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Total funding amounts to $125.3M.

coolerthansnow · 3 months

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HEY !! SHES GOOOOONNEE (IM SPENDING ALL OF MAH MONEHHHHYYY) SHES GONE GONE GONE (AND I CAN SWING WITH MAH HONEHYYY) SHES GOOOONE IM SO GLAD THAT WOMANS GOONE

#wooooo i love that song #10cc #eric stewart #graham gouldman #rick fenn #paul burgess #Stuart Tosh #tony o'malley #coolerstuff2 #Spotify

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sardens · 1 year

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Tony O'Malley - Irish Landscape (Autumn)

#Tony O'Malley

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furryfaceoff · 1 year

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Questions to consider:

- Who's your favorite?

- Who's most likely to create more furries?

#furry #furry fandom #tournament polls #tournament poll #tournament #polls #tumblr polls #tony the tiger #frosted flakes #thomas o'malley #thomas omalley #aristocats #furryfaceoff polls #round 3 #anthro #furry competition

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misteriios · 1 year

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berlioz & tony || @devilsmenu

❝ i had no idea you must know much about music. i grew up, playing the piano and learned it quickly, same with these melodies i could play too ❞ he paused, frowned, slowly shook his head ❝ at school we gotta know about their background story. they said i must find the harmony and rhythm in everything i play, i don't understand what they mean ❞

#interactions / berlioz o'malley.#( berlioz & tony )

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officiallyashley · 11 months

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Yummy Fruit (. one piece .)

SUMMARY: The Straw Hats finally docked on an island to restock on items, much to Hana’s delight. On this island, as Hana and her brother are exploring, they come across an interesting-looking fruit that Hana boldly decides to eat…

NOTE: This is a Hana Nakano centric oneshot! The devil fruit she ate is called the Rai-Rai devil fruit, meaning she can control and generate lightning and electricity (a lot like Laxus Dreyar from Fairy Tail ). She can also channel her devil fruit powers into her weaponry. Also, sorry for any potential spelling errors that I missed. I also can’t remember if I’ve posted anything in relation to Ash and the Monster Trio’s kids, but here’s the birth order; Hana, Ace, Yuna, Kaen, and then the twins Himeji and Aiji. Zoro fathers Hana, Yuna, and Kaen, Luffy fathers Ace, and Sanji fathers the twins Himeji and Aiji. I’ll make a separate post about their kids with information about them.

WARNINGS: no warnings for this oneshot! At least, I don’t think so. Just Hana and Ace being Hana and Ace lol 😆

{~~~}

“FINALLY!” HANA SAID, RUNNING OFF OF THE DECK OF THE SHIP.

The green-haired girl was itching for some kind of an adventure. She wanted — no, needed — something to happen. Hana begged for a catalyst to free her from her world of eternal boredom. Hana grabbed her mini-katanas and hooked them to her belt. One katana had a black guard and pommel with an electric blue blade and handle. Her other katana has a white handle, a black pommel, and a purple and black linear gradient blade, and her guard was black. Hana was chomping at the bit to get off of the Thousand Sunny.

Hana looked over to her younger brother Ace, who was nagging about how he also desperately wanted to exude some of his energy to their Aunt Alex by pulling on her sleeve. It looks like Ace also wants off just as much as I do. She thought to herself, observing her younger brother’s behavior.

Luckily for the kids, Hana and Ace finally got what they wanted. Ace stretched his arms above his head, letting out a relaxed sigh afterward. “Come on, Ace! Let’s go explore!” The green-haired girl exclaimed excitedly, running ahead with Ace following behind his older sister.

“Hold it, you two!”

Hana and Ace froze in their tracks. They both groaned in unison. “Aunt Alex!” Both children exclaimed together.

“You two need to wait for us, alright?” The redhead explained firmly, “You need to stay with us. We don’t want you guys getting lost, or for any bad people that could possibly get their hands on you to snatch you two up.”

“But, Auntie Alex! Why would anyone want to snatch us up?” Six-year-old Hana inquired bluntly. “Especially Ace. No one would want to kidnap him.”

Ace shot his older sister a sharp glare, narrowing his dark eyes. “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!” The raven-haired boy questioned, the volume of his voice rising.

“It means that you’re so annoying that the kidnappers would want to return you,” Hana elaborated in a matter-of-fact tone of voice with no hesitation.

Four-year-old Ace then grunted in frustration, proceeding to ball up his fist and punch Hana’s right shoulder. Hana’s eyes widened, only for her brows to furrow in anger and her eyes to slant in vexation. She retaliated by also balling up her fist and hitting Ace right on the top of his head really hard. This then caused a small altercation between the two children, both of them shouting various mean things while hitting and kicking each other. “You meanie head! I’m not annoying!” Ace protested loudly.

“To me, you’re annoying, you big jerk!” The six-year-old argued back, landing a kick on her brother’s left ankle.

“Ow! Hana!! Stop kicking me!”

Alexandria was going to be the one to reprimand her niece and nephew, but someone else beat her to it. “Oi! You two brats better stop your fighting! It’s getting annoying!” Zoro called out sternly from the main area of the Thousand Sunny, leaning on the railing.

“See? You are annoying, Ace!” Hana commented with a smirk.

“Hana, don’t be a turd!” Zoro instantly called back.

Hana scoffed, obviously offended by what her father said. “Papa Zoro, now you’re being mean! You called me a piece of poop!” The green-haired little girl pointed out.

Zoro just rolled his eye, letting out an annoyed sounding “Tch”. “Just do what your Aunt Alex is telling you to do!” He stated, making himself abundantly clear. The swordsman then left the conversation with his daughter at that, returning to go back to helping out Franky with ship-related matters to make sure everything was okay before the crew went to explore the island they had just docked at.

Hana defiantly looked away from where her father was, only to see Ace laughing his ass off at their father getting on to his older sister. A familiar wide and bright grin was plastered on his face, letting out a small “shishishishi!” Ace was definitely a carbon copy of Luffy. No doubt about it.

“HAHA! Hana, you just got in trouble~!” Ace exclaimed in a singsong tone of voice, making fun of his sister.

“He was getting onto you, too, dimwit!” Hana told her brother cuttingly.

“Oh…” Ace replied doltishly, his grin fading away in an instant.

Alex sighed deeply. Even though she and the crew absolutely adored these two children, they were a handful. With a smile, she snapped her fingers to get the two children’s attention. The green-haired girl and the raven-haired boy quickly turned their aunt’s way. “You both heard your father. You need to get along, alright?” The scarlet-haired aunt told her niece and nephew, her tone of voice softer than before. “Now, you two stay here and wait while I help the others get situated.” With that, nothing else was said. Both Alex and Zoro were firm in their instructions for the kids.

Hana rolled her dark eyes. Jeez, they’re always up my ass! It’s not like anything bad is going to happen. That was what Hana wanted to say, but she kept her mouth shut. The little swordsman knew she would get in big trouble if she sassed back to her Auntie Alex. Also, she would definitely get in trouble for cussing in front of her. Hana grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest. Hana watched as her red-haired aunt walked up the ramp that led from the Sunny down to the dock. That’s when an idea popped into the young child’s head.

Taking a step towards Ace, Hana kept her gaze on the adults, observing what they were doing. She saw her Papa Sanji bring out some refreshments for the crew, handing an orange drink to her Aunt Nami. “Hey, Ace?” Hana asked in a whisper, watching as Chopper and Brook were conversing about something.

“Yeah, sis?” The little boy questioned, raising his brow in curiosity. His tone was also in a whisper, mimicking his sister.

“You wanna go and explore the island now that no one is looking?”

“Yeah!” Ace replied with no hesitation.

