#Fixing things
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Note
For those who need it: MercuryStardust on tiktok does a lot of videos teaching you how to do things yourself at home. Specifically in regards to fixing things. Please don't ever worry about how hard it can be to manage a house by yourself- as someone who had been told all his life I can't do anything, using YouTube tutorials and listening to creators like MercuryStardust helped me gain independence!!
Thank you for the resource!
63 notes
·
View notes
Note
hi - just wanted to check in and ask if you’re doing better?
- @x-malitae-x
Eh.. a bit? Maybe?
Someone visited, his name's Oscar.
I want to try to fix things..
12 notes
·
View notes
Text
Sam's grandfather had two core beliefs: (1) all things were knowable by anyone, and (2) anything was fixable if you took the time to figure out what was broken.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
#page 97#tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow#gabrielle zevin#fiction#video game#programming#relationship#friendship#sam masur#sam mazer#dong hyun#belief#fixing things#quote#quotes#literature#book#booklr#reading#the best dictates to live your life by
25 notes
·
View notes
Text
moths got into my sweater last year, so i had to darn the holes. fortunately neither were too big--they were more a collection of small holes about an inch or so in diameter.
i'm not a skilled darner so i find i can patch sweaters better with thread instead of yarn. i pick a thread color identical to the yarn, and sew through in a standard darning grid pattern. the trick is, to go through the yarns with the needle, instead of around them. and to keep your tension perfect, or else you will end up with puckering.
i didn't take before pics, but here are all the finished darns:
left pic is the outside of the sweater and right pics are the inside.
i think they came out really well!!
14 notes
·
View notes
Text
November 2, 2024
October came and went like a lightening bolt, my apologies it's been a bit since I posted, things have gotten a bit crazy this way with some personal things. With luck now the October shuffles just about done and the November tubslide will be a bit gentler.
Onto some urban homesteading and otherwise~
I'm going to have to restart my fall seeds. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a situation which killed off my seed table and started plants entirely. For the most part, it's sorted, but I'll have to begin my fall and winter crops from scratch and hope there's time for em to grow. Otherwise I'll need to figure some other crops instead. Probably more chicken food or flowers/peas instead.
Thankfully, the already established in ground crops were okay for the most part. Some a bit stressed or stunted from lack of consistent watering.
Sweet potato has already started flowering now, i really didn't get any greenery from it so far (mayby a pound), so I'm just gonna let it keep going for now. When it msotly dies back I'll dig them out.
The sunchoke has now begun flowering, it's rather different than the last flowering I thought it did. Mayby a regular sunflower got mixed in? I did plant them around the time the regular sunflowers started sprouting.
I'm pretty excited to try the Tubers out, if there's enough for a decent harvest. Otherwise I'm taking them and spreading to another bit of the garden for fill in and propogation.
I can confirm, we do have a rooster. His name is Heihei. He's not gone through full second molt, but we've seen his curly feather, now hear his crowing and have caught him doing what roosters do lol.
Looks like I may get to try out hatching after all :)
No new layers so far, but hoping soon :)
Spotted this feather, which i believe belongs to one of the local woodpeckers. (I didn't take it, not allowed where I live)
Also have started spotting hummingbirds more locally and regularly. The parrots have returned again, though they aren't currently visiting us (no sunflowers yet ) and I think we've had a few female cardinals visit the lambs quarter plant I'm letting go to seed. Haven't noticed much in new bug species.
I got to learn how to change tires on a dolly this month. It was quite a bit easier than expected, cost less than $30 and gave new life to a good tool.
Thats it for now, ive got some chores to do and hopefully some time to get garden set up a bit :) new photos and updates coming ASAP!
🌱🍊Happy Urban homesteading🍊🌱
#homesteading#thestudentfarmer#self sufficient living#studentfarmer#self sufficiency#food#garden#gardening#low waste#chickens#rooster#urban biodiversity#urban green spaces#urban homesteading#urban gardening#urban farming#reduce reuse recycle#fixing things#repair#seed starting#restart#sunchoke#sweet potatoes#crop failure
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
i fixed my binder, and I found my skirt :3
the necklace is a bit suffocating though but it looks cute
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
I love you, but not like that
Love doesn't always have to be romantic, and Misako knew that. Somehow it seemed to her that Wu didn't agree with that.
Misako and Wu relationship in the past (if you want I will add one with Garmadon later)
@46674332-Thank you for the request and patience.Hope you have more requests! I would love to write them!
Misako stood in the waiting room of Ninjago City Hospital.
Opposite her was Wu, with his innocent face expression and blue hair. He was staring at something behind her.
She could confidently say that she liked Wu at first sight. But not in that way.
