#this is not to say i dislike the show

[ryssbelle]

Night Owl vs Early Bird sleepover edition

#my art #trolls #dreamworks trolls #trolls 3 #trolls floyd #trolls john dory #trolls branch #trolls au #technically #but i feel like this counts for outside of the au too so #only gets one tag #i am once again making a chowder reference #do i watch chowder #no #have i watched chowder #also no #do i know the memes from chowder #yes yes i do #and so the memes you will get #not to say i disliked the show then or now #i just never had interest in it when it was on #and i do not have the energy to engage in it rn #but its cute i like the art style and the joke lol #there will be more references coming that are more au focused lol #anyway i feel like after trolls 3 floyd just kind of hops from house to house spending time with his bros #but he has a very different sleep schedule from them all and is more of a night owl than an early bird #so he stays up all night #and JD is def an early bird so hes just trying to sleep while floyds yapping #so he gets sent back to branch who i feel like shifts between early bird and night owl #dude def has sleeping issues

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

haha just kidding, nothing is free!

100 bucks. fork it over.

#the drowning is metaphorical. #Its A Metaphor. #lovingly kissing his forehead and then dropkicking him into a volcano <3 #on my hands and knees Please let things go so so badly for him #Please break him i want to hear him in utter emotional agony god Please- #crack that comedy mask pleaaassseeeee take a sledgehammer to it- #Sorry. Sorry. normal. im normal about him #the cuteness aggression is jumping tf out rn #well. is it Cuteness aggression? i mean he Is very cute but hm... affection aggression... #what can i say i want to see my favs put through agonies and horrors #its like the best character advice i ever did see! characters are like geodes! ya gotta break em to see whats inside... #AND BABEY! I WANT THAT FUNNYGUY SHATTERED! #scribble garnish #barnaby b beagle #welcome home #welcome home puppet show #scopophobia #as always im not the Happiest with what ive made but!! i dont Dislike it so thats something! #it was... fun. ish #it was fun until i started doing the text <3 #i was practicing a more uhhh shrimplified style yk. more slapdash #and i blinked and then this was on my screen! #im not upset about it :]c

[aroaceleovaldez]

Nico and Percy's dynamic through the series is eternally funny to me, because it's just. like.

Percy's having a constant mental struggle between his fatal flaw of loyalty with a promise he made to Bianca to protect Nico, versus his Big 3 kid desire to maim other Big 3 kids / Poseidon descendant urge to totally maim Nico specifically. He hates Nico so so much. He thinks Nico's annoying and weird at best, and creepy/sketchy when he's older. The only positive thoughts Percy has towards Nico are "He's Bianca's brother and Bianca was my friend and I owe her/He's Hazel's brother and Hazel is my friend and would kill me if I was mean to him," "He's a powerful asset and useful ally (if questionable)," and "He's kinda pathetic and I feel maybe a little bad about it." Percy has multiple occasions throughout the series where he strongly considers - and on one occasionally actually goes through with - throttling Nico.

Meanwhile, Nico is following around Percy like a lost puppy. He explicitly can never bring himself to even dislike anything about Percy no matter how hard he tries. He has a whole bit in BoO where he's mentally going "UGH he's so stupid BUT IT'S ENDEARING HOW DARE HE." He's totally smitten. He's making deals with his dad for Percy. He's making convoluted plans to help Percy stand a chance against Kronos. During the entirety of BoTL it's like he's playing tsundere - "I'm helping NOT PERCY SPECIFICALLY with this quest! Me helping Percy would be SILLY because I DEFINITELY HATE HIM." Then he proceeds to show up to Percy's birthday party to basically ask him on a weird date and spend the entire next book scrambling around trying to help him or protect him or impress him. And Percy could not give less of a shit.

Just. That dynamic is so funny to me. Percy is the founder of the Nico Protection Club in that he's the one they're all protecting Nico from and meanwhile Nico is throwing himself at Percy to the point where the literal god of gay love calls him out on it.

