Braver Than Their Dad: Fan Expo Dallas 2026

(Guest Post by Luis)

Cons are my happy place: the costumes, the energy, the culture, the panels, the geekery, the creativity, the celebrities. Even though this was my 10th con, I still get a giddy thrill walking onto the floor. But I must confess, talking to celebrities makes me super nervous. What would I say? Could I be clever or quippy? Or would I crash and burn in a blaze of awkwardness? (Spoiler alert: crash and burn.)

That was confirmed on Friday. I was exploring the floor solo in my Red Power Ranger t-shirt when someone called out from a booth:

"Oh, hey, man." He was staring at my shirt. Before I registered it, I was talking to Steve Cardenas (Rocky) from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

"Hey there!" I said, with no idea what to say next. "How're you doing? How was Power Morphicon?"

He gave a quick, one-sentence answer that didn't give me much to work with. He was sharing the booth with David Fielding (Zordon) and Karan Ashley (Aisha). My brain ran out of words. So when he gestured to his prints for sale, and didn't want to get guilted into buying any of it, I made up some excuse and said I'd definitely be back.

I did not go back.

Saturday was a completely different con.

Put me in a panel audience, though, and I'm right at home. Panels are my favorite part of any con: the stories behind the shows, the panelists playing off each other, and those one or two cringey audience questions that never quite land.

This year I caught Larry Houston, one of the key players behind the original X-Men: The Animated Series and now a consultant on X-Men '97. He talked about what an uphill battle it was to get the show made. Fox Kids had little faith in it, but Margaret Loesch put her career on the line for it, just as she did for another little show called Power Rangers. (So apparently I owe her most of my childhood.)

I'm a sucker for theme songs and opening sequences, and we all know the X-Men intro is one of the all-time greats. When I first heard the revival's new intro, I was 10 years old all over again.

So I asked Larry what role he played in creating the original. His answer: he had one weekend to draw the whole thing out. One of my childhood's most iconic openings came together in a matter of days!

I offered to take my two older girls, and each of them got to bring a friend. I wanted them to experience what I love about cons, all the fandoms and vendors and costumes and everything.

My 15-year-old and her friend peeled off pretty quickly. But, my 11-year-old and her friend dragged me all over the vendor floor and Artist Alley. They found the VR station and played for a solid half hour, went to a Sailor Moon panel, then went straight back for more VR. I was basically their chauffeur for the day, and honestly, I loved it.

My 11-year-old is also braver than her dad. She really wanted a signed poster from Stephanie Sheh, the English voice of Sailor Moon in Sailor Moon Crystal. It was $70, so she offered to pay half up front and earn the other half. If she wanted it that much and was willing to work for it, that was that. She went home with her poster.

I, for the record, still don't have a Steve Cardenas-signed print.

All day she kept spotting cosplayers from Undertale and Deltarune, and she'd walk right up to tell them she loved their cosplay. She never once stopped to worry about being clever. She just told them what she felt.

Watching her, I thought about Friday and how much I worry about saying the right thing. Sometimes the right thing to say is just the thing you feel.

I've taken each of my older girls to a con before, separately. This was the first time I got to share one with both of them, fandoms, friends and all. There's no other place I'd rather be.

More Content You Might Like:

• "Shopping for My Kids at Fan Expo Dallas" by Spencer
• "Dallas Takes Center Stage: A Nostalgic Reunion" by Jason
• "Conventions are Better with a Friend" by Spencer
  

Shopping for My Kids at Fan Expo Dallas

I had hoped to finally bring my daughter with me to Fan Expo last week for her first Con. However, when I picked her up from first grade with an ear infection, it was obvious she wasn't coming with me. So while I was wandering around the vendor floor, I had my children in mind. I told my wife I wanted to bring them back a surprise after being away all day Saturday at the Con. I had to keep it cheap (and ended up getting them cards of their favorite Pokemon) but I had some other fun ideas along the way.

