#spoilers for the movie under the cut!!

[seiwas]

OMG SEL. The movie!!!!! Tell us ur thoughts - did u have a fav scene? At what point did u start crying bc.

I started like. Minutes 10 and never stopped LOL

Was there a change that the movie made that u liked? Or a change u disliked? I can talk abt this movie forever

RAINNNN omg 🥺 i definitely need to watch it again!!! will put this under the cut for people who haven’t watched it yet!

i think i was teary eyed the moment the first kenma-kuroo flashback happened 🥺 but i was so emotional with so many other things too!!

every time hinata had his moment 😭 (when he shouted like that iconic tsukki scene!!)

everytime a flashback would happen!!! ngl the editing and transitions of the movie were so good 🥺 like!!! the flashbacks to tsukki training w kuroo and bokuto (THE KUROO BOKUTO INTERACTIONS KILLED MEEEE) — and how it nodded to kuroo kind of passing on what he’s learned to tsukki oh that made me SAWB

the slow progression of kenma being interested in volleyball after kuroo’s persistence 🥺🥺 ACTUALLY ANY TIME I SAW KENMA ENJOYING THE GAME JANZJD I SAWBED

when suga stepped on the court (this happens every time LOL)

BABY KENMA AND KUROO AND COACH NEKOMATA 😭😭😭😭😭 when it cut to a scene of them in the exact same pose but grown w coach nekomata as their coach oh my god no words can explain how this made me clutch my chest

the scene that REALLY got me crying was towards the end when keishin shook hands w coach nekomata and it panned to coach ukai watching from his tv while outstretching his hand ☹️☹️☹️☹️ i got soooooo emo here 😭 just thinking about how there are things in life that we do while we’re young and it consumes us at that very stage of our life 😭 but it isn’t forever 😭 and some of us stay there there while some of us go and it’s just!!!! lots of reflection i think my heart was hurting

i loooooved the transitions and editing. i think it was directed so well and the shots were so unique and so interesting. i looooved that first pov of kenma sequence. everything about it!! just how the sound was designed (it was his breathing for like a good few minutes before the scene shifted to a first pov) but!!! it was so good 😭😭😭

i also have a confession…. i didn’t actually read this part of the manga (or a lot of it if i’m being honest) 😭 i know what happens at the timeskip portion of haikyuu because i read about it on wiki after seeing a manga cap of iwaizumi hajime (27) athletic trainer LOL 😭 but i’ve remained committed to not reading the rest of the manga until i’ve watched everything!! because i want to experience everything for the first time through watching!! (i think i’d appreciate the animations more if i didn’t know what was happening). SO! i actually have no idea what the outcome of the nationals is WAHSJSNISHSH my bf asked me this question too while we were watching (if they stayed true to the manga) and i told him i honestly dk cos idk what’s supposed to happen 😭😭😭

AS A FIRST TIME WATCHER THO i loved the movie 🥺 i wish it was a season instead but i also get the appeal of it being chunked into one movie (the emotional journey is a lot smoother this way!!) 🥺 but i just wanted more of them 🥺 i don’t want haikyuu to ever end 🥺

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

You always have good things to say in your essays, so I am curious what your overall thoughts are on the Sonic Movie 3 trailer?

Ah, well, thank you! I'm glad that you like what I have to say🥺❤️

So, I originally watched the trailer quickly before I had to go to work. I think at that time my general thoughts overall were basically:

Team Sonic!!🥺💖

Every new installment they surprise me with just how sad and wet Agent Stone's eyes can get in the presence of Robotnik

Pop pop?! Gerald?? He's alive??

Ough parallels between movie sonic and movie shadow

...What if Movie Shadow made a connection with Tails and Knuckles over their individual struggles in finding home despite their pasts?

Movie!Knuckles wants Movie!Shadow so bad it makes him look stupid. I love how excited he is to fight him. Like they just took Sonic's initial onesided fixation on fighting Shadow from SA2 and gave it to Knuckles and I'm not complaining

They should make Shadow and Tails implied friends like the Tailstubes did. For me 👉👈

Wooo fat movie Robotnik!

Ajsjsjjsq I love how he just ripped Stone's shirt off and kept it for himself

The juxtaposition between Sonic and Knuckles here is hilarious to me. Knuckles insulting Sonic when he sees Shadow, right in front of Sonic. Sonic trying to tell Knuckles they should be reasoning with Shadow and Knuckles is like "Nope can't hear you I need to fight him!"

I wonder just how much they're gonna tie in the Knuckles tv show. I kinda hope Wade and the flames of disaster make an appearance at least

ㅤ

I did, however, rewatch the trailer for this ask, so if you'd like to see some more in depth thoughts on the trailer, I've put them under the cut

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"Sonic, you've finally found your family."

This line is interesting to me simply because Tom says it, but it only shows Knuckles and Tails onscreen.

Now, personally, I think this series is perfectly capable of presenting a version of "family" that doesn't 100% mean the nuclear family dynamics. In other words, especially since images of Maddie and Tom weren't put onscreen during Tom's line, I like to think that harkens back to the wish Tom and Maddie expressed for Sonic back in movie 2 to find his squad (his team of best friends and wingment to grow up with). In essence, I personally do not believe this line means "oh Knuckles and Tails are your siblings now", especially since it would contradict that sentiment in movie 2 and (while I don't think Knuckles finds them family in a nuclear family way either) would be weird paired up with Knuckles calling the Whipple family "home" in the Knuckles series.

So yes. Family because they're friends, wingmen, comrades who have each other's backs and work together, not because they're siblings unified under one particular household.

Woo! I see the flames of disaster!! Nice to see tidbits of things carrying over from the Knuckles series

I am very interested in the shot of Tom uncovering the picture Sonic drew of himself and Long Claw.

I suspected back after movie 2 that we wouldn't be done talking about Long Claw. Of course this is true by default if they want to touch on the Echidna/Owl war stuff any more, which they have in every installment thus far, but I mostly mean in terms of how Sonic's past.

Personally, especially with Knuckles turning out to be the Iblis trigger after the Knuckles series, and those lines from Long Claw about Sonic potentially being hunted for his power (even though we yet have no evidence the Echidnas were hunting Sonic for any purpose), I still think there's a possibility of the movie universe touching more on Sonic and Long Claw for bigger reveals into the past (quite possibly into Sonic's origins??)

But at baseline of course we will be getting parallels from Sonic's past to Shadow's. So I'd say that how much we touch on Long Claw and Sonic's past in this movie and the importance of it will remain to be seen.

"I know it's not easy, but you didn't change who you are in here." "Yeah. In my lungs." "Or your heart."

(The following is partially a joke) Tonhon Chonlatee reference making it's way into Sonic movie 3??

Okay, so it seems to be that someone is still going to free Shadow on Prison Island? The visuals kind of suggest he just broke out, but that line from Commander Walters can also still suggest that someone breached the security (Ala SA2 Eggman) to facilitate the freeing of Shadow. In this case, I'm highly curious as to who will be doing it, and whether they will be present when Shadow exits the pod. Personally, after Movie 2 I hoped it would be Agent Stone, but we'll get our answer when the movie comes out.

WOW that shot of Shadow punching through the glass of his stasis pod is freaking EPIC. Definitely a fav scene of him in this trailer for me

TEAM SONIC MENTIONED! (Team Sonic is my favorite team, so movies 2 and 3 are wins from me in seeing team dynamics with them)

THEM CRUMBS🥺💖

I am a shameless sontails shipper and lover of Tails so this shot is everything to me

Okay, so earlier in the trailer we saw Team Sonic separately in places all over the world. Here I think at least one of these is to show them looking for someone like Shadow with intent to stop him (or to stop another threat at baseline). Also in the trailer we see a short clip of Sonic searching in a room with a flashlight.

My first thought on this is that during the course of the movie, Team Sonic's secondary objective (either self imposed or given by GUN) is to find out more about Shadow and his past. So this scene could be related to that.

My second thought is that this scene could also be Sonic taking a look for clues on the arc, though I'm not sold on this interpretation.

Third, at baseline, this is clearly a scene of searching for someone or something. No matter who it is though, I suspect the reason or room is related to either Ivo or Gerald in some form. Plus the fact that Sonic is searching most likely means he entered the scene with intent to search rather than spontaneously deciding this.

Finally, though I don't have many thoughts here. A figure can be seen in the background in the right of this clip. Since they are not also searching with a flash light, this could be a scene where we see Sonic caught in the act of what he's doing.

