#second first date

Day in Fandom History: September 1…

Like any top 10 list, this is very subjective. These are ranked by how much I personally enjoyed a certain episode over anything else. For some context, I'm the kind of Star Trek fan that enjoys more dialogue and philosophy heavy episodes or really goofy love letter romps over big spaceship battles or anything particularly action-heavy. The same applies here even with a goofy, over-the-top cartoon. That's a huge part of why I picked some of these.

10.) "Presenting Joe Cuppa"

Joe Cuppa is a middle-aged flop of a comedian with a routine full of bad dad jokes and coffee puns. Joe is absolutely convinced that because his time in the limelight is over that there's nowhere else he can go; he's all washed up. Rad and K.O. are determined to lift his spirits and help him rediscover his confidence as well as a new lease on life. The eventual coffee-themed fight with Shannon is a hilarious cap-off to Joe's short but satisfying brush with a mid-life crisis.

I love that this is a goofy story about an older man that is just starting on an exciting new chapter of his life. There's too many older people that get stuck in the rut of "my life is my job" and become empty husks of their former selves after they retire and don't know what to do with themselves or their time without their former day job. Joe is a friendly reminder that an old dog can always learn new tricks in the form of using his coffee in clever, creative ways he hadn't tried before.

Out of O.K. K.O.'s long list of weird, wacky side characters, Joe is one of my personal favorites. I wanted more of him after this episode premiered and I still want a Joe-centric series of webisodes or comics now (even if I have to make them myself and nobody reads them, hahah).

9.) "Your World is an Illusion"

I'm a sucker for thoughtful and clever takes on fourth wall breaks. This one gets extra points for setting up a parallel between K.O.'s fourth wall break and someone getting a hit of existential dread from thoughts like "Am I just someone's Sim?" and the extra layer of "Can or do I exist after death?" In K.O.'s case, he decides to offset further nihilistic feelings and spirals by reaffirming how tangible and real his relationship with his mom and friends are.

As long as he values these people and his lived experiences with them, that's more than enough to give his life and reality value in turn. Its an especially insightful take, given how big the themes of friendship and found family are to this show as a whole. These are ideas I think about daily, to be honest. So, anything that tackles something close to Holo-Jane pulling the proverbial rug out from under K.O.'s feet is going to be a story that grabs my attention.

8.) "Bittersweet Rivals"

After the build-up of Enid's history with Elodie, this is the turning point and beginning of repairing their broken friendship. The best scene, hands-down, is Elodie swooping in to rescue Enid; a dramatic sunset scene that encapsulates a chain of Elodie choosing Enid over her need to win at everything. Elodie herself is a fantastic portrait of someone struggling between personal morals and societal pressures to appear as the prettiest, strongest, most popular, etc. no matter what the cost. She knows how intimate and strong her connection with Enid was but she was also convinced that there was only one spot in the limelight. If she shared that spot, it would lessen the prestige of her position. Its artificial scarcity. Elodie was cornered by the capitalistic vision of competition where others have to be pushed aside and stepped on and there's only one clear-cut path or mold for the "perfect" hero.

"Bittersweet Rivals" explores Elodie's side of her strained relationship with Enid. It also shows what kind of impact Enid has on her overall worldview and that Elodie can and will choose her friend and the personal changes needed to include Enid in her life. This is one of several examples of why its worth giving someone room to change if she shows the initiative and active desire to do so.

7.) "Back in Red Action"

Red Action was my favorite character when I first kept tabs on O.K. K.O. back in 2017-19. Enid's crush on Red was obvious from Red's on-screen introduction. This episode reveals that the feelings are definitely mutual; Red is just as much of a wannabe cool kid and closeted dork as Enid is. When Enid learns about Red's Hue Trooper past, it levels the proverbial playing field. These two can and should be more open and vulnerable around the other. They're cooler together and are absolutely a power couple on the hero side of the Plaza to rival Mr. Gar and Carol.

Besides fantastic character building for Red, the entire episode is full of corny poses and fun references to the ridiculous transforming vehicles that litter Power Rangers and its super sentai source material. Granted, the Hue Troop is definitely more of an homage to super sentai. The eight-year-old me that always wanted a girl as the Red Power Ranger loves Red Action. She's the obnoxious, but charming punk Ranger I didn't know I needed until I checked out O.K. K.O.

