#I’ve been watching lazytown sometimes before bed lately

[spocksgotemotions]

this might not make any sense to anyone else but Quark and Robbie Rotten have the same vibes

[otterlydeerlightful]

LazyTown Ship Week #7

And now for something completely different XD

Day #7 - Travel/Vacations —————————————–

His suit case was packed. A little early, perhaps, but it was packed.  He had all the essentials he could think of: toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, clippers, razor, medication, underwear, socks, a few pairs of pants and matching shirts, a fanny pack to carry anything he might need on the go, even a hat to cover his head and keep the sun out of his eyes…was there anything else he was missing? Milford scratched his bare head as he looked at his bag. It was only half full, but he knew that he had to watch how much space his things took up; Bessie would need all the extra room she could get and he always offered to store some…or a lot…of her things in his bag.

“Oh my,” he breathed, glancing over at the calendar hanging on the wall. “There’s still so much to do!” He huffed, going through his mental checklist. “I bought the plane tickets, we have the room for the hotel, I’ve got brochures for all the resorts, Stephanie will be staying with Sportacus, but…oh dear. Oh no!” His eyes flew wide as he gasped in horror. “I forgot to book the second hotel! Where will we stay after—oh, oh and the boats! Oh, Ms. Busybody wanted so much to ride those! Oh, I’m so behind. How on earth could I have left so much to the last minute?”

Granted, the mayor had been incredibly busy lately. With Sportacus and Robbie around, things in LazyTown were always interesting in one way or another, but on top of that, Stephanie had needed help with a summer project for her extracurricular class she had signed up for, there were some town construction and maintenance contracts and problems to attend to, and…somehow in the bustle of it all, he had dropped the ball on his own vacation.

“Oh no,” he moaned, picking up a pile of brochures and travel guides and proceeding to haphazardly sift through them all to organize what had been planned and what was still up in the air. “How could I have forgotten so much? It was on my to-do list and…goodness…I should have written keep track of to-do list on my to-do list! If I had, I wouldn’t be in this mess!”

The sound of his phone ringing in the next room startled the man. Milford yelped in surprise, dropping most of the papers and booklets to the floor. He groaned at the sight of it all, the telephone still shrieking for his attention.

“Oh dear. That must be her. Oh, what am I going to tell Ms. Busybody? She deserves the perfect vacation,” he lamented.

Milford left the papers were they were for the moment in favor of answering his phone. He took a deep, steadying breath, and lifted the receiver from the hook.

“H-hello?”

“Milford! I just wanted to give you a ring to let you know I’m coming over in a minute. I’m just picking up a plate of cookies along the way, first. I thought we could enjoy them out on the patio.”

Oh no. She was coming over now? There wouldn’t be time to tidy up! The place was still such a mess from Stephanie’s project, and he hadn’t started dinner yet, either, and he had promised that he would stop by Bessie’s home earlier that afternoon to weed her garden while she was at the hairdresser and—oh, he had forgotten all about that, too! The mayor bit his lip, glancing back toward his bedroom only to catch sight of his suit case on the bed and the papers still strewn all over the floor. Oh, yes, how could he already forget that problem already? This was just much too much. Oh, this entire day was just a disaster!

“Milford?”

“Huh? Oh! Uh…sorry, Ms. Busybody. The connection must have cut out for a second.” Good save. “What was that you said?”

“Oh, I was just saying that Eleanor was telling me all about the evening tours we could take. She and her husband went some years ago, and she still has all their information. But I wasn’t sure if you thought that that sort of a tour would be something you’d be interested in or not. I mean, it’s just stories, after all. It’s not as though the carriage taking you everywhere is haunted, but you never know what sort of atmosphere a place might have until you get there and see it yourself. Eleanor seemed to like it, though, and you know what a scardy-cat she can be sometimes. Remember that costume party a couple years back? When she was scared silly by Roger’s mummy outfit? I couldn’t believe the look on her face! You’d think she went and actually met King Tut the way she…”

The man began to zone out, his anxieties distracting him from listening to the woman’s monologue. He loved Bessie dearly, but sometimes she could go a little overboard on the storytelling. Not that he didn’t want to hear what she had to say—he actually enjoyed hearing her voice and all the twists and juicy turns her tales had—but sometimes one’s ears just got tired and needed the occasional break.

