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phantoms-lair · 4 years

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The Two Werewolves of Scooby Doo Part 4

Okay, this was supposed to be the last chapter, but it ended up being a lot longer than anticipates, so I split it into two.The good news is I’m already halfway through chapter 5

Previous Part

"I know what you're about to ask me, and no, I've made no progress."

"Like, we're running out of time." Shaggy said, running his hand through his hair. "The new moon's the night after next." Vincent was right in that without being around a human to lash out at, Daphne's evenings were much better than the first. Wolf Daphne was perfectly content to run around the the area outside Vincent's home chasing lightning bugs, or begging Shaggy for things like ear or chin scritches.

But better didn't necessarily mean good. The complete loss of control weighed on Daphne, highlighted even more by the fact that she could remember what happened when her body was outside her control. In the couple hours of sleep she would grab after sunrise, she was plagued by nightmares of what could go wrong. As such, she'd given Vincent a timeframe for the cure. They had through the New Moon, when no transformation would occur, and the day after. But before sunset on that day, if no progress had been made, Shaggy would bite her, thus turning her into a 'true' werewolf.

And Shaggy didn't want that. He really didn't want that. But Daphne was suffering and he didn't want that either! He respected that this was her decision, and he would honor it, but that didn't stop him from hoping against hope they'd find something beforehand.

But so far everything had been a dud. Vincent had tried various remedies, even a de-aging potion to see if Flim Flam's young age was the reason the curse hadn't affected him. It hadn't worked, but Daphne had made an adorable werewolf cub.

"I am aware of the date Shaggy, but this is largely a process of trial and error. We don't even know which of the thirteen cursed them, each of which could require a different methodology." Vincent sighed. He understood Shaggy's concern, as well as his desire to help his friend, but there was only so much he could do.

"I still think it has something to do with that drink." Scrappy said, crossing his arms.

"I fail to see how, but it's worth a shot, I suppose." Vincent let out a tired sigh. "I don't have any other ideas at the moment. Of course it will take some time to break down the brew into all possible magical components."

"There's a much quicker way, Vince." Flim Flam offered. "I can just drink some." The assembled group looked at him. "What, I'm the only 'normal' human here who could be affected. If it does nothing, we've ruled it out. If I turn into a werewolf too, Daphne can actually stay inside for the night, since there's no one here for her to attack. I'm actually safer that way." He shrugged.

Vincent fixed him with a look. "Flim Flam, you understand while identifying the drink as the culprit would narrow things down immensely, it could still be quite a while before I figure out the counter."

"I know, but it speeds things up, and I'd actually be in less danger. Besides," Flim Flam shuffled his feet. "You guys have been pretty good to me, and I want to help." "You know you don't have to do this," Daphne said entering the room. Her clothes and hair were flawless as always, but her makeup couldn't quite hide the bags under her eyes.

Shaggy bowed his head. "I wish I could-"

"Shaggy, you're the only reason this situation isn't 100% worse, so don't feel guilty you can't be the guinea pig." Daphne chided. "And I'm serious, Flim Flam, you don't have to do this."

"Well, I choose to." Flim Flam said stubbornly. "It's worth a shot."

"A very against the odds shot, which is the only reason I'm agreeing to this." Vincent summoned a tankard from...somewhere...that had SHaggy reeling back with a look of disgust. "However, first I want you to swallow this." He handed Flim Flam a small object.

"It looks like a fossilized hairball." Flim Flam said critically.

"It's called a bezoar. It will nullify any poison you ingest." Vincent explained.

"Won't that mess with the curse?" Scrappy asked.

"Not at all. A curse is not poison. Wolfsbane, however, is an extremely deadly one, used as a common form of execution in ancient Greece. The wolfsbane in this has been detoxified as much at it can be, but it's barely safe for an adult. It is absolutely not safe for a child without precautions like this."

"If it's so deadly, why put it in a drink? Much less the town specialty?" Daphne wondered.

"Hope makes you do stupid things." Shaggy answered, a touch bitterly.

