#I feel like tech would too but to a lesser extent

[here-comes-the-moose]

Since I get a lot of my Bad Batch thoughts from my own family and friends and how we act, I thought I would share the latest thought I had.

I feel like Crosshair would make jokes about his trauma and mental issues, and Hunter would respond to this by saying “you shouldn’t joke about that, Cross” and would have that look that he does that’s a mix of sad and sympathetic.

Echo, on the other hand, is absolutely DYING at the joke and is occasionally brought to tears from laughing so hard.

[axiian19-art]

Was rewatching some of the HSR animations and HE LOOKS SO GODDAMN HAPPY HERE AS AN OLD MAN HELP

rambling about blade / yingxing headcanons and ideas that I've thought abt or seen floating around

(his white hair, him not knowing what tech is, how the Mara permanently messed up his hands and muscle memory so he can't do what he loved anymore, etc etc)

Headcanon #1: white hair

Everyone except Dan Feng had white hair, and I'm p sure I mentioned this before but imagine

So Yingxing is the only short-life species right, and he's getting old and noticing it and realizing that compared to the others, he doesn't have much time left

And one of the others notices how melancholy he is, and how he's trying to hide it for their sake, and is like "hmm," before being like "hey what if we all got white hair but didn't tell Dan Feng"

And all of them know it's to make Yingxing feel less alone, but it's played off as a "hehe pranking Dan Feng" moment

Headcanon #2: old man blade not knowing how tech works

We see this a bit with current Blade and Silver Wolf, but I like to imagine it was still part of his personality to a lesser extent

He would have been the "old guy" of the group who was an expert with traditional crafts and technology, but not so much with newer things since he preferred to make things "the old way" or by hand, since it made him feel more connected with his work

Like, he would have kept up with the newer stuff being made and used it if it would have helped him with his work, but wouldn't have bothered with stuff like phones, computers, the internet, etc

So the others would always ask him for help with anything they broke, and he'd ask for help with anything internet or computer related

Headcanon #3: him knowing how to craft stuff besides weapons, armor, et cetera

This is a stretch but if his skills expanded beyond just weapons and armor he could probably help fix everyone's clothes (they'd probably get torn up in battle) or make little hand-made gifts and stuff like statues and jewelry and armor and cutlery

Like he also would have been an artist specializing in handmade things, but no one would have suspected him of making such tiny and delicate things until they got to know him

Headcanon #4:

So as Blade, he still has damaged hands and scars, and I've seen a headcanon of sorts floating around that the Mara focuses only on the wounds that need the most urgent healing, and leaves "minor" or less severe wounds unhealed

And the Mara would have focused on all the fatal wounds Jingliu inflicted while killing Blade, leaving other wounds to heal improperly

So now as Blade, his hands are too damaged to perform fine crafts and movements, except for swordplay, which he sort of got beaten into him by Jingliu

My other headcanon of sorts is that the Mara messed with his muscle memory, not just his ability to remember events

So his mind and nervous system are essentially too scrambled for him to learn any type of craft or fine motor skill except for swordplay (and maybe driving)

And I kind of feel like he would find some peace if he were still able to make things, sort of like how some people use embroidery or weaving or drawing as a coping method / escapism, but even that form of art / self expression has been taken from him

It'd be like if Robin permanently lost the ability to sing or if Serval suddenly became tone-deaf and couldn't play guitar

[nitewrighter]

On the (continued) topic of Spidey in DC, if I can be a bit crass with the subject matter... how many DC heroines (or DC villainesses, if you want to dip your toes in that puddle) do you think would find Peter/Spidey genuinely attractive as a person, even if they might not actually get to see his face? Not to step on Gwen or MJ's toes or anything but I feel like a lot of DC ladies would see that prime real estate and want in on that property, iykwim.

I just feel like there'd be, on more than one occasion, moments where a few random lady members of the League would absolutely play a few rounds of FMK if bored enough, Spider-Man would be among the choices, and it's usually F or M, but almost never K for the webslinger.

Honestly Spider-Man's like a brother to me, and a kid brother at that (...maybe because he's my younger brother's favorite superhero...), so beyond MJ (and to a much lesser extent Deadpool), I never really 'got' the concept of Spidey as the Marvel Comics Community Bicycle. He talks too much, and when he's put next to other heroes, it very quickly becomes "talks too much because he's self-conscious," so like, he's relatable to me, absolutely, but he's never really been that much of a romantic lead in my head. He's too much of the narrative's chew toy to be that, so like... you do have some overlap with Jimmy Olsen in that respect.

