#superman triangle years

[myadventureswithmanofsteel]

My Adventures With Superman: Season 2

Year: 2024

Episodes: 10

Showrunner: Jake Wyatt

Cast: Jack Quaid, Alice Lee, Ismael Sahid, Michel Emerson, Max Mittelman, Kiana Madera

If you don't know, I Love Superman. I have thrilled to his adventures in Comics, Movies, Live Action Television, Raido, and animation as long as I can remember.

Even in the worst times of my life, knowing that a new issue of Superman would be wateing for me at the Comic shop kept me going.

That said, I can say with upmost certainty That My Adventures With Superman, is without a doubt, the best version of Superman and his loveable supporting cast.

As good as season one is. Season two cranks it up to 11! The Animation, The story, the emotions, everything about this is perfect. I have to say more then one episode has brought me to tears.

It is also bringing in a whole new a different group of fans to the Man Of Steel. So if you are not interested in diversity, queer theam, and the power of friendship and only want your Superman to be some type of grim dark conservative tool. Then please stay the fuck away. In fact just stay away from Superman, even the Zack Snyder version, because if that's what you thought those movies were about you still missed the point.

So is it good? Hell yes it is good, it is amazing, one of the best shows on television now. It has been picked up for a third season with an option for more.

Between My Adventures of Superman, Superman & Lois, Superman heading up DC comics new publishing initiative, and the upcoming film, it is a great time to be a Superman fan.

[camifornilla]

A modern tragedy is that we’ve got a queer Super, a queer Wonder, and a queer Bat but none of them are from the same generation, which is incredibly homophobic of DC Comics if I do say so myself. Give the people SuperWonderBat, okay. It’ll make Everything better. It would be enriching

[sorenlionheart]

i am dangerously close to making my own interpretation of superman

[secretidentie]

My Superbat prompts

I've been reading superbat since forever and I finally got a tumblr account so I thought I could ask some writers to use these.

Clark kent is at the manor to interview Bruce Wayne when Dr Freeze attacks and they're basically snowed in. Bruce trying to hide secrets and Clark getting the chance to write the story of the year in the form of an I depth exposé from inside the home of billionaire blah, blah, blah... Chaos and fluff.

Bruce is in a love triangle with superman and Clark Kent. Clark assumes Bruce knows he's one person. Bruce decides to solve this by brooding and going on a series of dates with them both until he decides who's his perfect match. (you decide if Clark knows Bruce is batman but think both versions are hilarious)

Bruce Wayne has to go undercover as a carnival worker in a small town on batman business. After the Daily Planet is bought out by corrupt government officials, Clark quits and goes back home to Smallville. He feels like he's changed and isn't as fulfilled by the simple life, not to mention how much harder it is to keep being superman. He doesn't even feel useful on the farm and can't find a job he enjoys to make some money of his own and leave the house. He starts visiting the fair to take his mind of things and meeting this handsome carnival worker who he definitely would have recognized in a small town like this.

LexCorp frames Wayne enterprises for some shady dealings putting the company under investigation which might even lead to it filing for bankruptcy. While Fox and others fix this, Bruce, as the face of the company, is advised to lay low and leave Gotham for a bit. He decides to get an apartment in the cheap side of Metropolis, since all his assets are frozen and he only has one working bank account. On top of that he has to deal with his hot new roommate (or neighbor depending on how you write it) who keeps leaving and coming back at the weirdest hours while also trying to keep tabs on Gotham and maybe getting himself a job in the mean time. (to be clear Clark is the roommate)

During an argument batman says he could easily do superman's job and superman says the same. So they swap cities for two weeks. First to call for backup looses. (feel free to add romance if you want but it's not compulsory)

Clark final gathers the courage to ask out batman but right before he does, green lantern starts flirting with batman too. Harvey dent is recently released from arkham and claims to be reformed and wanting to rekindle his well known public relationship with his collage sweetheart Bruce Wayne. This causes Oliver queen to also try to win his childhood best friend's heart. It's a very long week for Bruce. (all povs if possible. Also Bruce knows everyone's identities but no one knows his. This also doesn't have to end up superbat, choose your favorite ship. Make this love-pentagon as messy as you can)

These are just a few of my personal favorites. I have a lot more. Let me know if you want me to post them. If fics with these premise already exist let me know coz I would love to read them. You can make it as explicit as you want or make it for general audiences but for my sake please add fluff. If you use these prompts also make sure to tag me here or on AO3.

