#I did actually like the movie story though

[fluffyk97]

Sonic 3 spoiler rambling about Sonic and Shadow under cut !

Y'know something that I feel might go lil under-appreciated is how well they made Sonic and Shadow mirror each other in the movie.

Like something that always can easily irk me are people boasting one of the two over the other because from the very beginning of his introduction to the series, Shadow's character is meant to reflect Sonic. They're meant to be equals that are so similar and complete opposites at the same time.

With the movie, I honestly wasn't expecting it that much. Sonic actually has a backstory that is just like Shadow's: powerful little hedgehog that is wanted for his power, so the one he's known his whole small life that he loves sacrifices herself to save him.

I fr fully expected Sonic to learn about Maria and be like "I lost Longclaw, I know you're pain, but-" blah blah blah- BUT they don't do that??

Of course, we have Commander Walters first telling Sonic that Shadow's story is a lot like his but wasn't able to find family and friends, and Sonic does find Shadow had a family from finding a picture of him and Maria together. He never gets told what happened exactly though, although it wouldn't make too much of a difference with the fact they did change up Shadow losing Maria just a little bit.

Since they didn't live up in space, Maria didn't have a capsule to send Shadow off with sacrificing herself and instead they made it an accident. WHICH- can be understandable if people don't like that, however personally I don't mind it that much because honestly the intent to shoot Maria was there, but she ended up being lost from an accident caused by Walters.

Which, ties in to Shadow hurting Tom...

Walters in trying to help save Maria's, Shadow's and Gerald's lives unfortunately led to Maria's death and watching Shadow be put in stasis for 50 years where all he thinks about is that painful memory burned fresh in his head. So of course when Shadow sees Tom disguised as Walters, he takes his anger out on him by hurting him while also stealing the key for the ARK. Leading to unfortunately another scenario of where the intent of harm is there, but someone still got hurt from an accident because Shadow never really meant to hurt Tom. But he does anyway..

Which of course in turn, makes Sonic mad just like Shadow was 50 years ago. Only difference is Sonic doesn't get immediately captured by GUN and forced into stasis. Letting him able to go straight to Shadow afterwards for hurting his family.

We have Shadow take note of all of that himself, telling Sonic he's feeling exactly the pain he felt and Sonic being the one to say "I'm nothing like you!". Just like how I thought Sonic would tell Shadow about Longclaw in hopes of redeeming him, but reversed and both sides full of anger and grief.

One awesome super fight later though, we come to the talk on the moon. Probably my favorite part in the whole movie. outside of the super fights and Live and Learn playing lol

After mentioning Tom and getting uppercutted straight to the moon by Sonic, Shadow loses his super form, leaving him vulnerable, easy for Sonic to take his revenge on him. Only for all of that to be stopped because of Shadow pointing at his own chest which reminds Sonic what Tom told him at the beginning of the movie and calm down.

"You didn't let pain change who you are."

This completely baffles Shadow, with him actually wanting Sonic to finish it, but of course Sonic just refuses saying "No one wins with revenge". It just leaves silence between them, finally giving Shadow his own moment of remembering Maria outside of her death by looking at the stars he used to gaze upon with her.

He mentions it to Sonic how all he knew and felt was just the pain, and now finally- FINALLY, Sonic mentions how he shares that feeling of loss from Longclaw. Not in a moment of trying to just redeem Shadow without the full weight of it, but in a moment of understanding.

A strong moment of these two looking at each other in a mirror, eye to eye. Sonic, who was allowed to grieve all those years ago after losing Longclaw, telling Shadow the pain of loss will never go away, but the love will always remain.

"The light shines, even though the star is gone."

And through that shared pain and loss, now coupled with empathy and understanding one another through it. They truly connect.

Sonic and Shadow's dynamic was just done SO WELL in the movie and I couldn't be happier with it...

[bruhstation]

hello tumbled er

greetings and salutation. it is I, senja heterocaine, speaking to you through your favorite home screens. now you might be wondering: where on earth has senja heterocaine disappeared to these past 5 months? well the answer is as simple as it gets

I focused on my studies.

well yes that is the main reason. but that's like the nerd "obvious" answer. there’s other reasons too. some of which includes me getting into new interests, revisiting my old, hibernating interests, getting involved in university organizations and events, getting more involved in big family stuff since I'm the oldest and the only of-age grandchild of grandma from mom's side.... lots of stuff

so I just finished the third semester of premed school right. honestly speaking, with how I was losing motivation on drawing, the art block post-art fight, and lack of time, I decided to well, take a break. and it’s pretty convenient too since it was early on in the third semester. during the entirety of it I was feeling pretty proud of myself like "oh I've been studying a lot. I've taken a break from drawing and blog stuff. surely things will get better" and it did! not immensely but it's significant enough that for once I don't feel an indescribable sense of terror after the semester ends. the focus of this semester was about reproduction systems and growth and development which is pretty fun? we get to use models and medical phantoms hands-on and poke them with needles and other rube goldberg contraptions. I did miss breeding bacterias in petri dishes and seeing my friends burn the microbiology lab’s ceiling like last semester though. my grades are also improving… slowly but surely

(aftermath not pictured: me lounging on the couch scrolling through quora to see if there are people currently in college wanting to drop out)

maybe I was aiming too high. at least my grades are better than the previous two semesters and my social life is much better than it was back in high school. speaking of exams -- I went through my first osce exam around a week ago (practical exam to see if you can actually perform the skills labs lessons from the entire semester like you're a real physician). it was the most terrifying day of the month. my dentist said I have a big tongue and that’s why I can’t speak properly if I’m being too fast. ntm I WAS NERVOUS!!! MY FIRST OSCE!!! with how I memorized everything I needed, I was pretty confident that I'd pass, though. I didn't and retook the exam the next day. the prelude was the worst crash out ever

ah ptooey. I'll just take it like a champ. my tutor who's 3 years older than me and currently in the anesthetic rotation of co-ass told me that things will get easier but that's very subjective. he's a medical olympiad student after all. my parents are pretty happy though with how my academic life is becoming better so that's that

LETS MOVE ON TO SOMETHING LIGHTER. section B: what I've been getting into ever since bruhstation was put on cryostasis

you know Transformers One (2024)? the transformers movie directed by josh cooley? based on the Transformers(tm) franchise by Takara Tomy and Hasbro? most tragic break up movie of the decade? I watched it twice, squealed once, and left me broken and inconsolable for weeks on end. it made me revisit my dormant transformers interest after 5 years. I've reread the idw comics (mtmte, LL, taao, main transformers comic), and is currently checking out more (reading the wreckers saga right now). god it made me miss rodimus and friends' zany space opera adventures. I've always envisioned casa tidmouth to have the same tone as mtmte... the oftentimes dark humor, fridge horror stuff, weird magic/science, the roller coaster of emotions, confronting the past... its crazy good.

stories where misfits and knuckleheads band together in a confined space while having crazy doctor who-like adventures am I right. like I want casa tidmouth to be like that. remind me to thank 14 year old me for this trip down memory lane. and as usual, I tend to make self-indulgent crossovers of any interest I'm thinking about at the moment with casa tidmouth

a terrifying sneak peak on what's to come.

I've been working on my oc projects too. you may have seen some of them on artfight (graciela, saudade, altair, etc) but I've been focusing the most on graciela and saudade's universe, children's heterotopia. it has the largest amount of characters in any story I've created (not counting casa tidmouth), the most effort put into planning the stories and weaving in its themes about capitalism, patriarchy, period-typical bigotry, etc. there's human experimentation and they're given powers that range from punching super hard to time and space displacement. I also inserted whatever I wanted into the story. sure, yes, there's a lesbians-only organization of which its members are named off the knights of the round table, theres a mafia that focuses more on the family drama and attempted parricide from all angles, and tragic assassin maids of which their names are wuthering heights references. also if you've been following my main tumblr hajimedics for a while, you might've seen my three fairly oddparents ocs. well I've given them the tezuka star system treatment and inserted them into children's heterotopia as well.

