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yrpspiritsintheshadows · 5 years

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Winding Down

The wind blew in his face, the city below him a vast jungle of buildings towering over it all.

One wrong move would mean serious injury or even death. He had to make this next jump count. Carefully, he maneuvered himself onto the building nearby, holding his arms out for balance as he found his footing. He moved carefully along the edge, looking down at the hustle and bustle of the streets below. The wind picked up blowing his inky black hair around as he tried to take focus of the roof across from him.

This is one small step for Miyamoto’s… One giant leap for Ken.

The young man made his way for the edge bracing himself for the jump.

“One… Two…”

He jumped his limbs flailing as he missed the edge just barely, his fingers brushing against the rooftop.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

Ken fell landing on a pile of pillows, on the rug that was printed to look like a busy street. The six year old threw his head back laughing breathlessly, as he caught his breath.

“Almost! So close!” He cheered, as he looked around to be sure no one had heard him actually fall off of his dresser. If his mother had caught him… Ken could already picture his mother, chancla in hand ready for a warning throw.

All was well in his world, just waiting for his dad to come home so he could ask him about how his investigation went… And so he could get tucked in. Ken didn’t want to miss a single moment of his father’s time with him.

He got up dusting off his pajamas, making his way for the window near his bed. He peered out to the driveway. He had timed it perfectly as he saw a very familiar van pull into the driveway. A large black SUV with four letters stenciled on the side door.

“Daddy!” He squealed pushing away from the window and running down the stairs, getting the attention of a large black and cream wolf like dog. The dog perked up her ears twitching as she chased after the boy. “C’mon Okami, Daddy’s home! Daddy’s home!”

The dog gave a loud howl bolting down the staircase, waiting as Ken hopped up onto the banister sliding down before following after him.

The front door opened as a very tired man entered. He yawned a bit as he stretched, running his hand through his shaggy black hair, blue eyes showing exhaustion.

“I’m home-” He called before letting out a surprised noise as Ken ran right to him throwing his arms around his father’s leg.

“Daddy’s home!” Ken cheered.

Eiji chuckled scooping his son up into his arms. Ken hugged him tightly, nuzzling him.

“Good to see you kiddo. Missed ya… Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“Nya!” Ken stuck his tongue out a playful look in his eyes. “Parkour doesn’t require sleep.”

“Oh yes it does.” Eiji was glad he and his team had agreed to go over the evidence in the morning. All he wanted to do now was to spend some time with his family and sleep. “And I thought we talked about the ‘parkour in your room’ thing.” He lowered his voice to a whisper.

“Mommy doesn’t know.” Ken whispered back.

Eiji grinned ruffling his hair.

“Good.” He chuckled before sighing in relief. It was worth it, he knew it was… But sometimes he wondered if he should cut back on the number of clients he accepted. He was gone nightly at the rate he was going.

And the last thing he wanted was to miss out on his son’s childhood.

“Welcome home mi corazon.”

Eiji looked to the staircase seeing his wife standing before him. Her long curly brown hair was tied into a ponytail, warmth in her eyes.

“Carmen..” He whispered. Ken smiled waving to his mother as she made her way over, kissing her husband’s cheek before nuzzling her son. “It’s good to be home mi amor.”

Eiji brought his free arm around her as she wrapped her arms around the two people who meant more than life itself to her.

“Oh I’ve missed you. How was work?”

“Tiring. Also because the door wouldn’t unlock we had to go the Chase route.”

Carmen raised an eyebrow, displeasure in her green eyes. Eiji grinned sheepishly.

“I was careful.” He insisted.

“Eiji. How high was it?”

“... The fifth floor…?”

“Ay dios mio!” Carmen gave him a stern look before it changed to a smirk. She couldn’t stay annoyed with him and she knew better than anyone else what it was like when a lockdown didn’t go exactly according to plan.

Especially when it was Chase involved in arranging that particular arrangement. The history teacher by day, investigator by night had a knack for somehow bringing unintentional chaos in his wake.

Eiji buried his face in his wife’s hair inhaling the scent of marigold and lavender that was just so… Carmen.

In this house in the woods was everything precious to him. His wife, his child… And their dog who eagerly sat at his feet awaiting a pat on the head.

“And who’s a good girl?” He asked with a grin earning a bark from the dog as he rubbed behind her ears.

“Okami’s a very good girl!” Ken chirped. Eiji chuckled giving a nod in agreement. He set Ken down on the floor.

Carmen smoothed down her son’s hair.

