#but scott is genuinely one of the only ones that icks me out so bad i refuse to write with him

[thvnkpinkarchiv]

contoversial probably but i genuinely hate scott pilgrim as a character and literally refuse to write against him, thanks <3

[eyeballplanets]

Hi! I find your invincible posts interesting to think about. Good to know I’m not the only one constantly taken aback from all the ick in the comics (like I knew a comic from the early 2000s would’ve aged like milk but damm THAT bad?).

I wonder what your thoughts are of Marky (Anissa’s son) and his place in the story. I find him a little interesting as he later shows angst of his conception compared to Terra, but he’s also introduced so late in the comics’ runtime. Also genuinely insane how Kirkman had her name her son after the man she raped. Whether the implications were on purpose or not is beyond me.

to be honest, i don't find marky interesting at all. i can understand the conceptual appeal of an isolated young superhero wondering how much of his perception is a consequence of his conception—those are certainly real feelings that someone in marky's position could have—but in the context of the comic's discourse on the role of the wife and the mother, it ends up being bound up in ontologies.

i've spoken before about how the offscreen scott-anissa marriage does the double duty of reifying anti-black conceptions of there being this accepted place where black men may locate themselves, this man with a name entirely enclosed within assimilation (contrast to hero-turned-antagonist zandale and his evil brother tyrone—a white man wrote this shit for sure) who is small and soft spoken and suburban, and anissa, previously this short haired strong woman being made shorter, narrower, slimmer, even smaller chested, transformed from the soldier to the pearl-wearing suburban housewife. the 'redeemed' anissa is an anissa that entirely conforms to the ideology of the house, the family, and the woman's role therein. compare this too to eve, who after the viltrumite war is permanently reduced to mark's girlfriend, never capable of significantly contributing in the fight against the viltrumites, acting more as mother to terra and builder of the family's house. that is, if the good anissa and the laudable eve are each wrapped in these visual languages for patriarchal expectation for women's vantages in relation to men, then by its nature the bad anissa that marky gestures to is one outside of this schema.

the narrative is made further essentialist when you realize that marky's sister, molly, born out of genuine love, is excluded from development in the finale montage, is implied to have never received powers, and is never a point in marky's brief vignettes of characterization. the narrative simultaneously evokes anti-black language in how scott is treated as this curative induction into normativity, and misogynoir in molly's being completely excluded from heroism. the white (as anissa and mark are white in the comic) son born of rape is more significant to the narrative than the black daughter born of love.

not to mention that the narrative wields terra as this idealized linchpin for the family unit, especially in this racial context. where molly is excluded from this interlocution, terra is the focus. she's an adorable kid, she's certainly not at fault for anything in a watsonian sense, but she becomes a metonym for the strength of the family unit. even in the context of the rape plot, mark's brief, two page description of what took place and how he felt about it are cut short by the pull of the family, by eve literally walking away as he's talking to find that terra is having a medical scare. mark's feelings come up once more, in a single panel, a singular mention of his willingness to resume his contribution to the constructed marital expectation of intercourse and his subsequent return to kirkman-typical aggressive sexuality illustrating that he was done feeling those feelings. in that latter sequence, mark's role as the father comes up, too. terra is adorable, but it's hard to separate her from her reduction of mark and eve and how it frames assault as an aberrant force that occurs outside the presumed safety of the family

serious thought: i don't think the show will adapt marky. he only had character moments in one issue, the show has already created significant implicative language around anissa's role within the empire, not to mention that other lines have indicated the potential exploration of other half viltrumite kids. even the z-list nerd journalism websites i lampoon so often have pointed out how conspicuous the first half of season two is in implying to there being other viltrumite kids besides mark and oliver (allen even saying it). the potential for jealousy is stronger if it's mark at the other end, who comes from this world of superheroes, thereby having access to a language that allows him to resist the empire, and having a father whose proximity to this language ultimately turned him to the side of good

joke thought: i don't think anybody at skybound's gonna wanna figure out what a mixed brown/white/asian child looks like. the art style starts sputtering and gasping drawing any ol poc.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: The League of Evil Exes

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is one of the greatest cult classics of the 2010s for a wide variety of reasons: it had great performances, it got a video game adaptation that didn’t suck, it had an awesome soundtrack, and best of all, it apparently ruined an entire generation of women! What couldn’t this movie do (besides make a profit at the box office)? Of course, more than anything, this movie delivered on the promise of its premise by having Scott Pilgrim fight against the seven evil exes of his manic pixie dream girl Ramona Flowers.