Besides, his mind was too busy reeling to pay much attention anyway. Milford looked forlornly to the kitchen, his kettle for tea too far out of reach. He hated not having something to offer Bessie when she visited. Oh, why did he still bother to have a phone with a chord? He should have sprung for one of those wireless models ages ago so he could try to tidy up while Bessie talked instead of being rooted helplessly in place. There was no way he could make sure they had all of their reservations made and travel plans started, much less solidified, by the time she got here if he was stuck standing by the telephone. No, the universe had clearly decided that Milford was doomed. And, rightfully so, if he hadn’t been able to handle his mundane life enough to have a presentable home for his lady guest. What a disaster.

“…and after that, the fish will be just—oh! I guess I must have been walking faster than I thought!” Bessie giggled on the other end of the phone line. “I guess I’ll see you in just a little bit, Milford.”

The man swallowed and sputtered out a distressed “O-okay, Ms. Busybody. I’ll see you then.”

Milford hung up the phone, staring at the receiver for a few moments in dismay. It was ruined. Everything was a mess, their trip tomorrow was still somehow only half-planned…oh, she was going to be so disappointed. And disappointed in him. Ms. Busybody deserved the best, after all, and it was what she was used to, but Milford had let her down terribly, and with no time to fix things before she found out.

“Well,” he said to himself, “Maybe I can at least have that tea ready for when she—”

Ding ~ Dong!

Milford could feel his heart sink straight into his stomach as he now realized what the woman’s last comment had meant before their conversation ended. Oh no. He swallowed, shuffling toward his front door like a man lead to the gallows. His hand rested momentarily on the door handle while he mentally prepared himself for the disappointment he would soon be delivering to the most wonderful woman in his town. Milford let out a slow breath, put on a smile, and opened the door.

“Ta-da!” Bessie laughed, holding her hands out in faux surprise, holding the box of cookies in one and her phone still in the other, a heavy-looking handbag hanging from the elbow.

“H-hello, Ms. Busybody!” he greeted kindly. “Come on in. I...well, pardon the mess. I’m so sorry, Stephanie had a project she was working on and I suppose I got a little side-tracked when it came to cleaning and—”

“Oh, don’t worry at all, dear. I’ve had to babysit the kids in this town enough to know that messes are never far behind,” Bessie assured him as she bustled past in search of his kitchen counter to put her things down.

Milford closed the door and wordlessly followed the woman to the kitchen. Bessie was already picking up their conversation from wherever it was they had left off, so he went to add some water to the kettle while she finished her thought.

“What do you think?”

Oh no, as if his blunders today couldn’t get any worse.

“I…what?”

How lost he felt must have shown on his face, because Bessie furrowed her brow and cocked her head as she looked at him. Milford stood there, frozen. Some part of his brain insisted that if he stayed still, maybe the problem would go away, that she would find something to occupy herself, but it was an obvious lie and he knew it.

“Milly, are you alright?” the woman asked.

Oh, she would find it all out anyway soon enough, wouldn’t she? Milford let out a heavy sigh and let his shoulders slump. “No,” he admitted. “I suppose not.”

Bessie pulled out one of the stools from the kitchen island and patted it. “Milford, sweetheart, come here and tell me what’s wrong,” she said, her tone soft and eyes warm as she looked over his face in concern.

The mayor did as he was told, sitting next to the blue-haired woman. He stared at the countertop while she rested a gentle hand on his back and began to rub it in small, comforting circles.

“Tell me what’s wrong, Milford.”

“Oh, Ms. Busybody,” the man breathed in dismay. “I’m so very sorry. I know you’ve so been looking forward to this vacation, but I’m afraid I’ve bumbled the entire thing before it even began!”

“Milford, honey, I doubt that. What’s happened with it? We’re still going, aren’t we?”

