#this episode really spoiled us in so many ways but best of all was how much boorman we got

[stbot]

And many a knee weakens, and pulse quickens, at the mere mention of Thraxus Relaxus-

Boorman!

[nihilnovisubsole]

i think i followed you Back In The Day, seven years and seven blogs ago, for something related to mass effect (zaeed? maybe? who could say) and it's wild to come back to this site years later and find you thriving, surviving, growing-- playing ffxiv! love that game. curious how you'll feel about some side characters in shadowbringers, but i won't spoil which ones.

i do have real questions, though; writing tools. not pens or software, but personal structure tools and/or guidance. what does a beat sheet look like, for you? do you have a favored way of outlining or note-taking on your own thoughts when putting a story together?

and... i'm really curious how you hold a big story together in your head while you work on it in pieces, especially for something like dangerous crowns. there's this larger story i've been chasing around for a while, and I can't quite wrap my head around how to write the political/espionage plot for it without feeling like i've actually written a children's pantomime. the best i've got so far is "research real life events and use those as my outline" but after a point it becomes hard to keep track of all the variables of who knows what about whom, who is planning x when y, etc, etc. the characters don't need to know all that-- and may never know some things-- but i feel like /I/ need to understand what's happening on the macro level so i can move the world around them appropriately.

short version: how do YOU wrap your head around writing complex plots?

hey, anon! i started endwalker this week after a long... uh... glamour detour, so don't worry about spoiling things. i spoil myself for a lot of stories on purpose anyway. let's just say i've been attached to one too many characters who got killed.

anyway. writing. i've always handled plots the same way: clear documentation. if i don't note it down, i'm not going to remember it. i've used the same table outline since around 2014. it varies in detail for different projects, but the core format stays. i know it's kicking around in my blog archive somewhere, but it's worth reposting once in a while because people like to ask about it. here's what it looks like, featuring plot points cribbed from an endeavour episode:

i used this format for an outline at work a while back, and the team found it easy to follow, which was a big day for my ego. keeping track of plot structure is even more chaotic at work because we have multiple writers who all need to stay on the same page. we have very meticulous notes on what the player should know at which point, when we're introducing new information, and what we know, but shouldn't tell. we're also not above leaving notes like "this character has to convey X," "this character has to learn Y here," or "this is a clue that they're planning Z." it can be super on-the-nose. all that matters is that it makes sense to you. because you're right - if you get too lost, you can write yourself into logic holes of tremendous proportions. ask me how i know!

[as a sidenote, researching real-life events as a starting point has really grown on me in the past few years. my lead on coh3 had me do it. he said we were dealing with real people's history, so we couldn't be cheap or play fastball - we had to be accurate to pay it respect. even if you're not writing historical fiction, it just gives you insight into how people behave.]

i would argue that the plot of dangerous crowns is actually not that complicated, maybe to its detriment. there's kind of a genre struggle going on. at voltage, we were taught romance fans came for the relationship beats and valued them above all else. in fact, leadership told us players got irritated - which meant less sales - when the plot was too complex and took time away from the making out. political thriller fans, by contrast, expect relentless twists, high stakes, and harsh consequences, and sometimes see the relationships as superfluous.

but whatever. the point is, when you look at dangerous crowns' structure, it's a pearl necklace: a chain of anchoring events. the "pearl" scenes are where Big Plot happens. they're the reason you want to write the story, and probably the ones you have the most vivid daydreams about. the scenes in between are the string. not flashy, but important because they connect the pearls. they build tension and add logic, cohesion, and context. take the opera and hector's failed assassination. those are pearl scenes. that's a burst of drama i really wanted the story to build up to. i also had other flashbulb visions. livia by the fountain questioning herself, marcus' macbeth moment, the temple riot, things like that. so the question was, how could i believably travel between these pearl scenes? how could i make these big showcase moments connect smoothly?

if you're having trouble holding the story together in your head, i would ask, "what are your pearls?" what are the anchor points? outline those. it might not look like a necklace yet, but you'll sort of see it taking shape. and then, once you can see where your heart's-desire milestones are, you'll have a clearer idea of what can't fire until you set it up first. two other neat things can happen here. you could find the rhythm of your pacing, or realize you have a lot more plot meat than you thought you did. even if you don't, you have some road. and if you can't think of the string, sometimes you just have to start writing the pearls and see what comes to you.

good luck!!

[beanghostprincess]

I typed shuggy into tag and noticed you answering some stuff about them so I hope it’s alright to ask!!! I finished Netflix version like yesterday and I loved shuggy vibes and I told this on tw and some people came to me and told me it’s mid and there are better shanks ships, because he doesn’t really care about buggy I tried to look through wiki but it’s so many stuff there and it will take me ages to catch up Does he care about buggy?? I want someone to spoil me!! I actually really want to know this!

Some might prefer other ships and that is alright, but straight-up saying that Shanks doesn't care about Buggy is just... Not true at all. That being the main reason why some people seem to not ship them is just ridiculous. The short answer is: Yes, he does care about Buggy. Quite a lot, actually. The Netflix adaptation skipped their flashback for literally no reason (I am guessing we will see it... Someday?) but it shows Shanks cares a lot for him.

A lot of stuff happens between them but the missing flashback is more than enough to know, I think: They were on a pirate crew together and these two are shown to be always arguing about stupid things from a very young age. Like. Childhood best friends type of thing. And I find it funny how people say Shanks doesn't care about Buggy when he is shown to be the one approaching him all the time instead of Buggy doing so. Shanks actually seems more open to showing his care for Buggy than him. Constantly. Long story short, things™ happen and Buggy finds this map and this devil fruit and he wants to sail on his own to sell it and find the treasure on the map to form his own pirate crew. Again, things™ happen and Shanks appears out of nowhere, making Buggy eat the fruit suddenly and drop the map into the sea. And because Shuggy is desperate for a new life and to make a name for himself, he jumps into the sea to grab the map. Of course, he's drowning, and Shanks doesn't hesitate, not even for a damn second to save him. Idk about you, but that is peak romance to me.

That is one of the reasons why Buggy is resentful toward Shanks. Although I think the map and fruit thing is more of a metaphor/symbology than anything else for, like, the real reason why Buggy resents Shanks. But that's another story--

And, if you don't care about spoilers, I'll just tell you THE Shuggy moment for me that shows how much Shanks cares about Buggy: They were supposed to go to the last island together with their crew but Buggy suddenly got sick and was told not to go despite his begging to let him do so. And Shanks (WITHOUT ANYBODY TELLING HIM TO, BY THE WAY, THIS IS ALL HIM) stayed back with him instead of going with the rest of the crew. He took care of Buggy when he was sick. And stayed back because he clearly didn't want to achieve their dream if Buggy wasn't there too or at least he thought it was unfair to do so without him. He was heavily worried about him, too, like-- (Not to mention the parallelisms of this with the same thing happening between a canon romantic couple in the same episode... Oda you're not subtle about Shuggy).

Most people will say "but that's a thing from the PAST! He used to care about Buggy but not anymore" but they are wrong. You truly, genuinely think that SHANKS is going to stop caring for his old friend??? ??????? ????? SHANKS????????? That man values personal connections and friendships so fucking bad it is. One of the things he teaches Luffy???? Like- There is NO way he doesn't care about Buggy. Also the bubble speech theory... When they meet again at Marineford and he smiles at him so sweetly... Crying sobbing...

I hope this was enough to answer your question! People might like other ships and that is completely alright! But saying Shanks doesn't care about Buggy......................... I am side-eyeing them......

[eriexplosion]

Time for our breather episode, Common Ground

The scenery in this show is so damned good, the way I am instantly in love with Raxus and the gold tones.

Honestly this episode fits much better given what we see in Spoils of War/Ruins of War, emphasizing the humanity of the people in every system. TCW triedddd to do this with the 'heroes on both sides' but they really just kind of said it and then showed us like one lady that didn't suck in the entire show. She died immediately. So I appreciate these episodes.

Also I just love the Senator's droid she's hilarious to me.

Avi Singh is voiced by Alexander Siddig and it made me trust him immediately like all those people in the crowd cheering that is me hearing Julian Bashir's voice come out of this little animated man.

HOW can the scene of them just walking contain so many of my favorite character moments? Omega feeding Wrecker a piece of Mantell Mix, Tech steadying Omega when Hunter helps her off Wrecker's shoulder to make sure she doesn't fall over, her smiling up at him, this expression of UTTER DUBIOUSNESS and SUSPICIOUS SNIFFING from Echo

I headcanon that Echo has hella digestive problems after a large portion of them was replaced by technology so every food must pass this sniff test and 90% of them do NOT but especially not whatever sugary concoction goes on this space popcorn.

I do NOT get why people thought for so long that we don't see Tech caring for Omega because every time she stumbles Tech is right there to steady her, he takes such good care of Omega oh my god. Sometimes love is making sure your baby sister never ever falls over!

Which he also does when she gets on a chair and he is right there like JUST IN CASE.

Adolescents often exhibit lack of balance as they grow best to be within two inches of her at all times in case she wobbles.

GRANDMA CRIMES WILL BABYSIT DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. DON'T TRUST HER BUT SHE'LL TOTALLY DO IT.

I do think it's very funny that the one time Hunter successfully keeps her out of a mission by leaving her on another planet, she immediately becomes central to a gambling ring.

I want a count of how many times Echo complained about this job while Tech is just YOU KNOW WHAT'S GREAT, EARNING MONEY TO EAT WITHOUT PUTTING IT ON CID'S TAB. And Wrecker is just excited to mark off a new system on his Visited Locations list.

"Now are you convinced?" "No >:[" Echo has very valid reasons to not be thrilled about this job but unfortunately separatist doesn't mean much anymore and also they're so cute when they're Grumby.

When you clean SO sadly that Cid comes over like STOP BEING A MOPE. Omega's really leaning into her early teens attitude with SOR-RY.

ANGY.

Bolo and Ketch's DISAPPOINTED HEAD SHAKING is so fucking funny. You UPSET the CHILD Cid. Go fix it. Like they weren't taking bets on her fucking up her bow training earlier.

I know Hunter's mentioning Omega is supposed to be Feelsy a little but I do admit it misses a little bit because it's not like she's missing or anything. I do wish they had done something like this with Crosshair early on, like in Rampage when he orders Echo to be eyes in the sky, switch it to him saying Crosshair's name instead and then correcting.

THIS ANTIQUE VASE IS PRICELESS, BE CAREFUL :C I love herrrrrr

You know the senator is in real trouble because they took his hat.

AND BEHOLD! I HAVE SAVED YOUR MOST PRIZED VASE :D

Quite a bit of time is spent on Grand Theft Walker in this episode. Also I'm glad they're using stun bolts but oh boy is it concerning to stun a bunch of clone troopers in the same area where walkers are fighting, this is such a way to get squished.

As always I'm a big fan of Tech getting Punchy I love that he's not at all a docile nerd.

Echo stepping forward to encourage Avi to leave because he can't help his people in custody is sweet but would have been slightly better if we got a little more one on one interaction between the two of them. Even just one solid scene would be good.

I'll give the batch one thing, their success/failure rate is slightly better than I remembered, they are up to 3 successes and only 1 major failure

Frankly they should stop doing merc work though and just let Omega gamble her way through the galaxy.

SHOW A LITTLE GRATITUDE TO MY FRIEND. Cid is officially Affectionate towards this small child.

