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thesunglassesgamer · 6 years

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Focus and Analysis: What we have vs. what we don't have, and why it matters

This is gonna be a long one and possibly controversial. tl;dr at the bottom.

As this show (and several other shows) has progressed, there have been a number of fans who have raised concerns or criticisms regarding certain aspects of the show that they were disappointed with how they resolved. The biggest example we're going to use is Jackie, but there are several others in the show and many, many more in others. There have been other fans who have argued that the smaller details don't matter in the grand scheme of the show, and that the smaller details are simply plot devices, served their purpose, were as simple as they looked, etc.

Today were going to go over how shows and fandom's interact, the importance of focus, what can and should be criticized and what should not, and the failings of several shows out today and in the past.

Hoo boy, I'm going to spend a lot of time writing for all of one person to see. Here we go.

Any created content, of any type of artistry or media, cannot be judged for what is not there. However, you can judge created content based on what is there and is done poorly, especially when the content focuses on the mistake.

Here's the scenario: The show has a main idea/ main storyline/ main concept that the majority of the show is based around. Surrounding that main idea are several smaller details that build around the main idea. One of the smaller pieces of the show intrigues a number of viewers, despite the show not focusing on that relatively insignificant detail itself. The Fandom creates more and more content on the detail, until the fandom's focus on the detail far exceeds that of the shows. The show ends or stops that idea. The fans invested become upset.

Ex. (poor one because no one cares, but I'm tired and can't find a suitable real example rn): Brittany Wong. Brittany fulfills her role as a tertiary character very well. She's one-note, is used for jokes and to move the plot, and has little impact on the main characters. If you were upset that there was no Brittany Wong in season 3 supporting the main characters in a major way, you cannot blame the show because you're expecting something that the show hasn't established.

Different Scenario: Same show, same details. As the show progresses, however, the show sets time aside to focus on one of the smaller pieces of the puzzle. A lot of attention is given to this detail, but then the show loses interest in it later down the line and ignores it/ retcons/ removes it altogether. This is poor writing and more importantly, poor focus on the shows behalf. It makes sense to criticize the show for this error, as it stains the rest of the work.

Ex.: (Oh boy this should fun) Jackie. Jackie is a character who started as a tertiary character in season one, was upgraded to a very important secondary character in season two, and died while returning to her home planet in season three (bonus points if you can name the episode of the show of the reference). If Jackie had stayed a smaller side note and hadn't gotten much screen time or development during season two, her leaving in season three wouldn't have mattered much.

But that's not what happened. Jackie got a lot of screen time. Several episodes included her and developed both her character and role within the show. It doesn't matter how well they developed her, it matters that they spent precious, precious time developing her and focusing on her. To throw her away for the sake of the main story, Star and Marco's relationship (not necessarily romantic, just their bond to each other), you simultaneously throw away all that time spent with her: precious, precious time that could have been spent focusing on the main story.

Now it is true that Jackie was still only a secondary character, and only partially developed, but that's the issue: she was only partially developed. If she had remained tertiary, then losing her doesn't matter. If her arc had been completed, than her role as a secondary character would be fulfilled and we can move on from her. But to start her character, to start a story and not finish it, is bad for a number of reasons:

1.Displaces focus from what is important in the story. 2.Wastes time that could improve the main story. 3. Creates confusion for the audience.

Spending time on anything that isn't part of the main focus of the show must somehow lead back to the themes present in the focus. Star vs's main focus in Star and Marco. Jackie does work into Star and Marco, and works (mostly) as a smaller detail supporting the larger ideas (although the way she leaves kinda makes them look worse, but that's a different type of execution fail). However, other smaller details that seem lacking (the lore in the show) tend to take away time from the main focus. By taking time away from the main idea, the show takes on too many tasks and starts becoming diluted and average. Quality for everything suffers, and the juggling of so many ideas and priorities damages the show. Adventure Time had this problem really badly where it didn't know if it wanted to have serious story, wacky adventures, or both, and this lack of identity and focus hurt it a lot.