That being said, if I had to pick like... potential DC characters that would be into him, I'd say definitely Misa, my deep-cut fave from the 90's Superman comics that everyone has forgotten about. She has a fun tech-hippie look. She's obnoxious, she likes to cause problems on purpose--but deep down she's actually surprisingly well-meaning and very supportive of other characters going through really sloppy points in their own character arcs. She can be delightful fun in that "Aren't you tired of being nice? Don't you just want to go apeshit?" sense that I think would be a good contrast to Spidey. On top of that, they both have a passion for gadgetry! I'd love to see her tinker with his spider-suit capabilities! This, again, is Spidey moving into Jimmy Olsen's territory, because Misa was also a romantic interest for Jimmy Olsen for a handful of issues.

Again, I'd also like to see Spidey get sucked into the Forever People polycule. There's no escape. Just osmose him in.

I should probably try and veer this to more recognizable names, but I could also see 20-something Spider-Man getting with a Green Lantern. Either Kyle Rayner or Jessica Cruz. The mainstream Justice League I largely see perceiving Spider-Man as pretty much a kid. Zatanna could be a fun option, and also versatile depending on like, what level-of-maturity Spidey you want to work with.

OHH DONNA TROY OR CASSANDRA CAIN. WOMEN WHO WILL ELBOW-DROP HIM AND HE'LL THANK THEM FOR IT. Guy who goes "Hiiiii" and girl who goes "Bruh" power couples.

Blonde Twink stick-in-the-mud Brainiac-5 is an option, too. Someone to be geeky with but who is also kind of a bitch to offset your obnoxiousness. (Give him back his looong haaaaair).

Also I don't know if this would be shippy, but I would be interested in seeing him interact with Raven. Just the combination of Hope/Despair/Crushing Responsibility/Empathy would be very interesting to watch.

[ontologicalshock]

Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine

Gattaca is one of those movies I think will always be remembered fondly, and I don't get exactly why.

I love sci-fi, and I love the dystopian atmospheres some of those movies lay down for us, and how they can feel realistic yet very hard to grasp.

This 1997 underdog was always going to be a hard sell at the awards, especially with Titanic, As Good as It Gets or Good Will Hunting breathing down its neck, so it is no surprise that it went basically unnoticed.

The 1930's source material, the book A Brave New World, is an interesting piece of literature, especially when one realizes it was published 60+ years before, and the base concept is there, a society where newborns are genetically engineered for quality-enhancement purposes, natural childbirth therefore is considered inferior and the resulting adult individuals are forever stuck with lesser, blue-collar-esque jobs. A life sentence they cannot escape.

After a rewatch this week, I got the sense that Gattaca falls short on some aspects:

it is never convincing enough as the "future", it feels instead like an alternate reality. I love classic cars, but the production crew chose not to change anything other than the sound they made, hinting at some sort of alternate (sustainable?) fuel source, therefore we end up with a human race capable of genetically engineering human beings to the bone, but they still produce cars with 60's tech, for me, it was hard to make sense of it, which is a shame since "futuristic" movies tend to age very badly but Gattaca manages to curb that by not being too ambitious (well, the low 32M budget was also a factor I am sure). The clothing was also very "normal", sometimes we could mistake it for a 30's black and white movie about the mob... was that the point all along?

There is never enough background on the inner workings of that society. Just like in post-apocalyptic stories, I would have liked to understand more about what led to it, what led them to believe that this was the way to go, after all nowadays discrimination raises all kinds of serious issues, was it a peaceful transition after acquiring the necessary knowledge? All those "inferior" beings never tried to change things? At the end of the day I can digest wild ideas much more easily if the path to them feels at least logical, on the other hand if one just comes up with stuff, well, everything is possible if we turn off the logical switch;

although narrated movies always feel that little bit more special, this movie sometimes feels like it doesn't know how to capitalize on it, and thus the timing, and the frequency felt off to me;

one of the big reveals, even though I am not the best at figuring twists out, was played so casually that I felt almost nothing, which leads me to say that, to a certain extent, I think the movie lacked a bit more drama.

