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fountainpenguin · 3 months ago

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Went down a very specific research pipeline last night, and now you get to share it with me:

Does Dev have hypoglycemia?

Low levels of blood sugar that - when they drop - can lead to irritability, confusion, headaches, exhaustion, shaking, rapid heartbeat, blurry vision, passing out, seizures, or even death. Blood sugar can drop about 2 to 4 hours after eating; snacks and additional small meals are very needed; sugary foods like hard or gummy candies can give a quick boost, as can juice or soda. I'm continuing my research after this post, so please forgive/inform me if I've mixed up details between different types of hypoglycemia- or just got something totally wrong.

FOP: A New Wish is set in modern times (i.e. not the far future). He's allowed to have drones in the classroom with him- They're acknowledged as his assistants and the teachers know about them.

Potentially, they may function under similar rules to service dogs- another sentient creature that would be allowed in class (ignoring that Dev is sometimes away from them, or that they went into the halls on their own in "28 Puddings Later").

We know Dev is self-reliant enough to get by without his au pairs. They help him, but they're not something he needs 24/7.

Insert joke about the au pairs needing off-duty time like service dogs and sometimes they just go play. Union rules...

We know they have the capability to "alert on Dev" like service dogs... or at least, this one looked at Dev and beeped when scanning a paper, and even projected an exclamation point to catch his eye:

The visual-verbal cue combo is definitely an intentional feature (And it's not like it greeted him by name- it just beeped and he knew what it was conveying).

We know that at the end of "Lost and Founder's Day," this au pair - despite being a machine - recognized Dev was sad (or at least low energy) and patted him on the head.

Au Pair: I would hug you, but I do not have human arms or warmth.

Earlier in this episode, we see the au pairs respond to people based on data they were being fed through sensors people were wearing on their wrists. Dev might have one here, though we know he was upset to find out his dad was using them to zap people and he's sad about his dad not loving him, so it's likely he's not wearing it.

This implies the au pairs don't have enough data about most people, but they DO have internal data about Dev. If not internal, they can read him well. We do know they're good at reading cues- They get embarrassed during the festival when they find out problems have been corrected before they got there and we didn't see the Dimmlets shock anyone to prompt the au pairs to acknowledge the situation changed. What does it say about the au pairs if they're implied to be Dale's creation and they see sad Dev and think "I should hug him."

The Off Puddin' brand of pudding is so desirable that the whole class became addicted; they had withdrawals when Hazel changed her "unlimited pudding" wish to be "pudding after we take our class picture" wish- Just like everyone else, Dev was one of the affected individuals and ate all the pudding he could get his hands on.

If the pudding is that delicious, it's interesting Dev kept some (even if this is a new batch from a different pudding day) and snacked on it in Fairy World... and didn't give into impulses to eat it some random day beforehand:

I guess we can't prove it's the same brand, but it's presumably the same model from "28 Puddings Later." I think it's the only item we know he brought to Fairy World beyond clothes and one au pair that he stands on. He doesn't even use his tablet in this episode (which he's normally glued to outside of school).

We can confirm Peri didn't poof this up for him (or at least, it's very unlikely since that would've been weeks ago). Dev eats this pudding after Irep ditches him to hang out with his dad- Extremely doubtful Dev got Irep's attention for his snack. Or Dale's, for that matter (if his dad brought some).

Canonically, the principal gives Dev lots of pudding because his dad made a "generous donation" to the school. It's possible he does this often since we know Dev hoards pudding every pudding day...

... which is interesting, because in "Stanky Danky," the news describes Dale as "billionaire non-philanthropist." Investing in his child's future for the sake of good education doesn't seem to be his M.O.... although he does send Dev to a private school, so maybe.

We know Dale hates losing money, and we know he's not the best dad to Dev... but we also know Dev has an official allergy card that names him in 3rd person-

- which could imply he got this card when he was young. That's not guaranteed, but I looked at some IRL cards and some use first-person, so it's food for thought.

Possibly, his dad even took him to the doctor for official diagnosis. Lactose intolerance can be hereditary, so if Dale has it, he may have identified it immediately after Dev's first reaction. For all Dale’s faults, Dev IS still alive and not starving to death - and still lives with his dad - so it's not improbable Dale's aware of his son's food needs. On a darker note... given Dale's abusive childhood, I feel like lack of food is something he has trauma around. Also, if Dale is lactose intolerant, I'd be curious to know how Dev found out he was, as I'd assume Dale wouldn't keep dairy in the house if he can't eat it. The two logical options here are "Dale took him for an allergy test" or "Dev ate dairy outside the house and got sick, so he told his dad / the au pairs." Maybe he found out in preschool?