2.This kinda goes with the above. The show has a really great friendship relationship that evolves, goes through hurdles and obstacles, gets weaker before getting stronger again, etc. But there are some cracks within that story that could get easily filled with a little extra screentime. Or not.

That's not to say that you have to focus on Star and Marco the whole time, but the themes within their relationship (like trust, friendship, reliability, being honest and speaking up, growing up and becoming more responsible) should be explored within any supplementary material. Jackie doesn't. Moving on.

This is a big one in our day and age. The audience is very important (or at least thinks itself important enough to do wildly inappropriate things). You want the audience to look at something, you focus on it. If it's not important, you don't. Audiences know this. So when you focus on something and it goes nowhere, the audience is left very confused. What can they trust anymore? How do we know that Tom and Kelly and Eclipsa and Globgor won't go the same way as Jackie? You can't. You no longer know what's unimportant and what deserves emotional involvement in.

Star vs has some great triumphs. I truly do believe that Star and Marco's interactions as friends and whatever they are now and will be are much more organic and more in-depth than most shows do. There are other parts of the show that are also done very well that I can't think of right now because I'm very tired. That does not, however, excuse it's lack of focus and lack of development towards what it gives time to and it's greater themes. Chekhov's gun goes for every part of the story, every single part. If you have a Jackie, why not shoot it?

Tbh, I don't even really care for her that much or a lot of the issues that would be represented in this post. I was ready to come from the other side of the arguement at the beginning of this. Maybe I need to go read more Seddm or something. I think I'm mostly just disappointed that the show isn't as clean as I want it to be, which is both a criticism of the show and myself. Please feel free to tell me how wrong I am below. This post is a lot bigger than it should be and took an hour. There's also other points I wanted to add but it's 10:40 and I've got lawns to mow. Gn.

tl;dr: Because Jackie and other aspects of the show that people take fault with (to differing degrees of relevance) are focused on by the show, they become crucial aspects of the show. When these aspects are then poorly done or tossed aside, it tarnishes the show. Basically, Jackie can't be a plot device because they spent too much time with her to drop her, and this applies to all shows (looking at you, Pacifica.)

#Star vs #star vs the forces of evil #star #marco #jackie #toffee #eclipsa #kelly #yeah #this is a trainwreck #I'll upload the next chapter by the end of the month #hopefully

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thesunglassesgamer · 6 years

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Thanksgiving Day (1 of 2)

I have a friendo who made a kellco pic for me so I wrote him this in return. It’s not done yet, but I needed to get something up and it splits it up better for me. Based on the Celeste/Mandy AU by @girls-with-boys-names, go check out her work and support her.

Thanksgiving day. It was a windy, biting day in Echo Creek, the wind pulling down the few stubborn leaves that had clung onto their trees long past their brothers and sisters. Save for the palms, most of the trees looked barren and dead against the colorful houses and blue skies. There weren’t a lot of people walking around the freezing suburbs, save for a party of three making their way out of a portal and towards the house of 307 Dead Possum Road. There was a man, a woman, and a small child in-between them, all trying to keep the wind out of their faces with limited success. As they approached the front door, it opened to reveal a woman in her early thirties smiling casually at them.

“Well, someone’s one time as usual,” Janna’s smooth voice welcomed them. Despite her too-cool-for-school stance, there was a small glint of warmth hidden behind her eyes. Most people wouldn’t have seen it, but Marco and Star had known Janna for a long time.

“Didn’t want to keep you waiting,” Marco responded, a quick smile flashing from beneath the scarf he wore. “Besides, it’s too cold out here to wait any longer.”

Janna took a good look at the three of them. They were all dressed as though they were ready for a massive blizzard to strike: Scarves, large coats, boots, long pants, gloves, hats, the works. Despite that, the youngest of the three, a small girl no older than ten, was still shivering and pushing her face as deep into her clothes as she could.

