RJ Writing Ink

Star vs. The Forces of Evil Holiday Special Review- Stump Day

I know I said I wasn’t going to be doing this 25 days of Christmas thing this year. However, Star vs the Forces of Evil came out on Disney+, and its the first day of December. In other words, I couldn’t resist. So, here’s my review of the first half of the Star vs. Christmas Special, “Stump Day.”

All Hail Stump Day

It’s the most wonderful time of the year in Mewni, Stump Day. When the first Mewmans found their way to Mewni, they were struck by a terrible winter storm. In order to survive they had to huddle behind a giant tree stump and forge bonds of friendship. ThentheylearnedmagicandusedittobeatuptheMonsters, the end!

To honor that memory, every year the Mewmans honor the Stump, or else. However, Stump Day’s not just Star’s favorite holiday, it also happens to be her birthday!

It may just be me, but the fact that Star’s birthday falls on Stump Day seems like a continuity wrinkle. Wouldn’t that mean the Wand Ceremony in the first episode should have had snow and holiday decorations or what not? Or did they move it to a different day to honor the Stump?

Unwelcome Birthday Party

Not realizing how important Stump Day is, and wanting to surprise his best friend, Marco throws a surprise party for Star that very night. This causes Star to freak out and try to destroy her own party. She never celebrates her birthday on her actual birthday out of respect/fear of the Stump.

Everything goes downhill from there. Marco and Tom start fighting when Marco calls him a bad boyfriend, then everyone’s yelling at each other and Janna throws the Stump in the fireplace. As a result of everyone’s actions, they anger the real Stump, and it tries to kill everyone present.

Personally, I found it a little ironic that no one believed the Stump was real aside from Star. Everyone present comes from other dimensions and sees magic on a regular basis. Given everything they’ve seen, is a giant, ax-crazy Mewman version of Santa hard to believe? In the end, it doesn’t matter, though: Stump Day comes to an end before the Stump can kill them all, and everyone comes together to celebrate Star’s birthday. The end.

Don’t Trust the Stump

I’ve seen several fanfictions re-use the concept of Stump Day since this episode, and a lot of them don’t paint the Stump in a good light. My personal favorite, though, is MoringMark’s story involving the Stump in his webcomic Echo Creek. Long story short, Mariposa and Meteora fight the Stump, and it reveals that it caused the storm that led to it being worshipped. It was revenge for them cutting down its tree.

Basically, I see the Stump as an axe-crazy hunk of wood that’s not to be trusted. However, it’s also the same kind of crazy you’d expect from a show like Star vs. The Forces of Evil. I know the chances of the story being continued anytime soon are low, but at least we get some great fanworks out of it.

This should be the part where I insert some cheesy Aesop about the importance of coming together for the holidays and/or possible death, but I got nothing. All I can say is that that rotting piece of bark is not to be trusted! Happy holidays, everyone!

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My Hero Academia, Season 4, Episode 7 Review/Recap

Ever since Midoriya and Togata learned that Overhaul’s using Eri to create Quirk-destroying drugs, they’ve been wracked with guilt. I don’t blame them, though: I would be mad, as well. Unfortunately, they can’t do anything until they learn where Overhaul’s keeping her. While this episode sees them deal with these feelings, Nighteye gets an unexpected break thanks to an unlikely source: magical girls.

Recap

The work study students return to school with instructions to not talk about the case to anyone. This leaves Midoriya feeling frustrated at his inability to do anything. Thankfully, a friendly talk with Shoto and Iida helps him get his act together. Soon afterward, the five students get the call in: they found where Eri is.

By chance, Eri’s babysitter went out to buy her a magical girl toy at the same store Nighteye was shopping. Realizing something’s up, Nighteye used his Quirk and confirmed that Eri was at Overhaul’s HQ. Now armed with everything they need, the heroes mobilize to capture Overhaul and rescue Eri. Since they’re still doing work studies under the heroes taking part, the UA students are allowed to join in the assault.

