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theromanticscrooge · 2 months

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The Shipping Corner: Voxman, A Balm for Capitalist-Induced Angst

Note: I'm sorry this took as long as it did. I've been in a pretty bad slump recently and am just now coming out of it.

Lord Boxman is the black sheep among his peers. This is first established with Professor Venomous' initial distaste towards him and the later reactions he gets when he unexpectedly shows up at Billiam Milliam's villain yacht party. The only kinds of relationships Boxman has with other villains amount to strictly business transactions to create their robot minions. The shareholders that directly fund Boxmore are especially skeptic of Boxman's destroy the Plaza side venture and see this as a misguided, Snidely Whiplash-esque escapade. He's just a Saturday morning cartoon villain and they're the respectable big leagues. When Boxman funnels so much time, effort, energy, and resources towards the Plaza attacks, it takes precious time away from robot production; the one thing he does they consider valuable or worthwhile. They threaten to cut off their support if Boxman's production doesn't increase and then gladly replace him with Darrell when the opportunity arises. Darrell fits the exact mold they need for a CEO: he focuses exclusively on production.

There's no respect. There's no interest in or concern for Lord Boxman as an individual. The dislike is mutual. Of course Boxman doesn't get along with other villains. Most of the known names and faces on screen hold the purse strings and by extension, the fate of Boxman's entire operation. He feels like he has to put on his best face and performance to keep his business afloat. Without Boxmore, he seemingly has nothing and loses everything material. After Boxman was fired by the shareholders, he becomes absolutely depressed and floats around for awhile until Venomous finds him in his trash can. As much as he hates answering to corporate interests, he's locked in as a "robot manufacturer" as much as an Average Joe is stuck at a 9-5 job because of bills, a mortgage; and most frustratingly, how easily someone can fall into the trappings of letting a job define their self-worth or sense of self.

When Professor Venomous gets introduced, he's partly in Boxman's mental bucket of shareholder/necessary business relationships. Boxman goes to great lengths to hide K.O., Rad, and Enid after accidentally booking his business dinner on the same night as an antagonize the Plaza event. He's scared that his 'hobby' would dissuade Venomous from buying any more of his robots and break their already tenuous business deal. Instead, Venomous starts to see Boxman through literal rose-tinted glasses and becomes interested in Boxman's ongoing Plaza rivalry but uses the robots as a continued excuse to check in again on this weird, intriguing man.

Another interesting precedent is that Boxman is more fond of Venomous from the jump. When interacting with other business partners, Boxman is over-the-top and eager to please in video calls and plays the oblivious idiot in casual settings, but behind closed doors, he's bitter towards them. Boxman won't hug his own children and scoffs at open displays of affection. Yet he wants to touch or hug Venomous as often as he can reasonably get away with. Part of his behavior is the same eager to please facade he gives other interested business parties, but the bigger part is a legitimate interest in developing a more personal relationship with Venomous.

The pink shoujo sparkles and elevator eyes Boxman has for Venomous are a blatant indicator he finds him attractive. That's a surprisingly huge part of what kicks off his interest. Look at how he reacts to Dr. Blight in the Captain Planet crossover. Boxman initially shows skepticism and disinterest towards her crazy plans, but the second she flirts with him, the flip switches. The promise of romantic interest grants her access to the full power and force of Boxmore. When she leaves at the end of the episode, Boxman is disappointed. He wanted to continue their partnership, especially their potential interpersonal one.

In Venomous' case, he gets extra points for joining in the fight after the Plaza brats interrupt dinner. He asks about the design and Lego brick-esque connectivity of the Boxbots. He's not above participating in the Saturday morning cartoon skirmish. Rather, he misses that kind of fight and yearns to experience more exploits like it. Venomous is the only on-screen character outside of Boxman's kids that shows a willingness to listen to, try to understand, and engage with Boxman in a more personable, intimate way.

