I have been ill for
the longest time. And I've been putting away writing, sketching and
all those little things like a good little vegetable. I'm still
recovering but I decided to get at least one post done. Being ill
takes up way too much of my time and I do not like that one bit. The
only part I do like is the excessive drinking of hot-warm-lukewarm
things. I'm usually a drinker of icy things, such as Iced Tea and
chilled orange juice but after the recent health scare of sorts, I've
taken to warmer drinks. Proper tea, warm water and any sort of soup
(clear, tomato, mushroom, corn; you name it, I've drank it all in the
past few days!) are my things now. Seeing how the erratic weather
change has brought upon its own sort of epidemics and other
non-sparkly things, the warm drinks helps us to calm down. I get it
now. I get why tea is so popular. My state is super famous for its
tea. Okay, now, I'll get to what I really want to talk about.
In the midst of an
extremely tiring week, I found quite a little time to actually sit
and watch the TV. I decided to watch some sort of old cartoon when I
felt better, which usually was in the evenings, and the animated
goodness I chose to revisit was 'Teen Titans'.
'Teen Titans' was my
jam ever since it was aired in my country. It was aired when I was in
the third grade, in the year 2004. I remember successfully tricking
my classmates into thinking I could levitate after murmuring Raven's
chant of 'Azarath metrion zinthos'. Of course, they never asked me to
do it in front of them because they weren't half the wise cracks they
are now. Now, when I rewatch the show, I can't help but wonder if I
liked the balance amongst all the characters or just watched it for
the pure fun it provided. I'm sure it's a mix of both. However,
there's one thing that had me fascinated in the third grade itself
and still continues to do so. That 'thing' is:
Starfire. Princess
Koriand'r of Tamaran. The glorious golden-skinned, flame haired,
emerald eyed equivalent of a goddess. Maybe it was voice actor Hynden
Walch's take on the character that made her so endearing. The voice
played up her innocence as well her her strength, her frustrations
and her joy. Green, having been my favorite colour since childhood,
was also one of the many reasons I instantly loved Starfire. The fact
that her power bolts were green, her eyes were green made me excited
– she vanquished evil with the help of bolts in my favorite colour.
Sure, Beast Boy and
Cyborg provided most of the laughs in the show but there was a
certain charm to the humour Starfire provided. And she could fly. Who
doesn't want to fly? It was perfection. All her cute antics made me
love her even more. For instance, there was this one scene where her
friends ask her what pizza topping she'd like and she replies, very
politely, “Pickles, Bananas and Mint Frosting.” The way she'd mix
up idioms and use Tamaranean words to express herself would
habitually delight me. Her ability to pick up on a new language
through lip contact has always fascinated me. That's a pretty nifty
superpower, right? *wink wink*
I remember this one
episode ('Switched') where Starfire and Raven's powers get
interchanged along with their bodies and they have to rescue the boys
from an evil puppeteer; that is definitely one of my favorite
episodes ever. The loyalty and love she showed for her friends
throughout the series still inspires me. Also, her bonding with her
pet larva, Silkie, presented to her by Beast Boy, made my heart melt.
Despite living on
earth, I have always loved that she still cared for the people on her
planet. One of my absolute favorite episodes is 'Sisters', the
episode where she gets a visit from her elder sister, Blackfire.
Okay, now, Blackfire may be an antagonist but she's pretty cool too,
right? Someone please agree... I dunno, I have quite enjoyed Starfire
and Blackfire's recurring clashes, but that's just me. Also, I had a
thing for her purple star bolts. Not more than Star's green ones, no,
no.
Back when foreign
comics were distributed in my city, my brother would always grab
some sort of superhero comic or another. There's one thing I sort of
regret and don't regret to this day: In 2004, comics were distributed
in the local book stores as well as a few department stores and they
only cost 10 rupees, which is insane when you think about buying
those same comics online now. I remember spotting a 'Teen Titans' comic
at a book store with Starfire on the cover. While she was very
different from the Starfire I was used to, she was still my favorite
Titan. Neither did I flip through the comic nor did I purchase it,
despite its low price. I regret that part. The part I don't regret is
actually pretty much the same – Had I bought the comic, it would
have greatly diluted my image of Starfire. Now when I scrouge online,
she's a different character altogether in the comic. Since I was
pretty young back then, I'm kind of glad I stuck with the innocent
and animated version.
Now, I saved the
best for last, haha. Robin/Nightwing and Starfire is one of my
favorite fictional couples of all time. I enjoy their awkward tender
moments like a huge weirdo. I was so overjoyed when they eventually
kissed in the Titans movie, I think I cried. I love that even if
Robin is the leader and has many responsibilities, he tries his best
to not let Starfire down. His fits of jealousy, his endearment
towards her bumbling nature is the reason why I love how Robin fits
into this love story.
Okay, this was a
rather long and pointless post about Starfire and the 'Teen Titans' in
general, but, hey, it made me feel a lot better! Maybe soup isn't
always the answer, maybe being positive and smiling even when you're
ill makes you feel better. That seems to be the case for me anyway.
~AB