Another good character moment is Wrecker giving Hunter an EXTREMELY SERIOUS *TALK TO THE CHILD* LOOK

Really the main plot of this episode is a good breather but it really shines in tiny moments that make me Squeal a little. Just those little character interactions that I ADORE.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I’m Bored & Conflicted

Dec 2022 Wk 2

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

My School President (Fri YT) 3 of 10 - Honestly Tinn acts and talks like the voice inside of Sarawat’s head (from 2gether), I’ve never seen a bigger simp. The private tutoring was a good idea (Tiew is another one up for best wingman of the year). The way Tinn keeps getting accidentally defeated in his attempts at flirting is fun, and I love how they keep teasing us with tropes and then flipping or subverting them. GMMTV is being clever with audience expectations around the history of Thai BL and I love that. Also finally Gun is starting to feel something back... we enter phase two of a HSBL - moot pining but they both idiots. YES! 

Never Let Me Go (Tues YT) 1 of 12 - GMMTV’s answer to KinnPorsche this is (mafia lite?) spoiled prince + attack dog (whipping boy + bodyguard) suspense BL that’s actually a lot more like Golden Blood. It’s a pleasure to see PondPhuwin in something that’s not FUTS. Jojo (3 Will Be Free) is directing and daddy got himself a bouncing baby drone! We got a very dramatic opening with Paa shot on 18th bday. Puwin’s English is v good. Who knew? And Pond is v good at portraying insta-crush on poor little rich boy and I am not mad about any of it. IT’S GREAT. 

Between Us (Sun iQIYI) 6 of 12 - I still like WinTeam but I’m beginning to get annoyed by how many couples there are (5!) and how many of them were (DeanPharm) or are (BeePrince) in an entirely different show tonally. I understand they needed to pad-out this story, but they shouldn’t have, they should have just given us a shorter show. WATCH ALONG HERE.

609 Bedtime Story (Fri WeTV) 4 of 11 - We are finally getting Dew’s side of the story! And… its kinda dull. 

Remember Me (Sun Gaga) 10 of 12 - So Name is talking now? And they put Ja in a wig too? Did UWMA teach us nothing? Now I’m just annoyed with this show. Some more marriage equality schilling, because Thai BL has an axe to grind these days. Good luck boys! 

I Will Knock You (Fri Gaga) 5 of 12 - Honestly, the costumes in this show are insane and I also kind of like them in an odd way. There’s a Grease thing going on, and thus I keep expecting them to break into song (and being grateful that they don’t). The wardrobe is like the plot and the acting: loud and obvious and not very good but weirdly entertaining. Do I like it? Not really. Am I still watching it? Apparently. 

Ai Long Nhai (Mon iQIYI) 12fin - Yes, Ai did use particles to claim Nhai again. Jealous boy. Honestly, this was kind of an epically boring final ep. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

My Tooth Your Love (Taiwan Fri Viki) 11 of 12 - They are so stinking cute together. They also now have all the matching jewelry (not taken by MarkKit). This was a quintessentially them episode 11 of doom, in that they were parted because of communication issues and a maturing relationship occupied by immature characters. Still the leads were apart for most of the episode and that made it a lot less interesting as an episode.

Oh! My Assistant (Korea Thurs Viki) 5-6 of 8 - Kisses and separation! As drama llama episodes go, the reasoning is typically flawed and manufactured, but after watching Why R U? anything goes in an ep 11 (or its equivalent). So I’m still enjoying this show a lot. I don’t need my panicking gay boys and confused bisexuals to behave logically, certainly not in a KBL.

Candy Color Paradox AKA Ameiro Paradox (Japan Fri Gaga) 1 of 8 - A stakeout throws reporter Onoe together with photographer Kaburagi. Kaburagi's haphazard work style and player personality go against Onoe’s ethics. Yet, in joint pursuit of a scandal, these opposites attract move from enemies to lovers. Adapted from manga Ameiro Paradox by Natsume Isaku. Oh no! Our reporter is an unbelievably adorable pouty baby. Also big-ish cast and high production values in a BL, even for Japan. Even though it’s only been a little while since the last JBL, it’s such a pleasure to have one on my watchlist again! And the love interest is a big time flirty player. Very cliché (I still hold that the actor playing him looks like First of JaFirst). This is a lot more serious and a lot less slapstick than I was expecting, and I’m enjoying it because of that. But because it is serious, and this is Japan, we now cannot expect it to end happily. If you or someone who can wait, or likes to binge, and is very invested in an HEA you might want to consider holding off on this one. 

The Director Who Buys Me Dinner (Korea Thurs iQIYI) 1-2 of 10 - A new employee whose director claims to have lived 300 years and insists that they have to date (eat, hug & kiss) if baby doesn't want to die. Office, fated mates, and that’s kinda my jam. I’m always annoyed when I really like a show that’s on iQIYI or WeTV. Sigh. But I really like this show, it has a lot of Japanese elements to it not the least of which is the office setting, but also the personality of the uke character. Hilarious to watch Korea deal with a plot that requires physical contact. It’s weird, but I like it, it’s also extremely short. Like shorter than most KBLs even. Each app is so padded there ultimately less than 10 minutes long (which is why is is 10 esp rather than the usually KBL 8, it’s gonna end up the same length in the end).

Choco Milk Shake (Korea Strongberry Tues YT) 11fin - airs Dec 20th

Happy Ending Romance (Korea Thurs Gaga & Viki) 7-8fin - I actually LOVED the ending, very hinting at poly, and mature. But this show ended up not really being a BL, no tropes and not really a romance either. 

It’s Airing But I’m Not Watching It

War of Y (Thai Gaga) 20 eps - it’s just all too much for me.

2 Moons 3 (Thai) 10 eps - Possibly a future binge watch. Rumor is it’s banal.

Love Bill  (Vietnam Sat YT) - Bah Vinh is back but I’m too distracted. Also there’s a lot of fund raising stuff going on. I’ll wait and binge.

The Star Always Follow You (Vietnam YT) - same Team RL peeps we have seen before (Sunshine, Stupid)

Till the World Ends (Thai YT) 10 eps - ?

Why You... Y Me? (Thai Weds YT) 10 eps - It's not primarily a BL, but another meta show about BL shipping, with side BLs. @heretherebedork is watching it, ask them about it.

Ended This Week

Happy Ending Romance 

In this series, all the gay boys romantically behave like lesbians and professionally like straight dudes. It’s... odd. As a BL it kinda isn’t (sorry to say), there’s no tropes dropped and no real romance beats. This is about ego and dishonesty and pride and there is an elegance to the plot. Which is essentially the idea that possession is not love, and therefore, both men who love the Writer have to prove their love by letting him go. Honestly, I’m not sure how to rate this show. This is a blog about BL and this wasn’t it. 8/10 RECOMMENDED (but not if BL is what you’re after). Full review.

Ai Long Nhai 

Look this show was just a typical Thai BL university pulp about a confident gay and a clueless manic pixie dream boy. It had potential, chemistry, and earnestness going for it, but no plot and not enough side dishes. In the end, it was boring and you know I always rate boring lower than hot messes (because at least the hot mess TRIED). Still, Ai Long Nhai is better than your average Thai BL pulp, nothing happens but at least the nothing mostly shirtless, the gay dads are the BEST, which is about all I can say for it. 6/10 WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED

In Case You Missed It

With the help of @isisanna-blog, here’s a cobbled together a Domundi line up (peeps behind Cutie Pie) for 2023 Thai BL. Lots of established pairs and it looks good if they can actually make them all, includes beautiful historicals, paranormal, other high concepts, and a royalty bodyguard romance (knight/prince) with ZeeNew! 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Still coming:

Dec 21 - The New Employee AKA The New Recruit AKA Shinib Sawo from Korea, (prob Gaga or Viki) - From WATCHA (Semantic Error) virginal Seung Hyun scores the office internship of his dreams but on his first day at work he gets into it with his cool reserved boss. As you do. Stars Moon Ji Yong (Once Again). Based on Moscareto's web novel of the same name, directed by openly gay & queer activist Kim Jho Gwang Soo (Just Friends?). 

Dec 28 - H5: Love in the Future from Taiwan (prob Gaga or Viki) - A cheerful and energetic student from 2000 travels to the future (2022), works as a deliveryman, and meets his first customer, an heir with a domineering personality. Directed by Nancy Chen (HIStory 4, Papa & Daddy).

I’m working on my end of year wrap ups, trends lists, and BL stats reported. Let me know in a comment if there is any specifically you want to know of have deep feels about. 

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Beautiful pining work you’re doing there, Palm. Yearn, baby, yearn. (Never Let Me Go)

Fated mates, always a favorite of mine. (The Director who Buys Me Dinner)

GMMTV got itself a drone. Not sure how I feel about this. 

Games is my spirit animal (609 Bedtime Story) 

(last week)

[popculturebuffet]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ramona Flowers Gets It Together

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Adventures of Scott and Scott

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Not That Evil

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And the Rest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks for reading.

[animehouse-moe]

Undead Unluck Episode 6: Spoil

David pro might not be perfect, and the CGI might be arguably even more clunky than what Zom 100 is working with. But you have to admit, there's a lot of charm in this episode. There's also a lot of information, so plenty for me to talk about!

I'll get it out of the way first, I love how Yase and co are approaching the framing in UU. Wide shots that tend to place character and focus on the bottom or top third is very very fun, and they love playing around with those ideas to create interestingly spaced shots. It can be seen as a bold decision, but I think it's a really important one as it plays into the visual identity of the series while staving off boredom during exposition.

The art in general is just so damn bold. It really goes all out with what it has, and effectively considers the thought of "what is the most that I can do in this moment?", and it delivers incredible pieces.

Though I think the real icing on the cake is the first reveal for Spoil. Not the one that happens at the end of the episode, but the one that happens through the secondhand account of Union investigators, relayed to Fuuko and everyone.

It's just incredibly good, and proves you don't need scary imagery or jumpscares to really provide a sense of discomfort and unease. Really really great work that doesn't use zombies or Spoil as a crutch to express anything about the UMA, and plays directly into the best vehicle for horror: the imagination.

Alright, last piece about visuals, and it's David's 2D smoke. My god I love it, I can't fathom why other studios put their smoke through so many visual effects when you can produce incredible works like this. Getting to see how the smoke moves, it's just such an impressive feat of animation that so often gets overshadowed by composition and other visual effects.

Anyways, onto the story! There's a lot of really really interesting ideas that I'd love to explore here.

First of all, why was only a single corpse appearing in New York City? Obviously, some of them can have a will like the woman in this episode, but how on earth do you get from wherever Longing is to New York City without being spotted? Personally, I feel like it has something to do with Spoil, but I have no idea what the objective would be in placing a rotten corpse in NYC, when Spoil's ability is denoted to be a continuous activation ability within a set range. Not quite adding up, so I'm very curious to find out the reasoning behind its appearance.

Next up is Victhor, as Shen says. Gena was (as far as we know) the oldest of the Union members that are currently active and/or alive, but Mr. Know-It-All could also have been the source of that information. Regardless, Shen was told by someone at the Union about Andy's past, which insinuates the fact that Andy is repressing either that past, or a personality via the shard in his head. Considering the content of the ending, it's rather clear cut that his past was traumatic and something that he's fleeing from, so I'm very interested to learn more about these two Undead's that have been displayed.

And Shen just keeps layering on the explanations.

Shen calls UMAs "the very Rules themselves" which is interesting as it closes the rift between the idea of Rules and UMAs. Which makes building an image of the world leading up to this moment that much harder. Juiz references "Rules" in a separate context to how Shen explains them here, dropping the "UMA" association within her explanation to Fuuko in the prior episode.

Because of that, I'm not entirely certain that Rules and UMAs are one in the same, but it's hard to find the correct separation due to Shen's words. Do these Rules always exist, and UMAs are more like direct enforcers of those rules? It means that UMAs stem directly from whatever God exists, regardless. They are not a happenstance or byproduct of Rule in any capacity, like Negators might be. Though, at the same time, the idea behind the quests begs the question: where do negators come from?

