#Science is cool but it's also messy

[magical-awesome-kid]

hey so um. i just saw your replies on that mycology post with the terfs and how you can't say that humans only have two sexes 'cause of their sexual development and the chromosomes and also intersex people and i'd just like to say how your username fits (you're awesome!!!!) and you're so so cool and also i'm quite interested in the topic as a queer stem student and yeah.

anyways --- i admire you! and thank you!! <333

Holy shirt - thank you, but I'm really no one special. I'm just a nerd who is also queer :D

For anyone missing context:

A post I have on here was talking about how psychologists and scientists agree that gender and sex are WAY more complicated than just "are you a boy or a girl." Someone jokingly added a post where a type of fungus has thousands of 'sexes' (it's not the correct term because sex is not an exact thing in this specific fungi - I believe it was described as mating types - but it's the closest allegory to humans).

And the TERFs just. Went off.

So like, I'm a scientist. My degrees are in biochemistry and cell and developmental biology. I have so many years of studying biology, understanding how human sex may alter response to drugs, etc. I've almost exclusively been working on human-related research and in hospitals since I was a sophomore in college.

And I was just like "well, yeah! This fungus thing is cool! Because it shows that not all biological sex is binary!"

Then a TERF came after me. Which I then added "And humans don't actually have a black-and-white binary either! Because, even at birth, you can be intersex! And transition later in life also can mimic these intersex patterns!"

See, when one is born, as most of you will know, the doctor looks 'down there' and is like "Penis? Boy. No Penis? Girl." Except we have a lot more going on than just external organs. In fact, anywhere from 1-2% of the population, conservatively, qualifies as intersex based on the most recent research, meaning that they do not exclusively express sexual traits that would quantify as 'just girl' or 'just boy.' This is not new, either - intersex people have existed throughout history, and, depending on the era and place, it was either embraced as a sort of 'birth of a religious leader' thing or 'we need to get this kid in the binary fast' thing.

So I'm just. Nerding out. Because this is cool. Humans are weird. We - along with most animals - don't all fall into neat little categories. It's more of a spectrum - where 'male,' classically, is high testosterone, facial hair, testes, and penis while classical 'female' is breast development, vagina, ovaries, and estrogen. Again, please note that I am using 'male' and 'female' here to define ends of the spectrum (we don't have better descriptors at this time - English, get on that!), but most people fall in between - yes, even cis people. I myself have thick hair all over my body, and I regularly bleach a mustache even though I am cis female. A large portion of the AMAB population develops breast tissue.

But people keep trying to insist that it's one or the other. They want the neat little boxes where you are A or B, but science isn't like that. Genetics are weird. Enviromental factors come into play. And I haven't even touched transition for nonbinary and trans people. No, I'm just talking about people who are born and decide 'hey I agree with the letter on my birth certificate.' Humans are weird.

Someone was even like "uh, but we only look at what gametes you make!"

Well, person who is not cool and wants to ignore science, even if it came down to only 'what gametes do you produce,' then there are still four categories - those people that produce eggs, those people that produce sperm, those that produce both, and those that produce neither. There is no way to slice it that does not end up with more than two categories or can massively exclude members you would otherwise put into that category.

Like, if a 'man' is one who produces sperm, and a 'woman' is one who doesn't, this not only excludes infertile people completely - including bio males who have every other benchmark of classical male development - but it also then could bring people who may be considered female into this category if they had undiscovered internal testes or intersex people who have always expressed both classical male and female traits. How do you classify a guy who did produce sperm but may have lost his testes due to cancer or a physical accident? Is this person still male, or is this now not male? What about a person who is cis male but has a hormone deficiency and can't produce sperm until they are on hormone replacement?

As previously stated, sex is complicated. We consider factors aside from gametes - like primary and secondary sexual organs, hormone levels, etc - to all be part of biological sex.

Now, I'm not saying 'don't trust science because it's messy and always changing' - no, that's not the point of science. Science is using what we know as truth now to design treatments and care based around said facts, but a scientist is always looking to verify those facts, whether by examining the literature or performing their own experimentation. They control for the different factors that can alter the results as much as possible - think of if you go to the doctor and they ask about if you have a bleeding disorder before prescribing a medication because this med will thin your blood, causing further bleeding, or if you have gastrointestinal issues before giving you a medication that might make that worse even though it would treat the headache you came in for.

For some people, taking this medication for three days will fix all of their ailments. For others, this medication will fix one thing, but you'll need another. For even more people, you're basically prescribing sugar pills. Getting the flu for my 80-year-old grandma who has diabetes is a much more serious ailment than me, a relatively healthy twenty-something, getting the exact same virus. Humans are weird and messy creatures, and science is constantly updating to take that into account. Science is a series of 'yes' and 'no' down a diagram tree, where we get to a point that is the hopeful answer, and we keep adding new questions so that we can get the most exact answer. These branches cross and mix, where multiple branches may lead to the same answer while others may completely derail to another solution because one factor didn't quite fit.

Sorry, I'm getting off track.

ANYWAY yes, biological sex is complicated, more like a series of slider bars than two concrete containers, and, if a TERF wants to argue with me on that, I'd love to talk about gametes and sexual organs until the cows come home.

#Science is cool but it's also messy #Seriously I'd need a day and for you to come into lab with me just to see how the magic happens #I've had experiments fail because the AC in lab was down #I've had to exclude people from studies because they had comorbidities #Science #LGBTQIA

[apollo-cackling]

🔥 on malazan, if you don't mind!

[I'm ~1/3 done reading HoC for context]

oh hmm what's an actual unpopular malazan opinion? pretty sure "I would defend Felisin with my goddamn life" is at least a contested opinion on the subreddit, but most folks agree on that here uhhh. here's a few scattershot opinions, hope at least one of them are unpopular:

I do rather like the opening to House of Chains? I saw several people say they didn't like it/that Karsa wasn't interesting enough to carry it, and I don't know if that's the general opinion or an outlier that I stumbled upon but yk. disagree it was fun watching him fuck around and find out + the Silanda reveal (and the other worldbuilding stuff) was really goddamn cool. I wouldn't say it's in my list of favourite malazan parts but it's nowhere near the bottom

Siege of Capustan was a really compelling sequence, but between it and Toc's PoV, somewhere along the line the Pannions(' brutality) broke my suspension of disbelief a little? I've never really liked gorey evil empires though lol tbf

the malazan marine POVs are generally pretty solidly mid-tier for me? they're still good, just outclassed by the other POVs (so say Felisin in DG and Itkovian/the Envy entourage in MoI)

I get that this is more a "we didn't really have the opportunity to see it" thing than anything else bc clearly it does happen (Felisin on the transport ship to the otataral mines) but I wish it wasn't mostly non-Malazans perpetrating (onscreen) sexual violence not sure on the implications on that one. ...although I have seen something to the implication that these books are in part in-universe propaganda? nvm going to reserve judgment on this one

#thanks for the ask! #my rambles #this got pretty rambly + messy idk how much sense it makes lol #+ memory's a bit fuzzy rn sorry for anything that causes #always a lil nervous talking about malazan stuff lol bc ik for a fact I'm missing so many pieces #actually one thing I find really interesting about Karsa right is how much of a self-imposed problem he is? #like iirc there were >0 parts where at that point he just wanted to get back to genabackis to... #reveal the lies the Teblor have been living under?? forgot but anyway the malazans keep chasing him which is how he ended up with leoman #which like #ties into another thing I really love about the setting right there's so many supremely powerful people it's like natural disasters #I don't believe in punitive justice but like. karsa's killed and hurt this many people and the best course of action is to let him go #not bc he's repented or changed or anything just bc we don't think he has a reason to do it again is yk. bleak #did I write the 'I love the way the malazan setting goes yes gods are human. and that's *horrifying*' post #cool stuff! #note that I took the race science stone tablet to be an in universe fuckup bc *gestures at the state of the Teblor* #if it's not actually a fuckup my liking of this section's going to go down a few notches though #also tbf to the malazan marines they're pretty top notch execution of what they're going for #the thing they're going for just isn't my thing though lol #malazan #ask #ask game

[fire-lizard-ro]

Ratio as a dad (kinda). Written for my dear @pix3lplays (they already saw this when I initially wrote it).

CW: none it’s all fluff (kinda)

Reader gender: no use of pronouns (as far as I remember) but AFAB

Writing under the cut (SFW):

So when you tell him, he doesn't know how the hell to feel. You guys never really had the children talk, but you could tell that he wasn't really ready for that because of a mix of being too busy, not really understanding children, and never really thinking about it.

To him, children are snot-nosed, loud, emotional little gremlins.