“Well, yes…”

“I remember you said you bought the plane tickets.”

“Yes.”

“And we were going to stay in that nice hotel by the beach for the first bit, right?”

“Oh, yes, I…I reserved our room there right away…that was almost a year ago, with how popular it is…”

Bessie blinked at him, not seeming to understand his distress. “Then what’s wrong, Milford?”

“Everything else, I’m afraid. I got so busy with work, and the house, and packing...I only realized today that I didn’t get anything else ready at all! I have all the brochures, but no reservations or tickets for anything! Oh, I know you were so looking forward to—”

The mayor was cut off by the woman placing a finger to his lips.

“Milford,” she said sternly, despite the kind smile she wore, “That’s all we need. We can find accommodations for the last half of the trip as we go, even if it’s not the grandest. We’ll be out and about all day anyway.”

“But—”

“No buts, Milly. You take on too much sometimes.” She looked a little ashamed, then. “And, I’ll admit, I heap a little too much on top of that myself.” Bessie went back to smiling quickly. “That’s why I decided it was high time that I start helping and do some of the work myself.”

He made a face, not sure what she was getting at. Bessie reached for her purse laying on the counter and reached inside. Out came a pile of familiar-looking brochures, as well as a fair number of notebook pages tucked here and there with notes scribbled all over them.

“I knew you were feeling a little bogged down lately from all the contracts and craziness at city hall,” Bessie said with a knowing smirk, “So I took the liberty of coming up with a few itineraries we could choose from. I thought maybe today we could compare notes and finalize things. It looks like it might be easier decision-making than I anticipated.”

Milford’s eyes widened. “Oh my! You…you did it all…yourself?”

“Of course, Milford. What do you think, I can’t handle myself?”

He squirmed uncomfortably where he sat.

“Anyway,” Bessie said, rolling her eyes. “Would you like to take a look over tea and cookies? We can make some calls and see what spaces are left and make reservations tonight, finish packing tomorrow morning and…well, go catch a plane! What do you say?”

“I…I don’t know what to say. Ms. Busybody…”

“You don’t have to say anything, Milford. I wanted to help. I realize I should probably do that more than I have been. This felt like a good place to start.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the shrill whistle of the kettle. Milford jumped up and raced over to take it off the heat and pour each of them some tea. He could feel the woman watching him from behind as he did. As he poured, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Things might be alright after all. A small smile tugging at his lips, he turned around to offer Bessie her mug. She thanked him and pulled it close.

“Thank you, Ms. Busybody.”

“No, thank you, Milford.” She laughed out loud. “And call me Bessie, please! It’s been years now, hasn’t it?”

The mayor blushed. “Oh my. Uh, yes. Thank you, Bessie.”

[shoelace-and-friends]

A very homesick sports elf!

Despite the fact that he lived in a big and fancy, futuristic-looking airship, Sportacus was actually not exactly the most tech-savvy guy. However, after HOURS of insistence from the children that his life would be so much easier if he had a cell phone to communicate with people, he finally caved and went to the nearest electronics store to pick out a phone of his own, with the help of Pixel. It sure was a good thing that he had Pixel there to help him; these “smart phones” were really confusing. Pixel is a very smart boy though, and even someone as technologically inept as Sportacus still managed to figure out the basic functions of the phone, thanks to him. 

It really WAS useful, he had learned. Not only had he and the kids grown the habit of texting each other good night before 8:08, but he was also able to easily catch up on current events, and the phone functioned as an excellent planner that reminded him of what he needed to do; which REALLY helped someone like him who had ADHD. He’s also been watching a lot of exercise videos on it and has even downloaded a couple apps to help him keep track of how much he has exercised. 

Phones REALLY ARE nice…maybe he’ll write to his family about how useful they are. MAYBE, …he can even give them his new phone number. He doesn’t think that any of the elves back home had cell phones, and it was probably wishful thinking but- …he just really wanted to hear everyone’s voices again….Getting letters from his family every once in a while really felt special, but sometimes…the wait in between letters made it feel like it wasn’t enough….

