#(He definitely DOES NOT have a crush on the Barracuda)

[kayfabebabe]

And Now, For Something Completely Different (2)

This is my original character, Bear. I was answering some questions about my other OC The Barracuda - (her profile is HERE if you want to read it) - when I was reminded of him. So let’s have a proper introduction. 

Full Name: Thomas W Greene Age: 29  Height: 6″5  Gender: He/Him  Relationship status: Single  Sexuality: Straight Hometown: Broomfield, Colorado, USA.  Language/Dialect: English. Trying to learn French for “reasons” but it’s not going well. - “The heck are Chaussettes?”  Appearance: White. THICC. Broad-shouldered. Blue/Grey eyes. Long brown hair, usually tied with a bright pink ribbon. Short beard. There’s a thin scar on the underside of his jaw.  Tattoos and Piercings: A small cartoon bee on his right buttcheek. A complete sleeve on his left arm of native animals and flowers to Colorado - A mountain goat, Pronghorn, and Jack-Rabbit. A cartoon daisy on the inside of his right arm with one 3 petals.  

Current Wrestling Persona: Bear  Signed to: GWO  In-Ring personality: A tag-team specialist. Gets along with nearly everybody on the roster. As a former football player, a true member of the team. Strong, tall, and wide. Loyal to his partners and friends. One of the friendliest people ever. Cool, calm and collected.  Entrance music: Bat Out of Hell - Meatloaf Ring attire: Black shorts with a plain white t-shirt and a flannel on top. Before every match, Bear draws a design on the basic t-shirt then gifts it to a fan in the crowd at the end.  Titles won: 5 X GWO Tag-Team Champion. MWWO (Mid-West Wrestling Organisation) Wrestler of the Year. 2 X MWWO Tag-Team Champion.  Tag-Team Partners: Charlie Harris, Benny Fisher, Johnny Goode and, eventually, the Barracuda.  Formerly performed as: The Greene Machine. David Greene (named after his Grandfather.) Davey Greene. 

[hortensemitchell]

Love Science: Chapter Two

Logan believed that he could solve anything through the power of science, even something as complicated as love. James is set on teaching him that love can’t be summed up in experiments and charts.

The two of them might just learn that there is more to love than they realize.

Rating: T

Pairing: Logan Mitchell/James Diamond

Words: 2168

Logan wishes he could have seen it coming, but he never would have guessed that this was Kendall’s genius plan. As the doors on the far side of the gym slammed open, the school's wrestling team walked through though they looked a little different than usual.

Instead of the singlets brandishing the schools official colors of maroon and gold, they stepped out in leopard print leotards, complete with leg warmers and did he see tails? Logan leaned forward over the stadium seat in front of him for closer inspection, watching as a stocky senior turned around to face one of the coaches. And yes those leotards were definitely equipped with tails.

Logan glanced over at the other boys beside him each mirroring the others with looks of pure glee at the embarrassment they’ve caught on film. And while he should also feel the giddiness of pay back, Logan couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong.

He leaned closer to James, and carefully whispered, “Should I even ask where you guys got the costumes?”

“You know how on Monday Kendall and I snuck out of homeroom to get my Barracuda emergency kit from my locker?”

Logan had to resist the urge to roll his eyes because only James would consider flat hair reason enough to risk detention. He had to commend James though, his dedication towards always looking his best was pretty impressive. Still he nodded to get him to continue with the story.

“Well we were on our way back when Mrs.Bigler rounded the corner. And you know how she is. She would have locked us away in her witchy dungeon, or something.” James shuddered at the idea. “Although come to think of it, she still hasn’t returned the lucky backup up comb she confiscated from me last month.”

“What does this have to do with the cat club going on down there?”

James shot Logan a quick glare, “ I was getting to that. Anyways, we quickly ducked into the nearest room which happened to be the theater. And once Kendall saw the costumes the rest was history.”

“Well that explains where you were after class, but how did you manage to sneak all of this from the costume department? Sharon Maynor guards that room like a hawk.” One time Logan stepped into the room for some thread to fix a tear in his uniform pants, and he swears she tried to staple his sleeve to the desk. No prank was worth exposure to that girl.

James quirked his eyebrow in confusion before doing his signature hand gesture over his face.

Right, the face. James operated on a whole other world from his friends, a flirty smile and a twinkle in his eye could usually melt the coldest of hearts. Logan understands that fully, as he had been subjected to those hazel eyes and bright smile since he was eight. And he had yet to learn how to tell him no.

He had to admit, even though he had a bad feeling about this, the plan was pretty solid. Not only did they get video evidence of the wrestling team wearing embarrassing costumes, but they also managed to anger the MSU recruiters too. Turns out wearing costumes depicting the mascot of MSU’s rival college tends to put recruiters in a sour mood.

Logan watches the two men storm out of the gym with the wrestling coach hot on their heels. He hears some muttering about how they will come back next week and they expect the boys will take it more seriously. And now would be a good time for them to make their exit. It seems like all of the boys were on the same page as Kendall begins to pack up the tripod, and the other boys make their way toward the door.

As Carlos edges his way behind Kendall to make his exit, he delivers a quick congratulatory shoulder slap to the blonde boy. However, like anything with Carlos, his enthusiasm leads him to be a little more heavy handed than necessary.

From his spot holding the door to freedom and safety, Logan watches the tripod stumble from Kendall’s fingers and over the railing. He makes a grab for it, but it barely grazes his fingers and disappears from sight. It seems like the world moves in slow motion as the camera makes its descent to the floor.

He looks over at James who is standing next to him with one foot out in the hallway, and he can only imagine he mirrors the look of horror on James’ face.

The sound of the camera smashing on the linoleum floors is echoed throughout the room and suddenly all eyes are on the four boys in the balcony.

Just as quickly as time had stopped it sprang back into motion as Kendall dove over the row of seats to make his hasty exit, Carlos not far behind. As he passed Logan, he wrapped his hand around Logan’s bicep, almost a repeat of what happened at his locker. Only this time, their lives were on the line.

The boys took off down the hallway as fast as their legs could take them, trying to get as much distance from the gym and murderous wrestling team as possible. But without a plan of exit, they were as good as dead.

Taking this turn and that, the boys made their way through the labyrinth of hallways, listening intently for the tell tale sign of other sneakers. Just ahead Logan could see their final exit. If they could just make it there, they would live to see another day.

As the group of boys made it to the door, they pushed through together eager to finally be safe, but the door didn’t budge. Locked. Of course, that was just their luck. They couldn’t stand there though, the hallways were quiet now and Logan realized that meant there would be no witnesses.

“Okay this would be a really great time for you to use that big brain of yours buddy,” Carlos said, as he adjusted his helmet.

Logan sputters in disbelief, “You know I panic under pressure!” He glances over to Kendall, whose eyes are trained on the far end of the hallway obviously keeping an eye out for their safety. “Kendall, what are we going to do?”

“We need to split up, I’ll take Carlos and head for the exit by the science labs. James, you and Logan should go the opposite direction and exit by the cafeteria.” Kendall said, surveying all of his friends. “We’ll reconvene at McComey park in fifteen minutes. Sound good?”

