#obviously louise is louise (yes she can be sweet but she's louise) and even tina can be pushed far enough to almost be violent

[goldendoodlerlockerlove]

Geneuary Countdown: Discussion Question #1

Hello everyone!

To drum up excitement for Geneuary, I wanted to ask a question to encourage some fun discussion!

I'd like to ask what one of your guys' favorite Gene moments is. You can choose multiple because I know it'll probably be quite difficult to narrow it down!

I have so many favorite Gene moments that it was super difficult for me to narrow down, but one moment that really made me fall in love with Gene as a character and make me appreciate him was this moment from Season 5, Episode 5, Best Burger:

There is so much I could analyze about this scene, almost too much. But I've already kind of analyzed it for my post on why I love Bob and Gene's father/son relationship, so I'll try not to repeat anything.

I adore how genuinely hard Gene worked to try and help Bob this whole episode. Sure, it was technically him who created the issue in the first place, but he was just being a kid and being forgetful, something I can definitely relate to a ton. And he spent the entire episode trying to make up for his mistake, and he went through hell and back to get that black garlic.

He could've just given up at any time and run through that Hot Fudge Car Wash, but he didn't! He persevered and insisted that he should be the one to get the garlic to Bob, as he was the reason why Bob didn't have it. Side note, Gene was very ADHD coded in this episode, and I love it, as someone whose sister and boyfriend have ADHD.

Anyway, I adore how Gene apologizes to Bob right away, but it breaks my heart every single time when he calls himself a screw-up! He actually believes that he messes things up all the time, and that makes me want to reach through the screen and give him the biggest hug imaginable. He deals with so many confidence issues under his bubbly, effervescent surface, and it's always so fascinating to analyze and unpack.

It's always so clear how everyone saying that he messed up (even using his name as a negative verb) has affected him mentally. It's caused him to believe that if he doesn't fix this mistake, he'll just be seen as a screw-up, so that's why his determination in this episode was so strong. It's admirable, but it makes me want to give him some encouragement because he definitely needs it.

And him taking a moment to say that he's always admired Bob always has me 🥺 He loves his dad so much it's so cute. He really thinks of Bob as someone to aspire to be and look up to and is much more willing to admit it than Louise. I'm sure having a child who's so verbally enthusiastic about looking up to him feels really nice for Bob. Sure, Tina is also very vocal about her love for her family too, but is probably not as enthusiastic as Gene is, at least at this moment.

Also, I know it's not related to Gene, but I love how Bob quickly apologizes for snapping. It's a small thing, but it really goes to show how good of a dad Bob is.

My second favorite Gene moment is probably this one from the ending of Season 8, Episode 9, Y Tu Ga-Ga Tambien:

I think this goes back to Gene's self-worth issues that are hidden beneath the surface. Ga-Ga Ball genuinely made him feel left out, as seen with the line "It's not a good feeling when someone says "everyone" but they don't mean you!" It's implied here that Gene has felt excluded before, and unfortunately, I can definitely see that happening.

He's been excluded before (sort of) as seen in Season 5, Episode 17, The Itty Bitty Ditty Committee, where he was kicked out of his own band. That exclusion even led him to almost give up music entirely! So whenever someone excludes Gene, he carries it deep within himself. It actually hurts him a lot, even if he doesn't always show it. He gives off a happy, bubbly exterior because he is genuinely a happy kid, but he also doesn't exactly enjoy talking about any issues he has.

But when he had an opportunity to speak out against exclusion, he took it, because he didn't want anyone else to feel the same way he did. That was why he was the only one left who didn't like Ga-Ga Ball, because of that exclusionary aspect.