She was attracted to his childlike innocence and naiveté in many things. Without hesitation, she could say he was her favorite among friends.
But recently, things had started to change in their relationship...
"Are you okay?" she asked when she saw him nervously shifting from one side of the chair to the other.
"I'm a little scared," he looked at her with the gaze of a wounded animal.
That was Wu. A man who could jump into any battle against anyone but couldn't receive an injection at the hospital without someone holding his hand.
It only attracted her to him even more.
"It will be okay," she comforted him. "You'll see."
He looked at her again.
Those looks were the reason why she began to feel unsure in their relationship.
Until a few months ago, they were just friends and nothing more. Then he started looking at her like that, and everything changed.
Almost as if he liked her?
That's when she began to doubt her feelings towards him.
Was it really just friendship, or did she not see something more?
"Garmadon...he teased me again today..."
And every time he mentioned Garmadon. She had a good relationship with him, but not as good as with Wu.
He was someone she could easily argue with, someone she could get mad at more easily. She could also confidently say that she really liked him.
Although Wu was more her type, Garmadon attracted her much more. Whenever she thought of him, she could say for sure that Wu didn't like her in that way.
"Don't worry, I won't tease you," she said when she remembered what Wu had said.
He looked at her again.
"But I'm embarrassed."
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. For example, I'm afraid of spiders and I can't even kill the tiniest one. We all have those fears."
"Garmadon is rude," Wu sighed. "He doesn't know how much his teasing hurts me. He's just...a bad person."
"Don't say that," Misako said, surprised at herself. She felt no hatred towards Garmadon for teasing Wu. She felt only understanding.
"Why do you always defend him?" Wu asked angrily.
"I'm not defending him," Misako defended herself, and Wu looked at her skeptically.
"I sympathize with him. I also enjoy teasing people. Just tell him that it hurts you. I'll tell him if you want."
Wu looked at her as if he wasn't happy about talking to Garmadon about it.
As if he wasn't happy that she and Garmadon were getting closer.
"I don't like doing these things..."
"I know, Wu," Misako said with tenderness. "That's why everyone loves you, because you're a good person."
******
"See, it wasn't scary," Misako said as they were leaving the doctor's office.
He was still ashamed that she had to see him scared like a little child.
"It wasn't", he said quietly, still stealing glances at her.
"Thank you for coming with me." As he looked at her, he wondered if she felt anything towards him like what he felt towards her.
"No problem," she said as she turned to leave. Wu could only watch as she walked away.
"And Wu.."She started unsurly."I love you.i really do,but not like that."
He didn't need to say anything; she read him herself. He was just afraid that he had jeopardized their friendship.
He truly loved her and wanted her to be happy.
He just hoped that they could still spend time together.
He was just afraid that it wouldn't happen for a long time.
He had created a gap between them, he knew.
He would be alone because he would never be able to love anyone else the way he loved her.
And she didn't love him; she had told him that herself.At least not like that.
But maybe there is still a hope?(If dose thing that he started to see between her and Garmadon stop)
Garmadon and Misako talk is coming soon
#ninjago#Young Misako#misako montgomery garmadon#Young wu#Master wu#Not wusako#Frendship and love#Fixing things#Garmasako mentioned#Young Garmadon mentioned
14 notes
·
View notes
Text
Head Canons:
-Not so much HC, more so actual canon. He is a construct built from stolen Kheanri'ahan's knowledge. He doesn't need to eat, sleep, or drink. He can, but it isn't necessary for survival. For me, he is male with male anatomy.
-He is a divine puppet! He will never be human. This isn't fucking Pinocchio, and you will not love him in to becoming a real boy.
-That time is spent in research pertaining to Nahida's missions and his desires. He also pokes around in the Abyss, which currently is probably the only place he feels whole.
-Not a player per se, but I wouldn’t put it past him to manipulate randoms into bed, use them for what they are worth, and ghost them… If the mood ever struck him. It would not be pretty or nice in the least.
-There is just nothing soft about this man. He is toxic, selfish, vengeful, hateful and power-hungry. Until he decides to give a fuck about something other than himself and vengeance killing this will remain the case.
-Weaknesses will be exploited. He is not a good person.
-If he’s nice it is because he wants something, or he simply is bored and wishes to toy with someone because he can. We have seen this behavior in the meteor event where he played the good guy to get close and attempt to kill the Traveler and again in Irminsul. It is a mask and a role; he can slide right into it for any reason he chooses.
-On offering his memories back, Nahida specifically states that he will revert to his previous incarnation (The Balladeer). During this cut scene, he specifically says, “All worthless dross will be purged that’s why this won’t be the end.” While he is less antagonistic towards them and he does take responsibility for his actions, he does not regret them. He assists them because he feels like he owes them both and it's better than being worthless.
