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deadcool14 · 5 months

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SPOILERS!!!!!

I wanna talk about this show (btw pls watch it, it's so fucking good, the characters are peak and the animation is fucking amazing!):

Episode 1:

-I can't believe they foreshadowed the final boss with fucking Sonic trivia

-Ngl if I asked out a girl and she didn't know anything about neither Sonic or X-Men, I'm dipping the first chance I get

-I was wondering why Scott had the star t-shirt at the beginning, since he only got that at the finale battle with Gideon, to signify his love for Ramona, but with the added context it's not supposed to matter, it's there because it's his most recognizable look

-Matthew's entrance doesn't have the same umph as the movie's. His actor really went all out in that scene, XD

-Sucks that Scott wasn't very involved in this, since he is the title character, but I still loved everything about this. Hope we get to see his arc in the next season

Episode 2:

-Why is Ramona dyeing her hair so damn satisfying?

-Edit: The fact that STEPHEN of all people was the one that gave Scott a euology and was the only one that actually gave a damn XD

And it's pretty sweet that he would have been ok to find out if they sucked, if they found out they sucked together

-"Mommy!" yeah

-I can fucking believe she actually sang that fucking song XD

-Brie Larston is so talented; if I didn't already know she played Envy, I honestly could not tell that was her, but then again I only know her as Captain Marvel, where she has a deeper and much cooler voice

-So, if in the Scott Pilgrim world people just re-spawn at home after being defeated, does that mean that there no one can be murdered or manslaughtered? And if so, how do people actually get a "permanent game over"? Does everyone just die of old age? Also if people bury the coins dropped after someone dies, would that make grave-robbing the most common crime in the world?

-The fact that all Matthew needed to defeat Gideon was confidence is actually very inspiring. The probable reason why he's so extra (besides being a theater kid) is because Ramona dumped him, which really hurt his self-esteem. And while it's kinda sad and pathetic to let a middle school break-up bring down your self-worth, that doesn't mean it didn't suck for Matthew; and after realizing that Ramona wouldn't take him back just because he beat Scott, he finally got a reality check and decided that their goal was pointless, so he moved on from Ramona and decided to make something out of himself, and using the confidence he got from "beating" Scott, he unleashed his true power and was able to defeat Gideon, take his company, and then became successful Broadway actor

-"Et tu, eat me." Roxie is a fucking queen

Episode 3:

-Hey, I didn't asked to be fucking attacked about my writting process, Scott Pilgrim!

-Knives getting more character development besides being obsessed with Scott is everything I didn't know I ever wanted

-I feel you Stephen, I do 😞

-Omg I ship Knives and Kim so much!

-Since Roxie predates Toga, then should be saying that Toga gives off Roxie vibes?

-I'm in lesbians with all of them

-Roxie is so fucking horny lol. Tho I can't blame her, I would go rent to that video store everyday to talk to Kim or Hollie... and immediately choke and explode before a word comes out my mouth

-Also, fun fact: Hollie looks like a milf, but she's actually 26!

-Nice of that lady to apologize to Robot-01. He doesn't deserve all the mistreatment he gets, he's a good boi

Episode 4:

-Holy fuck this animation

-Bro, what is that song? XD

-'Edgar Wrong' XD XD XD

-Young Neil is a fucking treasure

💚 :3

-Straight Wallace is an anomaly that should not be allowed to exist

-Notorious heterosexual

-People are 100% saying some bullshit like, Lucas is only going out with her because he's secretly a pedo is only likes her because she's PLAYING a 17-year-old and that feeds his fetish

-Already saw a meme of the "My God!" clip, keep those coming people!

-Holy fuck this animation!!

-The paparazzi looking like cockroaches, nice

-I feel really bad for Lucas, he's actually a nice guy

-And then he fucking yeets a kid and steals his skateboard XD

-"Watch out guys, Vegan comin' through!"

Episode 5:

-I feel a little bad for Todd, but it's also so satisfying seeing this jackass, who thinks he can get away with anything because he's a rock star, get wrecked

-Weird the Vegan Police didn't show up to take away his powers tho; maybe they were informed of the situation and decided to give him a pass this time.

