D: “I can only connect to people through... movies” in English as a Second Language

youtube

It is pretty obvious here that Annie is a rare someone who has successfully broken the impartial screen that Abed filters everything through. Jeff saw it too which is why he said Annie was the ark of the covenant before Abed fell for her disney face. I can only imagine Abed to be quite struck with Annie’s infiltration.

A romantic interest should also share common interests, such as

Exhibit E: “Which makes Annie is my third favourite show” in Paranormal Parentage

I’ve said before that for Abed, a guy who lives life and communicates through comparing it with television and movies, it’s not unthinkable for him to be attracted to someone who genuinely watches his favourite shows and commits to roles during cosplay. And who, besides Troy, would fit this profile? Annie.

And finally, the biggest indicator of it all, we also see how Abed views the Jeff and Annie pairing in everyone’s favourite episode Remedial Chaos Theory. Keeping in mind that the timelines are rendered by Abed, out of all the timelines, J.eff and Annie only kis.sed when Abed left the room for pizza. As well, as conjured in Abed’s head, Evil Jeff and Evil Annie only existed as a couple in the Darkest Timeline. To me at least, it’s arguable that this alludes to Abed’s omniscient “director” standpoint that he may be the obstacle in the Jeff and Annie relationship - pointing towards him perhaps harbouring feelings for Annie.

2. Annie doesn’t see Abed romantically The general consensus on this point is that Annie is only attracted to Abed when he’s playing a character. I rather think that being attracted to someone, and being attracted to someone during role play, aren’t mutually exclusive. Let’s take a look at the different characters that Abed played.

Don Draper: serious, sophisticated, and smooth.

Han Solo: immature, flirty and a smarta.ss.

Batman: mysterious, complex, and brave.

Three different personas, yet Annie responded to all of them. Since the common denominator to all three is that they are played by Abed, I would like to offer a counterpoint that perhaps the attraction to Abed has always been there, it’s just emphasized when Abed plays a character. Who knows, role playing might even be Annie’s ki.nk. After all, during For a Few Paintballs More, it is shown that Annie is disappointed when Abed dropped the Han Solo persona after the battle ended.

Annie also loves big romantic gestures. Who’s better than doing that than Abed? Since the beginning, Abed has already been doing big romantic gestures of varying degrees for Annie. With this, it’s not ridiculous for Annie to see Abed as a romantic potential.

Exhibit F: Staying in a room for 26 hours in Social Psychology

Annie: You sat in a room for twenty-six straight hours. Didn’t that bother you? Abed: Yeah I was livid. Annie: Then why didn’t you leave? Abed: Because you asked me to stay and you said we were friends.

Exhibit G: Rescuing her from “captivity” and inviting her to move in in Remedial Chaos Theory and Studies in Modern Movement (even Troy was surprised at Abed’s invitation)

Exhibit H: Tearing down the Dreamatorium in Studies in Modern Movement

Annie: What about the Dreamatorium? Abed: Oh it's staying. The Dreamatorium is more important than any of us. But you're more important than our bedroom so we put the bunk bed in the blanket fort.

Bonus: Confirmed by Alison Brie

3. The show was about Jeff and Annie

Dan Harmon said that Community’s approach is that anything and any pairing is possible. We see this is as the series started with the classic “player vs smart snarky girl” trope with setting up Jeff and Britta as the main pairing. We also see Troy and Annie as the potential B couple in the show. The writers also threw Pierce and Shirley, Annie and Britta, Dean and Jeff, and even Chang and Britta in for a laugh.

And then the show subverted this all by introducing Jeff and Annie, and made Troy and Britta a couple, showing us that Community is a show that intends on breaking these classic sitcom stereotypes by experimenting with different pairings. Abed and Annie was no exception to this, as the writers often pair them up in different shenanigans and hint at possible grounds to explore*.

A few examples: Han and Leia in For a Few Paintballs More, Hector the Well Endowed and the Elf Maiden in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, spy partners in Modern Espionage.

No doubt that the show dabbled in and out of Jeff and Annie throughout the series. However, to say that Jeff and Annie was the primary pairing in the series would mean overlooking Jeff and Britta. Especially when Jeff and Britta have the whole love-hate dynamic, three(?) marriage close-calls, and emotional snippets such as helping Jeff reunite with his father in Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations.

Anyway, not to discredit Jeff and Annie, but knowing that the show explores the possibility of different pairings**, why write off Abed and Annie?

