#he's got nuance and depth and i'd love to explore that more | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kamenstranger · 1 year ago

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Before I dive into this review proper I want to give a heads-up that I am about to get into book spoilers and will be approaching this review with the assumption you've read the source material, which the show also expects. Likewise, I cannot talk about the show without getting into spoilers, due to the very nature of it. If you want my one piece of spoiler-free advice; think of it as a spin-off. Cause it kinda is. You'll have a much better time in that "What If?/Elseworlds" mindset.

If spoilers are cool with you, let's jump into it.

So, I was pretty much obsessed with the series in 2010. I was about 17/18 when I first got into the series. The 6th book wasn't out yet, and I can't even remember how I got into the series to begin with. But I believe I ordered volume 1 followed by 2-5 as soon as I finished, or maybe I went all in. I know for a fact I preordered vol. 6 when I finished vol 5. Still have the receipt for it; July 18th, 2010. 10.58 total.

I followed the various video updates on the movie, fan art, fell in love with the game, bought a Smashing Pumkins shirt, and the Anamanaguchi soundtrack was even the first digital album I bought for myself. I was basically just at the right age and state of mind for the series to grab me and have a profound effect with its themes. I think it's something I needed at the time.

But as much as the series meant to me, it's something I mostly moved on from. After all, the book ended in 2010, and until recently I probably hadn't reread it since 2013 or so. My books are in remarkable condition, actually. I mostly kept up with O'Malley's other works, and preordered Seconds when that was announced. Sadly haven't been keeping up with Snotgirl as much as I'd like, but I digress.

So when the show got announced… well, honestly my first reaction was "That thing they should've done after the Adult Swim short" Because, yeah, animation is a better medium for it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the 2010 movie- one of the best theater experiences because the like 5 other people in the audience were massive fan girls loving all the bits. And there is a lot to love about the movie: its visual gags; the performances; the music selection; the overall direction- seriously, Edgar Wright doesn't get enough credit for how good he is at keying in on visuals. Dude knows how to translate comic panels and mimic the vibe of the source.

But it lacked the depth of the books. There's no major character arc for Scott and Ramona addressing their flaws. Hell, the books weren't even finished yet. There are a ton of great translations from comic to screen, but mostly the superficial. Moments like Scott's meeting with Knives in the alley showing that he's becoming more empathetic and confronting his mistakes are either absent or glossed over. Likewise, Knives' own journey of maturity isn't there. This isn't a complaint mind you, it's not like those cuts are unreasonable. I can hardly blame them for not cramming 6 (and incomplete) books into a two hour film. That just ain't gonna happen.

The biggest advantage in a series as opposed to a movie is the opportunity to properly explore the characters beyond a surface level. I'm not saying anything particularly revolutionary by stating the most universally agreed-upon element from the books is that Scott is a bit of a shit.

However, I think that statement is overly simplifying the situation and the character, one far too often invoked by hack frauds who don't truly engage with the work, because clickbait engagement is more valued than a nuanced analytical one. I won't sit here unpacking the full 6 volumes, you can check out someone like Popculturebuffet for that. But part of what works so well with Scott is that we don't initially know the extent of his baggage- and rightfully so. His worst aspect early on is ignorantly getting involved with Knives in the first place, stringing her along even after becoming enamored with Ramona, and being a bit of a slacker. This is something which is pointed out by literally everyone (sans Stephen) as being shitty. But otherwise, he seems fairly average and even endearing in a way. Scott's an affable character that's easy to like in spite of his very major flaws, and that's a statement that remains true throughout. The reader doesn't even get to simmer much on the scenario with Knives until later- and to some degree, this even applies to Scott himself. He's slightly oblivious to his actions, past and present. A prime example would be that we're initially under the impression that Scott doesn't like to drink, which is mostly true. Mostly.

It's not until volume 6 that it becomes clear he got into a drunken fight with Envy on New Year's, suddenly re-contextualizing that and other events. It doesn't negate how Envy was very much a bitch who treated Scott like complete garbage, cheated on him, and screwed his head up something fierce. She is unequivocally the worse person there. But it adds nuance that wasn't present before. I focus on the event with Envy because it's sort of a perfect microcosm of Scott as a character. Scott "doesn't" drink because of what happened, except on the 3-4 social occasions over the course of the 6 volumes, showing how he has a habit of just flat-out lying in various ways, including to himself. He's aware on some level, but simultaneously suppresses that awareness from memory and even re-imagines scenarios outright (Sometimes with a little help, unbeknownst to him) acting like everything was always fine on his end. This is even more true in his prior relationship with Kim.

Scott's solutions are half measures where he can pretend that he was always the victim in a breakup, or at least innocent and free of blame, thus never growing in a meaningful manner. Hell, that's the reason he ended up with Knives in the first place; he was trying to get over Envy, but not in a healthy manner. Change is seen as scary to Scott, and yet it's inevitable. That is, at least due in part to Envy changing into a hateful person. As such, Scott wants something simple where he doesn't have to put in effort. Knives is naive and doesn't see Scott for the dick that he is, she doesn't ask him to be better because he's already perfect to her naive mind. It's shallow, and a tad messed up, and everyone knows it, including Scott- hence his continued dreams about being alone. He knows it's not, cannot, and never will be serious. He's stupid, but not a monster- but stupidity can be a form of malice if one doesn't change their heart. It's not exactly like the story is even subtle about this. The entire existence of Nega Scott is that you can't fight the past, you can't run from it even if you hate that part of you. You have to confront it and accept it to move on, hopefully changing for the better. To say nothing of how Gideon is what Scott could become if he never owned up to it. That angle is why I felt Scott and Ramona worked. Quite frankly, Ramona is just as flawed of an individual running from her past. She's constantly trying to change herself, but always on a surface level. She's afraid of normalcy, of being stuck in a routine, of being happy. She makes out (Not that much) with her ex, Roxie, in anger because she sees Scott hanging with Lisa Miller and suspects the worst. She (rightfully) gets enraged at how Scott was still with Knives when he and her first went out, thus cheating- yet she did the same with the Katayanagi twins, and possibly Lucas. And, ya know, she never formally handed off the breakup letter to Gideon, so she's kinda doing the same thing Scott did with Knives and her. Ramona's past is just as checkered as Scott's. She's just as jealous, hypocritical, and nuanced. It just takes longer to realize that because she puts up emotional barriers and isn't the titular character/main focus. Neither one is evil, but they've wronged people. Often they've been wronged, and sometimes it's not a clean-cut scenario of easily blaming anyone. For all the great supporting cast, gags, fun references, and so forth, our two main protagonists being flawed yet likable is what makes the series compelling. The heart is two people gradually learning to get over their selves and their mistakes. To stop running away, and accept their faults and one another. Over the 6 books, we see them (albeit mainly Scott) put in the effort to be better, to build and maintain something special, and not just go with what's simple and easy. It's not about fighting the exes, it's about fighting for each other.

That type of character arc requires time for development. So, when it comes to this Netflix series, my biggest hope was simply that they would capture that element found within the books. In the lead-up to the show, there were some rumors about the exes having more to do, and I can see that working. As much as I do think the book does a fine job, Todd and Roxie are the only ones with a decent amount of depth. Matthew works perfectly because his simple backstory is a gag in itself. Lee is a fun character with a tiny bit of backstory, but it's barely there. Gideon I can forgive due to his mysterious final boss nature and his schtick is being the extreme opposite of Scott. But the Twins? They're shafted pretty hard. They're there to fill out a roster. Honestly, though, even Roxie would've benefited greatly from the smallest of backstories ala Lucas Lee. She's perhaps the most interesting because she and Ramona are on good enough terms to have coffee together. Hell, Rox genuinely cares for Ramona, and unlike Lucas Lee, she's prominent enough in the story that a simple flashback could have been the cherry on top of all that.

The other part is streamlining story elements. No surprise there. From the get-go, O'Malley said it was not a 1-1 adaptation, and honestly, it shouldn't be. Some parts should be changed for the sake of convenience, and frankly, the book has some superfluous parts. Does anyone even remember Jason Kim? He shows up like twice as "dude with car" and apparently dating Kim Pine until dorking her housemate. That gives the impression of each character having their own life and drama that we're not privy to, which is nice. But it's also not important to include outside the books. Kim (Pine) becoming self-conscious when Envy is brought up, smiling when Scott stays over, or her dead-eyed expression as she lies during the fight with the Twins. All of that says far more about her, her feelings, her love life etc.

Then there's Knives' dad. Fun in the book, wouldn't take him out. But completely unneeded for emotional and narrative development. Sometimes you gotta look at the source material and realize that even if you like something, tacking on an extra hour for the most obvious whodunit would kill the pacing in an adaptation. (That was a LOTR reference for those playing at home)

However, the above scenarios are a trepidatious path. How does one decide what needs reworking, cutting, or expanding? They're necessary for an adaption, but they're not always obvious. If you're not careful, you can completely undermine or mishandle key elements that made the original so beloved. You risk removing seemingly innocuous moments that add a lot to a character's growth. Above, I mentioned that the Twins got shafted in the book, but there isn't really a good place to expand upon them in the original story. They're not as important as Ramona's growing discontent. It's why Scott's fight with robot 01 is relegated to background gags while we focus on Ramona and Kim. You could put a flashback during the final confrontation with the Twins, but that would muck up the pacing and take away from Kim's far more important character moment in lying to Scott to bolster him. The Twins are just narrative scaffolding holding a spotlight on what we should be focusing on. That's what all the exes are to some extent. Shallow, sure, but only so the other characters get depth.

It's not an easy line to walk. If you push too hard on telling a more original story or focus too much on "correcting" various details, you can negate what were otherwise successful plot points. Do too little and the pacing falls apart because the medium is completely different. Would the changes made still contain a similar level of depth and satisfying character arcs, or would it merely be a shallow reworking of the broadest of strokes? The only way to not lose is not to play. These are the concerns I had in the lead up to the show, which is fairly routine. We also weren't getting a lot of information storywise, aside from that it would be mostly doing its own thing (This is something that should have been emphasized more in marketing) The trailers showed familiar set pieces; that Ramona delivers DVDs for Netflix now, which is a great and absurd change; You saw some of the streamlining by having Scott rent Lucas Lee films, thus inadvertently getting a head start on that and cutting out the No Account Video segment; there's a brief original bit where Ramona talks to Julie about how well the date with Scott went. Most of the setting also looked like it was from the first and sixth volumes, which was a tad odd. But other than that, they were tight lipped about the narrative. Most of the promotional focus was on music, the returning cast, and the animation. All great things unique to this medium that we will get into in due time. Speaking of, let's finally discuss

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

So you know how Final Fantasy 7 Remake emphasized the "Remake" part? Well, we kinda have that here with the "Take Off" part.

I'll just cut right to the chase. Scott seemingly dies in the fight with Patel in the first episode. Episode two is his absolutely absurd funeral. Almost the rest of the episode is centered around Patel wanting to take over the league for himself, and succeeding in doing so, gaining all of Gideon's assets, while the league dissolves once they realize Patel didn't even get Ramona back after winning.

This is uh, certainly a direction to go.

