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 8: Buff Frog The Benevolent
Episode Summary: A nervous Star pushes Buff Frog to confront his potential future constituents for the first time; Buff Frog must overcome his fear of public speaking in order to convince the masses that he's the right person for the job.
Original Release Date: January 6, 2021
On a warm spring day, Star found herself in the park, along with a couple dozen other folks, which included Marco, Jackie, and Chloe. Today, Star was leading the charge on a yoga class, open to all that wanted to participate. It had been a tradition that she had lightly started the year prior when her mental state was on the rocks. Now, with improved health and happiness and a much clearer perspective, she had decided to double down on the notion and ramped up her scheduled classes to one per week. It was open to anyone that wanted to be a part of it, but generally, she was happy with a smaller class. As for the Diaz & Butterfly adults & children, they sat on the sidelines and merely observed. Miles, for his part, was with the other children from the orphanage - as well as several others that had been adopted from the orphanage, including his best friend Lilly - while holding a tiny flag with a picture of Star's goofiest smile on it, waving it around while his eyes intently laid on his big sister.
"So, Carl, did you remember to call your mother?"
What others who weren't a regular part of the classes may not have understood was that it also doubled as a sort of therapy session, where Star would open herself up to her "students" and let them feel comfortable opening up to her. It was her way of paying forward the help her therapist, Cassandra Cher, had been giving her over the past year.
"Yes, I did."
"And what did you say to her?"
"I told her she had to stop talking smack about my wife, period, or I wouldn't be speaking to her no more."
"And what did she say to that?"
"She hasn't said anything to me since. I don't know if she got the message or if she's waiting me out or what."
"Well, whatever comes of this, you can rest easy knowing you said your piece & stood your ground. And I'm sure your wife is very proud of you."
She didn't have a degree in psychology, and she'd probably fail a test on the anatomy of human emotions or the brain, but even still, she thrived in her area of expertise: helping people. Using her own personal experiences to help push people around her to be the best versions of themselves they could be. She had come such a long way since her beginning, both from the time she burned her castle down in a sloppy display of magic, and from the time her mental illnesses crept up and pinned her body to the metaphorical ground. Everyone had taken note of how far she had come. From her therapist to her parents; from her circle of friends to her boyfriend & future husband.
"Look at her go." Jackie whispered to Marco as she and the rest of the group changed poses. "She knows how to command attention."
"She's a natural leader." He whispered back, admiring the radiant aura permeating from his girlfriend. "Even when she was melting down, she could command a room. Now that she's got better control of her emotions and thoughts again, there's no telling where her ceiling is."
"Seems like the only thing she still can't control is her hormones." Jackie loved teasing Star and Marco about that. And she wasn't afraid to let them know it either, especially after their first sleepover together. Heck, even Chloe was amused at the way Marco and Star got gun shy over the whole ordeal. All Marco could do was try to stop his face from going cherry red. Needless to say, he failed. Not lost on any of them was that at the moment - by sheer coincidence - Jackie's back was facing Marco. And she was wearing yoga pants. An unlucky combinations.
"Why must you make fun of us for that?" He asked with a slight quiver in his voice.
"Because you and Star make it way too easy." She followed up her teasing with a light kiss on Marco's cheek, resulting in the cherry red blush going darker. Not helping was Chloe gently ruffling his hair like he was her sibling. Up in front of the group, Star could only watch and giggle under her breath as she watched her love succumb to his embarrassment.
While Marco had to deal with the embarrassment of once again being stuck between his former crush and her current girlfriend, the monster known as Lobster Claws found himself traversing through the park and towards the group of yoga participants. In his possession, he had a rolled-up piece of paper. The adults took notice and attempted to step forward, unsure of his intentions and unaware that Star & Marco had previously worked to convert him to "not evil." "Is it true?" His voice rang through the crowd, temporarily throwing off Star's concentration as Lobster Claws attempted to pry her loved ones for information.
"Pardon?" Eclipsa stepped forward to address him. It was at this time that Lobster Claws unraveled the piece of paper he was holding; it was a poster reading "Buff Frog For a Better Earthni!"