Hana and Ace nodded at each other. For how much the two of them bickered, they sure had moments where they acted like they were best friends. Both children took slow steps backward, keeping their gaze focused on the adults on the Thousand Sunny. The children’s footsteps got faster with every step that they took, and once they knew that their coast was clear, both Hana and Ace booked it for the island town. They both ran so fast that they practically left dust trails behind them.

Right as Hana and Ace were out of sight, Ashley had come out of their bedroom that they shared with Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. They let out a huge yawn, clearly overwhelmed with tiredness. They held their two-year-old daughter, Yuna, in their arms as they walked out onto the main area of the ship. “Oh? Are we here already?” Ashley muttered, rubbing the exhaustion from their eyes. These days, the brunette has been even more exhausted than usual. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for Ash to sleep a lot more and that was because not only did they have a toddler, but Ash was also six months pregnant with their second son. Because of those factors, napping had become Ash’s favorite pastime, so they did that activity often.

Luffy, as well as the other members of the Straw Hats, spotted the brown-haired crew mate and their brunette daughter. With a huge happy grin on his face, Luffy made his way over to his wife and daughter, engulfing both of them in a loving hug. “Did you sleep well, treasure?” Luffy asked gently, a rare tone to his typically louder voice.

Ash hugged him back. “I got as much sleep as I can get.” They replied with a light chuckle. As they broke the hug, Ash felt their toddler pull at their long wavy brown hair. “Yuna, no. Stop pulling on mommy’s hair, sweetie.” Ash told their daughter, who was pointing at Luffy. The connection clicked for Ash. “Do you want your Papa Luffy?” With a nod from Yuna, Ash handed over the two-year-old to Luffy, who gladly took Yuna.

Luffy held his little girl in his arms. God, did this man absolutely adore all of his children. He took off his straw hat and put it on Yuna’s small head to block the hot August sun from getting in her face or giving the toddler a sunburn. “Alright, Yuna, let’s go see what Chopper and your Grandpa Brook are doing!” The raven-haired captain told his brunette daughter, who smiled in return.

As Luffy and Yuna went over to visit their other family members, Sanji and Zoro came over Ash's way. Zoro leaned up against the wall, while Sanji handed his girlfriend a rejuvenating honey lemon drink. Ash happily took the drink. “Thank you, Sanji.” She thanked him, taking a sip of the drink. “Oh! Honey lemon chia fresca! Hell yeah!”

Sanji smiled. There was an adoring expression in his eyes as he saw Ash grin and cheerily hum a tune to themself. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it, angel.” The blonde cook told his significant other as he set the drink and food tray aside.

“Did you sleep well?” Zoro asked Ashley.

Ashley shrugged her shoulders. She took one more sip before responding. “As much as I could get. Yuna wasn’t a problem, but this little guy here in my tummy decided that once mommy was going to lay down for a bit, he was gonna start kicking.” The brunette pirate commented with a bit of a harmless edge to her voice. She then took another sip of her drink.

“Well, at least you and Yuna got some sleep,” Sanji noted as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

Ash nodded, taking her mouth away from the straw. “How’s Hana and Ace doing?” She inquired about her eldest daughter and her son.

“Oh, they’re fine. Alex told those two brats to wait on the dock while we finished things up here.” Zoro informed his lover, crossing his arms over his chest.

At that statement about their kids, Sanji glanced over at the dock for a brief moment. Suddenly, his heart stopped beating in his chest. His eyes widened as wide as they could possibly get, and he fell silent as Ash and Zoro chatted about a topic of conversation that fell deaf on the blonde’s ears. As Ash was saying something to the swordsman, Sanji placed his hand on her shoulder. “Love…” Sanji trailed off, his words caught in his throat.

Ash and Zoro turned their heads to Sanji. Both of them sensed his extreme alarm. “Sanji? Baby, are you okay?” Ash asked, furrowing her brows in concern. Zoro also gave him a skeptical look.

“… the kids…” Sanji gulped.

“The… the kids? What about them?” Zoro inquired slowly.

“The kids are gone!” The blonde man stated in a panicked tone.

Ash and Zoro froze in their places. The three of them rushed over to the railing where they saw the dock area completely void of people. Hana and Ace were nowhere to be found. Ash and Zoro widened their dark hues, absolutely terrified by the fact that they couldn’t see their children. “Oh… Oh my god! The kids!” Ash exclaimed anxiously. Zoro and Sanji immediately rushed down the docking ramp in a hurry.

This caused the attention of the rest of the crew to fall on Ash, Zoro, and Sanji. “What’s wrong, guys?!” Nami asked frantically.

Ashley fiercely turned to her good friend as her two husbands were calling out the names of their son and daughter. “Hana and Ace aren’t on the dock! They’re missing!” Ash says in a panicked tone. Tears threatened to fall from their dark chocolate-brown orbs, and they began to breathe heavily. Her mind was running a mile a minute, her throat went completely dry, and her heart went numb. Ash began to tremble — so much so that she dropped her honey lemon chia fresca. The glass cup shattered once it had hit the ground, and tears started cascading down her tan cheeks.

This was when the crew’s anxiety started to run rampant. They all instantly began to panic, and worry was coursing through their veins. Chopper and Robin immediately ran over to Ashley in an attempt to calm her down, and Luffy handed Yuna over to Franky after taking his straw hat from her and putting it on. By this point, Zoro and Sanji were already well into the town searching for their missing children.

“Goddamnit! I told them to stay on the dock while we finished everything here!” Alex cursed, hurriedly making her way down to the dock.

“Ashley, listen to me. Try your best to regulate your breathing. Follow my breathing patterns. Stress isn’t good for the baby.” Robin told her friend calmly, although incredibly panicked herself. Ash wasn’t budging despite Robin’s efforts.

“Robin, Franky, and I will remain here with Ashley and Yuna! You guys go and find Hana and Ace!” Chopper instructed as he tried his best to ease his friend’s nerves.

Luffy nodded. A gazillion possibilities were running through everyone’s minds. What if someone had kidnapped Hana and Ace? What if they happened to get in a situation that they can’t get themselves out of? “Alright! Split up to cover more ground! Let’s go!” Luffy commanded his crew, who didn’t object by any means. They were determined to find the babies of the crew safe and sound. Before he left, Luffy quickly ran over to his wife, who was in tears. He absolutely hated seeing Ashley in such a broken state, his heart breaking at the sight. He took off his straw hat and put it on the brunette, which made her freeze and seize her crying.

“L-Luffy…?” Ash muttered through her hiccups.

“We will get them back. No doubt about it.” He told her confidently and soothingly, kissing her forehead.

“O-Okay…” She muttered in a shattered tone, nodding.

Without another word, Luffy ran as fast as he could into the town to find his two kids.

{~~~}

“WHOA! HANA, LOOK AT THAT WEIRD THINGY!” Ace announced obnoxiously, pointing to a knickknack that he found intriguing.

Hana rolled her eyes. “Keep your voice down, idiot! You don’t want to attract any attention to us!” Hana chastised her little brother.

“But I want another one of those thingies!” He protested.

Hana crossed her arms over her chest. “Really? You didn’t even buy those. You pickpocketed those things!” The older sister stated in a low voice, so as to not alarm the passerbyers in the streets.

“Well, at least I didn’t get caught!” Ace cheered with a toothy grin plastered on his face.

“That sounds exactly like something that Aunt Nami would say…” Hana trailed off with a sigh.

“She says that if you don’t get caught, then you’re fine!”