Let's put aside not following the source material and this being an original story. Why should I care about this story? I'll concede that he and Gideon have a great fight. The animation from Science Saru is great, and the voice performances are great: Shoutouts to Satya Bhabha, his delivery is impeccable, hilarious, and a major highlight of the show. But why should I care about these events, this retake? What's the hook? Thus far, the primary purpose of the show feels like a fake out, gags, and fights. I spent the opening of this review going over the emotional weight of the books, that's the anchor. So far, I'm getting moments without substance. Am I supposed to care because I have a prior connection to these characters? This is something I wouldn't figure out a proper description and answer for until the finale. My issues also felt exacerbated by both the advertisements not making the original story angle clear, and also how good the first episode starts off. Because Cera as Scott is truly perfect. Cera was a voice actor before transitioning to the screen, and his performance is top-notch in addition to being a great vocal fit to begin with. So it's kinda disappointing to not have him around for quite a bit. Anyway, the second episode ends with Ramona dreaming and hearing Scott's voice, meaning that Scott isn't dead, he's in Subspace or somewhere.

Episode 3: Ramona Rents a Video.

As if answering one of my questions immediately, the third episode finally gives a hook as Ramona starts playing detective, like Pikachu Columbo. That's the selling point, that this is primarily Ramona's story.

She checks out footage of the Patel fight, showing that someone pulled Scott through a portal (Hence the title of the show, wink-wink.) Ramona then heads to First Cup to get a person of interest list from Julie- which is a pretty damn funny sequence, actually. I'm starting to enjoy the show at this point, and it's kinda wild how much more enjoyable Julie is in both the movie and show compared to the comics. Sure, she's a bitch, but she's a fun bitch due in no small part to Aubrey Plaza's wonderfully riled vocals. After getting the necessary info, Ramona is led to Kim since she knew Scott the longest. We even get a cute story about the poorly drawn Sheep Scott did, which looks hilariously WAY worse in the show.

There's also a key comment from Kim that I think is to make a point for dorks like me. Kim mentions that she was once kidnapped by a guy named Simon and rescued by Scott. That was a false memory of Scott's in the books. In vol. 6, Kim pointed out to Scott that Simon was just a dude she went out with like twice, probably hugged, and Scott beat up. This is one of a number of clues that seem to be here to firmly establish this isn't the same continuity as the books being messed with, and should not be thought of as a sequel if that was a concern.

Anyways, their conversation is cut short when Roxie arrives in the hope of rekindling her former flame. But things go south pretty quickly and Roxie's hotheadedness takes over.

What follows is one of the best fights in the show, equal parts funny and clever. Hell, it starts with Rox drawing her sword and accidentally cutting the sprinkler line. It adds a dramatic pseudo rain that's completely negated by Kim's wonderfully deadpan expression as all the damn tapes in the store become soaked.

During the scuffle with Ramona, a shelf of movies falls on the two which… somehow transports them into various movies? I dunno, we're working off video game logic, I guess Gex counts. It's a sequence that I'm sure was done purely for looking interesting. To its credit, the visual styling is on point. From Japanese historical drama to a post-Matrix early 2000s green filter era, to a scratchy film-grain-heavy WW2 film. The backing track also flows into each film genre. I also love a quick gag where Kim watches the fight on a CRT and fucks around with the rewind and pause feature, allowing Ramona to counter an earlier attack. Roxie gets knocked back into the store, smashes the remote, and gets dragged back into the movies by Ramona. That's great.

As the fight continues, Ramona and Rox begin arguing about their relationship, and we get that flashback sequence! It's a small thing, but they show that Ramona left without a word and how that tore Roxie up. Good lord, someone hug that poor girl, she looks like a sad puppy. In a legit great moment, Ramona has to confront how she treated Roxie, sincerely apologizing for it, which Roxie tearfully accepts it. I gotta say, Mae Whitman really gets to shine in the role more than ever. She's one of those I point to when talking about just how perfect everyone sounds exactly how I'd expect.

After the fight, she hangs out with Ramona and Kim for a bit, being very flirty with both. Kim even smooches her for the hell of it, although both admit there wasn't anything there. But hey, they managed to still get a Bi-curious Kim in here, and in a way that was better than in the books.

Elsewhere, a beat-to-hell Gideon arrives in town, meeting with Julie, an old schoolmate.

I legitimately liked this, there's actual emotional weight going on, there's interesting shit being done, and I'm settling into the show's intent. I like the idea of giving Ramona her own story with a slight focus on how she feels about her past. I think her going out of the way as much as she does for Scott, a dude she just met, is a little flimsy. Again, it's really expecting the audience to care because we, in theory, care about them getting together.

Ep. 4: Whatever.

Things get really fucking meta in this one. Ruling Roxie out as the kidnapper, who didn't even know Scott was alive, Ramona turns her attention to Lucas Lee, who is starting a new picture in Toronto.

Turns out the movie is from Young Neil's screenplay, which "he" wrote back in ep 3, or rather a mysterious "sleep paralysis demon" he saw did. The movie is about Scott's life if he won the fight with Patel.

This toying with the universe thing is getting a little unsettling.

Most of this episode is one big meta gag about making a Scott Pilgrim movie with Director Edgar Wrong. I'm not even mad at this, I'm just completely flabbergasted at what the hell I'm seeing. And this will become a reoccurring bit throughout.

Also hope you like gags about Knives' age cause holy shit they reference this a lot throughout the show.

It's at this point in my viewing process I have developed a headache.

To give some credit, Lucas is fun in this episode. He's more in line with the film version, and Evans actually sounds better than ever, likely thanks to age and simply having more to say. And like with Roxie, Lee has a Flashback. There isn't much more than what was in the book, but I think the presentation is better. Seeing Ramona patch him up after a bad fall, and Lucas arranging his Locker (which is filled with photos of Ramona) as she and Todd walk behind him. Man, that stings.

Needless to say, Lee isn't responsible for Scott's disappearance and with the whole "controversy" regarding him dating a 31 year old actress playing a highschooler, he's hounded off the lot and has to be replaced by Todd, which seems to be a reoccurring thing for him.

Ep. 5: Lights. Camera. Sparks?!

I'm now starting to believe this entire show may have been an elaborate troll towards people obsessed with adaptation accuracy to a fault. I almost want to applaud the sheer audacity of it. Suffice it to say, 95% of this episode is done in a documentary style, and there are a lotta hijinks on set. Ramona is working as Envy's stunt double just so she can have easier access to the set and hopefully get a lead from Todd. Wallace also bones Todd. A LOT. Oh yes, Wallace shacks up with Todd, and Todd is really into it. Wallace, on the other hand, just wanted to hook up with a hot dude, leading to a whole excursion and depressive vegan breaking episode for Todd. Brandon Routh really gets to go full ham here, and it's wonderful.

Some damn funny parts aside, Todd wasn't behind the portal, but it was certainly vegan in nature. Ramona is otherwise back to Square one until Patel, by happenstance, arrives on the lot to fire everyone. Afterward, Patel has a brief confluence with Stephen Stills and Knives, who manage to get an in with him. Since Scott's apparent death, Knives has taken his place in Sex-Bob-omb on Bass (and keyboard) making decent music with Stephen Stills. The importance of that will come into play next episode.

Patel then turns his attention to Ramona. Obviously, Patel wouldn't have any reason to keep Scott around, but it's entirely plausible Gideon, or rather his real identity, Gordon Goose, would as part of a revenge scheme.

Ep. 6: WHODIDIT. This episode starts with probably the best opening gag that I kinda don't wanna ruin despite spoiling everything else. I'm probably gonna be adding "I was gone for 90 %#&! minutes" to my quotes, though.

In any case, this is a fairly straightforward episode. Ramona interviews Julie once again, but it becomes clear that Gideon, Goose, has neither the mental state nor resources to pull something like that off. As an aside, we get a flashback with him as well, showing that he was the school nerd. He supposedly had no fear (No pain) until he aimed well above his status in asking a girl out, leading to him being laughed out of school, which Julie remembers all too well.

It seems like another dead-end, but when Ramona accompanies Julie back to her house, they both see a familiar Robot, the Twins' 01 Robot, which has been making very unsubtle appearances in every episode up to this point; Lee's place; outside the video store; the studio lot, etc. We also have a B-plot with Stephen Stills and Knives making music for a stage adaption of Neil's Screenplay so it doesn't go to waste.

Cute.

It's here where it becomes known that Neil didn't write the script, and upon checking the original file, realize something is off and that Ramona should be informed. All parties gather in Ramona's apartment as she goes over the pertinent information in whodidit (dunit?) fashion, including treating us to another flashback, this time with the twins. It's probably the least engaging of the flashbacks, honestly. Even in this, they get shafted. Regardless, the who and how are solved. But Not the why or where. Where Scott is remains a mystery, but it's likely the Twins know, which is where Ramona intends to check out.

Oh, and the information the gang has about Neil's Script? The metadata says it was written 14 years from now. But just as more questions are raised, another winds up on Ramona's doorstep; Scott, safe and mostly sound. The Twins were in fact behind it, and the robot, and… himself.

Ep. 7: 2 Scott 2 Pilgrim.

Yes, the one who pulled Scott out of Time was himself, from the future; a 37 year old Scott. The how is rather simple and already answered; the Katayanagi twins. Older Scott and them became friends in the future, even starting a band; Pop'n TwinBee (RIP Shatterband.) By the way, if you ever wanted to hear Will Forte sing a hilariously bad cover of Konya Wa Hurricane from Bubblegum Crisis as an older Scott Pilgrim, this is the show for you. I was laughing my ass off at this.

Anyway, the robot was disconnected from a fixed time stream, and being a vegan cause, ya know, robot, is able to create portals. Therefore Time portals. As to the why, Scott showed his past self using a virtual reality machine on the Virtual Guuy[sic], complete with red and black pixel art mimicking the style of the game. Past Scott sees memories on the not Virtual Boy; Defeating the Evil Exes, future marriage to Ramona, their honey moon at Universal… and divorce. Well, technically they're just separated after 13 odd years of marriage. Older Scott has since been living with Wallace and his husband.

Exactly what happened is never stated, just that the pain was so much Scott decided to follow through on a sarcastic comment from Wallace and prevent falling for Ramona in the first place. Old Wallace sums up the mental state of Old Scott to regular Scott, describing it as "Like after Envy, times ten." Which uh, yeah, no wonder Older Scott's a tad kooky.

It's at this point I have to bring up personal stuff, and it's something that I thought I might have to. So, when Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour dropped in 2010, I distinctly remember reading an interview with O'Malley about the ending. In the lead-up to the final book there was a lot of speculation from fans that maybe Scott and Ramona wouldn't end up together (there was a strong case to be made for Kim) maybe it would end badly since both Scott and Ramona have their struggles. Some people even thought he would end up with Knives, which is missing the entire point of her character arc, and also fuck no.

Ultimately we got the ending we did because, at the time, O'Malley was happy, so he thought Scott should be happy. But O'Malley divorced in 2014.

I dislike bringing that up, but that was leading me to speculate (and brace myself) if that would have an impact here. I mean, how could it not? And look, there is a good argument that Scott and Ramona needn't stay together for their journey together to be satisfying. It would fit right in line with the theme that things don't always stay the same. People can grow apart, even the important ones that change your life. I don't like that outcome, but it's not as if it's wrong to consider. Particularly for a story like this.

But I also think there's an element of overt cynicism to that. What's interesting is that the show doesn't go in that direction. In fact, it's actually insistent that Ramona and Scott can't help but be drawn to one another, there's a spark there. We even get a scene of Scott hooking up the 01 robot to the VR, and since 01 is connected across time, he can see into the past versions. The robot seen throughout the show was Scott seeing that Ramona was constantly looking for him, and that's genuinely sweet.