I really hope they expand on the whole concept of being Vegan in season 2

-Edit:

Envy: Hey, ask them what it feels like to always get his sloppy seconds?

Ramona: How does it feel-?

-I love how they expanded on the Stephen & Knives friendship :3

-I did not recognize Simon Pegg and Nick Frost until the end where they had the cornettos XD

Episode 6:

-Honestly, surprised they didn't bring up that Julie had a crush on Scott, and that's why she's always a bitch to him, specially because this is an anime, they can actually call her a tsundere!

And while we're on that, anyone think it's weird that nearly single girl in the comic had or still has a crush on Scott? Like, seriously? This asshole, really? And you just know that if it was a manga made in Japan, Stacie would have a goddamn bro-con complex with him

-Idk how I feel about them just glossing over Gideon just being an absolute monster; like yeah, Ramona was a bitch with most of her relationships and she does tend to run away from her problems, but Gideon was a manipulative, ego-centric, abusive piece of shit. I mean, the guy kept his 6 ex-girlfriends frozen in stasis for appearences or for whatever else he wanted, and he wanted to do the same to Ramona. I like him and Julie being assholes together, but seriously, I hope they touch on that in season 2

-Dude fuck those kids, I would give Gordon so much respect for actually trying that; I wish I had a third of his confidence

-I never knew I needed to see Captain America and The Spot being goofy friends until now

-I headcanon that one of the reasons why they had Matthew take over Gideon's company was so they could finally give him a job XD, tho it was always insinuated that he was in the army, because of the Private Rank patch on his jacket, which they removed in this version and that really sucka because I liked that little detail; it was also another reference to him being the 1st Evil Ex, because Private is the 1st rank in the military

-At least Ramona does recognize that what she did was messed up, even if the Twins were also being dicks, she should have just called them both out and be done with them

-Those fucking Vegan Robots man, I swear to God

Episode 7:

-When Old Scott spoke, I thought it was Ben Schwartz at first lol

-I love how the world isn't the cliché "terrible post apocalyptic world caused by something that happened to the main character", it just looks really crappy, which... yeah, accurate; the look everyone has just seems to be the current fad, they just embraced the post-apocalyptic looking world they live in.

Also that tech is not that advanced, they have hover vehicles and board, and holo-phones, that does seem like they kind of tech we could have in a few decades, maybe

-The fucking Virtual Boy XD XD XD, surprised Scott's eyes weren't on fire after staring into that thing

-Old Wallace is a fucking GILF

-That lucky motherfucker! He probably got the Switch for free!! 😬😬😬

-Nice Death Stranding reference

-Ramona changing her hair color every week was symbolic of her always running away from her problems, but I like that she keeps doing it in the future, just because she likes it

-Of course Future Ramona has fucking Back To The Future roller blades XD

-Both Ramonas are the same fucking size XD

-At first it felt that they just speedran Scott and Knives, but then again Scott probably read a little of Old Young Neil's auto-biography and figured things out. And since Knives wasn't as obsessed with Scott at this point it makes sense that she'd take this a lot better, Kim and Stephen probably helped her out too

-But at least she catharsis by seeing Scott and Ramona not being able to kiss XD

-Oh! And I just realized that she didn't waste her first kiss on Scott! 😃

Good for her!!

Episode 8:

-I think it's dumb they gave Knives her look from the comics without any reason. She only changed her look to look more appealing to Scott in the comics, and in the epilogue she's back to her normal look, like, at least have people mention the look and her saying that she's trying something new

Edit: I rewatched the whole thing and I just realized that Even Older Scott punched the highlights out of Knives' hair XD

-It's basically a meme at this point, but pls have the Katayanagi Twins do something! They had such a bigger role in the comics. At least I wanted to see their combo moves animated!

It's nice that the Exes are actually cheering for them to kiss, or maybe they're just teasing because they can't; either way it's nice

-Even Older Scott is Ramona's 8th evil ex. He debuts in the 8th episode and has studied the powers of all the other 7 Evil Exes along with his own, which adds up to 8.

Sucks he didn't actually use their powers, I would have loved it if he used Vegan Powers combined with mystical powers, maybe instead of Demon Hipster Chicks he summons little Nega Scotts, he has stronger skateboard tricks than Lucas, he some robot arms that can shoot lasers and can help him do the Twins' combo moves, but doubled

-Edit: The fact that Knives went for Ramona instead of Scott. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!!