Professor Venomous fell into villainy after he lost his powers and realized how overbearing he found the moral code heroes have. Being a villain comes naturally to him; he likes the fruits of his labor in the vast amounts of wealth, prestige, and material power that he could gain. Fast forward to present-day in the series and he's the picture of a successful villain. He figures out the easy button for amassing stupid amounts of money by threatening a Congresswoman with a death ray. He's sought out for deals involving his scientific prowess. He's respected and liked among other villains to the point he's invited to Billiam's parties. Though while he has a comfortable position, he's become jaded.

Enter Lord Boxman. Compared to the villains Venomous is used to, Boxman dances to the beat of his own drum. He's more interested in defeating the Plaza than an endless vie for prestige, wealth, or power. He says he doesn't care what the other villains think of him and how he does things. No matter what happens, he's going to carve out his own path as a villain and do what he wants to with his life. Somehow, Venomous got tied up in a new, different kind of bureaucratic process as a villain. As a hero, he felt like an outcast and a loser everybody looked down on without super powers. As a villain, he has everything he thought he wanted but it was more of a means to make up for what he lost. It was more compensating and filling in an existential hole vs actually taking meaningful control of his life. In stark contrast to that, Boxman knows exactly what he wants and puts his all into every pursuit, consequences and obstacles be damned.

Collaborating with Boxman is an epiphany. Dreaming up new schemes and plots to challenge the Plaza is fun. It's fulfilling and satisfying to Venomous in a way that heroics and solo villain ventures weren't. There's one scene in particular after Boxman and Venomous join forces for the first time and lose spectacularly. Both of them are smiling; it's joyous. Boxman was down and out without Boxmore, but building Fink's attack trike was a spark of hope that he can rebuild even if its from the ground-up. Venomous just lost his nice house and all of his current material possessions because Boxman blew everything up. But then Boxman turned around and presented the exact existential solution Venomous didn't know he needed by suggesting attacking the Plaza. It's the dinner party attack, but this time, Venomous was a full part of the planning phases. He gets to share in and fully experience the devil-may-care and more whimsical parts of being a villain he thought were long gone.

Venomous offers to buy out Boxmore and root out the shareholders. Finally, Boxman is free of one of the bigger obstacles between him and his all-time favorite venture. Not only does Boxman have free reign, but also the equal partner he so desperately desired; someone that's on his same wavelength and as invested in his kind of villainy as he is.

Another important dimension to Venomous' character is his destructive spiral as Shadowy Venomous. Finding that 'missing piece' in Boxman and Boxmore respectively isn't a magic solution. There's significant baggage in how much emphasis Venomous placed on his need for power. This was such a huge quest and chunk of his life that its difficult to give up on the idea entirely. Its similar to how some people spend so much time chasing after a specific job title or promotion that this elusive thing becomes an important part of what defines them or contributes to their sense of self worth. Venomous left Carol because of a gross misunderstanding that she saw him as weak. He was missing the value he assigned to super powers for so long that every new solution was always a band-aid or a stop gap.

Someone can find a thing or circumstances that significantly improves their life, but they need to see and recognize this psychologically too for it to be completely effective. In other words, Venomous needed to recognize the real-time changes and results from joining Boxmore, then figure out how to weigh those continued changes with his own self-discovery or improvement.

Boxman started improving on being a more proactive parent. Unfortunately, Venomous started getting lost in his own head and pulling away from his other responsibilities or general life. A change as big as a new partner, surroundings, and blended family would be enough to kickstart depression; especially because Venomous hadn't appropriately addressed why he needed this abstract concept of what it meant to be the 'most powerful being.' Success and self-actualization weren't included with the previous accolades he achieved as a villain. It wasn't obvious and forthcoming with Boxman either. The lack of introspection and vulnerable talks with Boxman or anyone else is exactly what led to the wind-up and eventual "I'll destroy everything if it means getting rid of the years of resentment and frustration."

Both Venomous and Boxman have some sort of adult trapped in the shitty corporate world element to their character writing. In a nutshell, Boxman struggles with the existential threat of losing who he is to one specific job he performs; Venomous finds villainy gratifying as more of a hobby or extracurricular activity vs a full-time job. He's successful at it but the version he's successful at is more of a distraction or a means to fill in a missing part of himself than true interest in his corporate role. Boxman's approach to villainy is considered juvenile and worthless. Venomous still loves villainy but he wants the freedom to have fun and go all-out without worrying about reputation or meeting the specific standards that comes with his current position.

