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#and got super into sonic boom for two weeks
mikeyelistsukasa · 2 years
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Fluff headcanons! Kou & Teru (separately ofc) with an S/O who is very sleepy all the time no matter what
Sure! Sounds super fluffy so i look foward into writing this! (16th request)
Teru and Kou with a Darling that is always sleepy
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So you two were just lying on the couch you scrolling through your phone and teru reading some book
He stood up and told you he will go get something
After like a minute he came back with 2 bottles of water
And you sleeping on the couch ._.
He poked you softy with the water bottle to wake you up
And chuckled lightly as you groaned
“Teru?” You said in a sleepy voice
“Yup, here i got you this”
He handed you the water bottle and you took it
“Oh?…OH Thanks teru!”
“Hah no problem you sure know how to fall asleep fast”
“Yeah that’s nothing don’t worry that happens all the time”
He looked at you confused but brushed it off
Later on he noticed you are sleeping pretty often. Did you not have enough sleep today?
The next day BOOM you fell asleep in the middle of the class
“Psst wake up”
“Huh? Oh right right thanks”
BOOM you overslept your date
“Sorry teru! I fell asleep in the bus and missed my station so i had to take another bus😅”
“Its okay,at least we can start our date!”
Secretly he was worried i mean what if you walked around in the evening for a small walk and decided to fall asleep on the bench??? The world is dangerous and he can’t have that
So now he is bringing you home and picking you up from school
The same goes when you two go on some dates
You were still sleepy
So he decided to let you have a sleepover at his house for a week
You…you slept at a normal time? You didn’t take any caffeine??
He is so confused
So he decided to look on the internet for causes and methods
After trying every method he gave up and just accepted that his parter/gf/bf is sleepy no matter what💖
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So you two were cleaning the bathroom with yashiro and uh…hanako just floating around :)
As he turned around he saw you lean against the broom 🧹 sleeping
“S/o?…WAKE UP S/O”
*aggressive shaking*
“Huh-kou? KOU STOP SHAKING ME IM AWAKE”
“Oh okay :D”
Yashiro and hanako in the corner: ._.
He shakes you aggressively every time he sees you sleeping so get used to it <3
After you explain him that he should stop being worried(and shaking you) because thats normal that you’re always sleepy he’s like… “oh”
*shakes you aggressively again*
“WAIT ITS NOT NOTMAL TO BE ALWAYS THAT TIRED DONT TELL ME YOURE SICK”
Boink
“I told you to stop shaking me -^-“
If there is any specific food he can cook for you to help you he will cook it.
If not then he will still keep cooking for you ^^
He also would research like His brother exept he looked in TWITTER
“If you’re often sleepy that might be a sign of you dyi-S/O IS DYING!?!??”
Rushed to your house/apartment so fast like he’s sonic the hedgehog
*totally not aggressive knocking*
“S/O OPEN THE DOOR S/O S/O S/O PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR”
After like 2 minutes he decided to crawl into your opened window
And after that he was opening every door in your house/apartment just to end up seeing you asleep in your chair
*grabs your shoulders*
Your mind: here we go again-
“PLEASE S/O STAY WITH ME DONT DIE ON ME I LOVE YOU WAKE UP”
“Wh-KOU WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE/APARTMENT AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN WITH DYING?!?!?!?!”
“Oh thank god you’re alive”
“Why wouldn’t i?”
“Its just i read on twi-“
“Don’t even bother finishing if you actually listend to twitter”
*sigh* “well since you’re here might as well cuddle me to sleep?”
That’s sounds a lot better
“Here i have plenty space in my bed”
He hesitated but went anyway
You both went into a comfortable cuddle position and slowly drifted to sleep
“Btw im taking your twitter account”
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I have finished it yay! I hope i left you satisfied please visit again !
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fukurou-hoseki · 3 months
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I watched Sonic Prime. Its not a very good show like I initially thought it was when the first eight episodes dropped over a year ago. Sonic Boom is better... that hurts my soul... I mean, if I want a good piece of Sonic media, I'll watch the OVA or X. But comparing recent shows in terms of characterisation, Boom did it better. (That hurts every time I say it.)
The final battle is far too long. It could've easily condensed itself to 3, maybe 4 episodes. The show resolves nothing. I don't feel fulfilled watching it.
Sonic. It feels so weird hearing Junichi become an excitable motor mouth. This is not Sonic at all. Sonic is a reserved character. He doesn't excitedly hug people (since he hates hugging) and act so familiar and annoying to them. I hardly saw that ferocious juxtaposition where, when Sonic is angry, he's going for the kill. None of this silliness or uwu baby moments. Sonic loses his Prisim energy and becomes sick. How many times do we need to see a vulnerable Sonic? We got it in IDW, it was terrible, we got it in Frontiers, it was well done. Its getting old now. Do something different.
The Sonic and Shadow dynamic is so wrong it hurts. I'd love to see these two team up again, but this isn't how you do it. Shadow clearly has a lot of respect for Sonic and vice versa. They are competitive but can work together. Both are reserved and would be able to take enemies down. Hmm that's an idea for a video...
Nine. What the actual FUCK were they thinking???! What is it with the West making Tails a villain?! "That's actually Nine, Hoseki." Yeah, an emo version of our beloved fox. It was uncomfortable to watch an iconic character take down his friends. It was awful. Then Sonic apologises for something he was in the right for...
