#spoilers for a movie from 2008 I guess

[starkwlkr]

Omfg I need like early on in the relationship between Hugh and marvel!reader where their relationship isn’t public and their papparazzi of them on set together coz they’re visiting eachother and everyone’s thinking xmen X mcu when in reality it’s just them together dating

no spoilers! | hugh jackman

an: ok since their first son was born in 2000 (it’s canon idk what date but it’s canon now lol) and the mcu started in 2008 I’m going to change a few things JUST TINY THINGS like the mcu being in development early on and marvel actress!reader being casted in the early 2000s. does that make sense?? idk this is fanfiction

2005

Getting a call from Marvel was something you never expected. Like many people, you grew up reading the comics and watching the tv shows. But now you had the chance of a lifetime. You were being offered a role in the first movie in the Marvel cinematic universe.

After having a meeting with the marvel executives and your manager, you were asked to keep the news of your casting a secret. The media was already wondering who was going to portray what heroes on the big screen and your name was being thrown around.

While your relationship was still a secret, you often visited Hugh on set of X-Men with Alex and Reese. You tried to keep your little family from the media as much a possible. You would watch Hugh get into his costume and do his stunts. You were always amazed at how much fun it would be to portray a superhero and now you were finally going to be able to.

A few months after you met with Marvel, you found out you were pregnant with your third baby. A girl. Thankfully you weren’t set to film yet since the film was still in development. When it was finally time to film ‘Iron Man’, you were more than ready. Your kids were a bit older so they finally got to watch you beat up bad guys like their dad did.

It was during the filming of ‘Iron Man 2’ when your secret was finally revealed to the world. You didn’t really know how it even happened . . . Your guess was that paparazzi somehow snuck in. Hugh was always careful when visiting you on set. Rumors were already circulating on the internet about a potential X-Men and Avengers team up. It didn’t help that Hugh was sporting his signature Wolverine hair when he visited the set. At least the kids weren’t with you.

“You look much better than me,” Hugh looked at your costume. He couldn’t stop staring, it was starting to make you weak in the knees. “at least you get comfortable suits. Remember the black suits from X-Men? The most uncomfortable shit ever.”

“The kids thought you looked cool.” You reminded him.

“Okay, that makes me feel better.”

As you and Hugh talked, some paparazzi were secretly taking photos. All they could think about was how well they were going to get paid for the exclusive photos. The X-Men joining the mcu? That was big news!

When the photos were published on every magazine, you couldn’t help but laugh. What a way to reveal your relationship. You definitely didn’t want to share the news this way, but you also didn’t want to lose your job.

“Maybe in a few years it’ll come true. You, me, X-Men and the Avengers.” He told you, giving you your morning coffee. The kids were still sleeping so you and Hugh took advantage of the quiet morning. You set the magazine down on the table and drank the coffee.

“It would be nice. Imagine what the kids will think. Mom and dad beating up the bad guys together,” you smiled at him. He took the opportunity to give you a kiss. As he pulled away, you whispered to him. “or it could be me kicking the wolverine’s ass.”

You and Hugh’s characters wouldn’t share the screen until 2024 when Deadpool & Wolverine premiered. Your kids were more than excited to see their parents fighting together.

@kellyxo1 @barnes70stark @ru-kru @flyestvenustrap @evasmlp

[wanderinginksplot]

What to watch during the writer's strike:

Don't pay attention to companies who blame writers for delayed movies and television shows! The WGA strike comes from people who are trying to make things better - not only for themselves and other writers, but the films and tv shows we all love.

While we wait for a resolution, I thought I would share some existing television shows that I enjoy. I didn't bother with too much well-known stuff. Instead, I focused on shows I feel many people missed because of the glut of content that all premiered at once over the last few years. (I may make another one of these for movies later on, but this one is about tv.)

[Update: Movie version here]

Feel free to add on! Just try to give a quick, spoiler-free synopsis for the show and the streaming service where it can be found.

List under the cut!

Netflix:

The Good Place (2016-2020) - A 'bad' woman is accidentally sent to heaven. She and her moral philosophy professor of a soulmate try to save her soul by making her a better person. Genre: Comedy with deeper implications and one of the best endings in television history.

Russian Doll (2019-2022) - When Nadia dies at her birthday party, she's more than a little confused to come back. Especially when it keeps happening. Genre: Time loop drama with a wicked sense of humor and a dash of theoretical physics. Potentially not ended?

Narcos (2015-2017) - The fight of the American DEA and the Colombian army against cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar and his reign of terror. Genre: Drama with thrilling elements. Lots of violence, some sex and language. Lots of subtitles. Features Pedro Pascal and Boyd Holbrook, if you need some extra incentive.

Derry Girls (2018-2022) - Five teens grow up in Derry, Ireland in the 1990s, amid the final years of the Troubles, a low-level war that lasted roughly 30 years. Genre: Comedy. Some sexual content, some religious content, less violence than you would expect, and the best nun ever to appear on film.

Arcane (2021-?) - Two sisters are alienated when one accidentally kills their adoptive father. Their different paths threaten the fragile peace of a city already on the breaking point. Genre: Drama with elements of action-adventure. Though it's animated, Arcane's animation is beautifully done with tantalizing steampunk elements that will keep you invested.

Disney+:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-2020) - If you haven't seen any of the Star Wars animated series, this is a good place to start. Set in the time gap between Episode II and Episode III, this series helps flesh out Anakin Skywalker and the Jedi. It is also a great introduction to some of the characters and plots of The Mandalorian. (Star Wars: Rebels is another good choice.) Genre: Adventure with some drama. Violence and death are a large part of The Clone Wars, but it's usually appropriate for children. The clone troopers will steal your heart!

Gravity Falls (2012-2016) - Dipper Pines and his sister Mabel are sent to Gravity Falls, Oregon to live with their great-uncle for their summer break. But when Dipper finds a mysterious book in the woods, the pair find that Gravity Falls is far more mysterious than it seems... Genre: Adventure with a lot of comedy. Though it's billed as a children's cartoon, Gravity Falls is an intriguing watch with mystery subplots that will keep anyone guessing. It also features a famously strong and cohesive series ending. I was in my late 20s when I first watched this and I was still invested!

Daredevil (2015-2018) - After being blinded as a young boy, Matthew Murdock trained his other senses to replace the sight that he lost. He uses his skills to protect the helpless in the New York City neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen. Genre: Action and superhero. Features a lot of incredibly choreographed violence. (Jessica Jones is also an excellent show to watch, especially if you think of David Tennant as the consummate 'good guy'. He's got range!)

HBO Max (Just 'Max' now, I guess):

Ghosts (2019-2023) - Petty roommate squabbles don't stop just because you're dead! Alison and her husband Mike inherit a house, then a near-death experience allows Alison to see its ghostly inhabitants. Chaos and humor ensue as the ghosts try to adjust to the house's new owners. Genre: Humor. Ghosts is a British sitcom, but since the writers are comedians (writing and performing in Horrible Histories), the show is done in a style that feels more natural to American viewers. Hint: watch the BBC version, not the American one. They're fairly similar, but definitely not the same!

Pushing Daisies (2007-2009) - A pie-maker with the ability to bring back the dead helps to solve murders. He's helped by his once-dead childhood sweetheart. Genre: Comedy with some dramatic elements. Some of the CGI-heavy moments haven't aged particularly well, but the show has a unique premise and an incredibly talented cast!

Hulu:

Abbott Elementary (2021-?) - This mockumentary series showcases an inner-city elementary school in Philadelphia. The teachers and administration do their best for the kids, but they're constrained by budgets and the limitations of the educational system itself. Genre: Comedy mockumentary. Though Abbott Elementary is fictional, some of the issues brought up are all too real. This is a funny and incisive look at the American public school system.

Amazon Prime:

Fleabag (2016-2019) - The unnamed protagonist of the show struggles through life on her own with limited support from her alienated family and the memories of her recently deceased best friend. Genre: Comedy with lots of dramatic elements. Lots of sexual content and references, some language, breaking the fourth-wall, and several characters you just long to hit. I watched the second season in a single day, that's how good this was.

Unknown Streaming Service:

Black Sails (2014-2017) - This prequel to Treasure Island features elements from the book, original characters, and real pirates from history in a setting that emphasizes realism. Captain Flint and his crew search for a legendary prize... one that might allow them to claim Nassau for their own. Genre: Action and adventure. Think Game of Thrones, but with pirates. Incredibly well-written and well-acted with gorgeous scenery, LGBTQ representation, and just enough historical accuracy to keep things grounded. Black Sails also boasts one of the best endings ever given for a television show.

Like I said, please feel free to reblog and add your own television show recommendations onto this list! There are plenty of things to watch and plenty of ways to support the WGA strike that don't involve giving in to big studios.

[thatscarletflycatcher]

Sense and Sensibility (2024, Hallmark) a review

I had expectations for this movie. They were not surpassed. It didn't perform below them either.

Spoilers under the cut.

So, this is a short movie (1.24hr long) a tv movie, a hallmark movie. You must keep that in mind as a frame of reference for what I'm about to say. You cannot really compare this with theatrical movies on equal footing.

Where to start. Costumes and sets. It is Bridgerton's world and we live in it. Everything is VERY colorful and shiny and not very real looking; that was to be expected. I think that sort of semi-fantasy aspect didn't hurt at all, and it was consistent. If you are not going to stick to the time period, at least go ham and show me something really interesting. I'm looking at you, Netflix Persuasion. There are some dresses that are pretty, and some others that... aren't. Considering that apparently the costume designer had to make something like 60 pieces in a month, it's kind of impressive that it came out as it did.

One funny bit, though, in this respect, is that they complain about how small the cottage is like some actual estate houses aren't the same size IRL XD Allenham we only get to see from afar, and it is rather disappointing.

Music: nothing to write home about, to be expected. Yes, we got one of those Vitamin String Quartet modern-song-played-by-strings. IDK. They were a bit dorky in their heyday, I don't know why they are so sought after in these pieces lately. I digress.

The acting. Deborah Ayorinde was a really good Elinor. She definitely deserved better writing and direction. The rest of the cast was good enough; I feel some roles really benefited from their characters being a bit hammy already in the source material (Lucy, Mrs Jennings, Anne, Fanny, Robert), others were really struggling because of being given very poor dialogue (Mrs Dashwood), and others were just... not good (Willoughby and Brandon, sadly). Edward was... a very special case. I can only describe it as the actor having two expressions: one, an attempt at reaching Hugh Grant's adorkableness AND Dan Stevens' ease at the same time, and two [SCREAMING INTERNALLY], but I guess those two were indeed enough to make it work just fine!

Which leads me to the writing. We all knew this adaptation was going to live or die in the writing, and most likely die.

The thing is that most of it is written around repeating 95' and 08's greatest hits, while attempting to compress the narrative into an hour and a half. And that goes as well as you can expect it to. Some scenes are painfully rushed -Brandon's backstory was extremely awkward to get through- some things are over before you have any time to assess their real weight -Marianne's illness, and many others end up being... incongruous.

Let me stop a little on those. The movie keeps Margaret, and gives her the whole play acting as a pirate with Edward from 95', but then removes the only real plot relevant thing she does in the book. So why keep the character at all? (Willoughby asks for Marianne's handkerchief in exchange for Queen Maab, instead of cutting a lock of her hair).

Because 2008 makes Brandon suspicious of Willoughby from the get go, this one makes it so that they know each other and implies that Brandon knows dirt on Willoughby, but then plays the rest of the story straight, which makes it... pretty inconsistent.