I've also gotten into UTAU production! I've made a number of UTAU covers but haven't uploaded them to youtube. only shared them around with my friends on priv twitter. a good friend of mine assisted in the creation of my own UTAU voicebank! their name is TORKA (like "torque"), their voice bank has a slight accent when singing in japanese (because I'm their voice lol) and CV-only, their in-universe lore is that they're an intergalactic train conductor picking up wayfarers and outcasts trying to find a place in the vast universe, and I love them dearly

moving on! this is a thomas the engine and company blog THIS IS A LIFE UPDATE POST

I'd rather not discuss about how I'm doing mentally in deep detail BUT what I'll say is that I can't confidently say "I'm doing better" or "I'm doing worse" because it always depends on the days. things are okay-ish nowadays. some days are scary. some days are boring. I still experience delusions, (ironically) worried about my anhedonia, and believe that certain bouts of confidence will trigger a jinx, but I think I've been controlling myself well? at least? I keep internalizing the belief that I'm an adult. 20 years old. I have to act accordingly and my life in real life is ten times more important than the internet. things are going to change more and more once I graduate premed and began the co-ass program. I have to think 10 steps into the future. building successful connections before you turn 30. sigma grindset and all that. sorry that was my father using my body as a spirit medium

AND ALSO. ALSO. BACK TO THE BLOG DO YOU GUYS REMEMBER THAT ONE TIME I PROMISED TO MAKE A COMIC BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE 1000 FOLLOWERS POLL AND NEVER DID UNTIL NOW. I'm terribly sorry. I promise I will get into it I SWEAR procrastination is kicking my ass. I have to plan the dialogue and script and stuff AND DRAW BUT

BUT HERE’S THE FUNNY THING

THE BLOG REACHED 2000+ FOLLOWERS A FEW MONTHS AGO

NOW WHAT DO I DO TO CELEBRATE?

I don’t know honestly. I haven’t done the 1000+ followers celebratory comic, and NOW I HAVE 2000+ FOLLOWERS. THERES 2000+ OF YOU NOW!!!!! THAT’S CRAZY (IN A GOOD WAY)!!!! I thank you all for sticking with bruhstation through thick and thin for around 2 and a half years. I’m glad for all your support, fanarts, asks, and such truly. like wow. 2k. in such a short time too! thanks guys. admittedly, I feel kind of guilty to leave everyone hanging for months with nothing to give, especially with such a high follower number. and realistically? I don’t think I’ll be able to draw as much as I used to. like I’ve said earlier, I’ve been busy with my personal life and oc projects. it’s not like I’m abandoning this blog any time soon? I’m just speaking from a logical perspective, given my status as a student and (possibly, hopefully) future doctor too. I don't want to burn myself out posting like thrice a week, answering asks daily, I want to take things slow. at my own pace. maybe I'll focus on designing side characters as well and thinking about their roles in the story! but that's for another day. I’m just glad everyone’s still sticking around and enjoying my silly stuff

I do want to draw more for this blog! I want to put thomas and co. in more situations. make them dance for all our entertainments. but when you’re an adult, you realize that you have your own priorities. you can’t always do the things you wanna do. you can’t just drop something you don’t like out of the blue. sometimes you have to sigh, scratch the back of your neck, and brave it while saying “I sure am getting old”

oh and also I'm a butch lesbian now. still he/they (heavy preference on he/him), still preferring masculine terms like "mr", "sir", "guy", still as crazy as ever. still aroace too and not interested in dating, something that's been a constant in my identity ever since I'm in early high school. little have changed I can assure you this. I am still senja. senja heterocaine from the net.

and thus concludes senja’s life update post! what will the next post after this be about? something gordon-centric again? serious colored art? old men yaoi? silent hill UK localization? place your bets. everyone loves a good laugh

[ashlynthecarrottop]

SONIC RANT!1!1!1!

My review for Sonic 3 >>>

Okay, first of all, WHAT!? The story line and character designs are insane!! I love how they created Shadows character and how keanu reeves kept is voice slam or good for whatever reason because of how Shadow’s character really is like.

Gotta add points to having Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles still as the greatest team the whole movie, even when Sonic left them out of his rage. I thought it was so sweet when they threw that little party for Sonic when he first got to earth, I just thought the little references with Tom and Sonic from the first movie was so nice to see and just overall a great start.

Tbh, I thought the part when Sonic and Robotnik were talking about family and how he didn’t have any was a great part on why he acted like a inspired child towards his grandfather when he showed up. I think it was weird but interesting on how they made robotniks grandfather, also Maria’s grandfather…sooo…does that make them siblings-? IDK JUST A THEORY- MATPAT CMERE

The greatest part of the movie to me was the end when both Sonic and Shadow used the emeralds to use their ability TOGETHER to save earth. The slow-mo scenes of them and just the duo coming into a movie was just so awesome for me to see.

MY LEAST FAVORITE PART IS WHEN SHADOW DIED WITH ROBOTNIK!! LIKE I GET ROBOTNIK BUT WHY SHADOW??? HES MY FAVORTIE WHYD YOU HAVE TO DO THAT😭🤚

But to be fair, shadow isn’t apart of Sonic’s actual team. We can see that through old shows like Sonic boom and all them when we have his team full of knuckles, tail, any, rouge and all them, but shadow isn’t apart of it. If he is he’s there as the idea of an episode, or just there in the background for a problem. So even though it’s sad that he was killed, at least he did it to save the world.

CHARACTER RANT

Sonic>>

Of course, the blue-blur is at it again, never sad, and always has the biggest ego. LOLL-

I’m glad they kept his character the same, it definitely was a plus to keep the movie was flopping like most people thought- only because it’s the third movie. I thought it was so sweet and emotional when Sonic near the end was in rage and trying everything to get revenge because shadow hurt Tom. Even though he knew it was wrong in the end, I still couldn’t help but feel that he did that more because he cared, then revenge, and that stood with me through that entire scene. So overall, Sonic in this movie, and just like all the others, didn’t disappoint

10/10

Tails>>

Gotta say, I have no complaints, over then he didn’t get enough screen time. Tails gadgets and positive attitude is cute and just fits him perfectly like it always has. I’m always impressed with the development and change in Tails mechanics because it definitely got better from the holograms to the gadgets stopping Robotnik. And the part when the little girl said he looked like detective pikachu was so cute and true I swear😂🤚

10/10

Knuckles>>

Just like Sonic, his character didn’t let me down with him wanting to be on top, and be the smashy smashy guy and it was just funny to hear him again after 2 years. I don’t know if anyone notices but he does speak like everyone else, but he doesn’t speak fully it’s like he takes away the words that aren’t needed…for example

Normal ppl - “So this is love”

Knuckles - “I feel the love”

Soo….yeah

10/10

Shadow>>

LEMME JUST SAY. KEENU REEVES DID NOT DISAPPOINT, and his character design and actions were just so cute to me and I love him so much😭😭…If I’m being honest I could probably do another rant but it’s literally just about how much I love shadow. Form him on the motorcycle, to him with Maria, to the flashbacks and change in emotion, to when he was with the emeralds, to him just being him, I love it all. I thought his backstory with Maria really shot through with this movie and I really enjoyed it.

“The world still shines when the star is gone”

-Maria & Shadow

100/10

The robotniks

Just..sigh,..no . Only good part of this movie was the dance when they were going through the lasers, nothing more.

Robotnik - 7/10

Grand papi - 2/10

And let me shut say that I feel bad for dr stone bro. He also most drowned, was rejected multiple times by Robotnik during this movie and then got replaced with robotniks terrible excuse for a family member😭🤚

Justice for stone🙏

8/10

ENDING RANT

FIRST OFF. We’re 3 movies in now, if you don’t sit in your chair and sit for after the credits to see the downfall of the next movie your an opp and not a real sonic fan ALR!? I said it.😤 BUT ANYWAYS-

WE GOT THE ROBOT SONICS!? I CALLED IT-!

AND AMY?!?!?!??

yo I can’t wait 2 or more years for this😭🤚…it was torture waiting for this movie to be finished. But I think it’s gonna be funny and cute to see a bit of Sonic and any shipping and blushing and cute crushing stuff lol.