In 2024, after the various rise of corporate buzzwords trying to guilt employees back to pre-pandemic work standards and inflation vs stagnant wages, there's new weight to the Boxman and Venomous character allegories respectively. These two are that success story of Boxman giving the middle finger to a crappy boss and Venomous making that leap of faith from an empty, soul-sucking job to the more wild, out of pocket thing. Venomous' ill-obtained funds becomes that treasured pile of "fuck you" money that so many people dream about having and using to take a risk on something personally, meaningfully valuable to them. Or just having a window of opportunity to enjoy life the way they want to without having to worry about bills and necessities.

More importantly though, while they describe themselves as business partners, it's two single, lonely men building a life and trying to healthfully blend their families together. Part of this life is making space for someone new that makes the other man want to work on becoming a better, more thoughtful person. Regardless of where a person sits in their job hunt or even at the height of personal achievement, the most important part is the support network they come home to or regularly interact with.

Thematically, Boxman and Venomous are the opposite side of the coin to the more straightforward found family K.O. builds and maintains. It's a reminder that no one has to be lonely. They can and will find someone that brings meaningful, valuable things to their life; someone that makes them want to change and grow. While this is about an explicitly romantic pair, the message applies whether that hypothetical person and relationship is romantic, platonic, or a new addition to a found family.

#voxman #ok ko voxman #ship analysis #ok ko let's be heroes #ok ko #ok ko professor venomous #ok ko lord boxman #character analysis #ship discussion #shipping analysis #shipping #the shipping corner #theromancescrooge #i'm back bitches

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cosmimarshmello · 1 year

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I used to run a channel called "The Romance Scrooge." I don't make videos at the moment, but I have played with the design for my mascot character. She's got a hipster vibe going currently, heheh

#character art #YouTube persona #YouTube mascot #sketchbook #pencil drawing #heart shaped glasses #long hair #Theromancescrooge #therscrooge

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thisbelongsto-nohbodys · 7 years

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I tend to draw things (mostly comics) for people I know on their b-day (I grew up poor...) and I thought up a fun one for @theromancescrooge a while back. However because I don’t know when her b-day is (I keep mine secret and as such I don’t ask for others), let’s just assume that it’s today.

I had to make a quick change as I was scanning this, I added the line “Looks like Vanilla & Chocolate” because of....um.....yeah..................don’t look at me....Scrooge wanted the white frosting..................

#my art #Lord Dominator #romance scrooge #Theromancescrooge #comic #color pencil #birthday #funny #WoY #Wander over yonder #fanart

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allnewalldifferentwildspider · 7 years

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My Top Ten Favorite Musical Numbers From Cartoons

My buddy, @theromancescrooge, did her top ten favorite original musical numbers from cartoons a while back, and I was hesitant to make my own list. There are just so many good choices I couldn’t narrow it down to just ten. However, as time went on more picks just solidified their position should I make a list. Rules are it has to be from an animated television show, but no anime. Also, one per show. Covers are okay, but no direct lifting of previously existing music. So here it is:

10. “I Got a New Routine” from Milo Murphy’s Law

I love Weird Al. I never got into Phineas and Ferb because reasons. So you give a platform like that to Weird Al and let the gems come naturally.

9. “Sweet Shop” from Littlest Pet Shop

This cute little diddy is very reminiscent of songs from the 1950s. I like this kinda sound and it plays like a very pleasant commercial. The show is done by the same crew as MLP:FiM, so you can see the talent in animation and casting.

8. “My Shiny Teeth and Me” from The Fairly Oddparents

I like this song. It sounds nice. Hey, shut up. Everyone shut up. Stop laughing at me. Just go to the next one. The next one. But seriously the keyboard is a nice touch and Chris Kirkpatrick’s vocals are smooth.

7. “The Campfire Song Song” from Spongebob Squarepants

Damn, is this song a bunch of fun. Patrick trying his best, but failing makes me laugh everytime. Some would argue that it’s too short but shut up.