“Alright you, it’s very late. You need to go get ready for bed.” She told him. “And then me and your dad will be up there soon to tuck you in.”

“Okay Mama.” Ken hugged both of his parents quickly before scurrying upstairs, whistling as Okami chased after him up, her paws pounding on the stairs as she did so.

The couple watched him go, before exchanging a warm look. Eiji kissed Carmen quickly bringing her in close.

“You need to take a night off sometime soon.” She told him, running her hand through his shaggy black hair.

“I know. But you know me, I can’t help it.” He chuckled, grinning sheepishly. She cupped his face in her hands touching her forehead to his.

She had a playful look in her eyes as he gazed at her with a gentle one in return.

“What am I gonna do with you?” She whispered.

“I dunno, marry me again?” Eiji teased lacing their hands together.

“Heh, true, true-”

“Daaaadddyyy! Moooommyyy!”

They laughed a bit, before heading upstairs. They could catch up more once Ken was asleep. Eiji raised an eyebrow at the amount of pillows on the floor, picking one up and giving the six year old a smirk.

“Clever.”

Ken bounced in place on his bed, still wide awake and alert. Okami was on the bed wrapped around the boy acting as a pillow to lean against, nearly dwarfing him.

“Oh no you don’t. Okami.” Carmen snapped her fingers. “Down.”

Ken hugged the dog’s head, giving his best sad face, his bottom lip quivering a little. Carmen and Eiji both wincing as he did so.

“Please?” He whimpered, the dog joining in as dual eyes gazed up at the couple.

“Okay, okay just for tonight. Claro?” Carmen told him as Ken nodded rapidly, laying down.

“Claro.” He giggled.

Eiji chuckled bringing the covers up over his son, kissing his head.

“We love you so much Ken.”

“Love you too.” Ken curled up a little. “Can I hear a story tonight?”

“Sure thing.” Eiji sat on the edge of his bed, as Carmen sat on the floor beside them. “What story?”

Ken rolled onto his side curling up more.

“I want…” He yawned. “A story about the unknown…”

Carmen and Eiji exchanged a warm look, as she reached up taking her husband’s hand. They had a lot to thank the unknown itself for… Especially due to the circumstances of their meeting.

“A long, long time ago… In a galaxy far, far away…” He joked.

“Daaaddy…” Ken whined. “The real story!”

Carmen giggled as Eiji cracked a mischievous grin.

“Alright, alright… The Memoria, are a coven who reside under the guidance of Vitalis. A being who was known to help aide in the life and death cycle, via aiding with crossing over wandering spirits…. And giving those who wished to stay a means of staying.”

Ken nodded tiredly.

“They receive gifts due to this job… Abilities to enable them to see the world beyond. The ability to help cross over spirits or help them become more than what they could ever dream… To protect this world.” Eiji continued, stroking his son’s hair, eliciting a little yawn from the child. “And the Memoria are all over… They work together if they can, to protect this world. Isn’t that amazing Ken…. Ken?”

Ken let out a quiet little snore, as Okami laid her head down finally, content her ‘pup’ was fast asleep now.

Eiji smiled softly, kissing Ken’s head, giving Okami a scratch behind her ears.

“Now, you watch over him tonight Okami. Okay?”

Carmen stood up, tucking her son in more, before pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“Te amo, my little one.”

Eiji brought an arm around his wife, as they fell quiet watching him for a moment. It was hard to believe they were married and had a child at that.

Carmen lifted her gaze, meeting his eyes a smile on her face.

“I’m so glad I married you.” She whispered.

“I feel so lucky I married you.” He whispered back, bringing her close. “Oh Carmen…”

“Eiji…”

He kissed her head, inhaling the scent of her hair. She nuzzled him a bit in return, before they left Ken’s room, hand in hand.

“I didn’t think he’d go down that fast.” Eiji sighed in relief. Some nights were better than others… Ken was their world and they adored every second they had with him…

But it wasn’t to say all was easy. Eiji glanced to his wife, giving her a sneaky look.

She raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“How much do you love me?”

“Oh no. I am not falling for that.” She pulled away, holding her hands up in the “I’m unarmed” pose.

Eiji gave her his best kicked look, following her as she started to walk away.

“But Caaarmeeen… I’m hungry. Starving in fact!”

“What? Did Chase swipe your snack?” She asked, mostly teasing him as he brought his arms around her from behind. She brought her hands up, brushing against his as he did so.

“In fact he did!” He remarked.

Carmen shook her head but cracked a grin, feigning a dramatic sigh.

“Okay but I want a movie night then.”