So overall, I loved this movie and we be watching it on repeat for forever til SONIC 4 BABY!!

[encantoisawesome]

thank you guys

good morning/afternoon/evening everyone

oh man, i remember starting this blog back in 2022, just posting random screenshots i got from the encanto movie and reblogging awesome posts i saw, next thing i know im meeting all sorts of people from around the world who share the same love for this movie as i do, people who helped me develop my oc elisa and supported my art and story telling, people who gave me requests for encanto screenshots which i loved to do. hell, people who actually wanted to talk to me

who WANTED to talk to me

i honestly cannot express the appreciation and pure joy i have for all of you. to have talked to you. the only thing i can say is thank you. thank you so much. to all of you

truly

-

unfortunately its come to the part where i have to tell you guys that i will no longer be running this blog. its not for any particular reason, its just... i dunno, it just feels like its time for me to go, that ive overstayed my welcome and its time to leave the blog (to clarify, no one did anything or said anything to make me feel this way. in all honesty, ive never had a negative experience in this blog at all, you guys are flipping awesome). ive always had problems with feelings like this, and i did push them away for a pretty long while but this time, its just too overwhelming, i'm sorry and i hope you guys understand

i guess this is a goodbye post for this blog

i might post here again some day, i dunno. i wont be deactivating this blog though, no way in hell

well, thats all. the only thing i can do now is to thank you all once again for your support towards me and the blog itself. thank you

this is burny from encantoisawesome, and i hope you guys enjoy the encanto movie as much as i do

encanto is truly awesome

[recluserat]

Hey, It's the Dwayne/Michael anon again. I'm curious...what do you imagine the dynamic to be between these two? As in, who makes the first move? Who's the most assertive/dominant in the relationship? Who confesses their feelings first? etc etc. And how did you think up this ship? Sorry if it's too many questions, it's just that you've gotten me hooked on these two lol

ooooooo anon, welcome back! I love these questions but I am going to be so honest with you that prior to seeing this ask I had not thought this hard about the ship. I have been going purely based off vibes and the gut feeling that those two ppl need to be kissing posthaste. That being said, I love this ask bc it made me actually sit down and think about the way I view these two as both characters and as a couple so here are my new answers: 1. Whenever I think of the two of them the ship dynamic that comes to mind is "silent and stoic x perpetually confused". At the same time though, I think Dwayne is an instigator who will nudge Paul and Marko with little comments and then sit back and watch the drama unfold. Meanwhile I feel like when it comes to the vamps, Michael doesn't really know what's going on but he keeps managing to get himself wrapped up in their shit. He likes to instigate as much as Dwayne does but he's not smooth enough with it to not be dragged along and also his big brother instincts kick in sometimes and he feels like he should back them up. Only sometimes though. Other times he's perfectly happy to sit back with Dwayne and laugh at the others. 2. I think that Dwayne would flirt with Michael first, but once Michael registers that this man is flirting with him he's 100% committing to it and will flirt harder than Dwayne. Dwayne has been around Santa Carla for a while and is like... Apex Predator Mode so I think he wouldn't be afraid to flirt with someone who catches his eye. Meanwhile Michael is new to town, probably not going to be making any moves on strangers straight off the bat yk. But once Dwayne opens that door Michael is fully tossing himself through it. 3. I have so many different Dwayne/Michael stories swirling around in my mind right now that I can't for sure say who I think would definitively always be the one to confess first, but I have imagined the different ways they would do it. I think Dwayne would do his best to use his actions rather than his words, acts of service/physical touch stuff first. He would give Michael special treatment ie. always buys him food on the boardwalk, give him first dibs on anything he wants, always finds excuses to be close to Michael and have his hands on him in some way whether that's fixing the collar of his jacket or just resting his hand over Michael's shoulder while they're standing around. If he HAS to verbally say it I think it would be quiet. Something short and straight to the point while also being flirty, smting like "You know you drive me crazy" or smthing while being all up in Michael's personal space. Meanwhile, with Michael I think he would also do the whole physical touch thing, but less consciously. He starts gravitating to Dwayne without even noticing - parks his bike next to him, sits with him on the couch, always looks to Dwayne first when one of the other guys makes a crazy suggestion to see what Dwayne thinks. I think that whenever Michael does verbally confess it would be big, and somewhat aggressive. Fists full of Dwayne's jacket while his voice is raised talking about how he felt watching someone else put their hands on him, sloppy kisses, that sort of thing. I like to picture the level of emotion that Michael had in the movie when he confronted David on the boardwalk with the whole "where's Starr?" thing. But because he's Michael I think he wouldn't even realize that he liked Dwayne like that until that big explosion. TBH, I'm not really sure where this ship came from. I feel like with TLB there's only so many ships you can do that involve Michael and the vamps. I've read a bunch of stuff on Ao3 and the most common ships I see are David/Michael, David/Starr, Michael/Starr, and poly vamps+michael. I love rare pairs and Dwayne is my favorite character so one day I was just kinda like... what if.....????? and started writing about the two of them together. Thank you for this ask! I have so many more ideas for Dwayne/Michael stuff now that I have to go write down somewhere

[theus-what-are-you-doing]

Ask Ozi?

I saw @p1tabread reblog my Ozi post with a question so I thought it would be fun to do this little Q&A thing and develop my keysona a little more! Below "read more" will be more in depth answers if anyone is curious!

Now for the questions expanded!

Ozi is my favourite key ever

Ozi would only respond with confusion to this statement, or be flustered, because they was at their height of usage within Ex Libris' organisation during the Elizabethan time (I know that isn't canon but let me head canon, will you? It fits their story a lot better) e.g. when Shakespeare's works were hitting theatres and the need for comic relief characters were at an all time high with the focus on tragedies.

Recently however, it could be argued that their position has been fulfilled by the role of the "Helper" key Bronze, as many modern stories have a tendency to combine the helper and the comic relief roles into one character, think of the sidekick that is used to be funny in tense scenes within hero movies or books.

As so, they doesn't get as much use as they did back then, hence their confusion to why they are a favourite in this modern age.

They do greatly appreciate it though, even if they're a little confused!

2. What's his favourite Shakespeare character or play?

Honestly, back in the day they used to be a big fan of them all as they thrive on tragedy. That being said, they doesn't like "Romeo and Juliet", for reasons that "They can't understand why the hero wouldn't just have a good cry and wait for Juliet to wake up. They didn't need to die."

That's their reason at least, we theorise this was mostly because this was one of their first books they had entered and they and their human had genuinely though that Silver and Goldie had actually suffered the tragedy that befalls their characters. Dark, huh? Safe to say, a lot of crystal tears had fallen when they were reunited!

As for "Something Rotten", it's one of my favourite Shakespeare inspired works, and I have a feeling that If I did have a key, that is one of the first things I would show them! I however, love the Soothsayer more than I love Shakespeare! Nick Bottom is a close second however!

I hope that answers your question, fellow nerd (Fear not, I will not sue you!!

