#think of the implications throughout each season

[toonedtoons-blog]

I recently discovered your goof troop reboot idea and the designs are super cute! I was wondering if you had anymore headcanons to share?

why yes! i have tons of ideas, i tend to get sidetracked a lot and i haven't done much progress on putting them into words

life, work and all that jazz

(for anyone curious about the Goof Troop project)

first of all! i deeply apologize for the sheer amount of words im about to unload, but i've been foaming at the mouth to tell this to someone

but! i will try to cut the wording with some sketches, old new and concept art✏️

⚠️ a lil bit of spoilers ahead⚠️

i will go in order

1) this is a period piece, i don't think Goof Troop would work in a modern 2020s setting, not that it wouldn't be interesting, but giving Goofy 3 jobs to rent a tiny apartment while trying his absolute hardest to be there for max is a bit depressing to my 30 year old ass.

specifically it is set in 1992, the year the show came out and it would last till 1996 when max turns 12 so there is a gap between this and the events in the goofy movies, i don't want to intrude in the movie canons.

2) Mrs. Goof, it was left in the air what happened to Max's mom, there are implications that there was a Mrs. Goof at some point but it was never expanded upon, this is one of the things i wanted to develop, so in my story she died while max was much younger, around 4 or 5, and now that he is 8 he has questions, he was too young to understand why she is not there and part of him is starting to forget things like her face or her voice and Goofy doesn't know how to even begin to explain it to him is not something always present but it is a subject that both of them have at the back of their minds.

How they move to Spoonerville? i changed things a bit, in this story Goofy inherits the old Goof house and that's why they move there, Max is overjoyed to move actually, he didn't have the best of times at his old school, and wants to restart somewhere else with a new persona, that's why he acts so radical and cool and too good to accept his father's "weird" ways

the house is RUN DOWN, pretty sure they shouldn't even be living in it but hey, that's life, so throughout the "first season" they are trying to repair it, with Goof's limited budget, while Pete wants to take it off his hands by all means necessary (he is a landlord now)

3) The Horsecollars, part of bringing my absolute fav disney character Horace Horsecollar (best boi in the galaxy) was giving him a Goof Troop type story, so just like Pete and Goofy, he is a father as well, i had a lot of fun writing this story for him, part of me doesn't want to spoil it but knowing my life this is my best opportunity to tell it in full

his story actually beings in the 70s, just like Pete and Peg, he was Goofy's friend, no, BEST friend, they were both silly guys, their personalities are quite similar in some areas, and just like Pete, Horace had a big falling out moment with Goofy, but this time it was mutual, 70s disco is in the air and Horace wants to invite Clarabelle to senior prom, he and Goofy were practising all year to have the best dance moves at the party, what could go wrong? Goofy of course

without meaning to! he got in the way and Clara thought he was the one asking her to prom, leaving Horace to be ridiculed by their classmates, in turn Horace doesn't show up to the party leaving Goofy in the dust , they both felt betrayed and after graduation Horace left to LA to become an actor, they never spoke to each other since. (Goofy holds no resentment but he was his own POV of the events)

in LA, Horace always struggled to get a job and never quite became the actor he wanted, but one day at a party he met HER, Helen, who tried to become a screenwriter, they both hit it off but after that they just continued their lives, until a fateful call. (what could have happened??) the two ended up marrying in a bit of a hurry.

they had a little girl, Hayley, the honeymoon quickly ends because neither had a stable job at that point, they juggled odd jobs, their dream future creers and being parents together, that was UNTIL! Helen had the best idea to pitch, a space opera, a hero for the kids, that's right Maximum Horsepower, starring Horace as the space ranger that saves the day! the show was an absolute success, with 3 seasons and movies

what could possibly go wrong? well, if you know Horace as much as i do, he is cocky, a bit too much sometimes, demanding more from the company he worked for, sure that "they wouldn't fire someone as important" he got fired, show cancelled, back to square 1.

so Helen and Horace are not in good terms at the moment, and are in the midst of a messy separation, Horace moves back to Spoonerville to the old Hosecollar home and sometime later Hayley moves to live with him while Helen is putting things in order back at LA

all this to say, Hayley starts as a bit of a bully to Max and P.J., not like Pistol, Pistol is way worse, but Hayley doesn't make things easy either. After an incident she and Max end up in friendlier terms

she is not part of the gang btw, she ends up being friends with Max and PJ but there is a bit of an age gap (she is 4 at the start and turns 5 a few chapters later), so she is kinda just living her own little life, but they hang out often.

who is Hayley as a character? well as i mentioned this is set in the early to mid 90s, expect a lot of old 90s tropes, with a bit of spice added to them, Hayley for example is your stereotypical Girly girl, pink, dolls and more, BUT not in an "ew girls are icky/annoying" kinda way, there was A LOT of putting girls and girly stuff in ridicule back in the day, i didn't like that and i don't like that even today

so she is shamelessly girly.

She is physically strong, because Horace is known to be "the muscle" in the old Mickey gang, makes sense she would inherit some of that

A bit of a tech wiz, Horace is a big showoff

he works on tech related stuff at the mall, of course he would have the latest things at his house, even if he doesn't even know what they do, Hayley has a lot of tech at hand and lots of time to figure them out

and this is 1992, having a computer at home wasn't common yet, and even the internet worked differently, web browsers were just born that year

a lil rebel, a rascal if you will, all dads in this show have different parenting styles, we all know Goofy is best dad, openly affectionate and leaving Max to his own devices often, Pete is all the bad boomer parenting stuff all crammed into his form, leaving Horace to be the other kind of boomer parent, the over protective one, i know this trope has become a bit icky lately, blame girl-dad tiktok for that

but i argue that Horace is going through stuff, lost his dream job and family, knows Hayley could go back to LA at any moment, its a lot for the horsey, there is a bit of a disconnection between the two and Hayley wants to do her own thing, but she is also 4-5.

4) and finally The Petes!

starting with Mr. Pete, unlike Goof or Horace, he never left Spoonerville, why would he? his old man had this landlording thing going on and he inherited the business, upper middle class, living the life, now if only he could get rid of that ugly old house across the street! give it the good old landlord special, but uh oh, now Goofy is living there?? unnaceptable!

now you'd think that in this case "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" but on the contrary, Horace and Pete also don't get along

in fact, they could be taken as rivals, everything is a competition between the two, and Horace never misses the opportunity to rub something in Pete's face (and vice versa), all the way down to who has the best grill for the weekend barbecue!

this idea comes mostly because i wanted to see someone give Pete a hard time ON PURPOSE, and not just Goofy's clumsiness and good luck. This doesn't mean that Horace is aware of Pete's shaningans, he just loves to get on his nerves.

Now Peg, she went through the most changes

i gave her a completely different career, she is now an elementary school teacher, she loves children and always wanted to become a teacher.

now this is not to take away from her, she may not be a real state agent anymore but she is still Peg Pete! drill sergeant voice and all.

if you didn't live through the 90s it may be surprising to know but there was a push to go back to that made up 50s americana fantasy, house wifes and all. (yes like the social media trends of today)

and Peg is not really made for the house wife mold, she's rather be doing the thing she went to college for! this is mostly an excuse to have ber for a little bit of season 1, being your stereotypical nosy neighbor, so bored that she just has to show up to her friend's houses unannounced

and yes that is actually something that happened often back then, people just decided to show up at your house one day and you HAD to let them in and socialize

dark times i tell you

she does end up living the dream and work as a teacher a few chapters later don't worry

and you may ask, why a teacher?

well that was actually my friend's idea (Mike, creator of Chucky Chiken on youtube, you should go watch it we are working on that show together) her being a teacher also meant she is very involved in the community, which means she gets to do a lot more than just teaching in the background of the story, she is everywhere! organizing all sort of stuff!

PJ mostly stays the same, he met Hayley before Max and has endured more bullying from the little rascal longer but when she becomes more friendly he is quick to accept her, a sweet boy like in the og show.

Pistol on the other hand?? oh i did promote her from little sister to mean older sister!

it just felt right, her inner Pete in full display

i needed an older character, since i can't have Pete himself bully a bunch of children, and who can be better for that role than a Pete??

simply perfect!

i do have this very old and outdated sketch, back when the ideas were just little scenarios floating in my mind:

OTHER:

clarabelle works as Pete's secretary along with the beagle boys doing his bidding

a bit of a nod to The Three Musketeers (one of my favourites)

i'm still not sure what to do with the weird on/off relationship she has with Goofy and Horace in the Disney canon, all i can say is that Horace likes Clara, Clara likes Goofy, Goofy wants to put his energy on Max rather than dating.

i had the idea of introducing a new horse character in later "seasons" as Helen's new partner and Hayley's potential step father but it ended up feeling a bit wrong to make Horace go through that, i ended scrapping the idea but here is a concept of him

i had plans of giving Bobby an older brother, a *gasp* gen x'er

(please ignore my first attempt to draw Bobby i know he looks wrong)

There is an idea still in development about a pizza place, this is the 90s we talking about of course there is shameless marketing towards children in the form of a fast food chain! jungle playground included

now i was about to claim LOST MEDIA bc i couldn't find my other sketches of it but here they are!

OOP

i almost forgot about the Rovers!

Now im still not sure if Rover is Roxanne's last name but i saw it in a the trivia section of a wiki once, i think it came out in a comic? anyway i decided to take it

Mr. Rover is just like his movie version, a man of few words but with a heart, works at a bowling alley that i will sketch soon because i intend to use the location as much as posible

Mrs. Rover is purely made by me, never seen Roxanne even mention a mom and i was going to leave it like that but then i realized that i already have two single dads... and not many women active in the story i do want more mother figures not just Peg doing all the heavy lifting poor lady.

Mrs. Rover (i named her Linda) is Horace's friend, they started as co-workers at the mall, selling computers and other tech related stuff

i didn't want every single character to have connections to Goofy

+ this also means that Roxanne has a lot of playdates at the Horsecollars' house, a lot of opportunities for her to interact with Max and his gang!

Linda is very supportive of Horace, since he is a single father and needs help here and there, she babysits Hayley often

I have everything down to the layout of the homes of each family

the roundabout is the most important part

makes all homes feel kind of connected in a way, Pete and Goofy's front doors are right in front of each other, meaning that they have to interact every time they leave their homes, while Pete and Horace's backyards are in direct view of each other, also meaning that the two families have to interact whenever they try to spend time in their yards.

and the traffic light in the roundabout helps set the mood of a scene its kinda hard to explain i would need to make more concept art to explain myself but im a big fan of quiet moments in storytelling, and having a moment with the light flickering after an important event is always a delight to picture in my head.

-----

There is much more and a lot more sketches and concepts i cannot show because i reached the limit of pictures noooo

but anyway if you want to know more lemme kno i will make another post with all the stuff i couldn't show

[byler-alarmist]

Sometimes it crosses my mind that El must've never forgotten how desperate Mike was to find Will, and how angry and dismissive of her he was when Will was thought to be gone forever.