******************************

It was two in the morning when his phone started to blare out its default ringtone, vibrating from across the room on the floor, over by the outlet where he had it plugged in. The elf groaned, slowly sitting up and attempting to rub the sleep from each of his eyes, but he still felt really tired. He definitely didn’t get his full eight hours of sleep yet; who on Earth would call him at THIS hour? Was someone in trouble? That can’t be it; his crystal wasn’t beeping…

Drowsy and confused, Sportacus climbed out of bed and walked across the room, unplugging his phone. …That’s funny. He didn’t recognize this number… 

“Hello?” He yawned. “This is Sportacus…” 

“Oh! It works!” A female voice on the other line chimed excitedly from the other line, and Sportacus immediately perked up, feeling his heart jump in his chest and almost completely forgetting the fact that he was tired. “Mamma!” He cried out into the receiver, his tone frantic as he clutched the phone tighter in his grip. Was it REALLY her? Or was he dreaming? This felt like a dream- 

But no, he heard her familiar, warm laughter on the other end, laughter so unique and so distinct to him that he couldn’t rationalize it as possibly belonging to anyone else. 

“Yes dear, it’s your mother,” the voice on the other end confirmed it for him, giggling once more before she let out a gasp. “Oh dear! I forgot about what time it is over there! Did I interrupt your sleep, honey?” 

“N-no!” the hero immediately stammered, waving his free arm around frantically, even though the other couldn’t see. “I mean- you DID, but it’s really no big deal, mamma. I can stay up and talk,” he said quickly. “I WANT to talk-” 

“Okay honey.” His mother laughed again, before letting out a soft sigh. “I’m sorry to have woken you up so early- actually, it’s still pretty early over here too. But your father and I got your letter last night about you getting a cell phone, so we went ahead and left the elf village to go buy one so we could talk to you.” “You DID?” He asked, his eyes widening as he felt his heart swell in his chest. …They left the elf village and went through all that trouble to do that for HIM? 

“Yes, we did,” his mother answered, and Sportacus SWORE that he could feel the warmth of her smile from the other end. “I was going to wait until a little later to call you, but I guess I got excited.” 

“No no mamma, it’s NOTHING,” he insisted. “You guys can call me at any time that suits you.”

“Oh, but we want you to get your sleep, darling. We KNOW how important your job is. Next time, we’ll call you at a more reasonable hour. …Maybe we can even do one of those “video chats”…once we figure out how-” 

…A video call? A chance to see his family? “…I would really like that,” he told his mother, his mind pulling back to the last time that he had seen everyone’s face. It’s…been a long time. A couple of years, even. He wondered if everybody even looked the same. Being that elves kept to their youth pretty well, they probably did, …but maybe his father was finally beginning to grey? Or his mother got a haircut? Perhaps his brother’s facial hair had gotten longer… 

“We would like that too. It really has been a while, hasn’t it?” she noted. 

Sportacus swallowed, a but more thickly than he expected. “…Yes,” he told his mother. The more he thought about his family, …the more that he realized that he was sort of forgetting what everyone looked like. “…It really has been a long time- …Umm, mamma, could you fill me in a bit about what’s been going on back home lately?” He asked, hoping that that would get his mind off of it. 

“Oh, of course dear! As you know, May is just around the corner, so we’ve all been getting ready for the flower festival. Your father has been spending EXTRA time back in the garden these days.”

Oh! How are his apple trees doing?” he asked. “Has he finally gotten them to sprout sportscan- duhh, fruit?” he asked, correcting himself. 

“He HAS,” his mother replied, beaming. “And your father is really proud of himself. It really WAS a stubborn tree. Perhaps we’ll send you a crate of apples- I don’t think your father will take no for an answer anyway-” 

“I don’t think he would either,” Sportacus laughed. “Tell him that i’ll take them.” Sure, it was true that Lazytown had more than enough apples for him to eat already- but he still MISSED the distinct taste and crunch of an elvish apple from back home- actually, there were a LOT of things back home that he missed…

“Your brothers are doing well,” his mother continued. “Alfreð still has his job working with the human police,” she told him. “And Magnús and Reginleif are expec- ooh, I probably shouldn’t say more,” she hesitated. 