“Yeah, I’m starting to think that you shouldn’t take her advice when it comes to stuff like this, Ace,” Hana stated with a somewhat sarcastic and unemotional tone in her voice. She observed her surroundings — something that her parents had taught her to do at a young age. However, in Hana’s opinion, Ace wasn’t even close to mastering that skill, so to speak. The green-haired swordswoman kept one hand on one of her katanas to be ready to strike if needed to, always keeping out for stuff in the corner of her eyes. That’s when the little girl caught a glimpse of two people that were very familiar to both her and Ace. It was two out of three of their fathers — their Papa Luffy and Papa Zoro.

Widening her chocolate brown orbs, she grabbed her little brother by the wrist and yanked him into an alleyway, intending to utilize it as their detour. “Shit! They may have seen us!” Hana cursed in a whisper, but her brother still heard her and decided to comment on it.

“Hehehe, Hana said a naughty word!!” Ace exclaimed noisily. Even though she loved her brother, Hana knew that Ace was loud, and often during the worst of times. This was most definitely the worst of times for the siblings.

“Shut your mouth, Ace!!” Hana hissed lowly, and in an instant, her little brother was quiet. However, it wasn’t because of Hana getting short with him. It was because of the fact that he and his sister weren’t alone in that alleyway. In front of him and his sister, who wasn’t looking in his direction. Ace’s eyes widened as the two men stopped their conversation, locking their gazes with Ace’s as they approached him and his eldest sister.

“Umm…”

“What is it, Ace?” Hana whispered sharply as the two men’s shadows engulfed their small figures.

When she didn’t get an answer, she was confused. His silence only made Hana quizzical and worried, since Ace was never silent. If Roronoa Ace was quiet, which was a rare occasion, then something was really wrong. Hana turned around to say something to her brother, but her words were caught in her throat for a brief second when she saw the two men towering over the two of them. They were incredibly menacing to the children, more so to Ace than to Hana. “What are we gonna do, Hana?” Ace questioned quietly, frozen in his spot.

“You two are liabilities, so you’re gonna come with us!” One of the two men growled threateningly as he grabbed Ace’s wrist, trying to forcefully take him with him.

Hana just sighed roughly. This man’s fate was sealed the moment that he decided to touch her brother. With an intense glare that could cut through anything, Hana began her attack. Unsheathing her two katanas, she shut her eyes tight and focused on what she learned during her training with her Papa Zoro. As she opened her eyes to see her brother being taken away, Hana unleashed her attack. “Two Sword Style: Spinning Ribbon Cyclone!” She roared, setting her sights on the two men that made the poor decision of trying to harm them. Hana then charged at the two men within a blink of an eye, causing her to leave behind huge gusts of winds that were spiral-shaped. Not only were these two men screaming bloody murder, but they were also incredibly and clearly harmed. Hana’s attack eventually dissipated, leaving the two men in a state of complete agony and shock. This attack caused the two shady men to drop the chest that held this weird-shaped fruit. Hana just barely stuck the landing, wobbling on her right foot for a second before standing up as straight as a stick. “Hell yeah! I stuck the landing!” Hana cheered with an elated grin on her tan face.

“Just barely…” Ace murmured in hopes to annoy his sister a little bit, which worked well for little Ace.

“Oh, hush, you!! I count that!” Hana argued vehemently. Sighing roughly, Hana sheathed her twin katanas. She knew that this attack would attract the attention of her Papa Zoro and Papa Luffy, since they were close by. Not too much sooner, Hana’s intuition was proven to be correct when she and Ace saw their two fathers lock eyes with them.

“AAAAAACE!! HANAAAAAAAA!!” The furious voice of Luffy sounded loudly, reverberating off of the stone walls of the buildings that made up the alleyway they were. Even though there was an evident sense of rage in his voice, Hana could see the fear in Luffy’s dark eyes.

The brother and sister duo nodded to each other, seemingly having the same plan in mind. “Go! Now!” Hana ordered as she swiftly yanked the odd-looking fruit from the chest that it was in. That’s when she and Ace booked it, running away from their two dads.

“DON’T RUN AWAY FROM US, YOU TWO! GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!” Zoro demanded as he chased after his son and daughter.

Luffy utilized his Devil Fruit abilities in this situation, stretching out his arms to try and capture the two children, but it was to no avail. Hana and Ace had already turned the corner and ran away as fast as they possibly could. “Dammit!” Luffy cursed, both of his arms returning back to normal as Zoro chased after their kids.

Meanwhile, Hana and Ace had managed to escape from their parents’ wrath. They ran and ran until finally, they reached another alleyway to camp out in. They caught their breaths for a moment before they both sat down on the ground, which certainly dirtied their attire even more than it already was. Hana held the strange fruit in her hands, looking at it. Both she and Ace were examining this interesting type of food, curious about it. It was a fruit that was spiky, similar to that of a pineapple, but it was in the shape of what looked like a pear or an eggplant. It was pristine white in color, and the fruit emitted a light electric static charge that caused Hana and Ace’s hair to frizzle and stand up.

Ace tilted his head curiously. “What is it?” He asked his sister.

“I don’t know, bro,” She responded, shrugging her shoulders. Hana stared at the fruit for a moment before not even hesitating in taking a bite of the food.

“You just took a bite of it?”

“Yeah, so what? You can’t tell me that you wouldn’t do the same thing.”

“Fair,” Four-year-old Ace said as he shrugged his shoulders. After a minute of Hana eating this fruit, Ace’s curiosity got the better of him. He snatched the fruit from Hana’s hands, and he took a huge chomp out of the fruit on the side that Hana didn’t bite into.

“Hey! You fwicking…!” Hana began with food in her mouth, but then swallowed her bite to finish her sentence. “You fricking jerk! What was that for?!”

Before Ace could even respond, he ended up spitting out the fruit immediately. “Ew! Gross! I just wanted to try it!” Ace continued to spit onto the ground to attempt to get rid of the horrid taste in his mouth.

Crossing her arms, Hana lifted a brow in question. “What do you mean? It tasted really good to me. It was kinda tangy and sweet, I guess you could say. You just have a poor taste in food, Ace.” Hana remarked jauntily.

Before anything else could be said between the two of them, Hana and Ace were caught by surprise when someone grabbed them by the back of their shirts. They screamed in fright, trying to wriggle away. However, they were both unsuccessful. When the two children looked up, they saw their two fathers, Zoro and Luffy. The angriest expressions were hardened on their faces, and it was at that moment that Hana and Ace knew that they had screwed up big time.

“What the hell is wrong with you two?! Thinking it’s okay to sneak off like that without an adult — that’s dangerous and ludacris! Me and your Aunt Alex gave you instructions, and you disobeyed us! Do you know how worried we were about you guys?! Something could have happened to—” Zoro expressed frantically, his voice rising instantly with no hesitation.

In the middle of his husband’s ranting, Luffy noticed that Ace was holding something in his hand. Curious, Luffy decided to take a peek. His eyes widened in realization. “Zoro,” Luffy started bluntly, “Ace has something in his hand.”

Zoro immediately fell silent when he recognized what his son was holding. He froze for a moment, not knowing what to do. He figured Robin would have more information regarding what this fruit was, but Zoro and Luffy both could tell that this was a Devil Fruit. “Which one of you ate this? Did you both eat this? Where did you get it from?” Zoro questioned seriously, staring down both his older children. Luffy stood at his side with a cross look on his face and with his arms folded over his chest.

Ace’s eyes shifted to the side for a brief second. The little boy kept his firm grasp on the Devil Fruit. “Well, Papa Zoro, we ended up stealing the food from those two guys that Hana beat the crap out of. Hana ate it first, but I also had some after.” Ace admitted slowly, telling his dad the information that he was wanting.

Zoro’s gaze then focused on Hana, who didn’t let her unaffected demeanor falter in any way. Hana thought for sure that her Papa Zoro would yell at her, but he just remained silent. Honestly, the tense silence and the hardened glare of Zoro’s was telling Hana and Ace enough. “Let’s get them back to the ship.” Zoro huffed angrily, still holding his two kids by their shirts.