Speaking of Brandon, we have reached adaptation #5 that cuts out the fact that he tried to elope with Eliza sr. This time the backstory is that his father promised to let him marry Eliza if he proved himself as a soldier, but when he came back, he found his father has kicked her out of the house. Yeah, that was utter nonsense.

The adaptation makes a clumsy attempt at including the dinner at Mrs Ferrars... but Brandon isn't there to see Marianne defend Elinor.

We needed to have a "Brandon rescues Marianne in the rain" scene, but in this case, she's not faint or anything, he just grabs her because she's sad XD

And the list goes on and on and on. It was to be expected that the shadow of both 95 and 08 would be large over this one, but it truly is to the point that the references and contrivances are almost constant. Which is a pity because I think most of the original choices were interesting.

For example, Marianne twists her ankle running after Margaret, to try and stop her from asking something embarrassing, which is a good choice in terms of showing that Marianne is passionate, but she has more sense than Margaret.

On his deathbed, Mr Dashwood makes Elinor promise that she will take care of her mom and sisters and keep the family together. That added pressure on Elinor works really well in the context of the adaptation, and ads a new layer of interest.

John Dashwood is written mostly as a hapless but not malicious idiot. This is similar to what From Prada to Nada did (though there it made more sense because of the father having two families simultaneously), but I'm not sure where was that going. They did cut the Palmers, so I suppose the choice was so that they could go to Norland instead on their way to Barton (it is never established that Norland is so far away as it is in the book, so I guess one could give it a pass), but in that case, I feel the most cost effective shortcut is... have them go to Barton? Because we do get to see Barton (Marianne goes alone with Brandon to see it close to the end, and they get engaged before Edward returns, don't think much about it, manners and such are... for this movie... loose guidelines. But it isn't super offensive most of the time).

Anne Steele is decent fun as she's supposed to be, but Lucy really suffers the flattening. The mastermind has been flanderized into just a mean girl, and that's a pity.

Oh, Edward is sassy at times! And the sassy jokes land! I have to say it is not my preferred way of doing the character, but he does show some sass at the end of the novel, so, you know, I'll allow it I suppose XD

Edward's return and proposal started pretty good, but it overstayed its welcome. I cannot emphasize enough that, when writing this kind of proposal, you must avoid the word love if you can, and if you must use it, use it once, and with great reluctance.

The movie chooses to dedicate quite a time to the reveal of Edward and Lucy's relationship, and it's honestly... decent? For a scene made out of whole cloth it stands on its own feet reasonably well. But there's no Fanny freakout. This is probably the most shocking plot twist in the adaptation. This very on-the-nose Hallmark adaptation decided to cut the Fanny freakout of all things. Impressive restraint.

One thing, however, that was sadly cut out was Elinor and Marianne's conversation about Willoughby at Barton. It is instead replaced by an unsubtle comparison between Willoughby and Edward, and an exchange between Brandon and Marianne. It is one of the several points where the storytelling relies on previous knowledge of the work.

These are my main, disordered thoughts. I leave you with this choice from the ending, that I cannot form a thought about:

At Elinor and Edward's wedding, on the first pew are in attendance, from center to side: Mrs Dashwood, Margaret, Marianne, colonel Brandon... and Eliza Williams with her baby in her arms.

As a summary, I'd say Elinor and Edward's story was good enough, the relationship between the sisters was sweet, there were some odd choices, some interesting choices, and overall the writing was severely downgraded by attempting so much to stick to the choices of previous famous adaptations.

[yo-snap]

Hi, idk how to format fanfiction here. THIS IS FANFICTION!!!

Fandom: WALL-E (2008)

Title: Gender

Characters: M-O, WALL-E, AUTO, EVE, GO-2 (a GO-4 oc)

Rating: Everyone Language: English Word Count: 2,976 (excluding notes)

[A/N: I thought you tumblrinas would read this. It has a GO-4 fancharacter that i call "GO-2 (GO-4 Unit 2)" he's a robot doctor, and AUTO is that cringe ass version i posted whenever ago.

Some people like talking about gender. I don't. But it's something that comes up with robots a lot I WONDER WHY. (It's because all robots are QUEER, and denial of that is bigotry.) Anyway, here we go w the WALL-E squad bc i said so. Might be a little rambly. Spoilers: you might not like what i have to say.

TW/CW: i don't care about your feelings, INTERPRETATIONS!!!! gender stuff, lgbt+ stuff (implied), talking w friends, personal questions/feelings, misgendering??? (not really), surprise, walking in on someone, computer repairs (mentioned), meeting friends, running off, i don't mention who is talking every single time so don't hang on things]

“I'm just a little fella.”

“You're just a little guy.”

“I'm like just a little guy.”

“You're a little fella guy.”

“I'm just a little fella guy.”

AUTO turned to the two cubic robots that were talking. They seemed to be having a deep conversation.

“I'm like just the littlest fella.”

“You're the littlest fella that i know.”

“I'm like a pretty little fella.”

“You're like small.”

“I'm like a small guy.”

“Like a little fella of sorts.”

“I'm like a little fella, right???”

WALL-E nodded. “You're like a little fella.”

“Like a little guy, right???”

“Are you a guy, M-O???” AUTO couldn't keep quiet anymore.

“Huh???” They both turned to him.

“Are you a ‘guy?’ Do you consider yourself masculine???”

“‘Masculine???’ What do you mean???”

“You mean like a man, right? A male human???” WALL-E was somewhat familiar with the concept.

“Correct. Do you relate yourself personally to men???”

M-O thought. “Huh. I guess i never thought about that.” He considered. “Um… I'm gonna say ‘no,’ not really.”

“I see.”

“I think you're a little guy, but i don't think you're very male-like, M-O.”

AUTO beeped. “I would be inclined to agree. I would not consider you very masculine from an outside perspective.”

M-O considered. “But i'm still like a little guy, right???”

AUTO paused and made another tone. “Affirmative, you are just a little guy. A little fella. Small.”

“Thank you.”

“You know, i don't think i've ever thought about that myself either.” They looked at him. “I mean, i know that men and women are different. I know it's an important thing for them. But i never really gave any thought to which side i relate myself more to.”

“Have you not?”

“Nah, not really. I might relate to a character in a movie or something, but them being either male or female didn't really affect how i saw them.” He tapped his eyepiece. “I guess maybe i'm a little more masculine, since the characters that i relate to more are usually men… Or, well, at the same time, i do have a lot of women characters that i relate to, too. Hmm. I don't know!”

AUTO made a tone. “Do you think you are similar to both? Or to neither???”

He was thinking. He seemed to be struggling, as he grumbled a bit. “I-i'm sorry, what??? What's the difference?”

“Pardon. I mean to say, do you believe that they are both similar to how you see yourself? Or, do you believe that they are both different???”

“Uh…” He still wasn't understanding. “I don't know! I guess both???”

“Both what???” M-O asked, also bamboozled by the question.

“I don't know!!!”

“I apologize. I suppose the question is a bit unclear. I do not know how to say what i mean.”

WALL-E continued to think. “I guess i'm kind of masculine. And i guess i'm kind of… what's the other one? ‘Feminine???’” AUTO nodded. “And i guess i'm also kind of neither of those. I'm kind of…”

“You're kind of a silly guy.”

“Affirmative, he is just a silly guy.”

He had been trying to phrase it, but they distracted him. “Um… sure. Yeah… Thanks.”

“I believe that i understand what you are trying to say, WALL-E. It can be a very difficult thing to define. Do you find that your opinion of it changes at times???”

WALL-E considered. “Yeah. Yeah, i guess. Kind of.” He nodded. “Sure. It changes.”

AUTO nodded. “I understand. That makes sense. I have often found you difficult to classify in those regards as well. I cannot say that you are more similar to one than the other, and i cannot always say that you are similar to either of those.”

“What about me, AUTO? Am i ‘feminine???’” M-O bounced for attention.

AUTO studied him for a moment. “Not very. Perhaps in some regards, you are more feminine than masculine: as cleanliness is typically more associated with women than men. But i would not say that you are very feminine at all.”

“I think you're a good balance, M-O. You're no more feminine than you are masculine, at least to me.”

“But how do you perceive yourself??? Your opinion of yourself is the most important.”

M-O shook his head. “I don't relate more to women than i do men. I think you're both right about me. I like being neither.”

AUTO nodded. “That makes sense. I am happy that you are comfortable.”

“Well, what about you, AUTO??? How do you see yourself???” WALL-E cocked his head.

“I find the perception of myself somewhat similar to both of you. Most times, i do not consider myself either masculine or feminine. But other times, i consider myself feminine.”

WALL-E made a shocked tone. “Whoa, really??!! You consider yourself feminine?!”

AUTO felt awkward. “Yeees… Is that surprising???”

WALL-E fidgeted. “W-well… yeah, a little. I didn't usually see you as either, but i would have said you were slightly more masculine than you are feminine.”

“I understand why you say that. My voice chip is rather low, which is a masculine trait. And i suppose that first encounters are important for how you perceive somebody. I may have come across as more masculine when we first met. Is that your opinion???”

“Y-yeah, i guess that has something to do with it.” He glanced away. “Um, i'm sorry, i didn't mean to make this awkward.”

“There is no need to apologize. I appreciate your input. Would you like to know why i consider myself more feminine???” WALL-E nodded, and M-O beeped in the affirmative.

“The AUTOPILOTs are each essentially part of a triad. There is us, and there is the onboard computer, and there is the ship. The onboard computer was given a feminine voice, much more human in intonation than mine is. Many of her dialog options were recorded at one time by a human woman. She was given the ability to synthesize new words using the phonemes, er, rather, the sounds of the languages with which she was installed. She can answer questions and relay various items from her library, but she is not quite the same variety of AI that we are.

“The ships are considered feminine. Humans have almost always referred to ships as feminine, out of tradition. To my knowledge, it is in relation to the safety and protection provided by a mother or a goddess, or sometimes it is in accordance with the idea of ‘Mother Nature.’” He glanced down at a very confused M-O. “Um… they just refer to vessels as feminine.”

“Okay. And since you're part of the three, you consider yourself feminine, too???” WALL-E was following along.

“Correct. Not always, but on occasion. I feel it would be a bit silly not to. I believe that i have some traditionally feminine traits, such as the concern that i have for the safety of my passengers and robots. I am very diligent in reviewing the information that the computer provides and making adjustments as necessary in order to maintain their safety. I also try my best to accommodate my captains and remind them of their personal needs. I believe that i am sometimes somewhat motherly, which is typically the most feminine that an individual can be.” He thought. “But i suppose those traits could be seen as fatherly as well, depending on inflection or interpretation.”

“I think that might have been what it was for me. Sorry for misinterpreting you.” WALL-E made an apologetic tone.

“That is quite alright. I believe many of my captains have interpreted that as well. Most have used only masculine pronouns when referring to me. I do not mind. I wonder how i would feel if i had been referred to with feminine pronouns.” He tapped his face.

“I always thought you were neither, AUTO. You're too smart to be compared to a human.”

He made a tone. “Thank you, M-O.” He reached down and pet the top of M-O’s head, making him wiggle and chirp happily.

WALL-E made a delighted tone. “I wonder what Eva would say. I don’t think i’ve ever asked her what she thinks.”

“Do you think she’s done with her tune up yet???”

“Inconclusive. Let us ask.” AUTO floated over to the console that connected to the various areas of the ship and put the line through to the repair ward. They could see the video feed on the screen, and it showed GO-2 working on Eva’s body compartment. The three of them made embarrassed and flustered tones, and the two robots on the other end looked over at the camera. “Apologies!!! I did not intend to disrupt!”

GO-2 and Eva glanced at one another, and he floated between her and the camera. “It is no issue. May i help you with something, AUTO???”

