#and often the tone is 'what sasha thinks' or 'what marcy thinks' rather than a birds eye opinion on the situation

[heart-stomper]

Unspoken Trust, Unspoken Fears

Gathering my thoughts on Sasha and Marcy’s dynamic before S3 proves me wrong shows us what’s going on with these two.

It’s time to look at The Dinner and Battle of the Bands, and then use it as a guide to read the room in True Colors.

No worries! You just gotta speak their language. - Sasha, Reunion

Or in this case, know when to stay quiet. 

Sasha gets really really frustrated this episode. Like, so bad, that if that Volcakeno didn’t erupt, she might have been the one to end the friendship. Even Marcy and Grime couldn’t calm her down. But that’s the thing, before this point, they were the only ones to get through to Sasha without provoking her.

Grime keeps Sasha in line; she rolls her eyes and is clearly annoyed every time she has to hold herself back, but her willingness to keep it cool shows she ultimately agrees with Grime’s plan and sees it as the best path to success.  When Marcy chimes in, it’s with a helpful answer to Sasha’s question. She reminds Sasha of why they stopped Doing Thing by explaining how their plan failed. She avoids judging Sasha for it, and frames it as the repercussions of their actions, as a group. Marcy is on Sasha’s side, so Sasha doesn’t put up any defenses. When Sasha decides to avoid arguing with Anne however, it isn’t for Anne. It’s for the plan, for her and Grime.

Marcy has enough faith in Sasha to believe she’d never want to purposefully hurt Anne, but is careful about broaching the subject. Sasha feels attacked very easily, and will quickly trivialize or downplay things if she feels the other person is being unreasonable or doesn’t ‘get’ her.

And that is the only time Marcy speaks up besides The Big Argument. She only jumps into actual conflicts if things get too heated. Otherwise, she just lets Sasha do her thing, and lets Anne argue with Sasha... sort of.

This isn’t collaboration. It’s a hostile takeover. Why do things always have to be your way?

Now, for the bait and switch. Let’s talk about Marcy’s behavior in Day at the Aquarium and New Wartwood, and Sasha’s in Toadcatcher and Barrel’s Warhammer… while tying it all back to Battle of Bands!

You didn’t tell me you were writing a song! Let’s do it! I mean, if that’s okay with you, Sasha.

In A Day at the Aquarium, Marcy’s first instinct to Anne saying she’s going back with the Plantars is to make a plan. To show that it isn’t actually what will benefit Anne’s Goals. She doesn’t even consider opening up as an option, and avoids saying anything that could cause conflict. New Wartwood, Marcy tries to chat with the citizens of Wartwood and get to know them. But when that doesn’t work, she decides that impressing them with her knowledge and usefulness is bound to make them like her. It has to.

It does seem simpler.

Trying to win people over by claiming a plan is of mutual interest and necessary, carefully choosing which words to use, viewing relationships as a puzzle to be solved… this isn’t the sort of thing Marcy needs to do to get along with someone like Anne. It’s how Marcy copes with Sasha. Sasha lashes out and belittles bad ideas. Sasha has to be convinced the plan benefits her, suits her. Vulnerability and love aren’t enough to make her care, so Marcy does what she can to prove she’s worth being around. She might even sometimes wonder if Sasha actually likes her, or just likes what she can do for her. She rather not find out.

Whenever she’s afraid of people not liking her, or is worried that she’ll lose them, she dives right into those bad habits. She can give her opinions, but they aren’t supposed to get in the way of what Sasha wants. She’s supposed to say “That’s amazing! What do you think Sash’?” not “Let’s do it!”

Listen. There’s another reason why I’ve been training so hard. To protect the one person I know I can count on right now. You. You’re right, I already lost one friend. I’m not about to lose another. - Sasha, Toadcatcher

In Toadcatcher, there’s that scene, where Sasha looks at the BFF picture and the wind cuts off Anne for a second so it’s just her and Marcy. This is where Sasha is at. Anne might have rebelled, but when Sasha reunites with Marcy? Oh, she’ll show Anne, one way or another. They’ll get her back (like, joining the team or revenge wise, depending on Sasha’s mood.)

Listen here you buffoon! What’s it gonna take to prove that you should follow us? - Barrel’s Warhammer

Aaaand Sasha freaks out royally when she learns the two are alone together and doing just fine. On some level, she fears Anne and Marcy “getting along without her” because it means they might decide they don’t actually need her to make plans; that she isn’t necessary to have fun. In the The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers, we see that isn’t as big a catastrophe as Sasha seems to think it’d be. As time goes on, the girls do gain a healthier relationship to their feelings about Sasha, but that doesn’t mean they’d want her gone even if they don’t need her there. But Sasha doesn’t know that, she doesn’t even consider it till reuniting in The Third Temple. All she knows for now, is that she can be a bit... much... so if she isn’t in control, if her way isn’t “the best”, why would Marcy put up with her either? 

Listen. If things get too wild out here, just give me a signal and I’ll call the whole thing off. 

 For sure, teach it to us Anne. 

Every Sasha plan starts with an empty reassurance. So much of Sasha’s dialogue follows a pattern where she says stuff like “we’ll call it off” (she did not call it off) and “for sure, I don’t mind” (she did mind) that it could be it’s own game. Sasha talks the talk, until it gets in the way of what she wants.

Sorry guys, but we’re way to close to bail. I am not going back empty-handed.

It’s good. I just have a few tiny notes that I think could make it even better. ... Boom! Fiixed it! 

If they just follow her lead and let her fix it, everything will work out. They should believe in her and trust her. After all...

That’s not true! Besides, we did it. ... You’re not actually gonna throw this all away are you?

I just wanted all of us to succeed. I was just being a good friend. Why couldn’t they see that?

It all worked out, right? Percy and Braddock made it out okay even if she didn’t follow through on her promise. They won, she’s reliable. But of course, Sasha lost something more important than their belief in her abilities, she lost their trust. In Battle of the Bands however, Sasha recognizes that Anne and Marcy don’t want to follow her ambitions and will be pushed away by them just like Percy and Braddock were. So she takes it upon herself to end things, accepting that she’s lost.

Sorry it took so long.

Except this time, she manages to realize that maybe “what she wants” is to be there for her friends. Sasha’s finally had the space to relax and really think about what she wants, at least a little. This isn’t a real battle after all. Doing things her way all the time isn’t as important as she thought. Maybe she should trust in her friends more. A change of pace isn’t “wrong”, just different. It’s fun.

Sorry we lost, Sash’.

Just like Percy and Braddock, Marcy knows Sasha is capable. She understands that Sasha just wants the team to succeed. That’s why she apologizes when Grime beats them in the competition. She wants Sasha to know she appreciates what she did, but keeps it a bit indirect. She gets Sasha probably didn’t want to push them away. Marcy tried to catch herself and back Sasha up, but when Sasha had her argument with Anne, she stayed quiet. She couldn’t bring herself to go against Anne. 

That was ultimately for the best, as Sasha learned a valuable lesson. Except... She’s in too deep with the rebellion to back out now. This is the episode she’d spill the truth and give up on the whole thing, except... Grime. A part of her knows leaving would make Grime her enemy. She can’t risk that. So, she keeps going with the plan. She decides she’ll somehow win it all back. Because the thing she’s actually most afraid of, is losing another friend. 

Sorry things got a little crazy back there. You guys good? ... Sheesh, don’t be a sore loser. Look, I’m gonna stay here and get this toad regime off the ground, but I can totally send you two home if you want. Or, you can stick around and give me a hand! So what’d’ya say?

Sasha’s final offer; the last chance she’s giving the girls to stop acting weird and go back to being her obedient friends who do what she wants. Sasha lost at Toad Tower, but now she’s won. So Anne should go back to normal, she’s supposed to, like some unspoken “rule”.

And Marcy is supposed fall back in line too. The offer and apology are just as much a plea directed at her. Sasha’s trying to be generous, in her own awkward way. She has bit her tongue so far. She’s thrown a temper tantrum or two, but she hasn’t been this forward in asking Marcy for help till now. She wants Marcy to say that everything’s okay. Make it clear she doesn’t think she’s the bad guy, and that she forgives her and wants to be there for her. That they’re on the same page again. She wants Marcy to help make Anne look overly dramatic and silly for making such a big deal of all this. Sure, if Anne figures that out by herself, that’d be great, but if Marcy could just speak up.

But she doesn’t. Of course she doesn’t.

Marcy’s too busy worrying about Anne’s reaction. Knowing that she’ll be upset about this. She doesn’t dare side with Sasha, and is disappointed and betrayed that she actually did something like this. Marcy already has her own secret plans, so when she finally tries to calm things down, all she can give is a non-descript “we can still fix this”. And then, she’s once again shocked when she sees Sasha threaten Anne and the Plantars. Seeing Sasha act so willing to actually hurt people rather than just push them around... it finally hits her just how serious “tried to kill them” was. And of course, losing Anne or being sent home with her would completely mess up her own plans.