But yes, this was a fantastic speech and Gene moment. The gifs were taken from this lovely post:

[br1ghtestlight]

headcanons about bob's dad and linda's family meeting:

within MINUTES gloria says something super offensive to big bob (maybe about lily) and he starts a fight with her that bob and linda have to break them up bcuz otherwise big bob would literally kill gloria, louise thinks its hilarious and encourages this. she loves elderly violence

gayle thinks big bob is attractive and says she "always wanted to be in a relationship with a big fancy chef just like linda!!!" and spends the entire evening flirting with him which he is totally oblivious to bcuz he hasn't thought about romance in maybe 40 years. everybody else knows and it drives bob crazy but linda thinks its sweet. they have a discussion about what would happen if gayle and big bob get married (bob insists his dad does not want to be in a relationship, linda is like "ooh does that mean gayle would be your stepmother AND your sister-in-law?? does that mean i would be your wife and your aunt??? would the kids be your COUSINS" and bob is like "linda no. stop")

gloria is still lowkey angry that linda took big bob's family name since its so ugly and "its not a polite word to say" which inevitably starts ANOTHER argument between all of them, the kids actually like their last name and defend its cultural history

despite everything that happens with gloria al and big bob actually kinda get along and talk about "manly stuff" whatever that means, they try to include bob and eventually gene and have like a boys club but bob is like uhh no im cooking dinner and gene does NOT want to be part of any male bonding. louise however is ECSTATIC to take gene's place and learn about monster trucks and construction. she is disappointed to learn they just talk about aging and how much their backs hurt

they play board games bcuz linda is convinced there's absolutely no way that could go wrong. she was mistaken

gayle insists on inventing her own rules which annoys everybody else but gloria defends her ruthlessly and says that her version is better. gloria doesn't understand what game they're actually playing and keeps cheating. al is completely oblivious so the kids decide to make all his moves for him and end up purposefully helping their own characters win and sabotaging everything. big bob and bob disagree about their interpretations of the rules and big bob gets angry bcuz nobody is playing correctly And of course linda tries and fails to keep the peace. they end up giving up after 20 minutes and declare the kids got a three way tie and they all get extra dessert as a prize

due to a misunderstanding tina spends the entire evening trying to set up big bob and gloria bcuz they're "her grandpa and grandma!!!" and she gets upset whenever they fight and keeps trying to put them in romantic situations, they obviously fucking hate each other and also gloria is married to al 😭😭

at the end of the night big bob talks to bob and he's like i love you bobby and i love your family linda is great but her family is fucking crazy i cant stand these people. bob is like i know me neither do you want to just help me with the dishes so we can hide in the kitchen until they leave. and he's like yes

(bob and big bob don't always get along but when they're dealing with another annoying person or group of people they develop CRAZY solidarity they are ride or die, they both get annoyed by the same things)

overall the kids have a GREAT time and everybody else is miserable and keeps fighting with each other 10/10 get together

[golden--doodler]

BB Positivity Time! <3 What would be an ideal episode plot focusing on your favorite character? What about your favorite ship? Finally, your favorite familial/platonic relationship? Feel free to be as brief or or as detailed as you like!

Nikki!! Thank you SO much for this. You have no idea how much I needed this today.

Now, first of all, I would love an episode centered around Gene (surprising, I know). It would be centered around him getting a bad grade and getting discouraged by it, because he’s gotten so many that now his teacher is threatening summer school (and Bob and Linda are vehemently against any of their kids going to summer school, because that obviously means they wouldn’t be able to help out at the restaurant). Tina also actually got a good score on her test in remedial math, and that just makes poor baby Gene feel worse. Tina and Louise decide to help him pass his next test, like good sisters. And also help him gain his confidence back, because failing that test made his confidence unfortunately plummet.

As for an episode centered around my favorite ship, I’d say an episode centered around Bob and Linda solving a fun, silly mystery would be super fun. I know To Whom the Doll Toes centered around a mystery, but having an episode where Bob and Linda are silly detectives together would be so cute and fun. And can you imagine the banter?? Yes. Bob would let out so many deadpan “Lin”’s. Also, Teddy can get involved, because you know what, why not. I’ll throw that in there for all of the BLT lovers. The shenanigans would be glorious.