Janna’s already amused smile grew wider. “A bit of overkill, ain’t it, Diaz?” She stepped aside and gestured for them to come inside. “You know you could’ve just opened a portal directly into the house, right?”

Star’s eyes glanced at Marco and she gave Janna a knowing smirk. “You’re preaching to the choir here, Janna.”

Marco’s eyebrows knit together. He muttered something about impoliteness and proper etiquette as he, Star, and their daughter walked into the house and were immediately relived by it’s warmth and comfort. Janna nodded towards the coat closet while she yelled over her shoulder, “Tom, you’re boyfriend and his wife are her!”

“One second,” he replied from the neighboring room. “Taking out the green beans now.”

Janna nodded and looked back to find Marco blushing uncomfortably while Star giggled. The young girl between them, her face now visible with all of her outer gear removed, looked up at her father with an absolutely puzzled expression. She was a brunette, her hair falling down to the middle of her back with slight curls in it. She had brown skin to match her brown hair, yet it was so light that most people wouldn’t have suspected that her father was half-Mexican. Her eyes were a brilliant blue, full of life and wonder about the world around her. Her heart-shaped cheek marks were barely visible under the blush of her frozen cheeks. She looked up at her father, a Marco Diaz who had finally gone through puberty and had a proper “manly” upper body with confusion and worry.

“Boyfriend?” She asked him with the type of innocent misunderstanding only a young child can have. Her father’s face grew redder and he covered his face with his palm, more irritated than embarrassed.

“It’s a joke, Celeste,” He muttered in a monotone voice. “Auntie Janna likes to tease daddy from time to time.”

“Some things never change, huh Marco?” Star noted through her giggles.

Marco’s face flushed a deeper red. “I’d rather not remember those times.”

“Oh, honey,” Star sighed as her giggling receded, still smiling widely. “You need to relax. Honestly, if that’s all that it takes to get you to get all flustered and upset, then we’re going to be in for a really, really awkward Thanksgiving this year.”

“Yeah, Marco, relax,” Janna added, a devilish smile stretched across her face. “I haven’t even begun.” Then she winked and gave him a surprisingly genuine hug. “It’s nice to see you again, Diaz.”

Marco returned the hug only a quarter second later, giving her a tiny smile. “You too, Jan.”

They both gave each other a tight squeeze before breaking off. Janna went to hug Star as Tom walked out the kitchen and into the main hallway.

“Marco! Star!” He exclaimed with exuberance, arms open wide, face lit up like a Christmas tree. “I feel like it’s been forever!”

“Just under three weeks,” Marco replied slyly, but returned Tom’s outstretched arms with his own. It was nice to see his friend again. In truth, he himself had felt like it had been too long since he’d since his friends. Royal duties had randomly piled up and it had taken both his organizational skills and Star’s unlimited energy just to keep on top of it all. They’d barely had enough time to keep up with Celeste. Now was the time to relax, to unwind, to be free.

“Feels like a century,” Tom replied bouncily, breaking away from Marco but keeping one of his arms around Marco’s shoulders. “So where are the folks? Coming a little later?”

“Finishing up their halves of the dinners, I think,” Marco replied. “River and Moon have half of the kitchen working on some elaborate corn dish with beef and pork, and my parents are making fajitas.”

Tom gave him a confused, though still good-humored look. “Those sound oddly similar.”

Marco chuckled. “No wonder Star loved Earth cuisine. We basically already eat nothing but corn here too.”

Tom chuckled and they continued to talk about food and Tom’s recent improvements in his table tennis skills while Star and Janna spoke in quieter tones off to the side.

“It’s been too long, Janna.” Star greeted her with a wide smile that women used to hide their feelings so much better than men. “How’s Mandy been?” The question was a harmless one, something that could have easily meant “How are her grades, is she looking at anyone special, what’s her mood,” but really meant “how are you and Mandy dealing with the appallingly sudden death of her father”.