Still, the situation is bad, as Scott is trapped in the future and can't use the Robot to travel for reason.

On Young Scott's insistence, he and Older Wallace meet up with Older Ramona, discovering she was the one who went back in time and wrote Young Neil's Screenplay in a failed attempt to preserve their story and hopefully thwart Older Scott. (Let's not go crossed-eyed thinking too hard about paradoxes)

He's a misguided idiot, but Ramona still loves the moron, even if she has her doubts after her failed plan. But Scott's words of encouragement about his Ramona never giving up on him gives her hope. Importantly, she can time travel with her DeLorean roller blades, which is how Scott can and did get back to the past.

But even after Scott's return and reunion, their problems aren't over, as a force field prevents Ramona and Scott from kissing. Someone is still interfering, and the list of who might as well just be the entire list of exes. Thankfully, Stephen Stills and Knives have a convenient plan: The stage musical is going to have all the exes in attendance, so they've got one big gathering spot to get to the bottom of this.

This is one of my favorite episodes of the show. It's cool seeing older versions of the characters, and frankly, the presentation is just great. I do think that too much of that emotional weight is relying on events from the books for your investment. I know, I know. Can't enjoy a good thing without a critique. Still, this is a great episode, one of my favorites along with ep. 3, and our next and final episode.

Oh, and the end credits has a proper rendition of Konya Wa Hurricane, so that's fucking cool.

Ep. 8: The World Vs Scott Pilgrim.

So here we are at the big finale at the premiere of the Scott Pilgrim Musical.

The thing is, none of the exes seem to be suspect. Gideon is the only one with ulterior motives, but they're not towards Scott and Ramona, he just wants to blow up the stage and Matthew Patel.

But not long after everyone is seated something goes awry. A portal appears and transports all the exes and Scott's friend group (And also Julie and the robot) to a barren land.

The one behind this, and the force field, was an Even Older and very buff Scott (47) He slipped past Scott nano machines as a backup to prevent him from ever getting close to Ramona, but even that wasn't enough. So for 10 years he trained to take everyone out, as it's the only way to be sure. And so our final battle begins: The World vs. Scott Pilgrim. If you listen closely to the track during this scene "Big Bad" incorporates elements of "The Dark One" Nega Scott's theme from the game. That's a nice touch.

Even Older Scott is no pushover, he breaks Ramona's Hammer, and despite a fairly good comeback from regular Scott, he beats him pretty bad. The others come to his aid, Knives attacking with daggers, but Even Older Scott punches Knives so hard he knocks the highlights our of her hair.

Ramona begins handing out items from her bag, cyber broccoli for Todd, a cyber skateboard for Lucas, and a cyber sword for Roxie, just as the sub boss music from the game kicks in. Along with Matthew's mystic arts, they mange to actually lay into Even Older Scott, but that only causes him… to go… even further beyond, and One hit KO the four.

The Twins Robot is ineffectual and even Gideon's not quite the glow-douken has no effect. Even Older Scott just grabs it and turns it against Stephen, Knives, Kim, and Neil. This. This is actually fucking awesome. It's going full Shonen ham.

We're down to just Ramona and Scott, who team up and hit him together, followed by Scott and Even Older Scott literally butting heads. We get our obligatory speech between a younger Scott just wanting to live his life, and Even Older Scott saying he'll just end up where he's at if he does.

And it finally clicked into place what the hell Scott Pilgrim Takes Off actually is. This is like a Shonen spin off story. Your Broly Trilogy, Hunter X Hunter The Last Mission, Naruto Blood Mission. But with an X-men time travel plot slapped on. It's an excuse to play around and do different (mostly cool) shit with a set of familiar characters. Like a movie or OVA, the characterization isn't as deep as the main source material. It banks on you giving a damn because of the familiarity so they can mostly get right to the cool bits and not try as hard or waste time on the re-interpretative parts. Don't think too hard about the misgivings, think about Akuma Scott beating the shit out of everyone while the familiar music you're nostalgic for plays.

And goddamn that's frustrating because that's what they should've led with. All the damn trailers were dancing around the new material and making it seem like an adaptation. To keep on the Anime brand, if people are expecting a "Brotherhood" or "Ultimate" version with a Cast they like, and then they don't get that… well yeah that's not gonna go over well. I can't fault anyone for being mad about that. That's having the rug pulled out from under you. But once you realize what this is, and what it's doing, it's a lot easier to enjoy and be its own thing. It branches off a similar story to the books, but it's not like this is a canonical revision or sequel to them.

That said, just because it's "less developed" doesn't mean this is without heartfelt moments I enjoy. When it seems like Even Older Scott has the upper hand, an even older Ramona shows up to chew old Scott out for not even texting in 10 years, fighting people in the past rather than fighting for them, all because of one rough patch. It's funny, but it also confirms the biggest divergence. This is a world where Scott was never kicked out during the Roxie chapter, a world without Gideon's "Glow" mental manipulation, and presumably Scott never faced his inner demons because of it. This also means Ramona didn't run off after the twins' defeat because the glow wasn't affecting her mentality, and thus she faced her own. That one line snowballs into a lot of stuff not happening for their character growth. That- that is an interesting concept.

This all leads to a poignant scene where Ramona questions her older self if she should even bother. What's the point if it ends up like this? Maybe it's best to just keep moving. But, that's also Ramona's thing, isn't it? Running away from what she loves, which is presumably (along with his own stupidity) what set Older Scott down a spiral in the first place. In a scene that parallels Scott's own understanding within the books, Ramona comes to realize she's ran all her life.

In the end, Ramona chooses to stop running and embrace herself, quite literally. Both Ramona's combining into, as Scott puts it "Super Ramona" Able to see the situation for what it is, one Scott still in many ways a dumb kid, the other Scott just a sad mess. She simply sends Older Scott back to his time with the hope he'll straighten out. Meanwhile, the nano machines are still a problem with current Scott. But that's nothing a super form can't overload with a determined kiss. Daww.

Before things go back to normal and because she'll have trouble saying it later, she tells Scott she loves him, and that she tends to run away from what she loves. But who she was in the past isn't who she is now. She just needs help remembering that.

Everyone returns to the theater to enjoy the rest of the musical, and Patel's demon girls subvert Gideon's plans. After the show, he and Julie are apprehended, but Matthew instead begs Gideon to take all his crap back. He has no idea how to run a company, is stressed out, and has lost billions. All Matthew wants is to continue the stage show.

We then get an epilogue. Lucas Lee takes up a job at Second First Cup; Todd has returned to being a Vegan with coaching from Roxie; The rental store Kim worked at closes down; Wallace takes a vacation to Paris where he meets Mobile; Knives continues performing with Sex-Bob-Omb as their keyboardist; Ramona gives up delivery work and instead returns to being a stunt double.

We end on Ramona coloring her hair once again, before heading out and meeting with Scott and the others, as Plumtree's Scott Pilgrim plays us off.

Only for a mid-credits scene to show Gideon and Julie plotting revenge. Oooo.

And that is Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.

s'allright, innit? Okay, joking aside- I think I'm gonna have a hard time conveying my feelings on this one. But I still have three more things to talk about before we get to my final thoughts.

First off, the voice acting is great, shockingly great. I'm a person who is very much of the mindset that you should hire voice actors for voice roles BUT, in this instance, I can understand why. It's incredible they got everyone back and how well they work. I've already given my praise to Cera, Bhabha, Plaza, Whitman, Routh, and Evans in the story portion of this review. But I'm drastically overdue to talk about Winstead's performance. I think this was the one people were most curious about because in the movie there was this aura of Ramona feeling more "cold" in her personality. This was due to the original direction they wanted to take that version, and sadly it meant we didn't quite get a more angles. Here? Yeah, this is pretty great. We hear Ramona full of regret, angry, annoyed, sentimental. It's a much more well-rounded version. My one nitpick is Winstead needs to work on her battle cries, it really stands out in the Roxie fight opposite a veteran VA like Whitman. But otherwise, this is how I imagine Ramona sounding. And I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up how anytime Ramona has a vulnerable moment talking about Scott, she genuinely sounds smitten. The Future Ramona (the first one) in particular stands out to me. That's a version of the character that's older, clearly hurt, and weary, but still very much in love. I can't help imagining that being applied to scenes from the book. In Vol. 5 the part after The Twins are defeated and Scott returns. That scene always tears me apart when I read it. I'm fairly certain if I heard Cera and Winstead's performance of that it would rip my soul out. So maybe it's best we only have this original story. So yeah, I'm happy to see that she fits right into the role better than ever.

Another performance I've yet to mention is Ellen Wong, who is just as perfectly energetic as she was in the film. It's a shame we don't get to hear her do a somber Knives in this setting, but it's hard to complain with how pleasant it is hearing her chipper over the top excitement. Alison Pill's Kim Pine is as sardonic as always, and much like Routh and Evans, I think she's even better now. Johnny Simmon sounds exactly the same, no complaints, 10/10. Jason Schwartzman is an experienced VA, so no surprise he sounds fine. He doesn't get to stretch out much since Gideon isn't super prominent here. Although episode 6 did show a lot of range and potential for what you could do with him. Maybe next season? Similarly Brie Larson's Envy doesn't have a whole lot of screen time, but she's equal parts charming and manipulative. Honestly, for a small as the role is, it made me realize just how much Larson is good at the role and how that level of emotion is often subdued in roles elsewhere. Honestly, I hate to say it, but Mark Webber's Stephen Stills is probably one of the weaker performances on the show. It's not even that it's bad, it's fine and works- except for the animation. That's the one caveat. There are a couple of moments where Stephen Stills is pantomiming, and the voice doesn't match that energy. Truth be told, I even sorta have a similar issue with Kieran Culkin's Wallace, which I swear looks like the syncing was off in the earlier episodes. The saving grace is that Wallace has more scenes than Stephen Stills and therefore Culkin got more opportunities. This is sorta the area I mean when I think it's best to get trained VA. It's a completely different medium and hard to jump into immediately.

I don't wanna end this segment on a downer, so I'll once again mention Will Forte sings Like a Hurricane. OH, Segue.

Soundtrack

So I did not know what to expect going into this. I mean, I was a fan of Anamanaguchi, but I hadn't kept up since Endless Fantasy, sans the Miku single- which is really good by the way. And Joseph Trapanese I was most familiar with from his collaboration with Daft Punk on Tron Legacy, so no worries there. But I did wonder how well a chiptune heavy sound would work. As much as I dig it, it's a very upbeat vibe. Even some of Anamanaguchi's more dramatic tracks have a charming bubbliness to them. How would that work within a series? Well, the short answer is they don't have as much chiptune going on as you would assume. There are a few that incorporate chiptunes to a limited degree, others a bit more, but most not at all. The vast majority of the OST is more traditional fair and Synthwave, and in a way, it sorta mimics my own evolving tastes. I still listen to Chiptune stuff, but I'm also really big into synth music nowadays. It feels like a proper bookend to my late-teens early twenties listening to Anamanaguchi, and later Dance with the Dead and Midnight Danger, and now Anamanaguchi's synth offerings. One of the tracks, Yet Another Winter Again (Calling back to the first stage in The Game) has a Redbook audio sound with a hint of Chiptune, but not the NES/GB Anamanaguchi is known for. It sounds like a SNES. In fact, I would compare the track to something you'd hear in VA-11 Hall-A. So even when there are chiptunes, we're branching out quite a bit in both sound fonts and style. Of course, there are a couple of vocal tracks as well. Like the movie, there are universe songs for Sex-Bob-Omb. They have a unrefined roughness to them, which is perfect for a small unprofessional indie band. As for some of my favorite tracks, the aforementioned Yet Another Winter Again; He's You; And They were Roommates; Blame it on the Goose; Big Bad; Bad Guys; Knives & Kim; and God Only Knows. I'm sure that'll change as time goes on. I'm really digging Lucas' flashback music, and Fond Memories, nice parallel between those two. In fact there's quite a few pieces that, in tandem with the animation, do a lot to sell those heartwarming (or wrenching) moments.