“Shouldn’t say what?” Sportacus asked. 

“Well…I feel like Magnús would want to tell you this himself, ..but I’ve probably already said too much. He and Reginleif are expecting a baby.” “What? Really?” Sportacus sprang up, surprised by this news. “They are? That’s great!” 

“Yes honey, they are. But promise me to pretend you heard nothing when he finally tells you that you’re going to be an uncle.” 

“My lips are sealed, mamma,” he promised. Wow…he’s going to be an UNCLE. He’s never been one of THOSE before! It really did seem like a lot of fun, when he thought about it, teaching his niece or nephew to play games, and getting to spoil them…but then Sportacus realized something. He’s stuck in Lazytown. He’s going to MISS the birth of his brother’s child. He’s not going to get to meet his niece or nephew in person… 

He’s been seeing and missing A LOT, the more he thought about it. This year’s flower festival, and the one the year before it. He’s already missed his brother’s wedding, and now he’s missing his firstborn too. He’s missed every funny dinner table conversation, …and now that he thought of it, he missed his father’s sense of humor. He missed the rolling hills, the streams and waterfalls, he missed getting big group hugs, tackles by his brothers and friends and tickles behind his ears… “…Dear? You’ve been awfully quiet for a while,” he managed to hear his mother say to him through all of his thoughts. “Are you tired? We can talk again tomorrow.” 

“NO, I-” Sportacus swallowed, suddenly feeling tears spring into his eyes. “Don’t go, mamma-” he begged, his voice breaking. “I miss you…” Before he knew it, he was crying into the receiver, his breath hitching as his body began to rack with sobs.  Why was this happening to him so suddenly? Why couldn’t he control it? 

“I miss you,” he sobbed out, wiping at his eyes frantically, but the tears just kept coming. “I miss y-you and pabbi, a-and I m-miss Magnús and Alfreð, and I miss HOME…” he hiccuped, feeling his cheeks only get wetter. “A-and I feel b-bad b-because I feel like I’m m-missing out on e-everything that’s i-important to all of you-” 

“Oh darling…” His mother put on a sympathetic tone, trying her best to hush her son. “I know, it must be really hard on you, only being allowed to visit once every eight years…and sometimes, it’s hard on us too,” she told him. “There isn’t a day that goes by that the whole family doesn’t think about you. Alexander darling, we love you SO MUCH…and we’re all VERY proud of you,” she said, trying to console him. “Me, your father, your two older brothers, the WHOLE VILLAGE is VERY proud of what you have been doing.” “Y-you are?” he whimpered out, sniffling and wiping his nose on his wrist. 

“Yes, Alexander sweetheart, we are,” she said warmly, comfortingly, using the same tone that she did back in his boyhood whenever he seeked comfort. “The elf council couldn’t have possibly picked a better elf to become the tenth Sportacus. Whenever your father and I read the letters that you send to us, we always smile when we hear about how you’ve been helping the children in your town stay safe and healthy. Yes, we read about what you’ve been doing sometimes and it makes us miss you, …but we’re always so HAPPY to see you write about how much you love your job and what you do. I’m not sure if we say it enough or not, but we’re SO proud of you. You really are making a difference in that community you’ve been taking care of.” 

“I am?” 

“You are. You’ve been doing EXACTLY what you were assigned to do, and the whole village is proud of that. …Are you happy with what you’re doing?” she asked him. “I-I AM,” he nodded, wiping his eyes. He was sure of that much. “I LOVE what I do. I love it SO MUCH. I LOVE everyone in Lazytown to pieces.” 

“We KNOW you do,” his mother responded warmly, and the hero could feel himself calming down. “And you’ll continue to make all of us proud, each and every day. We LOVE you, darling-” “I love you too, mamma.” 