-He is also an injustice collector. The “betrayals”, outside of Dottore, could be explained to any reasonable being. However, he clings to them like a blanket. It’s not only HIS INJUSTICES he collects. It’s everyone’s, every misstep of every human he has ever met is a mark against humanity. After 400 years of watching humanity doing the awful shit they do, he has simply determined they are inferior.
-He doesn’t stay in Sumeru. He is in contact with researchers due to assisting Nahida. He is not “the popular asshole college/high school guy.” Nahida wants badly for him to see the good in humanity, so I would not put it past her to leak out his birthday and encourage interaction.
-He doesn’t even consider his “birth” day to be anything then another day… and I don't see Nahida being good for him. You don't help a person get better by forcing them to do something they hate; this is only going to breed more hate.
-Wanderer’s clean slate isn’t to fit into humanity, it is to learn to accept himself and to be himself, and going along with that he'd want to be accepted for who he is by the people who claim to care. Which is the dual meaning behind the finches. Rebirth and find your true north. This is your path, stay on it.
-He still hates humanity and still believes that they are inferior. All of this is made clear in his voice lines on his playable character, and all of this combined with his story so far indicates that he's not changed all that much. Sometimes, broken things are just too broken.
-He's been tortured by Dottore twice.
-He’s tried to kill the Traveler on 3 occasions. This ship is not something I am going to write. Is cool if you are into it, it's just a lot for me to get past to even feel anything.
-With that being said he considers the Traver to be a dull naive waste of time. A mewing kitten with a hero complex accompanied by an equally moronic screeching garbage disposal. His somewhat tolerable attitude toward them being nothing more than a shred of respect and repayment.
-Due to spending a lot of time in the Abyss, he's met the Abyss twin, and this would be a preferred interaction.
-On EI. This is easy to write off as abandonment issues and it may have even started off that way. However, over time it's become more anger about being denied his birth right.
11 notes
·
View notes
Text
🌊 the problem with too much repetition
say for example you have a ritual of wishing someone peace, you say "peace be with you" every single day upon greeting someone on the street
but if this ritual becomes too common and is repeated too often it eventually gets taken for granted, it becomes unconscious and therefore loses its conscious meaning and eventually people forget what it was originally adopted for in the first place
this is dangerous! because if the ritual exists for a reason, it's important to preserve the reason for the solution just as much as the solution is important
in other words, documenting problems is just as important as documenting solutions!!!! if all you do is document solutions you're going to end up creating a situation where all the solutions get taken for granted and then you're set up for a huge fall from grace
beware of documenting all the solutions, but none of the problems...! this is when people start to take all the solutions for granted until one day somebody decides to say "ok i've had enough of these boring old solutions" and then they literally created a bajillion problems nobody could remember how to solve anymore
THIS IS WHY IT IS NECESSARY TO REINVENT SOLUTIONS AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN
because if you don't they will get taken for granted and eventually someone blind to the value of what they have in front of them will make the mistake of throwing away paradise in favor of some more interesting looking disaster
so it's safer, to intentionally explore fictional disasters constantly specifically so you can learn from them and so you can keep everyday solutions fresh and new in everyone's eyes
#mistakes#failure#problems#learning#solutions#fixing things#fixing#fixing myself#growth#personal growth#fiction#video games#game design#storytelling#worldbuilding#good ideas#ritual#life
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
Watch the Window
A more realistic end to the "Countdown" mission because you don't just 'recover' from gunshot wounds.
Soap has a terrible, horrible, very bad day.
Turns out Ghost is capable of emotion.
TW: blood, violence, graphic descriptions of injury, angst, anxiety, profanity, mention of surgery.
"Hassan had him by the leg, dragging him towards the massive windows. He was speaking, but all Soap could hear was the blood rushing in his ears".
The boxcutter was a clumsy tool, but it did the job. Pulling it from the man’s neck, he got to his feet and checked did a visual check of the room ahead of him. A spray of bullets peppered the concrete walls, several catching the back of Soap’s Kevlar vest. The force of it knocked him to his knees, forcing the air from his lungs. He turned just in time to see Hassan fire again, and this time, the rounds punched through his chest with a spray of blood.
He fell backwards, searing pain radiating from his left side as he blacked out.
Fuck.
Instinct took over; words drilled into him every course since basic: don’t panic. Control the breathing. Don’t panic.
The course staff never mentioned was how hard it is to not panic. Assholes.
He sucked in a few deep breaths. It fucking burned, but his vision came back, dark and hazy.