Sasha’s isn’t a vulnerable person. She’ll go on about loving her friends if it makes her look good, but she actively avoids doing anything that could be seen as “weak”. She wouldn’t dare ask Marcy to drop Anne and choose her. If Marcy isn’t speaking up, she can take the hint. She still isn’t on her side, and so she gets sent to the dungeon along with the rest of them.

Marcy accepts that Sasha has become an obstacle, but a part of her still hopes the three of them can work through all this. If they do things her way, nobody has to get hurt. She'll figure out a way hold everything together, fix everything, like always.

And then Andrias betrays her.

Yeah, what plan?

Sasha stops talking once she realizes what’s going on. Quietly fuming as Marcy explains herself. The music box, the suggestion to take it back to Andrias... that wasn’t Marcy being the sweet, supportive friend who Sasha thought she could always rely on, who believed in her... that was Marcy using her. It was never going to become their plan; Marcy never trusted her and was actively working against her. Sasha lost Anne, and she never had a chance at getting Marcy back, either. 

Sasha smacks Marcy away when she desperately tries to justify herself. She doesn’t want to hear it anymore. She’s furious that Marcy thinks they could be friends after something like this, after she’s manipulated them and claimed it was for their sakes. This whole time, her goal had been avoiding the move with her parents. And coming here has only torn them apart even worse.

Marcy reaches out to both girls. And when Sasha rejects her, she clings to Anne, hoping at least she’ll find it in her to forgive her. That she’ll understand she cares about them even if she messed up. Marcy knows they’d probably never pick her over their families or ambitions, so she told herself this place offered those things too. Made them all better people. But as she says her excuses out loud, she can’t find a single one that feels right. She was just afraid of losing them, and now, she’s managed to hurt them on top of that. 

But the thing is. After all that. Despite how betrayed and hurt and angry Sasha was, she looks like this:

Sasha realizes this must be exactly how Anne felt about her betrayal. It isn’t just an abstract “hurt” or “bad thing” anymore. She can also sympathize with how Marcy feels and why she did it, at least a little. She can’t imagine being able to forgive this, and yet... when she looks to Anne with that apologetic look, she isn’t just hoping Anne will forgive her. She’s also asking for permission to forgive Marcy. Pleading that they all still have a chance to move past this together.

[battlekidx2]

Amphibia Series Thoughts (So Far)

The fact that it has taken me this long to write about Amphibia is a crime. This is a criminally underrated show that deserves more than being in the Owl House’s shadow (no shade to the Owl House. It’s an amazing show. I just think Amphibia deserves just as much praise). 

Amphibia has just about everything I could ask for in a fantasy epic cartoon. It has amazing and memorable characters, a fun world with fascinating lore, huge twists, and a lot more. With season 3B underway I thought it was about time I talked about the episodes currently released for Amphibia. Buckle up, I have a lot of thoughts. 

I genuinely love Amphibia so I would like to get my more mixed thoughts out of the way first and then get onto what I love about it so it can end on a high note. Amphibia can be very episodic at points which can be great for a first season that is setting the tone, establishing the themes, and introducing characters before everything becomes serious in a serialized show like this. But the problems arise when it gets later on in the show and the more pressing matters get put onto the backburner for problem of the week type episodes. 

This is especially prevalent in season 3A which, while very entertaining and I love Anne’s parents, suffers from massive mood whiplash with the show going from everything that happens in True Colors to frogs in LA shenanigans and the fact that a lot of plot and character development in Amphibia has to happen off-screen. (If you want to skip the mixed thoughts go down to season 1)

I think the show does a better job of explaining why Anne doesn’t mention Marcy and Sasha or Andrias than a lot of others online seem to because it actually spends quite a bit showing Anne’s avoidance and trust issues. 

Episodes like The New Normal, Fight at the Museum, and Anne-sterminator spend a large chunk of their runtime showing these effects on Anne and how she isn’t coping as well as she would like to portray. That being said I wish there could have been one or two more episodes that take place in Amphibia rather than the human realm.

Episodes like Spider-Sprig and Hollywood Hop Pop are episodes that easily could have been removed and replaced with Amphibia content to keep the plot moving forward. These two episodes specifically retread character growth that has already happened making their place in the story less important and are the only two episodes of 3A that don’t contain plot progression/lore expansion. 

We have so many interesting things happening in Amphibia with the frog/toad rebellion and Marcy’s new role as the Core’s host that practically beg for expansion that I wish there was a bit more time spent with it. (As a huge spider-man nerd I loved all the homages in the spider-sprig episode but I still think this could have been replaced)

Another option could have been to have Anne and the Plantars return to Amphibia in the 3A finale so that 3B could focus entirely on Anne and Sasha discovering the mother of Olms, hearing about the prophecy, saving Marcy, and stopping Andrias and the core. This would have given the show 2 more episodes (11-minute runtime) to cover all this plot in the latter half of the final season. 

As it is everything has to move at a breakneck speed. This is especially prevalent with the girls’ friendship. They have to mend their friendship in the wake of massive betrayals in the span of half a season which can get tricky. (I like what they are doing with Anne and Sasha so far so this may be unfounded but my main concern is Marcy because it’s looking more and more like she won’t be saved from the core’s control until the finale.)

Another issue I have with the series as a whole is the fact that it doesn’t want to deviate from Anne as often as I think it could and probably should. This show is the story of Anne, Sasha, and Marcy and while Anne is the main character her friends have massive arcs to undergo that I think could have benefitted from more solo episodes for them. 

Sasha is arguably the character who is forced to change the most. All the episodes she’s in are great and they don’t waste a moment they are given but it’s a bit disappointing how much of her development is forced to take place off screen. She is a very complex character with so much going on that some huge points in her arc such as her decision in Reunion could have benefitted from more screen time or expansion on her home life/past. (I’ll come back to Sasha later because there is a lot to be said about her.)

Marcy is also worthy of more screen time. But doesn’t suffer as much as Sasha does because she was part of the main cast from episode 6 of season 2 until the finale (mostly. She did miss a few episodes). While it would have been interesting to see Marcy in Newtopia before Anne and the Plantars get there, we get enough insight into her place there and the character dynamics that it wouldn’t be as necessary. I would have appreciated it though. The main concern is 3B because there are a lot of things left hanging with Marcy’s arc that she can’t actively work towards now that she is under the control of the core. Only time will tell when it comes to this and I will hold out hope that her arc gets wrapped up in a satisfying way. 

As it stands the core reason that Marcy’s arc and characterization suffers is how little she is mentioned by characters when she isn’t around and the fact that outside of Olivia & Yunan she doesn’t have a perspective episode. 

Marcy is a character that looms over the story in season 1. Just like Sasha even when she isn’t there you can feel the effect her friendship has had on Anne. This isn’t the case with season 3A. The effect she has had on Anne from her betrayal and near death aren’t felt nearly as much which you would think would be the opposite. 

This can be compared to Sasha after the season 1 finale. Sasha was mentioned on multiple occasions by Anne, Marcy, and Sprig and her presence could be felt even when she wasn’t on screen which hasn’t been the case with Marcy. I also wish she would have had more one on one interaction with Sasha because we really don’t know what their dynamic is. I think it could be really interesting.

So with that out of the way let’s get into the things I love and my more expanded thoughts on the seasons, characters, and twists.

First season

Amphibia’s first season was what I think would qualify as a slow burn with most of the episodes being slice of life getting the audience acquainted with Anne, the Plantars, and Wartwood. But even with the majority of the season focusing on more problem of the week type stories it manages to sprinkle in enough hints to the overarching mystery that the show never felt aimless. 

Anne also goes through amazing development in this season and watching her grow into the responsible and caring character she is in season 2 and 3 is amazing. She is allowed to be flawed, selfish, and entitled at the start of the series and the first season’s decision to focus on her growth is part of why I like the more episodic formula they used for it. 

It has some great episodes with my favorites obviously being Toad Tax, Prison Break, and Reunion (no shockers there). The obvious connection these episodes have is that all of them were built up to and have lasting consequences as the show moves forward. 

In Toad Tax Anne finally gains the town’s respect when she decides she would rather do the right thing regardless of how the town has treated her than revel in the power granted to her by the toads. This moment felt earned because every episode leading up to it had dealt with how Anne has been treated by the town and how she struggles with her self perception in regard to this. It feels like a huge payoff for all the growth and self reflection Anne had been forced to go through in the series so far. It also ripples throughout the season because due to the events of this episode word of Anne gets back to toad tower.

