#once again maybe if they'd had more episodes she would have but for better or worse this is where we're at now and it's so much better

[niuxita21]

The absolute Misty Quigley-level mental gymnastics by Ana to come to the conclusion that her breaking Mariana's heart in season 1 was somehow all Juan Carlos's fault because if he hadn't gotten involved with Tere, Ana wouldn't have found out the day of the baptism and she wouldn't have gotten mad at Mariana for keeping that secret from her and, thus, rejected her when she told Ana she was in love with her 🤣🤣

[numberonetacostan]

I remember reading a headcanon once where the contestants can only be programed to know the emotions that Mephone knows (not he unable to feel them, just knowing what they are when they do feel them) and romantic love was brought up (as well as the other not platonic kind but we don't need to get into that) but basically they'd be on their own to figure out what it was (with the theme of this blog it's kind of inevitable this gets related to tacopad/Tacomic, although more tacomic here tbh because Mepad could probably just pull up the dictionary definition or something, if that would even help I'm not exactly sure)

Hello!!!^^ Welcome, and thank you for sending in an ask!!! :] I am unfortunately having a bit of trouble reading the first part, so I apologize if I get anything mixed up.

The contestants learning about romantic love on their own is a super sweet idea actually?? We see in canon that payjay are already figuring it out, and it's interesting to note that our first canon couple consists of a season 1 exclusive character and a season 1 + 4th s3 boot who didn't stay on indefinite island. It's almost as if the game gets in the way of the contestants forming healthy, loving relationships. Weird.

But yes, the contestants would be on their own for learning about and navigating romantic love!! There will be a lot of self-discovery going on post-canon, and this would fit right in!! I'll write a bit about Tacomic and Tacopad since you mentioned them, but I actually don't mind talking about other characters or ships at all!!!^^ I love every ii character, other than maybe Salt, but then I feel bad about leaving her out so. Taco just happens to be my favorite :).

SO Tacomic would uh stumble and fumble around a lot I think. They're still working on their friendship at first, Taco has a lot to learn, and she's currently grieving Mepad. Mic still has growing to do too, even if she's gotten better and grown since s2 episode 14, yeah? I think it gets easier as things go on for them. Taco always has her little crush on Mic, but it's Taco she is shoving those feelings as far down as she can, because she doesn't want to lose Mic again. It would be when Mic's falling for Taco that things would really be getting started, because I think Mic seeing Taco changing and working so hard to be better because Mic is so important to her might make Mic's heart explode one day and she realizes oh she wants Taco. She probably had some feelings during their partnership, but that dynamic wasn't as healthy or strong in it's emotional connection, so Mic ends up falling again later on.

TACOPAD!!! Uh neither of them are too incredible with their own emotions. I mean, Taco is just bad with feelings in general, but Mepad is a pretty great therapist, yeah? But it's important to keep in mind how his emotional range and intensity has changed since the beginning of season 2. He's been watching the contestants all along, learning about feelings from Toilet, but his own are an entire other ballpark!! And we see how intense these feelings are, he loves all the contestants so much that he died for them. And intense feelings can be a lot for a guy who used to feeling very little at all!!! I am a Tacopad learning about feelings together truther actually. Mepad helps Taco to manage hers and express them in a healthy way and Taco makes Mepad feel a whole hell of a lot and helps him learn to communicate his at all!! I have so much to say about Tacopad. I can't believe we only got four months of it instead of four years as god intended based on the old season 2 upload schedule. I have so many feelings about them!!!!!

[hexxbug]

ACT 3!!

I can't believe it's over :((

This is probably more analysis than the other ones I've done lol, spoilers below :o

─ ─ ──┉─ ¡! • !¡ ─┉── ─ ─

AHHHHH so sad, I loved it sm

WE GOT MORE EKKO!!! FINALLY!!!!

THE RECORD BEING JINX AND EKKO INSTEAD OF VI!!

I was joking throughout ep7 and saying oh this is the closest we'll ever get to timebomb when she hugged him, then when they were working on the hextech AND THEN WE ACTUALLY GOT TIMEBOMB???!!!!!!!!

At first I wasn't a massive timebomb shipper, I preferred them platonically icl but it was SOOO FUCKING CUTE and I've been converted! (mostly, I still think they're sweet as a platonic pairing too but either is good) (the au has definitely won me over lol but I personally still think in the main timeline they'd have a different relationship anyway, maybe Ekko has/had a crush on her and in the finale maybe it was mutual but it needed more time to be fleshed out for me to properly ship it, I generally see Jinx as not really in a place to be interested in romance)(grey romantic/demi maybe???)

MA MEILLEURE ENNEMIE?????? THAT SONG HAS BEEN LIVING RENT FREE IN MY HEAD SINCE THEN AND I AM NOT OKAY. ABSOLUTELY FUCKING SPECTACULAR SONG

I think they should've given us a couple extra episodes because him and Heimerdinger, Mel and the whole Jayce Viktor story did not get enough screen time imo, could've done with a bit more interaction idk

Claggor glancing at Mylo being bros!!

HEIMERDINGER STAYED BEHIND!! NOOOOOO. he was such a silly guy I was very sad

ik yordles basically respawn or whatever but still :((((

Cait being like "who decides who gets a second chance" like it wasn't her busting Vi out of jail like 6 months prior

JINX SHE WAS SO BROKEN😭😭😭😭MY POOR LASS

lowkey wish we'd got to see her go absolutely batshit over Isha's death but I get the direction they went in (or just been able to see more of their reaction and recovery from her death in general)(because that shit was glossed over)

Vi being so upset and destroyed about Jinx, saying she shouldn't have done this and then Cait going mf I practically engineered this whole encounter😭😭😭

CAITVI IS A GO!!! I REPEAT CAITVI IS A GO!!!! HHHHHHGHHHHHGGG THEY'RE SO FUCKING CUTE!! I really love how the scene played out

VI'S "Cait I don't FUCKING CARE" just marry her already (ngl not the way I thought that confession would go but I'm glad it was pretty happy)

MEL!!!! I love her character design smmmm it keeps getting better and better🤩🤩🤩she needed more time and practice with her powers though, I think they rushed that a bit.

EKKO MY MAN!!!! HE REALLY WAS THE BOY SAVIOUR!!!!! COMING IN CLUTCH THERE AT THE END

JAYCE. VIKTOR. YOU GAY MFSS LMAO (platonic or romantic they are so in love) I also think they rushed their whole story because both of them were suddenly like "oh yeah besties again✨✨" and I wanted a bit more story there but THEY STARTED IT TOGETHER AND THEY ENDED IT TOGETHER🥲🥲(they basically saved Piltover with the power of friendship lmfaoooo)(jayce's whole monologue to Viktor was absolutely adorable though)

JINX NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I'm not okay💔 I know it's what she wanted, really, but it felt so flat idk I wish she'd lived and come to terms with every (also I love her and she needs to come back so that's probably why I didn't like it too lmaoo)(ik she fell like a hundred stories or whatever and canon divergence is a thing but my girl is a big part in LoL so maybeeeeee????)(I'm once again in denial....)(COPIUMMM)

ALSOOO CAIT WAS LOOKING AT THE BLUEPRINTS FOR THE HEXGATE AND HAD JINX'S BOMB SO I WILL STAY UNDER MY LITTLE DENIAL ROCK THANKYOU VERY MUCH

Honourable mentions:

Heimerdinger being like "you sure it's 4 seconds???" and Ekko just like •_• "mmmhm yep definitely" poor guy was TRAUMATISED😭😭😭it was so funny to me

Also Heimer's bard moment, him just being able to chill for once hahah<3

All the outfits in ep 7, I loved them! ALSO THE DANCE SCENE!! SO SWEET

LEST!! I wanted to see more of her she was so cool!

The blue haired woman who died:(( rip to a queen

And the guy who took over manning the hex gun🫡

Maddie, ngl I wasn't expecting her to betray Cait but it was unsurprising really, I would've loved to see what she'd make of the aftermath and better terms the city's are on but it was also a very dramatic moment for Mel and I liked the twist lol.

FIRELIGHTS(EKKO) FIGHTING TOGETHER WITH JINX!!!! AYYY

Just the whole union of Piltover and Zuan in the fight against Ambessa and the Herald(I wanted more build up for that too tbh but anyway)

VIKTOR GOING THROUGH ALL THE TIMELINES TO FIX IT AND IT BEING JAYCE!!!

The sweet little Cait and Vi scene at the end🥹

My mum who's been subjected to all of S2 and her main comment at the end was "I'm still a bit confused" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[alipeeps]

Episode 32

I feel like it was a really bad idea to leave Wen Xiao alone and undefended with her catatonic - but demonised - dad. Like... we literally know Wen Zongyu can control his hybrids...

And I am once again proven right....

Where the fuck is Pei Sijing?

Oh she's pointlessly trying to fight demonised lackey-boy at Chongwu Camp.

He's fucking invulnerable? He's the cdrama version of Luke Cage with unbreakable skin?!!

Ohhhh what the fuck did that do?

Well that doesn't look good!!

Is this another poison dream?

Because you're a bad guy. Next question.

His skin might be invulnerable, but that doesn't mean his eyes are. Shove that blade through his eye and into his brain. That should do it.

Where is "here" exactly?

Bits of Zhou Yichen's armour are flaking away?

Nooooo Zhao Yuanzhou caught him... and turned to protect him, taking the blast himself!!

Oh shiiiiiiit....

(I think this is the stuff Hou Minghao was filming on his last day of filming in that BTS video)

Zhuo Yichen would you please teleport all 3 of you out of there before you all fucking die?!

NOOOOO BAI JIU!!!

He can't be dead. You can't fucking do this to me, show

Oh fuck, they are not still dreaming are they?

Okay it's definitely still a dream, cos otherwise how would their bodies suddenly be there?

God the smoke still rolling off Zhao Yuanzhou's body....

This can't be real, cos no fucking way the entire team except Zhou Yichen is dead with 2+ episodes still to go...

Wait, is the bell missing?

And THAT's how he knows it's not real.

You're still in the fucking dream Zhuo Yichen!!

So is it kill yourself in the dream to escape? And that's why the dream shifted when they were about to do that before, making them think they'd woken already.

Ugh this is so fucking tense though because what if it's not!!!

Phew!!!

So the whole time it's only been Zhuo Yichen in the dream.

Wait, why did we just see Li Lun's primordial root shimmering and disappearing?

Is he coming to help? He sure does have reason to hate Wen Zongyu.

I thought he had to cultivate for 100 years though?

Yup, here comes our boy fucking Li Lun!!

God, the way Zhao Yuanzhou just shields Zhuo Yichen with his hand... and then Li Lun wraps around them shielding them both...

I thought he had to cultivate for 100 years to regain a human form?!!

Is that a redemption arc I see before me?

Ahhh dammit, as I suspected, by doing this he's sacrificing himself.

Oh DAMN. Li Lun really said, I only need a short while to fuck this guy up for you.

Oh shit yeah, the Truth Eye could wake him from the dream...

Oh what, it's not a permanent fix?

Then get him to Bai Jiu? Maybe he can detoxify him?

Oooh or even better Qing Geng to the rescue!!

Oh fuck he's gonna set Fei loose...

Yeah she's sure cos Fei would never try to hurt her.

Meanwhile... back at the Demon Hunting Bureau...

Why is there never anybody else around at the Bureau? This is why spies and enemies can just waltz in whenever they like and cause chaos. They need some more fucking staff!

Oop foster daddy is fighting back...

YASSSSSS it's Liu Yuning's banger of a track back in play - we haven't had it in aaaaages!!

Didn't do her much good though, sadly...

Was "Fei" a hybrid given the original Fei's powers? Or the shapeshifter hybrid?

He's not disintegrating so he's not a true demon... just another hybrid.

Oh I stand corrected, he is disintegrating...

That's not her core is it? She's not going to sacrifice herself too, to save Zhuo Yichen?

Xiao Jiu's bells... please let that be enough to wake him?

If all that was needed for him to be cured of the poison was for him to touch the glowy ball... why didn't she float it right up to him?

And it fucking was her inner core. Of course.

Not one single fucking demon we have met in this show has survived. Not one. This bodes extremely poorly for Zhao Yuanzhou.

Ugh, both Zhao Yuanzhou and Zhuo Yichen reaching out to catch him.

Hero shot.

Tell em where his core is Li Lun...

I mean... he might be afraid, but he's doomed himself anyway by taking human form too soon...

Oh Bai Jiu don't do something silly!!

Christ even Li Lun telling him to go, to save himself...

Now would be a great time for Bai Jiu to manifest some of mama Bai's divine power...

FUCK, that didn't look good!!

Where is he going with the feather?

Oh owwwwww....

Oh DAMN, I was thinking it looked like he was gonna straight up rip his arm off but I thought naaaaah, they wouldn't go there!!

If the puppet is broken does that mean his spirit will dissipate?

That's a no.

Go on baby bro, beat that fucker to death with your own severed arm!😁

YES!! Pei Siblings for the win!!!

Nah fuck you sunshine, you don't get to hold out a candy and make like you've ever cared for Bai Jiu...

So demonised humans disintegrate in the same way demons do. So fake Fei more than likely was a demonised human.

Well that was a fucking rollercoaster ride of an episode. So we end with ?Wen Xiao still being attacked by foster daddy at the Demon Hunting Bureau, and Zhao Yuanzhou, Zhuo Yichen and Li Lun being blasted with a mahoosive fireball.

Bring on episode 33!!

[sailingfireshipz]

Ok, so i could be putting too much thought into this & completely reading into things that Andrea has no intentions of fulfilling, but this is where I'm at with the Stellaride baby slow burn. @chicagofires & @stella-kidd, this is for you 😆

It started clicking for me back in 13x08 when Stella was talking to Ritter when he was spinning out about moving in with Dwayne. She said, "You guys are good. You're just asking for more time. " I started wondering why they'd have Stella be the one to deliver that line versus a Violet or Novak, especially with the baby talk conversation not being addressed since 13x01.

It felt like they were acknowledging the elephant in the room with the audience even though Stellaride themselves haven't. To be fair between the mess with Damon, Stella almost losing her job, the Bishop two parter, Stella & Kelly missing their respective episodes there hasn't really been too many moments where it would have made sense for stellaride to address the elephant in the room. They just need more time.

Prior to last weeks episode getting pulled, we would have had the episodes in this order 13x10- "You got this" a saying very specific to Stella & Stellaride hanging randomly in a children's classroom. Let's face it the call itself was very minor in scale. They could have had that same call at a different location. Hell, it would have made sense for the police cadets that were training to be the ones impacted by the gases, yet they weren't they chose to have it at a community center for young kids. That sign placement being in a childrens classroom, imo was very intentional.

