The Blue Castle: Difference between revisions

* [[Damsel in Distress]]: Valancy foolishly goes to a dance where some drunken men harrass her. Fortunately, Barney arrives in time.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Valancy blossoms into one after the news from the doctor, much to her family's dismay.

'''Valancy:''' "No. But I can tell you where to find a beauty parlor in St. Lawrence where they can reduce the number of your chins." }}

** Barney has his moments, too:

'''Barney:''' "Why be so unoriginal?" }}

* [[Disappeared Dad]]: Valancy's father died of pneumonia when she was a baby, possibly because of his neurotic wife's rule about not lighting fires before October 21st.

* [[Precision F-Strike]]: {{spoiler|In the last chapter, Barney follows Valancy to her mother's house and pleads with her to come back to him, telling her all about his childhood and Ethel Traverse. When Valancy refuses, thinking he's only pretending to care, he exclaims "Damn!", jumping to the conclusion that she's embarrassed by his tacky [[Nouveau Riche]] father. This, of all things, finally convinces Valancy he loves her - knowing her husband only loses his temper when he cares deeply about something. They make up and live happily ever after.}}

* [[Pungeon Master]]: Uncle Benjamin, who often uses this trait to tease Valancy about her lack of a love life.

'''Valancy:''' "One is happy and careless, the other is cappy and hairless. You have asked that riddle at least 50 times in my recollection, Uncle Ben. Why don't you hunt up some new riddles if riddle you ''must''? It is such a fatal mistake to try to be funny when you don't succeed." }}

* [[Purple Eyes]]: Barney.

* [[Terms of Endearment]]: Barney calls Valancy "Moonlight".

* [[Thicker Than Water]]: Cousin Stickles admonishes Valancy with this.

* [[Through His Stomach]]: Barney is much taken with her cooking.

* [[The Unfavorite]]: Valancy, which is made all the more remarkable by the fact that she's ''an only child.''

* [[Why Couldn't You Be Different?]]: Mrs. Stirling is disappointed in Valancy for being female (she wanted a boy) and unattractive.

* [[The Wonka]]: Valancy has shades of this, causing her family to think she's going crazy.

* [[Your Days Are Numbered]]: Interestingly played with Valancy, who actually finds the prospect much easier to bear than a long, dull life of spinsterdom and social pressure with her family. {{spoiler|When the doctor reveals his mistake, as is traditional for this trope, Valancy is ''not'' happy to live out her life with Barney as one might expect. She's heartbroken, believing that Barney will accuse her of tricking him into marriage. It doesn't even occur to her that Barney might have grown to love her and want to keep her - not until the aforementioned Precision F Strike, at least.}}

** Cissy is another example.