In Prison Break we finally get to see what Sasha is really like and how things have been different for her. Anne’s friends Sasha and Marcy had only been teased up until this moment with the ominous lightning flash over the photo stuck in a branch in the rain during the opening being the biggest hint that things with Anne’s friends back home were not as sunshine and rainbows as it could initially seem. 

There are also hints that Anne’s twisted views of friendship, which are gradually unlearned because of her friendship with Sprig, came from her friends back home and this episode makes it clear that Sasha was a big part of that warped perception. 

It also sets up an interesting inversion between Sasha and Anne. Where Anne is forced to confront her flaws and mistakes during her time spent with the Plantars, Sasha’s worst traits are encouraged by the toads. Anne becomes better while Sasha becomes worse. This plays into the show’s main theme of change. Anne is willing to adapt to the change and grow while Sasha (and later Marcy) pushes back against change which leads to disaster.

I love this episode because it introduces the character I find the most interesting of the cast of characters, Sasha. There’s just so much to go into with her character such as her need for control clashing with her genuine care for her friends that makes her fascinating. But that’s a topic for later when I get to her character as a whole.

Reunion is easily the best episode of this season though and you’d be hard pressed to find someone who disagreed. There’s the long awaited reunion between Sasha and Anne which ends just as poorly as you’d expect based on everything leading up to it. The moment I want to talk about though is when Sasha looks at Anne and says “Maybe you’re better off without me” and lets go, falling to what would have been her death if Grime hadn’t saved her. 

This is one of the darkest moments of the show and is heavily analyzed, for good reason. It’s so well done too. Sasha sees Anne and the Plantars, people she had just tried to kill, working to save her while her weight literally pulls them down. She has a moment of reflection where she is forced to realize what a bad friend she’s been to Anne and chooses to fall to her death instead of continue to drag Anne and the Plantars down. 

This is such a dark moment that I wasn’t expecting on my first watchthrough. This is where I realized that Amphibia was something special.

Now I think is the best time to talk about Anne. I absolutely love Anne. She is such a great protagonist. I mentioned above about how much she’s grown from her first introduction and that is part of why I love her so much. She’s allowed to be flawed and learn from her mistakes. 

One of my favorite things is how well the pilot sets up Anne’s character and arc. In the pilot episode Sprig gets stuck in Anne’s trap when a Mantis attacks and Anne initially runs away to save herself before she runs back and saves Sprig. This shows that while Anne can be selfish she will always try to make the right choice. 

Anne is such a great protagonist and I love how the show works in her Thai culture and heritage. It makes sure you understand how important it is to her and who she is. From her parent’s restaurant Thai Go to Anne teaching Polly (or trying to teach Polly) Muay Thai and all the smaller things in between. 

The show makes sure that you know this is a part of Anne’s life that is irreplaceable. I hope more cartoons will be willing to do this because I really appreciate it within Amphibia. You could just see how much this meant to Matt Braly.

The Plantars are almost all fantastic as well. The standout of the three, to my initial surprise, was Hop Pop. I’m a sucker for the older mentor with secrets and a soft spot for their kids archetype that Disney has made a mainstay of their cartoons since Gravity Falls. 

Hop Pop is funny, heartfelt, and has very real fears of loneliness and loss that can only be explored in the way they are through his older, more jaded perspective. The generational divide that is experienced by him and everyone else in the family is a source of conflict but it is done in a way that doesn’t totally discount one way over the other and works perfectly with the show’s themes.

All that praise being said the first season does run into the problem of losing its sense of urgency when it comes to Anne finding her way home on a few occasions but this is easily rectified in season 2. 

Season 2

I’d say season 2 took every question and the few issues I had with season 1, which there weren’t a ton mind you, and managed to address each one. Lacking a sense of urgency around Anne, Sasha, and Marcy getting home? Lets heavily expand on the lore of the calamity box and directly address Anne’s homesickness in a way that will emotionally devastate everyone watching. Not enough focus on the girls outside of Anne and no word on Marcy? Marcy joins the main cast for a good chunk of season 2 and Sasha gets more than one solo episode so we better understand what’s going on with her. What happened to Sprig and Polly’s parents? Let's emotionally gut punch you with Hop Pop revealing how he feels responsible and have Sprig address missing his mom despite not knowing her.

Season 2 also isn’t afraid to deal with the lasting consequences of character’s actions and trauma. Anne has a hard time discussing Sasha at the beginning of the season and tries to make up for all the danger she feels she has put the Plantars in since she got to Wartwood. This is where we first see her avoidant approach to her trauma which causes things to boil over on more than one occasion throughout the season. 

This season so far is the one that best deals with the lasting effects of what has happened to the characters throughout the show the most and shows Anne’s developing trust issues in an organic way. 

Anne isn’t the only one where we get this from either. Sasha is another good example. This seems like as good of a segue as any to talk about Sasha’s character as a whole. Even with the limited screen time Sasha has huge development throughout the series. 

Sasha is fascinating in part because of her complex relationship to control and power and how it directly conflicts with her care for others. It’s made very clear at multiple points in the series that Sasha does genuinely care for other people. 

She cares for Grime and won’t abandon him in Toadcatcher even when facing down Yunan, she cares for Anne and her decision to let go to prevent dragging Anne and the Plantars down with her in Reunion shows that, she cares about Percy and Braddock and shows conflict over losing them in Barrel’s Warhammer, she cares for Anne and Marcy in True Colors when she tries to hold off Andrias so that they could make it home.  

The episodes focusing on Sasha are usually really good because of this complexity. She is always torn between doing to right thing/her genuine care for others and what will give her more control. Sasha was the character that was obviously being set up for a redemption arc (every animated show needs at least one) but she had to get worse before she could start to get better. And this is what her arc in season 2 is.

When we first see Sasha again in Toadcatcher she is grappling with the fallout of Reunion and Grime points out that she is training to avoid the reality that her friendship with Anne has irrevocably changed, things can never go back to the way they were. She’s not upset that she lost the fight but that she lost a friend.

Sasha is struggling with this and can’t accept the change or Anne’s independence from her. She wants to regain control over her friendships and force things back to the way they were. She hasn’t learned that those lines of thinking are faulty, instead she doubles down on them.

She next appears in Barrel’s Warhammer where she and Grime go to get the rest of the toads onboard with their coup on Newtopia but to be the leaders of this coup they need to go on a suicide quest for Barrel’s Warhammer (it is literally stated in the show to be a suicide mission). Sasha is more determined than ever to get the warhammer and gain power once she hears that Anne and Marcy are working together to get home without her. 

She puts her life and the lives of her comrades at risk to prove that she doesn’t need Anne and Marcy and continue her quest for power. In her own words “I am not gonna fail. Not while Anne and Marcy are getting by without me.” She is upset because she believes that Anne and Marcy are doing fine without her, that they don’t need her like she wanted to believe. 

I think that this outlook on need is important. She wants them to need her. If they need her they can’t leave her. And if they don’t need her then she can’t need them. Sasha can’t show this need. It’s vulnerable. It’s weakness in her mind. She has to be fine on her own.

She pushes her team too far in her mission to reassert control and loses Percy and Braddock because of this. She seems genuinely effected by it. She’s starting to realize her actions have consequences. That she can’t force her wants and desires onto other people and expect them not to push back or leave when it hurts them. Grime’s speech about some people not being willing to pay the necessary price for success rationalizes her actions and prevents her from fully coming to this realization.

The true cracks in her resolve to follow through with her plans don’t start showing until the Third Temple. She has a moment of doubt about betraying Anne and Marcy after all the faith they showed in her. She starts to question if power is what she really wants if it comes at the cost of her friendship with the two like it did with Percy and Braddock. 

There’s the implication that Sasha isn’t faking as much as she would like to believe she is during this reunion and it continues on for the next handful of episodes leading up to True Colors. 

Sasha can be a tricky character to pin down because it can be hard to tell when she is being genuine or not and even trickier to tell when she is lying to herself or truly believes what she is saying. Sasha is just as good, maybe even better, at lying to herself as she is at lying to others. 

Interestingly enough Battle of the Bands is the episode that sums up her arc as a whole in season 2. She wants Marcy and Anne to succeed and with her in control she thinks she could ensure that would happen. She thinks she knows what’s best for them and tries to force it onto them but Anne has learned to stand her ground and push back when needed.

When Anne won’t let her be in control she decides to take her own path where she has all the power over what happens. She gets into a situation where she has all the control only to learn how empty that is without those she cares about and that having someone who will do everything you say without question isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

She later comes to learn through Toadie that sometimes supporting her friends in their own endeavors can be just as meaningful even if they don’t come out on top. We see her give up that control she so desperately clings to and support her friends and comes to realize that it is more fulfilling than going it alone to try and win on her terms.

