#<- new tag! everyone cheered

[andiwriteordie]

hi im back bc i have more songs and also bc that mike song was so good what the hell, you always have the perfect songs for everyone how do you do that 😭 the line about wanting to back to the basement with friends....im okay im okay 😭😭

okay so i was listening to a Different of monsters and men album on my way to work this morning and kept getting schmacked with st relatable songs so! the first song is this which was giving me STRONG mike and max vibes. the theme of "im always fucking up and im sorry im sorry im sorry i wish i could take it all back" but still holding onto their heart??? YEAH. the song applies in different ways to them too, where mike has been mean and unintentionally (and intentionally) cruel to will and el and even lucas, but also where max has all this guilt and shame and pulls away from all her friends, i feel like she'd have even more guilt after s4, like all of this is her fault bc she didnt open up, and also bc she kept pushing lucas away and hurting him. :(

the second song is a WILL BYERS TM song, it's so s2 coded when he's slowly getting posessed by the mindflayer. i love that you can also look at it as a s5 concept where he gains control or works with the mindflayer too! the song fits so perfectly in such a poetic way im actually obsessed. like how its growing colder, how its surrounding him and isolating him, and how he sees himself through someone else! AHHHH

okay final song (for now lol) feels like an El song!! It doesn't have a whole lot of lyrics but there's so much in the subtext and especially with the instrumentals that build and build throughout the song (i seriously love this song it makes me go nuts you have to Listen to this one to rly get what i mean!!). You could also argue it as a willel song but personally I find it such an El song 🥺 the thousand eyes of her dead siblings, of papa, of all her friends, of the government agents that want to kill/use her, etc. just being watched and waited on and always a spectacle in some way, but still finding that strength inside her to fight back against everyone trying to hurt and use her. I could even see the lyrics describing the abuse she went through, her remaking, to use her powers for their own benefits and hunt Henry down...man. the "undo this storm" to "i am the storm"?? WOOF.

anyway thats all I have for you today!! btw im so glad you get so much joy out of our interactions ur gonna make me cry 🥺😭 theres nothing like bonding over music that just fits the blorbos so perfectly djcksjxks

emmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaa (i wanted to actually type emmugghhhhhh because that is the pathetic little sound i'm making because these songs are killing me)!!!

organs:

excuse me what is WRONG WITH YOU? this line is right here? it's so max and mike coded: So I take off my face because it reminds me of how it all went wrong. i have this mike fic that i'm writing (sorta. i'm taking a break from it right now lol) that this is reminding me of so much.

also though this song is giving me such will vibes as well! and actually just byler vibes, and i think it's because of this section right here.

So I take off my face

Because it reminds me of how it all went wrong

(a mike line because i just think he has such a negative sense of self-perception, and this section reminds of mirror imagery for some reason so it ALSO then reminds me of the depressing scene with will at the end of s1 in his bathroom and having a moment where he's staring in the mirror.)

And I pull out my tongue

Because it reminds me of how it all went wrong

(mike lines. mike regretting the harmful things he's said to so many people and the guilt just eating him up!!!)

And I cough up my lungs

Because they remind me of how it all went wrong

(now this right here are a couple of will lines!!! i was talking about something unrelated with /messrsbyler and kinda stumbling into imagery with breathing and how that ties into the ways vecna has harmed will - i.e. the vine, the mind flayer entering through his mouth and eyes and ears, and then will 2x describes the feeling of the mind flayer as making him unable to breathe? yeah all of this just like is giving me so many feels.)

And I leave in my heart

Because I don't want to stay in the dark

(and this right here. i leave in my heart is will right now as of s4, because mike is his heart. he holds on close to mike and refuses to let go, even in all the turmoil of their friendship, because he recognizes that mike is his light if we wanna use max's metaphor!! and obviously we're gonna see mike realize will is heart too and that will is his light and he's going to come out of the darkness of his shame and insecurity and guilt and DAMN IT I AM SO EMOTIONAL AND THIS IS ONLY SONG 1.)

black water:

oh okay. emma get out of my house right now. unfriended. what is WRONG WITH YOU? HUH? WAS THAT NECESSARY? WAS IT?

the rain imagery? (*cries in castle byers*) i see myself through someone else? (*cries in will losing his autonomy and control over self in s2*) also just like the lines about it becoming colder wtf wtf wtf why is this so will i'm upset now

this is also fuel for my avatar/stranger things brain rot so THANKS FOR THAT?

thousand eyes:

excuse me you were so sick for this

Flowers that lose their shape

I lie awake and watch it all

there's just. such a melancholy and a heaviness to this song. which just hurts me even more because then i think about how all el wants is just to be a normal teenage girl. she just wants to go to the mall and spend time with her best friends. and this song just screams to me like, "no, i know what i have to be for everyone else, and i feel the heaviness and the ache of that" which is so so el. i love this. and just like how the song builds in intensity mirroring how much pressure is placed on her as the storyline grows and grows? GAH I CAN'T. also literally yes to EVERYTHING YOU SAID IT'S SO SO GOOD.

also YES I'M SO GLAD THAT WE DO THIS. THERE'S NOTHING BETTER THAN FINDING NEW BLORBO MUSIC AND SHARING IT WITH PEOPLE!!!

may i offer you an el song in return? i have so so so many thoughts on this song so i want to hear all of yours!!!!

[cheriate]

bros before hoes.

what else can i say?

[love-3-crimes]

that one meme i saw on twitter but i dont feel like screenshotting </3

[fountainpenguin]

Riddle watches New Wish - Post #27

The Battle of Big Wand

Part 2 of reacting to this episode (spoiler-free)!

Cosmo talking about the Big Wand going down: Better check with I.T. Hazel: Just I.T.? No fancy fairy name?

why is this so funny to me

Y'know... I've have a post in my drafts for ages that mocks Anti-Cosmo's castle entrance for not being wheelchair-friendly (because the road is covered in spikes). If he took over and then put spikes on this new road, I'm gonna lose it.