* Not to mention that the cop pairing in The Science of Illusion was originally written with Abed and Annie in mind! ** We also see a stray Abed and Britta during Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps.

4. Annie is in love with Jeff To keep this short and shipper-goggle free, Annie has said on numerous occasions that she’s in love with the idea of Jeff, not Jeff himself. Specifically this scene in Virtual Systems Analysis:

Abed as Annie: "…We love Jeff…" Annie: "No we don’t, we’re just in love with the idea of being loved. And if we can teach a guy like Jeff to do it, we’ll never be unloved, so we keep running the same scenario over and over hoping for a different result."

And this scene in Conventions of Space and Time:

Annie: All right, I may have been play-acting that we were married, and then the staff thought you were cheating, and I had to save face. Jeff: Do I have to worry about this? Annie: No, I was just daydreaming. I mean, I've married you at least a half a dozen times. And Troy. And Zac Efron.

Not to mention that their conversation in the finale says it all.

Jeff: I don't wanna be fine. I wanna be 25 and heading out into the world. I wanna fall asleep on a beach and be able to walk the next day, or stay up all night on accident. I wanna wear a white t-shirt without looking like I forgot to get dressed.* I want to be terrified of AIDS, I want to have an opinion about those, boring a.ss Marvel movies. And I want those opinions to be of any concern to the people making them. Annie: Well I want to live in the same home for more than a year, order wine without feeling nervous, have a resume full of crazy mistakes instead of crazy lies. I want stories and wisdom, perspective. I wanna have so much behind me I'm not a sl.ave to what's in front of me, especially those flavourless unremarkable Marvel movies.

*Shipper-goggle on: Part of me thinks this is a reference to Abed, whose iconic style almost exclusively comprises T-shirts. What Jeff is saying is that he wishes he is 25 again with his future open before him, someone who compatible with Annie, but here he acknowledges that he isn’t, and lets her go in the end.

5. Abed and Annie wouldn’t work as a couple Another point I see is that Abed and Annie are strictly platonic and are more like brother and sister. On the basis that they have made out a couple times and are attracted to each other, I would disagree with the sibling statement.

Troy, in contrast to Abed, I think actually resembles a more sibling-like relationship with Annie. Although Troy and Annie have the strong friendship of Abed and Annie, when disregarding the high school crush stage of season 1, their storylines never dwelled further down an attraction path, nor was there any specific episode that was dedicated to a deep dive of vulnerabilities and confrontation between them. As a comparison, Troy and Britta had opportunities to explore these setups (Troy admitted to lying about his b.utt stuff story and Troy helped Britta face Blade) - an indication that Troy and Britta were heading into non-platonic territory. Jeff and Britta too, had several opportunities to confront their feelings (up till the very last season), a clear indication of a non-platonic relationship.

For Abed and Annie, what I think pulls their friendship towards actual love interest potential is best pinpointed to Virtual Systems Analysis. Annie’s participation in the Dreamatorium prompted her to not only fully submerge into the way Abed thinks and comprehends his surroundings, but she also got to understand and address Abed’s stubbornness and flaws in a vulnerable way, confronting some of her own flaws as well.

Abed as Shirley: Your hospital school, young lady, is a simulation being run through a filter of other people's needs. Abed's been filtered out because nobody needs him. Annie: I need him!

And to point out this little tidbit in VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing,

Annie: That's why Abed is like a brother to me. You guys are so alike. Abed: I can't accept that based on one time machine story.

This whole episode, instead of establishing Abed is like Annie’s brother, I would argue is rather doing the opposite. Abed and Annie’s hyper antics in the episode were basically matched by Anthony and Rachel’s blatant indifference and confusion. For lots of Abed and Annie supporters, this episode was a major setback. But I think it instead highlights how in-sync they are with each other, which is a good thing.

Another point, despite Annie trying to prove otherwise, Abed and Anthony had different vibes, and each shared different dynamics with Annie. And as Anthony pointed out in the end, who were Abed and Annie trying to replace in the apartment? Troy. The person who they are trying to fill is Troy - their roommate, their brother, their best friend. Troy was the brother role that neither Abed and Annie can fill for each other.

In Basic Sandwich, we get this exchange:

Abed: The point is, this show, Annie, it isn't just their show. This is our show, and it's not over. And the sooner we find that treasure, the faster the Jeff-Britta pilot falls apart. Annie: Got it. Thank you, Abed. Abed: You're welcome. I have a girlfriend. Annie: What? Abed: You were about to start a kiss lean. Annie: I was not.