Now, finally, as for an episode surrounding a platonic relationship, I’d love an episode centered around Gene and Tina, because the writers have absolutely ROBBED us of showing their sibling bond without Louise in the mix. I’d say Louise can be hanging out with Rudy for the entire episode, and it’ll just be them. Maybe even Bob and Linda can be out doing something, maybe having a date night, and Jen can’t babysit, so Tina has to watch her little brother. And then she slowly realizes that they don’t spend that much time together alone, and she worries that she doesn’t know her little brother that well. So they take some time to bond, and whilst it’s very fun, if a bit crazy because shenanigans, Gene tells her that they do know enough about each other, and she’s a great sister and doesn’t need to worry too much. Though, spending a little more time together alone would be quite fun. Not the most creative episode, but I think it would be a fun and sweet way to focus on their sibling relationship more.

[frogbutane57-blog]

Bob's Burgers considers the hidden dangers of flirting with aliens

It was never going to be aliens. A lot of Bob’s Burgers’ animated siblings have an elastic enough continuity that it would be at least possible for actual aliens to pick up the kids’ signal—even The Simpsons did kind of canonize Kang and Kodos, to say nothing of still more off-the-wall shows like South Park or Family Guy—but the Belchers’ suspension of disbelief tops out at right around a two-butted goat. Since there’s no actual danger Tina and her science fair partner Susmita will actually contact extraterrestrials, the trick for “UFO No You Didn’t” is giving their story some semblance of stakes or a point. Otherwise, the episode risks being just too silly to work, reliant entirely on the solid but minor amusement of watching Tina and Susmita painstakingly lay out a detailed first contact procedure that will obviously fail. Indeed, that’s still the source of a good chunk of the episode’s low-key humor. Tonight’s episode doesn’t hide the fact that nothing much is happening outside the kids’ fervent imaginations. It’s just that, by story’s end, “UFO No You Didn’t” offers a simultaneously funny and heartfelt argument for why Tina and company’s wild imaginings matter.

As Tina explains at the science fair, the real question of her and Susmita’s project isn’t if aliens are out there, but why peanut butter is called butter—sorry, sorry, the question is whether it’s worth accepting the risk of drawing attention to ourselves and trying to make contact. As this is Tina we’re talking about, her answer is always going to be on the side of taking a chance and hoping for the best. Her closing speech is something of an inversion of what we usually get from Tina in these situations. Typically, her arguments reflect her all-encompassing belief that life is better with boys and butts, and it’s borderline coincidental that she makes some applicable point. Here, she actually engages with all the startlingly downbeat science fair presentations to make a cogent point about how aliens could be a much-needed source of help, because we clearly aren’t able to figure out answers on our own. It’s only then that the episode brings this back round to more familiar romantic territory for Tina, with her closing point about dying alone inspiring Susmita to send some saucy Morse code Henry Haber’s way.

That’s a sweet ending—or at least as sweet as an ending can be with Henry involved—and it does a nice job of demonstrating why Tina isn’t a total loser. We don’t meet that many actual smart kids at Wagstaff outside of Henry, who’s really more an aspiring supervillain than anything else. So it’s striking to hear Susmita drop actual scientific knowledge, with Tina’s weird ignorance seeming far more embarrassing when not paired with her siblings or still dumber kids like Jimmy Jr. or Jocelyn. Tina comes off as totally useless for a good chunk of “UFO No You Didn’t”—she can’t even commit to bubble letters!—but she shows what makes her special when Susmita reveals her own debilitating shyness. Tina, who I will never get tired of remembering was originally presented as the ultimate wallflower, is a paragon of confidence and boldness next to her partner. I mean, she’s still crushingly awkward, as ably demonstrated by her hilariously ill-conceived initial message, which requires her to both explain what bacon is and assure the alien readers that they won’t eat them. But Dan Mintz is so adept at conveying Tina’s underlying belief in herself, even as her words and thoughts and literally everything else fails her. She just keeps going, even if—no, especially if!—that ends in her kissing Zeke out of fear aliens are about to vaporize the planet.