Also, Stella asking Hermann how Mouch did as acting LT. This is a valid question to ask for sure, but it also goes to the topic of her knowing that her rig would be in great hands pending she has to step away. It's finally stabilized after Gallo, Gibson & Damon. Carver seems to be back on track. Ritter is meshing well & clearly stepping up. Mouch jumped right on in as acting LT & didn't miss a beat. Her first baby (T81) is good. ✅️

Next would have been 13x11- Stella's cousin comes to town to reveal family history. At this point I don't think this cousin is coming with ill intent. Again, this is just my feelings. I have nothing to base it off of. Whatever this family history is would have sparked a conversation again with Stellaride. Do I think this conversation would have ended with Stella saying she's ready, no, not exactly. I think it would have ended still up in the air, but the topic at least brought back to the surface & acknowledged. I also think it would give Stella some resolution to some unsolved family trauma. Stella getting closure from her traumatic past ✅️

We say this all the time. STELLARIDE needs big life altering pushes to make decisions most times. Kelly & Stella had been in this weird holding pattern for the majority of early S6, even when Zach was in the picture. They both were dancing around the matter until 6x15, when Stella's trapped with bullets flying (big push). "Kelly for once can you just tell me what you're feeling" (BIG PUSH)

Other notable pushes: Stella breaks up with Kelly in S7, forcing him to choose to be a better man for her. Kelly is unsure if he should propose, 9x15 "I'm never going to leave you happens" he drops to one knee & asks her. Both scared of getting married until 10x21 happens then it's let's get married next week. Kelly kidnapped held at gunpoint. Don't you have a wife & kids? 12x11 prompted 12x13 confession of maybe we start our own... BIG PUSHES

So what's the BIG PUSH for S13? Oh idk maybe the first crossover in 5 years. In the last crossover, Kelly verbalized for the first time he saw himself & Stella growing old together with a family of their own. And don't get me wrong I'm not saying she's going to come out of this crossover like omg I want a baby right now but it would be hard for me not to assume that she doesn't come out of it ready to have a genuine CANDID conversation that leads to action.

Ultimately if after 13x12 they still aren't acknowledging the elephant in the room then I'll start to become annoyed again but currently I'm enjoying watching these subtle pieces fall into place & am interested on how they play out. The ONLY thing I'm curious about is how or if them switching the episode, order around will have any impact from a continuity standpoint.

I do not believe these crossover episodes will be standalone & that topics brought up in them won't spill over or show up in other episodes.

Again, I could be way off base here, but these are my thoughts. What are yours?

[mapofyourstars]

mappers this is me asking for you to yap about the charmed au 🎤🎤🎤

(from @mister-peregrine :))

oh, god, will I definitely yap about the charmed au I have planned. and if you have watched charmed and would like to yap about it and help me with plot stuff, I would love you forever. this goes for @mister-peregrine as well as anyone else who knows about charmed.

putting under a read more because spoilers and I dunno how long this is gonna get... also, this discussion will assume some basic level knowledge of charmed, but for the fic, I will definitely be explaining more to make the charmed universe clear to non-charmed fans.

ok ok, so the charmed ones will be charles, raven, and, at this moment, jean - but I am totally, totally up to changing that if another character seems better. jean will be the oldest, charles middle, and raven the baby, of course. brian xavier will be a witch like patty halliwell, and he will die before passing on the coven and family knowledge to the charmed ones. haven't figured out specifics of how everyone comes together - probably going to be a family death like in the show - but I'll hammer that out later. (open to suggestions!)

charles' characterization will be a mix of piper and phoebe, but I'm thinking mainly a piper-like characterization with charles floating throughout. not very ooc, but he'll have make some questionable decisions. his abilities will start with premonitions, then level up to empathy, and then finally telepathy with probably another ability after that. phoebe had levitation at the end, but I dunno if I like that, lol

jean's characterization will be 100% prue, which can either be a good thing or a bad thing. prue was very grating to me at times, so jean will be the bossy big sister who just wants to protect her family at all times. haven't hashed out her abilities (sort of like raven's), but I think it'll start with a lower-level ability (suggestions please!), then telekinesis, followed by another ability higher than that (more suggestions!). maybe astral projection like prue, but honestly, that's boring to me, lol

raven's characterization will be a mix of phoebe and paige, I think, leaning more into the impulsivity and childish-ness of phoebe from time to time, especially early on in the series. raven will be the stereotypical little sister, probably like 20 or 21 (charles like 25 and jean like 29). her abilities will evolve into full-body transfiguration like her x-men ability, but I think she'll have object transfiguration to start, and maybe have piper's abilities too - freezing and exploding - just because they deal with matter manipulation? dunno if that's a stretch to have her have those abilities, so once again, open to suggestions!

their whitelighter, if I keep jean as the sister, will be scott, of course, which I think will just be funny. never really written a good dynamic with those two before, and certainly never written scott in anything more than a few lines. but I think he'd be the perfect fit for a whitelighter - fiercely loyal, willing to jump in front of a train for his charges, but also will get his ass yelled at by jean if she deems fit. I think their relationship will be more fiery than piper and leo's, but I do think they'd be a good pair to include. so if there are suggestions away from jean for the other sister, I'd need a whitelighter to match; some things to consider.

basically, the plot will be bits and pieces from the series. I'm currently looking through some of my favorite episodes and just adapting them to fit my needs or just take inspiration from them. probably going to have a lot of world-building to start, but it'll be well-worth it in the end. and as for how erik becomes involved...

it seems fairly obvious that erik would be like cole - if you know, you know - I really don't wanna spoil more than that. dunno if charles will meet erik in a similar manner like phoebe and cole, but they will fall in love, charles will be none the wiser, and erik will slowly develop feelings for charles and then quickly fall face-first into love. then, for those of you who know how charmed went... you can see where I might be going with this.

BUT. I'm going to change a lot of phoebe and cole's love story because charles and erik are going to be different characters and have different motivations. I do think that the climax of the story will be something to do with the source, who I'm thinking would be a figure like apocalypse. might take some plot points from the show for those climactic moments, or I might spin off with an entirely different idea. I still have quite a bit to map out with this, but I'm kind of excited to see where it will go.

honorable mentions though will be emma and azazel, who will be assistants pretty much for erik. cue ridiculous interactions between the three of them and emma always chastising erik for doing nothing as planned. azazel will just sit back and watch them bicker all the time and then come in whenever he is needed most, probably to always fish erik out of trouble.

I want to include some warlocks, demons, creatures from the show because I loved them so - so we'll have barbus, I'm sure; tempus, definitely; darklighters; and probably other demons that I hold near and dear to my heart. probably will have to change their names to fit other characters in the xmcu, so here is another place where I'm open to suggestions! who would be a good demon of fear and a demon of time?

ALSO. if you've read this far and you understand what I'm talking about and you wanna talk to me about this fic, I will take any and all conversations. this fic is kinda gonna be my baby because I loved charmed so, so much growing up. so if there are things that you wanna see happen, like certain episodes or tropes, let me know. if you think some characters/ideas should be changed, also let me know. and if you just wanna yap and brainstorm and flesh out the plot with me, I'd love that very much a lot.

okay, I'm done (:

[flightfoot]

Ur a pretty fair voice in my opinion when it comes to the whole mess in miraculous. Would you mind telling me what your favorite things are about Marinettes appreciation of Chat Noir in Canon? Not fanon, CANON.

I'm still grieving LadyNoir and recently I'm feelin very down in life in general and now I don't have my comfort show and ship anymore the way I used to love them for.

The way Marinette treats Chat Noir in and outta her transformation never stops hurting my poor broken LadyNoir heart n as much as I wished I could love the potential of her love for him as I once did, it just feels so paper thin and shallow to me now after everythin this show did.

The show is clearly trying to have her feelings for him be smth now, but for me it never seems to go beyond her infamous vague heart eyes the show likes to hav her throw around for damage control & surface level appreciation of his presence when she has to. But if you'd tell me that she still has no real feelings for him, I would believe u, cause he as a person doesn't truly matter at any given moment her words have to MEAN something more than a vague "<3" she's never asked to back up with anything worthwhile (srry, I know you've heard that complaint a million times before. It's at least comforting to know that others feel the same)

Wasn even her taking any interest in Chat for his person in the first quarter of season 5 only caused by Marinette wantin to proof Alya wrong and that her love for him instead of Adrien is real and valid? That's so disheartening...

Going through the tags isnt helping either, cuz most i find it is either much more fanon than Canon, or it's in line with Chat prrty much being her servant now instead of her finally giving care back

Idk, I hope I'm not bein too much of a downer. So imma get back to my question now. Maybe u can help me see Canon in better light again.

Could you tell me what you like most bout Marinettes and Ladybug's connection with Chat Noir? Things she does for him, what she values in him and so on and so forth?

I like the times we see her getting upset when Chat's hurt, or when she comforts him when he's clearly not feeling good. I adored how angry and upset she got in Timebreaker when Chat was "killed" in front of her for the first time, how she suddenly became more vicious. She doesn't want to lose him.

Or like, for times when she's comforted Chat, I adore how calmly and patiently she spoke to Chat in Reverser, after his courage was taken away, how she gently coaxed him where he needed to go. I took great solace in that, the first time I rewatched that episode, since I'd been exposed to a lot of Saltinette at the time, and I needed the reminder that Marinette does, in fact, care about people, even when it's inconvenient.

While I wish that Marinette had really thought through Chat's potential reaction to someone new showing up with her Miraculous without warning, I DID love that Marinette had this long list of protips. I especially liked this one:

Marinette: (v.o) Protip 33: When Cat Noir tells a joke, try to laugh at it even if it isn't funny. It makes him happy.

Even in episodes where I have a problem with the way Marinette conceives of Chat Noir, I generally still like elements of it. Like even in Ephemeral, while I think it was very, very wrong for her to try to trick Chat the way she did, she WAS doing it because she didn't want to risk Su-Han taking Chat's Miraculous from him. Or in Kuro Neko, when she didn't want to give the miraculous back to Plagg to give to Chat Noir, because she was afraid they'd end up back in this same situation, and she didn't want to keep hurting him.

At her core, Marinette cares about Chat's feelings and wants him to feel good, to be happy. The issue comes from her not seeing things from his perspective, from being terrible at reading him. Marinette has a lot of compassion towards Chat Noir, she just doesn't understand him.

[nanomooselet]

Episode Two: The Running Man

It's odd how little gets said about this ep, considering it's the most direct homage the earlier anime adaptation - but maybe that might be why? Since, as I said, this was my entry into the story, to me it felt out of place. It seemed like it was doing all it could to distract from how the previous ep concluded.

With hindsight, I think that's the idea.

The opening with the radio! I'm so weirdly fond of it. Yeah it's a flashback, but it shows Vash in a private moment without his mask; a glimpse of his secrets. He's not wearing his coat, so you get a look at how broad his shoulders are; he's also handling the tools to maintain his gun skilfully for someone who claims he's not a fighter. As he's contemplating the crash - he was there, obviously, and he has the photo of him, Rem and Nai still - the radio host says without the Plants, our ancestors would have died out long ago. How long ago? Long enough that Vash likely shouldn't still look such a gosh darn pretty boy? Yet it slips by.

(I do not understand the complaints that Stampede had no mystery.)

This is the episode where he's most committed to the bit of being cute but sort of hapless and silly, too, so the contrast is dramatic. I don't think he was actually expecting Meryl and Roberto to clear his name all at once, but I do think he was hoping, I don't know, maybe they'd believe him from the first. But nothing's ever that easy for my boy. I gotta say, Vash, optimism has its limits. Your story is that you're being framed by your previously unknown identical twin brother. You know it's true, I know it's true, but you might have had an easier time with some, I don't know… evidence? It's not surprising the reporters are sceptical.

Oh god, I'm so sorry, do you want a hug or -

(By the way, this means Knives told everyone it wasn't him, it was a one-armed man.)

He's being melodramatic, but I suspect also more sincere than what comes across - which is the whole reason he exaggerates, of course. (What? No, I'm not talking from experience. I have never, ever done this. Never ever in A MILLION YEARS have I exaggerated to obfuscate my sincerity.) The angle changes to show his face, and it's pretty clear how genuinely exhausted and upset even the thought of Knives makes him. Though it is still pretty funny that Meryl just isn't having it.

Also funny: Meryl versus the Worms, round one. Worms 1, Meryl 0.

Roberto greeting Tonis is really cute. He's a grump, but he's never an asshole to kids.

Ahhhh Tonis gives Vash his bugs and Vash pats his head and then he moves to take his hand away Tonis grabs it so he'll keep doing it and then when Rosa tells Tonis to leave Vash look dismayed and waves goodbye and it is so cute and IT IS SO SAD.

Because Rosa loves her son, wants him healthy and happy and safe, wants him shielded from the violence of the world and from decisions like pulling a gun on the hero of your town who's been nothing but good to you, better than you deserve - and yet we saw Rosa come to the decision that she would do this last episode. Right about... here. See the way she moves from standing in front of him, almost protectively, to beside him, clearing the way? By the look on her face, she doesn't want to. Vash proved himself yet again afterwards, saved the town without hesitation the moment it was endangered at great risk to himself. He's a good man, a friend, someone she trusts. But it's not him Rosa's thinking of now. It's not even the town. It's Tonis.

I have to say, Roberto doesn't look shocked or concerned. He just wearily sets down his mug and raises his hands, expression unchanged. Meanwhile Meryl's turned into a cartoon.

Vash understands. He didn't fight back against the MPs. He didn't instigate the duel. It's because of him that this is necessary. That just doesn't mean he's going to make it easy for them.

Ah, that old Stampede special: the undignified leg-spread landing.

Man the English dub is good, but it's this episode I started to realise how good. It's incredibly funny. "The furious fists of the Nebraska Family challenge you to a duel!" "Felt the fury right there!" "Money! Come back!" "I hope you like pancakes, because you're going to become one!"

There's one translation I'm not sold on, though, and it's Nebraska declaring "Power is justice! Power is truth!" I had the same problem in Persona 5 Royal when I played it and the characters kept going on about how they'll "prove our justice". It sounds so awkward.

From what I can tell, the word they're using translates more clearly to "moral rightness" or "righteousness", and the score title for Stampede renders what Nebraska says better: might is right. He's advocating Social Darwinism, basically. It's the natural order of the world: the strong deserve to flourish, the weak deserve to perish.

Nebraska: I hate cowards like you! This whole planet is fighting for survival! Anyone who runs is bound to die like a sorry loser! But you, Stampede! How dare you?! / You coward! I despise waste-of-life cream puffs like you! You have to fight tooth and nail to survive in this world! If those who can't hack it run away and die like chickens, then so be it! But you? I expected more, Stampede!

Vash: You might be right that I'm too timid. But is that such a terrible thing? Is fighting everything head-on so important? Even if it gets someone killed? / Okay, I may not be the bravest, but what's so terrible about being a little timid? Is fighting head-on always right? It risks lives, and for what?

Nebraska: Weapons… are made for fighting! Do you get it now?! There's no future for those who don't fight! / I might as well, huh? It's what the damn thing's made for! That'll show ya! Any snivelling slug too scared to fight must die!

Vash: Come on, can you back off? I really don't want to fight anyone. / Can you guys cool it for a second? I'm really not in the mood for violence.

Nebraska: That's the attitude that pisses me off! / When the world ends, will it ask if you're in the mood?

It's kinda funny that Nebraska keeps going on about it, though, because he also keeps demanding accommodation for his son's weakness. If he was really committed he'd rely only on himself instead of endangering Gofsef. And yet oddly enough, it's the hypocrisy which saves him, because it's how Rosa realises how much they have in common. He loves Gofsef, just like she loves Tonis, and Vash forgives them both.

Enjoy the subtle gag of Meryl mirroring her "parents'" expressions, BTW.

Nabraska judging the townspeople for drinking before 5:00PM as if he didn't just destroy half the place trying to steal their only power source.

Gofsef being creeped out by Tonis's Worm buddies.

And Roberto visibly tuning out as Meryl tells him off.

I think the reason this feels like it's all happening so fast is because this is the place where an episode of the older adaptation would end, leaving some implied time to pass before the next crisis. But this isn't twenty-six self-contained episodes, it's twelve instalments of one story. The running man must continue to run, because it was never humans he was running from.

And I didn't realise this until now, but the drone in Vash's room? It's looking for him, or his things. It doesn't find either.

When it doesn't...

E.G. launches his assault, though the drones had been patrolling since the previous night. Vash was about to leave when he heard the scream from the diner and rushed back to help. And so he stayed long enough for E.G.'s master to arrive in person.