[burst-of-iridescent]

you know what, i still find it beyond weird that atla — the poster show for championing cross-cultural harmony and finding similarities in differences — chose to have katara and aang’s cultures remain not only diametrically opposed but separate throughout the entirety of its three seasons.

you’d think for a story all about understanding and respecting different backgrounds that its main romantic relationship would exemplify that, right? why don’t katara and aang ever bond over similarities in their cultures? why is their huge shared trauma of being genocide survivors forced to carry the legacy of their lost people just brushed under the rug and never talked about, even between the characters themselves? why go out of your way to establish that everything from their food to their sense of community to their moral values are so disparate? why was there never a moment where they found consensus on any of these things, or learned to love each other’s heritage despite those differences?

or if i’m getting to the actual point, why did we never have aang learning to appreciate katara’s culture?

i get that it was supposed to be humorous but it isn’t funny that the only times aang refers to katara’s cultural…anything is either as a joke or with disrespect. he jokes about her food being disgusting twice — once to toph (when she’s trying food made by a genocide survivor who is singlehandedly keeping her people’s culture alive in the land that tried to wipe it out, no less) shows no consideration for the fact that her morals don’t, and have no need to, adhere to those of the air nomads, and honestly is just downright insensitive to bato, sokka and katara in the entirety of bato of the water tribe.

i’m not saying you have to love everything about your partner’s culture, but aang doesn’t seem to love, learn from, or find value in anything. and it would be one thing for him to all but ignore his future wife’s heritage, but another entirely for him to treat it with such condescending superiority — especially when katara has never done the same. why would you make any of these writing choices when they so flagrantly contradict the themes of your story?

in the meantime, the country they do choose to show has cultural similarities with the water tribes in terms of both diet and community is — go figure — the fucking fire nation. oh yeah, there’s definitely nothing to read into there. no implications at all :)

be fucking fr, man.

[avelera]

I see a lot of posts and fanworks centered on Jayce's affection/pining for Vik, but not so much of the other way around! Jayce is very physically touchy and expresses outright, often, what people mean to him.

What I've picked up is that Viktor touches *objects* with tenderness, potentially especially when thinking of other people. The gear, the hexgate, the exchange of the runestone, wearing that gaht dahm blanket the whole season... But nevertheless he's still much more reserved. It's easy to conclude that the feelings weren't mutual, or not to the same extent (maybe canonically they aren't, but... :') we can [hextech] dream) - but what if they're just much more subtle on Viktor's part?

Thoughts on this?

I think it's very clear that Viktor loves Jayce just as much as Jayce loves Viktor. We have a lot of instances of proof for that.

1 ) The biggest, most dramatic has got to be the implications of Wizard Viktor resetting the timelines who knows how many times to ensure that he and Jayce meet. There could be an element of selfishness to that, in theory, because he needs Jayce to show him, "There's no prize to perfection, only an end to pursuit," and save him from a fate literally worse than death. But I think given Wizard Viktor's tone and delivery there's a lot of implication buried in there that without Jayce in his life, Viktor just doesn't see it as worth living. Considering that Jayce appearing is also what paused Viktor's suicide attempt in S1, I think we've got multiple scenes to support that Jayce gives Viktor a reason to live.

2 ) I've been meaning to talk for awhile about how we can use the (actually bogus for real people) "Love Languages" idea as a framework for understanding how Jayce and Viktor love each other and I think it's a useful way to answer your question now.

Quick version:

Jayce's love language is (obviously) Physical Touch.

Viktor's love language is (more subtly) Quality Time.

Let's dive into this and what that means for how Viktor shows love to Jayce in more subtle but just as meaningful ways throughout the show.

To start at the beginning of the relationship, Viktor's love langue being Quality Time why he's so touched that Jayce immediately folds him in as a partner in Hextech and clearly begins to feel affection at the very least right away for Jayce based on their working together on Hextech.

But I think there's a more tragic flip side to Quality Time as a way of Viktor showing love, because he also uses that language to hide his love when he thinks it would hurt Jayce. As his illness progresses and his body fails, he withdraws more and more, I believe to spare Jayce the pain Viktor is going through. Jayce notes that Viktor often disappears for long stretches of time without explanation, which I think further hints that Viktor is hiding his declining health from him.

Viktor also withholds knowledge from Jayce of the experiments he's doing in a way that I think is meant to shield himself from Jayce's possible intervention, sure, but which I also think is to shield Jayce from possible prosecution if for example Viktor was found with Shimmer on him and that he's doing illegal experiments. I personally believe that Viktor puts himself through a lot of pain in S1 in small part because he's worried about Jayce's potentially negative reaction (which indicates love and fear of losing Jayce's love) but in much larger part because he wants to shield Jayce from the fallout of his admittedly reckless actions (which indicates love as well).

As Singed says, Viktor's actions might lead to him losing out on love and legacy. Viktor's immediate thought is that this can only mean Jayce, but he trusts Jayce to understand. I do believe Viktor's certainty wavers based on the encounter on the bridge, and he wants to live more than he wants to risk Jayce shutting him down, but as we learn in their final scene, he needn't have worried. Jayce did understand. Viktor's first instincts about Jayce were 100% right.

But as for more ways Viktor shows love I'd point to a few:

He's always in the lab, which is their shared space. If we take Quality Time as his love language, that in part is him always making himself available to Jayce. It's one reason why I think he gets increasingly hurt in S1 when Jayce spends less time there, it makes Viktor feel neglected when he's offering himself in his own language. Jayce saying he'll return to the lab in S2 shows at least some understanding of this and that he messed up and wants to fix it. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons some of which might be beyond Viktor's control like the Hexcore controlling him to some extant (we'll never really know), it's too late by that point, and Viktor withdraws (the outward sign of) his love by leaving.

We can see Quality Time being a way Viktor shows love too in the way he smacks Jayce's hand away on the bridge (without having to look, btw, he just knew where it would be which is nuts) and then, as soon as Jayce apologizes, allowing the touch once more. He knows Jayce's love language is Physical Touch and he accepts Jayce back in to his Quality Time very quickly once he gets that (admittedly very needed) apology.

I'd argue one reason Viktor doesn't show as much verbal care for Jayce in S1, like asking how he's doing or showing more understanding for the fact he's overworked as a Councilor, is because Jayce's overwork is a symptom of him denying Viktor his Quality Time as a love language. Viktor is only human. It's hard for him to be understanding and sympathetic to the fact that Jayce is overworked when that overwork is the reason Viktor feels neglected right now. Like many people, he would rather show his disapproval and hope that expedites Jayce coming to the realization that he should stop overworking and come back to the lab and Viktor, rather than offering comfort Jayce might need if it theoretically prolongs Jayce's absence or gives the impression that Viktor in any way approves of his time away from the lab.

To jump forward to their final scene in S2, I think we can also use Viktor pushing Jayce away and telling Jayce to go as showing Quality Time as a love language. Namely, that Viktor is willing to deny himself love and happiness to keep Jayce safe, in a selfless demonstration of love in Viktor's love language.

And finally, Jayce fully understands the Quality Time love language because he replies with the fact he's not going to leave, that they will spend what could be these final moments together. And we get Viktor fully parsing that Jayce's love language is physical touch because he accepts and reaches back for Jayce's touch in those (potentially) final moments.

Oh and as a final note, I do love your point about how Viktor caresses objects that remind him of Jayce, and I think that is still Quality Time. The blanket represents the embrace they shared before they parted and Jayce's love for him, which Viktor holds close and wraps around him even as he descends into being more and more inhuman. It is the mark of his humanity and the symbol of his enduring love for Jayce that he won't let it go. In a real way, he's spending "Quality Time" with Jayce's love by keeping it constantly wrapped around him. Similarly, the cog shows he is thinking about Jayce and missing him too, holding that memory close.

Even as the Cult Leader and post "Evolution", Viktor shows that he wants to spend time with Jayce again and he's baffled when Jayce point blank refuses him, not connecting until the final scene that the pursuit of "perfection" was what was keeping Jayce from his side when Jayce really did want to be there, which was particularly baffling for Viktor because he thought the pursuit of perfection was what he needed to win Jayce back. Once he set it aside, Jayce was literally waiting there with open arms to take him back.

[loopimay]

Why I Ship Fossilcleaning (and why you should too!)

DISCLAIMER:

This post does NOT insist that Fossilcleaning is canon, nor does it insist you have to ship it. It exists solely as an appreciation and explanation post. Also, Shelly and Tisha are both canonically NON-RELATED ADULTS as confirmed by Qwel. Thank you.

PART 1: Interactions

Shelly and Tisha interact multiple times throughout the game, twice in the elevator and once in a storyboard together. These may come as incidental at first, but compared to how these toons are treated by others, there's a lot of weight behind their words.

Shelly and Tisha are each other's exceptions. This is crucial to understanding their relationship. Where most toons forget about Shelly or treat Tisha as a glorified mop, these two see each other in a way that nobody else does.

Starting with their first interaction: Tisha asks Shelly how she is, which does not come as a surprise to her.

In a considerable amount of interations, including those whom Shelly would be friendly with, she is shocked that they even think to talk to her, let alone ask her how she's doing.

Other toons that don't elicit surprise from Shelly, that being Teagan and Rodger, either have a reputation for looking out for other toons...

...or are only talking to her to further their own endeavours.

Tisha is special in that her attentiveness towards Shelly is only for Shelly.

As well, Tisha and Shelly proclaim they have each other's backs. We've discussed why this would be meaningful to Shelly, but the same goes for Tisha. Where many toons leave her out to dry...

...Shelly makes sure that Tisha knows she's on her side.

Their second interaction continues this pattern. Shelly asks Tisha for help, Tisha immeditally knows she's talking about her fossils, and agrees without a second thought.

For both characters, this is VERY out of the norm. There does not exist another toon who gets involved in Shelly's dinosaur-related hobbies. Some may ask her questions or entertain them for a short time, but it never goes past elevator dialogue that leaves no lasting impact on either toon.

Tisha, meanwhile, helps Shelly with her fossils enough that they speak about it casually.

And Tisha may enjoy cleaning, but she gets frustrated when toons ask her for help without thinking of her needs or fail to tidy up after themselves.

Yet when Shelly brings up cleaning her fossils, Tisha gleefully accepts, saying it "sounds fun." So... what makes Shelly different?

Her appreciation.

In their shared storyboard, Shelly happily hugs Tisha upon finding out she cleaned her fossil for her, to the point of dropping the fossil in the process. Her happiness doesn't come from the shiny fossil, but from Tisha going out of her way to do that for her.

We can assume this storyboard is indicative of their relationship, perhaps even how their friendship began, seeing how it's from one of the first episodes of the show. (In the top left corner, the storyboard is labeled "SEASON 1 - EPISODE 8") We even see it repeatedly on Shelly's map, proving its importance to the ammonite and her show character.

Before we move on, I want to bring up one more interaction: Shelly and Yatta's.

Yatta shows interest in Shelly's sewing hobby - much to her excitement - after she finds out about it from Tisha. Again, Tisha is Shelly's exception. Some toons don't even remember her name, but Tisha actively talks about Shelly to others and gets them interested in talking to her. Yatta wouldn't have known Shelly was into sewing if not for Tisha, and because she did, she ended up giving Shelly some of the attention she dearly craves.

PART TWO: Implications

There's a certain rivalry that I need to address: Tisha and Vee's.

I wholeheartedly believe that Tisha's reasoning for disliking Vee is because of her (unintentional) mistreatment of Shelly in their interactions. Let me explain.

We know from Tisha and Vee's dialogue that Tisha is the instigator of this conflict. Vee is unaware of why she dislikes her, seeming to dislike her back out of pettiness. We can deduce that Tisha is not upset for any cleaning-related reasons. She would have no problems telling Vee off if she were being untidy, as she does with other toons. Rather, she claims that Vee doesn't "appreciate certain things" in Gardenview, which would correlate to her dismissiveness towards Shelly.

But most toons are dismissive of Shelly! What makes Vee different?

Vee's dismissiveness does not come from forgetfulness, it comes from disinterest.

She shuts Shelly down when she asks if she wants to talk about dinosaur facts because she "knows them all."

And she only wants to spend time with her when it's to "move around supplies."

And we must keep in mind that Tisha was not here for these conversations. She would have heard about them from Shelly, who we know was upset by the end of both of them. Because she doesn't know the full story, it would make sense for her to assume the worst of Vee.