They are a separate class from UMAs which "enforce" rules while Negators break them. They are also humans in comparison to, well, "angels" as the episode so eloquently references them. Having that imagery, and understanding that a god exists makes me think that there's multiple, or it's a case of betrayal or whatnot where one entity sides with humanity and the other is against it. The question is why that would happen in the first place, and how these entities settled on, or even agreed, to this concept of quests and Rules.

But that's a discussion for another time, let's talk about the little bit that a group of kids gives us!

All these children have much larger timers than what Andy and the others have, but why?

Furthermore, that many seconds (or about 2.5 hours) is far too short for the children to have survived on. So, do kids just get a longer timer from Spoil? That can't be it, because the children's ability to last for at least a full day would mean that Spoil's ability is entirely unbalanced. Alongside that, it can't be that Spoil assigns a different timer based on age, because we're shown a child in the crowd of zombies during the episode.

It also can't be because they're underground, as both Fuuko and Shen start with a 1,000 second timer. So it's something intrinsic to people, not necessarily children.

So, for the sake of argument, let's assume that every living entity is given a timer of 1,000 seconds before they spoil. How then, are you able to increase that timer, and what is it about these children that is different from the rest?

Well, the largest thing is that they're completely isolated from the rest of the zombies. But space from the zombies and Spoil itself wouldn't be effective, as I've already explained above.

You might argue that the children could move back and forth between the edge of Spoil's range, but that would still just incur a 1,000 second timer, and we don't even have a guarantee that exiting the range will prevent the spoiling or the countdown.

To that end, I might have just answered my own question about the rotten corpse in NYC. That corpse may have been the first to appear from Spoil, but exited Longing before his timer went off. That would mean that the timer was still incurred, as would be implied by the idea of a "curse", but would also mean that adults would be able to increase their timer through some method.

So it can't be something entirely exclusive to children if we open it up to that idea.

Everybody would be aware of their timer when it appears, but the question is whether or not they're aware of what it is. Does awareness of what the countdown implies change how it works? Did Spoil tell people what was happening when he first appeared in the town? Thanks to the woman Andy marries, we know that zombies understand what Spoil is and where he might be.

I'd argue that you might be able to explain that thanks to their "connection" to Spoil, but Andy doesn't get that information once he begins to spoil. That means that the woman knew what Spoil was prior to her zombification, but I have no way of knowing if that's the case for everyone else.

But, for the sake of this theory that's gone on far too long, let's make some bold assumptions. Spoil appears in town and announces that they're going to turn people into zombies. Panic ensues. People attempt to flee, children get stuffed in underground tunnels. A survey group appears and engages in a hopeless rally against Spoil's ability.....

I think that's it. The survey group did not take 1000 seconds to spoil like Andy did, but they would have had a timer for 1000 seconds all the same. Now, an even crazier assumption is that the zombies didn't kill that survey team (as we have no visual proof, nor do we see any zombies attempt to directly harm the group in this episode), which means they expired far faster than 1,000 seconds.

This means one of two things. Spoil can directly spoil someone in an instant, or the timer can also decrease. If the timer can also decrease, it continues down that rabbit hole of psychological interference.

And at that point, I would say the answer is hope. Hope that whoever stuffed the kids in the underground will return to save them. Or a lack of hope that as you see the people around you start to spoil, that you'll spoil as well. Or, hope that you got away from the zombie apocalypse, but then the hopelessness of that timer continuing to count down no matter how far away you flee.

Now, I can sit here and brag that I made some crazy theory, but I'd be pretty shocked if it comes out to be true. There's quite a few assumptions in this crazy rambling, and just as many black boxes to deal with. But, at the end of it, I think it's a pretty good attempt at explaining why timers can change.

Anyways, one last bit! The Rule vessels, as Spoil explains it.

Claiming that Negators are Rule vessels puts them in very interesting territory. My first question to this idea is, how can a rule vessel and a UMA exist at the same time? We have Unburn the negator, but also Burn the UMA. Are they symbiotic? But then, wouldn't that be the case for any negator out there? Could Andy's nature as the undead vessel be the root cause of the potential for a split personality?

I don't think it likely, but Unburn and Burn is the only example of both a Negator and UMA existing in this world at the same time, so I really want to see how that works, as it entirely shapes the concept of rules and negators.

Because you'd think that a rule must exist for a negator to exist, but that would imply the existence of a great many more UMAs that we as readers do not know about. It could be that they're locked up and in containment with Union, or that they're pacifists or non-sentient rules, but as far as we know, any UMAs that Union has subjugated or neutralized have been hostile ones towards humans (as they are expected to be, given their role), and there are countless UMAs that exist where we don't have any awareness or understanding of the existence of their Negator. So, not a whole lot to add to this idea (mostly because I already used all my brain power on the other theory), other than the fact that I really need to see what goes on with Unburn and Burn.

So yeah, a whole hell of a lot of writing, but overall a really great episode. I could spend all day picking apart this series, really.

[heretherebedork]

I agree with almost everything about Ray and Mew but isn't Ray also using the fact that Mew's bf just cheated on him and they broke up as a vulnerability to obtain what he wants. Which is dating Mew? Again, Ray blamed and hated Top a few episodes ago for "cheating" on Mew with Boston, but the same Ray thinks it's OK to kiss Mew and Sand at the same party.. Same Ray thinks it's OK to have both Mew and Sand.

And here's the thing. I actually don't think he's *corrupting* Mew. He's not. He's not helping, but Mew is making his own choices and Ray is incapable of pulling himself out of his own shit, let alone anyone else. Misery loves company.

But it amazes me that people can see that so clearly and *still* blame Mew for everything that's happening with Ray here, up to and including Ray definitely trying to double-dip with Sand. AND Ray is using Sand. He is using Mew too but he's very much only using one of them on purpose.

Ultimately Mew is using Ray, but Ray's also using Mew.

I'm torn between 'Ray is using Mew' and 'Ray genuinely doesn't know how to say no to Mew' and those two come at the same issue but from different angles.

I don't blame Mew for any of it. Mew's decided to try to live a fantasy with Top and spiraled when it failed. That's what happened and he is using Ray to get down that spiral more easily and he is, in a way, pulling Ray down farther with him because he wants to go farther.

But as for Ray using Mew... that's actually an interesting question about Ray's character. He is definitely spoiled and selfish. He's wanted this chance with Mew forever because Mew literally shaped his idea of love by saving him and I don't think Mew could offer Ray that chance and have Ray turn it down no matter how much he loves Sand.

Now, is that using Mew, being used by Mew, being a broken young man who's struggling with addiction and loneliness, being unable to say no to someone you love? There are so many different aspects to Ray and to their relationship and their very broken friendship that I struggle to tease them apart.

Ray, I think, wants to sincerely love Mew and be the best one for him and, yes, he's taking the rebound from Top... but it's also very clear that it isn't what he expected and isn't fulfilling to him the way he hoped this would be, the way he thought that he would be filled up by love. Mew doesn't make Ray happy, no matter how much Ray wishes he did.

Ray has a very damaged outlook on love, possessiveness, emotions and himself. He was absolutely wrong to walk away from Mew and directly into kissing Sand and he is, definitely, not respecting any aspect of the relationship he and Mew are kind of in.

So... they're using each other equally? I'd really put this fairly equal. Mew is dating Ray mostly to piss Top off and also to try to be more like him while Ray is just desperate for anything and has absolutely no coping skills that aren't addiction.

Actually, I really do think Mew is using Ray more than Ray is using Mew but Ray is doing more wrong and is less able to cope than Mew is with any of what's happening. (Mew has a steady support system in Cheum and his mothers while Ray has a father who yells at him for the cost of his car when he's in the hospital). So... they're both wrong. In different ways.

Ray's damage is not Mew's fault but Mew is using that damage without thinking about it deeper. Mew is wearing Ray's persona as if he truly believes that Ray is doing better than he is at coping when he's the one who saved Ray from himself and has watched him dig a deeper hole constantly over the years and it feels... wrong. But they're all young.

I absolutely cannot imagine blaming Mew for this. But I also don't see the point in blaming Ray for this either. They're both messed up in this and they're using each other.

I just have a soft spot for Ray that I don't have for Mew so most of my focus is on Ray's pain. I won't even deny that. I care much, much more about Ray's eventual happiness than I do about Mew's and that's just me. Everyone is gonna have favorite characters.

But, no, this isn't entirely Mew being wrong or Ray being wrong. They're both wrong and they're going to hurt each other and I hope their friendship falls apart because neither of them is a good friend to the either or, frankly, capable of it at this point.

Mew cannot be a good friend to Ray and Ray cannot be a good friend to Mew and that's okay.

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group J Round 3: #J5 vs #J6

#J5: Girls live in a school, but not by choice

#J6: Students transported to bizarre new realities

Details and poll under the cut!

#J5: School-Live! (Gakkougurashi!)

Summary:

Carefree high school senior Yuki Takeya looks forward to the School Living Club every day. Consisting of the president Yuuri Wakasa, the athletic Kurumi Ebisuzawa, the mature Miki Naoki, the supervising teacher Megumi Sakura, and club dog Taroumaru, the club prides itself on making the most of life at school. There is only one rule the club members have to follow: all members must live their entire lives within school grounds.

Propaganda:

If you like Madoka Magica, you’ll 100% like this series. It’s hard to explain without spoilers, but it has a huge plot twist in the first episode. The anime is a short one with only 12 episodes, but it has an amazing manga as well! It mixes a cute slice of life high school anime with a darker plot, and it’s handled so well. It doesn’t seem like it’s just dark for the sake of being edgy like some other similar series. It covers topics like mental health and grief well, and it has as happy of an ending as possible for a series like this. The plot twists were executed so well, and I was sobbing by the end of the series.

Trigger Warnings: Animal Cruelty or Death, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Derealization

#J6: Sonny Boy

Summary:

Thirty-six students find themselves and their school building suddenly adrift in a void-like dimension. When supernatural powers awaken in some of them, a sense of detachment begins to divide the group. Despite the student council's attempts to impose order, they clash with the students possessing special abilities, who rebel against their strict control.

This conflict leads them to discover that this world has its own set of rules—and following them is necessary for survival. After one of the students decides to take a leap of faith, the school switches dimensions once again. While they deal with the unique challenges and circumstances that each world presents, the students must unravel the mysterious phenomenon and find a way back home.

Propaganda:

Sonny Boy is one of the best shows to come out in recent years. The setting and plot is very fantastical, with superpowers and dimension travel, but fundamentally the story is about the characters. The character writing is really unique. Even the side characters feel like real people, not just cheap gimmicks.

But the main draw for a lot of people are the visuals. Sonny Boy looks like no other anime. The backgrounds are just absolutely stunning, and the realistic character design helps contrast the unreality of the world. There are these amazing visual sequences that just blow you away with how creative the writers must be.

I can't say much without spoiling but it's the kind of show you just have to experience. This is the kind of show where people either love it or hate it. If you are looking for clear, linear storytelling, this is not the show for you. If you're looking for a straight mystery where everything is solved in the end, you might be disappointed. If you want to cry, and feel something, and think about what it means to be alive, then I cannot recommend a better show.

Trigger Warnings:

Animal death - a bird died and is used as a metaphor

Flashing lights - many weird kaleidoscope effects and other sequences

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

[idkiwasntsupposedtobebackhere]

super popular gilmore girls takes i disagree with:

”younger jess didn’t deserve younger rory, older rory didn’t deserve older jess”

they both went through rough patches that caused them to hurt people and not be the best versions of themselves but they still were the same people all their lives, there’s no ”chilton rory” and ”yale rory” here. and THE WHOLE APPEAL of rory and jess is that they don’t judge eachother and don’t see eachother the way the rest of the world does. now speaking off…

”chilton rory>yale rory”

rory gets too much shit. can we stop idealizing her child self and start realizing that being a young adult is hard. also words like ungrateful, spoiled and priviliged are thrown around and eh… rory actually seems appreciative of her very humble past and has many lovely qualities like not caring about other people’s opinions and making her own judgement. and you do know that ”she threw away everything her mom gave her” is the argument emily apologists use right? rory remains who she is even after she is thrown into a world of privilige overnight, which is admirable. ofc she has her moments but in general.