It wasn’t the best plan of action, but Kendall was right, they were less of a target split up. The boys took off in opposite directions, shouting wishes of good luck as they tried to make it to freedom once again.

James makes his way down the hallway a good distance ahead of Logan who straggles behind. They were both athletes sure, but James towered over him and while Logan had gotten used to looking up to the other boy, he refused to speed walk just to keep his pace.

“You’re still coming to Kendall’s after school to tutor me right?” James asked, looking over his shoulder. “If I flunk this exam in algebra, I can kiss the recital goodbye. Mom’s already looking for a reason to pull me from my lessons.”

Logan had been tutoring the other boys pretty much since he was eight years old. He had never seen it as a burden though, in fact he enjoyed the challenge. Each boy learned in a different way, and had different struggles and Logan had to figure out how to tailor his lessons to each of them.

With Carlos he had to make the lessons hands-on. Reading passages or listening to explanations was as good as doing nothing. So, he had him make dioramas, posters, and set up science experiments and otherwise tried to put that neverending energy to good use. And he never felt so proud when Carlos would come bounding up to the table with a huge A on his latest project.

Kendall rarely came to Logan for help, he generally wanted to take on the world alone like always. But even he knew when to throw in the towel. From time to time, Kendall would make the walk to Logan’s house with a backpack full of assignments and they would work well into the night catching up.

School wasn’t the most important thing in the world to the blonde, but hockey was. And as long as he keeps a C average, his place on the hockey team was secure.

While he tutored the other boys once in a while, Logan’s situation with James was a little different. Since they were about 11 years old, Logan had become James' permanent tutor. Most days after school Logan would follow James to Kendall’s house and help him study for all of his classes.

He was always happy to do it though, even with the amount of work his AP classes gave him. James’ mom Brooke would look for any reason to pull James from his singing and dance lessons and throw him into the Future Business Leaders of America. And it would be over Logan’s dead body that he would let her crush James' dream like that.

Logan was about to reply to James when he felt a strong pull on the back of shirt as he was slammed into the nearby lockers. Now in front of him stood the stocky senior Logan had seen in the gym, and an impossibly tall student he recognized from his shop class.

While James and his lives might be on the line, Logan still found some humor in the current situation. The seniors, while obviously livid, were still dressed up in leopard print costumes, and he found it hard to not giggle at the ridiculousness of it. They could kick his ass sure and it would hurt, but could they look intimidating with tails? Unlikely.

He closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact as one of the guys, wedged his hand in the front of his shirt and raised his fist back, but the impact never came. Instead James had rushed down the hallway, slamming into the senior with his full body weight and causing them to sprawl on the floor.

The taller boy on the wrestling team didn’t seem to want to get involved and instead watched the spectacle with his back pressed to the lockers across from Logan.

Yet again James had stepped into the line of fire to protect him. But he didn’t have time to think about that as James sprung up from the floor and snatched Logan by the hand, yanking him down the hallway. For now they were back in survival mode, but yet another set of exit doors was in sight.

James pulled the door open and ushered Logan through it quickly as he looked down the hallway making sure they weren’t being followed. The feeling of the afternoon sun on his skin was a slight comfort, but the boys didn’t lessen their haste as they booked it to the meeting point. They made it out alive, but it was best not to take any chances.

Logan didn’t think he had ever been so relieved to see Kendall and Carlos in his life. Neither of them seemed to have a care in the world, swinging on the rickety swing set. Carlos going way higher than was probably safe for the run down equipment, but they had survived worse today and Logan wasn’t about to stop his fun.

Kendall finally noticed the other two boys approach and dug his heels into the gravel to stop his swing. He gave Logan and James an odd look when they stopped in front of them, and that’s when Logan noticed that James and his fingers were still entwined.

James must have noticed at the same time because he quickly snatched his hand away and looked off to the side embarrassed. Logan immediately missed the warmth.

James cleared his throat, and adjusted his bag strap before addressing everyone, “So we’re all heading to Kendall’s right?”

And just like that, the afternoon's adventures had been placed in the back of everyone’s mind. But Logan couldn’t help dwelling on it.

It wasn’t weird right? The fact that he had liked holding hands with the other boy. It made sense that he felt comfort from the touch, after all they had been very cuddly friends for years. And James had just saved Logan yet again. That was probably where the weird feelings were coming from he deduced.

Still as the boys made their way out of the playground and off to Kendall’s neighborhood, Logan watched James as he joked about with Carlos. And he swore he might have had a concussion because the sunlight seemed to shine solely on James.

Weird.

Read Chapter Three Here.

[jade-island-lives]

Dusty Rose and Primrose Yellow for the colorful writeblr ask!

Dusty Rose: Your personal favourite character in your wip

Right now I have three wips that I’m actively working on so...

Tales of Merlia: Torrent. Torrent is my grouchy barracuda mom. Protective of her babies, and just so over every thing. She is the definition of being allergic to bullsh*t and I love her. She’s like deadpan all of the time and looks really intimidating, but she’s super sweet under all the glares. Delilah and the others love her all the same, and Torrent may love them more than she gives off.

The Light Force: Inkblot. I freaking love this sasspot of a boy. He does not know when to shut up, can be incredibly oblivious at times, and can be an annoyance to Matthew. I could have written him as the comic relief and make him super annoying. But his love of family, to protect the ones he loves. He’s young, dumb and just so full of life and promise, and I love him, and I can’t wait to see him grow.

The Baker: Right now? Sophie. I freaking just...ahhhh I adore her. She’s full of fire and brimstone, taller than a beanstalk, wears a cool leather jacket, and has an intense sense of justice. She can be a prick at times, and yeah Gale calls her out on it, but she can be sweet when she wants to be and is ABSOLUTELY supportive of Gale’s dreams and dotes on her in Sophie’s own way, even if it means that they may not see each other for a long time. She is LITERAL goals for me. 

Primrose Yellow: What’s your least favourite genre to write?

Ooh...um...I don’t think I have a least favorite genre. Each one has something that draws me to it. But if I had to pick, I’d say I like romance the least.

Don’t get me wrong! I LOVE romance, reading romance anyway. I love the fluff, soul crushing angst, you name it. But I can’t write it as well as I would like to.

For me, romance is difficult because romance in real life for me is difficult. And that’s without going into anything personal. I do write some here and there, but it’s never as good as I want it to be, nor is it what you guys deserve. But I try.

Colorful Asks!  

[goosefightrobinmayor]

Just Another Kind of Freak

I think I ship Zsarina and the Mummy

This is a long one and probably won’t be in any finished product

The Mummy thrusts his hand right into his gut. Zsarina has to remind herself that there’s no gut there, because otherwise it looks like something out of a b-movie where they forgot the blood. He rummages around a bit between the strips. “I’m not hungry anymore,” Tsarina declares.

“I didn’t know you were hungry,” the Mummy says.

Zsarina cocks her chin up a bit and smiles, waggling her foot. “Oh,” the Mummy says, and turns to the side, embarrassed.

“My bad,” Zsarina says, “that was really dumb.”

“Oh no, it was a good joke,” the Mummy pulls his hand out and presents to her a small tub like the size of a ring box. With one rubber coated finger he rubs the ointment on her burn.