Dev's au pair bringing him a snack! Their boy needs to eat!

Anyway, this was all leading up to these screenshots of Dev having no fun on the walk to Signal Hill that I found funny:

No energy... need sugar... Exercise did a number on him... Hazel takes a breather by crouching for a second, but Dev just slams his face in the grass and I think that's great.

Despite Dev not liking to walk, he and Hazel stopped their treasure hunt before the final clue and walked back to the Dimmadome place for food, so that's neat to think about (especially in the context of him snacking before he left the house... How long were they out? Did he even finish his snack?)

Dev's au pair was preemptively wearing a chef's hat when he and Hazel came back to the house, so I wonder if that's his routine lunch time on weekends. The au pairs are good caretakers who know their boy's schedule and needs...

Immediately after this scene, Dale asks what Dev and Hazel are up to "this fine afternoon," so it's probably after 1 pm. Noon at the earliest, but surely not an early lunch at 11 AM. Interesting consideration for the timing of Dev's snack... It makes sense if he was out with Hazel for 2 to 4 hours before he had to go home and eat, even though they were on the final riddle.

Come to think of it, one of the things we know about Dev's house is that there's a cereal bar and Peri brings him cereal... and the woozy Peri hallucinating about bringing Dev "his favorite cereal" (during the finale) seems to get to him one way or another.

Consider... Cosmo and Wanda poofed up hard candy when Peri came over because Dev needed sugar I DID wonder what they were up to considering sugar gets Fairies inebriated...

tl;dr - I like to think the reason on paper that Dev gets his au pairs in school is for medical reasons. They track his blood sugar and keep him from, y'know... going into a seizure or passing out. I can't imagine Dale would like that happening to his son at home either (if for no other reason than because it would be a huge distraction he has to deal with).

If this is something Dev's been dealing with since he was little, that plays into the au pairs accompanying him through his early years... We know he's both lactose intolerant and extremely picky, not liking any of the cupcakes Peri poofed up despite this many attempts:

- which I cannot imagine Dale had the patience to deal with long if he was Dev's primary caretaker in his earliest years.

I was gonna make a joke about Dale hiring someone to watch Dev - and let's be real; he probably did - but also... do you think this cocky guy would spend money when "It's a baby; how hard can it be? I also eat daily- This is just efficient use of my time!"

POV: Tired single dad who's not yet finalized his au pair design walks into grocery store with baby, buys cupcakes, leaves. Confuses every parent in the parking lot when he has a fussy Dev sitting on the back of the car and he's spoonfeeding him icing. They did not go home. Next stop will be the park, where Dale falls asleep on a bench while Dev eats bugs. Some parent sees Dev eating a chocolate bar and strikes up a conversation with Dale about what a big moment it was when they treated their child to chocolate and Dale's just like "I've been feeding him that his entire life." Dale pouring a soda in his toddler's sippy cup: Don't judge me.

At a certain point, when you're a billionaire single dad running multiple businesses and you're good at robotics, there comes a time when "It would make things easier if my young child (who's a very picky eater and can't have dairy) had a drone to follow him around, alert him when his blood sugar is about to drop, or assist if he passes out" makes a lot of sense. Especially if you have major trust issues from abuse and prefer relying on your own inventions.

It was a very relieving day for Dale when he finally had a reliable au pair to leave his son with, I'm sure. Didn't accidentally kill his son!! #Not as big a jerk as you could've been!

During my original liveblog for "Battle of the Dimmsonian," I was confused about Dev going from "I need to talk to Hazel" to trying to spook her and her friends by summoning ghosts. I'm definitely not excusing his bitter attitude in general as a hypoglycemia thing, but this is an episode that would make this headcanon funny:

Peri, internally: Listen here, you little brat- I've read your file. Now eat your freakin' cupcake. Icing is good for you. Dev: These are terrible >:( I'll go without. Peri: WHY? Dev later that day: If I tell Peri I need sugar, he'll be SUCH a pain about it. I opt to suffer...