OH, I NAILED my "After thinking about it, this is my final answer" prediction. Dev is in the house! oh, good gravy.

This is the second time he's tried to be a king, and I think it's funny he hasn't tried to be a company president or anything. Not fantasy enough for him.

It's stupid funny to me that Dev just turned 10 and he's got impressive muscles when he flexes. what is this child doing- bench pressing solid gold??

We've been robbed of Dev wishing himself into one of the puzzle games he likes and getting buried under, like... Tetris blocks and having to claw his way out.

That might make a good 'fic; I feel like "wishing to be inside an app" is very correct for him.

??? whaaat does he have? He's got portable wishes of some kind? Is it a shooting star? oh, goodness. Let me think, let me think...

!! Crocker has these in the finale of Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 1. He throws them at the ground near fairy guards to poof them into animals. They're grenades. lmao, Dev got into the Fairy Armory.

Canonically, the Fairy Armory is the only place in Fairy World that still has power during outages, so... epic magic fight with weapons?? Ooooh, I hope so!

Irep is back, I knew it!! Part of me suspected he wouldn't be here because he's not really known for being a team player, but I'm glad he is :) Let's go Anti-Fairies!!

I'm delighted Anti-Cosmo isn't taking lead. Also, for some reason it's hilarious to me that Irep is focused on Hazel and not interested in addressing Cosmo or Wanda. He used to greet them as Auntie and Uncle, and now he's like "I don't need their approval or love."

Uh-oh... Has he sorted out his needy issues? If he's too old for naps and we can't bribe him with hugs, how will we defeat him??

I wanted to see if he uses their honoraries in "Fairly Odd Fairy Tales" (since he does it when he's being polite and I knew he was offering food). He doesn't, but I like how Wanda straight-up fed her nephew an apple that puts him to sleep until his true love kisses him, then looks dead at the viewer and says "And then we all lived happily ever after." Is the implication that no one will ever love him, so he's unconscious forever?? omg. Wanda's very black and white view of things is so incredibly funny to me, especially since she grew up in a mob family.

I'm excited to see Dev and the Anti-Fairies. Who would win: the species that invented papercuts, or a little boy who longs for lemonade?

Are you telling me Cosmo and Anti-Cosmo are BOTH intimidated by Irep now? Either this is about to be super funny, or they've switched.

Did Anti-Cosmo finally step up his parenting? Not out of the question; in Season 10, Foop was in time-out for putting spiders in his spaghetti.

(How ironic, considering Foop liked eating spiders).

I rewound and Cosmo jumps when the magic hits, before he sees Irep, so he's not necessarily afraid of him. Also, keeping my fingers crossed for anti-family interactions. I'm really looking forward to a face-off between Irep and Peri; their banter is my favorite and we didn't get much in "Best of Luck."

I'm so glad that despite changing his name, Irep presents himself with the same flair he always did. He is the same person...

omg, his little cufflinks. He's adorable.

For some reason, I've called him "posh British boy" in two previous posts, but... idk why, because he's literally never been posh and I know that. I'm glad he looks like his aesthetic is "bad boy with the tiniest detail of fancy."

I hope he's still friends with Sammy Sweetsparkle :) Maybe they're in a gang. I know there's 0 chance of Sammy being in this episode, but can you just imagine if Foop took out his wallet and there's a picture of Sammy in it.

Actually... if he's got a little metal circle there, I think that implies his jacket is closer to denim than leather. Lemme check......

OH, interesting... Yeah, he and Sammy don't match.

I don't say it enough, but it's really freakin' funny to me that Foop spends a distressing amount of "Certifiable Super Sitter" following Sammy or spying on Sammy and/or reacting to everything Sammy says. He's just Like That... Like, I enjoy the implication that of all the places Foop could go when his parents canonically left him unsupervised for the week, he likely chose to hit up the Turner place in spite of his hatred for Poof because Sammy is there. Silly.

Anyway...

Dev: Yeah, yeah, yeah... and Irep. Joint conquerors of Fairy World.

OMFG, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Was I RIGHT that Anti-Cosmo isn't even at the takeover!? Local introvert hates leaving his house and never wanted Fairy World anyway; more at 11. I'll be there!!

Plot twist, Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda don't actually show up in this episode because they're busy flirting while Irep's away.

I clocked the design aesthetic of the taken-over Fairy World as "This is Irep and Dev as partners; Anti-Cosmo wouldn't do this" so hard. crying. how did I do that. it's not getting better than this.

"Let's get DEV-ious!!"

dlkfgm, once again losing it at Dev using his first name rather than the "Dimm" part of his surname when he makes puns. He's a Dimmadome, but... he's kind of his own twig on the tree.

It is unreasonably funny to me that Irep's wand is so heavy considering he had massive muscles as a child after his Abracatraz imprisonment ("Spellementary School" & "Timmy's Secret Wish").

Also, I am FASCINATED by the decision to give Irep one little zipper tab that hangs off his jacket. Impeccable.

I love this team already. These are two people who are both known for:

- Coming from upper class families - Having parent-related abandonment issues - Not showing a lot of restraint - Only showing restraint when they've REALLY gone too far

Hmm... Oh boy, let me think. We know Dev's [previous] line was that he didn't like his dad shocking people's brains for money, with Dev having strained feelings even when he was trying to convince himself the shocks could be good ("You can help kids!") And he did feel bad about fighting with Hazel, though he's definitely Going Through the Wringer right now.

And Irep's line in the OG series is that he was totally down for:

- Tormenting his parents - Annihilating Crocker for not inviting him to his house party (whom he hilariously calls Denzel when he's mad at him) - Pointing his school's playground slide into the void - Sending Cosmo and Wanda on a dinner date to a black hole - Poof dying (despite the fact their lives were tied together)

- but he wouldn't allow anyone to harm Chloe, who finally introduced him to hugs.