The blurry figure of Hassan slowly stalked towards him.
Dragging himself backwards with his right arm, he desperately searched for a weapon. There was none.
Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic.
Hassan aim the rifle. Soap put up his left hand defensively—as if that would save him— but Hassan suddenly changed his mind, instead driving butt of the rifle drove into Soap’s temple. The pain was debilitating.
Everything went black.
Drifting somewhere between consciousness and oblivion, blurry shapes danced above him. Something was moving.
Oh.
It was him.
Hassan had him by the leg, dragging him towards the massive windows. He was speaking, but all Soap could hear was the blood rushing in his ears. He sucked in a wet, shallow breath, fluid seeping into his throat as he tried to think clearly.
He should fight.
Arms too heavy.
He should run.
Legs won’t work.
He should shout, scream—anything!
No one to hear.
A moment of clarity punched through the shock-induced haze.
Ghost.
Hassan dropped his leg and moved to one of the windowpanes, pulling something from his coat pocket.
IED.
Shaky hands moved to his comm, praying it still worked.
“Ghost…”. His voice rasped in the back of his throat, distorted by pooling blood
“Soap!”
Tears prickled in his eyes as relief bloomed in his chest.
“Watch the window--!”
Hassan stepped back towards him as the window blew out in a blinding flash of fire, shards of glass bouncing across the floor. Still shouting, he reached down and grabbed the shoulders of Soap’s tac-vest and dragged him to his feet. Pain ripped through his chest and the fluid shifted in his lungs. Vision swam. The scream died in his throat.
His feet scrabbled underneath him as Hassan hauled him towards the open window. They were at the edge now, darkness stretching out below them punctuated by blurry city lights. Shards of glass crunching beneath his feet as Hassan held him over the ruined windowsill, and his stomach churned as he felt his heels rock back into nothingness.
He’d seen this before. He’d been here before. A dream of a dream; free-fall and agony. Lungs full of blood and ears full of wind. Panic was flooding his chest again, breaths coming hard and fast, shallow gasps that fought to pull oxygen into collapsing lungs.
Hassan’s grip on his shoulder straps eased, and his stomach dropped as he felt himself rock backwards.
The kiss of a bullet snapped by Soap’s ear, followed quickly by the tell-tale crack of a high-calibre rifle. Hassan fell backwards, dead, and Soap dropped to the floor.
Relief screamed through his body as cool concrete pressed up against his palms. He vomited immediately, and then dragged in a ragged breath, shaking hands reaching back up to his comm.
“Perfect shot, Lt”.
“You called it, Sgt”.
The comm went dead and Soap let out a choked sob as he fell forward, desperately dragging himself away from open window. He was hyperventilating now.
You’re alive, you’re alive, you’re alive…
His right arm gave out and he rolled onto his back with a shuddering groan. There was chatter on the comms, but he couldn’t parse out the words.
Pain was overtaken by the creeping chill of shock.
Vision was next to go, followed closely by consciousness.
His body went slack, and the world went black.
Ghost sprinted across the street, weaving between cars to get to the half-finished office building opposite his sniper’s perch.
“Price! Soap’s down!”
“Copy that”.
Laswell’s American contacts were swarming the bottom of the building, a mix of SWAT, EMTs, and FBI. Ghost could hear Price’s voice on the comms coordinating with Laswell as he pushed through the mass people, desperate to get into the building.
Angry shouts followed him, and he spat angry curses over his shoulder.
By some miracle the service elevator was still functional, and he ran it all the way to the 30th storey, unsure exactly which floor Soap had been on. A slew of bodies confirmed that he’d gone through the level. Ghost sloppily cleared the floor, then checked the East windows. They were all intact, so he moved to the next floor and did the same.
Fear knotted in his stomach, but he refused to acknowledge it.
Fear makes mistakes.
He cleared five floors before finally finding the blown-out window—and Soap.
Ghost grabbed his comm as he ran to the body of his Sgt, sliding down beside him.
“I’m with Soap! We’re on the 35th floor”
“How is he?”
Ghost stared down at the broken body in front of him, hands shaking. There was blood—so much blood.
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck!
Pressing a hand to Soap’s neck, Ghost clumsily searched for a pulse. One excruciating moment later, Ghost felt the weak flutter against his fingertips.
He let out a shaky sob breath and got back on the comm.
“He’s alive, but it’s bad!”
“Copy. Sending a med team to you now”.
“Tell them to haul fucking ass!” Ghost shouted, cradling Soap’s head as he checked him over.
From what he could tell, he’d taken several rounds to the left side of his chest, where the Kevlar cut out to allow for full range of motion. Grabbing a pressure bandage from his tac-vest, he ripped through the packaging and pressed it down on the bloody holes in Soap’s side, grateful that he was unconscious; combat medicine hurts like a bitch.
