Bojack sees life as a sitcom

amelia (she/her) | this show cured my depression | I follow and reply from @queercomposer

[dongslinger--420]

Hey, kids!

My name's Amelia, I'm 21, and I'm the only bjhm fan on this entire website with good takes! Isn't that shocking!

This blog's content swerves mainly from pretentious think pieces to shitpost comedy to senseless gushing about whatever character I'm thinking about this time, so all in all it's a pretty fun time! Feel free to interact and send asks, because if there's one thing I LOVE, it's rambling about stuff that really doesn't matter in the long run.

In my day to day life, I'm a musician! I might do something musical that's related to this fandom at some point! Follow this blog to increase the chances of that happening! Or not!

I write image descriptions. If you reblog a post in which I have written an image description and delete my addition with the ID, you are getting blocked. The fact that you care more about your blog looking nice than blind people isn't something I want to see, thanks.

Please don't use the word "dumb" anywhere on my blog. This includes in the comment section, reblogs, asks, etc. The word has its origins in a slur for mute people and the fact that people aren't aware of this by and large makes me uncomfortable.

I don't have a DNI list: anyone is free to interact with me, just be warned that I might block you if I find you annoying or uncomfortable.

Anyone under the age of 16 is getting blocked. You are WAY too young for this show I can't believe 14yo fans exist. This is an adult space like come on.

Tags:

I'm usually very specific and formatted with my tag system. If I ever refer to an episode or a season in a post, you will find it tagged as "[name of episode]" and "bjhm s[X]". The same goes for any character. Full names are used except for Sarah Lynn, and if any character doesn't have a full name stated I write it down as "[name] bjhm". The other exception is BoJack himself, who I consistently refer to as "bojack the horse" to distinguish him from the name of the show.

Other tags I use include:

#amelia answers -- when I answer asks that aren't asking for my hot takes

#amelia's hot takes -- responses to any ask with the 🔥 emoji

#bjhm s6 critical -- because I have enough thoughts about this season to span an entire tag, and because my absolute favourite pastime is being angry I am always open to more prompts

#an extremely funny commentary -- I like to watch the show with my best friend! Here you can see our thoughts on an episode in real time

#bjhm analysis -- I have been analysing fiction for fun for the better part of 10 years now, and I have an A in GCE Film Studies to show for it. Needless to say, I have a lot of things to say.

[punkitt-is-here]

quirky fourth wall breaking character but theyre just fucking. wrong about the medium theyre in. they keep making references to cinematic techniques and directorial styles and the other fourth wall breaking character is like "dumbass we're in a fucking comic book" and they are in a video game.

[dongslinger--420]

back in the 90s I was in a very famous tv show

[syzygy-yzygy]

So sick of dog motif what about cat motif.

I love you but we don't love the same. I can't be near you when you want me to be. Your love is smothering and your need to keep me safe is trapping me. I'm my own person but I don't know how to show you that. I lash out and hurt you even though I don't mean to. I need you to move slowly around me or I'll bolt. I love you, even though I don't say it. If you stay still I'll sit next to you, and even though we don't understand each other we can be together like that.

[dongslinger--420]

The fact that Amy Sedaris is primarily known as a character actress is so funny to me like I'll watch BoJack Horseman and see Princess Carolyn deliver some of the most devastating lines I've ever heard and then I'll watch her in literally anything else and see her character cover her naked body in sushi completely voluntarily

[dongslinger--420]

This is a real thing that happened btw

[dongslinger--420]

The fact that Amy Sedaris is primarily known as a character actress is so funny to me like I'll watch BoJack Horseman and see Princess Carolyn deliver some of the most devastating lines I've ever heard and then I'll watch her in literally anything else and see her character cover her naked body in sushi completely voluntarily

[ieatratsyummy]

They could never make me hate you, complex female character whose reaction to trauma was not pretty and digestible like how people think it should be.

[dongslinger--420]

Hey, kids!

My name's Amelia, I'm 21, and I'm the only bjhm fan on this entire website with good takes! Isn't that shocking!

This blog's content swerves mainly from pretentious think pieces to shitpost comedy to senseless gushing about whatever character I'm thinking about this time, so all in all it's a pretty fun time! Feel free to interact and send asks, because if there's one thing I LOVE, it's rambling about stuff that really doesn't matter in the long run.

In my day to day life, I'm a musician! I might do something musical that's related to this fandom at some point! Follow this blog to increase the chances of that happening! Or not!