Despite trying to keep things a secret, the Shie Hassakai learns of their assault. As a result, they hit back with their elite fighters, the Eight Bullets.

Review

As a fellow geek, it fills my heart with pride to see geek culture becoming so prominent. We’ve already established that Sir Nighteye’s a major geek , but the fact that he was able to figure that guy was Overhaul’s underling the way he did? As for those who think its weird that a grown man likes magical girl anime, it seems normal to me. Look at me: I like Star vs, and that’s a kids show.

That said, this episode was, for all intents and purposes, a cooldown episode. It helps the show redraw its focus in time for the non-stop action we’ll be getting starting next week. While boring at times, it helps build up the hype for the upcoming action. It’s going to be epic seeing the raid in full force next week! Go beyond, Plus Ultra!

I Give “GO!!” a 3.5/5.

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Sword Art Online: Alicization- War of Underworld Episode 32 Review/Recap

We viewers know that the true purpose of the war in Underworld’s to capture Alice. However, that fact remains unknown to the Integrity Knights, putting Alice in danger. All that changes in this episode, though, as Alice learns how important she is to the future of Underworld. As a result, she takes up the (fake) moniker the Dark Territory’s given her- the Priestess of Light.

LINK START!

Recap

As a result of expending most of her energy in that giant attack last episode, Alice comes close to passing out. She doesn’t get a chance to rest, though, as she’s attacked by Fugr, the chief of the Ogres. She easily dispatches him, but not before learning that “Vecta” is after her. In addition, she learns of what she’s called: the Priestess of Light.

Realizing that Alice is their main target, Bercouli chooses to split the Human army in two. The bulk will remain behind to defend the ravine. A task force consisting of Alice, Bercouli, Ronye, Tiese, Kirito, and Renly will head into the Dark Territory and draw them away. Meanwhile, Dee Eye chooses to sacrifice 3,000 of the Orcs to create enough power to create a deadly spell of insects. Left with no choice, Eldrie sacrifices himself to draw the spell away from the others, leaving him to die in Alice’s arms. Outraged, Alice takes to the air and takes out Dee’s unit before proclaiming herself to be the Priestess of Light.

Review

While the war may have started off slow, things finally seem to be getting interesting. Little by little, Alice is learning of why she’s so important, not only for Underworld, but to the real world. In addition, even if the title’s something Vecta/Gabriel made up, the moniker “Priestess of Light” sounds really cool.

While I enjoyed seeing Alice go full warrior on the Dark Territory, that wasn’t the big draw for me. What I liked most about this episode is how human the inhabitants of Underworld are; as in, they’re completely sentient AI. At the least, the AI are close enough to sentient that it becomes indistinguishable. We saw it in the Orc Chief as he watched his lover be sacrificed, and with Eldrie’s sacrifice. In other words, there’s nothing that separates them from someone in the real world.

Enough philosophical talk, though. While War of Underworld may have started off slow, I think it’s getting progressively better. This episode seemed to drive that home for me, as I want to see more like it; more action! Hopefully, next week’s episode will give us just that.

I Give “Blood and Life” a 4/5

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Monster Love Character Analysis Part 2- Star the Monster Princess

Welcome to part two of my character analysis The Wandering Hippie’s Monster Love fan fiction. Based on the show Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Hippie has some of the best fan writing that I’ve seen. I wanted to take a look at how he portrays the characters, but my initial post was too long. So I chose to split it into smaller posts about the main characters from each story and the supporting. In this portion, I analyze the heroes of his sequel, Star the Monster Princess.

Whereas his previous story was more or less his own creation, here Hippie follows the show as much as possible. At least, he does at first. As time passes, he plans on diverging from the show and make his own story.

Star Butterfly

The one and only heroine of Star vs. The Forces of Evil, Princess Star Butterfly. Born the daughter of Moon and Toffee six years after the defeat of the Shadow Clause, she got her name from her parents hopes that she would become the star of hope for Mewni. However, the road to becoming that shining star hasn’t been easy. Star’s had to face great hardship due to being half-monster, and that’s deeply impacted her personality. So when her wand inheritance ceremony goes awry, she takes it poorly. As a result, her parents send her to Earth where she can make friends and master the wand away from Mewni’s prying eyes. Thus begins her adventures with Marco and her friends as she works to master the Wand and become the Princess that Mewni needs.