“Right,” Luffy agreed, nodding.

Hana didn’t like this decision that was made by her parents. The little girl grumbled in frustration as Zoro and Luffy began escorting their kids back to the Thousand Sunny. Hana’s emotions were building up, frustration being the emotion that typically got the best of her. This time wasn’t any different. All she wanted to do was explore the island with Ace. Where was the harm in that? She didn’t understand it, and she hated not getting her way. “DAD! We just wanted to explore the island a bit! Why couldn’t we just do that?!” Hana had brought up in an infuriated manner after a moment of silence had passed by the group of four. “Also, is it really necessary to carry us back to the Sunny by the back of our shirts?”

Zoro glared at his daughter harshly. “That’s enough outta you.” He stated coldly. It was clear that Zoro had enough of his children’s shenanigans, and he was beyond livid with them.

Because of Zoro’s lack of a satisfying response, Luffy ended up answering for him. “Yes, it is necessary because we don’t want you two running away from us. You need to stay with the adults because you’re too young to go out on your own.” Luffy affirmed acutely. “You didn’t follow orders that were given to you, and you ran away and did things your own way. Hana, Ace, you two could have gotten hurt or in a situation that you couldn’t get yourselves out of.” It was incredibly strange to see their Papa Luffy in such a stern and humorless manner, and that oddity alone sent a strong message to the kids.

Hana folded her arms over her chest, letting out a complaint in the form of a disapproving groan. All of her feelings were building up inside of her, and before anyone knew it, something had happened. Hana’s body emitted some kind of static energy that ended up shocking Zoro, which, in turn, caused him to drop Hana to the ground. He nearly dropped Ace, as well, but he managed to tighten his grip in time before he fell to the ground. Zoro was speechless for a second, blinking. “What… Hana, what the—?!”

“I’m sorry, Papa Zoro, I don’t know how I did that!”

“You shocked me!” Zoro exclaimed in disbelief. He sighed roughly, handing his daughter to her other father. “Take her to keep the electricity insulated.”

Luffy nodded. “Yup, you got it, babe.” The captain replied as he took the little green-haired girl in his grasp. They kept walking, almost making it back to the ship, when Luffy and Ace abruptly broke out into a fit of giggles. Hana giggled quieter than her father and brother, keeping a smirk on her face.

“What’s so funny?” Zoro inquired brazenly, lifting a brow.

“Shishishi! Dad’s hair is frizzy!” Ace snickered with a huge playful grin on his face that matched Luffy’s grin.

Zoro only huffed in response. Even though he and Luffy, along with the rest of the crew, weren’t pleased with what had taken place, Zoro was incredibly happy and more so relieved to be hearing the laughter of his two kids. Anything could have happened to them. Something awful and horrible could have befallen these two little children, and no one would have been there to save them. Zoro wouldn’t have been able to protect his precious kids if anything terrible had happened to Hana and Ace. Despite the fact that he was cross with them, finally locating Hana and Ace and finding them safe and sound instantly eased the majority of Zoro’s nerves. It seemed like Luffy felt the same way, as well.

Once they got back to the ship, the four of them saw that everyone else that had gone out to locate the kids was back on the ship. “We found them!” Luffy announced to his crew, causing sounds of relief to fill the air. Ashley turned their head to see a very displeased Zoro and Luffy enter on the ship with their two young children in their grasp. Ash audibly gasped when she saw her kids. Luffy sat Hana down and Ace wriggled out of Zoro’s grasp. Although Zoro had loosened his grip a bit, which made it easier for the four-year-old boy to escape. The brunette mother rushed over to her two kids and her two husbands.

Hana and Ace were alarmed by their mother’s mannerisms. Ace, in particular, was showing how worried he was for Ash. Their mother had puffy red eyes and tears streaming down their face, staining their tan cheeks. The two kids were extremely shaken up seeing their mother in this way because this sight was a first for them. Hana and Ace had never seen their mother break down and cry like she was doing currently. In fact, both of the Roronoa children could ever remember a time when they witnessed their mother crying like she was now.

Ace and Hana widened their dark eyes as their mother approached them. “Mama, what—” Ace started, but his mother had cut him off.

“DON’T YOU EVER RUN AWAY LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN! YOU HEAR ME?!” Ashley wailed as she engulfed her children in a bone-crushing embrace. The brunette was surprised that they were even able to get that sentence out without stuttering. They were letting out all of their frustration, anxiety, and paranoia at this moment in time, which was made clear by their sobbing. “Do you know how much you worried everyone?! It’s dangerous for kids so young to go out on their own! You never know what kinds of people you’ll come in contact with, or what they’ll do to you if they have ill intentions!”

“Ohhh, just like those weird guys in the alleyway?” Ace blurted out. This earned him a hit on the top of his head from his eldest sister.

“You dummy,” Hana mumbled, puffing out her cheek.

“WHAT?!” Multiple crew members exclaimed in shock and worry, including Ashley, Chopper, Ussop, and Nami, to name a few. They were all very clearly freaked out by what the four-year-old had vaguely mentioned.

Ash narrowed their eyes at their two older children, a serious expression on their face. Their chocolate brown hues held immense concern in them. “Hana, Ace, explain. Now.” Ash demanded.

“Um… we were running away from Papa Luffy and Papa Zoro, so we decided to hide in an alleyway. There were two men there talking about this weird fruit thing here,” The raven-haired boy then pulled out the Devil Fruit from behind his back, which immediately didn’t sit right with Ash, “and then Hana beat the crap outta those guys! It was soooo freaking cool! Then, after that, we stole the fruit because we were hungry and hid somewhere else until our Papas came and found us.” Ace explained nonchalantly to his mother.

Ash’s eyes were wide as she took in all of that information. “See? It’s people like those men that you have to be watchful for!” The brunette sighed before continuing. “Which one of you ate this fruit?” She asked.

“It was both of them. Hana ate it first, and then Ace decided to take a bite of it.” Zoro answered his wife gruffly.

“Robin,” Sanji started as he helped Ash up from the ground where she was meeting her children’s height, “do you happen to know what kind of Devil Fruit this is?”

Robin approached her niece and nephew. “Let me see it.” She said calmly, and Ace gave his aunt the half-eaten fruit. After a moment of analyzing this odd fruit, Robin let out a gasp.

“What? What is it, Robin?” Alex asked her girlfriend nervously.

“This is… the Rai-Rai Devil Fruit! It’s an incredibly powerful Devil Fruit, one with great power that should not be taken lightly. Some would argue that the Rai-Rai Devil Fruit is one of the more dangerous of the Devil Fruits. It’s known for its power centering around lighting. In particular, we’re talking about the ability to manifest, generate, and manipulate lighting. It wouldn’t surprise me if there are more avenues to her powers. Since Hana was the first one to consume this fruit, that means she now has those abilities at her disposal.” Robin elaborated, informing the others about this matter.

“Aw, yeah! New powers! Does this mean that I can put this in my weapons?!” Hana questioned with excitement in her eyes.

Robin smiled sweetly at Hana’s enthusiasm, knowing what her niece meant. “Yes, I would say that it’s entirely possible to incorporate your Devil Fruit abilities into your weaponry.” The raven-haired woman replied.

“Yay!!” Hana cheered with a bright smile.

“Hana, these Devil Fruit powers are a huge adjustment. They’re going to take a little while to control and get used to, especially since it’s such a strong type.” The blonde cook pointed out to his eldest daughter.

If anything, others around her could perceive Hana as determined. This was a new challenge for her to try and defeat, so she was more than willing to take this opportunity head-on. “Yeah, I know, Papa Sanji. It’s okay, though, because I know that I got this in the bag!” The green-haired little girl declared with a motivated spirit.