6. “The Wizard” from The Looney Tunes Show

I really wanted to put “We are in Love” but after listening to both songs back-to-back, I just like this one better. Much better. A fantasy metal track as Daffy pretends to be an all powerful wizard and the lyrics blur the lines between what he thinks he’s doing and what is actually happening.

5. “Music Revolution” From loliRock

I know I said in my thoughts on loliRock that the songs sound a little too overproduced and I still think that. That being said, I think this song is pretty cool. It’s energetic and has that right amount of vocal harmony that I love in my music and, dare I say it, a little sexy.

4. “This Day Aria” from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

This song is an epic piece. This is some Disney quality stuff. The back and forth between Cadence and the imposter is great. The harmony is amazing.

3. “Hello Nurse!” from Animaniacs

Animaniacs has A LOT of great songs, but this one I have to stop and sing every time. This is the song a guy sings when he’s asked to describe the perfect woman.

2. “The Ballad of Star Butterfly” from Star vs the Forces of Evil

I love Fall Out Boy. Having Patrick Stump sing Star’s Princess Song was brilliant. It’s a four part rock opera going from a traditional princess song and ending with a big reveal of love. Starco is OTP, baby. Even if Starco isn’t your thing, this is great song.

1. “Here Comes a Thought” from Steven Universe

This song will always be my number one. The first time I heard this song, I cried. I cried because I knew I needed to hear this a long time ago. If I would have heard this beautifully written and performed song when I was a kid, it would have saved me from years of self-loathing.

That’s all I got and thanks for reading.

#star vs the forces of evil #spongebon squarepants #steven universe #animaniacs #the looney tunes show #fairly odd parents #milo murphy's law #lolirock #littlest pet shop #my litte pony friendship is magic

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a-bunch-of-small-aliens · 7 years

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My top ten cartoon characters

Wander over yonder: Commander Peepers

Gravity Falls: Dipper

Gravity Falls: Mable

Over The Garden Wall: Beitris

Wander Over Yonder: Wander

Wander Over Yonder: Lord Hater

Steven Universe: Pearl

Original Power Puff Girls: Blosom

My Little Pony: Princess Luna

My Little Pony: Flutter Shy

Tag ten people to post their top ten favorite characters. @peepsqueak @criminallynerdy @orrtala @baptismonfire @theromancescrooge

#wander over yonder #woy #savewoy #save wander over yonder #gravity falls #gf #keep gravity falls alive #mlp #my little pony #su #steven u #Steven universe #otgw #over the garden wall

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theromanticscrooge · 1 month

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Mr. Gar, a Fount of Masculinity and the Step Dad that Stepped Up

Mr. Gar is introduced as this stoic, gruff picture of manliness. The most promising up-and-coming heroes at the Plaza, Rad and Enid, work and train directly under him. Most Boxmore threats are small enough that Mr. Gar trusts Rad and Enid to handle things but when the stakes get a little too high, he parts the clouds themselves and enters the fray. He's a slightly mysterious, larger than life figure; the pinnacle of role models and exactly who K.O. aspires to be when he's older.

At the start of the series, viewers only see the stoic facade crack around Carol. He becomes an anxious, tongue-tied wreck. Its an achievement if he's able to string together anything close to a coherent sentence around her. The first hints viewers get about their history together are the Silver Spark portrait on Mr. Gar's desk and the sub sandwich flashbacks. Everyone is aware of how he feels about Carol and even ship them together to some degree. Carol wants to talk to him and reconnect, even when she has to take the initiative in general conversations. So, the question becomes what's actually stopping Mr. Gar here?

In the POINT flashbacks, the young Mr. Gar is the anxious, meek, tongue-tied luchador-themed hero El Bow. El Bow was very much a capable and talented hero. He was one of three hand-picked junior candidates to join the prestigious hero team POINT. Before that, he was known and highly respected for his lucha libre, as revealed and fangirled over by Punching Judy. Though these parts of his character are dramatically overshadowed by his seeming lack of confidence and self-esteem. The handful of screen time El Bow has are usually centered on how hard he's crushing on his coworker Silver Spark. He's so focused on drumming up the courage to confess his feelings that it takes a comment from Rippy for him to clock how obvious Silver and Laserblast are. Laser made a move the minute he met Silver. El Bow knew her long enough to develop a rapport and become close friends, but he was waiting for the 'perfect moment' to say something.