Unique Mix of Characters

From the outset, I was impressed at how Hippie strove to make his version of Star so unique. On the surface, Star retains many of the positive and endearing traits she has in the show. While not as hyper, Star retains her friendly attitude and tries making friends with everyone she meets. Steadfast and loyal, Star already has plenty of friends even before she came to Earth and won’t hesitate to help them. Even if her attempts sometimes backfire.

Ironically, though, Hippie’s version of Star can be less a social butterfly and more a wallflower at times. To put it bluntly, she’s got a lot in common with Fluttershy from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Star can be incredibly shy and socially awkward at times, and she even has anxiety issues that she deals with. However, this isn’t an inherent personality trait. Rather, it’s the product of a lifetime of stigma for being a Mewman-Monster hybrid.

A Lifetime of Stigma

To say Star got bullied a lot growing up is an understatement. She’s been the subject of everything from cruel pranks by other kids, been called an abomination, to even multiple attempts on her life. It also doesn’t help that most boys who try to court her do so only for the throne. In other words, Star’s been put through hell because of what she was born as.

All these horrible events took a toll on Star’s personality. As a result, she can suffer from low self-esteem and anxiety attacks, and is very insecure about her appearance. This is in spite of the fact that nearly everyone on Earth considers her to be very pretty and charming.

I can tell that Hippie put a lot of thought into Star’s personality, and that he didn’t pull his punches regarding her past trauma. He even admits in the author’s notes that he cried while writing some of the things about Star’s past. I almost cried when I read them. If Hippie’s reading this, then he should know that he deserves the highest praise for what he did with Star.

Marco Diaz

Still the resident safe kid of Echo Creek, Marco gets tapped to be Star’s guide to Earth. It goes as well as it did in the show, but once they get past the rough start, they develop the strong friendship that fans know and love. In this story, though, Marco’s role as Star’s best friend becomes magnified. Having learned of her past trauma early on, Marco takes it upon himself to help Star heal. As a result, he becomes the emotional rock that Star never knew she needed in her life, moreso than in the show.

A More Confident Marco

Early in the story, it became apparent that Marco already had some of the self-confidence he would display as the show progressed. According to Marco himself, about a year before meeting Star, he was assigned to look after Janna and Oskar. As a result of interacting with them, Marco became more willing to stand up for himself and try new experiences. Case in point, when Ponyhead tries to intimidate him during their first meeting, he doesn’t take it lying down. Instead, he pushes back.

From a reader’s perspective, it felt like Hippie took some of Star’s confidence from the show and injected it into Marco. Besides being pleasantly surprised, I thought that this was a smart move. It helps to offset how shy and insecure Star can be in this story, so their dynamic remains balanced as a whole.

The downside to this newfound confidence, though, is that this can lead to Marco being somewhat reckless. Firstly, in Monster Princess, it’s Marco who proposes that they break Ponyhead out of St. Olga’s rather than Star. Moreover, this can even lead to him inadvertently hurting Star. Fortunately, his concern for Star’s well being, plus some criticism from Toffee, helps him to grow out of this.

Star’s Protector

While Marco more or less took his role as Star’s guide and friend in the show seriously, it gets magnified in Monster Princess due to her past. While most of her friends from Earth know she’s been through awful experiences, Marco’s the only one who knows the full extent of what she’s gone through. As a result, Marco becomes fiercely protective of the princess, vowing to never let anyone else hurt her again. His concern’s so great, that when that brat Jeremy called Star “a lizard freak”, he went berserk with rage. In other words, don’t mess with Star around him.