#pjo #percy jackson #nico di angelo #Percy shows up at CJ and squints at Nico like ''hm. why do i feel like i hate you? like i just wanna punch you in the face?'' #and Nico just immediately goes ''huh no idea anyways i have to go-'' and jumps into Tartarus #but not before he gives Hazel essentially a detailed explanation of ''this is Percy i cant say much but please dont let him die <3'' #and Nico's whole Tartarus trip was basically a whole ''im doing this so no one else has to'' #only for Percy and Annabeth to fall in like one book later and Nico proceeds to spend the next book internally screaming about it #and then Cupid calls him out on it and the next book #Nico's just like ''at this point im hoping i keel over within the next week just so i can force this dumb crush to chill the fuck out'' #Nico staring pointedly at Will: ''For my own sake i need to form another crush RIGHT NOW so i can finally get over Percy.'' #''this has been so bad for my health'' #Nico's crush on Percy is just too funny to me. horrible pick my guy. terrible job. love that for you. he could not be less interested. #Percy LITERALLY TRIES TO KILL NICO and ditch him in the underworld and Nico is somehow STILL like ''but i love him'' #Percy basically chokes him. beats up his dad. tells him ''go get smited by your dad for me.'' and ditches him. #and Nico's opinions/crush on him DO NOT CHANGE #though also Nico's reaction to Percy beating up his dad + skeletons is SO funny. his jaw is on the floor. he's flustered about it. #he just witnessed Percy be incredibly hot and proceeded to go ''yea i'll do anything for this man. collect reinforcements of 3 gods? sure'' #nico you absolute DISASTER with HORRIBLE TASTE. you can do better. raise your standards. #which tbh is funnier when you factor in sun and the star. Nico just wont stop crushing on guys who dislike him and everything he stands for

[rapha-reads]

No but I gotta talk about Medusa for a minute actually.

It's been. A very long time since I read the PJO books so I don't exactly remember how Uncle Rick presents Medusa in the book. But the way the show introduces her myth? Fascinating. For me as a Greek mythology enthusiast, that is.

The show makes Medusa a victim of Athena. Of course, the show is mainly for kids, so they can't exactly say that, hey, kids, Medusa was Athena's priestess and she was raped by Poseidon, YEP, or protagonist's father, IN Athena's temple, nah, that's neither kid-friendly nor does it endears us to Poseidon. Not that Poseidon is very dear to us viewers/readers at this point, our narrator/protagonist can't stand his own dad.

But still what fascinates me is that even though they twisted the myth to ft the narrative they still managed to evoke Athena's curse as being actually a gift, and Medusa not feeling wretched over her condition but blessed.

Which is not a modern reading of the myth, actually. Saying that Athena couldn't punish Poseidon for his transgression and could only punish Medusa, but did so in a way that would give Medusa weapons to defend herself against whoever and whatever would try to harm her again, is a narrative that exists since Antiquity.

My point is that the re-framing of Medusa's myth, departing from the traditional, non-kid-friendly version while still incorporating both classic and modern elements, is a good frame of reference for the series (book and show)' entire approach to mythology. And I guess I'm saying that mostly for the non-book readers who are discovering this world, many of whom might be Greek mythology fans and might have gone "wait, why is Hades AGAIN presented as the bad guy when he's the chillest, most normal, most stable god in this entire pantheon", because that's a conversation the book fandom has been having (over and over again) for more than a decade.

Anyway, yeah. As a long time book fan and a show appreciative, here's my advice to anyone who knows WAY too much about Greek myths and still want to enjoy the ride without going every five minutes "wait, that's not correct": reframe. Contemporary rewritings, modern audiences and Fantasy genre.

#pjo series #pjo series spoilers #pjo #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #rick riordan #medusa #greek myths #greek mythology #rapha talks #the funny thing is that one of the art exhibition i've been giving tours of these past couple of months is about goddesses #and it has some statues and objects about both athena and medusa so i've been talking a lot about these two for weeks now #so even though i still remember some from the books and i know damn well uncle rick's priority wasn't myth accuracy #i still got a bit floored by the planet-size holes in medusa's myth in the show #not enough to dislike the episode (au contraire i quite enjoyed it) but enough to feel compelled to say a word about it #(can you tell my special interest as a weird little girl was greek mythology and how it still is to this day...)