Animation.

Oh right, the animation. So, if you read my Castlevania Nocturne review, you know I went on a slight tangent about how I think it's silly that they labeled it an anime despite it being produced and partly animated in goddamn Texas. It was just a label because they're embarrassed to call their super serious animation what it is because they think anime sounds more mature. I swear some people still think it's 1985 and Vampire Hunter D is the wildest shit cause blood.

Funny thing about Scott Pilgrim though, it's just straight-up animated by Science Saru. I'm not here to get into semantics, because then we'll be asking if Batman TAS counts because Sunrise. I just find it funny. At the very least Takes Off certainly fits the bill more than Nocturne does. But back on topic, it's fucking good. I mean, I don't think that comes as any surprise. Science Saru has made a name for doing really impressive work from Devilman Crybaby, to Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, and the shorts Akakiri and T0-B1 for Star Wars Visions. Not to mention supplemental work for the Garo anime, OK-KO, and Adventure Time. So Scott Pilgrim is perfectly in their wheelhouse, and they do an incredible job capturing O'Malley's illustrations while adding their own unique flare to the styling.

Sadly Tumblr's gif size limit means I can't easily showcase some of the fights as much as I'd like, but suffice it to say the level of fluidity and cinematography is astonishing. Again, episode 3 is an amazing showcase in itself.

To say nothing of how expressive everyone is in the show.

Also this is a weird one, but I think with the exception to episodes 5 & 7, each episode has Ramona going through a bleaching and dye routine. It is bizarrely satisfying to watch, like the tea making in Samurai Jack.

Final Thoughts.

Takes Off was both a confusing shock and a pleasant surprise upon first viewing. It's impressive in its existence, and has moments that I fucking love. Like the Shonen it emulates, it does also come off as a tad superfluous or melodramatic in many respects. But it is fun to bust out old toys and play with them again. The fact that in 2023 I'm seeing a new work related to Scott Pilgrim is fucking incredible. I'm happy that this exists, I'm happy to hear the cast together again, and happy to hear some great music tracks. And I do love the characters of Scott Pilgrim, I love the performances in this show, I love numerous parts of this show. But, I also think it's fair to say what I love most aren't these characters. And that's okay. Those characters should remain in the series that ended in 2010, while these are easily malleable versions for an animated series to have fun with. Maybe you could never capture or replicate the exact magic of the books again, so it's better to just do your own thing. Takes Off was, in the end, a fun time that I think works best when you know what you're getting into. Once you're armed with that knowledge, I think you'll find a show much easier to appreciate.

All that said, as backhanded as this is going to seem, I still think the nicest thing that Takes Off did was get me to re-read the book series for this review. I got to re-examine a profound series from the perspective of a 31 year old, but still find all that I originally loved as a 17 year old. When it comes to adaptive works, no matter what, the nice thing is you'll always have the originals to go back to. You change, maybe your tastes change, and certain things hit differently or don't hold up when you go back. But it's nice to revisit. I think nostalgia can be a poison. Too many people get caught up in wanting to relive the exact moment, to be trapped. But I think it's more fun to see something you love still remain a love even after so much time has passed. I'm happy with how I felt as a teenager reading a story about emotional growth. Some personally, some apart, and others closer. In my 30s, I still appreciate that, and it still affects me and resonates. But just because I cherish that above all else doesn't mean I wouldn't be interested in more Scott Pilgrim. And if O'Malley and Grabinski wanna make more people sing 80s anime songs badly, I'll be on board for that alone.

Or Roxie flirting with every woman. Seriously, she's so much fun.

As always, thanks for reading. Reblogs are appreciated and you can find me elsewhere on the worldwideweb at: Bsky Ko-Fi

So does Gideon still have his exes frozen somewhere, or is that another difference?

Oh, and now that we have a Netflix Series, can we get a Nendoroid Ramona? There's been like no high end merch since Mondo in 2017.

#scott pilgrim #scott pilgrim takes off #netflix #bryan lee o'malley #edgar wright #bendavid grabinski #science saru #anime #animated

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welcometogrouchland · 2 years ago

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ok a curveball: manny/camila or caleb/evelyn

"curveball" both these couples are canonically married anon /j

Jokes aside BOTH OF THESE SLAP AND ARE HIGHLY UNDERRATED, ESPECIALLY MANNY AND CAMILA!

A for Caleb and Manny: Like, Camila and Manny's nerd4nerd romance is so sweet, so highschool romcom-esque, it's so incredibly fluffy, until you remember that Manny fucking died. Of a terminal illness. And like. You can tell how much Camila loves him by the way his things still litter the house. They are so incredibly sweet and sad to me and tbh as much as I joke about other ships w/ Camila (hiiiii darimila <3) realistically, I know that she is never really going to get over Manny. Not in an unhealthy way, just. He was her first and only love, and the joy he brought to her life is something that only Luz can even come close to replicating (Luz brings joy into her life in a similar but distinct and unique way, btw)

And Caleb and Evelyn...OUGH CALEB AND EVELYN

A+ and they only score higher bc of the weeks following and leading up to thanks to them where I was physically incapable of being normal about them. It was fucked up they had a GRIP on me

I'm much more settled about them now and I'd say that currently they leave me torn. Not on what we actually know- the tragedy of their relationship, the idea that they both represented a form of freedom to the other with their shared cardinal motifs, the way they've massively impacted the narrative and the lives of everyone in it and yet most of the world will never know their names, and yet you wonder if they'd be content with that so long as the couples and heroes of the modern era can be free and happy in a way they never got to be- that's all spectacular. Rich with potential and depth.

It's about what we don't know and whether or not I even want it explored in canon. On the one hand, yes, obviously, I want spin-offs and post-hoots dedicated to unlocking their past and telling us everything about them as people and their dynamic with each other.

On the other hand, I almost prefer the autonomy over their story that the fans have gotten. We don't have the constraints and considerations of the crew so we get to run buckwild! Personally I love the idea of Caleb and Evelyn meeting under false pretences, I love some lies and betrayals and some drama and then some making up and living together and oops! They're boning now! And oops! He's dead now. Literally this is riveting to me.

But the crew only has so many minutes to tell this story in, and has age ratings and audiences to consider. They probably wouldn't be able to give it the nuance and horror it deserves. So I think, in the end, as much as I wanna know what Dana thinks went down, I'm also content to keep exploring them in a mostly fannish context <3

Sorry the witteclaw section is so much bigger than the Nocedas section, they just have a lot more ambiguity to mine. I'll end this by saying though that I would actually sell my soul for on screen Manny content, in any sort of capacity. I NEED to know how he paralleled Luz, and maybe even Eda, how he kept that bright cheery smile we always see him with despite the undoubted hardship and pain he was going through, how proud he'd be of how far Luz and Camila have both come, how happy he'd be at the idea that his families grown with the addition of vee and maybe even hunter, how glad he'd be that his daughter and wife never lost their spark. I have to stop now or else I Will Cry

#ramblings of a lunatic #asks #manny caleb and evelyn are chilling in the afterlife rn. to me

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hjellacott · 2 years ago

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Grey's Anatomy Decay (Acting edition)

AKA trained actress rates some of the best and worst current acting in Grey's Anatomy.

First and foremost: The Trident of Super Women.

Chandra Wilson (Dr Miranda Bailey): She has GOT to be the best actress in Grey's Anatomy at the moment, which is not weird, considering her amazing training and experience. Over all these seasons, Chandra has given Bailey such depth, complexity, character... She has managed to show the evolution and changes of Bailey without erasing the very essence of her, and every time she shows up un screen, her whole face and body are full of natural emotion. She's the kind of actress that makes the job look easy. That makes you forget she's just an actress and that Bailey is, in fact, not real.

Kate Walsh (Dr Addison Montgomery): What skill, ladies and gents. She comes second probably just because she comes and goes from Grey's and we don't get enough of her. This is an actress who also fills her character with pure life, but you see her in something else, and she's a chameleon. She can play anything. She gives so much information just by expertly raising an eyebrow, looking in a "certain" way... And like in the previous case, she's brilliant at keeping the essence of the character while showing incredible character evolution, showing us her heart, her soul, her mind... She's at times full of expression and at times completely lacking, perfectly fitting the circumstances. She's, I'd say, the Sandra Oh of the later seasons, and if anybody could effortlessly become the new lead of the series, that's her.

Caterina Scorsone (Dr Amelia Shepherd): She's an absolute monster. I've seen her in both Grey's and Private Practise, and essentially, she's, like Walsh and Wilson, an expert on showing the depth of human emotion, personality, character evolution, expression... She's an expert at nuances too. Wilson and Walsh are simply a tiny bit better.

And on our way down:

4. Jake Borelli (Dr Levi Schmitt): He popped to mind because I used to really dislike his character. But the thing about Borelli is, he really understands Levi, not just that, but he's truly made him his own. Levi wouldn't have the nuances he has if anybody else had played him, and it's hard to imagine Levi being any different. Borelli has also done remarkable work with him, particularly in regards to character understanding and character evolution, but shows a limited range of expression. This means that if you pay attention, it seems like his emotional range with Levi is like, six expressions, three tones of voice and little more. Might just be poor script. Note I still quite dislike the character (and wouldn't mind if it just disappeared), but Borelli makes Levi worth watching.

5. Jaicy Elliott (Taryn Elm): Let this be the ONE time a barely-there-actress makes it to my top five. Listen up folks, Elliott has a lot of potential. Every time she shows up, something about her makes me want to sit down and really listen to her and really get to her essence. Once they discargded the useless and stupid storyline of her love for Meredith, Elm grew. She became a whole person. The fact that she quit medicine was explored by Elliott so well, showing a depth of emotional sensitivity to her that was entirely new, which is why she had to stay in the show somehow. She's the new wise, all-seeing, all-knowing bartender substituting our favourite gay couple in the earlier seasons. And she plays it so well. That being said, her acting potential is being wasted and she absolutely needs to make a gigantic comeback to main role. And she has one thing that another brilliant actress, Sara Ramirez (Dr Torres) also had, which is the great ability to know when to do a lot of acting while seemingly doing nothing. The nuances, man!

6. Niko Teho (Dr Lucas Adams): Behold, one hell of an incredible actor. When you have a relatively small but with a lot of potential role like Teho has, you have to do something to get people interested. And when I look into his eyes, there's just a something hidden there that makes me want to know more, and see more. That's top shelf acting. That's the human nature of showing up but not giving your bare essence in one second, whlist making it obvious that there's more. You look into his eyes and you can see the thoughts moving. And that, with actors, is actually very uncommon and difficult to achieve (and is considered great acting). Normally actors just kind of "show up" like deers in headlights, and do what they think is imitating real life. Actors like Teho, turn it into real life. They make themselves real.