Commander Walters talks about how similar Sonic and Shadow's stories are during the clip of Sonic searching, Shadow in the pod while Maria stands outside of it, both pressing their palms to the glass.

While not necessarily a confirmation, this is why I believe that scene of Sonic searching is related to Shadow's past or possibly Gerald.

Also, unrelated, I really love that clip of Shadow smiling in the pod at Maria while they press their palms together over the glass. I'm completely normal about it (sarcasm)

"But where you found family and friends"

This line from Commander Walters is overlayed over shots of Tails (during "family") and Knuckles (during "friends"), a line which (like the earlier family line) I'm sure the loudest Sonic fans are making 1k note posts about.

Anyhow, I have two interpretations of the intent of this clip in the trailer, especially since it's another scene where they neglected to show Tom and Maddie in the mini montage

1. Where the scenes are cut is meant to associate Knuckles more strongly with "friends" and Tails more strongly with "family". In this case, "family" will be used in a found family/found home manner that does not denote in nuclear family with/siblings to. In any case, while Knuckles and Tails are both his friends and undoubtedly part of his squad, it remains that Knuckles and Tails do not have the same relationship to Sonic. Despite all being friends, we see at the beginning of the Knuckles series that Tails is comfortable living with Sonic and his textual adoptive parents, and that he doesn't have the same problems as Knuckles fitting in as Sonic's roommate. Likewise, based upon Movie 2's attachment to Sonic in particular and love of being considered Sonic's friend (with those moments in movie 2), combined with what we see at the beginning of the Knuckles series, it's clear to me that Tails' home is with Sonic and Sonic in specific. Tails is Sonic's friend who considers him his home, but while Knuckles is also his friend, he goes on a journey in the Knuckles series which was meant for him to find his own home (which he finds in the Whipple family). In other words, I'm saying that one interpretation of this clip is to denote the difference in strength of bond to and relationship Sonic has to members of his squad. Tails is his family, his best friend, and Sonic is part of Tails' home. Knuckles is his friend, squad member, ally, but he does not find home in Sonic.

2. The downfall of interpretation 1 is that it contradicts what I said about Sonic considering them both his family, his best friends, his squad earlier with the other family line. So interpretation 2 asserts that the whole friends and family line is meant to be applied to team Sonic. Again, especially with the absence of Tom and Maddie, I believe this is not in a nuclear family way, but as in "they are my friends, my squad, my family". As in, Sonic feels connected to these two and feels that they are family to him in the sense that they are important to him and a big part of his life. The family one chooses to stay connected to.

For the record, I'm also biased towards this interpretation of the family lines (not just because I don't personally like the alternative), but because every main character thus far has avoided ever labeling his relationship to Tails or Knuckles as inherently sibling like. Sonic movie 2 even had Maddie and Tom at the very end saying Sonic had found his squad and best friends for growing up, and the beginning of the Knuckles series has Sonic call the two his roommates, while Maddie treats the two more like other kids that live in the house than necessarily *her* kids. Then there's also the Knuckles series ending, where Knuckles calls the Whipple family his home, but the series purposely chooses not to make it clear what his role would be in a nuclear family dynamic, only that he's a part of it. All of that juxtaposed with the fact that Tom and Maddie were explicitly confirmed as Sonic's parents in movie 2 (and combined with the fact that it's not taboo in Eng Sonic media to consider Sonic and Tails as bros or media in general to confirm characters of the same sex as basically adoptive siblings to each other) tells me that those involved in these movies purposely choose to consider these characters family to each other in a way that doesn't conform to nuclear family dynamics and friends to each other as well. In other words, they have had every available opportunity (especially if Sega wanted it or approved it) to confirm this sort of relationship outright (and might I mention that Sonic being given explicit adoptive parents is more big in terms of the past mandates than someone like Tails being a bro (which has been let into eng media on occasion in the past)), and have not done so. They have not given any indication they will do so. And I feel that at this point after showing us good examples of canonically platonic relationships that are important without necessarily being sibling/nuclear family dynamics, it would be a waste to just go "yeah they're siblings" and call it a day, ripping the complexity out of it.

But that's just me.

Right after the clip I just mentioned, we see Team Sonic race each other, with Tom and Maddie starting the race.

Now I've already seen postings about how this shot is confirmation about how Tails and Knuckles are so siblings to Sonic.

Since I have my own post here, I just want to say that at very baseline I think that reasoning is incorrect. This is because the Knuckles series, again, explicitly confirmed Knuckles' home to be with the Whipple family, in contrast to how the beginning hammers in how he doesn't fit in with the Wachowski family or feel quite at home with them. They literally cannot be canonically siblings to each other if they haven't referred to each other this way and if one of the characters involved in the scene doesn't even consider this family in question his home. At best to me the association of this clip and the words about friends and family beforehand implies that Sonic considers these 4 all parts of his family in different ways (again, not necessarily with all 4 fitting into nuclear family dynamics). I don't endeavor to say Sonic sees Knuckles and Tails as siblings to him (in a situation where the feelings aren't exactly the same both ways) because, again, Sonic outright avoids considering them this way, and considers them his friends and roommates explicitly in the first episode of the Knuckles series.

Anyways anyways. I digress. The point of this clip.

At this time I'm thinking either this is a friendly race they've asked Tom and Maddie to intervene for (possible), or this is the start of the journey earlier when we see the trio at different places all over the world. In other words, it's possible they started their separate journeys around the world with a race, intending to beat each other to doing something with a friendly contest.

"Shadow found only pain, and loss"

I know how people have been talking about this set of clips, but at this time I do not believe the fire (aftermath of possible explosion) we see is the original event on the Arc resulting in Maria's death. Yeah, sure, the movie universe isn't 1 to 1 with canon, but I really do not feel like that scene is depicting the arc. This instead reads as a scene to me where Gerald and Shadow are going through a painful moment of loss in the present and being cornered by GUN for capture. It seems more like a scene that occurs partway through the movie as an event that happens rather than a flashback.

Take that with a grain of salt though. That's just my interpretation, and there's not a lot of proof to find to back up any particular one.

We've also heard rumors of time travel being involved, so it's also possible there's a plot bit involving saving Maria and reversing the hurt that way and it tragically failing? Don't know.

Also love the shot of Shadow looking at the cracked glass👌

S sorry just them again looking at each other and Sonic turning to Tails for guidance 🥺🥺💖

This entire mini clip means quite possibly a bit too much to me for a mere trailer but I love their dynamic

I have talked about it before but damn. Knuckles "He is much more impressive than the hedgehog I fought previously"

We literally see a shot of Shadow revealing himself, and then Knuckles starts talking about how impressive he is.

I know there were a lot of jokes made in the last couple years that Sonic would see Shadow and instantly be enamored, but oh how the turntables! In the end, in this trailer at least, it's actually Knuckles who becomes instantly enamored. One look and he's calling him impressive. One look, and he's already ignoring any direction on Sonic's part to perhaps de-escalate the situation by talking to Shadow, because Knuckles wants to fight Shadow so badly it makes him look stupid.

The way the interaction is done reads to me that Knuckles wants to get a go at tussling with Shadow either more than the stakes of the plan at hand, or would want to despite reality. In other words, even if Shadow "switches sides" so to speak successfully here, Knuckles would still want to fight him for personal reasons.

Of course right after this we get the subject of a billion jokes about how Shadow hates Tails so much in specific that he goes out of his way to beat him up.

Where is that meme image of the guy looking out the window holding his cigarette, just tired? (Rhetorical question)

I did not think it would be need to said but here.

If you watch the scene, Shadow kicking Tails is not presented as more important or targeted than anything else. First of all, it is within a sequence where we see him take down the members of Team Sonic one by one in a single blow. Second of all, Tails' is actually the least focused on in the trailer. Knuckles punching Shadow only for Shadow to (presumably) break his wrist is shown as a big thing (especially as a call back to the first big clash between Sonic and Knuckles that was advertised a lot for movie 2). Shadow going for Tails is something he literally cuts behind Sonic to do, which quickly segues into him grabbing Sonic and using his air shoes to boost them high into the air so he can slam Sonic down into the ground. Tails being kicked here is presented like something he had to do to get to Sonic, not him going out of his way to beat up Tails. Seriously. How can that even be true when Knuckles and Sonic get flashier and longer beat downs?