[t0bey]

*pats fionna* this woman can hold so much unexplored narrative potential despite being the protagonist of ur own tv show

#fionna and cake #fionna campbell #fionna the human #im sorry the salt is evident i feel womanbaited by the show that ended up giving me 80% Simon exploration in comparison #my art #not to say i dislike F&C bc i obviously like it enough to draw fanart but! the missed potential irks me

[theotterpenguin]

the performative accusation that shipping zutara (and occasionally this criticism is levied at jinko/zukka) is colonialist apologism has been addressed in some excellent posts, explaining the inaccuracies and problematic implications of this logic far better than i ever could - like this post and this one and this one and this one and this one.

and i know this topic has been talked about to death, but if you could indulge my contribution for a moment, i just find it interesting how this sentiment results from the cognitive dissonance of atla fans being unable to reconcile with the idea of their favorite show's political beliefs not lining up with their own.

atla is a largely philosophical children's show that at its core deals with themes of love, redemption, and destiny vs. free-will. atla examines these themes through an anti-colonalist, anti-imperalist lens that deconstructs the idea of racial divisiveness and the idea that people of different ethnicities are inherently different. this is message is pretty explicitly stated by guru pathik:

Guru Pathik: "The greatest illusion of this world is the illusion of separation. Things you think are separate and different are actually one and the same." Aang: "Like the four nations?" Guru Pathik: "Yes. We are all one people. But we live as if divided."

and also by uncle iroh:

"It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements and the other nations will help you become whole."

this theme is developed across three full seasons, with the crux of this message culminating in zuko's friendships with the gaang - despite coming from different nationalities and different backgrounds, they have all had their own experiences being hurt by the fire nation and work together to take down the oppressive fire nation government. the question of destiny vs. free will is also explored through zuko's character - despite starting off as an antagonist, he develops into a symbolic representation of how the fire nation's oppression hurts its own citizens. he unlearns the fire nation's imperialist propaganda while simultaneously unlearning his father's abuse. rather than following misguided beliefs of what he thought his destiny was as the heir to the throne, instead he forges his own path.

thus, to claim that zuko can never form a deep and meaningful relationship with any of the gaang because of his nationality goes unequivocally against the themes of the show. and a major part of this is because these are fictional characters being used to analyze different theoretical questions within the show and in some cases, are used as symbolic representations of different philosophical ideas - their friendships and their character arcs serve a purpose within the text that cannot be easily transcribed onto real-life dynamics between people.

it's illogical to criticize fans who are choosing to understand atla at the level of the themes that are presented by the text - who are interested in exploring similar philosophical questions brought up by the show through the context of relationships.

if you don't like the themes of forgiveness and redemption that atla explores, your criticism should be aimed at the writing of the show itself rather than other fans. because you are giving far more thought to the "implications" of a close friendship or romantic relationship between someone from an imperalist nation and someone from an oppressed nation than the writers ever did. (and if you fall in this camp of people, i would hope you wouldn't be reblogging fanart of zuko and the gaang together while simultaneously claiming zuko could can never escape the sins of his ancestors and can never form a deep relationship based on trust and intimacy with katara or sokka or jin - because that would just be hypocritical).

and as a side note, people seem to apply this flawed logic to zutara far more than other ships solely because the show spends the most time exploring the complicated nature of fire nation imperalism in the interactions between zuko and katara in the latter half of b3. this is because they've been juxtapositioned against each other and paralleled with aang since the beginning of the show in ways that toph, sokka, and suki are not, who have mostly been used to examine different themes. there simply isn't enough time to explore these complicated themes with all the other characters, even if they theoretically exist in zuko’s dynamics with these characters, so the writers focus the most on zuko's relationships with katara and aang, and these relationships are given far more narrative weight, so have more content to criticize. but zuko and katara also canonically become friends by the end of the show. if you want to discount the existence of their friendship, claiming that it will always be tainted by the fire nation's oppression regardless of what is shown in the text, then you also have to discount zuko's friendships with aang, suki, toph, and sokka - because even if this isn't shown as a permanent barrier to their friendships in the show, it’s also not shown as a permanent barrier to his friendship with katara. if your logic is solely based on the idea that a person's identity in a relationship as a colonizer or a victim is fixed and unchanging regardless of character development, this would apply to zuko's friendships with everyone else as well.