“Well, I’m just happy that you and your brother are safe,” Nami commented with a relieved sigh. “Who knows what could have happened with those two men…”

“Yeah, we’re sorry for running off like that. I guess we didn’t realize how much that made you guys worry.” Hana apologized. Although, she was mainly saying it for the sake of formality. Hana definitely had fun running around the town, and she would be lying if she said she wouldn’t do it again.

“Yeah, we’re sorry…” Ace trailed off.

“Please, listen to us next time. When we tell you to do something, then do it. We love you guys. We want you guys to be safe and happy. You can’t do something like that again.” Ashley reiterated softly.

“So, Mama, Papas, now that we’re back home and we’ve apologized, does this mean Hana and I aren’t in trouble anymore?” Ace asked with a hopeful grin.

“No,” Their parents all said instantly with no hesitation.

This elicited groans of complaints from Ace and Hana. “What?! Why not?!” Ace exclaimed.

“We don’t have to reiterate why you two are in trouble,” Ashley stated. “In fact, you’re both grounded for a week after this stunt you pulled.”

“UGH!!”

𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 © 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑. 𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚. 𝐢 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐞𝐭𝐜. 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥.

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broadwaydivastournament · 1 month

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Broadway Divas Tournament: Round 1C

Kerry O'Malley (1969) starred as The Baker's Wife in the 2002 revival of Into the Woods, which, y'know, tough act to follow. One of our few LA-based actresses, she's starred in just about every early-2000s touring production of White Christmas you can think of. Other credits include Annie Get Your Gun, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (2011), and Showstoppers in Vegas where I first saw and fell in love with her. Her big thing is dying on stage and screen because I think I must've watched this woman kick the bucket at least eight times. She does it really well.

THE Baker's Wife, Joanna Gleason (1950) is a Tony-winning legend who set a standard that has yet to even be approached. Her Baker's Wife in the original Into the Woods beat out Patti's Reno Sweeney, and Patti is still a little pissed off about it. She was also in infamous flop Nick & Nora (1991), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005), and I Love My WIfe (1977). Nowadays, she devotes her focus to directing and screenwriting and her film The Grotto won Best Narrative Premiere at the Heartland Film Festival.

PROPAGANDA AND MEDIA UNDER CUT: ALL POLLS HERE

youtube

"Okay, so the only reason Kerry's on this tournament is because I saw her in a Vegas show when I was a teenager and fell in love from the first note she sang. I am fully expecting her to get brutally murdered by Joanna Gleason, but she's finally getting her dues in film these days. Her ten minutes in The Killer were the only ten minutes worth watching. I was riveted. I also got to see her perform "Moments in the Woods" live at 54 Below a few years ago and she's just as pretty and sweet as I remembered. Her friend was sitting at my table, so I was able to introduce myself. I, uh, did not mention how I'd been distantly in love with her for the last decade or so..."

youtube

"Joanna Gleason, my beloved. Look, I've loved her for a while, but a few years ago I went down a deep rabbit hole watching her play Password Plus with Betty White, and I have not been the same since. I am deeply affected by smart, sardonic, eloquent women, and Joanna is on another level of brilliant. She broke a record on that show. You need to watch and marvel. Furthermore, full offense to everyone else, but Joanna is the only one who doesn't opt up at the end of "Moments in the Woods," and that is the correct way to sing it. I hate the opt up. Fuck your opt up. Joanna plays the Baker's Wife with a razor-sharp wit none of the others can match. Their Baker's Wife's are smart, and determined, but they don't have her droll swagger. Her line readings? Unmatched."

#broadwaydivastournament #broadway divas #broadway #musical theatre #tournament poll #kerry o'malley #joanna gleason #into the woods #round 1c

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river13245 · 6 months

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Info - Character List

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John Watson | Sherlock Holmes | Jim Moriarty | Mrs Hudson (platonic only)

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The Last Of Us:

Ellie | Joel | Dina | Jesse | Tommy

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Shaggy | Velma | Daphne | Fred |

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popculturebuffet · 5 months

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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emmie-tt · 1 year

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REQUEST LIST

Feel free to send requests love!!

HARRY POTTER

Harry potter

Draco Malfoy

Blaise Zabini

Ronald Weasley

Fred Weasley

George Weasley

Ginny Weasley

Hermione Granger

Luna Lovegood

Neville Longbottom

Mattheo Riddle

Theodore Nott

Tom Riddle

Severus Snape (PLATONIC ONLY)

Lucius Malfoy (PLATONIC ONLY)

Narcissa Malfoy (PLATONIC ONLY)

Bellatrix Lestrange (PLATONIC ONLY)

Remus Lupin (PLATONIC ONLY)

Sirius Black (PLATONIC ONLY)

Regulus Black (PLATONIC ONLY)

Molly Weasley (PLATONIC ONLY)

Arthur Weasley (PLATONIC ONLY)

STRANGER THINGS

Steve Harrington

Eddie Munson

Billy Hargrove

Eleven (PLATONIC ONLY)

Max Mayfeild (PLATONIC ONLY)

Will Byers (PLATONIC ONLY)

Mike Wheeler (PLATONIC ONLY)

Dustin Henderson (PLATONIC ONLY)

Nancy Wheeler

Jim Hopper (PLATONIC ONLY)

Robin Buckley

Chrissy Cuningham

Lucas Sinclair (PLATONIC ONLY)

Johnathan Byers

Erica Sinclair (PLATONIC ONLY)

Joyce Byers (PLATONIC ONLY)

Karen Wheeler (PLATONIC ONLY)

TWILIGHT

Edward Cullen

Jasper Hale

Alice Cullen

Carlisle Cullen (PLATONIC ONLY)

Bella Swan

Emmet Cullen

Jacob Black

Rosalie Hale

Esme Cullen (PLATONIC ONLY)

Charlie Swan (PLATONIC ONLY)

Renesmee Cullen (PLATONIC ONLY)

Leah Clearwater

Sam Uley

Seth Clearwater

AVATAR/AVATAR THE WAY OF WATER

Jake Sully

Neytiri Sully

Ts'utey

Neteyam Sully

Lo'ak Sully

Kiri Sully

Tuk Sully (PLATONIC ONLY)

Tonowari

Ronal

Tsireya

Ao'nung

Roxto

AVENGERS

Tony Stark / Iron Man

Steve Rogers / Captain America

Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier

Sam Wilson / Falcon

Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow

Wanda Maximoff

Clint Barton

OUTER BANKS

JJ Maybank

John B. Routledge

Rafe Cameron

Sarah Cameron

Kiara Carrera

Ward Cameron

GREYS ANATOMY

Merideth Grey

Lexi Grey

Derek Shepherd

Amelia Shepherd

Mark Sloan

Addison Montgomery

Callie Torrez

Arizona Robbins

Alex Karev

George O'malley

Isabella Stevans

Jackson Avery

April Kepner

Owen Hunt

Christina Yang

SHAMELESS

Fiona Gallagher

Veronica Fisher

Kevin Ball

Carl Gallagher

Lip Gallagher

Ian Gallagher (PLATONIC ONLY)

Debbie Gallagher

Jimmy Lishman

Mickey Milkovich (PLATONIC ONLY)

Svetlana Yevgenivna

Mandy Milkovich

Karen Jackson

MISC. CHARACTERS

Austin!Elvis Presley (Elvis - the movie)

Thomas Shelby (Peaky Blinders)

Anthony Bridgerton (Bridgerton)

Olivia Pope (Scandal)

Fitzgerald Grant (Scandal)

MISC. CELEBS/PEOPLE

Elvis Presley

Kylie Jenner

Kim Kardashian

Khloe Kardashian

Kourtney Kardashian

Kendall Jenner

Megan Fox

Chris Evans

Sebastian Stan

Sam Worthington

RULES

No Smut, this may change but for the moment/until i get comfortable i'm only writing fluffy, angsty and platonic relationships

I wont write about R@pe, Abu$e or ince$st

All my writing will be fem/GN!reader, I wont go into detail about skin color, body type or really any personal details unless asked to

I want to keep my stories fun so try and keep the requests non boring lol :))

If you have any questions please ask

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simena · 1 year

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Tony O'Malley - STILL LIFE AND WINDOW

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pwlanier · 8 months

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TONY O'MALLEY HRHA (1913-2003)

SPRING ROOKS, 1986

Oil on board

Whytes

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princesssarisa · 6 months

Note

What are the favorite foods of the Disney Heros (non-Princes)?