[apathetic-revenant]

Y’know, I went through four and a half years of college being inundated with emails and posters and flyers and whatnot for clubs/talks/meetings/groups/events/just general information promoting the importance of Taking Care of Yourself and Eating Right and Exercising and Getting Enough Sleep and not a single goddamn one of them inspired me to do anything of the sort, but somehow this insane TV show about a ridiculous begoggled sports elf and his puppet friends will get me to eat breakfast and take a walk when I feel bad.

I’ve really been surprised by how much this show actually helps with my anxiety (which has been through the roof lately so this was some quite fortuitous timing). I mean initially I just thought, well it kinda cheers me up to watch it because it’s cheerful and bright and there’s some remarkably solid comedy and adorkable Icelandic accents, but at some point I realized it was actively encouraging me to take better care of myself. Which felt rather odd since it’s not aimed at anything remotely near me demographically, it never remotely touches on mental illness (hell, it doesn’t even touch on physical illness), and most of the messages in the show aren’t even all that applicable to me. I mean, I can go to bed early but that doesn’t mean I’m going to get a good night’s sleep, and I’m not going to feel less tired and wrung-out no matter how many apples I eat. 

Honestly, I thought I was just being weird. By this point I’ve more or less gotten used to the fact that my coping techniques can get a little strange, which I guess makes a certain amount of sense because after all the things that make me feel bad make little enough sense to begin with it kind of follows that the things that make me feel better might not make a lot of sense either. 

But then I started noticing how many other people were saying LazyTown helps them deal with mental illness in some way or another, which really struck me. It made me kinda wonder why this is, how a show that seems like it should be really obnoxious and overbearing and generally not helpful can pull off what so many messages about self-care that were aimed directly at me completely failed to do.

I’m not sure I have a good answer to that, but watching the show with that question in mind, I’ve noticed some things:

-Although it never makes a big point out of it, there’s a recognition in the show that what works for one person is not necessarily going to work for someone else. Sportacus can’t have sugar, but he never tells the kids that they should never eat sugar. He says hey, it’s perfectly fine to eat candy or ice cream sometimes, just maybe don’t eat too much and eat something healthy as well, okay? When it’s his birthday they make regular sugary birthday cake for everyone else to eat, and a fruit cake (not a fruitcake) for him to eat. (Which he then proceeds to use as a prop in a dance number, but whatever.) And the kids all have different interests, and are good at different things, and while they have plenty of group games the message about exercising is never “do this one specific thing” but “do what you like to do”. Hell, in one episode they figure out a way for Ms. Busybody to exercise by answering the phone, because that’s what she’s good at. 

-Following that, no one’s ever forced or required to fundamentally change who they are. Pixel’s never told he has to stop playing video games and spend all his time outside, just maybe don’t play video games so much you neglect to take care of yourself. Ziggy’s not told he has to stop eating sweets entirely, just encouraged to eat some fruit as well. Trixie’s never told she’s too bossy or bold, just, y’know, try not to prank people in a mean way. Stingy is...well, Stingy. But I mean, look at how the show treats Stingy. The kids won’t let him run over them; they’ll call him out if he goes too far, like in the treehouse episode, and when he’s being annoying they’ll tease him right back, but by and large they just accept that Stingy is how he is and that’s fine as long as he’s not being a real jerk about it. 

-Sportacus’ crystal doesn’t just register physical danger, it registers emotional trouble as well. And he treats everything equally as serious and always responds to it urgently. At most, if it’s something especially ridiculous, you might get a somewhat-exasperated-but-mostly-amused headshake, but he never says anything like “That’s it? I was expecting something serious” or “I came all the way over here for this?” He never minimizes anyone’s problems or makes anything out to be unworthy of his time.

-Sportacus also never chides anyone for getting into trouble in the first place, or expresses any annoyance over having to save them, even if it’s something they got themselves into. At most he’ll gently ask them to be a bit more careful next time. And he makes it very clear that he will always be there for the kids if they need him, no matter the reason. He never brushes them off or tells the kids he doesn’t have time to play with them or listen to them or anything like that.