Janna shrugged, successfully feigning confidence to everyone in the room. She acted like she hadn’t understood the greater meaning of Star’s question. “She’s been alright. A little rowdy and rebellious lately, but that’s to be expected under the circumstances. Heck, I was probably more rebellious at her age.” Janna continued to smirk but shifted her body weight on to one leg and looked over to where Tom and Marco were acting as though they had just met each other after several years. “I see what my dad meant, though. Kids can be a piece of work sometimes.”

Star wasn’t convinced of Janna’s honesty. She “hmmmmm’d” and bit her lip but let the matter drop till later. She shrugged and noted casually, “Maybe she’s just been lonely and needs a friend, right Celeste?”

Celeste, who had been busy trying to warm her cheeks with her hands and wondering about the futility of understanding how adults work blinked her eyes and laser-focused them on her mother. “Wha-“ she murmured, still recovering from her pensive daydream.

“Your friend Mandy is here, Celeste,” Star talked down to her in that ridiculous way that everyone above the age of twelve does when talking to a young child. “You remember Mandy, right?”

Celeste sulked openly in front both her mother and Auntie Janna. She hated the condescending voice that her mother and father and Auntie Janna and Uncle Tom (holy shit that is a horrible coincidence) and everyone else used with her. It had been wondrous and whimsical when she was maybe six, but she was nearly ten years old now. Ten years old! Of course she remembered Mandy, why would her mother think otherwise?

“Yeah, mom, of course I remember her,” Celeste responded in an indignant tone. “I’m no longer a five-year-old with the atten- atten-“

“Attention span?” Star helped her with an unamused expression on her face.

Celeste’s cheeks, which had almost adjusted back to their normal bronze color, reddened again. “Yeah, that,” she sputtered, now even more indignant. “You don’t have to treat me like a kid all the time.”

Star frowned deeply at Celeste, both in reproof and, though Celeste could not see it, worry. “Celeste, come on. You know I don’t mean it like that, and that’s no way to talk back to me, especially in company.”

Celeste pouted and looked away, staring hard down at the ground. “I know, I know,” she grumbled in the tone of voice that informed everyone that she didn’t believe what she was saying. “I just wish you’d treat me like I was older.”

Janna whispered under her breath in a not-quite sarcastic tone, “Someone’s sounding like their own mother.”

Star shot her a quick glare before looking back down at her pouting child and gave her an apologetic look. “I know, sweetie, but I can’t help it. You’ll always be my little girl whenever I look at you. I know you’ve grown up a lot since then, but I just can’t help it. Forgive me if I forgive you?”

Celeste bit her lip and frowned, still staring at the ground. Part of her wanted to stay angry for anger’s sake, but her mother had been both understanding and generous in her offer. When she tried to steal a glance at her mother’s face, she saw the honesty and love of her mother’s apology in her eyes and became ashamed of herself. Celeste didn’t like making other people feel bad about themselves, least of those being her family and friends. Her mother was both. Her hands fled their guilt to meet behind her at the small of her back while one of her little shoes dug into the floor back and forth. She kept her eyes away from her mother as she said in a quiet voice, “Deal. Sorry mom. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

Star gave Celeste a smile warmer than any fireplace or wool blanket. “That’s alright, Celeste, I understand. Just- try to keep it in mind for the future, deal?”

Celeste nodded her head up and down vigorously. “Yep, yep, yep, got it!”

Star let out a short laugh and snapped her fingers at her emphatic daughter. “Yes, yes, yes indeed!” She stood up and beamed down at Celeste, face full of energy. “Ready to see Mandy?”

Celeste took in a deep breath and held it in her chest for a long time. Really long. Maybe an hour, or two, or twenty even. Or at the very least ten seconds.

