#forgot about those kids too zoinks

[cherryvampiro]

Who's your favorite Peanut character that's not Snoopy and Woodstalk?

 I see what you did there

 I like Lucy 

Edit:

@tiger-toonist :Oh wait, so we’re not talking about Peanuts?

 I should have been more clear sorry. I was talking about my clown character who’s name is also peanut. 

[phoebehalliwell]

Asking the important question about Bianca x Chris In the change!future : who fall in love first ? And who say i love you first ?

Because we got Chris, who believe in soulmates and destiny but also who probably think no one will love him like that because, insecurity. And Bianca, who simple does not believe in love. A great match, full angst / unrequited love potentiel

i’m gonna like. link my entire chris/bianca anthology just because i love talking about them

chris + love a, b, & c

bianca + general phoenix lore a, b, c, & d

chris & bianca: a, b, & c

it’s under a cut 🥰💞💕

i mean like short answer is i think they both say i love you about a million different times a million different ways before either of them kinda drops those words like. like i think for chris i love you is a really common phrase for him like growing up it's just like all around his household he has about constant exposure to three health marriages everyone in his family like they all like each other for the most part. well like um. they all love each other, that's guaranteed. the like can sometimes fluctuate. so it’s not like he’s uncomfortable with the phrase it’s just like. it’s big. real big. and you know i don’t know but you grow up around wyatt and you grow up around cupids and all these really grandiose ideas of love and love is all around us it’s the air we breathe it’s the crucial tether of human existence love is epic love is iconic love can stop the rotation of the earth like that shit. like i mean he looks at his parents (and at the versions of paige/henry and phoebe/coop that live in my head) and like. love was a fight. it was this epic pull that caused them to go to the ends of the earth for each other you know hell they were ready to risk death to get married you know that must be like this epic heartstring tugging feeling in your just red string of fate yanked so hard it almost hurts and like. that’s just not what chris has. it doesn’t feel at all like that. it’s just comfort. nothing more, nothing less, really. he just feels 100% wholly comfortable and safe around bianca it’s not like. it’s like he thinks in order to be In Love in love it has to hurt a bit you know nothing comes for free and being with bianca just isn’t. it doesn’t hurt. just spending lazy slow time with her it doesn’t feel much like anything it’s just nice. it doesn’t like. move stars rip a hole in the earths crust. he doesn’t feel this burning ache. it’s just. being with her. it feels safe it feels normal it’s just like it’s normal!! this is what normal feels like not the constant nagging voices in his head own insecurities playing on a loop not you know the constant ever-present knowledge of the next demon battle there’s always gonna be another one not who is he as the son of a charmed one what will he do what will he be. like none of that’s there with bianca. it’s just normal.

and of course all the cousins draw straws on who gets the honor of whacking chris on the head with a hollow tube saying that is love dingus because like. again he’s probably aired out his thoughts to like wyatt or somebody maybe melinda if she pried maybe henry if he pried where like. because obviously they’d be interrogating on hey what the fuck’s going on over there because like. soulmatism all that everyone’s watching like you get it right you’re in love and chris gives his whole stance on like blah blah blah it’s gotta hurt i don’t feel that i just like bianca. and whoever they’re talking to. maybe kat? if just thinking about all chris and bianca have been through together all the times they like nearly died in each other’s arms like are we not counting that?? is that not enough for epic love right there? this is a really long yarn to basically say i think chris would be in love with bianca for a really long time and just genuinely never have the word for it you know just like stupid but are we not all fools in love?

i think bianca would say it first because she definitely picks apart their relationship in her head a lot more that him because like that’s just the person she is because like phoenix are not supposed to fall in love. you’re loyal to your family. you respect your family. and by extension, they are who you love. because you have no one else to love. no one else knows the true you, and no one else would be capable of knowing and loving the true you like your family. everyone else would rather see you dead. so i think she picks apart the concept of love and what it means to her a hell of a lot more than chris ever does. because i think from the start. you know it’s kind of an enemies to lovers situation.

okay so here’s my current sketch of what i’m doing with them in the light timeline because like. let’s face it. killing a charmed one is impractical. it’s an immense risk, one i think the phoenix would never take. also like. if bianca was sent to kill chris i really think she could do it respectfully chris is powerful he’s talented he’s smart i still think bianca could kill him. and then, of course, if you kill a charmed one, then you have the rest of the family after you and at this point it’s a really big family. and yes you could plant evidence throw them off the scent but again you’re dealing with like. 10 whole ass experienced trained powerful witches? how long does that last? and for what. what price could that ever possibly be worth? i get wanting to kill a halliwell on your own your own personal business risk v reward, but the phoenix are a neutral power they do not care. the only skin they have in the game would be the price on chris’s head an i literally can not think of a single thing that would be worth the wrath of the warren line, a family that presently does not give a shit about you, you know?