This is the lesson that Sasha needs to learn. In a way this was showing her what she could have if she could let go of having total control, compromise, and accept change. It makes what happens in True Colors and the consequences of her actions hit her all the harder.

In her mission to force things back to the way they were and resist change she loses everything she could have gained when True Colors comes around. She gets what she thinks she wants at the cost of everything that actually matters and she is hit with the realization of how empty it is. 

She is finally forced to confront her own terrible choices and their consequences when Anne finally severs their friendship. To make matters worse she comes to the realization that her coup was unintentionally a good thing when it’s revealed what Andrias plans to do with the music box. 

When she tries to warn Anne she is understandably ignored. Everything bad that happens in True Colors is in part her own fault. She is forced to confront the lies she keeps telling herself and finally realize the lasting consequences of her actions and the folly of her insistence on resisting change.

I really liked how the culmination of her arc this season is her promising to have Anne’s back in the fight against Andrias and hold him off so Anne and Marcy can get back home. She finally gives up control to someone else by deciding to have their back and tries to take responsibility for her actions and set things right. (it only took until it was almost too late)

This arc is complex and layered. I stand by my opinion that Sasha should have had more episodes dedicated to her but the writers don’t waste a second of her screen time and manage to get all the conflict of her character across in the limited episodes they have been given. There’s still a lot of development that happens off screen (mostly in season 1 and 3a) but once again season 2 finds a pretty good medium that hits all the points it needs to in her journey.

I love how this leads into season 3 with her Turning Point and becoming the leader of the rebellion against Andrias. She is finally using her strengths in a positive way for the benefit of others. One of my favorite things about Amphibia (and good writing in general) is that every character’s biggest weakness/flaw is born of their greatest strength. 

Everything that makes her a great leader, when taken to the extreme, makes her toxic to those around her and the antagonist. Sasha doesn’t give up which is what inspires Anne and Marcy and what made them friends in the first place but it also causes her to continue on with a path even when it puts herself and others in danger. 

Her control freak tendencies when in moderation make her a “tactical wizard” because she is able to take into consideration all the strength and weaknesses with her allies and enemies as well as all the minute details and break them down to formulate a great strategy for victory. But it also caused her to force things onto those around her to fit what she thought was best rather than what was actually best for everyone. 

Her charisma makes it so that she can get people to follow her and lift them up but it also makes way for her effective manipulation. 

Side note: I love Sasha’s new character design.

This is also the case with Marcy. Marcy’s greatest strengths feed into her greatest flaws. Anne says it herself, that Marcy would always get so enraptured in her own little world that she would neglect to see the bigger picture around her. 

That hyperfocus and lust for knowledge make her excel in Newtopia but they also blind her to the consequences to her actions on others, in this case Sasha and Anne. Unlike Sasha though, a lot of Marcy’s betrayal and self destruction comes from a place of naïveté rather than conscious choice which makes them interesting foils (and is another reason why I wish they interacted one on one more).

Marcy has great chemistry with just about every character she interacts with. She is one of the most fun characters to watch while on screen and it is easy to see why she became so popular. My favorite pairing with her is surprisingly Hop Pop. I never would have guessed that I needed them to be friends so much. I love how she is just as excited by things that most people would consider mundane as Hop Pop is like seeds, farming, and taxes (or in her case probably just the math of it).

Her twist in the True Colors finale was built into her character from the beginning. In her introduction she refers to everything happening as tropes and describes how she played what is essentially a dnd character to work her way to the top of Newtopia. It explains her entire view of life and how she managed to take escapism to the extreme by trapping herself, Anne, and Sasha in Amphibia and lied about trying to get back home to get Andrias the music box and continue their adventures. 

Her struggles making friends, which is touched upon in the episode Scavenger Hunt and is implied with her lack of close connections in Newtopia, unlike Anne with the Plantars and Sasha with Grime, comes around in a big way because it is the driving factor in her running away at the news of her moving for her father’s job and taking a chance on the music box in the first place.

Every piece is there for the audience to put together and understand this twist.

It’s interesting because looking back at the season 2 opening the twist was right there in the moment replacing the photo in the rain. Sasha and Anne are fighting while Marcy looms over them facing away and holding the music box. The ominous lightning strikes once again which very clearly hints at Marcy’s truth that Sasha and Anne are unaware of and that all three of them have conflicting end goals for their journey in Amphibia. 

So much of this show's future plot points are hidden right in front of you, be it the opening or episodes that are seemingly filler (like Wally and Anne and how the moss men came back in Newtopia).

To put my thoughts on Marcy into perspective I caught up with Amphibia the spring before season 2 started airing and I remember the immense amount of discourse and theories surrounding Marcy. 

Matt Braly stated that Sprig was the first non-toxic friend that Anne had ever had in a Q and A on Reddit and it led to so many people trying to guess what it was about Marcy that made this the case. 

It’s actually really funny looking back on it because so many people were completely shocked by Marcy’s introduction and she so easily lulled them (and me) into a sense of security that, although we were warned by Matt Braly, caused massive shockwaves in the fan community after the reveal that Marcy wanted to get the three stuck in Amphibia and never wanted to leave. 

I think that being in the fandom around this time and seeing the speculation and adoration for Marcy in real time really heightened my experience with her character and arc throughout season 2.

Another thing I adore with Marcy is her heavy neurodivergent coding. As someone who is neurodivergent myself I see a lot of myself in Marcy’s mannerisms and characteristics. She has the same hyper focus that I can find myself experiencing, deep knowledge of tropes, media, and games, certain mannerisms in her movements and habits that I have, and trouble with eye contact and making connections. It’s always nice to see this in a character and I appreciate that Matt Braly is so supportive of this reading although it wasn’t the initial intention of the writers. 

I relate to all of the girls in different ways but Marcy is the girl I am probably most like (as I mentioned above). And I really love that there is something to connect to with each of the girls and that each of them is a complex individual. It's one of my favorite things about Amphibia.

Now to talk about True Colors. Wow. Where to start. This is easily the most ambitious episode the Amphibia crew have put out to date. One thing I love about the two season finales that Amphibia currently has is that they aren’t afraid to irrevocably change the characters, relationships, and status quo. This episode came and promised that nothing will ever be the same again, shaking the very foundations of the show. 

Marcy had been stabbed, Anne’s powers manifested, Sasha was trapped in Amphibia, Anne and the Plantars were sent back to LA in Marcy’s final act, Andrias’ plan and his sheer amount of power and resources were revealed, and the endgame was finally upon us. It was insane. Watching this episode and knowing that we would have to wait months for season 3 made me feel like I was going to explode from anticipation. This was the perfect finale to this season.

True colors does a fantastic job of giving you a grasp of the scope of this show and the ramifications of what happened. Every character has a moment to shine and no one seems inconsequential. That being said it obviously heavily focused on the relationship between the 3 girls and for very good reason. Season 1 returned to the day that Anne, Sasha, and Marcy were sent to Amphibia and gave us a new perspective on everything through Sasha and so True Colors did the same thing with Marcy. 

Everything about Marcy and what Matt Braly said snaps into place in the most heartbreaking way. 

She didn't know where the box would send them or if it would even work but she didn't give any of her friends a heads up or anything. She went behind their backs to do this and intentionally didn't reveal this to them at any point during their travels. Andrias was the one who let it slip. She was even planning on bringing them on more adventures rather than returning them home. What Marcy did was wrong. I don't want to downplay that but I also think the why behind her actions is just as important to reading her character. 

This episode really puts the mirror up to Sasha and Marcy and shows the flaws in their desire to reject change. Everything comes crashing down for the both of them and they are forced to realize the selfishness in their actions.

Marcy is forced to realize that her decision was self-centered rather than selfless as she tried to make it out initially. Her line "But look at how much fun we've had. Look at how much you've both grown. Look at Sprig. I gave you this, I gave you everything! I just didn't want to be alone." Marcy is still lying to herself that she did this for all of them until she can't anymore and she breaks down and admits that she did it so that she wouldn't have to be alone. She did it for herself.

Just like Sasha she also starts to work to be better in this episode. She saves Sprig, goes against Andrias, sends Anne home, and tries to do something else with the music box before she is stabbed.

Yep now to talk about that moment.

To make matters worse, in one of the darkest moments in the show, she gets stabbed and spends her last moments of consciousness apologizing for her mistakes. She almost dies thinking that she has irreparably destroyed her friendships and the person she trusted most in Newtopia literally stabs her in the back, causing her (almost) death. 