[un-pearable]

internally: decent movie. more tolerable than the previous for most parts. rewatchable. FINALLY has a soundtrack that sounds like sonic and DOESNT have gratuitous plot-irrelevant human scenes. sonic gets to do sonic stuff!!!!! characterization makes sense given previous movies and (very slightly) nudges him towards something potentially interesting. not inventive AT ALL (missing everything intriguing about SA2) but could be worse

externally: while some lore omissions make sense given the world established by the previous films, those choices are boring and others they make are completely baffling changes. rouge omission harms the whole thing. i dislike the entire direction they’ve taken with their sonic characterization and the themes and they fundamentally miss key traits for everyone involved . why did we do this. what was the point

it’s fun. more consistently enjoyable than the previous but that’s mostly bc the scenes that bothered me with the aggressive Carryness had tails in them so i could just watch him be cute.

lore change to make him another mystery alien is annoying but frustratingly makes sense given the context. i’m not torn up over it <- don’t care about shadow and didn’t expect much going in . the missing part of maria’s story is ridiculous though (why is she just there??????)

i love herrrr i love her 70s energy and outfits and i will incorporate the roller skates. its soooo cute . the godzilla movie with the biolizard is pretty funny but that’ll totally piss off diehards. i do think they do good job of showing shadow + maria as friends and why he cares so much about her but that’s mainly just the scope of a film vs a video game

COWARDS THOUGH . SAYING “THEYRE CHILDREN” ON SCREEN TO INTERRUPT A SHOT-FOR-SHOT RECREATION OF HER DEATH??? THATS THE POINT. SHES A CHILD. ITS A TRAGEDYY

the shots directly from the shadow 2005 intro…. unbelievable . hilarious

akira bike slide ON VERTICAL BUILDING is cool i’m here for it

low budget flight and actual sonic-esque music…. i accept my crumbs

knuckles is lame. literally stolen joke from sonic boom w the team knuckles stuff. i wanted him to fight sonic over the ME so bad

the wade reveal is physically painful like i knew it happened in the show but he sucks sucks and right after the only satisfying scene w the humans (shadow fuckin up tom) . ME you deserve betterrrrr

torn on the overall message. i think it’s a more coherent film than the last two and the message isn’t terrible - it aligns with sonic’s overall freedom and choice vibes. but having shadow be a tag along to eggman’s schemes is a weird choice given he was pretty explicitly the one who wanted to . yknow. blow up the earth in the first place and just gave eggman the tools in SA2. this version takes a lot of agency out of his story bc gerald is here. which is weird since the whole explicit theme is choices!!

fucking gerald. can i kill someone. mr carrey i hate him

extremely dragon ball combat. which is fine but unexciting . WHERE the fuck did the emeralds go at the end they just??? gone??? they detransform and (incorrectly) sonic falls out of super and shadow dies but the emeralds flat out do not appear in the film again after they initially transform . what happened

FINALLY giving us a heart to heart AND live and learn for the fight ONLY TO CUT AWAY TO TWO MINUTES OF CARREY SHENANIGANS. illegal . egregious. im glad he’s dead

the shift from sonic having to inspire shadow to be better and move onto his past to . shadow pulling a ‘you’re just like me’ is lame. hello again scourge .

like it’s a logical change especially given the target audience and the kind of stories that are popular rn but it’s sooo less interesting than SA2’s thing

shadow being confronted by sonic bc he challenges his belief of being exceptional and makes him reconsider what it’s possible to be -> shadow being sonic’s narrative parallel bc they both had one (1) human they liked who they would do anything for

^^^ it’s bad. not unwatchable like sonic 1 but bad change. makes sense for this established universe tho so i get it

tails is great . colleen should be paid more

WAIT THINKING ABOUT LIVE & LEARN AGAIN. I CANT FUCKIN BELIEVE IT at least they had the music still playing when they cut back to the fight scene but that bullshit w the egged men. torture

yay shadow dead!!!!! no that final endcredit didn’t happen

the moon shot was cool. sadly now sonadow fans will claim the moon <- IT WAS SONKNUX TERRITORY FIRST

rouge would have made this film 1000000000% better

why so many metal sonic???????? hi amy

at least she’s cute i’ve seen so many bad edits since 2020 at least she’s cute. i’m intrigued w the cloak choice what’s going on here. just to hide the outfit so they can change it? reference? hmm

fascinating implication for whatever 4 is going to be. in my heart carreybotnik stays dead and we get a pseudo heroes where metal is pretending to be him. but alas i fear the family focus for eggman in this film is leading up to. him making metal sonic and treating him as his kid. which could be fucked up in fun ways but i’m so tired of carreyisms

they did say 2027 though which is an extra year than the last two got…. what are you budgeting guys

why oh why is shadow consistently the only character who gets any emotional arcs or storytelling it taunts me…. can’t even hate the guy bc he’s the only one with interesting stories . this story sucks and it’s still better than what knux got . orz

sayonara shadow the hedgehog

[thistlearts]

Count Monte Cristo 2024

I have been a fan of the book and the character since I was 14, when I first read Alexander Dumas's novel. Oh boy, did it take many years before I finally got a movie adaptation that was everything I'd dreamed of. They finally made THE Edmond Dantes I always saw in my mind. It's weird how he's exactly matches what I think a dark romantic era hero should look like. The founding father of all vigilantes. The character (and the book) that many contemporary adventure revenge/story genres ow their inception, even though sometimes it's heavily overlooked and many don't know how this exact story influenced literature and cinema. Not only is this movie a visual masterpiece but I literally want to study every frame in terms of colour, light, textures, and dynamics. It perfectly understands what it is, what cultural pillars it stands on, and how the vibe should be. Finally, this character and the story was done justice (it sounds like a bit of a pun, regarding the plot) and all the alterations of the original novel that were made to fit into the cinematic format are actually good for the story itself. They even added a subtle f/f subplot that feels as if it was always there! I don't remember when I enjoyed a movie adaptation this much. And Oh my God, just look at his face! Not your typical generic handsome dude! What a character! If you haven't read the novel or watched any movie adaptation - give it a try! It's a beautiful piece of cinema, and also you will CERTAINLY recognize the tropes and see where they come from. If you did read the book and saw other adaptations - definitely watch it too! I bet you will love it!

[deeplyshalllow]

Hi,

I absolutely love your posts on Fiyeraba scenes in the Wicked movie! I wanted to ask and this is just a thought I had but do you think Fiyero heals Elphaba with his acceptance of her appearance and as a person, because her major trauma stems from her father's rejection at her birth cause you hear "take it away" at many points throughout pivotal moments. Now that I think about it, her friendship with Glinda could be represented as a version of Elphaba's dynamic with Nessa where the sisters love each other but Nessa never protects Elphaba the way she does.

What are your thoughts on this?

Keep up the great content!!! 😃

Firstly, I am so sorry it's taken me this long to reply! It's been on my to do list all week but Pre Christmas and work and the need to also write a 3500 word essay on the Lion Cub scene, has made it hard for me to find the time to write a proper answer.

Short answer: I agree.

Long answer: I think Elphaba is hugely damaged by the way her father treats her. I think she has been othered all her life, including by the people who should love her and she so desperately loves. And a lot of this presents itself both in doing anything for them, even when it personally hurts her, and almost deliberately making sure everyone else sees her as a person as "ugly" as her green skin. Because, if she does that, she doesn't end up finding other people whom she loves who don't love her back or betray her, as she says in the Lion Cub scene, she sees it as an issue that she "cares so much".

There's actually three people at Shiz who really challenge Elphaba's view of the world.

Firstly, Doctor Dillamond, who shows her kindness and also regards her as a friend. But it is important to note that he is also othered, Elphaba's fight for the Animals is to some degree because she sees herself in them, she wants them to be able to fit in in a way she never has had. She empathises and her bond with Doctor Dillamond is stronger because they both share similar problems.

Galinda and Fiyero are the first, I think, to get Elphaba out of her shell. They are the ones who love her for who she is, nothing to do with her green skin, and yes, I do think it's healing. She's let down her mask of defensiveness and discovered that people do like her for what's underneath! There is a moment in the movie, when everyone is cheering Elphaba off at the train station where I thought "ok, they could just end the story here and it's the most heartwarming, happy ending for Elphaba" and obviously it's tragic that this is never to be.

Interestingly, I think Elphaba initially regards Morrible and the Wizard as people who see her for who she is too. Morrible because she's very motherly and values Elphaba when she wants to use her for her power (especially in the movie), and the Wizard because Elphaba has grown up believing him in an almost God like way - being so sure he will understand and know best. So that it is ultimately them that betray her hits her very hard.

Which leads to Defying Gravity and Act 2. Where, unfortunately, a lot of this healing for Elphaba is reversed. She's betrayed by Morrible, the Wizard (and to an extent Glinda) when she's condemned as a Wicked Witch, people still judge her for the colour of her skin. She does fight to do what is right, but she does it while sacrificing herself, what she wants, who she loves, what will make her happy - what she had been doing her entire pre Shiz years for Nessa.