“What a cute baby condom,” Zsarina says.

“They’re called finger cots, actually.”

“I know what a finger cot is,” ugh, she can’t even get a dirty joke in. Lame.

The Mummy rolls his eyes and dresses the wound. Gauze kind of spews out of him but as much as it does, he doesn’t seem to lose any on his arm. Finally he bites the strip with his razor blade teeth and wraps it around the arm. He leans in and Zsarina bites her lip.

“Alright,” the Mummy pulls back, “you’ve got be more careful out there.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Zsarina rolled her arm, then shouts, “ow!”

“Oh?” The Mummy says, “Is that the same ‘ow’, or another ‘ow’? Don’t poke it!”

“I didn’t poke it,” Zsarina says, “it’s not that. I think my shoulder’s hurt too.”

“Huh,” the Mummy says, “and it didn’t hurt before?”

Already suspicious, huh? Zsarina holds her shoulder and hisses. Academy award winning. “Can you just look at it?”

“Alright,” the Mummy leans in closer this time, and Zsarina puckers her lips. She strikes like a barracuda but the Mummy pulls away before she can reach his mouth.

“Hey!” he shouts.

Cold terror takes root in Zsarina. She just fucked up. She plays with her hair, “Not into tall girls, I take it?”

“No! Zsarina,” the Mummy stops himself, “I mean. Zsarina. I’m not a kisser.”

Zsarina blushes. She can’t not notice the nervousness in his voice. She lets her heart float like a butterfly and leans toward him, “Hey. Do you? Like me?” she grins.

“No!” he says way too quickly.

“Oh!” Zsarina plays with her hair some more and giggles nervously.

“No, really,” he’s gesturing way too much now, and his voice sounds shrill but kind of excited. “I mean,” he spins, then seems to realize he’s cornered, and his frame falls. He sits on the bench with her. He strokes her hand.

“All right,” he admits, “so maybe the crush is both-sided.”

“Oh,” Zsarina’s sunshine melts.

“What? You don’t have a crush on me? But why’d you kiss me?”

“Because I’m a slut, duh.”

The Mummy jolts, and Zsarina clenches her teeth, “Oh, jeez. Sorry, Mister,” fuck, it is so hard to address someone with respect in this place where names don’t exist.  Calling him ‘mummy’ right now just seems disrespectful. “It’s not anything against you. I just, yanno, I don’t know you yet.”

The Mummy shakes his head, “It’s not that. Zsarina, don’t use that word, ok? It’s vile.”

“Mister?”

The mummy gives her a pointed look.

“Oh! Slut. Well, what of it? I am a slut. I’m also stupid bitch.”

“Zsarina.”

“No. I own my sluttitude. I live the slut lifestyle.”

“There’s no such thing as a slut, OK?” He throws his hands in the air, “Let’s drop it,” he huffs. It’s a prickly subject for him, honestly, to the point where Zsarina wonders if it her jokes are even worth it.  “Well,” he says, “now I feel like a dumbass for confessing to you. But you have to admit, you were sending a pretty mixed signal there.”

“Sorry,” Zsarina rubs the back of her neck, “it’s a cultural barrier, I guess. Be in L.A.,” she counts on her fingers, “get hammered out of your fucking mind, kiss every man, woman and enby that catches your eye.”

“Oh. Alright. And the ‘getting hammered’ part?” the Mummy asks.

“OK, so I skipped a step.”

The Mummy laughs, and Zsarina’s glad for it. She takes his hand. It’s so soft- so squeezable! Like a teddy bear.

“Do you want to try for, a more straightforward kiss?”

“Zsarina, I have razor blades for teeth.”

“Oh, yeah!”

“You just remembered?” he chuckles.

“Yeah,” Zsarina shrugs, “let’s do it!” she leans into him.

“What?” he pulls back, “No! Zsarina, I’ll hurt you.”

“That’s hot.”

“No it’s not. I’ll tear your lips or your tongue to shreds.”

He’s standing up now. His body language is definitely closed off; upset. And yet Zsarina, the hot mess that she is, just has to come in with another trashy quip.

“Yeah, tear me up, Daddy.”

“Zsarina, what the fuck?”

Zsarina’s mouth goes dry. The Mummy’s staring at her with reproach. She crosses her arms.

“Who fucking cares if I get hurt, anyway?”

“I do. I care.”

“Oh right, because if I die, I can’t destroy that book and get everyone’s precious humanity back.”

The Mummy blinks, “Do you think that’s the only reason I like you?”

Zsarina takes a heavy breath and then lets it out.

“No,” she gets up to take his hand, “I’ll leave it be. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.”

She squeezes his hand, then throws her arms around his shoulders. He lets out a little gasp, then sighs.

“Zsarina. You’re not in Hollywood. Country folks need a fair bit of warning before you glomp them.”

“OK,” Zsarina backs away, but it’s against her instincts. There’s a part of her that wants to lash out at the Mummy. Punish him for actually liking her. Show him what a mistake he’s making because- well, he is, isn’t he? She’s going to fuck this up. That’s not a guess, that’s the facts. She’s going to fuck this up. The longer she doesn’t fuck it up, the worse it’ll be when she finally does. She wants to implode it right now. Minimize the damage.

She doesn’t, though. She just says, “You know, Mummy, I bet you’re like, an extraordinary cuddler.”

The Mummy laughs, “Well, yeah. I have no bones. The kids love piling on me.”

“The fuck? That must be. Ridiculously cute,” especially with the kids being one baby lemur and one baby badger. Honestly, Zsarina could get a little jealous that she never got to turn into one of the monsters here.

“It is! I mean they are. I’m not cute, just there.”

While Zsarina’s trying to come with a clever argument, the Mummy says, “You know, if it was just me, I’d say don’t go to the middle of the forest.”

Zsarina blinks, and cocks her head, “You don’t want skin again?”

He pulls at his cheek, causing the fabric to buckle, “This really ain’t that bad. And it stays sterile.”

Zsarina smiles, “You’re like a walking clinic.”

“I really am!” he smiles and reached into his chest, pulling out a capped syringe, “See? Any kind of medical supply I want!”

Zsarina cringes though, “OK, maybe you should stop letting the kids cuddle up on top of you.”

“Oh don’t worry,” he stuffs it back under the wraps, “they disappear if I don’t want them,” he grins, and shrugs, “I’m basically a black hole! I make no sense. That’s fine, though.”

Zsarina smiles, “Can I hug you?”

He nods.

She hugs him around the chest and buries her face in his shoulder. It’s only a little bit scratchy- not nearly as bad as a beard.

“You’re awfully affectionate for someone who doesn’t have a crush on me.”

She shrugs, “Maybe I can be convinced to crush.”

The Mummy laughs, nervous.

“Wouldn’t you like. I dunno. Want to go home, though? Like I hope you’re single if you’re crushing on me. But don’t you have like, a family at home?”

“Not much of one.”

Zsarina leans her cheek on his cheek.

“Yanno, I think I kind of identified with you as a kid more than the character you played on TV.”

Zsarina exhales through her teeth and pulls back “That’s rough.”