Anyways, all that aside, this scene is very neat. It's very clearly to set up the disparity in power between Team Sonic and Shadow the same way it did between Sonic and Knuckles in movie 2, with the framing this time presenting Shadow as a powerhouse unlike anything anyone has ever faced. In other words, combatting Shadow will be more of an ordeal than combatting Knuckles was.

The scene where Tails says "this is a bad idea" and Sonic goes "when has that ever stopped me".

It would be completely fine and dandy if this does turn out to be about the crew looking for Robotnik and deciding to join with him. Personally, I think this is one of those cases where a line from a movie is cut in the trailer to show that it's about something when it really has to do with something else.

Besides the fact that we just don't know when or how everyone will learn Robotnik is alive (since it's pretty well considered by the main characters that he died at the end of movie 2), I think with Tails outright opposing this and Sonic looking angry, this scene is referring to something potentially more risky and dangerous than joining forces with Ivo Robotnik. Depending on how epic the scene is, this could predate a major moment

But I'm excited to see the context regardless of what it turns out to be!

Sorry I know I said it earlier but WHOO fat Robotnik. Hollywood fatphobia aside, I'm honestly glad that Jim Carrey has been winning his battle of moving his character closer visually to Robotnik's canon design.

It's pretty clear by the "we" have visitors that Stone has been with Robotnik taking care of him at some point since the ending of Movie 2. I remember a lot of us assumed the battle in movie 2 did kill Robotnik but that Movie 3 would involve Stone bringing him back somehow. Either way, though I know this was technically dependent on whether Jim Carrey would return to this movie, I do feel vindicated for saying "Robotnik isn't gone for good since we didn't see a body and GUN didn't find one at the end of movie 2".

Agent Stone and his sad wet eyes

So to go into a lot of detail would require a proper essay post, so I'm going to try to make this section as short as possible.

Now, as far as I've gathered since movie 2, Stone's sad wet eyes appear in 1 of 3 instances.

1. When he misses Robonik so so dearly (as seen in the beginning of Movie 2)

2. When he is jealous and fears being replaced by someone else Robotnik chooses to hang out with and go on his missions for the evil plan with (as seen during the scenes where Robotnik has Knuckles with him in the Mean Bean in movie 2)

3. When Robotnik continues to change from the exact kind of slick, collected, confident, and fashionable guy we see in movie 1 in ways which Agent Stone would percieve as him "getting worse" (As seen in movie 2 where Stone sees Robotnik again for the first time, remarking that he looks different, and in the annoyance he gets in movie 2 when Robotnik leaves him out of his plans and continues to include Knuckles rather than consult or use him (Stone))

Now, clearly it is not option 1, given that he is fully aware of Robotnik's location and has clearly been watching over him.

I also do not believe it is number 2, for two reasons.

1. The context clues imply Robotnik has likely only been around Stone all this time. There's no one already living in this space for Stone to be jealous of.

2. We see Stone and his bike blocking the path between Team Sonic and Robotnik, and it's Stone who brings Team Sonic inside to appeal to him. Since it's implied Stone chose to let them in and doesn't seem annoyed when he announces their presence, he does not have the sad wet eyes because he's jealous of their connection to Robotnik in any way.

So this leaves us with option 3: Robotnik is changing further in ways that are messing with Stone, and Stone sees it as Robotnik beginning to "fall from greatness" so to speak.

And I think this interpretation is actually pretty clear. We don't see evidence of a struggle on Stone, so it's unlikely he seriously fought Team Sonic. Rather, it seems to me that they told him they wanted to appeal to Robotnik to get him to help with protecting the world, and they convinced Stone to let them see Robotnik because Stone hopes their involvement (or such a mission) will get Robotnik out of whatever his current rut is (with the state of his hair and stache and the mess in the place he's staying in, it's pretty clear he's in a depressive rut). Stone is sad to see Robotnik this way and hopes Team Sonic can fix it.

We are not actually done with Stone's sad wet eyes though, as he still has them during the scene Robotnik retreats to the bathroom for an outfit change (yes, the scene where he rips off Stone's shirt). It's also worth noting here that Stone still sounds sad during this scene.

So, this is where I take the time to talk MORE about Agent Stone in relation to Ivo Robotnik (but again without going too in detail and doing too much outright essaying). This bit is connected to the previous part, but I wanted to give it its own section since this has to do with my prediction for the future.

My theory? Stone may be set up for an eventual Dr. Starline parallel.

Let me explain a bit.

So, if you don't know who Doctor Starline is, he origates in the IDW Sonic comic adaptation. He is a very intelligent (and fashionable) scientist who holds great admiration for Robotnik, and is obsessed with him. From the beginning he'd put Robotnik on a pedestal and had wanted not only to be like him, but to be vital to him. Starline wanted to be a great help Robotnik to take over the world, and essentially superimposed himself into the position of Robotnik's number 2 (a position comparable to Stone's in the Sonic Movies, Snively in SATAM and the Archie comics, and Grimer's in the Fleetway comics). Over the course of Starline's time together with Robotnik as his self imposed number two, the two start out fairly strong only to clash more and more often as Robotnik expects a lackey who only does what he says, and Starline expects a partner who will listen to his advice. Tensions grow, Starline becomes more disillusioned in the genius and superiority of his hero, and finally, Starline takes it upon himself to be insubordinate. Believing that Eggman's plans are short sighted and destined to fail, he takes it upon himself to "fix things" by going behind Robotnik's back and bringing in the Zeti as (assumed) pawns. It is after this act where Starline decides he needs to save his hero from himself that Eggman tosses him to the side and fires him.

Now, it's worth mentioning that Eggman so easily tosses him aside because there is one thing Starline does not have in common with the other examples of Eggman's number two in other media. This is that they have the advantage of time spent with Eggman, allowing him to become attached to them enough that even smaller acts of insubordination aren't enough for him to fire them completely.

But in any case, Robotnik didn't completely reject Starline after this. He was of the mind that he'd be willing to take Starline back if Starline begged at his feet and apologized. However, since Starline had too much pride, he did not do this. Rather, he begins to believe that Robotnik still is a grand genius, just that he's short sighted and can never take over the world with how he handles the threat of Sonic. So, Starline takes it upon himself to take over the world for Eggman (since he believes he himself is smart enough to do so without falling into Eggman's folly), and then dreams of doing such a good job that it's Eggman who begs to he at his side, since Starline is hung up on Eggman's rejection and wants him to choose him.

So, what does this have to do with Stone?

Well, I have no doubt that Stone was a smart man from the start given his position related to the US gov and that he's been able to perfectly Robotnik's assistant. But you can also take Eggman's word for it as well, courtesy of the prequill comic (which takes place between movies 1 and 2)

It is also by this very comic that we know that Stone was the only man Robotnik trusted to enact his plans in his absense, and perhaps the only man he had ever shared the secrets of his manifesto.

And it's how we know that Stone undoubtedly undergoes major changes by movie 2 compared to movie 1. Not only does he have it in his mind that he is Robotnik's number 2, a man personally responsible for doing what Robotnik cannot with the mission of personally rebuilding Robotnik's glory, but this entire experience contains the purpose of molding Stone to be more like Robotnik himself.

Stone by movie 2 is more cunning and calculating in the way Robotnik is. He was given a personal mission to rebuild his master's former glory, and he throws his entire self into it. It is not a stretch to assume that Stone is saddened upon meeting Robotnik again in movie 2 because it did not match his expectations.

All in all, especially since he'd given Robotnik the tools for a makeover, I think from Stone's end he was expecting for Robotnik to return to him a man who has gone through an ordeal but maintains his style and greatness (essentially, looking like he did before), as a man of who would congratulate Stone on his work in his absense (praise him even), and take him at his side as they work together to enact Robotnik's world takeover plan.

But Stone's expectations are dashed as Robotnik arrives in a new fit, with a new stache, seemingly more mentally unstable than before (keep in mind, Robotnik's thing in movie 1 was that he was more intelligent and thought differently than everyone else, not that he was unstable. He was the kind of "genius who is written off as unstable but sees what no one else does", but since his involvement with Sonic HAS been seemingly less cool and collected and more unstable), and with a space echidna at his side. In the span of one meeting, Stone had the means to feel replaced and to feel as if Robotnik was falling short of his glory/falling from greatness as he's changed.

And then over the course of movie 2, though there are people who do Movie Ivo character study who'd agree that Robotnik does genuinely care about Stone, just is bad at showing it or doesn’t show it conventionally, it's pretty clear that Stone himself doesn't really see it. He doesn't feel valued. He doesn't even get to be used by Robotnik as he was in movie 1, actively on the road trip with him. Nope. Robotnik leaves him at the Mean Bean most of the movie.