Ghost had no idea how long it took for the medics to reach them, but by the time a pair of blue medical gloves reached in to take over, the bandage was soaked and his hands were slick with blood. The medics moved Soap to a stretcher and carried him back to the service elevator, before disappearing from view.
Ghost stood in the empty level, dragging in heavy, ragged breaths as he wiped shaky hands on the rough fabric of his pants.
He took the stairs down.
Soap was in surgery for 5 hours. Ghost spent that time writing his after-action report and prepping for the debrief, avoiding the anxiety attack that waited for him on the other side of the inevitable adrenaline crash.
It happened every time he lost soldiers—a devastating torrent of emotion that sent him spiralling into the darkest parts of himself. It was unpredictable and uncontrollable—sometimes violent, sometimes loud, sometimes silent, sometimes an hour, sometimes days, always hellish.
He preferred to do it in private.
Five hours later, the reports were done and Soap was lying unconscious in an ICU bed, the noises of the medical ward buzzing quietly in the background. Ghost leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed and jaw clenched tight.
The adrenaline had burned off.
Pushing off the doorframe, he jammed his hands in his pockets and stalked down the hallway, darkness rising in his chest.
#mw2#ghost mw2#soap mw2#john soap mactavish#soap mctavish#mw2 price#captain john price#john price#angst#writers of tumblr#cod fic#mwii fic#fan fiction#cod headcanons#simon riley#simon ghost riley#watch the window#fixing things#shock#bloodloss#writer problems#writeblr#call of duty mw2#cod mwii#there i fixed it#concussion#surgery#modern warfare#modern warefare ii#mw2 2022
28 notes
·
View notes
Note
The Fog can come get your horns.
- @quixis-midas
Are- are you sure you're ready, Midas..? I don't want to push-
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
does anyone else ever feel just... unreasonably guilty for shit that they truly, honestly, cannot control?
my faucet is leaking. it's been leaking, but it hadn't reached like, critical leakage, but it did tonight.
in the middle of the night.
and my ass is sat here feeling insanely guilty that i cannot Fix This Immediately even though i have
1 - identified the problem 2 - looked up how to solve the problem 3 - took steps to initiate solving the problem (eg ordering a kit that should be here later today) 4 - prepared to fix the faucet by cleaning the area around the sink
what the hell else does my brain expect me to do? drive around to find a 24/7 walmart? (afaik there's not one near me). babes. it's 3:30 in the morning. chill. literally no one is expecting you to get this handled tonight.
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
My new forks arrived in this ludicrously enormous box. Even knowing what was inside, I lifted it like there had to be some weight there and thus almost hoisted it over my shoulder.
Alongside my arrived-as-standard set of Sektor Silvers. I've gone for a mild increase in travel, from 140mm to 150mm, and you can sort of see it in the stanchions.
The Revelations weigh under 2kg, which is absurd to me as someone more used to motorbike parts. Even the outgoing Sektors are noticeably heavier.
I was far too excited to photograph the fitting process extensively (even though I probably could have sold the photos to work 🥲👌) but:
I had not bought any replacement anythings, so I used my old bearings and had to prise the crown race (that circular washer-type piece that interfaces with the bottom bearing) from my old forks.
This was fiddly but not too hard — just make sure you spiral around lifting it by a few millimetres at a time so it doesn't distort or get lodged on the tube at an angle.
Fitting it on the new forks was more interesting. Jim has this cool old tool that slips over the steerer tube and applies pressure uniformly.
Unfortunately it's fucking old and doesn't fit modern bicycles. Everything's so much broader now.
So I went through our garage rubbish and found this piece of rubber lagging, god knows what from, and used that + mallet + patience to tap the race into place. Deployed the mallet to undo my brake caliper bolts, too.
Slotted everything roughly into place, marked the desired height on the steerer tube, took it all apart again and hacksawed the crap out of it. Filed it smooth and reinstalled with grease this time, then found a nice flat-headed bolt to use to help whack the star nut into place.
And then put it all back together. I thought I might need a custom bracket for my caliper, but once I ditched the old Shimano one, everything bolted on no problem. O to have such standard sizes in motorbiking.
Woeful pictures, but bike on arrival vs bike now:
It's a Diamondback Corax 1.0 with the Bosch CX Motor. Mods include Revelation RC Forks, Magura MT5 on the front and MT4 on the rear. Mavic Crossmax Elite 27.5 wheelset (running SUPER TACKY tyres, ofc). New stem/bars/grips/pedals.