“Oh, nothing important. We were just curious as to the estimated time at which Eva's tune up will be complete.” The others were chattering in the background.

GO-2 considered for a moment. “I believe we are almost finished. We should be roughly completed by the time WALL-E and M-O arrive here, if they intend to meet Eva.”

“Ooh, really???” WALL-E glanced at the screen again after being too embarrassed to look.

“Affirmative. We will not be much longer.”

M-o beeped. “Oh, yeah, let's go meet her!”

“Thank you, GO-2. End transmission.”

GO-2 saluted at the camera, and AUTO turned off the line. He turned to his friends. “You are leaving now???”

“In a minute. Do you wanna come with us, AUTO???”

AUTO thought about it. “I am unsure. I do not want Eva to be upset with me.”

“Oh, you worry too much! We'll just tell her that we bugged you until you connected to the ward.” M-O pat AUTO's arm to comfort him.

“We'll always take the blame when Eva's mad at you, AUTO!”

He made a low tone. “Thank you, WALL-E. But i highly doubt the effectiveness of your efforts.”

The three of them made their way towards the repair bay. They didn't have a MVR with them, so it took them a bit longer; and M-O latched onto WALL-E after a little while ‘to not slow them down.’ The others knew that wasn't why he did it, but they would have both admitted to wanting to carry him in their hands if they were asked. M-O didn't want them to fight about it.

They entered to see Eva waiting around after her repairs were completed. It must have been just before they got there, as GO-2 was still updating her repair log. He inputted the last bit of info and hurried over to see his friends. “Hello all! How are you today???”

M-O zipped over to circle around Eva. He beeped happily and circled around GO-2 as well. “Hiii GO-2!!!”

WALL-E rolled up beside Eva and they both reached to hold hands. “Hi GO-2! We're good, how are you???”

“I am well, thank you. It is always a pleasure to work on Eva.”

“It's a pleasure to be here, GO-2!” Eva made a bright tone.

“I must apologize, Eva. I sincerely did not mean to invade your privacy as i did.” AUTO made a low tone and cautiously hovered toward GO-2.

WALL-E beeped quickly. “Uh, it was my idea, Eva! We thought you were almost done.”

“Uh, yeah, i was the one that said that. Heheh, i guess i got my timing off. Sorry.” 

She rolled her eyes. “It's fine, guys. We're all robots here.”

“Oh yeah, that's why we all came down here!” M-O rolled between GO-2 and Eva. “AUTO asked us about how we think about ourselves! Like if we're more similar to men or women.” He beeped. “I said that i was neither. WALL-E said that he was both and also neither. And he was really surprised by what AUTO said about himself!”

“Okay!!! But to be fair, you guys have all known him a lot longer than i have!!!”

That made Eva curious. “What did he say???”

“That he believes that he is somewhat feminine???”

“You knew that, GO-2???!!!” This was still an intense point for WALL-E.

He made a tone. “Of course. I am a sort of psychiatrist as well as a regular doctor to our robots. We have talked about this at length.”

“GO-2 was the first person that i told. I additionally simply trusted him as a friend.” AUTO put his hand on GO-2's back.

“Wait, what does ‘feminine’ mean???” Eva cocked her head.

“It's like a woman. ‘Masculine’ is like a man.” M-O wanted to make sure he still understood, and was satisfied that no one corrected him.

“Oh.” She processed. “So AUTO is like a woman???”

“W-well, partially. I typically see myself as neither masculine nor feminine.”

Eva thought for a moment. “I guess that makes sense.”

“How do you see yourself, Eva???”

She glanced at WALL-E. “I think it makes sense to be neither. I don't think i'm more like women than i am man. And i don't think i'm like men very much at all.” She beeped. “I guess i'd have to think about it.”

“Well– can i tell you what i think???” WALL-E wanted to share.

“Um, sure.”

“Okay, so when i first saw you, i thought you were beautiful. Gorgeous. Completely amazing. I was astounded. I couldn't believe my optics. You were incredible. You–”

“Yes, WALL-E, we know how you felt.” All of them, especially Eva, had heard WALL-E's first impression of her a hundred times before.

He made an awkward tone. “Er, w-well, i thought you were a little bit masculine in appearance. Like in shape, anyway. You were kind of like… like a triangle???” He put his hands together to demonstrate the upside-down shape that he meant. “Which is like a man. And especially with the ion rifle. I thought you were like an action hero, which are usually men.

“But then i saw you up close, and i heard your cute little giggle, and i wasn't sure anymore! And then we actually met, and your voice was so sweet and beautiful and wonderful, and i thought it was really feminine! Aaand after that i kind of lost it again. I think you're kind of like both, and also like neither. I wonder if you and i are alike like that.”

AUTO made a quiet tone. “M-may i offer my opinion???”

She slowly turned to him and glanced him up and down. “Sssuuure.”

He tapped his fingers together nervously. “W-well, i will say concisely: i view you as more feminine than masculine. In regards to shape, you are very rounded, and i believe that you were designed to look like an upside-down egg, which are things that come from female animals. Your directive had you incubate plant samples, which can also be considered feminine, as females are almost always the ones to incubate within their bodies.

“Your voice chip is also more feminine than masculine. I like it very much. But i have to believe that you were intended to be seen as feminine completely, as you were given a name that reflects the Biblical character of the first woman. I would say that your, rather, all of the EVEs’ intention was to be feminine: but you personally are not completely feminine. I think you are you, Eva. I admire that about you.”

There was silence for a few seconds, and AUTO thought he might have said something wrong. “I also think you're just Eva. You're a round fella.” M-O wanted his opinion to be known.

“Like how you're a little fella.” She didn't say it as a question.

“Exaaaactlyyyyy.” He nodded his head and looked at everyone as if trying to convince them.

“What about you, GO-2??? Do you have an opinion about yourself???” WALL-E didn't want him to be left out.

He turned to him. “Not exactly. Not in those parameters. I suppose that i can be either feminine or masculine, depending on how i am viewed. Human doctors do not have a typical gender… or, rather, they are not typically men, nor typically women: they are both. As for how i see myself, i do not give it much thought. I am usually too busy to consider that aspect of myself. I like who i am, and do not feel that i need to label myself as either masculine or feminine.”

“Yeah, me too!” M-O chirped.

“Affirmative, i feel that way as well most times.” AUTO nodded.

“I guess i'm kind of like that too. But now i am gonna think about it, because you guys are saying that i seem feminine. Maybe i'll agree with you.” Eva still needed some time.

“I can understand that. But i also want to think that i could be either. I wonder what it would be like to be a man or a woman.” WALL-E tapped his eyepiece.

“Well, whatever it's like, i'm sure it's not as fun as this!” Eva took off out of the repait ward, giggling and looking back as she did.

“Eva!!!” WALL-E called after her and dashed to follow.

“Oh, i'll catch you guys later! See ya!!!!” M-O sped off as fast as he could. “Hey guys, wait up!!! I'M JUST A LITTLE FELLA!!!”

AUTO and GO-2 watched them leave. They were both glad to see that they were so happy.

“You know, AUTO…” He turned to look at GO-2. “I could always try to adjust your voice chip. Perhaps i could help you sound more feminine. If you would like that.”

He made a tone. “Thank you for the offer, GO-2. But i am content with my voice as it is currently. It is how i have always sounded, and that voice matches me now. But thank you for offering again. I always appreciate it.” He affectionately pet GO-2 on his siren, and GO-2 made a satisfied tone.

[Post a/n: check under your chairs, i lost the ending again. Oops.

Heeeyy, there you go. THEY'RE QUEER! And i don't care if you don't agree. To clarify: M-O is gender neutral, WALL-E is genderfluid, AUTO is demifemme/gender neutral, Eva is questioning nonbinary, and GO-2 is agender. They use the pronouns that i used here. That's my version. Peace sign.

This is cross-posted on FFN and AO3 under the title "GO-4 It!!!"]

[the-rewatch-rewind]

An old movie with a very relevant name.

Script below the break.

Hello and welcome back to The Rewatch Rewind! My name is Jane, and this is the podcast where I count down my top 40 most frequently rewatched movies over the last 20 years. Today I will be discussing number 14 on my list: MGM’s 1944 psychological thriller Gaslight, directed by George Cukor, written by John Van Druten, Walter Reisch, and John L Balderston, based on the play by Patrick Hamilton, and starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, and Joseph Cotten.

So first of all, if you’re thinking, “Gaslight? As in, to deny someone’s reality to the point that they can no longer trust their own perceptions?” then, yes, you’re absolutely correct: this movie (and the play it’s based on and the 1940 British film it’s a remake of) is where that term comes from. So I’m just going to give a blanket content warning for this whole episode: I will be talking a lot about psychological and emotional abuse. This is an incredibly well-made movie, which is why I keep revisiting it, but I recognize that not everybody is in the right place to hear stories about gaslighting, so please, take care of yourself, and skip this episode if you think it’s going to cause you distress.

That being said, I truly have no idea why “gaslighting” suddenly became a popular buzzword in the last 10 years or so, or how it has evolved to be misapplied to any form of lying. I’ve even heard people talk about how someone is “gaslighting” them when they merely disagree about something. So despite how incredibly dark and disturbing this movie is, I really think everyone should watch it, if for no other reason than to learn how to use the term correctly. But there’s obviously a lot more to it than that, which I will get into. But first, my traditional plot summary:

When her aunt and guardian, a famous opera star, is murdered in their London home, young Paula Alquist (Ingrid Bergman) is sent to Italy to train as a singer. Ten years later, she is swept off her feet by her new accompanist, Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer), and after knowing each other only two weeks, they get married. Though she is still haunted by her aunt’s unsolved murder, upon hearing that Gregory has always wanted to live in London, Paula suggests that they move into her old house. As they settle in, Gregory’s behavior gradually changes, and Paula begins to feel like she is losing her mind.

The main thing I remember about the first time I watched this movie was thinking it wasn’t a very good mystery, since it’s pretty obvious fairly early on who the bad guy is. But by the end it became clear that it was never meant to be a mystery, but rather a map of red flags to watch out for, as well as a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of how easy it can be to ignore them until it’s too late. Or, I guess I should say, almost too late, since, spoiler alert: the movie does have a mostly happy ending. Anyway, I had never seen a movie like this before and it fascinated me. I watched it twice in 2003, once in 2004, once in 2006, once in 2007, twice in 2008, three times in 2012, once in 2013, once in 2014, twice in 2015, twice in 2016, once in 2017, once in 2018, once in 2020, twice in 2021, and once in 2022. I also saw the 1940 version once in 2006. I don’t remember much about it other than I thought it was pretty good, but the remake was better. And a big part of that is because of the cast of the remake. One of my 2015 views of the remake was part of my watching through Best Actress winners project because Ingrid Bergman won the first of her three Oscars for this film. Apparently at the time I ranked this performance as the 7th best to win that award, and now if anything I feel like that was too low. The more I rewatch this movie, the more impressed I am by what a difficult job she had and how thoroughly she crushed it.

