ship_manifesto

Title: There Is a Weakness
Author:

commander30
Fandom: The Powerpuff Girls
Pairing: Mojo Jojo/Blossom Utonium
Word Count: around 4,500... yeah, I got carried away...
Spoilers: The entire series, plus the movie

The Show

The Powerpuff Girls, which ran from 1998 to 2005, was a unique spin on the tried and true superhero genre. In addition to “fighting crime and the forces of evil”, kindergarteners Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup went through the normal trials and tribulations of any child of their age—bed wetting, losing their first teeth, fear of cooties… the list goes on.

The animation was mediocre; the basic lessons of the stories were familiar. But the show boasted a witty sense of humor, plenty of action, and just the right amount of heart, drawing in a large and varied fan base. With this winning combination of successful components, the show also housed some surprisingly well-developed characters that gained the viewer’s attention and, often, sympathy.

Two such characters are Blossom and Mojo Jojo.

Blossom Utonium

Blossom’s role in the Powerpuff Girls is invaluable—she is their leader, the brains of the outfit, the glue that holds the girls together. Without Blossom, there would probably be no Powerpuff Girls. Bubbles and Buttercup have very rarely shown the aptitude for planning and strategies that Blossom has. And Blossom realizes this. She is proud to the point of arrogance of her leader position, a pride that can often turn to bossiness and dismissal of her sisters’ ideas in favor of her own, which she believes are always, without exception, better thought-out. (This is probably best illustrated by the episode “Three Girls and a Monster”, in which Blossom flat-out argues with Buttercup’s strategies, and seems to forget that Bubbles is even there.) In the rare instances when Blossom’s plans don’t work, she becomes deeply upset, losing confidence in herself and in everything she does.

She is also extremely intelligent for any age, much less a five-year-old. Her favorite toys are science kits and other toys enhanced for learning, and she can read and speak Chinese (it is suggested in the show that this is not one of Blossom’s superpowers—she taught herself, in other words). She has also shown great skill in speaking formally and being the “spokesperson” for the Girls. This is a girl with people skills that many have failed to learn even after college graduation.

Blossom has a need to the best in everyone’s eyes, a need that will sometimes override her morality. For example, in the episode “A Very Special Blossom”, she resorts to stealing the golf clubs that Professor Utonium wanted, and when presenting them to him, makes it clear that Bubbles and Buttercup had not been involved, in an attempt to set her Father’s Day gift above those of her sisters. When it becomes apparent that Blossom stole the clubs, instead of confessing, she first lies and attempts to pin the blame on Mojo Jojo. In other words, while Blossom is a champion for “doing what’s right”, she will often bend the rules when it’s convenient for her, which can make her almost “shady” at times.

Confident, outspoken, intelligent, but sometimes overbearing and self-serving, Blossom is a girl with many different sides to her personality, thus making her multi-faceted and one of the most well-developed and believable characters on the show.

Mojo Jojo

The main baddie of a children’s animated television show can’t possibly be well-developed character-wise too, right? Wrong, actually. Mojo Jojo, the mutated chimpanzee who is the show’s most frequently appearing villain (and one of the most dangerous), is just as credible a character as the Girls.

As first shown in the episode “Mr. Mojo’s Rising”, and again in the movie, Mojo was originally a lab assistant named Jojo who lived with Professor Utonium. He was very destructive, although whether this was from malice or simply because he was a hyper youngster (pre-Chemical X Jojo does not look to be much older than a child) is not exactly clear. Whatever the reason, however, when the Professor was at work on his formula for the “perfect little girl”, it was Jojo who pushed him, causing him to accidentally break open a container of Chemical X that got into the concoction. In the episode “Documentary”, it is shown that sugar, spice, and everything nice make nothing but a mess—thus, it is the Chemical X that gave the concoction life. If not for Jojo, the Powerpuff Girls would not even exist.

Jojo didn’t escape unscathed either. While the Professor (wisely) got out of the way of the brewing concoction, curious Jojo peered into the mixing pot, just in time to get a blast from the explosion that created the Girls. This altered his appearance in many ways—he visually looked older, his skin turned green, and most importantly of all, his brain grew to a gargantuan size, causing it to actually rip out of his skull. His brain growing showed physically what happened to him inside—his intelligence grew to genius levels and he gained the power of speech.

In “Mr. Mojo’s Rising”, Mojo claimed that despite his best efforts, the Professor completely ignored little Jojo in favor of the Girls. Mojo seems to be lying here—in the movie, he does nothing but glare at the Girls, then slink off. However, it is evident that he is jealous of the obvious affection that the Professor instantly has for the Girls.