But he never thought about children in the context of you and him. A child born of your flesh and blood. Something you have made together through the miracle (or simple science, as Veritas would say) of procreation.

It would take him a while to think of it that way.

Initially, since this is in the scenario where you're already married, I think that he would be fine with it so long as you're happy with it. He does his logical reasoning and thinks, "Oh. I have the means to raise a child and she wants it." So he doesn't really see a problem with it besides perhaps the stress it will inevitably put on you and having to deal with the messy and emotional rollercoaster ride that is children.

At some point while laying in bed with you after weeks of reading prenatal care and child rearing books, he begins to get curious. Curious about what it would really be like to father a child that the both of you made. That's how things start. Curiosity.

Would the child look like you? He would like that if they could resemble his lovely spouse.

Would they look like him? He would also like this as there would be no doubting who the father of your child was. A reminder of how the two of you were undeniably together.

Would they look like the both of you? He would enjoy this outcome the most as it would be the best of both options.

Would they have his intelligence that he prides himself on? Your smile that he loves, even if quietly?

Because of this process of beginning to be curios and thinking about the child yet to be born, it's not hard for him to subconsciously relate good feelings (and chemicals like dopamine and serotonin, he'd think) to the child themself.

You're happy when you talk about the child and what you'll do for them and how you'll care for them. He's happy when you're happy. He's pleased when thinking about how people will be able to see a physical manifestation of your love and belonging with each other. You're happy to be having his child. He's happy about that, too.

While your feelings regarding the child is like a warm spring day or a cup of hot tea just boiled, his are more mild, still. Like your tea, already cooled, or a warm blanket. There are positive feelings involved now, and even he cannot deny it (at least to himself).

He takes care of you well, following the advice of the books and experts to the T. Perhaps a little too closely because it's a bit overprotective. You're his. Which also means it's in his obligation to take care of you well.

But when the child is born... I think there's at least a spark there. I'm not sure it's enough to light that flame quite yet, but now... He realizes that this really is his child. His and yours. He has your pretty eyes but with his color. The curl of your hair and the slope of his nose. Oh. Oh...

This child...

As the years go on and he spends time caring for the child and spending time with them, he begins to find all these little endearing things about them. How they'll seek him out even in sleep. How they'll smile at him happily, the slant of it so much like yours. How they'll crawl and eventually waddle their way to him when they begin to cry... Even just the fact that he spends time with them is enough to grow this bond. And at some point, they're off to school and it's clear they did, indeed, have his intelligent mind. But they're far more soft around the edges. Much more susceptible to the inherent loneliness, boredom, and ridicule, even, that comes with such intelligence.

But... he gets it. He never really thought anyone understood him at that age and for him? It was lonely but he was irritated by it more than anything. He had thicker skin than his child at that age.

So when they come to him about it all, he can only try his best to let them know he gets it even if he doesn't know how to express such a thing.

Ever heard the saying, "Even a beast will love its child?"

He’s not a nice person. His personality is rough and no one would ever think he could be suited to something as delicate as fatherhood.

And yet…

While he's not one for grand gestures, I think the kid would be able to see he cares.

It's in the little things for him.

Talking about the things they're interested in at school.

Telling them about his work and the things he researches. Being patient with them unlike how he is with his students. ("They are grown. But you are not," he would say with a short pat to the head before going back to checking over their homework with care.)

Rewarding them for their achievements, even if it's with something small.

All sorts of small things.

(He'll never admit it, but you have a picture of the two napping while the kid was sprawled against his side, head tucked into his neck.)

Anyways ofisjgeo yeah-

Hopefully this isn’t too delusional goodbye- I was trying to make him a Relatively Good Dad for Pix while also making sure he was still mostly in-character. OTL

#Roro writes #honkai star rail x reader #hsr x reader #dr ratio x reader #dr. ratio x reader #gn reader #afab reader #hsr x gn reader #honkai star rail x gn reader

[whorediaries-09]

Hi! if you still taking requests I'd love to make another one about the love of my life, James Potter.

I know it might be super cliche but I was thinking about professor! James forgetting his lunch or maybe reader is a sweetheart who brings lunch to him and everyone at Hogwarts it's obsessed with them because they're sooo cute and they're like their cool school parents

Please and thank u, muak right to youuu.

ugghh this is so cute!! i loved writing this one!! i hope you like it!

labyrinth;

pairing- professor!james potter x professor!reader warning(s)- fluff. (let me know if i should add more) a/n- i literally changed a lot but it's low-key similar?? i'm sorry though i hope you understand, my brain could only come up with this.

little train.

' you would break your back to make me break a smile you know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back '

'good morning students! i hope you've got your models ready for today.' you say, walking into the class. the curtains have been rolled up perfectly by your plethora of eager art students, who chant a good morning, staring at you as your steps fall into the classroom. they know you like to work with the sunlight.

they scramble around their canvases and models, the soles of their shoes rubbing against the newly polished tiles. they look at you with eager faces, waiting for your model to appear. you raise your hands, addressing them.

'okay so this the first class is for realism - which annoys a lot of people over here, i know. but everybody has to pass these few assignments okay? i've to send them for supervision to the higher authorities so that they can ensure i've put on the correct grades according to the quality of the work.'

'because unlike you, they don't care about the creativity,' the political science professor enters the classroom, wearing his dazzling white smile. the students turn their heads, watching him enter the room. among the few students who know both him and you, there's rumbling. and among those who know you, there's questions rising of the cause of the sudden rumbling.

'quieten down kids, no more talking. this is a very important class. you'll learn the basics and the importance of this branch of art. mr. potter,' you look him in the eye. he visibly tones down his raised arms and shoulders, 'i need you to bring me two tools and a canvas.' he nods.

*-

james is sitting directly under the rays of the sun. they are golden, reflecting upon his beautiful dusky brown skin. it hits him in the eye, but he's still, letting you take your sweet time while you explain the theories and the basics of the art.

he likes how patiently you teach them the correct ways and methods while also consoling them by reminding them every other artist has a unique style and shouldn't be bound by some rules. you stay to teaching them the outlines of color theories, which couldn't be modified much when this art style was practiced.

he's also never felt this nervous and giddy. he's usually a very confident man, but within your presence, a few ties of his uptight confidence break, and all hell loses free. he's turns into a puddle right under your piercing gaze, which is unusual for a man like james potter. he would still remember the day you'd asked him to model for you. he'd gone home and giggled into the pillow like a high school high on hormones.

'hi, mr. potter,' you'd whispered behind him. he'd been talking to sirius. he'd been taken aback by your sudden appearance- and sirius' lack of reaction, considering he'd been sitting facing james.

he turned around, and by habit ruffled his already messy hair. he smiled, trying to hide the pleasant shock behind his eyes. he felt his cheeks warming up with the way you looked at him. sliding him a paper cup, you stood, twiddling with your thumbs.

'this is?-'

'chai! masala chai! consider it a bribe for the awkward question i'm about to ask.'

'nothing is awkward james, love. i think you'll be fine.' sirius said. he slipped his fingers within the crook of his jacket that had been hanging on the edge of the chair. he smiled, a mischievous uplift of his lips. 'but just in case,' he said, walking out of the room, leaving you and james alone. james gulped, following his friend's silhouette.

'so...'

'yeah, uhm so i was wondering whether you'd model for me? only if you're comfortable though!' james was sure the red hot blood rush into his cheeks was extremely was visible. he felt his nerves turn mush and stomach flip with giddiness.

'i don't particularly mind it no,' he said. he took the burning cup into his grip, taking a slow sip. he only hoped it wouldn't be too spicy.

'so you're up for it?' you asked. he saw the tension from your back literally lift up, and a glee float in your eyes.

'i am up for it,' he said taking another sip of the tea. 'but you need to tell me why me,' you rubbed the back of your head, laughing nervously.

'uhh... i think you've gorgeously complicated features which would allow me to teach my students with enthusiasm because i teach the best with complicated features. i don't mean it in a harsh way, i also think you're beautiful so...' he nodded letting your words sink into his brain and stop himself from taking you by your neck and press his lips onto yours.

'is it any good? the tea?' you asked, breaking the awkward tension and the lack of his response. you wondered whether you made him uncomfortable with your answer.

'it's perfect. the sweetness and the spiciness.'

it was not.

*-

'okay so carefully outline your vision for the model, and let your brains take over your mind! this has been a boring class i realize but please submit your homework by the deadline so i'll suggest ways for improving your work-'

'-because this is extremely important for your grades students. now the kids over here who are also in my class, i'll deduct grades if you all don't take her words seriously.' james completed for you, cracking his back and rolling his shoulders. the students booed mockingly. one of them, a fiery person too raised her voice,

'you're barely serious in your own classes!' james knitted his eyebrows.