Whatever happened in Jeneora Rock, it seems it was necessary for Vash to witness it, so E.G. had instructions to keep him in place.

So E.G.'s cyborg enhancements look like a bear trap.

Of course.

[talesfrommedinastation]

2023: Writing, Art, and Medication

So, I need to preface this by admitting something.

January 2023 was when I started taking Wellbutrin. I have MDD and severe hypotension (low blood pressure).

Imagine rediscovering a favorite toy, game, or book that you've forgotten about. You find it, dust it off, and get lost in it again. And my, it is magical. You're so happy, you're giddy, you make up things to do to get further into it.

This isn't about me rediscovering fandom, or Star Wars. It's about re-discovering my emotions and my creativity. Because of medication.

I used to devour fantasy and sci-fi for fun. I wrote most of a series of silly novels in middle and high school. They were never published and put aside for academic or paid work. MDD crept up and strangled it, too.

Finally, I'm a working parent and spouse, and if it didn't have a spot on my CV or gave me money for completion, it wasn't going to get done.

Wellbutrin said fuck that noise, let's get CREATIVE. Let's have FUN FOR ONCE.

And low and behold, I start watching Star Wars cartoons with my youngest daughter in January 2023. She saw Tech on the screen with no helmet, screamed 'Dada!' and that's how I got yanked into The Bad Batch.

After watching two episodes with her, I wondered what it would be like if Tech met someone from The Expanse, maybe a female pilot. They'd chat, maybe hook up, and move on with their lives.

Wellbutrin also said fuck that noise, you wrote a dissertation and have multiple articles and short stories published, why not combine the two?

Wellbutrin also said you work in science communication, why not explore physics and biology from both angles?

And, while you're at it, why not have Tech and the Belter have a deeper relationship? What if they had a kid? What would happen to them, physically? Would the Empire view them as property? Would they be seen as a Belter? What are the cultural ramifications of this?

I didn't write an OC to fantasize about being with a fictional character: I wrote her, and even more OCs in the extended universe, to better understand both the worlds of The Expanse and Star Wars. It has been so, so, so fucking joyful to do so.

The longfic, which probably needs no introduction at this point, is Far Past the Ring. It was started in early February, began to be published in April, and finished in November. It is the length of a novel and thus, the most work came out of it. Most of my artwork is centered around it as well.

The art can be found here, but of all the pieces I myself have composed, I think the favorite is the one below. It was one of the first things I ever decided regarding their relationship...that something considered deviant, even on a natborn (receding hairline), is seen as personal, quirky, and wonderful.

[travellingwiththedead]

Ok, trying for some more coherent thoughts about iwtv s2e7 behind the read more (spoilers, obviously):

You know shit's about to go down when basically all of s1 is in the recap

Santiago the little shit is loving this. Oh Ben Daniels is so perfect.

Dang, Sam Reid, you have no right to look this good (his hair's on point, this can't actually be Louis' POV LOL xD). Also, Lestat looks so very pissed off when he comes on stage. Doesn't want to be there, indeed.

"He was as much of a captive as we were." uh-huh, sure, Jan. Come on, Louis, you don't really believe that?

And Armand can go "I couldn't prevent it" all he wants, he definitely could have prevented it at any stage before they were actually on the stage and maybe even when the play already started. He was the coven master and could have legally put Santiago down for the mutiny he was brewing, which Armand was very aware of. But he didn't.

So those theorising they'd make Lestat's first dirt nap longer to account for the time changes were right. He did really nap like 100 years before Marius dug him back up.

Oooooh Lestat /hates/ Santiago.

Santiago and vampire Sam trying way too hard to make Louis look like a predator with their little play about Louis hunting Lestat instead. Pff, boys, no one would ever buy that.

Lestat moves like a wind up toy sometimes, or maybe I'm imagining things, but once again, the acting from everyone in this episode is so, so good. Give everyone involved in this show all the awards!

Lestat tearing down that homophobic soldier is *chef's kiss* but also, if he was strong enough to get himself up there and back down so quickly, read his mind, and later get into the mind of the guy with his loneliness, how are we supposed to believe he's weak and being controlled/forced to do this play? Over all I don't see how they'll do the whole "Lestat came to beg Armand for his blood to get healed" thing with Lestat not being all that bad off, in the end.

Santiago fumbling his lines xD

I'd say with the revisited flash backs to Claudia's turning and to the fight in s1e5 the truth lies somewhere between the two accounts. Louis said the trial's retelling of Claudia's turning was more right, sure, but as with all eye witness accounts, they are never 100% true. So yeah, somewhere between the accounts lies the truth.

LOL Real Rashid's entrance there is so good. We needed something to break all that tension. Thank you, Real Rashid, I hope they don't eat you for it xD (or, you know, for being a Talamasca spy in their home...)

See, i said it, Lestat looking damn near pristine all through that fight in s1e5 was a hint. No one looks that good after crashing through walls. They fought, because rage had been simmering for 7 years and it finally boiled over. They beat each other up and Lestat went too far. Now can we finally stop having the same discourse over this thing again and again and again? (Also I just love the foresight in this show, how they showed us the dent in Louis' coffin in s1 but we only get an explanation for it in s2. Awards, for every last person working on this show, now!)

Lestat's talk about how he broke Louis: Sam Reid, the actor you are. Dang, so good.

"One more round in the stormy romance of you two!" You tell them, Claudia. Oh girl, you deserved so much better.

So was Louis aiming that cup of blood at Armand or at the wall? Because Armand definitely had to move out of the way at least a little.

I do wonder, did they make sure Madeleine was so out of it for most of the trial because they hoped she'd stay with the coven if she didn't have much of an idea what was going on? Or did they do the same thing to her as to Louis and Claudia and she was just more susceptible because she's weaker?

Her choosing Claudia again, even if it means death, is all Claudia ever wanted. Dang, these bi ladies are giving me all the feels.

Claudia telling the audience she's gonna go full on murder ghost on all their arses: iconic. Also you can't tell me Lestat didn't look proud as hell right there. That's his daughter, never going down without a fight, never giving in.

Claudia and Madeleine in the sun is so heartbreaking :( Claudia holding Madeleine like movie!Madeleine held movie!Claudia. Ladies, you deserved better. Fuck these vampires.

And Louis, in that rock filled coffin, feeling them both die :( Claudia because he can read her mind, and Madeleine because he made her. (And they helpfully labelled the fucking door so Armand will know which one to pull Louis out of when he "rescues" him.....)

Can not wait for Louis to go full on Blade on the coven's collective arses next episode.

[popculturebuffet]

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Review: That's How It Could've Happened, But How About This?

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR SCOTT PILGRIM TAKES OFF AHEAD. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN AT LEAST EPISODE ONE, TURN BACK. SERIOUSLY DUDE. DO IT NOW. IF YOUR COOL WITH SPOILING YOURSELF, ROCK ON.

Hello all you happy scottaholics. I"m back in the saddle again. For those just tuning in i'm Jake, I review stuff.. and a few years back I reviewed the entirety of Brian Lee O'Malley's masterpiece, and the movie as a chaser, having been a fan of Scott Pilgrim since my teens but only having just revisited it at the time I started my retrospective. It was a wonderful journey that made me appricate one of my favorite comics even more and gave me a ton of my best running gags. You can find links to each review HERE in one masterpost.

So naturally when the anime was announced last year, I was entirely on board: I loved this story in all three of it's major forms and was excited to see it again, maybe updated a tad. I was also curious if the story would get a setting update, what would change , and what subplots we'd FINALLY see on screen after the film had to trim a lot thanks to half the series not being finished yet and a tight two hour run time. I was cautiously optimistic when the cast was announced as while I was happy to see the massively talented breakout cast of the film return and get another shot at the characters, I was worried it'd just be the movie but animated.. which thankfully turned out not to be remotely true once trailers came out. Instead they'd simply get a shot at playing the characters again but this time with diffrent characterizations. I coudln't be more stoked.

As it turns out though.. O'Malley had zero intention of telling the same story again. In fact, he almost DIDN'T sign on despite getting the juciest of offer, with the anime's studio, Science Saru, wanting their next project after their breakout hit Devilman Crybaby to be Scott Pilgrim and coming to O'Malley Directly.

The problem wasn't the offer: O'Malley, unsuprisingly, was a fan of Science Saru, who in addition to Devilman had also made Space Dandy and the early pilot shorts for OK KO. The problem was O'Malley.. really didn't want to simply retell scott's story a fourth time. It was a story that was personal, deeply loved and made his career.. but after a movie that everyone knew and love and a video game that was so well loved it was many's holy grail for a rerelease for over a decade after it was delisted, he didn't know how to take the story in a new direction and didn't want to do the story again if it was simply going to be a rehash: people could read the book sometime or watch the movie if they wnated Scott fighting the exes.

Thankfully for us, Brian brought up the offer to his good friend BenDavid Grabinski, a tv and film writer. BenDavid was a huge fan of Scott Pilgrim and thus when the idea came up coudln't help spitballing ideas. And one stuck: What if Scott LOST that first fight. It was naturally just a joke.. but like when Superman died.. it's one that had some heft to it. If Scott were gone what would happen to everyone else? How would Ramona react to his loss? Was Scott really gone? how would his friends go on without him... and what would happen to the exes now they weren't guaranteed to die in a fist fight and the entire problem with Gideon's whole plan was laid bare?

These questions and more are answered as Ramona gets to the bottom of what REALLY happned to scott, who unsurprisingly is not dead and even more unsurprisingly the truth is all kinds of bananas. The story of a human tire fire learning to be a better person and not runa way from his problems... becomes the story of a much more composed tire fire learning she can't run away from her problems after she chases after what might have been, forced to get closure with most of her exes as she tries to hunt down the ex that never was. Along the way there's messy bisexual love triangles, movie rental melee's, Tony Hawk style antics done on swarms of paparazzi ninjas, the greatest musical of all time, the rise of Matthew patel, the fall and re-rise of Gordon Goose, explosions, cameos, and more as Ramona Flowers gets it together while Scott Pilgrim takes off, resulting in one of the best animated series of the 2020's and possibly the best of a very stacked 2023. So take off with me as we press start on a fresh new take on one of my favorite franchises under the cut.

Ramona Flowers Gets It Together

This one's going to be a LOT to unpack, and the best place to start is with our new lead: Ramona Flowers. Ramona has never been unimportant to this franchise: after all it's her exes that make up the fight of the week each volume and who give the franchise it's hook, and in the comics she develops alongside scott: As I said in my reviews, Ramona develops alongside him, having to learn to not keep people at arms length and to not run away, nearly running away from everything before coming back, realizing Scott's worth it. Through each other, they grow stronger.

So with Scott gone... Ramona is forced to grow all on her own. If she wants to date Scott, SHE has to fight this time, and she can't run like she tends to. In the comics, she had to scrap with Envy and Roxy, but all the weight to evolve as a person was put on Scott: Ramona had a stable job, was content in her life even if her friend group was basically "Whoever scott happened to be friends with", she was seemingly all together until the last three volumes slowly chip away at that and reveal she's just as bad at staying and improving instead of noping the fuck out of an intense situation as scott. She has to evolve.. but her getting better isn't the point till the climax of the story. It's a lesson in how while a relationship can HELP you grow, ultimately it's on you to: Scott grows because he stops running and embraces his evil self and thus the memories of all his fuckups, embraces that he could sometimes be shitty so he can learn past it. Ramona has to choose to stand and fight gideon and let go of hte hold he has on her, to let go of running and embrace what she has.

Here without Scott and only the vauge mystery of a guy she dated once, Ramona instead has to confront herself: many a character question her doing this. While it starts simple enough with just Julie questioning it, because Julie hates scott as much as I hate the comics version of her, we get harder questions from Kim, whose dated Scott and knows how insesntive he can be, and Lucas who KNOWS Ramona and knows her style is to run. That a happy ending isn't as easy as finding scott again andmaking out intensely. Ramona has to make her own happy ending.

As a result instead of being the sneaky deutratonist or a prop depending on the version (I Love the movie but man do they not do her well), Ramona has to confront her past on her own, and instead of just getting cathartic punchings, she has to actually.. TALK to her exes and resolve things like an adult. And you can imagine how much she likes the prospect of that.

And this flip in how the story works.. is brilliant: It allows us to get to know Ramona: We're seeing things from her perspective instead of Scotts so we see her way more vunerable, genuinely shaken by Scott's "Death", obssesed with solving his kidnapping, and forced to confront her past. Granted like the books we also get to see the lighter side: Ramona is still the straight man to a lot of the cast especially her exes. She and Kim are the sanest one's here and Kim is often out of focus, leaving Ramona one of the few rational people in a sea of gloriously goofy nonsense. Yet we also see her own intrests: she's a columbo fan, turns out to be a natural for stunt work, and has a meticulous routine for her hair dye. We also find out she's a blonde which is only TECHNICALLY cannon to this version.. but fits too well as her hair color to work.

We get to see Ramona not as some ideal to chase slowly turned into a person but just.. a person. Funny, aloof, kind, easily baffled... this is easily my favorite verison of her. Granted it's not exactly ac ontest: The comic's version is great and this simply takes the best of that and fleshes her out, the video game is a 16 bit brawler, and the movie... well look I like the movie, but the film version is a nigh emotionless prop that barely gave Mary Elizabeth Winstead anything to work wtih forgetting ramona HAS emotions who instead of simply having her emotoins amplified is outright brainwashed. I used to think Kim got the shortest end of the stick but doing this review.. no it was Ramona. Ramona got screentime but had any personality stripped. Thankfully both Ramona and Mary Elizabeth get a second shot on the screen here.

Mary Elizabeth's performanc ecan't be overstated: she nicely ballances Ramona's stocisim, something key to her charcter as her main problem is distance, that she puts up and that she creates by running away, with the emotoin peeking up just underneath to say hello. IT's a truly great performance and I hope she'll consider doing more voice acting, she's an natural.

And this is great as Ramona's quest eventually leads her back to scott.. and to an ending that's both profound.. and pokes some holes in the series itself.

The Adventures of Scott and Scott

So turns out Scott was kindapped by of ALL characters, Robot 01, the Katanagi Twin's robot minion who shows up for one fight in the comics and video game and then explodes real good. Here he's their little robot son.. and how Scott got kidnapped.

But thankfully the culrprit isn't the Twins. I would've liked for them to get more to do, more on that later. THeir involved, having leant their robot boy to a friend since , as a robot who can't eat, Robot 01 has never had meat and has no human limits and thus is the strongest robot vegan who ever existed.

God I love this stupid reveal. Anyways, turns out Scott's kidnapper.. is SCOTT. Specifically a version of him who did the usual story, won, had a happy ten years with Ramona, then it fell apart after an argument which he assumed ended in divorce.

This is another twist that was brilliant.. I thought Scott's kidnapper was another scott, but I assumed a clone situation. I never thought FUTURE Scott but it's such a brilliant move. We see a Scott who won.. but who simply didn't let the lessons he learned stick. It's easy to learn something about you sucks, I have many a time.. it's harder to make the changes stick. I can't tell you how many ephnaiinies i've had only to end up back where I started. Some change has stuck with effort, but it's not easy. You have to constantly work at it, to grow. And it's easy enough to backslide.. and thus sadly easy to buy that this verison of Scott , when hit with his relationship not working, spiralied instead of working at it , not helped by Old Ramona, their words not mine, ghosting him.