#zuko #katara #zutara #i have seen people say that the zutara dynamic makes them personally uncomfortable and that's fine - to each their own! #but it's hypocritical to only dislike zuko's relationship with katara while simultaneously exalting his friendships w aang or toph or sokka #just because the show doesn’t take as much time to explore these issues with other characters doesn’t mean the same dynamic doesn’t apply #my post #my meta

[demigods-posts]

I've seen a lot of discourse about Virginia Kull's portrayal of Sally Jackson in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV series, and I'd like to say that I loved her. Don't get me wrong. I love Sally from the original book series, and I, too, would fight the God of War on her behalf. But something that I enjoyed about Virginia's portrayal of Sally that we don't get in the books is the character depth. We don't hear much of Sally's backstory in the TV series, apart from a couple of flashbacks with younger Percy and that scene with Poseidon (Toby Stephens). However, those scenes do an excellent job of showing us that alongside being Percy's mother, Sally is also a young woman who fell in love with a man she could not be with and is enduring the natural consequences of having Percy. She struggles to communicate with him when she's frustrated, gets teary-eyed when she lies to him to prolong the inevitable, and actively sacrifices her happiness to ensure his safety. Virginia Kull's portrayal of Sally Jackson reinforces the character's humanity, imperfections, and determination, and it's everything to me.

#i once saw someone say they disliked the portrayl of sally jackson because she raised her voice at percy and I'm just #*sighs* #sally is essentially a single mom who is constantly being plagued with the notion that her son may not live to see sixteen #she has to prepare him for a life that she knows is going to break him like a bone #except she has to keep some secrets from him to ensure his safety for the time being #all the while #she is plauged with guilt knowing she and poseidon contributed to placing this burden upon him #and it is even more apparent when percy voices his disappointment in her behavior as a mother #and all she wants to do is be there with him every step of the way #but knows that she can't #and you're mad because she raised her voice at him???? #parents do that (and i wish they didn't) but they do #sally is not perfect in any way and i love her for it #give her some grace #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo text post #pjo #pjo tv adaptation #pjo tv show #pjo tv concept #pjo tv series #pjo tv spoilers #sally jackson #sally jackson appreciation #sally jackson appreciation post #sally jackson is amazing #they could never make me hate you #also virignia kull is an amazing actress and i don't know if it was clear that i love her but i love her in case it wasn't clear

[breakitoutwildbreak]

I keep forgetting to draw Soundwave’s shoulder cannon along with the rest of him so I came up with a lame excuse. Even Starscream thinks it’s lame.

#More dumb fanart #this time with more Starscream #My second time drawing him tbh #Starscream #Shockwave #maccadam #tfe #transformers earthspark #I dislike the show but I love most of the legacy character designs #Starscream looks so handsome too I never thought I’d say it #Wavewave #Somewhere in the world Soundwave is blushing under his mask #shockwave x soundwave #Stupid stinkin sketches

[asukiess]

ppl who say “the movie is better because in an hour and a half, it achieved what the show couldn’t in five seasons” like my dude. do you know what a show is? 

#idk I don’t eat a spoonful of better than bouillon and then say wow! this better than watered down broth lol! #when.... would a movie ever be an expansion yknow.... #that's..... what the show is..... #miraculous ladybug #like. what im sayin is. pick a better arguement #argument* LOL #you can dislike one or like one over the other but make sure your points are like. logical

[reluctantbylerblog]

call me crazy and controversial but I don't think nancy did anything wrong, nor is she fundamentally a bad person for what happened to barb in s1, and I absolutely do not think she needs to be redeemed. the end of her character arc should always be about reaching a point of self-compassion and forgiveness—specifically by healing enough to allow herself to move past her guilt and belief that she caused barbs death by letting herself become close to others and form intimate friendships. especially with robin (who imo she was cagey with in s4 because of her trauma around barb)

#stranger things #nancy wheeler #ronance #kind of #redemption arca are for people who djd something weing and nancy wheeler did nothing wrong #she was a bratty 16 year old who wanted to lose her virginity to a hot guy and ignored her friend for one night #and saying nancy needs to redeem herself from that is fucking crazy to me #barbs death was very much not her fault and the implication that she needs to atone for that is crazy to me #like did we watch the same show? #she has major survivors guilt! and the false belief that she caused barbs death #(I don't even like nancy that much but jesus I dislike interpretations of her character where #she needs to ‘‘choose’’ robin in order to redeem herself for not ‘‘choosing’’ barb #not even romantically because ronance in this particular scenario can be read both ways #what she really needs to do is allow robin to choose her! because she doesn't let people in anymore! because she HAS SURVIVORS GUILT!)