But from Vee's point of view, these conversations with Shelly weren't negative. She isn't acting out of malice, but rather out of logic. She knows Shelly's facts, so why would she listen to them? She needs help with something, so why wouldn't she ask Shelly?

Never would Vee think she came across as unappreciative, and because Tisha doesn't explain it to her, she doesn't reflect on her actions. It seems as though Tisha's protectiveness over Shelly blinds her to Vee's side of the situation.

So, what does this collimate into?

PART THREE: Potential

This part will mainly consist of how I interpret Shelly and Tisha's relationship. It will focus less on canon itself and more on the fun ways you can build off of it.

Shelly and Tisha have a bond that cannot be broken. They are each other's biggest supporters. Shelly's memory lives on with Tisha, who remembers her habits and talks about her to others. Tisha's work is valued by Shelly, who is always thankful for the effort she puts into keeping Gardenview (and her fossils) clean.

Everything they want out of someone, whether it be recognition or acknowledgement, they find in the other. Why else would you need to master Tisha to unlock Shelly if she didn't mean the most to her, as Cosmo does to Sprout or Brightney does to Vee?

Fossilcleaning has been my favorite Dandy's World ship since I got into the fandom. It thrills me to finally talk about them so extensively, as I believe this pairing to be severely underrated. I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading! Have a good day and a Happy Pride!

[thedinosapien]

Theory: Brooklynn talked to N5 before leaving

The finale leaves many things implied or even confusing – in a way that makes it seem like something happened, especially between the scenes where Ben warns Brooklynn about the Bumpy's egg in the suitcase and the scene where B leaves. I invite you to rewatch the final scene, so it will be easier to understand what I say:

It is implied that Brooklynn had a conversation with the Nublar 5 off-screen, hidden from the viewer. The implications of the scene:

Ben is the one who talks about Bumpy's egg, so he obviously put himself in front of his friends. In the next scene, we see the position of each of the boys and girls: in front, Ben (who talked about the egg in the case), behind him, Darius and lastly, Kenji, then we have Sammy in ahead of Yasmina. Keep Brooklynn's reaction finding out about the egg in mind, I'll talk about it later.

Although Ben asks for the egg, the one who has it in his hands in the last scenes is Kenji. It's not Ben, who loves Bumpy more than anyone, or Darius, who is Brooklynn's best friend. She decided to give the egg to Kenji, proving that:

A. Maybe she trusts him more than Ben or Darius (understandable, since Pincus didn't do what she asked and D left her with the Allo, but it would be a bit strange for the scene, don't you agree? After all, Ben is Bumpy's dad);

B. There was more to the scene than what is revealed to the viewer. A conversation, probably.

The only one Brooklynn hadn't seen before in the season was Kenji, so she didn't know about the affection he has for the baby in the shell, that is, she had no reason to choose him, again indicating that there was an exchange of words between the characters.

There is two hypothesis about what must happened:

• Before giving the egg to Ben, he (Kenji) interrupted and demanded to receive it in Ben's place. It would be strange, since one way or another they would already have the egg in hands – in very safe hands –, changing only the fact that it would be with Ben Pincus;

• Or better, Brooklynn took advantage of the great opportunity she had to give essential explanations for the third season: Santos would kill them if she noticed any sign of betrayal on B's part, but with only one egg missing and the promise that none of her "ex-friends" would get in the way of the plan, everything would be safer for Santos. B just had to take advantage of the small gap to tell her friends WHAT she was doing, WHERE she was going and WHY she was going there – remember, the others don't know anything about Sayona's plans. Those informations will be essential for the characters!

It makes sense, doesn't it? After all, part of the arc of Kenji's relationship with the others is that "nobody tells me anything". Having him as the center of the scene, being, somehow, the priority of information, implies a development in his arc and a future advancement in the others' as well.

Note, in the beginning, Kon was the last, but in the end he is the one who is the most ahead of his friends. There really was something.

Now, the final detail that is totally related to Brooklynn's reaction to the egg: Throughout the season she never knew that Bumpy would have a baby. Her reaction reveals that she realized she lost a lot. It's exactly what Earnest said: "You're nothing special [...]. You're never happy with the good thing you've got, right in front of you." This reinforces that Brooklynn's story is about enjoying the things she already has, what she loses with her obsession and what she also has to gain from it. She needs to balance a lot of things in order to finally understand, by herself, what the truly wants and needs.

——————

A stupid theory I posted on reddit and thought it would be nice to post here. Tumblr must be more active, so activity ≃ interaction + addiction/correction for the theory.

I should stop thinking too much abt this show

If it turn out to be totally wrong, I hope you guys don't remember my post lol

[gothamcitycentral]

Hazbin establishes very strong parallels between Charlie and Vaggie’s relationship and Lucifer and Lilith’s.

Charlie being as to Lucifer, the fantastical dreamer discouraged and rejected by the world around them.

Vaggie being as to Lilith, someone who failed their assigned role and were driven out of ‘paradise’ (Heaven/Eden) by someone they should have been able to trust (Lute/Adam).

In their most vulnerable moments Lucifer and Charlie find them, love blossoming between each pair because they defied the norm, Lucifer and Lilith being rebellious in a world of order and Charlie and Vaggie being kind in a world of cruelty.

Though at the same time, Charlie is to Lilith while Vaggie is to Lucifer.

“This kingdom was something she really cared about. Something I care about.”

Charlie acknowledges she is the last thread of the hope her mother gave to Hell all those thousands of years ago. The responsibility to her home Charlie puts on her shoulders is born from the love Lilith had for it. She is directly following in her mother’s footsteps, truly believing her people deserve better and that they’re worth fighting for.

Then there is their partners, the fallen angels who don’t share their love’s connection to Hell. Lucifer saw sinners as horrible people who wasted the gift he went to Hell for giving them. Vaggie always kept everyone not named Charlie a spear’s distance away, treating them as people she tolerated but never trusted for a moment. Despite what Heaven had done, had done to them, they were still thinking like angels.

(Though, these mentalities would change throughout the first season, Lucifer choosing to support Charlie no matter what and Vaggie accepting the hotel crew as a part of the in-group which she wishes to protect)

Lucifer’s distaste for his people, not fighting alongside Lilith’s rebellion and instead agreeing to the exterminations, seems to be why they eventually split, despite the love they held for each other. In extreme contrast, Vaggie always supporting Charlie is what keeps them together despite bumps in their relationship. Vaggie always chose to believe in and support Charlie and that means the world and more to Charlie, who spent so much of her life unsupported.

The show also juxtaposes Lucifer’s parental love for Charlie with Vaggie’s romantic love for her, most prominently with Vaggie starting the reprise of More Than Anything to express her love as Lucifer did originally.

(They’re also just. Charlie and Lilith being these tall powerful demon women with Vaggie and Lucifer being their short and tiny fallen angel loves)

What becomes interesting is during the finale when Lucifer (very strongly, very tastefully) implies he ate out Adam’s first wife before fucking his second.

This seems to based on sexual interpretations of original sin. However, in Hazbin we are very much lead to believe the Fruit of Knowledge is a literal apple. Given that Lilith is said to have also offered the apple to Eve, I doubt the implication is that Luci had any sort of one night stand with Eve. Rather, I think Lilith, Eve, and him were once, or attempted to be, in a romantic relationship.

(Considering Eve was made to be Adam’s lesser and Lucifer and Lilith shared the gift of free will with her specifically, I do wonder if Eve had fallen in love with the two, but was unable to leave Adam. The Fruit of Knowledge being given to her so she would be able to be free and join their relationship, but ultimately resulted in their separation as Lucifer and Lilith were casted into Hell)

Which certainly has implications about the future of Charlie and Vaggie’s relationship.

I think the show has actually set very compelling parallels between Eve and Emily.

Much as Lucifer shared forbidden knowledge with Eve, it’s Charlie’s actions that revealed the hidden truth of Heaven’s exterminations. There’s the specific ‘free will’ which Eve was gifted, which fits with Charlie’s influence giving Emily the ‘free will’ to defy Sera and act against Heaven.

I’ve also talked before about the possibility Emily was brought into existence to fill Lucifer’s place in Heaven. Considering the protective relationship Sera has with Emily, along with her looks of genuine horror at her acting against Heaven, it brings to mind the idea Sera has been fearful that Emily would fall just as Lucifer did for Emily’s entire existence, and as such raised her to be more likely to never stray from Heaven as Lucifer did. Which could add to why Sera hid Heaven’s genocide from her despite Emily being a high ranking seraphim; she couldn’t risk giving Emily a reason to rebel.

Which would be a very striking analogue between the two. Both living replacements for the fallen, born into someone else’s shadow to take their place, intended to be the more docile and proper version of Lilith and Lucifer, less likely to stray from the roles they were created to fill. Though, of course, we know Eve fell to temptation and maybe-probably-definitely left or tried to leave Adam, and that Emily is walking the edge.

(Emily having ties to both Lucifer and Eve seems relevant with how Charlie and Vaggie each have parallels to Lucifer and Lilith. Perhaps in her fall, we’ll see Emily ‘thrive in Hell’ just as Lilith did, and similarities between Charlie and Vaggie to Eve will pop up the more we learn about her?)

What’s also interesting is that Eve ‘falling into temptation’ (choosing Lucifer and Lilith over her preordained role) is what separated her from them. However, if Emily were to choose supporting Charlie’s dream over her place in Heaven, then her falling would be what brought her to Charlie and Vaggie. Thereby their situation acts as a foil to the previous generation’s.

And Emily supporting Charlie is very relevant. In More Than Anything we get the exchange of:

“I’ll support your dream whatever lies in store.”

“And who could ask for more?”

Because Charlie can’t think of anything more she could ask. Charlie’s idea of love and being loved is so heavily based on support and being supported. It’s a part of the conflict in Hell’s Greatest Dad, that Lucifer is being genuine and Alastor manipulative, but Alastor is the one actually providing Charlie with what she asks of him, which Lucifer never has. Charlie shows her love for Hell by believing in them, that they can improve, they deserve safety, and they have worth. It’s why Vaggie’s love is so important to Charlie, because for a long time, she was the only one believing in her.

And what does Emily do?

“I don’t know-”

“Yeah, let’s give him a chance!”

She supports Charlie! She believes and trusts her and argues on her behalf. She’s the only angel in Heaven to have faith in Charlie’s dream. Having Emily in the position of a fallen angel, falling right into Charlie’s arms, Charlie caring for her and nursing her back to health, with her being someone who very deeply believes in her, would be the same conditions that made Charlie fall in love with Vaggie three years ago.

Then for Vaggie, Emily also has a lot of the textbook traits that she loves Charlie for. The overexcited-ness, the care she has for others, even the way she doesn’t pull rank. And what she hasn’t expressed, that being seeing value in Vaggie where she herself does not, it feels natural that Emily would express that in the way Charlie does upon learning Vaggie’s history. We’ve seen her sense of justice and her horror at Heaven’s actions, so her deeply sympathizing with Vaggie would be entirely expected, and would be a very easy way for Vaggie to catch feelings for Emily.

However, there is this:

Which suggests the direction of a jealous Vaggie. I think that works, at least initially, with Vaggie feeling insecure in her relationship with Charlie after Emily falling and being cared for by Charlie in the way she was all that time ago. Those feelings heavily changing however, at the realization that Emily is crushing on her just as much as she is Charlie and how deeply relatable to her Emily’s circumstances and trauma would be.

Then on Emily’s side, not only would she have very much been thinking and focusing on Charlie prior to her fall, once she does, she lands in a very emotionally volatile situation where Charlie and Vaggie are supporting her so much and caring for her so deeply. It makes sense that this would translate to her developing feelings for the both of them.