"Rope?" Scooby asked.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you figured it out." Vincent sighed. "The drink was originally an attempt to self medicate. They hoped that such a powerful werewolf repellent such as wolfsbane would ward off the curse. It didn't, but without anything else they could do, they kept at it. That's why they drink it right before sunset."

"So they almost poison themselves every night just trying to weaken the curse? I feel kind of bad for them." Daphne said.

"I don't."

"Shaggy!"

"What? I don't." Shaggy crossed his arms. "Like, they were actively trying to keep us from leaving Daph. Which means either they were planning on killing us in their werewolf forms, or trying to get us cursed too. And either way, I'm not feeling sorry for them. We, like, didn't have a choice in this. They made that choice, and they did it during the day. They knew what they were doing."

"I...I never thought of it that way. I just thought of them as victims of the curse like me...which is exactly what they wanted us to think." Daphne slammed her fist into the castle's stone wall. "If Scrappy and Flim Flam were right, and it was the drink they served us that carried the curse, then they purposefully tried to curse us so we'd feel sorry or at least kinship with them. And since children can't safely tolerate the drink, they were writing Flim Flam off as dead either way."

Daphne growled. It wasn't a wolfish one, but it made her rage perfectly clear. "Oooo I wish I could turn into a monster right now and rip them to shreds."

"I can do that." Shaggy said, though he looked deeply uncomfortably. "I mean they hurt you and..."

Daphne took a deep breath, trying to release her anger. "You could never live with yourself if you did that and I could never live with myself for asking you. I'm just...just a whole lot of bad feelings right now. Thank god tonight's the last time."

"Yeah," Shaggy said less than enthusiastically.

"And possibly first time. Bottoms up." Flim Flam swallowed the bezoar, then took a large sip of the drink. "Hey not bad."

"That's because you're not a werewolf." Shaggy said, wrinkling his nose. He really couldn't understand how people could tolerate that smell, much less like it.

"I suggest we all get some rest this afternoon. Between a potential second werewolf and Daphne's cursed self being let loose around my house, I suspect tonight we will all need it." After so many all nighters studying the curse, Vincent knew he certainly did.

"Inside? But what if the drink doesn't turn Flim Flam?' Daphne fretted.

"Between Shaggy, Scooby, Scrappy, and myself we are more than sufficient to make sure no harm comes to him." Vincent reassured her. "I am far more concerned for my upholstery's safety than his."

"Last time." Daphne said as she watched the sky turn pink from her window. "Shaggy, really, thank you for everything. Not just keeping me company and corralling me during the night. but being willing to...I know you don't want to."

"I really don't." Shaggy admitted. "But your curse is so much worse than mine. I don't want you to go through this anymore either."

Daphne sighed. "Are you ever going to tell me what happened?"

"Maybe." Shaggy answered. "Are you going to tell Velma and Fred about this?"

"I don't know. Not yet. I don't like keeping secrets from them, and I'm not opposed to them knowing. But right now I just don't want to talk about it. It feels too raw."

"Maybe one day," Shaggy said for both of them.

"One day," Daphne agreed as the last rays of the sun, and thus her human mind, vanished in the light of the thinnest sliver of moon.

It was easy to tell when Daphne stopped being herself. Her whole demeanor changed, relaxing. She nudged his shoulder with her muzzle, tail wagging.

“Like, at least someone’s having a good time.” he commented, rubbing her neck. He didn’t know if the change was tiring. The first night he wouldn’t have thought so, as she’d tried to attack Flim Flam almost immediately. But every night since had started with the wolf being very docile and wanting affection. Later she would want to explore or run around, but the start of the night was always quiet.

At least it was until a walkie talkie crackled to life. "I told you guys!" Scrappy's voice came from the other side. "I told you wolfsbane turns people into werewolves!"

Shaggy grabbed for his radio. "Really? Then Flim Flam is...?"

A small yip came from over the device, which made wolf Daphne's ears perk. She looked at Shaggy expectantly.