Because Laser and Silver were getting more serious, El Bow felt a 'now or never' compulsion to confess. During the three-man mission to discover what was going on with the donut shop, El Bow was focused on confessing over everything else. Seeing Laser flirt with Silver was agony. It was the final pin pull on the metaphorical grenade. The confession had to be now. El Bow still wasn't quite ready, hence the hemming and hawwing and stumbling over his words, but he finally had the momentum to follow through. He 'distracts' Silver long enough that she can't reach Laser in time. The donut shop gets sucked into a black hole. Laser is presumably dead. Silver and the entirety of POINT wrongfully blame El Bow for the tragic event, his friends ice him out, and he's unceremoniously dismissed from his position.

Another dimension to El Bow is his cultural identity as a masked wrestler. A luchador is traditionally part of an established family stable and has a legacy attached to their mask along with their title. Lucha libre typically features teams of three, too. In El Bow's case, his stand-in for the classic lucha team were Silver and Rippy. They're as much extended family as they are friends and teammates. When El Bow loses his mask, its a dramatic visual signifier for the death of both his identity and former life. That's why Mr. Gar deliberately refuses to go by that previous title and refers to it as something separate or other. He had to completely rebuild himself as well as the parts, pieces, and meaning of his life from the ground up.

Mr. Gar has a literal wanderer phase of his life where he walks aimlessly long enough his clothes get tattered and his hair grows into a long, unruly mass. He's lost and confused, but always stops along the way to help people in need. Even without POINT or El Bow, he became a hero because of an earnest desire to help others and stop bad guys. El Bow was just a moniker. The essence of who he was is still there; the new journey is figuring out what to do now and who he wants to become. Then Mr. Gar meets the President of the Universe and is assigned a new mission that aligns better with who he is and what he can do: protect the glorb tree and build a supply chain store for heroes.

The President of the Universe could be seen as a fun, campy stand-in for a person finding newfound purpose through religion. Or someone reconnecting with their spirituality in general. Sometimes, the parables, teaching, and morals connected to a religious practice or diving more into philosophy give a person that feels lost and directionless a good foundation for introspection. It can be a line thrown out to sea that guides them back to shore. Its a starting line that gives them the means to start exploring and learning about the more abstract part of 'what is life' that leads to growth, change, and hopefully, self improvement. Mr. Gar building the Plaza leads to him becoming the hero and legend of Mr. Gar. He's not attached to POINT. He lives and sustains a separate venture that promotes a more independent, self-discovery approach towards being a hero. There aren't concrete benchmarks or specific guidelines, but Mr. Gar gladly gives advice and presents a great space to help somebody figure out what direction works for them.

Enid in particular benefits from how much more open training at the Bodega is vs the more structured training and education at POINT. There's three particular classifications a POINT Prep student could be sorted into: logic, strength, or charisma. While the different areas overlap, there's still pressure to conform to titles like 'the smart one' or 'the charismatic one.' The charisma students, ala Elodie, are the most likely to be popular and well liked. In short, POINT Prep promotes and curates specific visions of what a hero should be like. With Mr. Gar, he pinpointed Enid and Rad's respective strengths and encourages their next moves or training based on what makes sense for them individually vs a strict, one-size-fits-few curriculum. Enid ultimately chooses Gar's Bodega over POINT Prep because his more free-form approach as a mentor is a better fit for her. She's still trying to figure out what kind of hero she is and wants to be. As it was, POINT Prep is a better match for someone that already knows who they are and what their ultimate goals are (hence why Elodie thrived in that environment).