Amphibia likes it’s parallels and Andrias is likely meant to be a father/mentor figure to her (it’s paralleled with Sasha and Grime and Anne and Hop Pop). This makes the betrayal all the more painful. Her naivete and belief in this grand new world that helped her escape from her problems is what ultimately lead to this moment. She wasn’t malicious or evil just scared and lonely. 

I’m interested in the parallels this episode draws between Andrias and Sasha though because it is heavily implied that his friends left him because of his pursuit of power and control but instead of realizing his mistakes he doubles down on them and continues on his path for power and domination which is what Sasha herself has been doing this season. 

It could be gearing up to have Andrias and his past friends be a dark parallel of what Sasha, Marcy, and Anne could become if they don’t reflect and work to better themselves (now I’m even more interested in seeing the episode “The King and the Core”). 

You can’t really talk about True Colors without talking about how Disney pulled it from its originally scheduled release date less than 24 hours before it was supposed to air, forgot to tell iTunes so the whole episode ended up getting leaked, and ended up airing it 3 weeks later. 

Matt and the whole Amphibia team were done a disservice and it’s really unfortunate that this happened. The whole crew took to twitter urging people to wait and watch it when it aired and to keep from leaking what happens in it. It’s clear that this came completely out of nowhere for them. 

It’s disappointing to see how poorly Disney has treated two of its best shows (cutting the Owl House short without telling Dana Terrace and what it did to True Colors). They’ve done such a great job on these phenomenal shows and deserve better treatment from Disney.

Season 3

Now onto season 3A. I’ve already mentioned my few issues with 3A so far which can mostly be rectified with the latter half of season so I don’t want to dwell on them and would much rather talk about what I loved. Starting with Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy. They are the best. Anne’s parents are so wholesome and I love being reminded of just how far Anne has come as a character by seeing the change through their eyes. 

They mention in her first appearance back home that she was the poster child for hating responsibility, punctuated through Anne’s drawing that literally says “I hate responsibility”. They have to acclimate to Anne’s newfound maturity and the reality that she can’t stay with them no matter how much they would love her to and supporting her decision in every way they can. They are just so supportive and loving that it’s a breath of fresh air. Way too often main characters are given terrible home lives or basically non-existent parents so having the Boonchuys be the opposite of that was satisfying.

I also really love all the developments on the Amphibia side of things. Sasha becoming the leader of the rebellion and Marcy being possessed by the core really heighten the stakes and play into their development over the seasons. It also draws yet another inversion between the two as well as their respective relationships with Grime and Andrias. 

Sasha came to Amphibia and lied and manipulated her way to the top of the toads heirarchy but developed a genuine bond with Grime that eventually leads to the two of them bettering themselves whereas Marcy is lied and manipulated by Andrias which brings her to the top of his regime. 

They both had to face the aftermath of their own betrayals which led to them rising to the ranks they find themselves in going into the endgame. I like the parallels that can be drawn between the two especially since they couldn’t be more different personality wise. They are two polar opposite sides when it comes to how much control they have in their respective stories. 

Season 3B hasn’t aired a ton of episodes as of yet with only the episodes up to “Mother of Olms/Grime’s Pupil” having aired at the time of me writing this but I am really enjoying them so far. I hope it kicks the plot into high gear soon considering this is the last batch of episodes we will ever get and it looks like that will be the case seeing as  “The Root of Evil/The Core and the King” are the next slated episodes which I’m really excited for. 

The character moments are good and I’m enjoying Anne and Sasha getting the chance to reconcile and be shown as actual friends now that Sasha has changed for the better. I also really liked the unconventional pairing of Sprig and Grime in the most recent episode. I’m having a lot of fun.

Extra thoughts

I have so many thoughts on Amphibia and a lot are scattered right now so I’m just going to list them off in bullet point format.

I love Sasha and Grime’s relationship. They’ve changed each other so much and I love all of their solo episodes.

The music in this show is amazing. The amphibia soundtrack is very underrated. My favorite musical moments are when Anne’s powers activate in True Colors and Marcy’s truth from the same episode and the Calamity trio's themes.

The animation in True Colors when Anne’s powers activate and she fights off Andrias is amazing. It’s so fluid and the change in fluidity and style really sells just how powerful this new form is.

"Wait, so Marcy and I get cool anime powers too?" - I just love this line and how self aware it is.

The color palate used in this show is really visually appealing. The colors are softer and tend to avoid jarring contrast which I really love.

I really like how the girls earth passions and extracurriculars play into how they excel at combat. Sasha and Anne’s athleticism that comes from tennis and cheerleading and Marcy’s smarts and D&D knowledge. It’s fun.

[aniverous]

Marcy's Escapism and How it's Portrayed

I've been reading Amphibiasideblog's analyses on the show recently, and they've repeatedly mentioned how Marcy's habit of ignoring danger around her on Earth was incredibly worrying rather than funny. I had never actually thought about it being anything more than a character trait, so this line of thinking really interested me. I've looked through more of their posts on Marcy's pre and post-box incident habits, as well as Sasha and Anne's responses to them, and find that I agree with their statements.

But then that got me thinking, most of the fandom, and myself in the past, believed these scenes of Marcy in self-induced peril were nothing more than funny moments, more of the physically and occasionally dark humor the show is know for. So here's why I think the more worrying interpretation of these scenes slipped by so many people.

First off, this is a show all about physical and dark comedy; as previously mentioned, moments of pain, suffering and anxiety are treated as normal and humorous. Seeing a 13 year old walk into a group of snakes is just something that this show would do, so when people see that, they don't think anything's wrong; it's just normal funny stuff.

Speaking of nothing being wrong, what makes humor based on pain and injury work is that the viewer knows no one is actually getting seriously hurt; they're laughing at their clumsiness and reaction to the injury, not the injury itself. This is also why how characters respond to something determines if it's a threat, especially in animation, where normal human durability doesn't often apply. A character can fall off a cliff infinite times without the audience being concerned about lasting injuries, but if the character acts like falling off a cliff will hurt them, then even if the inconsistency is mocked later, as it often is, then for that moment, them falling is no longer funny.

If a character acts like something can seriously hurt them, the audience will assume it can seriously hurt them.

This is what make Amphibia's danger-filled humor work so well; those moments of danger and pain are never shown to give them more than cuts and bruises, and the focused-on fights can still be treated seriously because the characters respond more seriously than in the passing ones. And when a serious injury does occur, like Anne's arm getting broken or Sasha dropping from the tower, no emotions or facial animation is spared. We see the character's worry, their pain and fear, and even regret and expectance. We know it matters because it's treated like it matters.

This is what makes the Marcy flashbacks so fascinating from a writing standpoint; the danger Marcy gets into, even the minor stuff, is treated seriously by the characters, but the tone says it's not serious. In the flashbacks, those around Marcy, mostly Anne, react to the danger to/damage caused by Marcy in a way that says 'this is something that will result in injury/damage that will not be minor', which tells the audience that it's something to treat seriously. However, all of these scenes are treated just as more cutaway gags; things that will not affect the characters after the scene is over.

Anne treats Marcy hitting the locker door like something that could hurt her, and she gets frantic about Marcy getting ice cream everywhere and tries to manage it. Marcy walking into the snakes is met with genuine concern for her safety from Anne. Heck, in the flashback to the play where Anne falls into the crowd due to Marcy not manning her rope, the crowd and even Sasha reacts to her fall in a way that shows they cared about it happening, even that it could have been painful. The show treats all of this just like all of it's other jokes; just part of the norm.

Because that's the thing, it was part of the norm on Earth.

Marcy got into these situations all the time. Marcy put herself in danger all the time, she caused damage and neglected responsibilities all the time. To everyone, it was part of her character, especially to Anne and Sasha. No matter that she was in physical danger, no matter how it was affecting her life and other's lives, it was just treated as normal.

And this is something that happens a lot in real life; destructive behaviors get brushed off as 'normal' because the person's been doing it for long enough. They never think to change the habit because they're just doing what they've always done, and if it's destructive, then they often think it's supposed to be. Not to mention that the people around them get used to it and don't think to say they're wrong or interveine.

We're introduced to Marcy's clumsiness and unawareness as something that's normal; it may be harmful and destructive, but that's what's supposed to be happening. It's just normal, and we shouldn't worry about it.

And it's only when you take a step back and realize 'this is not normal, we should be worrying about it' that you begin to see just how concerning it truly is.

[magicman111]

A Moth to a Flame - Chapter One

Marcy watched the sun slowly set on Newtopia as she’d done many an evening before. The sharp squawks of the gulls rang through the orange sky. She looked quite the forlorn figure standing by the hotel entrance, the gentle evening breeze that ruffled her cloak underscoring her solitude.

Her eyes remained fixated in the same direction her friend had taken off, maybe in some fleeting fool’s hope she’d change her mind and come sprinting back right into her arms.