Mandy was… frustrating. Celeste had been forced to hang out with her a number of times due to her parents being such close friends, and each time had been very different from the last. The first time they met, Mandy had barely talked to her. She had treated Celeste as though she didn’t even exist, and Celeste had gone crying into her mother’s arms at the end of the day. The next time, Mandy had acted as though they had never met before and took Celeste in like they had been best buddies. They talked, played games, and made each other laugh. It was then that Celeste got to know Mandy: cool, confident, sly, lazy and overly obsessed with her looks. She had a bit of a punk outfit and attitude that seemed super mature and impressive to Celeste, whose father was Marco Butterfly (enough said). Celeste had left happy and sure that she had made a new friend, maybe even a best friend.

But then she was proven wrong on her last visit. About three months ago, Mandy had come over with her parents for some sort of special event. Celeste couldn’t remember what it was about, nor had she cared. She had only wanted to see Mandy again, and to cement their friendship with a second playdate. But when Celeste had approached Mandy, Mandy told her to go away. She had seemed despondent, upset, more moody than usual. So Celeste, caring about her friend and hoping to find a way to help her out, asked Mandy what was up. A short back-and-forth between them with Celeste asking what was Mandy’s issue while Mandy constantly refused her until Mandy had lashed out, screaming, “God, you’re so thick, Celeste! Can’t you see when you’re not wanted? I only hung out with you last time because I pitied you! Go away!” after which she had run away herself, apparently crying. It had been the weirdest experience of Celeste’s life, and she hadn’t been able to choose if she should cry out in emotional pain or try to comfort Mandy’s. When she had told her parents, they had looked at each other with weird expressions on their faces and told her that ‘Mandy was going through a tough time at the moment’. Celeste didn’t know what that meant, she only knew that nothing about Mandy made any sense. A lot of feelings started to bubble up in Celeste’s chest at the idea of seeing her again, anxiety being the most overwhelming and notable one of all.

Celeste looked up into her mother’s eyes. They were her mother’s eyes. Celeste always felt such a great warmth in those eyes, like her favorite blanket or when you were curled up right next to the fireplace. They were loving eyes, pure love, and yet that love had to fight against Celeste’s own fear of facing Mandy. “Um, sure,” Mandy replied quietly, looking away from her mother’s gaze. “Sounds great.”

Star pursed her lips. She debated whether or not she should talk to Celeste about Mandy and try to reassure her that everything was going to be okay, but she decided against it. She didn’t want to address the issue in front of Janna and risk stressing her out more. Besides, Celeste was right: she wasn’t a baby anymore. She had probably figured out what had been going on by now.

Star smiled and looked back up to Janna. “So where is she? I’d have thought we’d have seen her by now.”

Janna looked around, eyebrows narrowing in suspicion. “She’s supposed to be down her by now. Damn,-“ (Star gave her a look that asked Janna why she had to curse in front of Celeste and Janna returned it with a half-heartedly apologetic look of her own) “-Must still be in her room.” Janna walked further down the hallway towards the stairway. Star decided to follow as she had nothing else to do, and Celeste felt compelled to follow her mother. The end of the hallway broke off into three distinct directions: forward lead to an office that got used by Janna during the day to surf the web and Tom at night for his royal duties, the left lead the guest bedroom, laundry, and the garage, and the right lead to a staircase built against the wall. Janna leaned heavily on the stair’s rails and shouted up into the second floor, “Mandy! Come on down, we’ve got guests over!”

