Line #23 Headscratchers/RubyGloom


1	!!How does this house work?
2	* How exactly does the setup at the house... work? Which is to say, all the main characters live in a Victorian mansion within easy traveling distance of Gloomsville. They range from mid-teens, if that, to however old Poe is (in his fifties?) with no clear source of income or anything. I'm tempted to just shrug it off, remind myself that [[MST3kMantra it's just a]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids (kids')]] [[MST3kMantra show and I should really just relax]], but then the first episode goes and makes a big deal about how Ruby is apparently "leaving" the house. Where would she go? How did they get there in the first place?
3	** [[{{Backstory}} This sounds like]] [[FanWank a job for]] [[{{Fanfic}} fanfiction!]]
4	*** And, now you can find the answer on FF.net. Almost beleivable.
5	** For that matter, how does the house have a crypt, tunnels that go everywhere, and a nearly direct line to the ''other side of the world''? It's on a pretty extreme outcropping.
6	!!How did these two come into being? Curious minds would like to know.
7	* The flashback of Frank and Len as babies. If they weren't born as Siamese twins, then did someone stitch them together? That's more [[FridgeHorror horrifying]] than anything explicitly said in the show.
8	!!VagueAge or TimeAbyss?
9	* What are the characters actually? Are they all dead, they live or are immortal? It also seems that Misery and her relatives seem to be truly immortal (except for the males, they all died through quicksand, except for one. ) , as all female relatives of Misery appeared in one episode, still alive and kicking.
10	** It depends on the character. Scaredy Bat and Poe are standard-issue [[Main/FunnyAnimal Funny Animals]]. Poe in particular has clearly aged some. The same probably goes for Iris, as being an unusually small, cute and pale-skinned cyclops doesn't have any bearing on mortality, as far as I know. There are hints that Ruby is actually an animate doll, which is [[Main/MerchandiseDriven appropriate]], but leaves her nature up in the air. Misery seems to be some kind of banshee. (Incidentally, from the episodes I've seen -- this show needs a better DVD release -- her aunt died from a falling ''Ouija'' board.) That just leaves Boo Boo, Frank and Len, and Skull Boy... who, taken at face value, would be three varieties of undead. Presumably from relatively young ages. [[Main/FridgeLogic Um.]]
11
12	!!Maybe build that house somewhere else?
13	* Why is the house built next to an [[BottomlessPit abyss]]? That sounds very dangerous.
14	!!The show is dark but not ''that'' dark.
15	* In "Poe-Ranoia", what were the guillotine and the thing that smashed the round thing in half and dropped the halves into two cauldrons? [[FridgeHorror Neither my sister nor I saw them (nor any hint of watermelon or coconut, for examples) in the explanation scene]].
16	** The guillotine is... A guillotine! For decoration, I guess? The hammer might have been the same hammer that flung Ruby across the carnival, and Mr. Mumbles was... I don't know, testing to see if it was too strong? If anyone knows better, I'd appreciate some enlightenment.
17	!!NoExportForYou?
18	* Why did they never show Ruby Gloom in the US? NoExportForYou? Most Canadian shows are shown in the US, plus it seemed to be popular here in Canada.
19	** It is on Netflix.
20	** Sorry, Netflix isn't a TV channel, so it doesn't count.
21	*** Well, that's a NoTrueScotsman if I've ever heard one, since the issue was "never show Ruby Gloom in the U.S.", not "never air it on generally-available U.S.-based stations". Plenty of "TV channels" these days are only available with a subscription and allow you to watch their shows any time you want, and there are some Canadian stations (not sure about Ruby Gloom's publisher) that can be viewed in the U.S. And Netflix ''is'' U.S.-based, I've seen plenty of people in Canada and South America[[note]]I'm not lumping Central America in with South America, I just haven't seen complaints from there, oddly enough[[/note]] complaining that their version of Netflix doesn't have enough of the things the U.S. version has.
22
23	!!Shouldn't they have just asked the Tooth Fairies?
24	* In "Tooth or Dare", if they were so curious about what tooth fairies use the teeth for, why didn't they ask the tooth fairy that was staying with them?
25
26	!!The Visit
27	* In "Ubergloom" why were Gunter and Uta visiting Ruby and her friends in the first place?
28	** Their stepmother sent them after the witch and the gingerbread house failed.
29
30	!!That whole family reunion episode
31	* Why did they have Misery's family reunion be [[AllJustaDream all just a dream]], exactly? Was it just to make Misery a more [[TheWoobie dawww-filled character]]? And are those relatives of hers still even alive? The whole episode, while awesome, left on a strange and unsatisfactory note, for seemingly no reason at all.
32
33	!!Pint-Sized Adults?
34	* Is it possible that, since adults like Mr. Mummbles are the same size as the main characters, they're all just superdeformed adults? That would explain why they all live together in a huge mansion and never go to school or anything. But then they don't have jobs, either...unless all these random contests and fairs they're constantly entering are paying gigs.
35	** In an early episode (while teaching Scaredy Bat to fly), Iris told Frank and Len to move over about three feet and, based on how far they moved (and assuming [[TwoOfYourEarthMinutes they're human feet]]), the humanoid characters are about five to six feet tall, give or take a little less than half a foot (so, about the normal range for adult humans). I figure their group just includes one or more Idle Rich people, and/or are trust fund kids. ...My little sister actually thinks Ruby's the caretaker for the house and some or all of her friends. I ascribe to the former theory, and while I don't believe the latter it seems kind of plausible.
36
37	!!That one extra
38	* Did anybody else see that one extra at the World's Fair that was a fat guy whose mouth was overflowing with shoes? What the hell was that?
39	** Gloomsville is full of strange inhabitants, it's best not to question things like this at this point.
40	** I think that's the same guy from Broken Records, episode twenty of the first season. No idea why he'd still be doing it though...
41
42	!!Ruby's socks
43	* If Ruby hates yellow, why does she wear socks with yellow stripes?
44	** My guess is that it's ain't so much "yellow" but more like orange. "Mango orange", if I really had to guess. Or, actually, Ruby hates a specific shade of yellow.
45
46	!!Again, how do these two work?
47	* How did Frank and Len learn to play guitar in the first place? In fact, how did they learn to do ''anything''? They're known for a lack of intelligence, and yet, they managed to become very proficient at an instrument that requires they work together perfectly and have musical knowledge. The fact that they can even walk is a wonder, honestly.
48	** There are different types of intelligence. Musical aptitude doesn't necessarily require intellectual skills.
49	!!Random drumming
50	* In "Unsung Heroes", where is the drumming at Gloomapalooza coming from? Scaredy usually plays drums for RIP, but on this occasion he's clearly watching from the top of the right speaker stack alongside Poe, and the drum kit is unoccupied!

Context Headscratchers / RubyGloom