Not only did Abed saw right through Annie’s anxiety and comforted her in his own uniquely Abed way, but he also felt the need to remind her of his girlfriend. The fact that he broke the fourth wall here is likely the writers’ way to be meta, but simply acknowledging the tension and bond there says a lot in between the lines. If tension does not exist, there would be no need for this line.

Besides, instead of thinking that they’re strictly platonic (which of course is also okay), they would rather work great as a couple. In terms of opposites attract, Annie grounds Abed with just the right amount, while Abed clearly encourages Annie to be her true self and be immature. Such as this scene in Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism,

Annie: I’m following him. Troy: You moving in here was supposed to tone us down!

Annie also doesn’t just tolerate Abed’s idiosyncrasies, she actually likes them and fully participates as multiple paintball games and cosplays would tell us. Special shoutout to the missing lovers footage in Wedding Videography, which through Britta, actually shows us that Annie is the only one who would go along with Abed’s projects - while Britta found the project extremely weird and unhealthy, Annie thought it was fun and commits well to her role.

And while others may tiptoe around Abed, Annie isn’t afraid to call Abed out when he’s out of line and makes a point to teach him about empathy in Virtual Systems Analysis. Remember that Britta tried teaching him this but it didn’t work as well.

I am Abed Nadir... And I don't know a lot of things everyone else knows. I wander the universe with my friend, Troy, doing whatever I want. Sometimes accidentally hurting innocent unremarkables. This week, however, Troy went to lunch and I adapted. I now have the ability to enter the minds of others using an elusive new technique known as "empathy".

As well as in the entire episode of Cooperative Polygraphy.

They also know each other best. Abed knew her cushion preferences, was the one who spelled out her true pas.sion for forensics, and after living together, Annie knew how to navigate Abed’s peculiarities and to soothe him whenever he had a nervous breakdown.

Annie also knows him so well that she can predict his reaction.

They are also each other’s exception. Annie was always the one who manages to pull Abed out of a trance and back to reality, usually with touch.

Abed is also very forgiving with her. An example is when Annie seemingly lost all common sense because she broke Abed’s special edition dvd in Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism.

Annie: Well, Batman, on behalf of all of us that aren't perfect, can I just say I'm sorry I broke your DVD? Abed: Apology accepted. But I wouldn't mention it to Abed. That guy's pretty ruthless. And that's coming from Batman.

And in Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas, Annie was the only claymation doll that didn’t have a weird form (except Troy as toy soldier of course). Annie was a ballerina because Abed sees her as a creature of grace. Abed was also the first one who got her “brighter tomorrow” diorama and responded with enthusiasm.

They are also in the same stage in life. As Dan Harmon explains the choice of Abed and Annie being the ones who leave the group, with Troy gone, Abed and Annie symbolize the many possibilities of the future - a possibility that makes them viable. I like to think Annie transfers to the LA FBI office after her internship and they reunite.

And as the Spice Girls said, “if you wanna be my love.r, you gotta get with my friends”. In Paleyfest, Dan Harmon says this about whoever Troy and Abed ends up dating, “I mean a woman that comes into either of their lives is either going to drive them apart or she's going to have to be really accepting of a very special relationship”.

Britta tolerated their friendship but to a point of asking Annie to distract Abed for alone time with Troy, Troy dumped the librarian as she called Abed weird, Robin disappeared, Rachel we never got to see much of, but was pretty quiet and separated from the group. From this, logically speaking, Annie would actually be the perfect match for Abed, as we all know they’re the ultimate trio within the study group and a transition from friends to more will be natural.

Oh, and, Abed is wrong. They’re not Chandler and Phoebe with little storylines together, they’re Chandler and Monica.

Anyway, that’s it for my super long rant/analysis. Community the series is done and over, so there isn’t a need for any ship war. All I want to say is, if #andamovie happens, hopefully, the writers will actually take a leap.