[romancemedia]

The History of SuperMartian's Love Story

Miss Martian and Superboy (M'gann M'orzz and Conner Kent) • Founding Members of The Team • Together for 10 Years + 1 Break Up from 6-8 Months • Miss Martian is still a member of the Team/Superboy joined the Outsiders • They First Met on July 8th 2010 and Got Married on September 16th 2020 • The Niece of Martian Manhunter and Younger Brother of Superman • They share a strong psychic bond • They got together thanks to the advise of Icicle Jr! • They were involved in a love triangle with Lagoon Boy • They kept their relationship a secret in the beginning • They are the Main Couple of Young Justice

[sparklingcid3r]

hc that the biggest red herring fight paul and darry got into was when bob tried to fw pony on his way home from school. darry does not play abt his brothers, esp against a soc and pony defs being smaller anyways? paul took bobs side tho

I’d prob call this more foreshadowing in terms of the deterioration of their relationship but YEAHHH let’s talk abt it!! I’ll eat this shit up nom nom nom

It’s funny bc I just read a post abt Paul beating up on Pony w his new fuck buddy and Darry pulling up w Tim Shepard in his bag and OHHH MY DAYS it was like Thanksgiving feast 🙏 Idk if that’s relevant but I wanted to put it out there bc I’ll prob end up taking some hcs from the post so if you read it and see it here yk where it came from lol

Also if we’re doing this whole triangle btwn Bob, Paul, and Darry then ig I should try and establish ages. And bc I could go over how like “oh so bob could be a junior while paul is prob a senior in hs rn meanwhile darry is a year older and spent half a semester at college, so canonically paul and darry were in two different grade levels and bob pulls up to Paul’s side from the underclass” it’s a lot easier for me to point at paul and say “SUPER SENIOR🫵”

this is what i mean when i say im a certified yapper literally noneee of that shit mattered

Alr let’s go‼️

- When Pony came home from school battered to hell Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were just worrying about cleaning him back up and making sure he was alright. Mr. Curtis would prob be the one who wanted to give him the talk abt defending himself but the Missus was having none of it. Life’s hard enough without fighting

- They know who Paul is and have an alright opinion about him, they like that he extends his hand out to Darry the way parents do when their kids are making friends you don’t expect but don’t disapprove of. Darry is the reason Paul doesn’t jump Pony or Soda, he knows he’d be thrown aside in a heartbeat if that were to get back to him, and also Paul’s suchhhh a whore for having all his limbs intact and teeth inside his mouth

- Bob’s more of a masochist yk. But not on purpose bc all he saw was this scrawny little greased up mouse with his head tucked down walking all by himself, both hands on the straps of his backpack and wanted a piece of all the action that other Socs get from jumping the East side’s equivalent of a wet stick

- Pony is the one who rats Bob out to Darry, not because he’s aware that Darry already had his sights locked on Bob’s snake ass from the beginning, but because Darry is Superman to Ponyboy and is always ready to throw hands for his brothers (behind closed doors ofc, he’s not gonna toss away his spot on the football team for just anything r u crazy??)

