anyway i finished Family by ffn user The Middle Warner Sibling today. iâd link it, but tumblr hides posts with links; youâll find the fic easily if you sort on fanfiction dot net by highest amount of favorites for animaniacs LOL
here are my thoughts which i am making a Post about because this fic is literally 760,000 words long and if itâs not a touchstone of the fandom, it should be. ALSO if you care about spoilers for this story, this post will have spoilers in it.
the warners themselves are written very well. iâm not a huge fan of the âtheyâre actors and animaniacs is the show they filmâ idea myself, but itâs done in the best way possible here that feels very believable
i watch riverdale and thus i enjoyed all the melodrama. this fic is very dramatic but thatâs not always a bad thing
the adult fear was very powerful. as a 24 year old and also an oldest sibling, reading about how during their TIS days, dot was adopted off to a few different homes and yakko and wakko didnât even know it??? and she was only returned because she wouldnât stop crying out for yakko??? was INCREDIBLY unsettling to me. the fact that itâd even happen. also my favorite arc was probably the TIS arc alongside the car crash/coma arc
the sibs being descendants of bosko was an interesting detail that i liked. there are SO many animation history references throughout this ENTIRE fic and iâm positive i missed some but i recognized a lot. op obviously knows what theyâre talking about
the implementation of toon theory and âschlesinger syndromeâ is BRILLIANT. iâve seen lots of fics explore toon theory stuff, but none as in-depth as this. i LOVED IT and i want to read just an entire manual on toon theory. i wanna take an entire course
the sibsâ mentors and chaperones are all wonderful. iâm very firmly a âscratchy is the warnersâ parental figureâ truther, but bugs bunny being that in this fic worked very well. yakko calling him âda-dooâ in his perspective is VERY fitting and i liked that detail a lot. itâs extremely cute. also foghornâs relationship w wakko and porkyâs relationship with dot are both extremely cute as well. also: chaos vodka aunt slappy nation rise
hello nurse is given a real name and some agency thank god
the character of penelope goose should be a real thing. i love her SO much.
i have never watched a single episode of talespin in my life but i love mrs cunningham, kit, and molly now
i cried three times at this fic, which is an accomplishment because i have NEVER cried at a fanfic before: once when ophelia died, once when goose comforted yakko after they got caught by TIS, and once at gooseâs funeral
normally i donât care for overly-dad-like yakko. heâs protective of his siblings ofc and would die for them but heâs still their big brother, not their dad. BUT in this universe, dad-like yakko makes perfect sense, and i really enjoyed it, so points for that
every good thing that happens to the warners feels completely earned. we see them from the very beginning, when dot canât even walk yet, all the way up to yakkoâs 16th birthday. it all just feels very rewarding to see them succeed, and their backstory/buildup to working for warner bros is just. really good. the familial love and sibling relationships are IMMACULATE
i know that teenage boys are just Like That but also i did not like how the author put yakko in so many situations where he was allowed to act on it, especially considering heâs like, 12 or 13 when his first makeout session happens, and then maybe a year older when the next thing happens. really did not like that.
also really did not like the authorâs homophobia and transphobia showing in SEVERAL instances. it was just weird because the ficâs weirdly progressive in a lot of places but then its just like. yakko explaining that gay people exist to wakko is suddenly a âweird conversationâ. like. ok
Plucky Duck Epic Racist Moments. THIS WAS SO JARRING FJDSKLFJSDLK DONT DO PLUCKY LIKE THIS AND DONâT DO MARY MELODY LIKE THIS EITHER. EVIL
pinky and the brain and straight and brain is straight with GADGET HACKWRENCH
this fic is so mean to scratchy. be nice to him :(
itâs also mean to skippy hes just a boy!!!!!!!!!
things i am neutral on but still found noteworthy:
the author has a very very strong vendetta against darkwing duck for some reason and its just so baffling. he is SO yucky nasty to the warners and FOR WHAT??? and gosalyn is a lil bitch in this fic too its SO weird to see. ive never watched darkwing duck so maybe theyre just like that but i doubt it
anyway i enjoyed reading this story despite the problems i have with it. it managed to cut off at the best moment it could: yakko getting reassurance from bugs and giving him a hug after wakko and dot have decided to try new interests out. itâs unfinished, and was last updated in 2014, but thatâs a much better cutoff point than a lot of unfinished fics get, and i donât feel a need for closure on anything.
just be warned, this fic has a LOT of heavy subjects in it. feel free to ask me if you need any specific warnings, but otherwise, i say go for it