There are so many heartbreaking lines in act two where we see how hurt Elphaba is by losing people she trusted or cared about:

"Boq, it's just me, I'm not going to hurt you!"

"Nessa, I have done everything I could for you but it has never been enough and it never will be"

"Don't you think I wish I could? That I could go back to the time when I believed you really were wonderful? The Wonderful Wizard of Oz? Nobody believed in you more than I did."

"Fiyero, not you too," (though obviously this one gets very quickly resolved)

"I can't believe you would sink this low! To use my sister's death as a trap to capture me?!"

So, when we get to As Long As You're Mine, and the scene afterwards, I think Fiyero does attempt heal her, and I do think it does good, but there's also this line:

Elphaba: I wish I could be beautiful... for you. Fiyero: Elphaba... Elphaba: Don't tell me that I am, you don't need to lie to me.

Elphaba's wounds cut deep. And, if I'm honest, I'm not sure she's ever going to be fully healed.

I do think the end of the show, Elphaba passing the task of helping Oz onto Glinda, of being able to go with Fiyero and live a life for themselves is a way to heal. She's given so much of herself to her cause, because she doesn't really value herself as a person, Fiyero - who loves her for who she is and will do anything for her including laying down his life, lets her finally do something for herself that makes her happy. And likewise Glinda, though she doesn't necessarily know it, carrying on her legacy, means Elphaba no longer has to worry about leaving the fight - she knows Oz is in safe hands.

Through the two people she loved the most, by the finale Elphaba might finally be able to heal.

Also, as I have nowhere else to put it: I think her father's treatment of Nessa also fucks Nessa up. I know they're going to change it for the movie, as it's seen as ablest (and I don't want to say it's not as I have a friend who literally has a Doctorate in disability history who sees it as ablest too) but I've always seen the fact that Nessa thinks her chair as a curse as an attitude driven by her father. Her father, in blaming Elphaba for Nessa's disability and coddling Nessa because of it, has always made Nessa feel like it's her defining trait and it's something wrong with her. This has led Nessa to both treat Elphaba as if she owes her something, but also believe her life would be perfect if she could walk - a belief that is brutally smashed in Act 2 when she is given the ability to walk.

[intheticklecloset]