The Seven Dwarfs (because they count as heroes even though there's a Prince in their movie): Snow White's homemade soup and gooseberry pie.

Pinocchio: Any kind of dessert, as evidenced by the Pleasure Island scene where he has a whole pie in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other.

Dumbo: Peanuts (though of course they're just a snack food – he mainly lives on hay).

Bambi: Leaves and grass.

Peter Pan: Imaginary food. One of the mysteries of his existence – in the original book – is that he doesn't really need to eat and prefers make-believe meals to real ones.

Tramp: Tony's spaghetti and meatballs, especially after he shares them with Lady.

Pongo: Kanine Krunchies.

Arthur: Honey gingerbread with pepper and saffron – a classic medieval treat.

Mowgli: Raw meat, since that's what the wolves who raised him usually fed him.

Winnie the Pooh: Honey, of course.

Thomas O'Malley: Fish.

Robin Hood: His own homemade stew, which is usually good when he doesn't daydream and burn it.

Bernard: Cheddar cheese.

Tod and Copper: Meat.

Taran: Brown bread and white cheese – a medieval staple.

Basil of Baker Street: Blue Stilton cheese

Oliver: Ice cream (even though Jenny will soon learn that it doesn't agree well with cats and will only give him a few licks on special occasions).

Simba: Zebra.

Quasimodo: Grapes –though he normally doesn't eat them as greedily as he did while trying to distract Frollo, he does like them.

Hercules: Spartan black soup – pork, pigs' blood, and vinegar. It's not for the faint of heart, but Greek heroes need their protein!

Tarzan: Wild jungle fruits.

Let's stop there. I tend to lose track of all the male heroes from the post-Renaissance movies.

#disney #disney heroes #favorite foods #headcanon

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furryfaceoff · 1 year

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AND OUR FINAL CONTESTANTS ARE...

Puss in Boots (Shrek/Puss in Boots)

Tigress (Kung Fu Panda)

Nick Wilde (Zootopia)

Robin Hood (Disney's Robin Hood)

Death (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish)

Lola Bunny (Looney Tunes)

Judy Hopps (Zootopia)

Mr. Wolf (The Bad Guys)

Scar (The Lion King)

Kovu (The Lion King II)

Diego (Ice Age)

Simba (The Lion King)

Balto (Balto)

E. Aster Bunnymund (Rise of the Guardians)

Rouge the Bat (Sonic)

Thomas O'Malley (Aristocats)

Tony the Tiger (Frosted Flakes mascot)

Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic)

Po (Kung Fu Panda)

The Beast (Beauty and the Beast)

Lucario (Pokemon)

Duchess (Aristocats)

Maid Marian (Disney's Robin Hood)

Mr. Fox (Fantastic Mr. Fox)

Captain Amelia (Treasure Planet)

Legoshi (Beastars)

Bugs Bunny (Looney Tunes)

Diane Foxington (The Bad Guys)

Spirit (Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron)

Lady (Lady and the Tramp)

Dragon (Shrek)

Louis (Beastars)

Isabelle (Animal Crossing)

Tramp (Lady and the Tramp)

Bowser (Mario)

Flick (Animal Crossing)

Tod (The Fox and the Hound)

Baron (Whisper of the Heart / The Cat Returns)

Pongo and Perdita (101 Dalmatians)

Capper (My Little Pony: FiM the Movie)

Loona (Helluva Boss)

Lopunny (Pokemon)

Retsuko (Aggretsuko)

Bolt (Bolt)

Miss Piggy (Muppets)

Frog and Toad (Frog and Toad)

Mousegirl bartender (Tumblr post)

Fox McCloud (Star Fox)

King Julien (Madagascar)

Bambi (Bambi)

Mae Borowski (Night in the Woods)

Jenna (Balto)

Firestar (Warriors)

Bagheera (Jungle Book)

Remy (Ratatouille)

Cat gang (Lone Digger music video by Caravan Palace)

Mushu (Mulan)

Miss Bianca (The Rescuers)

Renamon (Digimon)

Miss Kitty (Great Mouse Detective)

Roxanne Wolf (FNAF: Security Breach)

Kenai (Brother Bear)

Perry the Platypus (Phineas and Ferb)

Kuzco (The Emperor's New Groove)

Asgore Dreemurr (Deltarune)

Wolf Link (LoZ: Twilight Princess)

Garfield (Garfield)

Shirou Ogami (Brand New Animal)

#ill make the official bracket layout later today or tomorrow!#furry faceoff #tournament poll #furry fandom

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mrs-dr-reid · 2 years

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My Personal Steve Rogers Headcanons

Part 1/?

The first time he went to a grocery store post-Capsicle, he very nearly had a public meltdown when he saw what 70 years of inflation did to the prices

He always makes “Back in my day…” statements unironically mainly to annoy Tony, and once Bucky comes back he joins in and Tony very nearly has an aneurysm because “Oh dear god, there’s two of them”

He loves taking you on walks in Brooklyn and showing you all the places he frequented growing up, and is sometimes pleasantly surprised when a place from his childhood barely changed at all since the 40s

He volunteers at the VA as an art therapy instructor when he has spare time, because he found that drawing and painting really helped him relax when his PTSD decided to aggressively announce its presence

He is very happy when record players and vinyls start coming back into fashion, and he’s especially happy because Bucky’s sister Rebecca put all of their stuff in a storage unit when they went MIA, and among their old stuff was his 1940s record player and the milk carton he kept all of his records in, which meant he didn’t have to go out and rebuy his entire collection

He loves going to Central Park in the fall and looking at all the leaves change color, and you even buy him a Polaroid camera so he can take pictures

To help him get caught up on modern pop culture, you pick a new show or movie to watch with him every couple of weeks, and most of them are early 2000s comedy-dramas and chick flicks (he liked Mean Girls a lot more than you thought he would, and now he unironically yells “SHE DOESN’T EVEN GO HERE” whenever there's an alien invasion)

He’s obsessed with Broadway. Back in the 40s, he only really knew about “Anything Goes”, “Oklahoma!”, and “Kiss Me, Kate”, but now that he’s in the present, he makes it his goal to see at least one new musical every couple of months, either on stage if it can be afforded, or the pro-shot or movie adaptation. His newly-discovered favorites are Newsies and Hamilton, but he is also a big fan of Wicked

He likes learning about potentially useless information that he doesn’t really need to know for the hell of it. No, he doesn’t need to know who invented aerosol cans, but he wants to, and who’s gonna stop him from learning about it?

He was genuinely befuddled the first time he rode in a modern car, and not even a fancy one like Tony's Audi R8 Spyder. Nat took him for a drive in a 2009 Nissan Altima once and he spent the first ten minutes messing with the seat mover buttons

A gentleman above all else. He opens doors for you, pulls out your chair when you go out to eat, gives you his hand to help you out of cars or down stairs, and will give you his arm whenever you're walking anywhere together, because Sarah raised him right, aiight?