What did I like?

well, it's sci-fi, so it has interesting approaches to the reality the characters live in. The minimalistic aesthetic and the use of colour are very appealing and even beautiful at times. Good cinematography;

Hawke but especially Law deliver solid performances, Thurman though is bland, and uninteresting, I could not care less whatever could happen to her, I guess I can apologize her because she was playing the part of a true member of the elite... but then again, so was Law... maybe Law was not taking Soma, and she was... was that completely clear in the movie though? Was Soma even introduced as "a thing"? It is mentioned often in the book...;

the soundtrack, though slightly repetitive, is delicate and dramatic, it fits very well on the overall minimalistic aesthetic.

After the credits roll I recognize the potential, the thought-provoking, deeply philosophical ideas about how biological perfection can't hold a candle against will power and spirit, are all there, but with a modern budget, it would be world I would like to visit again, with a bit more heft and a little less minimalism.

[littlestarxmilkyway]

I wanted to read some more opinions and just see what the EN fandom consensus on Emerald Beyond is looking like, and I don't know what to think.

Someone had a good personal review of sorts, and they pretty much voiced my thoughts and really nailed down some of what was bugging me, but I couldn't quite figure out. And someone else who felt similarly disappointed in EB likened it to "baby's first SaGa." And I don't remember if I said it here before, but I really feel that way about this game, but they didn't actually accomplish that. It feels like they wanted this game to be for newbies when it comes to the battle system, but everything else about the game is too weak to sell it to newbies, and the site reviews I see always say it's great for series vets but a hard sell for newbies, and I agree to an extent but also find that terrible. If this was supposed to highlight the series' highs, it failed, but it certainly showcases the lows.

The initial commenter mentioned the graphics and budget, and I'm actually very pressed about the art direction for this game. I don't even think the graphics are atrocious, but the character models are so boring and drab, they tell me nothing of the world and do nothing interesting. A handful of the party/playable characters are interesting and that's it. How did they reuse assets from SSG and still not come out as impressive? Even compared to older games, at least there was better diversity in designs of NPCs, but they're so boring here.

And I can't stop comparing it to older games in terms of how boring and unengaging the storylines are to me. That's combined with the world being so boring because of the choices being so empty most of the time, and I'm glad others felt that way too. They tried to hype it up as "free choice" and "open world," but it's actually so frustratingly linear. And I hate that the choices rarely make a difference, sometimes even within one playthrough. Often, it's just a choice of "do you battle right now or not," and that's silly. And it bugs me that people accept that, or are just being ignorant about what lackluster treatment they're being given.

Emerald Beyond really is fun at times. I love Diva, Formina, Bonnie and Siugnas. But the game as a whole is just so dry. I don't get how they back-tracked so hard from SSG? Or even Frontier, which is decades older and on lesser tech. I really think there were other ways to go, and it's sad that devs can't find a better middle-ground.

Like, would we really have lost much if we count down the amount of worlds, made them more fleshed out individually in terms of graphics/presentation and given more interaction? We couldn't have Frontier with fewer worlds and slightly upgraded models? I really do wonder what the budget for the game looked like, but also the team and what resources they were given. Is the game like this because of lack of planning, or is it that they really weren't given a budget to work with? It's sad because either way, it has hurt the sales and probably, has hurt the future of the series. I like EB well enough, but I don't love it, and I think I'd rather waited for a better game than take EB as it is.

[eukaryotesrool]

Lion King is a franchise that has always meant a lot to me, my favorite Disney movie of all time (and given the current climate, I doubt that's gonna change)

Now, if you didn't know, they're making a new move. Mufasa The Lion King, which promises to be the next introduction in a sprawling franchise of hyper realistic Lion King CGI movies, likened to Star Wars by Disney employees. It will be a prequel focusing on Mufasa's (and to a lesser extent, Scar's) origins.

Now, I could rant about how unfitting the animation style is, how souless and cash grab-y the whole things sounds, and how they go against pre-established Lion King lore (not even in cool ways) BUT, that's probably been discussed a thousand times since the movie was annnounced way back when, I wanna criticize (and poke fun at) a recent article.

"The first Lion King was criticized for being too close to the original." -CBR

Yeah, among other things. I think people would be a lot more forgiving if it was a good unoriginal remake.