'are you questioning my abilities of teaching?'

'no, i'm not. i'm saying you're not serious in your own lessons sometimes- and you're a pretty much of a goofball yourself.'

'that's fine, i can be a goofball and be a good professor too. ms. grace, please mind your tone, or i'll be obliged to turn into an insufferable old prat.'

'okay come on let's not create an unnecessary drama over here, you have theatres and mr. pettigrew to help with that.' you said, trying to calm down bubbling waters. the students picked up their bags, walking away. yet again, leaving the both of you alone.

james helped you put on your coat. he wondered whether his part was done. he wondered why he cared so much about whether his part was done or not. the question lingered at the tip of his tongue before he spat it out.

'is my work done now?' he asks. you linger, your back faced towards him. he feels a wave of heat from your body crumple over his senses. you turn around, facing him. the remnants of the sun rays surround him, filtering out his outline. there's something in his eyes. a string of vulnerability you've never seen in his eyes. a string of vulnerability he's never felt within his.

'no.' you say. your breath is hot, which falls on his lips. he gulps, noticing how close you are. somehow it feels natural. in your piercing gaze he feels his beating heart stop. it's as if your features are one hell of a drug, reeking him into a spiral of things he's never felt before. your beauty is surreal, captured within his memories and his heart. he wishes he'd capture the way he sees you onto the canvas.

'are you bored of me, james?' you ask. you've never said his name before. it sets his senses on fire, a creeping hotness melting onto his nerves.

'no,' he says. he moves closer, his mouth so close to yours. he wants to touch them, get drunk upon the reminiscent taste he's never tasted before.

'are you sure, james?' you ask, your eyes falling onto his lips. he nods, unable to answer. in your eyes, he sees his portrait in a beauty he's never seen before. his fingers slips into yours, and he feels them.

and he wonders, when your fingers work on the canvas, how you conceive him, how you decipher him. all he's sure of is that he's the most beautiful when you portray him.

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taglist - @reggieisfit @siriuslycaptainofthedawntreader @jamespottergf @eternallybipanicking @fictional-magic @iamgayforyourmom1510

(if you want to be tagged please send a request through my inbox.)

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#q1wjames potter x reader #james potter imagine #james potter smut #james potter fic #james potter fanfiction #marauders #harry potter fanfiction #the marauders #james potter #james #james potter x y/n #marauders era #james potter x you #dead gay wizards #the marauders era

[thorne1435]

Logically, I understand why "pretty" trans rep is just as good of an idea, but also...trans lives are complicated and messy. Hell, all lives are complicated and messy. Not everyone gets to be conventionally attractive. Not every transition is smooth, be it from juvenile to adult or male to female.

I love Ticker (Warframe).

Does she "look" or "sound" like a woman? Nah, not really. But nobody seems to question it. Granted, nobody really interacts with her enough to be transphobic towards her which is kind of cowardly of the writers in my opinion, but at the same time, isn't it nice to have a character who didn't have the resources to transition as effectively as we typically see in a video game? Isn't it very cool of DE to put in some hyper-clockable trans character who--in spite of that--isn't questioned in her identity? Isn't it an interesting and relatable story for impoverished transfems, told in mere minutes, if not seconds, by the setting and the very presence of the character? Isn't it realistic and grounded that there wasn't any magic solution to make her transition perfectly? No Illusion Magics or Special Science Serums or Power Of Contrivance, just feminine vocal intonations and she/her pronouns.

Isn't the messiness refreshing?

Isn't she just like me, fr fr?

#trans #transfem #warframe #representation #queer #ticker (warframe)

[prettyinpurplelights]

AWKWARD

something quick i wrote while listening to awkward by sza

“You’ve got to stop throwing yourself across the field like a newborn pup Ky.” You tap at the open skin across his left shin with a wet gauze and he winces slightly. “This is barely a graze, you could’ve sorted this out yourself.”

“I needed an excuse to see you. You’re not answering my calls anymore.”

“You can’t be calling your physio at 3am.”

“I can’t call my friend at 3am?”

“Do you call all your friends at 3am to fuck!?” You raise your voice, exasperated. Exhausted of his questions.

It had been 2 weeks since you’d ended things with him and he’d refused to let it go. You and Kylian had met by chance at a bar when he’d gone out with Neymar for drinks, one thing had led to another and you’d found yourself under him in his king sized bed at his apartment in the city he stayed at whenever he went out with his teammates. You’d just moved from London, fresh out of med school with a job at one of the most prestigious clubs in the world. Or so you’d heard, you didn’t know anything about or follow football very much, your aim was to move to the US and work with NBA athletes but your mentor at the hospital had recommended this job for you since you’d mentioned your interest in sports science and the pay was great, the experience would be unbelievable and in Paris of all places. You couldn’t say no. So imagine your surprise when you showed up to work the following week to be introduced to the team and your colleagues before the new season was supposed to start to find the incredibly handsome man with even more incredible fingers standing in front of you, jaw slack in shock also. You’d both decided things couldn’t go any further, to keep things professional but the sexual tension between you two overflowed and some sort of friends with benefits arrangement ensued. Just that, sex, whenever either of you needed it. For months, Kylian had showed up at your door at the most random hours of the day, becoming routine for the both of you, something you both enjoyed. It was casual and fun and light and you had no idea when the lines got blurred and it got messy and so so awkward.

“Kylian please-“

You were interrupted by Achraf bursting through the door, the sound of laughter dying on his lips.

“Y/N, you wouldn’t believe Kylian out there training today. It’s like he was playing in one of your high heels, constantly tripping over his feet.”

“I can tell,” you laugh nervously, pointing to the various grazes covering his right leg.

“Dude what’s gotten into you?” Achraf squeezes Kylian’s shoulders and raises his eyebrow. “It’s like you just learned how to use your legs.”

“I dunno bro, guess I’m just a bit out of it.”

“Well get back into it. We’re facing Real tonight and you know how important this game is. I’d be damned if those fuckers beat us again.”

“Yeah…yeah got it.” Kylian replied absentmindedly, his eyes on you intensely. You were praying Achraf didn’t notice but he was too busy rummaging through Kylian’s bag.

“Where are your keys Ky? It’s so cold outside man, I hate Europe sometimes.”

“Side pocket.”

“Aha!” Achraf pulls the keys out with a smile. “You almost done with him doc?”

“Yeah, you both can-“ You start, but Kylian interrupts your sentence with his own answer before you can finish.

“5 minutes.”

“Aight cool,” If Achraf can sense the tension in the room, he is doing a great job of pretending it doesn’t exist. “I’ll warm the car up and wait for you Kyky.” He waves to you as he leaves. “See you tonight Y/N!”

“Bye!” You call back with as much enthusiasm as you can muster before turning to pack your stuff up to leave.

“You can’t ignore me forever Y/N.” Kylian steps towards you and takes your wrist so you have no choice but to turn to face him.

“Yes I can. This thing,” you wave your hand in the space between the two of you. “It’s over Ky. God it wasn’t even supposed to go this far. I have job to do first, before anything else.”

“How was I supposed to know I’d fall for you Y/N?”

“We decided neither of us were going to.” You hissed, pulling your hand away from his. “We decided this, together, me and you, it was supposed to be just sex. No feelings Kylian, just. sex. How can we mix feelings in with all of this? I am your physio first, I’m here to take care of you-“

“Let me take care of you Y/N.”

“A relationship cannot work Kylian. I’ve been here 3 months. The tabloids get even a scent of us being together, they’ll connect dots that don’t exist and somehow assume I slept with you to get this job. You don’t understand what it’s like Kylian, they’ll tear me apart, I worked too hard for this. Any feelings you have for me, anything I have for you-“

“You have feelings for me?”

Shit. Your mouth was moving a mile a minute you didn’t even realise you may or may not have exposed yourself.

“I didn’t-“

“Y/N do you love me too?” Kylian looks at you with hopeful eyes, the dimple in his left cheek slowly growing deeper as his smile widens, taking your silence as the answer he is looking for. “You love me.”

“I-“

“You love me Y/N. Say it.”

“Kylian, I can’t love you.” Your eyes begin to water and you hate yourself for being so sensitive. “You can’t love me. You can love anybody-“

“You aren’t anybody to me Y/N.” He lifts his hand to your cheeks and rubs the skin softly. “I want to be with you Y/N. Beyond the fucking, beyond the 2am booty calls and quickies in my car behind the stadium. I want to take you out, I want to hold your hand, I want to stay the night and wake up next to you. I want to belong to only you and you me. I know I made it awkward telling you I loved you when I did but I’m sorry I can’t hide how I feel anymore. This more than a friendship, more than sex, I’m in love with you. And I know you feel the same.”