[posallys]

"the pjo show is so good! im so glad they stayed faithful--"

#just say you havent read the books in 5 years its okay #the show is not that great and i will not be silenced #do i like some things? sure. i dislike ~85% though. #just...you had the book there babe. you said it was going to be faithful. that means in more ways than just the plot </3 #pjo tv #pjo #percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

I'm in love with your drawing of Wally and Howdy fighting over the arm. I love how mad Poppy is. Her saying "is2g" gave me the idea that she starts cussing more the longer she has to deal with this bs. And I'm also imagining Frank leaning against Eddie's hat saying "oh Eddie we're really in it now"

10 out of 10 artwork. Good job. No notes.

it has been Well Received it seems! i'm very pleased, i was hoping i wouldn't be the only one who found it funny ahaha

and i couldn't resist:

#if poppy knew swears she would probably end up using them yeah #but none of them know swears! if i scribble them swearing its for Comedic Effect! #because children's show puppets saying 'fuck' is peak humor imo #thinking very hard about the four of them and their experiences together #wh lights out au #scribble salad #rambles from the bog #god. one day i want to fuckin Write this au. #because i dont have it in me to plan out scribbles and draw 'comics' for it In Order #so yall are just getting bits and pieces from random parts #i do want to write it though #i need to know them i need to Know Them for that #their speech patterns their likes their dislikes their vernacular their voices their emotions their opinions and quirks #hopefully this desire to write for it persists through that point #i suppose i could... write a shitty rough draft #a very bland rough draft that would just be the basics... #that could make it easier for future me to edit and tweak and ReWrite #i am Considering.... #hopefully i manage to write the Actual au and not just the aftermath which takes up 90% of the au's room in my head #but that is something i won't be talking about! #if the au gets written it'd be a Massive Spoiler! plus i'd probably write th aftermath as a companion sequel! maybe two! #for the different perspectives of course. or it would be a bonus fic where each chapter is a snapshot... hm thinking Thinking...

[fujii-draws]

OKAY! Chatot rant in tags below! Read at your own discretion.

#okay starting from the beginning of where ppl usually dislike him. apple woods chapter. #he doesn’t give hero/partner the CHANCE to explain themselves despite them being relatively good recruits up until that point. #and that legit might be my only gripe with that chapter bc!!! stories need conflict! I LIKE the conflict in apple woods!!! #hero and partner being punished so something they didn’t do! #the misunderstanding! how team skull (Skuntank) actually outplays the main duo with a clever yet rotten trick. I LOVE that it segways into- #one of the more sweeter scenes of guild members looking out for eachother. I LIKE APPLE WOODS CONFLICT. #but chatot just. not giving them a chance. is so dumb. #I’d personally fix this by having a lil montage of hero/partner fucking up on jobs. A LOT. and chatot giving them a pass every time. #and let the perfect apple incident BE the one where he puts his foot down and doesn’t listen to them. bc he’d given them loads of chances. #and doesn’t want to hear any excuse. #but yeah. I legit dont mind him during that chapter except for that really stupid and frustrating moment. #NOW. CHAPTER 17. #UGGGGHHH WHERE DO I BEGIN #Him not believing hero and Partner about Grovyle and the future being in ruin? FINE. ACTUALLY GOOD. BC CHATOT WOULD BE SKEPTIC. #IT FITS HIS CHARACTER!! #BUT WHAT DOES SUCK. IS HIM GOING ‘Dusknoir isn’t the bad guy. he didn’t do anything wrong’ #WHEN HE LITERALLY KIDNAPPED HERO AND PARTNER RIGHT I N F R O N T OF HIM. #(​NO LITERALLY. HIS CHARACTER IS IN THE FRONT ROW WHEN IT HAPPENED.) #and him. having the GALL to tell hero and partner they must’ve been ‘seeing things’ and downplaying the HELL they went through. #despite them being missing for hours/days. his own guild recruits. and his angry sprite showing up. #like. I think that’s when I genuinely despised him. #that and him going ‘OH I BELIEVED YOU THE WHOLE TIME HEEHOO :)’ shit was so fucking annoying. #just playing it off as a joke the second the guild started to believe hero and partner. #IMAGINE IF HE W A S ACTUALLY TESTING THE GUILD’S TRUST. SHOWCASING HIM AS THE MORE RESPONSIBLE AND RESPECTFUL RIGHT HAND OF THE GUILD. #and yes. Brine cave he saves hero and partner. but at that point I just didn’t care anymore. #he fucked those two over so much. that I didn’t care what ‘valiant’ sacrifice he had. #and he grills Team Skull for what they did OFF SCREEN. they couldn’t even give us THAT. #<<< THAT or him outright saying sorry would’ve been nice. IKIK his ‘actions’ or whatever but. #eughh again this is all imo. I’m not trying to make people hate him or change their mind. #I’ll get into positives in the second post cause I’m running out of tags