"You want to see another werewolf huh?" Her tail wagged harder. "Well, I guess we can go." Shaggy's feelings were decidedly mixed. They were one step closer to an answer, but it meant Flim Flam was cursed too. The only small mercy was he would never have to deal with the memory of needing to attack humans, since as he pointed out himself, he had been the only normal person there.

They had reached the living room when the two youngest members of their group joined them. Like Daphne, Flim Flam seemed to have no remnant of his human personality. He and Daphne Wolf stared at each other for a moment, before both jumped on the couch,making happy noises. Daphne Wolf began licking the top of his head, like one packmate grooming another.

"Dawww" Scooby cooed at the sight.

"Like, Daphne's not going to be happy if she gets hairballs." Shaggy comment, feeling a bit torn. The two were so happy, it was obvious the curse werewolves craved each others company, and he'd been keeping Daphne away from the others. But at the same time he didn't trust them, even without their minds. These were the people who had hurt Daphne, and he wouldn't give them a chance to get their claws into her.

"I truly did not think this would work." Vincent said, entering the room. "I must wonder if one of the ingredients was the original vector, or merely an additional one. Either way it should-" He was cut off by twin growls as Daphne and Flim Flam both rose from the couch, fur standing on end and teeth bared.

"Guys NO!" Shaggy moved between them and their intended target, but Vincent had his own ideas, lifting the amulet around his neck ever so slightly. Shaggy was no stranger to fear, it was the emotion he was most familiar with, after all. But he'd never felt anything like this. This cold clutching at his heart, his muscles tensing so much it hurt. Fear so intense he felt he'd almost come around the other side to nothing.

Then it broke, and the sudden absence of the fear was enough to push all three werewolves into bolting. "A bit too much?" Vincent asked the gobsmacked Scooby and Scrappy.

"Rust a reeny rit." Scooby replied, holding his paws barely apart.

"Raggy! Raggy!"

Scooby's voice broke through the panic that was driving him, and Shaggy shook himself out of it. Vincent had told him, told him, about the whole aura thing, but he hadn't been able to think when he was faced with it. "That was terrifying, man. Like, Mr. Van Ghoul was not kidding about being terrifying to werewolves." Werewolves, oh no. "Did you see where Daphne and Flim Flam went?"

"Ruh-Ra," Scooby shook his head. "Rappy rent rafter Rim Ram."

"I guess that leaves us to find-" There was a sudden sound of shattering glass. "Daphne just went outside, didn't she?"

"Rep." Scooby confirmed.

Shaggy sighed, "Like I just hope she went through a bottom floor window."

She had. And left a clear trail of upturned soil and broken twigs and branches in her path is her rush to escape. With such an easy trail to follow, it didn't take overly long to find her, curled in a ball at the base of a great rock, shacking.

Shaggy and Scooby both curled around her her, making reassuring sounds until the shaking stopped. "You good to go back Daph?" Shaggy asked in a gentle tone.

Daphne's ears went back, looking scared at even the idea of returning to the castle. "Hey, don't worry. You know Vincent would never hurt us. And besides, Flim Flam and Scrappy's still back there."

Daphne let out a small, whine, clearly not happy, but still got up.

"Like, I know this won't make you feel better now, but believe me. Human you is going to find me coaxing you into a spooky place hilarious tomorrow." Shaggy assured her as they made their way back.

"You found her!" Scrappy waved at them from the broken window. "Did you find Flim Flam?"

"Not yet, I figured I should guard the window so he couldn't run out." Scrappy explained.

"Good thinking." Shaggy agreed. "I guess we check his room first?" Sure enough, the door was slightly ajar. With a sigh of relief Shaggy opened it, only to freeze at what he saw inside. “Zoinks!” Quickly he tried to shut the door, but he wasn't fast enough as Daphne slipped in the room.

Flim Flam fled as fast as his legs could carry him. When he’d first seen the figure something deep inside him had taken over, driven him to attack. But that was swiftly overridden with the sense of danger and evil that suddenly radiated from it.