(Now, this is a bit less definitive, but with Emily’s design, the long hair and dress that covers every inch of her short of her fingers, and Heaven being a stand in for the imperialist church, I do read the coming-of-age story the show has set up for her to be one of a conservative christian raised girl striking out of the doctrine she grew up in and finding community in the people her home had demonized, or at least an allegory for such. So having her develop romantic feelings for two ‘vile and blasphemous’ women in a very non-monogamous way would be very thematically relevant I think)

I would say this all works great as an analogue to Lucifer, Lilith, and Eve. Eve being in the unfortunate situation of Adam’s wife but finding comfort in Lucifer and Lilith and falling for the both of them as Emily would as a fallen angel being comforted by Charlie and Vaggie. Lucifer seeing Lilith reflected in Eve and caring for and helping her as he did before being parallel to Charlie helping Emily as she did Vaggie. Lilith initially feeling negativity towards the woman made to replace her bond so closely with her new love, only to realize Eve is falling for her just as much as she is for Lucifer and empathizing with Eve’s situation so deeply, just like Vaggie.

Then, there’s Adam and Lute. I already mentioned that they play parallel with forcing Lilith and Vaggie out of their respective paradises. Their dynamics are built on Adam and Lute punishing, and their domination over, Lilith and Vaggie, because they need to know their place: beneath them. (There’s also the interpretation of that Lute had or has romantic feelings for Vaggie, which is certainly relevant) The show is being very clear with Lute being Adam’s successor I feel, with her taking on his position as leader of the exorcists following his death.

Then, her line: “Your brat is threatening the very foundation of Heaven.” Personally, that makes me think of a sediment Adam would feel towards Lucifer. That’s he is the source of every problem, that he stole his wives (ignoring that Lilith left him before even meeting Luci), and that he destroyed paradise, Eden. Now that Vaggie and Lute’s conflict has seemingly come to a close, I think the show will be shifting to a Lute vs Charlie conflict, much as Adam shifted from Lilith to his hatred for Lucifer.

Now, if the show wants to push a Adam-Eve dynamic with Lute and Emily, what I could imagine is Lute protecting onto Emily in a very one sided way, where she thinks Charlie has ‘corrupted’ the seraphim (threatening heaven’s foundation) and she must personally ‘save’ her, which would very much align with how Adam would feel towards Lucifer’s influence on Eve.

Now, we can tell that Lucifer, Lilith, and Eve’s relationship Did Not pan out particularly well. So I think much like how Charlie and Vaggie have succeeded where Lilith and Lucifer failed, Charlie, Vaggie, and Emily is going to be the successful foil to their attempted relationship. Then for Lute, I think it becomes a question of: does she accept the olive branch Adam did not, does she eventually understand that she is doing wrong, does she accept mercy, or does she continue down Adam’s path, digging her own grave as he did; except that unlike Adam, there won’t be anyone to cry for her?

And y’know, the angel and 3 immortal humans versus the demon/half immortal human and 3 angels serves as a nice counter.

[bluebasie]

Hashira Character Analysis Sexuality head canons!!

Since the canon sexualities of the Hashiras were never confirmed and will likely never be confirmed, I have taken it upon myself to come up with a sexuality head canon for each of them based on scenes from the anime, manga, and fan books, etc. This is a pretty large task and analyzing every piece of Demon Slayer media is a huge task so please forgive me if I miss a piece of information that could be interpreted as information suggesting a character’s preference for love! Keep in mind that these are just personal head canon that I wanted to share, and I will include some non-canon ships to show cases of interest. Also, disclaimer, I will not be adding a head canon for Muichiro because I genuinely don't know about him, and I don't think there is enough information about his character loving another and I also don't feel comfortable speculating about his sexuality given his age. But anyways, I will be using a series of quotes, scenes, and situations to come up with each potential sexuality for each Hashira and some may be more detailed than others due to a surplus of scenes or personal bias causing me to pay a little more attention to my favorites. Sorry in advance but I'll try and make it not as noticeable!

Starting with the Water Pillar, Tomioka Giyuu!

Starting off the bat, I really don't think that Tomioka has an interest in women. Let me explain. A huge example of this can be seen in Tomioka’s attitude towards a relationship between Shinazugawa Sanemi and Kocho Shinobu. From season one we can see Kocho’s attempts and friendship with Tomioka and just how unreceived they are despite Kocho's adamant insistence to the point of annoyance. While one could say that he just doesn't like her, it is mentioned during his soba eating contest with Tanjiro in the anime that he definitely does worry about her. Despite this he treats her like an annoyed older brother with an annoying younger sister who likes to pretend they don't care about each other but actually do. Regardless of this dynamic, Tomioka has made it clear he does not always enjoy her forced company, and he has clearly shown a reluctance to try and form a deeper bond with her. On the other hand, while Tomioka is known for being socially avoidant, he actively tries to befriend Shinazugawa where he genuinely breaks his emotionless mask that he's had on for years at the thought of closeness with Shinazugawa. He is shown to genuinely have a deep fascination with Sanemi as seen in his conversation with Tanjiro in the Light novels where they talk about Sanemi and a situation where he asked Giyuu out to eat and he rejected him because he had just eaten. After understanding why Shinazugawa had gotten angry afterwards, he smiles at the thought of Sanemi wanting to eat with him. There is also the fact that in the fanbook when it shows what each hashira thinks of each other for mitsuri it says that he thinks she shows too much skin implying that he thinks it unsafe for her without regard to the sexual implications of exposing her chest and legs due to the skirt. Also, it is said in an extra chapter looking at what each character was doing after the war, it is said that Giyuu and the Uzui family frequent the hot springs which if you didn't know are common in Japan to soak in without clothes. When in the panel at the hot springs it can be seen that Giyuu sits alone away from all of them. This again shows a small glimpse into his potential disinterest in women. Then there is the entire Sabito situation. While it is not said in Demon slayer that Giyuu and Sabito were romantically involved, it is implied throughout giyuu’s entire character story of the impact that Sabito and his death has had and continued to have on his life for years. Giyuu’s interest and want for closeness for both Sanemi and Sabito throughout the Franchise shows his preference for relationships with men rather than women in general. Because of this I would say that my head canon for Giyuu would be that he is definitely a gay man. I don't really think he’s bi just because of his lack of interest expressed in women at all in the entire franchise so I think he is exclusively attracted to men. However is implied in the final chapter that he had a ‘descendent’ implying that he ended up with a woman, he has other family as seen when we was taken away by extended family after his sister’s death and I frankly don't think it’s in character for Giyuu to find and leave a woman pregnant within the three to four years he has left with the demon mark seeing as he has little to no natural charisma and social skills as well as the fact that it would be terrible to leave a woman alone to raise a baby by herself with no close family in the 1920’s but I digress. Overall, I think that based on character interactions my final head canon for Giyuu is that he is gay.

Now onto my girl the Insect Pillar, Kocho Shinobu.

Throughout the franchise it is seen that Kocho seems to have no romantic attraction to any characters in the entire manga, anime, etc. She also is shown to have no want or need for romantic connection due to her priorities is not only demon slaying but also running a hospital and planning her own death after being blinded by the idea of revenge on the demon who had killed her sister. It is also seen that her character largely revolves around family unlike Giyuu’s character revolving around friendship/love for others. Shinobu’s motives and relationships revolve around her sisters, Kanae and Kanao, as well as Aoi and the butterfly triplets. She also seems to hold a connection with Inosuke as a sort of mother figure. Clearly, we can see that Shinobu places a higher emphasis on family, including found family, which shows her character prioritizing care for platonic relationships. She also seems to not care for romantic relationships for the future because she never planned a future for herself with her plan being to sacrifice herself to kill Douma to avenge Kanae. It is clearly shown that her priorities lay in the family she has collected over the years and creating justice for the family she has lost including her sister and the fact that her reasoning for becoming a demon slayer was the impact of her parents' death. Overall Shinobu does not have any romantic feelings for others being too clouded in her mission to kill the one who had killed her sister, and she never planned to find a partner one day due to the fact that she never planned for another day after the infinity castle. Because of her preference for platonic relationships, lack of interest in romance, and opposition to sexualizing herself as seen when she burns the original female uniform given to her, I think she is aromantic asexual. This head canon is very dear to me despite not actually being aroace myself because of her serious priority to her family that just isn't seen often in shonen media with girls who are never shown to be interested in romantic love and instead have their own story and goal to focus on. If you couldn't tell at this point, I really love Shinobu’s character.

Now I'm moving onto the Sound Pillar, Uzui Tengen.

To start us off with the obvious, Uzui is polygamous. This is cannon and not a head canon so we can add that as a fact so moving on to beyond his polygamous status I guess I am mainly interested in if he is only attracted to women or also men. Right off the bat, purely based on speculation, I would say that he would be open to something like that just due to his openness to ideas that were not common during this time period or in his communities as well as his preference for the extravagant, in his words flashy. This can not only be seen with his polygamous relationship but also with his insistence that his wives put their own lives before others which was practically unheard of in the shinobi communities that they all had grown up in. While this took a long time to adjust to for Suma, Makio, and Hinatsuru, Uzui was open to this new life priority seeing as he was the one who had come up with it. He is also seen to be open to multi-gendered bathing in the hot springs with his wives and Giyuu which could further the point that he has no preference for gender or things like that and that he just wants to have a flashy time. One final thing that could possibly point towards his lack of preference could maybe be the fact that he puts a lot of emphasis on his looks. While during this time period men usually didn't wear makeup, jewels, paint their nails, and wear shiny clothes, Uzui disregards social norms to be the best self that he can so this could possibly point towards his lack of care about love between the same gender because those things just would not matter to him. Because of his supposed ‘lack of care for gender’, I definitely think he likes both genders, but I also do think he has a slight preference for women for whatever reason due to the fact that he has three wives obviously. For Uzui’s final head canon, I would say that he’s bisexual with a slight preference for women.

Now going on to the Flame Pillar, Rengoku Kyojuro.

There also isn't much to see about relationships between Rengoku and other characters but based on his dedication to his family's traditions through Hashira lineage, breathing style, and estate, I do believe that if Rengoku was to stay alive that he would have wanted to find a wife and settle down at some point like his family before him. He is shown to love being around his mother and taking care of his brother so I can definitely see him growing to be a huge family man who just loves his wife a lot. There was a small quip in a fan book where Rengoko refers to Tomioka as handsome, but it honestly just felt like a supportive bro thing where he doesn't feel ashamed to compliment his friends. Rengoku’s relationship with mitsuri could be somewhat evidence that he does not feel much attraction for women but obviously he's not just going to be into every woman he sees, and he clearly views mitsuri as a younger sister. This only proves his family man status even more with his care to those who are younger than him. Due to his constant support of others and traditions of a traditional family I feel confident in saying that Rengoku is the number one Straight ally. He would totally be supportive if any of the Hashira ended up getting together with a person who is the same gender as themselves.

Moving on to the Wind Pillar, Shinazugawa Sanemi.

