#mml meta

[deathishauntedbyhumans]

Cavendish dies an average of 13 times a month @ Dwampy change my mind

[i-am-perryshmirtzed]

Could the AC unit falling on Cavendish be a sign of the universe repressing his homosexuality?

(Bear with me.)

So Cavendish wants to cross the street for a corn dog. This can be seen as a euphemism (don’t know about you, but it was like the first thing to pop into my head), as a similar concept has been somewhat used with Heinz and Perry’s hotdog v.s. bratwurst fight in “Backyard Aquarium”. Aside from the obvious, it could also be a euphemism for gay sex itself. While trying to get to the corn dogs, he is crushed by the AC unit. “Flaming” was a term used to describe a person who seemed obviously gay. ACs are, obviously, used to cool places down. The AC killing Cavendish while he was on his way to getting a corndog can be seen as the universe (which seems to hate him and is trying to have him killed) wanting to prevent Cavendish from being gay. The AC can also be seen as a sign from the universe, or a sign from Disney, representing it's hesitance to put openly LGBTQ+ characters into it’s shows. Cavendish is killed by having his apparent ‘flaming’ personality ‘cooled’ down and being physically crushed before he can be openly gay, as a metaphor for the channel not letting LGBTQ+ characters be out on screen.

[deathishauntedbyhumans]

*kicks down door* MOM HOLY FUCK

I just had a thought. A Thought, my friends, that has wholly shaken the foundations of everything I thought I knew.

Well, okay. Not really. But it is an interesting Thought nonetheless.

What if Vinnie didn't steal the time travel tech from Brick and Savannah in Backward to School Night? What if it was tech that he EARNED, that was actually GIVEN TO HIM by the BoTT?

Kris, you say, that's crazy talk. Dakota knows nothing about anything. Why would the BoTT entrust him with such vital tech as an age regressor gun (among other things)? And I hear you, fellow MMLers! I hear you, and I raise you this:

Dakota is so much more competant than Cavendish gives him credit for. More and more as I'm watching, more and more as I think about it, I'm absolutely CONVINCED that, of the two, Vinnie is the superior. He has more knowledge, is cooler under pressure, and takes GREAT LENGTHS to ensure the safety of his partner, even going back in time to save him over and over and over again. And the BoTT recognises this, too. They've offered him other missions, other positions, other partners. Vinnie has always declined. He wants to work with Cavendish. And so the BoTT, in knowing as much, supplies him with tech in hopes that somehow, some way, Dakota's skill will overturn their losing streak (that's caused by Cav's incompetance.)

So why then, I hear you asking, does Dakota tell Cav that he filched them from Brivannah?

Simple.

Dakota doesn't want Cav to know just how lowly he's thought of by the BoTT. He cares about Cav, does his best to support him. It's easier to tell a little white lie than to have Cav upset because his status is higher and he gets more cool stuff (which is something that Cav has CANONLY COMPLAINED ABOUT in the past).

Tl;dr: Vinnie Dakota is a saint who lied to Cav about where he got the age regressor ray in Backwards to School Night.

[deathishauntedbyhumans]

There’s a lot of speculation about what will happen when Mr. Block and the rest of the BoTT find out about the Island full of Dakotas, and the way that Dakota has been breaking the law (quote-unquote) to save Cavendish every time he dies. I had a thought, though: 

What if it’s not illegal? 

I mean, think about it. Does Dakota ever actually say that he’s not supposed to be doing this? I don’t think he does. He only ever says that Cavendish can’t be allowed to find out about it, and that there can’t be multiple Dakotas walking around in one timeline. What if it’s not illegal? We don’t know the laws in the future, or the statutes and codes of the BoTT. Sure, it seems like something shady, but what if --hear me out, here-- what if Mr. Block/the BoTT have assigned Vinnie to make sure that Balthazar doesn’t die? 

It could be the reason they’re given such mediocre assignments, whether or not Dakota is actually aware of it. Maybe Balthazar Cavendish is somehow a key for something, or a Very Important Figure that needs to be protected at all costs. As his partner, Vinnie doubles as his bodyguard, and when something goes wrong regardless, maybe he has permission to go back and fix it. Maybe Block doesn’t like Cav, but has to swallow that down because of how Important he is to... whatever it is he’s important to. Or maybe he doesn’t like him because of how accident-prone he is, and how much effort they have to expend to make sure he stays alive. 

I don’t know. It might just be a silly speculation, but think about it: If there’s a bunch of Time Travellers who know everything about everything that will happen... Would the Island of Lost Dakotas really be able to stay under the radar as long as they have? 

[deathishauntedbyhumans]

Guys...... I don't know. I just don't know. @cavendish-dakota-central commented on one of my posts regarding IOtLD and Christmas Peril and I'm just... thinking.