#abed x annie #community #annie x abed #abed nadir #annie edison #sorry if you've seen this already i'm trying to figure out why my tags won't work #mine #thoughts

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blondedonaldduck · 7 months

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PLS talk about Huey duck. He is queer autisic blorbo to me

HUEY MY CHILD

In the Good Ol Days(TM) I found myself as an autistic kid relating more to Webby but damn I totally get his need for control and routine now. I’m still on season 1 in my rewatch but I can’t wait to see him and Boyd interact because they are so babby and I feel like I’m gonna cry when I see it all unfold again

Also I think it’s both awesome and hilarious that Ducktales is the SECOND time Danny Pudi has played an autistic coded character in a show with Jim Rash in the cast, especially because Huey and Abed are so different but it shows quite the range. The only reason I can even tell they’re played by the same actor is the voice

I’ve seen a few posts saying Huey should’ve had his own season like Webby and his brothers did AND THAT IS SO TRUE! Give my boy an arc and more interactions with the rest of Team Science (especially Boyd because they r besties)!!! I would love to see more about him confronting the Duke as well! Huey was robbed

Ok this got longer than I expected and I wanted to add a headcanon or two. So I’m gonna lean more into the autistic Huey headcanon and say that to me Donald always knew and is very openly supportive, but diagnosis was an issue due to finances while they were still living on the houseboat. Also I would love to see a fic or something about Huey and Fethry bonding over having autism that manifests in similar ways

#ducktales 2017 #huey duck #i was basically typing this from the moment i saw it in my notifs. which was almost immediately #when i said i have many ducktales related thoughts i was not kidding

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cl0udstrife · 3 years

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stevebucky teen wolf au Now

okay i literally think i wrote this when i was a tiny small child in high school and what i am going to do is a real fucking solid by adding the entire horrific wip as a read more onto this ask... as a gift

prompt: high school teen wolf-esque au bucky/steve. steve being a werewolf & bucky being his annoyed, punk boyfriend.

Moore is a Communications officer in Winter Soldier and he's only seen for, like, a minute at most in the film. He's played by Danny Pudi, well-known for his role as Abed in Community.

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It's a dark, windy night. Beacon Hills was mostly silent, most of its teenaged residents sleeping in preparation for the first day of school. There was the exception of a few officers exploring the Preserve, however, in search of something that was sure to be a gruesome sight when found.

On this night, Steve Rogers is doing push-ups in his room, remaining completely unaware of the inclement weather. Sweat drips down his forehead and his arms shake with each one, but he grits his teeth and carries on.

He wants to gain some muscles, he really does, but it's hard to accomplish when he gets out of breath after a couple of push-ups. Feeling somewhat dizzy after his twentieth, he calls it quits and collapses onto the floor, groaning into the carpet.

He frowns, thinking he heard a noise other than his anguished complaints aimed at the floorboards. Waiting for a second, he listens and hears the noise repeated again, but louder.

Nervously, he gets up and wipes himself off with a towel. Then, he grabs the baseball bat from under his bed and heads for the door to check outside.

"Hello?" he calls out, stepping outside and looking around the porch while inwardly cursing himself for doing so. He feels like he's in a horror movie with this set up and decides to roll with it, asking, "Anybody there?"

At his words, he hears a muffled curse; someone falls down from the roof, landing straight onto the porch.

"Bucky, what the hell," Steve says flatly, glaring down at the groaning body of his friend splayed out on the porch in front of him. He gets the middle finger for his efforts and can't resist the need to roll his eyes.

"Heard something kinda cool and I wanted to tell you about it," Bucky tells him excitedly as he pushes up into a sitting position. His friend offers him a hand up and he gratefully accepts it, offering a sheepish grin when Steve just continues to glare down at him. "I was hanging around by the station with Sam 'cause his step-dad's the Sheriff now and he's one of the biggest do-gooders I've ever seen. So we were just sitting there, minding our own business, when we just happened to overhear something about a couple joggers finding half of this girl's dead body in the woods."

"I'm not going," Steve interjects almost immediately, ignoring Bucky's falsely wounded expression. "And Sam's nice so don't pull him into any trouble."

"You didn't even let me finish! I mean, okay, I was definitely gonna ask you to come along," Bucky admits, laughing nervously as his friend's glare only becomes more hostile. He grins easily, though, leaning back against the porch railing and saying, "C'mon, punk, you don't want me going by myself and getting eaten by wolves, right?"

"I should let the wolves have you, jerk," Steve muttered darkly, glaring at him as he stepped inside his house and began to walk upstairs. Nervously, Bucky lingered in the doorway and stared after his disappearing form. From upstairs, a voice called out, "Gimme a minute, Buck, I'm grabbing some stuff and we'll go!"

