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You know what's a big shame about Star vs the forces of evil?

There were actually a lot of really good messages being talked about in this series, and it's unfortunate that nobody ever brings them up.

I know it's mostly been associated with how much of a letdown its finale and management of the constant shipping and switching was, but... There were a lot of other things that were really good and well-handled in this series

I like how in the season 1 finale Star loses half of her wand and needs to re-learn how to control her powers, in fact, every season basically ends with her losing something and having to learn how to deal with it.

She loses her magic, her mom, her home, her best friend, her throne... She's always dealing with the consequences of the challenges she faces and the choices she makes, and that's very important to note cause the entire premise of episode one is her needing to learn responsibility and about the weight her power holds.

I also like how Star seems to form actual friendships with her cast of characters. In many series the main lead will just bond with a character in one episode and then we will only see them again in the background until the finale when we need everyone to come together for some big epic battle or something... But here, she's constantly hanging out with Buff Frog, Janna, Tom, Eclipsa, her parents, and the members of the magic council.

And a lot of these friendships start off so weird that it makes you think they wouldn't work, but they somehow always do.

There also tons of episodes with some really good lines where characters throw some concepts that I don't see often in other series, even today.

Like there is one episode where they play some weird magic version of Truth or Dare and Star mentions how the things they say aren't really lies cause sometimes people just don't know how they feel. That's such a great line!

There is another where Star tells Tom she doesn't even know what teens her age do anymore cause she's been spending so much time just working on trying to fix her kingdom for the last two or three seasons.

It's actually crazy to hear that and realize how much this girl changed from episode 1 to who she becomes in season 4. Star from episode 1 would NEVER say a line like that.

One of my favorites though is at the finale of season 1 when Star's parents just exchange a worried look and go "I don't know if we're doing the right thing." once they let Star go after losing half her wand. It sets a nice tone of "Where are we going with this...?" that carries through the rest of the show.

The show also tries to subvert a lot of old tired tropes by throwing some very interesting ideas like making Star's love interests become actual friends early in the story, have the weird bird bad guy from season 1 go through a self-discovery journey where he has to start from scratch after losing everything, and while they do pair up Star and Marco in the end in a very underwhelming way, I like how both of them go through their own series of love interests before arriving there.

It wasn't just "Oh, he/she is the one!" They actually try out things with other people before realizing what they really want.

And a lot of the plot twists are legit fascinating.

The story behind Meteora is my favorite part of the entire show. Again, they take this joke villain from season 1 and turn it into this massive conspiracy where the people in charge strip a mother from her child in order to keep the power in the hands of those they want.

I don't even know what might go through a kid's head while watching this.

There also lots of other cool twists like Toffe's plan to end magic, the identity of Eclipsa's husband, the meaning behind Star's butterfly form and how they handle it by just allowing it to run free and observe where it goes.

I don't know, this show just had a ton of fun ideas, and they handled them, most of the time, in fun ways.

A lot of other times they were handled in super clunky ways, yes, and sometimes the build-up to certain events could be way too slow, the shipping teasing got annoying after a while, and some resolutions were a tad anti-climatic...

There definitely are a lot of problems in Star vs. Foe, but at times it feels like when people talk about it, they treat it like there's nothing good, like they wish this never existed, like the Marco and Star endgame is the only thing worth talking about and... no there are tons of things worth talking about in here.

It had low lows, but also some really good highs, and I'm glad I saw it and glad it existed.

[ben-talks-art]

Legit question... Which character has the best jokes? 🤔

(Also, for the love of God, someone recommend me some female characters with good sarcastic/ironic quips, I was having brain damage trying to come up with women to put on this list) 😓

[ben-talks-art]

Why is X-Men 97 so good, man...

I feel like someone cheating on their partner from how much I'm enjoying this series after years claiming Evolution as my favorite X-Men series.

It's just so ridiculously good. Every character looks so freaking cool in this show. Even Morph! I thought I was gonna hate that dude, but no! I love him! I love all of these characters.

I don't know what they did but they gave some really good, solid writing for this cast of characters. Can't wait to see more! 🥰

[ben-talks-art]

Welcome! Commissions are open!

Ko-Fi Page>> VGen page>>

[ben-talks-art]

Tumblr, which one do you feel has done more harm to society?

Out of these, which mentality, behavior, and spreading do you feel has caused more damage in the way people interact with others in a society?

[ben-talks-art]

You guys remember when Vilgax was a freaking tank?

I seriously can't stand what they did with this dude in the later series of Ben 10.

They gave him a sword, shield, and laser eyes... Vilgax doesn't need any of that! He was so awesome that all he ever needed was his fists. Him using a shield in particular really annoys me, HE'S MEANT TO BE INDESTRUCTIBLE!! 😭

The cool thing about this guy was that he was totally unstoppable. None of the aliens could put a scratch on him, that's why it was so scary whenever he showed up, it made you go "Oh, shoot! We're in trouble!" 😱

He's like if Darth Vader, Shredder, and Juggernaut fused into one with the visual of Davy Jones.