The show is nothing but fanfiction. "I'll add my super awesome cyborg Amy! Oh, how about emo Tails? Can I add a pirate Knuckles? Let's split Eggman up because we HATE the main villain and create an old guy, a woke guy, a baby, an insufferable teen and the leader!" Eggman was done disgustingly dirty in this show.
Oh and fans were lied to about this being canon to the games by both the writers and Flynn.
I'll watch Sonic X any day of the week.
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gaymaramada · 1 year
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Now I’m Hopeless
Summary: Sonic tapped his foot incessantly, wracking his brain for any logical reasoning behind what had just happened that morning. It wasn’t his fault, right? No, it couldn’t have been. He was in the right. He had to be.
(Or: Sonic and Knuckles make it official - Knuckles is ecstatic and isn't afraid to show it, but Sonic begins to feel like he's biting off more than he can chew.)
Pairing: Boom! Sonic X Knuckles
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Language and a lil snippet of spiciness
Word Count: 5,481
Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43370349
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Sonic tapped his foot incessantly, wracking his brain for any logical reasoning behind what had just happened that morning. It wasn’t his fault, right? No, it couldn’t have been. He was in the right. He had to be.
A couple of weeks ago, he and Knuckles had been playing video games together, when out of nowhere, the echidna had paused the game and asked, “Hey, you wanna be my boyfriend?”
Sonic’s reaction was extremely graceful if he did say so himself, and he certainly hadn’t sputtered around his straw and snorted soda through his nose, leaving him coughing violently for the next three minutes. A very awkward conversation followed, consisting of Knuckles listing off every single moment where they’ve behaved like more than just casual bros, Sonic’s face burning hotter and hotter (and not from the soda in his sinuses), and an uncharacteristically sincere confession from the both of them, eventually leading to the two of them tying the knot.
Knuckles was absolutely delighted, immediately wanting to climb to the tallest mountain on the island and scream out into the horizon that he had a boyfriend, but Sonic was quick to stop him.
“We’ll just…take baby steps, okay?” He’d told him, “Y’know, keep things subtle before telling everybody that we’re dating.”
Knuckles had been a bit pouty about it but ultimately agreed, stating that he was down with “whatever makes my boyfriend more comfortable”, sending more blood to Sonic’s cheeks.
Several days had passed, and Sonic felt content. No, really, he did. By day, he was still smashing robots, enjoying lunch with his team, and playing soccer at the rec center. By evening, he and Knuckles would spend time together; hanging out at the beach, challenging each other to see who could throw the rock the farthest, and relaxing at his shack as the sun set. Things were good.
But then Knuckles had handed him a little blue flower he’d picked from the edge of the forest, his grin ecstatic as he told him “It looks like you!” before placing it behind the hedgehog’s ear without a care in the world.
And Sonic felt…weird. He’d felt something in his chest lurch, and his stomach was getting all tingly. His face was getting hot again, and he wanted to splash some ice water on it. He’d never felt like this before, and all the echidna had done was give him a flower. A flower! Who freaks out over a flower?!
Things got stranger as the days went on, and Knuckles was getting more and more comfortable with showing his affection: he often gave Sonic little trinkets — a random stone he’d found, a colorful leaf he’d picked up, even a scrap of metal from one of Eggman’s destroyed robots that kind of looked like a face — and had been getting very comfortable with running his mouth. Every other sentence he’d said to him was so insanely sincere : “Your laugh is really cute,” or “You okay? I can carry you if you want,” or “You’re super cool to be with, you know that?”
Contact had also been a growing habit. Every second he could, Knuckles had a hand on his back, his shoulder, his waist, even his face if he was able. It all seemed to be effortless, almost automatic to the echidna, as he didn’t seem to give it a second thought. Sonic, meanwhile, felt overloaded with the fluttering in his stomach starting to make him nauseous and his heart beating way too fast — which shouldn’t even be possible for him! Worst of all, he was beginning to feel eyes on him as people began to notice their intimate behavior. Whispers met the hedgehog’s ears, giggles echoed from across the block, and Sonic felt himself growing more and more anxious with every passing second.
So he confronted Knuckles, bringing him aside so they could discuss their agreement to be more discreet about their relationship. He told the other teen that he’d been getting a bit too handsy, and was starting to break his boundaries. Knuckles had given him a sheepish look, awkwardly apologizing for getting carried away but promising to tone it down a bit while in public, but Sonic wasn’t done. He didn’t want it to stop while in public, he wanted it to stop entirely.
That had made Knuckles’ face drop, and the tone of the conversation took a sudden turn, “Wait, what?”
“It’s just…too much, okay?” Sonic reasoned, “All the…the touching and the compliments and the gifts…it’s not necessary.”
“But…” Knuckles visibly deflated, “but I’m your boyfriend…right?”
Sonic’s stomach turned but he did his best to ignore it, “You are, but that doesn’t mean you need to be all lovey-dovey about it! We can just act the same way we always have, it’s just now we’re dating, you know? Keep it casual.”
“But I don’t want it to be the way it was!” Knuckles exclaimed, his shoulders rising again, now from frustration, “If I wanted that, I wouldn’t have asked you out! What’s the point of dating if we’re not gonna act like it?”
“Knux, I’m not a romantic person, okay?” Sonic pinched the bridge of his nose, trying desperately to ignore the heaviness in his chest, “We can still be together, I just don’t want it to be this obvious thing. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”
Knuckles scoffed, actually scoffed like Sonic had said something blasphemous, “Your reputation? Dude, no one’s gonna care that you have a boyfriend! If anything, it makes you look cooler! Why wouldn’t you want to—”
And then he’d stopped, and Sonic felt something in his chest halt, too. The echidna’s brows furrowed, and his lips curled down into a frown, his jaw dropping just a bit lower. He huffed, blinking at the hedgehog as he stood up straight, shaking his head slightly in disbelief.