He's a ghost of Scott future, every bad thing about the guy amplified: he's oblivious, thinking his newest band is going anywhere with his gloriously crappy music video, and refusing to accept it was his fault, throwing a tantrum when Young Scott states the obvious solution: just tell his younger self some of his fuckups and hopefully that'll right the relationship. Instead Future Scott goes for the solution that's easiest and laziest: use time travel to undo his relationship. And naturally this being Scott he got this stupid idea from taking a joke Wallace told him seriously. I love Wallace's "Buddy I was kidding".

I also love the performance here. Rather than use Michael Cera , Future Scott is voiced by voice acting, comedy and beard legend Will Forte. Forte's goofy nature, penchant for playing man children blind to their own flaws, and deadpan deliveries make Future Scott work. He's deeplys ad, but also deeply hilarious, sharing some of Scott's weird intricates like assuming because Future Wallace's husband works for nintendo he gets all the video games for free and making a virtual boy scrapbook of his relationship.

He's still throughly Scott.. just one who can't get past himself, requiring Scott and Future Wallace to go to Future Ramona for help. Shockingly.. she's more than willing too: While she still has Ramona's own problem of running away at the first sign of trouble, she does still LOVE this idiot, she just dosen't know how to fix it and knows she can't talk him out of this, so she sends scott back to be with his ramona... well rides him back leading to some awkward selfies.

But naturally for this tale, Scott coming back.. dosen't fix things. And not just because his older self put anti kissing nanites in him.

Scott has grown some from seeing what he could be: He apologizes to Knives, in a scene that I truly love.. mostly for this line "Apparently a 23 year old dating a high schooler is frowned upon by society".

And I have to stop for a minute to give ALL the props to Michael Cera. He already had done plenty awesome this year as the boy of the year

He didn't need to go for two but he did. Cera wasn't at all bad as Scott the first go round: the character was different, a bit less goofy but still awkward as hell and oblivious to his own flaws: the core was there. Here .. Cera is playing the character as on page, if slightly amped up: Goofy, excitable, trying to ignore his painful past and flaws, charming.. all the good and bad of scott is bubbling around this guy. And the line deliveries my god: we have instant classics like "I'm using the world wide web" "The place where they make the video games", the instantly memetic sonic scene (Which would be me trying to flirt with a girl, ngl), and the above frowned upon line. Cera just bubbles in this roll, sliding into who scott is: Loveable but a total mess who needs to get his shit together and has made some grave mistakes.

Granted they also take steps to make sure Scott's relationship with Knives as judging from interviews, O'Malley is kinda tried of the take that scott pilgrim is a bastard man. I mean he is, but it's less that Scott has some shit to work out and need to be better and more that everyone acts like this is a new discovery. As the author himself said it's there on the first page and a good chunk of chapter one is the people who know him best asking what the hell is wrong with him.

Granted this is mixed with Stephen hooting and hollering as much as he can with his stoic personality, Neil being in awe and asking if they'd "done it yet" and Wallace being tempted with the idea of a high schooler himself, though I get the impression he never seriously considered it. So it is muddled slightly.. but not NEARLY enough.

I do get it with the movie: the movie.. outright portrays Knives as a legit love interest, and while it ages Scott down, it's not enough to make that not blehhhh and the game has Knives end up with Kim, which younger me didn't get was still pedophilia. So I do get it as while the comics make it clear this is messed up, it got muddled.. but it's also still a pretty weak gotcha when the source material has always said "This is wrong" They even bring up trainspotting for fucks sake, which I haven't seen but is a pretty good indication O'Malley knew what he was doing.

So here they make it clearer that while Scott's still stringing this poor baby girl angel baby along, he dosen't really consider it a relationship, or just dosen't want to and after seeing what he easily could be even with Ramona, apologizes way sooner. So they did make strides to make things a bit clearer here if only so another version didn't miss the point.

So one rant later while Scott and Ramona think things are wrapped up.. it's just not that easy. You can get closure, we'll get into the exes more shortly, but it dosen't mean your done or done growing... or that the past is done with you. Or future in this case. Like I said, Old Scott/Future Scott put nanintes in scott and after figuring out the exes aren't involved, the two get kidnapped along with the exes , knives, pretty much anyone who can throw a punch.

The kidnapper is naturally Old Scott.. EVEN OLDER SCOTT.

I love his look: he still has his old jacket, his iconic x-men one, but laso looks like Ryu from Street Fighter 5, just with a giant beard and crazy eyes, being a mix of that ryu and devil ryu.. and nega scott. Old Scott wasn't a great person but still had the potetial to turn it around if he got his finger out of his ass. Even Older Scott is every horrible thing Scott Could've been.. and this is something the comics foreshadowed was possible.

And the thing is while Ramona was being dickish in her own right there, not getting that while Scott cheated on Knives with Ramona he had changed since then, she's not WRONG. Scott was VERY close to giving up on change entirely if Kim hadn't turned him away. Hell had Ramona not come along Scott might've become Old Scott sooner just by dating a teenager. The potential to, like the exes, sink into his resintment and worst self was always there... this is just a Scott that did. A Scott who when faced with the fact change is hard would rather hull up, get buff and plan to kill everyone he cares about just to avoid changing. This is the Scott he almost became.. and sadly at least one scott did become.

He's also horrifying for more than just the implications of seeing this guy who while a dickhead, CAN be better if he puts in the effort and does change and grow in both main versions as his worst self. It's sad to see that.. but we also quickly see just how dangerous an evil ex scott would be: After all Scott beats all the evil exes... I mean original timeline scott beat Lucas and Todd via Indigo League style technicalities, but still. While Scott was still beatable, it took multiple rounds, a feint, and ramona's help to put down the last four exes, he was still fairly strong.. so give him 24 years more of experince with ten of those spent JUST training and specifically preparing to counter the exes , ramona and his past self.. and you have an unstoppable monster that NOTHING can stop and everyone else is very lucky they get sent back. They all put in a good offense.. but the league is out of their league.

Even Older Scott is a brick wall.. and one that smacks straight into Scott and Ramona trying to run from their problems. Scott is forced to face the fact that even getting better might not last even if he dosen't become this guy and Ramona's forced to face the hide this guy is right. Our heroes are up against the wall, their relationship almost over...

Enter Even Older Ramona. Turns out Even Older Scott just.. ghosted her. But her presence finally gives present Ramona the wakeup call she needs as finding our her older self just.. ran away each time her and scott had issues.. gives her a needed ephinay the same way Older Scott being a dumpster fire on cocaine gave this Scott one and Scott in the comics got one from seeing a dark mirror in gideon: Ramona Flowers.. always run. Lucas outright said as much and with the series fleshing out the exes more, almost there just give me a minute, we find out she just.. bounced on each relationship. Matt isn't a suprise, his backstory is the same as it ever was, and in some cases she was ENTIRELY justified in her assholery: Todd was an obnoxious prick she left another, far better guy for, the Twins were recontexculazed as serial predators who preyed on new freshman with Ramona dating them both being a way to get even on both of them, so while she still did a bad it was on legitly bad people, and Gideon.. is still Gideon. He may get more development here and have his own backstory.. but the series makes it VERY clear he was every bit as shitty to ramona as previous versions, he just hadn't got to using the glow or mind control chips levels of creep yet.

But as i'll get into more in a bit... she legitly hurt everyone else: While Matt didn't get into supervilanny till high school, it's hard not to think that being used as a weapon to keep other boys away didn't lead him down the tryhard path he now walks, Lucas was left devistated and became a xerox of a xerox of the kind of guy Ramona left him for, and Roxy was left genuinely devistated thinking she was nothing. All Ramona has done is run and deny people closure and the series reckons with that.. and like the comics forces Ramona to stand and fight, recognizing that her relationship with Scott could end badly.. but it's worth having.

It's a neat metaphor: our heroes see exactly how badly things could end... and that's how relationships can be. You worry about how badly things are going to go or how you'll fuck up. But the only way it can go forward.. is if you try. Risk the hurt for the good. present/past/whatever Scott made a valid point when trying to talk to his Older Self before seeing that was a lost cause: There had to be good times too? While Old Scott and even Older Scott bury them in self pity, a relationship, even if it fails.. has something to add. Something to help you grow. And given Brian himself had been through a divorce after a ten year marriage it's hard not to see the subtext, to see that idea of "would you talk yourself out of a relationship if you knew it'd end". And the answer he and Ramona have.. is no. It's worth the risk, worth the pain, and worth the possiblity that someone else can do it better.

Granted this being scott pilgrim doing it better involves the ramona's fusing and Even Older Ramona, while done with Scott (He ate up his second chance a LONG TIME AGO) gives both Scott's another chance. As she puts it "This one's just an idiot kid... and this one's a real mess" (When told to kick his ass) "It's never too late to clean up a mess.. " Despite it all.. part of her loves him.. and gives him another chance. Not with her, Oh lord no, but to be better. That .. we can always be better, no matter if your 23 or 47, you can become better. As Super Ramona says "What you've done in the past dosen't define you, hell me keep remembering that". It's a beautiful message: you can screw up, there is no happily ever after.. but you can always be better even if you stumble. And as our heroes face a new future together once again.. it feels a bit brighter this time, like these two kids will make it you know?

Not That Evil

One big pull of doing the story this way for Brian and BenDavid was the exes. Brian admitted in interviews he wrote the books by the seat of his pants and as a naive 20 something who didn't know how skaters or musicians worked except via magazines. Moving to LA among other stuff gave him more perspective, and he wanted to add that to the story, flesh the Exes out as people and use the bits he didn't have time for in the original.

As such 5/7 go from sometimes one dimension, sometimes wholly evil bastards for Scott to punch.. and Lucas, to 5 very flawed , very intresting people we get to see way more of and who all get something resembling a happy ending. Also Kyle and Ken are there. Getting them out of the way once again the adaptation barely uses them, as their more a plot device/backup so we can hear Will Forte sing the theme to Bubblegum Crisis. You know when Brian hinted at that scene in interviews pre show I expected to here Kirean Culkin, Bree Larson, maybe even Micheal Cera. I didn't expect Will Freakin Forte and god bless Brian for that.

So yeah the Twins are.. fine here and I love the anti climax: they don't get closure with ramona.. but are cool with Scott since they'll be buddies eventually. I also like that out of ALL the exes for Scott to befriend after they respawned it's these two guys.

Thankfully everyone else gets way more and no where is that more apparent than with MATTHEW PATEL, the first evil ex.. and the one who naturally gets the most to work with, going from the biggest jobber who ever jobbed, to the guy who killed scott pilgrim

Satya Bhabha gets to have a fucking feast here and I hope this leads to more rolls, voice acting or otherwise. While he was already one of the highlights of the film, easily, taking what was implied to be a music number and making it into this glorious thing.

The series takes it to new heights.. mostly by giving Matt his best life. Granted.. this life naturally dosen't include Ramona who walks out pissed off and Matt is befuddled "Wait we DON'T get her automatically if we win?"

So he does what you'd expect from an egocentric theater kid who realizes he was just played and this whole evil exes setup is a sham... call a meeting in GIDEON"S OWN LAIR to dramatically reveal it all. And punch the head off a good soft robot boy because he's a prick and a half. A loveable prick and a half but still.

It's something I just.. never thought about with the league. I assumed it was simply a "If I can't have you" situation as that was GIdeon's whole goal.. and to put her in his girlfriend freezer which i'm sure Matt released. Gideon and Roxy seemed like the only ones who wanted her back. But given the weird logic of this unvierse even if some of them DIDN'T want her, I like the idea they'd still like to keep that option open by unaliving someone. It's fucked up as it is sensical for a group that all gathered to keep their ex from moving the fuck on.

It makes equal sense that this was all a ponzi scheme, Gideon , being an entiled dick, just.. assumed he got her if anyone won. That the exes wouldn't object or, more likely, they simply woudln't make it far enough. They were just patsies so he could swoop in and score her on the rebound, also not getting that would never work and sh'ed just hammer his nuts so far in they'd be impacted.

What threw me after this.. was Matt's Challenge to gideon. Not him challenging Gideon, I expected that easily: Matt gets all of Gideon's empire if he wins, Matt dies if he looses. I figured Gideon would kill Matt, again, and would do some sort of cordinated strike. But as before Scott Pilgrim Takes off Decides

Instead we get an absolutely gorgeous, awesome fight scenes. one of the best i've seen in animation and one of the best of the year, which given Invincible came back, is saying something. Gideon, while not having his pixel or glow powers, fights well with swords, a harness and pure skill while Matt is consistently forced to push his powers in new and creative ways. While we get the ones he got to show off against scott, fireballs and demon hipster chicks, we also get to see a lot of cool new shit as he manifests arms ala the Hindu god shiva, with all his powers seeming to tie into Hindu mythology instead of "magic stuff I guess" like the originals. It's a tense fight I assumed would end one way.. but instead... Matthew Patel FUCKING WINS and wins Gideon's emppire, only leaving him alive as a brag

Yeah I assumed from this when first watching that this was some sort of Buffy "Superstar" situation, that Matt had altereted reality to make it better for him. Instead.. nope. This just happened organically. Turns out Matt is badass as fuck, Scott simply had the power of friendship and punches. No power scaling here bitches.

As a result... the League falls apart. Matt is TECHNICALLY leader.. but in practice the exes all go off to do whatever, with Ramona instead encountering them organically. Matt spends the season as a highly paid CEO, mostly showing up once in a while to shut down a whole movie production because it makes him look bad, pathetically hit on ramona.. then get scared when he finds out Scott is alive. My faviorite bit of that is his very timid "Is he mad at me?" like he's a second grader and Ramona's understandably irritated "I dont' know dude" as a response.

Granted this dosen't stop his dreams as Knives and Stephen are able to pitch him a Scott Pilgrim Musical, one of the most gloriously batshit subplots in the history of this franchise. Which really can be said for.. most of this fucking show, but I digress. Despite seemingly hvaing no talent, the prospect of finally getting his broadway dreams back after his dad crushed them is enough for him to level up again, do a performance everyone loves and become a broadway icon. I assume the last part. Hamilton move over, your new compettiion's in town.

(Sidebar to that refrence, I think Hidgens and Matt would be besties. THeir both weirdly violent and obessed with musical theater).

Hell Matt.. dosen't even get upstaged by Gideon. When Gideon tries a looney tunes plan to bomb the theater, the Demon Hipster Chicks just.. disarm it and Matt.. gives Gideon his company back. Turns out being a CEO is hard yo. He's already lost billions. So Matt has his career, his musical, the only thing he didn't want to give up and Gideon could care less about anyway, and a new evil bestie. Life is good.

And naturally it sucks to be Gideon Graves as a result, or rather Gordon Goose. I liked giving Gideon a backstory, aging him down to be julie's old peer who used to wear no fear shirts every day and got shot down hard. Huh I never knew the guy I knew in high school who gave every girl he knew an invitation asking them out in high school became a super villian.

So Gideon spends most of the series in a depressed daze secretly plotting revenge and watching anime. Why is every guy I knew in high school compressed into one sad canadian?

Where he's crashing though was a nice twist: Julie. For those who read my reviews of the comics, you'll recall I didn't exactly like Julie very much. And for good reason: she's the worst. Here she still is.. but Brian found the secret to having a character whose human garbage around without making the audience pull their hair out. You have to make them entertaing. Julie is still a high school alpha bitch all grown up here, but instead of just constantly talking about how Scott sucks, she gets to be funny. She swears constantly, taking a great gag from the film and escalating it, slacks off at her job, and snarks to Ramona about her taste in men.

She also.. gets redeeming qualities. Something I never thought any verison of Julie could possibly have, but here we are. Instead of just seeming to know Ramona and only claming to be her friend because Julie Powers is a starfucker, she's GENUINELY a good friend to Ramona, giving her the info she needs and being contrite when Ramona catches her with Gideon. Julie here feels more like a person and less like a blob of all the worlds sins congealed into that bitch.