okay i’ve aired out that opinion. so that being said. what do? so you remember the evil cult from prince charmed and they thought wyatt was their leader and they wanna flip his morality but they failed? yeah and they didn’t all die right. like some of them escaped. the Point is: concept is they’re going for round two, but they don’t wanna make it obvious because if they flip the morality then everyone kinda knows who did it and how because it’s happened before. so hear me out they are casting or they are contracting the phoenix to cast that basically wipes any memory of them ever existing off the face of the earth. phoenix, of course, will be immune, as will their library collection on them because fuck you that’s why and then the members of the cult will be immune tho gotta say. would be hilarious if they forgot that part and then everyone just went home in their funny lil robes like huh wonder where that came from. the issue is chris. cuz he was there. but he’s not him. you know? i don’t think the cult fully knows what’s going on right but like. that’s definitely chris who definitely like single-handedly thwarted their plans. except he wasn’t even alive yet. so they need chris’s memories resurfaced so they can wipe them, otherwise they run the risk of the memories resurfacing at a Very inconvenient time. so that’s bianca’s job. the how they do not know or care about they just need him to have memories of season 6 so the can promptly wipe them. no murder necessary.

but still has weird shit magical invasion of privacy happening and probably a witch fight. blah blah blah i have ideas that i shan’t expand on right now bianca doesn’t lose but chris doesn’t win. no i will expand on actually. i think lynn bianca’s mother knows kinda what’s going on here with the cult’s scheme to create evil!wyatt and the phoenix have done their research and then know that they can survive perfectly fine in a evil wyatt regime and the cult has promised them immunity + powers in their new world order or whatever. so on paper, fine. but lynn’s way overprotective overbearing mother knows best types you know like she will do about anything for her daughter so when future bianca came she definitely used a scrying bowl kinda like what we see the stillman sisters use filled with kid bianca’s blood because that’s really the only way she has to see where bianca’s going what she’s doing and she gets to see evil wyatt kill bianca. so lynn’s actually very much not game for this actually. and i think she if not explicitly tells bianca what’s up at the very least plants seeds implying that she should not go through with this plan.

so when chris proposes instead her teaming up with him to take down the cult, in exchange offering the protection of the charmed ones (which is really the best thing he’s got to offer besides like. a punch card for a free sandwich at ike’s that only needs two more punches.) and bianca takes the bet. and they already have one fist fight under their belt between the two of them that ended in a terse treaty and not they gotta go complete a mission together. and i think that’s kind of like the jumping off point for their relationship is assorted missions together but before things can get Too Chummy chris has an innocent or something to protect and who is trying to kill them well um bianca. zoinks.

basically i think every time bianca aligns herself with chris, in doing so, she aligns herself against the orders of the phoenix. and every time she has to ask herself: is it worth it? and usually like in the case of Murder, the answer is yes. honestly, she’d rather not take an innocent’s life for some rich asshole. but in the case of the initial cult, that was a selfish move. she doesn’t want to die. is that so wrong? and there’s kind of this repeated team chris or team phoenix motif going on where the actual answer does not lie with either of them again the phoenix are on contract that’s not their motive you know they don’t personally care about what happens and then. she’s never picking chris per se it’s not like she’s choosing him she’s choosing and innocent or she’s choosing herself but that just always happens to be the side where chris is.

and also like. they work well together. they just do. so once bianca kinda like. needs to do something dangerous and her first thought is call chris then she kinda has to take a step back and go hmmm. because chris knows who she is right he knows she’s a murder cold blooded killer phoenix (chris, actually, has not seen her murder any innocents in cold blood in fact he has only seen her opt Not to do that but like. bianca has her own vision of herself) and she’s just not. friends with anyone who knows. again not that she would consider her n chris friends but he is like literally the only one who Knows her outside of the phoenix. and that’s weird. Even Further Step Back when she has to do something dangerous and at this point that’s all she does with chris but she Doesn’t want to call him because hey that’s dangerous and i don’t want him to die. which she justifies under the same Death of a Halliwell rule in that the charmed ones might go after her but even she kinda knows that’s bullshit but like. does she really wanna face the music on this one?