“Deal. I pick out a movie for us and you make us a snack?”

“Deal.”

They exchanged a hug before going their separate ways. Eiji, getting ready to wind down, taking his chance for a hot shower while he had some free time.

While he had gotten lucky this time, that he didn’t get totally covered in dust, he still wanted to get the chill out of his bones.

Next time, no haunted farms unless we get bonfire rights. I swear I need to learn to say no to Chase about that.

He rolled his eyes a bit. He was glad his friends were also his business partners, it made running their paranormal group easier… But he did still find himself unable to say no at times still.

But he wouldn’t trade them for the world. Even if sometimes he questioned their choices.

Now… He just had to worry about winding down and enjoying his downtime with his wife before bed.

Glancing in the steamy bathroom mirror, he noted what appeared to be a hand print making it’s way through the steam.

Raising an eyebrow he looked closer at it, noting the size and shape of it.

Probably was when I was supposed to clean it earlier and didn’t notice the residue… He reasoned.

Despite his work, he still didn’t want to completely blame the supernatural for everything. Some things were just coincidences after all.

So with that in mind… And hoping he wasn’t wrong, he exited the master bath, clad in his favorite pajama bottoms and a t-shirt that had a movie logo on it. It was two sizes too large but that made it comfy to sleep in.

“Got any preferences about the movie love?” He called out the door.

“No.” She called back but after a moment appeared in the hallway, carrying a bowl of popcorn. “But we are not watching Ghostbusters.” She added.

“That’s a preference.” He replied.

“We watched it three times last week.”

“Fair enough.” Grabbing up his laptop, Eiji settled beside his wife, trying to pick one to watch. “Hm…”

Carmen laid her head on his shoulder, already munching on some of the popcorn.

“We haven’t watched that one in awhile…”

“.... You know the music gets stuck in my head.”

“I know. We own the soundtrack on everything possible for a good reason.”

Eiji smirked, bringing an arm around her, making himself comfortable.

“Greatest Showman it is.” He hit play, laying his head back, as Carmen tucked hers under his, hand coming up to play with the necklace he wore.

“You know, I still plan to sleep with this on.” He winked.

She giggled, nuzzling her husband, so glad he was home. Even if they teased and goofed around, at the end of the day they were still each other’s.

They both chose for the time to ignore the sound of the bathroom cabinet slamming shut on it’s own. She glanced up, seeing his eyes had shifted briefly only to go back to the characters on the screen.

Even if sometimes, he brought home uninvited guests.

#spirits in the shadows #Eiji Miyamoto #Carmen Miyamoto #Ken Miyamoto #Okami Miyamoto #SitS #Spirits in the Shadows Eiji #Spirits in the Shadows Carmen #Spirits in the Shadows Ken #Original work #original writing #Eiji #Paranormal/family #Supernatural #Storm Arashi #Yellow Rose Productions

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fly-pow-bye · 5 years

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Powerpuff Girls 2016 - “Small World: Heart to Heartstone Part 4”

Written by: Jake Goldman, Haley Mancini

Written & Storyboarded by: Kyle Neswald, Jaydeep Hasrajani

Directed by: Nick Jennings, Bob Boyle

...but after 100 episodes of this, it mostly turned into a world of fears. Mostly.

So all of the Triforces have just been collected from their various dungeons, and now it’s time to face off against Ganon. Okay, maybe I should make a better synopsis than that.

Having collected all of the Heartstones, they go back to the crater where Townsville used to be. Buttercup then gets flung off-screen as the Professor shows up to congratulate them. Already, the tone is going to be rather jokey, but not jokey enough to where it's going to suffer from what I would call "The Trouble With Bubbles syndrome." The Powerpuff Girls then fly off to Lester Van Luster's lair, but the Professor wants to come, too!

They decide to carry the Professor around, not only because he wanted to come, but because he happens to know the lair's coordinates. Instead of actually showing them these coordinates are like he did with the Heartstones, the Powerpuff Girls just carry him around while he goes "wheeeeee!" They don't really make a good in-universe excuse for this, though there is a good plot reason for it.

Buttercup: [We're going to] pummel Mojo and Lester Van Loser into oblivion!

Even Buttercup is getting into the act of giving this guy inflammatory nicknames, though I think she could have been more creative. Where’s Bubbles?

She's still with the geese. This time, she offers an origami goose to be the leader. The geese then eat it, and fly away. Joke over. Adding to the theory that any intent to show that she can speak animal in these scenes was probably unintentional is that in none of these geese scenes does Bubbles honk at them, she just talks to them like if they were people.