All he could do was was flee and in his rush he’d lost track of the others. So he headed towards the only place that was familiar, the room he’d woken up in. He hadn’t slowed down in time though, and as he burst through the door he collided with a dressers, causing something inside to wobble and then fall off, shattering on the ground.

Flim Flam dove under the bed and huddled there, ears poked for any sounds, from his friends to the scary man. But there was nothing. There was, however, a smell. It smelled tasty and was coming from whatever had spilled on the floor.

As scared as he was, he was also curious. Slowly he inched his way out from under the bed, ready to duck back under at moment’s notice. He tentatively took a lick and shuddered as a strange sensation flooded through him. His thoughts became sharper, clearer, more...

More human! He was thinking like a human! Flim Flam did a double take between his very human hands and clearly still nighttime sky. He glanced down at the broken bottle on the floor and couldn’t help the wide grin that spread across his face.

For years he’d been written off as a pint-sized conman, but here was proof his Lotsa Luck Joy Juice was the real deal. It had broken a werewolf curse set by one of the thirteen evilest spirit’s in existence!

“Zoinks!”

Shaggy’s sudden cry caught Flim Flam by surprise and his head shot up just in time to see the werewolf version of Daphne barrel past Shaggy and into the room.

Flim Flam felt his heart jump into his throat. He’d been kept far away from Daphne in her transformed state. She’d apologized profusely and he hadn’t held it against her. But the memory of her trying to attack him as still there and now those teeth were an inch from his face.

Shaggy was there in an instant, hand on Daphne’s shoulder to hold her back. But Daphne wasn't trying to pull forward to attack, like she had two weeks ago. Nor was she happy like earlier this evening. Instead she just cocked her head to the side before looking at Shaggy.

Shaggy shrugged at her. "Like, I think she's confused 'cause you were a werewolf earlier and now you're not. Actually, I am too."

"I found the cure. Flim Flam's Lotsa Luck Joy Juice!" Flim Flam said proudly. "Wolf me drank some that spilled from the broken bottle."

"That's great!" Shaggy exclaimed. "Is there more? Like without the chance of broken glass."

"Well no," Flim Flam admitted. "I kept that for posterity, the rest went into the Flying Mystery Machine's gas tank." An odd name for a plane, but who was he to argue. "But I can make more!"

“Sounds great,” Shaggy sat, more collapsed,on the bed. It was as if the knowledge that there was an end in sight released even more tension than he’d known he had. His limbs felt noodlely but honestly he felt better than he had in two weeks. “How long does it take?” “A few days at most. Might take less if Vince has everything I need to make it.” Flim Flam said offhand.

Shaggy felt his heart sink. They only had a little more than a day. Daphne had made it clear this was her last night transformed by the curse. “What can I do to help?” Flim Flam thought for a moment. “Nothing. Sorry Shaggy, Part of the process involves silver, and you shouldn’t be near that.” Shaggy wanted to argue that scars from silver burns would be worth it to save Daphne, but Scooby was giving him a look that said he knew what Shaggy was thinking, and he should stop thinking it right now.

“Re ran relp,” Scooby indicated himself and Scrappy.

“Yeah, okay.” Flim Flam nodded. “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

“And Vincent too!” Scrappy added.

Daphne let out a slight yelp, then a whine, looking at Shaggy pleadingly.

“It’s okay, Vincent won’t hurt them,” Shaggy tried to reassure her. "I know he felt really scary, but we've been living with him for weeks, remember."

Flim Flam shuddered. "I know he told us about that, but experiencing it was a whole 'nother thing."

"Like tell me about it," Shaggy suppressed a shudder himself . "I should probably keep Daph away from him till morning. She was really spooked."

"Don't blame her." Flim Flam knew it would be a while before he forgot that feeling. "See you on the flip side." He carefully walked past where he and Daphne were before taking off.

"Re rot rhis," Scooby promised. "Rit's ronna re rokay."

"It's gonna be okay," Shaggy repeated, still not sure he completely believed it, even though he wanted to. Hope was a dangerous luxury.