I write image descriptions. If you reblog a post in which I have written an image description and delete my addition with the ID, you are getting blocked. The fact that you care more about your blog looking nice than blind people isn't something I want to see, thanks.

Please don't use the word "dumb" anywhere on my blog. This includes in the comment section, reblogs, asks, etc. The word has its origins in a slur for mute people and the fact that people aren't aware of this by and large makes me uncomfortable.

I don't have a DNI list: anyone is free to interact with me, just be warned that I might block you if I find you annoying or uncomfortable.

Anyone under the age of 16 is getting blocked. You are WAY too young for this show I can't believe 14yo fans exist. This is an adult space like come on.

Tags:

I'm usually very specific and formatted with my tag system. If I ever refer to an episode or a season in a post, you will find it tagged as "[name of episode]" and "bjhm s[X]". The same goes for any character. Full names are used except for Sarah Lynn, and if any character doesn't have a full name stated I write it down as "[name] bjhm". The other exception is BoJack himself, who I consistently refer to as "bojack the horse" to distinguish him from the name of the show.

Other tags I use include:

#amelia answers -- when I answer asks that aren't asking for my hot takes

#amelia's hot takes -- responses to any ask with the 🔥 emoji

#bjhm s6 critical -- because I have enough thoughts about this season to span an entire tag, and because my absolute favourite pastime is being angry I am always open to more prompts

#an extremely funny commentary -- I like to watch the show with my best friend! Here you can see our thoughts on an episode in real time

#bjhm analysis -- I have been analysing fiction for fun for the better part of 10 years now, and I have an A in GCE Film Studies to show for it. Needless to say, I have a lot of things to say.

[dongslinger--420]

I've been listening to the Gravity Falls commentaries a lot recently and one thing that keeps coming up that I really appreciated is how important it is that change be possible in that show; Dipper gets a new hat at the end of Tourist Trapped and he keeps that hat for the rest of the show, Mabel gets a pig in The Time Traveller's Pig and she continues having that pig, Dipper apologizes to Toby Determined about framing him for murder the episode after Headhunters, etc.

I think this is also a very important element of BoJack Horseman and especially the earlier episodes of the show that people don't really acknowledge as often.

As we all know, BoJack sees life as a sitcom. As a result of this, the show is a deconstruction of the type of show that BoJack loves, and one of the most important rules of a classic sitcom is the idea that Status Quo Is God; no matter what happens in an episode, there will always be a return to equilibrium at the end. As this show isn't a sitcom, however, BoJack has to actively make this happen, instead of it Just Happening as it were.

The first proper example we get of this is in Zoes and Zeldas, where BoJack is faced with the realisation that Todd might actually leave him forever, and he has to do everything in his power including literally hiring an actress to make the status quo remain. The interesting thing about this is that in the episode itself, we (the spectators) are tricked into thinking this works! Because we know what happens in a sitcom, we know what Status Quo Is God is, even on the most implicit level! When I watched this episode with my mum, halfway through she turned to me and said "this episode is sad" because she knew what was coming. Of course she did. Of course Todd wouldn't actually leave BoJack and follow his dreams. Why would he?

It doesn't work, of course. Todd spends the rest of the season becoming more and more emotionally distant with BoJack as soon as he finds out that BoJack betrayed him. Because this isn't a sitcom, and change is possible. Before this happens, however, the show has to first establish that this show has continuity unlike the average sitcom. How does it do this? In Our A Story Is A D Story, there's a one off bit that suddenly establishes the lengths this show will go to for its continuity:

Just like Gravity Falls, this show uses subtle bits in the dialogue like this to show us that change is possible! Side note: me and my mum both thought this bit was SO funny.

Like Gravity Falls, BoJack Horseman is designed specifically to subvert your expectations of a sitcom by trusting you to pay attention, that this isn't your average show you can tune in and out of. Unlike Gravity Falls, BoJack Horseman does this in a much more meta way; by using a sitcom backdrop, the spectator is drawn into a false sense of security within the status quo, before having the rug snatched under them at the last minute.

[dongslinger--420]

N and T. Love to see you ramble more about this small fanbase ^^

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

Critical thought.

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?

None that I would Die defending per se. One of my favourite headcanons is that BoJack is half desi! I think it could be really interesting to explore especially with the class dynamic that already exists between Bea and Butterscotch, and it would be a lovely way for BoJack and Diane to bond. If anyone has any more questions about this I would love to talk about it more.

[dongslinger--420]

C, E, or O

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

I think these questions are really interesting to answer because this isn't really a shipping fandom by any means and I don't really tend to view the show through that lens anyway. Were Ralph and PC a good couple? Yes at the time but they could never have been endgame because Ralph just didn't have the understanding that Judah has of her, they just didn't work together as well.

