Fanfic / Memories of the Dance We Shared

Memories of the Dance We Shared is a 2017 Goofy Fanfic written by Auburn Red. It incorporates aspects of the Classic Disney Shorts, Goof Troop, A Goofy Movie, An Extremely Goofy Movie, House of Mouse, Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas into the storyline.

Max and his daughter Trixie are visiting Goofy while Roxanne is at a cousin's wedding. Max looks for his birth certificate in his father's attic in order to get a promotion at his workplace, when he finds some photos and certificates that reveal to him how his mother died. Seeing how badly the grief affects him, Goofy decides to comfort him by giving him his mother's journal to let him get to know her better.

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This fanfic contains the following tropes:

• Abusive Parents: Reginald and Millicent Pooch often subjected their daughter Penelope to verbal and physical abuse. In the former case, they often insulted her appearance and intelligence in order to get her to Stay in the Kitchen, while in the latter, they didn't hesitate to spank her if she did something they disapproved of like reading feminist books, in order to keep her in line.
• Adaptational Sexuality: Pistol Pete's canon sexuality is unclear. In this fanfic, she's revealed to be a lesbian and have a relationship with Roxanne's sister Kimmy, whose only appearance in canon was as a baby and thus made it impossible to determine her sexual preferences.
• Amicable Exes: Even after Max and Mona had a mutual break-up because of Max's love for Roxanne and their post-college plans, they remain very good friends, and share a sibling-like bond.
• Anguished Outburst: The first time Goofy and Max talk about Penelope's death, Max is overwhelmed by his emotions and bitterly blames himself for what happened, says that he should be arrested for manslaughter, and even calls himself a rotten sociopath who deserved to lose his mother. The latter forces Goofy to slap Max back to his senses and make him forgive himself for it.
• Animation Age Ghetto: Discussed when Mickey and his friends attend Penny's birthday party. Mickey discusses his plans to produce animation with a Hollywood producer, but the latter scoffs at the idea that adults like animation, calling it "the formulaic content of such infantile affairs.".
• Annoying Laugh: Penelope's journal reveals that she had a unique laugh that started by going up and down, but ended with a hiccup and a snort when she couldn't control it. Penelope herself was embarrassed to laugh this way, but Goofy loved it.
• Arranged Marriage: It's revealed that Penelope was initially betrothed to Bradley Uppercrust II by her parents.
• Armor-Piercing Response:
  • Downplayed. When Mickey and Donald try to persuade Goofy to leave his house and stop his Heroic BSoD, Donald tells him that even if he lost Penelope, he needs to go out and at least make an effort to live a normal life again, especially for Max. While Goofy doesn't feel much determination, he agrees to go out with his friends.
  • Played straight during Penelope's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to her parents and Bradley Uppercrust II. In the first instance, her accusations made Bradley angry enough to get him to punch her, only for her to retort that if he hurt her again she'd let everyone know of his assaults on her and another girl, which while not being true, cowing him enough to get him to stop. In the second instance, after her father shouted she would be miserable with Goofy, she asked him about all the women he had seduced and her mother had bribed into silence, shocking both of them into silence.
• Ask a Stupid Question...: While Mickey, Donald and Goofy are painting Penelope's house, she asks them what they're doing. Donald replies, "We're knitting a sweater.", but Goofy fails to detect that.
• Attempted Rape: While Penelope was at Bradley Uppercrust II's engagement party and attempted to escape, Bradley took off her skirt and forced her to the ground, only barely failing after Penelope kicked him in the groin to escape.
• Break the Cutie:
  • Minnie was almost reduced to tears when she and Daisy were turned away from Penelope's seventh birthday party by her parents, on the grounds that they were just "riff-raff".
  • Trixie is horrified and devastated when her mother Roxanne gets in a car accident, and especially when she sees her lying on the hospital bed in a coma.
• Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: Penelope initially worried about her pregnancy with Max out of fear that she would treat him as badly as her own parents treated her. However, she is revealed both earlier and later to have been a good mother.
• Blatant Lies: When Bradley Uppercrust II and Penelope met again after the former's Attempted Rape and physical abuse towards the latter, Bradley tried to justify it by saying he was just drunk and out of control and would never hurt her again. Penelope, of course, refused to believe it but only did out of intimidation.