”lorelai hated jess because she saw herself in him”

my girl lorelai isn’t self relective enough for this, she hates jess bc he’s a threat to the perfect life she wants for her perfect daughter (a life she didn’t get). she thinks rory is just like her and will go wild if she doesn’t shield her from it. she doesn’t get that rory will have her own experiences that she’s not familiar with and won’t understand. but she will. not everything in rory’s life will have something to do with lorelai’s. which leads me to…

”rory’s love interest xyz represents lorelai’s love interest xyz”

rory and lorelai’s love lives don’t mirror eachother, asp, because they are very different people who want very different things in partners and in life. someone being the best guy for lorelai doesn’t equal a younger version of that guy would be the perfect guy for rory. forced parallels are forced. because of her cold and wealthy childhood, lorelai wants a simple, humble life with a stable and loving guy. rory is drawn to intellectualism and travel, the unknown. different to what both lorelai wants and what the grandparents want (marriage between two freshly ivy league graduated people). i think you know what i’m sayinggg

”rory should have said yes to logan, she loved him”

if logan didn’t understand that this wasn’t something rory wanted, they didn’t have a stable enough foundation to build a life on anyways. yes, she loved him but she didn’t want to get married at 22. i don’t know why people wanted this for rory when it’s just as bad of an idea as dean or lane getting married young.

”jess was disrespectful to lorelai so she had the right to hate him”

ok he was but lorelai feeling entitled to talk to jess about how lucky he was to have been dumped with his uncle a couple of hours ago was just bad. that was not her place, and she shouldn’t have been surprised that he didn’t respond well. and it’s the way she goes about her disliking of him. i just can’t understand people who think an adult yelling at and openly snarking at a teen is anything but immature. i just watched the episode with dean’s ugly bracelet and her calling jess a ”little jerk” to his face is just crazy

”team lorelai/team rory”

i feel like people think that i don’t like lorelai because i’m on jess’ side when they fight but he’s just the exception. i think lorelai can be emotionally intelligent and i’m on her side with her parents, luke, her other bfs, sookie & michel etc. generally i enjoy her more than rory. but unlike a lot of the people who like lorelai, i don’t think she’s always right when she’s fighting with rory. it’s pretty 50/50. i don’t really have an opinion there. i don’t see them as being against each other. and during The Big Fight, i think everyone involved acted horribly. except for jess❤️ ok that’s it.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About “For the Future” from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who are already skipping past this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck! I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons!

…So, “For the Future” got leaked, like, two weeks ago. And everyone hated that.

Well, the people who were going to pirate the special anyways due to their “legitimate” reasons loved it. But for the fans who wanted to support The Owl House while it was on its last legs? Yeah, needless to say, people were angry.

And the special got leaked for dumb reasons, too! Some dumb-dumb from iTunes accidentally put the episode up early for people to buy and then proceed to spread like wildfire. Because when you make a mistake like that, you need to correct it the SECOND that after it’s been made. Let it linger, and you’ll come to regret it.

Some compared it to the situation with Amphibia and the episode “True Colors,” but I wouldn’t really say it’s THAT bad. There, it was carelessness on Disney’s part to delay the episode SUPER last minute and not warn iTunes to do the same. Here, it genuinely seems like an accident caused by some dumb dipstick not paying attention. It’s one of those situations where NO ONE could have prepared for it, least of all the fans who found out too late that the leak happened and spoilers were already flooding EVERYTHING. Miraculously, I made it through the whole two weeks by only seeing ONE genuine spoiler. I’m honestly amazed by that.

And for those saying they have “legitimate reasons” for pirating the special, there’s no legitimate reason to LEAK it. Doing that is disrespectful for the show and the people who work on it, hurting the viewership and numbers they need to know people liked it. Plus, if you don’t care about that, it ruins the fandom experience, because it leaves fans with no outlet to share theories and thoughts about the special without fear that they’ll lure in anyone ready to spoil everything. I remember when the trailer finally came out, I felt SO hyped yet SO angry because I couldn’t talk about ANY of it. That’s what happens when you leak a special from a series people love.

Now, the question is this: Was it worth it?

Well, no. It’s never worth ANYTHING to screw over a show like this. But was it worth the wait? I mean, despite the quality of the special, it’s always worth waiting to support The Owl House the RIGHT way.

But to humor the dinguses who leaked “For the Future,” let’s dive in and see how good it really is.

*Spoilers below…even though you probably already know everything that happens by now*

WHAT I LIKED

Showing Us What Happened: Off to a great start already!

A part of me, going in, was a little hopeful that the special would begin with Luz and the others coming to the Boiling Isles and learning what happened as they went on. I figured that the expectations of what the Collector would do the second he has the freedom to go nuts would have been too high to live up to, so it'd be for the best...not to show it. With that said, I don't mind that the writers did. It gives us a taste of what's to come while, to my surprise, living up to so many expectations I had. We get to see the damage the Collector causes, what they do to the people on the Isles, and how a few people react to it.

Plus, a few bonus stuff within that.

Lilith Going to Save King: Have I ever mentioned how much I adored Lilith changed since Season One? This woman went from snobby to throwing herself at a literal god to save her nephew. It backfired immediately, but at least she was kind enough to try.

Though, quick note, maybe don't show Lilith getting transformed. Hooty is fine because he never turns back, but if Lilith is going to change back off-screen anyways, you might as well not change her at all. We see a lot of others get spared off-screen, so why NOT make it the same with her? Speaking of which…

The Collector Turning People into Puppets: It's not the worst fate in the world, but it's not the best. Sure, everyone's still alive, and the Collector--THANKFULLY--doesn't torture them. Yet that doesn't change how this is something truly twisted. These people...are not sentient. About anything, really. They're only truly "alive" when the Collector is playing with them, and even then, they're not really all there. They're more like toys, which is pretty much the point. To the Collector, these people are nothing more than playthings to a higher being--Holy s**t, Tinella Nosa really DID call that, huh?

But, yeah, this is a decent way of establishing how the Collector is unlike any threat before. People might not be able to change back unless HE wills it so, meaning that for the characters to win, they need to convince the Collector to turn everything back to normal. Which, judging by how this episode ends...Yeah, good luck with that.

Oh, man, I just referenced something heavy. Time to balance it out with something sweet, STAT!

Eda and Raine’s Moment Together: You'll do.

This moment is short, but through visuals alone, there is SO MUCH that's delivered. There's the elation that they're both alive, Raine's worry (and maybe regret) for Eda now missing an arm, Raine already knowing and accepting that Eda's gotta go save King, and Raine being amazed (and possibly a little aroused) by the sight of Eda as a harpy. It's honestly everything I could have asked for and more, given that it's a perfect scene where the music and facial expressions say so much that words can't. What more can I say about it, really? Nearly two minutes in, this special got me hooked.

There’s Someone or Something in the In Between: And nearly three minutes in, and the special has got me INTRIGUED.

I'm honestly surprised how I almost forgot about that...person? Thing? Whatever they are/it is, I forgot about them because SO MUCH happens in this special that it nearly slipped my mind. And I truly hope the same won't be for the writers because I WANT to know what the deal is with this thing. Because from what we can tell, they're...trapped? Looks like it. It even looks like they were trying to get Luz's attention for help. I'm not sure what's going on, but that's what's fun about it. Not knowing something and wanting to figure out what it means is the basic, bare-bones necessity regarding storytelling. As long as we eventually get a satisfying answer, I don't mind being left in the dark for now. As long as, again, we DO get an answer. But I'm not worried about never getting one. These writers are pretty good at making one connective narrative this season.

Hunter’s Anger: For instance, this. Hunter's rage over wanting to kill Belos is not only justified in every conceivable way, but it also functions to make "For the Future" the direct carry-over from "Thanks to Them." Now, that's to be expected, but I'm glad that, even though Hunter's NOT the main character of this story, the writers didn't forget or gloss over what happened. The poor boy lost his best friend, who was the first thing ever to give Hunter any sense of true joy. I would honestly question a few things if he didn't act even the tiniest bit bloodthirsty. So, I'm glad the writers gave Hunter time to process his pain and anger rather than making him stoic or emotionless throughout "For the Future." I honestly thought they were going for the ladder, so I'm more than grateful to be wrong for once.

Luz Still Choosing to Stay Back in the Human Realm: Just as I'm grateful that THIS carried over too.

Luz's problems from "Thanks to Them" weren't fully addressed, so it's great that a good chunk of "For the Future" is about her learning to let go of her guilt. Even better, it's Camila who's the one to do it. I'll talk about their big scene together later, don't worry. But for now, I want to gush over how perfect it is that Camila's the one in the main cast who's trying to help Luz with her problem. The woman went from begging Luz to stay in the Human Ream to accepting that Luz would want to remain in the Boiling Isles. And not wanting to have Luz make a mistake she'd probably regret for the rest of her life, losing the close friends and family she's made there, Camila does all she can to make Luz feel better about herself. What's more spectacular about this is that Camila doesn't reveal Luz's turmoil to her friends. A.) It would put more strain on them than they already need. B.)It's not her place to. She respects Luz's privacy, and even when asking for help, she does nothing more than imply what's wrong. She wants to fix this herself because, well, she's a mom. Moms help their babies when they need it the most. And...dang it, if I didn't love Camila already, I love her even MORE now! It's so good!

Camila’s Hungry for Vengeance: Same thing with this. I’m right there with you, Gus. I’d PAY to see Camila beat the snot out of Belos with her bat.

Camila Trying to be Supportive: Emphasis on trying. Camila's still freaked out by pretty much everything around her and has a MILLION more questions every time she's greeted by something new or strange, but for Luz's sake, Camila does her best to be supportive. It's more evidence of why Camila's such a great mom. She might not fully get what to love about the Boiling Isles, but she tries. She tries than actual irredeemable monsters that cause true pain to their family. Speaking of...

Belos: Oh, I'll get to what this f**ker does soon enough, don't worry. But first, I want to discuss how much I liked what the writers did with Belos in this special. The fact that he's haunted by the sins of his past and completely ignores them says pretty much everything you need to know about Belos. He doesn't care about these spirits trying to guilt him. If anything, he gets angry, standing firm that he has nothing to be ashamed of, and there's nothing some random spirits will change about that. Nor does he care about life. He has these backup grimwalkers that are all nothing more than flesh puppets to him. These things can be people of their own, and Belos uses them to further his life and finish his misguided agenda. This man is bitter evil to the end, and I'm all for that. I like irredeemable villains.

Plus, I adore that despite the Collector being the primary threat this season, Belos is still the main antagonist. The dingleberry manipulates the situation to his desires, only now he's using the Collector as his latest tool. I am totally one-hundred percent on board with this decision because while the Collector is a decent threat, Belos makes more thematic sense as the show's big bad. His ideals go against everything the series stands for, about freedom, acceptance, and that it's ok to be whoever you want to be. He takes away and perverse so much of that, and it's all a part of why he's the best villain Disney's had in a while.

...Felt weird praising a scumbag like him for so long. Let's talk about a character that's actually a good person.

Willow Trying to Keep a Happy Face: I did NOT expect Willow to get as much attention as she did. Surprisingly, she manages to have the most engaging sub-plot in the special to me. Speaking as someone who tries their best to be upbeat despite tragedy, wanting to bring good vibes despite the current heartache, I can confirm it's not a healthy mindset to have at times. It's noble to lift spirits up, but it's for your own good to admit that...you're not feeling good. It makes me grateful for Willow's subplot, not only because of its great lesson but because it offers us so much more insight into her character than Seasons One and Two combined. Don't look at me like that. You know it's true. We all know that Willow's a kind person, but seeing how much that kindness puts a strain on her makes for something relatable and engaging to a lot of people.