That said, I don't ship bobutter romantically (they are FAR more compelling as friends) and my opinion will likely never change on that.

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

A few years ago, I made a bunch of posts about walls. I thought this was so funny that it went on for several weeks, and apparently other people thought it was funny enough to also make wall posts and send me wall related asks.

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

I'll do you one better! My friend May Payne wrote a song called High Demand and it really reminds me of BoJack and Princess Carolyn, and everyone should listen to it! There are also many other songs that remind me of many other characters but it's always the character who influences my perception of the song, not the other way around.

[dongslinger--420]

B, K and R for the ask game :)

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

Princess Carolyn, hands down. I've spoken about her at length both here and everywhere else but I felt the most proud of her out of every main character by the end of the show. It's what she fucking deserved!!!

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

BoJack and Diane have the most compelling friendship in fiction.

[dongslinger--420]

B?

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

Not a pairing per se but Dr Champ and his character arc, and by extension his relationship with BoJack, has become a lot more interesting to me since I watched the show thanks to Elk and all 3 other people in the Dr Champ fandom

[gehayi]

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?

G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it?

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., TV shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)?

I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?

J - Name a fandom you didn’t think about until you saw it all over Tumblr. (You don’t have to care about it or follow it; it just has to be something that Tumblr made you aware of.)

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why.

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

V - Which character do you relate to most?

W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.

X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)

[girlmostlikely]

Imagine hating me when all I’ve ever done is be a hateful mean cruel spiteful fucking cunt to you

[dongslinger--420]

I know I've said this before but the fact that bojack horseman didn't have a ferb tv esque episode with clips from different in universe tv shows is a CRIME and therefore if this post gets one (1) reblog I will write one myself.

[dongslinger--420]

I think Ana is too antagonistic in the plot to make me think that we are supposed to root for her, however I think the show thinks she has a perspective that is at least worth engaging in, maybe more so than she actually comes off as. I don’t think we are supposed to HATE her, for what that’s worth. It’s honestly quite hard to get a read on her. Like, is she meant to be a foil? Is she supposed to be another woman in BoJack’s pattern of using women? (Because if it’s the latter, the show did not do a good job with that.) I don’t think she’s supposed to be like, comeuppance for bojack, I hope she isn’t because that’s a pretty fucked up way to view the situation. I feel like whichever way the writers failed on some level with her, because she does not feel complicated and ambiguous in an intentional way it is in a way that makes me suspicious of the writer’s intentions. Idk. It’s been a while since I watched the show

Yeah. I don't think Ana's character is really anything to do with Bojack's other girlfriends, but is more intended as a manifestation of his fame addition, and I think the reason why she's placed opposite Princess Carolyn a lot of the time is to show Bojack's appeal to Hollywoo as an institution as opposed to anything actually reliable (vis a vis Best Thing That Ever Happened and surrounding episodes). I also don't think she specifically is intended as comeuppance, I think comeuppance is the wrong word. I definitely think she's supposed to be a bad influence on him overall, despite any good advice she happens to give him.

[spookisapphic]

Ana is more avoidant than Bojack is. Because she pulls back and denies him the vulnerability/attention he craves he shows more anxious attachment towards her and reaches for her more. I think her role is more to show that Bojack has very disorganized attachments and will react opposite to what people give him as a form of perpetually externalising his internal belief that he is not worthy of love.

When Bojack is nominated for the oscar, Diane comes to him to check on him - she is leaning into the connection, and Bojack pulls away and also antagonises her. Then he goes towards Ana seeking reassurance that their relationship is more than just an oscar campaign, and Ana pulls away from him. In both interactions, he feels like shit.

I think Ana trying to set boundaries with Bojack like not taking him home and not talking to him about her private life (and then him immediately violating those boundaries by following her home and essentially spying on her) is also used as a foil for Princess Caroline’s complete lack of boundaries, which Bojack also seems to resent (like in the episode where Bojack fires Princess Caroline despite her helping him over and over).

[dongslinger--420]

These are all very good points! I think it's a mixture between the two; I think Bea tends to show up in all aspects of Bojack's life, and especially in his romantic relationships (as PC says, he wants "a mummy [he] can slide [his] dick in and out of"). So while I do think that is her purpose to an extent, I also think that point has been made enough without her. I do think the comparison to PC is really interesting though, especially since they represent different sides of Hollywood and are often at odds.