“Not everything. But the parents who didn’t give a shit about me and left me with an abuser? Yeah that was a thing.”

“Bah,” Zsarina crossed her arms, “adults suck.”

“A lot do, yeah.”

Uncomfortable now, she looks around, a particular hunger at the back of her throat, “Yanno it’s a marvel you haven’t all gone nuts here without booze.”

The Mummy shakes his head, “Doesn’t help.”

“Yeah. I know.”

There is uncomfortable silence between them. The Mummy nearly strokes her, but shyly stops himself. She pretends not to notice.

“I want to help them,” she says.

The mummy chews on his gauze lip, severing it like he feared he would do to hers. She licks her own lip in sympathy.

“Do you really?” he asked, “Or do you feel like you have to?”

Zsarina feels a lump in her throat. She shuts her eyes.

“Sorry! Did I- say something wrong?”

“No,” she sighs, “I would like to. But honestly,” she gestures to herself, “look at me. I don’t think I can.”

She sits on the bed again. The Mummy sits with her and strokes her arm. They’re quiet for a while.

“You don’t think I can either, huh?”

“I think it’s super dangerous.”

“Yeah?”

“I mean, obviously you have more chance to succeed than any of us nameless. But. Fuck,” he holds his head.

“Yeah?”

“It’s bad. Who knows what magic has popped up now. And Lionhart and his goons are out there waiting to pounce on you. You shouldn’t have to just because there was glitch with your name.”

She puts her hands on her knees, “I want to, though. I mean, Batticorn is such a sweet  kid and she fights for everybody. I think somebody should fight for her. Even if it’s a broken old tranny with PTSD.”

“God, Zsarina, I wish you wouldn’t say those things about yourself.”

She squeezes his arm. “You’re so nice. How do you get off being so nice to a pile of trash?”

“God damn it.”

“OK. Sorry.”

This time, he leans his head on her. It surprises Zsarina, but he’s incredibly light.

“I think Batticorn needs out of here,” he says, “and Vampire Leech, and Hide Behind and the kids, too. The forest drains them of happiness.”

Zsarina nods.

“But we can find someone else.”

“Nah.”

“Nah?”

“How long is it gonna take for another trans person to come to this dump, and give their deadname away?” She stands, “I believe in fate, Mummy.”

“You do?” he sounds dubious.

“Well, I don’t believe in God, so I gotta have something.”

The Mummy sighs.

“I came here for a reason, I think. So, I’ll do my best.”

[hereidinathoreauwrites]

A Balanced Review of the Magic School Bus Reboot

The good, the bad, and the genuinely surprising about the Magic School Bus Rides Again.

Here we go.

First off, in the interest of full disclosure, I am a huge fan of the original. Like genuinely huge. I have all the episodes, can quote most of them, and openly promote theories that Ms. Frizzle is a Time Lord (because honestly, it’s obvious).

Second off, I have a huge gay crush on the fabulous Kate McKinnon.

But who doesn’t?

So expect these to weigh into my analysis.

Let’s start off with the good.

The Good

Fiona

From the moment I heard Kate was onboard, I knew I was going to love this character. And she did not disappoint. Fiona is exactly what she needs to be. She is Ms. Frizzle without being...well, Lily Tomlin. She still has that zest for adventure and thrills at new discoveries.

And while there is a multitude of similarities between her and Valerie (old sayings, clever wordplay, impeccably questionable fashion sense, a flair for danger) she’s decidedly different. She’s more excitable than her sister and treats her students more like peers than children she is supervising. And while she’s never quite as all-knowing as her big sister seemed to be, she knows when to talk and when to let her students suss something out on their own.

And while her past is a bit of a mystery, just like her older sister, she seems just as accomplished and well-rounded. And just as eccentric.

I mean, she literally enters the classroom through a glass ceiling on a rope attached to nothing.

She is Kate McKinnon, who is genuinely thrilled to be here and loving every minute of it. 

Sometimes she does get to be a bit much, usually when she’s too excited about a clever pun or a new discovery. But she’s not Valerie Frizzle. She’s Fiona Frizzle. And Kate does a good job of keeping just enough of the original enigma while bringing a new character who is more approachable, vulnerable, and emotional than Valerie was. Honestly, the only emotions I remember Ms. Frizzle overtly displaying on PBS were excitement and happiness.

In PBS, the kids relied on Ms. Frizzle a lot and she seemed to improvise a lot of the destinations and lessons for the day. Here, Fiona seems to already know what they need for a given day or be flexible enough to figure out a solution as they go. And unlike Valerie, who always kept a strong cloud of mystery about her and what she knew and didn’t know, Fiona makes it very clear just what she is aware of and not aware of. During the final episode, when the bus is unable to take the pressure of the ocean and things look dire, she is clearly panicking because her kids are now in danger. But she keeps resolutely chipper, trying to reassure and excite them even as her voice breaks.

And this makes sense. The kids are older in this version. At some point, there’s no reason for her to hide her knowledge and planning from them or the true scope of the danger they’re in. It isn’t going to teach them anything new, just reinforce how much more she knows. They aren’t going to freak out like they used to, instead, they will search for a solution because they’ve been in danger before and engineered their way out. She’s no longer their guide (like Valerie was), now she’s their colleague.

There is one thing I find a little off about her and that is her tendency to make sassy comments or judgments that are funny in the moment but really distinguish her from what one typically expects from a teacher. In the very first episode, she makes a comment about how dirty the boots they are examining for invasive species are and gets very high-and-mighty about it. I wouldn’t mind so much (the boots were pretty nasty) but she does this with the kids occasionally as well (she makes it obvious that she knows Arnold stole her plant in the first episode but still puts him through a lot of guilt-tripping and even some legit trauma before he finally fesses up). And while it’s good for a laugh, it seems a little harsh for an elementary school teacher. The kids dont seem to mind though so I’ll let it go.

The Class

The same class is back, which I found surprising. But smart. It would be too much work to establish an entirely new class and then introducing a new Ms. Frizzle would feel off. It would just be a remake, not a reboot.

We have 7 of the original kids here: Arnold, Ralphie, Carlos, Tim, Wanda, Dorothy Ann, and Keesha. In this reboot, Phoebe has been replaced with Jyoti, an Indian girl who is very into engineering and technology. I was originally very upset when Phoebe was replaced (she was the one I related to most in the original series) but Jyoti has earned a special place in my heart. She has her own section below.

In this version, the class is in 5th grade, which is supposed to be one year after the events of the PBS cartoon. I’ll have more thoughts on this later but for know, just know that all the kids are now 10 instead of 9 and it actually sort of works.

The kids are all really charming. Especially Ralphie (who may have eclipsed Carlos for the most laughs). Even Arnold, who I found incredibly annoying in the PBS version, was exceedingly likable here. And this was the series where he actively disrupts his new teacher’s first lesson! In the first episode, there is a great effort to make Arnold both reprehensible but also sympathetic as he resists the change Fiona brings to his life.