"Buff Frog wants to be our leader?"
"Hi!" And in came Miles to insert himself into the conversation. "He wants to be the mayor thing!"
As much as Star may have wanted to stay out of that talk, there was practically no way to avoid it. Especially since she was so closely connected with his impending campaign. "Take five, everybody!" She yelled out to the crowd, who all remained in their spots but began conversating with one another. The only exception was Marco, who departed to stick by Star. "Lobster Claws!" She called out to him. "Hi. Uh, yeah, Buff Frog...he wants to be the guy to run things around here. It's a long story."
"Well, what's his platform?"
Despite her commitment to help Buff Frog run his campaign and advocate himself as the best leader for the new Echo Creek, Lobster Claws's question still took her by surprise. "His platform?"
"You know, his goals. What does he want to accomplish? What does he stand for? Who does he stand for?"
"How is it that you come from a dimension that lived in a perpetual monarchy for centuries, and yet you understand the basics of a democratic platform better than, like, 90% of humans?" Marco playfully complained.
"I didn't quite expect our residents to take to Earth's form of leadership vetting so quickly." Moon admitted in a whisper.
"Look, I hate the guy running things right now and he obviously hates all of us for some reason. But I won't just waste a vote on someone else just because I don't like the guy in charge."
"Why? Marco's people do it all the time." Star elbowed Marco's arm. "Right?"
Which only resulted in yet another cherry-faced Marco. "Remind me never to complain about politics to you ever again."
"What's the problem? It's not like you can just choose not to vote for anyone, can you?"
"Actually..." Marco interrupted her. "Yes you can. That's a perfectly legal option. Nobody is forced to vote for anyone; they can just keep their butts at home if they want. It's not an option I'd endorse, but..."
"Marco is correct. It's not enough that Buff Frog isn't as toxic a person or candidate as the one currently running the show. He must be able to inspire a revolution within his potential constituents." Moon agreed. "If a leader lacks the ability to inspire above all else, they will fail."
"If anyone can inspire people, it's Buff Frog. We just gotta give him a chance to prove it."
"Can he talk to people?" Miles chimed in, bringing his entourage of toddler friends to the center of the group. "He can talk and make nice to them. And they can see that he can be the thingy!"
"I think your brother is suggesting a town hall meeting." Came the voice of Jackie, whom, along with Chloe, decided to silently join in on the conversation.
"Hey, that's not a bad idea." Marco was instantly on board with it. "Star, you can gather a bunch of people in one place and have Buff Frog speak to them. Have them ask him questions about what he wants to accomplish. Maybe make a speech of sorts. Give him his chance to show people why he believes he's the best person for the job for reasons other than "the other guy's a whackjob."
"But he is a whackjob!" Star argued.
"And that hasn't stopped people before!"
"Maybe Buff Frog will make it different this time."
"Excuse me?" Came the voice from one of Star's "yoga students," who had easedropped on much of the conversation by that point. "Is that the large, humanoid frog gentleman person that has the tadpoles for babies? The one that's really good at that football ripoff?"
"I knew bringing cornball onto Earth was a bad idea..." Marco quietly whispered to himself while Star addressed the patron.
"Y-Yes, that's him!" Was her answer, which prompted two actions: one being the children surrounding her to cheer wildly at the mention of him, Miles leading the charge, and the gentleman to turn to a group standing away from him.
"Yo, you were right! He is running!"
"You all know him?" Marco inquired.
"Well he is the coach of the town's YellowBall team..."
"It's Cornball, sir." Star corrected quickly.
"And he's got that amazing athlete for a kid! She'd been incredible if only it were a real sport."
"Okay now you're just being mean."
"But what's his platform? What's he running on?"
After a silence exchange between Star and Marco, the former princess returned her attention to the curious group. "You know what? You'll get your chance to hear it from him. Straight from the source. He's...going to have a town hall meeting. And then you'll know everything! You'll see, he's going to blow you away!"
"I have to speak to crowd!?"
