I have nothing else to post atm so have this bedraggled Sedusa art I drew like a week ago.

MTH - Him (Part 1)

This has been rolling around in my brain for a bit now. And since I am officially out of ideas for posts.... I think it's Time.

Him. Aside from Mojo Jojo, one of the most iconic villains in the Powerpuff Girls franchise as a whole, and certainly the most powerful. The reason the Boys were able to survive at all. And a heavy, yet relatively rare presence in TEF.

Despite being such an influential character even within the fic itself, Sbj handles Him with a very light, almost less-is-more touch that keeps Him true to form, yet unknowable. Fans of the original 1998 PPGs will recall that Him's only consistent motivation is his hatred of the Girls and his desire to mess with people's minds. A certain episode, Him's big plot is to give the Girls candy for their birthday so that they'd get cavities. Yet in another, the Girls travel through time and Him has taken over, the town is seriously dilapidated, and the people of Townsville are severely traumatized, minds and personalities twisted in disturbing ways. In MTH, Him seems to be somewhere in between these extremes, likely on the darker end of the spectrum but how far, only Sbj knows.

So what do we know? We know from (this post - linked in reblog) that Him was/is not a great coparent. We know that He probly has given Brick lectures on corporate Evil, and that He wanted the Boys to follow in Mojo and His footsteps. We know that Him had gotten the Boys caught in vortexes before (Butch says that Brick was never good with vortexes), that He was likely abusive. We know the Boys broke free when they were around 12. We know that Him disappeared for roughly 5 years. To the extent that until his first appearance, even Brick with his special connection couldn't sense Him. We know that so far, Him has only appeared three times, quite briefly, and only to Brick. We know that He claims the Vortex was left there absentmindedly, years ago, out of boredom. We know He loves His games and riddles. There are lots of things we don't know. Why did he go under the radar for so long? Was the Vortex actually unintentional? Is he really just chilling and occasionally sending something out to mess with Brick in particular, or does he have a big picture plan that we don't have all the pieces to yet?

I have several theories. First, I think the Boys breaking free of His grasp was a blow. I think Him took some time to nurse His wounds and a budding plan to screw them (especially Brick, the one who solved His "riddle") over. He waited and watched, knowing that someday He'd get His chance. I do wonder about Him's influence outside of Townsville. After the Boys left, Brick, with his newfound control over his life, began lucid dreaming. Him doesn't bother the Boys until they return to Townsville. Not even a peep. Then back in Townsville, Brick never involuntarily dreams again until his subconscious wins over his conscious mind, due to his feelings for Blossom. Aside from it being a symbol of Brick’s feelings of secretly wanting to give up control, I think the dream may also be a symbol of Him's plan slowly moving forward, setting up the trap to ensnare the Boys at least, if not the Girls as well. If Brick’s lucid dreaming symbolizes his freedom from Him, a non-lucid dream might symbolize Him’s encroaching influence. I think as twisted as Him is, He actually loved His Boys in a way. But you can't take from the Devil and expect to get away with it for good. Especially when one of you owes Him a debt. After all, in playwriting there's a saying that if you put a shotgun in Act 1, it has to go off in Act 3. And Boomer's musical talent is quite a fucking shotgun.

I know one “shotgun” and a revenge motive isn't definitive evidence for a plan existing, but there's more. Oh, is there more.

Him only appears to Brick. He only talks to Brick. Obviously that's in part cuz Brick is so easy and fun to mess with. But it also feels in some ways like misdirection. Let's say, misdirection with multiple purposes. Brick is the most likely to put pieces together, to be suspicious, to see the big picture - unless he's distracted with trivial, irritating visits from dear old Dad. Something I noticed awhile ago was that after each incident with Him (or one of Him's toys like the Vortex and his black blob), one of our colorful ships got closer. As a direct result of the first incident, Bubbles resolved her conflicted feelings for Boomer, and they got together. They went from flirty-but-just-friends to dating, within maybe an hour. It also messed enough with Brick, having to try to explain the blob's motives without admitting he had conflicted emotions, to be amusing. During the second incident, which had the primary effect of fucking with all the Boys' minds, especially Brick's, Buttercup began to come to terms more with how important Butch is to her. Literally, immediately after Buttercup starts dissociating and going hysterical, it cuts to Butch opening his eyes in the lab, Buttercup right at his side. They jump from platonic rough housing and gripping each other's arms for pain-tolerance after a brutal sparring match, to cuddling and holding hands while falling asleep next to each other.

