Star vs The Forces of Evil

Earthni Sweet Symphony

Disclaimer: Star vs The Forces of Evil was created by Daron Nefcy and is owned by Disney. I own no part of Star vs.

Episode 3: Prejudice & Pride

Episode Summary: A mix-up with City Hall prompts an uncomfortable & unwarranted confrontation, one that makes Star question her political future.

Original Release Date: August 1, 2021

It was bright & early, and Star & Marco were off to the Echo Creek Orphanage for Star's shift. In her hands she held her little brother Miles. While he was now a permanent fixture at the Butterfly castle, he still missed his friends at the orphanage, and Star promised she would take him with her to work whenever he wanted. Safe to say that he always looked forward to these work visits, as did the friends he had that still remained at the orphanage.

"Heyyyyy babies..." Star said in a sing-song tone as she opened the door. Just as she had hoped, the other children were sitting in the lobby playing with each other, only to then look up at Star & Marco as they entered the building. Once their eyes settled on Miles & they realized what was happening, all of them - or at least the majority of them - leaped up off the floor & skedaddled towards them, asking to greet the young child. Star was more than happy to oblige. Reggie & Greta, the two prominent adults who ran the orphanage, were at the front desk working on business dealings. "Aww, but I told you Miles would come visit." She looked up at the two adults. "They really missed him, didn't they?"

"Of course they did." Greta remarked. "He was the stalwart of this place before your folks adopted him. He had been here longer than anyone." She took careful note of the kids all smothering Miles with affection while the boy loudly & proudly laughed along for the ride.

"Aww, poor baby..." Star couldn't help but notice that there were a few children from the usual group who were missing - they had been adopted since Star's last shift - and there were a couple of new faces who were new to the orphanage, the ones who didn't immediately react with joy upon the teens & Miles entering the establishment. It was two young kids - one girl, two years old, of Asian descent & the other a three year old boy of Puerto Rican descent - who looked in confusion as they watched their new friends celebrating the arrival of this strange teen couple & a little boy with Down Syndrome. "Oh and we have some new faces, don't we?" Star took noticed & slowly made her way to the two new children. "And who do we have here?"

"Our two newest additions...Suki and Fernando." Reggie spoke.

"Oh those are such adorable names. Hello Suki. Hello Fernando." She picked both boys up gently & held them in her arms. "My name is Star. I'm the babysitter of this place. I think we're going to be great friends."

"We also have one more new incomer on the way. Name's...Toby..." Reggie said as he checked the computer.

"Aww, such a cute name."

"Are there any names that you don't think are cute?" Marco playfully teased, to which was met with a shrug.

"I'm not very picky when it comes to names." Before this riveting argument could progress any further, there was a knock at the door. It seemed like the time had arrived for their brand new resident. Star & Marco went over to answer the door; standing there were what appeared to be two City Hall officials, with the one closest to the door holding what appeared to be a tiny baby wolf monster in a blanket. "Um...yes, can I help you?"

"Yeah, here." The official bluntly said, handing the baby wolf to Star almost unprompted. It was evident the official didn't really want to be there or be a part of this.

"What's this?" Marco reasonably asked as the baby wolf cooed.

"It's a space alien." The official replied sarcastically, which did not impress the two teens. "What does it look like? It's a baby wolf."

Marco groaned; he was in no mood for their sass today. "Okay let me rephrase. Why did you bring this baby wolf here?"

"We're fulfilling a delivery to this place on behalf of the mayor's office."

"Mayor's of-wait a minute, wait a minute. This is Toby?" Star reacted with near shock & horror. In the meantime, the children all had gathered around Star's legs, clamoring to see the new baby. Marco carefully took the baby wolf out of Star's hands & gently lowered it towards the floor, urging the kids to calm down so as not to startle the wolf. Fortunately for them these were good kids who were happy to listen & calmed themselves just enough to keep composed while still retaining their excitement. "But...this isn't an animal shelter...this is an orphanage."