• Brutal Honesty: When Mickey and Donald try to get Goofy to leave his house after Penelope's death, the latter explains his arguments more bluntly, and though his wording angers Goofy, he eventually manages to get through to him that he needs to move on from what happened.
• Calling the Old Man Out: After Goofy and friends' humiliation at the hands of Bradley Uppercrust II, Penelope finally had enough and chewed him and her parents out for their abusive treatment of her and other people.
• Can't Take Criticism: While Bradley called out Penelope for talking to Goofy, she called him ridiculous. His reaction was to slap her, yell at her for calling him that, and force her to look him in the eye as he demanded her obedience.
• Captain Obvious: When Max tells Goofy he couldn't find his birth certificate, his father's response is to say, "Well you were born, I'm sure of that.".
• Come to Gawk:
  • Penelope's monologue in Chapter 5 reveals that several fraternities and sororities of her time would stage pageants where homely or overweight girls were asked to frat houses so they could be mocked by said fraternities' members.
  • In Penelope's birthday party, Bradley Uppercrust II and his allies threw seltzer water, pies and syrup at Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy, and made them stand on an electrified spot of the dance floor to humiliate them.
• Companion Cube: Penelope herself had a teddy bear named Bloomsbeary, who often provided her with the only solace she had for her loneliness.
• Cut Himself Shaving: After Bradley Uppercrust II punched her in the face and attempted to rape her, Penelope excused her injuries as the product of her silly and drunk behavior. She later excused it to Mickey as the result of falling and hitting the side of her family's cabinet.
• Dark and Troubled Past: The circumstances that brought Goofy, Mickey and Donald to the children's home were hardly the best:
  • Goofy's mother died after his birth, his father passed away from an illness when he was 10, and his grandfather was deemed an unfit guardian because of his senility, forcing him to go to the children's home.
  • When Mickey was six, his rural family died in a house fire, and his sister took care of him until her marriage and the birth of her children, whereupon he too was sent to the children's home.
  • Donald and Della grew up together in a bad part of Duckburg, apparently resented his parents, especially his father, said parents were murdered one day, and Donald and Della themselves were forced to go from one relative to the other before Donald was finally sent to the children's home as well.
• Dark Fic: Most cartoons involving Goofy are lighthearted animation fare. This fanfic, however, focuses on the death of Goofy's wife and Max's mother, Goofy and Max falling into poverty after her death, Penelope herself being trapped in an abusive family, and the trials and tribulations she and Goofy have to go through before ending up together.
• Domestic Abuse: Penelope's relationship with Bradley Uppercrust II. Bradley would often beat her for imagined slights, and even tried to rape her in his frat house.
• Don't Say Such Stupid Things!: The first time Goofy and Max talk about Penelope's death, Max goes into an Anguished Outburst where he blames himself for the car accident, all while Goofy bluntly tells him it's not his fault and he shouldn't believe it was.
• Driven to Suicide:
  • Goofy comes dangerously close to contemplating suicide after his wife Penelope is killed in a car accident, with the only reason he doesn't go through with it being that Max needs his care.
  • After the first time Goofy tells Max what happened to his mother, Max expresses his desire to make himself die so he can be with her. Thankfully, he refuses to go through with it after Goofy tells him how lonely he'd be without him.
• Drives Like Crazy: It's revealed that Penelope is a bad driver, as she barely misses the mailbox while leaving the house to go to the supermarket with Max.
• Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: While Goofy is a selfless Nice Guy who has barely any resentment for anyone, he makes an exception for Penelope's parents, despising them for their elitism and horrible treatment of himself and their daughter, the last straw being their heartless reaction to the latter's death. The story also makes it clear he hates Bradley Uppercrust II for similar reasons.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • While trying to convince Goofy to leave his house after Penelope's death, Donald tells him that Penny was the one who died and not him. Despite wanting to help Goofy as much as Donald does, Mickey calls him out on his insensitive wording and tries to explain it in a nicer tone.
  • In Penny's birthday party, Gladstone was happy to assist Bradley, Mortimer, Margaret and Adelaide in humiliating Goofy and friends, but drew the line at their electric shock prank and tried to stop them, before running to apologize to Donald for it.
• Family of Choice: According to this fanfic, Goofy met Mickey and Donald in an orphanage, and they soon grew a brother-like bond. As a matter of fact, Goofy and Max refer to Mickey and Donald as Max's uncles.