My Hero Academia Coffee Shots #181-190

A collection of the MHA Coffee Shots I've done, complied for the sake of ease. These are all stand-alone stories. Many are from various seasonal events.

~~~

181) Lee Bakugou, Ler Deku

“DEHEHEHEHEHEKU YOU FUHUHUHUHUHUCK!!” Bakugou roared with laughter, struggling and kicking to no avail as his friend hovered over him, fingers deep in his upper ribs. “THE MOHOHOHOHOHOVIE ISN’T OHOHOHOHOHOVER!!”

Deku giggled. “You weren’t even watching it anyway!”

“LIKE HEHEHEHEHEHELL I WASN’T!!”

A particular dig into one of the blonde’s weak spots made him kick out in retaliation, catching the bowl of popcorn the greenette had placed – safely, he thought – on top of the coffee table and sending the kernels flying everywhere, showering down on them like rain.

They had, until moments before, been watching a popular anime-turned-live action movie together to unwind a little and start learning how to be proper friends again, but not even halfway through Bakugou had started to nod off, so Deku poked him playfully to keep him alert, and well…

“AHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAHAHAP!!” the blonde screamed, clamping his arms to his sides far too late to actually protect himself. His head was thrown back and a giant smile on his face as he cackled.

Deku giggled along with him, continuing to press and knead into that sweet spot between his ribs and armpits, enjoying himself very much despite the change in activity. Usually he was on the receiving end of this kind of treatment from Bakugou; it always felt nice to turn the tables on him when he could.

“GEHEHEHEHEHET OFF OF ME YOU SOHOHOHOHOHON OF A—!!”

“Language~” Deku warned teasingly, daring to lift his friend’s shirt enough to expose his tummy and blow a quick raspberry against the skin.

Bakugou went rigid, laughing so hard he went silent, wheezing out what giggles he could before taking a deep breath and rolling over to look up at the smaller boy, mirthful tears in his eyes. “Plehehehehease,” he begged, holding up a hand in surrender. “No mohohohohohore, Izuku!”

Deku grinned but did as he was asked and sat back, letting his friend sit up and catch his breath.

After a moment of regaining his bearings, Bakugou glanced around and muttered, “The fuck happened to the popcorn?”

“You kicked the bowl.”

“And whose fault is that?”

Deku shrugged, still smiling. “Not my fault you’re so ticklish, Kacchan.”

Bakugou had him pinned to the ground and begging for mercy through his own hysterical laughter in three seconds flat.

*

182) Lee Deku, Ler Kaminari

It was quiet out here.

Deku lay with his eyes closed, soaking in the ambient sound of grass and trees rustling in the warm evening breeze, the occasional cricket chirping. His life had become so chaotic recently, it was difficult to find a moment of silence to simply be with his thoughts.

Inside the dorms, the others were busy setting up for an all-night movie marathon – one that Deku fully intended to join and was looking forward to – but before that, he’d just…needed a minute. He’d observed the twinkling stars for a while, contemplating Shigaraki and All For One and the giant battle that was looming on the horizon sooner than any of them would like to admit. It had been a wonderful respite, but he knew that someone would be coming to get him any time now. In fact, he was surprised he hadn’t heard from anyone already. They wouldn’t have started without him, right?

“Tickle attack!” someone shouted, startling Deku out of his reverie, but not soon enough for him to avoid said someone pinning his folded arms behind his head to the ground and scribbling wildly into his armpits.

“EEEK!! Ehehehahahahahahaha wahahahahahahait!” he cried, bursting into happy giggles quite freely, though his body instinctively squirmed and kicked at the feeling. It had been so long since he’d been tickled at all, let alone surprise attacked like this – he loved it already, and he didn’t even know who was behind it yet.

“Gotcha, Midoriya! Whatcha doing, huh? Stargazing?”

It didn’t take him long to place the teasing voice.

“Kahahahahahaminariehehehehehehe!” he squealed, his helpless position only adding to his ticklishness. “Ahahahahahaha, plehehehehehehease!”

The blonde grinned down at him, sparks flying between his fingertips. “Oh? You want the full tickle treatment, huh, Midoriya?”

Deku couldn’t help but squeal in panicked excitement. “Nononono, not thahahahahahat, please – DEHEHEHEHEHENKI!!”

Above him, Kaminari giggled along with him for a few moments as he activated his quirk just enough to add an extra ticklish jolt to his system, making Deku laugh so hard he went silent, shaking his head and kicking his legs in defeat.

“All right, all right – I think you get the message.” The blonde climbed off of him and ruffled his hair. “It’s movie time, bro! Let’s go! We’re starting in five!”

By the time Deku had recovered, Kaminari was back in the dorms.

The greenette grinned and took off after him.

It was movie time!

*

183) Lee Bakugou, Ler Kirishima

Kirishima watched Bakugou for a full minute before saying something. He’d fully expected the blonde to either give up or find another way, but when neither of those happened the redhead said, “You know there’s a stool, right?”

Bakugou whirled around, surprised but trying to mask it with a scowl. “I don’t need it! I’m not short!”

“Didn’t say you were.” Kirishima smirked. “But I think it would make whatever you’re trying to do a little easier.”

The blonde gave him a scathing look and waved at the frozen waffles sitting on the counter beside the fridge. “The hell does it look like I’m doing?”

“Trying and failing to make breakfast, if I had to guess.”

“Tch.” Bakugou turned his back to him and resumed reaching for the toaster that sat on top of the fridge in their dorm’s kitchen. “Screw you, spiky hair. I don’t need a damn stool.”

Again, Kirishima stood there watching him struggle, although this time his friend kept glancing over his shoulder, fully aware he had an audience now. Knowing arguing was useless, the redhead shrugged and continued his stride into the kitchen, pretending to just let Bakugou do what he wanted.

Until he got right up behind him, scribbling his fingers into the blonde’s exposed armpits.

“GAH!!” Bakugou screeched, bringing his arms down so hard he jammed his elbow on the fridge handle in transit. “Asshole, stohohohohop it!”

“You’re in the way,” Kirishima replied playfully and reasonably. “Some of us actually want to get started with our day. I need orange juice.”

“Juhuhuhuhuhust ask me to mohohohohohove, then, idihihihihiot!” Bakugou cackled, squirming and wriggling uselessly as his redheaded friend continued to dig into his weak spot. “Gahahahahaha, quihihihihihit it alreheheheheady!”

Smirking, Kiri did as he was asked and let up, allowing his friend to collapse against the counter to catch his breath. Acting completely unbothered, he opened the fridge, retrieved the orange juice – they’d have to restock, he noticed – and set it on the counter beside the waffles. Then he moved the stool that was sitting on the other side of the fridge around to the front and stepped up on it, reaching to retrieve the toaster.

Bakugou struck, as Kiri knew he would, but only to find the redhead’s skin was hardened and un-tickle-able.

“Jerk! What, you can tickle me but I can’t tickle you back?” the blonde grumbled as Kiri set the toaster down and turned to grin at him.

“Not when you’re being this stubborn,” he teased, raising wiggling fingers to him again. “I think someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

“Kiri, don’t you d-AHAHAHAHAHARE!!”

They got to their breakfasts…eventually.

*

184) Lee Dabi, Ler Hawks

Dabi’s first reaction was to tense up when he felt someone come up behind him. In his line of work, it was always dangerous to be snuck up on. But the touch that followed was gentle – arms wrapped around his middle and feathered wings encircled him like a protective cocoon – and then the villain found himself relaxing into the only person he’d ever let his guard down for.

“Gotta quit doing that,” he muttered halfheartedly, closing his eyes with content upon feeling his partner’s face press into his back.

Hawks’ chuckle was soft. “Nah.” He held him in silence for a long minute, then said, “Something’s up with you.”

“It’s not.”

“It is.” The hero hugged him closer. “Won’t you tell me about it?”

Dabi rolled his eyes. How did his boyfriend always know when something was off? It was unfair. He could almost never read him in return.

Which is probably why Hawks’ next words startled him so much.

“Tell me, or I’ll have to tickle you.”

The villain tensed a second time, but he didn’t try to run. Not yet. “There’s nothing the matter – h-hehehey!”

“I warned you.” Hawks’ voice was warm and playful, and his fingers gently tracing up and down Dabi’s skin were very, very ticklish.

“D-Dohohon’t, you stuhuhuhupid bird – shit!” The brunette bit back a snort when his boyfriend squeezed his hips, making him jerk in surprise. He tried to dart forward and away, but Hawks was strong, and he still had the feathery cocoon to deal with, which now felt more like a coffin with the way the feathers were twitching, eager to join in.

“Tell meeee~” Hawks sang annoyingly, purposely brushing his weapons along his partner’s neck and ears, his arms.

“I hahahahahate you – fuck, okay, okahahahahay!” Dabi relented quickly, a tweak to his ribs the final straw. “Stop already, you ass! I’ll talk, okay?”

Hawks snuggled into him again. “That was surprisingly easy. Did you want to tell me but just needed a little encouragement? Hmm?”

“Shut—”

“You wanted me to tickle it out of you, Daaabi?”

The villain’s resolve quickly snapped back into place as he broke free of his boyfriend and turned with a playful snarl. “You know what? Screw that!”

He tackled Hawks to the ground, and soon enough it was the hero who was being tickled into submission instead.

They could talk about the other stuff later.

*

185) Lee Todoroki, Ler Kaminari

“Ooh, Toshi, look! Look at that giant leaf pile!”

Although he wasn’t Toshi – Deku’s nickname for his boyfriend Shinsou – Todoroki turned and glanced at where he was pointing anyway, as did the other two boys with them.

“Yo, that’s gigantic! How long do you think it took them to do that?” Kaminari asked in awe.

Deku was beaming from ear to ear, tugging at his boyfriend’s hand. “Come on, Toshi! Let’s jump in it!”

Shinsou gave his partner a soft smile. “Knock yourself out, babe. I’m good.”

But Deku was having none of that. In the next instant he’d used his super strength to pick Shinsou up and race toward the pile, ignoring his halfhearted protests as he leaped into the air and sent them both crashing into the dry leaves, disappearing from view completely for how many there were.

Todoroki watched on in fascination, surprised when after a moment, Shoji came up beside him and said, “No one will think twice if you want to do it too, you know.”

