A Sweet Tribute to John Candy

Corey and Oats in

A Sweet Tribute to John Candy

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Corey and Oats went on many adventures together and even celebrated special occasions such as birthdays and even had special episodes, and today’s story is definitely a special story. It was March 4th, 2025 and every year since 1994 it meant something very special to everyone - it was the day one of the most beloved comedians ever passed away.  For those not in the know, John Candy was a beloved comedic icon who rose to fame on SCTV and appeared in a number of wonderful 80s and 90s films, some good, some were underappreciated gems.

That morning Mel and her friends were in their home in Nile Road thinking of what they would do for the day, Mel had just finished her squishmallow short story the day before and she was looking forward to doing the squishmallow day festivities on Friday. They all got out of bed and turned on the computer before bringing all their friends into the lounge.

As they played around in the lounge they also had breakfast and relaxed before sensing a supernatural presence near where the television was, after Piff had a brief moment of being confused by the Fushigi Yuugi theme song. ‘Susaku? Susaku? What does susaku mean? I’m a Japanese fish and I don’t understand it. Like who is Zuta and why should I be worried about them?’ ‘You are talking about Zuta again?’  ‘Oh yes I am talking about Zuta.’  ‘But why?’ ‘Zuta baffles me, why should I worry about them if they did nothing wrong?’

They all entered the lounge and saw a spectral figure materialize in the lounge on the sofa next to the tv was, the spectral figure took on the form of a man Mel recognized…the late John Candy. ‘John?’  ‘Mel! Hi there.’  ‘You know John Candy, mommy?’ Oats responded. ‘Well of course I do, there was a whole section about him in that Deviantart museum dedicated to my history on the site. I went over how Nathan pretended to be him and got bullied for it by some people but that was non-canon.’

‘Was John mad that Nathan was impersonating him?’  ‘I don’t think so. He was okay with it and he actually stood up for him, he was always there for us.’  Mel answered. ‘She’s right, I would never be mad at anyone, hurting someone is not something I would do. Nathan got hurt and made fun of pretty badly for just trying to express his appreciation for my movies.’ ‘Yeah, it’s funny how way back in 2009-2011, those non-canon events in which he got mocked for simply being a fan of a comedian who was known for his size - yet now there are tons of weirdos in the online dimension known as Bluesky Land thirsting over fat men and posting weight gain pics in hopes of trying to get laid.’

‘Yeah, those people scare me. I’m supposed to be the one blowing up, not them.’ Piff quipped, giggling at Mel’s observation. The gang all introduced themselves to John Candy and hugged him. ‘Long time no see by the way.’ ‘Yeah it has been a really long time since I got to talk with Mel and hang out with her.’  ‘Sorry about having to leave you by the way, I wish I could have kept you around for longer but all that stuff happened to Nathan and I felt bad about it.’

She sobbed but the beloved comedian comforted her…’There there, it is not your fault that it happened. It is never anyone’s fault. Yes, there are cruel people out there who will mock and tease you but I would never let them do that to you.  I stayed with you in your Rosemary Avenue home all through 2009-2012 and still stayed there even after we went our separate ways.  I know there are delusional people out there that think that being overweight is a good thing, but they should take it from me, it isn’t.’  ‘Yeah these people do tend to think that being too big to move is attractive.’ ‘They don’t get that your weight was not why everyone liked you, oh no it was the size of your heart.’

Mel showered for a bit before having lunch with all her friends and after lunch they all played games and Piff wanted to know about him, so she showed Piff all of John Candy’s movies and Piff laughed like a lunatic while watching Uncle Buck and he cried at the end of Planes, Trains and Automobiles. ‘I cannot decide which one of these movies I love more, I love Uncle Buck but PTA had so many good emotional scenes and John, your speech made me tear up.’

Which was followed by Piff becoming John’s newest fan and really wanting to learn more about him, so Mel gave him a book called ‘Laughter On The Outside’ which he read and enjoyed, which was followed by a marathon of SCTV episodes. Piff got the idea to make his very own SCTV style skits with all the palm pals and squishmallows.

They had afternoon tea an hour later as Mel worked on a screenplay with her friends, she explained everything that happened during her (and Nathan’s) early years in the Deviantart universe, and how Nathan was really just trying to have fun and be different than everyone else while also showing appreciation for a comedian he loved watching with his family, and how that boiled down to the traumatic events that were thankfully non-canon and were all about him being bullied and tormented.

“That certainly was very sad.”

“Oh yes, but now Nathan is all better and so am I.”

“Thank goodness everything is better now.”

They all laughed and played and John even occupied them at dinner.  They all sat down at dinner and listened as he told them funny stories which made Piff laugh, they were all excited when dinner was served in the lounge since they got to sit together and be like a family.  ‘This really is a lovely experience.’ ‘Yeah it is.’  ‘John, you really know how to entertain a person, or fish in this case.’ Piff responded. ‘Ah, i’m a natural born entertainer.’  

When their dinner was over  they played games,  an hour later Mel emailed Jill about their adventure and they all had fun, Piff and Tangie went fishing and they all caught some lovely fish, and after fishing they had a karaoke session.

When their karaoke session was over they all hurried into the bedroom to get ready for bed, Corey put on his bat pajamas as Oats put on his pink night-gown and they all brushed their teeth, they all jumped together on the bed and snuggled up as John kept them company.  They all thanked Mel for the adventure and they all said goodnight as Anglo smiled as he began turning out the lights

The lights dimmed and the only light left on was the night-light as they all drifted off to sleep, having sweet dreams as they did so. John kept watch over the gang as they all fell asleep, and Piff even had dreams of being in a fishified version of the movie Only The Lonely and he pictured himself as John’s character Danny Muldoon while Tangie was pictured in the role of Ally Sheedy’s character.  John later visited his friends and co-stars like James Belushi, Tom Hanks, Eugene Levy and even his son and daughter Christopher and Jennifer.

And so their adventure had come to an end but more are coming up so stay tuned for more.