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ZOLA AND STEFANI — 2020, ZOLA
“Who’s looking out for me..?”
Zola (2021)
Zola (2020) dir. Janicza Bravo
February 17th, 2026 | Two coincidences lately: starting Zola's Une Page d'amour (One Page of Love) right before Valentine's day, and unknowingly picking sticky tabs of the same colours as the flowers my boyfriend gifted me 😌
Is it me, or does Zola's "Heterodyne" costume take fashion-inspiration from Klaus Wulfenbach?
Consider the lapels. The shape of the coat, the exaggerated shoulders.
Compare that first look at Zola, with our first look at the Baron.
Zoom in a bit. Look at the shape of those lapels. Look at the Trilobite insignia wort on her throat & both lapels. (and her earrings, and in her hair...)
Does this remind you of anyone?
Baron Klaus Wulfenbach spent around 10 years becoming THE image of Might & Strength in the mind of the public.
It's not surprising that Zola would try to evoke that image when making her debut as the "Heterodyne."
Even if she did it in pastel pink.
Candy Lore
I've been brainstorming over Candy's setting and origin a bit, and felt like creating a primer that brings people up to speed with regards to her story. Also just wanted to make sure I got it written down somewhere.
Apologies for the length. Once I got started, I was having way too much fun, and the origin part wound up turning into more of a short story than as the exposition I'd originally intended.
The Setting
Hundreds of years have passed since the events of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games. Things have been mostly peaceful, time has marched on, and by sheer coincidence the Pokemon world just happens to closely resemble late-90s/early-2000s North America, complete with suburbs, shopping malls, high schools, the internet, and so forth.
Don't think about it too hard.
There haven't been any mystery dungeons for centuries, and scholars largely consider them myths whose cultural origins are lost to the abyss of time. Humans are regarded like we might think of elves or unicorns, and there have been several popular fictional IPs based around what the denizens of the Pokemon world think humans are like. Or would be like, if they were even real.
Which they obviously aren't. Only babies think that.
The Guilds are still around, but function more like Masonic Lodges than any kind of rescue or exploration society. They do charity, coordinate holiday parades, throw block party barbecues - the typical sorts of things non-collegiate fraternities and sororities do.
However, the organization is subject to no end of conspiracy theories, and some of the members in the higher echelons may know more than they let on.
The Characters
Our protagonists are a quartet of teenage goth girls currently in their sophomore year of Treasure Town High: Candy Appelle the Sylveon, Melissa Nyanstein the Alolan Meowth, Ashley Ödet the Absol, and Zola Sionnach the Zorua. Candy, ever the pushy loud-mouth, has appointed herself the de-facto leader of the group. The others allow her this indulgence, mostly because they don't care, but also because it keeps her from whining about it.
The Incident
Candy herself had dreamt of becoming an Umbreon ever since she was in middle school, especially since she was the only normal type in her group of otherwise all dark-type friends. One weekend evening near the start of her sophomore year, and while still an Eevee, she could sense the time was right. With the rest of her crew in tow, she made her way to to her favorite outcropping overlooking the town, and waited.
There, with her best friends in the world (and Melissa) she felt the happiest she had ever been. "I'm so glad you girls could be here with me for this," she said, gathering everyone together in a group hug as best she could with her stubby little Eevee arms. "It means the world to me," she added, fighting back a small, emotional sniffle.
"Heh, gay."
"Shut up, Melissa."
As the full moon rose, she could feel the changes start. Giddy with excitement while the evolutionary light enveloped her, she closed her eyes and waited for the process to complete, a massive grin stretching upon her face from ear to ear.
Soon enough, the light subsided. Her eyes remained closed as she basked in the new sensation of being bigger, stronger, more powerful. Silence lingered as she waited for words of congratulations from her friends, only for it to be broken by the sounds of snickering from Melissa.
"That's a nice look for you, pinky."
Candy's eyes snapped open, only to be greeted by looks of horror from Ashley and Zola - and the sight of Melissa almost in tears as she fought back a barrage of laughter.
Her gaze shot downward as she raised her paws to her face. Instead of the midnight black she was expecting, she was greeted with a combination of pink and white fur. Panic grew as her head tilted forward, and she could feel something new brush against her throat: What appeared to be a living bow was now permanently fused to her chest. As if that wasn't enough, following the sensation of the new appendage led to fleshy, flexible "ribbons" extending outward from the bow, and she could feel them trembling as they reflected her deepening sense of dread.
Feeling movement against her head, she reached up with a paw and felt an almost identical configuration against her left ear, the ribbons mimicking the movements of their counterparts below.
Realization hit her like a truck.
A Sylveon.
A fucking Sylveon.
"I don't... what... h-how did..." The sputtering ineffectiveness of her words reflected the horrified confusion upon her face.
"Um, I think know why," Ashley chimed in with her shy, quiet tone. "Remember last week, during choir practice in Mrs. Primarina's class?"
Candy thought back, and almost choked as the memory resurfaced. During the refrain of the Kricketune Chorus, she had decided to show off, hitting the highest note as high and as loud as she could. One second she was singing her lungs out, the next, half of the students from the row in front of her were chaotically flying across the room.
"Oh! Congratulations Candy," Mrs. Primarina said excitedly amidst a cacophony of pained groans. "It looks like you just learned Disarming Voice! Now, please help your classmates over to Nurse Audino's office."
"A fairy move," chimed Zola, bringing her back to the present. "Don't you remember Eighth Grade? Those old 'Your Body, Your Evolution, and You' films they made us watch?"
Panic was quickly replaced by rage as the newly anointed Fairy type felt her blood begin to boil.
The expletive she let loose echoed across the valley like shrill thunder. It was spoken of in hushed, reverent tones for many years that followed.
"Guess you should have waited, huh?" Melissa's sly, mocking voice once again broke the following silence. "Would a tea party make you feel better? Maybe with some fancy doilies?"
Candy leapt upon the Meowth as soon as the final syllables left her lips. As the duo disappeared into a raging cloud of violence, she had to admit one thing: These new tentacles were pretty good for strangling someone.
ZOLA (2020) dir. Janicza Bravo