“You don’t want to be seen with me.”
It wasn’t a question. Knuckles’ voice had dropped significantly, his tone uncharacteristically flat. Sonic thought his heart would explode out of his chest, “…What?”
“You’re ashamed of me,” Knuckles reiterated, his face curling into a sneer, “That’s why you’ve been so weird about this. I mean, Gods forbid the whole town found out that you were in a relationship with the biggest meathead on the island, huh?”
Sonic’s heart dropped into his stomach, “H-hey, Knux, come on—”
“No! That’s it, isn’t it?” He raised his voice despite the waver that was forming within it, “You think I’m just some dumb trophy boy that you can brag about when people try to ask you out like ‘Oh, sorry, I have a boyfriend!’ but you won’t bother to tell them that it’s me, right?!”
Sonic felt guilt begin to pile up in his core. He panicked, “Knuckles, you’re blowing this way out of proportion—”
“Aha! Now you’re trying to gaslight me!” The echidna pointed, “You really do think I’m clueless!”
“Dude, I never said that—!”
“Yes, you have!” His voice cracked as his eyes went glassy, “Every time I make a mistake or do something stupid, you give me that look! That look like I don’t know anything! Like I’m only good for punching stuff! I may not be the sharpest hammer in the box, but I do have feelings, you know!”
Sonic felt cornered, both by Knuckles and the overwhelming emotions that were flooding his chest. Knuckles’ words felt like a stab to the heart, but he didn’t want to go into the complications of why. He was in a fight, and he had to win. The familiar taste of spite washed over his tongue, and he spoke without thinking, “Okay, well maybe you are an idiot! No one with more than two brain cells would ever jump to conclusions the way you’re doing! And by the way, it’s ‘sharpest knife in the drawer’! If you’re gonna argue with me, at least get your idioms right!”
Knuckles gasped dramatically, his hand going to his chest, and Sonic braced himself for a pair of fists — if this was how things were gonna go down, he would be ready for it. But that wasn’t what he got.
No, what he got was much worse.
A tear. Then two, then several more dripped down the other’s cheeks as his lip quivered. Violet eyes darted away from him as the echidna shrunk into himself, suddenly looking very, very small. When he spoke again, his voice was shaky and watery.
“I really thought you liked me.”
Sonic wanted to sink into the floor and rot.
Knuckles had run off after that, his face in his hands as crocodile tears fell off his chin. Sonic just stood there, not even watching him go, but just staring ahead toward nothing in particular.
What…what just happened?
And now, here he was, sitting on his porch bouncing his leg and working at his bottom lip. He’d calm down eventually, right? He’d understand what Sonic meant, and they could go back to normal, right?
Normal. What did that entail exactly? Was it limited to sideways glances and friendly pats on the back? Or did it include those softer moments, where he’d sink under the weight of a larger hand over his shoulder, his eyes fluttering as a thumb gently pressed against that one tender spot by his neck, or that giddy feeling he’d get upon hearing him laugh, knowing he’d been the one to bring him that joy, or those gentle smiles directed his way, followed by sweet words in a tone that could only be described as pure adoration?
Sonic’s ears caught the sound of a soft whimper, and it took him a second to realize that he was the one that made it. He swallowed, crossing and uncrossing his ankles as he fought with his pride, desperate for something to solidify his reasoning, to prove himself right.
There was nothing. All he discovered were three very real truths:
One: He had real, genuine feelings for Knuckles.
Two: He liked those feelings, and he craved them more.
Three: He’d just ruined his chances of ever feeling them again.
Sonic fell onto his back and shoved his hands in his face, kicking his legs furiously as he all but screamed into his palms.
                                                             ~
Knuckles was nowhere to be found. Sonic asked all his friends, but apparently, none of them had seen him all day. He searched all around town, asking every person he saw if they’d passed by the red echidna. He zipped over to the nearby village and asked Earl if he’d seen him (he was also quick to shove him out of the way of an incoming horseshoe), but with no luck. He went to Gogoba village, hoping that maybe they’d seen him pass by (they hadn’t, but they said they’d be happy to help him look, it’s not like they had anything better to do like feed themselves or tend to the elderly or anything). Sonic even went so far as to bang on Eggman’s door to question the other’s whereabouts (Eggman had simply raised a brow and asked “Who the heck is Knuckles?”).
Hours later, the sun was beginning to set, and Sonic had no lead as to where the echidna could have gone. All his messages went unanswered. His nerves were shot, and it felt like there was a huge hole in the middle of his chest. He’d never messed up this bad before. He tried to wrack his brain for any other possible places Knuckles could be, but the nausea he was feeling was making it hard to think.
The hedgehog heaved a sigh. At this point, he may as well cut his losses and head back home. Maybe Knuckles would show back up in the morning. But then what? Would he still come by Meh Burger with the gang? Would he still fight alongside Sonic? Ugh, he could feel himself getting a headache.
Sonic turned back and prepared to dash back to his shack, his heart a heavy weight in his chest, when he heard something amongst the rustling leaves. A voice, gruff and grunting. A blue ear flicked curiously, and Sonic quietly made his way toward the source of the sound.