Anyway, I think it's interesting and I'm going the "au pairs help Dev with a lot of things, but one of them is hypoglycemia" direction in my City Lights AU :)

If anyone's curious, I'm doing growth hormone deficiency that also lands him with a weak immune system- another thing the au pairs help him with. My full character profile for Dev will go into extra details about his life... Fun times.

Dale, planting his whiny and sick child on the floor by his desk and handing him a tablet, juice, and a bunch of hard candy: Big Boss has a work meeting. Don't go outside or you'll die. At this point, you're sunk costs and if I lose you, I'm gonna make it everyone's problem.

Bonus Theory:

Are Doug and Dale also lactose intolerant, and did Dale kill his dad's cows?

In Season 5 - "Mooooving Day" - Doug runs a business called Dimmadome Farms, which produces extreme amounts of milk from genetically modified cows. He uses this to keep the population of Dimmadome Acres totally happy and obedient.

Doug seems convinced the milk makes people happy and that it's a good thing, but he doesn't personally drink it. It's kind of funny to think he went the route of milk because his family is full of lactose intolerant individuals who won't accidentally drink it.

Genetics - Lactose intolerance is inherited in the autosomal recessive pattern- This means either both of Dev's parents are lactose intolerant, or they personally aren't but carry the gene.

Additionally, Dev will only pass lactose intolerance to his kids if his partner also has the gene- either intolerant or a carrier.

There's a chance Dev developed it without genetics, but it looks like there's a lot more variety there than I can cover in a single post. From what I've read, it's "uncommon in babies and young children." He's 9 when "Peace of Pizza" takes place, which might strengthen the argument that it's genetic in his family.

One of the businesses Dale lists as under his possession in "Lost and Founder's Day" is Dimm-'N-Out Burgers. Presumably this is a parallel of In-'N-Out Burger, which use beef patties. Notably, this is a business made up for A New Wish- It's never been portrayed as under Doug's ownership.

If Dimmadome Farms already existed in Dale's youth, it makes sense Dale would use the cows from there- You have to do something with the ones who aren't producing milk, so why not make money?

Technically, Dimmadome Acres was wiped out by magic, but it's possible Dimmadome Farms itself was outside premises of the suburban neighborhood, so maybe there were other cows.

We know by A New Wish, Dale has established himself as a tech mogul, but he probably wasn't one straight after being rescued from 7 years of abuse, which is heavily implied to have started when he was 9 (give or take). Consider:

Doug: I'm making drinks from a labor force of enslaved individuals I've trapped underground :) His son, who recently escaped a life of being forced to make drinks for 7 years underground: This is incredibly insensitive, actually.

Hey, there's something SUPER sus about Dale's underground lemonade stand abuse starting at age 9 when his dad's milk factory is also underground in a big trapdoor and relies on trapped people for labor... Do you think Vicky found the cows when she was a kid and lured Dale down there, but he was lactose intolerant and couldn't drink mind control milk, so she moved him somewhere else... I'm connecting the dots...

It's worrisome that Doug's instinctual response to Timmy saying he didn't want to drink milk was "What a baby," and then he jumps and corrects himself to "Aw, shucks"... What conspiracy am I uncovering... Doug, let me in- I just wanna talk about the home your son grew up in.

I mean, the alt theory is that Doug built his underground dairy farm and trapped people to work in it BECAUSE Dale told him where he'd been for the last 7 years and he went "Oh, that's brilliant!" and that's also terrible??

Anyway, Doug's thing is that he's constantly jumping from one business to the next, never staying consistent (beyond the beloved Dimmadome stadium).

Knowing how he's always go-go-go, it's very probable he'd get his son involved in business young. Maybe Dale started with a burger joint until the robotics work paid off! A spiteful direction for Dimmadome Farms indeed...

Me, having a sudden realization and looking up from my notes theorizing both Dev and Dale have OCD and ADHD, then glancing at my second monitor where I have references from "Moooving Day" of Doug's meticulously arranged town of pink houses and people wearing matching outfits:

... Ah.