• Fell Asleep Driving: Chapter 4 reveals that Max's phone call to Roxanne worried her so much, she insisted on going home to see him. Since it was very late and it took a five-hour-long drive to get home, she ended up falling asleep on the wheel, and that's how she got in a car accident.
• Fisticuff-Provoking Comment: Max almost punches Kimmy when she blames him for the car accident that injured Roxanne. Fortunately, Goofy stops both of them before he goes through with it.
• Foolish Husband, Responsible Wife: Goofy and Penelope form this dynamic in their married life, with Goofy often embarrassing or exasperating her and forcing her to pick up the slack for him due to his constant firing.
• Forbidden Friendship: Penelope was friends with Minnie and Daisy in her early childhood, but her parents forced their friendship to end out of prejudice for them. While they make up years later, her parents stick to their guns in forbidding her from seeing them, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: When Max's Anguished Outburst comes to a head and he calls himself a rotten sociopath who deserved to lose his mother, Goofy is forced to slap him in order to bring him back to his senses.
• Gilded Cage: Penelope spent most of her childhood and adolescence in a large house with the best clothes, toys and electronics, but the restrictiveness of her parents and their beliefs led to her feeling very stifled and wanting a way to abandon this life.
• Good Parents: Goofy is just as good of a father to Max as he was in Goof Troop and A Goofy Movie, Penelope is also shown to have been a very good mother for Max for the brief time she got to be with him, and Max and Roxanne both love their daughter Trixie a lot.
• Gut Punch: The story starts out lighthearted and humorous enough, but the scene where Max finds out how his mother died sets the tone of the fanfic as darker than the cartoons it's based on.
• Harmful to Minors: Max is three years old when he's injured in the car accident that causes his mother's death. However, his concussion means that he hardly remembered the traumatic event... until it was reawakened in his adulthood.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • Max is so horrified and guilty after he finds out what happened to his mother and holds himself accountable for it that he despondently lies in his bed and refuses to talk about it, not even being willing to be with Trixie. It's only when Goofy comes to see him that he confides in his feelings.
  • After Penelope's death and her funeral, Goofy stopped doing all but the most basic everyday activities, aside of tending to Max for the symptoms of his concussion, for a whole week. He couldn't bother to get a job even as his bills increased and became due, and only his son Max kept him from contemplating suicide, so he spent the following week praying that he wouldn't leave him right after his mother. Fortunately, Mickey and Donald manage to get through to Goofy and cheer him up, and he soon regains his will to live.
  • Max goes through a second one after Roxanne gets in a car accident that lives her in critical condition. After he puts two and two together between her parents' explanation of the events that led to it and his actions, he's so horrified that he outright wishes he could die for her sake.
• Hope Spot: After Mickey and Donald succeed in cheering up Goofy and restoring his will to live, he and Max spend a happy day together, and it seems like they can finally move on from their grief. Sadly, Max's amnesia makes him forget what happened to his mother, forcing Goofy to sit him down and tell him that his mother can never come home again.
• How Many Fingers?: After Goofy tripped over Scrooge's cane in the filming of Mickey's Christmas Carol, Mickey asked him this to see how he was. Donald snarked he couldn't know how many fingers he held up, which made Goofy angry enough to almost flip the bird at him.
• I Didn't Tell You Because You'd Be Unhappy: As Max is lying in bed, saddened and horrified, he decides to call Roxanne to see how she's doing. When he realizes how much of a good time she's having at her cousin's wedding, he regrets calling her and tries to reassure her that he's just fine and doesn't need her home, even though he does. Roxanne herself isn't convinced, but accepts his statement and hangs up. Unfortunately, this comes back to haunt him when Roxanne gets in a car accident and he finds out it was him who prompted her to try to go home.
• Ignoring by Singing: As Goofy starts describing the day of Max's birth in detail, Max's reaction is to put his hands over his ears and say "La lalala! Not hearing this! Don't want to hear this!".
• It's All My Fault: When Max's memories of the car accident in which his mother died are restored, he starts believing that him distracting her means that he's directly responsible for her death and spends the rest of the night and the early morning despondent, feeling like he deserves none of his father and daughter's love as a result.