And this is why Stone doesn't seem happy most of the movie. This is why it excites him so that Robotnik accepts him at the end of the movie and makes room for him as a vital helper.

What I assert, in essence, is that after the prequill comic, Stone can no longer just be okay in his role as he was before with little praise/acknowledgement, nor can he even he even take solace in the fact that Robotnik will always keep him around because he needs him.

So here's where the Starline parallel comes in. Now that Stone sees himself as a much more important figure in Robotnik's life, with a mission given to him by a version of Ivo who Stone could possibly see as "at his most sane" to make sure he succeeds and attains his former glory, I think he sees his number two role as less of a guaranteed thing and something he must fight to keep (this means stuff like putting himself out there at the end of movie 2 and begging to go with Robotnik, or taking it upon himself to find Robotnik after the battle and support him). And so, I suspect (especially with those shots we got in the trailer, Stone being sad at presenting Robotnik's current state, his potentially angrier faces as he's finally allowed to groom Robotnik and shave his hair, his continued sadness even as Robotnik has moved out of his rut) that we're going to see Robotnik to continue to take Stone's presence as his "sycophant" for granted, while Stone continues to become disillusioned with his idol and master.

But in the end, this is just my theory. I do not yet know how much of this will actually come to pass, but I hope it's food for thought for you all.

I predict Stone will continue to become so disillusioned with Robotnik due to seeing him as a man falling from greatness and due to lack of acknowledgement and appreciation, that Stone will eventually turn on Robotnik. But not to stop him or to become better than him. No. I predict, Starline style, Stone will take it upon himself to restore Eggman to his former glory, to eventually go behind Eggman's back and enact his own plans, to attempt to take over the world for Robotnik, and to accomplish it all in such an amazing display that Robotnik has to express that he wants him around and to acknowledge him as a partner and to praise him.

At least, that could be the plan/setup. It would remain to be seen how these two characters resolve this event (essentially, in which ways this diverges from the parallel and the two inevitably come back together again). After all, no matter what ends up happening between Stone and Robotnik, I think something will need to give and change eventually, and the two will need to make their feelings/wishes...more clear to each other

By the way, I too love the Stobotnik scenes in this trailer. We are eating good👌👌👌 However, it really is hard not to see that scene where Ivo rips Stone's shirt off as another moment where Stone doesn't feel appreciated. Ivo over here ripping off a man's shirt (gay. Sorry. The people are right when they asked if it was gay for him to just rip it off and then choose to wear it during the movie), and it's entirely possible the man in question thinks that this is proof that Robotnik doesn't think much of him in this state (even if Stone is clearly not going to keep him from doing what he wants here)

"When we're done, there won't be anything left"

Cool, so Shadow is actively planning on destroying the world here. Potentially to satisfy revenge.

Interesting. So the scene with the Chao mascots also looks like an ambush is happening, with Team Sonic specifically being targeted with missiles

"What did you do?" "What I had to."

Movie Sonic has his classic extremely angry face here too, so Shadow must have done something major. It's either world ending, or it put the lives of his family and friends in HUGE jeopardy (or both).

AND FINALLY. Gerald reveal

I cannot express the surprise I felt here. This scene shows us that Gerald is here in the present, not just a man who died 50 years ago by execution. So, possible time travel shenanigans or not, the fact that he's involved in the present conflict (perhaps with Shadow personally) is highly interesting and I'm excited to see where this goes.

Also, based on the layout of the room here, it's potentially possible that either this is the same room Sonic is searching earlier in the trailer, or that Gerald had multiple lab like living spaces he was jumping between over the years to stay under the radar, and that Team Sonic and Team Robotnik ended up finding Gerald while looking into clues on Shadow

ㅤ

And...done. Whew. Wow. I had a lot of thoughts so uh. I hope my ask satisfied your curiosity, flashonetwo. I also hope for anyone that read this far that you enjoyed it at least a little bit, and that your mind is running with thoughts of your own.

I'm beyond excited for this movie, and I genuinely can't wait to see what happens next. So here's to seeing how much we get right in the future, and here's to enjoying what we get!😊❤️

[howtosingit]

Way Too Many WICKED: PART ONE Thoughts

Things I can't stop thinking about nearly 3 days after seeing the film:

The opening flyover moments showing all of Oz and the music and just... LOVED that being how the film established so much SPACE and GRANDEUR, VERY EPIC

Flying over Kiamo Ko and seeing someone riding off on horseback but then flying over the rainbow and seeing Dorothy, Lion, Tin Man, and Scarecrow on the Yellow Brick Road... I have QUESTIONS?? WHO. IS. ON. HORSEBACK????

Glinda being cut off at the top of NOMTW by the munchkin yelling/singing "No one mourns the wicked" and the look she gives them because she is mourning, but she's having to hide the depth of it. And then the way she moved through the crowd during that number like she wasn't really a part of it, she was surrounded by people celebrating and she was so LONELY in her grief. GLINDA IS SO LONELY IN THIS FILM AND I'VE NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT HER THAT WAY BEFORE. And then when she takes the torch and burns the effigy... CHILLS. So much story in Ariana's face, it was SO GOOD.

The flashback to Elphaba's mom having an affair, LOVED the camera work and choreo there, it was so Jon M. Chu and it was WONDERFUL.

I loved that they altered Elphaba's characterization for the film, making her less angry at the start and instead starting her off in a state of resignation and internalized shame. I think it makes for an interesting arc to see her go from that to her full wickedness, watching as each moment that she experiences through the course of these two films forms her into the Wicked Witch of the West (are people born wicked, or do they have wickedness thrust upon them)

Also loved that Galinda has been altered a bit too, and it's not just that she's instantly liked and popular (she is) but that she's very much CONCERNED with being liked and being popular, and that you see that there is EFFORT in her doing it, which also just makes "Popular" land so much stronger later... she's training Elphaba how to be popular because she's also had to train herself to be popular, instead of just coming by it completely naturally. She's learned the many ways to do it effectively. Her misguided offer to help Elphaba "fix" her green problem is horrible obviously BUT it's also Galinda saying "look at how caring and thoughtful I am, love me everyone" and then she follows it up with "I thought that I was nice" or something like that. VERY realistic. Also think this effort to be liked adds to her loneliness under the mask.

To that point, I like that their first interaction isn't inherently hostile, just awkward and built on those microagressions and misunderstandings. The outright hostility builds after a number of factors, including the room sharing and Elphaba being favored by Morrible, which is all Galinda wants. I think that's such a better journey for them, more fleshed out. I think it's easier to understand how they develop such a close bond eventually when they don't start out as instantly hating each other, because we see these misunderstandings develop, so it gives us a better idea of how and why they're able to let them go and finally open up to each other when the time comes.

LOVED Fiyero's introduction being much quieter, just him and Elphaba in the woods. That was a really great scene.

I think Elphaba, Galinda, and Fiyero all wear masks in the film, and I love that Fiyero's introduction, because of its private nature, allowed him to be introduced without the full mask first, before he put it on for his big Shiz introduction. Galinda's mask of NEEDING to be liked and being popular finally falls in the Ozdust Ballroom, and Elphaba's mask of self-protection sort of falls there too.

DANCING THROUGH LIFE. SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX. MY GOD. The librarian?? The choreography?? The body rolls and the touching and the SEXUALITY. My god Fiyero, my god. Also I've watched a few videos of the filming of that scene since seeing the film and I'm in awe of the work that went into it.

By far my favorite scene in the entire film is the Ozdust scene. From Elphaba's entrance all the way through, the way it builds, the isolation, the hurt, Galinda's guilt. Not a single word from Cynthia Erivo, and yet a FULL STORY in her eyes. I was OVERWHELMED, I SOBBED.

When Galinda takes Elphaba's face in hand and wipes away the tear?!?!?! and I think she says "you're okay, you're okay" LIKE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

I don't know how long that scene actually was but it felt like it lasted forever and I was so grateful for every single second of it, like it was DEEPLY UNCOMFORTABLE and hurtful and terrible and then beautiful and it truly is the turning point of the whole film and I was so glad it was treated with that importance. MY GOD. I don't want to stop talking about it. (Also the "For Good" theme showing up throughout this film??? Oh part two will KILL)

Backing up but "What Is This Feeling" is amazing and built for a TikTok 2024 audience and I loved it. "Popular" was so great. (THE EVITA ARMS!!) "Wizard and I" was vocally buttery perfection. Cynthia and Ariana killed all of those numbers.