He made it very clear he wasn't willing to face Vicky to save his own life, even on the verge of death, but he'd do it for her or for chicken cordon bleu. And she's not here, and we're all out of chicken cordon bleu. Uh-oh…

- Would Irep rate Hazel hugs 10/10? Inquiring minds need to know. - Is Dev bribing Irep with hugs? Or is Irep just here for the chaos and assurances that Dev's having more fun with him than Peri? - Is Irep bribing Dev with hugs? Are they pumping each other up with positive affirmations?? Go king; continue the healing cycle!

If Irep's parents show up, I hope he's on good terms with his mom, who used to pack chicken nuggets and anti-venom in his lunch box :)

Dev's faith in his ability to not fall off his O-pairs makes me nervous every time he's ever been onscreen.

His dad might let him down, but the O-pairs never have.

[ cnt'd - #Long post ]

All I've been thinking about for ages is an AU where Dev and Mikey Munroe (Bunsen Is a Beast) switch drones for a day, so Mikey's parents freak out that they can't monitor their son 24/7 and meanwhile, Dev just... can't get his dad's attention despite the two-way microphone and camera screen. Also, Mikey spends most of his time making noises into the O-pairs' fans. It's always been my headcanon that Mikey's parents installed the Buxaplenty's and Leadly's security systems (hence the buttons releasing different dogs & the lethal lightning bolts) since I think "ooh, rich people want us" helps justify why his parents are gone for months or years at a time when we know their job is designing home security, so basically... all the cool rich people use them. I actually have a WIP of Mikey and Remy playing near the Buxaplenty train tracks when they were little, but I never found a plot point strong enough to carry it to the end. Anyway, I've been waiting to see what the Dimmadomes have in terms of security, but it's... nothing yet. Plot twist, Dale has trust issues even with the people installing security?? ... I think he'd be friends with Mikey's parents. Maybe. Actually, I might need a 'fic about Dale having a meltdown when he goes home for the first time in 7 years and doesn't trust that Vicky won't sneak in to get him. He needs the world's best security team. It's two terrible parents afraid of literally everything. Yes, they ditched their kid for this. Don't worry about it. y'know... It's really messed up that Mikey's parents are terrified of everything, but they leave their 12-year-old home alone with the pets for months or years at a time, "but it's fine because they're spying on him 24/7 and sometimes give him gifts (like medicated wipes)." His dad is implied to have a fear of germs and I've always wondered if that plays into them not being anywhere near Mikey... Plot twist- We pull a "My Gym Partner's a Monkey" (where the reason we don't see Adam Lyon's parents is because they're severely allergic to animal hair and Adam has to thoroughly wash when he's home and they can't go to school events), but it's Mikey's parents fleeing Muckledunk because they're either allergic or afraid of Beasts. They left their son... Okay, I just checked my notes and I have a line here that says "Mikey's obsession with soft things like animals, beards, and blankets is probably because his parents never touch him." help??

Anyway, I think an AU where Dale hovers over Dev 24/7 and is still a terrible dad would be funny. Instead of neglect, it's obsession... Especially at this age since Dev's as old as Dale was when his trauma started.

... Is Dale putting distance between himself and Dev on purpose because Dev looks exactly like him and is now the age when Dale's life came crashing down? idk if Dale had access to mirrors back then, but that's gotta be weird.

crying at Irep waiting for his cue to pull Dev's flashbacks down from the top of the screen. They rehearsed this. Painfully in-character (In "Secret Wish," Foop claims he waited 10 minutes outside so he could burst in at a dramatic moment).

The way Irep twists his legs gives me Anti-Cosmo vibes.

Rare "Winn without cap" spotted in the wild.

Dev has the room oriented the wrong direction and in doing so, he forgot to include the door. Emotionally, he's stuck in this room. lmao.

Maybe it's a class that's not Guzman's since we know from "Multiverse of Jenkins" that these kids do attend other classes. But... Dev, what's goin' on, buddy?

INCREDIBLY funny to me that Bev sits directly in front of Dev? I gotta go back and fact-check that sometime. Has he been harboring his crush on her because she's right there? That's great!

??? If she DOESN'T sit there then I have to assume Dev is just so Bev-centric that he WANTS her to be there, and that's very funny. Go chase your sporty crush, rich boy. I support you.

Okay, I went back, and it seems his canon seat is between Bev and Kev (with Kev behind Hazel), but Kev vaporizes when we need to center Hazel and Dev onscreen at the same time (such as Dev faking sick and Hazel glaring at him). Oh my glob, he's another witch... Dev, embrace your ancestral witch-hunting for me, plz and ty. It would be funny... /checks my witch notes as a joke and screeches to a halt. Oh my goodness, I could finally get a Soil Tribe child in my roster... I have their magic down as "causes host to fade unnoticed into the background," and it would be very funny to do something magical with the child model. ??? On my first watch of "28 Puddings Later," I don't think I saw that scene of Dev falling over and losing his shades when the pudding throne collapses. Must've missed it while taking notes. That's cute.

I like how Dev's memories are 2D like the photos we've seen throughout the series. Also, Hazel's so dang cute.

I'm glad Dale's pants look the same in both the New Wish and old 2D style despite no FOP character ever wearing anything with that many dots.

I like that Dev's hair is much shinier than his dad's, implying Dale still has the dullness that comes with being soft instead of slick.

- I'm assuming this means either Dev's hair is gelled or he gets that from the maternal side of his family? - idk man, this is very in line with my "Dev's mom is a Leadly" headcanon... At this point, I can't NOT torment him with two very rich and extremely messed-up sides of his family... They both have extreme branding and weird fixations and funky buildings and run big businesses that have brought in incredible amounts of money and they like tech and call people the wrong names... do you see what I see...

I'm DELIGHTED Dale's hair curls up in the back. I've been so sad that he lost his tuft when he grew up. This is clever.

!!! oh yeah, Dale has his dad's stripe! Technically he and Dev both have the stripe, but I love the subtle differences in their hair. While collecting screenshots for an earlier post, I noticed the hair above their ears is combed in different directions, like this:

- with Dale showing the stripe much more clearly than Dev does. I like the implication that Dev's stripe is gold. That's really cute.