Ever since my brother got my daughters Squishmallows of Clefairy and Teddiursa, they've been the girls' favorites. So my choice of TCG merch was obvious. Just wish I couldn't gotten the full evolution lines, but I couldn't find Ursaring. It was fun to look through the cards (and I got myself a Blastoise EX to finish off my Squirtle line).

Funko Pops are always a good choice for Con souvenir, but they can get pricey. Plus there are so many Pop vendors that I didn't dare search through them all for the right ones. Some might be cheap, but I didn't feel like navigating the vendor floor for the best deals.

Our baby boy is coming in October (just in time for Halloween) so I was severely tempted to get him a onesie or two. I mean, look at that "Halfling" onesie--I'm not even a big Lord of the Rings fan and it was tempting. Really the biggest reason I didn't come back for one of these was because I was tapped out physically before making my decision and just wanted to leave. I'll get him something geeky off our Amazon registry.

Artist Alley would have been a good place to go shopping for the kids' playroom. Let's be honest though, this purchase would have been for me, not them. Plus I would've probably only gotten one, instead of getting them both something.

Plush is a solid choice for any child and these crocheted snugglables would have been so loved. However, if you've seen my girls' closet, you know they don't need more toys to cuddle. 

My girls have seen bits and pieces of Harry Potter, so anything here would have been purely for me... I wish I'd gone back to get that Hufflepuff wallet. Puffs gonna puff.

Next year I'll have three kids to shop for at Fan Expo (and hopefully a second grader to bring with me). Any merch you like to get your kids? (PS: Ten points to your Hogwarts house if you recognize my cosplay)

More Content You Might Like:

• "Dallas Takes Center Stage: A Nostalgic Reunion" by Jason
• "How to Speed-Run a Comic Con" by Tyler
• "Dos and Don'ts of Comic Con" by Ken

LDS Geeks Podcast #16: Interview with a Dalek

Instead of continuing my adventures through Classic Doctor Who with TJ (because sometimes life gets obnoxiously busy), I had a chance meeting with someone who got to be an extra in the Moffat era of Doctor Who (pictures below with some of his appearances). He agreed to be my guest on the podcast, even though he's not a Latter-day Saint. I hope you enjoy my interview with Harry, who was once a Dalek. Please excuse/enjoy our tangents about parenting.

--Spencer

LDS Geeks Podcast #10: Introducing Your Kids to Pokemon

When is it best to introduce your kids to Pokemon? There's no right or wrong to this parenting question, but Michael and I had fun discussing it anyway. Enjoy!

--Spencer

Listen to Episode 10 on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube

Check out Spencer's recent content: click here

Check out Michael's recent content: click here

Show notes:

00:25 - Introductions
02:44 - Spencer's Recommendation: Bluey
        Available for streaming on Disney Plus and YouTube
        "Bluey: A Pinnacle of (Family? Everyone's?) Animation" by Kenton
        "Creature Feature - Muffin Heeler" by Joe
        "Bluey: Realistic Kids, Idealized Parents" by Pop Culture on the Apricot Tree
07:05 - Michael's Recommendation: Defiant by Brandon Sanderson
09:01 - Introducing Pokemon
        Battle Music from Pond5
09:40 - Pokemon Anime
17:01 - Trading Card Game
22:40 - Video Games
28:05 - Kids' Books
29:29 - Pokemon Horizons
31:12 - Detective Pikachu
        "I Finally Watched Detective Pikachu" by Spencer
        Ryan Reynolds singing Pokemon Theme
35:37 - Conclusion

Dragon Ball: A Lesson in Bad Parenting

 

I am grateful for Dragon Ball for many reasons. This was the first anime I watched growing up. I didn’t know this at the time, but a lot of people my age watched this show, but never talked about it. The reason I didn’t because I was embarrassed that I watching an anime show. In the past few years everyone been talking about how great the genre is. I still get embarrassed talking about it, but I am trying to be  embarrassed publicly. Anyway, since Dragon Ball was my first anime, I try to keep up to date with it even though there are much better shows out there. Recently, I have watched the newest movie for this franchise, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and I want to talk about it. 