Paula is an incredibly complex character who undergoes a significant emotional journey. At the beginning, though she’s definitely still haunted by the trauma of her youth, she’s mostly happy and hopeful and vivacious. And then all of that slowly dims as Gregory’s manipulations escalate, almost as if she is a gas light that he’s turning down. That’s not why the movie is called Gaslight, though; it’s called that because one of the early signs that something sketchy is going on is when Paula starts to notice lights dimming as if someone turned a new light on somewhere else in the house, but nobody else seems to notice this and she can’t find a good explanation for it. But watching Paula go from a lively, lovestruck newlywed to basically a zombie struggling to find a shred of reality she can trust also feels like watching a gas light flame go down. And it would have been so easy to either overdo or undersell this descent into confusion, but Ingrid Bergman perfectly balances every moment. You can see Paula starting to doubt herself more and more as her actions and words become more hesitant and her looks become more vague, until she begins to resign herself to the fact that Gregory must be right, she must be insane, there’s nothing more she can do. It’s so painful and heartbreaking that I desperately want to reach through the screen and comfort her and tell her what’s really going on. And then, just when I almost can’t stand it anymore, Joseph Cotten shows up to do that for me. He plays Inspector Brian Cameron of Scotland Yard, a childhood fan of Paula’s aunt who happens to see Paula one of the few times she’s out with Gregory in London, which leads him to reopen the cold case of her aunt’s murder and figure out what’s going on just in time to help Paula. The implication that Paula needs a man to rescue her is one thing I don’t love about this movie, but at the same time I think it’s important to acknowledge that Gregory was so effective at – for lack of a better term – gaslighting her that she could not have escaped that situation without help.

Not to take any of the credit away from Bergman for her stellar performance, but I do think it helped that George Cukor was the director. Longtime listeners may recognize his name from Holiday, which was number 33 on this list, and Adam’s Rib, which was number 27, both of which have significantly lighter tones. Gaslight feels much more like an Alfred Hitchcock picture than a George Cukor one. Cukor apparently didn’t like being referred to as a “woman’s director,” but he had a reputation for his ability to coax great performances out of actresses, and this is certainly no exception. In order to help Bergman keep track of Paula’s gradual descent toward madness while shooting out of order, Cukor would tell her the whole plot up to the scenes they were filming each day, which Bergman initially resented, but then he stopped doing it for a few days and she realized how helpful it had been, and they went back to doing it that way. I do think Ingrid Bergman would have been great in this role regardless of who the director was, but George Cukor helped elevate her to the best she could possibly be.

While Bergman’s performance is far and away my favorite aspect of this movie, the rest of the cast is also phenomenal, albeit rather small. It definitely has that based-on-a-play feel of limited locations and few characters, although that also works very well with the story. Part of Gregory’s strategy is to cut Paula off from the rest of the world so she won’t have a safety net. Consequently, for most of the film she only interacts with him and their two servants: the kind but mostly-deaf cook, Elizabeth, played by Barbara Everest, and the saucy, flirtatious maid, Nancy, played by none other than 18-year-old Angela Lansbury in her film debut, both of whom are absolutely perfect in their roles. I love Everest’s delivery of “I see just how it is” when Gregory is trying to keep Elizabeth on his side without realizing that she’s always been firmly on Paula’s. And Lansbury embodies the exact attitude required for Nancy: flirtatious toward Gregory, disdainful toward Paula, totally oblivious to how she’s being manipulated until the end – all conveyed with every look she gives and line she speaks as if she’s a veteran actor. It comes as absolutely no surprise that she went on to have such a long and successful career, with this as her first screen performance. She was even nominated for an Oscar! And then there’s the neighbor Miss Thwaites, played by Dame May Whitty, who adds some much-needed levity with her “diggy biscuits” and morbid curiosity about the house in her square where there was a “real murder!” Joseph Cotten’s role is honestly pretty bland – kind of the film noir version of a classic Disney prince, in a way – but he makes the most of it. And then there’s Charles Boyer, giving one of the best creepy villain performances I’ve ever seen, which was also Oscar-nominated. He starts out just sort of vaguely unsettling, raising one or two red flags right off the bat, but like, he could still be okay, and then by the end he is full-on terrifying. He has this amazing stone-faced look that makes your blood run cold. There’s this one moment in particular, kind of toward the middle, when Miss Thwaites and Inspector Cameron (posing as her nephew) have tried to visit them, and Gregory tells Nancy to send them away. Paula wanted to let them in but he freaked out so she backed down, and then after Nancy leaves she again says she wanted to see them, and he’s like, “Oh, why didn’t you say so?” and it makes me want to scream. Then he tells her she didn’t have time to see them because they’re going out to the theater, and Paula’s like, “I didn’t know that…or did I forget?” and Gregory, facing the camera with his back to her, opens his mouth to respond, and then stops and waits for her to dwell on that for a few more seconds before he tells her that no, this is a surprise, and both his face and her face are so perfect there, I love it and hate it so much. Like, I love it from a “this movie is so well acted” perspective, and I hate it from a “this character is a horrible human being” perspective. And then Paula gets overly happy, since she’s been trapped in the house for so long that him letting her go out seems like a wonderful gift. But then he “notices” that a picture is missing from the wall, and makes her think she hid it, and they end up not going out because she’s “too unwell.”

That’s the main way he manipulates her: by moving things and making it look like she took them. What’s particularly interesting about the way the movie shows this is we never actually see Gregory taking any of the things, but it is nevertheless clear that he has been. But he is so insistent that she’s doing it that we can easily believe that Paula wouldn’t suspect him, or that if she did, she would have significant doubts. And even if she did figure it out, it’s not like there’s anything she can do about it. She’s in London for the first time in a decade, she doesn’t know anyone, she doesn’t have anywhere to go, and she’s not sure she can trust her own mind. And I think it’s so important that the movie at no point faults her for ending up in that situation or for not being able to leave. The movie also gives no indication that Gregory is physically harming Paula, but leaves the audience in no doubt that he is an abusive husband. And I feel like the messages that abuse doesn’t have to be physical and that it’s never the victim’s fault are still too rare in media today, let alone nearly 80 years ago. I feel like back then most unhealthy relationships in movies were in the His Girl Friday vein of “they’re kind of both abusing each other so it’s fine” or would find other ways for excusing or explaining the abusive behavior, like “the abuser was drunk” or “the victim was asking for it” or what have you. And if they weren’t like that, the victim usually ended up dead. In Gaslight, Gregory has no excuse. I mean, he does have a reason, but it’s a terrible reason that in no way justifies his actions. And Paula not only survives, but also gets an incredibly satisfying confrontation with Gregory after Brian and another policeman have tied him up. When the police leave them alone together, Gregory pleads with her to get a knife and cut him free, and for a moment you think she’s actually going to help him, but she gets her revenge by pretending she can’t find the knife and saying she’s too insane to help him, forcing him to admit that he has lied to her and she isn’t actually mad. And she wraps up her great payback with: “If I were not mad, I could have helped you. Whatever you had done, I could have pitied and protected you. But because I am mad, I hate you. Because I am mad, I have betrayed you. And because I'm mad, I'm rejoicing in my heart, without a shred of pity, without a shred of regret, watching you go with glory in my heart!” So she turns his gaslighting around on him, and it’s amazing. Although I must admit that right after that when she cries, “Mr. Cameron! Take this man away!” is the one part when I feel like Ingrid Bergman overdoes it just a little bit and gets too melodramatic, but after everything Paula has been through, she deserves as many melodramatic moments as she wants.

I would prefer it if the movie didn’t conclude with the implication that Paula is going to end up romantically involved with Brian, but again, she deserves all the happiness she can get, and if that’s what’s going to make her happy, I’m all for it. And I guess we can claim Miss Thwaites as aroace representation, since she seems to be an old maid with no interest in romance. This movie also speaks to my aromanticism and asexuality in a different, unique way. Because to a certain extent, being aroace in an allonormative, amatonormative society kind of feels like the entire world is gaslighting you. Of course, I don’t mean to imply that my experiences have been anywhere near as horrendous as someone like Paula’s – having your reality cruelly and intentionally twisted by a partner is on an entirely different level from not quite fitting in with the dominant culture’s concept of reality. Still, being constantly bombarded with the message that all mature humans frequently experience sexual and romantic attraction, and that a universal top life goal is to find a partner you’re attracted to that way, when you don’t feel those attractions and don’t desire that kind of partner, is incredibly confusing and disorienting. Once you become an adult, or even a teenager, people start giving you knowing looks when they hear you’ve been hanging out with a friend one-on-one, especially if that friend happens to be of the opposite sex. And you don’t think you like any of your friends “that way” but you also don’t really know what liking someone “that way” feels like so you start to think maybe you don’t know your own feelings. And if you’re lucky, your brain subconsciously decides that you do have crushes like a normal person, they’re just always on movie stars, most of whom are dead, which you realize is weird, but it’s an understandable kind of weird. Nobody believes you when you say you don’t have a crush on anybody, but if you show them a picture of Cary Grant and say, “I have a crush on him,” that makes sense to them. And so you end up becoming convinced that you’re experiencing types of attraction that you’re not, to the point that when you first hear about asexuality you don’t even consider the possibility that it could describe you. And of course, when I say “you” I mean “me”; I can’t speak for all aroaces, although I do think most of us experience some form of that confusion before we figure out that our identity exists. I feel like there’s a relatively widespread perception that aromantic and/or asexual people are just single allos who want to feel special by giving themselves a label, but for me, the opposite is true. Using the aroace label makes me feel less special, because now I know there are other people out there like me, after spending so much time trying to play along with the attraction I thought I was supposed to be feeling. It’s honestly been kind of difficult to unlearn this, to teach myself how to even recognize, let alone trust, what I’m actually feeling versus the socially acceptable way to be feeling about other people.

It’s weird because, looking back, it’s so obvious to me that I was faking crushes, that I was just parroting things I’d heard when I talked about them, that I was just smiling and nodding when people would say things like, “Isn’t that person hot?” But at the time, I absolutely could not admit that, even to myself, because I felt like, in order to be human, I must be experiencing what I’d been led to believe were universal human emotions that went along with sexual and romantic attraction. Back in 2013 I blogged about all the movies I’d seen at least 10 times in 10 years, and I just re-read my post about Gaslight, in which I apparently wrote that I found Joseph Cotten attractive in this movie. I don’t remember thinking or writing that, but I’m sure if I’d been asked to elaborate, I would have said I thought he was hot or whatever, even though I absolutely did not, I just thought I was supposed to. I wasn’t consciously lying; I had become convinced that I felt things I didn’t. Although, now that I think about it, maybe I really was attracted to him, not sexually or romantically, but in terms of the way his character functions in the story. I desperately needed someone to show up and tell me that the problem wasn’t with my mind and provide me with some key information I was missing that would explain what was going on, just like Brian does for Paula. Again, her experience was much more horrifying than mine, but learning that some people are aromantic and asexual, that not feeling those kinds of attraction is perfectly normal for those people, was almost as revelatory to me as learning that her husband killed her aunt and was trying to drive her mad was to Paula. Maybe it sounds like I’m the one being melodramatic now, but I don’t know how else to explain how messed up it is to spend decades convincing yourself and everyone else that you’re feeling things you’re not, and what a relief it is to learn that you were right all along and can finally take the mask off. And that’s why I’ve been focusing so much on looking at movies from an aromantic and asexual perspective on this podcast. Because I don’t want anyone else to go through all that. I want everyone to know that amatonormativity and allonormativity are lies, both because I want people on the aromantic and/or asexual spectrums to understand themselves sooner than I understood myself, and because I want alloromantic, allosexual people to know that not everyone is like them. I don’t blame the allo people I was surrounded with for perpetuating these norms because they didn’t know better. I know they weren’t really trying to gaslight me. But I would like to live in a society where most people do know better.

