adjective: hellbent
determined to achieve something at all costs.That is the core of this tale about the citizens of Selene Valley.
The year is 1988 and the Sabatini brothers flee their burning house, beginning a new life in Selene Valley. Idealistic dreamer, Brad Sabatini strives to help people and animals in need and hopes to run his own Cat Cafe someday, but his world is turned upside down when he picks up a neon-clad hitchhiker named Maxx. Maxx claims to be a famous rockstar, but Brad soon comes to find that things are not always what they seem and everyone has something to hide.
The year is 1988 and the Sabatini brothers flee their burning house, beginning a new life in Selene Valley. Idealistic dreamer, Brad Sabatini strives to help people and animals in need and hopes to run his own Cat Cafe someday, but his world is turned upside down when he picks up a neon-clad hitchhiker named Maxx. Maxx claims to be a famous rockstar, but Brad soon comes to find that things are not always what they seem and everyone has something to hide.
Genres: Slice of Life, Drama, Comedy, Mystery
TROPES
(CONTAINS SPOILERS!)
The '60s: As seen in flashbacks with young Eleanora and Nikolai Sabatini.
The '70s: As seen in flashbacks to childhood.
- The Adventure Maze and barn Brad later develops into his Cat Cafe
- The Highway Voyage Burger Yvette hangs around and Craig throws parties at in the very beginning. Dougal later kidnaps Yvette, Blake and Craig, holding them there with sinister intentions.
- Jaclyn's estranged father, Vadik Morozov, abused his wife and daughter. They fled the Soviet Union to escape his abuse. It is unknown whether he is dead or alive.
- Leon Medeiros neglected his daughter, Makayla, and tried to mould his son, Craig, into his ideal of a "real man" exposing him to violent horror movies at a young age and berating him for crying to "toughen him up" out of fear he would turn out queer. Leon is disappointed in his son when he discovers him dating another man, Deimos. He is also disappointed in his daughter dating Brad because he represents everything he raised his son not to be like.
- Vivienne Vivacious' parents disowned him for being transgender.
Adult Fear: Abuse, Cults, Murder, Accidental death.
Aesop Amnesia - Part of what makes Jaclyn a tragic figure is how she has the potential to be better, yet she continues her faulty behaviour. Then there is Maxx who just never learns his lesson.
All Love is Unrequited - Dougal wants Nariko/Yvette, but Nariko wants Andreas, but Andreas is secretly with Craig. Yvette and Veronica also crush on Blake, but he doesn't reciprocate their feelings. Then there is Maxx who wants Jaclyn, Makayla and any woman, but they're all repulsed by him.
Amusement Park - Solaris Park, which Selene Valley is famous for, aside from Maxx.
Batman Gambit - Played against Maxx by Craig who sets him up to troll him, counting on Maxx to be Maxx. Or Jaclyn who counts on Maxx to be Maxx to swindle money out of him.
Be Careful What You Wish For - Maxx's arc in a nutshell.
Binge Montage - When Maxx and Brad go to the first SolarisFest and Maxx gets mistaken for a clown from the circus and is dragged on stage to perform. And towards the end of the story when Brad is drugged by *spoiler* and goes into a dark psychedelic trip of reflection on his past.
Bittersweet Ending - The series has many bittersweet endings. One example is at the end of the second volume when Brad wins first place in the Craziest Home Video show, allowing him to afford to buy the land to make his dream Cat Cafe come true. But this comes at the cost of losing a friend and gaining an enemy in Maxx.
Black Comedy - This story has many elements of this. Maxx's death is treated with dark humour.
Black Sheep - Blake in Sun Shire.
Brutal Honesty - Blake and Craig.
Butt-Monkey - Maxx is Selene Valley's butt-monkey for good reason.
Cliffhanger - Maxx is literally left hanging on the edge of a cliff to die at the end of the first volume after he was bloodied and beaten by Miss Behaven's owners after making a fool of them with his performance.
Chekhov's Gun -
- In the opening scene, Brad grabs a family photo from his nightstand as he and Blake are fleeing their burning house. Later, we see a clear shot of the photo and get a glimpse into a flashback about their parents and childhood.
- When Brad first meets Maxx, he has a guitar case with him and thinks nothing of it until Makayla tells him it's empty, therefore Maxx is lying about being a rockstar. Brad finds she was right all along and it makes him question a lot about Maxx.
- In "The Empty Case" Makayla reveals to Brad that she and Nuklear Intoxikation used to live with Maxx and warns Brad of their history with him. It is also revealed that Brad picked him up right where they left him, coming full circle.
- It is revealed that Craig and Jaclyn used to date and are now rivals.
Dark and Troubled Past - Applies to many characters such as Craig and Blake.