"Look all we know is the mayor informed us to set course for this place since you're helping run it. He trusts your judgement & has hope you'll make the right calls to nurse him to his full potential or something. You have a problem with this, talk to him. We have to get back to work." And that ended that wholly unproductive conversation. The rude nature of the conversation was something Star couldn't let go of. Unfortunately, though, it would have to go on the back burner as Reggie & Greta approached the teens with clear looks of befuddlement filling their faces.

"I'm just as confused as you two." Star told them before they even had a chance to say anything.

"What the heck gives?" Marco spoke up again as he found himself swarmed by the excited & curious children.

"Well clearly the mayor's office has some sort of beef with me." Star lamented as she cradled the baby wolf in her arms.

"But why?"

"Heck if I know. Maybe it has something to do with my extended absence from daily politics thanks to my staycation,Or maybe it was the fact that we let Miles sit in on one of our political meetings and they clearly thought it was a joke."

"I helped." Miles proclaimed, this time proudly, to which the other children all applauded & laughed.

"Earth politicians can be pretty adversarial..." Marco tried to help her feel better.

"Any politician, Marco. My parents & the neighboring kingdoms could be the exact same way. Sometimes it's necessary to get the best for your people, but this time it just feels...petty."

"Whatever their reasons, we need to figure out what to do with this little guy." Reggie chimed in again.

"What do you mean? He's...He's an abandoned little orphan..."

"Yes, but deary, he's..." Greta hesitated. "He's not what we normally take in as a resident. We...We're used to human clients."

Talk about walking a tightrope. She was technically correct, but there was no way to phrase that statement without sounding at least a little condescending. "If you're going to ask me to abandon this little guy again, it's not going to happen. So he's not a human. So what? That means we just leave him by the wasteside & do nothing? I'm sorry, but that's not an option for me!"

"Hold up, baby girl," Marco pleaded, gently grabbing her shoulder & quickly rubbing it, loosening her tensing muscles. "Nobody said we're abandoning it. Maybe it's just...at the wrong place."

"And what do you mean by that, Mr. Diaz?"

"Well...this is a wolf monster, right? And on Earth we'd call wolves animals. Shouldn't this little guy have gone to an animal shelter? You know, like the one you used to work for?"

A temporary moment of silence as the pieces came together for Star & the others. "Ohhhh yeah that...that would make more sense. So then why did we get this little cutie? Ugh, looks like I'm gonna have to make some calls. Maybe my mom has some insight on this." She carefully carried the baby wolf into the kitchen, with everyone following quietly behind. "But first let's see if this guy needs to eat." As Marco was about to take a step to follow them, there was yet another knock at the door, so he took the initiative to open it up. Standing at the door was none other than Hilda, Star's former boss at the animal shelter she used to work for before she decided to put the majority of her energy into the orphanage. She, too, was holding a blanket with something - someone - in it.

A few moments later, everyone had returned from the kitchen, having fed the baby wolf a tiny bottle of baby formula, to see what was up. "Who was that, sweetheart?" Star lovingly asked, only to have Marco turn to face them all; his face spoke of pure befuddlement as his arms held the blanket up. "Marco?" And it was only then that Star even realized that Hilda was still there as well. "Hilda? What are you doing here?"

"Um...guys...meet our newest resident..." He tilted the blanket just enough so that the face of whatever was in the blanket could be visible to them all. "Toby." Sure enough, it was a baby human - correction, mewman - boy, no more than 6 months old. Star's face went pale.

"Wait...that's the Toby we're supposed to be expecting?" She said in such shock that she almost dropped the baby wolf in her arms. "What in the heck-"

"Yeah some goons in government suits stopped by just now. We were expecting a baby wolf animal thing-" Hilda immediately took notice of who Star was holding. "But instead they gave us that adorable little tyke instead. And before I even had a chance to question them they had high-tailed it out of there. They looked like they didn't want to be bothered, to be honest."