That’s right: There’s not one, not two, not three, but seven villains to talk about in this movie!

Thankfully, this massive amount of villains makes it a lot easier to talk about them, because each of them basically gets only a single scene with which to establish their characterization and deliver a fun, exciting battle. Still, it’s pretty interesting to look at them, especially since not all exes are created equal. As a note, I’m obviously not doing a “Best Scene” for these guys because... they basically have one scene each. It would be redundant.

Motivation/Goals: The League of Evil Exes has a very simple goal: to control the future of Ramona’s love life. As Lucas says during his battle with Scott: “The Seven Evil Exes? Coming to kill you? Controlling the future of Ramona's love life?” This is especially funny because Lucas is probably the least evil of the lot. While this is an incredibly simple motivation, it fits with the tone of the movie; this is a sort of a Bowser-esque motivation, one that perfectly fits a movie that is so steeped in video game culture.

Performance: Lets go one by one here:

Satya Bhabha is the first of the evil exes, Matthew Patel, and he really eases you into what to expect for the rest of the evil exes, though here “eases you into” means “grabs you by the balls and swings you over the head like a chimpanzee.” Despite his meager screentime, he makes the most of it, delivering a Bollywood-esque musical number complete with fireballs and demon hipster chicks and generally just hamming it up. This right here is just a warmup, though, because things get crazier from here – just like in a video game, really.

Lucas Lee, the second evil ex, is a big-shot movie star regarded as a pretty good actor by all who see him. Unfortunately, they got some unknown weirdo named Chris Evans to play him, but casting this obscure indie actor certainly paid off, because Lucas Lee’s smug, over-confident portrayal combined with his affable nature make him one of the most enjoyable characters in the movie. He really comes off as a cool, cocky guy who just happens to be going up against our hero as opposed to being an actual antagonizing force.

Todd Ingram is the other best evil ex, and much like Lee it’s mostly because he’s a pretty nice guy. However, the key difference is while Lee was cocky and affable, Ingram is just kind of a ditz. Played by one-time Superman Brandon Routh, he opts to go for the more subuded route, a cold ham as opposed to a large ham, and he definitely makes it work; I did call him the OTHER best evil ex, after all.

Then we come to Roxy Richter, played by Katara herself, Mae Whitman. She’s a very angry, tomboyish lesbian who gets in a lot of great lines and shows off a very jaded, irritated personality in her limited screentime. She’s definitely a lot of fun, though apparently she has a lot of elements of Envy Adams due to being combined with an early idea to make her Ramona’s evil ex in the movie.

The Katayanagi Twins. Ken and Kyle, are… nothing. Because Keita and Shota Saitou (Kyle and Ken, respectively) did not speak English, the twins have no lines and don’t really get to establish much of a presence before dying. It’s a bit unfortunate, because it becomes really easy to forget these two are here as a result.

Gideon Gordon Graves is a smarmy, smug, condescending jackass. You have met a man like him before, and you have wanted to punch his face in. Jason Schwartzman really amps up the sleaze when playing this creepy, controlling bastard, making him a fitting final boss.

Final Fate: Each and every one of them is defeated by the end of their scenes, bursting into progressively larger amounts of coins, with Patel being pretty meager in terms of value and Gideon literally making it rain when he’s defeated. It does kind of feel weird that the twins are worth more than a beloved actor like Lucas Lee, or that Roxy is worth more than both Lee and a musician like Ingram, but frankly this isn’t really a movie where you should be overthinking stuff to begin with.