I checked, and the gold streak does seem to be in the place he has the Dimmadome family stripes in his 2D form (Eyebrow level). Neat!!

Aw, Irep's a big boy! And his hair grew out blue!! Parents' genes came out kickin'. I did wonder. I think it's funny his mustache and goatee are still black.

Despite losing the black hair, he's not yet immune from "Irep, are you sure one of your parents wasn't actually pixie?" allegations. This is stupid funny to me... In my Cloudlands AU, the Anti-Fairies are always dunking on him for having black hair like Anti-Cosmo's ex-wife, but no one can say anything because unlike Anti-Cosmo's first heir (Talon), Foop was born with the iris virus (colored eyes), so he's "been accepted by the nature spirits" and is heir apparent.

... Seeing this many colored eyes is giving me incredible amounts of anxiety, but it would not be appropriate to clarify why out of context. I like the guy with hair over his eyes and a big hat.

Is Irep leading the charge these days? Do the Anti-Fairies take orders from him?

Did Anti-Cosmo step down!? Because considering how much he hates conflict, I wouldn't be slightly surprised, omg...

I think it's funny that if Dev uncovers any official documents or watches memory clips that flashback to Irep's past crimes, he'd probably be like "Why is there no paper trail for this Irep guy? who tf is Foop?"

WAS that his experience of browsing the anti-web? I have to assume it was- I can't imagine Anti-Fairy World would cross his path without Foop's name coming up.

?? Considering that in my previous post, I said I couldn't think of any reason for Anti-Cosmo to desire taking over Fairy World unless he managed to score the earth and/or godkids out of it...

I'm so glad Dev just dropped "They have to take over Fairy World so they can rule Earth." slkdfj?? okay...

Irep: Now we can rule BOTH! Anti-Cosmo: That just sounds like scoring godkids with extra work.

THEM!! I am once again so intrigued by the lore that A.J. went into parascience and is following in Crocker's footsteps?? You've no idea how much I need to know what the A.J.-Crocker relationship is.

crying at Irep making a peace sign when he gets in front of the camera with Dev. Doesn't he do that in his profile pic on Dark Laser's phone? He's literally the same person he's always been. I missed him so much.

PLEASE do not tell me Dev's full name is Development "Devin" Dimmadome. The quote marks Dale puts around "Devin" are making me lose it.

Dale's partner: Honey, can you stop thinking about business for 5 minutes so we can pick a name for our son? Dale, who comes from a family that usually just slaps their name on things: I got this.

?? I'd LOVE to know what's going on with Dev's mom. Did she die in childbirth and had no say in naming her son, and Dale took over from there? Is she alive, but divorced from and/or passive around him?

Like... I have to assume she had the most exquisite prenatal care through a rich family like this, especially if we assume she also came from a wealthy family cough- Leadlys.

Holy flipping plot twist, does Dev not have a mom at all? He looks exactly like his extraordinarily wealthy dad. Was he just cloned so Dale could pass the business on someday? Did Dale just kinda buy him and wait for the surrogate to hand him over, and he never formed any attachment to him as a baby because he had the O-Pairs / au pairs raise him? lmao!!!

Traumatized beyond belief for 7 years by a girl his age so he trusts absolutely no one and never learned what a healthy relationship was like even with a partner, let alone his son. smh.

Actually, it's very funny to think of him and Vicky splitting up. Like, it was extremely toxic and not romantic in the slightest, but she straight-up identified him when she saw his face in "Operation: Birthday Takeback" even though logically, that would have been 70 years since she was last close to him. She probably knew him pretty well, especially since his hair has changed.

Timmy can't have frozen the timestream any earlier than Channel Chasers in Season 4 when he learns he'll lose Cosmo, Wanda, and his memories when he grows up, which is the reason he cites for freezing time in "Timmy's Secret Wish," and that was 50+ years. It's been 20 more on top of that for Dale to grow up and his son to turn 10. We know Vicky and Doug Dimmadome very, very occasionally crossed paths in later seasons (Vicky tries to sell him the Stryker Z in Season 3's "Engine Blocked").

If anyone cares, this (Season 3) is presumably where Dale grew up unless Doug took him to Dimmadelphia.

Like?? Something about the fact that Vicky and Dale are the same age is funny as heck to me. New Wish canon heavily implies Vicky's been taking advantage of Dale since they were 9, and they might've been friends once upon a time (despite the fact that in both New Wish and the OG series, she can never remember who the Dimmadomes are, lol).

There's no way Doug did a good job of looking for him, or Vicky would've turned him in for reward money. I wonder if Dale had a history of sneaking off to play with Vicky and just never came home one day.

Do you think that after her bossing him around for 7 years, Dale was really messed up and didn't know how to make choices for himself?

Oh, that's awful!! Who would write a 'fic about him running away to look for Vicky and beg her to take him back because he doesn't know how to be a person anymore and needs schedules and instruction? Who would do that?? I'm fascinated by their dark, twisted, and incredibly under-explained vibe. Haha, I'm in danger...

oh no, and Dev even told us his father relies on algorithms over his own thoughts, and we KNOW Dale was upset his publicity team said he should talk to people face to face instead of sending the O-Pairs or hiding behind holograms... A snarky Dev told us he thinks "talking to people isn't [Dale's] thing..." I'm connecting the dots...

hey wtf. does Dale have issues with scraping by in the dirt and dark with limited food and water and nothing to his name for 7 years and that's why he freaks out when he loses money? He can't handle the thought of not having a house??

Holy flip, I wish he'd communicate his trauma to his son, but I'm yelling that we keep seeing hints that he's withholding things from Dev. Like ?? Dale explains his thoughts all the time (in monologue fashion), but he's clearly keeping some things under wraps since Dev didn't have any concept for who Vicky was or why she knew his dad.