Now this could just be a matter of using these events to develop characters, like a suspension bridge effect, but I honestly don't think Sbj wrote anything plot-wise that doesn't have a reason. Obviously, advancing the plot and developing characters is a reason, but when the supercomputer jet Brick designed attacked them, Darius was behind the scenes wanting to fuck with Brick. That incident really didn't bring anyone dramatically closer. When the Robo Jojo's attacked and shot antidote x, Mojo was obviously behind it to try to destroy the Girls. If anything, the immediate effect was that it drove the Reds apart, and Butch couldn't joke around Buttercup for awhile after that. The school shooters didn't bring anyone significantly closer. It made Blossom realize that Brick could be heroic, but the immediate effect wasn't profound. She was still with Chris, and he was still pissy about it. Yet both events involving Him ended with huge shifts in relationships.

While I don't necessarily think that Him could predict precisely what would've happened, I do find it suspicious that whenever He fucks shit up, it triggers enormous, sudden steps in relationship developments. Its a big reminder that Him knew exactly why the Girls and Boys were feeling conflicted when he sent the mist-blob. He knew Brick, Blossom, and Bubbles were all having mixed feelings of attraction and inhibition. (I'd mention Greens but they're both so dysfunctional with emotion recognition and expression that they're probly always conflicted in some way, even if only subconsciously, and at that point it wasn't even a matter of denial of attraction but of recognizing it). With the vortex, He knew about the dreams the Boys were having, knew about their subconscious fears and desires, knew how a vortex might twist them even if not in detail.

The only time He appears where His shenanigans aren't fucking with everyone, is at the Homecoming Game and at the hospital after the Vortex incident. Both times involve Brick. At Homecoming, Him visits Brick and morphs into Blossom to taunt him about his dream and his feelings, make his mind deal with the incongruency of the image and touch of Blossom, mixed with the logical understanding that it wasn't Blossom at all. Tempting, yet repulsing him. Stirring up awareness that he really fucking likes her. It could've been just to fuck with him, tease him a bit. But I can't help but notice that it's the VERY NEXT NIGHT that the Vortex incident happens. And while I'm inclined to believe that Him put the Vortex there years ago, I wonder if Him is subject to time the way other beings are. The way He said, "How was I supposed to anticipate youd fall in?", just seems very suspicious, and not technically a lie since it was posed as a question, albeit implicitly rhetorical. He was actually pissed about the monster horde, which was what caused the building and asphalt around it to cave in, exposing the Vortex. So maybe the Vortex wasnt part of His plan. But it's also unclear how large the vortex was. Was it just the size of the parking garage, or was it lying beneath the entirety of Townsville, waiting to be unearthed by the Girls and/or Boys?

Regarding his anger over the monster horde rampage, we see that it's at least in part due to Brick assuming such an "uncreative" plot was His. But I think He is angry at Mrs Morbucks herself. I feel like he's one of those people like "only I can fuck with my kids and put them in serious danger, no one else". And the way he refers to Mrs Morbucks as "your rich older woman", has the disdain that a parent might have for their kid's unsavory friend. Like a sarcastic "why don't you ask your 'hip' stoner friend?" We know that Mrs Morbucks does evil in the style of subtle, back door schemes in the shadows of the world, and that Brick aspires to that kind of evil. He rejected Him and Mojo's flashy theatrics and their fixation on the PPGs, in favor of working with JS for an impressive salary. Him doesn't approve of any of that, He wanted the Boys to follow in His footsteps. So now He's like a dad scolding him saying, "this is why we don't run with scissors" except it's, "this is why we don't get involved with those secretive corporate types". But I think He might also be mad cuz He had a plan up His sleeve, and Mrs Morbucks' stunt fucked it all up. I mean He visited Brick the Day Before that whole situation, and I can't think that it was just to tease him over Blossom.