Best Quote: I don’t think I can really say Patel or Gideon have amazing, quotable lines to the extent as some of the others, but I’d be pretty remiss to not mention Todd’s legendary “...Chicken isn’t vegan…?” and Roxy’s equally legendary “Well honey… I’m a little bi-FURIOUS!” here. Lucas Lee has a lot of good lines but he’s quite frankly too consistent for me to pick one; Chris Evans really just went all-out for this one.

Final Thoughts & Score: Once again, let’s go one by one:

Matthew Patel

Matthew is the definition of a warmup boss, at least by the standards of this film. He brings a lot of insanity to the table all at once, what with his demons and Bollywood musical number and sick dance moves, but the fact he’s probably not the most insane and baffling character in the film really tells you something. He definitely makes the most of his screentime, and while his fight is relatively short, it’s a lot of fun. This man deserves an S-L-ICK 8/10.

Lucas Lee

Lucas Lee is probably the second best evil ex in the movie. He’s just so cocky, arrogant, and hilarious, and he still manages to come off as a bit polite. Its like if Captain America and Ransom Drysdale had a baby, Lucas Lee would be it. The fact he’s played by a pre-superstardom Chris Evans really is the icing on the cake here though, because his battle is fun and ends with Scott defeating him by playing into his arrogance. Ah! But he didn’t get his autograph… Oh well. Lucas Lee is an easy 10/10.

Todd Ingram

As much as I love Lee, I have to say that Todd easily has the most impressive fight in the entire film, in large part due to his awesome psychic powers he gains from being a vegan. I gave one of his legendary quotes up there, but frankly, the entire battle is awesome and quotable, the fact that at least half the battle is a rock-off is great, and the fact Scott tricks him in the most stupidly amazing to defeat him and put him at the mercy of the Vegan Police is just amazing. There’s also just the sheer novelty of how, with the power in hindsight, we got to see Superman (Routh) dating Captain Marvel (Brie Larson portrayed Envy, Scott’s ex and Todd’s girlfriend and bandmate). Todd is just a perfect, lovable idiot villain, and deserves nothing less than a 10/10.

Roxy Richter

Roxy actually gets to show up twice in the film, getting a brief scene with Scott a while before her identity is revealed. While her screentime doesn’t really amount to much, it really is incredible how much characterization they managed to pack into her limited screentime, her dialogue really selling how she is easily the most bitter and angry off all the exes. She seems genuinely hurt at some points that Ramona left her and considers her just a phase, though this of course doesn’t stop her from trying to ruin her life. In a weird way, I’d almost call her the most complex of the exes, and Mae Whitman does a great job at selling her. I will say though, despite her fight scene being filled with some of the best dialogue in the film (which is saying a lot, mind you), the overall fight is a little lackluster, and Ramona getting in makes it reek of “designated girl fight.” Still, there’s nothing so egregious about her that I’d give her anything less than a 9/10.

The Katayanagi Twins

These two, quite simply, suck. They get absolutely no characterization, they get no dialogue due to the actors not speaking English, they get no personality. They are, quite simply, just there, and they are just there because Scott needs to fight a fifth and sixth ex. There’s really not much to say here except that their fight scene is admittedly pretty cool and it’s fun to imagine how the hell their relationship with Ramona worked. Did they date her one after the other? Were they in a weird poly relationship? Did they both just spitroast her on the weekends? For those two things I’ll save them from the very bottom of the barrel and give them a 2/10.

Gideon Gordon Graves

Gideon is a smug, evil, controlling creep for sure, and he is the final evil ex Scott must face. But the thing is, he kind of doesn’t feel any more wieighty than any of the others? Gideon is for all intents and purposes the final boss, and while he does get a little buildup, it all comes in the final acts of the film. It certainly doesn’t make him a bad villain – he actually manages to temporarily kill Scott, and puts up more of a fight than any of the others – but considering how awesome Todd, Lucas, Roxy, and Matthew were in style and personality, Gideon kind of comes off as underwhelming. Yes, he is definitely the most evil of the exes, but he just doesn’t really have the “WOW” factor the others do. He’s an 8/10 for sure.

Well, I guess that’s it, that’s every villain in the mo-

Wait?

What’s this?!

Psycho Analysis: Nega Scott

…