- Darry might be a little crazy tho, we’ll get to that later trust

- He takes the civil route to start off and talks to Paul abt it bc he just knowwws that Bob’s been Paul’s little sidepiece while Darry and Paul have been drifting the closer they get to graduation, but they’re still close enough that Darry can go to Paul abt shit like this and get him to listen

- Except not really, bc Paul just says he had nothing to do with it and that Darry can’t rlly expect him to have his back when a greaser gets what all greasers have coming

- So anyway Darry pulls up to Bob talking abt “yo wsg robert why don’t u come outside rq i just wanna talk” man JUST SQUARE UP

- I’m playing he doesn’t do that

- What Darry actually does is sneaky bc at his core, doesn’t matter if he believes it or not, he’s a greaser and he can fight filthyyyy

- So catch Darry pulling up to a grad function (with that madras drip on iykyk🙏) and pulling Bob aside for just a little talk, it’ll only take five mins

- When he’s got Bob and his solo cup brimming w that nasty jungle juice alone, all he does it sucker punch him in the face. It’s glorious, no witnesses. The man drops like a cartoon peter griffin style

- And Darry doesn’t even stay. He shoulder checks Paul on the way out and he’s gone with the wind

disclaimer: anon i’m sorry i wrote this at like 3am and am posting it now lmfaoo i’m so sorry if u wanted smth serious 😭🙏 if any of u think that i think this is canon pls don’t🙏🙏 this is just me having fun w an ask that im very grateful for🫶🫶

[butcherlarry]

Weekly Fic Rec 46

I'll be out of state/traveling for the next two weeks for the holidays, so this will be my last fic rec list of the year. Fear not! I'll start up again 1/7/2024. It will probably be a long one since I'll have more down time to read some fics (hooray!). I might also post a link or two to some favorite fics I read during my vacation, and maybe a photo or two as well.

how to confess your love, as written by clark kent by scarletazure - Superbat, complete. Clark writes a WikiHow about how to confess your love to your best friend, who just so happens to be Bruce.

Naps are overrated, anyway by ionia - Superbat, complete. Photographic evidence is taken of Superman and Batman taking a nap together. Shenanigan ensue.

to lick your heart and taste your health by redlightofkryptonite (redlightofdawn) - Superbat, wip. Omegaverse Superbat, but only Kryptonians have a secondary gender.

Gotham Nights, Metropolis Days by tiredd_writer - Superbat, wip. An identity porn fic where Batman and Superman work on a case together, but the don't know each other's secret identities :))))))))

all i need is you by twoheadedmoon - Superbat, complete. A lovely smutty fic with service top Clark and dominant bottom Bruce.

Patchwork Pod by Ktkat9 - Superbat, wip. More of the mer Bruce fic! More secrets are revealed about Connor's past. Much feelings are had.

Everything Will Be Just Fine by lonelynpc - Batfam, wip. More of Goth Dad Battinson. Clark sees goth dad in action at a gala.

let the light in by TheResurrectionist - Bruce Wayne & Oliver Queen, complete. Some bonding time between two of the only humans on the JL.

Manor-Dad lets me drive the Batmobile by lostletters (loosingletters) - Batfam, wip. Part of the Bruce Wayne: Billionaire, Father, Dating Batman series. When Dick found the Cave, instead of discovering that Bruce is Batman, he thought they were dating instead. Bruce never corrected him, hoping Dick would eventually figure it out. He did not and neither did any of the other children Bruce adopted. My favorite parts are when the kids ask Batman if they can do something, he says no, and then the kids say that Bruce said they could (and vice versa). Those little shits (affectionate).

(Love) Triangles Have Multiple Centers by frozenpotions - Superbat, wip. I am in love with this identity porn fic. In this update, there is a (kinda) gala involved, flirting, misunderstandings, understandings, more misunderstandings, Clark's giant dinner jacket, Lois, and a surprise :)

slow dancing in the dark by scarletazure - Superbat, wip. Another fic I am completely in love with. Bruce and Clark get amnesia, sleep together, get their memories back, and start not-dating, because taking about your feelings is for losers. I vibrate with excitement everytime I see an update for this fic in my inbox.

Enjoy!