Not too far away, he found himself in a small clearing, one that he was sure he’d passed by on one of his runs before but had never given any second thought. Large boulders were scattered around the clearing in random places, and in the middle of them was none other than Knuckles, lifting each one and placing them back down again with a grunt.
On any other day, Sonic would have blinked in confusion, wondering just what the heck the echidna was up to. But right now, all judgment flew out the window as he ran up to the other excitedly, “Knux! There you are!”
The older boy turned at the voice, his expression curious, but it quickly dropped into a cold stare upon realizing who it belonged to before he turned back to the rocks. Sonic stopped in his tracks immediately, Knuckles’ expression feeling like a physical brunt against him. In all the time he’d spent searching for him, he’d almost forgotten why he’d run away in the first place. The young hero shifted on his feet, suddenly feeling alone in the clearing despite Knuckles’ presence.
He swallowed, then clicked his tongue, then buzzed his lips, then cleared his throat before eventually mustering the courage to speak, “So, uh…what’re you doing?”
For a long couple of seconds, the echidna didn’t answer him, and Sonic was ready to accept his fate of suffering the silent treatment. But then, the other finally responded in a low voice, “What’s it look like?”
“Uh,” Sonic scratched his cheek, “like you’re moving rocks around, I guess?”
Knuckles dropped another boulder, “Hmph. Congrats. You don’t need glasses.”
His voice was too low, Sonic noted. Too dry, almost monotone. Heck, Knuckles was giving Shadow a run for his money with how he was talking to him, and that was saying something. And the way he still refused to look over at him, to speak to him at all unless he’d been spoken to first?
Yeah. Sonic didn’t like this one bit.
He sucked in through his teeth, “So, hey, uh…you, um…y’know that feeling you get when you’re playing soccer, and you aim for the goal but then you miss it completely?”
No response. Roll with it, Sonic, roll with it, “And then, uh, like everyone on the team gets mad at you, and you try to tell them that you didn’t mean to miss, but it just kind of happened—”
“Sonic, if this is about this morning, I’d rather you didn’t try to talk about it through soccer metaphors,” Knuckles chided, lifting another boulder and tossing it over to his left. It was far away from where Sonic was standing, but he felt as if he’d just been violently crushed by it.
“Ah- yeah, uh,” The hedgehog felt stuck. He’d never seen Knuckles like this before; he’d seen him angry, sure, so angry that he’d considered working with Eggman a few times if it meant getting back at the person who’d wronged him. But this? This silent, cold apathy? He didn’t even know Knuckles was capable of that kind of anger.
“Knuckles, I…” He faltered, “Ugh, just…can you at least look at me?”
Knuckles tensed — and for a moment Sonic almost thought he saw guilt in his posture — before he sighed deeply and turned to face the other. He hardly looked any better than Sonic did, his eyes slightly pink and visibly exhausted. His expression was unreadable as he studied the hedgehog, looking him up and down a bit before meeting his eyes, “You, uh…been running?”
Sonic huffed out what was supposed to be a chuckle, but came out as more of an uncomfortable cough, “I mean…’s not much else I usually do.”
“Yeah,” Knuckles crossed his arms, his eyes darting elsewhere, “I guess.”
The silence that followed was deafening. Sonic shifted from one foot to the other, silently hoping — begging — for Knuckles to say something else. He didn’t want to be the one to break the silence. He didn’t want to mess up again.
“You know,” Knuckles started, and Sonic tried not to sigh with relief, “I’ve been thinking about what you said. About keeping things casual. And…I think I figured out the problem.”
Sonic swallowed, “…Really?”
“Maybe you were right: maybe I’ve been too overbearing,” He continued, “Too forward. I mean, I asked you out completely out of the blue. That had to have been awkward.”
Sonic’s shoulders slumped. He didn’t like where this was going.
“And since then, I’ve been so focused on my feelings that I didn’t even consider yours,” Knuckles said, his posture slouching just a bit, revealing the hurt he was feeling despite his cold tone, “I should have known that you wouldn’t want to be all…’lovey-dovey’ about us being together.”
He looked back up at Sonic, his expression somber yet definite, “But I do; sometimes, I want things to be stupid and cheesy and over-the-top because…because those feelings are good! I like them! I mean, yeah, it felt kind of silly to give you flowers or whatever, but it was worth it to see the look on your face! I…I want to be proud of us being together!”
His shoulders slumped, his frown deepening, “But you don’t. And I was dumb to have not noticed until now.”
Every word out of the echidna’s mouth was driving Sonic up the wall. He felt like screaming, like ripping his quills out of his head and going on a long, violent tangent to the other about how none of this was his fault. This was all Sonic: Sonic and his weird, stupid, aggravating need to not show anything to the world other than confidence and dry wit. Sonic didn’t do relationships, he didn’t do dating, he didn’t do anything that could risk his walls coming down even the slightest bit. It scared him. Loving scared him.
(Gods, and he thought Shadow was emo.)
Sonic’s mouth opened and closed like he was a fish, wanting desperately to say something but not being able to use his voice. Seeing his struggle made Knuckles sigh, “It’s okay, man, you don’t have to say anything. You weren’t wrong; I’m not that smart. So, you don’t have to feel bad about anything.”
“…’m not…” Sonic mumbled, feeling like absolute slime right now.
The moment was being drawn out into the awkward stage, and Knuckles awkwardly scratched the back of his head, “Look, uh…let’s just go home, okay? We can just put this behind us. No need to make things all weird or anything—”
“I’m a fucking asshole.”