When he learned about Dapper Day at Disneyland, he immediately dropped everything and borderline extorted Tony into arranging a trip to California for the team so they could go. You two go as Duchess and O'Malley from The Aristocats, and you almost die because of how good he looks in his outfit

For a while he thinks voice-to-text and voice notes work like telegrams did, so for a while you receive voice notes of him yelling "HI Y/N STOP ARE WE STILL ON FOR DINNER TONIGHT STOP I LOVE YOU STOP" until Tony finally sits him down and explains how it works, so then you start receiving normal texts and voice notes

He loves stargazing, but since he lives in modern New York he barely gets to see the stars anymore because of all the light pollution, so a few times a month you drive him a couple hours away from the city, and you just lay down in the grass somewhere and watch the stars together

He is very fond of board games. So much so that he insists on a weekly Board Game Night with the team. Monopoly was kicked out of the rotation because of a Code Green after Bruce caught Tony trying to steal money from the bank eight times in a row, and then he still won, but the most popular games are Clue and Sorry

He doesn't understand the obsession with true crime. He does however very much enjoy procedural dramas like Grey's Anatomy, 9-1-1, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Criminal Minds. He thinks they're interesting

He absolutely hates being cold. One time the heat went out in your apartment, and you came home to find him on your couch wrapped up in every single blanket you owned while grumpily watching Legally Blonde

He’s borderline addicted to flannels and Henley shirts. Like, you open his closet and he has one in every color of the rainbow. I mean, the man looks good in a flannel or a Henley so you’re not mad about it, but it’s becoming a teeny bit excessive

#logan speaks #logan writes #logan has headcanons #steve rogers headcanons

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inposterumcumgaudio · 3 months

Note

penelope snug!

So officially, it seems Penelope Snug is supervisor of motilene infrastructure while Jim Watt is in charge of motilene acquisition. However, we have communications between Jim and the boys in the Barrow Holm hatch, who would seem to fall under Penelope's purview if that were true. (See my theory about early motilene distribution and why Barrow Holm has motilene at all). Jubilator operation and maintenance also seems to be run out of the Motilene Control HQ, even though you would think that would fall more under the Doctors' oversight since Jubilators were invented to relieve them of corpse collection duties. Very tangled system of duties and obligations.

Penelope also maintains an office in the Parade District Document Control, oddly enough. Perhaps this means her position is higher than implied, that she oversees broader civil engineering and not just motilene.

In her office, she has three bowler hats.

Imagine! A lady in a council worker's uniform topped off with a bowler hat. That's a look! I eagerly await the fanart concepts.

I think this is one of those things that evolved and got muddy over time, that Penelope might have been meant to be in charge of one thing and kept getting subbed in to others. Penelope also makes me think a lot of BioShock 2's "Big Kate" O'Malley, who is also a supervisor of civic works in Rapture and the first person you find an audio diary from in that game. Parallels are often drawn between We Happy Few and BioShock but I would almost think Penelope could have been an homage.

A thing I think is interesting in comparing the two though is that Rapture did not set out with a specific intent of gender equality but ended up with it by selectively choosing the best people in every field regardless of it. In Wellington Wells, however, that women are able to achieve such high positions in the town is due to its inability to choose from only men. The town suffers shortages in nearly every way, but this also presents opportunity for those who would otherwise be overlooked.

Her correspondence with Verloc shows that the two of them are on a first name basis (Anton, though, not Tony). He even invites her and her husband Richard (whose name he knows and remembers) to dinner, which tells us he can cook. I rather would have liked to think that anyway, since cooking is just chemistry in another room, but he wouldn't be inviting people over if he couldn't.

Funnily enough, the one note we have from Penelope to Victoria lacks both a greeting and a signature, but Penelope does know specifically that Prudence Holmes is on holiday. So it means either Penelope and Victoria are so friendly as to dispense with formalities in their coorespondance... or Penelope considers this to be an interdepartmental memo... to a subordinate. Which, if she's in charge of document control as well might make sense.

The government hierarchy tree in How to be Happy is actually more of an inbred circle so make what you want of that.

Lastly, Penelope's note to Thomas Horner gives us a bit of nuance as to how she runs her crew.

So Thomas is running Jubilator Jousting tournaments on the off hours, which is a misuse of city property that perhaps Penelope was overlooking (and participating in) because it's good for morale. There's a lot of other morale initiatives happening in the Motilene Control HQ so this would seemingly fall under her interests and as long as it's not hurting anyone or getting out and making her look bad...

The problem occurs when Peter Thump loses during the Grand Derby and won't settle his unpaid debts. And this is interesting because in this scene, you're supposed to sympathize with Peter, right? He's being chased by a maniac in a Jubilator, of course he's in the right. But with the knowledge that he's ratted Thomas out not because he owes him money, but because he's not being allowed to bet further until he pays up... It's such a small side story, but it's very indicative of my larger point I'm always trying to make here, that what you're told is never exactly as one side presents it.

Anyway, so Peter rats Thomas out to Penelope and now that there's notes about it, it has become a problem. So Penelope does the only face-saving thing to be done, which is promote Peter to shut him up and tell Thomas to quit with the tournaments.

So Peter has not only fucked Thomas out the money he already owed, but also out of further profits from the tournaments, and presumably a pay raise that would have come along with his missed promotion.

He is a rotten swot, honestly.

And this puts Penelope in an unfortunate situation too because she knows what the actual haps is probably, but this is the bind they are in now. Whether she wants to side with Thomas on this or not, her hands are tied. And what's funny too is, Peter is lying about not being involved with the jousting at all - it's "Other people's money, I mean. I never bet myself." - so Thomas can only lie about being completely innocent of hosting the tournaments in the first place. To which Penelope replies that "If you persist in proclaiming your innocence, then I suppose I don't owe you 10 quid for the Grand Derby, do I?"

Thomas also lets us in on a bit of the discussion had about this:

"Come on! Let's have a "conversation." I'm sorry, no, a constructive, let's have a "constructive conversation." Has my work been "slipping"? Oh no? It's just that I've "failed to improve as much as we would have hoped"? Who the hell is "we" anyways? Have you got an invisible friend, or are you now the Queen of the bloody Pipes?"

Penelope is at home placing wagers on the destruction of her work equipment along with her crewman, but is also fluent in euphemistic (if a bit anachronistically modern) corporate-speak.

I do think the record-keeping is the thing here. If not for Wellington Wells' dependence on written notes, Penelope might have gotten away with firing Peter or transferring him to another department due to "poor culture fit".

#we happy few #penelope snug #peter thump #thomas horner

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crowdvscritic · 1 year

Text

round up // APRIL 23

A selection of words capturing my April pop culture experiences:

Museum

Podcast

Amy Sherman-Palladino

Muppets

Vampire

Nike

American Girl dolls

Read on for everything that brought me joy this month!

April Crowd-Pleasers

1. Renfield (2023)

Did I write a review of Renfield, an ode to the two Nic(k)s, or analysis of the Great Resignation? Yes, yes, and yes. Read whatever, in fact, I wrote at ZekeFilm. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10

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2. SNL Round Up

Whether they’re spoofing my childhood toys, my young adulthood wedding commitments, or my love for the Jonas Brothers, the crew in Studio 8H has been keeping me laughing this Spring.