#The Two Werewolves of Scooby Doo #Scooby Doo #There are times in Scooby Doo when they go alls well that ends well and the bad guy faces no consequences I feel they really should have #To All The Ghouls I Loved Before was one of those times #Also Shaggy is a LOT less tolerant of people who would turn others into werewolves

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quarterfromcanon · 4 years

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27-29 for the get to know my favorites game

Hello, lovely! Thank you for these. :) Trios turned out to be a surprising challenge (I apparently have more favorite groups of four than three), but I’m pretty happy with the ones I remembered after giving it some thought. The final picks are under the cut! <3

Top 5 BROTPs

1. Paula Proctor & Rebecca Bunch (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) - Naturally, this was the immediate choice that sprang to mind. It’s the first relationship on the show I really fell in love with, and it’s the one friendship in the series that consistently tugs on my heartstrings. It’s flawed, complicated, and messy but the genuine connection underneath it all is strong enough that I’m hopeful they can work through their problems. I would’ve preferred to see more emphasis on that effort in the fourth season (and a lot more work on Rebecca’s friendships with Heather and Valencia as well), but I want to believe things improved between them after the finale.

2. Steve Harrington & Robin Buckley (Stranger Things) - The general public opinion of Steve Harrington has been on such a journey since Season 1, bringing him now to a status of common fan favorite. As such, I think a delicate balance needed to be struck in finding a suitable match to team up with him on adventures. This person needed to:

A) Have good chemistry in their interactions with Steve

B) Bring a new dynamic to the table that he didn’t already have with an existing connection

and most importantly

C) Be a unique and engaging character that the audience would care about individually, so they didn’t get lost in simply being an offshoot of Steve’s story. They couldn’t be relegated to perpetual sidekick with little else to define them.

As far as I’m concerned, Robin Buckley fits the bill on every account. She’s artistic, resilient, loyal, and - especially endearing to me - a movie buff. She has a quick wit, a sharp mind, and a big heart. Being friends with Robin helps Steve take the specter of his high school self less seriously so he can put it behind him, and she helps him more fully embrace the person he’s becoming in the wake of that lost status. Having Steve for a friend helps Robin resolve some lingering emotional scars from school as well. It gives her an opportunity to share her authentic self with a peer and - to her relief and ours - find acceptance after revealing a pretty important secret. I can’t wait to watch the two of them be adorably nerdy and goofy bros at Family Video in Season 4, presumably with some daring fights against dark forces when they’re off the clock. Does saying I hope Kali comes to Hawkins somehow and bonds with one or both of them mean I can speak that into existence? I’m doing that now. It’s worth a try. If it happens in some capacity when the time comes, know that I will throw a One Blogger Party of epic proportions.

3. Wynonna Earp & Nicole Haught (Wynonna Earp) - I had to use this specific screencap because it perfectly encapsulates the chaotic energy that makes me loves these two together so much. Their separate approaches to their shared work environment are at pretty much polar opposite ends of the spectrum, but they make a pretty solid team when they play to each other’s strengths and communicate. They also both love Waverly most of all, so it feels like they were bound to work out their differences eventually since neither would want to make her feel torn between her sister and her girlfriend. The hijinks they get up to in each other’s company are just top shelf. I look forward to at least a little bit of fun like that from every season. If I wind up having a lasting partner later on down the road, it’d be cool if their personality balanced well with my sister’s on this level. I’d also be really happy if I ultimately gelled with her person in a way that sounded unlikely at first but worked. Fingers crossed for both outcomes, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

4. Emily Thorne [Amanda Clarke] & Nolan Ross (Revenge) - I have two things to quickly clarify for those who are unfamiliar with this show.

#1 She has two listed names because she was born Amanda Clarke but goes by Emily Thorne for most of the series to hide her true identity.

#2 Despite the impression this picture may give, Nolan is not marrying Emily; he is simply walking her down the aisle.