While Mr. Gar eventually recreated himself, he still bottled up and buried El Bow, Laserblast, and POINT. He refuses to confront what happened and as a result, has stilted, awkward run-ins with Carol. Talking to Carol in a deeper, more meaningful way than "How are you?" means he has to unpack his guilt over Laserblast's demise. Carol has processed what happened, realized that if she had run in she might have 'died' along with Laser, and that she lost an important friendship. She learned to live with what happened, in large part to be an aware and active parent for K.O., and is trying to live as full and satisfying a life she can now. Yes Mr. Gar built the Bodega and became an impressive, respected figure in his own right, but part of him is stuck in the past on that horrible night.

In his mind, he might as well be the one that killed Laser instead of the black hole. The angry, upset Carol in the constantly rewound tape of his mind's eye is more tangible and immediate than Carol in reality. Mr. Gar is so scared that if he actually tries to talk to her, it would be an instant means to transport him back to that painful transition period between losing El Bow and who Mr. Gar is now. Its a weird balance: the tragedy rules his life to the point that it makes it difficult for Mr. Gar to be vulnerable but admitting it happened would supposedly shatter what peace and status quo Mr. Gar managed to achieve otherwise.

Traditionally, men are encouraged to ignore and bury trauma. Its presented as a simple obstacle that can be overcome with enough will power. Instead of the overcome by willpower tack, the dramatic slow-mo sandwich drop and ensuing story beat build towards similar 'talk things out' deconstruction that toons like Steven Universe regularly visit. One particular episode depicts Mr. Gar cowering at the sight of a younger Carol on a giant flying sub. It shows that Mr. Gar's attempts to ignore that particular event and the heavy emotions around it have been ineffective. He's a lot more self-confident and actualized. He can handle rude customers, tough bad guys, and most things that come his way, but brute force will not overcome trauma. Its something that haunts him like a ghost. Posing this as his greatest fear helps paint just how overwhelming trauma can be if not the importance of recognizing its effects on mental and emotional health period.

When Mr. Gar finally does talk to Carol, it's like opening a pressure valve. Its a release. Carol reassures him that he's not responsible for what happened with Laser and that she's sorry for blaming him. Hearing someone say this out loud, even if Mr. Gar had come to that conclusion himself, makes this concrete. Now he fully recognizes that the Carol in his mind is a projection; nowhere close to the present-day reality of the person he's talking to. After they finally talk, they start to reconcile, grow close again, and even start dating.

Their romance is a more in-the-background slow burn with the exception of the cute picnic date, but its rewarding to see play out. If anything, it shows that Mr. Gar is working through his trauma to the point that he has more meaningful and deep conversations with Carol. He trusts her enough to fully let his guard down and honestly let her in. Granted, it'd be nice to see a more detailed conversation between them about her still working for POINT in secret. Though, its not too much of a stretch that they built a strong enough foundation to work through that and fully talk things out later.

After working at the Bodega for awhile and Mr. Gar dating his mom, K.O. openly admits to Mr. Gar that he sees him as a father figure. At first, Mr. Gar looks baffled, but he ultimately decides to fill this role as best he can. Employing K.O. started as a favor to Carol. Through his general interactions and one-on-one time with the kid, he comes to care about him as much as his other pupils Rad and Enid. He recognizes the gravity of the role K.O. is asking him to fill. As far as they both know, K.O.'s bio-dad is dead, Carol's immediate friends and clients are other moms and older women, and Mr. Gar's pupils/adoptive family are pretty much K.O.'s older siblings anyway. K.O. is expressing his need for an older male role model; not just the ambiguous figure of Chip Damage he only ever gets cues from through TV appearances and action figures.

Mr. Gar is right there. He's reliable, he's a powerful hero, he's an enthusiastically Carol-approved symbol of masculinity. He's the picture of what K.O. wants to be like. The montage revealing that Mr. Gar and Carol started dating features happy, domestic scenes with Mr. Gar filling the role of 'dad' well enough that K.O. reflects on that with a smile. That particular scene with K.O. and Mr. Gar on the Bodega roof for a stake-out is the result most blended families hope for when a new parent enters the scene. The new parent, in this case Mr. Gar, has organically meshed with the existing family and carved out a spot that's unanimously accepted.