That stopped him in his tracks, his eyes widening at the blunt comment from Sonic. Sonic hadn’t meant for it to come out that way, but now that he’d started, his lips moved faster than his head could keep up, “I’m…I’m not good at this, I-I never have been. I act like I’m a huge flirt with people but it’s always over the most shallow things. I’ve never actually had real feelings for anyone. I mean, yeah, there’s been the occasional crush, but it’s never been more than that. I’ve never felt as… weird as I do with you, like- like I’m about to throw up but in a good way? Or like I’ve been spindashing for way too long and suddenly I can’t stand up straight. I’m not used to it, and it freaked me out so I tried to fix it but I just made things worse and I panicked, I took it out on you, and then you ran away, and my chest really hurts now and it’s been hurting since this morning and I hate it and now I can’t stop talking tell me to stop—”
“Whoa whoa whoa, take it easy, dude,” Suddenly Knuckles was right in front of him, his hands (big, strong, grounding, safe) resting on his shoulders, “Take a breath. You’re good.”
Sonic breathed shakily, unable to look the other in the eyes and instead staring down at their feet. Already, he felt his nerves begin to calm down, just from having Knuckles there and holding him. He shut his eyes, his mind telling him to back away while his body was tempted to just fall into the other and let those safe arms cradle him as if he were a small child.
“Look,” Knuckles said, his voice careful and steady, “I…I’m not really good at this, either, so…if we’re gonna do this, you’re gonna have to give me a clear answer. No stalling, no dodging the question, just…be honest.”
Sonic sighed softly through his nose, finally mustering the courage to lift his head and look the other in the eye. Knuckles’ expression was neutral, his mouth pressed into a straight line, but there was something behind his eyes that seemed to be itching to come forward. He asked slowly, “Do…do you want me to be your boyfriend?”
There it was again: that same lurch in his chest. But this time, Sonic breathed with it, waiting it out, and soon he found that the feeling wasn’t as unpleasant as he’d made it out to be. It was still weird, but…it was good. Great, actually. He felt a smile tug at his lips that he hadn’t expected, and he immediately felt the urge to hide his face and brush it off. He chuckled awkwardly, averting his eyes, “I, …” Spit it out, hedgehog, “Yeah…I do.”
He looked up again, absolutely hating how awkward he knew his dopey grin probably looked right now. He couldn’t bring himself to care too much though as Knuckles’ face began to light up, “A lot, actually. I wanna be with you.”
Knuckles bit his lip, his face scrunching up a bit ( Cute, Sonic thought suddenly) as he tried to avoid breaking into the obvious grin he was holding back, “For real? Like, you really do? You’re not just messing with me?”
Sonic resisted the urge to roll his eyes, even if it would have been out of fondness, and sighed, “Dude, I— ugh, I just told you yes twice, what more do you need?”
Knuckles brow creased a bit, and he lifted his hands from Sonic’s shoulders (Sonic already missed their warmth) to poke his index fingers together timidly, the gesture looking so foreign on the buffed-out echidna, “Well…maybe we could…kiss?”
Oh.
Oh, okay.
Honestly, Sonic should have expected that. Knuckles literally just poured his heart out to him about his desire for affection. Still, the offer had caught him off guard and he swallowed, “Uh,”
“We don’t have to!” The taller boy assured him hastily, waving his hands back and forth, “I mean, if you don’t want, that’s totally fine! I’d like to. At some point. Not now, though. If you don’t want. But maybe soon. Or later. Or never, but I don’t really wanna wait that long, so—”
He yelped as Sonic pulled him down by his dreads. Knuckles couldn’t blame him, Sonic reasoned with himself, it wasn’t his fault the echidna was so damn tall. But even with him being forcefully bent down, the hedgehog still had to stand on the tips of his toes to reach the other’s face. The kiss was quick, just a brief peck, and Sonic wasn’t even sure if he’d actually kissed his lips or just the corner of his chin, but he wasn’t about to try again; not until this weird dizziness passed, at least.
Knuckles stood, still slightly bent over, his eyes wide and mouth open in a small ‘O’ shape as he blinked down at the hedgehog. Sonic bit the inside of his cheek and shrugged, “There. How’s that?”
There was a brief moment of stillness — one that Sonic heavily disliked despite its short stay — before he suddenly felt himself being crushed to the echidna’s chest and lifted off the ground, the vibrations of Knuckles’ laughter thrumming against his ear as he was spun around, “Wha- WHOA KNUX! ”
“Yes! I have a boyfriend!” Knuckles whooped, “I have a boyfriend!”
He lifted him to pepper his face with kisses, each one accompanied by an obnoxiously loud ‘mwah!’ Sonic protested just as loudly, going on about how he was getting his quills all messed up, but his chastising was drowned out by his own laughter. He didn’t realize he’d wrapped his arms around the other’s shoulders until Knuckles finally pulled back. His expression was bright and excited, and it made the shorter boy’s heart flutter.
He must have been making a face, because Knuckles’ expression turned sheepish, “Ah, sorry. Got excited. Baby steps, right?”
Sonic just blinked back at him, his brow furrowing in slight incredulity before he tsked and rolled his eyes, taking the other’s face into his hands and pulling him in for a real, genuine kiss. The tenderness took Knuckles off guard, but he eventually let himself relax into the gesture, humming happily. He couldn’t stop the way his lips curved up into a smile, making it a little difficult to return the kiss, but Sonic didn’t seem to mind, more than happy to take the lead.