These two are there for each other through so much - the looming threat of discovery, jail time, capture, near death experiences, heartbreak, the passing of loved ones, etc. - and they make it to the other side with a deep bond the likes of which they’ll never experience with another person. It is at times heavily one-sided because of how much drama Emily deliberately dives into, but it’s something that she tries to make up for during her more self-aware and less self-involved times. There’s genuine love and mutual respect there by the finale and it’s really gratifying to witness the journey they’ve taken together.

[~Slightly spoiler-y closing statement after these brackets~] I was pretty sure I knew where the show was going with romantic ships by the end. I knew for certain it wasn’t my personal OTP for her because they’d already killed that person off quite some time ago. There was a part of me that could’ve found some contentment in leaving the story with these two as a couple. After all, one of my favorite ship dynamics is Reluctant Acquaintances to Best Friends to Lovers, but it was not to be. That being said, the platonic friendship they shared was a big part of the heart of the show and I cherish it for that. Nolan was a rare exception for Emily, a genuine bond formed in the years when she was tried to operate like her heart was made of stone. I also think working with Emily gave Nolan a sense of purpose and let him flourish in his area of expertise. I’m not sure how either of them would feel about the musical reference but, to slightly paraphrase from Wicked: because they knew each other, they have been changed for good.

5. Penelope Stamp & Bang Bang (The Brothers Bloom) - I have seen Rachel Weisz and Rinko Kikuchi in more roles since this movie than I had prior to watching it for the first time so, if anything, my fangirling over this friendship has gotten worse rather than more manageable. x) This post classified the film under the subgenre whimsical noir. It turns out that’s a style I instantly adore every time I stumble upon it. One of the titular brothers, Stephen, lives so deeply immersed in the variations of the world he writes for their heists that even those closest to him are essentially characters he can interact with on a daily basis. His feelings for them as people can get very muddled with his feelings for them as interesting OCs to move through narratives. A big trouble with this is that his living archetypes can often get reduced to clichés. He’s not always mindful of their nuances or allowing for the full range of their autonomy. Penelope is selected by Stephen to serve as the “manic pixie dream girl” who will be his brother Bloom’s forever love and Bang Bang is essentially presented as a “dragon lady” stereotype. I haven’t done a rewatch in years so I may be giving the movie too much credit here, but I remember this choice feeling at least semi-deliberate. It could be interpreted as a way to illustrate how Stephen warps real life to fit his vision. At least, I can definitely remember scenes that felt like they debunked the one-note assessments of these two. What I genuinely love, though, are the little moments when Penelope and Bang Bang are able to just spend time together with little to no interference from Stephen or Bloom. They share their hobbies and teach each other new skills. It feels like they truly perceive one another as whole human beings on a level that neither guy is capable of doing since they’re both so immersed in the drama of the plot. When the women are with each other, they get to be more than an extension of the men who maneuver them; they get to be themselves. Penelope is the only one Bang Bang clearly wants to maintain contact with once the heist is finished. I think that says a lot. Honestly, this is another BROTP that could slide to OTP. If someone wrote fic of them completely severing ties with the brothers and going off on their own - romantically or platonically - I wouldn’t be upset at all.

Top 5 Trios

1. Luke, Leia, & Han (Star Wars Episodes IV - VI) - Oh dear, I’m overwhelmed just looking at a picture of them together. Star Wars has been a part of my life since childhood. Getting to watch the original trilogy felt like a rite of passage (when I was really little, Mom used to find things for us to do outside the room while Dad watched because she was afraid some of it might scare me). Princess Leia resounded with me on a level that almost no other fictional royalty has ever quite matched. Han’s wardrobe is still some serious #aestheticgoals and I would 100% wear replicas of his jackets and vests if I had them. I also remember thinking that Luke’s new look in Return of the Jedi was SO COOL with the all-black wardrobe and green lightsaber. Wow, imagine that, an edgy costume change that shared vibes with the common Disney villain color palette called to me as a baby fan of antagonists and antiheroes! Who ever could have foreseen that sudden spike in appreciation? :P Anyway, one of my lingering sorrows about the more recent trilogy is that we never got to see all three of them as aged adults in each other’s company. I still wanted our new cast to get their time to shine, of course, but I do lament the absence of at least one little trio reunion.