6.) "Lad & Logic"

As someone that's written a character analysis on Lord Boxman, I think this episode is core to any discussion about him as a character. I'm still fascinated by how much more open-minded, warm, and considerate Box Lad is when compared to present-day stern, manipulative, and cruel Boxman can be until a combination of his closer relationship with Professor Venomous and his redemption arc (with his kids, not in regards to his overall alignment).

At the very least, Boxman is an example of how a bright-eyed and hopeful person can lose themselves to an all-encompassing goal or obsession. Anyone could become a Boxman if they surrender to paranoia and get lost in their own head to the point they refuse to listen to anyone else.

Mr. Logic's story is roughly comparable to someone leaving an abusive relationship. Part of Boxman's deterioration is how someone can start a relationship with a kind, well-meaning person and that image of how they used to be eclipses what problems pop up later after that person removes their mask or in Boxman's case, something happens that leads to them becoming a horrible partner. Mr. Logic was "made" for a specific purpose but starts to discover who he wants to be after talking with Mr. Gar at the work-in-progress Plaza. Who Mr. Logic wants to be conflicts with what Boxman demands he should be.

This is what leads to Boxman creating his kids with the sole intention of them conforming to the exact vision of who and what he wants them to be. Thankfully, he pulls back on this motivation and starts work on becoming a better parent later. When Mr. Logic stands up for himself and leaves Boxmore, its the start of his own self-determination. He needed space and autonomy to become his true self.

5.) "Boxman Crashes"

I almost put "Villains' Night Out" in my top 10, but this episode has the penultimate Voxman scenes in it. Or more specifically, it has my favorite Voxman scene where it looks like Venomous has a big, world-shattering epiphany about how to work through his ennui after he and Boxman attack the Plaza. He's been so bored for so long and now this weird cyborg man gave him the metaphorical missing puzzle piece to get his life that much closer to complete.

"Villains' Night Out" has the magic carpet ride and the Venomous "proposal" scene but "Boxman Crashes" shows the Professor's side of the story. Viewers finally have insight as to what his personal life was like and most importantly, what he thinks of Lord Boxman. Look, the Voxy Bunch found family dynamic is one of my favorite parts of this cartoon. I love that this episode gives me both perspectives of the relationship for my favorite gay mad scientists. I need both POVs for my bad fanfic-writing needs!

4.) "The So-Bad-ical"

Setting up a villain plot of "ruin kids' education by teaching them nothing but blindly memorizing facts" is a stroke of genius. Its alarmingly accurate commentary on where American education is and how the end result can be made-to-order zombies (corporate drones that don't fight back or ask questions). Besides Boxmore shenanigans, Ms. Quantum paints a really sympathetic picture of teachers that honestly love their job and want to challenge students but are restricted by school boards, funding, and whatever else.

I'm tempted to put a pin in further discussion on this one considering how much stronger the commentary is now vs pre-pandemic conditions. In a nutshell, I love the social commentary here.

3.) "Second First Date"

There are so few cartoons that let the male and female lead stay just friends. Rad and Enid are that much more interesting because they started out as a failed romance. Enid's first impression of Rad was that he is an insensitive macho meathead and not much has changed. At surface level, Rad doubled down on the toxic machismo and his more feminine interests or sensitive side are open secrets he refuses to acknowledge. This establishes that Rad will apologize and can have frank, honest conversations with people that are important to him. It also sets the stage for how Rad and Enid's friendship becomes more than coworkers and surface level from here.

Manly Cupid is also a delight. He's an 80s brand of big, boxy, and rippling muscles in a bright pink toga. He's gruff but he also embodies the importance of open communication and vulnerability between romantic partners. He's very forceful in his approach but there's a promising note that he's open to learning from his own mistakes and admitting when he's wrong. He's a fantastic early example of positive masculinity in this series.

2.) "Special Delivery"

The meat of this episode is addressing the sharper edges of how often Enid quips at Rad or makes fun of his 'softer' interests. Rad still struggles with owning the more 'feminine' side of his personality and interests but he's reached a point with Enid where he feels like he should be comfortable enough to be his full, uncensored self. Where "Second First Date" focused more on Rad's defenses, "Special Delivery" is a companion episode where Rad calls out Enid using sarcasm and blurring the line between playful teasing with outright bullying as her own set of defense mechanisms.