The hedgehog was surprisingly gentle, maybe even a little apologetic in how he kissed him, and Sonic realized he’d never actually kissed anyone like this before — hell, he’d never even touched anyone like this before. He’d had his fair share of kisses, whether it be from fleeting past partners or overexcited civilians he’d managed to rescue from one of Eggman’s attacks, but none were quite as tender as this; none made him feel like he was lighter than air (though, that was probably because Knuckles was still holding him up).
Suddenly, the echidna shifted his hold so that one hand supported him from below while the other took hold of his lower back as he pulled Sonic impossibly closer. Sonic’s legs dangled awkwardly for a moment before he settled for wrapping them around the other’s waist. Knuckles chuckled against him, and Sonic wanted to retort how smug he was acting, but the deep rumble within the other’s chest mixed with the way his hand was gripping his thigh sent something electric up his spine. He shuddered.
It was then that the kiss began to transition from sweet to passionate as Sonic suddenly felt his back hit a nearby tree. Knuckles’ hand had shifted from his back to cup his jaw, idly running down his neck before tracing back up to pull him in deeper. Sonic whimpered — fucking whimpered — as his hands went up to curl into long red dreads. He pulled slightly, drawing out a low groan that teetered on the edge of a growl from the other, and holy shit did that do something to him. His stomach fluttered in that wild way that he was not only getting used to but perhaps becoming addicted to. His heart stuttered in his chest, his head getting light and making him dizzy-
Oh, shit, wait, he needed to breathe.
Sonic pulled away — reluctantly, as oxygen wasn’t as high on his list of priorities as it should have been — and took a moment to gather air into his lungs; yet as he opened his eyes, he felt the same air he’d just reclaimed get stolen away again. Knuckles looked back at him with nothing short of pure desire: His eyes were lidded and unfocused, his heavy breaths growing softer as they passed through his kiss-swollen parted lips. His face was nearly as red as the rest of him, and his dread-like quills were sticking out in random directions thanks to Sonic’s fervent hands.
He looked irrefutably lovestruck, and Sonic wondered if he looked any different.
After a few moments, Sonic slowly began his descent from cloud nine, and he became more aware of the uncomfortable scratching of the tree bark behind him. His ear twitched awkwardly as he spoke, his voice uncharacteristically breathless, “Hey, uh…as nice as this is, I’d kinda prefer to have my feet on the ground.”
Knuckles blinked back at him slowly, eyes still dreamy and distracted, “…Hmm? Oh! Yeah, yeah, ‘course, my bad!”
With the utmost care, Knuckles set Sonic down, brushing off his back from where his quills had caught hold of a few pieces of bark. The gesture that Sonic would have shied away from earlier was now welcomed with open arms, that same warmth blooming in his chest as the echidna carefully picked his quills clean before brushing his fingers through them in an attempt to smooth them out. It wasn’t anything special — just a simple act of sincerity and kindness — but it brought a smile to Sonic’s face all the same.
“Ah, there we go,” Knuckles announced, plucking one final chip of bark from behind the hedgehog’s ear, “Sorry about that, dude. Guess I got a bit carried away.”
“Knux, I don’t ever want you to stop getting carried away,” Sonic chuckled, the honesty of his statement making him feel all giddy inside. Huh, maybe Amy was onto something about the whole ‘talk-about-your-feelings’ thing.
Knuckles blinked down at him, then his face split into a grin as he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, “Heh, if you say so…”
“Would you two get OFF MY LAWN?!”
The sharp voice snapped the boys’ eyes away from each other as their heads jerked over to meet its owner. Sonic blinked several times in stunned confusion before a spark of recognition lit in his head, “…guacamole guy?”
The ‘guacamole guy’ in question — a short black monkey holding a hamper of laundry — just scowled at the two, “It’s Monkey-Boy! Yeesh, ya think you’d remember the guy who saved your sorry butts from a curse that one time.”
“Wait, the moose one?” Knuckles chimed in, “Wasn’t that, like…seven years ago?”
“No, it was seven weeks ago,” Monkey-Boy corrected, “Time doesn’t pass in canon like it does in real life. Anyways, like I was sayin’: GET OFF MY PROPERTY! How’s a guy supposed to do his laundry while two hormonal teenagers are making out on his front lawn?!”
“Wuh- we weren’t making out!” Sonic sputtered, “We were having a very emotionally mature and enlightening moment!”
“Yeah! And then we made out!” Knuckles concurred, paying no mind to Sonic’s hushed “No no, Knux-”.
The monkey rolled his eyes, “I don’t care if you guys were rehearsing your wedding vows. If you’re gonna be shoving ya tongues down each other’s throats, do it somewhere else!”
Suddenly, the monkey’s eyes widened with horror, “And what have you done to my great-grandmama’s cemetery?!”
“Your what now?” Sonic glanced behind him at the boulders Knuckles had been messing with earlier, and his stomach dropped as he whipped his head to face the other, “ Knux! I thought you said they were just rocks!”
“Aren’t they? I mean, look at them,” Knuckles shrugged — completely unbothered — before turning back to the now-fuming monkey, “Hey, why’s your name Monkey-Boy? Aren’t you, like, thirty?”
Sonic was quick to grab Knuckles’ hand and speed off toward home before they were left to the mercy of a hamper of dirty laundry.
                                                            ~
To an outside viewer, things didn’t change that much: Team Sonic was as tight as ever, often seen hanging out at Meh Burger, goofing off on the beach, or swooping in to save the day from one of Eggman’s painfully predictable schemes. However, if one were to look closer, they might notice the way Sonic and Knuckles would glance at one another, how they casually held hands whenever they could, or see how easily the hedgehog’s face would flush at the smallest little things the echidna did.