And yes she ends up with Gideon, a ship I never thought of in my darkest day but somehow works perfectly. Their both awful in a way that's made for each other and Julie taking in Gordon at his lowest is genuinely sweet.

We get to see Gideon not as G-Man.. but as a nerd whose lost everything.. and gets the greatest and most wholesome montage ever with Lucas Lee. Seriously Lucas and Gideon fucking around Julie's house like two teenage boys is one of the greatest thigns ever put to film, even greater knowing it was somehow only 90 fucking minutes. It's fucking adorable.

What helps though is that while Gideon is a touch more sympathetic and pathetic... he's still not let off the hook for how he treated Ramona. He's not putting the glow in her and stuff, but he was still the same controlling manipulative asshat. I mean he still made the league just to win her back. It's just without the league or the trappings of power... he's a less charming scott, something the books largely hinted at. Ramona DOES get him to be a better partner to Julie, calling him out for leaning on her hard and taking advantage of her, and as a result instead of leeching off her they become equal partners in villianny with vauge never to be elaborated on plans at the end. And it's honestly.. sweet. It's nice their evil together. Sure they'll probably be meancing our heroes with a super mario bros 3 airship eventually, i'm sure, but at least their better. And matt freed his frozen kidnapped wives so we're good.

So moving right along fun and fancy free we have Gordon's best bro, Lucas. Lucas Lee takes more after the film, something Brian admitted was unavoidable for some things: after the movie made some versions of the characters more iconic he really coudlnt' go back. It's why getting the movie cast was so important: While this was going to be it's own thing, having them added a layer and frankly he didn't think anyone else could do it as well. I do think someone could've, there's tones of great voice actors, but i'm still glad he got the all star cast back as their just.. giving it their fucking best. God bless Michael Cera for reviving that email chains.

And you can feel the enthusiasm in most performances, but especially Chris Evans, who responded back within 20 minutes of being asked and hams it up. This Lucas is a bro whose on the verge of being cancelled and who is delightfully try hard, saying let's party as every other line in his films, throwing parties, and generally being axe bodyspray made into a person. He also tony hawks a lot, and you can tell BenDavid loves skater culture.

Lucas is fun to watch, being arrogant and an asshole, but one whose hilarious epsecially squeezed into Scott's t-shirt playing him in young neil's movie. It's a great visual. And his downfall being dating a 30 year old who happens to LOOK like a high schooler is both a brilliant meta joke on ellen wong, and just.. fucking great.

The show also, like all the exes, fleshes him out: It takes what we knew ,that Ramona cheated on him in high school, and fleshes it out: Ramona was his everything, helping a skinny skater kid get by, fixing his boards and generally being sweet.. then aburbtly left him for a fuck boy, with Lucas deciding to become the KING of all fuck boys in revenge.

Lucas isn't super deep, but I love that he's not just the dudebro party massacre we see on the surface: he does actually read the script, has genuine insight into ramona pointing out how unlikely the regular ending of the story is .. simply because she always runs. He also willingly skates into a cloud of ninja paparazzi to cover for her.

And the skating scene.. is one of my favorites in the show. Granted I like me some tony hawk even if I suck eggs at it, so that helps, but the animation is gorgeous. Granted this whole damn cartoon is gorgeous: Science Saru put their heart and soul into every frame and everything looks stunning, having a very early 2000's look with it's frayed edges on the characters, and capturing Brian's style perfectly.

The Skating Segment shows this off, with fluid motion, some great set pieces and some impressive jokes like the alien. It's fucking great.

So Lucas ends up not even able to afford a first class ticket back home.. but finds happiness as a barita. and Stacey finds happiness starring at his ass. Everyone wins. I kinda low key ship those two.. I mean Stacey's a bit younger, yes, but it's not knives level of age gap, and Lucas could use someone with their head mostly on their shoulders. They do try teasing him and kim.. but she'd eat him alive. It'd be fun but she would. So speaking of Kim and the evil exes, let's roll on to my faviorite, Roxie. Roxie is a fucking delight this time, with Mae Whitman, unsuprisingly, bringing her best. It's fun to get to see her cut loose and just play a horny lesbian ninja gremlin like she deserves, with Roxy hamming it up. She spends the evil Ex meeting dunking on everyone else ("Act like you've been here todd!"), and already being the best. She comes off as a combo of her two versions: she has the manic gremlin energy of her film counterpart, being as bi-furious as ever, but has the snarky energy of her book counterpart, being willing to take shots at people and question them... it's just spread to all of the exes since Scott isn't around to be the sole obstacle in her way of ramona.

She's then the first ex Ramona has to deal with herself on her investigation, and it perfectly fits her character: In the film she tried to jump the line, but got a cup of accidental boob punch instead, and while she did wait for Todd to get headbutted out of existence in the books, she also started her attack with some ninja poster clones of Canadian hillary duff in the excellent Free Scott Pilgrim one shot (The very comic that got me into the series), and tried the same sneak attack that ended up in boob punch city. No matter the version Roxy is an impatient little cave goblin and of course the second she realized Ramona was free and the others had stopped giving a shit she'd be the one to show up at her door.

She's also the only one Ramona has to fight instead of just having an adult conversation. And while Takes Off changes a lot by design.. it dosen't deny giving us another excellent Roxie vs Ramona fight, something that I didn't realize was a tradition till this one. Still they saved the best for possibly last as the two's video store dustup is one of the best fights of the series, only topped by the final battle with Even Older Scott and even THEN it's a very close call.

Starting with a furious one on one in No Account Video, one of my faviorite settings from the books i'm glad to see get fully fleshed out and used here, even if it gets wrecked and then shut down as a result, with sprinkler's going off, discount tapes being bodied and Hollie deciding fuck this i'm clocking out, we then get a fun take on an old trope as a stack of tapes fall on them, leading to the two getting stuck in video land. We get westerns, film noir, samurai flicks, Hollie griping about them ruining her faviorite movie but watching anyway, it's a gorgeous fight and the video tape grain just adds to it.

We also get at least one fun bit using the medium as when Ramona gets sucker punched, Kim simply rewinds to help her new bestie out.. and Roxie takes it like a champ and... exits the tape JUST to stomp the remote. Fucking amazing.

The best part though, like a lot of SPTO, isn't the punching, though it's glorious but the payoff. With both exhausted, Roxie lashs out in a brutally painful way, blood down her cheek. It wasn't just that Ramona left, it's that she left.. without saying anything: we get an actual sense of their relationship this time and rather than be the "phase" Ramona cruelly brushed it off as the last two times, we see the two slowly fall in love, a really cute shot of ramona throwing a blanket over the two of them.. and then Ramona moving out, almost saying something but not wanting to, leaving Roxie devistated. It's easy to see WHY she has this bubbling anger at Ramona: every time they've fought, she's made her feel like nothing, something she vocalizes here. It takes what was an extremley dated bit that made Ramona come off like a giant asshole in the previous versions, it's fine if she realized she's not bisexual (which any scene with her and kim in both the comic and this very anime proves is just.. factually false), but it's a face punching way to put it, and puts it in the context of really hurting someone. Ramona realizes she done fucked up, genuinely apologizes and the two.. just collapse. Their friends now.

I also love Roxie hitting on Kim. I could honestly see those two working out.. I mean yes there were no sparks but Kim was kinda put on the spot there and Roxie was on the rebound. Give em some time. Plus I think Kim would work well with a feral gremlin she has to reign in. She's done it before. Roxie also asking about hollie right after before cheerfully leaving.. it's the best. Mae Whitman's the best and I could see her headlining a spinoff easily. Give me more of my feral cave gremlin daughter comma you cowards.

Finally we have Todd. Unlike the others, Todd.. isn't really fleshed out more and is given an entreily new personality from the comics swaggering egotistical rockstar jackass (Since Lucas very much had that niche filled), and the film's errrr...

Brandon Routh done good with the cleaning lady bit, but he wasn't given much to work with. Here... he makes Todd into a gloriously dumb and horny slab of moron. The guy can't go ONE SCENE without nearly fucking envy, which is one of the funniest bits in the show, capped off with the glorious wolf whistling, then fucks Wallace about ten diffrent times that we see over three days, then gets an adorable wallace sailor tatoo.

Todd.. really isn't changed. He was a fucklord in high school and he's a horny cheating mess now. He's an excus efor an already rediculous show to take it up to 11.

So let's unpack the show's sense of humor since I hadn't got to yet: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off takes an already ridiculous franchise with psychic vegans, bollywood hindu sorcerers and literal one ups, and decides to take it to the next level with film fights, lucas lee pro paparazi ninja skater 3, future renditions of Konya Wa No Hurricane by will forte, the montage from stepbrothers: Canadian edition, stunt double fights, and Matthew Patel: The Main Character. This is a series that takes it's emotinal consequences seriously and not much else. And I love it: I love weird shit, I Love balls to the wall humor, and the humor still feels very much scott pilgrim just taken up a notch.

And episode 5 is where it hits it's what the fuck is this peak as Ramona infiltrates the set of the Scott Pilgrim movie. The episode feels like one long shit post and i'm entirely in favor of it. We have Wallace fucking todd and casually dumping him, Envy and Wallace siccing their stunt doubles on each other, an Edgar Wright stand in voiced by Kevin Mcdonald for some reason and Young Neil, who in this series is entirely shit post and i'm here for it. IT's glorious chaos and only the ending is really at all emotional on some level. I mean I feel for Todd, even if he was a cheating bastard, but it's hard to take his grief or envy's seriously when Envy is a carcature of herself in this series and Todd's depression is eating a KFC bucket of poutine and sadly recounting every place he and Wallace made out. Todd isn't given extra depth.. but even as a villian he never really had depth to begin with. He had a disapproving dad and a massive ego. It's fine if he's a giant goofy blushy man who's soul wallace destroys. Brendon Routh does a phenomenal job with that.

Overall the expansion of the exes is part of what makes this adaptation so fantastic. With the exception of the twins they all get to live their best lives, and we get to see more of them. It's fun to see them implicitly join scot'ts friend group, and i've already written little chats about that, as it's fun as hell now their full characters in the world instead of respawning back probably not having learned much except not to punch scott in the face.

And the Rest

So with everything upside down, how do the rest of the people in Scott's Precious Little Life fare when the main character their built to support is gone? It's another hook of this series: if scott's gone, even just temporarily, what happens to everyone else.

Sex Bomb-Omb naturally gets impacted the most, and the versions here are superb.

The standout of course is Knives who deals with Scott's death by discovering a new love: playing music. While Knives had always been a huge fangirl in past versions, it was in the way more teens find music: by glomming on to the first band or two that makes them feel something and guarding that new faviorite thing like a cat with a ski chalet

See? Despite letting these characters live rent free in my head for the past decade, I never once thought of this idea, letting Neil join shatterband, sex bomb omb's followup as it crumbles to dust in the comics, instead.

In hindsight this idea is the most obvious thing: Knives loves music, it's an easy excuse for her parents that eases them into the fact her friends are all 20 year olds, so she can stay with the group easier, and as for why Stephen and Kim would let it happen... both have always liked her. Kim's annoyance is more worrying about Scott scarring her for life, and Stephen an dher get really close towards the end of the series, with him becoming a big brother towards her. The two becoming big siblings to her and letting her join makes sense.

It's especially nice to see with Kim. Kim interacted with Knives a BIT in the books, being the only one on Team Sex Bomb-Omb (The band plus knives and young neil), to take scott to task for the Knives thing to his face, at worst getting annoyed Knives is copying her. Granted like most of the Team, Kim still fucks up with her, most notably.. this

Which at the time I, and apparently the devleopers of the game, saw as a shippable moment but nowadays I see as NOPE PLEASE STOP, PLEASE STOP.. PLEASE NEVER AGAIN. AGE GAP'S STILL AS WEIRD AS WITH SCOTT. PLEASE DONT' TRAUMTIZE THIS CHILD MORE. Kim gets more of a pass than her band mates and neil because she was drunk at the time and clearly regrets it, but it's still something entirely fucked up I wish hadn't happened and feel bad for all involved. This is not how you should find out your bisexual.

The series wisely avoids this as they've realized "This is also statutory". and instead nicely has Kim take up the big sis roll to Knives, being the only one to really look after her after her boyfriend allgedly exploded and was found to have been cheating on her.

Hence we get one of the the best scenes in the series, the drum session. Which I know some did interpret romantically but first off...

And secondly.. really dosen't given the context: Kim sees the band needs a bassist.. but more importantly sees Knives is trying really hard to learn and is clearly spiraling after Scott's death. So she invites her to play since Neil is busy with his screenplay and Stephen, as usual is handeling this sudden loss with all the grace and dignity he's known for

IT's a beautiful scene as two people simply bond as they jam, and both heal a bit from what they've lost. And we find out Knives is a musical progidy who mastered the Bass in only four hours, and masters a keyboard later in less.

This gives Knives her first real plot in the series that isn't tethered to Scott in some way, something that was jarring to realize, but easy to see why: the books are centered around Scott's life, his friends, his love intrest, etc. Their there as needed for his story. Knives has one of the most detailed and intresting character arcs of the main cast.. but it's still thorughly tethered to Scott: his dumping her sends her on a journey of spiraling depression and growth, eventually going from someone who puts scott on such a pedestal that she attacks his new girlfriend instead of seeing the obvious, to accepting Scott wasn't perfect, he cheated and that while he opend her world up, they were really bad together and it was never an equal paring. Even the fun subplot with her dad as the mystery swordsman in book 4.. is because he thought she was still dating Scott and thus attacked him for dating his daugther. The movie makes this worse by trying to make the relationhsip seem legit missing the point entirely. While Knives has a friend in Tamara an da passle of high school drama she gleefully tells scott about, neither are important to the narrative. We only meet her parents because her mom was there when Knives met Scott and her dad tries to run him through.

Here while Scott certainly is part of her story, why she met sex bomb-omb and why she wears his jacket for most of the series, and his death certainly had an impact, she moves on quickly here not because she forgot Scott like it seems a chunk of the cast do or she's TRYING to avoid thinking about him like Kim and Wallace seem to be, she just found a healthy creative outlet, something to put her pain into in a healthy way instead of getting highlights and trying to murder Ramona or dating a guy who looks close enough to Scott. Knives moves on faster here, taking what's implied to be maybe a month at most to move on versus a year.. because she's not isolated in her pain. Scott's friends dont' dump her because it's awkward now and then awkwardly let her stay around post neil because they feel bad. Kim invites her in and after hearing she can wail, Stephen warmly welcomes her into the band, and the two become besties. So we have to talk about Stephen really quick as his plot dovetails into Knives, with the two being a duo for half the series. Stephen is based more on his movie self.

Yeahhh while I love the books on re-read, Book Stephen sucks. He just.. sucks. If your wondering some of the lowlights i'm glad you asked, here's an expertly crafted montage.

And that's just what I could fit into a montage: he also cheats on Julie for most of volume 4, focuses on his affair with joseph to the point he refuses gigs when it's clear playing live is something Kim LIKES doing and helps her relax, and never even informs Scott the band's broken up. The last one's .. iffy because Scott was in a waking depression coma after loosing Ramona, so he coudl've told him and forgot, but out of Scott's friend group he's the most consistently dickish, with Kim's grumpy nature mostly being a wall. It's partly the writing as , again given this is scott centric, we dont' peel back the layers on him the way we do with say Ramona, Knives or Kim. We don't see why he thought it was easier to cheat like we do with Scott and Knives, which wouldnt' make it okay but would make him less punchable. we don't know WHY he stays with Julie. Stephen is just an enigma and as such comes off immesnely annoying when most of his major endevors screw up everyone elses life in some way. And as one final coda to this rant, i'm not saying telling knives about Scott's two timing is bad... i'm saying he's the wrong person to tell her as not only did HE cheat on his partner, and as the last panel shows, KNOWS it's wrong Ramona clearly dosen't know half a year into the relationship, but won't tell her anyway for a friendship he REALLY dosen't seem to remotely care about.