I genuinely think Dale doesn't want Dev to know the details. Dev didn't even seem to have a good grasp of why he isn't allowed lemonade, or at least that was my read considering how grumpy he was about it.

omg, this is horrible. who would write a 'fic about Dale taking his son camping and then slipping off to have a total meltdown where Dev won't see. who would do that.

Like, I think at this point they're so rich, you'd have to assume they're not at risk of losing everything if Dale took time off work, but we KNOW he's stuck on that schedule Vicky raised him with (working on Saturdays, which we see him do multiple times), and we KNOW he's always trying to claw his way up despite having the money to buy literally anything he could ever want.

And we KNOW Dale's big thing is that he loses his entire flippin' mind when the money slows down ("You still making sales?" / "Yes, but they're dropping, Dev!") and he's willing to stalk and hurt people to keep it coming in.

Y'know, this is continuing my theory that Doug Dimmadome is probably dead. I legit think Dale lost his support system (possibly around Dev's birthday considering how clingy he is about boots and says they came into his life on that day, plus the golden boots with the "In honor" plaque he has in his house). Daddy's not bailing him out of this one...

Lovely that Dale's first words to Dev after finding out he's taken over Fairy World are "My son." Oh, NOW he wants to talk...

I also find out my son is working with the fey and immediately drop his full legal name.

Why is Dale both the worst person alive and the only dad ever? I need to flatten him with a cruise liner (carnally).

Happy boy... (Dev, don't trust him.)

omfg, Irep's not buying this for a second.

?? I feel like it makes things WORSE that Dale seems at least a little aware of how upset Dev is about the boots? "I'm so proud of my son; it almost makes me want to throw away my boots." - There's no way he doesn't know he's been screwing with Dev's head for the last 5 months. omg.

- Hey, does Dale treat Dev this way because Doug made Dale feel like he was playing second fiddle to his giant hats?? I can't help but notice this whole city has a hat theme, yet Dale doesn't seem to care for hats at all... which is interesting, because we know Dimmadelphia existed way before Doug got here. Doug in my theory: /died 10 years ago Dale: If I touch Dad's hats or add boot statues around the city, he'll totally kill me. - ?? I guess the alt theory is that Dale put all the hat stuff up as memorials to his dad, which doesn't sound far-fetched since again... he keeps THIS in his house:

... Huh. I guess it could be a trophy for Dale instead of a memorial. That's another relevant time to use "In honor." What does it say about me that "omg his dad is dead and he bronzed his boots as a keepsake" was my first thought when I saw this in "Operation: Birthday Takeback" and not "Dale is successful of his own merit"? Obsessed with the implication that Dev's brand image is his sunglasses... Three Dimmadomes go down in history: The Hat, The Boots, and The Shades.

I still think Dale should have a gun. Not to be helpful; just to keep things spicy...

Please go to the Fairy Armory: the one place in Fairy World that canonically keeps power during blackouts. I am begging. I feel like his Southern daddy would want this for him. Doug had a flamethrower.

Is Dev still holding those magic grenades, and what would happen if someone tackled him in a hug?

SDLJKFSDKLFJSDF I'm on the floor. Did I call it? No way... But is Anti-Cosmo only going to show up now that Dev's giving godkids to Anti-Fairies??

Irep: Yo, I'm going to take over Fairy World; anyone want anything? Anti-Cosmo: The same thing I always want: a new child. Irep: wtf

Oh, all that time I spent speculating instead of actually watching the episode the night I started was so worth it. I was really nervous people would grump at me for how I see Anti-Cosmo, but now I feel like I was set up for a slam dunk.

Also, I like how Dev's taken over Jorgen's office. I didn't notice at first, but that's clever.

Dale is so proud despite the fact Dev taped his mouth shut and tossed him aside. That's so funny...

omg, this pit looks dark.

Will Dev torment his dad with lemonade? Is Dale going into the dark torture pit that swings open from the top like a trapdoor, which parallels his underground trauma to a T, or is that going too far?? Is Dev going to dump on his dad about Vicky? Will Dale freak out when he realizes he accidentally hired his abuser of 7 years to babysit his son? Will Dale be joining Club Redheads Who Didn't Get Mindwiped? (I hope not, because Vicky's in it). Will Dev bully his father while he has all this power and then wipe his mind?? So many questions. Find out next time...

[sepiamestus]

Someone's weak for the puppydog eyes

[front-facing-pokemon]

[happyvoltz]

troy and tracy

[s0lairee]

if you have interacted with me on discord you know how normal i am about damien/fl academic rivals to lovers. by which i mean i am not normal at all. ever.

what i AM... is a writer. and i may have churned out 3.4k words of dami/fl academic rivals (act surprised, y'all). available here, on ao3, for your viewing pleasure.

highlights that made me, the author, giggle:

"you're the only competent one here" moment

classic italicized oh moment

fleabag-esque fourth wall narration from our fl

nerdy ass fl. they are sooooo nerdy. (<- self indulgent)

damien scorching floors and tables

DENIALLL SO MUCH DENIAL. DENIAL IS A RIVER IN EGYPTTTT.

"i came over to study" and then They Didn't.

sass. so much of it.

i really did enjoy writing this (i frothed at the mouth). i might do it again (this time i shall scream at frequencies previously unknown to man).

special thanks to my pookie @angelcactus for proofreading <3

[transmascutena]

these moments could not be more different considering context and the characters are not comparable at all but i will unfortunately see parallels in anything and everything