They're able to work things out with Enid addressing Rad's criticisms and promising to be more thoughtful and conscientious when Rad expresses genuine interest in something 'cringe.' While Enid has a shared arc of "being emotionally vulnerable is cool" with Red, Rad's more sensitive side complements and touches on what kind of self-awareness Enid would need otherwise. There's also K.O., but he manages to knock down her walls in an easy, affable way unique to him as an adoptive younger brother. Rad is a harder nut to crack. Empathizing with him means looking past his more awkward exterior and takes a little more effort on Enid's part than with Red or K.O.

1.) "The Power is Yours"

This is my all-time favorite episode as well as crossover event, hands-down. It single-handedly drummed up what interest I have in Captain Planet now and led to me going out of my way to watch more of the original series. If O.K. K.O. comes up, I mention this episode at least once every time and I was hellbent on showing at least this one to my partner or anyone else that expresses even an iota of interest. It lives in my head rent-free!

This is a love letter to how campy, goofy, but heartbreakingly earnest Captain Planet was as a warning about pollution, climate change, and other social issues. Dr. Blight is as over-the-top as she is in the original cartoon. Overall, its a fun, ridiculous romp that showcases the strengths of O.K. K.O.'s deceptively simplistic art style combined with surreal, goofy imagery only possible in an abstract cartoon world. The ending bit with Kwame and Captain Planet warning K.O. that climate change is an immediate and ongoing issue has the right amount of seriousness and gravity that message needs. There's so many episodes that I could similarly describe this way but this one managed to grab my attention in a way that I can't fully articulate.

Our Second-First Date

Pairing: Brigitte x GN!Reader Warning(s): None Word Count: 795 Masterlist

The candles on the table flickered in the low light of the restaurant, you shadow dancing along the wall behind you as you waited. Nerves ate at you as you watched the clock slowly tick. You were early, almost an hour earlier than the time you’d given her. You were almost glad you’d decided to book a private room.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Isaac Lahey, Vernon Boyd, Erica Reyes, Lydia Martin, Sheriff Stilinski Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dystopia, Fairies, Magic, Unrequited Love, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, Love Confessions, sterekweek2021, sterekdystopian, Don't copy to another site Series: Part 3 of Sterek Week 2021 Summary:

One day everyone over the age of twenty-five disappears. Derek is twenty-four.

@norahfitz​

Colin was both nervous and excited to see Norah again. It had been more than ten years since they broke up, but she was always this presence at the back of his mind. She was the reason no women had a real chance with him. She was perfect for him. And if he had gone to BU, he was certain they would still be together, married, and maybe have a kid or two. But the west coast called to him like a siren song. He was young. He wanted adventure. He wanted something completely different. So he went to Stanford. It was his choice that made Norah break up with him. She was right, of course, that living on different coasts wouldn’t be good for their relationship. But it still hurt. 

What made it worse was that he didn’t stay at Stanford. He dropped out as a sophomore when he realized astronomy wasn’t the right major for him. He could have found that out in Boston and stayed with Norah. But that was in the past. And even after he dropped out, he didn’t think it would be right to call her and try to get back together. Surely by then she would have moved on, and he didn’t want to seem pathetic.

Now he was getting a second chance. He would find out what brought her to Portland, and get to find out if they were still perfect together. He hoped so. Especially because they were six weeks away from getting married. Colin didn’t believe in coincidences. There was some force in the universe that brought them together. Maybe now they were mature enough. 

When he arrived at her apartment, he had his telescope packed up in a case in one hand. A bag full of groceries hung from the crook of his other elbow, letting him hold a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He set down the telescope for a moment to knock at the door. And by the time he picked it up, he heard the click of the lock. He put on a smile, and when he saw Norah his heart jumped into his throat. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. “Hi. These are for you.”

I like Radnid but I needed this so much. 

Theme song was amazing, as always.

Rad and Enid dated in middle school, but the date went terribly because Rad takes the advice of his toxic friends and keeps downgrading Enid’s likes and opinions. It is decided by Cupid himself that the two need to go on a second first date. It turns out to be more of a fight than a date, and Enid almost dies. In the end, they come to the understanding that Enid and Rad can love each other platonically, and that’s just as important as romantic love.

Things I noticed:

Rad has acne.

Cupid has a tattoo that says “WUV” and I’m pretty sure that’s a Princess Bride reference.

Drupe is green in the flashback! Baby strawberry!

Nick and Joff were at the crater. I don’t know how old they are but that probably means they’ve been dating for a while now. (Yes, this has been confirmed.)

Enid literally thought she was going to die in this episode. That’s dark.

Rating: 9/10. Proved that Enid and Rad aren’t dating. Taught the lesson that platonic love is just as important as romantic love.