I will be honest I enjoyed watching this movie. I thought it was fun and entertaining to bring back the original storytelling style as a throwback to when Dragon Ball started. Also, I really, really appreciated that the movie focused on Gohan rather than Goku. Ever since the Buu Saga, Gohan has been a let down from where he was previously and it's nice to see him in the spotlight. 

In the first few sagas of Dragon Ball Z it focuses on Goku, the main protagonist, giving the mantle of earth’s protector to his son Gohan---which, in my opinion, would have been the best ending for Dragon Ball Z. However, in the Buu Saga the mantle goes back to Goku because Gohan passion isn’t to be a fighter, but being a scholar.

As you may recall, and for those don’t know, Dragon Ball Z starts off with Goku introducing Gohan, his son, to the Z fighters from the series prior. After some unfortunate events Gohan is raised by Goku former enemy, Piccolo. Anyone that has seen the series agrees that Piccolo is a better father than Goku. Piccolo sacrificed his life (don't worry no one is dead forever) for Gohan’s, while Goku will give the strongest enemy, Cell, a senzu bean so he would be fully healed prior to his fight with Gohan who doesn’t want to fight. 

There are more examples of Piccolo being a better father, but that isn’t the focus of this post. In this post I want to focus on Gohan and his relationship with Pan, his daughter. As this movie begins Gohan is raising his daughter the same way as Goku--- by not being present. Instead of finding the next opponent to fight he focuses on research and ignores his child. All Pam wants to do is to be with with her Dad similar to how Gohan wanted to be with Goku in DBZ. Luckily, Piccolo is there to be her father like he was there for Gohan. 

I thought the movie did a great job showing the similarity of Gohan becoming like Goku. In the movie Videl, Pan’s mother and Gohans wife, calls Piccolo to see if he could take care of Pam while she is busy and Gohan is working at home doing research. Piccolo, understandable frustrated at Gohan’s neglect of his own child, visits with him to remind him of his responsibilities. Gohan gets out of parenting and Piccolo and Pam get into trouble with the red ribbon army (the bad guys).

By the end of the climax you would think that Gohan would learn a lesson that he should be more a part of Pan’s life, but no, Gohan doesn’t learn this lesson. By the end of the movie Pan is impressed that her father saved her but goes to Piccolo to train with him instead of Gohan.

Moral of the story: be part of your child’s life, be interested in them. Don’t be like Gohan, be like Piccolo. As I young father I am learning I need to be part of my children's lives, which means I need to put down my phone and do what they want to do, be interested in what they like, and listen when they talk.

The Bad Guy Affirmation (Ralph's 10th Anniversary)

Wreck-It Ralph is among my favorite Disney movies (and one of my favorite cosplays), so I was enthusiastic when my daughter started asking to watch it in the past few months (she mostly likes the Disney Princesses in the sequel). This month celebrates the 10th anniversary of the movie about the lives of video game characters. Since Ralph, our main character, never exactly got his proper 30th anniversary in the movie, it’s only fair we give him a good 10th anniversary here.

The biggest conflict in Wreck-It Ralph has to do with the title character’s inner conflict about who he is. For thirty years he defined himself as a bad guy, specifically the way “bad guy” is defined by the populace of his game. Despite his job requiring him to be the “bad guy” for the game to function, none of the Nicelanders recognize this. Instead, they treat him like an inherently awful person. After being called a “bad guy” for thirty years, Ralph believed it. In a bad guy support group for video game villains, his fellow bad guys try to convince him that job title doesn’t define who he is as a person/program… but Ralph needs a little more convincing.