Because I’m exactly the kind of person you would guess I am, I’ve spent a lot of time watching The Simpsons DVD commentaries. A mantra that writers Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein frequently share to describe their approach as showrunners in seasons seven and eight is that stories should be all about the family: A story might first be about Milhouse’s parents getting a divorce, but the eventual crux of the story should be about the Simpsons themselves. The logic behind this is that the show is at its strongest when it’s most tightly focused on the characters that audiences are most invested in. The potential downside is that always bringing the story back to the family limits the narrative possibilities, eventually robbing something like Homer and Marge having marital problems of its impact through three decades of repetition. Bob’s Burgers has impressed by taking the opposite tack and investing in its ever-expanding ensemble of weirdoes. The entire Wagstaff story takes as read that there’s nothing new here we need to learn about Tina or her siblings, even after they betray her for Henry. The theoretical conflict between the Belcher kids is quickly dismissed with Louise and Gene passing on Henry’s gift card reward to Tina as a supposed apology gift.

To the extent anyone changes over the course of “UFO No You Didn’t”, it’s not Tina, but rather Susmita and Henry. One is a character we’ve never met before, while the other is one we’ve never really been asked to care about previously, at least not by Bob’s Burgers standards. Yes, Louise is there as an audience stand-in to wish for the planet’s destruction when Susmita and Henry start swapping Morse code, but their growth leading up to that silly moment still reads as something the show wants the audience to care about. It’s okay for the Belchers to take a backseat here because Tina and Louise are so well-drawn—the episode trusts us to know immediately that Louise isn’t comfortable betraying her sister, with no expectation that this requires further comment or exploration—and because Gene is such a reliable delivery mechanism for one-liners and also farts.

And, as ever, none of these storytelling choices would work if the show didn’t care about all the weirdoes it has created. The result is a good-natured, relatively subdued episode, one that trusts in the kids and their goofy passions to drive the story. The episode would never ask us to take any of this seriously, other than the fact that the kids themselves do. As is typically the case with Bob’s Burgers, the show makes that an entire reasonable thing to ask of its audience.

Stray observations

“First off, amazing boards. Great job, everyone. Seems like a lot of parents got involved, but no judgment.” Tina always calls them like she sees them.

Tina and Zeke remain the show’s truest true pairing. Well, give or take Louise and Regular-Size Rudy, obviously.

Maybe I’m overstating the case when I say this is a more subdued Bob’s Burgers episode, but then again, consider the last time we saw the Wagstaff Science Fair: Any story that doesn’t end with Tina almost getting electrocuted to prove a point about Thomas Edison has to be considered sedate.

The story with Bob and the tiny coatracks is such a wonderfully silly throwaway subplot. There’s barely anything to it, even by the standard of flimsy restaurant side stories, so it’s a smart choice to make it ultimately be about Bob’s endless rivalry with Jimmy Pesto. That actually might be a case of the show wisely following The Simpsons’ lead and taking things back to the show’s core characters and conflicts, come to think of it.

Source: https://tv.avclub.com/bobs-burgers-considers-the-hidden-dangers-of-flirting-1830815483

[k-liight]

The Terrible Teens ch1

   Yup, I'm back again with yet another Bob's Burgers fanfiction that I may or may not finish XD. I'm gonna try to though. Even though I still need to work on Moving Parts. XD as the title may imply, the Belcher kids are teenagers in this story, so they're going to do teenager things. they're going to swear (mostly on Louise's part). they're going to talk about sex (but they're not going to actually do it, don't worry). and they're probably going to be doing some illegal underage drinking (which is not something I condone, so if I do include it it will be for plot purposes only). so just beware of all that XD. I hope you enjoy this story!