7. Anthony Hill (Dr Winston Ndugu): He's only here because the other day I caught him in another series when he was much younger, and it actually took me a second to realise who he was. Not like he's changed (indeed, the only physical difference was the beard, in spite of the years), but his soul was different. How often do you see actors show their characters' souls? In the US, very infrequently. I see it far more in British actors, which I'd argue is because in Britain, you don't even HEAR about casting notices unless you've got a lot of acting training and are a graduate from some important acting schools. So, this is a quality that really isn't there often, and Hill has it. However, he doesn't quite become his character, I can still see too much of Hill when I'm trying to see Ndugu, so we'll see. But I'm glad he remains in Grey's.

8. Kevin McKidd (Dr Owen Hunt): This hurts me because McKidd has been done so fucking dirty by the script writers for years and he's really tried to do the best he could with the nothing he was given. Whenever his character really had a proper storyline (so for approximately the first 10 minutes of him appearing in Grey's), he was amazing. McKidd gave Hunt such depth, such emotion, such rawness, and also made him so intriguing. But Hunt has just been losing since and to me, McKidd lately looks old, tired and demotivated. He doesn't give me the energy of the trauma superstar any more, more like... An old lion who doesn't want to retire.

9. James Pickens Jr (Dr Richard Webber): Speaking of old lions who just won't retire, with all due respect. So, I have a lot of affection for Webber and ergo, for Pickens. He's not even actually old. But man, he's gone down a lot. He was such a vibrant presence in the earlier seasons, but after all these years... I was Googling whether he'd had hip surgery or knee surgery. I mean, I don't imagine him running to a surgery or to the loo. And truth is, to an actor, our bodies are our tools, and when the body decays, you better be excellent at finding new tools (or when you can't use your body, as it was the case of the amazing acting from Eddie Redmayne playing Stephen Hawkin) and Pickens hasn't. He lacks expression, he lacks energy, he lacks life... I suggest a very long holiday and returning to acting later, or a change for a less active role. Webber is supposed to be an old surgery beast who still has it in him. Pickens doesn't seem to have it in him any more.

10. Harry Shum Jr (Dr Benson Kwan): OK so I've seen Shum for many years, and one thing I've always had clear; he's a top class dancer, but he's not an actor. The US (where I see this most often) tends to make the mistake of pretending anybody can act and hiring anybody as an actor. Dancers aren't actors. Singers aren't actors. You can have incredible actors who happen to be great dancers or singers, but not the other way around. And that is because singing and dancing are great skills and difficult ones, but people devoted to them typically don't have the time and energy to also do advanced acting training. But for actors, learning proper singing and dancing tends to be a must. My opinion with Harry Shum hasn't changed even though I've seen him in a bunch of things by now over many series; He's expressionless, plain, boring, lacking juice, lacking a je-ne-sais-quoi that makes it impossible for me to really believe his characters. I just keep seeing Harry over and over. And he needs to take a page from Sandra Oh, who was the first to show me how fucking full of expression and nuisances Asian actors can be, with or without big eyes.

11. E. R. Fightmaster (Dr Kai Bartley): This is another example of a non-actor. Fightmaster is a fantastic musician. And I can sense that they're also a very sensitive person. Indeed, they've given Bartley that inner depth of a well-written song. However, they're just not actors, and it's always felt to me like I'm just watching E. R. Fightmaster, that Dr Kai Bartley is simply they're doctor alter ego.

#Grey's anatomy #acting #actors #miranda bailey #addison montgomery #amy shepherd #kai bartley #lucas adams #levi schmitt #owen hunt

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hamliet · 2 years ago

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Never Have I Ever... Been So Pleasantly Surprised

Watched the latest season of the teen dramedy that is one of the most nuanced shows in existence at the moment, and it's official: NHIE gets better with each successive season. Which says a lot.

I am generally wary of time-skips, especially when they aren't established precedent, am wary of sudden changes to love interests, am wary of late love interest additions--all of which NHIE Season 3 has. On paper, it looked like something I'd be wary of. In actuality, it creates a story that is a compelling continuation of seasons 1 and 2, sets up a strong final season, and is itself a beautiful exploration of love and growing up.

NHIE is thematically very strong, and it conveys its themes primarily through its focus on relationships of all sorts--family, friends, romantic partners. A great part of growing up is understanding the depths and limits and changes in our relationships, after all. So let's review this by focusing on the different relationships in the show.

Des and Devi

I didn't expect them to introduce a third love interest, so I was skeptical it would work without making the series feel cluttered. To my surprise, it did.

Des is like Paxton and Ben in appeal, which teh show directly states. He's intelligent and motivated, but also super hot. He's also Indian like Devi--really the full package, on paper at least.

Except. Except, Des is also like Paxton and Ben's worst traits combined. Des is, like Paxton, a bit of a coward, and like Ben, he's condescending. Unlike Paxton and Ben, and unlike Devi, Des has no desire to grow. He doesn't even desire to grow up, not truly, which makes him an impossible fit in a season that focuses on growing up, on taking the next steps in life. In this, Des stands in sharp contrast with Paxton, who applied himself, got into college, and graduated, in contrast with Ben, who learned he needed to rest and focus on more than just his ambitions, in contrast with Trent who grew emotionally through Eleanor challenging him to make amends with Paxton just as Devi challenged Paxton to make amends with his exes, and in contrast with Devi...

Nalini and Devi

One of the chief ways Devi grows this season is that she comes to understand that growing up isn't just about having sex and a boyfriend and college. It's also about asking for what you need from loved ones, about looking back at mistakes with compassion for yourself, and about appreciating the dreams that got us to where we are now, even if they are not our forever dreams. Life is a series of steps, which Devi comes to understand.

I have loved seeing Nalini's relationship with her daughter develop over the course of the story. Instead of punishing Devi for dating without her permission, when she finds out Devi and Paxton broke up, she consoles her daughter. Prioritizing Devi's feelings over the simple rules shows growth for Nalini... growth that was further emphasized with the Des and Rhaya disaster later on.

When Nalini tells off Rhaya for what she says about Devi, I was cheering. Finally. She points out all that Devi has been through and Devi's own strength, and refuses to allow any mistakes Devi might have made to distract from Rhaya's own issues. She defends her daughter, and shows how proud she is of Devi.

Nalini's contrast with Rhaya was also intriguing. Nalini's a flawed mom, make no mistake, but she's come a long way from her harshness towards Devi in season 1. Rhaya seems like a supportive mom on the surface, the opposite of harsh, but the reality is that by coddling Des, she's creating a mommy's boy. And I don't mean that in a complimentary sense. Des is weak. When he makes mistakes, Rhaya coddles him and can't possibly believe it could be his fault. As a result, Des is a far weaker person than Devi. He's afraid to stand up for what he wants, and he's afraid to stand up for his loved ones. He's all talk and no action. Rhaya's coddling is actually much more controlling that Nalini's strict rules for Devi, and even worse, it actually works in making Des subservient to her.

As for Nalini herself, I personally hope her relationship with Dr. Jackson comes back in season 4, since Ben/Devi should get focus, and Nalini's romance with Dr. Jackson seemed a clear parallel to Ben/Devi.

Eleanor and Trent

Eleanor and Trent are the couple I never expected to work, and yet they work so well. They're weirdly in sync despite being so different. I love them. When Trent strode in to fulfill Eleanor's dramatic fantasy of her first time, without even knowing about it--just--that was one of the best first time scenes I've ever seen and it was just as zany and weird and touching as these characters are.

Fabiola, Eve, Aneesa, and Addison

As for Fab... I'm a bit sad about her relationship with Eve ending, but not that sad because we didn't really know much about Eve. I had hoped that Eve would get fleshed out, though, but alas, not to be.

I do like Addison, a lot in fact, but I also hope that if Addison sticks around, they flesh them out since they have no more personality than Eve did (lots of great chemistry with Fab, though). Actually, I think the writers should flesh Addison. out, because if the only relationship where the love interests remain fairly one-note and personality-less is the queer one... not great.

Aneesa continues to be somewhat of an oxymoron for me. I really like her. And yet everything about her is just stick-on, which is probably a testament to Megan Suri's charisma. She's not really much of a character in her own right. The eating disorder never came up again, nor did her being a Muslim, which is fine, except that these were framed as important earlier, and then they weren't. Same with her being bisexual. I just can't be interested if she's just kind of there, but she's fun to have around.

Kamala, Manish, Prashant, and Pati

Pati is a savage. She is so a Regina George, and she has a frenemy, and I want her to direct my life.

Just kidding.

But in all honesty, I love her and how her concern for Kamala actually breaks up the family for a bit. Kamala's refusal to listen about Manish is actually the perfect bookend to her arc in season 1. In season 1, Kamala did not stand up for her romance with Steve to her traditional family, despite Steve wanting her to. However, Steve was a dick who had zero appreciation for Indian culture. Prashant was much better, and rooted in Indian culture, but still, ultimately he and Kamala were not compatible.

But Manish is a good foil to both previous love interests. He's Indian-American, but he doesn't know pretty much anything about Indian culture. Unlike Steve, however, he's very eager to learn, because he knows it's important to Kamala and her family. That Kamala does stand up to her family to defend him really shows how she's grown, and also shows that this is the right relationship for her.

As for Kamala, I think her arc is pretty much done. The only top-off I think left is for her to decide whether or not to marry Manish (and the answer, I think, should be yes, for her character arc). I love her breaking up with Prashant in that it is shown that what she did to Prashant was really hurtful, and frankly wrong. However, they ultimately want different things, and that's okay. Not every relationship has to be forever for it to matter.

Which brings me to...

Devi and Paxton

Like with the Kamala-Prashant-Manish triangle, the Devi-Paxton-Ben triangle is well handled. No one is demonized, and no one is the right choice. It's more about how the characters come into their own as burgeoning adults, and how they make each other better.

Devi's development this season was lovely. I love Devi, but she was driving me absolutely insane with her overanalyzing everything with Paxton the first few episodes. Yet by the time the season was over, her maturity was evident, believable, and inspiring. She listens to her therapist more, she comes to understand herself, and she is more mature in her relationships with her friends and family. This is most evident through her changing relationship with Paxton.

I've said before that Devi and Ben are clearly endgame, but that they could never be together if it weren't for Devi and Paxton getting together in the meantime. I stand by that based on this season. But Paxton doesn't just help Devi grow (and vice versa): he helps Ben grow too.

Like with Kamala, I also think Paxton's arc is basically finished, but I do think he'll stick around to influence Ben's arc as Ben tries to decide about Margot and Devi. (Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Ben is the one who needs to grow the most next season rather than Devi!)

What I've always liked about Paxton's character is his inherent contradiction: he's at once very brave (think protecting Rebecca), and also has cowardice as his worst flaw (avoiding girls he sleeps with, being afraid to be seen dating Devi, etc.) His cowardice comes from his own insecurities, and having him fess up and own his mistakes this season, plus make reparations for them, was great. He also then realizes, when he's chosen to speak for graduation, that he cannot control what others think of him.

The facts are still that he was chosen to speak because his peers want to see him do a sexy dance or something, and because he's hot. However, Paxton makes the final choice to say no to cowardice about others' expectations and assert who he is: he uses his speech to show how much he's changed.

The ending scene where Devi thanks Paxton after his graduation speech for being her dream was probably one of my favorite scenes of the entire series. The brilliant way it explores grief--and does so without cheapening Devi's silly teenage crush, instead showing how powerful it can be--really stands out in a sea of condescending "choose the right guy, not the one you have a crush on, silly girl" fare directed at teenage girls today. Paxton helped Devi walk again. He helped her love. He showed her she had value. They don't have to be endgame for that to be the case, and their enduring friendship testifies to this.