This becomes quite a good allegory for our own lives. The world bombards us with labels and titles from every angle: marital status, sexual orientation, occupation (like Ralph), political affiliation, etc. Sometimes it can feel obnoxious or even oppressive for the world to continually assault us with ideas and identifying labels of “what we should be like,” even if we want to believe differently. We are blessed with a modern-day prophet who has been inspired to teach us about how to deal with these identifiers:

“Labels can be fun and indicate your support for any number of positive things. But if any label replaces your most important identifiers, the results can be spiritually suffocating. I believe that if the Lord were speaking to you directly, the first thing He would make sure you understand is your true identity. My dear friends, you are literally spirit children of God.

“No identifier should displace, replace, or take priority over these three enduring designations: child of God, child of the covenant, disciple of Jesus Christ.

“Any identifier that is not compatible with those three basic designations will ultimately let you down. Make no mistake about it: Your potential is divine. With your diligent seeking, God will give you glimpses of who you may become." (President Russell M. Nelson)

After thirty years of life (like Ralph) my subconscious has begun to believe a lot of things that have been said about me… mostly from within myself. Despite help in therapy over the years, it’s tough to overcome this negative self-talk. How do I stop calling myself useless, worthless, or replaceable when I’ve thought that way for so many years? How do I undo all that backwards thinking? I’ll tell you one way… in closing the movie with Ralph’s share/voiceover, he says something that resonated: “If that little kid likes me, how bad can I be?” When I feel down on myself but I see my little girl chase after me and beg for my attention, and even asks to watch some of my most beloved films, how can I stop my spirits from feeling lifted? When I think of my unborn little girl grabbing my finger in a few months, how can I stop myself from smiling?

From the moments I’ve felt it (which I’m still working on) I feel lifted up even higher when I can feel that way about my Father’s love. If God loves me, how bad can I be? If I can cling close to the Spirit, and the Lord’s love, it doesn’t matter what other people call me (or what I call myself): I can remember my true identity. I’m not a bad guy… at least not in the ways that matter. I am a divine son of God, and a loving father and husband. I take great solace in the words of President Nelson, and I hope that you might too, as we seek to live up to our true and eternal identities: 

"Make no mistake about it: Your potential is divine. With your diligent seeking, God will give you glimpses of who you may become." (President Nelson)

Darkness and Fear: How Much Can the Youth Handle?

 In my youth, I remember watching a few great pieces of Anime from the early nineties, namely Ronin Warriors, Escaflowne, and Card Captors. The stories captivated my imagination, and inspired countless dreams and daydreams. It wasn’t until much later that I found out these classics were actually edited a decent amount for content before they were released stateside. I think this was actually the case with a lot of  shows before anime became more mainstream. However, I would posit that these shows didn’t need to be edited, and that the youth can handle more than we often give them credit for. 

Do you remember The Secret of Nimh? It’s the story of a brave, little, anthropomorphic mouse and her quest to find medicine to save her ill child. I was having a conversation with Joe recently about the director Don Bluth. He did work for Disney at one point but Joe told me cut ties with them, wanting to produce animation that was a little scarier for children. I LOVED this film as a child. Was it super intense? Sure. Did the scene where Mrs. Brisby had to sneak into the farmhouse terrify the Honey Nut Cheerios out of my five-year-old self? Abso-freaking-lutely! But did the darker subject matter bring extra meaning and gravitas to the whole experience? You better believe it. As an adult, I can appreciate how Don Bluth wouldn’t shy away from darker subject matter. Sure, many of the plots in Disney movies are actually pretty horrifying if you break them down… but I think they abstracted away some of the details at least in the early nineties to make things more suitable for children. 

One of my favorite lines from Saving Mr. Banks comes when Emma Thompson as PM Travers-Goff attests that Mary Poppins doesn’t shield the children from the darkness in this world, she prepares them for it. I think it is important to have more nuanced media available to our youth for this exact purpose. Obviously, parents should exercise good judgment when selecting media for their kids (we probably shouldn’t have taken our young’uns on the Pinocchio ride at Disneyland…), but I hope we can start giving kids more credit when it comes to “scary” scenes in kids films and shows.