• It's Okay to Cry: When Goofy finds Max crying over the revelation of his mother's death, the latter says, "I know, I'm 30 years old, I shouldn't be acting like this! Men aren't supposed to cry like this!". However, Goofy reassures him that it's not true and that he has to cry his problems out.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Roxanne's father, Rex, is fleshed-out this way. He still acts intimidating towards Max, but it's clear he at the very least respects him, and he expresses nothing but love for his granddaughter Trixie. It's also mentioned that despite his conservative views, he soon came to accept Kimmy's love for Pistol.
• Kick the Dog: Bradley Uppercrust II invited Goofy and his friends to Penny's birthday party just so he could humiliate them. It's made clear that there was no reason for him to do this outside of cementing the fact that they had no place among Penny's family, and he mostly did so out of petty spite. Mortimer also took a rather sadistic enjoyment in ruining Minnie's handmade gown as he aided Bradley in his humiliation session.
• Lack of Empathy: Penelope's parents harbored an inability to care for people below their social class, and tried to force their daughter to abandon her empathy for such people. In fact, Chapter 4 reveals they reacted to Goofy informing them of her death by saying she had been dead to them long before her accident.
• Laughing Mad: During Penelope and Goofy's argument about the problems of their married life, the stress and lightheadedness the former was feeling came to a head and made her laugh crazily, scaring Goofy in the process.
• Law of Inverse Fertility: In Chapter 6, Penelope's pregnancy with Max starts out as a source of strife for her, while Minnie had tried to have children with Mickey but turned out to be barren.
• The Lost Lenore: Most of the fanfic focuses on Goofy's late wife, Penelope Pooch-Goof, and her effect on the family. Goofy himself even keeps some of her belongings in a box as mementos.
• Malaproper: True to his usual characterization, Goofy sometimes confuses words. For example, when Max tells him that he needs paperwork to prove that he's not a member of ISIS, he thinks that Max is talking about his irises.
• Mean Boss: Penelope's boss at The Toon Town Talker, Ed Owlsner, is revealed to have been a decent boss but adherent to the belief that Penny should Stay in the Kitchen, which causes strife for her.
• Mood Whiplash: The story starts out in a lighthearted and humorous manner, with Max and his daughter visiting Goofy and having a fun evening. As soon as Max finds out his late mother's death certificate and the insurance report of her car, however, the following few scenes are tragic and heartbreaking, with Goofy trying to comfort his son as he blames himself for the accident.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • As Goofy gets Max to stop blaming himself for his mother's death, Max is mentioned to have regretted all the arguments they had, his embarrassment at being related to him, and especially his outbursts, including the time he shouted at him for being involved in his life. He goes through a second bout of this after he realizes he's indirectly responsible for the car crash that injured Roxanne, thinking he deserves to die for her sake.
  • Penelope feels guilt for failing to defend Minnie and Daisy after their parents forcibly turned her away from her seventh birthday party, and apologizes to them the next time she meets them.
• Mythology Gag: Many of Goofy's shorts are alluded to in multiple times of the story. In the first chapter, for example, Max finds books bearing the same titles and contents as the How to... shorts, which they are implied to have been inspirations of, sporting equipment used by Goofy in his sports shorts, and photos of Max's childhood, based on the ones from "Fathers are People", in Goofy's attic.
• Narcissist: Penny's fiancé, Bradley Uppercrust II, is a self-centered man who lacks empathy and insists that everybody treat him with the utmost respect.
• Named In The Adaptation: Some characters whose names are not mentioned are given proper names, including Beret Girl, who's named Passion, Roxanne's father, whose name is Rex, and Kimmy's mother, who's been made Roxanne's mother and named Betty.
• Never Speak Ill of the Dead: It's mentioned that after the car accident that killed Penelope, the fact that the drivers of both cars involved had died led to no charges being pressed and investigations behind it being discontinued early out of respect for the victims.
• "Not So Different" Remark: While Max describes his mother to Roxanne, she remarks that he's pretty similar to them. Max denies it because he wasn't rich, he didn't have Abusive Parents, and he wasn't married to a goof, but she confirms her opinion, saying they're both passionate, stubborn, good with words, and love Goofy.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Chapter 6 reveals that every time Penelope got angry at Goofy, she regretted it because he always meant well.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • When Goofy finds Max crying over the revelation of his mother's death, he's especially concerned because Max is usually able to cope with his emotions, but at the moment he's just sobbing hysterically.
  • As Mickey and Donald try to convince Goofy to go on a guy's day out with them in his flashback, he refuses with such bitterness, anger and grief that they're both shocked and concerned.