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"Okay, so we might be a bit lost," Bucky says about 30 minutes later, giving their surroundings a frustrated glare. He looks down at his phone, sighing as it once again recalculates their route. Seeing Steve's confused and somewhat angry expression, he explains, "I'm pretty sure we've passed this tree, like, three times by now and I can't even find anything. Should we head back?"

"Yeah, if we can't find anything soon," Steve calls back, walking ahead of him slightly and pushing the thick foliage out of his face. He smirks when his friend lets out an obviously faked noise of pain and agony, knowing it had smacked him in the face.

They walk for a couple more minutes when one of them spots the hill about a feet away. They eagerly sprint in that direction before beginning the slow trudge up the hill. Steve has to pause for a moment, leaning against Bucky's shoulder, as he takes out his inhaler.

"Sorry, Buck," he apologizes, taking a breath and then putting the inhaler into his mouth. He breathes in slowly, removing the inhaler from his mouth and holding his breath for a couple seconds. He breathes back out again and they walk all the way up to the top without any more problems.

"Oh shit," Bucky hisses as soon as they reach the top, sharp eyes locking onto the flashlights and the quickly moving forms of the officers, their policedogs sniffing up ahead of them. "I'm gonna run down there, man. Meet you there if I don't get caught!"

He runs off, leaving his annoyed friend to catch his breath and use his inhaler once more before he can follow.

Bucky tries to remain out of sight, but he's over-eager and very excited to find out what's going on. His excitement is what leads to him being spotted by the Sheriff, the man immediately shaking his head when he sees the boy. It's easy to tell who it is by the leather jacket and extremely messy eyeliner alone.

"Barnes?" he calls out, walking over to the tree that Bucky had attempted to duck behind at the last minute. The man's tired eyes roved over the landscape, seeking out his asthmatic friend or his own boy, but he eventually gave up when neither of them appeared in his line of sight. Grabbing Bucky by the shoulder, he asked, "What brings you here, kid? Sam isn't with you, is he?"

"Uh, no," Bucky assured him, pulling out of his grip. He puts his hands in his pockets, leaning back against the tree's bark. He's smirking as he adds, "I came in by myself when I heard about the search party, y'know? Sam told me I shouldn't get involved, he's one of those kind-hearted athletic types, but I really wanted to see what was up."

"Thank god for that, at least," the Sheriff mutters under his breath, running a hand through his graying brown hair. He had a strong feeling most of the gray hairs were due to teenagers like the troublesome Bucky Barnes. He still has the feeling he's been lied to, though, and inquires, "You sure it was just you?"

"Yeah," Bucky drawls out, lips twitching up into a grin. He pushes off from the tree, glances over his shoulder at the men staring at the two of them, and asks, "Can I go now? I need to get to my bike."

"I'll have someone walk you there to make sure you get out of here safely," he replies, giving the boy a stern glare. He pushes up his glasses, briefly entertaining the thought of contacts. Glancing over at their newest officer, the Sheriff tells him, "Moore, make sure this kid gets home."

"Yes, sir," agreed Moore, revealing himself to be an awkward young man in his 30s. He smiles nervously at Bucky who mulishly stares back at him. Moore breaks off eye contact, sighing, and the two of them leave the woods in search of his vehicle.

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okay thats literally it you can go now i know its A+

#ask #asks #i feel no shame #its horrible #but i feel no shame #i keep it to remind myself how fucking good my writing is in comparison to whatever this was

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agentnico · 4 years

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Community (2009-2015) Review

“Cool cool cool.”

Plot: A lawyer, whose law degree has been revoked, is compelled to join the Greendale Community College. Students of diverse temperaments join his study group which leads to quirky and memorable encounters.

Very recently the original cast and showrunner Dan Harmon held a Zoom virtual group meeting where they partook in a table read of one of the classical episodes of the show, after which they followed with a Q&A and a catch up, and seeing all these lovely faces back together again made me want to look back on a sitcom that brought so much fun and randomness to our screens...well, at least in the first few seasons. Similar to Arrested Development, it definitely dipped in momentum in the final few seasons. That being said, I am still hopeful for that promised movie as foreseen by Danny Pudi’s Abed under the famous quote “six seasons and a movie”. Who knows, with Community recently popping up on Netflix, maybe its resurgence among the fandom and hopefully new watchers will boost its chances to finally achieve that goal.

