Life With Derek

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Fandom
Name: Life With Derek
Abbreviation(s): LWD
Creator: Daphne Ballon
Date(s): September 18, 2005 – March 25, 2009 (series run)
June 2010 (TV-made film)
Medium: Television Show
Country of Origin: Canada
External Links: Official Site Wikipedia Link
LWD-Doodles by DoodleBuggy
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Life With Derek is a Canadian television sitcom that was made popular in the United States when it aired on Disney. It features two separate families emerging as one (like the Brady Bunch had) when their parents marry each other. Nora McDonald marries George Venturi, and brings her two girls (Casey and Lizzie) into George's home with his three children (Derek, Edwin, and Lizzie). This causes a lot of tension, especially in the first season; where nearly all of the characters (besides George and Nora) hate the move. And in Casey and Derek's case, their personalities clash more than not thus they initially want to break up the marriage so their lives could go back to normal. However they put that aside when they realize their parents really do love each other and that the marriage between the two is better for everyone.

The series had four seasons, and has one TV-made film, Vacation With Derek, which takes place after the finale of the show. The family visit with Nora's mother, Felicia, and helps save Felicia's lodge and the lake it's attached to. As the credits roll, it also shows a new McDonald-Venturi family member, Simon [1] - the first child that Nora and George had together.

It's also been recently revealed that a reunion show is in the works, titled Life With Derek, Again. [2] Not much else is known, however, about the sequel or when it will actually happen.

History of the fandom

Terminology

  • LWD - is abbreviation of the fandom.
  • Dasey - pairing name for Casey/Derek.
  • Lizwin - pairing name for Edwin/Lizzie.
  • Sasey - pairing name for Casey/Sam.
  • Demily - pairing name for Derek/Emily.
  • Dally - pairing name for Derek/Sally.
  • Masey - pairing name for Casey/Max.
  • Dizzie - pairing name for Derek/Lizzie.
  • Smily - pairing name for Emily/Sam.
  • Salph - pairing name for Sam/Ralph.
  • Shemily - pairing name for Emily/Sheldon.
  • Dendra - pairing name for Derek/Kendra.
  • Smarti - Derek's nickname for Marti.
  • Smerek - Marti's nickname for Derek.

Common Themes

Below are several common fanfic and fandom themes that appear in LWD work.

  • Pregnancy/Babyfic - is one of major themes especially in Dasey fics, usually to get Derek and Casey to admit they love each other. Prior to getting pregnant, generally Casey and Derek are at a party and get drunk.
  • Matchmakers - are generally considered to be Lizzie, Edwin, and Emily (usually Sam as well). Nora and George are even sometimes in on the plan.
  • Bets - common element in fics to get a pairing together even though when they took the bet they didn't realize that they had feelings for that person.
  • Incest - is usually the argument against the two main shipped pairings (Derek/Casey & Lizzie/Edwin), although the fact that they are only step-siblings and not actually biological siblings is the argument right back.

Characters and Pairings

Characters

  • Casey McDonald - oldest daughter of Nora McDonald and sister to Lizzie and Simon, step-daughter to George and step-sister to Derek, Edwin, and Marti. Casey is very independent, a bit of a perfectionist and academically ambitious. She has a more hate love/hate relationship with her step-brother Derek, which causes tension and hilarity on the show. In school she is known as klutzilla (nicknamed by Derek after falling down the stairs). She loves dance and singing (which is because of the actress that plays her Ashley Leggat does so in real life as well).
  • Derek Venturi - oldest son of George Venturi and brother to Simon, Edwin and Marti, step-son to Nora and step-brother to Casey and Lizzie. He is complete opposite of Casey; he's more laid-back, loves sports (hockey in particular), and more manipulating. In school, he's considered to be popular. Derek also loves his family, Marti in particular (calling her Smarti affectionately, and she calls him Smerek in return). He later starts a band called D-Rock.
  • Lizzie McDonald - daughter of Nora and sister to Casey and Simon, step-daughter to George and step-sister to Derek, Edwin and Marti. Unlike Casey, she gets along with Derek, although she tends to side with Casey during their arguments. She's particularly close with Edwin, sharing the same interests and many side stories of the episodes. Also unlike her sister and like her step-brother Derek, she likes and does sports.
  • Edwin Venturi - son of George and brother to Derek, Simon, and Marti, step-ston to Nora and step-brother to Lizzie and Casey. He looks up to Derek and is generally his accomplice during his various schemes. He is particularly close with Lizzie.
  • Marti Venturi - daughter of George and sister to Derek, Simon, and Edwin, step-daughter to Nora and step-sister to Lizzie and Casey. She's the youngest sibling from either family and acts it. For most of the show she had an imaginary friend Daphne (named after the creator of the show). Marti is especially close with her older brother Derek, but she's also close with George, Nora, Casey and Lizzie.
  • Nora McDonald-Venturi - mother to Casey, Lizzie and Simon, step-mother to Derek, Edwin and Marti and second wife of George. She's happily married to George and loves all her children despite everything they go through. Although at first the marriage was opposed by the children because it was uprooting all of them from their routines - Derek, Edwin, and Marti actually liked and respected her (as did Casey and Lizzie with George) which later ended them scheming to end the marriage.
  • George Venturi - father to Derek, Edwin, Marti and Simon, step-father to Lizzie and Casey, and the second husband of Nora. He works as a lawyer, which something Casey respects. He's considered the more laid-back parent and much more like his son Derek.
  • Emily Davis - is Casey's best friend and has been the next-door-neighbor to the Venturi family. A running gag in the series is Emily head-over-heels with Derek, which Casey doesn't understand at all. After getting over her crush on Derek, Emily started dating Sheldon until they broke it off before he left town. Later in the series, Emily and Derek end up going out for a time before breaking it off sometime before the film takes place.
  • Simon McDonald-Venturi - is the first child that Nora and George have together, and thus is the newest edition to the family. He only briefly appears in the film, Vacation With Derek before the credits roll.
  • Sam Richards - Derek's best friend and Casey's first crush after moving in with the Venturi's. They get together for awhile, but due to them continuously breaking up and getting back together, they agreed to move on. Sam later joins Derek's band, D-Rock, with fellow friend Ralph.