• Opposites Attract:
  • Willie the Giant from Fun and Fancy Free is revealed to be married to the Harp. Penelope and the Harp herself both lampshaded it during the interviews, stating that a trained musician and a Manchild are such an unusual couple.
  • Tank and Mona are also described as a study in contrasts, with Tank being a quiet Shrinking Violet and Mona being a friendly and outgoing girl.
• Overly Narrow Superlative: Early on, Goofy asks Trixie how she is and calls her his favorite grandbaby. Trixie's response is to laugh and say "Gran'pa Goof, I'm your only gran'daughter."
• Pair the Spares: After Max and Mona break up and Max marries Roxanne, Mona marries Tank.
• Parental Sexuality Squick: As Max reads his mother's journal, he's disgusted to find her descriptions of her more intimate moments with Goofy, and skip to her description of her graduation.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Max starts pleading by Roxanne to wake up from her coma at the end of Chapter 5. Fortunately, she wakes up shortly after.
• Prefers Proper Names: Penelope's butler Duckjoy insists on calling her "Miss Penelope", and also calls Minnie "Miss Minerva" at one point.
• Preppy Name: Penelope's full name was "Penelope Glorybee Libertee Pooch".
• Rage Breaking Point:
  • While Mickey and Donald try to get through to Goofy that he needs to leave his house even if he lost Penelope, he attempts to shoo them away in Tranquil Fury. When Donald tells him "You're still here! Penny died, not you!"", however, it pretty much falls apart and he gets the desire to punch him for his remark.
  • When Max wakes up after the night he learns about his mother's death, Trixie asks him if they can go to the park. At first Max expresses his doubt calmly, but when Trixie pouts and acts like she's going to argue with him, Max snaps at her, shouting, "Never mind what I said. I said, I don't know!". He immediately comes to regret it when Trixie almost bursts into tears, though.
  • Max undergoes it again as Kimmy calls him out for worrying Roxanne and leading to her being injured in a car accident. At first he's fully calm, but when Kimmy makes it clear she believes it's his fault, the guilt he's been shouldering makes him react with Tranquil Fury, and it comes to a head when she outright states he's the one at fault, almost making him punch her before Goofy intervenes.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Penelope gave her parents and Bradley blistering speeches about their treatment of her and others.
• Related in the Adaptation: Kimmy (the baby Goofy took a photo of) is made Roxanne's sister, which Word of God states is based on a fan theory that posits the same.
• Repressed Memories: Max's memories of his mother's death were affected by a concussion he got in the car accident he was in, making him remember that he was at home with Goofy when she died, Goofy told him about it, and they held her funeral. Finding her death certificate and the insurance report of her car makes him remember that he was in the car with her, and that the reason for her death was that she had been distracted by him.
• Rich Bitch: Penelope's parents, Reginald and Millicent, are a textbook example of this. They treat middle-class people with contempt, mock Scrooge McDuck behind his back for making his fortune square instead of inheriting it, and disapprove of their daughter's interest in activism and friendship with people in lower classes than themselves.
• Rich Kid Turned Social Activist: Penelope was born into a rich family, but that didn't stop her from following causes like civil rights, feminism, union strikes, homelessness, and poverty. As a matter of fact, it's for that very reason that she wanted to be a journalist.
• Sadist: Bradley Uppercrust II turns to to have been one in Chapter 5, to the point where Penelope herself called him out on that.
• Sarcasm-Blind: After Penelope asks Donald what they're doing as they're painting her house, Donald replies, "We're knitting a sweater.". Goofy's response is to say, "I didn't know we was knitting! Good thing I brought my knitting needles and my yarn!" and take out said implements from a pocket.
• Saying Too Much: While trying to escape Bradley Uppercrust II's engagement party, Penelope accidentally blurted out Goofy's name, making it clear she had a relationship with him. Bradley didn't take it well.
• Scrapbook Story: A good chunk of the fanfic is comprised of Penny's scrapbook, which details several parts of her life.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Penelope has strong principles that enable her to rebel against her parents whenever necessary, becoming a news reporter in order to stand up for several causes she felt needed to be addressed.
• Shout-Out:
  • Goofy has a fridge magnet of the Grasshopper from Disney's Silly Symphonies adaptation of The Grasshopper and the Ants, a reference to the fact that he was voiced by Goofy's original voice actor, Pinto Colvig.