[riverrunscold]

Since we're sharing youtube comments, I wanted to share this underrated one

#watcher #watcher entertainment #disappointed but not completely surprised #i haven't watched them in a hot minute and i think this situation made me realize why #all the content is too perfect now. maybe even slightly too long. i say this as someone who loves long videos #i watch retrospectives on shows ive never seen or actively dislike and love every moment of it #but sitting with the silenced of ghost files is just boring now. which i hate to say but it is #there hasn't been any really funny bits in a while either. and the jokes that they do on the set feel not super authentic #that's just me though #im worried they made a bad business decision and it's gonna hurt them. and the situation isn't super serious so i enjoy laughing about it #i really think i was into watcher for a hot minute but sometimes it feels like im slogging through a video just to get a glimmer of #what i used to love #which is super depressing xD

[jaguarys]

One thing that really grinds my gears when it comes to the discussion of Rebels is the consistent misrepresentation of Kallus' redemption for ship purposes.

Kallus' redemption arc is not about Zeb. Yes, Zeb kickstarts it, but he did not make Kallus a rebel. And I find it so irritating when people reduce his arc down to "haha he fell so in love he switched sides" like please.

For Kallus' redemption to work, for it to be worth anything, Zeb cannot effectively be a part of it. The entire point of Zeb telling Kallus to search for the answers to questions he hasn't asked is because Kallus needs to see it for himself. He needs to realize for himself. He needs to realize everything he's been a part of.

And that's why I dislike it when people woobify him and turn him into this character who's constantly asking for forgiveness from Zeb. Because even aside from the fact that it's just weird to put Zeb in the position where he needs to constantly forgive the guy who was complicit in his planet's destruction, that's just not what the arc is about.

Kallus looks for the answers. And in the end he's more aware than anyone what he's done, what he's been a part of, and that it needs to be fixed. He's not a soft character and his redemption doesn't change that, it just means that he's changed his actions to be consistent with his morals. Zeb is not guiding him or teaching him or even present for most of it, and that's important.

#i don't have anything against kalluzeb at all i just dislike the presentation of their characters often haha #having the victim of his actions be the one who 'redeems' him is WEIRD!! #and i feel like it's shown well in the show that it's not about that #(also. tangent. don't wanna say that the fandom weirdness is because kallus is white but hello. it's because kallus is white.) #personal #star wars #star wars rebels #sw rebels #garazeb orrelios #aleksandr kallus #star wars zeb #star wars kallus #kalluzeb #star wars meta #star wars analysis #swr #star wars rebels zeb #star wars rebels kallus #star wars rebels meta #fandom: star wars #type: meta

[anyoldfandom]

I am actually. I am so emotional over the Salazar parents and I need to share this to tumblr too.

A lot of stories where the MC is adopted I feel. Either dismiss the biological parents and the impact they have on the kid's life, or makes them evil and abusive, framing the loss of the bio parents as a good thing, or at least something we shouldn't think about just look at this new family.

But Genrex doesn't do that. From the start, Rex wanted to find out more about his parents - it's one of his primary character motivations, next to helping people. He loves them, even though he doesn't know them.

And the more he finds out about them, the more he realizes they loved him. Rylander is consumed by guilt but as Rex's first connection to his pre-Event life, the first thing he does is hug him. And when he tells Rex about his parents, the two things Rex knows is that 1) they were scientists, and 2) that when he was in danger, they were desperate enough to use their secret, experimental technology to save him. Technology built from their desire to help the world, to save countless lives and end countless suffering.