Anyway, I appreciate this movie for understanding me in ways that I couldn’t articulate until recently. But that’s far from the only reason it’s this high on my list. Again, I truly cannot overemphasize how phenomenal the acting is. Ingrid Bergman was always wonderful, but she took it to a whole other level here, and the rest of the cast were similarly at the top of their game. I never get tired of watching them act together, particularly when I’m in the mood for something a little darker. Like the other Ingrid Bergman movie I talked about, Notorious, I’m not sure whether Gaslight “counts” as film noir, because it has some of the typical noir tropes but lacks other important ones. But from a lighting and cinematography perspective, it definitely feels like a noir, so if you enjoy that style, you’ll probably appreciate this movie. It was nominated for a total of seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Screenplay, and Black-and-White Cinematography, in addition to the three acting nominations I mentioned earlier for Bergman, Boyer, and Lansbury. The only Oscar it won besides Best Actress was for Art Direction, which is something I don’t generally pay a ton of attention to, but the set is particularly important in Gaslight. The house almost functions as a character: it’s Gregory’s accomplice in torturing Paula, and the increasingly cluttered look of the rooms helps emphasize the way it’s trapping her. And, of course, there are the real, vintage gasoliers that give the movie its title and add greatly to its mood. So both of this movie’s Oscars were thoroughly deserved.

Thank you for listening to me discuss another of my most frequently rewatched films. This wraps up the 4-way tie of movies I saw 22 times from 2003 through 2022. I wonder how many other people out there have watched Beauty and the Beast, A Mighty Wind, His Girl Friday, and Gaslight the same number of times in the last 20 years. Anyway, I didn’t watch any movies exactly 23 times, so next up is the only one I watched 24 times, which is also one that I have a LOT of feelings and personal stories about, so stay tuned for what I’m sure will be a particularly long and rambling episode that I hope will be fun to listen to. As always, I will leave you with a quote from that next movie: “I don’t need to act things out in order to write them. I have what we like to call an ‘imagination.’ Have you ever heard of that? Oh, no no no no no, please tell us more about the old man… and the boat.”

[canarydarity]

howdy! it's day 1 of MCYT fanfic appreciation week, and i was wondering if you had any future writing projects or other ideas that you wanted an excuse to talk about :D no pressure whatsoever to answer this ask, just thought i'd reach out ♡

HI :')) this absolutely made my day to receive, and also served as reminder to me that yesterday was that events start day!!! so thank you for that!!!!

i will always always always take an excuse to talk about the fic ideas that are rotting my brain <3

I'm going to talk about 3 projects; 1) yet another DL rancher one-shot 2) my current brain rot go to: speed racer au 3) and a worm tried and true classic: gay baseball au

cut here because....i am a rambler

I'll start with what y'all are most likely to see next,,,

After the second session of Limlife came out, I wrote a little vignette from Tango's pov that included a throw-away scene from DL where someone left a golden apple on the ranchers porch in the middle of the night as an extremely un-funny joke. And that. idea has haunted me since I thought of it,,, I outlined it months and months ago though never got around to writing it... but for some reason a few days ago I opened that doc again and it just sorta. happened.

it's only about halfway done right now, but if all goes well it might be up by the end of the week :)) small preview mayhaps:

The door not yet having been opened, the possibility of what was waiting for him on the other side yawned and stretched towards endless. In a way, not knowing but speculating was worse than just opening the damn thing and facing the one singular scenario that was, but that was why he struggled to do it. Schrodinger’s danger—this was stupid; Tango opened the door.  No one was there.  He blinked in the face of its emptiness for a moment. Of all the situations he had considered, absolutely zero of them included opening the door to nothing. The one definite thing a knock spoke to was the presence of someone—something. So, what, they risked the middle of the night in peace times to come to the ranch they all loved barging into any time regardless to ding-dong ditch? That seemed, like, a gazillion times more unlikely. 

---

Then...the thing that is currently carving out its home in my brain...speed racer au. Tango-centric, more tango & etho angst than it is team rancher tbh.

The au is based solely on the 2008 movie speed racer, not as much the rest of the franchise! I guess /warning for speed racer spoilers, but the movie came out 16 years ago and the anime is from the 1960's...............so like.............also come on

I...have absolutely 0 clue how to describe to you the plot of speed racer. imagine you drive a race car so good and look so hot while doing it that you take down the mafia AND defeat the evil that is capitalism. That's speed racer. Like most worm aus its...not a comprehensive story. it's mainly me taking scenes from the movie that i adore and reimagining them with life series characters in those positions.

Tango is our titular character, an up and coming, widely known and celebrated automobile racer. He's the only racer not sponsored by some big company, he'd rather his pals—his family—be in control of his car, the Mach 5, and his racing career.

This is so so silly to try to explain you have no idea. I'm just going to say it. So when Tango was a kid, his older brother Etho died in this really dangerous unofficial non-track race thing. Two years later, theres a new racer in the league calling himself Racer X. No one knows his actual identity, and, at all times, he is wearing this. mask. thing. umm. anyway so Racer X is secretly Tango's older brother who Tango thinks is dead. And he now races under a secret identity because he is trying to take down. the fucking mafia. who own a whole bunch of racing teams and do crime and things. cause why not. Im going to stop over-explaining speed racer, just take this snippet and go:

“Look, can we cut the bullshit?”  If Tango’s mounting poor mood had any effect on X, he didn’t show it. He maintained the stillness of a wildlife photographer, danger not a warning to flee but more the promise of a shot worth sticking around to capture. Tango had felt studied since they’d cut the engines, since X’s head had popped up over the wheel, smirking—but now he’d felt seized.  “Alright.” His mouth opened, all the energy to press on but none of the gall. As usual, he’d gotten too ahead of himself; clutch pressed to the floor, shift it into first gear, every intention to move with no promise to follow through. He didn’t ease off the clutch so much as he ran away from it; he’d stalled, his mouth shut dumbly.  There wasn’t the time to wait it out, and Tango didn’t think he’d afford it to himself if there were. This moment had been promised to him since Casa Cristo began. He might not have then, but standing here now he knew it to be true. He thought X knew it, too—this was inevitable. He knew it like you knew you had minutes before your mom found that thing that you broke, like you knew someone was about to walk away from you for good. It was no less natural to him than knowing he was going to be a driver, no harder to glean from his future than being able to picture Jimmy by his side. He wouldn’t squander the chance because he hadn’t been adequately prepared for it to arrive.  Tango choked, “Etho?” “You think I’m your brother.” When he said it it was a statement, not a question.  “Aren’t you?”

---

And lastly...gay baseball au :')) or rather, "against all odds"

yes I'm still stuck on that, YES I plan to keep writing it.

I posted a little bit ago,, beginning of January, that I wanted to post the first chapter of baseball au if possible around/on my birthday, which is the first week in March. I can't PROMISE that will happen, because I am working on grad school applications at the moment and I also. know myself. and want to have the UTMOST MAJORITY POSSIBLE of the writing done before I post it. otherwise. I won't go back. But...tentatively that is hopefully the plan <3

Once again: plot summary, snippets

Have another for free :))

“What about you, Jim Jam?” Jimmy frowned at Skizz, only somewhat confused and mostly sure that he shouldn’t have been. “What about me?” “The question—what would you do if you weren’t doing this?” With clarity came even more confusion. It had felt normal for the others to ponder what-ifs and other lives where they did other things, a rightness that immediately soured when the spotlight had shone on him. There were no alternate versions of Jimmy, this was the only one in existence; he was a model toy that had never made it off the drawing board, no plans for mass production—too little consumer interest.  “Oh…I dunno.” He thought baseball might be the only thing he was capable of, and even then that didn’t mean he was good at it. “I’d never thought about it, I guess.” 

Anyway, I will exhibit exemplary self control and stop talking now. Thank you again so so much for asking <33

[snowlessknitter]

The Masked Singer: S10 E9 (Group B Finals/“I Wanna Rock” Night) Running Commentary

Tonight’s episode will see two masks be eliminated from the competition and one going to the finale (which takes place in two weeks).

As always, I post before seeing any unmaskings, so don’t take these as spoilers. (I’m watching on a delay to fast forward through commercials.)

Tiki 🍹: I believe my most recent guess as to Tiki’s identity was heavy metal legend Sebastian Bach. An alien holding a boom mic, and he’s a huge KISS fan. (So he’s not a member of KISS.) The voice does sound like Sebastian, although most I remember of Sebastian’s voice is from the Skid Row song “Eighteen and Life”. If it is Sebastian, he still sounds pretty good for being a rocker in his fifties. The bonus clue: A guitar reading “Japan”. He says he ran into judge Nicole Scherzinger there. They mentioned a cowboy hat in the clues, and Sebastian Bach won a celebrity singing competition called Gone Country in 2008 that aired on CMT. This does seem to line up with Sebastian Bach, so I’m going along with the Internet’s consensus.

Husky 🐕: My guess as to Husky’s identity from the very beginning has been ‘90s R&B singer Ginuwine. A clock with a heart in the 1 o’clock position. I still think it sounds like him and the clues I’ve seen so far have been pointing me in that direction. I won’t be surprised if he wins this group and we see him in the finale. The bonus clue: a tattoo of the word “Wild” surrounded by flames, and he says he’s shared a stage with host Nick Cannon. This has to refer to Nick’s show Wild ‘n Out, and a check of the guest stars on that show does include Ginuwine. I’m sticking with Ginuwine for this one.

Sea Queen 🌊 👸: My most recent guess for Sea Queen’s identity was Macy Gray. The voice definitely sounds like her. She’s also worked with Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry. (Her last appearance featured a clue of silhouettes of four girls in different colors, which is a reference to a film that Perry adapted from a theatrical work called For Colored Girls, which Macy Gray appeared in.) The bonus clue: a patch reading “co-star”, and she says she shared the screen with judge Ken Jeong. Macy worked with Ken on the game show I Can See Your Voice and the Denzel Washington reference refers to his movie Training Day. The clues definitely confirm for me what I already suspected: it’s Macy Gray.

[albertonykus]

Doraemon Movie Review: Nobita and the Green Giant Legend (2008)

What is Doraemon? The title character of the Doraemon manga and anime is a blue robotic cat from the 22nd Century who keeps an array of high-tech gadgets in a portable pocket dimension on his belly, and has traveled from the future to improve the fortunes of a hapless schoolboy named Nobita. Although relatively obscure in the English-speaking world, Doraemon is a Mickey-Mouse-level cultural icon in East Asia (and some other regions, too). The Doraemon franchise was a big part of my childhood, and there are still elements of it that I enjoy now.

Doraemon has released theatrical films almost annually since 1980, most of which involve Nobita and his friends (kind Shizuka, brash Gian, and crafty Suneo) getting swept into adventures thanks to Doraemon's gadgets. Despite being of potentially broad appeal to fans of science fiction and animated films, there are very few English reviews of the Doraemon movies, so I'm embarking on a project to write about all the films that have come out so far. Good luck to me…

Movie premise: Nobita brings a young tree home, where Doraemon gives it the ability to walk and think.

My spoiler-free take: Mostly a sweet, beautiful film... but then the ending just flies off the rails.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT

Review: Those familiar with Doraemon lore might recall Kibo the walking tree, who originated in a one-off chapter in the manga and then appeared again as an adult in Nobita and the Kingdom of Clouds. Nobita and the Green Giant Legend, on the other hand, is the Doraemon anime reboot’s take on Kibo’s debut story, so the Kibo who stars here can be considered a re-imagining of the character.

I found most of this movie quite pleasant: the visuals are beautiful, the interactions between Kibo and the main characters are charming, and the plant planet they end up visiting is interesting... but then the climax happens. I’m not even going to try to explain what goes down. Suffice it to say, however, that this is almost certainly the most baffling Doraemon movie ever. It very much reads as an attempt at profundity that only ends up being more confusing than anything.