  • The directors and assistant of the children's home that Mickey, Donald, and Goofy grew up in are Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, his wife Ortensia Cat, and Alice of Alice Comedies respectively, and it's named after Mickey Mouse's creator Ub Iwerks.
  • The policeman who alerts Goofy about Penelope's car accident and death is Lucky Piquel from Bonkers.
  • Talespin is alluded to when Goofy talks about Penelope's love for reading newspapers, detailing the times she talked about Thembria and its leader, Colonel Spigot.
  • The Pooch family's butler, Duckjoy, is named after Lovejoy the butler from Titanic (1997).
  • The private girls' school Penelope was forced to attend is named "Lady Tremaine Private School For Fine Young Ladies", after the Evil Matriarch in Cinderella.
  • In the baseball game Mickey and his friends played, the members of the opposing team whose names are listed are Bugs and Daffy.
  • When Mickey expresses his desire to run his own entertainment club or theater, he brings up the one Kermit the Frog from The Muppet Show owns.
  • While filming Mickey's Christmas Carol, Donald repeats Mickey's commands in a way similar to a scene in What's Up, Doc?.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: While Penelope is initially engaged to Bradley Uppercrust II, she despises him. Soon, she falls in love with the kinder Goofy, and soon marries him instead.
• Smug Snake:
  • Bradley Uppercrust II is a selfish and insolent man who constantly boasts about his family's wealth and dynasty, and insists that Penelope bow to his standards.
  • Margeaux and Adelaide Catterly, two of Penelope's acquaintances, are similarly catty and haughty and make fun of everyone who doesn't belong to the upper class.
• Stage Fright: When Goofy offered Penelope a part in Mickey's films, she denied on the grounds that she would pale, stammer and just stare at the camera.
• Stay in the Kitchen: The Pooch family and Bradley Uppercrust II held this view towards Penelope, demanding that she become a "perfect rich society lady" and insisting the only thing she can be is a wife. In fact, after her enrollment into a private girls' school, Penelope was barred from playing sports for this very reason.
• Stress Vomit: When Goofy finds Max sitting in the driveway, horrified and saddened by the revelation of his mother's death, he notices that Max had vomited on the ground before his arrival. Max then vomits again when his father hugs him and tells him to take a breath.
• Survivor Guilt: During Max's Anguished Outburst, he asks Goofy how could she die when they themselves, as well as several guests on the House of Mouse, had survived other calamities that befell them.
• Take That!: Since Max is a news reporter, Donald Trump gets a few mentions in the story, and they make the author's feelings on him obvious to deduce. The first mention, for example, is when Goofy talks about sending Donald Duck a text to congratulate him on his presidency thinking it was him who became president, and Max thinks about the prospective of his "uncle" being president. He comes to the conclusion that, even with his Hair-Trigger Temper, Donald Duck would be a much better president than the alternative.
• Third Wheel: Goofy called himself such when Penelope first met him. Given that he had no girlfriend and his best friends, Mickey and Donald, did, it's understandable.
• Throw It In!: While playing Jacob Marley in Mickey's Christmas Carol, Goofy tripped over Scrooge's cane and fell down the stairs, both unintentionally. However, both scenes were left in by Mickey because they fit Goofy's clumsiness.
• Too Much Information: At one point during Max's search of his birth certificate, Goofy starts going into detail about his mother groaning in labor for hours in the delivery room, which prompts Max to jokingly cover his ears and invoke Ignoring by Singing.
• Tranquil Fury: When Penelope asked her father what he'd do if she refused to marry Bradley Uppercrust II, he gave her an icy smile and explained he would abort her financial aid, force her to pay for college herself, disown and disinherit her, and if she's fallen in love with someone else, hire someone to hunt down that person and kill him.
• Trauma-Induced Amnesia:
  • Since Max got a concussion from the car accident that claimed his mother's life, he ended up forgetting that he was in the car with her and just assumed he was at home with Goofy when she died. This forced Goofy to explain her death to him after he had recovered from his concussion.
  • Roxanne ends up developing amnesia after her car accident, occassionally forgetting things. For instance, before Max leaves, she forgets where he was supposed to go.