Pairings

Shipping is very important to this fandom, especially with het. Dasey and Lizwin are the two main pairings the fandom generally supports despite the fact that writers/creators intentions were not to encourage them, due to the fact that the characters are all step-siblings.

Main Pairings

  • Casey/Derek, also known as Dasey, is pretty much the OTP for much of the fandom despite the network & creator's best efforts and the fact that they are step-siblings. Canonically, they fight and prank each other a lot, however despite all of that - deep down they care for one another, which is one of the main reasons fans ship it so much. Those arguing against it usually force the issue of the pairing being incest, however they only met when they were 15 and never met before that - they did not grow up together and have the same birth parents. They are considered to have the most UST in the show, partly due to the fact that between the them everything is usually a competition. They also show a protective[3] and sweet side [4] to each other, usually trying to hide it from the other. It's also revealed that they both get into Queen's University [5], although initially they are upset at the news they get over it.
  • Edwin/Lizzie, also known as Lizwin, are often paired together because of how good their platonic friendship is shown in the actual show. They are generally considered a secondary pairing in most Dasey fanfics but they also generate a lot of their own as well.
  • George/Nora is the canon pairing for the show and for the fanfiction in Life With Derek except for the rare occasions they are not together (usually to help the above pairings come together).

Other Important Canon Pairings

  • Casey/Sam, also known as Sasey - Casey and Derek's best friend, Sam, date briefly before becoming good friends. Sam was Casey's first crush after moving in with her new family. At first, Derek opposed them getting together, but later relented and gave them permission to date.
  • Casey/Max - Casey dates Max, a quarterback, briefly before breaking up. Although Casey later wants to get back together with Max in an episode, she learns that he had already moved on.
  • Casey/Truman - Truman was a new kid to Casey & Derek's school, and at first Casey denies liking him. After dreaming about him, she later relents and starts dating him. She breaks up with him after seeing him being kissed by another girl (although it was apparently all just a misunderstanding). She gets back together with him in the Prom episode.
  • Derek/Emily, also known as Demily - In the first season, it was revealed that besides being his next-door-neighbor Emily also had a large crush on Derek (which was something Casey didn't understand due to him getting on her nerves)
  • Derek/Sally, also known as Dally - Co-workers at the restaurant, Derek initially had a crush on her but Sally had a boyfriend so it wasn't until after she and her boyfriend broke up did she really notice Derek. With the help of Casey and Nora, they get together. They break up, however due to Sally moving away.
  • Derek/Kendra - Kendra is Derek's first major girlfriend on the show[6], and although they are broken up Kendra still has a crush on him.
  • Emily/Sheldon - Emily and Sheldon dated before his family moves away. He actually proposes to Emily before he goes away, although she says no. Emily/Sheldon is actually a popular secondary pairing behind the others (especially under Dasey) along with the fanon pairing Emily/Sam.

Other Important Fanon Pairings

  • Emily/Sam, also known as Smily, is mainly a secondary pairing under fanwork of Dasey and is usually used to help Casey and Derek reveal their feelings for each other. Otherwise they are friendly towards each other in the show.
  • Derek/Lizzie, also known as Dizzie, is a lot rarer than Derek/Casey or Edwin/Lizzie but it still exists. In the series they show a close step-sibling bond (while not as close as Derek is with Marti or Lizzie with Casey or Edwin). Lizzie also gets Derek to help Casey in the episode "The Fall", and later in the series, Derek teaches Lizzie hockey. He is never shown to tease Lizzie and says he likes being her brother. [7]
  • Casey/Edwin is a lot rarer than even Derek/Lizzie is, however it too exists especially on FFN. On the show they don't not get along, usually because of Edwin's worship of his brother Derek and Casey's general hate towards Derek[8]. They do care about each other.

Fanworks

Fanfiction

Fanart

Fanvids

Meta

Archives & Fannish Links

Tumblr

LJ Communities

Resources

References

  1. ^ Wikipedia page for VWD
  2. ^ Life With Derek, Again
  3. ^ Derek/Casey tag-team GIF
  4. ^ Derek calls Casey's parents GIF
  5. ^ Huge News
  6. ^ Derek/Kendra GIFs
  7. ^ [1]
  8. ^ "Give Me the Keys" GIF
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