Shinazugawa is one of the characters who have seemed to show interest, whether romantic or other, but interest nonetheless in both men and women. It is seen in the fan books and the light novels that he was interested in Kocho Kanae when she was alive stating that being with her made him remember his mover and his infatuation with Tomioka over the span of the series with him getting distracted by the sound of his voice, getting visibly worked up over even the smallest of actions that he does, encouraging him in the war, and being seen having a close relationship after the final war arc. Sanemi is shown to be a very expressive individual who feels a lot of feelings towards others and some of those feelings I would say are feelings of attraction, infatuation, and even love. Sanemi is also shown to be very defensive of his feelings as seen when Tanjiro walks in on his and Tomioka’s fight which is seen to be very unguarded and raw with it being a direct expression of everything Sanemi was feeling and everything he wanted to express. However, when Tanjiro views this exchange Sanemi immediately jumps to the conclusion that Tanjiro was ‘spying on them’ as if this fight was meant to be hidden and private not for the eyes or knowledge of anybody besides Tomioka. It seems to me that Shinazugawa clearly knows what he feels about Giyuu and he is scared of it and tries to hide it from others and also himself. He ends up losing this guard after the war though when it is seen that he goes out to eat lunch with Giyuu after sorting out the miscommunication between them over the years. Because of his intense feelings towards people who are both genders, I would say that he is definitely bisexual. I don't know if he has a preference and what preference he would lean towards if he had one but for now I'm just going to say that he is bisexual.

Moving on to the Stone Pillar, Himejima Gyomei.

This one is pretty simple, I think. Gyomei is a Buddhist monk so that means he is celibate. This essentially means that he would not have a romantic partner or have children in an attempt to forward his path to enlightenment. He has never shown romantic interest in anyone throughout the span of the series, so I think it's safe to say that he is Unlabeled? I don't want to say that he is aroace because I don't know if he has romantic feelings but just doesn't act on them or if he doesn't have them at all, but I guess it would make sense if he was on the aroace spectrum. I think either aroace or unlabeled would work here and are headcanons that would make a lot of sense.

Next, we have the Love Pillar, Kanroji Mitsuri.

In connection to her breathing style, Mitsuri is a very expressive and loving person to people of all types. This does also include women as well. In her character introduction in the first season this is explicitly shown where after every character introduction of the other Hashiras Mitsuri would include a small quip about some words of admiration, she has for them including Shinobu. While Kanroji did join the Demon slayers for a husband, I think that she actually does have love for everyone regardless of gender and she just really wants a husband specifically because of social norms and the fact that she wants somebody who is stronger than her and while there are very few men who are stronger than her there are few women who fit that standard as well. Other than that, I don't think that the LOVE Hashira really has a preference for gender, and she just feels a small attraction towards everybody. I think that she could be pansexual or at least under the bisexual umbrella if anybody believes she has a preference towards one gender, but I think she just feels a good amount of love for everybody and everything with a high surplus for Iguro and therefore pansexual!

Finally, we've got the most difficult to understand in my opinion, The Serpent Hashira, Iguro Obanai. 

Iguro has got quite the history with a distaste towards women due to the trauma he had endured during his childhood. His lack of romantic affection had been carried with him for his entire life until meeting Mitsuri when he fell head over heels for her. Iguro’s love for mitsuri has frankly made it pretty difficult to understand or come up with a headcanon due to his disinterest in literally every one besides her. I don't think he would ever love another woman or show affection to another man which makes it difficult to come up with something. I guess I could say that he is unlabeled because he literally does not love anybody and has never loved anybody besides Mitsuri before. I could also say that he is Asexual because as seen in his entrapment, the fascination the snake demon had of him, her watching him at night, and his family overloading him with overwhelming food he did not want. This could all be seen as an allegory for sexual assault and/or grooming as a child and that might have caused him to want to avoid anything sexual and therefore I think it could be very possible that he could at least be under the asexual umbrella. 

That was a lot of writing so thank you if you read this far! Keep in mind that these are head canons and if you disagree on anything please don't start a war in the comments or anything. Please. Anyways I would love to hear your own head canons and what you think of this small character analysis! 

[mitochondriaandbunnies]

Miami Vice S2E8 Tale of the Goat

A dead man, amidst rumors of voodoo magic and zombie resurrections, returns to life to continue running his criminal empire.

Obligatory "This Is An Episode About A Minority Religion and Not Particularly Sensitive About It" warning, although it is much lighter on the actual religious implications than Whatever Works, for positive (less things are actually said, good or bad, about anyone's belief system) and for negative (it is left very much unclear what anyone believes, so there is a vague sense that there's a community of Haitians living in Miami who are just like "oh yeah, zombies are 100% real")

Whatever Works is a better episode than this one, and it's a bit odd to have the two "spooky crime religion" episodes so close, but I will admit some genuine fondness for Tale of the Goat for two reasons:

One, this is a stellar Sonny/Rico episode, which I will get into later

Two, it is silly, ridiculous schlock-horror fun. I feel very strongly that Tale of the Goat is very purposefully channeling the aesthetics and vibes of like, 50's/60's drive-in horror movies, and I think it actually does that quite well. It's a thinly plotted episode that raises a lot of questions it doesn't answer, but I get the sense there's some intentionality there. I do really believe that part of why Miami Vice is so good is because it isn't just a regular police procedural-- it is a show that isn't afraid to get weird, try out different genre expectations, and imply some really fucking bizarre things about the world its characters live in. Many of my favorite (and just, generally, many of the more memorable) episodes are magical realist in some way, and without that edge of oddness, Vice just becomes a very pretty cop show. It's why I am a vehement defender of Season Four, in all its occasional goofiness, and why I find a lot of Season Three (which is the straightest "cops doing cop things" season) kind of disappointing. I'll get more into the specifics, but I do think Tale of the Goat is purposefully playing around with horror movie expectations. It may not land that successfully throughout its runtime, but it is trying something.

The episode opens with Sonny and Rico going to check the contents of a coffin for a man named Legba (Clarence Williams III), an international criminal drug dealer and supposed voodoo practitioner. Sonny explains all this and Rico is just. Fucking. Howls. With laughter. Throughout the episode, Rico thinks the idea of zombies, and the "zobops" (a.... voodoo crime syndicate) are the funniest fucking thing in the entire world, which is hilarious given that he was one of the characters in Whatever Works who was fairly serious about Santeria being a real religion. This could be an oversight on the part of the writers, or perhaps an attempt to not make Rico into the "minority religion expert" character. However! I think what the writers were really doing was just making him the traditional "logical nonbeliever in a horror movie who gets comeuppance when the scary thing turns out to be real." He's the sane, clinical doctor who assures the frightened main character-- no, no, of course ghosts aren't real-- before being murdered by ghosts.

It is also notable, however, that Rico is just very giggly in this episode-- he and Sonny spend a lot of it laughing together, and Rico seems especially tickled by Sonny's jokes. Their relationship seems to have "leveled up" a bit by Tale of the Goat-- whereas in the first season, they were friendly and devoted to each other as partners but occasionally a little guarded, by this point in the second season, they are clearly true friends who genuinely enjoy spending time together. (Rico's giggliness almost makes it seem like he is hoping for another relationship upgrade; he is acting a bit like someone with one of those blinding "everything you say is the smartest and funniest thing in the world" crushes. It's cute.)

At Legba's funeral, Rico points out that Legba's ex girlfriend is beautiful because Rico cannot keep himself away from CRIME WIVES, and Sonny, grinning like the Cheshire Cat, is like : ) "Eeeeasy does it." : ) : )

Which is to say Sonny is like "ha ha you have a boner" : )

Legba's funeral is simultaneously very stupid (like, from an in-universe perspective.... why is there so much smoke? Also. The titular goat.) and absolutely lovely, atmospheric Southern Gothic nonsense. I love that it's a haunted, eerie scene filmed in the daytime, and that the overriding color of the elements of fear is white. The living guests at the funeral seem like phantoms, both in their dress and their actions. The swirling fog and smoke makes it seem like Sonny and Rico have stepped into another world, and are observing spirits going through the motions of life rather than an actual funeral.

And uh. Then they open Legba's casket, and there's a goat inside it, and a dude just points at it and says, very blandly, "ZOMBIE." And that kind of kills the atmosphere. It's quite silly.

This episode has a great cast-- Clarence Williams III (the Mod Squad, Purple Rain, American Gangster), Peter Sellars (no, not Sellers-- Sellars is not an actor himself, but a stage director, considered one of the most thoughtful and influential of the last century), my old pal Ray Sharkey (Wiseguy, Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills). Williams mostly shuffles around being spooky, but he sells that pretty well. There's a scene where he walks towards the camera in the dark while music plays and everyone behind him is dancing that is downright chilling.

Ray Sharkey plays a used car salesman with his usual insane aplomb, making what might be a throw-away character into someone fairly memorable despite his short screen time (and his... distinctive choice of accent!) Also, the cars he's selling have the weirdest fucking taglines:

HOT & SASSY! CREAM PUFF! LAZER! SUGAR SHACK! Oh to be the person in charge of writing shit on the set for Miami Vice.

Everyone say hello to Sonny's gay little mesh sweater

Castillo is extremely done with this episode, and with Sonny and Rico (world's #1 pair of chucklefucks) especially

There are some things that just seem genuinely "off" about this episode (the film actually seems genuinely less well preserved, or at least is much grainier and desaturated than other episodes; the actual cinematography is consistently bland; there is a ton of iffy overdubbing; the fight scene in the arcade is "Captain Kirk throwing his entire body at an alien" bad). The director (Michael O'Herilhy) only did one other Vice episode (Junk Love, which you may recall me recently saying was mostly only "okay" on a second watch through) but did direct 25 episodes of The A-Team, so that may account for part of why this one seems a little un-Vicelike in some ways. However, O'Herilhy's workmanlike direction isn't enough to make me think that a lot of the choices in this episode aren't purposeful nods to the era of horror that gave us Jesse James Vs. Frankenstein's Daughter, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, and dozens of William Castle movies. In the course of one episode, we have zombies, we have a spooky misunderstood religion, we have hallucinogens, we have a hobbling undead man appointing a Little Person THE MASTER OF THE GRAVEYARD, we have snake handling, we have a midnight dance party that GOES WRONG! It's a drive-in horror film-- goofy and scary in equal measures.

There's a moment where Sonny and Rico are doing surveillance together in the Daytona in the dark, and it's filmed through the windshield, with the pair of them leaning their heads back as they talk, and it's really a lovely, soft little choice of framing-- it's very kids talking at a sleepover, once again, in a way their relationship hasn't quite been before this point in the show.

Rico asks Marie if she needs a place to stay and like. Uh. Bro. Are you inviting her to come stay in your cardboard box, oh Mr. "Only Member of the OCB Without an Onscreen Home?"

Despite some of the goofiness of the episode, there's a point where we learn that Legba, who is Haitian, has been taking money from other Haitians who have been attempting to get into the US for many years, and just as often leaving them to die during the overseas journeys they've purchased from him. The metaphor is perhaps a bit labored-- usually we associate vampires (especially old-timey vampires) with wealthy societal parasites profiting off and destroying their own people, not zombies, but it's not that much of a stretch to see why they created this connection between literal economic parasitism and the undead. Legba, whether through cult-worship, "magic," and tetradotoxin; or through the destruction of people's lives and livelihoods, sucks the life out of everyone he comes into contact with.

Ray Sharkey. Ray. Buddy.

What is this pose. And outfit.

Marie is placed under Gina's watch because Rico lives in his car and a scary naked scuba man comes from absolutely nowhere up onto the deck of the boat they're on; Gina just pushes the guy right back in the ocean and shoots him.

1) Honestly Gina, you're a little trigger happy, but frankly I feel you on this one, and 2) why is the scuba man doing scuba in a speedo, and 3) why is this the angle we got of the attack

Since this is the 60's B-Movie Horror Episode and Rico is playing the part of the Nonbeliever Who Gets His Comeuppance, when he suggests going undercover to investigate Legba, he laughs at the suggestion of backup, and says "What're they going to do, put a spell on me?," to which Sonny responds with far more trepidation-- he explains that while he doesn't personally believe in voodoo, there's nothing wrong with keeping an open mind.

Unsurprisingly, Rico (whose.... Haitian? European French? Pepe le Pew? accent is absolutely atrocious, and who places a tracking bug in completely plain sight) is immediately pegged as a cop, kidnapped, and drugged.