---

Mandy brushed her long, purplish hair back behind her horns in a languid motion, slow and methodical to the point of redundancy. She had her music on full blast, some song by some emo group about the death of happiness, yet she could still hear her mother’s demands through the cacophony of noise. She ignored them expertly, putting down her brush in favor of her elaborate make-up set. She hadn’t known very much about make-up when she had first picked up the palette, but a few tutorial videos online had given her all the knowledge she’d needed. She picked up the “darkest heart” eyeliner and looked over into her bedroom mirror. The eyeliner brush was millimeters away from her left eye when another scream of ‘Mandy!’ startled her. Her body tensed up in reaction, dropping both the brush and the bottle. They fell down to the floor and splattered across her second favorite shirt, black ink coursing through the fabric and overlapping the words ‘dire flight’. Mandy’s eyes flashed in rage and turned a burning violet as she screamed out in rage. Her entire body became engulfed in a bruised purple flame as she screamed in frustration. The flames burst out from around her body in devilish hunger, looking for anything and everything to devour and burn to cinder and ash. However, when Mandy’s outburst died down and the fire with it, the room was the same: not a book, make-up set, nightstand, sheets- nothing was destroyed. Mandy pouted bitterly as she stared down at the ruined shirt. She had a passing thought to thank Auntie Star for enchanting her room to be fire-proof, but it was stifled under the fury and loathing she held for her mother. She pushed herself off of the bed and started stomping on the once loved article of clothing with exhausting vigor until she couldn’t bear to bring her legs up anymore. The pounding of her feet into the clothing, which had left the shirt torn to shreds due to Mandy’s spiked boots, had shaken her floor ever so slightly. The only sound Mandy could hear for a long period was her own heavy breathing, in and out, in and out. Mandy wanted to cry, wanted to let it all flood out of her, but she held her ground. She lifted her head up to see her reflection in her bedroom mirror.

She had short, purple hair that seemed to curl all over her head, with two stumpy brown horns popping from within the curls. She had taken after her father’s third eye, yet they were purplish and complimented her hair (or so she was told). Her ears came out at sharp points, similar to that of a fairy’s but larger. She wore a long, gray sweatshirt, torn here and there, with symbols of various religions and ancient hieroglyphics on the arms. Her black skirt fell down to just above her knees (per request of both her father and, to her shock, her mother) and worked well with her big, brown combat boots. She filled out both the shirt and the skirt very well, as she was what people who spent too much time on comedy social apps would call “thicc” (4’8” at 100-110 lbs). It was a striking outfit for so young a girl, and it made Mandy feel ten years older than she was. It was one of her favorites, and most times when she saw herself in it in the mirror, she’d smirk and think ‘Hell yeah I am’.

But recently, she hadn’t liked looking in the mirror at all. She didn’t see herself in it. Just some stranger in her clothes who didn’t know what her own reflection looked like. It had been like that for a while now. She couldn’t remember exactly when the feeling had started, and she had no idea how long she’d be stuck with it. Mandy stared at the look-a-like in the mirror, apprehension and anxiety and fear and loneliness and shame and anger and-

She looked away. She took a few moments to control her breath, in and out, in and out. She was interrupted by her mother yelling up to her, “Mandy! Now!” Mandy shook her head and yelled back,

“One second, mom, I’m coming!”

---

Celeste stared up the staircase warily, uncertainly. Tom, having overheard his wife calling up irritably towards their daughter, had come within the opening of the hallway, eyebrows cocked in inquiry. “Everything all right, honey?” He asked anxiously.

Janna let out a soft, somewhat annoyed grunt. “Mandy’s not down yet. She’s been taking her sweet God-da-“ Star shot her a disapproving look and Janna checked herself. “Gosh darn time.”

Tom sucked in a quick breath through his nose. He started slowly walking over apprehensively while asking, “How long has it been?”

Janna rolled her eyes, letting them stop on the floor and shrugged. “I don’t know, only a minute or so since I started yelling up, but she should have been down at least twenty minutes ago.”

Tom bit his lip, thinking. “Can you hear her music? She blasts it loud enough to drown us out. Might need to apply direct pressure to get her down.”

Janna, who had grown up blasting music in her room for the same reason, shook her head dismissively. “Nah, she can hear me alright. I’d say… one more minute before we go break down her door.”

Star gave Janna an uncertain glance. She made a ‘hmmmmm’ing sound while biting down on her lip. “Ummmm, Janna? Do we really need to force her down her right now? She could be still getting dressed or… something. Ya know. Celeste can hang out for a few minutes by herself (Celeste’s heart soared at this thought), it’ll be fi-“

Janna waved her hand, casually interrupting Star’s suggestion. It also almost hit Star square in the face, if she hadn’t moved out of the way at the last second. “Nah, she’s gotta come down now,” Janna replied in a seemingly bored tone (crushing Celeste’s hopes and dreams in a single blow). “It’s about discipline, Star. I asked for her to come down a long a-“ she shot Celeste a terrified glance, but Celeste looked non-the-wiser, “a long time ago. I’ve given her plenty of time to get her sh- stuff together, she can’t just stay up in her room forever.” She gave Star a cocky smile before turning around and adding, “I’ve been there before Star, I know what’s up.”