-One of the recurring messages in the show is that there’s nothing wrong with making mistakes, the important thing is that you learn from them. Everyone in this show makes mistakes at some point and that’s okay. No one holds grudges (except Robbie). Sportacus never gets angry at the kids even if they do things that wind up causing him some serious trouble. Hell, he came down on his birthday to find that there was a giant wall built across town and everyone was throwing cake at each other and his immediate thought was for everyone else’s wellbeing. 

-Sportacus always asks people if they’re okay after he saves them. I dunno, it’s a really really small thing, but like. He doesn’t assume that everything’s automatically fine because he swooped in and saved the day. He makes sure everything’s alright before he does anything else. He’s obviously not just showing off or saving people because that’s his job, he’s always genuinely concerned for them. 

-If Robbie’s being duplicitous people might be suspicious of him, but any time he makes anything like a sincere attempt to be friendly or join in a social activity he’s immediately accepted. There’s no plot where he tries to do something good and everyone hilariously misunderstands and thinks he’s doing something wrong. And they don’t tease him or show any impatience when he’s awkward or uncertain about how to actually function in a social setting, they just gently help him out.

-The characters never try to get revenge on Robbie. The universe might enact some weird karmic punishment on him, or his schemes might backfire on him, but the most the characters ever do is troll him a little or let him take a mild pratfall. And Sportacus will save him every time, even when the entire reason he’s in trouble is because of some villainy he was doing (which is almost all the time). Even when he’s trying to crash the airship with Sportacus in it, Sportacus will still save him. There’s no “he has it coming” or “he deserves what he gets”, and no one ever intentionally initiates trouble with him. 

-Sportacus never brags or boasts. Yes he’s ridiculous with his stunts, but he obviously does all that because he enjoys it and he thinks it’s cool, not because he wants people to admire and praise him. And he’s always quick to tell the kids that they can do cool stunts too if they just practice and work at it, and he’s incredibly supportive of everything they try. This is a guy who can do gymnastics the rest of us could only dream of but he’ll cheer on a six-year-old trying to do pushups like it’s the greatest thing he’s ever seen. And I mean, you really believe that to him that is the greatest thing he’s ever seen. 

-The show’s really open about gender roles. Robbie is totally down with crossdressing all the time and no one ever comments on this or laughs at it or finds it weird. I mean they might react to him being in disguise but the nature of the disguise is pretty irrelevant. Stephanie has a lot of stereotypically girly characteristics and Trixie has a lot of stereotypically tomboyish characteristics and this matters not one little bit to anyone. The Mayor happily wears a pink bobble hat, Trixie will be the knight or the pirate captain or Robin Hood in a game, Sportacus and the Mayor can knit and Robbie can sew, Stingy at one point declares himself a princess because hey, royalty is royalty...whatever. It’s all good. 

-Everyone cares for each other so much on this show. Like Robbie once went around sabotaging Sportacus thinking he was going to make him look like a fool and embarrass him and instead all the kids just got super concerned that he might not be taking care of himself properly. When Robbie had no gifts for Christmas they came to his door caroling (well, kind of) and gave him some of theirs even though the whole reason he had no gifts was because he was on the naughty list for being a jerk to them all the time. The kids might disagree or get into fights sometimes but they always make up quickly, and they’re always helping take care of each other and looking out for each other. 

I think maybe, at least in part, this show works as well as it does because while individual episodes might have specific messages about brushing your teeth or getting enough sleep or whatever, the overall message isn’t about any specific way to live. It’s just...take care of yourself. Help others take care of themselves. Feel good and enjoy life because you’re worth it.

I know that might sound really simple and not worth making a fuss about, but ...well, it’s not real easy for me. What’s easy for me is thinking I’m not worth much, or that the tiniest mistake is a huge disaster, or that my stupid problems and I are a burden on people around me. When you hear that coming from the inside of your head all the time, well...you kinda need all the help you can get to think otherwise. I personally did not expect that help to come from a flippy blue elf with a Salvador Dali mustache, but hey, who am I to argue.