The subtitles in the last episode imply they do understand her, which makes me wonder if they're really going to go with The Wild Thornberrys route. Now that this special is almost over, I should say one good thing about these scenes: at least I can say they use subtitles and not just have the geese talk this time. Non-talking animals is a rare sight, and after Donny, Pug-Faced Paulie, Eddie, and that one zebra, it's a breath of fresh air that I didn't even know was possible.

They reach the lair of Funfetti Spaghetti, and move across the tons of shrunken landmarks in his “trophy room”. Apparently, this guy was really busy, shrinking the Taj Mahal, Big Ben and a bunch of other buildings that surrounded Big Ben, and worst of all, the largest ball of yarn! Nobody told them Lester was going Carmen Sandiego across the entire world while they were gone; I guess it wasn’t that important.

They reach Lester's room, where he's just sleeping on his throne. The Professor apparently decided he was the leader now, but Blossom doesn't matter. She seems to like her dad now that he's doing the planning for her. I wouldn't blame her.

They slowly sneak around Lester, with sneaky music playing in the background. The Professor decides this was a great time to shout "Girls! Way to go!" as soon as the Powerpuff Girls reach the wand. It doesn't actually affect anything; the scene may as well not exist. There's no consequences!

He may be smarter than he is usually, but he's still that Sitcom Dad, right? Well, maybe not quite, as we're about to get to a twist that I didn't see coming at all. If you don't want to be spoiled on what happens in this special, you probably should have stopped reading a few parts ago.

As soon as they touch the wand, three heart shaped slots appear. The holes, they were made for them, so they slowly float away from the Puff’s hands right into them. The green one apparently is the clumsy one, as it knocks into the wand a few times. Well, I guess having its previous form sliced in half really affected its accuracy. We hear some evil music play during this, which honestly shouldn’t be appropriate if these girls were going to use it to save Townsville.

Turns out, the music was jumping the wand a bit, as when Blossom tries to grab the wand, the wand floats away, landing right into the Professor’s hands. I mean, him actually being helpful tends to be out of character for him, too. It's here where we get this episode's biggest twist.

It was Sweety Gumdrops this whole time! Wait, how did he manage to be the Professor and still be Lester when he's hanging out in his lair, getting his Marble Sofa moved by his adoring ape?

Discount Jojo: MAGIC!

Oh, hus...actually, that would be a good explanation here, but there's a little more logic than that. We never see the Professor and Stars McShiny at the same time, and he seemed to know a lot about the Heartstones for someone who is supposed to be a scientist. I would also mention the whole "he's not anything like the Sitcom Dad I've grown to hate", but I think I bashed that into the ground.

As for the Lester that was sleeping on his chair, that was actually Discount Jojo, playing his best role: sleeping guy! He certainly plays that role a lot better than he plays Mojo Jojo, that’s for sure. The Powerpuff Girls try to rush in to do what they do the worst in this reboot.

Alas, the Magic Man Who Rips Off The Incredibles' Syndrome More Than Just His Hair’s cane is just way too powerful. Honestly, he probably didn’t even need the Heartstones to do that. He does explain to them that the Professor actually didn't make it out of Townsville; he's stuck in the snowglobe along with everyone else.

Professor: Hi, girls! I made a new friends! (points towards snowman)

Ah, there's the Sitcom Dad, confusing snowmen for actual people and being completely oblivious to everything going around him. They do a similar joke with The Mayor in a previous episode, but at least that one is more believable. I mean, it's the Mayor.

Using his newly gained omnipotence from the Heartstones, he decides to change into his Super Saiyan God form. With all of his might, I.M. Meen finally does his ultimate plan against those goodie-goodies that make his stomach churn. Oh no, he’s not going to shrink them, that’s the old magic hat!

Instead, he’s going to shrink-wrap them and also turn them into the very merchandise they were probably imagining would fly right off the shelves! They even use "tada" music on this; not nearly as blatant as the "cool toys" scene from Total Eclipse of the Kart, but the effect is still there. I wonder if this was some sort of meta-joke about the blatant commercialization of the Powerpuff Girls, which would be incredibly hypocritical for this reboot.

This toyset seems to have a lot of problems, though. How come Buttercup and Bubbles have their Snuggle Buddies, but Blossom just has two books? Why does Bubbles have the Kung Fu Grip when it's well established only Buttercup can throw a punch most of the time? One thing that doesn’t surprise me is that this toyset only gives Buttercup the ability to talk; considering how much Heartstone time she got in this special, she’s clearly the favorite. What does she say, anyway?