Of course, Knuckles did stand on the edge of the well in the square with a megaphone to loudly announce “CITIZENS OF HEDGEHOG VILLAGE! I AM OFFICIALLY DATING SONIC THE HEDGEHOG! HE IS MY BOYFRIEND AND I LOVE HIM VERY MUCH!” before he was hastily ushered off by a thoroughly embarrassed Sonic, so it wasn’t like their relationship was a secret.
Sonic still struggled with the whole “feelings” thing, but Knuckles was patient. He often asked him before doing certain things like hugging or kissing, but sometimes Sonic wondered if he’d preferred the surprise with the way his chest swelled every time Knuckles would do so, eyes bright and tail wagging back and forth behind him as he desperately tried to hold back.
He’d be lying, though, if he said he didn’t like the way Knuckles would shower him when he said yes, squeezing him just tight enough to not hurt and peppering his face and neck with kisses, relishing in the way Sonic would giggle uncontrollably.
But you didn’t hear that from him.
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Current headcanons for possible stobotnik boom!Stone
He works at/owns a coffee shop a couple towns over. Eggman was there to pick up a specific thing and decided to get coffee on the way out. It was love at first sight. Stone put a heart next to the name on the cup. The next few weeks sees a serious decrease of Eggman sightings and Sonic's feelings are a tad bit hurt. The team investigate and discover no, Eggman doesnt have a new nemesis, he's just utterly failing to flirt with this one barista and its painful to watch.
Eggman decided he cant rely on machines to handle everything for him after a few to many mishaps so he hires a personal assistant. Stone turns out not only to be super competent but half the time he's more efficient than the machines and he makes the best lattes. Theres a behind the scenes rivalry between Stone and a couple robots. Eggman has no idea he's crushing mega hard on Stone but everybody else knows. If Sonic has to hear one more rambling rant about "how great Stone is" he's gonna scream
Stone somehow inserts himself into Eggman's life. Nobody has any idea how it happened (well Sticks has a few theories). Including Eggman. He just showed up one day and never left
Stone opens a coffee shop that becomes a popular new hang out place. He's not much of a character but he is in most episodes. He can be seen serving coffee, staring longingly at Eggman from across the room, and chatting with costumers. Theres a unspoken rule about not damaging his shop during fights (his coffee is too divine. No one is willing to risk not being able to get some because he closed the shop down)
Villain Stone villain Stone villain Stone
Villain Stone who does like two attacks, is then invited by Eggman to join forces, and next thing anyone knows they're partners
Villain Stone who's trying to get Eggman's attention by making him jealous stealing his nemesis and becoming his rival
Stone gets one episode and then after that he's just occasionally seen in the background and given two lines. Stone moves to town (Sticks is convinced he's a government spy placed here to gather information) and as the only other human in town, Amy is convinced Eggman and Stone are destined to be together and she works nonstop to create romantic situations to trap them in. It somehow works. Eggman is constantly calling to reschedule fights because "i cant do thursday im going bowling with Stone"
Stone works as a government liaison. He's got a neutral relationship with both Eggman and team Sonic (even Sticks. She stops by his house to ask convoluted questions that he patiently answers or to spy on him) but seeing him usually means "uggggg what now" for all of them. Stone has a closet shrine filled with pictures of Eggman and the only people who know are Sticks and Knuckles. They dont talk about it
The government sends a group to the island to investigate something and everyone is super aggravated by all the red tape. Stone is the guy in charge. Eggman is pissed at the group and Stone in particular for grinding everything to a halt until Stone takes off his sunglasses and theres a cartoon "pretty girl hairflip" kinda thing when Eggman sees Stone's eyes for the first time. Now instead of stuttering and flushing in anger when talking to Stone he stutters and flushes because of butterflies. Stone and Shadow either have unexplained beef or are the kind of friends where you quietly stand together because you dont know anybody else here which is also unexplained. Either way its weird
(Oh what if Maria was one of the members of the group and thats why Shadow was hanging around oh great im going on a tangent now-)
(Or maybe Rouge is there and her and Shadow act like old friends. This is only relevant because Knuckles spends the whole episode looking at Rouge with heart eyes and theres a "get Knuckles a date" side plot)
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Sticks and the SCU boys being terrible influences on each other and being general menaces for the boom crews.
the gang tried to play jungle predator. once. all three of the scu boys tool it way way too seriously. scu tails kept making traps out of anything he could find including some that where never triggered and over the next couple weeks random villagers keep getting caught in them. scu sonic spent 10 years in hiding he knows how to stay out of sight. no one sees him during the game until a few seconds before he strikes. scu Knuckles was raised a warrior and is going all in at jungle predator and his brothers made very sure that he understood that it is basically just a training exercise and please do not murder anyone today. sticks is loving how much they’re getting into it. and has gone absolutely vicious. 