so basically while chris’s relationship is very in the moment he’s goin with the flow here he doesn’t know what’s going on where this is going he only has what he feels Right Now. bianca on the other hand is like how does this tie into the past what does this spell out for the future and it keeps circling back to the question is he worth it and bianca kinda hates but the answer every time is yes. she would rather spend time with him be with him fight alongside him than any other option. but to her, that’s still a long way out from love because like. it’s alliance it’s strategic they work well together they care for each other which is more than she can say about like most other people she’d bring to a fight and at a certain point yeah they hang out because they enjoy each other’s company but like. they like spending time together. is that a crime? you can enjoy spending time with a person. but then it’s like more n more time and now yeah look at it you’re in a relationship this is a relationship but like. love?? idk. i mean it’s not like...... you know like in... hmm.... so like... okay so if i Were in love....... okay. okay hm. okay. alright. okay might actually be in love.

i also think bianca would be the one to have the notion of like the finite resource of “i love yous” and even after she’s accepted that okay she can say that she doesn’t wanna waste it she does want to save it for a moment when it means something a dramatic reveal i mean they are in a lot of life or death situations surely she can just like. drop it then. but then like idk she accidently just ends up saying it at like the grocery store. chris on the other hand says i love you all the time like once the floodgates open They Are Open and it’s like. you leave the house okay bye i love you i’m going to bed goodnight i love you i made you dinner i love you like. constant.

[thelionshoarde]

sunblock

What should have been a four hour drive had quickly turned to six thanks to Mitsuhide’s travel itinerary – it would probably have taken them all day if Zen and Kiki hadn’t pinned Mitsuhide to the wall outside of Zoinks! The Whackiest Tackiest Stuff! Museum while Obi stole the keys from his pocket and strapped himself into the driver’s seat.

“You’re not the only one who can drive manual,” Obi glowered out the cracked window as Mitsuhide tried, futilely, to open the locked door. “If we have to stop at one more kitschy landmark I will drive us into the ocean, so help me.”

Mitsuhide said, forlorn, “But it’s my jeep.”

Zen patted him on the back, entirely cheerful. “You gave up your right to be an adult after we spent half an hour at the petting zoo.”

“You cannot hold baby animals against me,” Mitsuhide grumbled, crossing his arms and glowering back at Obi. “They are so tiny. How are they so tiny?!”

“They were alligators, Mitsuhide. All that petting zoo had was baby alligators.”

“All right,” Obi piped in through the half-inch of open window, “I did like the baby alligators, I’ll give you that. Tiny, sharp tooted babies ready to devour you, I was a fan.”

The front door tinkled as Kiki emerged from the cool interior of the building, and threw a shirt at Mitsuhide’s head. It fluttered out of its neat folds as it slid down his face, and Mitsuhide caught it by the shoulders, holding it out to read: Zoinks! I’m so whacky and tacky!

“Thanks,” he said, ever so dryly.

Kiki grinned, sliding her shades back onto the bridge of her nose. “Any time. Also, I call shotgun.”

“Damn it,” Zen hissed at the same time Mitsuhide yelped, “But it’s my jeep!!”

By the time they made it to the beach house it was late afternoon, the sun still bright overhead. “Not quite the full day I was hoping for,” Zen observed, arms hooked over the open door and the hood of Mitsuhide’s ancient jeep, to peer down the sandy path between clumps of stubborn grass to the beach just beyond. He grinned. “But I’ll take it. Man, this was a good location.”

“Not bad at all,” Obi whistled in agreement, swinging Mitsuhide’s keys around his finger.

The door to the beach house opened, and Ryuu stood framed in the cool shadows of the arched entrance way. He looked reedy and awkward standing there in nothing but baggy, blue-and-yellow swim trunks. And a lot of sunblock smeared across his nose. He squinted into the light at them.

“Good, you’ve arrived. Now you can deal with her.”

And then Ryuu was off, flip-flops slapping against his heels as he bolted past the four of them and down the path to the beach as quickly as his coltish legs would carry him.

“The hell was that about?” Obi asked.

Shirayuki answered, stumbling out the open door and waving a foam visor – like the kind you could buy cheap from little novelty stores – and a bottle of sunblock in her other hand. “Ryuu!” she yelled, “I wasn’t finished. And you forgot your hat!”

“Oh,” said Zen.

“Oh, my,” breathed Obi.

Mitsuhide said, “He really should wear the visor, at least.”

Kiki slammed the back of the jeep shut, brandishing their brightly colored umbrella at the lot of them. “Get out of my way unless you want to become collateral damage. Shirayuki, do me first. I want in that water.”

“Damn it,” said Zen, “why are you so good at that?!”

Obi breathed out, “Oh, oh, please do me, too, babe. Yes, my body is ready for protection against those pesky UV rays. I surrender to your tender mercies!”

“Nope,” Zen said, jumping down from the jeep and looping an arm around Obi’s neck. “You can settle for my tender mercies instead.”