Ben and Devi

Devi then having a touching moment with her mom and then going to have sex with Ben as the season's last scene was beautiful. Devi's relationships with her friends, her boyfriends, and her family aren't islands that exist of themselves. Instead, they feed off of and into one another. Through Nalini listening to her and encouraging her, through her being able to voice her true feelings for Paxton, she's able to be brave enough to go after what she wants: to have sex, and to have sex with Ben.

Whether or not Ben is mature enough to have a relationship with Devi, though, I don't know. I kind of think this is set up as the major conflict next season. Ben still thinks Devi is leaving for Shrubland, and he's planning dates with Margot.

But Margot, like Aneesa, is probably important for Ben to finally decide to be with Devi. If Aneesa called Ben on his condescension, Margot encourages Ben to look at the world through a more emotional lens, to appreciate the beauty of life instead of always focusing on winning. And when Ben eventually chooses Devi (and he will) he's going to have to choose her because she's beautiful to him, not because he wins her from Paxton.

#nhie #hamliet reviews #nhie season 3 #devi vishwakumar #devi x paxton #daxton #bendevi #ben gross #paxton hall yoshida #aneesa qureshi #fabiola torres #nalini vishwakumar #eleanor wong #trent harrison

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fantastic-nonsense · 3 years ago

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Hi!! I love your blog and specifically your Jason posts, and I was wondering if you had any thoughts on something I've been kind of internally debating myself. It's a really heavy topic but have you heard of/do you have an opinion on the theory i've seen a couple times that Jason may have been a victim of csa?

Okay, so like.....do I want to have an opinion on this topic? No. Do I have opinions on this topic anyway? Sort of.

Quick context overview for those who are unaware (tw: rape/CSA):

It's been implied on 2-3 occasions that Jason potentially engaged in some level of underage prostitution during the year he lived on the streets (inherently rape given his age and the circumstances). These (potential) references have always been exceptionally and intentionally vague, and could technically apply to things other than sexual assault. However, in the context they're mentioned in it generally makes sense for the incident(s) in question to be CSA.

The particular references in question happen in Green Arrow: Seeing Red, when Jason tries to relate to Mia Dearden (a human trafficking survivor and former sex worker) by saying that, like her, he "had to do bad things just to get by" as a kid, and Battle for the Cowl, when Bruce's "final message" to Jason references a "dark secret" that apparently fundamentally traumatized and broke Jason in a way that Bruce wasn't prepared to help fix.

Additionally, there's been some interesting fandom discussion on Canon!Jason's reactions to victims of sexual assault as well as his particular personal hatred for rapists and child traffickers and how that might point to currently unvoiced and unexplored trauma in Jason's childhood. Those have been covered by people far more knowledgable on the subject than me, so I'm not going to rehash those instances here.

I'm of two minds about the theory. On one hand, Jason being a survivor makes a tragically sad amount of sense given his backstory. It's far from a "reach" scenario and I think in the hands of someone who genuinely wanted to work with that kind of trauma and could do it justice, it would be a really interesting way to explore a few of Jason's motivations for being Robin and how that impacted his responses to crime victims, both as Robin and later on as Red Hood. I don't necessarily think there's anything inherently wrong with the theory given what we know and can reasonably speculate. It would add some interesting retrospective depth to his various interactions with sexual assault victims as Robin, especially the infamous Felipe Garzonas Incident, and could be interestingly used to provide nuance to Jason's personal crimefighting philosophy.

On the other hand, the way that it's actually been (theoretically) referenced in-canon and the way that it's often (not always, but often) talked about within the fandom feels more like trauma porn and adding in angst for the sake of angst than actually giving the topic the weight that it deserves, and I've never liked that. I also trust exactly zero writers at DC to deal with a plot of that nature sensitively, especially given how DC has treated Dick Grayson's and Tim Drake's sexual trauma over the past 20-30 years, and I trust fandom reaction even less.

I don't like how it would fall into the "let's sprinkle sexual assault and/or rape into this character's backstory, as if it isn't already bad enough!" trope that often pops up in comic books, and I ultimately think it wouldn't add enough to Jason's story to be worth the cost of doing it wrong. We already have more than enough tragic backstory and explicitly discussed motivations for Jason to last a lifetime, and he's already got enough childhood trauma to cope with; I genuinely don't think he needs any more heaped on top of it.

For those reasons, while I think it could be an interesting and potentially incredibly powerful addition to Jason's story in the hands of the correct writer, I'd rather just leave it as a speculative theory that angst-oriented fanfic writers deal with and keep it far away from canon.

#jason todd #asks #dc meta #batman meta #jason todd meta #also the concept of taking literally ANYTHING related to Jason in Battle for the Cowl seriously..........yikes

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gaminginsteadofsleep · 2 years ago

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AZURE GLEAM REVIEW

I just finished my first route in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes and have some thoughts to share, so spoilers ahead!

I liked the main plot for the most part, seeing the new ways that characters growled, mysterious Arval, seeing Byleth in a new light, getting more depth about Duscur, etc but honestly the abrupt ending felt cheap. Apparently all the routes end vaguely because the writers didn't want to "undo" and of Three Houses endings but it felt lazy to me. I didn't get invested in the plot to have it just quit suddenly. This is a different timeline so nothing is invalidated. It's rather disappointing to just get us invested and then quit.

I love Arval, they're far more amusing than Sothis, but we all knew they were a suspicious entity, so while the ending didn't surprise me, it was still good since I watch attached to Arval. I hate the lack of information on Arval/Epimenides and how Shez got involved. For the amount of focus we get on Shez and Arval, we don't get much explanation for anything that happens.

Edelgard's victimization by Thales was painful but interesting. I know that Hubert was somewhere else when it happened but six months passed and nothing. If he died before he could help Edelgard then that should've been mentioned because he would not have been okay with this.

My favorite part has been the supports/character interactions. We get a lot of extra depth with the new supports. We miss out on a lot of old favorites but since we get a lot of new supports as well as some angles re-explored, I've been delighted. I'm a big fan and getting more world building and character dynamic is awesome!

The Blue Lions shine in their route: Healthy and supported Dimitri, Duke Felix, mature and cunning Sylvain, Ingrid who grows beyond her loss of Glenn and handles the racist stuff far better (actually all of her supports made her more likeable than the first game), Ashe finally getting a Yuri support, and Mercedes and Annette both get more interesting supports that dive into their interests and opinions, plus we get Annette songs 😂

I was sort of ambivalent about Byleth being an enemy, but once we recruit them, there's a lot more nuance to the character because we get to see new sides of them. I was especially thrilled that Jeralt and Byleth had a support and while it should've been in the original game, it was good to get it at all.

I've never played a musou/Warriors game so I wasn't sure if I'd like the combat, but it is fun, fast, and flashy. I think the speed is a little weird when you have to keep pausing for tactics but over all it's fun, though a little repetitive.

Over all I'd give Azure Gleam a solid B for it's excellent fleshing out of all the Blue Lions Characters, the exploration of the Tragedy of Duscur, and the intrigue of Shez and Byleth. The negatives are mostly that the plot feels wonky at the beginning and end like they cut off both ends of the story and gave us a weird middle section with a vague and unsatisfying conclusion and some OOC character bits like literally no one ever being suspicious of Shez ever.

Grade: B

#fire emblem three hopes #fire emblem warriors three hopes #azure gleam #blue lions #video game review #route review #fire emblem three houses #few3h #fe3h

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pynkhues · 3 years ago

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Do you watch cartoons? If so do you have any favorites?

I do, anon! Fun fact, I actually wanted to be an animator for a really long time, but I ended up pursuing writing instead. I'm really passionate about animation as a medium though, and I wish it was taken more seriously overall because I think some of the best TV of the last twenty years has come out of it.

Off the top of my head though, I'd say:

As Told by Ginger – an always profound and emotionally rich coming of age story, and a perfect middle-grade-to-ya-transition-series. It's genuinely magic, and the creator would go on to write for Parks and Recreation and create Suburgatory, so you know she's p great.

Bob's Burgers – probably my favourite sitcom currently airing, I just love it so much. Bob and Linda run a burger restaurant while raising their three delightfully weird kids, in a delightfully weird suburb. It's sweet, sharp, and funnier than it has any right to be.

Bojack Horseman – gosh, what's there to say about Bojack that hasn't been said a million times already? It's dark and it's deep and it's introspective about the nature of addiction, fame and family, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Futurama – a formative series for me honestly. I grew up with Futurama, and it (along with, funnily enough, Charmed), I think really marked me carving out my own interest in TV as a tween. Futurama has a lot that speaks to me in a show – found family and a deep love of the stories that came before it, along with a pretty great sense of humour. It's high sci-fi at it's absolute best.

Justice League / Justice League Unlimited – there are a lot of great animated DC series, and I was really tossing up between this, Batman Begins, Young Justice and Teen Titans, but ended up settling on JLU because of the depth of storyworld and the way it really felt like it grew to me. It feels like such a realised universe, and watching characters drift in and out is often fun, but always affecting. If you like superhero stuff in particular, you really need to check this series out.

Over the Garden Wall – god, this is just good. It's beautiful animation with a story that never feels the need to explain itself too much, which isn't an easy feat. It's a great story well-told, and all the more special for it.

Paranoia Agent – I'm a huge fan of Satoshi Kon, and he's made some of my favourite movies. He only made the one TV show, but Paranoia Agent is brilliant for the way it merges what's effectively a psychological thriller with a profoundly rich character study. It's complicated, and weird, but it's also a deeply nuanced story about the impact events can have on society and the ways in which hysteria can seep into a community. It's excellent TV.

Steven Universe – This show got me through a pretty dark chapter in my life, and it's one I'm forever grateful for. It's a little slow to start, but once it gets going it really gets going, and feels like a rich exploration of the relationships we form, an homage to magical girl anime, and an empathetic look at mental health, which is - - well. Pretty magic.

The Weekenders – this is another one I feel is actually a pretty perfect sitcom. Yeah, it's a kids series and yeah, it's about what a group of teens get up to on the weekend, but it also touches on so many deeper topics including single parenthood and being the child of migrants and retaining your identity when you enter new relationships. It's fun and lived in, and one of the first animated series where I saw characters have wardrobes instead of wearing the same clothes every episode, and that's always stood out to me. I re-watched it during lockdown last year, and honestly, it's aged really, really well.

Your Lie in April – I don't watch a ton of romance anime (although there are a few I really enjoy like Fruits Basket and Lovely Complex) but Your Lie in April is probably my favourite. It's really emotionally complicated, and it's exploration of grief, identity and music feels deeply realised. The score for it is beautiful and works really well to centre the characters, and if you feel like watching something that'll make you cry a lot, it's pretty much perfect.

What about you guys though? I'm actually craving some good animation myself at the moment, so any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

#i'm thinking of starting the cowboy bebop anime at the moment #which i've actually never seen!#so that might be my go to #i'm about to be in a hotel for a week so am defs keen for recs #welcome to my ama #tv recs #also i assumed you meant tv shows but i can recommend many (many) movies too!