What made Community so great? At first billed as a modern day comedic take on the classic 80′s flick The Breakfast Club, following that setup in the pilot (with the final scene even playing us into the credits with Don’t You Forget About Me), what we are then left with is a show with two sides - surrealism and sentimentality. The former is somewhat the main reflection of the show’s overall identity. The creator and showrunner Dan Harmon is possibly the biggest geek on planet Earth, or maybe even outside of it, as proven by his endless imagination with his popular cartoon series Rick and Morty. He’s a pop culture nerd through and through, thus stuffing every episode of Community with endless references to movies, TV shows and video games, with one of the main characters basically acting as if life is a movie. The references spiral from loose quotes to straight-up blatant spoofs. In the 19th episode of season 2 “Critical Film Studies”, the start sets up a Pulp Fiction parody, yet by the end we somehow manage to find ourselves in My Dinner with Andre. The central group is taken over by gleeful spirit in season 3 episode 10 “Regional Holiday Music”, a straightforward parody of Glee with full on musical numbers and a great recurring gag where the group keeps asking “what the hell are regionals!?”. “Cooperative Calligraphy” (S02E08) is a satire on the classic TV trope - the bottle episode. A bottle episode is when the characters interact within only one or two settings - often to save costs. And how can one forget arguably among the best episodes of the entire series “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” (S02E14) - a burlesque caricature of, well, Dungeons & Dragons - a nerd’s dreamy orgasm! There are so many crazy out-there ideas and gags thrown into each episode, yet all the while pulling off a parable about friendship and individuality that is not saccharine.

Looking through the lens of sentimentality, there is a feeling of warmth that can be found behind the quick-wittiness and weirdness of the series. One of the central friendships is that of the characters Troy (played by young Donald Glover, soon-to-be Childish Gambino) and Abed (Danny Pudi, most recently seen in Rob McElhenney new Apple TV series Mystic Quest: Raven’s Banquet) who end up becoming roommates, doing everything together, even hosting a fake morning show Troy and Abed in the Morning (a hilarious on-going gag throughout the series) and having a signature handshake. Thus when their friendship is put to the test in “Pillows and Blankets” (S03E14) by building rival forts made out of, you guessed it, pillow and blankets, it is actually genuinely upsetting seeing them on opposing sides. Yet following a Game of Thrones-level epic battle (with pillows and blankets!!), we see their beautiful bromance come back to fruition. All the other main characters have their relations between each other, and its due to you falling in love with these characters that makes this show so great. Be honest, who was rooting for Jeff and Annie to get together in the end? Or more-so, the Dean getting his shot with Jeff??! We were all engrossed!! So what went wrong?

As per usual with these kinds of things, the show’s quality dipped due to behind-the-scenes drama. End of season 3, creator Dan Harmon was forced to leave and was replaced, which immediately reflected on the series’ style, having lost it’s membrane that held together all these infinite amount of pop-culture knowledge, and then also the on-set drama with main cast member Chevy Chase, who was very unhappy on the show, so quit after throwing about racist slurs and disrespecting members of the crew. Again, a huge loss for the show, as his performance of Pierce Hawthorne was one of the show’s best characters. Swiftly after this Donald Glover (arguably the best and most memorable cast members due to his inexplicable comedic timing) left to pursue his music dream (boy do I wonder if he succeeded?........), after which Community could never brush off the feeling that something was missing. The first 3 seasons are comedy gold, seasons four and five are a bit lacklustre, and then the short season six is a small little final hurrah, though, again, never reaches the highs of the first seasons.

That being said, Community is still a staple show in TV history, having propelled so many talents to bigger things. There’s Donald Glover who went on to do his Childish Gambino redboning, Dan Harmon got Rick & Morty, Ken Jeong went on to be in The Hangover movies, Alison Brie can constantly be found in various film and TV projects and probably most notably the Russo Brothers who directed a bunch of episodes for the show have gone to direct the highest grossing box office blockbuster of all time. Fun fact: Kevin Feige (main producer behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe films) was so impressed with the Russos on how they managed to balance action, heart and humour in S02E23 “A Fistful of Paintballs” that this was one of the main reasons he gave them directing duties on Captain America: The Winter Soldier. At it’s prime, Community provided us with great laughs, heart and a fantastic cast, and so I do truly hope that the promised movie will one day soon become a reality. For now, if you haven’t seen the series, or you’re considering giving it a cheeky rewatch, it’s available on Netflix worldwide and on Amazon Prime in the UK.

Overall score: 7/10

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