So you want to bring your kids to Comic Con...

(Guest Post by Ken)

Among geeks there are few rites of passage as big as attending a Comic Con (or “Fan Expo,” or other similar name that means the same thing). And yet, until last weekend I had never actually been to one myself. I’ve always been on the fence about going, but have finally given it a try… well, sort of. You see, I brought my kids with me. 

I attended Friday and Saturday of the Dallas Fax Expo last weekend. There were big names there like William Shatner, George Takei, Zachary Levi, Stephen Amell, Adam Savage, and more. (Sadly, a reunion visit from Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry in a commemorative 20th anniversary Lord of the Rings panel was canceled last minute). I saw some of these people in person and was impressed to see their friendliness with fans. But I didn’t attend any panels or meet-and-greets because on Friday I had my 6-year-old son and on Saturday I had my 4-year-old daughter in tow and kids aren’t really keen to stand in long lines to see some old people who to them bear no significance. 

Taking each of my two older children on a “daddy date” with me was a nice way of being able to get out and do something social with the friend who invited me while also getting some great time in with my kids, but it will definitely alter your conference experience. Of course, as a first-time attendee, I can’t quite comment on what I was supposedly “missing out on,” but I can give you the pros and cons of taking your kids to a Con, at least through the lens of my experience at the Dallas Fax Expo.

Kid Specific Programming

There was a room, somewhat distanced from the main events and large crowds, specifically designated as the “Family Zone.” They had a number of craft activities and play areas for kids, though some of the play areas were lacking (one was literally just all the cardboard boxes used for supplies shipped in to set up the expo so the kids could stack them in towers; clever, but it seemed very last minute and didn’t hold my kids’ interest). 

Arts and crafts time at Dallas Fan Expo!

This area also hosted a number of events geared towards children. One event my children were both interested in, and which was thankfully held both days, was the Harry Potter Sorting Ceremony, as we’ve been reading the Harry Potter books together this year (we’re three quarters through Prisoner of Azkaban right now). This was a genuinely nice event and my son really enjoyed getting sorted (into Gryffindor, no less!). My daughter loved the idea, but when her turn came, she became like the kid who waits in the line to see Santa only to panic and scream at the finish line. She was so scared she might get sorted into Slytherin that she would not get in the chair. The team in charge kindly let her get a Gryffindor pin afterwards that she’s been wearing ever since. 

My son got sorted into Gryffindor!

The sorting ceremony was genuinely entertaining, featuring the commentary of the presenting “wizards” and an actual talking hat who responded in real time to specific conversations with each recipient. Only one thing irritated me about this event (and it was a bigger problem on Saturday than Friday): the number of adults who quickly dominated the front of the line of an event specifically marked for children and made the intended audience of sometimes attention-deficit children wait in a very long line. I don’t mind adults wanting to play Harry Potter games at a con, but at an event for children they should at least let all the kids go first and if there is extra time they can then do adults. The line ended up having a cutoff on Saturday and some kids got turned away while more than half of those who actually got to be sorted were adults without kids. And while my own daughter ultimately panicked at the finish line, she was so excited just to be there that if she’d been told “No” while a bunch of grown ups got sorted instead, she’d have been truly devastated. Incidentally, my daughter had a less panicky experience later with the Jedi Padowan training event where she got to learn lightsaber skills, and this event did a much better job of being truly kids-only. 

Overall, the family-centric offerings at Dallas Fan Expo managed to just clear the “acceptable” bar. The Harry Potter and Star Wars events were genuinely fun, but other “events” turned out to be a lot of nothing, and lots of times there wasn’t much specifically offered to kids and families other than the meager craft table. But my kids did enjoy the activities that were aimed at them and that made it easier for them to spend some time looking at other areas of the con in-between that were aimed more at adults. I wasn’t wowed by the family offerings, and hope that maybe in a further post-COVID world they may up their game a bit in that regard.