I loved the Emerald City but I'll admit I wasn't immediately in love with the Idina and Kristin cameos. Love them both and I liked that they expanded on the legend of the Wizard and the Grimmerie, but that's a scene I think I'd need to see again to appreciate it more. I think it'll grow on me, but I wasn't IMMEDIATELY in love with it.

The Wizard giving Elphaba a little figurine of herself and the way she held it and looked at it like it was something precious, OOF. This movie did the little moments SO WELL.

I REALLY loved was the Chistery transformation. Seeing his pain and watching it reflected back on Elphaba's face brought me to tears. I loved that Morrible wasn't even really trying to hide her true nature, and there was a moment during that scene as Elphaba realizes how she's been a pawn "in someone else's game" the entire time, she and Morrible have this moment of heartbreaking eye contact and that was just devastating. Something about Morrible being Elphaba's first real mentor and friend in adulthood, and how that betrayal was all the more painful because of it.

I loved "Defying Gravity" and I loved all of the added moments, but I will admit it made the song itself harder to follow, harder to get into the vibe of it at times. I mean, it's a segmented, difficult song even in the musical. But I also wouldn't have given up any of the added moments, so it is what it is. It's one of those where I loved every moment of it but at the same time I also wanted to love it more. Elphaba seeing her reflection in the palace wall was beautiful and such a great full circle moment for the film.

And of course, Glinda's softer betrayal, her choice to stay behind. The way Elphaba knows her refusal without Glinda having to say it. AGAIN, CYNTHIA'S SILENT EYE ACTING HAD ME SOBBING AGAIN.

And then all through the ending I got CHILLS, my jaw was DROPPED, my breath was CAUGHT. LOVED LOVED LOVED IT. Exactly how this movie needed to end.

Also just the complete arc of Elphaba being pretty much alone at the beginning, then finding trust and companionship in Morrible, Dillamond, Galinda, and Fiyero. Then each of them leaving her one by one (or never really being hers to begin with), so by the end of the film she's left alone again but because of her experiences with them she's changed (for the better??) and she's stronger and she's finding her voice and her power and her purpose. I thought it was such a great arc.

And Galinda FINALLY getting what she wanted (or thought she wanted) when Morrible takes her under her wing, to use her as her next pawn, but having no idea what that's really going to mean for her.

I'M SO EXCITED FOR PART TWO

I'm honestly really glad they split this into two films because 1) I needed every moment of that Ozdust scene and we would've lost it in a more compact film and I just appreciated how this film was able to breathe, and 2) honestly each act of the musical feels pretty distinct. Like, just looking at the Elphaba and Glinda arcs, they did kind of complete their first arcs here. And sure, they have more story to tell, but the Oz we meet at the top of act 2 is different than the one we leave at the end of act 1. Time passes, shit hits the fan. Like, the first lines of that act are how much Elphaba has been up to since leaving the Emerald City and I think it will be nice to dive back into that after a year and feel the time between and appreciate where we start part 2.

(The only thing that makes the split work a little less well is the framing device of Glinda telling the story, which we never get back to at the end of this film, but that's honestly fine, it'll be fun to see the ending of the next film build back into that moment from a different perspective. It's a small thing.)

[gelu-the-babosa-multiversal]

Transformers ONE SPOILERS. Read with caution

Bumblebee: OoOoOoOoOoO is Soundwave and Shockwave, wow there are a lot of Waves here.

The nonexistential heatwave in the background: ...

[bigassbowlingballhead]

Red White and Royal Blue but it's just Alex being hopelessly in love with Henry

[to-skit-or-not-to-skit]

city of sorrows

GO WATCH NIMONA

spoiler under the cut

[gibbearish]

it is with a heavy heart that i must announce. the five nights at freddy's movie was really good

sorry for how much of a behemoth this post is im fnaf autism just bear with me also i can't keep my thoughts straight for the life of me so this will be a bumpy ride. as an additional note i got very lucky and had literally 0 spoilers whatsoever for this movie, i haven't even seen the trailer

so first of all: i thought all the changes they made to the plot to make it work for a movie were good decisions, altho some of them did take a minute to actually feel like good changes lmao. once i thought about em a bit more though they made sense.

one of the things i really liked was that they also did include a lot of the things i wanted them to, or more specifically things that you're like "you literally can't have a fnaf movie without these, it just wouldn't be right", like we got mike schmidt, we got fucking VANESSA??? altho she might be in the trailer so that might not be the same reveal for yall as it was for me but still. they heavily alluded to vanny? (altho that's a part i'm kinda sad abt is they didn't /actually/ include vanny, vanessa just makes an offhand comment about how she "wouldn't be much help" if she was around afton and then. comes to help anyways and doesnt have any issues? lame they shouldve had him hypnotise her and then she fought her way out to help mike and abby. or alternatively they couldve used the family restructuring to make vanny be a result of afton giving vanessa osdd-2, like thats kinda functionally what he does with the mask anyways but this would make it more obvious).

also swinging back to changes they made that i liked!! VANESSA AFTON?? like this is the one that took me a while to get used to bc it feels like such a cliche from an outside perspective but it also kind of Super Isn't considering what the original plot is? like all the family restructuring they did makes pretty good sense to me, i do think it loses a bit of the weight having michael be Just Some Guy Whose Brother Happened To Be Kidnapped By Afton Forever Ago and now coincidentally has this weird guy offering him a job as a night guard, but also the og lore. absolutely would not fit into a movie lmao. so i like that they kept the characters everyone wanted around while also rearranging it to keep the spirit of "learning about all of this for the first time through the eyes of a security guard" you get from playing the games. it's fun for people who don't know the lore because it's easy to follow and it's fun for people who /do/ know the lore because they can pull apart all the differences.

oh right back to things they included that i wanted them to. we gotttt chica's cupcake murdering people, we got FUCKING MATPAT? SAYING THE ITS JUST A THEORY LINE? SOUNDING THRILLED OFF HIS ASS TO BE THERE??? i dont like the man and his opinions vis a vis addressing nonbinary characters but. goddamn was that a funny cameo. why couldnt you include markiplier too you fucking cowards. who said that. anyways. oh we kind of tangentially have a canon name for crying child? aka garrett? like idk this one could go either way because like. yeah he's mike's younger brother that died tragically and scarred him for life, makes sense that theyd be the same character in function but also it is technically a different family so who knows.

umm what else. oh this doesnt rlly fall into either category i just really liked it, the intro sequence for all the animatronics? showing what they can /really/ do with the breaking and entering dudes?? that was such a cool sequence i really liked the whole thing honestly. chica being introduced in the kitchen and the dude finding the cupcake then looking back and it's gone? bonnie in the supply closet? foxysprint??? AND FREDDY!! THE BITE!!! in case anyones reading this before watching the movie so they know what to expect: youll know when this moment is coming and if youre watching it at home with friends i HIGHLY recommend having the "was that the bite of 87" clip ready to play right after, they WILL lose their shit. i had it queued up from the very beginning of the movie cause i was like. they can't not include it /somehow/, it's the fnaf movie there has to be A Bite. and sure enough. oh also it's not at the same time but the golden freddy reveal is really good too, they did a good job of setting it up so even if youre already aware of golden freddy conceptually you still go "oh freddy's here? i mean i guess that makes sense he's the leader and all. or wait what happened to his eye why's he only got one? oh. oh i see. ohohohohohohohoho" 100/10. also very funny that they just straight up. MURDER THE AUNT? AND SHE NEVER GETS MENTIONED AGAIN SHE JUST IS DEAD??? the kid isnt like. hey what happened to aunt jane?? i get none of them liked her and with good reason but youd think at least one of em would be like "damn she sucked but she didnt deserve that, rip jane"

oh and the springlocks of course the springlocks. like as soon as we saw aftons name in the cast list we all knew he was gonna get springlocked, it's such a cherished memory for so many of us and there's no way in hell The Fnaf Movie™ wouldnt include afton getting springlocked, they just legally can't leave that out. and they do it pretty well too like yeah if you know what's gonna happen you can see it coming way ahead of time and it's kind of a slow crawl to get there but like. idk i think it still works pretty well. i don't personally like how long the actual springlocking itself took, i think they couldve milked that a little bit less cause i was under the impression that if one springlock failed they All Would Instantaneously And Your Flesh Body Will Become Occupied By A Full Endoskeleton. but no we just get very slow rib beartrap. w/e though still cool and again the leadup to it was really good even knowing exactly how it would end, like just the really slow shuffling of the animatronics towards him? like yeah it's slow and kinda tedious but its also like. theres literally nothing you can do, youre surrounded and defenseless and theyre infinitely faster and stronger than you and now they remember that you killed them. and you just have to sit there and watch them slowly slowly get closer all while trying to talk your way out of it knowing youre fucked. 10/10 they did that part well