Still has the old rear shock (Monarch R) derailleur, seat and dropper post system — which is stuck unlocked at the moment, so I need to fix that. The mechanism is fine; just gotta grease or replace the cable and perhaps the dinky stock lever I've struggled with forever. The derailleur is meh, but on an emtb, who gives a fuck.
I doubt I need to replace anything else, really.
But let's see if I can stick to that.
#mtb#emtb#ebiking#my garage projects#my mtb#diamondback#corax#bicycle upgrades#fixing things#very bad mechanic#cycling#mountain bike#if I am sweary at the moment it is because the work has been non-stop for weeks and I am tired#but not depressed so I'll take it#my posts#diy forever
5 notes
·
View notes
Text
Proper Responses (?)
This is a continuation to the previous post where the fans were outraged and I added a response to it. I felt that from what I saw by other websites on Instagram that may have harsh criticism or anger, they try to sympathize and try to soften the blow by expressing that they hear the upset fan or commenter. I feel that having a connection with the fans and show the same type of energy but in a more controlled way may be affective for the fans understanding and still being up to using the program/channel still. I hope that's what I get from these responses above at least, if there is a way I can word or add something to show that the company is with the fans, that would be the best case scenario
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
at his expense
I learned recently that being harmfully inconsiderate towards a partner does not necessarily have to be explosive; it can be slow, silent, and equally damaging.
I've been in a long rut recently. I've been depressed and unmotivated and immovable. I haven't been able to nurture my needs, let alone my partner's.
The truth is: I am thrilled and excited to go above & beyond for people, but I haven't had the energy for this thrill. I've had no excitement; I've had no passion. I've fallen into the trap of work & assignments & eating. Obligation and routine monotony, losing sight of what makes me feel worthy of human sentience. I preach humanness and vulnerability and warmth and effort, yet my most intimate relationship has been painfully neglected of this. At my hand and at his expense.
I cried as I read all that he's been lacking. I cried beside him in bed under the covers. I cried as we hugged, laying on top of him & replacing the weight of what he was carrying with all that I am.
I saw the extent of hurt I've caused & couldn't see afterwards and mourned the young person inside of him that just wants to be cared for the way that he cares for others.
I told him that with all this brought to light, I've been failing him and failing myself: failing him because I haven't been upholding my commitment to care and reciprocity, and failing myself because I am falling out of the practice of being the partner or person I want to be.
It's time for me to do better by him, which, I know, also means doing better by my own standards. I'm starting with the journal.
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
AGH!
I have another brainworm today, courtesy of scrolling through @gayemeralds blog last night and seeing their take on the Sonic films, which I haven’t even watched except for a few clips this morning. And it may or may not be apparent at this stage, but when my brain sees something broken in a fandom I love, IT STARTS SPITBALLING WAYS TO FIX IT, so... Here we are again.
(I’mtryingtoworkonONEFICrightnowandtumblrjustkeepswaggingfixationsinfrontofmystupidbrainadfadfasdflsdafjslik)
Primary issue with Filmverse Sonic: the themes don’t match. Not within the canon of the filmverse, but against just about every other iteration of Sonic that’s ever existed; there’s a de-emphasis on freedom and exploration and more of a focus on security, home being a single place, and finding happiness staying still.
NOW, part of the reason for that is that Sonic is given good cause to feel more nebulous about a nomadic on-the-move lifestyle than other incarnations, as the opening of the first movie shows us. Instead of running being his personal freedom, it’s framed as necessary for his safety against a threat that’s immediately made very tangible, so the idea of not having to run anymore and finding a place he can return to would be a source of comfort, not unrest for him (barring dealing with the trauma of his guardian sacrificing herself for him, natch.)
Simple enough to remedy, methinks; if you want to maintain Longclaw’s role in the story–and actually, the first few minutes does pretty decently setting up the ‘chosen one AND just some guy’ dichotomy for Sonic–then just spice things up with a little subtlety.
How about Longclaw realizes one day that a threat, may or may not be made clear it’s the Echidna tribe, has found the island and so she pulls one of the cons parents sometimes do; “Say, Sonic, I think we should play a game today. You’ve been good about staying cooped up, I know it’s hard. How about you take these rings and see if you can hide out on a different world? I’ll come looking for you in a little while; make sure you do a good job hiding! Take some extra rings in case you get lost.”
Obviously, she doesn’t follow, Sonic waits her out until he realizes she isn’t coming, he might find his way back to Mobius and discover her fate or he might not; in any case, he still ends up on Earth, running from his past (and from those looking for him, whether or not he knows it) and in doing so, learns to find comfort in being on the move.