“Southwest Airlines Announcement” (4811 with Michael B. Jordan)

“The Big Hollywood Quiz” (4812 with Pedro Pascal) - A great example of how no one watches the same things anymore

“Waking Up” (4812)

“Protective Mom” (4812)

“Lisa From Temecula” (4812)

“American Girl Café” (4814 with Travis Kelce)

“Bridesmaid Cult Documentary” (4816 with Quinta Brunson) - I feel seen

"Weekend Update: Co-Worker Who's Extremely Busy Doing Seemingly Nothing on Returning to the Office” (4817 with Molly Shannon) - I feel attacked

“Sally O'Malley: Jonas Brothers” (4817)

“American Girl Doll Movie Trailer” (4818 with Ana de Armas)

3. Descanso Gardens

Because I can’t resist a botanical garden! Gardens are becoming a go-to attraction for me on vacations, and the Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles did not disappoint. The day we went was not too crowded but was impressive enough to earn a huge crowd—a hidden gem for LA tourists!

4. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Panel at PaleyFest

The gardens were lovely, but there were two other attractions that were the real reason for my visit to Los Angeles. The first was PaleyFest to see Amy Sherman-Palladino, Daniel Palladino, and the cast of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel! Just before the fifth and final season started on Amazon Prime, we heard Alex Borstein and Rachel Brosnahan share their mourning process for the show’s ending, Caroline Aaron and Michael Zegen reflect on what these roles have meant to them, and Tony Shalhoub crack up the crowd. (And who knew I would be so starstruck by him? When he came on stage I wanted to scream, “YOU WERE SO GOOD IN GALAXY QUEST!”) Check out SO IT’S A SHOW’s Instagram for more highlights from when my podcast co-host Kyla and I visited the Dolby Theatre (home of the Oscars!).

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4. John Mulaney: Baby J (2023)

A full year ago I saw John Mulaney on his From Scratch tour, and now you can enjoy the set at home. His joke about not being interested in science “from magnets to ducks” did not make the cut (and alas now I can’t remember the setup for that punchline), but the other 90% of a show that made me laugh so hard I cried is preserved forever.

5. The Muppets. (2015-16)

Why did this gem only last 16 episodes? In this one-season single-cam sitcom, the Muppets are working on Late Night with Miss Piggy, a setting that could’ve produced comedy gold for years. With the frazzled Kermit producing, the Electric Mayhem as the in-studio band, and celebrity guests through the felt nose, I’m glad I checked out these 16 eps even though they ended on a cliffhanger. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like for Miss Piggy to date Josh Groban or to hold grudges against every blonde actress in Hollywood, you won’t want to miss it either.

7. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (2023)

Special in the way that the best coming-of-age movies are. I suspect Margaret’s insecurities about boys, bras, and besties will feel relatable to Gens Z and Alpha if for no other reason than this movie’s depiction felt scarily accurate to my own experience in the mid-2000s. I promise I will never start a review with the story of my first period ever again! At least, probably—at the rate we're going, it will never be apropos again. Read the full review at ZekeFilm. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9/10

April Critic Picks

1. AIR (2023)

Is it controversial to say Matt and Ben’s collabs only get better? If we're playing Greatest/Best/Favorite, this might be my new ranking:

Greatest: Good Will Hunting

Best: The Last Duel

Favorite: AIR

Read my full review for ZekeFilm. Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

2. The Academy Museum

The other reason I went out to Los Angeles: After years of pandemic-caused delays, I finally made it to the Academy Museum! Six floors of movie and Oscars history and memorabilia? You know I’m in my happy place, but casual movie fans will find something for them, too. Some of my favorite exhibits included the several-stories high Mount Rushmore backdrop used in North by Northwest, the gallery that used The Godfather to show each element of filmmaking, and the pianos from Casablanca. Fanny’s (named for Barbra Streisand’s character in Funny Girl) serves exceptional museum food, and I learned about deep cut filmmakers and movements I was only vaguely familiar with before I went. I’d give the Academy a gold statue for museum execution if I could!

3. Good Reads

A miscellaneous round up of good stuff I’ve read lately…

Final thoughts on 2022 Awards Season:

“How Avatar: The Way of Water Can Make $2 Billion and Still Feel Irrelevant,” Vox.com (2023)

“How Did We Let the Golden Globes Back In?” LATimes.com (2022)

Unexpected responses to Cocaine Bear:

“An Attempt to Define the ‘Good for Her’ Cinematic Universe,” Vulture.com (2023)

“The Case for Cocaine Bears,” Slate.com (2023)

Glitches in the Sports Industry Matrix:

“America’s Bad Bet on Expanding Legal Sports Gambling,” Vox.com (2023)

“Will Damar Hamlin’s Injury Change the NFL? Why a Safer Game Could Turn Away Fans,” LATimes.com (2023)

Watching trends that need to be fixed:

“Mumbling Actors, Bad Speakers or Lazy Listeners? Why Everyone is Watching TV With Subtitles On,” TheGuardian.com (2023)

“Television Is Going Exactly the Wrong Direction. I Know the Solution.” Slate.com (2023)

Explorations of our malaise at work:

“How to Care Less About Work,” TheAtlantic.com (2021)

“The Age of the Crisis of Work,” Harpers.org (2023)

All the ways—okay, just some of the way—social media is on the struggle bus right now:

“Why Every App Now Feels Like TikTok, but Worse,” NYMag.com (2023)

“How Elon Musk Turned the Blue Check Mark Into a Scarlet Letter,” Slate.com (2023)

“Commentary: If Twitter Finally Dies, Where Do We Find the Smart People?” LATimes.com (2023)

And even more miscellaneous good reads:

“You’ll Feel Better if You Go Outside,” NewYorker.com (2021)

“The Oral History of Helm’s Deep,” Inverse.com (2022)

“I’ve Had It With Stunt Ice Cream Flavors,” Eater.com (2023)

“Clothes Make the Con Man,” NYTimes.com (2023)

“Hailey Bieber, Selena Gomez, and the Easter Egg-ification of the Hollywood Feud,” Vox.com (2023)

“Why Are TV Writers So Miserable?” NewYorker.com (2023)

4. Current Exhibits at the St. Louis Art Museum

My membership to the SLAM always pays off. In April I indulged in two special exhibits:

The Age of Armor, which showcases the history of armor and battle gear with an emphasis on suits of armor. The galleries did a great job explaining how the armor functioned and provided model pieces to try yourself, but you know my favorite part was the Black Panther and Star Wars costumes at the end!

Monet/Mitchell: Painting the French Landscape compares the work of Claude Monet and American expat Joan Mitchell, and it brought me back to my magical trip to Giverny last summer!

5. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)

Sumptous costumes and sets, Bette Davis doing the most acting, and Errol Flynn at his handsomest. This Queen Elizabeth I costume drama from Michael Curtiz is maximalist in aesthetic and romantic at its heart. Crowd: 7/10 // Critic: 9/10

6. Under the Umbrella: A Little Women Podcast (2023-)

Little Women superfans unite! Kate and Kelsey (friends and both teachers) are analyzing the book and film versions from every angle, and if you love the March sisters, Louisa May Alcott, or Greta Gerwig, they are going to be your new best friends.

7. Just Like Us: The Tabloids That Changed America (2022)

Last spring the Ringer Dish podcast did a deep dive into the ‘00s tabloids and their obsession with Brangelina, Bennifer, and ‘90s child stars gone wild—so basically everything I obsessed over in middle school. Bottom line: They probably didn’t make our world better, but those mags (and emerging online blogs and reality TV) sure tapped into parts of our brains that made them addictive. This eight-episode series challenges any assumption we have about about celebrity gossip being harmless—or frivolous.

Until May’s Round Up…

In spite of the current state of things, I’m still tweeting in denial as @tblake24. Come join me until this platform burns to the ground!

If you want real-time updates on what I’m watching and loving, you can also find me as @tblake24 on Letterboxd.

Photo credits: Good Reads, Under the Umbrella, Just Like Us. Descanso Gardens, PaleyFest, Academy Museum, and SLAM my own. All other IMDb.com.