oh and that also falls under changes i liked, i liked that instead of "afton tries to escape intangible ghosts by getting into old decrepit suit which then fails and kills him" it was "afton was already in the suit to do murders in and has brainwashed the bots to follow him" wait omg point postponed i just realized that part is from security breach. i thought vanessa was the only thing they brought over from that i didnt even notice that they werent doing the theyre-attacking-all-adults-indiscriminately thing goddamn. omg wait and the fact that the restaurants already closed in this one, it really is just a blend of all the games huh. scott do you see how much more coherent your plot couldve been if there wasnt So much going on. anyways. back to what i was saying. instead of "afton tries to escape intangible ghosts by getting into old decrepit suit which then fails and kills him" it was "afton was already in the suit to do murders in and brainwashed the ghosts into thinking he was their friend so they would help him do murders while possessing the robots. then they get their memories back and the robots turn on him and.. i think deliberately? set off the springlocks, or were just aiming to regular kill him and the springlocks failing was a happy accident? then the robots drag him away as they keep slowly one by one collapsing into him", like the first one made a lot of sense for the game and the timeline and the second one just feels right for this too. it's still his hubris that kills him, still his springlocks, it's just in one version the hubris is "trusting his springlock design to still work after however many years" and in the other its "thinking he has conplete control over the ghosts he killed", plus the ghosts finally get a bit more direct participation in his death than in the other version lol.

one change i did not like. forced het romance. like i dunno i guess im happy for them, both of those characters have certainly earned happy endings by this point so its nice they can get something cutesy. but also. like cmon man it's vanessa and mike do we have to do this she just got stabbed stop holding her hand

oh also this change wasnt really good or bad i just thought it was funny, vanessas a full on cop now? like i get they prolly just dont wanna have two security guards or something but i mean. it wouldve been really easy to just say she was the day shift guard? thatd explain why she had more information on the bots and the place's history than him, why she's always Around, it wouldve even flowed into the vanessa afton reveal pretty well too because like. yeah obviously a guy doing murders would want his main security guard to be someone he trusts and who better than his theoretically brainwashed daughter yknow? as it was she just kinda Showed Up Knowing Stuff And Ignoring Questions and later afton's like "you were supposed to be keeping an eye on him" but like of course Mike was getting dodgy about the weirdo cop loitering nearby for no reason, thats sus as hell lmao. vs "experienced security guard here to show you the ropes" he would have a much easier time trusting that she actually did have his best interests at heart. idk it just seemed like a weird change to me lmao

ummm oh my roommate pointed out the fact that when they tried to springlock abby the suit they were aiming for looked suspiciously like circus baby and abby and baby are anagrams so thats fun. it's hard to tell though if shes intended to be a rework of elizabeth or if vanessa's filling that role now. cause like on the one hand, michael's younger sister whose name is v close to baby, on the other hand, vanessa is afton's daughter. so idk i feel like it could go either way. if abby's elizabeth i guess that negates the thing about garret maybe being crying child's name bc then theyd prolly just be keeping mike's name the same. w/e

oh my god i completely forgot when i was talking about changes to the afton springlock thing, they had him deliberately put his mask on after the other springlocks started releasing and say the "i always come back" line, i thought that was an excellent touch. like he's actively dying a horrific death and is like. no no. im not leaving this bot. this shit is going to suck ass no matter what so i might as well do all i can to ENSURE my soul gets locked in this fuckin thing, go on stab me in the brain lets do this. i will however also say that having him say "i always come back"... before he's even come back the first time? is a little bit weird, i know thats another one of the "we have to include this in the fnaf movie" things so im not mad but just in the moment it def flows a bit weird. like mf you don't even have one example of that yet much less several to be saying "always" about

OH AND THE BIGGEST ONE. THE ANIMATRONICS. theyre so good. like im so glad they went all in on that, i think they probably knew that if there was one single thing they had to get absolutely 100% right to avoid a fan uprising it was those and by god did they deliver, theyre so big and so unsettling and so fun. chica's wink at abby was the best part of the movie no questions asked. or alternatively bonnie falling over after they built the fort. like theyre all just so good. OH MY GOD OR IN CHICA'S INTRODUCTION SEQUENCE WHERE YOU CAN SEE HER JUST. SCOOTING BY THROUGH THE VENT?? THAT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING OF ALL TIME HELLO???

god. but yeah i was honestly expecting it to be a lot worse than it was. also this mike is a bad brother/dad figure. but i guess in the games he also kind of is the pinnacle of bad brother so i mean it couldve been a lot worse. theres definitely some rough parts, i mightve mentioned this already but i felt like a few of the dramatic pause things were a bit too drawn out, like i said the springlocks locking is one good example of that but another that i REALLY found slow was like. in the opening we watch a guy get turbomurdered by the swirly blade mask and it takes. way longer than i feel like was necessary. also unnecessary: a jumpcut a second from scared eyes to swirly blades to hands fumbling and repeating during that. oh another thing that was weird to me, why was mike so insistent on sleeping specifically at night? to the point of deliberately sleeping on the job? like i get he wanted to revisit the kidnapping dream but like. presumably he could dream just as well during the day, no? done his night shift then once it was up rolled out a sleeping bag for a quick powernap before heading home? idk that just felt. forced to me

more random things, i am sad we didnt get a whiff of henry emily (my fringe theory was that their twist to change it from the games was they were gonna make henry be evil, rip to that idea) or the puppet/charlie, and kinda sad they changed the kid possessing golden freddy to be a boy like. we love cassidy and her Undying Rage Towards Afton's Soul smh why would you get rid of her. also loved balloon boy, kinda wish mangle had gotten like a similar level appearance but thats w/e. oh also while i did appreciate the low gore level there were also a few times where it was a bit weird how minor the injuries the dead people had were. like this man just had his face put in a blender mask and he just has like. some forehead gashes or whatever? he should look like someone stirred up jello

anyways with that gross thought i think i am out of things to say about the movie for now. if anyone else watched it already and somehow read all of this blease tell me your thoughts

[bravevolunteer]

VERSE — MOVIE ( CONTAINS SPOILERS & CANON DIVERGENT, tw for canon-typical themes & suicide mention )

just to get straight to the point : it's mainly canon divergent in the sense that i will be altering details in order to make mike an afton. do i think this is going to happen in the movie timeline? no. do i think it's more likely that they're going to explain the oddly personal kidnapping through mirroring the emilys? probably. but it's MY michael afton blog and i can put on my tinfoil hat as much as i want about it. of course i am willing to adapt based on other's info / preferences but given that this isn't my main canon anyway it is meant for those that are interested.

Mike thought he knew everything there was to know about what happened to his family: what he was never told is who his real father was. He was too young to remember anything about William Afton before his mom separated herself from him entirely ( one night stand, breakup, what have you, i'm not picky- ), so he always thought of the father he grew up with as his dad, the reality never changed anything about that.

Until he was twelve years old and Garrett went missing, and everything fell apart. William followed the Schmidts there, taking Garrett in a targeted attack ( whether or not he was trying to grab Mike, took him out of spite, anything else is also flexible ). Everything grew solemn and tense, each of the Schmidts lost in their own individual grief. Slowly, they stopped having dinners together, stopped going out as a family, stopped being able to feel like things were normal. The grief and guilt only added to Mike's developing anger issues and depression. Although it wasn't on purpose nor with any malicious intent, his dad was the more distant of his parents at the time, serving as the first hint towards his biological parentage and simply because as much as he cared for mike, he was grappling with losing his biological kid ( think tse henry- well meaning but drowning in grief enough for the child to pick up on it ).

This is where Abby comes in, where the Schmidts have another kid in an attempt to feel like a normal family again. It almost seems to work, although there is still that underlying sense of collective grief. Mike was older by then, too ( while he graduates high school, he either doesn't go to college at all or doesn't finish it ).

Their mom dies and the brief sense of possible stability disappears again. It's when Mike is staying at home again for the funeral/to help with Abby that their father commits suicide, unable to take the grief. Mike has had custody of Abby since then.