Not a chance, Marbles.

Anne was long gone by now. Hopefully, she’d caught up with the Plantars’ fwagon before they reached the city gate. Judging by how quickly she booked it, the odds were in her favor. That girl didn’t make varsity back home for nothing.

Marcy only hoped those sweet, simple frogs knew just how lucky they were to have someone like Anne in their lives.

Sighing, her head lowered, she licked her wounds slowly.

Really? That easy, huh?  

Could Anne have made it any more obvious that she wanted to get out of there faster than she did? After they’d been apart for so long, and for a family of farmer frogs whom she’d known for what? Months?

No, don’t do that, she pulled herself up. It wasn’t right for her to be mad at the Plantars. This wasn’t their fault. Sprig and Polly were a barrel of fun at the slumber party, providing you disregarded their life-threatening encounter with the jelly-fish ghosts. Hop Pop, meanwhile, reminded her so much of her own grandpa it was uncanny. They were sweet, decent folk who’d taken Anne in and kept her safe all this time. It was just...

Her lips twisted into a bitter frown. How else was she supposed to feel but a little rejected?

However, was she really allowed to complain when holding her tongue was so normalised for her by this point? Marcy was a people pleaser, she understood that much about herself. Anytime Anne and Sasha got into an argument, she was there to keep the peace and everyone happy. So if Anna-Banana wanted to spend more time with her bumpkin frog family than her literal best friend since preschool, who was she to say no?

The story with her folks wasn’t all that different either. When they pressured her to keep up her studies, up to and including PSAT prep despite it being years away, she did as she was told like a good girl to make them proud, and they were. She hoped they were.

Goodness knows what they must be thinking right now—

Nope nope nope! Don’t go there, don’t go there.

She’d already lost too much sleep at night ruminating over the unspeakable pain she’d most surely put them through, it was the last thing she needed right now. She tried to do the logical thing and focus on the positives instead. That usually worked.

Anne wouldn’t be away for too long. They’d be together again as soon as Hop Pop’s contacts returned the Box to Wartwood and then it was off to the first of the three temples to get those gems recharged. Once that side quest was done and dusted, it was a simple matter of finding Sasha and making their way home.

Looking down, she caught herself wringing her hands.

Home.

That sure was the plan.

I mean... what else are we supposed to do?

“Always sad to see someone go, isn’t it?”

Marcy quickly wiped her eyes and glanced over her shoulder to greet the towering form of King Andrias.

Almost instantly, her mood perked up a notch. He was the one person whom she trusted, more than anyone else in all of Amphibia. Ever since she first landed outside the city walls, he took her under his wings and ensured her smooth transition into this brave new world.

Andrias was without doubt one of the kindest and wisest people Marcy could have ever hoped to meet. He was a true listener, and there were very few you could say that about, her parents included. How often had he been there to lend both an understanding ear and sage advice over games of flipwart?

Games she won more often than not, she wasn’t humble enough not to brag.

It was also he who sent Marcy on the daring missions that would eventually make her the hero of Newtopian society she was today. All because he recognised the value of her talents beyond passing an exam or helping her friends with their homework. No other 13-year-old had their own solid gold statue adorning a city bridge.

She owed this king a debt she couldn’t possibly repay, but one he was far too altruistic in nature to demand.

Then, why did he look so... solemn?

“Come along, Marcy. We need to talk.”

Maybe it was his serious tone of voice or those specific choice of words, but they made the hair on the back of Marcy’s neck stand on end. In an almost pavlovian manner, she corrected her posture and she held her chin erect.

Shoving whatever remaining conflicted thoughts aside, she silently followed Andrias back to the castle like a pilot fish tailing its great white. She was so puny next to this tremendous salamander, he could crush her with a single blow of his fist if he so chose. Not that a gentle, goofy giant like Andrias would even dream of doing such a thing.

So when he was dead serious, Marcy knew better to zip it, listen, and do as instructed.

Their quiet journey took them all the way back to the castle and into the royal throne room, a place she was all too familiar with by now. To enter this hallowed hall was a privilege bestowed only to a select few. For Marcy, it was where she had her morning debriefs over bugachinos.

Instead of going straight up to the throne for their pow wow as she anticipated, Andrias guided her down a small passageway to their left.

When they made their way up to the statue of what Marcy recognised as one of his ancestors, one of the great rulers of Amphibia, they came to a stop. Andrias then gazed down at her with the most serious look she’d seen him give anyone.

“Marcy, before we go any further,” he spoke sternly, “I need to be absolutely crystal clear about something. Okay?”

“Y-Yes, Andrias?” Marcy asked, shivering a little. She did not like being pulled out of her comfort zone, not like this.

“You’re about to enter the most secret place in all of Newtopia,” he continued, now down on one knee and his hand hovering over her shoulder, as close as they could be to eye level. “What I’m going to show you... I need you to swear you won’t share with another living soul. Not to Anne, not to Lady Olivia, no one. Do you understand? I can’t emphasise this enough, Marcy.”

“Of course,” she answered earnestly, trying to sound more confident. “You know you can always trust me, Andrias.”

A ghost of that warm, fatherly smile returned to his big blue countenance.

“Trust is a hard thing to come by, kid, and you’ve gone above and beyond to earn mine. It’s just that I’m not exaggerating here when I say this is a big one.”

Marcy simply placed one hand over his huge index, the other over her heart.

She smiled back at him sweetly, genuinely, “I promise.”

“Very well.”

Nodding in approval, Adrias rose. He reached out, pushing a luminous coral torch upwards.

It didn’t take an encyclopedic knowledge of ‘Creatures & Caverns’ for Marcy to predict that the statue was going to shift to the left next, revealing the spiralling staircase leading to Frog knows where. She probably should’ve been more surprised, but come on, it wasn’t exactly the first secret passage she’d come across in this castle lately. 

“Follow me,” was all Andrias said, before he pulled off the same coral torch, then proceeded down the stairs without another word. Marcy followed obediently, unable to ignore the unnerving chill that was now travelling up her spine.

Was it... always this cold around here?

Something about all this just felt so unsettling compared to last time. She couldn’t really explain why; she knew she was safe with Andrias and that he wouldn’t do anything to intentionally put her in harm’s way. It was a gut feeling and that sort of thing bugged a rational person like her to no end.

She tried to take her mind off it by hazarding her best guess as to precisely what he was going to show her. Either she did that or started getting all worked up dwelling on Anne again, which she’d rather not at the moment.

Another secret library, perhaps? Probably not, though she wouldn’t be at all disappointed if it was. Maybe there were forbidden texts about the dark arts hidden away down there. Magic users were incredibly rare in Amphibia these days—Marcy had already searched far and wide—so might this be her chance?

Oh, how the very idea of being able to cast actual magic excited her. Being Chief Ranger of the Knight Guard was a great honor and nothing to sneeze at, but to be a powerful sorceress, one who could communicate with spirits, raise the dead, shuffle the orifices on her enemy’s faces—

Okay, rein those snails in, Mar-Mar.

Her musings were interrupted by a strange noise emanating from below. At first she figured it was just her imagination, but the further they continued their descent, the clearer it became.

It sounded an awful lot like beeping. Yes, that was it. A progressively growing cacophony of bleeps, bloops and chirps, the kind she’d expect to hear from a high-tech supercomputer. Something absolutely alien in a world like Amphibia, she and her friends excluded.

Before Marcy could ask Andrias if he heard it too, she was distracted by the emergence of an orange glow chasing away the darkness below. It was a warm, almost heavenly light that conjured the mental image of a crackling fireplace on Christmas morning, protecting you from the snowstorm outside.

The chill in her spine had by now spread to the crown of her head and the tips of her toes. Her throat tightened up. Beads of cold sweat dripped down her forehead.

What the... Marcy could not say a word, only think.

There was something down there. Something greater than any library, however inconceivable that sounded. Whether it was good or bad was irrelevant to her at that moment.

It called her.

The duo finally reached the foot of the staircase and entered the sacred sanctum.

Marcy’s jaw dropped.

“Woah.”

There were no shelves of books. No ancient Amphibian artifacts. There weren’t even any walls that she could make out from where she stood. Just an apparently endless sea of darkness encompassing a large round platform from which both the enticing glow and the lowkey din of beeps originated.

Marcy resumed taking Andrias’ lead as they stepped out onto the platform, the clink-clank of their boots confirming her assumption it was made of metal. The whole thing appeared more at home on an alien spaceship than in the dungeons of a castle.

Upon arriving at its centre, Andrias knelt down on both knees and, much to Marcy’s curiosity, removed his crown and set it down on the floor. She took the hint by following suit.