[batsplat]

thoughts on the latest casey interview? it’s so funny because I keep seeing people posting different excerpts of it on here depending on which guy they like lol

well, first off, this is how I found out there IS a new casey interview. I did have a quick dig around whether I could un-paywall the original but. no luck. so I'm basing this on the write up in mowmag - which passes the test in that, unlike certain websites, it actually addresses multiple things casey said on different topics. so hopefully isn't just the most clickbait-y material and is a relatively exhaustive summary of the stuff he said. no cherry picking on THIS blog

anyway, my main takeaway is that it's probably for the best that the casey/valentino relationship doesn't get TOO warm, because if you ever put these two on a podcast together the resulting material could level continents. I still stand by my belief that these two could have co-hosted an all time great conspiracy theorist youtube show in another life. what a pair of guys

my other takeaway is that, despite working for them as a test rider AND a rider coach, casey still very obviously has NOT forgiven ducati. the grudges he's airing by proxy in this interview!! spectacular. with all athletes but ESPECIALLY casey, it's always healthy practise to just keep in mind the actual context of their careers when reading their mouthing off about the current sport. because sometimes they will be fighting yesterday's battles... this is a man who still has enough bones to pick with motogp to disassemble the whole skeleton

I'll follow the order of the interview provided by the mowmag piece:

“I know the company,” says Stoner, referring to Ducati and answering a direct question about the possibility that in Borgo Panigale they might decide to ‘sabotage’ Martin’s eventual victory, “and I know what they are willing to do to win. I’m surprised I haven’t seen it before, or maybe it happened and Jorge was good at overcoming it ” In short, Stoner goes so far as to say that Ducati might have already put a spoke in Martin’s wheels, but that the young Spaniard was still able to be stronger than any obstacles created. With Ianieri pointing out to the Australian, however, how much Dall’Igna insisted that it will be real sport and there will be no games. “That’s what Gigi thinks. But then there’s Ducati and they don’t want to see the number one go. But everyone is watching them very carefully, if they make a mistake like that we’ll see it. If they create a problem it will backfire on them. I hope that everything goes smoothly and that we can see the real world champion.”

do you know what an absolute nightmare it would be if martin has a mechanical dnf in the catalunya ii sunday race. something which can of course HAPPEN, pecco's had more mechanical gremlins than jorge this year. but obviously that wouldn't stop anyone from losing their minds

this is just so extremely casey. I laughed when I read it. of course he's been thinking about how ducati will probably sabotage martin since jorge's exit to aprilia was announced. of course he thinks ducati would pull off something shady to keep the number one plate in house. I love the idea that ducati HAS been sabotaging jorge but they've just been like, extremely shit at it. look at him saying that he KNOWS ducati and thinks they SUCK... an opinion he is completely justified in holding - ducati did not do right by him in 2009, and those wounds also still show in some of his other responses in this interview. but, y'know. if ducati was going to sabotage jorge, quite frankly they would already have done so. it's just a little late for this, isn't it. what are they even going to DO, stick a pin in jorge's tyres?

readers familiar with casey's oeuvre should be drawing a fairly obvious parallel at this stage - given that this is not the first time casey has dabbled in a light dash of conspiracism where title deciders are concerned. here are the two versions of his book concerning what happened at valencia 2006:

will never get over how casey was fighting the good fight for valentino's tenth in 2013 icl. early adopter

back then, casey was blaming the 'commercial interests' of Big America for sabotaging the most popular rider in the history of the sport - until Big Dorna sniped him and forced him to remove the 'commercial interests' line in the paperback version. (to be clear: this is a joke, there's no indication anyone from dorna had a chat with him, it's just funny that his stance ever so slightly softened between versions but then he did also add the wonderful 'welcome to my world' line.) it's perfectly reasonable to believe that valentino had a dud tyre in 2006 valencia and broadly tracks with what he himself says about the race, somewhat less reasonable to believe They were actually out to get him. valentino was very unlucky throughout 2006, yes, but... people are unlucky sometimes

anyway, I don't actually want to relitigate 2006 here, but I DO love his paranoid streak and how like... y'know, there's always the danger he's mellowed in his time away from the sport, he's certainly less tightly strung these days... but yup, he's still got that in him. still that guy

from a longer post about the similarities between valentino/casey, reckon this is one of the things I've written about the pair of them that holds up the best:

it is completely unsurprising that jorge martin's plight has struck a chord with casey, who himself always had a chip on his shoulder and was more than happy to use said chip to motivate himself. both jorge and pecco have a fair bit of casey in their competitive dna, which does show in how casey talks about both of them - martin perhaps with a bit more of lorenzo's brashness mixed in versus pecco having more of valentino's cunning... plus his contrarianism (which casey is no stranger to either). if we're already drawing alien parallels. just always that slight sense that they feel SOMEONE is out to get them, that they're never being given a fair hearing... again. chip on the shoulder

then there's this bit -

Calling it a very powerful attack is almost an understatement, with Stoner not being light on Ducati even when he comments on the decision to entrust the official bike to Marc Marquez for next season. “They could have made sure that he would settle for an official bike in a private team” – he thundered.

- which we're going to circle back to. I do love how casey's switched from going to an italian newspaper to launch an extended attack on valentino rossi to going to an italian newspaper to launch an extended attack on ducati. critical levels of support

So how will it end in Barcelona? Casey Stoner doesn't give his prediction, but limits himself to an icy comment: "I think Jorge deserves the title, and that he is in the position to win it. Pecco will do everything to be champion and Ducati would like to keep the number one. Everything could go smoothly, or there could be great chaos "

given how dud tyres have been a big theme in both 2023 and 2024's title battle, 'slightly odd jorge crash helped along by slightly odd michelin tyre' just feels like. such a plausible scenario. that could easily make everyone lose their minds. honestly, even if jorge crashes on his own and just says his bike felt weird afterwards, whether it's true or not. it'd be chaos, yeah. and casey will be THERE no matter what

If from the point of view of the show everything is more exciting, from the point of view of the rider who has raced, won and suffered in the difficult world of MotoGP, in this 2024 we are also witnessing a great injustice. "For me the World Championship should be as always: on Sunday - adds Stoner, stating himself openly against the Sprint and against the new MotoGP format - If you make a mistake you have lost an opportunity, now you have two. And then it doesn't allow you to really work on the set-up, because the only concern is getting into Q2. The system doesn't work for me, you can see it from the abysmal gaps. It might be there every now and then, like in Formula 1, but every weekend is not necessary. We have seen what Pecco has done in the last three seasons, the growth is constant. Ducati's results are always better, but in comparison with the others he is the one who wins the most. You can't belittle him, they are real victories, not Sprints. What he has done this year is impressive".