2. Luna, Neville, & Ginny (Harry Potter series) - The Silver Trio, pictured here with the first set of three that comes to mind when thinking about the books and movies. I do still love Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but I’ve found a growing appreciation for this other team-up over the years. They’ve been through a lot too, even if they are not always present where the main action is. Bullying, loss of parents, manipulation of the mind and body, abuse at the hands of authority figures - they’re all left with internal (and probably external) scars to bear. There’s also something to be said for how strong they all were in the school year set during Deathly Hallows, when the Golden Trio wasn’t around to inspire and unite those who wanted to stand up to ever-increasing tyranny. It can be easy, unfortunately, for them to get written off based on the oversimplified stereotypes that have gotten associated with them. People remember Luna as being weird and spacey, Neville as awkward and hapless, and Ginny as bland and lovestruck. They’re all far more nuanced than that, and they accomplish great things while fighting for and beside their friends. I’m planning on doing a re-read of the books at some point, and I really look forward to revisiting these brave kids.

3. Irma, Marion, & Miranda (Picnic at Hanging Rock) - Ah, yes, my very recently discovered darlings. I have many thoughts about them all. I’ll try to keep this as condensed as I can while still making sense. Some spoilers will follow, although those won’t answer every question the story poses. There are audience members who ship the above characters as a throuple, which I totally get, but for me it’s like soulmates of a different kind. These three have met at a point in their lives when they all burn with compatible intensity. They long for the same dream version of youth, for a way to begin life free from the confines of a world that won’t accept all their hearts contain. While the people that surround them may not be willing to bend the rules, nature itself appears to show them mercy. How often do we see a story of girls who just... love other women so much that a sacred location goes, “Y’know what? I’m gonna help you escape your restrictive society. Permanently.” This miniseries definitely depicts the setting as being involved in messing with the investigation, as a mystical place that befuddles unwanted intruders. I love the way these three fortify each other in times of pain and fear, and there’s something deeply moving about how standing side-by-side helps them defy the odds.

4. Sarah, Alison, & Cosima (Orphan Black) - Okay so, technically, when I picture our core team in this show, the net is a little wider. My mind tends to also include Felix, Mrs. S., Kira, Helena, Donnie, Delphine, and Scott. However, I think you could kinda argue that those characters have a stronger connection to one of the above three than they do to the other two. Thus, this ends up being the central triangle. They’re all such solid performances and the fact they’re all played by the same person is incredibly impressive (not to mention the, like, twelve other clones Tatiana brings to life throughout the series). Watching them go from tense strangers to sestras was wonderful. I’m glad they had each other through the increasingly complicated web of lies and schemes they had to unravel and survive.

5. Galavant, Sid, & Isabella (Galavant) - Remember how James Marsden was in Enchanted? If you dialed down the deliberately cartoonish quality of that performance and allowed for more not-so-G-rated humor, I feel like you’d have a general sense of what Galavant is like as a character. Sid is his squire and Isabella is a princess whose mission happens to combine with Galavant’s, albeit fueled by different driving motivations. They find themselves involved in a lot of shenanigans because of Galavant - even in his own universe, he’s into the whole dashing knight thing more than is strictly necessary - but they make a fun little team to follow through the world of this musical television series. I’ve gotten fuzzy on the details since I watched it air live four years ago, but I remember the series being enough of a summer feel-good time that I’d be game to revisit the show again someday.

Top 5 Family Relationships

1. Stevie Budd & The Roses (Schitt’s Creek) - The whole fish-out-of-water setup for this series was already pretty fun in and of itself, especially given how outlandish their lifestyles evidently were before the show begins. The thing that makes it special, though, is how the absence of all their expensive distractions finally helps them prioritize being a family. The Roses do a lot of work to reconcile who they were with who they find themselves becoming in the present. It’s sweet to see them collectively conclude that growing closer to each other is one of the few things they do not regret in the slightest. They also silently agree to adopt Stevie along the way and, boy, does that give me a lot of Big Feelings, particularly in the later seasons.