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strifetxt · 3 years ago

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idk what beefleaf is but the art and characters are so pretty where can i see more

BOY OH BOY okay. beefleaf is a ship in heaven official's blessing (tian guan ci fu in chinese), a novel by mo xiang tong xiu, mxtx for short (it's the same author as mdzs/cql/the untamed, if you've seen those floating around, that one's definitely her most popular work!)

if you want a basic rundown of What Is TGCF, basically it follows the story of xie lian, a former crown prince who ascended to godhood, but has since been banished from the heavens not just once, but twice, and is now considered the laughingstock of the heavenly realm. however, at the beginning of the book, xie lian has somehow ascended to godhood a third time! over the course of the book, you follow xie lian as he investigates various mysteries that lead him to learn more about the heavens, as well as about his own past. and along the way, he catches the attention of the mysterious ghost king hua cheng, a relationship which develops throughout the story (not-spoiler alert: they're in love, like canonically, tgcf is a love story and hualian is beautiful)

in terms of beefleaf itself! beefleaf is the ship name between two side characters, shi qingxuan and ming yi! shi qingxuan is a god known as the wind master, and he is a canonically genderfluid icon who drags her surly best friend, the earth master ming yi, into also having genders with her, so that's a fun time! the more in-depth exploration of their relationship is the crux of one of the major story arcs in the novel, and it is A Lot. that said, if you have any interest in consuming tgcf in any fashion, i would highly encourage you not to google them or look up art and the like, because it is EXTREMELY difficult to talk about them without major plot spoilers!

as for Where To Read: the thing about tgcf is that it is Extremely Long. like, longer than the word count of the literal bible long. the chapters aren't super long, but there are 244 of them, not including the post-canon extras. the most easily accessible way to start the story would probably be the donghua/anime, which is available on netflix! just search up heaven official's blessing! the donghua covers the first 30ish chapters of the book, and it's a solid adaptation! i will say that some of the translation choices in the subtitles don't quite capture the right nuance, but that's just nitpicking from me haha. i would recommend, if you do start with the donghua, to go back and skim the chapters that it covers, if only to check for different terminology and translator's notes, and also because the donghua really does not capture the comedy of the first chapter wherein xie lian basically logging onto the heavenly discord server to see a new channel called FUCK XIE LIAN wherein everyone is taking bets on how long before he gets banned again.

ANYWAY, SORRY THIS POST IS GETTING SO LONG. in terms of actually reading the book! seven seas danmei is officially localizing heaven official's blessing, and the first two volumes are available for purchase on their site and at major bookstores! there are, it seems, eight total volumes planned, scheduled for release over the course of this year and next. so it'll be A While before we have the entirety of the story out officially.

since the localization got announced, the person who did the fan translation (who is now one of the official translators!) has taken down the free versions she had online of the whole book. i'm? wary of linking to a pdf publicly, since i def want to respect the translator's wishes! but if you dm me or ask off anon, i'd be willing to share it privately if you want it! tgcf is one of my favorite stories, and beefleaf in particular is one of my favorite ships, so i'm very happy to share them with anyone who wants! :D

#THIS POST GOT SO LONG AND TOOK SO LONG TO ANSWER I'M SO SORRY #wrote this out between customers at work orz

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ayamadori · 4 years ago

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I LOVE COLA LOSERS - HERES WHY

This is a long essay-ish thing that dives a bit into my thoughts about Cola Losers, analysing the two boys dynamic and it's potential for Eduardos characterization. This is in no way linked to the actual real life people involved, but only the cartoon characters.

1. EDUARDO - PRE/POST-LEGACY

Pre-legacy Eduardo (as seen mainly in Hammer & Fail) is the perfect flat mean girls parody character. He comes off though as much more catty than your TV show bully, especially when he is constantly looking for a new way to make fun of Edds crew with his friends Jon and Mark. At the same time, he's still intended to be Edds counterpart - often seen in green and drinking diet cola. This similarity yet also laced with major differences causes ire from Edd, who views him with comedic contempt.

Pre-legacy Eduardo is a good example of Eddsworld constantly using (and sometimes twisting) well-known tropes in fun ways to generate more laughs. The neighbors fills a fun and vital role in the Eddsworld ecosystem.

Legacy however takes him into a different direction. According to the legacy documentary, Paul Ter Voorde had noticed some liking for Eduardo and chose it as a chance to expand on his character. Legacy offers us a way to view Eduardo beyond the intended flatness of his pre-legacy self, opening up a chance for a bit more nuance and depth to be added to him.

2. POWEREDD AND EDUARDOS INSECURITY

PowerEdd is the legacy episode (and probably the episode in the whole series) that focuses on Eduardo the most, especially as he features as the villain. Poweredd in my eyes delves into 2 ways to interpret Eduardos characterization (and his insecurity) here. One i'd like to think of as the "pre-legacy inspired" and the other one as "legacy inspired".

| PRE-LEGACY INSPIRED; This interpretation relies on PowerEdd being a parodic exploration on superhero tropes - Eduardos disproportionate reaction to his "backstory" pokes fun of dramatic villain backstories by making Eduardos motive for his grudge seem like a silly and small thing. The episode itself is seen here as a humorous take on the superpowers trope and fits into that framework. This view relies upon the knowledge of Eduardos role in pre-legacy.

|LEGACY-INSPIRED; This takes Paul Ter Voordes statement of Eduardo into account. PowerEdd could be seen as a genuine attempt at lampshading Eduardos insecurity and his struggle with possible low self esteem. These aspects together create a superiority/inferiority complex of the highest caliber.

Eduardos behavior fits into that idea (seeing as he acts tougher than he is now in contrast to his meeker past self, goes extremely far to protect his pride as to try to destruct the source of his anxiety, makes his peers also act uncharacteristic which fails i.e Jon etc.)

It's a rather well-known phenomena in psychology that the individual who often feels a threat towards their sense of self (and thus security) uses a illusion of a tougher, more intimidating facade in order to feel comfortable with themselves.

The main argument here is that PowerEdd is not making fun of Eduardos superiority/inferiority complex, but rather tries to lampshade it and imply that this seemingly innocous event is not the /major/ cause of his insecurity, but rather the single drop that filled the glass over. Since i dont wanna base too much on assumptions, i wont expand on what these other possible events could be. But in the end, the result is quite obvious; it makes Eduardo go in a constant frenzy to prove himself superior to Edd at all times. He projected all his insecurities into this single event where his artwork came in second place, and the person who won over him.

3. HOW THIS ASPECT IS DEALT WITH

In their final confrontation in Poweredd, Edd questions Eduardos motivation for his actions. Edd (the audience proxy in this case) dont react though with mocking this reason or laughing at it. Edd actually takes it seriously and even apologizes for what he did, realising that the seemingly innocous action ended up being part of something bigger and more harmful.

This fully throws a confused Eduardo off, who had (most likely) been expecting a offensive reaction that'd validate his paranoia. But this doesn't happen. The narrative takes his frustration seriously, which is what i find so interesting and likeable about it. This so large seeming conflict diffuses so quickly because of Edds sincerity, a underexplored yet charming quality about him.

4. EDD IS NOT MUCH OF A THREAT

What made Eduardo waver and change his mind? He reaches the epiphany that Edds way too much of a dumbass to be a threat at all. Eduardo had been trying so hard the whole to prove himself to someone, to /something/ as being the better one. However, the real fool was Eduardo himself.

Edd is the furtherest from a threat that you can imagine. Honestly, he never really intentionally targets Eduardo with malicious intent (definitely prone to teasing though lol), and it's often the result of Eduardos own actions than anything else. Edd mostly minds his own businiess, and is upon a second look a rather sensible guy.

It makes Eduardo feels stupid for misjudging him, and you know he reaches that conclusion since he goes as far as to use up his last bunch of powers to defend Edd.

5. COLA LOSERS (ENCORE)

I felt like i wanted to establish all the points from earlier since they play a significant role to the way i view Edd and Eduardos dynamic. Edds relaxed and casual demeanor contrasts amusingly to Eduardos high-strung, much more neurotic tendencies. This difference makes for a surface-level funny competetive dynamic.

However, Edd is hardly a malicious person. He's not someone who actively tries to taunt Eduardo in a way intended to cause genuine harm. He's a bit silly and stupid, and his taunting of Eduardo is more based in neighbor shenegians rather than anything else. The whole point is that Edd could actually do more positive than negative for Eduardo - he can engage in a rivalry with him, but one that Eduardos actually comfortable with. Especially since by the end of PowerEdd, you can notice Eduardo clearly has nothing against Edd anymore (though still finds him annoying lol).

Something i rarely see mentioned when people talk about these two is that if they got to engage further in Eddsworld minus the grudge, Eduardo could actually make a change for the better and get something better from it. Not to mention, it hardly has to be a full on competition all the time - they could have moments where they're more friendly only to go back to being rivals again.

TDLR: I really love Cola Losers.

#eddsworld #ew edd #ew eduardo #cola losers #long post #analysis #ish

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rimouskis · 4 years ago

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You mentioned that “There’s been a big shift (from 2014-era sidgeno fandom to 2021-era sidgeno fandom) in characterization”- as someone whose fallen deep into hockey fandom this last month and hasn’t been looking at the date of any of the mountains of fic I’ve consumed, any chance you could expand on that??

Sure!

I jumped into hockey in 2016, which is (I believe) right before the shift happened.

Plenty fics from ~the early years~ have what I would call more caricatured takes on Sid and Geno. I've heard—and this is hearsay, okay?—that lots of the first wave of hockey RPFers were actually old bandom fans (FOB, p!atd) who were moving on to new flavors of RPF and bringing some of their fic tastes along. Some forums I've lurked on have also suggested that bhawks fans migrated to sidgeno and brought conventions from their ships.

I also suspect that the newness of the fandom played into it... when things are newer [even if Sid and Geno had been in the league for years at this point], there's more room for creative interpretation and for fannish narratives to become established fanon. There was also just less interest in what I'd call fandom scholarship in hockey (a la the likes of @torchtoburn and other well-known bloggers here who post articles, headlines, narratively-complex gifsets like @rinkrats, etc). So people were often flying into fic without a lot of "canon" backstory to inform their characterization, which is a totally valid authorial choice! But it was relatively consistent across the board, so you got these sort of... characterization monocultures.

Regardless of how it happened, the most consistent characterizations of Sid and Geno were as The Hockey Robot Who's Bad At Feelings and the Big Goofy Russian. Some of this could be boiled down to General Fandom Trends at the time, but Sid was usually relegated to the character going through big emotions and yearning, and Geno was designated as The Big Strong Love Interest who didn't have a lot of insecurities. Fans had fun with this. There were inside jokes about Sid being a Hockey Robot and it looks like everyone involved was having a good time.

Right about when I showed up is when fic authors started playing around with things a bit more. You'd start seeing more variation in sexual situations (older fics trended HARD towards Geno topping), more emotional nuance was afforded to Geno, Sid became less of an innocent awkward virginal wallflower. I really think fic started exploring the characters' interior worlds a bit more, especially in Geno's case. Fic in general (as a ... genre?) has gotten more introspective and monologue-y and less trope-focused in the last few years, from what friends and I have seen.

Beyond the trends of Fandom-At-Large, speaking on sidgeno specifically, I believe this is also due to the fact that we've actually gotten a lot of REALLY good reporting about Sid and Geno in the last 5 years. The Cup repeat, the World Cup, the 1000 points milestones... they've both had a lot of in-depth dives as of late, and they've also been pretty forthcoming with information. As they've become veterans, things have changed! They're no longer rookies!