Star & Marco’s Relationship

Whether you’re a fan of the ship or not, there’s no denying that Star and Marco’s relationship is an integral part of the show. As it just so happens, Hippie’s a big Starco shipper, and makes no attempts to try to hide it. In fact, around the time he gets to “Brittney’s Party”, he flat out admits he has plans for Starco. Why did I spoil it for you? Because Hippie does so in the author’s notes. His exact words were:

Well I’M AT MY WITS END WITH THE WAY THE SHOW IS DANCING AROUND STARCO LIKE THIS AND YOU DESERVE SOME STRAIGHT ANSWERS FOR ONCE! *pants for a few seconds to compose myself*

Brittney’s Party, part 1, Star the Monster Princess

Hippie’s very passionate about his work, and I respect him for that.

Angry fan rants aside, Hippie does his best to develop Starco without compromising what makes it one of the best couples I’ve ever seen in fiction. I honestly think that he succeeds in doing so, and in less time than the show takes. Props to you, Hippie!

Like in the show, in Monster Princess, Star and Marco’s relationship is incredibly strong. The two become the most important people in each other’s lives, and try to support each other as best as possible. As I said before, Marco becomes the emotional support Star needed; meanwhile, Star becomes Marco’s motivation to improve himself. The two are so close that almost everyone realizes they’ve fallen for each other before they do.

Laying the Foundations

In the story, Hippie drops hints early on that Star’s fallen for Marco earlier than in the show. The biggest hint has to be during the whole “Mewberty” thing. The last thing she thinks of before sucumbing to her Mewberty form was the thought of a shirtless, toned Marco offering to protect her. Also, she eventually goes after Marco and him alone, something she doesn’t do in the show. Star does eventually realize that she’s fallen for Marco, which worries her even more than it does in the show.

Like in the show, Star tries to keep her crush a secret at first. However, it’s not just because Marco likes Jackie, but something more troubling. The combination of a lack of confidence in her appearance, cruel rejection by past crushes, and the few relationships she has had ending poorly, took their toll on Star. Simply put, she doesn’t see herself as someone people would find attractive. Again, this is despite most guys her age on Earth considering her pretty cute.

Star and Marco’s relationship is as complicated in Monster Princess as it was for them in the show. However, I think that helps makes the hurdles they face even sweeter to look at in the end. While I won’t say how Hippie resolves this, I will say that the payoff is more than worth it, and as sweet as it is in the show. Also, he does resolve it sooner than the show did, so I have to give Hippie points for that.

That’s All for Now

I think I’ve bent people’s ears enough, already. Next up I will looking at all the secondary characters in the Monster Love series, both from the show and original characters.

And click here to go to Hippie’s Page on Fanfiction.net. From there, you can find all his stories in the Monster Love series.

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Monster Love Character Analysis, Part 3- Everyone Else

I’ve made my love for Daron Nefcy’s show, Star vs The Forces of Evil, very obvious on this blog. However, as much as I love the show, it bums me out how some of the supporting cast eventually fell by the wayside. Which is why I’m a fan of The Wandering Hippie’s fan fiction series, Monster Love. He not only manages to keep several secondary characters involved, but even has time to throw in his own creations. Not to mention that his series is filled with references and cameos from pop culture.

In order to wrap up my character analysis of the Monster Love series, this post will take a look at Hippie’s versions of the supporting cast and his original characters. I’ll try and cover most of them, but some will get more focus than others due to the changes to characters.

Supporting Cast

Alfonso and Fergurson

Daron Nefcy may not have found a good way to use Marco’s two guy friends, but I think Hippie was able to. Firstly, he gave Alfonso and Fergurson actual personalities. In Monster Love, Fergurson’s close friends with Janna, due to them sharing an interest in magic and a penchant for mischief. Alfonso’s shown himself to be tech-savvy and capable, something that’s come in handy every now and then. In addition, Hippie made it so the two aren’t dead weight for Star and Marco. As a result, the two participate more in some of Star’s adventures without getting too much in the way.