My daughter learning to be a Jedi!

The Booths (AKA, The Minefield)

Much of the real estate space of the conference center rented for the event was devoted to various booths, primarily for vendors selling art, comic books (the historical origin of these events), collectibles, anything even vaguely geek-connected, and even a few random things that aren’t geek-specific at all (one guy tried to sell me solar panels and another was pedaling water filtration systems). This is the zone that wants your money. I admit that it is a fascinating place to walk around. I’m not a huge collector myself, so it wasn’t particularly tempting, but it was still fun to see especially the homemade and handcrafted wares, or the vast collections some people acquired over decades. 

Of course, when you bring kids who realize that this is a shopping experience and not a museum, you start to see the widening of their eyes in this cornucopia of toys and colorful oddities. The subtle questioning of whether we could buy something started early with my son. Ultimately, each child was allowed to buy an old throwback comic book from the $2 boxes. My son found a 1964 gem where Lex Luthor appears to turn Superman into a purple dragon, while my daughter picked the 1980 Avengers titled that first introduced Yellowjacket as a villain. Allowing them to get SOMETHING helped placate and tame the requests for all the other fun things, such as toys that are insanely expensive because they are some throwback collectible pre-dating the Carter administration but just look like a regular toy to a 6-year-old. 

Comic books selected by my children

The “I-Want-That!” trap was tempered by the other big downside of this area: its sheer claustrophobia. Perhaps I’m still adjusting to crowds after 18 months of pandemic, but this part of the con had narrow walkways and lots of people and I felt genuinely uncomfortable spending too much time there. Thankfully, my daughter especially felt the same way and so her desire to see and ask for cool things was countered by her distaste for the teeming crowds. 

Other Stuff

A quick note on food: The food court offerings were modest. I expected more vendors given the crowd size, but the lines moved pleasantly fast. The prices were about what I expected: a little more than you’d pay normally, but not the highest. In my head I have a continuum of food pricing from low to high that goes:

Regular fast food/food truck < Mall Food Court < Airport < Theme Park

The same item will cost more as you move to the right along the continuum. The food offering here were priced squarely in the “Mall Food Court” zone. And I gotta add that the personal pizzas we got were… surprisingly good! My kids approved as well, though they were disappointed that Hawaiian was not an option.

Eating surprisingly not bad pizza

Cosplay was fun for the kids to observe. While a few of the costumes were scary or edgy, for the most part the kids delighted just in seeing all the fun characters. My daughter adored that my friend Spencer was dressed as Nick Wilde from Zootopia, and she saw a Flynn Ryder from Tangled who she instantly recognized and pretty much melted over. My son, upon hearing that people would wear costumes, actually got into the fun himself as a few minutes before we left home he grabbed his strap on butterfly wings that he has thoroughly worn out over the last few years. Some may find it a bit odd to see a boy wearing monarch wings, but he loves all things science and had a bug-obsession phase a couple years ago. I love that nobody looked at him strange for wearing his beloved wings, and in fact he got lots of compliments. 

The wandering droids were a hit with the kids

Of course, as mentioned earlier, there are many experiences you’ll have to forego if you bring kids. I didn’t even attempt to go to any panels, screenings, Q&A’s, or meet and greets, because I know my kids would have been bored out of their minds. Some of the panels looked really interesting, and someday I may try a con again either sans kids or with older kids who may want to see some of those things. But there were a lot of things I didn’t do, so I can’t quite give my full review of the con experience. Of course, I knew that going into it, so I wasn’t disappointed for missing what I planned to skip when I decided to bring my kids. 

In conclusion, here’s my biggest takeaways for bringing your kids to a Comic Con:

1. Don’t expect to do the same things you’d do without them. If you want to spend time with your kids by bringing them, you need to alter your plans and expectations to what they will enjoy.
2. Don’t plan to stay all day. The attention span for littler kids just isn’t there for that.
3. Make sure the con you are attending has some kid-friendly activities. If you don’t see much programming geared towards them, you might be better off not bringing them.