“Babe,” Obi leered, sunglasses slipping down his nose so that Zen saw the clear, golden shade of his eyes peeking impishly up through his lashes, “I can work with that too, trust me.”

Propping the umbrella on the stucco wall outside the entrance, Kiki followed Shirayuki inside, already shimmying out of the t-shirt she’d been wearing. Mitsuhide tripped on flat ground, cursing, as Kiki’s toned, mostly bared back disappeared. “Shit,” he grunted, catching himself against the cooler full of beer and gatorade. Then, “Oh, we need ice, still.”

“Are you – are you writing something on my back?!”

“Shh,” Zen hissed, sounding focused. “Do you want sunblock or don’t you?”

By the time they were all ready for the water Kihal had arrived, bike spitting sand as she skidded to a stop. She tipped her visor back and grinned at them all, shouting, “There’d better be cold beer in that cooler!”

“I got ice!” Mitsuhide promised, waving.

“Excellent,” she crowed, taking off her helmet and smoothing out her hair. She slung a long, tanned leg over her bike, boots digging into the dirt as she trudged toward them. “Gimme one, that was a long ass drive.”

“Jesus,” Zen wheezed, half-hiding behind Mitsuhide.

“Mm,” came Kiki’s hum of amused agreement.

Leather shorts really should not exist if they were going to be that distracting. Zen covered his face with his hands as Obi snickered, patting his shoulder.

“Want me to wait for you?” Shirayuki asked, overly full beach bag clutched in her arms and six plastic buckets full of miniature shovels and rakes looped onto her forearms.  “Suzu and Yuzuri are still going to be a couple of hours.”

“Nah,” Kihal said, unzipping her leather jacket and shimmying out of it. She accepted a beer from Mitsuhide, laying it against the nape of her neck. “I think I want a nap. You guys go have fun, I’ll catch up.”

“Are you sure?” Shirayuki asked. “I don’t mind waiting, I could –”

Kihal looked pointedly at Obi. Obi grinned.

“Babe, no one believes you for a moment,” he said, swooping down from behind her and picking her up, arms wrapped tight around Shirayuki’s bare thighs. She squealed, buckets flying, and then Obi was off, down the steps and the path, toward the beach.

“Beach,” Kiki said, insistently, picking up one end of the cooler and staring at Mitsuhide.

Mitsuhide blinked, picked up his end, and agreed, “Yes, beach. Shall we? I – oh, hey, whoa!”

“He’s gonna break his neck,” Kihal snorted, popping the tab on her beer as she and Zen watched Kiki drag him along at a fast clip.

Zen grinned. “She’d catch him if he fell. Of course, then he might pass out from – hnn,” he cut off, having glanced toward Kihal and finding himself distracted by the long line of her throat as she guzzled down her beer.

“Ahh,” she sighed, licking beer off her lips with a smirk. “Much better.”

“Uhm,” Zen said, blinking.

“Care to join me for a…nap, Zen?”

“Yes,” he said, following her inside and shutting the door behind them.

Later, as evening set in, everyone milled about in the living room, taking turns with the single shower. Obi came out in just a towel slung low around his hips and a surprised expression on his face to see them all sprawled on the couch, staring at him.

“Oh, goodness,” he drawled, “why, if I had known you all were waiting for a show I would have left the towel!”

“Please don’t,” Mitsuhide said, sounding pained.

Zen made a considering noise. “It’s not a bad view, really.” When Shirayuki stared at him, wide eyed and red as her hair, he blushed, hurrying to add, “I mean – he doesn’t bother with a towel in our dorm! He just – it’s not like I have a choice, all right!”

“Hot,” Kihal decided, eyes squinting as she no doubt imagined it. “I’m down.”

“Mitsuhide, cover your ears,” Kiki said.

“I can’t,” he mourned, hands over Ryuu’s ears where the younger boy was sitting on the floor, slumped back against the couch near him. Obi winked, and turned to go into the room claimed by him, Zen, and Ryuu upon arrival.

Half the couch gasped in unison.

Zen’s grin took up his entire face. There was no hope in restraining it.

“What?” Obi asked, pausing just at the threshold of the room. He glanced over his shoulder at them, patting at his ass with the hand not holding the towel up. “No, everything covered. What, what? What’s wrong?”

“Your – your back,” Shirayuki whispered, her face now an alarming shade.

“Uh, yeah,” Obi said, brows arching up in confusion. He turned back around to face them. “What about it? Did I get some new scars or something when I wasn’t paying attention? Please tell me if it’s like, in the shape of a dick because that could be embarrassing and more permanent than a sharpie.”

“No,” Shirayuki whispered even more quietly, sounding strangled. “Uhm!”