-Even Older (Nega) Scott is just Evil Ryu and I fucking love it!!

-Even Older Scott's color scheme not only signifyes just how jaded and lost he's become, but also that Nega Scott has completely taken him over is just *chef's kiss*

-Edit: Todd still has the Wallace tattoo XD also his was my favorite attack, he just teleports and slams down, simple, but awesome

Also Even Older Scott defeated him with a headbutt

-Edit: It would've been funny if he had also punched Roxie in the boob again

-Every future character has "Old" in their name, but Ramona is just "Future Ramona", she will cut you if you call her old. Real missed opportunity to not call the oldest Ramona "Future Future Ramona".

"MILF" and "GILF Ramona" also would have been acceptable

-Sex Bob-Bomb became the new Crash and the Boys, except that instead of having an 8-year-old, they have a 17-year-old.

And Scott now has his actual girlfriend watching him perform

-Looks like Ramona actually enjoyed the stunt double gig. Good for her, tho honestly, she should have stuck with Netflix, Idk why, but I feel like they're gonna blow up at somepoint

-I like the idea of Lucas x Kim, but I would still prefer Knives x Kim, and my personal made-up ship: Lucas x Stacie. I just love big bois with cute smol gfs

-At first, it didn't make sense to see Todd and Roxie hanging out, but then I realized that just like Roxie, Todd was hurt by someone who treated their relationship like an un-important after-thought, a phase; and just broke it up like it was nothing, without any consideration for the other's feelings. And now that Roxie got closure with Ramona she's helping him to move on from this in a way healthier way than she did. (That and they're both gay) That is so fucking wholesome, I need to see them being friends in season 2 pls!! Also sucks she didn't interact much with Matthew, because Satya Bhabha said that he thinks Matthew and Roxie would be friends.

Also this was kinda foreshadowed in episode 2, at the end of Matthew and Gideon's fight, where she mentions wanting to get Vegan Powers after seeing how convinient they are. I need Half-Ninja, Vegan, Lesbian, now!!!!

-Wallace: Holy shit! True love does exist!?

-Ramona is finally gonna stop running away, so she keeps most of her hair as her natural color with a little green at the end to not forget her past and where she came from

-Get wait to see what Goose's game, but it must be in pretty early development, probably untitled even

SEASON 2 PLSSSSSS!!!!

#scott pilgrim #scott pilgrim takes off

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dragongirltongue · 10 months

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Okay, got someone wanting it so now you all gotta deal with it.

Esta6lishing details: this is a furry universe as it's a hybrid with my standard Superhero setting and the Spider-Man mythos plus possibly other marvel things as needed. Ramona is a green dragon.

Ramona Knight was just a regular teenager who managed to get in on an international fieldtrip to the Oscorp bio-enginineering labs in New York. It was a pretty standard thing they'd begun doing for some good publicilty.

Things were looking normal until someone realized one of the containers was empty, shortly after Ramona yelps, the spider had been found but in the panic had bitten Ramona causing her to immediately feel ill and collapse. The Spider did not survive recapture and Ramona was declared dead after her heart had stopped for several minutes. With the field trip cancelled everyone but Ramona's body was sent home. Oscorp stated that due to contamination they are required to hold the body until further notice.

Over the next month or so Ramona's organs would flash signs of life, parts of her changing each time. new organs forming, changes in her musclature, whatever she was now was no longer an ordinary human*.

As Oscorp employee, Dr Curt Connors, had been keeping an eye on her mutations and with a long enough delay since her last spark of life had been preparing to dissect the body for more invasive study. Ramona's eyes spring open as an extrasensory awareness warns her of danger and throws the tools aside without her so much as moving a finger. Her heart had started up again and this time stayed beating, her body fully alive once more. She starts questioning what's going on and the scientist, showing relief after the shock subsides fills her in, explaining how after her body was found to be safe people up the chain wanted it covered up as the mutations proved that human* testing could be viable sooner than expected.