It's also neat how her story connects with Hunter's. Willow wants to help cheer up Hunter, and Hunter wants to reassure Willow that he IS happy because he has her. It's truly sweet stuff while adding more fuel to the fire with this ship.

But as cute as they are, they ain't the OTP.

Luz and Amity Talking About Palismens: Such a sweet moment between these two!

The backstory behind how Amity got Ghost doesn't offer much that we already didn't know, but it is sweet that she says it to help cheer Luz up. After Luz helped Amity out of her goth phase, she's doing the same, offering the same amount of kindness Luz has been delivering for years. It's...perfect, to be honest, as it shows how much these two will always balance each other out when one is more in the dumps than the other. I love it, and weirdly enough, I love the pain I felt when Luz moved away when Amity kissed her head. Because Luz is so dead set on leaving at this point, she's already trying to create distance between herself and Amity. It hurts to see but in the best way possible...but that DOES mean I could use a little sweetness. Let's double back a bit and discuss a pair that ISN'T romantic (unless you ask my buddy @l-egionaire).

Gus and Willow’s Little Moment: We REALLY needed more scenes like this with these two. We get a story about Willow cheering Gus up when he had a bad day. Through this, we REALLY get a good sense of their bond and why they make good friends (again, unless you ask @l-egionaire). They're...screw-ups who, a lot of the time, rely on each other to get out of their darkest days. Moreso with Gus than Willow because she's basically the older sister he never had (@l-egionaire, I'm sorry. I know it must be killing you to have me say that). It's genuinely adorable, and it's great that we at least got ONE scene this season about these two cute kiddies.

And while on the topic of cute kids…

The Collector: ...What? They're surprisingly adorable.

I might have said it before, but I adore how the writers make the Collector a kid. A kid that can kill us all if he wants, but still a kid. To the Collector, they don't really understand that what he's doing is wrong. It's all a game of pretend where they're a hero surrounded by friends who love him. It's very much NOT the case, but...Ok, do you know how a five-year-old would go out and mess with ants? It's like that. To the ants, it's f**ked up that this gigantic, unstoppable creature is killing them without mercy, but to the kid, they don't really see what's wrong with what they're doing. It's not like they're hurting a person. They're just hurting something small and insignificant. Well, to THEM at least.

It's why I can't really say the Collector is evil or even a villain. Not anymore, at least. I mean, would YOU call your kid evil for messing with something they shouldn't? Or would you say they're misguided and needs to learn what's good or bad? I'd say that describes the Collector perfectly, and I'm not the only one who thinks that.

King Guiding the Collector: A pretty smart move from a writer's standpoint. The Collector, in many ways, is a lot like King. At least, King if he didn't have Luz and Eda checking his ego every ten minutes. It's why King understands the Collector better than others: King KNOWS what it's like to be a kid. Since, well, he IS a kid. King's just one that was raised better and was given more of a moral conscience. So, not only does King try his best to lay boundaries for the Collector, but he's doing some ego-checking too. It's clearly exhausting, as the Collector doesn't easily take no for an answer, but it's something that still, albeit slowly, works. It's why I have no problems with King saying they can reason with the Collector. Mixed in with the understanding and the effort he made in reasoning with them, it makes sense.

Plus, how can you hate a kid who finds the perfect karmic justice for two old broads?

Odalia and Terra’s Roles: Both of these ladies deserved worse. Especially Odalia (I'LL GET TO THAT!). With that said, these are perfectly serviceable punishments. These are two women who hate children just as much as they hate receiving orders. So to have them forced to do everything a child says less they want to be destroyed is a great idea, even if I wish they suffered just a bit more. Because, you know, they deserve it for being such easy-to-hate characters...And since I've brought that up...

Matt: THANK FRICK THAT I DON'T HAVE TO CALL HIM MATTHOLOMULE ANYMORE! My spellcheck thanks you, writers!

Anyways--HOW DID I GO FROM HATING THIS STINK WEASEL TO LOVING HIM?! I'm not kidding. The kid's so...funny! He's a funny character whose false confidence and huge ego make for some good laughs! That was very much NOT the case in his introduction, what with him being, as I've said, a stink weasel, but the writers managed to make it work this time. Mainly because they actually wrote him to be a decent human being...You know what I mean.

A character like Matt works better when he's on the side of good. Use that ego and false confidence for someone that's a bit of a dick, and you're going to make a character that people will hate very effortlessly. That can be fine, as a character that people love to hate can be as enjoyable as one that we love to...love, but you got to do it carefully. Make them too despicable, then they're just going to be more annoying than funny, which was definitely the case for Matt in the beginning. And if you don't make them despicable enough, they'll be funny, but they're practically on their way to being one of the good guys anyways, so you might as well follow through on it. So, making Matt a good guy works better for the character and the audience. But that's just one Hexside student. How's the rest going?

New Hexside: Turns out pretty funny.

Now, initially, not at all. We quickly learned how Hexside reacted to the Day of Unity and the Collector's domination, and it really gets to me how real their reactions are. The fear and panic felt prevalent, and you feel bad for these poor kids as they're forced to witness the end of the world, helpless to stop it.

But after that delicious drama, it's not too long until the jokes come flooding back as we witness what happens when children are left in charge of a school for a few months. The results are exactly what one would expect, with everything being a beautiful series of chaos. The kindergartners are savages, kids eating paperclips, and the students raise a radical statue in Principal Bump's honor that wildly misrepresents him (although that underrated character very much does deserve a statue). It's all pretty good stuff that succeeded in getting a laugh out of me. But some things can be both funny AND heartwarming.

Amity Reuniting with Ed and Em: Like THIS little family reunion that I had hoped to see for MONTHS.

First, you get a touch of something heartwarming as Amity tearfully hugs her brother and sister, with Emira being the one to spin Amity around in an adorable display of affection. And then you have Ed...who runs at Amity in a full body cast, screams in pain as he forces his arms to bend to hug her, and reveals that he's like this because he fell in a well. This boy is the best kind of stupid, and I appreciate every bit of it. I have not laughed this hard with the show in...forever, so believe me when I say that I love this scene for that.

But that's enough wholesomeness and hilarity. Let's get to the ominous and...anxiety building.

The Collector’s Book: This is probably the closest we're going to get to any backstory or explanation of what the Collector is, so, you know...Appreciate it for what it does.

And as interesting as it all is, the lines that the Collector crosses out...gives me fear:

"But should they meddle in our affairs, we'll clean the planet and scorch the air."

Considering how this special ends, I am very much not looking forward to figuring out what THAT means.

I changed my mind. Can we go back to New Hexside? Things are fun there.

Boscha: ...Is it too late to change my mind on changing my mind? It is? Ok...

So, Boscha...I kind of like what they're trying to do with her. Would the special have benefitted by cutting her out? Maybe, but we get more out of Boscha here than the entire series. Now, I'm one of the few people who never cared that she didn't get any development. She was a static character that made for the perfect antithesis to Amity and rival to Willow. But that doesn't mean I'm against the writers trying something, and they...sure did try something. And that's making Boscha go bat-s**t insane without Amity. Ever heard of codependency? Because that's what Boscha's going through. She is so reliant on having relationships and people being with her that being forced to work on her own drives the girl to near insanity. It's why Boscha was willing to team up with the first little psycho she met. If the alternative was to be alone, then it's better to work for a lesser cause than a just one. At least, that seems to be the logic Boscha operates on, and to be perfectly honest, it makes me wish we had time for one more episode to dive deep into this idea with Boscha. What we get is a taste, and a dang good one at that, making it a little disappointing that we'll never explore this side of her again. As is, it's...fine. I like what the writers wer going for, but I just don't LOVE it. It's one of those ideas that would have benefited with more time, especially if the writers were going to force redemption out of her. And you want to know what else would have benefited from more time?

Eda, King, and Lilith’s Subplot: If "For the Future" was just ten minutes longer, I would REALLY adore everything about this little section of it. As is...Well, there's still a lot to love.

I love that Eda and King are still together. I genuinely didn't expect them to be this close this soon, but I'm not complaining. Eda and King sticking together despite this awful situation is something that all I'm here for, and I do adore that out of everyone in the Isles, it's these two that manage to live safely while under the nose of a god who has the potential to destroy everything with a temper tantrum.

I love that Eda's still keeping good spirits despite how dire things have become. She's joking around and taking the same risks she would take on any occasion. She even risks a lot by coming out to talk to Raine, which is just all kinds of bittersweet and absolutely in character for Eda.

And I LOVE that Eda's still cursed. I honestly thought the Collector would take the Owlbeast out of her, but no. She still has to deal with it, and Lilith is the one helping Eda brew potions, which is another little detail I can't help but admire. After causing her sister to deal with years of torture thanks to the curse, Lilith is paying things forward by making the potion Eda needs to stay normal, and it's great. Everything about this is great...My only complaint is that I wish this special was longer.

So much of what happens with Eda, King, and Lilith happens off-screen. Stuff like Lilith changing back, them all finding themselves in this comfortable situation, and researching how to beat the Collector are essential things for the story, and we don't get to see it happen. They don't show that stuff as a way to cut corners with a season with so much to do and little time to do it, and I can understand that. It's why I don't really HATE this for what it is. I just know that this section of the special would be a lot better if we saw more.

Ok, that’s a lot more negativity than usual in the LIKES section. Let’s go for more positivity.

The Return of the Memory Tweezers: I always love it when a series nears its end, it brings back something established in a previous episode. Especially a good one.

And that's what this is: A great callback that has plot relevance. Luz needs to remember something she's seen only once, so they might as well bring out the thing that gives a perfect memory...Let's hope none of the photos get destroyed. Luz has enough problems as it is. Being brainless isn't one of them.

And as much as I want to keep this positivity going…it’s time to get into it…

Belos Taking Over Raine’s Body: Does Dana Terrace hate Raine Whispers or something? Why does she take joy in letting them suffer?!

Once I saw Belos loom over Odalia and the other puppets, I felt so excited. FINALLY, that woman is going to get some real punishment for being the big b-word that she is! And then Belos jumped into Raine...and all that excitement turned into despair.

Odalia was RIGHT THERE! She would have made for a PERFECT meat puppet! Look at this:

That's some quality meat right there...That might be the most risque joke I've made when talking about this show...Ah well.

Anyways, as much as I do not like this, I can't say I hate it. Well, I DO hate it, but that's why I love it. I'm SUPPOSED to hate that Belos did this to Raine, just as I'm supposed to dread the gut wrench of a reunion when Eda finally clues into what happens...Yeah, not looking forward to that.

Can we go back to being positive?

Gus Knew Hunter was a Grimwalker: Oh, yeah. That'll do.

Fans called this one, but it's still pretty cool to have it confirmed. It kind of recontextualizes how Gus tried to cheer Hunter up with Cosmic Frontier. He gave Hunter something to connect with that also happens to help with his inner turmoil. It's pretty powerful, and it's reason #456 of why I love The Owl House: Future episodes make previous ones better now that you know what's going to happen.

There. That was pretty positive. Can we keep the positivity going?

Kikimora: No? Ok…

So, a LOT of people do not like Kikimora. She might be the most hated character in the series if Odalia Blight didn't exist (SHE WAS RIGHT THERE!). With that said...I love Kiki. She's such a chaotic little gremlin that I can't help but adore her antics. Take what she does in this special, for example. Her current grand plan is to be the queen of teenagers. It's so petty and ridiculous that I can't help but love it. If you hate her, I can't stop you. But I can't physically hate someone this chaotic.