You dip your head. “It won’t work.” You whisper.

“Says who?” He whispers back, dipping his head to your level so his lips meet yours in a sweet kiss. You want to pull back, everything is telling you to pull back, kissing him now will definitely let him know how you feel, it’s all too much, too soon, but you can’t help but hold onto his neck, deepening the kiss as his hands grasp desperately on your tshirt, biting at your bottom lip. You sigh and open up for him, his tongue meeting yours as your bodies press impossibly close against each other.

“Let me love you Y/N.” He says into your mouth. “Please, let me love you.” You pull back and rest your forehead against his, both your chests heaving as though you’d played a full 90 minute game.

“I’m scared Ky. I can’t lose my career, I love you, I do. But I’m scared.”

“Open your eyes baby.” You didn’t even realise they were shut. You peel them open slowing to find Kylian’s eyes boring into yours lovingly. “I got you. Always. That won’t happen.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” He smiles, reaching for your lips with his again. And for the first time in the two weeks since you ended things with him, you felt completely happy again.

This could work. It will work. You had Kylian, it would be okay.

——-

Remember to drop me an ask if you have a prompt x

#football fanfic #mbappe fic #mbappe #kylian mbappe fluff #kylian mbappe fanfic #kylian mbappe #kylian mbappe fic #kylian mbappe x you #kylian mbappe x reader #mbappe x reader #footballer x reader #mbappe fanfic #mbappe imagine #kylian mbappe imagine #football imagine

[faceeeeee]

I wonder if you made backstories for the tadc employees or smh-

(I wanna know Gangle's :3)

I have some concepts and ideas in my mind but it's all very vague and I haven't written anything down so forgive me for any incoherent sentences or messy writting:

Pam:

Ever since she left for college she cut all contact with her family and "friends" (she calls them acquaintances/contacts) and put all of her attention in her studies. She graduated at the top of her class in computer sciences and got hired at C&A almost immediately. The moment she left college she noticed a sudden shift in her routine. She dedicated her entire life into her studies and grades and completely disregarded any social interactions, hobbies.... She excepted that when she got a job, all of her problems would've been solved but she found out that she was wrong. Her first few months at the company were okay to say the least but as time went by she felt more and more empty and depressed. Her lack of social skills and pride didn't help either and rejected all of her coworker's attempts to befriend her. So she spent her time either overworking herself, drinking or sleeping. She worked in that company for 5 whole years: Her sleep schedule was a mess, her salary wasn't exactly ideal and she started taking anti-depresants and a hunch of other stuff and Reggie's disappearance (or "temporary departure") took a toll on her. Not only because her boss decided to make her the head of her department but also because he was the only one who was still willing to talk to her. So now she was left with a bunch of deadlines and work and the only one who even looked at her and said hello every morning was now gone. Her life was shit, basically, so why not try again in a new life, a new world and with new memories?

Reggie:

Good ol' Reggie has been working in the company for 18 years now and he couldn't be happier. He had a decent childhood, a loving wife and a decent job that keeps the both of them stable! And a father-daughter relationship with Genevieve, so he couldn't be more happy with life! The only thing he wishes is that he could have more time to spend with his family and his hobbies (he keeps and collects cool bugs, obviously :) ) and that the company wasn't so strict with deadlines and such. He is the head of the programming department so he has a lot of work on his plate...but it's all for a good cause: the digital circus! In his eyes, it's a magical place that helps people to to distract themselves for a while and to have a little fun before they return to their normal lives! So you can imagine his excitement once his boss told him that they were going to let the staff be actual play testers! He was ECSTATIC! he spent YEARS fixing and refining the digital plains so of course he decided to be one of the first playtesters. Queenie was a little hesitant at first but he told her not to worry! He knew that the code was a little finicky at times but that's okay! He has Pam and the rest of the staff to take care of it if anything goes wrong, after all he wholeheartedly trusts them :) nothing could possibly go wrong right?

Jack:

Dear Jack....the C.E.O's son. He has been wandering around the company for a few years now, working in some low paying positions to earn a little pocket money from his parent. He's known as the office's little miscreant as he just goofs around all day and nobody can touch him or say anything cause if they do they're gonna get fired! Ain't that fun? But his luck runs out when even the C.E.O has had enough of his bullshit and offers him to take a little time off from his studies and work to go and be a beta testers for his folks vr experience. Ain't that idea fun? Just log in, fuck around and then come back for dinner, right?

Agatha:

Agatha, a hard working gal with lots of siblings to take care off. Her folks aren't around to help her so she takes care of em all throughout college until she gets the position in the robotics department! She goes up the ranks and even becomes the head of her department :). She mainly works with the headset design and with the new technology that the company has introduced. She has never seen anything like it: with it you can feel and hear your surroundings whilst hooked to the digital plains. So when she heard that they were offering people to beta test the digital world she couldn't help but to want to experience all of those things herself! She does wonder why they have to have her sign a contract but she trusts the company. She has been with them for some time now and the staff and boss have been nice to her so far, so why wouldn't she trust them?

Genevieve:

Dear Genevieve has had a sort of rocky life. Her mother has been very overprotective over her and that has left her with no real life experiences. She was homeschooled almost her entire life so when she entered college she had a hard time adjusting to her new routines. She's very explosive emotionally and very finicky over her personal space so she couldn't (or didn't want to) make acquaintances and so, she made it to the company with no connections apart from her obsessive mother, just like Pam. She worked a year and a half in the company, and that was enough time to meet and befriend Reggie. At first she was very wary of him and very hostile to him. But good ol' Reggie just keeps saying hi to her every morning, just like he does with every employee he sees. One day, when they were both on break, Reggie tried to break the ice and tried to start some small talk with her. She got scared and basically yelled all sorts of barbaric things to him and he just gave her a warm smile. Nothing can hurt this man, god. Genevieve was surprised that he hadn't yelled back at her or left and stared at him for a while. Then guilt overcame her and she started sobbing. Reggie comforted her as best as he could and since then they formed a bond. So when she learned that he had left to be a beta tester she was again left alone in the office. Desperate for his comfort and precense she decided to follow him to the digital circus...

Zephyr:

They had a relatively normal life (apart from an accident that left them without a bloody leg but it's alright), graduated from art school and started working at C&A. They overestimated the pressure and stress that came with working at the company to the point that they were exhausted. They would've left if it wasn't for the fact that getting a job with their degree was extremely difficult and the chances for getting hired were very slim. So they kept on working. They worked day and night. A million coffee cups had started to pile up on their desk and they had severe bags under their eyes. They were tired, so very fucking tired. Why wouldn't they try to escape reality for a bit? Goof around in the digital plains, maybe use it as some sort of rage room. Maybe they could do all of the things that they had thought of without any consequences. Yeah, just for a little bit....it couldn't hurt, right?

#tadc employee idea #faceee rambles #I'M SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO RESPONDDDDDD As you can see it's a LOT #Also i couldn't edit the timeline so that zooble and gangle meet in the au I'M SO SORRYYYYYYYY #Yuri can only exist in the digital plains #can't have shit in the real world #anyway fuck time they will meet somehow- #these concepts kind of suck.....But i can't come up with anything else IM SORRY #the amazing digital circus #tadc

[skycowboys]

Hi! My daughter REALLY likes your drawings (she LOVES pegs) and would like to learn how to draw them better, and was wondering if you might offer classes, or, maybe do step by steps. Thank you!

Hi there!

Aw, that's super sweet :)

I don't currently have any official media that counts as "instructional" other than my tips on drawing wings post. However, I do sometimes do art "drawover" notes for people in my Discord community -

As far as learning how to draw fantasy creatures, I can say what helped get me started -

Practice drawing the anatomy of real animals

Drawing animals from life at the zoo is a fantastic way to practice. Your daughter can also find areas like petting zoos at the fair, or ask a local riding stable if she can observe a lesson to draw horses in motion. I remember hanging out at the riding stables where I kept my horse and drawing for hours after riding. Once she feels comfortable with anatomy basics, she can start combining parts. That's essentially what my pegasi are - horses with bird parts and attributes patched on top like some sort of wild Garry's Mod creature.

And, most importantly...

Draw so so so much. Draw all of the time.

The best way to get comfortable with drawing animals to draw them for hours and hours and hours. Fill up hundreds of sketchbooks with loose, fast, messy, unpolished sketches of animals. Animals - specifically horses - are very hard to draw. They'll look wonky and not quite right at first but the more a person draws, the more solid the drawings will become.