Jojo meets the Girls again in the movie, and uses them to build his observatory. (I will go into more detail about this later.) He becomes the first villain that the Girls ever have to fight, propelling them to superhero status. The Girls owe just as much to him as he does to them. It’s an interesting symbiosis. As much as Mojo wishes to destroy them, if it weren’t for the Girls, he would probably never have become the “bad, evil” supervillain that he prides himself on being.

He is extremely intelligent, more so than most humans, even. (Well, at least the humans in Townsville, but to be fair, most of the citizens of Townsville are morons. See “Too Pooped to Puff” for a good example of this.) His plots to defeat the Powerpuff Girls/destroy Townsville/take over the world/all of the above almost always include high-tech weaponry of his own making. Like Blossom, he is very proud of his intelligence and the way the public views him—although this for him is as a threatening villain, not as the do-gooder that Blossom is seen as—and can be just as arrogant and dismissive as Blossom. He also likes to hear himself talk—perhaps the personality trait that people remember the most about Mojo Jojo is the fact that he often will speak in circles, saying basically the same thing over and over.

For all his brutality, Mojo has also shown himself to be quite cultured, with actual interests outside of conquering the world. He enjoys hobbies varying from listening to classical music to hibachi cooking to model ship building. Becoming ruler of the world is not the only thing on his (very large) mind. The most prevalent, yes. But not the only.

It’s not hard to see why Mojo was the most frequently appearing villain on the show. He was both hilarious and threatening, and all the episodes he was in had a certain charm… or a certain “mojo”, if you’d rather.

The Romantic Potential
(Alternate title: “Why on Earth would ANYONE think pairing these two off is a good idea?!”)

Let’s be honest here—if you’re going to try to pair off the five-year-old hero of a children’s television show with an evil, mutated chimpanzee, you’d better have some solid proof. But believe it or not, there are moments in the show that can be interpreted as Mojo/Blossom, and their personalities enforce these hints very well.

Let’s start with the first time the characters met, and the most obvious Mojo/Blossom hints (hints that, in my probably biased opinion, almost smack the viewer over the head with a baseball bat)… The Powerpuff Girls Movie.

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup are scorned at school for their innocent destructive behavior from the previous day, and when the dejected girls wait for their father to pick them up from school, he never does. The Girls, left with no other option, decide to find their own way home. Bubbles and Buttercup float to the air… but Blossom doesn’t.

“We’re not supposed to use our powers.”

Blossom here takes on the parent-like role in the absence of the Professor. She has to comfort her sisters and remind them of the rules set in place. However, one must not forget that Blossom is just as lost, hurt, and rejected as her sisters are. She bravely tries to be strong for her sisters’ sake, but this doubles the burden placed on her.

When Jojo, the mysterious stranger, saves the Girls from the Gangreen Gang, one can only imagine how much of a comfort and relief this must have been for Blossom. With a guardian of sorts, she could be a child again.

I think it is extremely plausible to theorize that at this point in the movie, Blossom could very well have developed a crush on Jojo. It’s not unprecedented in the show. In the episode “Buttercrush”, from the very first season, Buttercup develops a crush on Ace, the leader of the Gangreen Gang, when he simply talks smoothly and winks at Buttercup. Jojo had done much more for Blossom than Ace had for Buttercup. And Blossom, even at this early point in her life, has shown an aptitude for learning. When she and her sisters help build the volcano-top observatory, she doubtless would have become familiar with these plans. She very likely was impressed by Jojo’s intellect. He spun his tale of being an outcast so that she could relate to him. Up until this point, the only other people Blossom could really relate to were her sisters.

If you still aren’t buying it, let’s fast-forward to the point in the movie where Jojo—renaming himself Mojo Jojo, thank you very much—reveals to the Girls that he had been using them all along. The Girls swear their innocence of Mojo’s plan to the Professor, but when he admits that he doesn’t know if he can trust them, the Girls, in anguish, blast off into space.

And here we have it… The Asteroid Scene. (Cue dramatic music.)

The reactions of the Girls after their initial shock could not be more different. Bubbles simply cries. Buttercup grumbles and complains, especially after Blossom, in typical Blossom fashion, attempts to pin the blame of the Girls falling for Mojo’s lies on her. After a brief fight with Buttercup, Blossom reverts back to silence.

She gazes at the Earth, a distant blue ball, for a few moments… we see her eyes shake with tears… and she buries her face in her hands.