Ramona was on edge but that feeling of danger had subsided. Dr Connors, noting the way Ramona was looking at him quickly moved the subject along, explaining that as she's alive she'll be able to go home.

Fear overtook Ramona, home was a rough place ever since her transition, now she's legitimately a freak, there's no way her family would want to see her now. She begs for another option. She points out how with her mutations it'd also be safer to stay near the only place that understands what happened to her, what if she explodes into a hivemind of millions of man eating spiders, or one really big spider monster or something, this lab is the only place that could probably fix that.

Dr Connors can't argue with her points, plus deep down he had wanted to start a family but his work always came first keeping him from ever settling down. He brings up the possibility of adoption, even if off the record and Ramona relaxes, agreeing pretty quickly.

Dr Connors sneaks Ramona out of the lab, claiming he needed to destroy the body due to danger the mutations presented and takes her to his apartment, setting up what had once been a storage space as a bedroom.

Summer goes by, full of tests to ensure her mutations won't make normal life too difficult for her to adapt back into.

The two discovered Ramona had superhuman* strength, increased reflexes, the power to stick to walls, her body also produced web from openings in her wrists. Along with the standard Spider abilities she'd also gained some degree of psychic ability, she had significantly heightened awareness of her surroundings, activiated by danger to her body and in some cases even emotional and psychological threats, she also had some degree of telekinesis, able to through small objects and even her own body through the air without contact.

A few torn t-shirts into testing her capabilities and Dr Connors designed a suit for her to wear that should withstand her newfound strength better than anything in her wardrobe, he also designed a pair of bracelets to cover her wrists and conceal her visible mutation. She could open them with a hand gesture to allow the release of webbing and even maintain finer control over it's shape.

By late september Dr Connors decided that she was clear to lead a normal life and had her attend a local high school a few weeks late, he stresses to her to keep her abilities secret if only to stop Oscorp discovering her.

On her first day she catches a jock beating up a nerd and while she did want to heed her father's words, she couldn't just stand by and watch someone get hurt, stepping in she catches a fist without issue, pushing the bully away from his victim and offers to fight fairly in his place. After catching a few more punches, the jock gives up, after a more formal introduction Ramona offers Flash another shot later, finding out that the nerd, Peter, has a class with her coming up.

The three become friends after this and Ramona realises her powers could be used for good. She soon decides to start wearing her test suit under her clothes, just in case she needs to really let loose.

She decides one evening that maybe she should really put her powers to the test, maybe even help some people if she gets the chance. Realizing that some kid leaping around from building to building will get some attention which could get her on the news and reveal to her previous family that she's still alive she decides to buy a cheap halloween mask, gotta hide her face when she's showing off.

A few people helped, a few emergencies averted and even a couple crimes stopped later and people start asking who she is. Knowing that she can't just give her name and wanting to appear more mature she comes up with Spider-Woman and it sticks.

One late night home and her dad catches her, still in costume no less, she expects trouble but only finds concern. It turns out that while she was pulling someone out of a car wreck, he'd been dealing with some guys from Oscorp security asking about the body and where this Spider-Woman may have came from. Ramona explains that while she had intended to keep her powers a secret, she also couldn't sit by and let someone get hurt, pointing out how he took a similar risk in getting her out of the lab in the first place. She lists every person who's still alive in New York only because she happened to swing by. Still afraid of what Oscorp might do, Curt agrees to let her keep being Spider-Woman, but also tells her she can't swing around dressed like this anymore, offering to make her something more suitable to her name.

The two come up with a design and she begins swinging around as New York's One and Only Spider-Woman.

Ramona knows that from here on out nothing could possibily go wrong in her life. Sure she's gotta fight the ocassional Oscorp goons but she's got two great friends who hang out with her all the time, a father who loves her for who she is and a city that's increasingly starting to love her. She even got to join Mary-Jane and Gwen Stacy's band, nothing could go wrong for Ramona Connors: Spider-Woman

Oh also while I wasn't sure where to place it, Curt Connors is a Lizardman already 6ut has yet to mess with his own DNA. Unsure what species Ramona's immediate circle are, nor have I decided what Norman Osborn is yet.