Also, Kikimora is pretty adorable when not wearing a cone of shame. And Camila calling Kiki a little red kitten is the best. Man, I love Camila.

Camila and Luz’s Talk: I REALLY love Camila. I might even be IN love with her?

Can you be in love with a fictional character?

Never mind, I just heard what I asked. Let's, uh...pretend I didn't ask that and move on.

Joking aside...this scene is magical. Camila is far from a perfect woman or mother. She admits to that here and now, acknowledging her mistakes, apologizing for them, and promises to do better. It might not make her perfect, but it IS what makes Camila the best cartoon mom to me. She's a woman who tries her damnedest and owns up to mistakes she's made rather than deny that she's made any, like a wannabee meat puppet that I know (SHE WAS RIGHT THERE!). If there's any mother you want to aspire to be, it's, without a doubt, Camila. A woman who shows love when it matters the most, even if there were a few mistakes along the way. I appreciate her for what she is, and you'd better believe Luz does too.

Luz Wanted to be Understood: In "Hunting Palismen," Luz is asked a question: What does she want to be? That question never got answered, and after so many twists and turns, I forgot that was an issue for Luz. So, to have "For the Future" bring it back and finally answer what Luz wants to be. And I am blown away by that answer.

It's an obvious one, in hindsight. In the first episode, it's apparent that Luz's problem is that no one understands her. Not her teachers, classmates, or even her mother. So to have this moment of realizing how it feels to be understood by Camila, to have someone say, "I know how much it hurts to be you," it's an epiphany that Luz didn't know she needed. And the look on her face, mixed with the beautiful colors, makes for an image that gives me goosebumps for the pure joy I felt. And the joy keeps on coming. + Palisman

Luz Gets Her Staff: And she's frickin' happy about it!

GENUINELY happy! In "Thanks to Them," every time Luz smiled, it NEVER reached her eyes. You always saw the sadness she tried her hardest to fight. But here? Luz is grinning ear to ear and being her old goofy self again. And it is EUPHORIC to see my poor girl be the Luz I remember. I don't mind a main character going through an emo phase, just as long as it's just a phase. Funny enough, I prefer my favorite characters to be happy, not miserable.

Hunter’s Powers: The same goes for Hunter. The boy's a SUPERHERO! A lot of us predicted that he'd still do that dash thing with Flapjack inside him, but seeing it is a whole different thing together! Again, I love seeing my favs happy, even if there's a bittersweetness to Hunter's new joy.

But the positivity train doesn’t end there…

Stringbean: I LOVE HER ALREADY!

Stringbean is the cutest little bugger ever, and the fact that she shapeshifts is amazing. As far as we know, no other palisman can do this, making her the most unique one to ever exist. And that's perfect because a unique witch like Luz deserves a palisman that's as original as her. Plus, the others guessing what she might be is a great shout out to fans making the EXACT same theories.

Man, what a perfect, hopeful end to such a great--

Collector Wants to Play a New Game: MOTHER F**KER!

Yeah, believe it or not, the stakes somehow got HIGHER now that the characters are dealing with an ANGRY Collector. And I'm scared. I'm scared of what an angry Collector could mean for the future...pun unintended.

WHAT I DISLIKED

It Got Leaked: I'm not kidding. That's my ONLY complaint regarding "For the Future." We didn't deserve a special THIS GOOD early. I am so glad to have the patience to wait and even MORE relieved that I didn't get spoiled that much because watching this special with a more-or-less fresh mindset is an experience that proves why it's important to wait. The hype of counting down the days, even counting down the seconds, to watch a premier is all a part of the experience. I can't blame people for being a LITTLE impatient, especially if they thought it'd be better to watch it and not worry about spoilers, but to those who leaked it? You get a good ol' fuck you from your pal Ordinary Schmuck. This one is extra special because I didn't censor it.

But, not to worry. There's a chance to redeem yourself. Disney put up the entire special on YouTube, and you can watch it--FOR FREE!--if you live in these regions:

The US

The UK

Australia

Mexico

And other countries

If it's locked out of your region for some reason (and you're apparently so against getting a VPN), then I guess that's the ONLY excuse you have to pirate it. I don't condone it, but I learn my lesson on Reddit. Don't tell fans not to pirate The Owl House. They'll be extra salty about it. However, if you're NOT locked out, there's no excuse to NOT watch it. Clearly, paying for stuff is an issue for people, but since "For the Future" is now free and RIGHT THERE, why not watch it? Like, stow your hatred for Disney just a second, so you can give the people who worked tirelessly on this show the respect they deserve. Because if the views aren't getting close to the millions by the time I post this review, then I'M gonna be salty.

And, yeah, that's the only complaint I have regarding "For the Future."

...

…Also, some obviously cut corners due to not having enough time. Stuff like Boscha's redemption and the stuff regarding Eda, King, and Lilith happening off-screen are big ones to come to my mind. I'm not bothered by this because I fully understand why it's done, but it does leave one a tiny bit irked.

But, seriously, that's about it.

IN CONCLUSION

"For the Future" is another solid A episode! But are you really surprised anymore?

If I had to pick, I'd say I like "Thanks to Them" a LITTLE bit more, primarily because that one feels more like a standalone episode. With "For the Future," it feels more like set-up. It's still GREAT with some fantastic character moments, some surprisingly great scenes of development, and by somehow raising the stakes MORE than they already were! I may want it to stand out more on its own, but it's still necessary as we lead into the grand finale. Plus, considering how the writers have so much to do and very little time to do it, I don't mind a full special of set-up, even if a few corners were cut along the way. I'm still left with something great that I'll be watching and rewatching as I dream of what comes next in the future.

While also hoping, for the show's sake, nothing else gets leaked...Seriously, if ANYTHING about special Numero Tres gets leaked online, I might actually blow a gasket.

[justmenoworries]

My unorganized thoughts about Hazbin finale because I am feeling all the feelings.

Positives

The songs? Absolute bangers. Both of them. The Chaggie "More Than Anything" reprise got spoiled for me but I still loved it. We stan a supportive couple ready to go to war together. The reprise for "Happy Day in Hell" at the end was a nice touch. Loved that it was Lucifer who picked up the slack to cheer up Charlie. Mans finally becoming the dad who stepped up.

The battle as a whole was awesome. Hot take, but if Adam didn't have the spawn infinite enemies cheat all bad guy armies seem to have in these situations, the Hotel definitely would've won.

I'll admit, I wasn't too jazzed about Sir Pentious replacing Mimzy in the main cast but he kind of redeemed (lol) himself for me this episode. Bro was both one of the funniest and most heartwarming characters in the finale get yourself a man who can do both. The unholy (lol) noises I made when he showed up as a redeemed soul in Heaven. Good for him! He deserves the best. Also I find Sera's and Emily's reactions to the reveal kind of interesting. Emily is overjoyed seeing that Charlie's idea works, but Sera looks... mortified? Disgusted? Kinda tells us which one of these two really deserves the title of Big Good. Side note, but it's kind of funny how the only physical change a redeemed sinner goes through is that their color scheme is now pastel instead of goth.

ADAM FUCKING DIED YESSIRRRRR! GOOD RIDDANCE BITCH NO ONE WILL MISS YOUUUU (Except for Lute, but no one gives a fuck about what Lute thinks, cry harder hoe)

Charlie's and Lucifer's true formssss! Razzle and Dazzle getting to be badassss! (R.I.P. Dazzle, hope you somehow end up in Heaven too)

Alastor Vs Adam. Cool fight, surprisingly not as one-sided as one might've thought. I mean, Alastor still lost but he lasted a lot longer than most of the others who fought against Adam (Poor Sir Pen)

Vaggie and Lute rematch, I fucking called ittttt!

Seeing everyone gear up and fight for the Hotel was cool, seeing so many Exorcists get axed off was cathartic as fuck.

Lute losing a part of her body because of Vaggie, just like she took a part of Vaggie's body was *chef's kiss*.

Lucifer Vs Adam and Lucifer just... not taking the fight seriously at all until Charlie almost gets hurt. He was really just toying with Adam for the entire first half and when he started getting serious Adam got trashed so fucking quick, I love it.

Charlie fucking shanking Adam and stopping his punch Just Like That. I lover her, she's such a badass. Sure wish we could've seen more of that (foreshadowinggg)

Vox acting as the greek chorus for the events of the episode works surprisingly well. Ngl I thought his constant commentary would get annoying really fast if they kept cutting away from the action just so he can say a funny. But no, they actually managed to time it pretty well. Props to Adam Stein (writer for this episode).

The Negatives (Yes, They Exist)

The other Vees did not need to be here. Seriously, we're starting off with Vox alone in his control room and we could've stayed there. Velvette and Valentino didn't even talk for the majority of the episode. And I'm not a fan of how Val continues to be played for comedy. Unfriendly reminder that this man is a r*pist and an abuser. If you needed a V for the funnies, Velvette and Vox are quite literally right there. (Can you believe Velvette had no lines this episode but fucking Val had both a speaking role and a not insignificant part of the ending song? Weak.) You can still have the ending scene of the Vees hanging out and planning after the aborted Extermination, literally nothing changes if you cut Val and Velvette from the cutaway gags.

Not a fan of how Lucifer stole the spotlight. "But you said you liked the Adam Vs Lucifer fight-" Yeah, I did. Doesn't change that this shouldn't have been Luci's fight, it should have been Charlie's. We've had hints this whole season that Charlie is actually way stronger and wrathful than anyone thinks and that she's actively working to keep up her cheerful and friendly persona. Her stabbing Adam with her trident was a nice start, but after Lute killed Dazzle and seriously endangered Vaggie, this should've been the moment Charlie decided "Alright that's it, no more Miss Nice Girl, I didn't want this to end in bloodshed but these assholes are going down." This should've been the moment where the gloves come off. How much more impactful would it be if Charlie was the one beating down Adam but stopping before killing him? If the show made it clear Charlie could murder this asshole, but she doesn't, because she's still better than he ever will be. What a way to show that Charlie truly does believe in the good in everyone or at least still believes in non-lethal solutions to the conflict between Heaven and Hell! But nope, Charlie gets two badass moments, then is banished to the side-lines and to the role of damsel Lucifer has to save and who has to be the metaphorical angel on Lucifer's shoulder who stops him from offing Adam (for some reason). If we needed to get Lucifer involved, maybe have him show up earlier to help the Hotel but get hurt somehow, forcing and motivating Charlie to step up as the future ruler of Hell. Speaking of-

Why the fuck was Lucifer so late to the fight??? Yeah yeah, I know, depressed shut-in, but in "More Than Anything" he literally calls Charlie "the only thing worth fighting for" in Hell. He knew the Extermination was coming. Yeah, maybe Charlie didn't tell him that the trial in Heaven went south and that Adam's Exorcists were going to target the Hazbin Hotel, but you'd think he'd have noticed something was up??? More importantly, if he really wanted to support Charlie's dream of saving the sinners in Hell, why didn't he take part in the battle from the start??? Why didn't Charlie ask him to fight alongside her??? Yeah, Charlie is reluctant to ask Lucifer for anything because they don't have the best relationship, but we've had an entire fucking episode of them growing closer and Lucifer assuring Charlie he'd help her. And this wasn't just a matter of pride, Charlie's friends and her girlfriend were in danger of getting killed, you're telling me she'd choose her own hang-up over all of them??? "But if Lucifer was there, the fight would've been over too quick-" refer to the previous point. Angels can be hurt and killed by angelic weaponry, there were like over a hundred Exorcists on that battlefield and don't tell me Adam would be above fighting dirty by attacking while Lucifer is distracted. There. Easy way to take Lucifer out of the fight and make way for Charlie.