Blossom’s reaction, although mostly silent, speaks far more volumes than either of her sisters’. Bubbles is sad. Buttercup is angry. Blossom, however, is clearly crushed. She had the most to invest in Mojo, the most reasons to trust him and look to him as a hero figure. His betrayal undoubtedly hurt Blossom the most. Why would that be? At this early point in their lives, Blossom has had the exact same experiences as her sisters.

Would she have had such a heartbreaking response to Mojo’s betrayal if she hadn’t actually, if not loved him, then at least deeply respected and admired him?

Now the question that you’re probably dying to ask is, “How could you possibly believe that Blossom, the leader of the Powerpuff Girls and the champion for all that is moral and just, could have any sort of respect for Mojo Jojo, who prides himself on being bad and evil?” Is there any evidence of this in the actual show, rather than the movie?

Definitely.

Let’s look at Blossom’s character again. It is pretty apparent that she is proud of her appearance. She abandoned her crimefighting duties when she realized what Bubbles and Buttercup had done to her hair in the episode “The Mane Event”. (But to be fair to Blossom, her hair did look atrocious.) However, Blossom is undoubtedly more proud of her intellect than her beauty.

There is a wonderful (and filled to the max with Mojo/Blossom subtext) passage in the Powerpuff Girls book “Party Savers” that lays this out on the line, no ifs, ands, or buts. In the book, the Girls are throwing a villain costume party. Buttercup dresses as Big Billy, Bubbles as Fuzzy Lumpkins, and Blossom as Mojo. The following passage from the book explains just why Blossom chose Mojo:

“He’s so ugly,” Bubbles said. “Why did you pick Mojo?”

“He may be ugly, but he’s smart,” said Blossom. “And I’m more interested in brains than beauty!”

Honestly, had I not explained the context of that passage, a reader could have interpreted that as why Blossom chose Mojo for her prom date, or whatever. The point stands. When Blossom gets to the age of finding a potential significant other, looks are not going to matter to her. She’ll want someone who can intellectually stimulate her. And remember what I said about the majority of the citizens of Townsville—they are idiots. I think it’s safe to say that of all the citizens in Townsville, Mojo is probably one of the few to rival Blossom in intelligence. Let’s remember, they both gained their intelligence from the same source—Chemical X.

Blossom is undoubtedly aware of Mojo’s superior intelligence. Let’s look at the episode “Not So Awesome Blossom”. In this episode, Blossom inexplicably becomes a jinx. Her plan in battle fails to work, she accidentally breaks her toys at home, and hurts Bubbles and the Professor without meaning to.

The question is, why? Blossom is always confident and in control. The episode never gives a reason for Blossom’s sudden klutziness. All we know is that it first happened when Blossom was fighting Mojo’s robots.

Mojo had been watching the battle from the safety of his volcano-top observatory. When he witnesses Blossom’s failure, he says with satisfaction, “There is a weakness.”

He’s obviously referring to Blossom’s inability to come up with a decent plan, but how could this be a weakness if it only happened that day for the first time? What exactly is this weakness? Honestly, the only feasible explanation that I can come up with is that Blossom was so impressed by Mojo’s abilities that she became distracted by him. Realizing what emotions had taken hold of her, it disoriented her enough in her everyday household activities as well. The weakness, thus, is Mojo himself.

There is certainly other solid canon proof that Blossom admires Mojo’s powers. In the episode “Forced Kin”, the Girls try and fail to defeat an alien robot force that can accurately predict their every move. Left in a crater in the cement, it is Blossom, the usually self-serving leader, who admits that the Girls are going to need help in defeating it. How? By thinking evil, of course. And who is the villain that Blossom turns to, who she believes can succeed where the Girls have failed? None other than Mojo Jojo.

There is another good indication that Blossom could care for Mojo, in the episode “Candy is Dandy”. The Mayor has been rewarding the Girls with candy for each time they save the day, and this candy must have been some good stuff, because, as the days wear on and no crimes are committed, the Girls start hallucinating that the candy is everywhere. They are driven to such an extreme that they ask Mojo to commit crimes so that they can get more candy. (It should be noted that this was Blossom’s idea.) It all goes well until Mojo commits the most unspeakable crime—he steals the Mayor’s candy. The Girls, in homicidal mode, beat the living snot out of the poor chimp. Forget he’s the villain, really—this scene is downright painful to watch. But the Girls are still driven by rage fueled from their candy addiction… a rage that Blossom, not Bubbles, shakes out of first, when we see a single tear fall from Mojo’s eye: “What have we done? Look at us. Look at Mojo. This isn’t who we are. This is crazy!”

Bubbles is normally the most sympathetic ‘puff, but it is Blossom who first shows remorse and sorrow for how they have treated Mojo. Not Bubbles.