• Troubled Backstory Flashback: After Max reveals to Goofy that he had found his mother's death certificate and her car's insurance report, he has a flashback where Penelope and Max go to the store and he waits for them for four hours, rationalizing that she might have just met Minnie and Daisy and engaged in a conversation with them, or that she had forgotten an item and gone back to get it... only for a police officer to call him, reveal what happened to his wife, and take him to the morgue to see her corpse for himself, before he went to find Max in the hospital where he had been taken.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: In Epic Mickey, Mickey and Oswald are brothers. This fanfic, due to its omission of canon from said game, makes Oswald and his wife Ortensia the directors of the children's home he, Donald, and Goofy grew up in.
• Weight Woe: In Chapter 6, Penelope's journal reveals that the stress of carrying a baby to term, bad relations with her colleagues, and her strained relationship and married life with Goofy have all made her develop anorexia nervosa, leading her to think of herself as fat and eventually barely even eat. However, she voluntarily stops it after she faints while on the job.
• We Used to Be Friends: It's revealed that Penelope was friends with Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck in her early childhood, only for her elitist parents to force their friendship to end on the grounds that they're just common people. While Minnie gladly accepts Penelope the next time they meet, Daisy is less keen to befriend her again and only relents when she apologizes. Fortunately, they manage to grow closer soon.
• Wham Line:
  • Chapter 1 has the following line when Max discovers a certificate related to his late mother:
  Another official certificate unfolded in front of him, only it wasn't as happy as his birth certificate. He read the title "Toon Town County Coroner's Office Official Certificate of Death." Once again Max read his mother's name and traced his finger along the letters: "Penelope Glorybee Libertee Pooch Goof." He read the coroner's description, so cold and so matter-of-fact about the injuries that she had sustained from a head on automobile collision with another car including internal hemorrhaging, numerous facial and chest lacerations, among others. The coroner's report said that "Death occurred instantaneously."
  • A line that comes a bit after that reveals where Max was when the accident happened:
  Max dropped the death certificate on top of the other part of the envelope. Max's hands shook as he picked it up. It was an insurance report that showed a classic yellow automobile completely destroyed. Max read the caption, as clinical and cold as the coroner's report: Saved for insurance purposes. Automobile Condition: Totalled. Cause of Misfortune: Collision. Occupants: 2; One deceased, other hospitalized.
  • In Chapter 3, Max gets a phone call that shocks him badly, and when Goofy asks him what happened, he thinks it's just something he read on the journal. Max proves him wrong immediately:
  Max: I got a call about Roxanne. Apparently, she left the wedding early and there on the highway, well um her car... She got in an accident. She's not.. but she's in the hospital.
  • A happier example ends Chapter 5:
  Max held his wife's hand in silence and lowered his head, his vision blurred by his tears. He suddenly felt a slight movement from Roxanne's hand as her fingers curled slightly. He then felt the smallest breath from her mouth. Max raised his head to hear Roxanne whisper, "Max."
• What the Hell, Hero?: Two people call out Max in Chapter 4 after Roxanne's car accident.
  • First, PJ calls him on his phone to express his disappointment over Max not informing him of the matter and himself having to be told by Pistol before Max. He takes it back after Max's apology and explanation for his worry, stating it was his concern that made him react this way.
  • After that, Kimmy confronts Max and chews him out for calling her sister and making her leave in such a hurry, leading to her accident, and pulls no punches over her belief that this matter is all Max's fault.
• The World Mocks Your Loss: When Mickey and Donald try to convince Goofy to go out with them, Goofy refuses. While he never tells them the reason, it's stated that he didn't want to be with them because he was bitter for being the only one who lost his love.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: As Max blames himself for the car accident that claimed his mother's life, Goofy tells him that he should not believe that. When Max expresses incredulity that his father would forgive him, Goofy's response is to say, "No. Because there ain't anything to forgive. What happened to your mother was just an accident, a bad luck accident. It is no one's fault least of all yours! You need to forgive yourself!"
• You Are Not Alone: When trying to get Goofy to stop his isolation, Mickey and Donald make it clear that, even if they don't get exactly how he feels, they still understand how it is to feel the loss he's experienced.
• You Are Not My Father: While calling out her parents, Penelope disowned both of them, and her journal later reveals that she opted to take Goofy's surname despite her feminist beliefs, in order to distance herself from her parents.
• You Monster!: Penelope called Bradley Uppercrust II a monster after he spearheaded the humiliation of Goofy and his friends during her birthday party.