While their personalities seem less distinguishable at times, they still retain their characterizations. Ralphie is the lovable jock, DA the nerd (although she has swapped out her beloved pink bookbag for a Frizz-tab), Tim is the artist, Carlos the jokester, etc. Even though they retain these personalities from PBS, all of them have changed slightly, the same way you’d expect a child to change over the course of one year. Some of their traits have been updated as well for the new era this class is getting educated in (for example, DA’s tablet and their outfit changes).

The only one I have a problem with is Wanda.

We’ll get to her in the bad.

The kids are still the focus of the show: having conflicts, solving problems, making mistakes, and getting excited about science. Fiona remains as simply their guardian and enabler of their adventures. And while Kate’s performance is attention-grabbing, she doesn’t steal the spotlight from the kids. Their VAs are all pretty good and seem to have taken their own stylistic choices when bringing back these beloved characters. They keep some core similarities but give unique performances.

Jyoti Kaur

I was so excited to learn another POC had joined the kids. I was even more excited to learn that she was a southern Indian POC [for context: I myself am not of Indian heritage but I spent a semester in southern India and I admire the culture very much and made some good friends there]. She seems to have taken on both the mantle of wide-eyed newcomer (that Phoebe used to carry) and fearless adventurer in the class (that used to be Wanda’s thing...). And she fills the important role of being the gear-head for the class in this new era of technology.

She even gets one of my favorite moments in the reboot: when she’s alone with Ms. Frizzle discussing an engineering competition and we learn that the Frizzle sisters built the bus.

It’s such a powerful moment for me because Jyoti is the new kid and Fiona is the new teacher and they use this moment to bond and expand the canon of the series.

Watching her watch the bus in action is genuinely endearing. She always seems like she’s both in awe of the magic and trying to figure out how everything works. There’s a moment in the first episode where she watches Ms. Frizzle turn Carlos and Wanda into animals and gets very disappointed when she doesn’t get a turn.

This may make it seem like I have no problems with Jyoti, but unfortunately, that’s not entirely true. She has a section in “the bad” as well.

The Adventure

The series certainly didn’t pull punches when throwing people into peril.

In this reboot, we see the kids fall down two different rivers, raft a volcano, get attacked by T-cells, jump out of a plane onto a glacier, get attacked by a plant, get stalked by sharks (twice!), lose the bus (also twice!), get lost while they’re the size of atoms, almost get torn apart by a barracuda, go flying around the Earth at maximum zoom, and get stuck at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

One thing that is different is that they don't dwell on the suspense as much as PBS did. PBS milked its commercial breaks for all they were worth, drawing out intense situations to make them feel more perilous. The reboot...doesn’t. When there is a threat, the resolution is less than 30 seconds away. There are a couple of awkward fade-outs in the middle of some episodes at tense moments but it’s not consistent and there’s not much point when there’s no ad break in the middle of a Netflix video.

This could turn into a whole critique of streaming services ruining suspense in tv writing but I’ll just make a note of it here.

The bus has also picked up some new abilities, which are utilized for these adventures. Shrinking down to the size of an atom genuinely thrilled me. I got so excited during “The Magnetic Mambo” when they just kept shrinking...and shrinking...and shrinking...!

A lot of the “new abilities” seem to include the bus’ infinite creative potential. It spits out new technology every other second, from personal vehicles to backpacks that are actually time machines, to a remote that is like a mini-bus that they only use once. I’ll discuss the bus more in the bad but it’s abilities fall solidly into the good category for me. It means new adventures and deeper dives into older adventures.

The Writing

I don’t know if the series writers are affiliated with the PBS cartoon in any way but they definitely know their stuff. The problem I have with most reboots is that they end up feeling and sounding like fanfics instead of continuations. This reboot does not. It carries just enough of the tone of the original through clever wordplay, puns, and wacky adventures while having a distinctly different look and feel.

They know where they came from but they’re not trying to return to that place.

Some of the episodes are very creative and well composed. These include Ep 1: “Frizzle of the Future” (which ingeniously uses the concept of invasive species to integrate Fiona into the MSB canon), Ep 4: “The Battle for Rock Mountain” (which uses superhero culture to teach kids about the rock cycle), and Ep 10: “The Tales Glaciers Tell” (which finally teaches kids about climate change in a way that is straightforward and as “uncontroversial” as it can be).

There are some “less good” episodes but overall, none of them were terrible. They were all funny and clever and presented their lessons well.

Nods to the original

It’s never overtly obvious or direct but the references to PBS are there. But in some ways, I think that’s better than flat-out insisting that the two are back-to-back canon.

They don't slap you in the face with call-backs but if you are a fan of the original, you catch them.

Here’s a few I noticed:

The perfect joke to explain Phoebe’s absence

Mr. Rhule (the principle from the original) is referenced by name

Wanda’s mom and little brother (William) have a cameo (with Wanda’s original VA as Mrs. Li, I’m pretty sure)

Ralphie’s face when the class travels inside Carlos’ nose (because in PBS, the whole class ended up in his nose)

Arnold freaking out when they end up in Ralphie’s stomach (because that episode from PBS was legitimately traumatizing for him)

The bus being attacked by white blood cells while in the bloodstream

Weatherman! (”sheika, sheika kaboom!” was sorely missed though...)

Keesha directing (with a megaphone of course)

Ralphie building a robot (again, for seemingly no valid reason and with a questionable amount of resources)

Arnold loving rocks and geology

Ms. Frizzle asks them if they’ve ever been eaten (there were several times in PBS but not in the reboot)

JANET! (dammit)

several VAs from the original make cameos

It’s refreshing in a way, to know that these things were done with fans like me in mind.

The Bad

I may love a lot about this reboot but it is not without a few glaring problems in my mind.

Here goes:

The BUS

I’m just going to say it: the original bus was better. It had more of a personality and felt more real than this cube.

In my opinion, where this went wrong was that technology played too much of a role. Maybe this was unavoidable due to the major changes in technology in the past 20 years. But it doesn’t even look like a bus anymore. It has a freakin’ tablet screen right on the control panel...do buses have those now? What was magical about PBS’s bus was that it looked like a bus but could change and mold itself into whatever was necessary with the push of a button. Now Fiona has to scroll through a screen of apps to find the “mode” she needs.

There is less magical about the bus this time; it more just seems like an incredible feat of engineering. There is even a joke about how the Frizzle sisters built the bus. Instead of turning kids into things, most of the time now, they just have their own personal vehicles to drive around the ocean or fly through space. That’s not magical, it’s just really well-funded.

Also, apparently now the bus can sustain damage? And then magically repair that damage? I guess the T-Rex did bite through the roof on PBS...

Also, the bus doesn't actually have to drive places anymore. Instead it just kind of...teleports. There’s an episode where the kids go inside the nervous systems of two of their classmates and both times, they just kind of vanish and reappear where they need to be.

(Also, the kids are oddly comfortable with the idea of the bus entering their bodies? Like I get it, if they’ve been through an entire previous year of a Frizzle using their body for science, maybe they’re okay with a bus shooting up their nose and their class spending half the day in their bloodstream. But a lot of the human biology episodes of the original were not consensual? Is this change really a bad thing? Is this tangent getting too long?)

On the plus side, the bus is solar-powered now.

So :D

The Timeline?