Some of my favorite animal books and artists -

The Art of Animal Drawing by Ken Hultgren. This book has been my staple go-to book since highschool. I've worn through 3 copies.

Principles of Creature Design by Terryl Whitlatch

Science of Creature Design by Terryl Whitlatch. Whitlatch's work is very grounded in hard science, great for ultra-realistic species that could really physically function.

Dracopedia by William O'Connor. A very fun book on O'Connor's process of drawing and painting different dragons.

Animal Essence by Joe Weatherly. This is a great book about how to capture live animals in all sorts of mediums.

James Gurney - creator of Dinotopia. His work is realistic, yet still contains an element of "rule of cool".

Cory Loftis has lovely animal sketches in Art of Zootopia. His work is heavily stylized, but I love how he simplifies animal anatomy into easily recognizable shapes.

I hope this helps in lieu of step-by-steps!

~ Larn

--

Discord | Patreon | Art Prints

#ask #resources

[yoke9494]

*Originally written for the fic Songbird. (Over and done with) *Teen Nanami*

*Geto had planted a big smooth on you after you were stolen and then brought back after a mission gone wrong.

* Y/n doesn't know how to feel-- about anything? It was her first kiss after all. Plus she's basically Gojo's future wife that he doesn't want!.. but he gave Geto permission to like her? Ruffle her feathers? Yep. it's messy.

*Nanami has a crush and so does Geto. (Fuck Geto) *Not really..*

*Hibara likes drama.

Crack one shot

___________________________

Hibara put his finger under his chin in thought. "I can't see it. Show me again?"

You gave him a droll look and held out your hands in front of you. Pretending that you were Geto and the empty space between your hands was your own head.

You puckered your lips before opening them and sticking your tongue out.

Haibara snorted.

You got embarrassed and dropped your hands and put your tongue back into your mouth. "Then he started wiggling it and I got scared.."

Haibara fought back his laugh. It was obvious Geto liked you but he seemed to have forgotten that you had no experience with the opposite sex. It was cute--- but Hibara also knew a secret that you didn't--

He sighed. "I still can't tell you what it means. You're not showing me right."

You let out an exaggerated groan. "I'm trying my best here. It's not like I have the balls to go ask him to help me recreate it."

Haibara scoffed and began to think again. "We need to find you a dummy or something--"

Soft footsteps rounded the corner. "Y/n. The vending machine is out of that melon soda you like so I just got you a Coke.-- Why are you looking at me like that Hibara?"

Perfect. Just the dummy he was thinking of.

Nanami wore a bored look as he walked up to the both of you and handed you both your drinks.

Haibara wore the biggest smile. "Show me how Geto kissed you on Nanami!"

You gasped while Nanami choked on the soda he had just started drinking.

(Nanami) "I beg your pardon?--- wait, Geto kissed you?! When?"

(Hibara) "Laid a nasty one on her last night.--"

Why didn't you think of that! Nanami was perfect!

You held your hands together in a begging motion while Nanami looked at you with pink cheeks. "Please Nanami. May I violate your mouth? It's for science!"

Nanami felt like the air was getting thicker. But he kept his cool. "Absolutely not. Your thirst is showing Y/n. Drink your coke."

Ouch.

But Hibara wasn't giving up. He knew Nanami was fighting himself right now.

"Come on Nanami. It's not like you're getting girls to pucker up anytime soon... Especially with that hair."

You turned away to laugh under your breath while an irk mark appeared on Nanami's forehead.

"That's rude. Not only you judging me about my hair but the fact that you guys think I'm a whore."

You choked on air while Hibara's eyes went wide.

You caught your breath. "We don't think you're a whore! I asked you because I know for a fact you aren't one. I know where you've been and who you've been with.. Here with us! And the only dicking down you do is on some bread."

Nanami didn't know how to feel about that. And he did love bread.. just not that way?

He crossed his arms. Might as well go with it.. His poor dumb asses. "If you're using me as some lab rat. I at least need to be wined and dined first. What kind of girl do you think I am?"

Hibara laughed. "Clueless. You're pretending to be Y/n remember?"

You nodded but then got it a few seconds later. "Hey! I'm not-- okay maybe a little.." Your shoulders dropped. "Okay. I'm dumb..."

Nanami rolled his eyes. "You're not dumb. You were just deprived of simple pleasures and locked in a cage for who knows how long. And right now, I think Geto is just taking advantage of you. Since he and Yaga were the ones to find you and he thinks---- Did he even ask to kiss you?"

You couldn't really remember if he did?

Again Hibara knew. "Shoko said, that Gojo said, it was like in the movies when they just run to one another and start eating each other's face. I think Geto was just happy his girlfriend was back."

Your cheeks began to sting. "Girlfriend?! I'm not--"

Hibara cut you off. "Yeah. Okay. But I mean like-- How do I say this without being an ass." He scratched his head. "You sort of lead him on? Gosh that sounds awful.. I know you don't mean it but.--"

Nanami sighed. "He means! You and Geto hang around a lot... Touch a lot. He obviously likes you and probably thinks you like him too. "

You shrugged. "I do like him, I like everyone? And we touch a lot cause we have to? We both summon curses so he's helping me train. And helping me with hand to hand combat on the side since I suck at it and Gojo's just mean to me when we're supposed to spend time together.."

They both hummed.

(Hibara) "It's a different kind of like. The way you like him is different from the way you like us right?"

(Y/n) "I don't get it.."

Nanami felt a small pinch of jealousy in his chest. Geto wasn't a bad guy but-- He was so much older than you-- or should he say more experience? He was just trying to find every excuse to make him seem not right for you.

Nanami scoffed. "How do you feel when you're around him?"

You thought for a second. "Safe?"

Nanami almost laughed. "Even when Gojo's bullying you and Geto just stands there?"

Damn, it got quiet... Even the birds outside stopped singing.

Hibara cleared his throat.

But you spoke before he could. "I don't think he has a choice on that. The Gojo Clan basically bought me for that jerk so he can do with me as he pleases.. Even if he wanted to, Geto can't do anything about it."

Nanami shrugged. "Or he's just an asshole like his best friend Gojo. He wants to pluck the pretty flower instead of letting her flourish in a garden."

Hibara tilted his head. "Damn that's a good one."

You on the other hand were still lost? The last thing on your mind was falling in love anyways. Would it be nice to feel it one day? Hell yeah! But again, you belonged to the Gojo Clan, promised to be Satoru's wife one day. And you'd never love him the way you read about love or watched it in a movie..

Nanami just wanted to change the subject. He doesn't know why he's being jealous. Even if he did have a crush on you, that didn't mean you felt the same. And if you ever did-- Y'know, like him or Geto.. You couldn't be with either of them for long anyways. Once you turned 20 you and Gojo would be married..

He sighed. This was as good as it was going to get. "So are you going to kiss me or not?"

You looked up. "Oh right! I almost forgot what we were originally talking about."

Nanami leaned in and closed his eyes-- but Hibara's hand stopped his face from going any closer to yours.

Nanami opened his eyes. "Disgusting."

(Hibara) "Rude. My hands are clean!"

You and Nanami shared a look.. (Sure they were.)

Hibara was hurt.. "Anyway! We need to set the scene! Y/n didn't just lean in a pucker up."

He stood up. "Okay. Nanami picture this! You were on your very first mission and just got done being man handled by a first grade curse! Then BAM! You were stolen and brought back!... I don't want to go through the whole story.."

He then turned to you. "Y/n. Imagine you're one of Jujutsu Techs attractive Playboys and the girl you probably love has finally returned after the school was turned upside down from her being missing!-- You just got done blaming yourself and literally losing your shit."

You tried to cut him off. You didn't hear about that last part. "He did?"

Hibara waved you off. He'd tell you about it later. "Not important right now... Action!"

Nanami rolled his eyes but this time he sat still. You weren't the one to make the first move anyways and he was pretending to be you... Right?

"Um okay." You felt nervous all of a sudden. You shouldn't be! It was just Nanami-- He and Hibara were your best friends..

(Hibara) "Come on Geto. Get on with it."

You scooted closer to Nanami and grabbed his head. A lot softer than Geto originally did to yours but--- Nanami's hair was really soft.

His face was warm due to his blush. He was really handsome up close... Even with his emo screamo haircut.

The closer you got the faster your heart raced. Was this normal?

Nanami closed his eyes and you copied the second your lips brushed against his. Again it wasn't the same way Geto kissed you, this was much softer.

Nanami had this surge of bravery and lifted his hand to hold your cheek. Slowly moving to the back of your neck to deepen the kiss.

(Hibara) "Do you guys need to breathe yet?"

Neither of you hear him..

Your brain was short circuiting and you completely forgot what to do. What did Geto do next?