Bonus, that initial betrayal of his trust makes him wary of bonding with anyone, adults in particular. Also, if the movie knows what its doing, don’t reveal all the origin stuff outright in the first five minutes; hint at it throughout and then give the audience a WHAMMY when he finally talks about feelings because he learns to trust later in the film, or even in the second film.
Alternate opening: slow fade in, a scene of grassy knolls, gradual pan out to reveal a highway and power lines, confirming we’re on Earth and not Mobius. Still shot, music, then SHOOOOM! blue blur tearing past breaks the soundtrack.
Cut to a stretch of highway farther on, SFX tell us the blurs’ moving from stage right and going to come into shot; a car appears in eyeline first, and the streak of blue leaps into bushes off the main drag.
Car passes. Spines pop out. Green eyes glance after the car’s rear bumper. Sonic’s voice starts narrating over his actions.
“I know what you’re thinking; you’re wondering, who’s that handsome blue devil?” etc. etc.
Maybe that’s just me. ANYWHO. That explains Sonic’s fierce independence and initial wariness to interact with others and why he feels the way he does about a static life in the same place. We’ve gotten rid of that part of the “happiness can be found standing still” theme. The other portion stems from Tom’s existence, which was another complaint and I’ll get to that, but first!
What breaks Sonic’s status quo of hiding and self-isolation? Who does he interact with first?
Maddie.
He finds an injured animal–bird, rodent, any small critter he could actually carry–and being the inherently good dude he is, wants to help. He tries on his own, since anything else would require approaching humans, before he admits the problem is beyond his capabilities and he looks for a vet: hence, Maddie.
Maybe initially he goes at night to help him avoid being seen, before it sinks in that people and even vets have working hours and so he camps out as near town as possible while remaining hidden until it opens and drops off the injured critter at the back door and making a racket to guarantee someone will find it. He only watches the place long enough to assure himself that the birdie’s been helped properly before he runs again.
He hopes that’s the end of things, that he doesn’t have to put himself at risk of being seen again, but no; he keeps finding wayward, inexplicably weak/injured creatures in the forest (OOH, this can tie into Robotnik) and so against what he thinks is his better judgement he keeps making drop offs.
At some point, he becomes just a touch too comfortable with it, because the animals are getting help each time and he isn’t getting caught, and one night he naps a little longer than he means too outside the back door to the clinic and Maddie sees him. *Cue awkward beat of silence as they both realize several things, and Sonic wants to flee but he can’t move too fast before he passes off the injured birdie*
Lacking anything else to say to the bright blue talking hedgehog that’s been dropping off nearly half of her recent patients, Maddie politely asks if he’s had any problems he wants looked at. Sonic gives her a wary glance and a shake of his head before disappearing again.
Contact established, an acquaintance and subsequent friendship can develop. Sonic lingering longer at drop offs, checking in on his tiny rescue critters, Maddie inferring that he likes being off the grid and takes pains to hide lingering quills or other traces he leaves behind without meaning to, she starts smuggling snacks into work because she doesn’t know whether this skittish little friend-shaped creature last ate, inevitably Sonic shows up at her door injured himself.
Maddie reaches a point where she realizes Sonic should probably be exposed to more interaction/socialization/beings who can talk to him than the quasi-daily five minutes he spends with her.
Enter Tom.
Now, whether or not Tom needs to exist in the filmverse at all is up for grabs, but let’s run with the thread of keeping him. First and foremost, he cannot be a cop, or at least cannot stay a cop unless he’s only there for a minor comic relief part and showing police ineptitude when it comes to or compared against Sonic. SO.
We make him a liiiiiiiitle bit of a human parallel to the blue blur. Let’s say he’s... a few years younger. Not a teenager by any stretch, he still lives on his own, but he’s lost; emotionally, spiritually, whatever. Got his own sad story to tell or not tell, pretty new to the force, certainly not a sheriff. In limbo w/ no family, not unlike Sonic, not particularly interested in being a cop but applied to for the job “For security, I guess. We need to put down roots, right? (he said, sounding only marginally sure at best)”
Closet nerd–might be relevant for second film when he meets Tails and they can mutually geek out over ancient stuff–secret desire to explore the world, possible amateur history buff, and the last thing he shares in common with Sonic is that he’s friends with Maddie. Since Tom doesn’t take his job all too seriously and, in Maddie’s words “Only thinks he’s a grown up” she figures he’s the ideal person to just hang out with Sonic a little. “Y’know, if you want to talk to somebody while I’m at work.”
(Also, Tom’s holding onto a power ring that’s since lost its luster, though he obviously doesn’t know what it is and this could help break the ice between him and Sonic so they have more than superficial conversations and also tie into lore about the emeralds being on Earth later and Tom’s obviously not got some super important lineage or anything he’s just some guy like Sonic but the ring found its way to him and adfsdfsdf MOVING ON.)