The events proceed as they did in the movie, William's recognition of Mike in the office not only stemming from the kidnapping but the fact that it's his kid, although Mike doesn't find anything out beyond the fact that it's the man who took Garrett. There is potential for more hints towards this in past interactions with his aunt or birth records or even his dynamic with Vanessa, but for the most part this specific realization is left open.

Following the movie's events, he... does come home to his aunt in the living room. After reporting her death, Mike actually goes back to Freddy's one more time to get security footage in order to prove his innocence. Afterwards, he does his best to hold down another job to keep taking care of Abby in peace, but something about Freddy's gives him the sense that he'll come back to make sure nothing like this happens again.

[trapton]

my movie verse afton = my afton with influence from lillard's performance. yes, he's british. yes he is the same fc. defy me, i dare u.

for now my movie verse is going to be mirroring my movie verse for my henry (but will adapt to other people's - namely mike's hc's). but, henry is mike, garret & abby's father considering novel henry &. movie mr. Schmidt are basically direct parallels of one another, &. the movie gives me major book vibes. abby is meant to represent charlie, and garret will become the puppet of this universe. henry and will were still business partners, and will had no direct loss to trigger his madness nor his desire to murder children using his influence. it's a trust &. power game for him, &. his hatred for henry influenced his decisions to kidnap and kill garret -- which is also why mike gets the job years later, and he wants the children to murder abby as well.

additionally, his influence over movie vanessa is directly tied to her own drawings, among likely other things. so it has not been broken. he is alive in the suit similar to the novels as of now, and he will have the springlock scars in the same vein after the fact. he will eventually abandon raglan and go by dave miller.

[crisp-sweet-pink-lady]

aka The real reason these six kids got super-personalized riding outfits.

The actual line is "It seems the fate fairies feel this class has a lot of personality," and I hate it. Or rather, I hate that the writers tried to justify only giving the main characters cool outfits. I feel like if the writers hadn't drawn attention to it, I probably wouldn't have noticed that the older kids have more traditional riding outfits (because chances are good they're not getting a lot of screentime anyway). Either that or they should have committed to giving everyone their own outfit. Less detailed than the main characters, sure, but this is a magic school! Why wouldn't everyone get their own personalized outfit? Because the fate fairies didn't think the other kids had personalities?

And what about the other freshmen? There are at least three other girls*, but we never see them after the unicorn finding session, so it's possible that they were sent home, but I refuse to believe that. It's more likely that dorms have all their activities together (and two of the other girls being with Sapphire dorm for unicorn finding was a production error), so we won't see them too much from here on in. Still, I hope that we do see them, and that they got cool outfits, too. If the fate fairies feel that this particular class has a lot of personality, that should include them, too.

*There's a group shot that shows eleven students at orientation, so five other students besides the main characters. But three of them already have traditional riding outfits, plus they show up as the seniors who call the main characters "pretty epic--for freshmen" at the end (I think. The quality of the roblox screening makes it hard to tell), so they might have just been there to help guide the freshmen into the right place. There's also a girl shown getting a dorm assignment who wasn't part of the group shot, but she might have shown up late (or it was another production error).

[darkwingsnark]

Just curious, what were your favorite scenes, moments or jokes from the Mario Movie?

Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches~

Of course, outside of every Bowser moment-- because ya know, that's where my allegiances lie-- every brotherly moment between Mario and Luigi had be awwing. They could have easily went the route of 'tough brothers beating each other up, no homo girly softness'. But they DIDN'T! They let them show affection pretty much every moment they were on screen with each other. And I was just nodding my head, going 'yes, they understand the Mario Brothers'.

I also ended up enjoying Donkey Kong so freaken much in the movie. So everything in the Jungle Kingdom was fun. I also literally gasped when I saw the eel's eyes during the underwater level, smiling and going 'NO WAY!' Oh, and of course the heart to heart between DK and Mario being broken because of DK being stubborn aha. It was a nice bit of characterization, and I also love that they made sure Mario wasn't just as mean/prideful back at him in that moment.

I can't get over the characterization details, let me tell ya.

My favorite joke in the whole movie, though, was the Koopa being turned into a Dry Bones and just going 'eh' like it didn't matter. That had me losing it in the theater.

[milkbreadtoast]

I WATCHED NIMONA!!! As someone who read the original nimona webcomic when it was updating (roughly a decade ago??) and was rly impacted by it, I was so excited to watch the film and... they did a really good job!!! it was so beautiful i cried omg... it's def worth a watch!! (long ramble under the cut BWAHA spoiler warning)

...and it was rly completely diff from the original comic but im not complaining?? like its a v loose movie adaptation and the plot/setup was v diff but still v well done... like the comic and movie r both good in their own right... & i laughed and cried a lot... i was surprised at the extent of some of the changes but the emotional parts hit hard(my eyes r swollen from crying) and it was written v well... and visually it's just gorgeous... my jaw kept dropping at the beautiful lighting, and they brought the futuristic medieval setting to life so well i could cry😭

it's funny bc one of the main things i was afraid of was them changing nimona's backstory from the comic, bc even after a decade that's one of the things that stuck w me the most... i love nimona as a chara sm... I was so worried abt them changing it and... they ended up changing it completely... but it was actually really good?! like i cried so hard, it was well done... so I'm glad I didn't have to worry after all jdjfjd🥺 like they Did change it but both ver r good in their own right...

I understand that they had to rewrite the plot completely to fit within the time length of a single movie while still being a contained story, as is always the case w movie adaptations of books, graphic novels, etc which r much longer... Series have a chance to follow the source more closely but that just isnt the case w movies... and as far as movie adaptations go they did an amazing job!! I can rly appreciate both the comic and the movie as their own thing... and I rly liked some parts that were added to the movie, like ballister(blackheart)'s backstory in the beginning, and the addition of gloreth (and her relationship w nimona) was surprisingly compelling... And I really really love that they made Ballister and Goldenloin canon POC 😭😭😭 like that made me so happy!!!❤️‍🔥 When i first saw the casting of riz ahmed and eugene lee i was sooo happy, i was like YAYY IDC IF THEY LOOK WHITE IM GONNA HC THEM AS POC🥰 but the fact that i dont even have to hc bc its canon now... 🥹 SOUTH ASIAN/EAST ASIAN KINGS🛐... and they also didn't hold back with showing them openly as a gay couple... Even tho their dynamic changed a lot from the comic I rly appreciate that...

And there were things that I did miss from the webcomic, like the original setup with goldenloin and blackheart as staged nemesis, them being exes (and some time having passed since their graduation, so they're older, unlike in the movie when it just happened), etc. but the whole setup and plot and everything I completely understand why they had to change it to make it work/fit as a movie, so I get it... so not complaining there tbh bc they did what they had to do... But tbh... TBH... my one(1) complaint(/lh) w the movie... IS I REALLY MISS GOLDENLOIN'S BEAUTIFUL LONG HAIR😭😭😭💔 He would've looked so pretty with long golden locks in the movie artstyle, esp w the gorgeous lighting... glowing gold and flowing in the wind... And I think it would've fit perfectly well with the movie ver of his chara/lore too?? like the new lore of him being a descendant of Gloreth... I could imagine him growing out his hair and bleaching it blonde to fit the image/pressure of being a descendant of gloreth, and to look more flashy and heroic to the public (They did tone down his vanity a lot but im sure he still retains some of it... like he still has that pretty popular celebrity image)... And him having long hair doesnt contradict with him being asian too or the modern setting... modern asian men can and do have pretty long hair😭 Like he couldve still been Asian, just w long blonde hair... It doesn't contradict w his new personality either... And I wish they kept the golden color bc the white/silver makes him look less like a "goldenloin"... (i also love black/gold color combos personally lol)... And i just aldjskd can u imagine movie Ballister stroking Ambrosious's long hair affectionately... pls🥲 WE COULD'VE HAD IT ALL... canon asian madeleine cookie qkjdksdj... I also do miss his original stupid vain arrogant himbo personality from the comic, but I understand why they changed it (for one, charas like that might start out obnoxious but then slowly develop and gain depth over the course of the story, but in a movie's short length, there's less time to slowly grow on ppl so it'd be easier to make them more likeable from the start... so like i get it.) but I think it would've been perfect if they just kept his long hair even w his new personality😭😭 LIKE IT WOULDVE BEEN 100000% PERFECT THEN!!! So that's literally my one lighthearted complaint/dissatisfaction w the movie LMFAO... I'd be happy if ppl draw fanart of movie ambrosious w long hair... TTwTT i miss it sm DKDJZ /end rant OVERALL I HAD A GOOD time ^^ LMFAO