For the Love of Kids Shows

Once upon a time, I shared the above meme on our Facebook page and social media stories. A reply to the story comes into our inbox saying (paraphrasing here) "Pokemon is made for kids, get a job." When Joe saw the message, he got into a "discussion" with this fellow. Let me tell you, it's pointless to argue with Joe. It's not productive for you and it's not productive for Joe.

That conversation happens months ago, but I still think about it sometimes. I try not to get frustrated about the guy or the conversation. But I think about why I watch "kids shows" and why I'm okay with that.

With my 18-month-old daughter running and playing and watching, my wife and I have become increasingly aware of how much she catches when we watch TV. Do we feel comfortable watching Agents of SHIELD with Daisy fighting this villain and that (and getting bloody sometimes)? Are we okay watching Friends with the adult jokes? She may not be able to speak in complete sentences, but our little girl understands more than we realize.

I wrote previously that as a young adult I once thought I had to forget about my childhood interests. Digimon, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh. Everything. I thought I had to let go of it all for the sake of being an adult. You can read more about that in my Digimon Kizuna post, but the fact of the matter is that I still enjoy them (except maybe some of the Yu-Gi-Oh sequels...).

And I'm okay with that. What's wrong with enjoying wholesome content about kids on an adventure? In the Bible, Paul says "when I became a man, I put away childish things" (1 Corinthians 13:11). Take "childish" to mean what you will. To me it's childish to throw tantrums and to be selfish. Is it childish to have the desire to go on an adventure, to experience something fantastic, or to have lifelong friends? We might be experiencing it vicariously through Ash, Tai or Snow White, but it's no different than living it through the Doctor, Captain America, or Han Solo. Just made for a different audience. 

It may be made for kids, but it's also made for me (even if the writer didn't know it at the time). And personally I like that I can pull up an episode of Digimon or Power Rangers in the morning and it's appropriate for my daughter to watch with me. (Also there's the fact that, ever since we moved to Texas, my nephew wants to play against me with his Pokemon cards)

So if you'll excuse me, my little girl and I are going to enjoy some Power Rangers and I'll play Pokemon with my nephew. And I hope you enjoy what you love too!

Father/Daughter Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! I could spend this post talking about more awesome TV couples, but I’m gonna take a twist on it. While growing up, my wife loved that her parents made Valentine’s Day about more than just romantic love. This continued through college and then into her professional life, as her elementary school students give her cute little Valentines. And now that we have our little girl Lucy, I definitely have more on my mind than just my wife (make no mistake, I’m still getting my wife something for Valentine’s Day). So with Valentine’s Day today and Lucy’s baby blessing this Sunday at church, I’ve got father/daughter relationships on my mind. So in no specific order, here are some of my favorite father/daughter relationships in fandom.

Pete and Rose Tyler (Doctor Who)
The original Pete died when Rose was just a baby, as seen in Father’s Day. When the Ninth Doctor and Rose traveled back in time to see him, she ended up saving him and messing up the timeline. But then Pete made the greatest sacrifice a father can, literally giving his life for his daughter’s life. Later on when an AU Pete arrived, he saved Rose from oblivion and basically adopted her as his daughter in his universe.

Alan and Maria Jackson (Sarah Jane Adventures)
This Doctor Who spin-off had an interesting take on a father/daughter relationship. In the first episode, Maria and her dad moved in across from Sara Jane Smith after an interesting divorce. Throughout Season 1, Maria dealt with her mom, who is a bit of a narcissist. Her dad supports her and loves her throughout the whole ordeal, even after he discovers that Maria has been running around with Sarah Jane fighting aliens. He even helped a bit, all the way up until they moved to America. It was refreshing to see a good dad during a messy divorce, just trying to do his best.