[jesncin]

Aside from Lois’ interview with Superman (which your fan comic brought to life in such beautiful fashion), what other “canon events” from the story and history of the character would you want to portray in your head canon?

Thank you! I want to go into more of the Clark, Lana, Lois love triangle but I haven't zeroed in on an ideal circumstance or scene where I could squeeze the most story from for that dynamic yet. I want to write a good love triangle where it's a genuine struggle for who Clark will pick. Though out of all the ideas fighting for attention in my head, this is the least priority at the moment.

I know my Clois comics are popular and people especially want to know how Lois finds out about Superman's identity but I really don't want to speed to the post-secret identity era. People say that's where Superman gets interesting, but I personally disagree! Especially with Clois under the immigrant love story lens and Clark struggling as an alien who passes for a white-american-man, I feel like there's so much unexplored story in that dynamic before Lois knows about Superman's secret identity. And I dislike how modern Superman media speeds through the fun conflict that happens in his early years.

[superman86to99]

Via @fortressofbaileytude... NEW TRIANGLE ERA OMNIBUS SERIES ANNOUNCED! HOT DANG! Time to save up those $125, which amounts to roughly nineteen cab rides in Metropolis.

The first omnibus will cover from "Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite" to "Metropolis Mailbag," including "Time and Time Again!," "The Red Glass Trilogy," "The Return of the Krypton Man," "Blackout," Intergang's fall, Jimmy Olsen's homeless adventures, and most of the Cerberus storyline, stopping right before "Panic in the Sky!" (which was recently reprinted, but hopefully gets re-reprinted in a second omnibus). That's a SOLID chunk of comics there, most of which haven't seen print in over 30 years! I believe a lot of them aren't available digitally either, for whatever reason.

Some personal favorite issues from this period that have never been reprinted before include the teen Clark vs. drunk driving story, the Lois and Clark talk in the mountains story, the sideways Atomic Skull double feature, Mr. Z's debut (and his ensuing evolution into lovable island goof), the incredible "Blackout" finale, the everyone ends up dancing at Bibbo's while Professor Hamilton plays the piano issue, and Waverider's first encounter with the Linear Men (sadly, the "Armageddon 2001" annuals don't seem to be included, though those should probably go in their own omni with the rest of that storyline).

Now, since the previous "Exile and Other Stories" omnibus stopped in November '89 and in this one starts in November '90, this still leaves a years' worth of Post-Crisis Superman comics in the dark, including essential stuff like "The Brainiac Trilogy" and Hank Henshaw's first appearances (while others like "The Day of the Krypton Man", "Dark Knight Over Metropolis," and Luthor's totally real death HAVE been collected but are long out of print). Here's hoping this sells strongly enough to not only guarantee at least one more volume covering the entire period leading up to "The Death of Superman," but also a volume 0 with the '89-'90 stuff. Oh, and the missing annuals. And the "World of..." minis. And Luthor's biography (edit: I've been reminded this is in the President Luthor trade, still in print, but it'd still be nice to have it here). And the Earth Day comic. And...

Anyway, it's probably time to update that Guide to Superman '86 to '99 Collected Editions post we did like 10 years ago, huh.

[sisaloofafump]

There are a few very important things to remember when discussing whether Batman, or any other character, should appear in My Adventures with Superman:

1. We don't know how many seasons we're going to get. Placing all your money on something happening in season 5 is not the strongest gamble without recognizing that we might not even get a season 2

2. Cameos and team-ups can take a bunch of different sizes. However, it can be difficult to do a cameo of an important character without it seeming like foreshadowing for a larger plot

3. Cameos are a lot of fun and don't have to include the character themselves (consider the Vicky Vale clipping or the Amazo Tech billboard)

4. There are a lot of Golden/Silver/Bronze age characters in the Superman family that might get priority

These are my personal thoughts on them:

I really think My Adventures with Superman should focus solely on the Daily Planet team (Clark, Lois, Jimmy, and Perry). However, in later seasons especially, I'd love to see some Lana Lang and her uncle Professor Potter! They're such a major part of the Silver Age comics that MAWS draws clear inspirations from. However, I'd really hate to see that become a love triangle situation in any real way.