Eclipsa

While she has yet to make any impact on the story in the present day, Eclipsa has a big impact on the story as a whole. Without spoiling too much, let’s just say that here, her monster love was a jerk. Like in the show, she’s trapped in crystal by Rhombulus, only this time its due to the manipulation of the Shadow Clause. Thankfully, the MHC doesn’t persecute her once she’s eventually freed, realizing they were all played by the Shadow Clause. Instead, they put her on probation. Other than that, Eclipsa’s perfect the way she is.

Higgs

Despite only making two appearances in the show, this girl keeps appearing in fan fiction for some reason. Thankfully, Hippie takes her obnoxious personality and gives it an upgrade. While she still doesn’t get along with Marco at first, in Monster Love she soon warms up to him and even befriends Star. I’d go so far to say that Higgs’ become a part of Star’s circle of friends and a valuable ally. Considering everything that Hippie has in the pipeline, this is probably a good thing, too.

Janna

Still the bane of authority figures everywhere, Hippie only had to make some subtle changes to Janna’s character. Already an established friend of Marco, she doesn’t tease him nearly as much as she does in the show. Despite maintaining her love of causing trouble, Janna proves to be one of Star and Marco’s most loyal friends, and is quick to help either of them out. Considering how she’s learning how to use actual magic, something tells me that she’ll remain a powerful ally to Star as the story progresses.

Also, she has the ability to break the fourth wall and talk to the author, to his annoyance.

Jackie Lynn Thomas

Still the cool skater girl of Echo Creek Academy and the object of Marco’s affections, Hippie went out of his way to include Jackie more in the story. To help with this, he made a few changes to Jackie. Firstly, not only is she aware of Marco’s crush on her, but she’s the one who approaches him about it. However, Jackie later admits that she made that leap because she saw how close Star was with Marco. She thought that if she didn’t make her move when she did, she’d lose her chance altogether.

One of the hangups I have about the show is how it never addressed how Jackie reacted to Star’s crush on Marco. That would have made for a great character arc, and the show just wasted it. Hippie, on the other hand, dives right into this. I even give him extra points for having her handle this while staying in line with her character. Furthermore, Jackie continues to be a part of the story.

Magical High Commission

Of all the characters in the show, the MHC are the ones who needed an overhaul the most. First and foremost, Hippie rewrites them so that they’re no longer as opposed to monsters as they were in the show. On a more subtler note, Hippie changes their personalities so that they acknowledge that they’re not perfect and can screw up. Case in point, they’re as surprised about the existence of the Shadow Clause as Moon. As a result, they all agree to back Moon in Moon and Monsters.

Hekapoo befriends Moon when she’s still a teenager, and even sneaks out with her to party with monsters. Even more incredible, she actually starts dating a monster girl! It’s a far cry from her stance in the show, but not an unwelcome change.

Omnitraxus more or less remains the same as he was in the show. However, for some reason he has the power to see past the fourth wall and hang out with the author.

Lekmet also remains the same as in the show, only he never actively fights in the rebellion.

Rhombulus actually gets the biggest change in personality. He’s nowhere near as vocal about hating monsters or Eclipsa. In fact, when it’s revealed that the Shadow Clause was behind her imprisonment, he seems to feel remorse for it, and actively tries to make up for it.

Oskar Greason

In the show, Oskar was a one dimensional character created to serve as Star’s initial love interest. Hippie went to town and gave him an actual personality; and a brain. Serving as the laid-back member of Marco’s circle of friends, he’s quick to accept Star into their group. He’s essentially the friend that people can talk to when they have problems, and can even provide some insightful remarks at times.

In addition, Oskar also comes into ownership of Floyd, a giant bird of paradise accidentally created by Star’s magic. The group uses Floyd as a mode of transportation and ally in combat. Which I personally think is awesome.

Tom Lucitor

In the Monster Love timeline, Tom’s one of Star’s oldest friends and cares deeply about her safety. In fact, his main reason for dating her was to protect her from bullies. However, this led to him become very controlling of her. While I won’t say why exactly they broke up, I will say that the fallout left scars on both of them.