Not a fan of how Cherri Bomb x Sir Pentious was bullrushed in this last episode. Yeah, we established Pentious likes her, but Cherri had like no interest in him until Angel commented he might have two dicks. Which, I guess her being after a purely physical relationship could work, but we all know that's not what Pentious wants. Their "romance" gives "He Was a Boy She Was a Girl" vibes. Like Velvette and Valentino, nothing in the episode would've been lost if that particular plot-line was dropped.

"The future of Hell belongs to the Vees" Yeah but does it though? Does it? Sorry, but I'm having a hard time taking these three seriously as a threat. Vox got effortlessly trounced by Alastor (and contrary to what the Vees believe he isn't missing, he came back), Velvette talked a big game about fighting the Exorcists but then did absolutely nothing and Val would eat dirt so fast against anyone who can actually fight back. Plus "Overlords hanging by a thread"? Which Overlords, exactly? Alastor? He's not dead and like previously stated, he's not 'missing'. Rosie, Carmilla, Zestial and the rest of the Overlords are just fine, the Extermination was centered around the Hazbin Hotel this time, no other turf even got scratched. "Nature abhors a power vacuum" What power vacuum? Again, no Overlords even died! No territory outside the hotel was destroyed! Are they just on a high from Alastor's supposed disappearance? I hope that's it, because otherwise damn, you three fucking suck at being Overlords.

[thesweetnessofspring]

So I was going to make this a Reddit post (since up until this week that was the only place to have any kind of real discussion online about Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), but I took too much time to think it over so now it has to go here. I can't hold it in anymore.

Nathaniel is a poorly conceived character and lacks a genuinely earned change of character as a result.

Warning: This is a long rant, hopefully with a point at the end. I just have so many complaints I hoped I pulled them together in a coherent way.

First, to be clear, Scott is amazing. No complaints on the acting.

But the character? For a show that took stereotypes and showed the human behind them in a a way that was grounded despite the ridiculous nature of the show, they just fell absolutely flat with Nathaniel's character.

Obviously Nathaniel is the "rich boy/antagonistic lover" romcom cliche. I think that is the first part which created a hurdle, because CXG is set in West Covina, not Scarsdale. The other characters are normal and relatable. I've seen Josh and Greg get more criticism for their characters than Nathaniel (which is honestly so ridiculous to me) and I think part of it is because we all know Joshes who haven't learned to grow up and be someone a partner could actually depend on. We all know Gregs who are bitter and make sarcastic comments and bring down the vibe in the room. So it's easier to hate them because they're grounded in our world. But it's rarer to know a Nathaniel, so the show builds his character based not how real rich people act, but perpetuates the idea that movies and TV shows have put in our head about rich people.

Why is Nathaniel a jerk? BECAUSE HIS DADDY DIDN'T LOVE HIM! WAAAAAA! HIS DADDY WAS SO MEAN TO HIM! POOR NATHANIEL IT'S NOT HIS FAULT YOU CAN'T BLAME HIM FOR TRYING TO HAVE JOSH'S GRANDFATHER MURDERED!

I know that parent issues can come across cliche anyway, but really? The rich boy's daddy puts pressure on him and doesn't give him affection? THAT'S the best they could come up with? Some Logan Huntzburger knock-off?

I loved CXG from the beginning because of how real it feels despite its ridiculous tone. I remember watching the first episode and feeling so excited, because wow! West Covina was so much like the SoCal town I grew up in and the characters I could tell were already like people I actually knew! Nathaniel failed in this way.

I used to work on occasion with rich people as a legal assistant. I saw a few third-generation rich people that Nathaniel was supposed to be like. Do you know what kind of so-called "men" they were? They were all spoiled man-children whose daddies were bailing them out of their legal problems with money, lying, cheating, and committing perjury. They were able to use their family wealth to dick around, not do any real work, and yet keep living life high. Did they have good parents? Hell no! Did they have parents who pushed them to the point of perfection? Hell no! These spoiled rich babies always got whatever they wanted, no consequences. And that is what made their parents so bad.

For Nathaniel to be so rich he has his own private jet, and yet be pushed to work so hard is not the way it actually works with people that wealthy. Yes, for rich people who are still on the lower-end of "rich" their kids will have to go to a good school and pursue a career with money-making potential. But Nathaniel has little need to do any actual work.

If you want a more well-known comparison: Donald Trump is a third-generation rich person. After all that came out in the media, you can't tell me that Donald Trump was pushed to perfection by his daddy.

And then there are other things that bug me like, Nathaniel is a water polo player...but that isn't a rich person sport. Not in SoCal anyway. A kid from my high school actually went to Stanford to play on their water polo team (like Nathaniel) and I come from an area that is very middle class at best. West Covina should not have been the place he was first exposed to normal people! He even says that his water polo team were his brothers, who would have been made up of normal people because water polo is not a rich person's sport. Which makes me wonder why it wasn't until West Covina Nathaniel starts "becoming nice." You're telling me away from his dad, as an independent adult, spending HOURS with normal people including traveling for games and team bonding, and it takes a lady with big boobs and a quirky personality to make him "nice"??? I'm not quite as familiar with Stanford culture, but again, from the people I know who went there, it's not as much of a rich people haven as the east coast prestigious school (from my understanding). Then Nathaniel's parents house looks like it's straight-up from Gilmore Girls (again the Logan Huntzburger comparison) when rich people's houses in LA look nothing like that. Why in a show so based in California culture are they making him into an east-coast cliche? He's a mirror of Rebecca, sure, but then why make him from LA if they based his character off of east coast old money? California is new money! Even if the wealth is across generations, it is not at all like east coast old money at all!

So in terms of keeping the character based in actually seeing this type of person in real life? I'd give Nathaniel...2/10. Just because how cruel he is at the start is how real-life rich people act so he gets a point for that.

And another thing that annoys me about Nathaniel is how hard the writers went to try and make him sympathetic. Because if you have a character who is straight-up sexually harassing a female employee, cheating on his lovely girlfriend, verbally and mentally abusing his employees they have to make him even more uwu than the other romantic leads. So they always pull out things to try and make people say, "Awwww, but he likes the zoo! And monkeys! Look at him hugging that alligator all sad! And he reads Harry Potter?! He's just a lil nerd!!" (at the time people still liked Harry Potter) I just feel manipulated by these "isn't he so cute?!" additions to Nathaniel's character. I don't see them as a natural fleshing out of the character, I see them as the writers trying to wave me over to distract me from just how downright awful he is as a person. And that makes me resent him more. Like...ok, you go to the zoo Nathaniel...but you were still going to have an immigrant deported and ripped away from his family, you jerk.

Rebecca does messed up things, too. But the show gives her a diagnosis, she goes to therapy, they at least show her apologize to Josh about what she put him through, as well as the hormone-induced attempt to take a hit on Mona to Nathaniel, and own up to what she did to Paula. Nathaniel's response to trying to send a hitman to murder Josh's grandfather was "in my defense, I was promised sex." He never apologizes??? really apologizes??? to ANYONE??? He doesn't go to therapy or even get a life coach or...anything. I guess he does nice things for people (while reminding them HE'S NICE NOW and DEMANDING they get over the fact that he, again, TRIED TO HAVE THEIR GRANDFATHER MURDERED). I would argue that Nathaniel is way more messed up than Rebecca and doesn't do a fraction of the owning up to his past that she did, which imo is still lacking overall.

Like my dudes, Greg has his AA meetings, even Josh goes to therapy. But the objectively worst regular character on the show...doesn't. Huh.

And I think that's what drives me so bonkers about Nathaniel's character. Yes, Rebecca is this force that comes into West Covina and changes people's lives, but it makes sense for other people. She shows Heather unironic joy. She challenges Valencia's relationship with Josh, which pushes Valencia to grow. She gives life to Paula's dreams again. And I'd argue Greg is more changed by the result of their relationship (the DUI he got trying to drive to talk to her) more than Rebecca herself just being that amazing. But Nathaniel's character comes in hard and cruel. His actions and attitude are the kind that in real life, are above what I've seen ever actually change because it is so steeped in enormous privilege. Nathaniel would need to be drastically, drastically, and for a significant length of time humbled--not just pooping his pants in the office. And I'd say even that would likely be a stretch. The writers made him so unbearable to start that I can't believe even Rebecca could really help him change. Imo, they don't show it. They chalk it up to "he just wants to have sex with her really bad...and...uh...yeah his feelings are now just that strong for her. Mmmmhmmm, a woman really can change a man by his sheer desire for her!"

I just think they bit off more than they could chew with Nathaniel. I get they were going with another romcom cliche, but that cliche was too out there to start with and they jumped fully on board with it, not realizing that the strength of their characters are in how they reflect people we actually know. Nathaniel's character sticks out as not belonging or fitting in because he's simply a stock character they didn't add any real depth or nuance to or any earned change. His character being so privileged makes turning him into a good person all that more challenging.

And if I'm being honest? Since you've made it all the way down here...I do wonder what it would have been the response if Scott weren't so good-looking or white. Josh Chan, whose worst crime is a toss up between kissing Rebecca while with Valencia or leaving Rebecca at the altar without communicating with her at all about it, gets more derision from the fandom than Nathaniel, who again, would have orchestrated someone's murder without a second thought. I understand why Nathaniel is so popular, but it makes me worried that even a show as progressive as CXG with fans who have the same mindset still give such a quick pass to a handsome rich white boy.

[just-jae]

Hazbin Hotel 7-8 (Spoil McNoil)

Hazbin Hotel is indeed not an action show.

But at least they tried to have some action.

Should they have tried tho?

(I'm gonna start out ripping, but, I don't hate this show, it's actually pretty funny that does some things super well but then just bumble fucks other big moments)

I mean, here's the thing, they're great at street fights, apparently. Vaggie vs Lute was pretty brutal, I felt like I was watching two bird tear eachother apart. Like a scene out of Gardians of Ga'Hoole.

But the ninja anime fantasy, martial arts type stuff was pretty weak, and didn't really track as something the characters would utilize. Like, Alastor is a cannibalistic voodoo serial killer from 1930's New Orleans. And twice before we've seen Alastor grow and contort to intimidate, kill, etc. But he doesn't do any of that against Adam except for that one aesthetic moment. Instead it's got generic "Tentril powers, GO!" vibes. Husker and Charlie also have this problem. Why is an American Gambler using cards like ninja stars? He can fly dude-- or, can he?

Can Husker fly?

And Charlie- like, she has a sheild, but she can only really use it to protect herself :/ Like, girl, just go inside.

Lucy beating the shit out of Adam was cut so short, Like, 2 secs and 4 punches b4 Charlie goes "DAD STOP ITS TOO MUCH"-- no, let Lucy COOK; I think it would have actually been an interesting point to make on how the reason Lucifer gives for discouraging the Hotel is sinner's being "The Worst", yet here he is clearly having a fit of violence (an understandable one but, Charlie, who's never even been to heaven except for a bs court hearing, has to remind a high-ranking angel to have mercy.) Charlie, razz and Dazz transforming didn't really do anything-- it actually felt more like a game of thrones reference, which would be fine if Razz or Dazz DID anything except die. They also didn't explain Carmilla's motive for helping them well. Like, neat entrance, but the build ups to the pay offs didn't exist :,O

And the voice acting: These guys are great singers, but the noises they make when they get hit, their mid-battle dialogue, is so corny and tonally off for certain characters. Like, Alastor and Charlie's yells in particular are- pardon my accent but cringe af.

Charlie in particular has so many anti-climatic moments. If they meant for her to not be particularly good at fighting, maybe establish that and not have all these super dramatic badass magical girl moments that just lead to her getting dunked on. It was so anticlimactic jeezuz christ.

And really it's more about picking a tone, the anti climactic moments could have been funny if they framed it as a funny moment or a joke, but it's framed seriously so it's read seriously.