Unfortunately for them, their hopes hit a tiny snag when they conveyed their plan to Buff Frog himself back at the Monster Temple. He was slightly less than delighted at the plan.
"It's not so bad." Marco tried to explain to him to ease his nerves. "You'll just give a speech, present your platform, take a few questions...you know, let them get to know the guy running for office. 99 percent of politicians succeed by trying to connect to the public like this. The other 1 percent we don't talk about..."
"I know of routine, young Marco. But there is problem with plan."
"What's the problem?"
"My English quite broken. I stumble over words and thoughts. I act on impulse and change ideas on whim."
"Oh, Buff Frog, you're not the only one that does that. Look at me. Changing my ideas and acting on impulse is my whole adolescence." Star joked. "Don't worry about it; we all have so much faith in you."
"We'll help you write an amazing speech to keep yourself organized, prep you for public speaking, dress you up something sharp..." Marco was committing to the task. "Hey, you raised a bunch of homeless tadpoles all on your own and turned them into amazing kids. Of course you're a leader. And you can totally help turn things around here. Take the power away from the mayor and improve things for everyone. My people, and yours & Star's."
"Besides, anyone that can put up with the likes of Ludo, Toffee, and the centuries of undeserved hate & racism mewmans flung your way more than deserves the chance to be in charge. Even Marco's kind are warming up to you."
The mention of the mewman race suddenly hatched a question within Marco's head. "Actually, that reminds me..." She turned to Star's folks behind him. "So...uh, can your people...like, vote? You know, in elections? Are they natural citizens? How are other cities or towns that have inherited Mewni's neighboring kingdoms handling these issues? We have to know where we stand if we hope to have a fighting chance here."
Remarkably, they didn't have a duly prepared answer for him, which instantly set off his anxiety & concerns. "What do you mean? Of course they are." Eclipsa answered in an obviously panicked tone. "A-Aren't they? Wasn't that something that Glossaryck was going to take care of when, you know, the Cleaving was finally done for real?"
"What the heck are you talking about?"
"Actually, I...just assumed he took care of things too." Star admitted. "That he fixed everyone's memory to make it seem like this was how it had always been."
"With our people clashing and discriminating?" Buff Frog objected.
"Yeah but racism is a USA staple too. We didn't think anything of it." Marco rebuffed. "So does this mean-"
"Oh no, don't you worry. I'm fairly certain we've addressed that. We smartly made backups of every file we have working in conjunction with his people. Our people and monsters can participate in political junctures the same way as any Earth human can."
"American." Marco corrected her. "Remember, we have countries?"
"Oh dear, you and your semantics."
"The point is, lad, we'll address that concern and see to it that they aren't robbed of their new democratic obligations!" River announced. "Until such time, we must prepare our leading man to speak to the constituents."
"I'm so excited!" Star giddily announced, her joyous clapping stirring up Miles's excitement as well. "You're gonna be so good at this, I just know it!"
"They're totally right, Dad!" Katrina also egged him on. "You're an amazing leader! And you can totally prove all the doubters wrong."
Despite his clear reservations about the entire process, their support & faith in him touched his heart. "If you all believe in me, then I also believe."
"Fantastic! This is going to be great! Quick, we have to start working on talking points, book a venue, spread the word-"
"Star..." The girl felt her boyfriend lightly tap her shoulders to calm her nerves. "One thing at a time."
The next several days were spent in the preparation stage. The Butterfly adults spent their time talking to those around Echo Creek hoping to find a place large enough to host a forum for Buff Frog to plead his mayoral case. With Janna & Marco's directions, they tried every place they could think of: from Echo Creek high school to a nearby hospital for some inexplicable reason. They even tried to talk Reggie & Greta into allowing them use of the orphanage building. But they were turned down; there were concerns that the children would be too much of a distraction due to their devotion to Star - a valid concern. With each rejection, their options became more limited.