Noah and Claire Bennet (Heroes)
“The Company” may have coerced Noah into the adoption in the first place, but Noah became an ideal father for Claire over the years. There were definitely times that their relationship was strained, usually when Noah started lying to his family again and again. But Claire and Noah always reconciled. When it came down to it, Noah’s priority was definitely his family, even to the point of going on the run from “The Company” to keep Claire safe.

Emma and Charming (Once Upon a Time)
Being the same age post-curse, Charming didn’t exactly have a lot of opportunities for traditional parenting. That being said, he definitely made those moments happen still. Typically it came out when it pertained to Emma’s romantic life (especially with Hook) and her grief (losing Henry or Neal’s death, but some of my favorite father/daughter moments with Charming and Emma were when she was hurting and her father was the one who rushed to comfort her. Also, let’s just talk for a second about how awesome it was to see Charming fight to save newborn Emma.

Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyme (Ant-Man)
After the death of her mother, Hope’s relationship with her father was immediately strained and it never really recovered until after he told her the truth during the events of Ant-Man. Between the events of that film and its sequel, Hank and Hope obviously reconciled and pooled their intelligence to rescue Janet from the Quantum Realm. Seeing them work together so flawlessly in Ant-Man and the Wasp was a beautiful sight. I love that movie in general, but the father/daughter relationship was definitely a highlight among the rest of it.

Phil Coulson and Daisy Johnson (Agents of SHIELD)
From the very beginning, Coulson had a special relationship with Skye/Daisy. As things progressed, especially in Season 2 as Daisy met her parents, Coulson definitely became a pseudo-father to her. With how Jekyll/Hyde her birth father was, it only made Daisy cling harder to Coulson. After letting her father go, she didn’t have a father anymore per se, except for Coulson. So it was natural that when Daisy needed guidance, she ran to Coulson. Unfortunately, that also meant that Daisy was the most heartbroken (except maybe for Agent May) when Coulson was dying.

Wilf Mott and Donna Noble (Doctor Who)
Donna had a great father growing up, from what we know. However, after her father, Geoff Noble, died, her grandfather Wilf really stepped up and became the prime father figure to her. Despite her mother’s taunting and criticism, Grandpa Wilf never ceased to encourage Donna to follow her dreams and her passions, even when it meant that she traveled with the Doctor to potentially life-threatening worlds. It was also Wilf who was there for her after the Doctor wiped her memory, watching out for her since the Doctor couldn’t.

Quentin Lance and Laurel Lance-2 (Arrow)
Two years after the death of his daughter Laurel on Earth-1, Quentin was “reunited” with a version of her from Earth-2. This alternate-universe Laurel was a villainous lackey when we first met her. However, over time with her new “father” she changed. Even after Quentin’s death, Laurel-2 continued to honor his memory by fighting the bad guys and continuing to change, even when the world thought she was a lost cause. Her new father’s encouragement changed her for the better and made her into a new hero Laurel.

Shawn Hunter and Maya Hart (Girl Meets World)
When we left off Shawn Hunter at the end of Boy Meets World, he was single and living life. When Girl Meets World picked up, Shawn was nowhere to be seen, but when he came back into Cory and Topanga’s life, she quickly took a liking for their daughter Riley’s best friend Maya. At first it was just a matter of affection, as Maya’s family life reminded Shawn of his own. Later on, as Shawn got to know Maya and her mom, it became about family, as Shawn married Maya’s mom. As a pseudo-father or a step-father, Shawn was amazing with Maya, treating her as though she were his daughter. Eventually that happened, as he adopted Maya in the series finale.

Honorable Mentions:
There are so many other father/daughter combos that I wish I could include. This post would be forever long if I included them all. But here are a few honorable mentions. Cory and Riley, Rory and River, Joe and Iris, Jack and Monica, Tony and Morgan, Scott and Cassie

I hope you have a great Valentine's Day, however you spend it. Personally, I have an 8-week old date that I can't wait to snuggle.