Buttercup: (badly acted) Mojo is a ugly green doofus!

I don't want to call him Doofus Jojo, because I don't want to give Buttercup any credit. Sadly, they're not sentient toys, so they're essentially dead. Best case scenario, of course, this could also be a "I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream" situation, too.

Of course, Discount Jojo is absolutely ecstatic that they managed to defeat the Powerpuff Girls together, and he decides to make some suggestions on what these Beat-Alls can do next. One of his suggestions is blowing up Citiesville. I'm sure a lot of people would think that would not be evil, but he could have meant the "Honey, I Blew Up The Kid" meaning of blow up. Making all of those jerks that live in Citiesville giants would be delightfully evil, too. Flamehair Poofydress doesn't agree.

Lester Van Luster: Well, how do I put this gently...you're a pathetic excuse for a supervillain...

Eh, he's better in this season than he ever was in Season 1, especially in the first part of this very special, so it's not entirely justified. When he's fighting the Powerpuff Girls, not because of his fangirl tendencies, of course.

Lester Van Luster: ...and I've been using you to take over Townsville and get the Heartstones for myself.

Oh, okay, he's not going to justify anything, he's just trying to make sure someone will be angry at him so this plot can have a satisfying conclusion. But that can't be it, right?

So, for almost no reason whatsoever, he decides to kick Discount Jojo out of his castle, literally having him fly out of the castle to drop down, after all he did for him. Thankfully, anyone's ability to survive 15+ foot falls continues with this episode, as Jojo not only survives, but Lester even drops his marble couch on him to no real effect other than, "haha, he mentioned it". Hey, some continuity between the parts! Power of Four wasn't that good at that.

Sure enough, Jojo is quite upset by this predicament, and decides he should actually be against this guy. Being evil is the only thing he was good at, at least according to him. He's the most diabolical, evil, dangerous villain! Clearly, he only has one path to go...

...the path of a cobbler! See, it’s funny, because one would think he’d be mad enough to take on Hi Hi Puffy Shirt himself. However, he accidently hammering himself, reminding me of one of the better shorts this reboot managed to create. I guess I could say that's a plus. He decides to do a Plan B.

Discount Jojo: MAGIC!

Oh, hush, Discount! Oh wait, that was the episode doing a decent book-end, not my running gag. Silly mistake. The King of the Lollipop Guild did make one major mistake: Jojo still has all of his magic training, including all of his equipment! He shows this off by blowing some magic dust, which gets in his eyes. This may be the time he's getting serious, but he still has to do "a funny".

After a far too long gag where he tries to use a grappling hook, Discount the Jojo shows himself to his former idol. Macaron McMuffin asks how Jojo managed to get up here before saying he doesn’t care. These two gags don’t really go well together, because he clearly used a grappling hook for the last 20 seconds. The joke could be that he is that he’s really bad at figuring out other people’s magic tricks, but that never becomes apparent.

Before he blasts him for daring to bring light to his lair, Jojo decides to apologize and do a magic act to appease him. For he is Mojo The Jojo! Well, he’s already at least giving himself a name, something he didn’t do before. He then pulls off his Magic Hat, revealing his usual brain hat. It may be a hint that he decided to wear this hat above his usual one instead of switching his costume entirely.

He pulls out a Lester poster and a Lester party balloon, all possibly from his own collection of Lester memorabilia we just never saw until now. Yeah, that's it. Being as egocentric as his cheeks are red, he ends up being impressed by this. Discount The Jojo, eh, it doesn't really work, sees one more thing in his hat that will knock Lester's socks off! Of course, Lester doesn't think that this could be literal, as he leans in and Jojo does his most evil act yet...

...plagarizing Bubbles' trick from the first part! Jokes asie, it's good to know he can learn from previous mistakes and use them to his advantage. Most importantly, this punch was powerful enough to make Fruit Stripe Hair lose his magic cane, and having it land right in Jojo's hands.

In a rare moment of kindness to who could be arguably be his sisters if his origin story is still canon, he decides to turn the Powerpuff Girls from the marketed brand to the superheroes they should be. Even Jojo feels that this is way too anti-climactic, and the show agrees.

Lester The Not So Friendly Ghost-Like Man poofs right next to him, makes the magic stick float to him again, and turns him into a goose! He then kicks him out in the same way he did when he was an ape, making me question why couldn’t he just fly back into that window. Instead, that’s the last we see of him for the rest of the final fight. Congratulations, Discount Jojo, you contributed.