(To be continued with the actual master plan theory, now that I've presented all this extraneous evidence for there being a master plan at all)

Powerpuff Girls 2016 REVIEW: Part 3

Part Six: Dank Memes, Bra! So here we are, we're finally talking about the elephant in the room. It is time to talk about one of the biggest complaints about the 2016 Powerpuff Girl reboot, as a whole, the use of memes and internet references as a source of humor. If you are reading this and are somehow unaware, the new reboot has had several jokes referencing memes and internet slang in the show. For example in the episode "Painbow" we get Bubbles saying "OMG, Yaass!" and "I can't even!" as well as a scene Blossom and Buttercup twerking after they where mind controlled to party with a talking panda bear that lived in the clouds above Townsville. (Okay, now that I say that out loud that episode was really weird...) Also in the episode "Tiara Trouble" we have Bubbles getting mad at her sisters and yelling "No me Gusta!" at the end of her rant. There has also been a clip of an upcoming episode featuring Bubbles creating a "Mojo Meme Generator." So, how has the internet reacted to the reboots use of memes and internet related humors? Not well, as you could of probably guessed. Almost every online review uses either the "No Me Gusta" or the twerking as part of there thumbnail, with people acting like this show is nothing more than an endless barrage of internet slang that is trying to be "hip with da kids, bra". Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there complaints aren't at least somewhat warranted, as these memes are definitely used more frequently than in most other shows, but I personally feel that people might be exaggerating the extent of these jokes. If you look through all the episodes and combine all the instances of meme-ery, it honestly isn't that much, like combined all the memes probably take up less that forty seconds from the entire series thus far. Now I get why people would be against memes in a show like this, as it does seem pandering and will age the show, but what I don't get is why THIS show gets the shaft for using internet and meme jokes when other cartoons get off scot-free free. Gumball had an entire episode devoted to Gumball and Darwin watching Youtube clips, where they parody Rickrolling and the Ice Bucket Challenge. Nobody talks about how Uncle Grandpa had an entire episode dedicated to "Duck Lips." We Bare Bears uses internet jokes in almost every episode, and made a "I like turtles." joke, IN 2016! Now I honestly don't really have a problem with meme references in cartoons (I think the "I like turtles" joke was actually really, really funny.) But it seems unfair to target Powerpuff Girls for this when all these other Cartoon Network shows do the same thing. Now you could argue that part of the problem is that when PPG 2016 uses memes, it's just not funny. You could also argue that Gumball and We Bare Bears reference internet trends while Powerpuff Girls does specific memes, and thus isn't as timeless. I would agree with this, as I feel like Powerpuff Girls is nowhere near as clever with it's internet jokes as something like We Bare Bear's is. The only reason I like the Powerpuff Girls meme jokes is because I like how cringe it is, and if where looking at the jokes in an unironic sense there not really that good, I mean Bubbles just randomly shouts "No Me Gusta." I won't argue that at all. You could also make the argument that the old Powerpuff Girls was a timeless show, and thus this show should try to be timeless too. I do agree with that too..For the most part. The show was timeless, but...do You remember "Powerpuff Girls Rule?" It was the 10th anniversary special made by Craig McCracken himself had a reference to "Surprised Chipmunk" in it. Heck Craig McCracken even referenced the He-Man "Fabulous Secret Powers" meme in the Wander Over Yonder episode "The Cartoon." Now if the memes are still a problem for you, I get it. I can see how it could appear desperate or running the timeless quality, or just plain unfunny. I just personally don't mind it that much, because other cartoons do the same thing, and all together the memes don't even account for a minute of the actual show. I just feel it's a little unfair to take a few clips and say that that's what the entire show is, when really it's a pretty small percent. But if you still have a problem with the memes that's fine, I don't think your opinions are wrong or anything stupid like that, it's just my personal perspective. Point Seven: Teen Titans Go! Crossover So it's been recently announcing this July there is going to be a Teen Titans Go! Crossover with the 2016 Powerpuff Girls. This has sparked outrage among the internet (which is pretty much the internet default opinion of the reboot at this point, all things considered.) Now what is my take on this? Well...I Depends on if it's really a "crossover?" Now that may sound really weird to some people, but please here me out. Teen Titans Go! Has done stuff like this before, They had a crossover with the Young Justice team in the episode "Let's Get Serious" and a crossover with the TMNT in the episode "Truth, Justice, and What" Oh wait...I'm Sorry, it wasn't the TMNT, it was the Super Cool Youngish Kung-Fu Turtle Dudes, how could I mess that up. Anyway, neither of those crossover featured anybody who worked on those other series, except for the voices actors. Not only that, but those crossovers didn't really even have the guest stars in important roles, they where really just cameos, with only the