Conversely, Star, Marco, & Janna buckled down and worked with Buff Frog on his talking points. The goals here were simple: lay out the foundation for why Buff Frog was running. What did he want to change & improve? Why did he think he was the better leader for this new world as opposed to the carryover guy? What were his ideas? Conveying those ideas and foundations to the people - and doing so convincingly - was going to be a challenge. By Buff Frog's own accord, he didn't feel his speaking was on par with those that would qualify for a position of significant power. While the teens vehemently disagreed with his conclusion, they agreed to work with him on his public speaking skills.
The ensuing days would showcase just how apprehensive Buff Frog truly was about the entire process. He supported their endeavor to have a leader elected that understand all aspects of the new world made, but he questioned whether he was truly the best choice. In his eyes, Star was still the best choice, and he wasn't alone in his thought. But another thought they shared was their desire not to increase her political obligations to a point of exhaustion as had been the case post-Toffee. His nerves about the entire process showcased themselves throughout practice, as he frequently flubbed lines, adlibbed apprehensively & without conviction, struggled to maintain eye contact with his "audience" - Star & Marco - and even accidentally punched a wall within Star's room. Fortunately it wasn't a mirror, and the force of impact wasn't nearly as hard as it was with Star's accident, but the frustration was paramount.
One day, they found themselves still curled up in Star's room, trying once more to help the frog humanoid monster prepare. They were all in the middle of a much-needed break; the teens were replenishing their energies with sandwiches and milk. The same went for Buff Frog's children. Buff Frog, however, was in no mood to quit. He kept reading over his index cards, frantically trying to memorize his talking points and prepare his speech inflections to convey them in the most convincing ways possible. All it did, however, was further stress him out. It got to the point where the only thing that could snap him out of it was Star sending in Miles to use his adorable charm on him.
Sure enough, Miles shooed himself into Buff Frog's tunnel vision & started throwing his Star doll around & giggling. Any effort by Buff Frog to ignore him quickly wore itself away; he put his cards aside & joined in the laughter, sighing heavily once he was done giving Miles his playtime. "Why don't you take five, buddy?" Star insisted. "We've all been working hard."
"Is not working for me." Relented the frog humanoid. "I look at words on paper, and mind turns to slime."
"It's just nerves." Marco smiled, patting the frog man's shoulder. "You're getting better."
"Better is not good enough, Earth man. One cannot lead their people merely on "better. A leader must prove themselves worthy to lead their constituents and improve their conditions. Incremental progress not acceptable."
"My people have run on that for seemingly the entirety of our country."
"That's not the flex you think it is, dude." Janna clapped back at him. In the back of her mind, however, Janna started to form her own idea. In her hand, she held her cellphone. The irony wasn't lost on her that in the modern day, there were other ways of reaching the masses besides just the traditional town hall. "So, what? You don't think you're cut out for this? You think you're too scatterbrained to be a leader? Don't have what it takes?" Her sudden set of questions caused a quick turnaround by the likes of Star & Marco; both of them didn't hide how aggravating they found her sudden line of questions. Marco mouthed to Janna his frustrations, only for Janna to silently point to her phone. Somehow, without any further clarification, he got the message. He got it so quickly that he was able to intercept Star before she needlessly mouthed off to her, whispering silently exactly what Janna was doing: livestreaming the entire ordeal unfolding in front of them.
"Excuse me, young lady, I do not have what it takes?" Whatever Janna was hoping to achieve, it seemed to be working. He stood up fiercely and eyed her, not even realizing there was more to her intentions. "I not perfect. I am humanoid frog man person. I do not understand Earth culture or Earth people besides karate boy."
In the background, Star giggled. "He's talking about you." She whispered to Marco.
"But what I do understand is what is like to live in world that looks down on you for being different. Looks down on you for not conforming to their structure of power. I lived it for years. My people have lived it for centuries. We were all nearly eradicated in epic anticlimactic battle at hands of sociopath. We spent forever under regime that disregarded our needs. Now we spend more time under new regime that appears not to care for needs? Absolutely not. All deserve better."
"So you think you can do a better job?"
"A rock can do better job. I have made friends with human peers over time. I have monster allies scattered around and living in Monster Temple. I have turned some mewman perspectives around; they have seen the light and come over to our side, moreso those that we helped keep safe during the magic reckoning."