He's cold, strong, intimidating, and obsessed with his goal.

But then he later gets clobbered by Diamondhead of all things. And look, I love DH, he's one of my favorites, always been, always will, and I get it that this is an older version and all, but... seeing the character that literally shattered his hands trying to punch Vilgax suddenly demolishing without trouble just feels... lame.

It was fun to wonder HOW Ben would deal with Vilgax. Would he blow him inside his ship? Lock him in another dimension? Explode him after luring him into a sewer?

He had to think to beat Vilgax, or rely on something completely overpowered like Way Big.

Vilgax was a hard mode enemy that got reduced to some mid-boss that you could now take down with one of your original selectable characters, all because they decided to take away everything that was badass about him.

I miss my unstoppable squid... 😢

[ben-talks-art]

😈 Bad to good 😇

[ben-talks-art]

I always love when a movie or show introduces me to an old cool song I never even knew existed

Thank you, X-Men 97!

[ben-talks-art]

Watching X-Men 97 be like

Original video>>

[ben-talks-art]

There is something funny about how in "Wolverine and The X-Men" Kurt was trying to escape Genosha and was super skeptical about it, while in 97, he's trying to convince his friends to embrace Genosha more than anyone and just try to be understandable of any problem it might have.

[ben-talks-art]

Thunder types! ⚡️(Warning, flashing lights!)

(Why do they say "thunder" if thunder is just the sound? Is it because "lighting" and "electric" don't roll off the tongue as smoothly? 🤔)

[ben-talks-art]

X-Men 97 has no chill, like, my God, man...

We're only on episode 5, and every episode so far has felt like the season finale climax of a different series.

[ben-talks-art]

"That was business"

Again, Knives still being salty at Ramona for "taking Scott" from her, after she closed a deal with the guy that killed him, is kinda funny to me.

This world operates in a very interesting way.

A part of me wonders if this was an attempt at pushing the idea of Ramona facing her faults that this series seemed to be obsessed with. 🤔

(Even though I don't think "her faults" were really all that bad. But that's just me. )

[ben-talks-art]

Anyone else ever found it kinda weird that in the Scott Pilgrim Netflix show, Knives is so hostile to Ramona for being the girl Scott cheated on her with, but she's perfectly fine working for the dude that supposedly killed him?

- Killed her ex-boyfriend? It's okay, water under the bridge ☺️ 👍🏻

- Was caught in an affair without knowing it?

[ben-talks-art]

What would be a fun or interesting animated series or movie to talk about? 🤔

[ben-talks-art]

Right, can't forget these guys as well

Is there a better source of drama than watching a character be pushed to their breaking point?

Like, I joke about it but it really does feel like the secret to make a good story is just "Make a character -> Throw challenge after challenge at them -> See how they react."

There is something...

...just fascinating about knowing how to challenge your character without making it feel like a misery fest and actually making an exploration of how people respond when they reach their limits. How do they reach it? Why do they reach it? Can they make it back? How do they respond? Where do we draw the limit?

This is why the conflict is such a crucial part of a narrative. The walls that you make for your character to face and hopefully overcome is what will test your skill as a writer.

You can't make it too easy because then it becomes anti-climatic, and you can't make it too hard either because then it will feel like you're just torturing your character, and if the breaking point doesn't feel earned it will be like the writer is just trying to force the drama instead of journeying through it.

I've seen a few cases where a character will snap for very mundane reasons and it makes me go "You just wanted to have your cool 'I'm going Super Sayan' moment, you don't really care about this character's emotional struggle." 😑

You gotta find that right balance of what you're gonna throw at your hero and how you're going to explore it for your story.

It's tricky, but if you manage to pull it off, it can lead to some really great storytelling, character study, and theme exploration.

[ben-talks-art]

Is there a better source of drama than watching a character be pushed to their breaking point?

Like, I joke about it but it really does feel like the secret to make a good story is just "Make a character -> Throw challenge after challenge at them -> See how they react."

There is something...

...just fascinating about knowing how to challenge your character without making it feel like a misery fest and actually making an exploration of how people respond when they reach their limits. How do they reach it? Why do they reach it? Can they make it back? How do they respond? Where do we draw the limit?

This is why the conflict is such a crucial part of a narrative. The walls that you make for your character to face and hopefully overcome is what will test your skill as a writer.

You can't make it too easy because then it becomes anti-climatic, and you can't make it too hard either because then it will feel like you're just torturing your character, and if the breaking point doesn't feel earned it will be like the writer is just trying to force the drama instead of journeying through it.

I've seen a few cases where a character will snap for very mundane reasons and it makes me go "You just wanted to have your cool 'I'm going Super Sayan' moment, you don't really care about this character's emotional struggle." 😑

You gotta find that right balance of what you're gonna throw at your hero and how you're going to explore it for your story.

It's tricky, but if you manage to pull it off, it can lead to some really great storytelling, character study, and theme exploration.