#gen thoughts

Things to establish(using the 1987-8 timeline):

J.P is about 23-4 in SDC, and Sherry was a high school student when she was murdered in 1985.

If we subtract the years here, Polnareff was about 21 when Sherry was about 15-18. This gives us three possibilities for the sibling age gap. Pol could have been between 3-6 years older than Sherry.

This is all important because it gives us a timeframe in which their mother couldn't have died. This would inform how much of a brother/parent role J.P would take for Sherry.

Further into speculation:

I'm leaning towards a 5 to 6 year gap, this is because it makes it that much easier for him to lift up Sherry and spin her around in the one flashback we see. Unfortunately, this means that Sherry would have been 15-16 when she was murdered (which breaks my heart).

For the sake of my heart, I'm going to say the Polnareff siblings lost their mom when J.P was 8 and Sherry was 2-3. I think their mother's death was a factor in how protective J.P was of Sherry, and how close they were as brother and sister.

Suddenly, there were only three people in the house. Suddenly, J.P has to become more responsible for his sister, make sure she's taken care of and happy while their father is working. I just have the feeling that Sherry might have thought of J.P as more emotionally available and dependable than their father (regardless of how good or bad a job their father was doing, since Sherry and J.P had a similar experience ((losing their mother)) rather than losing a wife, I think that's something that would cement a different type of understanding between the two of them).

Obviously every sibling bond is unique, but I think J.P and Sherry's bond makes her death just that much more...compoundedly awful. Because it isn't just his little sister dying, Sherry was probably his best friend, the person he was closest to, the only other person who understood the pain of losing their mother (who would probably ask: what was she like? do I look like her?). Someone he had to grow up that much faster for.

From what we're given in canon Steely Dan is much more of a talker than a down and out fighter (at least as himself, not his stand), this could perhaps be taken advantage of!

Eileen stays behind with Jotaro, she can't exactly help Pol, Kak or Joseph, and she can focus on making sure Jotaro doesn't punch Dan's lights out.

Eileen is still rather anxious, Dan is very intent on humiliating Jotaro and she's scared he'll do the same to her. Why not, she doesn't want Joseph to die either, right? But she's still determined to distract Dan.

E: So is Dan your last name? Middle?

S.D: Don't be ridiculous, you think a mercenary would actually give someone their legal name?

E: Then why choose it?

S.D: I mean, my first name is Danyal.

E: Oh that's nice. Is that to make things easier? What about 'Steely' where did you get that?

It keeps the attention off of Jotaro, but Dan can tell she's nervous, not genuinely interested, etc. On top of that, Dan can test boundaries: can he use Eileen as a way to humiliate Jotaro, what type of person is Jotaro: would he be alright with Dan making her cry? Goad him in some sort of way?

I can't really speak to the extent or what exactly the humiliation would entail, but he certainly snatches her choker - threatens to destroy it (cut it up? dump it in the river?):

After Eileen manifests the Hounds she is determined to treat her new companions right! She goes to the library everyday after school (like a little Matilda). Eileen stacks as many books as her little arms can handle, hobbles over to a study table, and pores over them for hours.

Eileen likes the picture books especially, because she's not a particularly strong reader (she's eight). Sure, her dogs are pink, blue and green, but eventually she identifies them as "Weimaraners".

When her mom gets curious about the borrowed books laying around, Eileen says she wants to be a veterinarian! At this point, she knows it would make her mom look at her funny if she brought up her Hounds, and she is actually considering it!

Eileen knows the Hounds aren't exactly...real dogs, but she wants to keep them healthy. They eat the treats she gives them, they like petting and belly rubs, they even give her kisses! Eileen has also figured out how to summon the Hounds, so when she thinks she's alone, they come out!

Nobuko gets worried that Eileen's new interest in dogs is leading up to a "can I have a doggy?" so she's pleasantly surprised when Eileen is satisfied 'playing pretend'. As a treat she gets Eileen a dog plushie for her birthday.

The Hounds serve as a primary support system for Eileen, especially in the aftermath of the break-in. She doesn't know it, but it's her soul trying to heal itself. By taking care of the Hounds she is also taking care of herself.

***

Eileen is bullied for not having a dad and not looking like everybody else, it started as aggressive but it's developed into an undercurrent of shunning in general. Sure, it used to make her cry, but she's grown accustomed to it. She 'stays in her lane' so to speak.

If Jot and Lee can't fly to Japan for it, they give Holly a phone call (including a rousing renditions of "The Best" by Tina Turner), and call a flower place to deliver a nice bouquet!

Thankfully, most of the time Jot and Lee can swing it, so instead Jotaro makes Holly breakfast in bed, Eileen takes Holly out shopping, and Holly can smother Jotaro with as much affection as she likes (and he won't complain about it).

Before they started dating, Jotaro would just get Holly a store bought card, but Eileen convinced him that even if a homemade card isn't 'perfect' and 'nice to look at' it's the way to go.

Sometimes, Holly catches a flight to New York to see her mama Suzie, in which case Jotileen don't have to go so far to see her! It's a lovely combo!

Holly just soaks up the affection like a sponge, it has to be one of her favourite days of the year!

Eileen loves the day on the whole but, well... Things with her mother are more complicated.