Sonny immediately freaks out-- they lose the truck with Rico on it, and he realizes they aren't tracking him anymore, either. Panicked, voice almost cracking, he calls and tells Gina to put surveillance on any building they could've taken Rico to. Gina asks him to "narrow it down," and Sonny responds, on the border of yelling, "ANYTHING WITH WALLS!"

So narrow

You did such a good job narrowing it down

Somehow this works, and they locate the house where Legba's party/zombie cult/drugging and murder sesh took place the night before. The place-- nearly all white, like the mourners at Legba's funeral-- is sad, abandoned, and littered with party detritus, fallen leaves, trash, and clothes: another reminder that what is really scary about Legba isn't the spooky undead nonsense, but the way he treats people. Everything and everyone is simply a tool for him to be used up and thrown away.

Zito realizes someone is in the dry pool with all the leaves; Sonny sees that it's Rico and jumps in to save him. He covers him with his jacket, cradles his face, and as the camera pulls out, leans over him like this:

Which could mean nothing

The first thing Rico sees when he wakes is Sonny, and they hold each other in the hospital through Rico's panic as the doctor (and Castillo) look on like. Okay. Sure. If you have to.

This guy is 100% having a Starsky & Hutch moment here, thinking, "okay, wait, I assumed cops partners, but maybe I misunderstood"

The end of the episode is comparatively weak, although that's also sort of par for the course with the genre they're playing around in. At least no one wakes up and is like it was alllll a dream! We learn that Rico might never fully recover/have brain damage or something of that ilk, and there's a final confrontation with Legba where Rico sort of hallucinates part of it, but I think if they had better allotted the runtime of the episode they could've made that a much more impactful conflict. It's over pretty quickly, and Rico more of less shrugs off the whole blowfish poisoning thing after that. We learn that Marie is okay (and.... in some upholstery), and the episode ends right there, very abruptly.

It's not a high art episode-- but it is a fun one, and the ways it plays around with genre expectations (both horror and police procedural) is genuinely interesting. Furthermore, we're about a third of the way through a season that wants you to be thinking about partnership and the ways it can go both right and wrong, as well as how it can become a crutch or a burden to some and a source of strength for others. I'm of the opinion that Sonny, who has lost one partner already, realizes his affection for Rico is a genuine liability for him in this episode; there is a stark difference in the way he treats his partner in the hospital (about as physically affectionate as he gets with anyone over the course of the series, treated by the doctor as if he is Rico's next of kin) versus when he gets out of it (suddenly quiet, hands off, and almost dismissive). The episode that follows this one is Bushido, which is another episode about Partners Who Love(d) Each Other Too Much and the fallout of the fallout of their friendship, and I don't feel like that's a coincidence-- Sonny decides at the end of Tale of the Goat that he needs to tread a little more carefully around Rico, and then a short while later will be confronted with a future the two of them could be heading towards and that Sonny absolutely does not want.

Sometimes you just have to say it with zombies, okay

[twentyfoursevenghost]

i have spent way too long trying to put this together ohhhh my god

to preface: i am personally not a wincest shipper, but i do enjoy gothic horror and talking about weird stuff so here we are. none of what i say here means i think anything happened between them in canon, cause i honestly don't, it's just a collection of thoughts about the way family is portrayed in the horror of Supernatural. also, this is pretty much entirely in reference to just the first five seasons because that's where i find this theme to be most glaring. okay cool thanks

long post under the cut

essentially, the first five seasons of the show very much fall under the American gothic genre, which revolves around the rational vs irrational, puritanism, guilt, the uncanny, and monsters. obviously a lot of that comes in the plot of the show itself, but we also see a lot of these points hit with Sam and Dean, the way they behave throughout the series- their relationship with their parents and the concept of family as a whole, their ideas about sex and romance, and their relationship with each other.

the amount of people thinking Sam and Dean are together and slightly line-crossing throwaways said by the guys is, frankly, fucking weird. but the family dynamic this show focuses on is fucking weird. if they had leaned more into this messed up idea they created, they could have made a very solid family horror. we see the crumble of the american dream and nuclear family- caring mom dies violently, working veteran dad turns into a cruel, abusive parent fighting (literal) demons. again, what better way to continue that theme of a disturbing tragedy under the surface than to imply the sons' relationship is incestuous?

there's also the fascination with purity and morality and how that relates to two people who spend their time in the grimiest, most crooked parts of reality. they know they're dirty and immoral, that there's something wrong with them that makes them incapable of being clean. between the two of them, there is so much guilt about that wrongness. again, a theme that would have really felt like something within the story if they had leaned into the idea of incest.

it's no wonder wincest "won" in the end. the reality of the situation was that Sam and Dean only need each other. they are each entirely fulfilled by the relationship they have with one another, no matter how much they try to say they aren't. no matter how guilty, disgusted, or stubborn they are about it, it's true. and that is part of the overall horror for them. because of their broken, screwed up childhood, they are extremely codependent and cannot escape the taboo reality they have created to cope. it's obviously wrong and condemnable, but so is the abusive and neglectful situation that would have led to it happening. the implication that because they were left alone to only interact with/rely on/comfort each other for most of their lives, their relationship took on the most unacceptable form it could is not completely out of the range of the type of crass horror the show is trying to convey.

i don't have to say that incest is wrong. however, i think it can be used as a very, very crude way to portray the type of horror Supernatural was going for- a vulgar exposure of the grit beneath the initially "perfect" family. it makes sense to be implied in a story that represents child abuse and neglect and its results in such an over-the-top, obvious way. therefore, i think the show could have gone a lot harder with it, and sometimes i think they maybe should have for the sake of not feeling so noncommittal when it is implied.

anyway hopefully this makes sense, thanks for reading my rant lol

[derrygirlstrash]

Not to start shit, if you know me you know I'm a "ship and let ship" kinda gal and saying this I truly have no problem with James/Orla as a ship it harms no one and plenty of people like it, I like people having fun... that said...

I have never understood the common argument that James/Erin as a ship makes no sense and James/Orla should have been the ship instead. Often one of the arguments is that James/Erin wasn't set up while James/Orla was and I'm sorry... what? James/Erin have at least one ship heavy episode each season as well as plenty of background moments and several significant moments in Erin's Diary.

Even if you ignore all the background moments of the two holding hands, being inside each others personal space, the times where they're clearly matching and whatnot. There is at LEAST the implication that Erin would ignore her supposed crush for James, that she cares what he thinks, that Erin is James's type, that they're aligned in creative values and match each others energies, that Erin thinks he's handsome, that James thinks she's beautiful, that she can't imagine her life without him, etc.

James/Orla have some touchy moments... that's kinda all they have as far as romantic coding and I don't see how those two hugging in the Season 2 finale is somehow more significant than what setup James/Erin have throughout all the seasons.

Honestly, while I can see Orla liking James - you could build a case for it and convince me even though I see Orla as ace/aro in my own personal headcanons... no one has ever been able to give me a convincing argument for James liking Orla back. It kinda feels like you have to ignore that he never has a reason to fancy Orla back and just project onto him that.

Which, again, go off if that's your bag I think their friendship is fun and I could see making a ship out of it, but the common argument is that the SHOW makes a better case for James/Orla and like, no? No it really doesn't? It's just not main girl/main boy and some people really don't like that trope or Erin as a main and I think that if you say the show didn't set up James/Erin well and you argue the show would have been better with James/Orla based on what's in the show, you just might not like Erin very much?

I've also never been able to make sense of the argument that James/Erin is somehow the trope that 'guys and girls can't just be friends' like, is that not also James/Orla? Y'know, besides that Orla isn't a girl. They do use she/her during the show time period though and some people who argue this think Orla is a girl, they just think they're not THE girl. So somehow it's better even though it's the same thing.

Basically what I'm saying is that shipping is fun and we all oughta do it. Every ship besides the obvious ones is potentially fun and I'm down for it, but there is one ship the show was setting up and we all know what that ship was and I think it would be better if we all were honest about it.

PS: "James was gay the whole time!" Truthers, if you made it through this post somehow I'd like to offer a compromise: James Maguire is the most bisexual coded male character in media history we can all win here.

[eww-y-tho]

The hypothetical debates surrounding the whole "Lady and Lord Whistledown" vs "Colin and Penelope Bridgerton" make me wither because

Lady and Lord Whistledown.

I'm telling you, this shit would be so fucking funny. I can picture it in my mind's eye: Bridgerton season 4, we get a quick shot of Colin and Penelope talking shit and giggling like crazy in the background, maybe with some PDA to match because Colin can't keep his hands off her, only to hear a male voice actor of a similar calibre to our angel Julie Andrews join in sometimes while Charlotte picks up the paper and cackles. Obviously, the reveal would happen, but I want to believe that our Queen would be down for Whistledown to continue as long as it doesn't get too personal. It would be kind of unfair and a bit indicative of the period, monarchy and all, but Charlotte being in on it would amp up the comedy points. Plus some ~historical cultural commentary~ would just be that final flavouring of spice.

It would kind of feel like Colin's turning to the dark side because we've already seen quite a few scenes where he seems possessed by Lady Whistdown's attitude and I love the idea of him coming from hating Lady Whistledown's guts to protecting her and joining in because it's fun and it activated his little shit reflex. Plus the subtextual implications of just how much Colin and Penelope actually are best friends and are connected beyond normalcy would just be *chef's kiss*

I would also love it because it feels very partner-in-crime vibes, giving another aspect to their relationship that would be fun to see. Combined with the power Lady Whistledown has on the story, we'd be guaranteed to see our beans quite a lot. Also a "Hello, my Lady," followed by a "Hello, my Lord" after a particularly steamy scene would literally have me shaking crying giggling dancing kicking my feet.

As for Penelope, it honestly depends on how you view her character and her relationship with Lady Whistledown. If the person in question thinks that Lady Whistledown is a vital part of her personality, an aspect of who she is, limiting her by making her quit would just feel really, really sad, man. Lady Whistledown has caused Pen a lot of grief, however, and we see it a lot throughout the story, so I think Colin being there, sharing the secret and partaking would make her feel much more comfortable in her own skin.

Anyway. Love the idea, and would perish if it happened, but probably won't.

Colin and Penelope Bridgerton.

This one's more cute than anything else. Two writers as a couple release solo and joint works sometimes while establishing their reputation as respectable authors and leaving Lady Whistledown behind them. I can see another scene in my mind's eye, Colin and Pen are sitting across from each other on their respective writing desks, writing and then handing each other their work to review and give opinions, paired with a kiss after they start teasing each other about their writing. Considering that the designated Sexy Desk Scene has already been taken, this would have to be in a secluded area or in their bedroom. And then shots of people buying their books and enjoying them would ensue.

With the amount of journals and letters and things Colin's done, he's practically primed for an author's role. Maybe they can be more exposed to Colin's love for travel in this version. Having Penelope with him on his trips while writing their little hearts out would be adorable. Sadly, though, this would mean that they would probably have less screen time.

If you see Lady Whistledown as an outlet for the suffering Penelope was going through throughout the story, she wouldn't need Lady Whistledown anymore and abandon the alias because she's served her purpose as Penelope's coping mechanism, and Colin and Penelope would find their fix through other means. Maybe continuing to gossip but only between the two of them, going back to the beginning of the series and the final link to their relationship.

It's been established over and over again that they both love reading, writing, gossiping, and discussing all things philosophical. And each other for enjoying those qualities. So, I think this dynamic would be particularly interesting because it would be yet another way to connect. They could probably also make each other all hot and bothered by leaving random sexy letters sporadically, which would just be so fitting, tbh. However, that would also work for the Lady and Lord Whistledown dynamic so it's kind of a null point. It would be hot, though.