They kept a lot from the original, so much so that I think the intention was to make it seem like only one summer had passed between the two series. It makes sense on paper: this way fans of the original aren’t too put off and kids watching both series back to back for the first time won't be too confused by the switch.

But the problem with this is that it’s too unbelievable.

Technology really advanced this much in a few months? Wanda changed that much over the summer (see below)? Ms. Frizzle got her PhD in two months? Well, actually if anybody could do that, it would be Valerie Frizzle...

So the intention is good and logical but all the details don't really work out. I’ve coped with it by considering this an “alternate universe”, where the kids stayed together for another year (with some changes) after a year of similar adventures to PBS but with all the advanced tech present. So instead of being from the 90′s, this class was born in the late 2000′s.

If you’re not insane (like me), it probably won’t bother you. And it does make for a pretty funny opening scene.

Race Depictions

Not really sure if I should be bringing this up but I did want to address it. Whatever animation they used for the show does make certain characters appear...whiter...than they did on PBS.

But the whole color palette is different so I’m not sure if this was an intentional artistic choice or just unlucky circumstance. I really don’t know enough about animation to comment. But white-washing of any kind falls into the bad category for me (even if unintentional).

Wanda

*sighs dramatically* And here we are at last...

Wanda was such a titan of a character in PBS. She probably had the most character development apart from Arnold throughout all 52 episodes.

So I really don't know what happened here.  

With most of the others, where they are at now makes sense given that it’s supposed to be “one year later” in their lives. But Wanda seems like she had a total personality change in just a few short months. She’s no longer adventurous and instead, she’s...really compassionate? I mean, she wasn’t outright mean in PBS but she was callous and occasionally unintentionally hurtful. Now she’s suddenly a bleeding-heart animal activist? I mean, in PBS she was definitely changing towards being more considerate and open but she still kept that adventurous edge and wild streak. Now she has mellowed out considerably. So much so in fact that she resembles Phoebe more than she does Wanda.

Who looked at the original cartoon and logically thought that she was the character who needed to be changed the most? If they were that desperate to include a character who cared for animals that much, why not make it Carlos?

They already have an episode where he adopts a pet rat. And on PBS, he was skeptical of Phoebe’s concern for the animals she tried to save but never dismissive. He even comes to care for natural ecosystems like swamps in the PBS episode “Get’s Swamped”. With this characterization, it would give this show something new and interesting: a compassionate male character. One who is defined by his gentleness and concern. Isn’t it good for boys to have a role model like that?

Also, no offense to Carlos but apart from being the jokester, he really doesn’t have that much of a character. Someone like Arnold has several defining traits: worrier, rock expert, cynical. For Carlos, I have trouble coming up with anything other than funny. This change to a passionate animal activist would have added a whole new layer to him.

So that was a real missed opportunity in my eyes.

The only change in Wanda I genuinely liked was her seemingly much closer friendship with DA compared to PBS.

I always liked how they became better friends in the final PBS episode (”Takes a Dive”) and wanted to see that expanded. Seeing that the writers kept it, it feels like a small nod to that adventure and an indication of how well they wanted to keep the series continuity intact.

Jyoti

So here she is again. And while I do love Jyoti as a character, as a writer I have some problems with her. First and foremost, she’s too good at what she does. The Mary Sue trope is strong with this one.

This kid has a literal invisibility cloak. And creates an AI. And she’s only supposed to be ten years old. While her high-tech gear certainly adds an element of intrigue to the show, I find I cant always suspend my disbelief when she does something too outlandish. Like make a functional 3-D printed model of a T-cell in under half an hour.

She doesn’t really have character flaws either. Granted, she’s only really the “main kid” in one episode (”Three-in-One”) but the most development she has is when she snaps at Ralphie and feels bad about it. She also gets mad when DA loses her locket in “DA and the Deep Blue Sea” (so much so that everyone reacts with fear, even Ms. Frizzle) but she gets over it very quickly. The only “mistake” she makes is not specifying to her AI which pot of water she wants to be boiled (resulting in the water her class is exploring turning to steam). So really the only flaw is possibly that she’s impatient?

She’s not too ambitious or too proud or too inconsiderate, all of which could fit with her character that we’ve seen so far. Instead, she’s just useful. Whenever she needs to be. My hope is that next season she has an episode where she genuinely grows and we see some character flaws.

Another thing about her that is confusing (but this may just be my lack of knowledge showing) is exactly what her Indian roots are. In the episode “The Magnetic Mambo” she insists upon dancing a “kathakali” which is a type of Hindu dance art unique to the Kerala region of India.

But in a later episode, “Three-in-one” we meet a robot she has invented that she calls “Naniben” which (she explains) means “little sister” in Gujarati, a language spoken by only one community in Kerala (to my knowledge). So I either take this to mean that the writers got very specific with her place of origin, or that her parents come from two different states of India (one from Kerala and one from Gujarat?). But I’m sure no one else is giving it this much thought...

The Plugs for Future Episodes

While Lily Tomlin is always a blessing, I have to admit her segments weren’t always handled as well as they could have been.

This is obviously the reboot’s way of doing the producer segments from PBS. It’s a clever way to address scientific shortcomings or tell kids “dont try this at home!”. This really shouldn’t bug me. But it did. While it was nice to see Professor Frizzle having her own adventures and seeing a glimpse of what was coming, having her explicitly say things like: “stick around” or “wait and find out” felt like overkill.

And I know this is for kids but they’re going to watch anyway! You don't have to have a hook for bingeing. Bingeing these episodes is worse because then the lessons don’t stick as well! If the kids are excited by it, they are going to come back the next day or week and watch more. Don’t encourage them to rush through their education.

Episodes I question

Not sure if these count as “bad” but there were some episodes that had me scratching my head. These fall under the “less good” episodes I mentioned before.

E5: The Magnetic Mambo - When I think atoms, I definitely think dancing! There seemed to be a bit of a leap here between the conflict and the lesson (being about magnetism and how atoms align in a magnetic field). Also, I had to watch the “lesson” part of this episode twice before I understood it. Not sure if that reflects more on my education quality than the writing but...

E9: Space Mission: Selfie - I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to have learned from this one. That satellites are a thing? That objects orbiting the Earth orbit at different heights? The lesson wasn’t really clear. Maybe if I watch it again, I’ll get a better idea...also, the Frizzle family has some kind of internet empire?

E11: Ralphie Strikes a Nerve - When your team sucks at volleyball, what’s the logical thing to do? Certainly not spend an immoral amount of time and resources building a giant Pacific Rim - inspired robot! But somehow that’s the logical conclusion here? Don’t get me wrong, it works for the lesson (learning about the nervous system) but not so much for the plot?

The Surprising

The Animation

I know this is an unpopular opinion but..the animation really isn’t that bad.

Sure it’s jarring at first but the more I watched it, the less it bothered me. The movements were still fluid, the characters were still expressive. And this is 2017. Hand-drawn animation is not as popular as it once was.

And this is honestly not that bad. There were even all the little details that were accounted for. Like how Fiona’s and DA’s hair float when they’re in orbit. And when they descend into Carlos’ bloodstream, they have to illuminate the scene. As you watch it, you get bothered by the style less. And the PBS cartoon had its animation errors that were laughably bad. My favorite was in “For Lunch” when Arnold is somehow inside the bus currently going down his esophagus. Watch it again and you’ll see what I mean.