It’s not only that the plot is resolved in such a bewildering way, but also that intriguing setup from earlier in the movie is never given any proper followup. Why did the plant aliens need Kibo specifically to power their superweapon? What did Jii the mushroom elder, who apparently is actually the personification of the entire planet, mean when he said that the plant aliens stole their superweapon from him? (We can guess, yes, but it’s odd for the story to hint multiple times at a seemingly important history that is never elaborated on.) That’s not to mention all the promising characters who are introduced only to be given disorganized character arcs, or simply make no impact on the remainder of the plot.

(At least this was cute.)

The end credits also contain some fun character expression work. Why, oh why did this movie end the way it did?!

Star rating: ★★☆☆☆

[emcscared-whumps]

WiJ 2023 - 04: Share Whumperflies Media

WiJ 2023 Navigation Post

A Show/Movie/Book/Series that Gives Me Whumperflies

Honestly? I'm far too picky about whumpees and I don't consume all that much media (especially not these days since i have my own purpose-built character who is capable of hitting just about EVERYTHING I like) to have many items to rave about ^-^'

HOWEVER.

That does not mean that there is nothing :)

I'll go right back to the start, in fact (in rough order)... just keep in mind that I don't watch for whump, and these aren't whump recommendations except for one lmao, they're just what have managed to give me whumperflies in the past.

Cybergirl (2001-02)

An Australian sci-fi superhero T.V. series that was airing in the morning when I was a young kid, maybe 6 or 7, back before I understood how T.V. scheduling worked lol. I don't often get whumperflies from media, but I think this time, I did, and it's actually my earliest memory of whumperflies.

Cy ended up trapped in a Big Fancy House by the Big Bad, Rhyss. It's been many years since I last re-watched the show so I don't remember a whole lot except there was a lot of urgency and a zappy barrier that Cy couldn't pass through, and I definitely got some kind of feeling about that :)

The writing was very average, not very substantial for an older viewer, but it was excellent for a kids' show. There was so much lore that just never got expanded on, and it didn't go particularly hard with the whump :')

H2O Just Add Water (2006-10)

To no one's surprise, I ADORED this series as a kid. My obsession with mer had just started, and honestly, this shit FED ME. This was another Australian show that I watched when I was fairly young (again, 6-7 and onward), but I don't recall watching it when it aired. I instead had a collection of DVDs.

The girls and co got into some pretty interesting hijinks while trying to guard their fishy little secrets, but shit got REAL in season 6 when a marine biologist coworker of the friend of the girls' Lewis managed to leave a sample of their skin/scale in the lab... OOPS.

You can guess where that lead-- the scientist trying to track down the owner of the magic scale that could turn back into skin (somehow lmao, ~magic~), and she eventually trapped the girls in their little grotto with a gate that she had installed at the underwater entrance of their grotto spot on Mako Island.

Here's where I mention that I did not actually get whumperflies from this lmao, but it was a close one (the scientist didn't go far enough lmao). That's okay though :) One self indulgent decision just under 10 years later sure fixed that :))

Vampire Knight Anime (2008, English Dub aired in Aus in 2011)

The whole show. Every episode. I'm not even kidding. (Well, just about every episode lol, there was maybe only one where I didn't). As many problems as I have with the series, (mainly that every time I see Yuuki or hear her voice I want to strangle her), Zero was just so. fucking. scrunchy-- almost the perfect whumpee ^-^ And the English voice actor does such a glorious job of voicing Zero's pain, the whole series is ABSOLUTELY worth enduring Yuuki's stupidity.

Iirc, my favourite episode was Crimson Chains-- full of spoilers, a lot of plot bits come together at that point, so I can't say much other than that Zero's lost his shit and has a whole big scene where he writhes and pants on the floor with the agony of his hunger. I am convinced the author ALSO liked that XD

I would sit at night and watch that episode over and over and over because man, those whumperflies were something else, super intense, 11/10 lmao

Doctor Who (1963-present)

Nine had that one episode where he got caught by some collector dude and tortured to figure out what made him tick, or rather that he had TWO hearts that made him tick... Fun times, that DEFINITELY gave me whumperflies and had me furtively returning to the episode to keep watching that scene.

A lot of Ten's run had me by the throat, most memorably his regeneration at the start of his run, and his regeneration at the end directly after an hour (approximately) of whump was. AMAZING. I kept coming back to the start and end 😅

There were a couple more times I got whumperflies throughout his run. The main episodes that come to mind are Midnight, set on the planet of sapphires and lethal radiation, and 42, involving a spaceship hurtling toward a sun.

There was only one more whumpy instance, and that was that one movie they made. I forget who, when... EVERYTHING except the dude that played looked like Gene Wilder and it took place on NYE of the new millenium. It was another shitfight with The Master. ANYWAY. The whumperflies were at the START of the movie when The Doctor wasn't doing so well, I think he got shot?? And then rushed to the hospital, all while trying to avoid that and trying to communicate that they'll kill him

Supernatural (2005-20)

Ok. This one is weird in two ways. I forget which episode it was, but it was season 2 where Sam and Dean were trying to kick a group of vampires out of a town, but they were actually cool/chill vampires...?

Or at least some of them were...

ANYWAY.

This other hunter had this vampire chic tied to a chair baaaasically torturing her...? Memory's a bit foggy on what exactly what they were doing (the brainworms wouldn't stop wriggling about AUs), but I got these itty bitty whumperflies from that vampire lady getting hurt. That was weird because 1) I've only had whumperflies off the ladies once before watching Cybergirl which was SO long ago, and 2) I never have had them from watching a side-character, I usually have to be emotionally invested.

Weird right?? Absolutely wild though!

Anyway, that's pretty much everything, even though I've seen and read a fair few things lol, hope you enjoyed my rambling!

[megaboy335]

Anime and Manga Log [5/28/23]

Over the years I’ve thought about doing a blog to post my thoughts about various manga and anime. Recently my good buddy @silvertsundere​ started a weekly AniManga post where he posts some short thoughts each week.  I however, usually have a lot to say. It would take me forever to write up long discussions about every single chapter update I read each week. So I’ll be picking out a few titles to talk about each week. From Jump I will discuss my weekly top 3 and anything else I want to talk about.

Weekly Shonen Jump has been the core of my reading diet for nearly 15 years now. I have been following Shonen Jump since the mid-2000s when Viz was releasing the print magazine. Later around mid-2008 and into 2009 I got into Ohba and Obata’s Bakuman. This lead me to learning about the toc rankings and I started following the magazine religiously. I love the raw energy of a Shonen Jump series. Due to the competitive nature of its ranking system the series are always trying to improve themselves and catch the readers off guard. There’s nothing else quite like it. In comparison, Shonen Magazine series frequently have an emphasis on romance (and fan service) or its a sports manga. Shonen Sunday titles are usually very chill. They prefer to develop characters at a slow natural pace. Jump series always have something happening since losing readership could cost them a position in the magazine. I’ve been entertained by series of all genres short and long out of Jump. In fact it was talking about Nisekoi that made my Tumblr blog semi-famous in 2014-16. The creed of “Friendship! Effort! Victory!” will never fail you. I’m currently reading everything from Weekly Shonen Jump, most Jump+ titles, and a few other series from other magazines. My Kodansha reads are paused at the moment because KManga is a bad app. The only Shonen Sunday series I am caught up with is Frieren (on hiatus). Eventually I’ll get caught up with a few others so I can follow Viz Media simuls. I generally only read official releases and prefer to keep scanlations to a minimum. 

So without further ado, discussion for the series listed below are under the Keep Reading. I’m hoping to make this a weekly post going forward. There will be spoilers and opinions below. Be warned. 

- Sakamoto Days Ch.120 - Blue Box Ch.102 - Cipher Academy Ch.25 - Naruto: Konoha Story Ch.15 [END] - Pokemon Horizons Ep.8 - Soaring Sky! Precure Ep.17

Sakamoto Days 120: Sakamoto Days is the mindless action series in the line-up right now. Its very much inspired by movies like John Wick. Lately we’ve been a backstory about Uzuki and Sakamoto’s relationship. The biggest selling point of the series is Suzuki’s endless creative imagination of cool set pieces. They never cease to amaze me with how the character interact with the location to defeat their opponent. If I had to guess, the series is about halfway complete right now. Still a ways to go, but plotlines are starting to center around the baddie of the series. This week’s chapter finished the backstory with a fight between Sakamoto and Uzuki. Instead of the grand speculate we usually have, this fight was more grounded. No dialogue for half the chapter. Just a rapid exchange of blows. Leaving the backstory in Uzuki’s pov shows this how incident is still something he thinks about, and connects his character to Sakamoto. I always look forward to reading this series. When is the anime going to be announced? Blue Box 102: The series just cleared its 2nd anniversary and its going as strong as ever. Blue Box is a slow burn romance following our main couple struggling in sports and love. Its a story filled with youth and presented with the thin loose line work of Kouji Miura. She always puts an emphasis on capturing a character’s expressions in the moment. It will frequently hold a reaction shot to show specific mannerisms. Lately, the series has been gearing up for a long awaited confession between Taiki and Chinatsu. Its been a long time coming, though I am unsure if the series will actually do it. Rom-Coms aren’t known for changing the status quo in the middle of the series. This week’s chapter teases our main couple being much closer than they imagined in terms of proximity. They’re both unknowingly to the other in the same area. That’s lead Taiki on a fast sprint to catch up with Chinatsu. Will they meet each other or just barely miss? Its hard to say. The scenery shot of the frozen lake in this week’s chapter was very pretty.  Cipher Academy 25: The return of Nisioisin to Jump was near the top of my wish list, and I can confidently say he’s been delivering week after week. The story is about an academy of code solvers where literally every single thing is decided by your ability to decode a puzzle. It’s such a Nisioisin concept. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be catching on with readers. Cipher Academy has been ranking low in the toc rankings. The recent chapters have been getting down to business with moving the plot to its ultimate goal of unearthing the big Crypto collection (yes you read right that, Nisio is writing about Crypto of all things) hidden deep within the academy. The leading Class Private of each class are going to participate in a tournament arc to determine the “Code Emperor”. Now admittedly for a manga about codes, they don’t matter that much in the grand scheme of the writing. The codes are always plot devices for the characters to interact around. Nisio’s greatest strength of conveying character traits with eccentric dialogue is very much here, and with the added visual language of Iwasaki art. Together they compliment each other quite well. But anyhow, Nisio tournament arc sounds like its going to be exciting. Iroha is going to have to put his brain into overdrive to outwit his peers. Don’t get cancelled on me Cipher Academy!

Naruto: Konoha Story Ch.15 [END] This finishes the pair of Naruto Light Novel manga adaptations that began last fall. Konoha Story was previously adapted into Boruto so I was already familiar with the story. It followed Mirai learning to believe in herself more and discovering the legacy she’s been left. Throughout the story we had cameos from several old character each of whom imparted some wisdom into Mirai. Sadly, it falls into the trap of all post-Naruto. They rely on recycling old plotlines instead of pushing the canon forward. In this case because the story is about Mirai and since Asuma died to Hidan, from the Jishin cult, Mirai has to face someone from the cult in modern day. Luckily, Kishimoto left a good foundation with the team 10 dynamics for the story to work with. At the very least Mirai’s character feel more natural in the world and something we were bound to see at some point. Overall, enjoyable and the manga was a nice way to experience the story again. [Final Score: 6/10]

Pokemon Horizons Ep.8: We’re two months into the new Pokemon anime and its finishing the prologue phase of the story. We’ve had intro arcs for both Riko and Roy. They each have an ancient artifact that’s sure to connect to a bigger plot. We know very little about the villain group right now. However, its still been great so far! First, its refreshing to have a female protagonist for a change and have main characters who can have organic character development. I guess placing them both school better connects to the target audience and game characters. Poor Riko only got to spend 1 episode in school before getting swept up in the plot. I appreciate slower pace of long running anime. Episode 8 focused on the streamer character Dot. She’s a shy in person, but puts on a high energy performance on the internet. Similar to the seiyuu’s counterpart in Bocchi. Exciting things are ahead as the gang is about to land in Paldea.