#6aaah #OC: Ramona Connors #Spider sona #Spider-Sona

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queerprayers · 1 year

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Johanna's artist/small business holiday roundup

I wanted to highlight some Christian (+ Christian-adjacent) artists that I've been enjoying recently, and link y'all to their stores/socials!

@and-her-saints (etsy, instagram): one of my favorite religious artists! gorgeous art prints, as well as t-shirts & tote bags.

@tomato-bird (website): I just ordered some zines from this artist and I'm so excited for them to arrive! they're on my list for tattoo design commission as well...

Terra and Sage (instagram): absolutely beautiful prints. just ordered some of these as well!

Art of Marza (instagram): my go-to for stickers. my myrrhbearers "ride or die" sticker on my laptop always makes me laugh.

Our Church Speaks by Ben Lansing (instagram): a church history art project highlighting saints and other Christian figures! prints & calendars

Ramona Martinez (instagram): a (local to me) artist and musician, folk Catholic, and printmaker! currently working on a Mary oracle deck.

The Modern Saints (instagram): a modern saint icons project! so much character in these artworks.

Kelly Latimore Icons (instagram): stunning icons. I love that the icon tradition is becoming more diverse.

Pax Rosa (etsy): lovely candles & stickers.

The Living Heart Co.: prints & mugs

SweetloCA Christian Icons (etsy): icons, rosaries, & crucifixes made by traditional Ukrainian artisans in Canada to benefit Ukraine

Theo Golden (etsy, instagram): prints & tattoos that sometimes feature trans portrayals of Christian figures/themes

Baritus Catholic (etsy): illustrations of saints/symbols (prints, stickers, prayer cards)

GroundingSpirit: Lutheran prayer beads & rosaries

PixieAuthoress: fun pins & zines

#my posts #ok to rb #anyone welcome to reblog with additions!#adjacent just meaning idk the religious identities of all of these people but they at least sometimes create w religious themes!

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kamenstranger · 5 months

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

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

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

This is uh, certainly a direction to go.

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

Episode 3: Ramona Rents a Video.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ep. 4: Whatever.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ep. 5: Lights. Camera. Sparks?!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cute.

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

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

Ep. 7: 2 Scott 2 Pilgrim.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ep. 8: The World Vs Scott Pilgrim.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And that is Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.

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

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

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

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

Soundtrack

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

Animation.

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

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

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

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

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

Final Thoughts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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tsarisfanfiction · 7 months

Text

Carnage

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians Rating: Teen Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Family Characters: Lee Fletcher, Lizzy White (OC), Kim Ha-Yoon (OC) "Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations," or the immediate aftermath of the chariot race from hell, as experienced by one of the youngest kids in camp. Whumptober day 3, “Make it stop". Pre-canon this time; that throwaway line in Sea of Monsters about why the chariot races were discontinued has always intrigued me, so I figured why not try and explore it in a fic?

Lee was shaking. There were screams in his ears, some echoes from earlier that wouldn’t go away, the terror as everything went horrifically wrong, and some still shrieking now. Pain, grief, horror.

There was blood on his hands, splattered across his face and his mouth tasted of metal and it was disgusting but worse was the knowledge that it wasn’t his. It was someone else’s, and no amount of spitting could get rid of the taste.

Chiron was shouting orders, and Ha-Yoon, too. Lee tried to listen, but there was so much noise and his spine kept tingling because people kept promising that things were going to be okay, that things would be alright, but no-one was believing them.

Even without the tingle of a lie, Lee wouldn’t believe them. How could he, when there was so much blood, so much pain?

He could see the crushed head of Berta, the head counsellor of cabin six, long blond hair matted with blood and skull completely caved in. The one grey eye visible was glassy and sightless. She hadn’t even been in a chariot, but she’d been in the wrong place when the Ares chariot had careened into the stands and something had gone boom.

Lee was pretty certain Ramona and Xander were dead, too. The Ares chariot had been red already, but now it was liquid-red, and there was a single limp hand visible from the wreckage. It wasn’t attached to a wrist.

“Lee!” Hands grabbed him and spun him around so fast he almost lost his balance. “Lee, are you hurt?” It was Lizzy’s voice, and Lizzy’s tell-tale splash of dark pink bangs, but all Lee could focus on were the rest of the campers moving around, and the ones that weren’t, covered in blood and too still.