MAWS is also inspired by the 1940 radio show The Adventures of Superman which is so evident. I keep having to remind myself that in this version, Jimmy isn't a 14 year old paper boy. I am really excited to see if Flip Johnson and this new incarnation of the Newskid Newspaper takes on either a parallel role to their Newsboy Legion versions in the 70s or to Jimmy's role in the radio show.

As for Bruce/Batman, I know there's a lot of discussion on whether he should show up because he dominates all DC media and fandom spaces right now. Although I don't want him to become central to any plot whatsoever, I would absolutely love a Bruce Wayne cameo or easter egg.

If we do get a Batman & Superman team up down the line, it 100% needs to include Robin. Not immediately, but in a later season or two.

I don't want Supergirl to show up - not for a long time at least. She is very important to the Superman Family, however she has such separate origins and identities and relationships that it'd be very difficult to properly flesh her out while keeping her as a secondary character. (In comparison, other heroes from their own franchises such as Wonder Woman, Batman, etc, don't need to be fleshed out in MAWS. They could just appear as occasional support. Because Supergirl is of the Superman franchise, she would need to take up lots of space to get cemented as a character. There is a lot less allowance for her to have off-screen activities).

Honestly, all of the superpets could be super fun, but if I could only have one it'd be Krypto. Without Kara there, I don't think it makes sense to have Streaky/Supercat or Comet/Super-Horse either (also Comet's backstory is just really weird). Beppo/Supermonkey and Krypto/Superdog were primarily part of Clark's childhood adventures as Superboy. However, Krypto is a much bigger part of Superman's legacy and I 100% want to see him interacting with the MAWS team!

Lucy Lane, Lois' sister and Jimmy's love interest could easily show up. That said, I don't think they ever knew what to do with her despite being such a reoccurring character. So it'd be really interesting to see how they'd portray her!

[clambuoyance]

I really like your style. Was it intentionally designed, or did you just sort of fall into it over time?

I wouldnt say I intentionally designed it, as in I haven't sat down and Engineered a specific style, and instead it was more of me finding what I liked and wanted to incorporate into my style.

You could probably trace my style back to its influences. I used to draw really round shapes (I still do but like they were just ovals and circles...I guess i just like that shape) until I started watching How to Draw Anime tutorials in middleschool T-T (shoutout to Mark Crilley lol)

But when I first joined social media back in 2016, I found all these crazy artists with really unique styles that really influenced me. I was drawn towards artists like star_bite/prince_canary and rawrgyle/grassflu who have very dynamic expressions and character poses :0 (also they ended up working on a Batman and Superman project respectively and how wild is it that my icons from forever ago now work on projects aligned with my current interests!!!) And as you get exposed to different artists you get exposed to the many ways you can Draw things and along with your natural affinities towards certain things (such as me being attracted to Bright and Bold colors and Shaped styles) you kind of naturally build a style.

And part of that is also just having fun Trying things out? Sometimes I wouldnt even try to emulate their style as much as I tried to just...do what they were doing? As in making my ocs and putting them in fun poses, and doing color palette trends and such etc.

I hope that helped! If you're curious I can break down some of my style checkpoints over the years. As you can see there was still some major anime influence in my style back then when I first joined social media around 2015/2016

Around that time, I also discovered the fandom around the Cartoons popular at the time, so I drifted away from anime and drew things like gravity falls/steven universe/otgw etc etc so it got Rounder I guess. I really liked how stylized characters looked and got obsessed with Shape Language and assigning characters distinct Shapes (box vs triangle vs circle etc). I also read a lot of webcomics and stuff like that so those played a part I guess

And then around 2019 I saw more artists drawing anime fanart with really sharp angles, which was completely different but so cool to look at so I tried to incorporate more angles into my art. I still had that very cartoony style but tried to push the Sharpness a tad bit more if you can tell. (I think the name of the artist I liked was jeluto?)