So yeah a hammy constantly anxious relatable stephen was better, and Mark Webber was a delight by contrast. We didn't get to know movie Stephen.. but I didn't want to punch him either. So having Anime Stephen be more like the one who isn't punchable was smart: He's still panicky, crying more over the fact Scott leaves them baseless than over the fact his friend's dead (Which is mildly douchey but as we learned with Julie, if it's for a joke it's fine), and still obessed with making music his career while his band mates are like "Yeah fine whatever", so he's not really changed hard from the core of the character, but he is a delight and him and Knives becoming best friends in a far less hypocritical sense is adorable.

I also REALLY love their pet project: After Young Neil's movie falls through, more on him shortly, they make Scott Pilgrim, the original timeline, into a MUSICAL, complete with a bread makes you fat music number. I do like the ocasional nod here and there: O'Malley and Grabinski conciously didn't want to just.. repeat a gag because it was expected, but threw a few of the more iconic bits in as long as they could remix the joke. It's why the pee bar and the shoe tying making cameos, as their in new contexts, while there just wasn't room for the l-word or scott going out a window.

This whole subplot is gold from Stephens aying "as a creative to another creative" a hundred times, something I relate to since i say as a critic way more than I probably should, to it paying off.

And this is where Knives asceneds. By the end she not only gets closure with scott, admitting she's glad he's back but is glad he died, as the relationship wasn't healthy and she could grow into a hit songwriter, but she has a huge career with an award winning (Probably) musical, a new best friend and mentor, and writing songs for her fav envy.

And most nicely for me.. .I get a reality where Sex Bomb Omb dosen't fall to pieces in some way or form. Yeah without Stephen's drama or callousness depending on the version and with Knives creative vision the band not only stays together, but has a real shot at being something, giving everyone in it a bright future. Knives Chau really got to take off.

Kim is as usual the meaning in my life and the inspriation, with Allison Pill getting to do more with the character since she's not shunted to the background to say one or two lines. I mean she's still IN the background sadly: She gets a major roll in episode 3 and then just shows up when Sex Bomb Omb's together, not even getting that involved in the musical. I really wished after the film Kim got a big beefy roll. She could've been Ramona's sidekick or something like that, the two been clue buddies together. But I suppose the raw sexual tension would've left Scott out. Still she plays of Ramona well and it woudl've been nice ot have Kim around to response to the madness of episodess 4 and 5 with ramona. Still she gets a better shake than the movie: Episode 3 highlights how this version is actually over him, but encourages Ramona's attraction to him, simply warning her of what he's like, is a good friend to Rammy, and gets that moment with Roxie. I love how sh'es just like "I'm not... oh alright". And I think given another chance there would be sparks. Kim is sadly not given MUCH but it's still more kim pine, and i'm always in favor of that.

Finally we have my newly adopted son Young Neil. Unlike with Stephen, they didn't really take from the previous neil, whose super excited, and goofy and better than the graphic novel version whose alright. They go back to the Graphic Novel's glass eyed, barely emotive werido.. yet STILL make him something new rather than just adapt that version.

The result is a neil whose spacey, barely emotive.. but also REALLY dumb and really weird. Naturally I love him and relate immensely. Neil is somehow CRITICAL to the plot this time and entirely unaware of what is going on. He's season 1 todd chavez and it's wonderful.

This Neil gets most of the best bits, with Johnny Simmons having perfect timing. A good chunk of this series weird shit comes form Neil, who takes Scott's death as as sign he should persue his passion for screenwriting and get's his big break when in a half assed wel lmeaning plan, ramona adapts his book into a screenplay and sends it to him. Neil sees a mysteriously cloaked future ramona writing the script.. then assumes it's his sleep paralysis demon and he's a scripting genius.

We then get two glorious episodes of Neil at a movie set not remotely qulaified to be there as he assumes Americans and then the japanese call golf carts mario karts, gets a perscription but somehow winds up with sunglasses, and barely registers Matthew shutting his expesnive nightmare of a film down becuase he can't drive golf carts anymore. It even takes a lengthy and fucking glorious scene with sex bomb omb for him to realize "oh maybe my sleep paralysis demon didn't write this". Just the casual way he says it while everyone else is baffled, and how Kim and Knives have to slowly explain reality to him is great. Neil is comic relief incarnate and I love him, easily the best version. I'm also happy that like most of the cast, he gets a happy ending, as he apparently got a job at the studio after Gideon reopened it driving his cart around. Nick Frost is right, Young Neil really is off the chain.

So onto the one charcter who over FOUR DIFFRENT MEDIUMS has never really talked to anyone I just talked about but knives, we have Wallace. First off: yes i'm still disapointed he never really talked to Sex Bomb Omb. I got it vibe wise: everyone has friends who just.. don't know each other, but the intro got my hopes up they'd actually.. hang out at some point. But just like everything else, the intro isn't remotely indicative of what happened in the anime. The comics sure. And it's a true banger.

Seriously the colors are vibrant, the song is vibrant and fits scott perfectly, with Necry Talkie really nailing him down, and it's a perfect intro. Even if it ends up being nothing like the series , I still love it. One of my faviorite anime intros of all time. Love that cute falling shot of scott and ramona and the bit showcasing the exes. So good.

What was I on about? Oh yeah Wallace. Wallace here is a mixed bag. As with the film Kirean Culkin is perfect as Wallace: he gets the dry tone down, his drunken antics down and the whole sarcastic vibes perfectly. He was the best performance of the film, and while the compettition's too steep here for him to win again, he's still amazing.

That said Wallace.. is a bit more of a dick here. He comes off more.. tolerating scott instead of having a genuine friendship with him, and the only hint we get of him mourning his best friend is just how plastered he is.. and even then he threatens to change the locks. If Ramona reminded him to. I get the two weren't going to be as focused on, but it's still sad.

I also wish his friendship with Ramona stayed. While it makes sense they don't bond, Scott isn't around to link them, it was one of the funnest parts of the books.

Really this Wallace shows why he needs Scott and what he might be like when his bestie isn't around: Just because Wallace is more put together.. dosen't make him not an asshole. While I admi the's more dickish here with reflection.. I have to say it's not out of character. He's still giving us killer bits from wanting to see a notriously straight actor play him, to his smug acceptance of becoming an actor, to his deadpan acceptance that todd's in love with him, he's still the wallace we love... it's just we're seeing the side of him that dosent look better with a dumpster fire constantly ned tot him.

The biggest douchery is of course stealing Todd from Envy.. but besides it taking two to cheat, Wallace stealing someone's boyfriend.. isn't new behavoir. I laughed at how out of left field the PARING was.. but Wallace is Jimmy's bi or gay or pan, whatever he is, awkaneing in the book and film, and Stacey's reaction in both makes it clear he steals her boyfriends CONSTANTLY. So him stealing Todd and then explaining it was just a fling to him.. is entirely in the realm of Wallac'es douchebagery. He's not a terrible person.. but like everyone else in the cast he's a mess. HIs abuse of his stunt doubles was a bit over the line, but is so over the top it works. And this wallace also sings us complicated. So while I wish we got to see more of the Wallace we don't in the books... what we do get is still great.

Envy.. gets the shortest end of the stick here next to the twins, as she at least had a fairly comepelling arc in the book, being the focus of volume 3 and a major part of volume 6. Here while Brie Larson is once again great there really.. isn't much for Envy here. Even the film, which basically squoozer her in at the last second, still gave us an awesome version of the phone call she gives scott and the iconic black sheep sequence. Here while Envy gets another all timer scene in her funeral concert, the second most obnoxiously awesome crashing of a funeral behind flintheart glomgold

Envy DID at least get to dance on his casket. Or a stage above his casket. still counts.

Envy.. is left at the face value we meet her at the start of volume 3: queen biatch, queen of all the chaos, queen of all you love and adore. She's still a lot of fun from the above horny antics with todd to her yanking Ramona out of a talking head interview to fight her battles for her, but there's .. nothing really to her and it stand sout in a series that gives everyone else but the twins something new.

Okay ALMOST everyone as Stacey is once again out of focus like the comics. The movie gave her a bit more, but here she's scott's sister who calls people. That's it. It makes sense, Ramona has no real reason to talk to her, but it's a waste of your Anna Kendrick to not find more antics for her, especially since they found wallace and Neil great subplots. That said she does live her best life at the end starring at lucas' butt.

I also want to note the presence of Hollie, kim's roomate, best friend and co-worker. She does little, Shannon Woodward does a fine job, but I like that she's in here at all: Hollie was a character I liked in the comics.. who went on to steal kim's boyfriend for plot convience. So having a verison of her that dosen't do that shit and is just Kim's snarky foil and friend again works for me.

Finally we have a bunch of cameos, the bulk of them legendary. We get Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as security guards, Weird Al as the intro narator for the doc on the failed Scott Pilgrim film, comedy and voice acting legend MIcheal Mcdonald as Edgar Wrong, Bowen Yang as a tv gossip, kal Pen as matt's lawyers and Kirby HOwell Baptiste as Lucas Lee's agent. All fun one or two off bits, all fantastic.

Finishing off the character stuff we have a missed opportunity too: Joseph and Lisa get to cameo.. but are once again left out, to my annoyance. I get not being able to fit them in and Lisa has less of a point without Scott around.. but it'd still be nice to get a scene or something, especially since I was far from the only person asking for Lisa Miller to get a proper apperance.

So with that we close the book on Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.. and it was phenominal. While I would've loved a new adaptation, this.. is even better: a spirtual sequel that expands the characters, is not afraid to go full nonsense, let's a lot of the cast from the film fully shine, and has a bitching soundtrack once again. Not a ton of original songs sadly, but I Feel Fine and Orange Shirt are bangers, and we get Will Forte singing an anime theme song. If the last part dosen't appeal to you, I don't know how you got this far in the review. Takes Off is one of the best entries in this franchise and leaves me hopeful we'll return to this world again. Maybe not on screen but hey, even with the mountain of work it took to get this cast together again, tthis adaptatoin has proven anything is posisble.

Thanks for reading.

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s6 ep3: Barge of the Dead

Ugh another experimental episode, when will they ever end?? (They will not, there's still more!) 'It was all a dream' is a frustrating story device in any genre, but all the more so here, because it lacked any sci-fi element, and made it veer off into straight up fantasy, which Star Trek isn't, and shouldn't try to be.

While I like the idea of exploring some Klingon lore and B'Elanna's relationship with her mom, the execution here just didn't really make it work. There have been plenty of Star Trek eps where characters have near death experiences, but they've always had some sort of sci-fi reason for it. You can't just give a character that with no explanation, because then that's canonically saying that an afterlife exists, and as a sci-fi show, they can't do that. If this was Xena or Buffy or whatever, fine, those are fantasies, but Star Trek needs to be rooted in some sort of actual science, even if it's extremely far fetched and not actually feasible in reality. You have to at least be able to say 'well, science figured this out at some point, just go with it'. B'Elanna almost dying once and seeing the Klingon Barge of the Dead is one thing, but recreating the conditions that almost killed her and seeing the same thing with a continuing story arc, without explaining how she's able to magically do this, was like, what?? Directed dreaming is one thing, but she was technically dead, so that's not what's going on. Obviously they'd have to make it a dream or something like that for her to talk to her mom while they're in the Delta Quadrant, but a better framing device would have really helped sell it for me more. As it is, having something take place totally inside a character's mind for most of the episode makes me disinvest in the story quite a bit. And I love B'Elanna, but I really need something real to anchor to amidst all the psychobabble mumbo jumbo, most of which didn't really ring true or make sense.

For one thing, B'Elanna suddenly being willing to die to maybe save her mom's soul, when she's resented her parents for most of her life, and her own life is finally getting better, seems like a pretty extreme shift that would take more than one near death dream to bring about. Her suddenly believing in Klingon religion after a lifetime of not doing so, and believing in it strongly enough that she's willing to die for it, and turn her back on her whole Voyager family, is definitely way too big a leap from just one dream. I think she would be more likely to look at it analytically and examine the metaphors like Chakotay suggested. But then I don't believe in the sort of reward and punishment based notion of an afterlife that's going on here, so I'm never really gonna be on board with any story focusing on judging someone's fitness for eternal damnation or eternal reward. Honestly the Christian overtones of the supposedly Klingon mythology were probably a big part of why I can't really like this one. Having cultures and religions that are supposed to be alien be basically carbon copies of current human cultures and ideologies does make the Star Trek universe seem, well, pretend. It takes the magic out of it to be reminded time and again that it's basically been made by a group of American straight white guys who can't truly conceive of ways of life that are substantially different from our own.

I honestly don't remember if I ever watched this one all the way through before, since I distinctly remember the first time this aired- 12 year old me was very annoyed that they messed with established Klingon lore to say that dishonor passes for child to parent, when it had always been from parent to child. I remember saying to my mom, 'if they're just gonna change it for no reason, then I don't care what happens because they're not doing it right' and I messed around with something else and didn't pay attention to the rest of the ep. Pedantic though I may have been, 12 year old me was kinda right. While I don't think there's nothing worthwhile here, it does muddy the waters when they mess around with established lore for the sake of convenience. World building is critical in sci-fi and fantasy, and keeping the rules consistent is the the key. Changing or ignoring rules of the genre, or the franchise, compromises the story they're trying to tell. You can't focus on the story when you're wondering what the writers were thinking and wanting an explanation.

And all of these things are barriers I have to get through to even get to discussing the story itself, which is the deeply frustrating notion that B'Elanna is somehow not honorable enough or warrior enough to be a good Klingon, which in itself, deeply pisses me off. In what universe is B'Elanna Torres not badass enough to get into Sto'vo'kor?! She was a Maquis for goodness sake! Freedom fighter was literally her job description- even if she doesn't go for Klingon ritual, she absolutely has been a brave warrior, and Klingons seem like they would care about how you fight your battles more than what rituals you observe. She's literally actually a warrior, how is that not Klingon enough?! It sexism, pure and simple, because Worf never actually was a Klingon warrior either, but neither Worf as a character nor any of the writers ever consider him to be anything other than an honorable Klingon warrior. And Worf has only ever been in Starfleet, he's never actually been a freedom fighter like B'Elanna has, but yet somehow, because he does all the Klingon rituals and practices with his bat'leth regularly, he's somehow more of a warrior than she is?? That's stupid. She's just as brave as he is, don't tell me being an engineer is somehow less honorable than being a tactical officer. They're both Starfleet in the end.

And why is this a recurring theme in her episodes? I totally get that B'Elanna doesn't ever think that she's good enough, but why does the show take that perspective? Why do they constantly have B'Elanna down on herself without anyone ever pointing out to her that she's worthy? Why do they never let her have a moment where she herself realizes that she's worthy? I mean, I get it, actually believing in yourself when you've been taught your whole life that you're not good enough is hard- but you have to at least try to start somewhere. Giving a character trauma just to let them suffer with it forever sucks, and isn't in the spirit of Star Trek. Healing and getting better isn't easy, but it's possible, and Star Trek's whole deal is that getting better is possible, both as a society and as individuals.