"Yeah that's the same impression we got just now." Marco added. "This doesn't make any sense. How does a screw-up of this magnitude happen without any sort of quality check or something?"

"Something's definitely up. Maybe my mom knows something." So the group agreed to reel in Moon & the rest of the adults on the shadow council on the situation. Star agreed to return the baby wolf monster to the animal shelter once they had devised a plan of action to move forward. Hilda, ever the laissez-faire worker, shrugged & returned to her place of work.

Some time later, after calls had been made, Moon, River, Eclipsa, & Globgor arrived at the orphanage. Star was waiting right inside & opened the door for them. "So glad you came. We have no idea where to-"

"No no no..." Moon stopped her in her tracks. "You know how it goes now, sweetheart." And she stuck her arms out, preparing to pick her daughter up for a hug. Slightly embarrassed but touched, she aquiesed, and Moon put her in her arms, where the other adults could also shower her with hugs. On the ground, Marco couldn't help but behold the sight of his girlfriend receiving the affection she so deseperately craved & deserved, while Miles couldn't stop himself from laughing. When the adults were finished, they placed her back on the ground with a huge smile & blush on her face, paving the way for Miles to approach them.

"My turn!" He yelled, to which they also refused to hesitate, picking him up & playing airplane with him quickly before finishing & making their way inside. The group led the adults into the kitchen - with the kids following closely behind - where they discovered the baby wolf & baby mewman being cradled in the arms of Reggie & Greta respectively. Hilda was standing nonchalantly next to them.

"Now how in the world could this have possibly happened?" Eclipsa whispered.

"So you guys knew that this was happening?" Marco asked them, a perfectly fair question.

"A while ago it was decided by us and your officials that we were to begin utilizing buisnesses such as this one to house young mewmans without a family to call their own and integrate them into your adoption system as if they were a normal Earth human." Globgor explained.

"And conversely we were to begin utilizing those businesses you call "animal shelters" to house Mewni monsters that resembled Earth animals."

"So just those and not, like, all of the monsters that didn't have a family?" Star questioned rather cynically.

"Those were the orders from the higher-ups." River added. "It's best not to go against the orders of those that can order your head chopped off for insubordination."

"Um...but they couldn't do that." Marco corrected him. "This isn't the Medieval Times anymore."

"We were under the impression you were aware of all this..." Moon found herself kerfuffled at the developments.

"No we knew we were expecting a new client today, but when those guys in suits showed up they had the baby wolf in their hands, gave it to me, and then gave me some really crappy attitude about it when I tried to ask what was going on."

For whatever reason, this didn't seem to surprise the adults. "Is that so?"

"And then some other suit clowns showed up at my place of business with the baby boy in their hands," Hilda interrupted, pointing out the sleeping mewman child. "And when I tried to argue that it clearly didn't look like any sort of animal, they just shrugged, gave me lip, and left. It was weird."

"...Huh."

Marco took notice of Moon's lack of shock at the developments unfolding in front of them. "...You don't seem very surprised." And once he pointed it out, Star herself couldn't help but notice the lack of surprise either.

"W-Well...government officials aren't infalliable, and the worst trait one can have is that of hubris. You're never too old to have your faults exposed & molded." It was the definition of a half-hearted explanation, but one whose surfaces heavily indicated the presence of a far deeper problem.

"So what now?"

"I can take the wolf baby thing back with me." Hilda volunteered. "It looks like a little puppy, it'll fit in just fine. The dogs will think it's one of their own."

"Oh you are a lifesaver." Star breathed a sigh of relief as the wolf was handed over to Hilda.

"I mean, technically I am, but you don't gotta brag about it or anything."

"And we can take this little bundle of joy into our home..." Greta added, doting on the young mewman baby.

"Sounds like we have things under control, finally." Marco also chimed in, patting his nervous girlfriend on her shoulder, which prompted said girlfriend to give him a flirtatious side eye. There was only one place she wanted his hands to be patting, and it was much lower tha her shoulders.