I think around this time I also focused a lot more on color as well and did a lot of paintings then and whenever I did more Painterly stuff I tended to switch Styles into something Less Cartoony T-T

Then by 2020, I revamped my ocs, actually tried to break down and study my own style and how I would draw them, and my style kinda fell into a mix of round vs sharp edges I guess. I tried to give myself Rules which I would follow when stylizing a character to keep it more consistent and intentional.

Then in 2021 some of that Fun Part of stylizing characters into something more Cartoony kind of took a backseat as I focused more on Pose Work and Body Expression instead which I think helped a lot :0

And here's some recent stuff from the past year! Still very cartoony, but less so than 2016 I'd say, and still using really bold colors!! Still love my Soft Vs Hard angles B]

And overall have stronger pose work :) I'm sure my style will evolve as I learn more and experiment more, because one thing I want to focus on is backgrounds and environments :0

[myadventureswithmanofsteel]

The Death and Return of Superman: Funeral For A Friend.

Even though, The Death and Return get all of the hype.

To me its The Funeral that is best remembered.

It is so good, there are so many heartfelt moments.

From Bibbo praying, to Luther's last confession to Superman.

Every character gets a moment to pay there respects to thr Man Of Steel.

Then after Superman #75. We got nothing.

I love how the books went on a short hiatus. It made Superman's death much more credibility.

I mean sure we knew Superman was comeing back, but would it really be Superman or one of these four new guys?

This is great stuff.

[praetoravila]

are your btr ocs in the same story or different ones? if they’re in the same universe, what are their dynamics like? or what would they be like if they did know each other?

okay so this is a convoluted question and thus a convoluted answer. in my head, i think they all do exist in the same story, but it's like....different for them all lol.

like macie and laela def exist in the same universe, and i can definitely see them having all sorts of fun events and adventures.

macie is the first person (other than katie ofc) to know that laela is gay. laela's the first one to tell macie outside of her immediate family that her mom is a abusive piece of shit and that she doesn't need to forgive her.

they make flower crowns together.

macie would be laela's first girl kiss as a practice round for katie (when katie and laela get married in like.... 15 years, macie brings it up at their wedding.)

on the other hand, elisa and olive could never exist in the same universe. like i cannot explain it, but they simply cannot be in the same world and have it make sense.

maybe it's bc i was inspired to make elisa by @myloveforhergoeson's roxy fic, while w olive i saw a scene from cw's superman and lois and went, i like that girl she's pretty. maybe it's my mental illness.

fuck if i know.

if they did somehow end up in the same story i think they'd be standoffish towards each other initially. elisa's close w camille, and thus would probably not know how to act around olive considering the love triangle, but she would always be very kind. olive thinks elisa is too sweet for her own good. she looks at elisa and thinks, that girl is gonna get her heart broken, and she's not wrong.

in 5 years time, they'll be able to go for coffee together and act like acquaintances without it being awkward.

[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.

[roxineedstosleep]

Wonderbat Vs Superbat.

I have a weird headcanon inside my head, from when Jason was still quite young and showed a certain adorable fanaticism towards Diana.

Like, I imagine Jason, in Crime Valley, always looking at the TV shop windows, every time Wonder Women showed up in a fight; a little Jason who screamed for joy, along with other kids and some adults, every time Diana landed a blow or won the fight with the villain of the day.

Then, when Bruce adopts him, and he starts his life as Robin… he didn't think much of the fact that Batman probably knows Wonder Woman. Let alone the fact that Robin, on special occasions (aka, Alfred has his movie night off), can go to the League base.

And so, Jason nearly goes into cardiac arrest from the excitement of seeing his idol, eating donuts and scolding his dad for making such a risky decision last time… Then he looks down and sees her smile as she notices he's there.