#Fairly OddParents #FOP #A New Wish #Doug Dimmadome owner of the Dimmsdale Dimmadome #Dale Dimmadome owner of Dimmadome Global #Dev Dimmadome owner of anguish #Mooooving Day #has always been one of my least favorite episodes but it's funny with Dale context #There's a bonus hypoglycemia joke that makes my headcanon of Ed Leadly being Dev's grandpa HYSTERICAL-#but I'll save that for Dev's full character profile :)#FAIRIES!#FOP: A New Wish #character analysis #In an alt universe Dale is Doug's tagalong to his schemes like “Chicken Poofs” and they're a father-son villain pair #Long post

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echo-goes-mmm · 10 months ago

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Ambrose and Elliot #26

Masterpost

Warnings: dehumanization, conditioning, murder mention, referenced past torture

Elliot woke up alone. The space beside him was cold; Master had been gone a while. Probably off to get rid of the body.

He buried his face into the pillows, squeezing one of them to his chest.

Master Ambrose had killed someone. Murdered a man. For him.

Elliot thought Ambrose was the kindest man in the world, but Horneswood’s screams last night told him that wasn’t true.

What did that mean?

Elliot rolled over, and sat up. Thinking was so hard, always, but he had been clever last night. He’d been right; there was a before time. Before his old master had gotten his hands on him.

His cleverness frightened him. It was so much easier to be stupid and dumb. It didn’t give him headaches like being smart did.

Elliot got out of bed and straightened the covers, smoothing out the wrinkles.

He was good at making things neat. He liked it; cleaning made his head quiet.

He should check to see if there was any blood left on the floor.

Elliot slipped out of the bedroom, but the sitting room floor was spotless. The furniture was back in its place, the rug spread out again. A part of him was disappointed; he wanted a distraction from last night’s revelations.

Elliot made his way downstairs. There was no sign of Ambrose.

He made himself a bowl of oatmeal and ate slowly. The hot food and late morning sunlight made him feel a bit better.

There was dried mud on the floor, and he didn’t know what it was from, but he welcomed the opportunity to scrub something away.

He grabbed a dishrag from the kitchen and a bowl of water, and got on his knees to wash away the mud. It was good work, and satisfying to see the dirty floor become shiny again.

The front door opened, and he knew from the sound of the swing that it was Ambrose.

“Hey,” he said. “How’re you feeling?��

“I’m fine, Master.” He kept rubbing away the dirt.

“Fine?”

Elliot paused. “Yes, Master. Just fine.”

Ambrose’s footsteps came closer, until he was standing right next to him. Elliot leaned into his leg, sighing. Master Ambrose put a hand on his head.

It was nice.

No matter what happened before, it felt… right to kneel at Ambrose’s feet.

“You called me Master. Twice, now.”

Elliot pulled away. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s just-” Ambrose sighed. “Are you sure you’re alright? Last night was a lot.”

Elliot stared at the streak of mud left on the floor. “I don’t know. But, um, I’m glad he’s gone.”

Master hummed. “Me too.”

“What- what if you get caught?” Elliot hadn’t really thought about it, but now…

“Oh, I already talked to the elders. They understood.”

Elliot blinked, and looked up at Ambrose. “What?” He wasn’t sure he heard him right.

“I took care of it. They know, and it’s fine.”

“They just… let you kill people.”

“I mean- no- but, well. I’ve been here a long time, and they trust me. And it’s not like Horneswood was a ‘beloved member of town’ or anything. I did have to tell them about… what he did to you. I’m really sorry about that.”

Elliot thought it over. Gods, he was tired, and so mixed up inside.

He didn’t want a bunch of people hearing about his old master, but if it kept Ambrose from getting into trouble it must be fine.

“Okay.”

He picked up the rag and went back to scrubbing the floor. Ambrose watched him for a moment before wandering off.

Elliot let his thoughts melt away, and felt at peace.

___________________

It was only noon-ish, but Ambrose poured himself some wine. An old bottle from before he moved to Little Wood; a good year.

He didn’t drink much, but he felt he deserved a little treat.

Elliot didn’t seem any different. Still quiet, still not-quite-there when he wasn’t being addressed. He just drifted around like a ghost. Doing housework. As usual.

Ambrose guessed that was the best he could hope for. A part of him wished Elliot would be less jumpy, more relaxed, but that still seemed to be in the far future.

He began to work on some soup while he sipped on his drink. He needed something to do to take his mind off of the lingering horror of last night.

Wordlessly, Elliot caught on to what he was doing, and joined him in the kitchen.

For someone who often didn’t understand kindness, he was plenty observant of everything else.