"I say we take this time to get all of our affairs in order, then we arrange a meeting with our government officials." Eclipsa said, breaking the temporary good vibes. "We still have to get to the bottom of this. A mishap like this is simply inexcusable."

"I agree with Eclipsa. Let's get going."

So after filling out the proper paperworks for both the baby wolf and the baby mewman, they were taken to their proper respective homes, while Star, Marco, Miles, & the Butterfly family returned to the castle, the adults quickly getting to work in arranging an emergency meeting with the mayor and his City Hall officials. The hope was to schedule the meeting for later in the week, permitting the adults to gather themselves & handle the meeting professionally, but upon making the ask, the official on the other end of the line barked back angrily at them, demanding they show themselves immediately at City Hall for the meeting. This only served to further infuriate them as they hastily made their way to City Hall. Everyone tagged along, including Marco & Miles.

As was the norm for meetings with important officials, their presence was immediatley demanded, only to then be forced to wait in the waiting room with the secretary for an undetermined period of time, an irony which only further upset the clan. "They bark at us demanding we show up right now, and then they have us wait for their presence in this bland, uninspired excuse for a waiting room." Moon muttered, trying her hardest to keep her cool.

"What is their deal lately?" Star couldn't help but ask. "I mean, they weren't always the friendliest people in the room but they were at least professional. This...This is just malarky!" As she said this she lightly slammed her fist onto the chair she was sitting on, something that baby Miles took note of.

"No this is chair." And of course the only thing he could spout out was the most innocent statement a baby could make, which instantly cooled the girl's fraying nerves at least temporarily. Unfortunately, this temporary reprieve from outrage would not last.

"The Mayor will see you now." At least, after more than a half hour of waiting, the group was permitted to enter the Mayor's office, where they found the Mayor and several of his right hand men waiting at the desk for them. The mayor didn't look very pleased.

"I hope whatever business you have for me was worth upending my afternoon schedule." Were the first words out of his mouth. It left the Butterfly clain gobsmacked.

"Us? We requested a meeting later this week. Your office insisted on immediate gratification." Moon answered back rather bitterly.

"So that's a no, then-" For whatever reason, the mayor seemed intent on starting trouble up, so Star intervened to get the conversation on track.

"Why did your men deliver a baby wolf to the Echo Creek Human Orphanage today?" She said rather cross to them, snapping their attention to her.

"No, you must be mistaken. My office delivered that little...oh what do you people call it...Mewman...to your doorstep."

"I think we'd know if we were mistaken." Eclipsa jumped in, taking out several papers & documents to present to them. "That orphanage business received the baby wolf that was intended for the animal shelter. The animal shelter received the baby mewman by mistake. We have the paperwork & affidavidts to prove it." The mayor quickly rummaged through said paperwork, growing increasingly annoyed & incessed that he was involved in this situation. He attempted to play it off by scoffing & claiming ignorance.

"Any amateur can drum up fake legal papers these days."

"Am I going to have to hit him?" River quietly whispered to his wife.

"I'll let you know." Moon whispered back.

"You know, accidents do happen. Things get mixed up all the time. It's not the end of the world, an accident doesn't automatically make you look bad." Star told the mayor calmly. "What is making you look back right now is your lousy attitude."

"I resent your tone, young lady."

"Then cry about it at home." Ooh, burn. "But right now we have a situation. Two innocent creatures that lacked families were sent to the wrong destination, and it was only discovered because we took the time to question things. Now what if we didn't? What if we just let everything be & didn't bother to double check? Who knows what sort of problems the wolf baby & mewman would've had? And who knows how many other creatures would've been wrongfully mixed up? This isn't a game!" The angrier Star grew, the closer Miles drew himself to her to act as a shield for her. "Why is it so difficult for you people to just acknowledge that it was a honest mistake. It was just a mistake, right?"