And, yeah, that's how I see those hypothetical dynamics playing out and how that would affect the characters. But now for the negatives. While I love the Lord Whistledown idea, I do think that Colin is a bit too nice and cute for that, and it would probably be a bit OOC, especially because of his personal experiences with Whistledown, it would be a bit weird if his tune suddenly changed to "yeah, I know gossip can ruin someone's life, but I like it now, so I don't care." But I also just can't fathom Bridgerton without Lady Whistledown, and this idea hinges on literally removing the narrator and source of all the tea, as well as making us lose our angel Julie Andrews. At least the Lady and Lord Whistledown idea fulfills almost all fronts of their relationship dynamic.

Again, as the GIF demonstrates, both are good, and I love both of them for the different ways they would take the characters, but let's be real, a combo would be really fun as well. Like Pen keeps up with Lady Whistledown while Colin writes his own books or smth.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Bye.

[fountainpenguin]

Short Version: I don't even know how to begin explaining this, so take these 'fic doodles with no context.

Wish Fixers, my chronically unhelpful beloved...

Long Version (City Lights AU #ridspoilers beyond the above implication. Mentions of death and trauma; it gets pretty dark)

Nalooksthrough, I tag you below because I cited your co-dependent toxic friendship comic and said it was cool- If you don't want to click, that's all the tag was :)

So I started outlining my Dale backstory 'fic (Lemonade and Papercuts) since I am the most predictable person alive and of COURSE I can't resist 7 years of trauma and intimacy anxiety <3. But planning a 'fic like this requires many pieces and many questions.

First and most obvious- How did Vicky lure in Dale? From previous planning, I've already decided that since they're the same age (maybe one year off), they probably knew each other in school or activities.

Ex: Squirrely Scouts & Cream Puffs... Not unreasonable- Throughout the series, many kids participate and the organizations seem to have a big following in Dimmsdale. Vicky's sister Tootie is in the Cream Puffs and Vicky is seen bossing them around in the Season 0 episode "Scout's Honor" ("Oh Yeah! Cartoons"). There's a comic by the same name depicting Remy in Squirrely Scouts (after "Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary" but before he gets his memories back in "Remy Rides Again" and I always thought it was cute). I mean, look at him:

Pictures courtesy of the FOP Wiki

It's not unreasonable that Dale - who's also rich - might've gotten into that (especially since Doug is big on the cowboy theming and of all the rich parents, he's probably the one most okay with his son playing in dirt). Something scout-related could be an option even if Dale and Vicky went to different schools.

A friendship that gets increasingly toxic until it spirals into full-on abuse sounds really interesting (and @nalooksthrough portrayed this idea beautifully imo in THIS comic I can't stop thinking about).

Sounds fun to write, so let's go with that. What's next?

Hey, remember when 7 years ago, I headcanon'd H.P. as Dale's godfather because of this doodle in Da Rules that specifically refers to Pixie godparents and depicts a fluffy-haired kid in a purple shirt?

I recently found out I still had Dale listed as a godchild of H.P. on his full character profile on my fanfic sideblog. I was waffling over whether to retcon that (since I hadn't yet done anything with it), but I started brainstorming whether I COULD do anything with it.

I've always written Wish Fixers in 'fic [e.g. Origin of the Pixies] as a therapy business run by H.P.'s dad (which H.P. bought off him out of spite despite not being licensed for therapy) but, like...

Does Jorgen know H.P. isn't licensed? I can't see why he would... As far as he knows, H.P. owns and runs the place- especially given my lore that Wish Fixers has been in his family for many generations. Sounds qualified to me!

In "School's Out! The Musical" (episode that Da Rules screenshot is from), we learn Pixies are at the back of the line for godparent work, even under creatures like unicorns (Hence the Musical's plot requiring them to remove magical creatures from earth before they could assign themselves to Flappy Bob).

I said in a recent liveblog post that I'd always imagined this was a punishment given to them due to H.P. absolutely failing as godfather to Dale- Thus, the origin of the doodle on the page for that rule. But... I never decided what happened.

See, Dale SEEMS like a guy who would qualify for a fairy. He was probably pretty miserable under Vicky's 7 years of torture and he's still holding onto that trauma in his adulthood.

DID he have a fairy?

I'm just saying, we know from S4's "Wish Fixers" that H.P. is legally(?) allowed to make contracts that swap a fairy godparent with a pixie one if godkids choose to sign of their own free will... Hmm... I'm connecting dots I don't think I like... (I am lying).

I mean?? Dale clearly did not get out of the pit due to magical interference. If I'm committing to the doodle being Dale and reflecting an actual godfather-godson dynamic between him and H.P., then something sure went wrong there. I can't NOT make Dale suffer...

What on earth could've made Dale sign a contract for something a fairy couldn't give him? We know from "Nectar of the Odds" canon that he wished to see his dad, and thanks to previous liveblogs, I DO already have a headcanon of Dale being extremely desperate for his dad's love... Hmm... I can work with that.

I went down a rabbit hole trying to answer the question of how Vicky secured lemons for 7 years for Dale (and other kids) to work with. Here are some lemon tree facts:

- Lemon trees bear fruit after only a few years - They can bear fruit multiple times a year (depending on variety) - A single lemon tree can produce 1,500 lemons in one growing season - Dimmsdale is in California - a state known for lemon orchards.

That feels likely... An orchard of even a few trees can keep you going for a while.

But lemonade doesn't sell for much compared to other things Vicky could've set a kidnapped child up to do (Ex: In "Microphony," she has kids doing a bunch of other tasks like answering phones for her babysitting service, painting houses, and washing cars).

So... WHY lemonade? What is going on that makes this the thing Vicky has Dale do for 7 years?

And who owns the orchard? I need Vicky to obtain lemons without being stopped for 7 years.

Is it a Dimmadome orchard? Maybe, but several episodes imply Vicky's not familiar with the Dimmadomes - and she probably would have turned Dale in for cash reward if given the chance - so those are two things I need to keep in mind.

Does the orchard belong to her family? That's a possibility- Vicky is shown drinking lemonade after "Nectar of the Odds." She definitely could've bought it - It can't be too expensive unless prices were jacked up after she lost her cheap labor - but it's a drink she's seen with in multiple episodes. She definitely likes it.

And we know from "Timmy's 2D House of Horror" that Vicky's parents are terrified of her. It's not likely they'd stop her from taking lemons from the family orchard.

One problem... If Dale goes missing when he's about 9 (Closer to 7 or 8 in my planned timeline), Vicky is also 9 or younger. Are her parents scared of her when she's that small and inexperienced in the ways of the world?

In "The Switch Glitch," she's 5 and seems mild and sweet until 10-year-old Timmy mistreats her- She clearly didn't have memories of Timmy, implying she totally regressed to how she acted when she really was 5. Worth pointing out she goes off the deep end and chains up Cosmo and Wanda, so... she IS mean even at age 5. But also, she's 5. She wears the same purple hair bow in "Switch Glitch" (at 5) that she does when Timmy drains the meanness out of her in "Vicky Loses Her Icky," which is interesting.

So that begs the question... Can I turn my Dale backstory 'fic into a double story of Dale abuse AND Vicky going from a pretty innocent child to Totally Messed Up? Keeping in mind that according to Vicky in A New Wish, Vicky IS the one responsible for abusing him and he "spent 7 years' worth of Saturdays in a factory underneath a lemonade stand."

If that's the way I want to play it... Something happened to send Dale and Vicky down the dual victim-and-abuser path, destinies intertwined. And for some reason, Vicky stuck with the lemonade theme.

Dale just says he spent his Saturdays "in a factory underneath a lemonade stand." It's not out of the question he and Vicky made more lemon products than just lemonade, especially given Vicky's love for money (and those 600 lbs of lemons one tree can produce in a year). We can assume they changed locations a few times or someone would've found the trapdoor on Timmy's lawn. Plus when Dale started his abuse, Vicky hadn't started babysitting Timmy, whom she only met when he was 8.

So, I've set Dale up to be lured in by Vicky because they were friends. I like the idea of things gradually getting worse as Vicky slowly morphs from a friend into a very cruel person. If Vicky was bullying him, what stopped him from just... leaving?

Vicky's transformation was probably subtle if he stayed for so long..... I also pointed out in a recent post that Doug's underground milk empire where he uses hypnotized people for labor bears a striking amount of similarities with Vicky's lemonade stand, even down to the general vibes of "trapdoor entrance" (although it's implied there's another entrance in small building).

And if we want to be technical about things... We don't know if Doug and Dale pressed charges against Vicky. She clearly continues to babysit Timmy and other kids after "Nectar of the Odds" (Season 2).

In Season 4 ("Channel Chasers"), Doug remarks that Timmy's parents should've guessed Vicky was evil because of the Chip Skylark song "Icky Vicky," but he doesn't mention Vicky kidnapping his son. That's.... sus. He even offers to buy a car from her in Season 3's "Engine Blocked" (after Dale's escape).

Why would such a powerful guy let all of that slide? Did they just not have enough proof? Did Vicky wipe the place clean? Did Dale "not want to make a big deal about it" because he was so exhausted and grateful, he just didn't want to think about it or struggle with the legal system? Was he covering for her?? Was he scared to speak up?

... Did Dale not tell his dad the whole truth about where he was?

What if Dale was - in some vague and early concept way - in on the lemonade scheme from the beginning, back when he and Vicky were friends and she wasn't so cruel? Maybe she turned on him and sentenced him to the pit before long?

Why the underground-ness of it? Why the lemonade, which probably doesn't turn much profit... as lemonade. Unless you have unrestrained access to tons of lemons that you can turn into multiple products - Dale DID call it a factory - and no one is stopping you from accessing them...

... but how do you set up a situation where kids have access to a whole lemon orchard - presumably carefully maintained - and the adults don't take it away from them (Because... surely they would've found Dale and multiple other kids if they strayed close).

And Dale didn't leave. He does in "Nectar of the Odds" - apparently of his own volition - but not before. Was he kept there mentally as well as physically?

We KNOW Vicky can't be monitoring him 24/7 because "Nectar of the Odds" is the only episode depicting her paying attention to him, while others show her doing many other things in many other places (though it's worth noting Dale says in that episode that "Vicky's kept him locked up for so long").

Did he stay so long because it was the perceived better fate up until he miraculously crossed paths with his dad (via fairy magic) and took the risk? Would he have gone back in?

Maybe it wasn't supposed to get this out of hand. Dale and Vicky were young when this started... Somewhere between 7 and 9 (given that Dale was kept there for 7 years and Vicky is 16 when he escaped and he tells 9-year-old Dev this happened when he was Dev's age).

Maybe there was an accident. Something not just Vicky, but even Dale felt the need to cover up, especially in regards to the orchard and the fact that it needs to be Vicky's consistent source of lemons (and not something she lost out on before Dale's escape... an illusion of ownership maintained. Kids can't own the orchard, but what if they fooled people into believing it wasn't owned by kids?)

Hmm... some kind of accident that got two mostly innocent kids into huge trouble, thus setting up a horribly intertwined fate where if one of these toxic co-dependent friends backs out and squeals, even the squealer might suffer worse compared to trucking along on the cruel existing path.

tl;dr - if Vicky and Dale accidentally killed the orchard owner but they were kids and terrified to tell an adult lest they go to jail for life so they hid the body in the basement (or like ?? threw it to the coyotes or hyenas that inexplicably lurk on the fringes of Dimmsdale??) and are trying desperately to wipe their hands of this by pretending the lemon orchard is still operational so no one investigates until they can figure out a plan, and then Vicky hardens herself as a trauma response and manipulates Dale into believing it was solely his fault and she'll pin him with murder charges if he gets cold feet and turns her in, and he's miserable and gets a fairy (then loses his fairy via Pixie contract through Wish Fixers, presumably in an attempt to negotiate a way to protect himself from Vicky and somehow not gaining the ire of his father) and then H.P. (lawyer and unlicensed yet de facto therapist pulled two ways) is suddenly Dale's godfather and trying to comprehend what the flip is going on between misery and manslaughter while he's also juggling Gary, Betty, and Flappy Bob at the same time in preparation for the Musical because we know he spent 37 years on that plan...