[lildogie]

Another Reason to Watch Romantic Killer

(A romcom anime, not a true crime show, in case the title puts you off.) This is a bit spoilery even above the cut, so skip everything after this paragraph if you want to go in blank-slate--

--but reasons that Romantic Killer is a series to watch include the suplex subversion of a trope that always puts me in agonies (this is not a lit crit point, but an emotional one). It's the part in many shows where someone's being hurt/manipulated/stalked/abused, and those closest to them take the shallowest and worst interpretation possible of the part of the picture they can see. They believe lies from the abuser, or they interpret the signs of abuse in the victim as hurtful behavior or signs the victim doesn't want them around. This is part of irl abuse tactics to isolate a victim from their support system. This period of isolation, misunderstanding, and lack of faith from everyone the character knows will often lead to the dark night of the soul part of the 3-act structure. Then misunderstandings get cleared up around the climax, and reconciliation, and/or fallout, happens in the denouement. But Anzu doesn't play that shit. When the dialog option pops up onscreen-- A: "Did he really do that?" B: "Are you kidding me? He would never do that." C: "..." --she smashes B without hesitation, and she backs it up with action. I dropped into the series because otaku are my people, and I like to see the nerd girl triumph without having to conform. I wasn't expecting to find such a capital-H Hero in Anzu. (More specific spoilers & cw under the cut.)

CW: mentions of bullying, abuse, stalking, attempted sexual assault When Saki's shitbird boyfriend tries to assault her, then spreads lies about her to cover up why they broke up, Saki expects to find herself alone and ostracized. No. Anzu argues with everyone. She makes their classmates rethink their baseless assumptions. She confronts the shitbird and lets everyone know what a scumbag he is. (At this point in the show, I decided Saki needed to be in the polycule. It can be one big pile. Don't separate her from Anzu.) (They can rope in Tsukasa's cute friend Makoto, who also has the huge crush on Junta; it'll be great. <-Tangentially, Makoto, a minor character, is another person who notices someone in silent distress (possibly because he has sisters), and his instinctive response is to protect. He's worthy; he can join the house.) When Anzu's classmates (who aren't too bad, but because of Tsukasa's past they're plenty anxiety-inducing enough for him) try to pressure her into giving them access to Tsukasa, Anzu shuts it down. Once she knows they make Tsukasa uncomfortable, she doesn't hesitate. She won't expose a friend to attention that makes him so anxious he shuts down and flees. She doesn't need to know why, she doesn't blame him for being weak or accuse him of overreacting; she just respects and protects that vulnerability. When Tsukasa's stalker shows up, as soon as Anzu realizes what's happening, she shields him, bodily and emotionally. She believes him by default. The standard trope would have her believe the stalker at least for a while, maybe get angry at Tsukasa for hiding something from her. Doesn't happen for a fucking second. Anzu is there for her friends, without question, every time. And she pays attention: even when they're not outright saying what's wrong, she's watching out for them. She's the friend everyone needs, and one of the worthiest romance protagonists I've seen.

[talesofedo]

Matsumoto Jiro's manga, Ichigeki, which itself is an adaptation of Nagai Yoshio's novel, Bakumatsu Ichigeki Hissatsutai, recently had a live-action movie adaptation.

While the movie is kind of a short version of the full story, it stands well on its own and if you're into that time period, I definitely recommend it.

There's a spoiler under the cut but I can't not talk about that scene.

During the battle of Kanasugi bridge, Masumitsu Kyunosuke squares up to Imuda Shohei, which gives Ushigoro a chance to get away.

"Oh," you might think, "we're going to see some excellent swordplay between these two masters here."

Imuda obviously thinks the same as he sizes up his opponent.

... only for Masumitsu to chuck his sword to the side and shoot Imuda in the shoulder. I love him. This was the perfect move for the end of the Edo period. Ten stars for creativity. Definitely recommend bringing a gun to a sword fight.

Edited: had the wrong name there. 😑

[saltydoesstuff]

Hhhh I keep falling asleep- I clocked out twice after seeing the fnaf movie and it is now nearly 11 pm

But overall, I thought the movie was pretty cool! How things were does make me curious on how the future movies will be like (Vanessa being Afton's daughter, seemingly no bite of 83 and a Baby prototype?), but I'm sure it'll work out! It's an interesting turn for sure. The fact that the kids couldn't really remember what happened to them, so referred to the drawings on the wall to determine what was true was cool- but also kind of sad in terms of how long they thought their killer was their friend.

The easter eggs were really fun as well! Matpat working as a waiter, a Sparky the dog costume in the parts and service room, the Balloon Boy jump scares (Those scared me the most out of everything in the movie), and Fnaf 1 song and the Puppets music box at the end during credits. You can tell that details really mattered to the team, and so those who have been in the fandom can still get a treat for things you would have to be in the known for to understand.

I think my only gripe with the movie was the springlock scene. I know canonically Afton's death in the springlock suit would be silent since his vocal cords would have been severed before he even had the chance to scream, but that was not what happened in the movie. His throat was completely untouched when the springlocks went off, he didn't even have the head on when it happened. Yet he wasn't screaming in pain like you hear in the fan made audios where he was fully dressed in the suit (a bit messed up to be disappointed about not it being as gruesome of a death I know but shhh). We only saw it digging into his ribs, he had time to lean down and pick up the head- say his iconic "I always come back" with little strain and put the head on before being dragged away by the animatronics to be locked away.

But despite that I would really recommend watching the movie if you can! It may not be true to the game lore, but at least I think it was still a good story

[soleadita]

YOU FINALLY WATCHED TOG i'm thrilled <3 what did u think

(@scattered-winter combining these <333)

skdkdjs i tried to answer this as soon as you guys sent them, but i legitimately had to, like, decompress afterwards (and then yesterday i was in hyperfocus mode on a Project). like, picture me laid out on the couch in a cocoon of my heaviest blankets clutching my little kobo e-reader and medicating my elevated heart rate with comfort fics. i still don’t totally have fully formed thoughts (and i might never), but the closest i can think of is to compare it to how i felt watching the bear, because i LOVED the bear but it was also SO tense and made me very anxious.

the problem was that, for most of the time, i was totally expecting someone to die **permanently** (i don't know why i thought that?), so i was just wildly on edge. like, during that whole fight sequence at the end, i felt like i was barely breathing. (LITERALLY EVERY TIME ANDY DID SOMETHING i’d be like, “oh shit this is it. andy’s gonna die. oh no, she’s fine. ok ok.” when she went off on her own?? to take down that dude on the glass bridge thing? OH i thought she was done for real.)

(i don't mean this to be criticism of the movie in any way; this was all on me, because i am such an anxious bitch (affectionate) and i know this about myself, and yet. i was like, "hey, wouldn't it be so fun if you watched this movie without knowing how it ends?")

anyway, because of *gestures* all that, i feel like i didn't absorb too much of the softer emotional stuff but here are some quick very unrefined thoughts:

charlize theron <33333 (i have no opinions about her in literally anything else but as andy? oh. <333)

i love nile <3

I WAS SOOOOO EXCITED about joe and nicky actually being, like, soulmates. i've seen things on tumblr, but i'm just...never sure, you know? but i LOVE THEM!!! and that they met in the crusades!? as opposing soldiers/crusaders/whatever idk what the correct terminology is??? killed each other multiple times?? are in love now and live and die and live and die and live by each other’s sides??? as @stardustsea said, “they’re the loves of each other’s lives. and deaths.” AND YEAH.

the way joe and nicky sleep. i sob. that is all. (they are also SO FUNNY. snarky battle husbands yes.)

in the flashback with andy and quynh i was literally weeeeeping.

the fight choreography, especially in the last scene where they're human shield-ing andy - cannot believe HOW good that was

the SOUNDTRACK

MARJAN MARWANI??? MADE AN APPEARANCE??? <3

why does military propaganda mixed with found family and traumatized characters slap so fucking hard?

booker broke my fucking heart, but also for some reason he reminded me so viscerally of charlie day and i couldn't look at him without thinking of that.

also i don't have any coherent thoughts on this, necessarily, but something about the whole...found family, immortal beings, living and dying and living and dying and living, and not knowing when you might die for the last time? watching everything and everyone you know age and die and change? the grand potential for loneliness and pain, but also the grand potential for love and ~humanity~?

idk. i'm kinda fucked up about it.

<3333