The gurls
Stop Bullying Now is a series of furry cartoons aimed to encourage kids to stop bullying. It has a comic based off of it with screen shots of the show serving as panels. The protagonists are KB (Katie Blue) and Milton as they go through Middle School getting bullied.
The episodes can all be watched here https://www.stopbullying.gov/kids/webisodes/
This series provides examples of:
- Adults Are Useless: It was pretty much up to KB, Milton and their friends to deal with the bullying.
- That said, some side stories on the site do feature adults who, when informed, can and will see justice done. Case in point, when Josh tells Coach Cruncher about Brick mistreating the wheelchair-bound assistant coach, Brick is forbidden to use the locker room showers for the rest of the year and when Raven has a cyberbully after her, the school manages to get them shut down.
- Also Mr. Bitner is pretty on the ball, scolding Cassandra for loudly making a cruel (and untrue) comment that KB blew a science test after saying that you'd have to be braindead to not ace it and being the one KB and Melanie go to when they hear Cassandra spreading rumors about one of the members of her Girl Posse.
- Alpha Bitch: Cassandra being the leader of the "Cassandra Circle". Not only will she pick on outsiders but she's willing to kick out members for things like stained clothing and spreads rumors about them as suits her mood.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Brick (a bull) has blue fur, while Cassandra (a cat) is pink, and the two most prominent monkeys (Josh and Koznote ) are green.
- Backstabbing the Alpha Bitch: Melanie does this to Cassandra after getting sick of her bullying KB who she then stands up for.
- Because You Were Nice to Me:
- Melanie befriends and defends KB when the latter helps her save face during a paired science experiment by claiming Melanie was genuinely experimenting with vinegar and baking soda instead of mixing the former up with water.
- Similarly Josh's crush on Raven derives from her helping him get over stage fright when they were younger.
- Big Brother Instinct:
- In a side story, Milton is revealed to have a little sister and when her bullies from her after-school program show up at their house to mess with her, he physically chases them off, steaming mad.
- Josh, Raven, and their friends all quickly develop this for Milton, and Josh seems to have this in general for people he cares about given how he reacts to Brick's treatment of the assistant coach (Josh's classmate) in his side story.
- Bizarre Taste in Food: Milton actually liked the pudding that Brick put in his Mac and Cheese.
- Cats Are Mean: Cassandra is a pink cat who is an Alpha Bitch.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Coach Cruncher; he's pretty strict, but not too cruel. So this trope is downplayed.
- Eating Lunch Alone: This was Milton initially before he got friends.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: A cartoon about bullying and how to stop it.
- Flashback:
- KB's mom has one when she was bullied when she sees her daughter getting bullied.
- Josh also has flashbacks to when he was in Milton's position.
- Forgotten First Meeting: A more short-term example than most but Raven is surprised when Josh knows who she is until he mentions the play the pair were in and how she helped him get over his stage fright.
- Furry Reminder: Cassandra lets out a nasty meow after KB accidentally bumps into her.
- Girl Posse: Cassandra has a popular girls' clique with Melanie, Mimi, and Bibi.
- Gym Class Hell: Cassandra gives KB this on the soccer field.
- Happy Ending: KB and Milton managed to get rid of their bullies one way or another and made new friends.
- He's All Grown Up: When Raven bumps into Josh, she has to ask who he is and when informed of his identity, expresses shock as she just remembers him as a skinny bullied kid and not the "three alarm cute" young man he is now.
- Indulgent Fantasy Segue: Milton has a couple of these, with him actually interrupting his last one because he realizes his real life is actually pretty good at the moment.
- Jerk Jock: Brick.
- Junior High: The series takes place mostly in Springdale Middle School.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Melanie disses her old friends to save face in front of Cassandra by saying she's talking to "nobody", much to their clear disdain. Later in a sporting goods store, Lasa complains that her shorts look stupid and when she and Raven come out of the changing rooms so the latter can see, Melanie tries to reach out by saying the shorts look nice. Raven and Lasa look at each other and the following exchange occurs.Lasa: Who's she talking to?Raven: Not us; we're just nobodies.Lasa: Oh yeah.(They head back into the changing rooms.)Melanie: I didn't mean it...*sighs*
- When Brick bullies the assistant coach by assaulting him with a towel in the locker room, Josh goes to the coach who forbids Brick from using the locker room anymore.
- Limited Animation: The animation is extremely stiff and there are several instances where the characters' mouths don't move. Although it was made in 2011 by a non-profit company, they look like they were on Newgrounds in the late 2000s.
- Malicious Misnaming: One of Cassandra's tactics involves spreading an email with a picture of KB sitting on ketchup packets with the caption "KB is for Ketchup Butt".
- Parents as People:
- KB's mom means well and clearly loves her daughter but manages to miss the real reason KB is upset until she sees the bullying firsthand.
- Milton's parents completely miss both their children being bullied but in their daughter's case, are able to see justice done with Milton's help.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Thor's sidekicks turn out to be this and are actually pretty nice to Josh when they appear outside of his Flashback, to his surprise given the memories he has of how they treated him before.
- Roadside Wave: Brick does this to Milton.
- Smitten Teenage Girl: Raven for Josh. As it turns out, he's equally smitten with her.
- The Bully:
- Applies to Casandra's group and Brick's group.
- While he's no longer around in present day, Thor was this trope for Josh.