I feel like Hippie was trying to bring attention to the fact that some fans can’t forgive Tom for his early actions in the show. That said, he ends up rewriting Tom’s character so that he acknowledges his mistakes sooner than he did in the show. Thanks to the aid of Marco and Jackie, Tom slowly learns to control his anger and make amends with Star. While Star’s initially weary of him, the two do eventually start to mend their friendship. Say what you will, but I don’t hold a grudge against him, either in the show or in Monster Love.

Original Characters

Mavis

First introduced as a minor character in Moon and Monsters, Mavis is Moon’s snobbish cousin who thinks she’s better suited to be Queen. After Moon’s rebellion succeeds, she chooses to go into hiding and wage a decades long guerrilla war against Moon’s new regime. By the start of Monster Princess, she leads a small band of rebels to Earth in order to seize the Butterfly Wand. Her ultimate goal is to overthrow Moon and return Mewni to it’s monster-hating ways.

Mavis’ essentially the Monster Love version of Ludo, albeit one that’s much more dangerous. Unlike Ludo, Mavis is a skilled combatant who can go toe to toe with Star and Marco. More importantly, she’s a much more capable leader who genuinely cares for the well-being of her followers. This makes her all the more dangerous in the long run, especially once Monster Princess reaches its equivalent of Season Two. Now she has her own wand, and in a page from the book of Daenaerys Targaryen, she has a dragon. I am not joking, she has an actual dragon! While she and Star have yet to meet again, it’s clear she’s going to be a huge threat.

Dumronix

One of Mavis’ two lieutenants, Dumronix is a tough old soldier and a veteran of Mewni’s Civil War. Like many of his comrades, he chose to wage guerrilla war against Moon’s rule, helping Mavis lead the insurgency. With his massive size and decades of experience, Dumronix is one of the few in Mavis’ group that can not only go toe to toe with Star and Marco, but even overpower them.

Despite being comparable to The Mountain, Dumronix is not a simple brute. He’s a capable leader in his own right, and shows genuine care for his comrades. In addition, he also develops a begrudging respect for Marco as a warrior. As a whole, I think he’s a good person; he just ended up on the wrong side of a war that, for him, never stopped.

Helsinki Greyjoy

One of my favorite original character’s, Helsinki Greyjoy is Moon’s tomboyish cousin/soul sister. A mechanical genius and inventor, Helsinki was one of the first people to join Moon in her rebellion, putting her skills to work helping the rebellion win the war. By the time of Monster Princess, Helsinki’s Mewni’s chief engineer, helping to pioneer all sorts of new inventions.

I like Helsinki so much because she reminds me a lot of Bulma from the Dragon Ball franchise. Both are feisty women with tomboy tendencies and geniuses. I go so far as to imagine Helsinki voiced by Monica Rial.

Selene Dragon

The second of Mavis’ two lieutenants, Selene’s described as looking like a prepubescent version of Higgs; despite the fact that she’s actually 22. Born the daughter of a Noble family, Mewni’s Civil War saw most of her family wiped out by a band of rogue monsters. As a result, Selene’s Mom left her at an orphanage in the hopes of giving her a better life.

The first chance Selene got, she left the orphanage and sought out Mavis, who took her and trained/raised her. Armed with her twin trench knives and lightning speed, Selene’s a deadly assassin able to keep up with Star and Marco. The latter of the two she holds a grudge against for beating her several times.

Despite how vicious she may act, I can tell that Selene’s not a bad person; she just wants to find her mom. If Mavis were to get the Butterfly Wand, she could use the All-Seeing Eye spell to find her mother. However, when Monster Princess’ version of Season One ends with Mavis’ hideout destroyed, Selene runs off on her own. No one knows where she is, but I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of her.

The Shadow Clause

The main antagonists of A Tale of Moon and Monsters, this shadowy group’s existed since Mewni’s founding. I believe they were founded with the purpose of protecting Mewni from the shadows. As time passed, though, they became corrupt and power-hungry, and sought to control Mewni at the expense of its people, Mewmans and Monsters alike. Ultimately, though, they meet their match in the form of Moon and Toffee, who proceed to free Mewni from their tyranny. However, their dark legacy lives on in those who oppose Moon’s rule.