Oh right.

Your tongue touched his bottom lip and Nanami hesitantly let you in. But this is where you didn't know what to do..

So Nanami took over. Slowly swirling his tongue around yours. He's read about kissing like this in books so he understood it a little more than you did.

Though you both were still a bit lost and messy with it...

Oh, did I forget to mention.. This was Nanami's first kiss too? Oops..

Hibara smiled but it quickly faded. Was he really watching his two friends learn how to kiss while smiling like a creep? Wtf...

"Uh, you guys im gonna like, go get something from the vending machine. Don't make babies while I'm gone."

Again you two didn't even hear him. The only thing Hibara heard when he rounded the corner was.

(Nanami) "Breath through your nose idiot."

(You) "Sorry!"

Before it got nasty with the wet sounds again..

Hibara chuckled to himself when he finally reached his destination. "They're both hopeless... But am I a good wing man or what?"

He didn't expect anyone to answer. Well they didn't but a familiar deep voice called out to him.

"Hibara. Have you seen Y/n around?"

He turned to smile at his upperclassmen. "Sorry Geto. But I'm on my way to go find her now. Pretty sure she's with Nanami in the rec area."

Geto stood there while Hibara looked at the bag in his hand. "Did you bring stuff back from your mission? How was it?"

Geto gave off a smile. "It was fine. Over and done with pretty quickly." He sort of swayed on his feet. "I brought her some stuff she likes back-- Y'know.. As an apology for what happened the other day.-- Did she mention anything about being angry with me or?"

Oh Hibara loved drama. He pretended to think. "Hm? Not that I know of.. But again she's been with Nanami a lot so maybe ask him?"

Geto nodded."Should we go find them then? I think I need to explain myself."

No shit..

Hibara snorted. "Sure! Let's go!."

.................

#jujutsu kaisen #nanami x reader #attempt at fluff #yu haibara #geto suguru #crack #nanami kento

[cannoliparty]

jadekat & why i love it

jadekats this really interesting homestuck pairing to me! i feel like its because both jade & karkat are cool characters on their own, but their great strengths come with great flaws, and their dynamic balances out these flaws so well. it's a strangely underrated pairing too, considering jade is probably the character karkat most obviously flushes for in the comic, next to terezi. ill be explaining why i think this bond is so overlooked.

jade has a variety of strengths. as a witch of space, it makes sense. space is on a more grand level of intuition and clear knowledge on a vast amount of things, leading to space players sometimes not being able to explain the way things are in detail. this vastness also comes with a "wait-and-see" approach, as space is always growing organically, like an organism/plant. as a witch, jade followed through completing time loops with eagerness and a loss of wanting to know exactly why these loops must be fulfilled, simply believing things like fate knew what they were doing, and everything would come into order. shes also very well-versed in science, rifles, childhood cartoons, plants... she does everything she possibly can with the space around her, manipulating it (therefore "manipulating space") to her own will!

on a more characteristic standpoint, jade is socially isolated. shes nice to everyone she comes across (until theyre mean) but she has isolation problems. living on an island alone has made her used to having things done in her own methodical and scientific way, simply because thats the way she believes in. shes at a loss when it comes to chaotic, unorderly things like karkat's memos with his future/past selves! she just doesnt know how to handle it because she's only known how to be in tune with her own thoughts & feelings.

karkat is well-versed in the way relationships are supposed to go. he's watched an abundance of rom-coms and dealed with all his friends as a leader. it makes sense why he's so good at knowing how others feel and how to care for them. the problem is that he doesn't know how to outwardly express his own feelings or care at all. he doesn't know how to approach terezi without fighting with her, but still constantly pesters these people he likes with his angry, nonsensical ways.

when jade and karkat interact in the comic, it's confusing at first. karkat is constantly pestering jade at random intervals of time, and this ruins her ordered way of working around stuff. she develops these "conversation passwords", an intuitive way of staying on the same time track with the trolls. karkat is obviously angered by jade's action, but after realizing jade won't budge about it he goes along with it. in openbound, it's even revealed he used one of these conversation keys as a password for his own memories in a dream bubble!

in the memos with karkat's multiple selves, jade learns not everything can always be so orderly and clear, and this is very hard for her to stomach. she wants to quit dealing with it, but karkat's stubborness makes her deal with these messy, personal feelings.

in summary, jadekat's this great, balanced dynamic. jade teaches karkat to be more open and true to himself and his own feelings, while also getting him out of trouble with ridiculous things like future selves and all-over-the-time-loop conversations with clear solutions to get him back into the big picture. karkat teaches jade to consider the smaller details and how the more orderly paths can't constantly be taken to solve something.

this is all i have right now, i hope it makes sense!! i tried not to connect this to a lot of classpecting cuz i feel like jadekat's mainly about focusing on the very feelings of the characters (whether clear or messy) instead of just connecting them to a grander thing. lmk if u have any thoughts on jadekat or just jade/karkat in general ^_^!!

#cannoliblabbing #homestuck #jadekat #classpecting #jade harley #karkat vantas

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Am I the asshole for how I got a friend? So this is messy and I’ll admit that but hear me out. Some of the details may be identifying so I’m trying to be as vague as possible, and I’m hoping Tumblr isn’t as public as Reddits AITA.

I have a coworker named Brian. Brian is a giant dick and an asshole, and most people don’t like him. About a year ago, the company we work for had a mixer where we could bring significant others, and Brian brought his girlfriend, Maddie (not her real name.) I fell really hard for her. She’s so cool, her hair is cool, her style is cool, she has a really cool science-y job. She’s witty and beautiful and I fell for her hard, and I didn’t understand why she was with this loser. I have a feeling the relationship isn’t healthy, but I figured I wouldn’t gain any points with her by trying to break them up or getting her to cheat. At first I was willing to wait it out to see if they would break up but it’s been a year and they’re still together. A few months ago I decided to take the L and start dating to try to get over her. I don’t follow her on social media and I try to avoid Brian at work.

Here’s where I kinda fucked up. A few weeks after I met her (about a year ago) I was going through her instagram and I saw that she had a brother who works at a (niche home installation) company. My dads been wanting (thing) so I recommended the brothers company to him. Her brother ended up doing the installation. I visited my dads place after work because I wanted to see the new (thing) and see how it worked and her brother was still there and walked me through it. I noticed he was wearing a Star Wars shirt and I struck up a conversation about Star Wars and we ended up having a conversation for a while about book of boba fett (and how bad it was) and we ended up exchanging numbers. We talk regularly now because it’s nice to talk to someone with similar interests. We’ve become pretty good friends and we’ve hung out a few times. I feel kinda bad about it and I haven’t told him the story. He also doesn’t think much of his sisters boyfriend but I haven’t said anything. I think I would be the asshole if I was using him to get to his sister, but if I’m trying to get over her am I still the asshole?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

[sammy-deserves-better]

Completely random headcanons made by me (a silly)

MK got banned from Club Penguin because she kept scamming people by promising to buy them memberships with their parents credit card info

Wayne and Raj broke a TV once by flinging Wii remotes into it during an intense game of Wii Sports Bowling

Julia did not go outside for 2 weeks after learning about Zayn leaving One Direction

Axel is completely oblivious to flirting at times, she also has accidental rizz (she explains how different tools work and girls think it’s hot)

Zee is super flexible and it freaks people out a lot

Chase once got to meet Jake Paul and he always mentions it in a conversation, always

Damien really got hooked onto Bill Nye the Science Guy during one ‘science’ class where the teacher just put on Bill Nye episodes

Ripper once tried to grow his hair into a mullet because he thought it was cool, immediately regretted it then shaved his entire head off because it was ‘cooler’

Priya only ever watched reality TV competition shows as a kid, never got to watch kids TV or anything like that UNLESS it was a competition show, but now she’s going back to watch a ton of classic childhood shows (and gets absolutely hooked on Power Rangers)

Millie can write super fast, but her handwriting is also kinda sloppy and a bit messy, she had to get one of those handwriting booklets as a kid and she never emotionally recovered

Caleb has watched every single episode of America’s Next Top Model because someone dared him to, he got attached to the show FAST

Nichelle is an amazing dancer, what she lacks in action skills (and skills in general), she makes up for with knowledge in so many different dance styles

Emma likes to go to a ton of different sports clubs, archery, basketball, trampolining, she thinks it’s a great way to get her worries out the way and enjoy herself

Scary Girl is an expert in dying people’s hair and is amazing at make-up, unfortunately nobody ever really wants her to do their hair and make up because well, they’re terrified of her (she loves that they’re scared)