Any lingering fears melted away the more she basked herself in the radiance. It was as if the beams were steadily pouring into her body, clearing up her headspace, reducing any tension in her body. She recalled a favored memory from when she was five-years-old, when she and Anne spent a whole summer afternoon by the beach. How the tides would come in and out without fail, washing away the ruins of their sandcastles, the seaweed, one of Anne’s sandles and the teeny tiny baby seahorse they rescued.

Like a nice blank canvas.

Was this a private place of worship? Not according to her expansive studies of Amphibian anthropology. Or maybe it was a place for Andrias to meditate away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the castle. Seemed a skosh excessive if that was the case.

“Truly captivating, I know.”

Andrais’ baritone brought Marcy back down to earth. She straightened up and tried to refocus herself. They were down here for an important reason, at least she believed they were.

“One can spend hours down here,” Andrias boomed ominously. “Adrift in their own thoughts and... dreams.” The light cast his face in a rather unnerving shadow as he stared ahead into the void. “But I’m sure you know I haven’t brought you here to show off my retreat from the world.” He took a long, deep breath, like he was mentally steeling himself for what he said next, “As much as it pains me to say it, I’m afraid I haven’t been entirely truthful with you, Marcy.”

He produced from his sleeve what appeared at first glance to be two giant pieces of parchment and unfolded them neatly on the metal surface. A closer inspection told Marcy they were in fact pages torn from an exceptionally large book. Judging not only by the size, but the font and format as well, she easily pieced together its origin.

“Are these...?”

“From the book we “found” in the wing?” Andrias chuckled mirthlessly. “Yes. Still kinda surprised you didn’t pick up there were pages missing, but that's not important right now. Please, read.”

The platform provided ideal reading light. Marcy’s ability to read at a 12th Grade level meant she cruised through the text and finished within minutes.

She read it once, then twice. A third and fourth time just to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her.

Her bottom began to tremble.

No... Nononono, this... this can’t be right. I-It’s impossible! How in the world can it...?!

No amount of curative rays could unfreeze the blood in her veins. The metaphorical pistons in her brain were firing on full cylinders in a vain attempt to digest this earth-shattering information. For a split second, she thought she was going to pass out.

Desperate, she turned to the stone-faced Andrias to plead for some kind of answer, but she found no words with which to speak. All the personal growth and development that made her Newtopia’s champion had been stripped of her and she was reduced to nothing more than a helpless lost toddler.

A comforting set of giant digits placed themselves under her chin, the same way a father would do for his daughter.

“All this time, I’ve been testing you,” Andrias told her, his voice full of pride. “The games of flipwart, the missions, the “secret library”, even the barbari-ant colony I had lured to the city. I was watching you, studying your every action. With each challenge I issued, you excelled my expectations. You’re an exceptionally talented human being, Marcy, truly worthy of the name ‘Wu’.”

Even if these words were meant to serve as comfort or encouragement, they had only the opposite effect for Marcy. Tears were leaking out the corners of her eyes.

She mustered only a pitiful whimper, “I-I don’t understand.”

“Don’t worry, kiddo,” he promised, “you will soon enough. He’s so excited to meet you.”

“... He?”

Lifting his mighty hand in the air, he thrusted it into the nothingness facing them. Marcy instinctively followed its direction.

“Marcy Wu,” Andrias’ thundering voice resonated throughout the sanctuary, “allow me to introduce you... to my master.”

No sooner had he finished, the whole world started to tremble at Marcy’s knees, throwing her off her balance. A rumbling, mechanical ROAR struck her ears so loud she had to cover them to protect the drums from rupture. Yet despite this sensory assault, she somehow forced her eyes to stay wide open. She needed to face whatever was coming.

Marcy gazed into the abyss.

And the abyss gazed back with all thirteen of its eyes.

Terror. Pure mounting terror overwhelmed every cell of her being. Her pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks. If her mouth stretched any wider, her jaw risked snapping clean off its hinges.

Everything around her faded into black. Andrias, the platform and its glow, the beeping, all vanished into the ether. All now that existed were herself and those colossal demonic eyes plucked from the deepest recesses of her nightmares, their leer burrowing into her very soul.

Marcy wanted to scream until she coughed up her lungs. Moreso, she just wanted to wake up. This was all a dream, it had to be. A lucid dream that had gone on for far too long. She and her friends weren’t in another dimension inhabited by talking frogs, such a notion was a scientific absurdity. She sure as heck wasn’t a ranger in some anthropomorphic newt army.

Any moment now, her wizard kitty alarm would ring and she’d wake up in her soft, cozy bed. Dad would have left for work by now, planting a goodbye kiss on her sleeping forehead as he did every morning since she was little. Mom would be already making her her favorite congee rice and youtiao for breakfast. Then she would begin the process of packing up her room for the big move to Oregon like a good girl.

Yes, she would even happily do that. Anything to bring an end to this ordeal!

Shhhh

Her train of thought screeched to a sudden halt.

Marcy

It’s gonna be okay

And just like that, as if those were the five magic words required, everything was fine again. No more panic, no more existential terror. Her heart rate lowered to a steady, non-life threatening level.

The tide had risen up and washed Marcy’s mind clean.

Like a nice blank canvas.

What quickly followed was an epiphany of sorts.

There was nothing for her to fear. Once she accepted that fact, the warm sensation from before returned greater than ever, engulfing her in what could only be described as a spiritual hug. She could feel the pair of hands, tender as her own mother’s, caressing her face and flicking away her tears. They even ruffled her raven hair in the same playful manner.

Come to me, daughter of Wu

Let me get a good look at you

Marcy obeyed. Getting down on all fours, she crawled across the nonexistent ground—the laws of physics evidently had no place here—until her face and the eyes’ chief pupil were within inches of each other.

Fresh tears, now ones of ecstasy, trickled down her cheeks and evaporated in the pulsating heat.

“You’re beautiful.”

I know

We’ve gotta lot to talk about, Marcy

And I have a feeling...

You and I are gonna become the best of friends

[heart-wit-strength]

Lean on Me -Amphibia Oneshot

'Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain, we all have sorrow, but if we're wise we know that there's always tomorrow.'

*Following the ending of 'Marcy At The Gates'*

Because I just wanted to write Anne and Marcy being cute without, y'know, dying for once. My first Amphibia fic so no, it's not that good, but well, I tried. Here ya' go @milkshakekitty ❤️

––

Anne smiled warmly as she clutched onto Marcy’s hand as they swiped through the pictures, she had to catch her up with all the adventures they had in Amphibia without wasting any time. “Here’s me and Sprig by the lake. There was a snake that tried to eat us.” Anne commented. “Oh, oh, and here’s us running from a centipede that-”

“Let me guess, tried to eat you?”

Anne gasped, mouth agape in astonishment. “How did you know?”

Marcy giggled to herself. “Duh. This is Amphibia. What do you expect?” they swipe through some more pictures. “Wow, Anne. You and Sprig really seem really close, huh.” Anne blushed, twirling a strand of her hair in her finger.

“You could say. He’s…kinda the reason I've really been able to keep going, especially ever since separating with you guys, life’s been hard.” Anne admitted. “Feels like yesterday when I was absolutely freaked out was when I found myself stranded in the woods of Wartwood all alone. I’m gonna be honest with you, Mar-Mar, eating bugs ain't my favorite thing ever, or fighting tax toads…and stuff but I’ve come to think I’ve somewhat grown on this place and it’s because of Sprig and the Plantars.”

Marcy joyful smirk couldn’t help but fade slightly at the sound of all the things Anne had been through. “Yeah, I…can't disagree with that.” She muttered, looking away and pulling a strand of her hair behind her ear. “The Plantars really are sweet. And the little frog dude? He seems quite protective of you, no wonder you mean a lot to him.”

“Uh, yeah. I’m sorry for all the…suspicion Sprig had on you earlier. I told him it was kinda uncalled-for, but a lot of stuff has happened and…”

“Oh please. I don’t mind at all. Believe me, I’ve seen a lot worse phases of skepticism in several rural civilizations I visited. Your friend seems a lot more open.”

Anne frowned, could she really blame Sprig though? Her other friend had almost killed him, and initially Hop Pop too. It just felt a bit uneasy having to tell Marcy that he had thought she was gonna be the same, what would she think? She didn't want Marcy to also hate her best friend like the other one did. Anne vaguely swiped through another picture on her phone, and what came up was her other friend. Anne’s didn't acknowledge herself holding her breath and frown at the sight of the blond girl on her phone screen.

“No way! Is that when you and Sasha reunited?” Marcy exclaimed with excitement, pushing her face between Anne and the phone screen, the picture of Anne and Sasha smiling and posing at the camera. “Heh, the armor suits her. Is that a Toad army uniform? She looks so different.” Anne rolled her eyes.