And she gets even more excited to see that her dad is totally comfortable with her around. That he doesn't put up roadblocks or walls like he does with other heroes and people. Even making "boring people jokes."

So, totally convinced, especially after watching several romantic comedy movies, that it's his duty as a son to unite his father with the love of his life. But, when he asks Dick for help, he mentions that B and BigBlue already had something.

Jason doesn't believe him, because he knows his big brother is a big Superman fan, and just wants to have a cool alien stepfather. But, not wanting his dad's romance to turn into a love triangle (because he's his least favorite trope) he decides to clear his doubts with Clark anyway.

And something like that would happen:

Baby Jason, looking at Clark: So, you like my dad?

Clark, nervous about having to explain to Jason about "I don't want to ruin our friendship": I consider him a good friend Jaylad…. Best friend?

Jason: Sure? just a friend?

Clark: Uh… yeah.

Jason, pulling out a notebook full of scraps from single women's magazines: If that's the case…. Can you help me set up a date with my dad and Wonder Woman? I want her to be my new mum.

Clark, completely defeated by a 9-year-old: What?

Jason: Yeah, I can't do this all by myself. I'm little Sups. And if you claim to be my dad's best friend, that means you can help me plan their first date.

Clark: Eh?-

Jason: It's good to know I can count on you, my brother was insisting that you and Dad had a thing and-

Jason couldn't continue, because Clark - actually surprisingly - had fainted upon hearing that he had a chance with Bruce.

So now, Dick tries to help Clark on the sly about how to win over his father; while Jason, left without adult help, decides to set his plan in motion on his little own.

... and

So that in the end, everything goes out the window.

Then, in a meeting between the family, Bruce confesses that he likes both of them, and that they have been in a poly relationship for a long time, but that he didn't know how to tell them.

And all this time, Clark and Diana didn't know how to explain to their partner's children that there was no need to set them up on dates.

[froizetta]

WIP Wednesday: a slightly shamefaced return

It's been approximately 7000 years since I last actually did a WIP Wednesday post, but here's to hoping I can (somewhat) get back in the habit! This is an excerpt from chapter 7 of (Love) Triangles - which will be posted soon btw.

This scene follows straight on from chapter 6, when Superman does an oopsie and collapses from kryptonite exposure. If anyone's been on tenterhooks for the past wondering what happens to him after that, then here's your answer! Spoiler: he's mostly fine.

When Clark drifted groggily and resentfully to consciousness, the first thing he saw was the impenetrable, gunmetal gray of sheet metal.

He felt his face twitch painfully in something that wanted to be a frown. His bedroom ceiling wasn’t covered in sheet metal, last he checked. Neither was his room back in Smallville, or the old break room at the Planet with the good couch.

Where was he?

He tried to sit up, but his limbs were heavy and clumsy. The sudden pain the movement sparked in his head made him collapse back down onto the…bed? That definitely wasn’t his bed either, the mattress was too hard and the pillow too soft and un-lumpy.

“Ohmygod. You’re awake?”

Clark blinked once, twice, then mustered the energy to creak out a, “Yeah, I’m awake. Where am I?” Only he ran out of energy midway through, and his throat was dry enough that his voice was rebelling against him, so it came out as a hoarse, “Yeah m’wake. Wuh?”

Thankfully, the owner of the voice didn’t seem to mind. “You’re awake!” Whoever it was, they sounded excited. Clark heard rapid footsteps, then the too-loud sound of a door slamming open. He winced. “B, get over here, he’s awake!”

The door closed by itself with a click, and he was alone again. God, his head was pounding. He always forgot how much headaches sucked until they happened. He didn’t get them very often, what with the invulnerability and everything. In fact, he only ever got them after he’d—

Oh. That was it. Kryptonite.