  Louise Belcher awoke to the sound of distant groaning. Groggily, she slowly opened her eyes and stared the alarm clock. 6:00 am. What the fuck. She didn't have to get up until 7:00. She tried holding the pillow over her ears to muffle the sound, but she could still hear it. She knew exactly who it was making that noise; after all, there was only one person who groaned like that--Tina.     "Ugh, what the fuck is she doing up so early?" Grumbling, the foul-mouthed fourteen-year-old stumbled out of bed and made her way to her sister's room. The light was already on, and Louise found Tina hunched over at her desk, still groaning.     "Tina, what the hell?" Louise simply said. Tina jumped and swiveled her rolly-chair around to face Louise, sending some papers flying around in the process.     "Ahh! Oh, Louise, uhh, good morning," Tina sheepishly greeted.     "No, not good morning, I got woken up an hour earlier than I needed to because of your groaning! The hell is your problem, anyway?" She took a few steps closer to Tina, who simply started groaning again in response.     "Tina, stop it already!" Louise scolded.     "I'm trying to finish this scholarship essay and it's due today at 3:00 but I'm nowhere near finished so I thought I'd get up early to finish it but I have no idea what to write and now I'm never gonna get it done and I'm never gonna get into college what am I gonna do?!" Tina rambled out a long, panicked response, then took a deep breath and slammed her head against the desk, groaning some more.     "Well that sucks," Louise deadpanned. "Could you try to worry about college a little more quietly? I wanna try to get another hour of sleep."     "Okay," Tina moaned. Louise shook her head and went back in to the comforting seclusion of her own room, snuggling back up under the covers.

    When her alarm clock screeched at her an hour later, she reached her arm out from a heap of blankets and angrily slammed it. She never liked getting up for school anyway. And since Tina and Gene were in high school and Louise was stuck at Wagstaff by herself, she hated it even more. She hated not being able to pick on her siblings in the hallways. The time she spent at home with them just wasn't enough for her mischievous heart. Oh well, at least now she had a girlfriend to hang out with.     Louise flung herself out of bed and trekked over to the kitchen, where Bob and Linda were eating peacefully together at the table and Tina was pacing back and forth while munching on a bagel.     "Good morning, Louise!" Linda chirped. Bob turned his head a few times to look around the kitchen.     "Where's Gene?" he asked.     "He probably slept through his alarm again," Louise answered. "I'll go get him."     She made her way over to Gene's bedroom, and knocked on the door.     "Gene! Wake up!" he yelled. It stayed dead silent on the other side of the door. Louise growled, and knocked again, this time harder.     "Gene, get your fat ass out of bed!" She knew it was probably mean for her to say that, but being mean is what Louise did best. When Gene still gave no response, Louise turned the doorknob, finding it unlocked, and flung it open with so much force that it slammed against the wall.     "GE-ENE~!!" she screeched. All she got in response to that was a single snore. Gene shifted slightly in his bed, obviously still in dreamland. Screw hurricanes, this guy could sleep through the freaking apocalypse! Louise growled again, and trodded back over to the kitchen, shoulders hunched in annoyance.     "Is he coming?" Bob asked.     "He didn't even fucking wake up," Louise grumbled.     "Louise, you gotta stop saying the f-word so much," Linda warned.     "Your mother's right, Louise," Bob added, "it's not necessary."     "Whatever," Louise said, grabbing a couple of pans from the cupboard.     "Whoa whoa whoa, what are you doing with those?" Bob asked.     "I'm still trying to wake Gene up."     "Yeah, but do you have to use my best pans?"     "Louise, you don't need to use those," Linda said, "just shake him awake."     "That only works when you do it, Mom," Louise argued.     "You've got that magic touch," Tina added. Linda sighed.     "Alright, I'll go wake him up. Now put those pans back." Louise silently complied as Linda went over to Gene's room. She took a deep breath, grabbed his shoulders, and shook him back and forth.         "Gene! Wake! Up! You're! Gonna! Be! Late! For! School!" Linda shouted as she shook her son around.     "Huh what?" Gene asked as he finally snapped out of it. He blinked tiredly a few times. "Oh, hi Mom." He flashed her a lazy smile. Linda sighed.     "Gene, I shouldn't have to do this anymore. You're sixteen."     "What can I say, I like seeing my mom when I wake up~."     "Aww, you're so sweet," Linda cooed. They hugged, and Linda kissed her son on the cheek. "Now get up, it's time to get ready for school." Gene grimaced.     "Ugh, Mondays."     "I know, but hey, Mommy made her sausage for breakfast."     "YES!!" Gene yelled excitedly. He pushed his covers off of him and practically flew out of bed into the kitchen. Linda was amazed at how fast he left the room, and by the time she got back to the kitchen, Gene was already scarfing down the sausage.     "Well, he's certainly awake now," Bob stated.     "Jesus, Gene, you're such a pig," Louise said.     "And a cute one, too!" Gene boasted, batting his eyes. "Oink Oink!" Tina chuckled, while Louise rolled her eyes.     "Gene, please don't talk with your mouth full," Bob admonished.     "Sorry Dad," Gene apologized, still with a full mouth.     "Oh my god," Bob mumbled.     "Speaking of cute, I gotta do my make-up," Gene said.     "Ugh, really Gene?" Louise asked. "You're gonna make us all late!"     "I won't take long!" Gene swallowed the rest of his sausage and ran off to the bathroom.     "Yeah, and Rome was built in a day," Louise said sarcastically. She honestly didn't care that her brother was feminine and liked wearing make-up, she just wished it didn't take him so damn long to get ready in the morning. Though, she had to admit, he did do a pretty good job at it.