Elliot grabbed some of the vegetables he’d pulled out and started to roughly chop them as Ambrose took care of the aromatics.

“Do you want some wine?” Ellie didn’t drink, but it was polite to offer.

“Okay.” Huh.

He poured him a glass and they worked in silence.

Ambrose poured some oil into the pot and added the onion and garlic, listening to it sizzle. When it began to smell nice, he put in the ground beef mix he had set out.

Once it was browned, Ellie added the chopped tomatoes, celery, carrots, green beans, and potatoes. Ambrose stripped some dried herbs off their stems and tossed it in while Elliot fetched some stock.

Soon it was simmering, and Ambrose finished it with some pepper and coarse salt.

Ambrose ladled out two bowls, and Elliot took their wine to the table.

The soup was good and comforting, and the tension in Ambrose’s shoulders gradually bled out of him.

Elliot didn’t seem interested in getting seconds, which was odd. He pushed around a scrap of meat with his spoon, head on his hand.

“Are you alright, Ellie?”

“Why are you so kind to me? You don’t have to be. I wouldn’t do anything if you weren’t.”

Ambrose sat back in his chair.

“Everyone deserves kindness.”

“What about Mr. Horneswood?” Ambrose swirled the wine in his glass.

“I’m a hypocrite,” he shrugged.

Elliot didn’t smile at the joke. It wasn’t really a joke anyway. Ambrose turned to look out the window. Gray, dirty slush sat on the ground, matching the gray, sad sky. He took another sip of wine.

“How long will you let me stay here? I’ve only ever caused you trouble.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is. I’ve broken your dishes, I’ve gotten in a fight, I haven’t stopped crying and taking up your attention, and you just murdered someone for me,” listed off Elliot.

Ambrose didn’t quite know what to say.

“You help me out,” he said. “And I like you. You can stay as long as you need to.”

“And when I don’t need to anymore?”

“You can still stay.”

Elliot bit his lip and put down his spoon. He took a sip of the wine in his glass.

“Do you love me?”

Ambrose stared at him. Elliot met his gaze, and this was the most exhausted Ambrose had seen him since the first few weeks.

His hair was longer now, bangs brushing just above his blue eyes. It was clean and fluffy, still stark white like snow or clouds.

Elliot had even put on weight, and looked nearly healthy.

Aside from the deep dark shadows under his dead, dead eyes. Usually they were vacant and fleeting, but now that he was focused and alert (despite the wine, somehow), Ambrose could see the damage in his soul.

He looked away.

“I had a husband once, did you know?”

Elliot looked down at his bowl, shoulders sagging. Ellie shook his head.

“No, Master.” There was that title again.

Ambrose poured himself more wine.

“One day he just left. Didn’t say goodbye. A long time ago, but-” he shrugged. “-Still hurts. Then I moved here.”

“I didn’t know,” Elliot whispered.

“All that to say, I love my husband. I wish he’d come back.” Ambrose reached out, his hand on Elliot’s. “I can’t love you that way-”

“I don’t mind.”

“-But there’s more than one way to love someone, and I care for you deeply. I’ve been incredibly lonely since he left, and I value your company more than words. I hope you’ll stay, even when you don’t need me anymore.”

Elliot didn’t move. “You love me?”

“Mhm.”

“No one’s ever loved me before.”

“You mean, you don’t remember.”

“No. I mean no one has.” Elliot looked up at Ambrose, his eyes shiny with tears. “If someone loved me, they wouldn’t have let my old master do those things. They would have come for me. Right?”

Ambrose didn’t have an answer.

taglist: @cupcakes-and-pain @secretwhumplair @paintedpigeon1 @whump-blog @whump-em @thingsthatgo-whump-inthenight @starfields08000 @littlespacecastle @mylovelyme @whump-cravings @zeewbee @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @keepingwhumpwiththekardashians @fanastyfinder @roblingoblin285 @whumpzone @snakebites-and-ink @astrokea @magdalena-writes @latenightcupsofcoffee @tobiaslut @whumpsoda @loserwithstyle

#I cried writing this chapter.#Song that pairs with this for maximum hurt: What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish #our favorite boys are back!#I wrote this one in like two hours why does Ambrose & Elliot fly by and my new stuff doesn't?? :'(#Ambrose and Elliot #my writing #whump #slavery whump

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