this bit I do agree with casey on, not because of what it's doing to this specific title fight and more just my general distaste for sprints. at some point this last year it's become received wisdom that pecco's sunday success is partly reliant on being able to do some trial and error in saturday sprints, so I found it interesting that oxley took a different stance in his sepang column:

I'm not sure I ENTIRELY agree on this (obviously I'm just basing this on vibes not actual expertise). even though obviously all riders do get this sprint data boost, I feel like it's fairly plausible pecco + his team make better use of it - just because there's better data, doesn't mean everyone is taking equal good advantage of it. then again, is there really any evidence that pecco is getting more out of it, beyond doing better in a format he's better at? as casey points out, it does mean you have way less time to faff about with set-ups, which pecco does like to do. there's also intangibles that might make the sprint experience advantageous to pecco on a sunday - for instance, I feel like his banger starts this year (remember when those were a thing) have tended to come on a sunday when he's already kinda figured out where to place himself in the pack. so maybe he does get something substantial out of having an extra race

that being said, I'm increasingly of the opinion that thinking pecco is ACTUALLY helped by the sprints - that the championship picture would be no different without them - is... kind of overthinking things. he's not good at the format. any marginal gains on a sunday he's getting from the sprint data just instinctively feel like they're probably not equal or more to what he's losing out in raw number of points through the sprints. it does feel like pecco's gotten better at sprints specifically in the second half of this year, so it's interesting to see if that carries through to next season... and look, none of this is to say jorge won't be a deserving champion - at the end of the day, you have to win the format you're playing. but yeah, I do reckon pecco would likely be champion without them

I've been curious for a while about casey's thoughts on the sprint format - I thought he'd be against it because of his luddite vibes as much as anything else, though I do also reckon the format wouldn't have been bad for him specifically as a rider. (if nothing else, it would've helped him in 2008, given he was fighting for the title against a rider you feel like would be TERRIBLE terrible terrible at this format. less time for set-up experimentation, softer grippier tyres and shorter races weighted towards qualifying/starting well? yeah say goodbye to that eighth.) anyhow, his reasoning checks out - part tradition, part the feeling that it's too forgiving of mistakes, part fucking up the structure of the weekend, part giving too little weight to 'real' wins... all very casey. casey was the type of rider who was always more about focusing on wins than championships - that you shouldn't settle for results just because your 'rivals' were behind you, for instance, that fighting for race wins comes first and the title will follow. here's a paragraph from a sachsenring 2012 write-up (where casey crashed on the penultimate lap while fighting dani):

obviously in the context of that particular title fight, it didn't end up mattering anyway because of the injuries casey would go onto sustain. but... well, casey's errors in the first half of 2012 would have put him in a tough position anyway - as dani proved, even once honda got on top of his chattering issues, reeling off victory after victory would not be enough to take the championship when jorge could just keep riding home to safe p2's. (and when dani in a disadvantageous points position pushed too hard in the penultimate round and crashed, it was game over, stop if this reminds you of anything.) the point is that pecco this year has played the race-win-or-bust role in a way that is probably instinctively quite appealing to casey - doesn't sit easily to watch the guy on ten wins lose the title. there'll probably always be elements of the slander pecco receives that resonate with casey... pecco's words getting misinterpreted by press and fans, pecco being called boring, pecco being called too crash-prone, unstable, bad at handling pressure... the two of them are plenty similar as characters, which is reflected in the type of criticism that tends to head their way. and pecco's stubborn resilience, a determination to motivate himself as a spite response to the doubt from others - well, that again is probably going to remind casey of himself

moving on.

Impressive, but not enough to win, with Jorge Martin now 24 points ahead, just one weekend away from the big dream, before the painful farewell. Casey Stoner is not easy on the market and Ducati's choices either. "If Ducati loses the world champion it will be a hard blow," he explained. " But I think it will be even harder for Martin, who has spent these years being loyal to Ducati I don't think it's right how it went. Unfortunately, it's the way Ducati works and that's why they've lost so many riders now. Marquez? In many ways I understand the decision, but it doesn't mean it's correct. When you have riders who give their all and stand out among the 22 on the track and someone arrives to take their place, I don't think it's right. I think Marc could have had a factory bike in another team. It wasn't fair for Bastianini and even more so for Martin."

yup, casey all over. of all the aliens, casey had the least hype surrounding him in the lower classes. he's... well technically I suppose valentino started in a satellite team and won his first title with one, but it was very much a ''''''satellite team'''''' - casey was the only alien to start his motogp career in a satellite satellite. a proper one. he KNOWS what it's like to not be the first choice for ducati!! if melandri had gotten out of his gresini contract to ride for factory ducati in 2007 (lol), casey could've been in real trouble even finding a seat. and he's a big believer in loyalty! casey was beyond disillusioned by the shit ducati pulled in 2009 - when they planted stories in the press that casey's diet and exercise routine was responsible for his mystery illness, big names openly criticising him during his absence... as well as of course how they aggressively courted jorge and offered him a way bigger salary than they paid casey, after telling casey they didn't have more money to pay him

it's that last bit that feels uncomfortable, right - like casey, martin threw in his lot with ducati, off the back of quite a contentious split with ktm to even get the pramac seat. like casey, martin has now repeatedly been looked over - and like casey, his ultimate split with ducati is the result of ducati favouring the golden boy. (while lorenzo obviously didn't join ducati at that time, this was ultimately still one of the big reasons why casey walked away after 2010.) unrewarded loyalty... hey, I suppose him and valentino actually agree on this, yeah. ducati has spent so much time cultivating its young talent before showing themselves ready to ditch them all for the big name. and it IS how ducati works, they really AREN'T particularly loyal. all these years later and they're still just the same, as far as casey's concerned

Ducati, therefore, as the central theme of the entire interview, but also as the favorite target of a Stoner who on the one hand seems to make very clear analyses, but on the other also appears to be someone with a decidedly poisoned tooth, given that even when asked about his future in the Team Lenovo garage he lets many doubts shine through on the management that Borgo Panigale will be able to have of two champions like Bagnaia and Marquez. “It depends on how Ducati behaves - he concluded - I think that Pecco, mentally, is strong enough to face the situation, it will be a question of seeing who Ducati wants to protect the most. For sure, the two will try to create chaos in the team to make things go in one direction or the other. We will see how Ducati manages the situation and who they choose. They will have to be as balanced as possible or it will be a problem”.