    Later that morning, Tina and Louise were outside waiting for Gene, leaning up against Tina's car. Louise pulled out her phone and sent a text message to her brother. You done yet? About two seconds later, her phone beeped, and she opened up Gene's reply. almost~! ;) Louise groaned.     "Ugh, come on Gene!" she said aloud. "If only he could get ready as fast as he can text back." To pass the time, Louise started texting Jessica.

    Yo Jessica     hey babe ;)     Did I ever tell you that my brother takes FOREVER to get ready?     oh well that sucks     I'm so bored!     you wouldn't be bored if i were here ;)     You dirty little devil you~.     no im a big devil you're the little devil     FUCK YOU     when where and how hard? haha     You are so lame     yeah but you love me ;3     Eh, I can't deny that one     still bored?     Yup.

    "I'm ready!" Gene suddenly appeared in front of them, all dolled up. Tina and Louise couldn't deny that their brother was very good at fixing himself up. How he could transform from an average joe to a gorgeous model with just a few dabs of make-up and a few strokes of a hairbrush, neither of them would ever know. Not that he wouldn't be attractive anyway. "I wore longer pants today, and I really hope I don't get yelled at for them this time."     Nevermind, he just showed up. See you at school babe.     "Are they mid-thigh length?" Tina asked Gene.     "Uhhhh..." He shifted his eyes, obviously unsure. He hung his arms flat at his sides and looked down to see if his pants reached his fingertips. They were an inch above them.     "...Almost."     "You're probably gonna get yelled at again," Tina said bluntly.     "Who cares if he gets yelled at?" Louise said impatiently. "We're already running late!"     "Well somebody's impatient," Gene said teasingly. "Since when are you worried about getting to school on time?"     "Since I have a girlfriend that I wanna see before class starts."     "Oh yeah, that's right." Gene paused to remember that Louise had just started dating her friend Jessica the other day. He looked down at his not-quite-long-enough pants. "Maybe the principal won't notice me today..."     "I hate to break it to ya, Gene, but everybody notices you," Louise said as the three of them climbed into Tina's car.     "They do? Damn, I must be pretty."      "Actually, I was gonna say that everyone probably thinks you're a weirdo, but there might be a few crazy people that find you attractive."     "Hey!"     "Don't listen to her, Gene, you're beautiful," Tina said as she started her car.     "Thank you, Tina!" Gene swooned, putting his hands to his cheeks.     "You're welcome. Now let's get going before Louise explodes back there."     "It's about damn time!"

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