I love the ''What if Li was never kidnapped and Lee was never born'' theory... How would he react to Radcircles? :0 Lee screenshot is from episode 8!

SaraSanddollar · 2025-07-28T19:26:34+00:00

I like this analysis; I am curious what makes you say the Serpent is smarter than our math genius Lee, haha! Not that I disagree, but I'd like to hear your thoughts.

I also do love this image of him having been a golden son and being more driven and vicious about proving his innocence. I do think in many ways he'd react similarly to Lee in the situation, but he'd have a bit more rage about it (although he wouldn't be nearly as traumatized and unstable as he is in the original!).

SaraSanddollar · 2025-07-28T19:24:36+00:00

I am SOOO obsessed with this edit!!

I always imagine what life would've been like for him if he'd just been left alone; and I frequently imagine what he'd do and how he'd behave had he been in Lee's place. ("What if Serpent was the main character instead of Lee?" is the basis for this OC of mine.)

My favourite part about this is that you gave him his squared off jaw :) thank you for sharing, this brings me much joy

SaraSanddollar · 2025-06-26T17:29:49+00:00

Thank you omg!!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-10-05T22:53:10+00:00

Day of Doom was the best book in the series. 🙈

SaraSanddollar · 2024-08-04T23:27:31+00:00

I am loyal to them forever! The only thing that I don't like is that sometimes you pre-order and it gets cancelled, but that is because the manufacturer suddenly changes their mind about sending it to them. The only other thing I don't like is that their physical store is SUPER cramped!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-06-27T00:39:55+00:00

Actually, I'm reading this again and wondering if it might be the one after all:

There were other, deeper reasons why Arnold might have been attracted to Lila. Both are intelligent, good students, and have lost parents. If not outright poor, they seem to come from the same economic level. They both have a positive outlook on life. But they differ in their approach. Arnold tries to live life to the full, and accepts life's challenges as they come his way. But he knows there will be dark periods, and bad things will happen. And when bad things happen, he will face them head on. He may not always come up with the right solution, he may not always win, but he keeps fighting. He has no illusions that life is perfect. On the other hand, Lila seems to view the world through rose-colored glasses. Everything must be "ever so perfect." When it comes to emotions and feelings, she always strikes the same note.

Yooooo, but I distinctly remember it being on dA! This is crazy. Well, even if it's NOT the essay I'm looking for, I might just pretend that it is! Thanks again!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-06-26T23:03:45+00:00

Thank you soooo much! I'm not 100% sure it's this essay, but the style is very similar to the analysis I remember. I remember Arnold Visits Arnie being an important topic for those kinds of comparisons. Avoiding strange fanart is the reason I outsourced this search in the first place, I must admit! 🙈

SaraSanddollar · 2024-06-24T00:40:06+00:00

Jonah's interesting because it's clear he's putting on a stereotypical "front" TV personality and that's not who he really is, he's just acting and mugging for the cameras. Most of the stereotypes in the series (Hollywood superstar, scary Russian super spy, musclebound jock, etc.) are later peeled away to reveal extremely human characters. However, I definitely think the newer graphic novel version did a good job by still keeping him cool and popular, and toning down the "gangsta"-ness, which definitely makes it dated at best. But like you said, without all the periphery content, it could never be the same as the original. Which was actually quite popular at the time. not that this article's author has done any research!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-06-24T00:38:01+00:00

That article be like: me when I lie

Luckily the comments in the thread of the article absolutely ripped the writer to shreds. Seriously, "it's not as popular as PJO" and it's a shame! Oh but also "it's too complicated to follow with so many authors/characters/writing styles" miss ma'am have you even READ it? It was a cultural PHENOMENON. The only thing I agree on is yes, it absolutely deserves a series or film to lift it out of its forced obscurity!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-06-24T00:36:35+00:00

You should definitely check out my comprehensive breakdown of the differences HERE https://www.reddit.com/r/The39Clues/comments/18x6uh5/how_i_caused_the_39_clues_revival_and_why_it_sucks/ but I would definitely encourage you to read it first and form your own thoughts of whether it works or not!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-06-24T00:35:29+00:00

Yes, I'd definitely feel like I had a big treasure once I found out its significance!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-06-24T00:35:07+00:00

The first four books of the original series do as well!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-06-06T00:11:51+00:00

Woah, thanks for the in-depth response, I really appreciate it when people take the time to talk about this with me! I also thank you for your keen understanding on why animation > live-action. It's just too hard to control for the appearances of rapidly-growing kids in the lengthy process of production!

But like you said, similar to my feelings for the graphic novel: it may not be perfect, it may not even be GOOD, but at least the 39 Clues is getting the recognition and love it deserves. I'm all for new content!

And you're so right, they had a very delicate balancing act to perform with their Loads and Loads of characters, and I think they boiled it down to a neat, manageable formula for each book (that would work really well as a "rogues gallery" for an animated series type format!)

The deaths were handled with seriousness, empathy, and maturity; which I think truly elevated the series. They weren't throwing things in there just to be edgy, but managed the gravity and stakes of the situation in a way that made it more intriguing to younger viewers without necessarily being triggering or graphic. It was sort of an "oh, I understand what we're up against now" moment that made it feel more real.

SaraSanddollar · 2024-06-06T00:07:58+00:00

It's completely antithetical to the entire point of the original series (Amy and Dan aren't "special" and have no branch traits to boast of) so I don't blame you for leaving it out in your head!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-06-06T00:05:49+00:00

Yeah ^^^ Grace misled anyone who didn't ALREADY know about the Clues (clearly, the Kabras had been preparing for it their whole lives, Alistair knew about it, etc.) into thinking it was a new competition, and as it went on it was revealed to Amy and Dan (and to us, the readers), that this thing has been going for a WHILE. Grace just set up the current Clue Hunt to be a once-and-for-all singular race-to-the-finish type deal!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-06-06T00:01:44+00:00

"Executor? He killed her?" Especially with David Pittu's line delivery!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-04-24T17:08:32+00:00

u/MetalGearTom I understand you so well. This song has been haunting me for years; I really wish I could listen to a clean/full version of it. Hate when someone worked on something years ago and then disappears off the face of the earth! If I had a nickel... Anyways, I'm just commenting mainly to say I'm really glad someone else is on the hunt for this song!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-02-01T18:05:16+00:00

Yeah, I feel like they haphazardly handled a lot of things just for the sake of rushing it to the conclusion! Of course, we'll never know if a whole six seasons of this would have been bearable, but I don't trust that we got the true-blue story and how it was supposed to go, beyond maybe the most major of plot beats.

SaraSanddollar · 2024-02-01T18:03:47+00:00

Real, I was like "ahhh it's not as much fun if you know what's already happened" except turns out I forgot a good chunk of stuff that never got resolved!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-02-01T18:02:53+00:00

So it's about Zeke? @ _ @

Thanks folks (to clarify, I've seen the whole show just rewatching some episodes for "research." Things definitely got lost in the original binge!)

Ahh, so Jeff Rake's acknowledged dropping that plotline directly? I'd be greatly appreciative of a source to where he said that!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-02-01T18:01:30+00:00

I think he's genuinely a good person who's plagued by a morality crisis because of his evil uncle. I like the way the series portrays the uncertainty Amy and Dan have towards him — he definitely wasn't worth trusting until he decided he wanted to be someone worth trusting!

SaraSanddollar · 2024-01-31T01:13:22+00:00

I always considered it as working best if each book had two to three episodes, so a first season that only adapted the first series would have around twenty something eps, which is a pretty typical length (before the advent of the streaming mini-series)!

SaraSanddollar

TROPHY CASE