“It says –”

Kiki slapped her hand over Ryuu’s mouth. “Don’t ruin it, kid,” she murmured, smirking.

“Zen,” Obi said, voice rumbling low as his eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”

Zen shrugged, still grinning. “Nothing really. Just…being helpful?”

Kihal held out her hand for a high-five, which Zen gleefully returned. The sound of it caused Shirayuki to jump, startled. She sucked in a breath and lunged for her beach bag where it had spilled half its contents by the coffee table at their feet.

She came back up with a big bottle of aloe clasped desperately in her hands and determination written across her face. “You’re sunburned,” she said, still a little breathless. “Here, let me – uhm, I can – just –”

“Uhm, sure,” Obi agreed, allowing himself to be herded into the room, eyes wide. “You can – uh, totally put – that – on me?”

The door slammed shut behind them.

When Yuzuri burst into the house, hollering, “We have arrived! The fun may now begin!” most of the group was half-collapsed, still laughing. Pursing her lips, Yuzuri put both hands onto her hips and said: “Okay, what did we miss? What happened? Wait – where are Shirayuki and Obi?”

Ryuu was the only one seemingly unaffected. He looked up at Yuzuri and Suzu with a forlorn expression on his serious face, and explained: “Zen wrote with sunblock on Obi’s back.”

“Oh?” asked Suzu, tucking his chin over Yuzuri’s shoulder. “What’s it say?”

“Shirayuki,” Ryuu intoned, “kiss me, already.”

Yuzuri immediately began cackling. Suzu jumped back, arms in the air as he watched his girlfriend slowly collapse to the ground, still cackling with glee. “Best springbreak,” she gasped, “ever!! Well done, Zen!”

“Thank you,” Zen grinned, looking smug.

A thud came from behind a closed door, followed by another, like someone getting pushed up against a wall, and –

“Maybe we should go see about that bonfire,” Mitsuhide said hurriedly, ushering everyone off the couch and out the house. Just in time, too. Mitsuhide winced as he shut the front door, the thin walls of the beach house doing very little to disguise the low, drawn out sound of Obi’s moan. He turned, started down the steps to where Kiki was waiting for him, beautiful with the setting sun lighting her up.

He paused with a foot in the air, then turned, bounding back up the steps to open the door and stick his head back through. “Don’t forget to use protection,” he hollered, as loudly as he could, and grinned when he heard what sounded like a body falling off the bed. The muffled oath let him know it was Obi.

“You’re still bitter about him driving the jeep, aren’t you?” Kiki asked, reaching for his hand.

“Only a little,“ Mitsuhide admitted, grinning as he curled his fingers in with hers, heart jumping into his throat. “Race you to the water?”

Kiki was running before he’d even finished the sentence, but Mitsuhide was only a step behind, her grip on him sure and strong and effortless.

[fly-pow-bye]

Powerpuff Girls 2016 - “Midnight at the Mayor’s Mansion”

Written by: Haley Mancini, Jake Goldman

Written & Storyboarded by: John West, Angela Zhang

Directed by: Nick Jennings, Bob Boyle

The second Halloween special!

The episode starts with the Mayor running away from a growling monster, holding a container of pickle chips that will become important later. This immediately flash cuts to Zombie Mimes, a movie that is a part of a movie marathon the Powerpuff Girls are watching. Blossom has to actually talk about why this could be funny: because the mimes can protect themselves with invisible boxes!

As this is Halloween, they're wearing their costumes, because it's Halloween! Of all the holidays they decided to double dip on, it's unsurprising it's Halloween. It's a good way to show their creativity in making costumes that fit their unique personalities. Also, more costumes for the toyline!

Buttercup is Buttercup Van Helsing, which is not even a pun. Bubbles is dressed as the Mayor, leading to jokes about the silly character acting like the other silly character.

And Blossom is Rosie the Riveter, continuing her habit of choosing feminist icons that Buttercup does not recognize. Not that any kids would recognize her either, as they decided not to explain who she is beyond "she's that girl from the posters." I'll give them one thing: at least Blossom isn't dressed like a coder this time. No questions about how they're not giving Bubbles a costume more fitting of her coding personality!

Bubbles, acting like the Mayor, pretends to make a call, which coincidentally aligns with an actual Mayor call. Unlike usual Mayor calls, this is followed by what seems to be the generic TV show phone ringing sound this time. Even previous reboot episodes at least had something that resembled the old hotline. Only hearing The Mayor's screams of agony and a monster growling, they decide to go to City Hall to find out what's going on, and...