“She does.” Anne shoved the phone back into her pocket and stood up, looking into the distance, clutching the tip of her sleeve. “Literally. She’s changed.” Marcy, with a look of uncertainty, approached her.

“You said you had you had a fight, didn't you? But see, Anne…you know Sasha, we’ve known each other since we were kids, that’s the way she’s always been. Sure, she’s got a bit of temper, but I’m sure she’s still our friend. No matter what.”

‘She’s our friend. No matter what she does.’ The words echoed in her mind. ‘Nothing can change that.’That’s the one thing that had kept Anne bounded all these years. She was so busy making sure Sasha got away with all the trouble she was too blind to figured it out whatever she was doing with them was anything but friendship. All for they just couldn’t risk her somehow not wanting to be their friend anymore, for that would be the end of it all.

Wouldn’t it?

“She tried to kill my family, Marbles.” Anne’s tone cracked. Marcy’s eyes wide opened, stunned.

“She what? No way,”

Anne sniffed. “She tried to hurt Sprig, and Hop Pop. She’s far from justified. It’s too late, it’s time she takes responsibility of her actions. She’s way past treating us like we need her to make our decisions for us. Acting like…she can do whatever she wants because we just can't risk losing her because she convinced us that we’re NOTHING without her.” She panted, her face going red in exhaustion. Marcy stared silently at her friend with wide eyes. Anne breathed out and smiled warmly, looking into her eyes. “Well, we’re not. You and I are here, without her, doing just fine. The Plantars helped me make my way here to find you, we don’t need her to lead us. Dang, look how far you’ve come, Mar-Mar, you’re the literal hero of Newtopia and all, you bet Sasha would’ve never guessed that to come from the School’s science nerd, am I right?”

“Aw, quit it, Anna-Banana.” Marcy punched her playfully with a blush. Anne rubbed her arm and elbowed her with a smile. “How about we go for a walk? Bet that’d help. I know the perfect spot, c’mon, Anne!” Anne had barely processed anything Marcy had said yet before she was grasped by the arm and yanked along by her. After a moment of blindly letting herself be hauled along, when Marcy finally stopped Anne was marveled at the scene before her. What they stood upon was a hill, from where all of Newtopia could be seen. “Whoa.” Was all Anne could say, “That…sure is something, dude.”

“I know, RIGHT?! This is the most fun spot of the city next to the library, check this out!” Without a warning, Marcy hopped off her feet and let herself roll down the shimmering cool grass. “Anne, look I’m a Springroll!” Anne couldn’t help but chuckle at this until she noticed that Marcy was going to rolled herself right into a giant rock.

“Rock! Marcy, rock!” She shouted.

“I know! I rock at this!”

“NO! Marcy, look out!” Anne didn't acknowledge herself diving down and grabbing the girl before she’d crash herself. Anne panted heavily, holding her close. Marcy grinned.

“Heh, I get carried away sometimes. Thanks, Anna-Banana.” Anne sighed deeply and got to her feet, dusting herself.

“Sometimes. Pfft, sure. You can do me a great favor by being careful for five minutes for frog’s sake.” She retorted. Marcy blinked, wondering if she wasn’t being a help. Nah, there was no way for that to be, she knew how to cheer up her friend. Just as Anne began walking away, Marcy grabbed her hand and pulled her down. “Marbles, what are you…? AAAA-” she screamed as the two rolled further down the hill. “MARCY!”

“Isn't this cool?!” Marcy laughed as she gripped on her tight. When they stopped, Anne held her spinning head.

“Dude, what the frog?!” She complained, rubbing her head as Marcy continued to grin. “That was insane.”

“Insane and fun!”

“Pfft, yeah.” Anne couldn’t help but chuckle, slightly punching her shoulder. “Don’t do that again.” She looked up at the sky full of stars, sighing to herself. Funny how it was only her and Marcy now, without Sasha telling them what to do, just like back in…kindergarten? Well, that was quite long ago.

And surprisingly for all, she was actually feeling…good? It was true she always felt a lot liberated around her. As Anne had described to Sprig earlier, Marcy was indeed harmless. It was almost astonishing how she was totally living the moment and barely seemed concerned about everything that had been going on. How long they had been away from their parents, and haven’t seen each other in months until now, how Sasha tried to kill her family…

She couldn’t keep herself from remembering the tearful look in the girl’s eyes during their last encounter. ‘Hey, Anne?’ The last words from Sasha echoed in her mind again. ‘Maybe you’re better off without me.’ And in a blink of an eye, feeling her hold on Sasha’s hand loosening and having to see her former friend nearly fell to her doom.

Anne shook her head. No, that wasn’t her fault. There was no way it being her fault that Sasha rejected the help, rejected her, something she had always been afraid of. But somethings were inevitable, and in the end they were alright, she was okay and Sasha had…other people to stand by her, to follow her lead rather gladly.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Marcy spoke up, who was relaxing down on the grass.

“I often like coming out here to read. It actually feels pretty great out here, heh. Andrias prefer to join me sometimes, we had SO much fun together. Gosh, I LOVE this place!” She lied on her back, whirling her arms and legs, and enjoying the feel of the soft grass beneath them. She suddenly gasped and sat back up, eyes shining and a dreamy look on her face. “Y’know what I just came up with? What if…we made a hideout here? Brilliant idea. If we use the correct type of wood according to the air moisture, but wait we also need to bug-proof this place, we could try-” She stopped when we noticed Anne zoned out. “You okay there?”

“Huh? Yeah, and yeah we should totally do that.” Anne said, sitting down beside her, one arm wrapped around herself.

“Are ya’ cold?” Marcy asked with concern.

“Huh, no, it’s not that. I’m just-”

“Aw shucks! I should’ve known it! You always get a cold out in the night. Here, have this before you go all sneezy.” Marcy proceeded to take off her cape.

“No, Mar-Mar, really, I’m-” Anne was interrupted by her own sneeze. “…fine.”

“You’re not, Sneezy.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Heh. You know? It could be a sign someone is thinking about you.” Marcy smirked, tapping her chin.

“Yes, I know that, Marcy.” Anne replied, flushed and rubbing her itchy nose. “But I think I’m just cold.”

Marcy shrugged. “Eh, anyway. Here, you can have this. Don’t worry, it’s not on fire…yet.” she joked as she wrapped the cape around her shoulder. “Remember when we used to go to the café after classes, you always ordered hot chocolate while me and Sasha went for soda. Even then, you get sneezy. You always have it colder than us.” Anne blushed as she curled up.

“Thanks, Marcy.”

“About Sash, Anne, all of that sounds real rough, hard to believe actually, I never thought she’d…go that far.” She sounded much disappointed by the finish.

Anne sneezed again. “I’m not even surprised at this point. She’s always been a jerk, we were just too blind to notice.”

Marcy leaned back, fiddling the tip of her toes. “I…kinda always thought she was like the protector of the group, and that she’d always look out for us.”

“She likes to show me that I’m the weakling,” Anne’s voice cracked. “So that she’d feel better about herself. That’s why she tried to kill Sprig, he has been the first to make me realize that I was friends with a jerk. I guess that’s it, all she cares to have is control.”

Marcy’s eyes moved back and forth for a moment before she gently placed a hand on Anne’s shoulder who just sat there, hugging her knees. She felt a bit guilty about the fact that despite always being there, she had never been the one to realize what Anne had been going through, that Sasha was basically pushing her around. Maybe if she even did, there wasn’t much she could do to change it.

“Hey, you ain't a weakling to me. Pfft- Yeah sure, Sasha always liked to show off her strength, I rolled with it because it seemed like the only thing she was ever into. But hey, you know how much you look out for me.” She lifted Anne’s chin. “Even back in that cave today? You looked out for me. My point is, you’re so much more than you think, Anne. We might need her on our way back home, we aren’t gonna leave her behind. But whether or not she is there, you know you matter so much to everyone. You’ve got me, you’ve got the Plantars, and Sprig; it’s gonna be okay.”

Anne wiped her watery eyes with a smile, Marcy blinked as Anne embraced her into a hug, she smiled and hugged back. There was a moment of silence between them while they hugged until suddenly, Marcy sneezed.

“Huh, wonder who’s thinking about me?” She remarked, wiping her nose.

“Perhaps the librarian back home, for all the books you didn't return.” Anne commented sarcastically. Marcy narrowed her eyes and elbowed her. Anne shook it off with a chuckle and wrapped the other end of the cape around Marcy’s shoulder. “There. Now you won't get all sneezy either.” Marcy rolled her eyes with a smile. Anne leaned her head against hers, staring up at the stary sky, spotting a shooting star passing by.

“I don’t ever want to lose you again, Mar-Mar.”

“Me neither.”