character that was voiced by a TTG cast member actually talking, and only getting a couple lines at that. I suspect that the Teen Titans Go! Crossover will be something like that. I.E. It will be created by the Teen Titans Go! Crew, without any involvement or possibly permission from any of the Powerpuff Girls writers or crew member,  and have the Powerpuff Girls show up for like, a minute and a half at most, only have Bubbles say any of the lines (because Tara Strong also voiced Raven) and then the rest of the episode being about the Teen Titans characters doing something unrelated. The plot will most likely be about people hating reboots, and the show claiming that people only hate TTG and PPG because there reboots and not for any legitimate complaints because, well that's kinda what Teen Titans Go! Does. Now I don't know this for sure, but I'm calling this now! If this isn't the case, if the crossover has writers from BOTH series, and is a real super hero team up type thing, than yeah, people can complain about this episode all they want, but If I know TTG (and trust me, I could probably talk about that show for even longer than I've talked about this show) that would be my guess on how this crossover will most likely go down. If it does go down the way I described that I really don't think it's fair to blame the Powerpuff Girl Reboot for an episode made by other writers at another studio just because they used their characters. But we will have to wait until July to find out for sure, so let us move on. Point Eight: Final Thoughts Now I'm most likely bias when it comes to the Powerpuff Girl reboot. When it was first announced I was hesitant, but as time went on I became excited. Then when I saw everyone online hate the show prior to it coming out I wanted to like it even more, out of spite. I felt like nobody was giving the show a chance, and so I wanted to be that person to give it a chance. I wanted the show to be great, partially to prove all those people wrong but also because I love the original Powerpuff Girls! I grew up with that show, and I loved it! The idea of Powerpuff Girls becoming a franchise, in the same vein as Batman and the Ninja Turtles got me really excited. If this show took off there could be a new Powerpuff Girl cartoon ever decade, constantly evolving, and adding elements onto each other. Becoming a part of the American pop culture landscape, and I'm still hoping that that can happen, we've just gotten a rocky start. (But still, I mean the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV show after the 80's one was the live action one, and that franchise recovered.) I don't want to come off as a blind fanboy, as I do have problems with this new series. I think the writing is okay, but not great, I don't like the removal of Ms. Bellum, I wish they change the majority of the cast and not just the girls, the show being less action driven and more character based could of worked, but not the way they decided to do it, and the animation errors really need to be fixed. But the show isn't God awful either. The backgrounds and coloring are beautiful, I like how they added new villains and side characters to the Powerpuff Girl roster (even though the villains and side characters can be kinda hit or miss.) the show is still at least fairly funny, and I love what they've done with Bubbles. A lot of people say that reboots are just easy ways for big studios to make money without doing anything original, a while this may be true in some respects, a reboot might be easy money for an executive but for the cast and crew working on it it's pretty dang hard. I mean sure you'll have a built in audience and the reboot will most likely make a lot of money, but you also have to fill the shoes of the original creators. You have to deal with all the premature hatred that comes with that built in audience, and you have to juggling meeting there expectation, being your own thing, and making the show you want to create. It's frickin' hard! And you could say that's just the trade off but remember it's the networks who decided to reboot the property, not the showrunner or executive behind the show itself. It's easy enough to write a character you've made, but when it's a character you haven't made it presents it's own set of challenges that must be a nightmare for some creators and directors, and I'm not just talking about Powerpuff Girls. I think the show is good. Not great, but good. It's far from the worse thing ever. I would probably say I enjoy the reboot about as much if not more  than most of the episodes in the last two seasons of the old series, and I do hope that the people behind the shows will improve as time goes on. After all, it is just the first season, and the old show had some dumb things in there first season too (remember that episode where three criminals disguised themselves as the girls with costumes that where just conveniently inside there prison cell...yeah.) I hope you liked my massive review on the Powerpuff Girls Reboot, I've never done a project like this before and the feedback has been fantastic. If you have any other ideas for reviews or topics for me to cover in my other series, "Cartoon Thoughts" let me know. Also if you want, feel free to check out my webcomics, "Joy of Crime" or "Elinor High." If you like this review please fav, follow and comment and I will be most appreciative. And so once again, the day is saved, thanks to...over analyzation! (...I'm pushing it, aren't I?) 

https://www.deviantart.com/joyofcrimeart/journal/Powerpuff-Girls-2016-REVIEW-Part-3-610024966 DA Link