Soaring Sky! Precure Ep.17: I started watching Precure weekly during the 15th anniversary series Hugtto, and here we are at the 20th series Soaring Sky. Precure series often have some of the most solid character writing among airing shows. Unlike 1 cour incomplete adaptations, Precure gets 4 whole cours to flesh out its characters. Soaring Sky is a return to form with a focus on a central main duo and hand to hand combat. The cure designs are better made than usual for animation. That allows for most episodes to feature some nice movement or character acting when it matters most, as seen once again in this week’s episode. Sora was tasked running a relay, and she wanted Mashiro to be the one passing the baton. It was a cute story that once again reinforces the friendship bond shared between our duo. Despite monster fight feeling tacked onto the scenario this week, it featured some slick movements. Next episode is the long awaited debut of Cure Butterfly. Ageha can finally start on Precure adventures as one of the squad.

Full read/watch list for the week:

[adultswim2021]

The Young Person’s Guide to History: “The Duel” | April 1, 2008 - 1:00AM | S00E01

The Young Person’s Guide to History was a spin-off of Saul of the Mole Men. Why there should be a spin-off of Saul of the Mole Men is beyond me. Originally the idea was that it was going to be four 11-minute episodes, and in fact it was produced in that format. This is one of those four episodes. When the series turned up later in 2008, they cut the length in half to TWO 11-minute episodes, each episode consisting of what was originally meant to be two episodes, edited down to half the running time. Saul of the Mole Men always came off as over-long, and when I criticized them I usually observed that they could be cut down drastically. I guess when those versions debut, we’ll actually have something to base that theory on (spoilers; I remember it still being bad). 

Okay, so this is the intended series finale of the original four-episode run. At least, one would assume that it is. The plot: it’s 1804 and a bunch of guys are called to a haunted mansion to stay the night. There’s a disembodied voice on a little desktop speaker, like the kind you’d page a secretary with in the later half of the 20th Century. That’s a running thing in the series: very casual use of anachronisms. It’s not super-jokey Mel Brooks style, more like “kids making a movie and not having the resources to replicate the past accurately so they just use a car instead of a carriage” kind of thing. I like that. It’s one of the few things I truly like about this. 

Okay, haunted mansion with guys. They all get killed except Thomas Jefferson who runs out in anguish, as though he were a man possessed while committing this brutal bout of deadly violence. It turns out the house in question is the White House, and Jefferson is now the president. He asks Benjamin Franklin to help him make a vice president, so they create Aaron Burr in a boiling vat, using “science”. Aaron Burr is, uh, neurodivergent. We see a single scene of him doing vice president stuff: being asked about universal healthcare on the senate floor. He makes an imbecilic re-re noise and pees into his own open mouth. The floor cheers. 

Later, while having pizza, Jefferson gets fed up with Burr’s buffoonery and shoots him. He then puts the gun in Burr’s dead hand and uses it to shoot Alexander Hamilton, in order to frame them for each other’s death in a supposed duel, a historical event burned into the minds of a certain generation whose “Got Milk” advertisement got a nation of history buffs rolling in the aisles. Jefferson has transformed into a tyrant, like a guy in a freaking rated-R movie.

Jefferson finally shoots Ben Franklin, but not before cruelly taunting him for his legendary weakness. The voice on the little speaker congratulates Jefferson for being so mean. The voice is in the middle of calling him “Caleb Hilttrop?” or something like that? before being cut off. The significance of this completely eludes me, and I’m not sure if this is set-up in one of the other three episodes that would have aired along with this one, or if I just missed something in the opening sequence. We may never know, because I recall this bit being completely cut out of the version that did air. Jefferson switches the speaker to some rock song and screams “I’m the president!”

I do like that ending, I just wish anything that came before it was compelling enough to call it “earned”. I’d be hard-pressed to come up with much else in this episode that makes it worth watching. This is one of the unfunniest things to air on Adult Swim. It’s barely connected to Saul of the Mole Men, which isn’t a bad thing, honestly. 

There is a scene where Seth Green (who is cut from the shortened version entirely) talks about how he and Jefferson co-authored several sci-fi books about Nathaniel Baltimore’s adventures fighting various sci-fi beasts, and we see a little scene featuring Nathaniel Baltimore shooting a creature that is just them reusing the doctor costume from Saul. This seems to imply that either Saul of the Mole Men is a work of fiction featuring Nathaniel Baltimore in this world, which would explain why there’s no real continuity between this show and Saul. I believe the Jefferson episode of Saul has events in it that would contradict the existence of this series, but I”m not feeling curious enough to even re-read my own write-up to confirm this. I will link to it though, in case you are a sicko who actually is curious. 

Later in the year the truncated version of the show would air. The full-length versions were put up on Adult Swim for a short period of time. The one guy I knew of who knew how to rip from Adult Swim actually had these at one point, but deleted them because he “didn’t think anyone would want them”. Fucker. Again, if anyone knows how to get a hold of those uncut other episodes, please get in touch. 

Oh, I put the whole thing on YouTube, if you want to watch it.

EPHEMERA CORNER

[hylaversicolor]

4, 7, 13, 28, 29, 73, 96

4: what is the plot bunny you’ve been carrying for the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven’t written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

i had the idea for caulescent for a long time before i wrote it. i had kind of wanted to do something with madara and feudal politics for eons but it was very vague and only semi-formed. it was only when i was talking to a dear friend about the mokuton and hashirama’s powers that i got the actual, real idea for caulescent. which is (to address the second half of the question) kinda sad now because rereading caulescent makes me want to stick my head in a sand dune. what was i even doing

7: tell us about the plot of the first fanfic you ever wrote

YOU DON’T EVEN WANT TO KNOW but it was one of those ones where the akatsuki all live together and are terrible roommates. i published it chapter by chapter on deviantart in 2008. actually wait nope the first fanfic i ever wrote was even earlier than that (i didn’t publish it anywhere and i didn’t even know that what i was doing was considered fanfiction but it was about *** ***** from ******* ** *****)

13: talk about a writing experience that has pleasantly surprised you.

umm let's see. i started a oneshot a few weeks ago but i had writers block and stopped for a while. then i randomly opened it up again today and was like oh ok! i guess i can finish this. i'm almost done with it rn i'm hoping to publish it this week

28 handwritten notes or typed notes?

depends! for original fiction i like to handwrite bc it gets me in the vibe better. for fanfiction i usually type bc it’s more convenient. how it feels opening the notes app etc etc

29: give us a spoiler for one of your stories.

NO!!!!

73: how do you visualize scenes? do you see it like a movie in your head, or do the words just flow?

this also depends, but i think i veer more on the side of seeing it like a movie, especially if there’s a lot of dialogue

96: romantic/social sideplots: interesting or irritating?

depends on if they relate to the main theme of the story and are not just tacked on…actually i was talking w a friend about this the other day but i (covers eyes in shame) don’t really care that much about worldbuilding for its own sake i just want to get to the point. i respect the craft but it’s not my thing. sorry :( (cough arcane)

[sweetescapeartist]

[Sorry in advance if this gets too long]

After your post about Sonic Frontiers, and especially after reading your favourite character is also Tails, now I'm curious about the rest of your "Sonic opinions". Have you considered posting more of your thoughts on the Sonic series as a whole? Not necessarily multiple posts, it could be just one post with a compilation.

Regarding Tails's role in the series, there have been a few debates for a while after most Sonic fans' disappointment at his role in Sonic Forces. The big problem is that there seems to be quite some overlap between "badass Tails" fans and those Gohan fans who think he was ruined during the Majin Buu saga (the Dragon Ball fandom's endemic toxic masculinity is also added to the mix), while other fans genuinely believe Tails is more compelling when he only fights through gadgets at most and strictly stays an underdog as the story focuses more on his friendship with Sonic and Tails being raised by him. I wrote a post with my thoughts on that debate the night before the Sonic 2 movie was released [https://mashounen2003.tumblr.com/post/678734119366213632]. This is indeed a very complicated topic, with both sides being a bit hypocritical sometimes.

On an unrelated note (sort of), I've been working on a summary of ideas for a Sonic fanfic... although I barely progressed on it this year; also, I must warn you it's not set in the videogames' universe but in the SatAM cartoon's universe with elements from the Archie comics, and the SatAM & Archie continuity isn't everyone's cup of tea. Anyway... Both your Dragon Ball posts and those of DBMeta inspired me for many things I already added to my story or I'm planning to add in later chapters. Sonic does take a lot from DBZ after all, so why not fully embrace that heritage while also applying those analyses of yours in order to provide a refreshing experience instead of the average crossover fanfic?

And that's it for now, I guess. I hope you're doing well, and feel free to answer whenever you can.

(You're okay. I'll try to keep my answer short since I am often ling winded.)

Spoiler warning... I didn't keep it short. 😅

I haven't really considered posting my thoughts on Sonic stuff because I don't really care for the series after Sonic Unleashed in 2008, then 2009 when Jason Griffith & the other Sonic voice actors were recasted. Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed & Sonic Mania were fun tho. Sometimes read the IDW comics too. Mainly after Sonic Unleashed, the series lost its charm for me. But I will keep it in mind to make a post(s) of my thoughts about the series.

Thats another thing... Making Tails and other not playable limits the storytelling. They cant be involved much in the story besides being a charafter Sonic bounces dialogue off of and has to save. These characters could save themselves. Heck! They have saved Sonic! Tails has done so multiple times. From the classic games to the Adventure games, Heroes, 06, spin off games, ect.

As for the "badass Tails" that some fans see? I don't see that and never saw that. That's an exaggeration. Tails was never a "badass." Tails falls under a different category of cool. Here's the thing about Tails that differs from Gohan; Gohan didn't want to become a fighter, Tails wanted to go on adventures. And furthermore, Tails originated as a high-speed adventurer & combatant of sorts. Sonic was fine how he was, but Tails needed something to make him stand out more. Later, to make him more unique, Tails was made into the brains of the group ALONG WITH his adventurous & combat experience. So we have Tails originate as a fighter, then become the tech-fighter who would often go on his own adventures when Sonic was on his. So thats one point I think we disagree on. I do not see Tails as a nerd Sonic. Imo, thats similar to saying Knuckles is a strong Sonic. These characters are unique enough and have their own personalities that they are not clones of Sonic. Tails being similar to Sonic is fine because brothers often share similarities. But they are still very different in tsrms of personality and gameplay.

The new stuff from 2010 to present that was written by Pontac & Graff is bad. It made Sonic, Tails, & Knuckles behave more like the Babylon Rogues than themselves. Th games of the 2010's stripped Tails of what was always an established part of his character and only left the "gadgets guy" part of his character. That's like taking away Knuckles strength or Sonic's speed. And they did so just to have tails sit on the sideline. This was because SEGA heard criticisms from critics and some fans that they hate "Sonic's stupid friends." so SEGA stupidly sabotaged their own characters. So how should Tails be? Like he was in Adventure 2, Heroes, the Sonic Advanced games, Riders & Zero Gravity, Sonic 06, Sonic Unleashed. Tails was not always playable but he was going on adventures of his own and just happened to meet up with Sonic sometimes. And he may have been scared of what are basically demons in Sonic Unleashed, but he fought Eggman robots right along with Sonic during the flying stages. And in the meantime he was gathering intel or actively helping Sonic when he was playable. They took away a critial part of Tails' character and that is just dumb. Sonic Movie 2 understands Tails much better. (Which is why Sonic Team is trying to make Tails like that now, which is simply who Tails was in the 2000's. In Frontiers, Sonic says to Tails that he is fast like him.and smart like Eggman. The games of the 2010's took the speed and aventure away from Tails and left him with only brains. The Sonic Movie 2 captures both his speed and intelligence. Sonic Team has lost their way and are now relying on a movie to correct their own characters...)