But, who doesn't bumble fuck around how to end something though. I've read some juicy, golden touch stories that really freaked out on the gas and steering at the end. So, this isn't anything uncommon, especially for relatively new creators.

They have flaws, who doesn't. I loved so much about this show even when my first impression going in was just cringing at it not being what I expected. This is a critique of love, guys, I genuine wish the best for this show, bc it's apparent that when Viv has the freedom and breathing room she needs to plan and pace, she can cook up a good ass goddamned meal (See: Helluva Boss, Season one). This was them crunching and smushing a ton of story and moments into too-few episodes, which, looking back could have been done better, but its easy to see how something can be better once it's done and out in the world. (See: literally any amature artist 2 seconds after posting their work)

The season finale ended with so many good set ups tho! :D

Lilith vacaying in heaven, having made a deal with Adam.

Alastor becoming desperate for a way out, having made deals with Vaggie and Charlie-- And far more explicitly there against his will. Also--is a future antagonist?

Yes PLEASE. I love that they showed Al loosing his shit through his eyes even with the smile he's always wearing. And they built this up before hand having him talk previously about wearing a smile, basically as a mask.

PENTIOUS

YOU REDEEMED FU-

(I was actually cringing at Pentious the entire time inep 8, I'm sorry but he's so hard to take seriously-- even his "death" was funny as hell. I love him but its like how someone loves a clumsy puppy that destroys your house without neither malice nor remorse)

Also: The exorcists switching leaders- I am wondering how things are gonna change with them, especially given how much more sadistic and violent Lute is. Like, Adam just liked laughing at sinners. He saw them as insults to his existance, his mini-me hates and seems like she just enjoys violence and malice, using ego and "they deserve it" narratives as an excuse to indulge in acts that ordinarily would lan someone in hell.

Overall-- Not the best season finale I've ever seen, execution-wise through these 8 episodes (like, Vaggie got her wings learning to fight for love, but she's been doing nothing but supporting and protecting Charlie this whole time. There was no hint that she was bitter or wanted revenge). They definitely needed to pace and build things better but there's so much to love. Like, Seeing Alastor in his element with Rosie and Nifty was so fun, even if they were small moments (his laugh is so stiff tho, c'mon Al.)

The finale did a good job setting up the future, but I don't have much more to say than that. Hopefully, now that they know they're getting a second season, they'll just, breathe on this one a bit more ya?

I'm glad I watched it, I cried, I laughed, I cringed, I yelled at Pentious for subjecting me to second hand embarrassment. It's great :,D

Also- I hope he doesn't read this and takes it the wrong way, but Vox reminds me of my brother-- Especially with the scenes where he's watching the battle :,D

[somanyfuckedupiftruebooks]

Mag 32

Omgomgomg here we go. Strap the fuck in boys, it's worm wife time. I feel like I'm going to have heaps to say about this episode, it's probably one of the best episodes in the entire series so there's a lot to comment on.

Starting with the fact that this epsiode is Jane's statement in the first place. Last episode Jon finally cracks because he's so stressed and confused by Jane's stalking of the Institute, and the very next true statement he finds just happens to be from Jane herself? The Eye absolutely led him to this statement, ensuring that he found it at exactly the right moment for him to be affected the most deeply by it: immediately after letting go of his detached academic persona and admitting to feeling helpless for the first time. He's spent months trying to make himself believe that the worms aren't a supernatural phenomenon, and then here comes this statement to force him to see them as they truly are. Now he'll be even more afraid as the infestation continues to spread.

Oof. If I ever forget why TMA fucked me up so severely, all I have to do is revisit the opening of this statement. Jane Prentiss is the Big Bad of Season 1, and everything we've learned about her so far has painted a picture of something dangerous, monstrous, potentially even inhuman. Then we hear from her directly and she tells us that something is happening to her that she can't control, that she doesn't want to be happening. She's scared and confused and she needs help.

She's the first to really allude to the fact that the monsters in this story are themselves the victims of something much larger and more incomprehensible, and she starts her statement in a way that still makes my skin crawl when I hear it. Fuck me, the writing on this show is so damn good.

Also shout out to the voice acting! Jonny fucking kills it on this one.

There are many allusions to the other Entities in Jane's statement (I think someone even made a post that pulls specific quotes to show that all of Smirke's 14 are represented in this statement) but the really specific stuff like this makes me question how much Jane understands about the Entities. Something that I find really interesting is the question of how much, if anything, the avatars of Powers other than the Eye understand about what's going on in their world. We're spoiled in a way by being introduced to the universe of TMA from the perspective of an fledgling avatar of terrible knowledge. The development of Jon's powers (and his ties to the Eye) grow through his learning horrible things, and his position as Archivist means that the things he learns are all about the other Entities. I imagine most servants of the Ceaseless Watcher go through a similar (if less structured and supervised) version of this same process; for avatars of the Eye, learning what's really going on is an essential part of their service to their patron.

But what about every other kind of power? Surely there must be avatars walking around with no idea that there are 14 distinct Entities with their own stuff going on. How do they learn about the other Powers? Even more basic, how do they learn about their own Power? They experience it, sure, figure out how to feed it or die along the way, sure, but do they ever get told that there are others like them with their own distinct abilities and aesthetics? That there's names for what they worship? A complex system of other fears that it fits into? A ritual they should be working towards?

I imagine most new avatars know none of this going in, and either learn it by being told by someone else, or just figure out the basics as they go and never touch on the rest. Additionally, every Entity interacts with its avatars in its own way, and I think Corruption avatars are particularly prone to understanding things based purely on how it 'feels'. Not instinctive understanding (which would come naturally to say an avatar of the Hunt) but an emotional, empathetic link to their Entity which drives them towards certain courses of action. This makes sense to me because the Corruption is one of the Entities with a strong emotional core. Also, rot and pests don't need to be told how to grow and spread, they just do it.

All of this is to say that I don't think Jane knows what the Entities are. I don't think she knows what the Eye is, or the Corruption, but she feels them and is doing things based purely on how she feels them reacting to her at any given moment. She feels like she is losing herself to something that makes her itch, and she feels like exposing that feeling to outside scrutiny is somehow the opposite to feeding it, so she does that. Or tries to, anyway. But if you asked her to explain what she is doing or why, she wouldn't know. All of this contributes to her generally disorganised thinking and state of confusion.

Here's an example of that great horror writing. I can see why so many people were deeply disturbed by the Corruption storyline in Season 1. Amazing how Jonny can make a primarily visually-based phobia work through an audio medium.

See!! See this shit right here!! She fucking calls it!! A place of books and learning sure, that makes sense for an academic institution, but a place of sight and beholding? She pulled the name of an Entity out of the aether when she realistically would have no way of actually knowing it. It must be the song of the hive changing her, opening up her awareness to the Entities so that she can feel them (at least in their places of power).

More evidence for the 'Corruption allows Jane to feel things she shouldn't be able to' theory. As far as we know, Corruption doesn't have any capacity for prophecy (that's just the Web and the End), but she talks about violence that will be done here. I don't think that's an instance of her literally knowing the future, I think Corruption is telling her that the Eye is an enemy, and the Institute is a perfect site for a ritual. The song of the Hive is telling her to crawl into the dark spaces inside the Institute and and breed and grow there, and the more she listens to that song the more doing so will start to feel right and natural.

There! Is! A! Wasps'! Nest! In! Her! Attic!

Fucking hell. That line still sends a chill through me every time I hear it. A fat sprawling thing that thrums with life and malice!! I love that so much I might put it on my business card. Or my tombstone.

Then a line about the 'fools chasing fractals'. How does Jane know about the Spiral? Has she met someone touched by it? Or is the hive song also singing about the Distortion in between choruses of how great it would be to be eaten by the things that love you?

This is so interesting!! Why didn't the Arthur Nolan notice that the Corruption had moved in to the Desolation's territory? I don't remember his statement too well, so can't recall what he had to say about it when the wasps' nest is discovered. We'll find out later I guess, but I've literally just realised that this is exactly what Jane does to the Institute. Maybe it's a thing that Corruption does, moving into territory occupied by another Entity and growing there in secret. Maybe every time an avatar sets up a new sest of power they have to be constantly vigilant against mould or nests cropping up in the hidden places.

One of the major themes of Jane's statement (and all of TMA) is the question of choice and autonomy. In a way, Jane's entire statment is about her making the choice to serve Corruption, or else realising that she is so deeply marked by Corruption that she has no choice but to serve it (depending on how you interpret free will in terms of avatar's relationships with their patrons). I find that interesting in terms of how Jane is becoming so disorientated she is losing her memories and understanding of who she was before Corruption got it's hooks into her. Like Jon 'choosing' to serve the Eye when not doing so is the equivalent or starving to death, can Jane really choose to serve Corruption when being touched by it involves losing all sense of who you were without it? How can you chose to try and be something you can no longer comprehend? Especially factoring in that she has been ostracized from her friend group, fired from her job and is maybe about to be evicted from her apartment. What is there for Jane to hold on to, other than the song?

Hey Oliver :) Another example of the other Entites being present in Jane's statement, though this time without her showing an awareness of anything unusual. I also thought it was ironic that Oliver spoke about trying and failing to warn people about their upcoming deaths, while Jane is trying and failing to explain the ants. Even the most seemingly straightforward manifestations of the Entities can be incomprehensible to people who haven't been marked by them.

[crudetautology]

Ghosts Christmas Special Thoughts (spoilers!):

Seeing as I accidentally spoiled myself for both the fact that Daley was going to be involved in some way and that there were going to be old footage of Pat shown I was expecting to find the episode a bit less emotional than I did. Everything re: Pat and Daley and family remembering those who've passed by repeating their words and phrases and family makes fun of each other but ultimately it's done with love. EVERYTHING in regards to Kitty and The Captain. And also just a feeling of pure love for all of these characters. I cheered when the plague ghosts showed up. The panto being so good and giving the same energy as the Sorry Song frankly. Might start a tradition to watch it annually. It just made me really, really happy! Utterly lovely and perfect episode. Less serious observations below:

- the Captain's got dance suggestions! - Mike trying to give his condolences to the departed ghost of the accident. "I'll just phone home- I'm ET." - breaking it to Robin that he would be playing the ugly stepsister and Robin sweetly holding hands with Humphrey's body - I did think "KISS!" at Thomas and Kitty when they hugged at the end, but alas it was not to be. Still utterly loved their dancing and Kitty throwing her shoe to him repeatedly. Cinderella and Prince Charming indeed! Also him pretty much only approving of Kitty's acting choices (and no one else's) i.e his satisfied little nod when she upped the ante of her line was so good.

_ PATCAP! So many lovely moments from my favourite duo. Sitting together, watching and directing the rehearsals. Oh, and I felt like Pat was flat out looking at the Captain the most during his outburst and the Captain in turn looked hurt and confused. "Patrick!" Announcing the Captain as stage manager, the Captain complementing Daley, "Twist it!?" and them having an almost the Woodworm Men-level of understanding and togetherness throughout the entire episode. So lovely. - "Might be a bluey." "It's not a bluey!" - Mick getting fired up. "They're horrible to her!" - Fanny suggesting that The Captain play the fairy godmother! Julian and Thomas holding up the Captain during the fairy godmother introduction! "Bing bong!" the Captain showing up right next to Allison to get an exact time of her return was so fucking funny. - Also, Thomas shooting down the Captains dance suggestions and the Captain holding Humphrey's head. Love breadcrumbs for my two most far-fetched ships! - Fanny is a peeper-headcanon confirmed! - Every single ghosts being like yes Kitty is the best one! She'll never let us down, she's wonderful! Of course she'll play the lead etc. "I'm not an actress, just a girl!" Having the bear help her with practising lines for next time. Oh, how I love her. - And more singing! Them all singing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and shuffling together at the end was amazing!