Candy Cane Man decides not to turn the barely waking up Powerpuff Girls back into toys, because he knows that no matter what, the Powerpuff Girls will eventually defeat him in the end of the story. Instead, he tries his hardest to punch them into many pieces with a Heartstone-fueled punch. The Reboot Puffs decide to go with their patented Reboot Puff strategy of just staying in one place and just take it. Blossom does add another part to this usual strategy: tell the big hand that’s coming at them to stop.

...and it does, much to both their and Lester's confusion. He shakes around his stick for a bit, yeah, maybe I should word that better, and tries to hit them with a spiked ball instead. The Deliciously Sugary Mage tries again, and the Powerpuff Girls do a slightly better strategy of commanding themselves to duck!

Sure enough, the Heartstone aura then turns into a duck, who merely just quacks at them impolitely. The Master of Quacks wonders how he can't control these heartstones.

The Puffs figure out that they didn’t just get the Heartstones, they earned them by doing the tasks they had to do. Bubbles earned it by getting over her fears and coming up with her own strategy. Blossom earned it by realizing what “leave its equal” means. Buttercup just had to beat up a monster, something she tends to do more often than her sisters.

Because of this, the Heartstones are under their complete control, even though they were pretty happy to follow Lester’s command’s before. Maybe it was one of their many tests! They fly out of the magic wand, turning Lester back to his ordinary Cupcake Shrinky Boy self, and they become their new jewel-encrusted headbands! Yay, more accessories for the potential toylines. Bubbles had to use the most effort and actually learn something to get her Heartstone, and she gets rewarded by getting hit in the face with it. Because she’s the silly blonde!

Lester The Future Snake Jellyfish Or Cerberus Food can only run away screaming as the already powerful girls get even more powerful with the Heartstone Monster Aura Shells! Blossom gets the Jellyfish, with fancy electrocution action! Bubbles gets the Snake, with the ability to suffocate anyone within a one mile radius! Buttercup gets the Cerberus, with surprisingly excellent barber expertise!

Tell your parents to collect all three of them, or they can go to hell, where Him is still wondering if he was meant to be the villain of this before they decided Jojo idolizing Satan wouldn’t fly on a kids network.

They probably could have just cut to the scene where he gets defeated, but we do get to see sort of a fight scene. At least it’s a one-sided defeat I should expect from the Powerpuff Girls, with the Powerpuff Girls dishing out the pain. Blossom electrocutes him, Buttercup swipes off his poofy hair, which apparently instantly grows back, and, in the move with the most visible contact, Bubbles squeezes poor-if-he-didn't-deserve-it Lester in the same way she was squeezed in her episode.

The Powerpuff Girls decide that jail would be too easy of an escape for him. Actually, they never seem to consider that if the police aren't around to throw them into a police car.

Instead, they decide to join in on his interest of shrinking people, though Lester apparently isn’t as fond of being shrunken himself, and shrinks him down to tiny size! Blossom exclaims that now that Townsville is back to its normal size, everything is back to normal. Well, except for the landmarks. Or the fact that the Powerpuff Girls now have these ultra-powerful heartstones they could use on far more powerful villains like Him and Gemoire.

Well, we do get one loose end tied up.

Jojo the Goose ended up being the new leader of the geese. Apparently, he’s doing this a lot better at this than being a villain, and far better than that silly blonde! The end!

Does the title fit?

Heart-to-heart, Heartstone, yeah, I could say it fits.

Since it’s over, I could say Small World isn’t exactly the best title for this special. Sure, the villain likes to shrink things down, but it’s never the focus. Honestly, Heart to Heartstone would have been a better name for this entire special.

How does it, and the whole special, stack up?

It's a satisfying conclusion, even if anyone could predict that the Powerpuff Girls would win in the end. I mean, why would they not? I like the idea of the Heartstone monsters coming back, and how everything connected in the end, which is something I wish the reboot would do even in non-specials. This episode ends up being part of a special that only managed to have one episode that didn't have this rating.

Really, with the entire special, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself actually getting some enjoyment out of it. Even the lesser of the four, Stone Cold Spider, had some okay moments. One could argue that they played it safe. Outside of the use of smartphones, this could have straight up have been an episode of the original.

This is not to say this is the absolute best episode of the entire reboot, and that it was mostly flawless. As promised, there are some general problems with this plot that I'll touch upon before giving it my final judgment.