Then, Robotnik. He’s.... very very clearly characterized in the films to cater the stories toward young children to get them into Sonic. Or to be what some people think cater more toward young children; it’s not that kids wouldn’t like the other incarnations of Eggman that already exist.
The aim of his portrayal’s another issue: fact remains, he’s only just kinda gets a pass as Eggman. There’s not really much trace of the hyper-calculating straight up mean bastard we all know Robotnik is. He does mean things, sure, but I mean... eh. Rather than investing quite so much in him being funny, nudge that aim slightly to the left closer to unhinged. Because as anyone on this site will tell you, unhinged leads to some downright hilarity.
Make his status as a respected intellect on Earth more begrudging, establish somehow that a lot of people think he’s lost a fair bit of the plot because he’s held the existence of Mobius as a pet theory for years and no one’s listened to him. Remember when I mentioned him earlier? Have him doing experiments and screwed up things to the wild critters because his machines have detected traces of peculiar energy signatures lingering around them; energy that emanates from Sonic.
Also, that guy who apparently... makes him coffee? Simps for him? Haven’t watched the films, and even seeing clips I don’t remember his name, but HO BOY THE POTENTIAL THERE. You could take either the Snively route from SatAM or something closer to the comics/games and have one of the extra clips at the end of the first film’s credits (or in the midst of the second film before revealing Eggman’s returned) be the crony’s robotization. It’d be so easy to frame things in a way that’s funny enough on the surface for kids while the millennial fans will be laughing for entirely different reasons (”WHAHAHAHAHAAAAT THE FUUUHUHUHUUUCK!”)
Ahem.
Finally, the plot: my brainworm hasn’t quite progressed that far yet. But Robotnik would somehow discover evidence of Sonic’s existence and thus get an absurd amount of funding for hunting the hedgehog from the government, the police get involved, Tom Does Not Like how the police handle getting involved, Sonic ultimately grows enough to declare that he’s made friends and/or trusts the humans who’ve helped him, decides to start fighting instead of hiding, beats Robotnik (sends him to another world? I think that happens at the end of the first film?) and Tom is called in for doing some or many things against orders/regulations/whatever and he’s told he’s on suspension.
Then, in a subversion of every other scene we get when a cop is being suspended, when he pulls off his badge and looks at it and we get the close up shot of him holding it–contrary to every other such shot I can remember–it’s dirty. Damaged in action instead of something pristine, something to feel conflicted about. Someone says “It’ll be detailed and good as new when you come back.” Tom ends his role in the scene with “Don’t bother. I don’t want it.”
And he makes his exit.
Movie closes out (I thought maybe a spark between Maddie and Tom could model for Sonic a different kind of love than the one of a guardian or a friend, but it’s not essential) with the question of what Tom and Sonic are going to do now that the former’s quit his job and the latter’s existence has been outted.
Tom: “I dunno. But actually, I’m... I think I’m okay with that.” (Growth enough to let go of the idea that he could fix his restlessness by tying himself to one spot)
Sonic: “Lay low, I guess. Might pop over to another world for a bit,” (in response to sad looks) “I’ll definitely visit, though. Need my chili dog fix.”
“Nothing else?”
Cue Sonic opening his mouth for a wisecrack, and instead he chooses to let some vulnerability show through on his face. Maddie discreetly pulls out her phone to take a picture, realizing she doesn’t have any of her two friends in the same place at once.
Click.
Tom, for some reason, blinks, looking a little dazed, and Sonic refuses to make eye contact with either of them. They say their goodbyes and he speeds off.
Cut to Maddie checking her camera roll, only for a small miracle to greet her.
An almost perfectly captured millisecond of Sonic hugging Tom.
Soundtrack fades in over Tom driving into the sunset, driver’s side window rolled down and most of his life packed in the bed of the truck, a map for South America splayed open in the shotgun seat, the power ring hanging from a string around his neck. Close out on Sonic narrating again, introducing himself, upbeat tone notably more genuine than at the start of the film.
“I’m Sonic–Sonic the Hedgehog!”
#Sonic the Hedgehog#Sonic#Filmverse Sonic#Eggman#Robotnik#Tom Wachowski#Maddie#Mobius#Movie Sonic#Brainworm#Fixing things#AAHHH#That feels better#Thrown into the void#I'd label this a ramble#But I just reblogged that other thing#So#Uh#My very cool take on how to fix Film Sonic#Why can I only churn out 2k words for this#In one sitting#And not my fic#Bruce talks about
1 note
·
View note