Personally I think they're just really settled into who they are now. I've talked about this at length with hockey friends, and we all kind of agree that Sid has settled into himself in a way that he wasn't 7, 8, 9+ years ago. Geno has gotten more media attention as they've worked to move past stereotypical narratives of him and gotten through the language barrier. Also, they're just older now. They're both a bit more open about who they are, and as a fanbase we've simultaneously gotten a lot more interested in the "curative" side of things (articles, history, Fun Facts, etc.) as opposed to the "I'm going to write this character whichever way I want, regardless of real-world anecdotes" attitude.

This has led to more unique, introspective takes on Sid and Geno in fic, in my experience. I'm not a fic historian—I actually don't read as much as I should, it's hard to find the time!—so I can't definitively claim this whatsoever... but, in just my passing observations as a fan in the space, characterizations of Sid and Geno have gotten more full-bodied and diverse.There are more writers interested in modelling fics and characterization off of real-world reporting that has also (in my opinion) gotten more accurate/deep. There are also plenty of writers who aren't doing that! There's room for all sorts of interpretations in sidgeno fic these days.

None of this is a value statement, mind you. I really love that people are truly doing their own thing when it comes to this ship and the fic they write for it. I look on old sidgeno fic fondly; it really feels like a relic of fandom at the time. A lot of the ship aspects that were used for sidgeno I recognize from other ships and other fandoms, and because I'm a bit of a longhauler, I love fandom history and the evolutions it has gone through over the years.

#i hope this is what you're looking for!#my experiences are not universal #and my viewpoint isn’t comprehensive #but! this has been my experience :)#ask #anonymous #hockey fandom

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murroyilodel · 3 years ago

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Ah, what can I say. Your portrayal is the reason why I want to keep writing for Frollo. If it weren't for you, I don't think I'd have that constant desire to explore the depth of our characters. It doesn't matter if it's canon, modern, or au, I love the nuances that you bring to Esmeralda in each. You have such a grand understanding of characterization. Not only with Esmeralda, but with other characters you write for. I always want to continue reading whatever you write <3

beep beep how’s my portrayal ?

Your blog was why this blog was created and I got sucked in roleplaying, so touche lol!

You push me to think more carefully about Esme’s inner workings and motivations, how she reacts to people and situations around her.

You draw me with your portrayal and I had the privilege of watching how you build Frollo and make him yours. He still surprises me (and Esme) in his own ways and I look forward always to writing with you and reading what you have to say!

Here’s to friendship and collaboration! XD

@thecurseisinourblood

#thecurseisinourblood #outof1482 #LOVE YOU COURTNEY #forever saved

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elizabethrobertajones · 7 years ago

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You know, I desperately want Destiel to be end game as much as anybody, but somedays I think I would just be content if the show just textually acknowledged that Dean's bi. Something as simple as a dude at a bar asking Dean to come home w/ him while they're on a case and Dean saying something like "any other day I'd take you up on that but I can't tonight." IDK the subtext that Dean is bi is strong enough that I can't say the GA would be shocked by it and it would just be a nice textual nugget.

Hey, sorry it took so long to answer this, I’ve not been at my best for ages… Been thinking about this all week though :P

I think it feels to me like the general audience can discard or mentally discredit an AWFUL lot of implication and direct hints - there have been comments and moments in many bits of media which imply directly or with heavy innuendo that a character may be interested in a non-hetero way to someone - especially things like teasy moments…

Thinking of things like in HIMYM there’s an ongoing joke about Lily having a crush on Robin, but since she’s with Marshall the entire show, it doesn’t really go anywhere, and when they do kiss the dynamic swaps and Robin is left with kind of a crush on her and Lily’s over it and it’s all a joke, and even though they kissed it was a lol girls kissing is hot joke for the whole show, and it never turned into a discussion of sexuality, even if they would both happily stay married in their heterosexual marriages. (And… Uh. Robin stays married okay, I’m pretty sure that was the alternate ending in the DVD unless I hallucinated it out of sheer frustration >.>) Anyway to me it seems pretty natural to read both of them a little queer to full on bi, and if it had gone even a little bit differently Lily especially could be good representation for a bi woman in a relationship with a man who just happens to have ended up falling in love with him and that’s normal and doesn’t invalidate her sexuality? But yeah. No such nuance, so this whole thing barely registers for people and in general people would think it’s all a joke.

I mean, even Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which is where that Getting Bi song comes from, has an episode where the main character has a huge rival-crush on the girlfriend of the guy she’s into, and gets so into her she even kisses her, but there’s no exploration of what that means to her and when her boss comes out as bi with that number, no exploration of if she might be as well, even if all these characters eventually might feel more comfortable defining themselves as straight it’s just weird to me there’s all these jokes about it which can go as far as kisses, use overly romantic language or a long-running joke of Lily heavily coming onto Robin or something, and yet unless you’re like a magpie collecting all this stuff it’s all still just noise.

I bet a ton of people would not even have considered the characters were not-straight, even when directly pointing their eyes at this moment, consider it all as a joke or that it’s just something straight people do sometimes because of the cultural massive repression of bisexuality and the indications in more liberal times and places that when polled people will be majority queer to straight with at least some bi leanings… There’s all these headlines about gen Z being the gayest generation yet, but it’s not something in the water, it’s that previous generations have never dared be as open or consider that they’re non-straight, especially if they are easily attracted to people heterosexually…

I think the Aaron scene was 90% of the way to what you are describing, minus Dean giving him a raincheck overtly, and Aaron admits it was a ruse before any further tension can follow. I think, having snooped a lot of blog archives in my time, that really was a turning point that got a lot of people convinced of the textual possibilities, especially with the director/writer commentary basically confirming it. And obviously it didn’t work to make EVERYONE see it, although fandom swelled that season and it was a very dramatic moment in the history of bi!Dean and Destiel within fandom.

To give another example from outside the show, I’ve been watching Black Sails with my friend, who is very straight in mindset, and - major spoilers for that show ahead - the main character is confirmed to be overtly queer in the middle of the second season. I think I know exactly the point I would have picked up this was a queer narrative in the first season, and what would have made me suspicious about the mysteriously un-revealed backstory. The build up to the reveal was amazing in the second season and I think if you didn’t get it you really need to do a rewatch, because my friend was utterly blindsided by the revelation, only catching on a scene before it happened (she does like guessing and is smart at TV if she knows all the cues to start with). But she’s - sorry - at sea with the character’s motivations and reasons, and understands his earlier actions almost completely backwards to me as she took him on face value for far too long without suspecting there was more than treasure and restoring his name on order, and not understanding his motives to be so political or to want to burn the entire system down or his utter alienation from the system; even after the reveal she didn’t understand the degree to which things were on the line or the forces pressuring him one way or the other.

(I find it really interesting and I’m not really disagreeing with her, I’m curious how the surface layer all reads tbh :P)

In any case, I don’t really have much confidence in a wider general audience taking throwaway moments to be full canon, and generally would need declarations and inescapable discussion or plot arcs for it. I think in some ways the trail is being blazed now - when Rosa came out as bi in b99 it had a sort of special episode educating you on it as much as being very sympathetic for bi people to watch and see literally a bulletpoint list of their issues and weird things people say about it acted out on screen. The subplot is basically the masterclass in addressing it.

(So is the Getting Bi song :P although it covers less of the issues overall, it does make it fun and normalises the idea into a dance routine and deals with someone discovering the label for themselves and being thrilled it makes their life make sense.)

I don’t think spn should do anything quite so specific or hilarious, but I love @bluestar86‘s concept of an episode which uses flashbacks to reveal Dean’s bisexuality - basically like with Robin in 9x07, but I think even just showing it was a childhood crush and he never figured it all out at the time but meeting the guy later in life makes things make a lot of sense or something… And we already have a template for that without going all the way into it with his reaction to meeting Gunnar Lawless, a childhood celebrity crush. So there’s paths to take which could do it.

But ultimately I think the issue is so messed up and tangled into the main arc that it would be next to impossible to confirm Dean is bi without having an utter drama about why not Destiel, as the two concepts are not, at this point, really separate or that you could have one without the other, though it would be easier to not address Dean’s sexuality in any way of assigning labels or having more than the immediately necessary self-reflection to deal with feelings for Cas without exploring deeper… (Not that I like that idea, it’s just, they could, you know? Not even in a “i don’t like labels” way but just something like Dean going “huh” and then getting together with Cas and literally no one ever makes a fuss or starts up a dialogue about why they’re now holding hands :P)

But it’s been such a ridiculous, epic, drawn out relationship on screen that making Dean bi independent of Cas would seem bizarre and off-balance without addressing his relationship to Cas. Just because they have such an intense relationship, and within the text of the show are many many references to their relationship on many different levels, from snide comments to enormous declarations. None of this happens in isolation to other storylines or character depth. With the momentum and depth it has in the story, making Dean bi would be seen as a precursor to Destiel, and at this point cruel and strange not to address it and would beg the question of why they ever confirmed him bi in the first place, if not to leave the ship unresolved to the end but to be open for us to imagine it might happen one day when the story is over - or not, if we don’t ship it, and it’s the way to thread a needle to try and keep everyone happy. Which I’m not sure would work except for the people who very specifically would advocate for bi Dean but don’t think a ship is necessary. I mean, I know that’s a chunk of the Dean fandom, and it’s a valid way to read the text, and of course a lot of Destiel shippers are fully aware Dean is bi without any special interference from Cas about that :P

And, I mean, in the same way, Cas’s story isn’t ALL about Dean and he has a lot of personal growth that doesn’t have to do with him or happens in spite of him in some cases. But it’s still inextricable from Cas’s character how much he loves Dean and how much Dean has meant to him, and they crossed the line of Cas loving Dean, unrequited or not, a long time ago, and Cas has been existing in a subtextual agony of being in love with Dean but seemingly unrequited for a very long time now, as that line was crossed before several season renewals made it a painful wait for him. This doesn’t exist in a void to Dean’s sexuality either.

So, I mean, I don’t know. I disagree with you about the general audience thing entirely, and I think this exchange you imagine could easily be absorbed by the GA to not really credit it as a full part of Dean’s character, laugh it off as a joke from him no matter how seriously he delivers it, and generally not remember him as a bisexual character. Because to straight viewers, they aren’t seeking out sexuality hints and confirmations, and such things don’t really affect their view of a character unless it becomes a textual romance. It has all the meaning sucked from it by their lack of interest and inability to sympathetically mould the character’s inner life based on their own experiences that match. If they’re not making a study of the character, these things can be dismissed as white noise, and in a few years time, a Buzzfeed article of “10 Pop Culture Characters You Never Knew Were Gay!” or something.

And it’s like, yes. We knew. We knew all along. We knew before it happened. But that doesn’t affect how people think of it.

So it feels to me like the only way if they wanted to make a real point of Dean being bi is to have the frank discussion, and devote a proper subplot amount of time to Dean’s sexuality, enough that it is clear and inescapably affecting him, or to confirm it via a relationship which would in this case conveniently by answered by the angel he’s been subtextually pining for for years, and who has his own arc of being pretty overtly in love with Dean to answer… should the show decide to go with addressing Dean’s sexuality, they have put a LOT of work into having this relationship ready and waiting, I’m just saying :P And if they only had an Aaron but x10 scene, it would STILL not really affect anything except layers below GA - there’ll be more queer viewers who see it for the first time, and within these four walls it will obviously never be forgotten and will be a huge part of how Dean is celebrated by fandom, but I just can’t see it making an impact unless it’s more than a passing moment, because those get swallowed by a heteronormative void…

#Asks #riverboat gambling #dean is bi #destiel

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