Star and Marco couldn't help but exchange looks with each other. News of mewmans having realized the error of their racist ways and making peace with monster clans was a new development for them. In the background, Buff Frog had quietly been a liaison for the Butterfly family, working in secret to care for the monsters that were brought into Echo Creek, while also forging relationships with Earth humans and potentially mending fences with mewman. His work on the mewman side had been surprisingly successful; following Manfred's failed coup attempt with one of the four magic wands - the incident that he titled "the magic reckoning" - Buff Frog found himself instrumental in keeping folks on Earth safe. As it turned out, the magical fight taking place in the center of the multiverse resulted in cataclysmic damage to the surface world that ended up undoing itself just as the group succeeded in locking away the magic - hopefully for good this time - and returning.
Buff Frog took charge and helped multiple factions of creatures find places to hide safely until the chaos ended. It didn't matter to him who was a mewman or a human or a monster. Anyone that was considered in danger was someone that he prioritized rescuing and protecting. There wasn't any time for him to discriminate, even if he had been in the business of discriminating.
"So you helped lead a rescue mission?"
"Did indeed. Not matter much; calamity lasted only few moments." The time dilation between the source of the chaos - the Neverzone - and Earthni was drastic.
"And what did the candidate you're running against do to assist?"
"Bupkis! He huddled with stooges and abandoned the lot. Even while others begged him to help keep them safe from falling debris, he did nothing. Cared only for self! A true leader puts personal desires to the side in order to fight for the greater good. Leadership requires sacrifices. Like when young Star Butterfly surrendered throne of Mewni to monster lover queen and remained in cirlce to ensure transfer of power was peaceful!" Upon the uttering of Star's name, Janna turned herself to face Star, ensuring the camera caught her face; she supported Buff Frog's endeavor to give Star her due. Star, however, did not see it that way. To call the emotion she felt in the moment "embarrassment" would be an understand. She took her cherry red face and tried to hide behind Marco. She was not in the mood for spotlight or recognition of any kind. Janna silently rolled her eyes and return to her original position.
"She is better leader than clown nose in office." Buff Frog continued. "But she no want to run. Hurts her feet."
"Her feet are dainty." Marco joked, earning himself a playful shove.
"Why not?" Posed a question from the always precious Miles, who looked Star square in the eye and slightly tilted his head curiously.
"Why what, sweetie?" Asked Star.
"Why don't you want to be the thingy?"
The question resulted in Janna swinging the camera back at Star, with Miles taking notice of the object and furiously waving, surely lulling whatever audience Janna into an adorable hypnotic trance. Star knelled down and looked her brother square in the eye. "You mean mayor?"
"Yeah! You would be great! And I love you!" Silent awws from the onlookers as Star embraced the golden child. Such an innocent soul, Miles was.
"Thank you, sweetheart. But I don't think I'd be all that good."
"Why not?"
"Well...I had my chance to run things. I had plenty of chances to be a good leader to my people, and I just...blew it."
"Star, that's nonsense." Marco obviously objected; apparently he was still a tad sore about this subject. "You barely had a chance to lead the way you wanted to. You were thrust into leadership because your mom disappeared, and then you gave up the throne and had to make sure things didn't completely fall apart at the hands of someone that clearly didn't want the throne either."
"And you did an awesome job, girl."
She could only muster a shrug. "Even if I wanted to, I don't think I'd be any good. Now Buff Frog, on the other hand," She approached Buff Frog and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, eager to spotlight him and give him the spotlight she felt he deserved. "This is the right guy for the job. He knows all of the ins and outs of Mewni. He understand mewman monster relations better than anyone that's migrated to Earth. He's even popular with the human folks. I haven't heard anyone say a bad word about him. Not even your beloved "mayor."
"Don't hold your breath on that lasting." Janna warned her. "Election season's only getting started."