2. River Song & The Ponds (Doctor Who) - I think it’s been like seven years or so, give or take, since I watched Doctor Who with any regularity. These three have resurfaced in my mind many times since then. They all love with such fierce and unwavering devotion, spanning lifetimes. It’s fascinating - and often heartbreaking - to learn about the things they’ve experienced and endured. Oh gosh, and once the show reveals how River’s story overlaps with theirs, and you pay attention to how she looks at them, IT HURTS but it’s so engaging to watch. The emotions are all flooding back just remembering them now. Argh, what great characters... </3

3. The Tico Sisters (Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi) - Rose appears in two installments of the third trilogy, but this is the episode that has both Tico daughters. We never get to see them interact onscreen in the film, but I still feel the bond between these sisters so intensely. I found out later that Kelly was present for the filming of Paige’s death scene (which happens so early in the movie that it doesn’t feel like a big spoiler - please forgive me if it is). I’m glad that was something they decided to do behind-the-scenes, because it definitely informs Rose’s grief. She’s sitting in the dark, picturing her big sister’s final moments with such horribly vivid detail that it feels like she was there, and yet she can’t do anything to change how it ends. The shape of the sisters’ necklaces immediately establishes that they were a unit even when acting independently, that they felt like two halves of a whole - all they had left of their family. Now there is only one, and that fact is a weight around Rose’s neck both figuratively and literally. It serves as a visual reminder of how she carries Paige’s absence always, trying to discover and embrace who she is on her own while still honoring the memory of a relative she loved so deeply. I think she reaches the end of Episode VIII feeling like she’s someone of whom her sister would be quite proud. I’m very proud of her, too.

4. The Tyler Siblings (Wonderfalls) - Jaye is comically different than the rest of her family, and the show establishes that right out the gate when we learn that she’s the only one whose name doesn’t rhyme with the rest (left to right, the others are Karen, Sharon, Darrin, and Aaron, respectively). Her relationships with her parents could certainly lead me off on some analytical tangents but, predictably, it’s the sibling stuff that interests me more. I think it could be said that all three do more living inside their heads than they do out in the world, and that they’ve all grown up to be borderline loners (Ironically Jaye, who is considered the most troubled, is the only one I remember being shown to have formed and maintained a friendship). Aaron’s a very philosophical and analytical person, so you get the sense he talks to himself more than to others, although he still manages to resurface from those deep contemplations so he can goad and tease his sisters from time to time. Sharon is high-strung, competitive, and brings that “disaster lesbian” energy to basically every social interaction she has. Jaye’s standoffishness seems to stem from both the difficulty of fitting in with people and the fear that connections will fall apart once they manage to form at all. They’re all just messes trying to make the best out of the situations they face, and I appreciate that. I also enjoy how prominently the Jaye and Sharon sister bond features throughout the show’s only season. It starts out on pretty rocky ground, but they grow a lot in regard to how willing they are to communicate and express their love for one another.

5. The Brothers Proctor (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) - The family dynamics in their house are in need of some serious work, without a doubt. I’m just really touched by how close these two have become without Paula’s notice. It’s possible they always were, in that we-fight-but-we-care way that siblings can often be, but the supportive side of that really moves to the forefront as they get older in the series and it warms my heart. There’s such a glaring difference between The Household As Paula Views It and Things That Are Happening While She’s Not Paying Attention. I can’t help using fic as a way to explore that. I happily find excuses for her sons to make pop-in appearances, just to check up on them. I'm so pleased that, as of Season 4, they seem to have become fairly well-adjusted in spite of everything. Oh, and I am still not over the revelation that they attend renaissance festivals together, in character, for fun. What precious cuties who would no doubt dislike me referring to them as such! Paula, please give them an extra hug from me!

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