Bowie has a secret soft spot for baking, if he has a bad day he’ll usually try and make himself something nice, and he loves to bake with Raj, even though when Raj tries to help the kitchen ends up a mess

#total drama #total drama reboot #total drama island 2023 #td mk #td axel #td julia #td bowie #td nichelle #td ripper #td priya #td raj #td chase #td emma #td scary girl #td wayne #td damien #td zee #td caleb #td millie #td spoilers #maybe #total drama 2023 #they’re my skrunklies

[thatturtleleon]

Enjoy some random hcs of the TFP humans

i loved Miko as a little kid (and still love her) and i blame her for being gay and having dyed hair LMAO

that being said i hc her as lesbian

questioned her gender for a while but overall was like "meh im cool with being called a girl, doesn't matter too much though."

tries so hard to get Jack and Raph into metal and rock

Jack likes some of the songs she recommends, poor Raph tried to act like he enjoyed them but just couldn't get into that kind of music

takes art classes/favorite subject is art

has a scrap book (not a cute little one but a giant messy one holding on for dear life)

adhd

in her room on the wall by her bed, she has pictures of bulkhead, wheeljack, her family, etc. all hung up/taped on it

always has skittles or some sort of candy (that won't melt easily)

country music.

i once read a fic abt him crying over a country song bc it reminded him of Optimus and istg that fic changed my brain

he, Raph, and Miko all have purely platonic sibling relationships.

he feels like a big brother to both of them, even if Miko is technically around the same age as him (i think?)

im conflicted on whether or not he's an insomniac or falls asleep really easily

like on one hand, i can see him having trouble sleeping, especially after the Orion Pax situation and just the whole transformers situation in general.

on the other hand, i can also see this dude just being able to fall asleep ANYWHERE. Floor? asleep. Couch? asleep. Under some random table? asleep.

Biromantic ace with a preference for girls

favorite subject is history, depends though, sometimes he enjoys it and sometimes the lesson is meh

has a whole photo album on his phone of pics he takes with Arcee, aaand a whole other album of stupid photos of Miko that he totally doesn't use as blackmail

doesn't really open up as much as Miko and Raph do with their bots, but Arcee understands that more than anyone i think

when he does open up though, he just talks and talks and talks

i feel like he'd be really easy to get along with (this is just me projecting a little now sorry LOL)

RAPHH

not really a music guy, he usually just goes with whatever everyone else wants to listen to

he likes quiet, and sits with ratchet while they both work on their own projects

favorite subject is science

definitely neurodivergent in some way

Miko managed to get him into some random sci-fi graphic novel, and he loved it, so now they both have something to be excited/talk about

bi or pan maybe? he doesn't show any interest in anyone in the show romantically, but i don't wanna automatically assume he's aro/ace or anything.

actually lets just say he's unlabeled, still learning who he is, and that's totally ok

sees anything with a yellow/black color scheme and immediately thinks of bumblebee

while he does like sitting in silence with ratchet, this boy loves to talk when he's excited/stressed about something

so he goes to bumblebee and just rambles about anything and everything

#thats all i can think of for now #i might make more #i love these guys sm :) #tfp #transformers prime #tf prime #transformers #tf #transformers prime raph #transformers prime miko #transformers prime jack #jack darby #miko nadakai #tfp raph #tfp jack #tfp miko #tfp hcs #tfp human hcs #transformers prime headcanons

[saintsenara]

How has being a doctor influenced your writing or ig your viewpoints/person? Currently I’m a med student - haven’t really come across many doctors who also write ff (perhaps I’m not talking to the right people haha). Can you tell me a little more about what meds like for you?

thank you for the ask, anon - and i hope your training is going well.

i'm not going to talk about my speciality etc., for internet safety reasons, and i've received another ask which i will one day get around to answering on wizarding medicine as a science. but i will talk about how medicine has affected my experience in fandom and influenced my writing.

my writing process looks, i think, fairly ruthless from the outside. i’m not somebody who tends to agonise over things like word choice, i never have anything beta-read or seek advice on plot lines as i’m writing, i don’t need little routines or dedicated time to write (i’m a whenever and wherever girly), i hit publish and move on, and i’m generally good at not getting upset by criticism. and that decisiveness is undoubtedly a skill which has been honed by working in medicine, but, like other aspects of my personality which affect both my writing and my career - e.g. that i’m extremely good under pressure, someone with good intuition, able to hyperfocus, a lateral thinker, possessed of a very strong stomach, someone who doesn’t need to stick rigidly to a routine, and emotionally resilient - i’ve always been like this.

and i’ve also always been someone who has a preference for characters who aren’t the good guys.

my writing tends to favour the flawed, the lonely, the grieving, the furious, the self-destructive, and so on. i find the virtuous quite boring, and i really dislike the puritanical streak which a lot of fandom discourse (and, indeed, all media discourse) has developed in recent years. i think it’s incredibly dangerous that liking particular themes, tropes, or characters in fan-fiction has come to be equated with the reader’s real-world views and morals, and i think it’s equally dangerous for us to have any assumption that moral purity is possible from either fictional or real people.

that i think this is partially because i’m not fourteen - i remember well the righteousness of youth, and i’m glad that social media wasn’t anywhere near as pervasive then - and i am sympathetic to the fact that a lot of this purity discourse is just teens trying to self-actualise. but it’s also because it’s something that is completely impossible to do as a doctor if you’d like to be capable of doing your job properly. you will never have a perfect patient, you will never like a perfect character, you will treat them anyway.

when you’re training, i think it’s easy to end up with the assumption that your difficult patients will either have reasons for their difficulties which are so understandable that you can have compassion for them with ease (e.g. the nice young person being slowly locked-in by als who lashes out in grief and rage at how their life is being cut short) or so cartoonishly malicious that you will enter a state of clinical detachment and treat them with nothing more than cool professionalism (e.g. the elderly racist who refuses to be treated by a black doctor). and you certainly will have lots of patients who fit these extremes of the spectrum.

but you will mostly have people who are very messy and complicated and human. who will be incredibly unpleasant and yet will also tug at your heartstrings. who will be in pain and will be afraid and will be funny and interesting and grieving and who will also have done things in their lives which are horrifying.

your patients will be cruel. they will be sleazy. they will treat the nurses with contempt (do not be the sort of doctor who does the same). they will be bigoted. they will be rude. they will be annoying. they will be sly. they will lie to you. they will be malicious. the list is endless. you will treat them anyway.

your patients will make bad decisions again and again - the sixty-a-day smoker who needs oxygen to breathe is probably still going to light up the second they’re out of the building, the person who barely survived covid because they didn’t get the vaccine is going to continue to refuse to take precautions to protect themselves - and you will both be infuriated and you will understand how it’s never as simple as just not making that bad decision. you will treat them anyway.

your patients will choose to be and to remain ill-informed - they will tell you that vaccines can turn children trans, or that the pharmaceutical industry is suppressing the truth that homoeopathic remedies cure cancer - and you will both be infuriated and you will understand how it’s never as simple as just changing your worldview overnight. you will treat them anyway.

your patients will end up in hospital for reasons which are directly and incontrovertibly their own fault - they will be the eighteen-year-old who thought they’d be fine to drive after a couple of drinks and has now killed their friend and given themselves irreversible brain damage, they will be the drug dealer who got stabbed by a rival in a robbery-gone-wrong - and you will both be infuriated and you will understand how it’s never as simple as making a different choice when so much in life is a coin-toss. you will treat them anyway.

your patients will end up in hospital and also be bad people - they will be the child molestor brought in from prison in cardiac arrest, they will be the parents who went to the bar rather than watch their child in the pool and are now having to be told that all resuscitation attempts have failed - and you will both be infuriated and you will understand that even the very worst people in the world can be afraid and in pain. you will treat them anyway.

you will also learn a very important lesson: it is tremendously easy to kill someone. you will see one failure to check the mirrors while driving, one punch in a pub brawl, one bump of mdma offered to a friend on a night out, one instance of seeing red, one split-second decision which takes a life. and you will recognise that the killer probably thought of themselves as a good person, but that isn’t how this works. because, of course, the cold, hard truth is that you probably think of yourself as a good person. but you’re going to kill someone too.

not intentionally - i hope - but you are going to act too slowly to begin treatment, or be convinced that someone’s pain can’t be as bad as they say and triage them wrongly, or assume that a patient with dozens of instances on their records of trying to score opiates by claiming to have abdominal pain is lying again, or think that you know better than the patient and their family, or be misled by the charming demeanour of people who are abusing their children. you are going to make a mistake in surgery, or because the lab was backed up, or because you’re tired, or because a&e is at breaking point. and somebody is going to die because of it.

the only thing you can do to stave off that inevitability for as long as possible is to never believe yourself infallible. don’t think of yourself as flawless, or righteous, or moral, or a brilliant genius who works alone. question your expectations; examine your biases; listen to patients properly; be aware of the realities of medical misogyny, racism, and ableism and never think yourself incapable of them; show your unpleasant patients as much compassion as your nice ones; be good to the nurses - they will save your bacon - and be just as good to the porters and the cleaners and the people who work in the morgue; stay educated; inform yourself about the actual experience of people who have, for example, been sectioned, or otherwise treated without respect by the medical system; leave your own problems at the door when you step onto the ward; don’t keep silent if you think one of your colleagues is dangerous; get a second opinion whenever you need to; accept that failure is inevitable; keep trying. recognise that nothing and nobody is ever simple. treat them anyway.

so too in your life in fandom. never think that you alone have spotless interests, nor that your favourite characters are flawless. examine why tropes or interpretations of characters which allow them to be imperfect make you uncomfortable; examine your biases - is your slash heteronormative? is your portrayal of a non-white character stereotypical?; be nice to your commenters, and take as much as you can of what they say in good faith; remember that people writing fic are real and have complex motivations and experiences; regard it as your duty to confront portrayals of the violent and the cruel with as much compassion as you can; keep writing. recognise that nothing and nobody is ever simple. write them anyway.