“Oh. It’s…not that, it’s just…” Todoroki averted his gaze as the lovebirds clambered out of the leaves, laughing and play wrestling. He always hated admitting that he hadn’t done something that normal kids would have done growing up. “I’ve…never…”

Kaminari overheard and turned to smile at him. “Dude, all the more reason to go for it! Come on, you’ll never find a pile of leaves more fitting. They’re begging to be jumped in!”

“I…I don’t know. Aren’t I kind of old for that?”

“Are you saying we’re all old? Those two just did it. You can, too!” Kaminari skipped over to him and started nudging him toward the leaves from behind. “Come onnn, you know you wanna~”

He did want to. He felt oddly giddy at the thought of abandoning his façade and just jumping in without a care in the world. But…

“Ah! N-Nohohohoho, hey! Don’t tihihihihickle me!” he suddenly found himself giggling, Kami’s fingers curling into his ribs from behind as he pushed him onward. “Ehehehehehehe, Kahahahaminari!”

“Jump, jump, jump!” the electric teen began to chant, joined swiftly by Shoji and finally Shinsou and Deku as they caught on to what was happening.

Todoroki squealed at one more purposeful tickle to his sides, then finally took off at a sprint and launched himself into the leaves.

It was prickly and damp and smelled of dying foliage, but as Todoroki emerged back into the fresh fall air, grinning from ear to ear, he couldn’t help but feel it was the most comforting thing in the world.

He’d be picking leaves out of his hair for the rest of the afternoon.

Totally worth it.

*

186) Lee Kirishima, Ler Mina

“M-Mihihihihina! Wahahahahait, I’ll screhehehehehew it up!” Kirishima whined through his giggles, squirming in place as she dug into his sides from behind, holding him firmly but not firmly enough that he couldn’t get away if he wanted to.

“Whaaaat? I’m just motivating you!” she teased, propping her chin on his shoulder as she tickled, grinning at his trembling and snickering form. “You did the eyes just fine. Now he needs a biiiiiig smile!”

Kiri clenched the carving tools harder in his hands as he arched his back, trying desperately not to accidentally hurt either one of them. “Plehehehehehehease!”

“Quit being a wimp, spiky hair,” Bakugou grumbled from across the circle, smirking knowingly at him. “You can’t fool any of us, you know.”

“Yeah, man, you love a challenge! Especially when it’s a tickly one~” Kaminari added, sparking his fingertips and making their redheaded friend cackle even more.

The five of them were sat in a circle together, each with a pumpkin to carve for Halloween. Mina and Bakugou both had white pumpkins while the rest had the typical orange ones, and speedy worker that she was, Mina was already finished with hers. Hence her scooting over to Kirishima and daring him to try and carve the rest of his pumpkin while she distracted him.

He had yet to try and move his tools back to the task at hand, though.

“Come on, Kiri~” she teased into his ear. “Give him a big, ticklish smile, yeah?”

He jolted when her fingertips grazed his ribs. “Whyyyyy?!”

Sero chuckled from the opposite side of him and set his tools down, curling his fingers teasingly. “I can always give you an extra boost if she’s not giving you enough motivation.”

“Nonono! I gohohohohot it, I got it!” Kiri screeched, finally raising trembling hands to his pumpkin, hardly daring to try and make the first carving. He just knew he was going to mess it up. He could always do another one later if he needed to, but…

“Yeeeep!” he squealed when she found his ribs again, digging into his pumpkin canvas accidentally, making a wide line from just beneath its eyes to nearly the bottom of it. “Mihihihihihina!”

“Uh-oh! Guess you’ll have to make a laughing pumpkin now!” she giggled, wrapping her arms around his waist and dragging him away from the task at hand, all pretenses out the window. “Here, let me inspire you some more!”

“Mihihihihina – wait, no, guhuhuhuhuhuys!” Kirishima shrieked with elated panic when Sero, Kaminari, and Bakugou all dove for his now prone form as well. “Waitwaitwait, this isn’t fahahahahahair! GUHUHUHUHUHUHUYS!!”

When it was all over, everyone agreed that Kirishima’s pumpkin came out looking the best.

*

187) Lee Bakugou, Ler Todoroki

The body behind him shivered, then snuggled closer to Todoroki instinctively. The half-and-half boy realized he was lying on his left side; therefore Bakugou wasn’t able to warm up like he usually did when they cuddled together.

Wordlessly, Todoroki rolled over so they were facing each other and wrapped his left arm around the blonde’s bare shoulders, hugging him close and warming up that half to help stave off the cold.

Bakugou relaxed almost immediately. Todoroki smiled gently at him, his eyes catching on the open window behind his boyfriend, allowing a cool night air to seep through. They really should close that; it was getting too cold overnight to keep it open anymore.

“Thanks, Shoto,” Bakugou murmured, curling in on himself as he cuddled closer to Todoroki, making his boyfriend’s heart expand with undying affection and happiness.

“Anytime,” Todoroki replied in a soft whisper, taking in his sleepy partner’s face. The flutter of his eyelashes, the slope of his nose, the cut of his jaw…the peppermint hero could never get enough of him. He loved every part of his grumpy partner, especially when he was smiling and snuggly like he was now.

Absently, he trailed a finger from the back of Bakugou’s neck to his shoulder blades and finally his spine, making the blonde let out a small gasp and arch into him, eyes cracking open in weak protest. “Shoto.”

“Can I?” Todoroki asked, suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to tease him, to warm him up in a different way. “Please?”

Bakugou locked eyes with him for a long moment, then sighed and covered his face with his hands as he muttered, “Fine.”

Todoroki beamed and dragged his fingers around to Bakugou’s side, gently scribbling along his lower ribs and belly. His boyfriend squirmed but tried not to roll away, reluctant giggles spilling over his lips in a sleepy cascade.

Then, remembering the way he’d shivered and gotten them into this position, the heterochromatic boy got an evil idea. He smirked, sneaking his right hand into the fray, dragging ice-cold fingernails down Bakugou’s chest to his belly while still pinching his ribs with the left hand.

 Bakugou gasped in surprise and rolled onto his back, but Todoroki followed him quickly, lying on top of him to keep him still while alternating warm and cold tickles to his bare torso. The blonde snorted and squeaked. “Stohohohohohop, you jeheheheheheherk! I’m cohohohohohold!”

Todoroki pressed a quick kiss to his lips and whispered, “Not for long~”

*

188) Lee Deku, Ler Shinsou

If you’d asked Deku how he managed to lose his boyfriend in a pet store of all places, he would have pouted and proclaimed that it was Shinsou’s fault for wandering off in the first place. Yet here he was, diligently scouring the aisles for his partner and continuously coming up short. Dogs, cats, birds, fish, rodents – he went through them all, but there was no sign of the purple-haired boy anywhere.

Then suddenly, Deku saw him! All the way in the back at the adoptables section – the last place he should have been. The greenette hurried over to stand beside him, but Shinsou barely looked his way as he approached, his eyes focused on something behind one of the glasses, looking completely and utterly in love.

Deku was only a little bit jealous.

“What are you staring at?” the smaller boy finally asked, trying and failing to see what had captured his attention.

“I’m staring into the void,” Shinsou murmured, unmoving and unblinking.

Deku felt a pang of concern. Was his boyfriend okay? He was almost…hypnotized.

Then he saw a pair of eyes blink, and he understood.

“Oh, there’s a cat in there,” he said.

“This beautiful baby is not just a cat. He is my soulmate.”

“Hey!”

“Look at his little face!”

Deku had to admit the cat was adorable, but just to mess with his partner, he mused, “You know, I’ve heard that black cats are bad luck—”

Shinsou whirled on him, aghast. “Don’t you dare say that!”

At first Deku panicked – he’d only meant it as a joke – but then he saw the wicked glint in Shinsou’s eyes moments before there were hands around his waist, thumbs dangerously close to his hips.

“Take that back,” the purple-haired boy warned.

Deku glanced at the cat, then back at his partner. “T-They’re not really bad luck.”

“Now, help me find someone to fill out the adoption papers.”

“Toshi, you can’t bring a cat back to the dohohohohohohorms! Hey!” Deku squealed, slapping a hand over his mouth as he succumbed to his giggles while Shinsou mercilessly drilled his thumbs into his hip bones right there in public. “Nohohohohoho! Someone will seehehehehehehehee!”

“We’re adopting him.”

“We cahahahahahan’t!”

“This cat and I were meant to be together. The red string of fate has bound us.”

“I’m beheheheheheheing upstahahahahahaged by a cahahahahahat?!” Deku whined, squirming and pushing uselessly. “Shihihihihihihihihinsou!”

They didn’t go home with a cat that day…but only because Deku promised to let Shinsou do a lot more than just tickle him in return.

*

189) Lee Deku, Ler All Might

Deku was lost in a world of laughter so intense he had entirely forgotten why he’d been so worked up just a minute ago. He squealed and squirmed as All Might loomed above him, tickling the ever-loving snot out of his ribs and sides.

“I seem to recall you having an especially bad spot, Midoriya,” the former pro hero mused playfully, grinning down at him. “Where was it again?”

“Nohohohohohohoho!” Deku whined through his giggles, both trying to roll out of his mentor’s lap and not getting anywhere at all thanks to his strong grip. Despite all the man had lost, he still had muscle enough to keep the hero in training in his place.

All Might smirked at his protégé, satisfied that he’d been able to erase his anxieties at least for the moment. The boy had come to him worrying about yet another aspect of the looming war ahead, and as soon as he’d invited him to sit on the couch with him, the master had struck, grabbing Deku and lying him down so his torso was in his lap, primed for a good tickling. It was obvious he’d needed it, and it had been a while since All Might had decided to play around with him in this way. It was overdue for both of them.

Now Deku’s flushed face and happy smile made All Might grin victoriously. The boy looked like a strawberry, and he hadn’t even gotten to the main event yet.

“Where was that spot, Midoriya?” he teased, dancing all around it on purpose. He knew full well where it was; it was just fun to mess with him like this. “You know I’ll find it eventually.”

“Ehehehehehehehe! Plehehehehehehehease, All Mihihihihihihight!” Deku whined, though his efforts to get away were minimal at best.