The New Theme Song

I had somehow forgotten that the fabulous Lin-Manuel Miranda had signed on to do the theme. And he did not disappoint. I rock out to this version just as hard as I did to Little Richard’s version.

The Framing

In the PBS episodes, each episode usually only focused on 1 kid, the “main kid” who had a lesson to learn that episode. Occasionally, they had episodes focused on two kids but it was usually just Wanda and Arnold or whoever was fighting.

This time around, they really make an effort to include more kids in the lessons. A lot of episodes still have a “main kid” but they are less the center of attention. It makes the show feel less formulaic, which was refreshing to see.

The Original Ms. Frizzle Leaving

As well as it worked for a send-off, Valerie Frizzle leaving doesn’t make a lot of sense when you look at the two series together. During her tenure as the teacher on PBS, we saw Ms. Frizzle grow to love her kids and start to treat them more like colleagues than a class she was supervising. She genuinely loved her job and looked like she was going to be doing it forever.

So the fact that she switched gears to become a research professor is odd to me. Don’t get me wrong, the more women with Ph.Ds on tv the better but she had always seemed so content to be just a teacher. So maybe she’s just stepping down for Fiona’s sake? Maybe I’m just reading into this far too much for a cartoon?

Still, it seemed a little on the nose to have the original Ms. Frizzle essentially “graduate” from this series now that she’s too busy pursuing her own projects to be a voice actor on a kids show. But if they had to give a reason for her to leave that wasn’t her dying, this was a great one.

Still don't get why Liz didn’t go with her through...Goldie is fine but wouldn’t it make more sense for the new teacher to have a new sidekick?

Keesha’s moms!

Okay, this is unconfirmed but I’m pretty sure these two:

Are intended to be Keesha’s parents.

If so then :D

I’m always for more LGBTQ representation in cartoons and Keesha did seem to be the logical choice. Her parents were never introduced in the original, just her grandmother. So I’d love for these two to come back and actually have a line or two next season that confirms their relationship.

The Battle for Rock Mountain Episode

I have a whole post on this here. Just go read that for why I was genuinely surprised by this concept and its execution.

The permission slips?

I’m sorry but no. This is too much, even for a joke. How does Ms. Frizzle even go about writing these things with a straight face? Maybe it was more just a ploy to get one or two funny lines out of the cast. I think that was a common critique of the original as well; that Ms. Frizzle couldn’t possibly be sending her kids home with permission slips that said things like: we’re going inside an active volcano to study island formation.

Well, apparently she did...and still does...

Well played reboot...well played...

In Conclusion

If you’re still undecided about the reboot, I hope this review helped put it in perspective a little. It has its ups and downs and, like any reboot, necessary changes and unnecessary changes.

Based on what I’ve consolidated here though, I think I would put this in the “good” reboot category. It’s certainly no “Death Note” movie but there are some things that people hate on. But the showrunners clearly know that they’ve got 20 years worth of fans watching them and they make efforts to let those people know that they know the source material (see my list of references to PBS above). I enjoyed watching it. I am probably going to watch several episodes again, even a few years from now. I am genuinely interested in what concepts they decide to show next and if they are going to develop their characters as well as PBS did.

In my opinion, you cant really hate a show like this for being a reboot. Because it’s meant only to do good for kids by teaching them about science and nature. I would show this to my kids or students alongside the original and not feel like it was jeopardizing their education at all. The original cartoon was instrumental in sparking my love of science and I can totally see this version inspiring some young student to delve deeper into topics they learn in school.

[yeonchi]

Sea Princesses Cartoon Review Part 5/13: Season 1 Episodes 33-40

The background to this review series can be found here. Reviews start after the break.

33. Big Brother

Veto returns from (presumably) boarding school to visit the family, which upsets Tubarina since he bosses her around and she isn’t the centre of attention anymore. Tubarina discovers that Veto wants to switch from sport to an arts program and decides to blackmail him, knowing that their father would be angry if he knew about his decision. Polvina and Ester don’t like it and tell Tubarina that she should stop it, but Veto has already had enough and decided to tell the Shark King himself. Naturally, the Shark King is angry, but when Tubarina comes in and supports her brother, the Shark King is glad that they finally agree on something, so he lets Veto go through with his decision.

Honestly, was this episode really necessary? It’s not like Veto will be seen or mentioned again after this. If people hadn’t watched this episode, they would have assumed that Tubarina was an only child and rightly so. Besides, Veto’s role as a brother is pretty much taken by Marcello as we see him and Tubarina having conflicts throughout this series already. In summary, Veto is a redundant character and this was an unnecessary episode.

Also, when they’re eating dinner at 1:55, you can see that there’s a fish on the table. Seriously? If you’re not somehow vegetarian or vegan, how does your diet work? What happens if you eat one of your own species? This sight is quite harrowing coming from people who call themselves Salacians.

4/10

34. The Lost Kingdom

The girls are wondering why the barracuda are so grumpy. They hope to find a Barracuda Princess who could talk to them, but they find out that the royal family left on a journey many years ago and never returned. The girls go to the ruins of the lost Barracuda Palace, where they find a stone plaque that says that the palace was destroyed by an earthquake, but if the palace is rebuilt, then the royal family will return. The girls show the stone plaque to the barracuda, who are excited at this news and proceed to begin rebuilding the palace.

Look, I’m not a big fan of this saga and when we get to The New Princess (S2E2), I’ll show you why. Also, have you noticed that almost every episode ends with the girls laughing? That is so repetitive.

7/10

35. The Gift

The class is doing a project on stingrays and according to Tubarina, Marcello wants to join a group where he doesn’t have to do all the work. When he tells the girls that he wants to join Soraia’s group, the girls tell him that he will need to be especially nice and that he should give her a gift when he asks. Surprisingly, he does and the girls find that he has given gifts to everyone else in Soraia’s group and they are doing things for him in return. While trying to find out where Marcello got the gifts, the girls discover that Marcello is getting Hugo to make the gifts. The girls initially convince Hugo to stop, but he doesn’t want to because he knows that the gifts are making everyone happy. As a result, they decide to sneak into the princesses’ rooms at night and replace the gifts with uglier imitations. The truth comes out the next day and Soraia’s group abandons Marcello for Hugo.

Holy moly, did Sea Princesses predict the RiceGum/Asian Jake Paul Content Cop ten years before it happened? This episode predicted the ghostwriter situation and him being a “pimp”, though it’s a bit of a stretch to say so. Marcello’s manipulative nature is rather reminiscent of Keemstar than RiceGum, since no examples have been given in this case for the latter.

I said before in The Diary that Hugo is Marcello’s foil and that the latter uses him in return; this is definitely the case in this episode. It’s likely that Hugo’s not going to stand up for himself if there are no disadvantages for him, so in a way, he is also selfish.