(incidentally, I love the italian 'poisoned tooth' term for having a grudge, it's so evocative. lots of poisoned teeth in motogp)

casey's confidence that there's going to be pecco/marc drama... he's so real for this. I've been wavering in my own confidence a little bit, wondering whether pecco/marc might not end up massively disappointing me, but casey's coming through for me here. unsurprisingly casey's going to implicitly relate more to pecco in that particular dynamic... in general, it's nice how complimentary casey is of pecco, even while summoning locusts upon ducati. just on a personal note, I never particularly enjoy when retired athletes play into narratives about how much worse the current competitors are... it's mean-spirited, generates dumb discourse and also feels rather undignified. so, y'know. always pro-glazing the current lot

in terms of what casey says specifically... obviously there's the ten wins thing, which casey unlike much of the fanbase does understand isn't something a mid rider can pull off, and then there's the line about pecco being mentally strong enough to go up against marc. I've talked before about the similarities between pecco and casey before, which obviously is also relevant here... casey faced accusations of being unstable and unreliable and too sensitive throughout his career, starting well before his path crossed with valentino's. too crash prone, a choker, too easy to rattle. and then they come up against a rival with a reputation for mind games, who many seem to expect will be able to 'break' them. whatever pecco's on-track success will be next year, there's no real indication that casey's wrong here - for all that the pair of them are high strung and ever so slightly neurotic, both casey and pecco have repeatedly exhibited real resilience and self-belief. idk, again, it's fun how both the current title contenders do have quite a few casey-coded characteristics. love casey-coded characteristics

The reference is clearly to Honda, with the Australian explaining the Japanese's major crisis in this way. "It's hard to get an idea from the outside," he said, "but I think it was convenient to have the three European manufacturers at the top, with the Japanese slipping to the bottom. I don't think that in Japan they suddenly don't know how to build a winning bike anymore. The Europeans are very creative and make everything happen faster, but they're not as refined as the Japanese. And with such fluid rules, everything is easier for the former. With Albesiano, Honda will try to add creativity and speed up operations. It will be interesting."

pretty sure I've said this before, but one of casey's funniest traits is gesturing vaguely in the direction of a substantive accusation without quite spelling it out. does he think dorna is sabotaging japanese manufacturers? is the system rigged against them?? for WHOMST is it convenient, wHO are you accusing of what? I'm not even saying he's WRONG about all of these things, sometimes conspiracies are real, I wouldn't know either! I just think it's great how this is his go-to reaction. always looking for that shadowy influence secretly protecting the anointed and sabotaging the unfavoured. the bit about more fluid rules favouring the europeans is interesting and I'd like to hear more about that theory, but obviously that wouldn't necessarily mean this was the intended consequence of said rules. does feel like casey's implying that though! come on casey, tell me more

anyway. this has been my take on casey's newest contribution to the discourse. I can be accused of many things, but not of lacking casey stoner opinions. that's my little guy

[evil-mcytblrconfessions]

sobbing rn thinking of the friends ive made through mcyts.....i love you all whether we're talking right now or havent talked in years.....you all have a special place in my heart......we may have met through liking cubitos but we grew well beyond that....sorry im having thoughts

.

[that-one-paintbrush]

*stock_magic_sfx.mp4* you now have fire powers/ your hands are on fire it wont hurt just dont burn anything :)

-📼

M!A more control over what was already there- permanent

Wow. This is just.. wow. Can I at least turn it off?

Come onnn...

*You successfully managed to put out the flames.*

[drinkabletoxicdishsoap]

OMG HII ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ AND AYYAYAHAYAYY HAZEL DOODLES 🥹🥹🥹🥹 SHE LOOKS SO SILLY I LOVE HOW YOU DO HER IN YOUR ART STYLE :333 AND OMG AN EXTRA CAT HAZEL 😨😨 WHAT SHES SO CUTE THANK YOU SO MUCH <33333

EVERYONE LOOK AT THIS RIGHT NOW 🫵🫵🫵

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CHECKING OUT MY STRAWPAGE AND TAKING THE TIME TO DRAW SOMETHING IN IT!! 🫶🫶🫶

[seamayweed]

.

just saw some of the worst, shallowest, most boring opinions on seon-ho that seem to take everything he says and does at face-value and which i dearly wish i could unread or just erase from my mind with some brain bleach. it's fine to dislike him, people have the right and freedom to dislike him, but don't claim to love him when you insult him in every second sentence. in fact, just admit that you hate him and think he is unloveable and underserving of anyone's love and that he should stay alone forever and ever and die alone too. also, while stating your (wrong) opinions about the character is one thing (which you are allowed to do, no matter how wrong you are), imo it's clearly crossing the line when you start making offensive assumptions about the fans of that character/that rarepair with that character in it or making fun of the fans/shippers. that's when you start leaning into shipping wars and bullying, which is very much NOT okay. couching it in humor changes nothing about that fact.

stumbling on these mocking, disrespectful, downright offensive opinions was seriously upsetting and honestly speaking i feel very hurt right now. please someone say something nice about nam seon-ho so i can feel less angry and sad and horrible about myself as a seon-ho fan again.

[eclarinet]

same soup... different day

[rememberthelaughtermp3]

incredible post were making i think

truly a masterpiece in the making. excellent work everyone