...wow, Tom Kenny really wanted out of this show, didn’t he? I wouldn’t blame him; even modern Spongebob is less demeaning. Nah, just kidding, he's just hanging from a coat hanger, as he forgot to take himself off the coat! At least this established that the Mayor isn't too bright, something that used to be seen by his contrast to the apparently "not-fitting-with-the-messages" Miss Bellum. Bubbles suddenly gets afraid of the monster, or "m-m-monster" as Bubbles calls it and the rest of the characters just agree with in a running gag, but Blossom has an idea.

Blossom tells them to split up to find the monster, only for Buttercup to say people splitting up and getting "monster mashed" happens in every horror movie she's seen. Seems to happen even when you're together, so I don't see the big deal. They decide to split themselves up in groups of two. Blossom and Buttercup, and Bubbles and The Mayor.

The main jokes with Buttercup is that, being addicted to that movie marathon, she believes in all of the tropes. She would constantly point out situations that would remind her of the movies she's seen. This is the closest this episode gets to being funny, and is used as a not-horrible explanation to why Buttercup, of all the Puffs, is afraid of being beaten up by the monsters when she's usually the only one that beats them up.

There's a joke about a banjo room, including a banjo that sucks the soul out of people when it is played. I would talk more about it or even give a screenshot if it actually went anywhere. Oh, and the power goes out. Ooh, dark! ...that's about it.

Bubbles ends up teaming up with the Mayor. It wasn't Blossom's intention, it's just that Bubbles got into her role so much, she ended up thinking Blossom was referring to her, too. It's like even Blossom knew that there is rarely anything good that would come out of a comedy routine with two not-so-wise people and nobody else. This episode certainly doesn't disprove what Bubbs and Donny Get The Mail has proven with only two minutes.

Bubbles: Hold on, my Mayor sense is tingling!

The Mayor: I had those too, but a doctor prescribed me a topical cream.

TMI, Mayor, TMI. Actually, there is a sort of point to this scene, as these scenes are the first time we get to see the monster. We even get to see a transformation that they probably should have kept secret!

They have the Mayor eat one of the pickle chips, and he suddenly turns into a giant green monster. This is all seen by the viewer; nothing is really left vague. This episode still treats this like a mystery. I guess there might be a possible intended mystery on how these transformations happen. Maybe there's something more to it?

Bubbles and The Mayor play on an air hockey table, and I realize they only took a minute or two to forget that the power went out. Bubbles finally gets a glimpse of the monster as Blossom tries to get her soul stolen by that banjo, and is interrupted by Bubbles' screams. See, irrelevant! Well, she does accidently break the banjo, freeing a spirit that proves that it does steal souls, but the only thing this leads to is a minor random joke during a future random joke.

Blossom decides to lock herself in the room with Bubbles and Buttercup, and grabs the Mayor, who suddenly de-transformed into his normal form, to protect him from the monster. Buttercup correctly guesses that this was a bad idea. She has yet to even see the monster, but she knows this from her monster movie knowledge. Another running gag. Including...

Buttercup: Or, the infamous (puts on a glove, does finger quotes) "badroom".

Once again, the reboot has to force appendages the Reboot Puffs don't have. Blossom tells her that's there's nothing to worry about, as there's only Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, and The Mayor. It would have been a little funnier if it cut to the monster instead of the Mayor, but instead, we get to see the Mayor turn into the monster, while coincidentally eating a pickle chip before his transformation.

This leads to the Scooby Doo door scenes that's been seemingly parodied more times than there are Scooby Doo, Where Are You? episodes. They try a few jokes, like having a basketball team show up only in this scene, having Bubbles go on one of those old bicycles, and just in case you didn't get the reference, the Mayor shows up in a Mystery Machine-like vehicle and have him go "zoinks."

Possibly realizing this is going nowhere fast, Blossom decides to calm down the Mayor the only way the Powerpuff Girls know how...

...by beating him up. Biggest surprise of the episode: they actually succeed for once. No "what have we done" moment, no Monster Punch, Girls Down, just a quick slideshow beatdown. The monster-Mayor then gets tied up with rope.

No really, it's that almighty ordinary rope that was able to tie buildings-full-of-people lifting superheroes up is able to work on giant Hulk-like monsters, too! Continuing from the Scooby-Doo joke, this episode takes a very dark turn!

Bubbles: Now all they have to do is find out who this monster really is! (grabs the Monster Mayor's head)

Blossom & Buttercup: NO, BUBS!

Okay, that's a total lie. With this episode, you have to make your own fun. While Buttercup attempts to leave the scene, Blossom just can't leave the Mayor like this. But first, Bubbles decides to try some of those pickle chips! Buttercup, knowing her tropes, slaps it out of her hands, figuring out that they're not just ordinary pickle chips...