"The latest prequel pushes the boundaries and tells a new story and Disney's live-action department can learn a lot from its performance."

Now this, THIS is the line that got me heated. Lemme just repeat the important part.

"The latest prequel pushes the boundaries and tells a new story."

THE LATEST PREQUEL PUSHES THE FUCKING BOUNDARIES AND TELLS A NEW STORT! (Paraphrased)

That is a demented sentence, holy shit. I don't think I need to spell it out, but it isn't boundary pushing to tell a new story, that's the default form of telling stories.

"Oh, but they're just saying it's an improvement on what the departments been doing."

Fair, but take this into account. Does Captain Assaultman deserve praise when he does the bare fucking minimum and stop assaulting people every time he does anything?

Anyhow, some other bits stuck out to me.

"Disney is in a fascinating position as it gears itself up for a potential Renaissance era anew."

Huh? Buddy, HUH?

Don't get me wrong, Disney's a century old, they've made movies bad and good, they COULD absolutely bounce back and make the greatest movies- nay the greatest stories ever told. But what have they done to imply a Renaissance? Make mediocre-at-best movies?

"renew them with original ideas and a live-action edge."

Did you have to say that? To my face?

"Disney strengthens its image and, more importantly, improves upon its storytelling again."

Yeehaw partner, that's right, yet another fat Disney win. Dear Mickey, this company doesn't know what failure means!

Seriously, this article is so shill-ish, it feels like a Disney bigwig wrote it themself.

1: I don't think Mufasa The Lion King being made strengthened Disney's image in anyone's eyes except, apperantly the goober who wrote this article. The movie has to fight an uphill battle to prove itself to audiences, and that is a GOOD thing.

2: What improvement on its story telling? Were you part of the test audiences? The movie could be an insult to the very idea of storys, like you watch it and just keel over from sheer bad writing. All you know they improved on is actually telling original stroies, which is hardly something to praise, as I've said.

Anyway, just wanted to rant about it. I'd like to close off by saying something nice though, the CGI used in the new Lion King remake and its upcoming prequel is genuinely gobsmacking, that stuff rocks. I just wish it was used in a good movie, and that instead of invading a franchise better suited to other mediums, it had a new IP (or an old one that didn't work so welll with the tech of the time) to really push the visuals to their fullest.

I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on Mufasa The Lion King!

[adda-j]

Glad to hear you're feeling better! But you should really get some good sleep in tho.

Other than that, I'm glad you're having fun with this! I'm usually pretty nervous to interact with people like this, but I'm really enjoying myself. Plus everyone's been super nice!

And don't worry about your English, everything has been perfectly understandable so far. I'm not a native speaker myself, so I understand how hard it can be.

With that said, let's see what I can come up with this time...

I think I'll start with some ideas for Silver's origins. I totally agree with you that Shadow wouldn't be a deadbeat. Like, he might not always be the best at showing it, but he does genuinely care about others. And if he found out he has a kid? Well, he would probably be pretty conflicted at first, maybe even a little scared, but he definitely wouldn't leave said kid to fend for themselves. So something pretty big must have happened for him to be out of the picture. Though if Mephiles is to be believed in 06, then he has been sealed away.

After that... well, I guess G.U.N. is the easiest to point a finger to when it comes to Silver's creation. I wouldn't be surprised, if once someone a bit more, let's say ambitious, gets to lead G.U.N. That they might try to revisit Project Shadow and try to create their own Ultimate Lifeform to use as a weapon. Aside from maybe Eggman, they are the only ones that could get to, and make use of what's left of Gerald's research. ((Maybe in some twisted way this is the real reason why Shadow gets captured in the future.))

But thinking about this does remind me something: Silver's gloves. Some people do theorize they could be like Shadow's inhibitor rings. Which is a pretty interesting thing to think about. (Or at least to a lesser extent, they are meant to help him direct and control his psychokinesis better.) But either way, they do look like some pretty fancy tech, something that would be pretty hard to come by in a fiery hellscape of a world. So this could further help explain where and why he got them.

Either way, once Iblis starts weaking havoc. Silver would still probably be too young and inexperienced to fight against it. And so G.U.N. is destroyed, Shadow left forgotten, and Silver has no choice other than to set out into a world with only a handful of a survivors left to guide him. I don't think he would really remember much of his early life, and that is even if he got to have some semblance of a childhood. So he has no idea about his true origins.