"Ma'am, we were only following orders." One of the other men next to the mayor said in a vain attempt to cool the tensions. This proved fruitless as the mayor snapped his head around to face the man.

"You speak only when I order you to speak. Do not make me tell you again!" As if things couldn't get more uncomfortable in that room.

"Oh so it was an intentional action!" Moon roared, standing up in disgust. "It was no accident."

"But why on Earthni would you do-"

"EARTH!" And there it was. "We live on EARTH. Not Earthni, not Earth 1, it's just EARTH!" For a brief moment, the Butterfly group all looked at each other with the most awkward silence that could've been mustered from this scenario. "We are not just some conglomerate of countries o-or worlds that don't mesh together, we are EARTH. That is all! We are Earth!"

At this point in time, the mixup between the two businesses earlier that day were the least of their concerns. Now at the top of the list was the mayor's emotional state, but not in the same way that it was with Star's emotional state over the past several months. "Sir, I don't...quite understand..."

One of the other gentlemen stepped forward, temporarily calling off the mayor & ending his tyraid. "Please pardon the mayor. The events of the last several months...all of the changes to our worldy dynamic & having to adjust to the new populations...it's been very stressful for him."

"Oh yes, yes it has, but unlike SOME people in this room, I haven't stopped working to make a better town for our constituents!"

And there it was. Star's mental health battles were well documented, both publicly and privately. It was well known that Star's loved ones had pulled out all the stops in order to help keep her in check, by both limiting the political exposure she had and privately doting on her to the point where one thought they worked for her. Apparently the mayor didn't take too kindly to this, wrongly interpreting the situation to think that she had been lazing around, when in reality, that couldn't have been farther from the truth.

"So that's it, huh?" Star somberly remarked, standing up & eyeing him directly. "That's what you think this all is. You think I've just been sitting on my bubble butt this whole time & derlicting my obligations. You think I haven't done squat to help all of us understand this new world we live in."

"One does not simply "take a vacation" from the political spectrum, miss."

Moon was about to stand to make a scene for all to witness, but she was silently talked out of it by her daughter. "First of all, I haven't stopped being involved in the politics. I merely took some steps back because my brain was so fried from everything that I had been through the previous year that I could barely think straight or keep my emotions in check. I had spent so much of myself that I literally had nothing to give. I'm suffering from bouts of fatigue, anxiety, and depression, you clown! So my friends & family all rallied around me to help me get back on my feet both literally and metaphorically. Secondly, so what if I did take a vacation? What good am I to the cause if my mental health is so poor that I'm almost completely useless!?"

"You do what other great voices in the world do: you suck it up & get over yourself."

And that was the trigger. Moon stood up fiercely - knocking over her own chair in the process - and stared down the mayor unapologetically & angrily. The men surrounding him simply stood & observed. As long as Moon didn't make a move to actively hurt the mayor, she was fine. "Listen to me, sir, I've had just about enough of you running your mouth to her. You're treating her like an invalid!"

"Well, forgive me, miss, but wasn't it you who said that our present situation was her fault? Her and her, erm, bedtime partner?"

Now Marco & Star had to silently look at each other and exchange looks of befuddlement. Why suddenly go after Marco? All this while Miles edged even closer to Star and finally embraced her as a form of protection.

"I said they were "at the center" of the incident, not that they caused it or that they even intended to cause it. Don't you dare twist my words. It won't work out nicely for you."

"I'd heed her warnings if I were you." River firmly spoke. "My wife doesn't bluff."

"What seems to be the problem anyway?" Eclipsa now entered the conversation. "We have all been more than capable of handling business in Star's absence."

"Hardly the issue, miss." The mayor was doubling down. "You all have had a hand in handcuffing our town - and beyond - into this precarious situation, and as such, you have an obligation to fix it."

"Now look!" If Moon wasn't furious before, she was now. "My family and I are more than happy to assist in moving forward. We're more than happy to assist in helping every group of beings now stuck on this world get along with each other & create a better environment for all. But we are no longer a monarchy. We cannot unilaterally impose our will on the citizens any longer, even if we wanted to. And neither can you."