...but Transylvanian pickle chips! Gee, it was the pickles that turned him into a giant monster? To be fair, there is slightly more to it, as they're also expired for 5 years. What's even better is that it's Buttercup that figures this out, not the smart one. There's a good reason for this: she's the one most familiar with the movie tropes, which makes her correctly guess everything in the episode. Is this just admitting this episode was cliched?

But not for long, as Buttercup Van Helsing tries absolutely everything. She sprays juice on the monster Mayor like an exorcist sprays holy water, she reads from a generic monster book, and they even do another fake out scene where it looks like Buttercup is burning him with an iron...when she's really just ironing for no reason! Random!

Out of options, Buttercup decides to use one of her stakes to Blossom and Bubbles' horror. This time, I'm really not making this up. It turns out that's only using her stakes to make a sundial to time how long it takes for the transformation to wear off. At night. Indoors. Even the show itself points out that this is silly. Still, we get Buttercup correctly assuming that the monster transformation wears off without any prior knowledge.

After a few hours, which is far longer than the transformations before for no adequately explained reason, the Mayor wakes up as his usual self. Yelling "banjo" for no reason other than to prove that they still remember that banjo gag, Buttercup eye lasers the rope to free The Mayor, thus proving that they really could use eye lasers to get themselves out of rope! The Mayor promises to get rid of the pickle chips, so it won't fall in the wrong hands! Guess the joke!

The episode ends with Bubbles turning into a monster, Buttercup taking out another stake, and Blossom yelling her name in horror. Should I mention that it was Bubbles that pointed out the chips were 5 years old? Also, I can't help but notice that she sort of resembles Bunny. Insult? You decide.

Does the title fit?

I guess you could call City Hall a mansion if the Mayor lives there, which I think was hinted at.

How does it stack up?

A lot of this episode felt like filler, as if this could have been another short if they cut out all of it. The episode has an identity crisis, not really wanting to be a mystery, but not really wanting to be too much of a comedy either.

This is the least of the Season 2 episodes so far, I just couldn't get into it. Just watch The Squashening. Or, if you want something entertaining, Boogie Frights.

Nobody knows what's in store for the reboot, at least in the US. It could be super lice, it could be Jemmica, or maybe it could be a Holiday special! Looks like Fly is going to take a break from PPG 2016 to catch up on a certain other reboot throughout this week...starting tomorrow.

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[weeklyhumorist]

Modern Day Mysteries for the Scooby-Doo Gang

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“The Netflix Phantom”: The gang discovers that one too many family members are using their shared Netflix account at a time, foiling their movie night!  But just as Fred gets out his credit card to add more people to the viewing plan, the gang realizes that if they’re all in the room together…who could be the culprit using the account? And is this phantom really watching Adam Sandler’s Murder Mystery when the new season of Stranger Things is available? Like, zoinks, man! The Phantom’s taste in movies is almost scarier than the Gang nearly finding out spoilers online!

“The Fake News Fright”: A mysterious article pops up on Facebook, claiming vaccines are dangerous. Shaggy’s already shared it three times, ruh-roh!  Velma hurries to find some informative Vox videos, but it’s too late: A hot take by anti-vaxxer Donna B. (an account with a turtle in a party hat as a profile picture) is up to seventeen likes and counting. Can the Gang stop the spread of false information in time to save herd immunity? Or will a villain from behind the mask of a computer screen cause widespread disease in America? And how in the world is Scooby the top commenter on the Food Network Facebook page when his paws are far too big for the keyboard?

“The Detox Tea Drama”: When Daphne’s Instagram account (33K followers as of this morning, thank you very much!), publishes some problematic ads for a Detox Diet Tea company, Fred optimistically buys thousands of dollars worth in hopes of bulking up at the gym.  But to his surprise (and only his surprise, if we’re being honest), the supplement has no effect. Now the gang has to prevent Daphne from being cancelled and develop some brilliant PR strategy for her brand, all while exposing the fraudulent Detox Tea company. Meanwhile, Scooby and Shaggy eat a comically large sandwich as hungry, cardio-strong gym patrons engage them in a long-winded chase sequence that continues even through commercial breaks!

  “The Haunted Air BnB”: It’s a Sherlock crossover episode this week as the Gang heads across the pond for a star-studded Saturday morning special! Fresh off the plane, Velma beelines to a local pub to get wifi on her smartphone, while Fred and Daphne stumble upon a string of haunted AirBnBs being investigated by none other than British national icon Sherlock Holmes. Will Fred overcome his jealousy and be able to work with Sherlock, despite seeing this chiseled, animated version of Benedict Cumberbatch shamelessly flirt with Daphne? Are the ghosts in the AirBnB paying customers, or simply squatters claiming housing rights? Seriously, how is AirBnB even legal with the limited amount of protections in place for both consumers and hosts?