Fast foward to the point he's actively traveling to the past. His relationship with the other characters would be a little awkward in the beginning, with all the time travel and all. He genuinely wants to be around other people, but can't shake the feeling that his time in the past only temporary. That once he's able to ensure an actually good future, but one that he has detached himself from by his constant travels, he won't really belong anywhere.

This would make his relationship with Shadow even harder. On one hand you have Silver who wants to make connections, but is held back by his own doubts. And then there is Shadow who despite genuinely caring about others, has a difficult time making connections because his own past, and deeply ingrained fear of loss. So for a younger Shadow, forging friendships isn't the easiest. I think it would take some time for him to get used to the idea of having a family again, especially considering what happened to the last one. Then you add onto that Silver constantly leaving to the future. One day he could just not return to the past, and no one would have any idea what happened to him, or if he's even alive. That's a terrifying thought.

The whole reveal would probably make things even more awkward between them. But it might allow them to actually think about their relationship and decide how they want to proceed. Y'know, actually get them to talk to each other properly. Plus, they are still a lot of questions both both of them would like to be answered. Just because they know they are somehow related, doesn't mean they have the whole picture.

As for some more of the Black Arms stuff. For the Doom Morph I had something slender and nimble in mind, so that fits. (Especially since I didn't want to just recolor Shadow's.) As for the Surf form, well, I did have a few more reasons to choose orca to base it on. They are incredibly smart and very social creatures. Also, I feel like a lot of people tend to underestimate how good of a hunters they are, there is a good reason they are called the "killer whales". Similarly, Silver may look like a cute furball, but he's deceptively strong and should not be messed with. (He did kick Sonic's butt twice in his debut game.) But the diving thing is a pretty cool idea, I didn't think of that.

I really like the idea of their blood being black though. Afaik the general consesus is that their blood is green (I think that's how it's in the game too, because censorship). But it being black just sounds much cooler and looks more on brand. I'll definitely be borrowing this. (I also just realized how well that would blend in with Shadow's fur, oh no)

I admit I've already been toying with the idea of Silver getting controlled through the hivemind. It's absolutely ripe with some angst potential, and ho boy do I love me some good angst. >:)

Like, imagine if this was how their relation was actually revealed.

It would require there being another Black Arms aside from our two hedgehogs. So either Black Doom somehow returns from the dead again, or I actually come up with a way to include Eclipse. (Speaking of Eclipse, I really do wanna involve him somehow, he's very neat.)

__________________

Honestly yeah, at this point this might as well become a fic lol. To be fair, I have been considering writing a one based on this, I just need to wrangle the plot a bit first and I'm ready to go.

So allow me to continue a bit:

Silver's day just went from bad to worse, and all it took was one unlucky hit to the head. His vision was swimming. His ears were ringing.

When did he fall to the ground?

He pushed himself to his knees. The enemies were closing in. Large hulking machines, the lastest of Eggman's attempts to take over the world. One he couldn't let succeed.

He tried to focus his powers, but they fizzled out pitifully. He grit his teeth.

Focus.

Focus.

His hand sparked with power, and the nearest robot crumpled like a tin can. A stab of pain through his head sent him down again. He tried to get his hands under him, to crawl as far away as he could, his pride me damned. But he didn't get far.

He could only watch as his enemies lumbered closer. No... It can't end like this.

Someone.

Anyone...

Help.

HELP ME!

In what felt like a crash of lighting, and just as fast, the foes fell one by one. Leaving only a dark figure standing atop the scrap metal.

He could barely see, yet somehow... "S-Shadow? How did you..." he knew who it was.

"I heard it."

What?

Shadow wasted no time in approaching him. He knelt next to him and helped Silver sit up. The whole world lurched with the movement. Silver felt a hand touch the side of his head, causing him to hiss in pain.

"Sorry." The word was almost too quiet to hear. Shadow pulled his hand back, white glove stained black. He seemed to study it for a moment before wiping it on his leg. Carefully he gathered Silver into his arms. "Hold on. I'll get you out of here."

People talking about what if Shadow was Silver’s dad y’know but NOT ONCE have I seen anyone say that if that’s true, then Silver has black arms blood