Most of the Shadow Clause members seen are the typical villains you’d find in a secret organization. I can’t even remember most of their names. The only ones that need to be remembered are Etheria and Mildrew. Etheria is Moon’s Aunt and has been consistently portrayed in fanfics as a very unpleasant Mewman, so she’s the leader of the Shadow Clause. Mildrew’s that prettyboy that tried courting Moon in the show, but lost to River. Here he’s a ruthless warrior who commits several atrocities to defeat Moon. Like I said, typical “evil organization” villains, not that that’s a bad thing.

The Wandering Hippie

If Daron Nefcy can take part in her own creation as Starfan13, then so can the Wandering Hippie. Starting from Star the Monster Princess, Hippie alternates between being the storyteller and being an actual character in his story. In the story itself, Hippie takes the place of Brian as Tom’s anger management counselor. That doesn’t seem to last long, though, as Tom starts working out his anger issues.

Most of the time, Hippie can be found in the Author’s Comments and notes at the beginning of each chapter where he talks about the story. Oftentimes, he’s assisted in doing this by Omnitraxus, Janna, and for some reason, the French Narrator from Spongebob. It’s part of what makes the story so fun, though.

This Concludes the Monster Love Posts

Well, that’s every that I could possibly want to say about Hippie’s Monster Love stories. I know I missed a lot of characters, both canon and original, but I don’t want to take up anymore of your time. If you’re still reading this, then I have a little surprise for you. I found this great artist on Instagram called Andychipss who does fan-art comissions for shows like Star. Click here to see her work, and message her if you want something done. She made this great piece from my favorite Star fan fic, Light of the Sun and Stars:

And click here to go to Hippie’s Page on Fanfiction.net. From there, you can find all his stories in the Monster Love series.

Click here to see my other animation stuff.

Monster Love Character Analysis, Part 1- A Tale of Moon and Monsters

Hey folks, Jay here with a very special post. Remember a few months back when I did that week about Star vs. fanfiction? I ended up doing another post for another writing, TheWanderingHippie, and his Monster Love series. At the time, I thought I did a good job. However, in hindsight, I don’t feel as satisfied with what I wrote. Hippie’s stories are simply too good to not talk about, like A Tale of Moon and Monsters.

Hippie’s Monster Love series is very well written, and I can tell how much he likes the show by his dedication to it. He goes all-our with his writing, from world-building to defining the characters. I’ve been rereading his stories a lot, and I’ve made a habit of analyzing how he portrays some key characters. I find it fun comparing and contrasting how he writes characters compared to their canon counterparts. As a result, I decided to share my thoughts on his take on the show’s cast.

After I started writing this, however, I realized that it’s too big for a single post. So, I’m splitting it up into separate posts for readability. In this first post, I talk about the two main characters from Hippie’s first story, A Tale of Moon and Monsters.

Main Characters

Moon Butterfly

Future Queen of Mewni and Star’s mother, Hippie introduces us to Moon when she’s at Star’s age. However, apart from the flashback episode and the few books on the series, we know little about what Moon’s like at her daughter’s age. As a result, Hippie builds her personality from the ground up, and it, ironically, has a lot in common with Star.

Like Star in the canon, Hippie’s version of Moon’s compassionate, quick to make friends, and has a very strong moral compass. Additionally, she can sometimes be as reckless as Star, but this gets downplayed thanks to her sense of responsiblity.

The main difference is that, unlike in the show, this Moon never develops her hatred of Monsters; she actually befriends not only them, but many of her countries races. It’s these friendships that lead her to recognize how wrong things are with Mewni. In turn, this leads her to rebel against the dark group that controls her country.

Rebel Leader

When Moon finally flees the Shadow Clause’s influence, she doesn’t do it just so she can be with Toffee. She understands that she has to help all of her people because no one else will. Hippie makes it clear that this isn’t naive idealism, though. Moon fully understands that she must be willing to fight and kill to change Mewni for the better. Her resolve’s strong enough to help her accept that she may have to fight and kill her own mother.