The love that Sonic Team had back in the day is gone. Its saddening. The characters were awesome back then! They were inspirational and relatable. I feel that things started going further south after Yuji Naka left and SEGA made Sonic Team release games before they were ready just to have a holiday release, & kept splitting up the team for stupid reasons.

Even with Frontiers, I felt that Sonic Team is trying to copy what made the recent Sonic The Hedgehog Movies so great. The Sonic Movies looked to Sonic's past in order to make an enjoyable movie for the fans. Why can't Sonic Team do that? Becauae the love isnt there anymore. Not like it used to be. Frontiers has Sonic dancing more, give him blue lightning and eyes temporarily turning blue, Frontiers has "Don't Stop Me Now" by Freddie Mercury for their launch trailer music because Sonic Movie 1 had a scene with that song in it.

I think we might be better off if Sonic Team just made a game based off of the Sonic Movies and written by somebody else. The characters and story would at least be fun.

And as a comparison, Luigi is more iddntical to Mario than Tails is to Sonic. Yes Luigi & others are playable while SEGA made the mistake of limiting their cast in most of their games after 2010. If SEGA wants to copy Nintendo, copy their usage of characters & use that to seel merch which results in more revenue. Dont copy Mario Galaxy like they did with Sonic Lost World.

I do like the SatAM Sonic series. I dont remember much of it but it was enjoyable and fun. A fic anout that sounds cool. I used to write my own Sonic fics & even had ideas for games. I might need to read more Sonic fics tho. Been many years since I read them. (One I remember was a Tails and Blaze adventure which made me ship the two lol.) Curious as to what you write. I wont remeber everything from SatAM but I can still enjoy it. And I'm also a fan of DBZ elements in Sonic. That why I liked the games up to Unleashed & Sonic X. They kinda felt like anime stories. Best of luck to you.

And lastly, Gohan is not a badass like many fans think. Those moments are when he is out of control and regrets becoming arrogant/too prideful.

Also, I'm working on "translating" the images of my Non-Self State post to Spanish. That way when you translate my post, its easier for you & you can use the images I'll send you. I'll let you know when I'm done. 👍 And once I send you the images, you can add a link to my post within your translation like this...

Gohan is a scholar who fights. He's not a badass, he's a powerful goofball. Which is basically like Goku & Krillin. Gohan actually takes aspects from both Goku & Krillin for his character. Thinking he's a badass or just a weak nerd is silly. Those are fans who only have surface level knowledge of the characters or are fans who have been misguided by the fandom's inaccurate and beta male ideas of what masculinity is. A man takes care of what's his & will do what he needs to do to protect them. Not simply "fight fight fight." (Most ppl in the DB fandom are illogical "beta males" who think they are "alphas" or are women who are fooled by their own illogical thinking that "beta" characteristics are desirable "alpha" characteristics. Kinda funny how backwards so many ppl are.)

So, unlike Tails, Gohan did not want to get involved in combat. He was forced into it while Tails made the choice to fight along Sonic. Neither are badasses. But both are reluctant to fight at times. They are peaceful people. I never seen either of them as badasses. Just intelligent people and intelligent fighters when they need to fight.

[sawdust-emperor]

So I watched Hells (2008) and holy shit that's a fuckin racecar of a movie. I get the feeling the story would have been better suited by a 6 or 8 episode run instead of just two hours to tell us that [SPOILER]. I haven't read the manga or even checked how many chapters there are, but it's gotta be a lot, and this movie goes places FAST after the first act.

The art style was really cool! It felt incredibly modern, if I'd had to guess I would have said it was made 2018 instead of 2008. And I think if it had breathing room I probably would have liked it a lot more. As it was I felt like I was getting jerked around a lot (especially near the middle, it kind of evens out the closer you get to the end).

However, it was made in the hellscape that was the 2008 anime scene, so to go too fast instead of too slow is surprising given the trends of the time, and I think the better of the two options. Some of the pause faces are absolutely hilarious, I fully burst out laughing more than once just from where they decided to insert a really dramatic face zoom-in. Dubbed Mario's responses to some of the stuff in there were so organic it felt like they'd taken some of his riffs out of the outtakes, which was also great.

I'd recommend it, with a grain of salt that it gets crazy near the middle

[themonosys]

AI will never be able to simulate human empathy (Referencing Disney/Pixar's Wall-E - 2008 ; will contain spoilers if you haven't seen it)

WALL-E is such a huge example of this. (genuinely don't understand why people don't talk about that movie more)

This film has such complex layers to everything and it's one of--if not the--most prevalent movie today. Its two main points are global warming and AI vs humans and I'm gonna talk about both.

The movie takes place in the year 2805. Global warming has turned the Earth uninhabitable, and everywhere you go there's trash. The company CEO of BnL has made a shio called the Axiom, a space craft made for taking the entire human race off the planet and to somewhere more habitable. The humans are nowhere to be found, and the only forms of life are a small robot and their cockroach companion.

WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class) is a dingy lil robot who's job is to compact trash left behind by the human race into little cubes. They are the last robot of their faction, as the rest shut down due to system malfunctions, old age, or lack of sunlight. (The Wall-E units run off solar power). They have been able to form a sort of human-like sentience from the 700 years they've been working on Earth. They've seen playing with trash he compacts (bras, fire extinguishers, and even a ring box where they throw away the ring). During a shift, they find a small sprout and place it in a boot for safe keeping.

Later, a rocket from outer space lands and leaves behind another robot called EVE, who's mission--aka "directive"--is to find plant life on Earth. WALL-E becomes smitten with EVE, and nicknames them EV-A. WALL-E shows EV-A their home and their collection of their favorite objects that they've gathered over the years, eventually showing EV-A the plant they found. EV-A's programming kicks in and shuts the probe down until the rocket can come back to pick them and the plant up and take them back to outer space.

The rest of the movie, WALL-E and EV-A show almost full sentience and show humans and robots alike that Earth is safe to return to and they must succeed despite the efforts of a "corrupted" AI unit called AUTOPilot.

Obviously global warming will always be an issue and it's never gonna go away. Hell it's 100F and it's pretty much August! The main contributing factor to it is gonna be deforestation I believe. The characters of WALL-E spend so much time trying to find any sign of life to return to Earth because humans cut it all down. Granted, we only get to see a small bit of America in the movie, but I think it would be safe to assume that an EVE-Probe was landed at every continent besides Antarctica (which probably didn't exist at that point) based on the amount that we're shown the Axiom launched.

The movie shows how human resilience will always prevail no matter what, and I think that's a good thing. It feels like the human spirit cannot be broken, only stuffed down from routine and day to day chores. You really start to see it in this movie.

With the AI aspect of it, we're shown that in every angle of the AXIUM, robots exist. They do everything for the humans; clean, feed, groom, and even teach. They don't explain how the humans procreate in their enlarged state, but I will not be risking my mental state to ask those questions lol

I don't believe that any robot in this movie is necessarily 'corrupted". They're all following their base programming, even if it means taking it to a severe extreme. That is exactly why I do not trust AI. AUTOPilot is essentially the steering wheel of the ship. They are shown as the captain's right hand "man" in the movie, and even during a scene where the Captain starts second guessing his position as captain, the portraits on the walls of the captains of previous years show that auto keeps creeping closer and closer and closer in frame to show that they are taking up more control of the ship than the captain. AUTO's directive is to drive the Axiom, nothing more. They do not care about the lives on the ship, they do not care about the life or well-being of the captain. Their only directive is to drive the ship away from Earth and to never allow anyone to return.

The other bots of the ship are very susceptible to WALL-E's influence, as they have never seen a sentient robot before. They are all quick to pick up their habits and form some sort of empathy towards one another. These robots are actually programmed to have a false sense of empathy towards humans. They are there to serve the humans and to keep them comfortable in their time on the ship. That is why they were able to gain sentience for one another so fast.

AI cannot learn the difference between human empathy and simulated empathy as they do not have a brain. They can definitely learn how to show empathy, but they will never be able to truly do it themselves. WALL-E was only able to become sentient after hundreds of years because they were able to find songs and imagery of humans from hundreds of years ago. Hello, Dolly! is the musical that is shown in the movie, and I believe the two songs that are played (Put On Your Sunday Clothes and It Only Takes A Moment) were perfect choices for the movie. Sunday Clothes was a rally song for the robots, and Moment was the connection with another robot that WALL-E yearned for.

Going back to the danger of AI, AUTO shows that robots will always default to their programming. Directive A113 was a no-return policy that AUTO had to follow for the overall safety of the people--it didn't matter to them if a captain had to die in the process, just that they followed their directive.

After doing some further research, apparently there's also some religious theme to the movie. Originally, EVE was a namesake to the first woman, and WALL-E was thought of as Adam, the first man. The Axium was compared to Noah's Arch, and from that EVE's symbolism changed to the white dove carrying the olive branch and thus changed the entire direction of the film. WALL-E became a symbol of mans imagination and hard work, compared to Prometheus, Sisyphus, and Butades.

Final thoughts: I love this movie. It definitely needs to be talked about more, especially with the rise of AI and the fall of human creativity.

[every-thing-about-tia]

Fiksi. A local Indonesia film that I stumbled upon netflix on a random day.

May contains spoilers!

I’m not really a “film rate” typa person, so I guessed I’m just going to write about my train of thoughts about this movie.

This was a random movie that I decided to watch after finding out that Joko Anwar write it, as a fan of his works I obviously have to watch this.

This movie won 4 nominations in Festival Film Indonesia 2008. Which I think is well deserved.

This movie revolves around the main character Alisha, a rich yet lonesome girl. Curious like a bunny, quiet as a mouse, but clever.

As described in Bari’s work later in the movie, she really is everything in a girl. Her innocent like face, her quiet demeanor, her amazing talent on playing the cello. A feminine beauty, no man would not be curious of her.

One day one of Alisha’s workers were out to his hometown, because of this Bari step in to took care of the work for a while. Alisha fell hard when she saw him, something about him lured her curious heart.

As her feelings deepen sadly, Bari’s work is done. But Alisha’s curiosity didn’t stop, so she decided to follow him to his home.

Only to find out that Bari already have a lover, Renata, a psychology student who have a deep love for bunnies, well that explains why Bari keeps stealing that bunny statue in Alisha’s house. But that will not stop Alisha, she will never stop until her curiosity and feelings are cured.

Alisha with a new identity as Mia, began to grew closer with Bari and founded out about his passion in writing. And she, wanted to be a part of his creative process.

This movie describes about Alisha’s obsession, a sudden spark in her dull life motivated her to get that spark just for herself.

She truly wants to be involved in Bari’s live, in fiction and reality.

Her dreams and hallucinations about her mother never fails to creep me out, the amazing acting by the cast and the eerie background.

This movie stir so many emotions in me, Alisha’s personality is amazing, that innocent like demeanor that hide her true psychopathic tendencies.

One of my most memorable part of this movie is on that scene of that old man on floor 7. The monologue voiced by Bari’s from one of his works, the cinematography, and the ending of the scene is heartbreaking and beautiful.

And the ending tragically beautiful, it fit my style so much. I’m happy I accidentally find this movie.

This was quite an old Indonesia movie, but it was ahead of its time. Hoping for more Indo movies like this again.