“Was it here?” All Might teased, pinching his bottom ribs and making him squeak. “Or…here?” A skittering along his belly, which forced Deku to snort on an excited cackle, one foot kicking the air to alleviate the sensations. “Orrrr…maybe it was here?” Finally All Might pinched his hip, and Deku flailed so hard he nearly sat straight up again.

All Might quickly overpowered him, grabbing his wrists and pinning them above Deku on the seat cushion beside him, using his other hand to scribble and dig ruthlessly into the boy’s weak spot.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHA ALL MIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIGHT!!” Deku screamed, tossing his head back as throes of laughter spilled out of him faster than he could keep up with. He struggled and kicked, but it did him no good. Or perhaps, he didn’t want it to. “PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE!!”

“Please what?”

“IT TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHICKLES!!”

Exactly as he’d thought. Deku didn’t want this to stop. He’d needed this just as much as the hero had suspected.

“Does it? Well, then.” All Might found himself curling his fingers in a little more, drawing another scream of hysterical laughter from his student. “I must be doing something right.”

*

190) Lee Kaminari, Ler Shinsou

“Come on, Shin!” Kaminari said, tugging on his partner’s hand to drag him outside into the snowy morning. “These snow angels won’t make themselves!”

Shinsou allowed himself – begrudgingly – to be pulled into the cold air, bundled up in his coat and scarf. He loved the blonde’s enthusiasm, but… “How can you be so excited about this? Snow is just frozen water, and you don’t like water because of your quirk, right?”

“But snow is so pretty and fun! And you can make snowmen out of snow; you can’t do anything like that with water unless you freeze it.”

“What happened to snow angels?”

“I’m doing those first.” Kaminari grinned and pulled Shinsou even harder. “Come onnnn, you know you wanna make them with me!”

Shinsou opened his mouth to protest, but at that moment his boyfriend stumbled off the edge of the patio step – now hidden under the snow – and went tumbling, taking the violet-haired boy with him. They landed in a heap, one on top of the other, and were instantly met with just how freezing cold it really was out here.

“Are you okay?” Kaminari asked, laughing as he splayed his arms out to the sides to immediately start making the wings of his first angel right then and there.

Shinsou stared at him incredulously, then went for the only tickle spot he could easily reach under all these layers of clothes – the blonde’s knees. “You did that on purpose!”

“Eeeek! I did nohohohohohohot! Shinsou!” Kami squealed, his hands flying down to try and stop his partner, effectively messing up the masterpiece he was attempting to create in the snow. “Dohohon’t! It tihihihihihihickles!”

“Does it? I couldn’t tell,” Shinsou teased, smirking. “But you deserve it! I wasn’t ready to jump into the snow yet, and you dragged me down into this freezing hell with you!”

“I’m sohohohohorry – ACK!! Waitwaitwait not underneheheheheheath! BAHAHAHAHABE!!” Kami tossed his head back and shrieked as Shinsou found the weak spots along the backs of his knees, making him collapse in laughter, giving up on his angel – and on escaping – entirely. “EHEHEHEHE PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE!!”

Shinsou grinned at him. “You know, maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all~”

[mothandpidgeon]

Too many thoughts on Gladiator 2

Ok, fuck it. I was having yet another sleepless night and decided to just dump all of my feelings here. I’ve only seen it once and I haven’t read any reviews so I won’t say my takes are perfect but also it was a mess so if anything is inaccurate here, I blame Ridley Scott. Spoilers below the cut.

First off, I don’t want to do a cinemasins on this movie. I’m not going to bash the clunky garbage dialogue that could’ve been written by an AI (the way I laughed when Pedro yelled “KILL HER!”) or the contrivances like Lucilla recognizing her long lost son from the way he was stimming in the sand. I’m not even going to harp on the fact that it’s wild a movie in 2024 features a white man transported on a slave ship. The absurdity isn’t the problem for me. 

So let’s start with the filmmaking:

Now I know that much of this movie was left on the cutting room floor. Entire characters were dumped in the edit. But I find that an unacceptable excuse for the mess that is G2. In fact, it’s absurd that that would be the case when Ridley Scott has famously cut and re-cut Blade Runner. He’s a legendary filmmaker and knows how tricky it can be to get the intended vision out. Yet the film is held together with scotch tape and paperclips. It felt like I was watching a movie made with the scraps where the actual shots had already been thrown away. Honestly, I’m not even interested in a director’s cut because that would mean MORE of this film where there already is too much.

The pacing is somehow a slog and yet rushed. I watched Paul Mescal fight sooo many people and animals and ships. IT’S ENOUGH SLICES! Central characters die HORRIFIC deaths but the film has no time to even register their passing let alone mourn them. More monkey battles! Are you not entertained?

It’s not just the editing that is a problem but the direction. None of the characters seem to be in the same film with one another. All of the performances are fine. Some of them are pretty great. But truly nothing matches even within the same scene. (And that goes for the cinematography as well. I won’t get into it without proper screenshots but it’s maddeningly inconsistent.) The characters aren’t even coherent to themselves. Lucius is a brooding loner whose entire personality is hating Rome yet he’s also (somehow) the leader of the nameless gladiators and future emperor? That’s largely fine, though, because I couldn’t give less of a fuck about any of the characters. Without taking into account anything we learned in the press tour, we aren’t really given any reason to sympathize with them.

Because the writing is garbage. The movie TELLS us that Lucilla is good but what's she doing for the common people? It TELLS us that Acacius is a good general but he got caught marching a bunch of guys through the streets. It TELLS us that Rome is ruled by the corrupt and people are starving but all I'm seeing is the spectacle of the colosseum. It even tells us that Lucius is sad his warrior wife (did she have a name???) got fridged but is their love story really just respectfully lacing one another's armor and giving a chaste kiss while having a snack?

The film even tells us that Marcus Aurelius had a vision of Rome that the audience should root for. And yet…

That brings me to Macrinus and the movie’s central message. Macrinus is presented as some master manipulator, 3D chess playing Littlefinger but at the end of the day, sure I guess he threw the empire into chaos for his own gains (to say he was pulling the strings feels generous) but he also killed both emperors with his own hands. So not sure what all of the scheming was even for. (I also have no clue why he felt the need to offer Lucius a shot at Acacius but I guess we needed to get them in the ring together somehow?) 

The reveal of his brand is actually one of the only powerful moments in the film, forcing Lucilla to confront reality as opposed to idealism. But the movie doesn’t care to engage with that. The audience isn’t asked to question the Aurelian vision of Rome and its hypocrisy. In the end, we are told that we should put aside our political differences and embrace some vague platitudes that make up the American self-identity. The people can rise up so long as they rally behind the nepo baby of Rome. A dude who hasn’t even lived there for a majority of his life, who decided, like, 15 minutes ago that he should get involved in the political process.

Anyway, I liked the monkey. 

I finally got to see G2 this week and I cannot stop thinking about how terrible it was. Not a single normal choice made. I’m considering putting my thoughts together into a review mainly so I can get them out of my brain and move on with my life. So idk let me know if you want to hear my Ted talk I guess.

[allaboutalf]

Not enough people are talking about Twisters team of queer hillbilly tornado wranglers. That’s a full fruit bowl, including Tyler’s disaster bi cowboy-scientist ass. They’re the rainbow flag of storm chasers, the Young Avengers of meteorology.

What is their story? How did they meet? Did Tyler put an advert out for his crew like ‘must be hot, hets need not apply’?

Need a movie solely focused on their adventures being gay and chasing tornadoes. They were the story.

*Honorary members Ben and Kate pictured

[hellspawnmotel]

remember when I did this?

well I did more

[feroluce]

So I went to the wiki page for the henghill Bullet & Brain mission of 2.2 looking for some dialogue I had missed and

a) I found something incredibly tasty that slotted into some other thoughts I'd been having, more on that on another day, and

b) I saw this super fun little trivia at the bottom, which!

I knew Penacony characters like Boothill took a lot of inspirations from old movies, but I didn't realize it was even in his and Dan Heng's relationship, that's so cool!!

It fits them very well, it's such a fun reference. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" was an old buddy Western film (from 1969- nice) about a pair of outlaws. Butch Cassidy was the leader of a gang, and described as clever, affable, and talkative. Meanwhile, his closest companion, the Sundance Kid, was known as a man of few words.

Cassidy's original birth name was much more plain, but similar to Boothill, he took on a new moniker when he became an outlaw. "Cassidy" had been the last name of his beloved mentor, who taught him how to shoot and ride. And Sundance Kid was known as he was because Sundance was the name of his hometown, and it was the only place that had ever managed to catch and jail him, back when he'd been younger (also similar to Dan Heng, but ouch).

These two stick together like glue throughout the length of the film- through Cassidy's leadership of the gang being challenged, through a train robbery gone wrong, through being pursued by mercenaries, and even through fleeing to Bolivia and trying to start over together.

I don't want to say too much more, since the mission title is referencing one specific movie that I've never seen. I kinda wanna watch it now, though, just to see the inspiration that went into Boothill and Dan Heng and how they get along. I just think it's really sweet that these two were literally made to be the best of bros, how lovely is that. 💕

[ferryfoam]

Why did they give AOS Spock such a bad haircut ?? Where's the pointy fringe? Why is it round?

[icewindandboringhorror]

sneeping with his legs up over his head for some reason... weird boye