8/10

36. The Crush

Marcello introduces the girls to his friend, Caton, and Ester immediately falls in love with him. Polvina and Tubarina notice that Ester is obsessed with Caton and they set out to find something about him that will prove to Ester that he isn’t as perfect as she thinks he is. They eventually do and they try to tell Ester, but they fail to prove anything. Later, Ester sees Caton for who he really is and leaves him, swearing off loving boys for the foreseeable future.

I’d like to bring attention to this. This episode features a character named Caton. The Portuguese Wikipedia article for Princesas do Mar describes a character named Saulo, the Salmon Prince, as someone who Ester was in love with, which is something that is addressed in this episode. A fanart made by Necrolyzer92 on DeviantArt describes Caton as being Saulo (and Carlos in Latin American Spanish). I don’t have the raws to prove this, so putting this in the wiki would be, by my standards, speculation. However, after looking through the series, there is no other character named Saulo, which means that this has to be the case, so I put it in the wiki anyway. I hope a Brazilian fan of the series can confirm this.

UPDATE for V3: In late 2021, a user on YouTube named Desenhos Perdidos (Lost Animations) made the Brazilian Portuguese dub of the series available on MEGA and from those episodes, I can confirm that Caton’s name in that dub is indeed Saulo (though from the way the characters say it, it sounds like “Sal”). Before that, I also confirmed that Caton’s name in the Latin American Spanish dub is Carlos. Isn’t it great how time eventually reveals all? Ahahahahaha not soon enough.

Given the nature of this series, the storytelling is pretty deep when it comes to serious themes, such as environmentalism and how Drylanders treat creatures in the sea. However, I should commend it for being deep on human relations and values as well. Last episode was about bribery and freeloading, while this episode is about abusive relationships (at least to some extent) and naïveté.

Caton comes off as this asshole character that makes Marcello look nice by comparison, but Ester doesn’t see him for what he really is because she’s obsessed with him. I’ve said before how the families in this series act like normal families despite being royalty. To that point, how does Caton’s line “You should trade up to a better family” make sense if Ester is already considered royalty? Assuming Caton is just an ordinary Salacian and not a prince, then this makes him look like an even bigger asshole.

7/10

37. The Head Top

Ester finds a hat, or a head top floating around and takes it for herself, which attracts attention from the others at school. The attention that Ester gets leads Tubarina to look for a head top on Dryland. Polvina and Ester chase her and save her before she gets seen by a Drylander. On the way back, they find a whole container of head tops and everyone gets one, but they all find that it makes their heads itch, so they stop wearing them.

Honestly, this is the furthest that any Salacian has ever ventured into Dryland. It’s a shame we won’t see the town again in this series. I kind of would have liked that, but, I guess that’s what you get when you’re on a budget. The Dryland boy from The Boy returns, but it doesn’t add anything to his saga. With regards to the end of the episode, surely hats don’t make you itch that bad, assuming they are new and nobody has any head lice.

8/10

38. The Dingleberry Mystery

There is a food fight at school and Miss Marla has the class help find out who the culprit is. After having no luck in finding who the culprit is, the entire class is punished. The girls do their own investigation and after suspecting Hugo of being the culprit, he admits that he threw the dingleberry because he was afraid of a sea slug.

The mystery and premise behind this “whodunnit” episode is good in itself, but there’s a couple of logical flaws that I’d like to point out.

Firstly, Hugo was singled out as the culprit because he wasn’t covered in food while the others were, but initially during the classroom scene, he was covered in food. This may be an error, but to explain it logically, he could have cleaned himself up out of guilt between then and when they went outside to investigate again.

Secondly, why didn’t anyone else think of cleaning themselves up after the fight? Granted, they were just going to get dirty again while they were cleaning up the schoolyard, but this plot point was only there so that the girls could single Hugo out as the culprit for being clean.

While the “dingleberry” in this episode actually refers to an apple, dingleberries on Dryland, slang terms aside, are actually a type of cranberry.

On one hand, I would call this a filler episode, but on the other hand, it’s a pretty good episode not to be, considering the number of characters featured.

7/10

39. The Makeover

It’s Polvina’s birthday and Ester and Tubarina have planned a surprise party, but they also want to give her a makeover as well. Trouble is, it’s their first time so it ends up being terrible. Ester and Tubarina do everything they can to fix it, but it ends up being worse. Polvina runs off home just as the others are wondering where Polvina is and when she will come to the party. Ester and Tubarina give her a reverse makeover and take her to the party.

There are quite a few things wrong with this episode. Have these girls not tried doing their own makeup? Oh wait, they’re 7, so they’d look like a bunch of whores if they did that.  Honestly, even if I thought the first makeover was terrible, I would’ve just finished it after the Bubbles Lighthouse, because believe it or not, she looks kind of decent.

Also, the birthday cake has six candles when Polvina’s official character description says that she should be 7, if not 8. I don’t mind if the book timeline is different to the TV timeline when you put them together, but surely someone other than Fábio Yabu managed to catch that (providing they knew how to read Portuguese).

Also, we need to talk about the hair of all the characters in the series. There are a few characters like Ester, Marli and Bia where we can see their hair, but there are characters like Polvina, Tubarina or Vivi where there is no indication of any hair as we know it. Genetics aside, does that mean their crown is their hair? Do they have hair under their crowns? We know that in some capacity, Tubarina does because in an older picture of her in the short story Mothers and Daughters, we can see that she does have hair. It’s so weird in Polvina’s case. Imagine if that octopus bun of hers was made with felt and googly eyes. Also, how creepy did that bun look during the makeover? Look at those eyes on it; what are you trying to convey with that?

Honestly, I could probably have done without that episode; it just seems like useless filler. If you thought Polvina’s makeover was bad, just wait until you see Beauty, the second-last episode of Season 2.

5/10

40. The Doll

As Marli and Tubarina are preparing to leave for dance class, Marli guilt-trips Tubarina into giving her doll, Bebe, away. Feeling uncomfortable and tired as a result, Tubarina regrets her impulsive decision and goes to get her back from the baby who now has it, despite Polvina and Ester’s protests. When Tubarina gets Bebe back, however, she has a conflict of conscience and eventually, decides to return Bebe to the baby.

This episode teaches the lesson of how in the end, what’s done is done and we have to live with the decisions we make. On the other hand, Marli is such a bitch to shame Tubarina for still having dolls. Granted, they’ll be approaching the age where they don’t need toys anymore, but still, it’s up to themselves to decide, hard though it may be. Given how much of a bitch Marli is (as I described her in The Babysitters), it doesn’t surprise me how she lords her superiority and maturity over everyone. It’s a decent character development episode for Tubarina.

Also, we see a Salmon Queen in this episode; presumably, her daughter would be the Salmon Princess. The Salmon Queen’s cape and shoes are similar in colour to, if not darker than, Caton’s clothes, while the rest of their clothes are lighter than them and their hair looks similar as well. Given the case with Leia’s family and how Caton is presumably the same age as Marcello, I have a theory that Caton could be is related to them, whether directly or as cousins. That’s not going to be confirmed in the wiki, however, just make sure of that.

Just a quick thing to point out – Bebe resembles Chiquinha (Chilindrina), who is the daughter of Madruga (Don Ramón) from El Chavo del Ocho. There’s another reference for the Brazilian and Latin American fans.

7/10