And then. When he finds out that they were dead, he doesn't stop caring. It'd be so easy, too, to tie it up there - his parents were good people, he got his answer about them, the end. But they don't. He doesn't. Because the show is saying once again that they are his parents. He still calls them mom and dad, even as the show makes it clear Holiday and Six adopted Rex as their son. Even as the show even parallels Six and One with Rex and Six (and I will talk about that more later if I don't forget, trust me), to really drive home how much they're family. Rex even says he considers the two of them family, and later that he considers Noah, Claire and Annie family.

He has new family, the show tells us, but his old family still matters to him. He's upset that he never has the chance to meet his parents, that everything he hears about them, about his time with them, is secondhand knowledge. It tells us clearly that not only does Rex still love them, but that he still wants to know them. And everything we find out about them reinforces the love that they had for each other.

We see Abuela and the family in Mexico, who connect him to his birth family and tell him that he was so loved back then, and still is now. We see their office in Abysus through Rex's eyes. The picture of him and his dad on his desk. The drawing Rex drew, proudly pinned to the wall.

We see it in the familiarity of the drawing. That that robot, that build, was what Rex created when he was lost and scared and alone - that it was made to keep him safe. That it first appeared in his mind in a place he felt safe.

The show says, tenderly and softly, that the love is still there. That the fact these people died was nothing but a tragedy, that their love is a big part of what made Rex who he is today - that every molecule in his body is filled with their final gift to him. That every time he cures someone, every time he uses a build, every time he makes a machine - we see the love that they had for him.

And the way he quietly absorbs his father's face. The way he freezes and whispers "Mamá?" when he finds out Zag-Rs has their mother's voice. The fact that she even has her voice as a testament to Caesar's love, too - that it was meant to bring comfort and safety. The way Rex yells at Caesar when he finds out they have a family property, a connection to their past, the way he fights to protect it.

And, none of this takes away still from Six and Holiday being Rex's family too. None of this removes the work either set of parents did for him, the love either set has - the show says that it was unfair that the Salazar parents were lost. That Six and Holiday are not replacements, that they still love him as parents but play different roles in his life. They can not, and have no desire to, replace the Salazars. But Rex needs parents, he needs protectors, and so they will do what they can for him - at first out of necessity, to keep this kid they barely know safe, but then out of love. They aren't replacing what was lost, but are doing their best to do what Rex's bio parents would do. And they do mess up in it - they mess up in ways Rex's bio parents might not have. Six is clearly bad with showing affection, affection we saw the Salazars give Rex so easily, and Holiday is overworked and stressed constantly, sometimes breaking under the pressure and snapping at Rex and Six, things we never saw the Salazars do.

It's just. It's about how sometimes things will not be the same. They will be different. That doesn't mean the people you lost aren't still with you.

#This is also. Why I dislike the 'Rex was secretly made for the nanite experiments the accident was a lie' theory so much #Bc it assigns malice where the show says over and over again there was only love. #That this was only ever a tragedy of good people whose good intentions were manipulated and twisted. #And I think giving them something shitty to have done in the past especially goes against the message of the show's perspective on adoption #The family we choose is not always stronger than the family we are born to. Sometimes they are equal in different ways. #Rex's bio parents are gone but not replaced. They have also shaped who he is #Six and Holiday are just picking up where they left off. Because they have to. #Also I don't like the theory that Rex's parents are EVOs somewhere bc I think it diminishes the impact of the tragedy too. #I get. Wanting them to have a happy ending. But I think it's important to realize that this is the closest they can have to a happy ending. #Some things cannot be replaced. Or fixed. Sometimes life takes what we love and what loves us. And that is okay. #It is okay to be upset at that and it is okay to never fully move on. #'What about Caesar?' I have. Another post's worth of thoughts about him. #But I think he's also a character who is defined more by Rex by their relation and defined by the story by his guilt #I think he is the closest thing Rex has to a shitty bio family member and he is shitty in plenty of ways #But he's also a parallel to Rex in a lot of ways. He fails where Rex succeeds bc of it. #generator rex #genrex #Anyways. Sorry for the big post.