Hmm.

Okay, we’ve dealt with Blossom possibly harboring feelings for Mojo pretty well. But can it be reciprocated? I think it can. Let’s look at some of Mojo’s personality traits.

First of all, I think it’s obvious that Mojo, although he would never admit it, really wants to be loved, or at the very least respected. Look at how quickly he fell for Moko Jono in the episode “Meet the Beat-Alls”. All he knew about her was that she had, and I quote, “a unique and innovative approach to committing crimes”. Mojo was impressed by her intelligence, and fell like a sack of bricks. He doesn’t seem like the type to fall in love at first sight, and he most likely wouldn’t if he didn’t have such a desire to be loved.

So obviously, Mojo, just like Blossom, values intelligence above all else. And Blossom, as I have previously noted, has an intelligence that is most likely equal to Mojo’s. And she alone has this intelligence from the same source as Mojo’s.

Does Mojo appreciate Blossom’s intelligence? I think he likely does. Look at “Not So Awesome Blossom” again, and the line, “There is a weakness.” By saying this, he was obviously hoping to find a weakness in Blossom. Thus, before that time, he couldn’t find any weaknesses in her.

And, of course, he probably wouldn’t. Mojo is arrogant, and the things about himself that he takes the most pride in are the same personality traits that Blossom has. Seeing how highly he thinks of himself, he can’t have much of a lesser opinion of Blossom.

Let’s go back to the idea that Mojo really wants someone to love, or at least respect, him. If we couple this desire along with the idea that Blossom may have a crush on him, or at least deeply admires his qualities, well… the romantic potential is definitely there. Should Mojo ever find out about the feelings that Blossom may have for him, he could begin to reciprocate said feelings, despite his better judgment.

I’m well aware that there are many complications with this pairing. Firstly, it’s about as hero/villain as you can get, a hero/villain pairing in which the hero prides herself on being a hero, and the villain prides himself on being a villain. There is also the age question, although that can be avoided somewhat by making the fanfic or fanart take place in the future. And, obviously, as much as I can sit here and argue how alike Mojo and Blossom are, there is one very obvious roadblock that probably turns many people off of this pairing straight off the bat: Mojo and Blossom are different species.

…Or are they?

Hear me out on this one. I don’t really think it’s accurate to describe Blossom and her sisters as “human”. They were created in a laboratory, not born. They can fly, shoot lasers out of their eyes, and have super strength, which, correct me if I’m wrong, are not abilities that the average human possesses. They don’t even look quite human—they lack fingers, toes, noses, and ears, and their eyes take up about three-fourths of their heads. (Granted, it is a cartoon, but the Girls are odd looking even compared to the other human characters in the show.)

And is Mojo really still a chimpanzee? Well, yes. But only in appearance. He talks, acts, and lives as a human—an overly repetitive, bent on global destruction human, but it’s obvious that the human world is his own now, not the world of normal apes and monkeys.

The Girls are probably more accurately described as Chemical X beings. It is Chemical X that sets Mojo apart from his own species as well.

Honestly, if keeping characters with their own species is a concern, I think that pairing off Mojo with any one of the Powerpuff Girls is one of the most workable solutions.

The Shipping

Honestly? I’ve always liked this pairing, although I never fully recognized this or acknowledged it. In one of my earliest (and total crap) fanfics, Mojo Jojo hits on Blossom in an alternate-future Townsville. It had nothing to do with the plot, I just threw it in because… I don’t remember. I guess I thought it was hot.

About a year ago, I was working on a massive fanart project, including many of my favorite characters. Although it had been years since I had seen or even thought of the Powerpuff Girls, I knew that both Mojo and Blossom had to be added to my project, as I once upon a time lived and breathed the show. I gathered numerous comic books and DVDs around the house to find good reference pictures, including the movie. Watching it again after all those years, I was struck at how the movie focused so much more attention on Blossom’s reaction to Mojo’s betrayal than Bubbles’ or Buttercup’s. In that delightful way my mind has of working, I began to wonder, “Is there something more going on here?”

I was instantly struck with the idea for a fanfic, but I held off on it for as long as I could. I actually thought, since the subtext seemed so obvious to me, that my idea would have been done five times already. When I finally let myself look at the Powerpuff Girls section of FF.net, I was shocked to discover that there were no fics that at all resembled Mojo/Blossom. (It was rare to find a fic that even mentioned Mojo at all, but that’s another matter.) So I wrote my fic, hoping that that would get the idea out of my head and I could move along to my other fandoms.