  Meanwhile at the pub, Velma does a few quick Google searches and pieces together the identity of Banksy almost immediately, whom she promptly invites out for a pint and a discussion on social protest through art. And Scooby and Shaggy, of course, angrily learn that Yorkshire pudding isn’t real pudding at all!

  “The Mystery of Malaysian flight 370”:  As the Gang’s successes begin to stack up, media pressure pushes them to take on one of the biggest mysteries of the decade:  the disappearance of Malaysian flight 370, which went down due to unknown circumstances in 2014. Fred finds a clip of 60 Minutes that pretty much covers all the theories, and quickly takes credit for the information (since after all, he did find the clip, and that should count for something, right?). The Gang urges Fred to compose and send an email to WhiteHouse.gov sharing his “discoveries”- hooray, another mystery solved! Everyone hops into the Mystery Machine to celebrate and go bowling, except Velma- that wet blanket- who says something like, “Okay, but can we solve the mystery of where my glasses are? Guys? Hello? Are you still here?”

“Velma’s Political Philosophy PhD Dissertation”: That’s right everyone! The Gang’s going back to school! Velma’s dissertation is all about solving a mystery- the mystery of how to implement social contract theory in a modern, free, and moral society!  How can we perpetuate a just and responsible relationship with our government, assuming they are credibly elected by and for the people as endowed by a social contract, without unnecessarily impending on the liberties our country was founded upon? Is the rising trend of neo-liberalism a satisfactory manner in which to maintain a market democracy leading to a standard level of justice and legitimacy in a civil society?

  “Come on Scoob, let’s go find a vending machine to shake down. Politics don’t matter to dogs, anyway!” declares Shaggy. (Yes, of course the gang came with Velma to the library; They’ve been running through the shelves and playing quirky music, begging other studying patrons to chase them).

  “A rog? Rhere?” says Scooby.

  Velma sighs heavily and makes a note in her paper’s margins: “Maybe we should only let the educated elite vote…”

“Scooby-Doo, where are you? And Find Kony, too!”: After the White House reads Fred’s poorly written email and miraculously believes a man who purchased thousands of dollars of Diet Detox Tea did indeed discover reasonable evidence of a mysterious plane crash, the Gang embarks on a government-sponsored quest to hunt down and capture Ethiopian child army leader and global terrorist Joseph Kony.  “Now we’re agents of the US government?” cries Daphne. “Jeepers, what if I break a nail?”

Velma passes her a stack of feminist literature she brought onto the plane ride, as well as some books on modern psychology, imposter syndrome, and (oh, what the heck),  a copy of Rachel Hollis’ Girl, Wash Your Face.

  “What are those?” says Fred, pointing at the books in Daphne’s lap. “Big…comics? Where are all the pictures?”

  “….They’re- they’re books,” says Velma, truly afraid for the first time since all this mystery stuff with the Gang started.  Velma unbuckles her seatbelt and searches the plane for an emergency parachute, strapping in. Yes, she’s winging this skydive, but she’ll take her chances. Wherever she lands, Velma will start a new life. Live off the Earth. Anything to get away from these Godforsaken idiots.

  Speaking of, where are Scooby and Shaggy, you ask? They forgot to get on the plane! The airport food court had a Del Taco and a Taco Bell, and they’re still elbows deep in the Dollar Menu, trying to decide which is better.

  Suddenly Shaggy looks out the window, chalupa all over his scruffy face. “Did Velma just jump out of that plane?” he says.

“Rehehehehehe!” replies Scooby. Shaggy sighs. It’s times like these he can’t help but begin to resent his canine friend. Maybe he’d be closer to Velma if Scooby wasn’t always around, demanding attention in such a controlling manner. Shaggy studies the Great Dane that has somehow become his closest confidant, a creature that drinks out of a toilet bowl. Sometimes, late at night when he lies in bed, Shaggy can’t help it. He wonders if Scooby could be a figment of his lonely imagination. A companion he dreamed up out of the desire to be noticed, to be loved…after all it’s been years since he’d felt the touch of a woman. Three long years.

“The Scooby Snack Attack:” Who took the Scooby Snacks from the Scooby Snack jar?! A timeless question- but with this time, with a few simple reviews of home security footage, the Gang can see Scrappy Doo is the culprit. “And I would have gotten away with it, too- if it wasn’t for you meddling kids, and the Ring Security system smart doorbell (available now for three-payment installation with promo code SCOOBY at checkout!)!”

Modern Day Mysteries for the Scooby-Doo Gang was originally published on Weekly Humorist