Ha-Yoon was shouting in English, he realised numbly. That felt wrong. His head counsellor never spoke in English.

“Lee,” Lizzy said again, and her hands cupped his face, forcing her to look at him. Her hands cupped his ears, muffling the screaming.

There was so much screaming.

He blinked up at his sister as her thumb started wiping at his face. “Are you hurt?” she repeated. Lee shook his head. No, he wasn’t hurt, just his ears ringing from all the screaming.

Lizzy’s orange camp t-shirt had red on the shoulder.

“Okay, good,” she said. “Let’s get away from here.”

She didn’t give Lee a choice, tugging on his arm until he followed her, stumbling across the wreckage of the stands.

There was so much blood. Lee saw Gabriel kneeling down next to Marisa from cabin five, his hand faintly glowing as he sang a hymn. The words were drowned out by her screaming, her one remaining hand struggling to free itself from Gabriel’s firm hold while the mangled remains of her right arm slowly knitted up.

Lizzy pulled him past. “Don’t look,” she ordered. “Look at me, Lee. Just me.”

That was easier said than done. Everything was carnage and Lee tripped over one of the new Aphrodite kids where she was cowering behind her head counsellor as the pink-haired girl called out to the rest of her cabin. It sounded like a roll call.

The Aphrodite chariot had been one of the first to flip, careening into the Hephaestus chariot which had then tangled with the Hermes chariot. Lee didn’t know what had happened to the kids in it.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

The Hephaestus and Hermes chariots had exploded.

He didn’t know what had happened to those kids, either.

Under his feet, blood-splattered stone turned to red stained grass instead, and he felt Lizzy pull him against her side, burying his face in her dark pink-purple dungarees. “Don’t look,” she repeated, but not looking meant he could just hear more.

Ha-Yoon was still yelling, sending runners to fetch ambrosia and nectar and anything else they could carry from the infirmary. Hooves squelched into the ground, and Lee know if that was the horses or Chiron kicking and tugging at the wreckage of the chariots.

The screaming still hadn’t stopped, even though the voices were turning hoarse.

Make it stop, he begged, but he couldn’t find his voice and Lizzy was still pulling him away. Please, someone, make it stop.

“Lizzy!” Lee heard Ha-Yoon shout. “I need Lee over here!” She was still speaking in English, and it sounded wrong.

Lizzy muttered something that didn’t sound happy, but Lee felt her change direction, tugging them towards their head counsellor.

“Lee’s too young for this!” she argued back as they stumbled forwards, and part of Lee wanted to rebel at that – he was nine, now! – but the world was still screaming and he just wanted it all to stop.

“Do you think I don’t know that?” Ha-Yoon snapped back. “Give him to me. I’ve sent Lauren and Michelle to the infirmary and I need you to go after them and make sure everything’s prepped.”

“Why don’t I take Lee-”

“I need Lee here,” Ha-Yoon cut Lizzy off. “Lee, come here.” Her words were short and abrupt, but she’d just switched back to Ancient Greek, and Ha-Yoon always spoke in Ancient Greek rather than English and that comforted Lee enough to peel away from Lizzy’s side and stumble across the short distance to his Korean sister.

She let him burrow against her jacket, even though the fabric was damp in places. It wasn’t as comfortable as Lizzy. Ha-Yoon was shorter than their sister, and Lee’s head was pressed against her shoulder rather than under her arm. “Lee, I know this is loud and scary, but I need your help,” she said, and he tilted his chin up until he could see her face.

“Mine?” he asked, wondering what he could possibly do in the face of so much blood. He wasn’t a healer like Mitch or Gil or Gabriel.

Ha-Yoon nodded. “We’ve got a triage system set up and I need someone to look after the people that are hurt but not badly,” she said. “You’re good at healing, so I need that to be you, okay?”

Lee swallowed but nodded his head. “Okay,” he whispered.

“Thank you,” Ha-Yoon replied, her voice softening a bit. “Wait here, okay? I’ll send the patients over to you.”

He whimpered as she pulled away, and felt her hand squeeze his shoulder lightly. He didn’t want to be left alone, but he knew Ha-Yoon wouldn’t leave him alone if she had a choice.