#asks answered #asenora on writing #on medicine

[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.

#scott pilgrim takes off #scott pilgrim #ramona flowers #netflix #lucas lee #roxie richter #kim pine #wallace wells #knives chau #stacey pilgrim #gordon goose #julie powers #todd ingram #matthew patel #the twins #robot 01 #lbgtq+ #kieran culkin #michael cera #mary elizabeth winstead #brie larson #satya bhabha #jason schwartzman #chris evans

[spookyshipperfics]

Discussing the Case

Find it: a03 / Fandom: The X-Files / Rating: Explicit

Part of the Do You Like Scary Movies? series

Tagging @today-in-fic

What is it About? While investigating the Babysitter Killer, the local PD files a misconduct complaint against Scully and Mulder. They swear it’s a misunderstanding, but if they want to keep their jobs, Skinner has to shadow them, ensuring the allegations of “unnecessary touching” and “standing too close together” aren’t true.

This is the First Chapter of Seven:

October 29, 1998 - Washington, D.C.

Skinner closed the conference room door behind him. The bang was louder than intended but not entirely unwarranted. It was too early for this. Mulder and Scully’s antics had interrupted his day before he’d even finished his morning coffee.

He brushed past Arlene with a simple nod. His meeting with the FBI’s head suits zapped any energy for pleasantries. He’d done enough talking already, but, of course, there was more to come.

You’ll need to handle this directly, Skinner.

And he would. He’d handle the fuck out of it as soon as he had more coffee. It was already cold by the time he plopped behind his desk. The cool sip angered him just enough to reach for the misconduct report filed against his agents.

The complaint came from an officer employed by Haddonfield PD. Scully and Mulder were supposed to investigate the supposed return of the infamous Babysitter Killer. Instead, they had allegedly been caught in a compromising situation. According to the report, they appeared to be kissing in an interrogation room, with the male agent “disrobing” before being interrupted.

Skinner brought a hand to his temple. Slow circles did little to relieve the telltale throb of a headache. That was the big accusation. The whammy. The doozy that got him called into a meeting with orders and threats to follow. It wasn’t the only one, though. The officer spelled out other “areas of concern.”

Standing too close together.

Whispering in each other’s ears.

Unnecessary touching.

It wasn’t often the FBI received misconduct reports of this nature from local PD. So, of course, it would involve Mulder and Scully, the two people who probably had more strikes against them than the entirety of the Washington headquarters.

Skinner hadn’t wanted children. Yet, here he sat, a father in some twisted sense. Disciplinary meetings and official reprimands felt a lot like lectures and detentions these days. What was next? PTA meetings? Help with homework?

If he was a surrogate father, he could at least be proud of one of them. Scully was the do-gooder. The pretty doctor with a head on shoulders. The type that blushed when she lied. Mulder was… well… Mulder. The rebel. The truth seeker. The loaded gun. He was a damn good agent, but he also came with heaping piles of trouble. The kind of trouble that wasted his time. That got him called into endless meetings and turned his coffee cold and his blood hot.

Mulder had rubbed off on Scully, and she on him. Their field reports were still messy, but she brought science and softness. She smoothed Mulder’s edges and held him to the ground when he threatened to float away. Skinner saw the way he looked at her. If Mulder had to blow up the world to save Scully, it would be lost to flames in seconds. It’s probably what got them into this fucking mess in the first place.

Kissing in the interrogation room. You’ve got to be kidding me?

Skinner sipped his coffee. The bitterness lingered on his tongue as he reached for the phone. Mulder answered on the second ring.

“It’s Skinner,” he said. “I’m flying out to Haddonfield tomorrow morning, and if you two want to keep your jobs, you better be at the gate holding flowers.”

The drive from the airport had been uncomfortably silent, but it beat the current tension. Skinner had created it. He explained the accusations while parroting the rules and regulations he hoped to God they hadn’t broken.

Agents are forbidden from consorting while on assignment. Any romantic or sexual relationships must be reported. Partnerships that break these rules are subject to reassignment.

Now, the motel room felt stifling. Skinner was sweating. Scully looked miserable, and Mulder was in the first tantrum of what Skinner expected would be many.

“This is ridiculous, sir,” Mulder protested. “Scully and I… we weren’t… we’ve never even kissed.”

Even kissed?

What the hell did that mean? That they wanted to? That they’d done other things but never allowed their lips to meet? He was sweating again. Big, dewy drops he was sure they both could see rolling down his stupid bald head.

Skinner wanted to believe them. But even now, they were sitting on the edge of the bed close enough that their shoulders touched. It didn’t help the cause, and he was thankful when Mulder jumped up to pace the room. He fantasized about clapping him on the back with a Attaboy. Stay the hell away from her so we can all keep our jobs.

“I can corroborate Agent Mulder’s story, sir,” Scully offered. “The officer who filed the report is mistaken.”

“Then explain it,” Skinner demanded.

“My hair got tangled in Agent Mulder’s pin.”

“Pin?”

“My pumpkin pin,” Mulder added. “Well, it’s a lapel, actually.”

Skinner felt another headache coming on. “I don’t care what type of pin it is. Why were you wearing it?”

“Tis the season, sir,” Mulder said as if the answer was so painfully obvious it made him foolish for even wondering.

Scully jumped in before Skinner could put his hands around Mulder’s throat. “In an effort to free my hair, it required Agent Mulder and I to get close. Eventually, he had to remove his suit jacket. I could see how that could be interrupted as kissing and disrobing from the wrong angle.”

“Well,” Skinner started while rubbing his temples. “That may all check out, but there are other complaints.”

Mulder huffed. “Name them.”

Skinner glanced at the report, not that he really needed to. He’d read it so many times it was etched in the grooves of his brain and tattooed on his eyelids. “Standing too close together. Whispering in each other’s ears. Unnecessary touching.”

“Those complaints are unfounded,” Mulder shot back.

“Oh, really? Well, why don’t you walk me through it again, Agent Mulder.”

“As Scully already explained, we were in the interrogation room—”

“Whispering in each other’s ears?” Skinner interjected.

Mulder narrowed his eyes. “Discussing the case. Then, Agent Scully’s hair became entangled with my lapel—”

“Because you were standing too close together?” Skinner tapped the misconduct report for emphasis.

Mulder’s mouth dropped before slamming back shut. Scully’s cheeks turned pink.

“I’m not sure about the unnecessary touching,” Skinner continued, but your stories support the other items on this list.”

“So this is why you came all the way here?” Mulder asked. “To lecture us?”

Skinner suppressed the hysterical laughter threatening to break free. At least he wasn’t the only one to view this relationship as some sort of messy paternal dynamic. He cleared his throat and straightened his tie. “I’m not just here to lecture you. I’m here to shadow you. Where you go, I go. What you do, I write down.”

“You can’t be serious,” Mulder moaned.

“If you two want to keep your jobs, to keep the X-Files, it’s what has to be done. I have people to answer to, too.” Skinner moved for the door, shutting down the conversation—or so he hoped.

“The Babysitter Killer may have returned. We have surveillance to do. Work to accomplish.”

It was Mulder—it was always Mulder. Skinner spun around. His eyes passed over an anxious-looking Scully to bore into her rebellious partner. “The irony isn’t lost on me, Agent Mulder. While you’re hunting down the Babysitter Killer, I’m quite literally stuck on babysitting duty.”

With that, he pushed into the parking lot.

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