Moon ultimately embraces her role as a literal rebel princess, and becomes the leader that Mewni truly needs. The resulting civil war claims the lives of many of her friends and family, but she refuses to let loss darken her ideals. In other words, she lives up to her epithet of “Moon the Undaunted”.

Queen, Wife, and Mother

As an adult, Moon’s basically the same as Hippie wrote her as a teenager, only more mature. She’s proven to be a very capable ruler, introducing many reforms to help her people and the rights of Monsters. The big difference is that she’s nowhere near as uptight as she is in the show, and this makes her way more likable in my opinion. She keeps her free-spirited nature, and when she’s not ruling, she’s either cooking, hanging with friends, or having romantic time with Toffee. I like her better this way.

As a result, her relationship with her daughter is a lot closer than it can be in the show. Moon’s more than willing to be openly affectionate with Star, and does everything she can to keep her happy and safe. In fact, the whole reason she sends Star to Earth in this version is so she can train without fearing for the anti-Monster prejudice still found in Mewni. In other words, she’s a way better mother than in the show.

As a bonus, she also ships Star and Marco early on, as she sees how happy hanging out with Marco makes her.

Toffee of Septarsis

This is the character that I had the hardest coming to terms with being a good guy. Yet Hippie somehow manages to take the best villain on the show and make him into a likable guy for his Monster Love series. At the same time, he keeps what makes him Toffee visible and active.

It doesn’t start out that way, though. Having made a good impression on Moon’s father, Toffee gets himself assigned as her tutor with less than ideal intentions. In other words, he’s trying to use his position to make her pro-Monster for his own survival. We’re well aware that’s an underhanded move. He even openly admits later in life that what he did made him “a douche.”

Fortunately, he grows to genuinely care for Moon and becomes her friend. Her influence leads him to open up to others, and he slowly grows to embrace the new emotions that he’s feeling. Without meaning to, he falls in love with Moon and ends up confessing to her. This fateful decision leads to a war that changes Mewni forever.

Rebel Leader

Knowing that he’ll be killed for falling in love with the Princess, Toffee flees into exile. He never expected Moon to follow him, much less return his feelings, but he’s happy nonetheless. When Moon begins her rebellion, Toffee throws his full support behind his new girlfriend, fighting so for a Mewni where everyone can live in peace.

Once the civil war begins, we see Toffee as we know him from the show: as a skilled strategist and tactician who’s able to help the rebellion fight against overwhelming odds. Thankfully, he’s doing it less for himself, and more to protect Moon and his new friends. By the end of Moon and Monsters, he’s essentially the logic and brains behind Moon’s heart, helping them to win the war.

Husband and Father

By the time of Star the Monster Princess, Toffee’s ruling Mewni alongside Moon as her husband, king, and equal. While he can still seem cold at times, Hippie makes it clear he’s merely being stern rather than cold-blooded. He’s learned to fully embrace the emotions his friends and family make him feel, and enjoys spending time with them.

As her father, Toffee thinks the world of Star, and their relationship is extremely close. He makes it clear that if anyone tries to hurt his little “MonStar”, he’ll kill them. At the same time, he knows he won’t always be there to protect her, and that she needs to make her own life choices. So, he averts the “overprotective dad” trope.

In addition, Toffee develops a unique relationship with Marco. Early on, he makes it clear that he’s putting a lot of faith in Marco’s ability to be Star’s friend, and can be very harsh on Marco when he messes up. However, Toffee only does it because he’s aware of how important Marco is to Star, and that he wants him to be the kind of person who can help her when she needs it. It’s clear they both have a mutual respect for each other, and the two have a mentor-student relationship going.

End of Part 1

With Moon and Monsters done, next we head on to the ongoing sequel, Star the Monster Princess. If you haven’t gotten the chance to do, I recommend you read Hippie’s stories. They’re really good, and he’s got some great taste in music.

And click here to go to Hippie’s Page on Fanfiction.net. From there, you can find all his stories in the Monster Love series.

Click here to see my other animation stuff.