Considering how Mr. Gar is written and presented, he's an example of a positive masculine role model. He's tough, he's stern, and he kicks ass, but he's also patient and learning how important it is to be open and vulnerable. In the very last episode, its a mark of how much of an impact Mr. Gar had when an adult K.O. not only takes over the Bodega, but also his spot for an aerial attack from the clouds.

#ok ko let's be heroes #ok ko mr gar #ok ko el bow #ok ko character analysis #character analysis #character essay #ok ko let's be heroes POINT #point flashback #ok ko sandwich #ok ko the sandwich #theromancescrooge

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theromanticscrooge · 1 year

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Hello denizens of the universe! I’m the Romance Scrooge.

I used to make a variety of videos analyzing/discussing characters, ships, and whatever else in primarily American cartoons. My best known video series was “The Shipping Corner” and the last video I made for that specific video series covered Ronnie Anne and Lincoln from The Loud House. If any of that sounds interesting, you can find my older stuff here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPrsFetfyT_Xrgzpb8x_lHQ

I’ll make a longer, rambly post about where I’ve been and what I’m considering doing soon. For now, though, this is me saying I’m alive and interested in coming back to the world of character analysis, blogging, and YouTube. I’m not 100% sure where I’m going to start and how, but I have to start somewhere, heheh.

#introduction post #introducing myself #the romance scrooge #theromancescrooge #i have a youtube channel that i'm hoping to resurrect #help my efforts as a fresh zombie!!

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enlightenedrobot · 7 years

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Can Marco be Star’s New Mentor?

This theory is kinda sorta inspired by @theromancescrooge‘s reaction stream to Running with scissors. Watch it here.

So a ton of people are wondering what Running with Scissor’s means for Marco Diaz. On one hand, this episode could just be some minor character/ plot progression; Marco Diaz now knows how to use a sword is somewhat more mature, and Hekapoo is further elaborated upon. On the other hand, Marco is freakin 30 years old now, and that’s not something you can do to a character without it affecting him in some way.

So I wonder, what if Marco takes on Glossaryck’s place as Star’s Mentor? I mean this in the most affectionate way possible, but Star’s not very bright. She’s easily distracted and easily bored. Combine that with her lack of familiarity with Earth and her disinterest in becoming queen, and you have a character somewhere between Finn the Human and the MCU’s interpretation of Thor. In short, she has a lot to learn.

For part of season one and most of season two, Glossaryck played the Dumbledore to Star’s Harry Potter, but the plot has it so that there’s a bit friction between both of them. The episode By the Book introduces this rift as a plot point, and it seemingly reaches its peak in Raid the Cave, where Glossaryck seemingly betrays Star.

Two episodes later, and her Best Friend magically grew to a point where he probably knows even more about the magical world than Star does. This occurs at roughly the same point in Star’s life where the plot is pushing her towards actively learning about magic, royalty, and her status as the next in line to become queen, and while it is true that Star herself is the one taking the initiative to learn more, she can’t pull facts about the history of magic and Mewni out of thin air. Isn’t it lucky that Marco now knows about this.

From a story perspective, this makes for a nice subtle change in the status quo without straying to far from these two character’s character dynamic. Star ‘s still a warrior princess in training, and Marco’s still a lovable dork with a bit more common sense. Not to mention, their status as best friends makes for a very interesting mentor-student relationship that strangely equals out.

Star has more active knowledge on magic and fighting than Marco does, but Marco likely knows far more about details and technique than Star. And unlike Glossaryck, Marco and Star are far less likely to have any form of miscommunication. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Star’s learning speeds up in the next few episodes, now that Glossaryck is out of the picture.

Stories rarely ever put the mentor and the student on the same level, much less makes them best friends. Robin needs Batman to be the older and wiser superhero, and Luke’s character dynamic with Obi-wan would be very different if Obi-wan was just as young as Luke was. But Star vs has the potential to break new ground with this. A mentor who has just as much to learn as the student, with a relationship where a power dynamic is non existent.

#star vs the forces of evil #Running with Scissors #Marco Diaz #Star Butterfly #Mentor #Theromancescrooge #glossaryck

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