"Let him talk." Buff Frog stood firm in his resolve. "I not afraid. I can take the blows. What I will not allow is for all to become pawns in whatever game he has up sleeve. We deserve leader that puts personal desires aside. Leader that cares only for the needs of those they serve. I don't know if I am good leader. But I am prepared for challenge. And if I do win, I will serve all with utmost humility. If young Butterfly can make her sacrifice for better tomorrow, then so can I."
"We believe in you, Buff Frog." Star responded with a hug.
"Thank you, child. But I know not if I can be convincing."
Janna took a gander at her phone, which was still livestreaming. "Oh don't worry, my man. I think you're plenty convincing. But don't take my word for it:" She emphasized her holding the phone at Buff Frog. "Take the word of your viewers." Janna instantly caught on that Buff Frog was not really understanding what she was talking about. "I've been livestreaming us this entire time. Sometimes the best way to talk to the people is through the power of the manmade internet."
Marco peered over at the phone and found himself startled. "How do you have over 50,000 people watching this right now?!"
"Hard work and putting myself out there, dude. It's called "cultivating an audience."
"You really should watch her web show." Star commented, referring to the web show that Janna had inexplicably started up the year prior completely out of boredom. "It's all sorts of fun. Pretty much anything goes."
"Last week I painted my parents' room with glow-in-the-dark neon paint. Next week I'm interviewing former president Calvin Coolidge."
"He's been dead for a hundred years." Marco complained.
"I still have my ouiji board." Another glance at her phone left her in the same boat as Marco: floored. "Whoa, man, you gotta check out these comments." She looked over at Buff Frog, who still had a curious face. "You're a hit with the people!"
"I do not hit anybody!"
"No, she means you're popular!" Star clarified.
"But I don't understand. How can all people fit into tiny box and see me?" One of the next items on the agenda was going to be teaching Buff Frog the wonders of modern technology.
"Welcome to the modern age." Janna remarked. "Say hi to your people." After a moment of hesitancy, he shyly waved to the camera. "See? There's more than one way to reach an audience in today's day. You don't need to get up on a stage and talk face-to-face with thousands of judgemental faces that will constantly judge you without ever actually listening to you."
"Heeeeey, my people are not judgemental." Star objected, only for that objected to be quickly dropped. "No, no, I can't say that with a straight face."
"So I can speak into box hole and others will see and hear me?" Buff Frog asked again, gradually warming up to this idea. Hey, it beat having to look thousands straight in the eye.
"Exactly."
It sounded like a great third option for them to take; Buff Frog could still make his case for why he should be running things without having to put in so much effort at once in beating stage fright. "I like idea!"
"Then it's settled!" Janna quickly turned the camera to herself so she could speak to the audience. "And that, ladies and gentleman, is your next ruler of Echo Creek, LA, Earthni. Don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from." Without a second thought, she stopped the livestream and turned back to the others. "I think that's enough for now."
Which prompted Buff Frog to breath quite a loud sigh of relief. "That went better than expected."
"You were great!" Star reassured him with a hug. "Don't worry about the jitters, you were amazing! The first one's always the hardest. It's all uphill from here!"
"Thank you, princess. Your unwavering support-wait, first!? I have to do more!?" As relieved as he was to have his first "town hall" over wtih, the prospect of having to do more of them leading up to the eventual election suddenly stressed him out.
"Welcome to the inconvenient world of beuorucracy."
"Tell you what, Buff Frog: let's call it a day and go get some dinner." Star suggested, immediately lifting his spirits. Miles, for his part, found himself giggling and applauding. Of course it didn't take long for Star to be sucked in by the adorable nature. "Would you like that, sweetie? Are you hungry?" In response, he began playfully gnawing at Star's cheek, both kissing her and showcasing that he was hungry. "Yes you are, you're such a cutie."
"I would be honored to join you for complimentary evening meal." He followed behind them as they departed the room. "Do you have fly soup?"
"I can say without a doubt that we do not, in fact, have any fly soup."
End of Episode 8!
Happy belated new year, everyone! I hope 2022 treats all of you better than 2021 did! I'm still here & kicking and will be for as long as I can do this.
See you all next time! And remember to read & review!