We really are getting both sides of the narrative, aren't we? Even if their love is completely platonic, Cavendish and Dakota both care very very deeply for one another. This is CANON, proven again and again by their foolish rule-breaking specifically FOR one another. (Dakota with his ISLAND and Cav with the crisscrossing of timelines despite the fact that he is WELL-AWARE that it's going to be problematic if he's caught.)

Even if their storyline is meant to be completely platonic --which I assume it will be in canon in the long run, because they're simply too important of characters for Disney to allow to be queer in a kids' show, despite how much I disagree with that sentiment-- they both love and care very deeply for one another. They argue and disagree and have fights, but at the end of the day, they always work out their problems. Their relationship has actually GROWN right in front of us, and it's a lot healthier than I thought it would've been given merely the first few episodes.

I don't know, y'all. Food for thought, I guess??

[deathishauntedbyhumans]

THE CARS

A Christmas Peril sure had some Good Content, oh my goodness. (This post contains SPOILERS for the Milo Murphy's Law Christmas Special.)

Okay. So. The cars. I've been thinking about this for the past day and something just felt weird to me and I finally figured it out with a big ol' gasp this morning. The CARS.

After Cavendish and Dakota "break up," they both stay with the BoTT. They don't seem to accquire new partners, which is interesting. (Unless they ended up with partners that they just didn't like and therefore weren't important to the story? But I'm pretty sure that at least Dakota would make an effort to bond with his new partner so idk.) So what we have to work with, then, are these solo time travellers that somehow got the okay from Block to ride solo. (The appearance from old!Block at the end of the ep suggests that it was a Long Fight that he didn't want to have to deal with.) But despite that... Dakota FLOURISHED.

He makes a living for himself beyond Time Travel, sure, but we know from previous episodes that the time vehicle is something that time travellers are given via the BoTT, not something that can be bought with an excessive amount of money made by being a pop star.

I think this manages to prove the theory that Dakota is the superior rank of the partnership. At the very least, it's another large piece of proof. We know that Brick and Savannah have the high-tech car (and the high-tech gadgets) because they are --supposedly-- so good at what they do. Apply that to old!Vinnie and old!Cavendish. Dakota has this high-tech, sleek, smooth looking time vehicle, which Cav has... the same old, beaten up little bug.

Dakota can function well on his own, but Cavendish continues to fail. Dakota makes a living for himself outside of the BoTT while still maintaining his sudden success in missions, and the BoTT rewards him with better gadgets, a better car. Cav watches from the sidelines, growing more bitter every day as he continues to fail at even the simplest tasks. His upset grows until finally, it culminates in the choas we get to see: Cav going back in time to try and fix it all.

[i-am-perryshmirtzed]

What We Know About Murphy’s Law

I’m not going to even bother with an opening or ending, i’m going to fix this up later. I just need it all out of my drafts before the special.

Let’s get right to this!

Murphy’s Law is conscious

Let’s imagine Murphy’s Law as a sort of deity, shall we? It’s easiest to imagine when it it personified.

Murphy’s Law is a proud force. When its existence is disputed by Zack’s father in “Time Out” it turns its attention away from its primary targets, Milo and Martin. As Mr. Underwood disputes the Law’s existence time and time again, it just drags him through hell until he admits it. First his hat is tossed in the water by Milo, and torn to shreds by birds, and it is dismissed as “inexperienced casting”. Murphy’s Law then decides to kick it up a notch with the swordfish. Finally, it does  the whole pelican-eating-the-fish-bumping-into-the-side-of-the-boat-and-getting-a-box-of-bait-to-the-head-and-falling-into-the-water trick. That’s what convinces Mr. Underwood that Murphy’s Law is real.

And what should happen in the very next scene? Martin tries to start the motor and it breaks off of the boat. After getting its revenge on Mr. Underwood, Murphy’s Law is happy to go back to terrorizing Milo and Martin. After Mr. Underwood’s muttered acceptance of the Law being real, it immediately goes back to its original job. Murphy’s Law’s got a bit of attitude, doesn’t it? Reminds me of of a scene in Phineas and Ferb, actually. In the episode “Just Our Luck”, you’ll remember that Candace is hit by one of Heinz’s -inators and becomes lucky, while her brothers become unlucky. She taunts the boys as they get down from their project of the day, saying “Just take your time, it's not like the earth is gonna open up and swallow it!” moments later, the ray is destroyed and reversed, and Candace’s bad luck and the boys’ good luck returns. Perhaps the Mysterious Force was kept at bay by the stinklekrampen-inator, maybe it was the reason the -inator broke, but as soon as Candace was unlucky again, the earth split open and swallowed their structure. The Mysterious Force has a similar personality to Murphy’s Law. “You dare taunt me? Here you fucking go.” Both forces have an attitude and sense of irony. They have some sort of conscious and awareness of the situation at hand.