Star took in a deep breath through her teeth. She looked like she wanted to argue, but instead just replied hesitantly, “Alright.” She couldn’t keep the disagreement out of her voice no matter how hard she tried.

A small motion above her caught Celeste’s eye. She looked up at Auntie Janna’s face to see that she had scrunched up in irritation. Something her mother had said was upsetting Janna, but Celeste couldn’t figure out what it was. Even in the small amount of time that the young girl had known Janna, she couldn’t remember her ever caring much about what other’s thought she should do. She just did them. Now she looked… odd. Uncertain. Celeste thought about what Janna had said about having ‘been there’, but she felt pretty darn certain that whatever the heck Mandy was going through, Janna didn’t know what was going on.

Tom heard a noise from the living room: a portal opening, greetings between Marco and a small group of people, laughter, etc. Marco had stayed behind to watch the door in case anyone else arrived. “Uh, hey, honey,” he noted with brevity. “Guests.”

Janna waved her hand absentmindedly. “Yeah, yeah, I got it. This’ll be over soon, one way or another.” Tom shot her the thumbs up and returned to the party. Meanwhile Janna tensed up her body and shouted, very sharply, “Mandy! Now!”

A moment of waiting, and then, “One second, mom, I’m coming!”

They heard a door opening, breaking the weak barrier that had kept back the heavy bass and moaning voices that had been stifled beforehand and made it their duty to make sure everyone head them for a few seconds before the door closed again, resealing them in their prison. There was the sound of heavy boots, each bump bump bump causing Celeste’s heartbeat to thump in her chest louder and louder. Star watched anxiously, biting down on her lip with a similar tick to when she used to bite down on her wand in. Janna started up patiently, trying to placate her frustrations and worries with understanding and love while simultaneously thinking of what she was going to say.

Bump bump bump. And she appeared.

Mandy approached the top of the stairs and, mentally preparing herself for the worst and silently taking in deep breaths, looked down. She saw her mom, stern gaze directed right through her body and into her soul. Most of her body was relaxed, as it almost always was, but her right hand had the rails of the staircase being crushed under them. Mom was pissed. Shit.

Trying to keep her own cool composure that her mother had inadvertently taught her, Mandy let her eyes slowly track over to the other two. She saw her auntie Star, who she felt indifferent about. She seemed like she cared and wanted to help, but Mandy knew that she didn’t understand. Besides, she was mom’s friend first, not hers. Then she remembered a crucial detail. If Star was here then…

Her eyes fell down over a young girl, about her own age, dressed in a simple little pink dress that went down to just below her knees. Her sky blue eyes, her chocolate brown hair, her heart-shaped marks… Celeste. Double shit.

“Mandy!” Janna nearly shouted. Her voice was direct, but not harsh. She stared at her daughter with a neutral expression, maintaining the same cool she’d had for her entire life. “ I told you you needed to be down her half an hour ago.”

Mandy blinked, snapping back into reality and staring at her mother. She quickly regained focus and made an uninterested look as she looked at anything but her mother. “Twenty minutes,” she corrected her mother. “I was busy getting ready.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Janna replied in a deadpan, sarcastic voice. “You got eyeliner smeared across the outside of your right eye. I thought we talked about not using makeup until you’re older.”

Mandy blushed. How had she not seen it in the mirror? Her hand instinctively went up towards her eye, but she stopped halfway and tried to pass it off as a casual brush of her hair. She started to feel embarrassed, vulnerable, the object of attention turned into humiliation, and it pissed her off. She hated it when her mother called her out like that, in that stupid deadpan tone, as if all she could see in Mandy was her faults. She gave her mother the death stare and balled up her hands into fists.