For an episode about the Powerpuff Girls travelling through the world, the locations are disappointing. Even the Buttercup Job at least gave us Atlantis with its walking fish and Greek gods. Buttercup goes to a cave full of monsters, something that should be normal even in Townsville. Blossom goes to a sunken ship with nobody around. Bubbles gets to go to a labyrinth with a very anachronistic security guard at best. There’s no personality to any of these locations; it may as well be anywhere.

Then again, I probably should have known, considering the only place that was even on land was some random place in what appears to be Brazil judging by that map. They could have went to various countries, learning about different cultures, really giving that worldwide appeal. The best we get is all those landmarks that were shrunken, but they don’t even treat it as a big deal.

Discount Jojo’s role in the plot isn’t that bad looking back at it, but his actions in this are kind of odd for his character. Again, would he really be fangirling over someone else, especially after episodes like Mojo The Great and Not So Secret Service? This is especially true when one considers that Lester Van Luster wasn’t a well established villain.

Speaking of that Cupcake Shrinky Boy’s actions, the special never really makes you feel like the stakes are that high. Sure, they seem to care about Townsville, but once that city is saved, they don’t seem to care about anything else. People around the world are missing their monuments, but the only hint we get towards this is a scene near the end, and it’s mostly just used for a ball of yarn joke.

But, despite all of that, this is still a surprisingly decent special for the reboot. It’s a special that actually feels like an adventure to save Townsville, and not just the Powerpuff Girls having to save themselves from their own mistakes. I wouldn’t say these parts are the absolute least worst this reboot has to offer, but it is still watchable, which, compared to most of the reboot, is a huge accomplishment.

The special may be over, but PPG 2016 sure isn’t! Next, we get yet another Halloween special! They're really compensating for the original's lack of one. Either that, or they wanted more costumes for the toyline. Definitely the former, I would think!

← Small World: Maze Daze (Part 3) ☆ Witch’s Crew →

#fpb ppg 2016 #ppg 2016 #fpb reviews #powerpuff girls #cartoon network

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builder051 · 7 years

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what about either Steve or Bucky (i don't think it matters which I feel like they both take pride in knowing the other very well) just comes home one day really ill or walks into a room with the other really ill and the other doesn't notice and so the sicky thinks it can't be that bad and just goes along w life, then when the other eventually does notice they feel pretty damn terrible like they thought they knew them so well.....

Aight. Here you go. I hope I produced something close to what you were getting at here.

I’m not in love with the final product; I feel like everyone’s just slightly out of character, but whatever. It’s fiction. There are fevers and cuddles to be had.

This is powers/no powers choose your own adventure.

______________

Bucky’s on his laptop, shifting through the stations on Pandora. He isn’t sure what he wants to listen to, but he’s pretty sure Bizet’s Carmen suite isn’t what he had in mind. The loud, percussion-heavy orchestral music swells from the laptop’s speakers and pounds through his ears in rhythm with the throbbing behind his forehead. The screen seems to be in the partial frozen state where he can move his mouse, but clicking various icons has no effect on turning the music off or changing it to something else.

He doesn’t hear the garage door, so Bucky almost jumps out of his skin when Steve’s shadow appears like a hunched gremlin in the hallway. He’s stooped over, taking off his boots, and calling out, “Hey, Buck,” over the sounds of the music.

Bucky decides a manual shutdown is in order, and he holds down the laptop’s power button. Finally the orchestra cuts out, and Bucky breathes a sigh of relief. “Jesus Christ,” he says. Then, glancing up at Steve, “Hey.”

“Technology giving you issues there?” Steve asks, smiling and heading into the kitchen to grab a coke from the fridge. “Want a drink?”

“Yeah,” Bucky says, answering both questions in one go. His throat is rough when he swallows, and the cold beverage will do him good.

He keeps taking stock while Steve pops open cans. The headache he’d assumed was from the unintentional music is still there. So is the soreness in his back and the tenderness in his joints. He definitely isn’t feeling his best. But it’s such a far cry from his worst that Bucky hardly bothers to catalogue the discomfort.

“Here,” Steve says, coming to sit on the couch. He hands Bucky a glass of fizzing room-temperature cola and sips his own ice-filled cup.

“Thanks.” Bucky takes a swig, bubbles burning on the way down.

“Everything good around here? Besides your computer acting up?” Steve asks.

“Yeah, it was a quiet day,” Bucky replies, experimentally pressing the rim of his glass between his eyebrows.

“Did you figure out what was wrong with it?”

“Huh?” Bucky feels like he’s in a haze, missing context.

“With the laptop?” Steve clarifies.

“Oh. No, it just wouldn’t respond to clicks. I shut it down.”

“Seems like a good choice,” Steve muses. “I’d have no idea how to fix something like that.”