He also knew that Mitch and Gil had been in their chariot, caught in the backlash of the explosion, and that they hadn’t got up from where they’d crumpled.

Mitch and Gil were the best healers in camp.

His first patient was the new Aphrodite kid, barely injured but shaking just as much as Lee had been. Still was. He was pretty sure her name was Silena, and that the two of them were the youngest kids in camp. Her head counsellor, Belinda, was with her, and had a nasty cut on her arm that Lee hadn’t seen earlier.

It was something Lee knew how to treat – kids came into the infirmary with cuts all the time, usually after sparring with Ares kids – and Belinda obediently stayed still while he dabbed at it and wrapped it up with supplies Lauren had appeared with just after Ha-Yoon left him. Other campers came up to him, white-faced and red-stained but never with anything worse than deep cuts, and every so often Ha-Yoon came by to make sure his patients were listening to him.

Anyone who didn’t listen to Lee definitely listened to Ha-Yoon.

Eventually, the screaming died down. There was shouting, instead, and sobbing, but it was easier to listen, and to look, when he didn’t have patients to treat.

Looking was a mistake, but Lee couldn’t help it. Marisa’s mangled arm looked horrible even after Gabriel’s healing, and at one point he saw Gil being run up the hill towards the big house on a stretcher, leg twisted the wrong way around and white poking up out of all the red. Mitch had stayed where he’d fallen for some time, even after Gabriel ran to him after finishing with Marisa. When he’d finally been stretchered away, Lee had seen something dark sticking out of his chest.

Slowly, things turned less chaotic. Most of Lee’s patients left him once he’d bandaged them up, heading for where most of the head counsellors were starting to organise clean-up. The ones that stayed tried to help him, or comforted each other.

But things were still bad. The lack of screaming didn’t stop the blood from being everywhere. The less injured campers moving around while the worse patients were transported to the infirmary didn’t stop others being dead.

Lizzy didn’t come back from the infirmary, but Ha-Yoon’s brief stops got longer and longer, until he had no patients left and just her for company, wrapping an arm around his shoulders lightly.

“Time to get cleaned up,” she told him. “And to get away from here.” She shooed him on ahead of her, towards their cabin, and didn’t let him stop until he was in the shower, a pile of clean clothes folded outside and waiting for him.

At the sight of the faint red swirling down the drain with the water and soap bubbles, Lee sat down heavily, wrapping his arms around his knees and cried, because there had been so much noise, so much blood, and he was only nine and people were dead.

He didn’t know how long he spent in the shower when there was a knock on the door, only that at some point the hot water had turned freezing. “Lee?”

He’d used up all the hot water. Lee sniffled. “Coming.”

Lizzy was waiting for him when he stumbled out, dressed in fresh clothes but unable to stop himself from snivelling. Her top was still stained red, but her hands were so clean they almost shone.

She was holding his headphones, the ones his dad had given him in a dream a few months ago and had been on his head when he woke up. “Do you need these?” she asked him. Lee snivelled again and reached for them, letting them close over his ears with a satisfying snap.

The bubble of silence they wrapped him in made him wish he’d had them earlier, when everyone had been screaming and everything had been too loud.

Lizzy tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned to look at her. She pointed at herself, and then the bathroom, then at him and his bunk, ending her pantomime with a shrug.

Lee curled in on himself a little more and nodded. “I used up all the hot water,” he admitted, his voice the only sound that ever got past his headphones and sounding a little tinny in the silence. “Sorry.”

Her laugh was silent, but the way she waved her hand told him she was telling him not to worry about it. She pointed at his bunk again, and Lee did as he was told, slinking over to it and curling up under the covers, even though it was the middle of the afternoon and he knew he wouldn’t sleep.

It was quiet, and there was no blood here.

In the safe cocoon of silence and blankets, Lee could almost pretend the chariot race hadn’t happened.

Almost.

#whumptober2023 #no.3 #“make it stop”#percy jackson and the olympians #riordanverse #fic #blood #major injury #background character death #graphic description of violence #percy jackson fanfiction #riordanverse fanfic #lee fletcher #silena beauregard #original characters #lizzy white #kim ha-yoon #tsari writes fanfiction

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