"Oh I'm aware of that. If I could, I'd single handedly see to it that you all are removed from this town!"

"Well whether you like it or not, we still have significant political capitol around here, especially my wonderful daughter. She, more than any of us, has been successful in having the Earth citizens & Mewni citizens interact & make peace with one another. She understands how to pull the strings far more than any of us give her credit for, especially you."

"Yes, the same girl that insisted on bringing her clearly deficient brother into a very important meeting, who then proceeded to embarrass and humiliate us all!"

Despite the rise in his volume & temper, none of them were deterred. Not even Miles, who only looked back at Star & silently asked what was happening. Star patted his head & made him giggle. "You're just jealous that this four-year old angel was so attentive & willing to pitch in." Star barked back. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but...we almost never see any of your people at any of these meetings. At least nobody that isn't acting as a bodyguard. For what was supposed to be a collaborative effort, seems like me and my folks are doing most of the heavy lifting."

"As I've said, that's the price you pay for your actions."

"Excuse me..." Globgor finally worked up the gall to speak up & gather everyone's attention. "I believe we have veered far off from the original premise of this meeting. The unfortunate mix-up?"

The mayor scoffed & literally threw his nose up in the air. "I told you, it was no mistake." A temporary silence before it began to sink in for the group. And they were left clearly appalled.

"Are you insinuating that it was intentional?" Moon angrily asked. "IF that's the case...why? What could you possibly have hoped to gain from pulling this stunt?"

"I gained your attention, did I not?" He leered back directly at Star, who now was beginning to grow a tad defensive. Miles & Marco both embraced her and acted as her shield. "I assumed that such an action would have flown under the radar with your ragtag team. Clearly I was mistaken."

"So you're admitting that your office isn't capable of handling this end of the arrangement. Well, that's fine then. We'll take it over from here on out."

"Oh no, that won't be necessary-"

"No that wasn't a suggestion. I'm invoking Article IV, Sub Article One of the Earthni-Echo Creek-Cleave Treaty. We'll be immediately overtaking proceedings of the Mewni Re-Housing Operation."

"Are you, now? Are you suggesting that I'm unfit to be running this town for my lovely constituents?"

"Heavens, of course not. Then I'd have to invoke Article XII and we'd all have to sit through an uncomfortable arbitration hearing."

Marco leaned in to whisper to Star. "Arbitration? I'm impressed, she's getting the hang of criminal terminology."

"Who do you think's been teaching her?" Star whispered with a wink before they shared a kiss.

"Fine then. If you want these obligations so badly, congratulations! They're yours now. Don't come crawling back to this office when it becomes too much to handle."

"I assure you, sir, that won't be happening. Send us all the paperwork and we shall pick up where your team left off." She crossed her arms & huffed, then turned back to her daughter. "Star, sweetie, would you take your brother & wait outside?"

Silently, the girl nodded. She picked up her brother & began leaving the office, with Marco quietly following behind. They closed the door behind them and stood there, the silence permeating the room. "I don't think I've ever seen your mom quite that angry before. Not even with the Mag-" Marco was attempting to diffuse the tension & bring some positive fluff to the room. But his efforts quickly stopped when he looked over at his girlfriend. It appeared that the stresses of the insults thrown at her by the mayor had gotten to her, and she was struggling to hold back tears & not start wailing. She took any jabs thrown at her about her mental anguish super personality, and it took everything she had in her not to lose her composure. "Shh, shh, it's okay, baby, he's gone now." He embraced her, as did Miles, both hoping she would be able to hold it together.

Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. The girl buried her face into Marco's chest & began crying which only served to make Miles start crying as well, heartbroken over the distress his favorite person was experiencing.