Dark Secret - There are many dark secrets within the valley.
Deadpan Snarker - Blake and Jaclyn most notably.
- Maxx is the sex romp "hero" in the real world.
- Dougal is the rom-com "Nice Guy" who is not actually a nice guy.
- Veronica is "Not like Other girls".
Different States Of Australia - All the states are fictional states in this alternate universe Australia! Each state is named after its native animal emblem in real life. Possum State is based on Victoria as the Leadbeater Possum is the emblem for Victoria. Platypus State is based on New South Wales and Koala state is based on Queensland.
Double Standard - Maxx, Jaclyn, Veronica and Dougal notably have these.
Flashback - This series has many flashbacks throughout its narrative.
Flashback-Montage Realisation - When Brad recognises the song Steel Axe play at Hellbent and has a flashback to when he first met Maxx and he showed him the song, claiming it to be his.
Foil -
- Brad and Blake are opposites and foils to each other. Brad is the cheerful idealist and Blake is the stoic realist.
- Brad and Craig are foils to each other, highlighting shortcomings in each other.
- Veronica, Makayla and Jaclyn are all foils to each other. Veronica is the muscular tomboy athlete contrasting with feminine and petite Jaclyn and chubby, laid back Makayla.
Foreshadowing - There are many instances of this. To name a few examples:
- When Maxx first meets Brad, he shows him his music. Later in the story, Brad goes to Hellbent Nightclub and hears the very same song performed by another band named 'Axe Beest' and comes to find Maxx cribbed from them.
- Earlier on in the story, Maxx steals one of Brad's peanut cookies, flaring up his nut allergy, causing him to end up in the hospital. Maxx then guilts Brad and treats him terribly for this. This foreshadows events to come later when Maxx dies from eating one of Brad's peanut cookies Craig feeds to him as some nutty karma.
- Yvette's Viking Stories are sometimes used as Foreshadowing. Earlier on in the story, she writes a story about an evil Ogre who wants to kill her "Viking Samas" and marry her, foreshadowing events to happen later with Dougal.
- Jaclyn blames her Dark and Troubled Past with her abusive father for her faulty behaviour, especially towards men.
- Leon feels justified in taking his anger out on queer men because his father, Jose, had an affair with another man, tearing the family apart. This cycle of anger continued with his son, Craig, as Leon was emotionally abusive towards him in an attempt to make him not turn out like his grandfather. This caused Craig to take his anger out on others at school, one of them being Dougal Springer, who later ended up murdering Craig's former lover, Andreas, and attempting to murder Craig for bullying him back in HighSchool. In a bizarre disaster domino effect.
Heel-Face-Turn - Craig starts out as a jerk and a troll, but his world is changed when he discovers the fate of his former lover and former band member, Andreas, and when he accidentally and inadvertently kills Maxx.
Irony - Dougal dies from being crushed underneath the Burger Berserker animatronic, the very thing he was trying to emulate to impress Yvette.
Large Ham - Selene Valley's pet lolcow: Maxxy Malone.
Light Is Not Good - The Sunshire Commune and its leader, the woman in white.
Living Legend - Vivienne Vivacious is a world-famous rockstar. Maxx likes to think of himself as this.
Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy - Brad and Makayla. Makayla is outspoken, assertive and plays in a thrash metal band, whereas Brad is sensitive and gentle with a love of animals and baking.
Narcissist - Maxx and his mother, Susan. Also Jaclyn and Veronica.
Not Like Other Girls - Veronica is hellbent on proving she's not like other girls.
Roommate Drama - Almost always revolving around Maxx with his messy habits. His mess attracted mice to the Sabatini house, which then attracted stray cats.
Running Gag - People mistaking Maxx for a clown. Radio host, Philip, from Gem FM constantly forgetting who Maxx is, despite his fame. Maxx misspelling his own band name as "Sex Bees" on his official merch and people referring to his band as "Sex Bees" to make things worse, Maxx's anti-fan merch spells Sex Beest correctly and sells more than his official merch does.
Show within a show - For more info, check the settings guide!
- American Pizza Franchise
- Kaptain Katpilla
- The Prideful and the Pretty
Solar and Lunar - Brad and Blake leave their old lives behind to get away from a cult associated with the sun and move to a place associated with the moon, as Selene is the Greek word for moon. The moon can represent new beginnings and phases of growth, which is fitting to their story, especially Brad's because he changes and grows the most throughout the story!
The "Reason You Suck" Speech - When Brad reaches his breaking point with Maxx and unleashes his bottled-up rage against him after all the terrible things he's done.
Unusual Euphemism - Brad tends to use these a lot. "Oh, for the love of cats!"
Yandere - Dougal.