However, this can be entirely disproven by “Rooting for the Enemy”. If Murphy’s Law knew what was going on, why did it comply, and allow Milo’s plan to physically root for the Tigers when he wanted the Geckos to win? Did it just let this one thing slide? Or is it not as conscious as we think it may be?

Murphy’s Law hates whomever it inflicts having friends. There is a great meta about this by @allieinarden, analyzing Milo and Zack’s first meeting and what Murphy’s Law had to say about it. The same principle applies here. Just as Murphy’s Law gave Zack hell the first day he and Milo met, just like that girl got her arm broken by sitting next to Milo, just like Mort fell into a dumpster after attempting friendly conversation, just like Dakota’s pistachio cart was destroyed after he simply introduced himself, Murphy’s Law does its best in this episode to convince Mr. Underwood that it is real and to drive him away from Martin, just as Zack was made to be driven away from Milo. Perhaps it didn’t even notice that it was insulted.

Murphy’s Law can make mistakes

This is a very simple point. Murphy’s Law may have the unlimited power to wreak havoc in the Murphy Family’s life, but the fact remains that nobody, not even a semi-conscious force capable of laying waste to Swamp City, is perfect. Murphy’s Law makes mistakes.

The first that comes to mind is the pistachio stand in “The Doctor Zone Files”. The only noticeable Murphy’s Law incident that occurred on this day was the pistachio stand blowing up, just preventing the group from getting snacks. This goes back to Murphy’s Law being conscious- it’s battle strategy for that day was to do nothing, simply to fray on Sarah’s nerves. It must have decided to just trouble Milo a little by not letting him get the nuts to scare Sarah even more. It did not, however, notice/care/prevent the pistachio cart falling from the sky. Surprisingly enough, Murphy’s Law was fine with that.

That takes me to “The Note”. For one, when Melissa was stuck on the conveyor belt, Milo’s first attempt to save his friend went awry when the rope he was using to swing to her snapped. While trying to reach her, he accidentally knocks over a metal pole when he falls from a rising wooden board, and it jamms the shredder, allowing Melissa to escape. Murphy’s Law is weird in this scene, keeping Milo from rescuing Melissa, and at the same time helping her to escape.

The last thing I want to talk about here is “Athledecamathalon”, and Murphy’s Law in predicting the future.

In the end of the episode, Milo is the only contender for his team left in play. He gets to the final question- President Garfield’s blood type. We see the flashback- several times, he has been close to learning the answer, but he never got to actually hear it. Not being able to hear a teacher during a lecture, a power outage, and a nearby jump roping game going awry isn’t unusual for Milo. But the fact that he was interrupted just as he was about to learn the information is rather unnerving. Can Murphy’s Law predict the future? Did it want to make sure that he didn’t get the answer right by preventing the knowledge from reaching him for at least weeks, if not months ahead of time? Of course, Murphy’s Law made a mistake by allowing Melissa to mention the information. Murphy’s Law can make mistakes, yes, the the fact that it may be able to predict the future is much more unnerving.

Murphy’s Law will never kill Milo.

This time ‘round, let’s imagine it as a sort of parasite, shall we? A genetic, sentient parasite that exists to give bad luck to whomever is unlucky enough to have it passed on to them

This parasite wants to keep infecting. It wants to keep getting more victims to torture. But it won’t ever kill Milo.

It reminds me of how the River Phelgethon was potrayed in “House of Hades” from the Heros of Olympus series. It is stated that the River is not meant to heal. It keeps the dead intact so that they may endure more torture. It keeps you alive so that you may suffer more.

If Milo were to die, what would it be to him? He would be dead. It’s those around him who would suffer. “Your death is something that happens to everybody else. Your life is not your own….” (BBC Sherlock, The Lying Detective.)

Milo has to live, not only so he can continue being harassed by Murphy’s Law, but so he can have children who are also cursed. The parasite lives on.

The worst thing to happen to the Murphy men would be having to live though their loved ones’ deaths. So-Sara, Bridgette, Melissa, Amanda, Zack...I theorise that everyone Milo or Martin love will die before them, perhaps as a result of Murphy’s Law. I’ll remind you, that Zack would have been crushed by the concrete pipe had Milo not told him to move closer, that he was the one who had peanut butter stuck to his back when being chased by wolves, that the wolf and bees later nearly jumped on him, all in “Going the Extra Milo”. Not to mention that Murphy’s Law thoroughly enjoyed freaking Sarah out during “The Doctor Zone Files”, or that Melissa was trapped on the conveyor belt heading towards the paper shredder in “The Note”. Murphy’s Law doesn’t want to kill Milo- it just wants to torture him.

On that happy note, I’m going to wrap this baby up. I typed this all up in the past hour, and it’s getting pretty late. I’m going to do minimal editing now; I can always fix it up, fine tune, later. I needed to get this meta out of my system, and I want to put it out before anything can contradict it in the special. I’m on a short hiatus, until I find a place to watch Missing Milo, so...bye!