Later that night, after the rest of the business for the day had been taken care of, Star found herself in her room, alongside her boyfriend & little brother. Her mind was still fixated over the blow up from earlier, where the mayor lost his cool over her deciding to prioritize her health over politics & accusing her of being lazy. Marco couldn't help but notice his girl was distracted by these thoughts. So he & Miles decided to take her mind off of it by running over to her and playfully tackling her to the ground. For the short term at least, it seemed to work, as she broke out into hysterical laughter as the two boys tickled her into submission.

"Uncle! Uncle!" She yelled as the two finally ceased and let her finish her laughing. "Oh, boy did I need that."

"Yay!" Applauded the always adorable Miles.

"You okay?" Her boyfriend asked her, to which she could only shake her head.

"No, not really. I can't believe that clown! The nerve to pull the stunt he did and the nerve to call me lazy for wanting to focus on my mental health."

"You know what's really sad? The world at large doesn't really respect mental health all that much. I-It doesn't manifest itself as physical injuries, so people just write it off as others looking for attention."

"But you know that wasn't what it was-"

"Of course I do. We all do. But not everyone thinks that way."

"So he decides to "teach me a lesson" by screwing over the new project him & my folks have been working on? The pipeline for abandoned mewman babies & baby monsters? That doesn't even make any sense?"

"Politics is a...strange little world of its own."

"You don't have to tell me, Marco. I've lived it. I'm still living it. And I don't care what he says; I will always do what I need to do to look after the people of this new world, but not at the cost of fraying my mental health. Never again."

"Good for you!" He leaned in and kissed her cheek, sharing his pride with her.

"And you know, if he's having a hard time too, who's to say he can't take a break of his own? Why is that such a big sticking point?"

"It's just...it's just the culture. The culture of the relentless work week. Don't take breaks or you're seen as weak and obsolete."

"It's so dumb. You know what? I bet you like half of the world's problems could be solve if we put more time & energy into making it so people didn't have to kill themselves working for whatever they were trying to attain, whether it be financial security or just a passion of theirs."

"In other words, common sense."

"But let me guess: We don't do that, do we?"

"We totally should, but...no, we don't."

Star sighed as her boyfriend helped her off the ground, with Miles grabbing onto Star's leg as she stood up straight. "Well maybe things will finally start to change. If I have anything to say about it, then the way we've done things in the past will be just that: a thing of the past."

"Knowing you, babe, you can do anything you put your mind to."

"You're darn right I can. In fact, I think I may already have some ideas..."

"Tell you what." Marco lightly grabbed her shoulders and stared deep into her lovely eyes. "You can tell me all about it in the morning. Let's get some sleep."

"But not before we've had fun, right?"

"I assumed that was implied."

"Just checking."

So they helped Miles change into pajamas & tucked him into bed, then helped each other into the bed, where they of course took care of their nightly business. It was pretty much routine at this point. In the back of Star's mind, her ideas for the future of Earthni and the political landscape were slowly coming to form themselves, but she chose to keep them in the back of the mind. For now, the only thing she wanted to concentrate on was the fun she had with Marco under the covers. Always a delightful time.

But rest assured, those ideas were there, and if executed, they had the potential to turn Earthni on its face, all for everyone's betterment.

End of Episode 3!

Real talk: we as a society have a mental health issue. IT's a stigma that you're not supposed to talk about your problems, that you're just supposed to suck it up & get over it like it's no big deal. But it's not. And if you've lived with a mental illness you know exactly how painful it can be. We don't encourage people to be open about their issues, just like we don't encourage people to take breaks for their physical & mental health to recover. It's ridiculous. And until things change we're going to keep having the same problems over and over again. Perhaps in time the stigma will go away for good but it's going to take people waking up & realizing that the way things have been done haven't work for anything substantial to progress.

I feel like this was a theme that was unintentionally tapped on in Star vs proper but was never allowed to fully explore. The Ballad of Earthni tried to, certainly, and maybe this book will as well. And who knows what's going to happen with Star & her family as now the mayor's office has apparently become an adversary to them. Stay tuned on that one.

And as always, please read & review!