I'm just frustrated that B'Elanna is constantly getting slammed by the writers for being too Klingon AND not Klingon enough at the same time. I hate to quote the Barbie movie, but it really feels like a case of women always getting seen as too much and not enough simultaneously. There's no way to win. B'Elanna deserves the fucking world, okay? She's out there holding that ship together with a hyperspanner and a prayer, with less training than a Starfleet engineer, and none of the resources, all while battling with her own childhood trauma just to stay afloat, and still manages to be a kind and caring person underneath her defense mechanism of dry humor and withering sarcasm, and her completely understandable anger at an unjust world that's dealt her some seriously shitty hands. I love her, and everyone should love and appreciate her, and I'm still upset that both the characters on the show and the show itself often don't. I really do think it's the double whammy of white guys not understanding that a) there's no inherent conflict in having a mixed heritage in itself, it's the poor treatment people get from racists because of it that makes it a problem, and b) women can and do have very legitimate reasons for being angry, and expressing it doesn't make them unreasonable or 'too much', nor is it a problem that can be solved by telling them they're too sensitive and should just get over it, which was basically what this ep said in the end. The idea that B'Elanna has always been miserable on Voyager is just straight up untrue, and the idea that she's solely to blame for whatever unhappiness she experiences, considering the way she often gets treated by people around her, is also a really bad faith take. If they want her to be happier and/or nicer, they should treat her better, not just tell her to be nicer or happier.

Anyway, all of this is to say, this ep didn't work for me. She looks cool in the Klingon gear, and they apparently spent a lot of money building a whole barge set, but all I could think about were the many, many issues with how B'Elanna gets treated on the show. Whatever actually happend in this ep (I still don't really even know tbh) did not impact me even half as much as all the other issues I sat churning over in my mind while watching it.

Tl;dr: Another experimental ep that offered no sci-fi storyline whatsoever, instead giving us fantasy dream sequences that were meant to be psychologically illuminating, but ultimately, were muddied by the fact that we were never given any explanation for what B'Elanna experienced beyond 'she died and went to the afterlife for a while', which doesn't work on a sci-fi show.

[steeltwigz]

has anyone seen marsh cry? (marshmallow cry lore)

I JUST rewatched the show and Marsh went through so much that I genuinely can't remember if we've ever seen her cry on screen before 😭😭😭 it feels like we must have but I'm rlly not sure 😭😭😭

I'm just gonna assume we Haven't. The thing is, Marsh is rlly open abt her emotions. She likes to talk abt things that bother her to her friends and solve the problems asap, I guess maybe barring the thing where she ran away w/o telling Paintbrush but that was kind of a complicated situation and she Was right that Paintbrush never rlly listened to her during the competition. That Being Said! I don't actually think she would cry often. She's tough and can Usually deal with things that upset her efficiently before they can become too overwhelming that she would start crying abt them.

I think probably in early season 1 Marsh would've had more situations that she didn't know how to handle and just in general she was a bit more helpless at the start, so she would've cried around Paintbrush more often. So they've seen it before (and hopefullyyyy act supportively). But since season 2 and living in the mansion, Marsh has matured a lot and become stronger and more able to defend herself so I don't think Apple or Bow have as many chances. I think there's good potential for one of them walking In on Marsh crying becuz I LOVEEEE those kinds of angst stories. If it Did happen that way, I think the reactions would be smth like. Apple freaks out, bursts into the room, and starts holding Marsh as tightly as possible until she feels better and promising to beat up whoever made Marsh upset, which is so startling and silly that it would always make Marsh feel a little better. Bow would phase through the wall awkwardly and try to ask Marsh what's wrong, and Marsh would get all surprised at being caught and then they'd talk it out. Dough would fly in, pretend like he's in the room for something else, and then once he had a read on the situation he would possess a pillow or blanket or bring snacks to give Marsh so she'll feel better. I don't think he'd snitch to Apple or Bow tho, I like to think he has some kind of awareness on Marsh's personality and can understand she would want her privacy to be respected.

I think actually they've seen Marsh cry once when she was super overwhelmingly happy tho, the first night she brought Apple back to the mansion and it finally sunk in that she was free from II and surrounded by the people she cares the most abt in the whole world. But they all spent that night sobbing and laughing and cuddling on the couch together, so it doesn't rlly count. Except Dough who was around but said the show of emotion was "an affront to the couch cushions" becuz of Bow's ghost mascara running and staining them so he left to watch spiders build webs in the basement. Apple and Bow have both tried to make Marsh so happy she starts crying again (becuz that night was also full of lots of cuddling and kissing and hugging and maybe sometimes girls just want to feel loved, okay?), but Marsh is a tough nut to crack AND she's smart so she can recognize what they're doing and use it to play jokes on them and annoy them. They have a whole secret corkboard that's covered in plans and ideas. Its not that secret cuz Marsh found it almost instantly and sometimes she'll add her Own ideas if she wants them to do something nice for her. Its a fun game, but now she's even More opposed to crying for any reason so that she can Win the game. The important thing abt Marshplebow is that they all love each other so so much, but they're also all competitive as FUCK and they love playing stupid little games and challenges with each other.

And actually I think MePad has seen Marsh cry too. In my headcanon lore, Bow possesses Apple by putting her soul in Apple's body and controlling it that way, meaning that when Bowpple left in episode 17, Bow didn't stay behind in the mansion (ig they were using phones to communicate or smth I didn't really bother w the logistics). After they explain the plan of Pulling the Plug on it all, Marsh decides she needs air and goes out on the porch to watch the ship where her gfs are. MePad follows her after a moment to offer his own kind of silent comfort and idk Paintbrush probably follows too, but they aren't important to the story rn. Marsh watches as the ship disappears in the sky, but the objects don't disappear instantly after that, it takes a few seconds for the effect to reach them. When it registers that the ship has disappeared and everyone is now perma-dead Marshmallow sniffles and gasps, unable to hold on to all the fear and sorrow of the episodes events and MePad, against his better judgement, probably just on reflex, turns to Marshmallow to try to comfort her. He watches as a single tear rolls down her cheek before she's gone and MePad is left alone on the mansion porch or like maybe on the ground beneath it, I kind of assumed the mansion would be a real building but maybe not. And now he gets to live with that memory forever ^_^ yayyyyy!!! I don't know if MePad has a favorite, but I always kind of assumed he cared abt Marshmallow and respected her more than he had for any of the other contestants. That's not saying MUCH becuz he very clearly cares abt them all, but I think Marshmallow is one of the most personal to him.

[skylarstark4826]

~o~

The cabin lighting has been reduced to shipboard night, and everyone seems to have found a corner to slip into for a few minutes rest.

Everyone.

Poe Dameron isn't one for feeling helpless. He's more the shoot-first-and-ask-questions-never type, but right now, he's feeling discouraged down to his very marrow. 'Everyone' consists of about a dozen people and 'driods; all that's left of the once-mighty Resistance. So many friends, people he'd fought beside, bled for and pledged to die for if necessary, and they're all just gone, cut down by the First Order in a ruthless display of power that had sucked whatever hope they'd had left right out the airlock.

He wonders if things would have been different if he hadn't pushed so hard to destroy the Dreadnaught during the evacuation. General Organa would tell him to get his head out of his afterburners, that there's nothing he could have done about the low fuel reserves or the First Order simply waiting for them to stall so they could pick off the Resistance ships one at a time.

Doesn't change the fact that he feels like he should have done something more, or maybe just listened to the General when she'd tried to call off the attack instead of charging ahead and giving the First Order time to put a trace on the Raddus. Retreat has never been his strong suit, and doing something has always been preferable to doing nothing, but sometimes being smart is better than being brave. It's the lesson the General had been trying to teach him for so long, but he's just too lazerbrained to get it.

"Stop."

Poe raises his head, peering up at the shadow that's fallen over him. He ghosts a smile when he recognizes Kaydel Connix and her cute-as-a-button buns silhouetted against the dim overhead lights.

"Stop what?" he asks quietly.

She settles down beside him, not far from the alcove where Finn is curled up with Rose Tico, practically willing her to be okay. The kid's come a long way, and Poe is as surprised as anyone that he's taken to Rose; they're such opposites, but maybe that's why they seem to work.

Kaydel curls into him, nudging until his arms settle around her shoulders. She presses her forehead into his cheek, taking a deep breath, and then another. He can feel the stress bleeding away, so he pulls her closer, tucking her body into his. She's been busy since the jump to light speed, finding everyone a spot to bunk, a bit of water and food. It's what she's good at—organizing—so he'd left her to it while he'd… ruminated.

"You get everyone settled?"

She sighs. "Yes. Rey and Chewie are sitting up in the cockpit, and I left the General in the Captain's quarters to get some sleep."

Poe figures that's the last place Leia Organa wants to be, a room filled with the echoes of the man she's only just lost after finding him again. But he also knows that the General has never pushed away the hard things, and she's not likely to start now. And despite their dire circumstances, she'd been full of hope before she'd been bundled off to bed. Even through the sadness pressing in on him, he'd felt that spark.

"At least I got you to stop," she murmurs.

"Stop what?" he asks again.

"Brooding," she says, snuggling still closer, draping her legs over his until she's practically in his lap. He tugs her the rest of the way, wrapping both arms around her until she's pressed into him as close as she can be. "Mmmm, better."

Poe huffs a laugh. "I'm not a piece of furniture, but I'm glad you're comfortable. And for the record, I wasn't brooding."

"Oh?" she asks. "What would you call it, then?"

"Thinking," he says. "Ruminating, maybe. But not brooding."

"Right," she says, clearly not convinced. She pulls back a little so she can look him in the eye. "You're brooding, wondering if you could have done anything differently to get a different outcome."

"How did you—"

"Pfft," she says, waving a hand, "you're a pilot. 'If it moves, shoot it. If it doesn't, it paint it green.' Isn't that what you pilots always say?"

"I think you have me confused with ground troops," he says on a huff of laughter.

Kaydel shrugs. "Eh, whatever. My point is, you always need to be doing something, but sometimes, the best course of action is to wait. Not easy for you, I get it."

"I'm a pilot, Kay," he says quietly. "It's my job to shoot at things. If I can't do that, what good am I?"

"You know," she says, "there's a saying on Kashyyyk: 'The wroshyr tree dreams of one day touching the stars; but until that day comes, it offers shelter to the treelizard.'"

Poe tips his head back, staring up at the ceiling of the Millennium Falcon as Kaydel snuggles up with him once more. He's reminded of the conversation he had with the General on board the evacuation shuttle. She'd been trying to tell him the same thing, perhaps a bit more pointedly, but he thinks he got what she was saying. Don't try to be the big hero, just do the job in front of you, no matter how big or small.

But that still doesn't change the fact that he was the Squadron Commander, and all those people were lost on his watch. He's going to feel that responsibility for a long time to come.

"She lost them too, you know," Kaydel says quietly. "You think she feels any less responsible?"

He opens his mouth to dispute that, but he knows he can't. For all that he was in charge of the squadron when they lost the bombers, General Organa was in charge of the Resistance. They were her losses, too. All the bomber pilots, the cruisers, the evac shuttles, the ground troops. They were hers before they were his.

"How does she do it?" he asks into the silence. "How does she come back from the losses time and time again?"

"Hope," Kaydel whispers. "She has hope." She pulls back and looks at him, her expression soft and kind of sad in the low light. "Hope. The spark that will light the fire—"

"That will win the battles before us," he finishes for her.

"It's the truth that this Resistance was built on, and the Rebellion before it," she says. "We honor the sacrifices of those we lose, because it's their hope in a better future that provides the fuel for the days ahead. It's not going to be easy—it never is—but as long as we have hope, the future is ours."

He reaches up and cups her cheek, his heart singing with love for this spitfire of a woman. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she says, grinning. "Now, we've lived to fight another day. What say we celebrate?"

Poe raises an eyebrow. "What exactly do you have in mind?"

"Just this," she says. 

She leans in close, pressing her lips to his. His heart skips a beat, and then he's kissing her, pulling her close as he pours all his loss, longing, and yes, hope into the kiss. His hands roam everywhere they can reach, not trying to excite, more like making sure she really is here and whole. He can feel her hands in his hair, holding on as if afraid he'll disappear if she lets go. He knows the feeling; he's more grateful than he can ever say that she'd come through the evacuation and subsequent attacks alive and well.

Finally, after long minutes, he gentles the kiss, pulling back until their foreheads are pressed together. "I love you," he whispers.

He can feel her smile more than he can see it. "I know," she says. "I love you, too. Always."

"If you two are finished making out over there, I'd like to get some sleep."

Poe chuckles as he casts a glance over at Finn. "Sorry, buddy."

Kaydel burrows into his chest, hiding her shaking shoulders as she tries to suppress the laughter bubbling up inside her. Poe presses a kiss to her head, his own chuckle slipping out between breaths.

"Try to get some sleep, sweetheart," he whispers. "Big day tomorrow."

Kaydel hums, but it seems she's already halfway to sleeping because she just goes limp in his arms, her breathing steady as she drifts off. Poe presses another kiss to her hair and tips his own head back to lean against the wall. It's not the most comfortable place to sleep, sprawled out on the floor with his back against the wall, but he figures as long as he has his friends around him, and Kaydel in his arms, he can face anything. Even an uncertain future.

~Finis

[jaggedwolf]

beau/jester!

when I started shipping it if I did: I honestly don't remember?? I know I instantly found their friendship adorable, so it probably didn't take long. Definitely was shipping them by time of the escalated bar fight.

my thoughts: they just, immediately fall into being co-conspirators and being so charmed by each other, it's great? Even from the start, you have them climbing that tree in Alfield together, Beau listening with amusement at Jester bullshitting about pocket unicorns, Jester helping to decipher the mail Beau stole, Beau tucking Jester in after the latter gleefully goes on and on about Tusk Love. or basically what I said in this post

What makes me happy about them: that instinctive, vicious protectiveness and attachment over each other - Beau is so messed up about leaving the Blue Dragon fight first and says she never meant to leave but especially would never mean to leave Jester, Jester gets so mad at Beau's dad she sends him spooky messages just to fuck with him, Beau tries to talk Jester through her approach of the Gentleman as her dad, Jester worries that she didn't heal Beau enough in that cathedral fight and that's why Beau is avoiding her. I swear, there's a large portion of the campaign where they just want each other so much in ways that they can't seem to verbalize and it drives me and them wild.

Beau's confession to Nott about her crush is still so, so good and so, so sweet

falling through the sky together, grabbing at each other's hands and teleporting away, both their speeds combined, that ridiculous bar fight where it didn't matter which of them won but that they did it wholeheartedly, buying pets together they absolutely were not ready to take care of

What makes me sad about them: hm, you're currently watching the Aeor arc so you can tell me if I'm wrong about this, but there's a point there or earlier where it feels like...they stop going to each other the way they used to. Maybe it's towards the end Rumblecusp, actually, where Beau is no longer comfortable being emotionally protective of Jester and sticks to being physically protective. Don't get me wrong, I find all the Jester and Yasha conversations about Beau/Yasha endearing as hell, but it did feel...odd that we never get Beau and Jester talking about Beau/Yasha similarly, like they'd stopped sharing a metaphorical room too. I can kind of fanwank it as both of them realizing Beau's crush is unrequited, and that ends up making their friendship less intimate than it used to be. Which makes sense, but still makes me sad

oh and i guess it makes me sad that beau never actually gets to see jester truly angry, given their ship conversation. the canon post-hag group convo was good, but I would not have minded jester losing it at beau's offer after.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: it's actually been a while since I've read much critical role fic but hmm. okay this is not a fanfic thing but it annoys me when fandom does not understand that beau lies all the time! beau telling fjord that haha she once had the hots for jester hahaha is not marisha retconning beau's sincere confession but beau playing out a convo with the guy she's always going to think is better for jester than she is and more importantly, the guy she knows jester likes!

things I look for in fanfic: again, I haven't actually looked for fic with them forever. But back when I did I was there for all the hurt/comfort and pining fic forever.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I really do like Beau/Yasha - you have some very good episodes for them ahead of you, and it is a great ending for Beau in canon. I don't feel strongly about other Jester ships, other than NOTP-ing Caleb/Jester and Fjord/Jester XD.