“No, you’d call Nat and make her fix it,” Bucky teases.

“I’d ask you first,” Steve says. “But you’re right, she’s the expert.”

The clock ticks past 6:00. Bucky hasn’t started anything for dinner, so Steve asks if he wants to order in. Pizza and Vietnamese are both close by. Neither sounds particularly appetizing to Bucky. He’s not hungry in the least, and the soda he’s slowly sipping is making his stomach feel less than stellar. He shrugs and tells Steve to go ahead and pick.

While Steve calls in an order for fried rice and pho, Bucky attempts to feel himself for a fever. His forehead seems roughly the same temperature as his hand, so he takes his inexact test as coming up negative. He’s fine. It’s his boomeranging funk of depression, playing tricks and making him think he feels bad when there’s really nothing wrong.

Steve drops his phone on the kitchen table and turns to Bucky again. “I said I’d go pick it up and avoid the delivery charge. Want to come?”

Sitting in the car so Steve can drive a block up the road isn’t especially appealing. But any time they can spend together is time well spent. “You planning on driving or walking?” Bucky asks.

“Want to take a walk?” Steve asks.

The promise of cool air on his cheeks makes for a nice change of pace, so Bucky nods and abandons his coke. He finds a pair of shoes and a jacket, then follows Steve out into the autumn evening. The sun’s just starting to set, and pinkish orange clouds streak across the pale blue sky.

Bucky takes in a deep breath of the crisp breeze. It wakes up his senses, but gives a chilly sear to his throat and sends a quivering drip to the end of his nose. He wipes it on his sleeve, then looks to Steve, who’s starting to tell a story about today’s office shenanigans.

“So, it turns out, if you put a sticky note over the little laser light thing on the bottom of a computer mouse, it doesn’t work, you can’t do anything with it… It’s funny for a while, but I think Stark’s going a little far with the pranks…”

“You’re having computer trouble too?” Bucky asks.

“Yeah, well, I thought I was,” Steve replies.

In ten minutes, they make it to the restaurant to pick up the takeaway. Before half an hour’s passed, they’re back home. Bucky ducks into the bathroom for a Kleenex as soon as they’re through the door.

“Weather getting to you?” Steve asks.

Must be. Steve’s not concerned about him, so Bucky decides not to be concerned either. Loud music, too much sitting down, chugged coke, cold air. Everything he’s feeling is so easily explained away. It must be nothing.

Steve divvies up the food into plates and bowls and shuffles things around so there’s room to sit and eat at the kitchen table. Bucky still doesn’t have a desire to eat, but once he takes a bite of rice and a sip of hearty bone broth, he realizes he’s in need of the nourishment. It feels good to get something besides acid and snot and coke in his stomach.

Bucky doesn’t eat a lot, but they’ve come to realize it’s not unusual for his appetite to fluctuate, and Steve boxes up the leftovers without comment. Then the kettle is boiled and the TV is turned on for the rest of the usual evening ritual.

They’re two episodes into This Old House when Bucky’s headache peaks. He tips his chin up so the back of his head rests against the couch and gently closes his eyes. Steve’s been sitting at the opposite end of the sofa, and taking Bucky’s action as an expression of sleepiness, scoots closer and extends his arms. “Here,” he offers.

Bucky gratefully cuddles into him, letting his stump shoulder fold under Steve’s arm and his head come into the hollow of his collarbone. His forehead rests against Steve’s neck, and the shared body heat feels instantly comforting.

“Whoa,” Steve says, reaching up to press the backs of his fingers along Bucky’s cheek and jaw. “You’re really warm. Are you feeling ok?”

“I’m alright,” Bucky murmurs. “Just feel weird today.”

“I bet. That feels like a heck of a fever.” Steve pulls away slightly to give Bucky a good once-over. “I should’ve noticed something was up. I’m really sorry, Buck.”

“I’m ok. It’s nothing, really,” Bucky replies.

“But… Jesus. I feel like I’m getting bad at this.” Steve shakes his head. “I thought you were just kind of down, but you’re really sick…”

“’S what I thought too,” Bucky drops his head back to Steve’s shoulder, finally willing to admit that the throb’s becoming nauseatingly painful.

“You can tell me, Buck. Even if it turns out to be nothing,” Steve encourages, wrapping his arms around Bucky’s body.

“My head hurts.”

“Alright,” Steve says. “Good start.”

#marvel #mcu #captain america #stucky #steve rogers #bucky barnes #sickfic #fever #powers/no powers choose-your-own-adventure

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