... Would that be one messed-up yet hyperspecifically canon-compliant 'fic or what?

These thoughts have been haunting me all weekend and I HAD to get my "I'm not that kind of lawyer or therapist" joke out of my system, so there's your context. #Sorry. Is this the direction the actual 'fic will go? ... It's not the direction I really had in mind, but ?? It's off the wall and therefore I must shake it in my teeth. I can't not write Dale backstory this horrific. what. hey.

[lurkingshan]

We Need to Talk about Love in Translation

I caught up on Love in Translation this week at @bengiyo’s behest, as he’s been talking about how good it is. It’s a Thai bl on iQIYI, and in this current deluge of shows, it’s flying mostly under the radar. But this week’s episode convinced me this is a show we should be prioritizing even with so much to keep up with, and I wanted to talk a little bit about why. 

Ben already covered some of the basics about the show, and I agree with all of that, but what is really blowing me away is the confidence of the writing and the control the writers have on the pacing of this story. Because this show? Moves, and it moves fast. The relationships are evolving rapidly, and our leads are moving closer every week, and yet nothing ever feels rushed or unearned. They start out adversaries, but it’s all based on a misunderstanding, and once that gets cleared up and they get to know each other, they come to like each other rather quickly. The narrative gives us good reasons for their rapidly shifting perspectives, and crucially, this is a story that is fundamentally about kind people with emotional intelligence, so their openness to changing their minds about each other tracks.

So in episode four, we begin with a classic drama set up: Phumjai, our inexperienced but enthusiastic protagonist, is finally going on a date with his crush, Tammy, and he asks his new friend and business partner, Yang, to go on a practice date with him. Yang is, of course, already half in love with Phumjai and this set up is torture for him. And so the “fake” date commences, and of course the two of them have a fantastic time, forgetting Tammy exists for long stretches before Phumjai inevitably brings her up again and Yang’s face falls. Before the date ends, they end up lounging alone under a tree, Phumjai asks Yang about what kind of lover he would want, and Yang takes the opportunity to make his feelings clear. 

Their almost kiss is interrupted, but here’s the important part: Phumjai is extremely aware of what almost just happened, and what it means. He knows Yang was about to kiss him, and he was going to let him. And he knows the implications of that, unlike the typical trope where a character like him would remain confused about Yang’s intentions or his own feelings. Phumjai is inexperienced, but he’s not ignorant. Still, he has committed to a date with Tammy, and so he goes. And the whole time he’s with her, he can feel that it’s not right. He’s not feeling the same things with her that he was with Yang, and his mind wanders back to Yang continuously throughout his time with Tammy. He is not doing the typical drama thing of sublimating or ignoring his feelings. He notices what is going on with his heart and what it means. 

And here is where the show wows me again: Phumjai does something about it immediately. He ends his date with Tammy without kissing her despite a clear invitation to do so and runs straight to Yang to talk to him about what he’s feeling. He tells him with total honesty that he’s been thinking about him all day, and that he didn’t feel the way he thought he would with Tammy, and that he wants to understand what is going on between them. Yang listens to him patiently as he works it out, and once he’s given an opening, he doesn’t hesitate to lean in and finish the kiss he started earlier in the episode.

Let me just emphasize again: all of this happened in one episode. This show deftly covered the emotional groundwork and character development that most dramas would take several weeks if not half a season to unpack, and it all felt organic and authentic to who these characters are. I sat up and stared at my screen in awe several times throughout this episode because I was so delighted by what was happening and how confident the underlying writing was. We are now halfway through the show, and we have ample time to work through the fallout of Phumjai’s realizations and see him and Yang actually figure out being in a relationship together (my favorite thing in any romance drama). This is a new screenwriting team (it’s literally their first credit) and they certainly have my attention. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for the second half of this story.

[0aurelion-sol0]

Stranger Things 5 Episode Titles - Reactions & First thoughts about them.

So here are the episode titles for Stranger Things 5, they don't give much away in and of themselves unless you've probably been like completely into set pictures & possible leaks which I have not, so don't bring that over here!

Some of them sound a bit corny like "The Rightside Up", it's so Reddit-ish and uninspired, ugh... 🙄 Whatever that may mean, new place, real world, The Upside Down changing into something, whatever else... For the time being, I have no idea.

And using "The Vanishing Of..." again feels a bit... tacky but given they are going to explain and go back to what Will experienced in 1983 more clearly, they might explain the weird elements of his dissapearance compared to what other characters experienced after that with whoever or whatever may dissapear. Though it won't be a vanishing to me, a missing is more accurate to what any character or multiple characters may be facing this season since compared to Season 1, they have more of an idea of what's actually going on. Which is why it feels a bit tacky to me.

"The Crawl" has already been explained by everyone already in the fandom, which is probably referring to a dungeon crawl in Dungeon & Dragons, whatever that may lead them into. Possibly metaphorical implications too but I'll leave that for another time.

Some other titles are interesting though like "Sorcerer" which almost sounds vindictive to me for some reason. It's episode 4 so trust that we are going to get the launching main plot points for the rest of the season in that episode, just like with all the other seasons, after the dramatic ending point of episode 3: "The Turnbow Trap", no idea what that is, sorry. "Shock Jock" episode 5, same thing, no idea.

And "The Bridge" as well, but for the moment I have no idea what that may be about. It could mean so many things like a bridge to the Upside Down, maybe how the bigger portal in the middle of Hawkins is called by the characters, it could be something related to a platform, who knows... I would like a tragic bridge moment under the rain but that's just me projecting my drama bias & wants on this episode which is probably not going to be about anything like that. It could be both but I think it's likely going to be the former.

However, this episode becomes interesting in the context of the one that comes right before it: "Escape From Camazotz" which is Episode 6, I will elaborate on this further down the line when I actually get to post my posts I've written but Episode 6 in ST1 & ST3, given that ST5 is likely going to parallel those before parralleling ST2 & ST4, is likely going to be the "big revelations episode" of that season which usually reveals what's been going on this whole time during the season and Episode 7 gives us more context and explanation to understand it fully while setting up the final episode with those explanations. It's usually also the episode where all the characters reunite and makes sense of what they've learned or discovered throughout the season.

In ST2 & ST4, it's not the same obviously and is a bit more loose and complicated around that part of the season. They parallel with themselves but not exactly but overall, that structure is present in Episode 7&8, with Episode 7 largely being a revelation episode for those 2 seasons just not done the same way as ST1 & ST3 and also not exactly similar with how ST2 & ST4 parallel each other. ST2's episode 7 being largely a side story centered around El which answers questions only for her characters, ST4's episode 7 is largely tied to the bigger plot points of that season with the important element of the Numbers being the main element of those episodes. However it's in ST2's Episode 8 that we learn more about elements of the main plot of that season while ST4's Episode 8 is more similar to ST1 & ST3 in it's purpose but the characters don't all group up or are aware of what's exactly going on during the story.

Anyway just to say that Episode 6 is likely going to be an important episode with Episode 7 being the conclusion of that while setting up the final episode. However, given it's the final season, I could see the Duffers saving some revelations for the last episode just like Episode 9 of ST4.

As for the "Camazotz" part of it all, well, it depends on which inspiration they're going to use since Camazotz, which is basically a bat god, has been used in so many stories now that it could be referencing so many things. It could be an entity, it could be someone, it could be a creature, it could be a place, it could even be a program or a weapon... Just know that given the elements that are linked to that name, it's probably something bad.

I kinda wished for more episodes because I just don't see how they could pull off a satisfying ending for everyone and everything with only 8 episodes but I'll have to settle for that at the moment.

Remember that the titles can change though, like with ST2 & ST3, probably not all of them but some of them.

Well, here it is, day by day we are coming closer to the last season. Hoping it turns out well for the most part but we'll see. 😉

[xaeyrnofnbe]

HOW ID REWRITE ANGEL: THE SERIES

(bc i liked the show but i feel like things should have played out VERY differently) (i'm very biased towards certain characters also)

changes start around when cordy ascends to be a higher being and connor throws angel in the ocean

her boredom as a higher being leads to her coming back to earth (on her own accord!!) and giving up her godhood to do so, but retaining outward, physical demonic traits (themed around her brief appearance as a god bc i think the imagery there was very pretty) and this acts as a full circle moment for her character, mirroring doyle in season 1. whereas once she was disgusted by a half-demon, now she is one herself and couldn't be happier. she still has visions and some minor abilities but now she doesn't pass for human and doesn't get to be space-demon-god

connor and cordelia DOESNT HAPPEN. GIRL THAT IS YOUR SON. BOY THAT IS YOUR MOM. PULL YOURSELVES TOGETHER

more lorne. idc what happens with him i just want him to be more of a main character

cordelia and angel have some brief awkward flirtations(?) which are super weird and uncomfortable and they conclude that they love each other dearly, but aren't into each other Like That (they only thought so to begin with bc all their friends kept saying it) (but they're buddies :]]])

connor seriously struggles with holt's death, and has to grapple with the emotional confusion of trying to live with and cooperate with the very man he was raised for the sole purpose of killing. but angel investigations really want him to be ok so they take good care of him throughout, even if he is hesitant to accept

uhhhh eventually wesley does get apologetic about betraying his friends. it takes him a while but he does recognize and regret his wrongdoings

i don't know what the big bad should be in season 4 since i'd fully retcon everything needed to make that plot happen. i like to imagine it would be better though

they DO end up running wolfram & hart. since i think it's funny. and spike's arc remains the same with him returning as a ghost, coming back to life, etc etc. he'd be a smidge different though, a TAD less antagonistic. not because i think he wouldn't but because i'd like to see more of the spike we saw at the end of btvs (it'd be hard to justify with buffy not being present, but i still think it's doable)

harmony gets to be more of a character also!!! she and cordy hang out :)) she also takes her job as angel's assistant VERY seriously, but in that way that only harmony could be, which is to say: not very serious at all actually, but she's very determined about whatever the hell it is she's doing

more hints that angel and spike banged when they were evil because 1. i think it's funny, 2. the implications for their characters and dynamic are EXCELLENT. i would also like a few more friend moments for them. and maybe they kiss idk whaaaat who said that. no but seriously the werewolf girl doesn't happen and instead that plot is taken over by spike. imagine. i mean whattt

more of angel acting silly bc he was adorable in the first season and i'd love more of that

fred doesn't die suddenly and horribly. preferably not at all

gunn gets to care about literally anything other than himself in s5. more emphasis on his resilience? his will to survive? and how that makes him more loyal to the people in his life? pretty please? and he hangs out with wes because they were friends once?

with cordelia not gone maybe they could somehow move dennis to wolfram & hart? or maybe cordy has a new apartment he could stay at? idk i just thought he was fun and SURELY there's a spell for that

basically there's road bumps for sure but at the core of the show is a band of friends. they LIKE each other, because i genuinely believe that's where the show is strongest. i never really cared for the dramatic plotlines, im really only in it for the characters i adore and their (ALMOST ENTIRELY PLATONIC UNLESS ITS FUNNY) relationships to one another. and it's at its weakest when everything's all gloomy and dramatic. so let it be lighthearted and let them be FRIENDS