My happily ever after for them: Going off on adventures all around Exandria, taking breaks to see their friends, Beau using said adventures for her cobalt soul purposes, Beau and Artagnan forming a very reluctant truce.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: for some reason I instead picture them sleeping with one of them plopped on top of the other, haha

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: hey, sparring is a non-sexual activity for these two! they have so much fun with it, and don't hold grudges about going no holds barred. honestly anything that lets these two be the co-conspirators engaged in chaos shenanigans that they were meant to be is excellent.

[zuluoscarecho]

like a slow fire burn

AN: Episode 2x21 Coda. Set between the end of 2x21 when Zoe invites Wade in and the start of 2x22 when they wake up the next morning and George shows up. I actually tried to give this feelings but also it's smutty so there's only so many feelings but Wade is in love with Zoe so…

Also on AO3

Even as he hung his tool belt over the post he knew following her into her carriage house was a bad idea. Sure, the next few hours would be fantastic but she’d feel worse in the morning, and he would too for being close to her for a few hours and knowing it wouldn’t last.

But he could never deny her anything, he’d do anything she asked and he’d take what he could get from her even knowing he’d never get her back after what he did, no matter how hard he tried.

He paused for a second once they were inside to take her in, she looked kind of miserable but was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She dropped the blanket from around her shoulders and stood there waiting.

He was kicking himself but he had to ask, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't. "Zoe…I hate to ask but are you sure about this?"

She huffed putting her hands on her hips in a move he knew well. "Yes, Wade, I am a grown ass woman, I can have a night of hot but meaningless sex if I want to and I know you can too so let's do this."

He paused again, questioning whether he could have meaningless sex with her or whether he could ever deny himself the chance of being with her again, even just for tonight.

"Wade!"

He blinked, kicking himself for wasting time when he could finally be touching her again. He pulled her against him and kissed her hard. He’d forgotten, maybe out of some misguided attempt at not missing her so much but he never wanted to forget again how good it felt. How she made him feel on top of the world just because she let him kiss her.

It'd been so long and she felt so good against him, smooth skin and soft hair and the little moans he swallowed with his mouth against hers.

He still couldn’t get over how small she was compared to him, how fragile it made her seem even though he knew she was anything but. She was fire and determination and lord was she stubborn, always convinced she knew better than anyone about everything. 

The palm of his hand fell to her lower back to pull her tight against him while he kissed her. He savoured every second, exploring her mouth, relearning what it was like to kiss her. It was better than he remembered, the feel of her pressed against him, the heat of her mouth, the little panted breaths that escaped her.

Zoe tugged at the zipper on his hoodie while the other hand pulled his t-shirt up, getting the fabric of the two tangled together. 

He pulled away with a chuckle. "Now hold on there, Doc. I know you're in a hurry but there's an order for these things."

Zoe glared but it had no heat, not like the looks she'd sent his way before they'd gotten together or worse, the silences after their breakup, and waved at him to hurry up. He smirked at her as he took off his hoodie and shirt. Her hands went to him immediately, one to his hip, flittering across to press against his abs while the other rounded his shoulder and pulled him back to her willingly.

He turned her in his arms, holding her tight against him for a moment as he brushed her hair aside and pressed featherlight kisses against the back of her neck.

He leant his forehead against her shoulder, taking a deep breath and savouring everything about this moment.

God he loved her more than anything, he never thought he'd have her in his arms again and even if it was just for one night he wanted to enjoy it while it lasted.

Her head rolled back against his shoulder and he took the opportunity to kiss the skin behind her ear that always made her shiver and moan. He wasn't disappointed this time round when a full body shudder vibrated through her and she tried to press impossibly closer to him. His hands found the back of her dress and tugged on the zipper, pulling it down and pressing kisses against every inch of skin he revealed until he was on his knees, lips pressed against the small of her back and hands spread wide across her hips.

She turned and let the dress drop to pool at her feet. She looked down at him and he realised, in that moment, that he'd stay there forever, on his knees, begging her to take him back. He'd give her anything she ever wanted just to have her again.

She bit her lip, suddenly unsure and hesitant and he realised, again, that he'd been staring. He made to stand up, hands sliding up from her calves to her hips. Instead she held on to his shoulders, keeping him on his knees, as she stepped out of the pool of fabric that was her dress.

"I kinda like you down there," Zoe said, a soft quirk to her lips.

The words were ready to roll off his tongue, to agree with her. I kinda like being down here.

Instead, he rolled his eyes and stood up to kiss her again. "Yeah I bet you do, Doc," he drawled against her mouth, smothering the laugh she let out.

This is what he'd missed, how they could joke and laugh in the middle of sex and it wasn't awkward and didn't ruin the mood. It made it better. It made him fall even more in love with her every time.

He moved his hands to either side of her neck to hold her against him, the feel of her pressed against his chest, skin to skin, was like fire.

He felt her kick a leg up and reach down to pry off one of her stilettos and he pulled back to look down at her. "Leave the heels on, Doc."

It wasn’t hot and fast like the first time they’d slept together, where he’d pinned her against the wall to grind against her, unable to decide where he wanted to touch her next, what he wanted to do to her first. When he couldn't stop kissing her long enough to get their clothes all the way off and he'd slid inside her with his pants still on.

This time he took it slow. He kissed her like he had all the time in the world, like he wanted to make it last. He cupped the back of her head and curled his fingers through her hair to guide her face where he wanted it. He left her breathless as he moved from her mouth down her neck to suck burning kisses against her collarbones. 

His hands slid down her back, over the curve of her waist to grab her ass then down further to her thighs to lift her into his arms.

She smiled against his lips and let out a little laugh. She'd told him once, sex-drunk and sleepy, that her favourite thing was how effortlessly he carried her around and ever since he'd taken every opportunity to do so.  It was one of his favourite things too, why wouldn’t he want her pressed against him and holding on tight? Well, it was one of her favourite things, he's pretty sure that thing he does with his tongue that makes her actually shut up for 30 seconds is her favourite, but she'd never admit it. 

Her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around his waist, slotting her perfectly to grind against him. She let out a moan, right against his ear as she pressed against where he was hard in his jeans. He groaned, face pressed into her shoulder.

"Yes, Wade."

He placed her gently on the bed, sliding his hands down her body to relieve her of her shoes, the height difference not so severe once they were horizontal.

He pulled back, leaning over her and caging her small form against the bed under his body. 

“Zoe I-“

She shook her head, reaching out to press her finger against his lips. “Shhh, no talking, remember?”

He bit his tongue and nodded, leaning down to claim her mouth in a searing kiss. Make her feel better. He could do that, he'd pull out every trick in the damn book.

She looked beautiful, even if a little sad, like she knew this good feeling wouldn’t last long and Wade was determined to make it as good for her for as long as humanly possible just to keep that look off her face.

He moved back to her neck, going crazy with how pressing his mouth there made her arch against him. Her thighs squeezed around his hips and her soft skin brushing against him sent sparks down to his hard cock pressing against the zipper of his jeans.

She flittered one small hand against his shoulder in a barely passable attempt to push him way. “Don’t leave any marks," she babbled, continuing to push futilely against him. "It’s too hot for turtle necks.”

He wanted to though. He wanted to see the bruises later and know he’d put them there, to know she’d let him. He wanted everyone to know what they’d done. 

Instead he slid further down to her breasts, tongue laving across one nipple before he slid lower. “No one’ll see it here Doc, only me an’ you'll know.” He smirked up at her taking her in, mouth open on a silent moan, one hand scrabbling at the pillow above her head. He ducked his head back down and sucked a dark bruise onto the underside of her breast. She didn’t object, one hand pressed against the back of his head holding him there, not pulling him away.

He knew this wasn't going to last, he knew this didn't mean they were back together but selfishly, possessively, he wanted her to feel him well into tomorrow. He wanted to leave her mouth swollen and red, bruises across her skin from his mouth and his fingers around her hips, sore and aching in just the right way. Something to remember him by. 

Satisfied with the marks he'd left he started to move lower. He slid his lips down her stomach 'til he reached the edge of her underwear. He stopped to suck another mark on her left hipbone before he slid his fingers under the elastic. He dropped them carelessly on the floor beside the bed and slid his palms up her inner thighs, spreading them wide and making space for himself between them.

She shuddered, hips twitching against the bed and he smirked, it was just like riding a bike, knowing how to bring her pleasure.

He rested his hands over the juncture of each thigh and brushed his thumbs in slow circles moving tantalising closer to her centre. He wanted to make this last and he wanted to make it good.

She was beautiful like this (she was beautiful always), all breathy moans and stuttering sighs but he wanted to hear her scream and cry out, he knows she will, he knows he can make her. 

He settled between her thighs and he thinks he could stay there forever, keep that breathy moan escaping from her until the day he dies. He licked into her, smooth and slow as her hips bucked to get away while her thighs clamped down around his head.

“Easy there princess, you squeeze too hard and we won’t get anywhere tonight.” He chuckled against her before he dived back in.

"Wade, goddammit shut up!" 

He knew he was doing good when she shut up, when she couldn’t even form words, just moans and cries that spoke to his soul, when they only thing she seemed to be able to remember was his name.

"Wade, Wade, Wade, Wade. Oh fuck."

He pulled back to look at her, watched as her climax crashed over her in waves. She was trembling, eyes closed and mouth slack. Her eyes opened as he made his way back up her body, twitching away when his fingertips brushed across her breasts.

"No, no, too much," she whined, over-sensitised and buzzing. 

"Never too much of a good thing Doc, and that was a hell of a good thing." He grinned at her, cocky and assured but mostly proud he could still make her come like that. That he hadn't forgotten how to make her feel good, the way she deserved.

He lay beside her to give her a few minutes to recover but he couldn't keep his hands off her. One broad palm slid across her stomach and around to her hip to pull her against him so he could kiss her. He'd never get tired of kissing her and she fell into his chest and kissed him back.

"How am I buck naked and you're still wearing pants?" she groaned when she moved to hike her leg over his waist and came up against the rough material of his jeans.

"Tonight's about you, remember?" He ducked his head to tease at a nipple and rolled back on top of her.

"Yeah so it's about what I want, and I want you naked," Zoe said, demanding as always. She reached for his belt and the button on his jeans.

He slipped one finger into her warm, wet heat, curling it up to find that spot. The first push of him inside her, so soon after her first orgasm made her pause, hands falling away from him. She writhed against the bed, his name on her lips. A second finger followed the first and she cried out again.

He paused, two fingers deep inside her and she moaned trying to thrust her hips into his hand. She was so beautiful like this, sweat beading on her skin, her wet heat tight around his fingers.

“Tell me what you want,” he murmured, voice low and hot in her ear. “Tell me what you need, baby.”

“You, Wade, I need you, I want-" she broke off on a moan when he finally started to move his fingers again.

He brushed a thumb across her clit in fast circles, he wanted one more orgasm from her before he was inside her.

"You're so close, baby, I know you are," he murmured, moving his fingers slower now, sliding along every bump and ridge and pushing deep to curl inside her. "Come on, let go."

She groaned in frustration, her hips arching up into his hand. "Wade, come on, enough already."

Her hand fumbled out for the bedside draw but got distracted when his fingers slide across her g-spot and his thumb across her clit and a second orgasm roared through her taking her by surprise. He pulled his hand away, catching her gaze as he licked her juices from his fingers.

He leant over her while she stared dazedly at the ceiling and reached into the draw where he knew she kept the condoms. He allowed himself a private smile when he saw the new box, still unopened from the last time he'd refilled their stash.

He was just about to roll on the condom when small hands took it from him.

"Allow me," Zoe said, looking up at him from under her lashes. Her pupils were still blown wide and he could feel her pulse beating fast in her neck when he put his hand there to pull her into a kiss.

He groaned at the first touch of her hand on his dick, positioning the condom before she rolled it down.

It's not that he'd been unaware of his hard on before, just that he'd been more focused on her than his own pleasure but now that his dick had his undivided attention it was making its desires known. And it wanted to be inside her now.

He slid into her and choked out a moan. God, she felt so good. Like nothing else, like coming home, like everyone before and after her had been a cheap imitation of perfection.

He had to stop, buried inside her, to breathe for a second, hands on her hips to hold her still when she tried to squirm against him.

"Zoe," he managed, face pressed to her shoulder. "Zoe, Zoe, just give me a second here."

"Wade, please. You feel- it's so good, please, come on, I need-"

"Fuck." He breathed out against her, at war with his body on how long this was all gonna last. He ignored her pleading and the way she tried to buck her hips as he gained control and staved off his orgasm, at least for now.

He slowly started to roll his hips into her and she cried out.

His picked up the pace until his hips were snapping into her hard and fast and she was sliding slowly up the bed under the power of his thrusts. He reached one hand out to brace against the headboard to stop her sliding too far. He pressed his mouth to hers but it was more them breathing, hot and heavy into each others mouths than actually kissing.

He knelt back up and pulled her into his lap, changing the angle and making them both moan.

"You ready Zoe? 'Cause I am so ready, baby."

"I'm close, yes, almost." Her head was thrown back, his arms around her waist supporting her as he thrust into her. She reached down to brush her fingers across her clit and dropped over the edge, tightening around him buried deep inside her. He came a second later, spilling into the condom as he lowered her back down to the mattress beneath him.

Minutes, hours maybe, later he separated himself from her and ducked into the bathroom to dispose of the condom. When he came back, she was half-asleep already. He slide into bed beside and wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against his chest, sliding his other arm beneath her head. She let out an annoyed sleepy sound at the man-handling but snuggled back against him anyway and he couldn’t resist brushing his lips across her cheek. 

The next morning he woke before her, which wasn’t much of a surprise considering he hadn’t really slept at all, too focused on savouring every moment of her in his arms while it still lasted. 

The sun was shining through the blinds they hadn’t closed the night before and he knew it wouldn’t be long before the brightness woke her. But he still couldn’t bring himself to move, to stop looking at her like this, so soft and warm and safe in his arms. He never thought he’d get to have this again. 

She was curled up against his chest, face buried in his shoulder and he had one hand curled around her back. He could feel her breath against his skin. He couldn't explain the calmness or the sense of rightness he felt lying here with her. Like waking up next to her every day for the rest of his life would be the greatest thing he could hope for.

He wondered if he smelt like her, if he crawled back into his bed now if he’d go to sleep thinking he was still next to her. The smell of her perfume and fancy shampoo had long since faded from his sheets, even though he’d waited until the last possible second to wash them.

He didn't want to leave. The thought hit him out of the blue, only not really. Zoe Hart got under his skin worse than anything else and no matter how hard he'd tried, he'd never be able to get her out.

But, with no other path to take, he still had to keep trying.

First step was having a shower.

He closed his eyes and took a breath before he slowly slid his body out from under her and replaced it with a pillow. 

He didn’t look back as he turned and headed for the bathroom. He spent much longer under the spray than he usually did, trying to put his mind back to rights now that Zoe’s brief lapse in judgement from the night before was over and things would be back to normal as soon as he opened that door.

He turned off the water and took a steadying breath before he had to open the door, took a second to find that cocky, arrogant swagger and devil-may-care attitude that was like armour whenever he was around her.

"Morning Doc."