“So what if I want use a little make-up here and there, huh?” She blurted it out aggressively. “Maybe I don’t want to look as ugly as you or dad, ever thought of that?”

“Mandy!” Janna did shout this time, hand shaking the railings. Any amount of composure or self-restraint she had mustered up earlier had quickly evaporated at the obscene comment, and she was ready to let loose. But Star wasn’t ready to see the two devolve into chaos, and before Janna could say anything she might have regretted later, she had placed a firm hand on Janna’s arm. Janna stiffened, then relaxed and closed her eyes. She couldn’t see Star’s face, but she knew that it the awkward, disapproving look she reserved for when the people or world around her were acting dumb. Janna felt dumb. And tired. Very tired, especially in her eyes. She let go of the railing and started rubbing her eyes with the aching hand, relying on Star to keep herself balanced. Star, for her part, kept Janna balanced.

Star looked up to Mandy with a small smile. “I’ve got some extra make-up removal wipes in my purse; do you want some?”

Mandy’s eyes fell down to the ground again, body still tense. She didn’t respond immediately. She just stared at the ground in front of her, still furious at her mother and upset at the scene she’d just had. After a second or two, she replied sourly, “Yeah, whatever.”

Star nodded and let go of Janna to look through to properly search her pockets for her purse (she had magically enchanted them to hold an infinite space). Janna, not ready for Star’s sudden release, nearly fell on her face. She staggered, recovered, and let out a long sigh.

“We’ll… we’ll talk later.” She didn’t look at Mandy and Mandy didn’t look at her as she went back down the hallway towards the living room. The staircase became silent except for the sound of Janna’s feet slogging towards the party and Star’s extensive efforts to find the wipes. Celeste, who had slowly been growing paler and paler as each second went on, did all that she could not to stare at Mandy in horror. She tried focusing on a very unique vase off to the side of the staircase, hoping that she wasn’t doing more damage than staring right at Mandy.

“Come on, come on…. Yes!” Star triumphantly pulled out a small clump of moist wipes from pocket. “Well, not great,” she admitted, looking a little concerned, and then shrugging it off. “They should work just fine though, they haven’t been used before.” She held up the wipes towards Mandy. Mandy didn’t move to take them. She stayed at the top of the stairs, looking moody and dejected. Star gave her a mildly upset look, then glanced at where Janna had just gone around the corner back to the party. Both Janna and her daughter needed help, and soon. Star tried to think of a way for her to help both of them at the same time, but she couldn’t. Either way, both sides would think that she was helping the other and would shut up around her. There was only one option and she hated herself for thinking of it.

She looked down at Celeste. Celeste paled and almost started shaking her head violently. She mentally pleaded with her mother not to-

“Well, uh, you’re busy,” Star noted awkwardly, giving Celeste both an apologetic and reproofing look at the same time before looking back up at Mandy. “I’ll just leave the wipes with Celeste and you two can take care of it together.”

She handed the wipes to Celeste, who took them as though they were a weird looking rock. Star hurried off back to the party to try and help her friend while, as far as Celeste could understand it, she did the same. Celeste looked back down at the wipes with a blank expression, too scared to feel, and then looked up at Mandy. Mandy was staring back at her.

“So. It’s you.”

This took a lot longer than I was expecting it would take and it’s a lot longer than I thought it would be. I wanted this to be a one-off but apparently I’m incapable of doing those anymore. The second half should be done, my attention span allowing, sometime in May. Hopefully before then. After that, I’ll focus on There For You and exclusively There For You. Thanks to Leader-of-Datlof for being a friend and girls-with-boys-na

#star vs the forces of evil #star #janna #celeste #Mandy #holy shit #5000 words at the half way mark is too many #I need to limit the amount of details I use #I did a thing with this fic where I tried to write at least a little a day #helped me get back to working on it

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