The memories were still hazy, but they were coming back to him now. Luthor’s underground lab. The argument, the gunshot, Robin screaming from inside, the soft crinkle of concrete beneath his fingertips. Batman on the floor, Robin mid-dive, the guard with his gun raised, the squeeze of the trigger. He could feel his strength draining even as he moved at super speed, pushed, pushed, pushed, crumpled the gun in his fist, flew Batman and Robin out of there, carefully knocked out the two guards and then a third so she couldn’t raise the alarm. Fast, faster, before he ran out of strength. He’d made it outside to find Batman hugging his protégé tight to his chest, both of them alive and well. Whatever tension had carried him through all that snapped, seeing that. His promise was fulfilled. They were safe.

He remembered watching them for a time, remembered feeling that warm ache he most associated with friends’ weddings and feel-good movies. Remembered the pain and nausea only getting worse with time instead of better, Batman staring at him with blank bewilderment, and then…nothing. Waking up here.

But if that voice he’d heard belonged to who he thought it did, that meant…

“You’re awake.”

Clark ignored the ache in his limbs and head and pushed himself to a sitting position. “Batman! You brought me here?”

Batman handed him a glass of water, which Clark accepted gratefully. “I did. How are you feeling?”

Clark grimaced. He felt weak, he hurt everywhere, and his senses were practically human level. The world felt disconcertingly quiet.

Coming off kryptonite was never fun.

“Not great,” he said. “But getting there, I think.” His eyes dipped to Batman’s chest, where he knew the bullet had hit him earlier: the two cracked ribs near his right elbow, the nasty bruise that had undoubtedly formed over it while he’d been unconscious. “How’s your injury?”

“Seen to. Worry about yourself, you’re the one on the gurney,” Batman said coolly, which Clark thought was kind of missing the point. All Clark needed was some sun and he’d be right as rain. He wasn’t in any real danger, not anymore; Batman’s cracked ribs would take weeks to heal.

He glanced around. The room he was in looked like some kind of medical suite, sterile and silver-white with tiled flooring and a row of neat cupboards on the far wall. Assorted medical equipment was scattered around the room, as well as a small fleet of lamps, all switched on and aimed at him. UV lights?

“Were those your idea?” he asked. When Batman didn’t respond, he clarified, “The lamps. You were trying to give me solar energy? To help me heal?”

There was a brief pause then a nod. “Yes. I thought it would help.”

“Well, you were right,” Clark said. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you know that much about Kryptonians.” Not that Clark had ever made a point of mentioning his reliance on solar radiation, but he hadn’t really been trying to hide it either. Batman had probably pieced it together from interviews or something.

He looked over at Batman. He was still hovering by the doorway, as if unsure whether to come in, though his face and body language were as unreadable as ever.

“Thank you,” Clark said with a smile – or an attempt at one, at least. The result felt a little more strained than he’d hoped. “For taking me to safety and for doing your best to help me heal. I appreciate it.”

“You helped me. I’m just returning the favor,” Batman replied equitably and gestured to the lamps. “But this setup is just my best guess at what would help you. Is there anything else you need?”

“Light in the lower end and mid-range of the visible spectrum is also helpful,” Clark said. “But honestly, this is enough.”

Batman nodded. “Noted.”

“Oh, and it works better if I’m naked.”

There was a pause. Batman’s fingers twitched.

“Naked,” he repeated.

“Yes. Or at least less clothed. It’s easier for my skin to absorb the light directly,” he explained. “So if there’s a next time – which hopefully there won't be – taking my suit off would be more efficient.”

Another pause. Then Batman cleared his throat. “I’ll…keep that in mind,” he said in that low rumble of his. “You don’t need anything else?”

“No, not really, I think I—”

And of course, Clark’s stomach chose that moment to make a low growl. They both looked down at it, and then back up. Batman’s look was particularly pointed.

“Well,” said Clark, slightly sheepish, “now you mention it, I guess I could do with some—”

“Food.”

“If it’s not too much trouble.”

Batman nodded briskly. He was already gone before Clark could even so much as offer a polite thank you.