It’s a year later, and here I am, typing the manifesto.

Why do I love this pairing so much? It’s hard to pinpoint why I like the things I like, but in explaining myself to people who can’t understand why I would ship this pairing, I’ve come up with one basically all-encompassing reason—the angst. As I said earlier, we have Blossom, who is overly concerned about the way the public views her. Should she ever start falling in love with Mojo, she would overtly deny these feelings to herself, not wanting it known that, despite her reputation for perfection and goodness and his downright criminal behavior, she is losing her heart to him. And Mojo, who has dedicated his life to destroying the Girls, would deny any growing affections for the Powerpuff Girl most like him just as much, if not more so, than she would for him.

But the potential is there, and as I said, most of the citizens of Townsville are idiots. Mojo and Blossom really don’t have many other people to turn to, and in their frustration with the general intelligence of their town, their feelings for each other would only intensify. With two stubborn characters like these, it would take one hell of an obsession to make either of them finally admit it to even themselves, let alone each other.

Just imagine the passion that comes from the moment when one or both finally snap.

I don’t think many other people could love Blossom the way Mojo could love her, or vice-versa, for their love would have to be incredibly strong for either of them to admit it. Will any chance of a relationship between these two work out? It’s quite unlikely. But along the way, there will be angst and passion galore.

Works for me.

The Recs

Firstly, I’m not one to blow my own horn (more like kazoo, with my talent or lack thereof), but Mojo/Blossom is, to put it bluntly, not a very popular pairing in the Powerpuff Girls fandom, and so to make this rec list at all comprehensive, my own works should probably be included. This isn’t only the best of Mojo/Blossom fanfiction: it’s the only Mojo/Blossom fanfiction.

But if you have actually read this far, then I implore of you to at least give these fics and videos a glance. As I said, this is a sadly unpopular pairing, and these works rarely get the attention they deserve, for they are all exceedingly amazing (except for mine, which are only halfway decent).

Fanfic:
Insulting Intelligence by SMYGO4EVA
Take my essay, condense it down to about three hundred words, add a poetic touch, and you have this amazing drabble that lays out why Mojo and Blossom love each other, but will never admit it. Definitely a good starting point for Mojo/Blossom fanfiction.

Observations by Maz-A-Ma-Taz
It takes the tranquility of watching a sunset to get Mojo and Blossom to admit things to each other that even they hardly realized. Again, a very nice, if slightly longer, introduction to this pairing.

Words, Words, Words! by Maz again
Forgive me if I sound incoherent here, but this story is amazing. It’s intense, passionate, haunting, sensual, has a tragic foreboding to it, and it gives me shivers down my spine each and every time I read it. Seriously, go read this fic. Now. And then leave Maz a review and tell her to continue the story.

There is also my own “Refugee” arc of stories. If you wish to read them, I’d suggest doing so in the order they were written: Hero Worship, Refugee, and Foolish Lies.

Finally, while SkinnySlim22 hasn’t written actual Mojo/Blossom (yet), there are small Mojo/Blossom tidbits in his stories “To Commit the Impossible Crime” and “Gold Roses, Green Thorns”. (The latter is an amazingly well done Princess/Buttercup, but that’s the subject of a whole ‘nother manifesto…)

Videos:
Holding Out for a Hero by the great and powerful Maz
Poor Blossom… she really needs Mojo to be a hero to her like he was at first. It’s made completely from movie clips, which tells you how obvious the Mojo/Blossom subtext of the movie is.

You’re So Damn Hot by Maz, who practically owns this entire rec section
Mojo/Blossom can be fun, too, as this video proves. Proof that you can make a convincing music video of a pairing that will never be canon… and the ending bit is the cherry on top.

Rebirthing by Dracori
Dracori’s videos have this way of making you stare slack-jawed at your computer screen, unable to say anything but, “…Wow.” This one is no exception.

And yes, I have made some videos as well: I’m With You and Head Games. I’m still in the process of figuring out my Windows Movie Maker, so they’re not the greatest… but I am learning.

Special Thanks and Dedication

I would like to thank all of my friends in the Powerpuff Girls fandom for putting up with my crazy, fangirlish shipping, and general weirdness. Extra special thanks and chocolate chip cookies go to Maz and Dracori, who have not only been total lifesavers as far as their non-clichéd fanfiction goes, but for also being amazingly talented, great friends, and just plain all-around awesome.

Big thanks to Craig McCracken, for being Craig McCracken.

And finally, this essay is dedicated to Zanetta, whose flames make Mojo/Blossom fanfiction even hotter… uh, I mean, more fun. :)