Sticks sees scu tails’ boomerang and quickly proceeds to sharpen her own one. Amy has tried and failed to confiscate it.
the scu boys keep getting extremely invested into Sticks stories and all listening intently. and sonic adding on with some of the ones he’s heard from crazy Carl.
the scu kids don’t fully comprehend what dose and dose not count as stealing. and will take things that seem abandoned or not in use. they are often completely wrong. many apologies have been issued by the boom crew as they yet again return items to various villages.
scu sonic found what what oobleck (that things thats a liquid but hard when you hit it.)  is and showed sticks. she ended up ranting for an hour about it being an alien concoction for making an inescapable trap.and at one point she ended up tossing the tub of it and all four ended up covered in it as well as whatever place they where at. and this was the point where it was decided that the four of them where no longer allowed to be left together without super vision.
many people have got caught in the crossfire of a superpower Cain instinct fueled fight. the scu brothers as with basically all their interactions take sibling squables to the extreame.
the villagers quickly learn not to insult any of the scu boys after: tails pulling a gun out “do you want to repeat what you just said about my brothers?” Sonic charging and zapping them with no hesitation and knuckles challenging them to fights in his brothers honor.
The boom crew have never felt more existential dread until the moment they overheard the trio laughing about something out of sight and going to see what was happening, only for them to go dead quiet, freeze and give that classic guilty kid look. The boom crew never found out what they did and live in fear to this day.
boom sonic has had to grab scu sonic many times mid run because he got an idea in his head and as any hyperactive kid with super speed would just went for it without really thinking about it. boom sonic is completly exhausted dealing with scu sonic who is excited at every little thing he sees. And he’s not used to someone with more energy than him.
scu tails and boom tails are equally facinated by each others inventions and loving swaping stories about their two diferent worlds. but boom tails is quite concerned about how many of scu tails’ inventions are dangerous weapons.
there is quite a bit of tesion at first between scu and boom knuckles. mosly comming from scu knuckles side, he hasnt seen another echidna since he lost his tribe and he’s not quite sure how to deal it. especialy one who seems to have no knollage of the echidna of this worlds culture. but things calm down and scu knuckles feels a bit more comfortable. at one point the two of them end up digging a massive pit out in the woods. 
Sticks is having the time of her life now that she has people that are as feral, wild and prone to trouble as her.
Amy is *this close* to marching over to Eggman’s lair and have him lock the scu trio + sticks up so she can have some piece and quiet.
Eggman is in a constant state of “awe so cute” and fear of the boys.
The boom crew are relieved when they can hand the boys back over to Tom and Maddie (they enjoyed their company but they’re such a handful. And they would not say no to future visits)
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popculturebuffet · 2 years
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Sonic Month!: Patreon Triple Feature!: Unfair Ball/Hooked On Sonics/Battle of the Boy Bands (Sonic X, SATAM, Sonic Boom), Patreon Review for Emma Fici
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Hello all you happy hedgehog! I’m Jake, I review stuff and today is a day i’ve been waiting for as we start SONIC MONTH. Once a week for all of march i’m doing a review starring everyone’s faviorite blue blur in celebration of the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2! Yes with hype for my faviorite blue dude with attitude, sorry dewey, at an all time high and with something like this only coming every other year, I thought it’d be fun to do this and got the help of my good friend Emma Fici, who previous via a comissoin an da patreon review had me cover the sonic undreground 3 part pilot and sonic christmas blast. We both have a deep lifelong love of sonic, it’s super fast highs, it’s too slow lows, and it’s utterly weird variety of ways to interpret the fastest thing alive from the freedom fighters of SATAM, Archie and Fleetway, to the post adventure worlds of the modern games, idw comics and Sonic X, to post modern world of sonic boom , there’s just so much to do an dti’s all fucking great
So naturally to kick us off i’m closing the gap and reviewing the OTHER threre sonic cartoons. See my patreons get one review a month so emma’s using both hers from last month (as you can opt out ot save it for later or to save up three tv reviews to cash in for a movie), and this month.. and being a good friend and not wanting to cover underground TWICE before i’d covered the show it’s basically riping off once, I asked her to pick a satam free of charge. 
So grab a chilli dog, a sonic themed energy drink and some heavily expired spagettos  as I cover two very weird hedgehog tales with diffrent approaches to being batshit insane and one of SATAM’s best as we celebrate the fastest thing alive!
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Sonic X: Unfair Ball/Fierce Fight! Sonic Baseball Team!
Starting us off we have Sonic X. Like all the sonic shows it’s unique, and in this case for a variety of reasons: it was the first produced post adventure, the only one made in japan and thus not only had to be dubbed but said dub’s cast went on to be the offical cast for a while with Mike Pollock being retained to this day. More on him later obviously.  It’s also at the time of this writing the only one to outright adapt any of the games with adventure, adventure 2 and battle all getting adaptations, with Sonic Heroes likely only not getting one because it came out around the same time the season was airing and season 3 went in a massively diffrent direction. 
So naturally this is a unique creature. It’s also the only one I saw first ruN: I was like.. four when satam and adventures came out (I saw them in reruns instead), Underground wans’t on any channel I was aware of as a kid, and I didn’t have cable by the time boom came out. X on the other hand aired thanks to good old 4kids on their fox box lineup. 
I fucking loved the fox box and rightfully so. While 4kids is remembered more nowadays for weirdly trying to ignore the fact the shows it dubbed were made in japan or censoring adult content with invisible guns and lolly pops, it’s worth remembering that a lot of the time.. they were actually good at their job. Sure part of it’s nostalgia since they were a staple of my childhood via pokemon, yugioh, ultimate muscle and TONS of other dubs as well as their only western work with TMNT 2003, and are a large reason why I’m still a fan of pokemon, yugioh and tmnt to this day by getting me hooked on them back then.. but they had a talented stable of actors, got the feel of their works more often than not and while they went to hilarious lengths with the censorship, a lot of that stems from the standards for children’s cartoons at the time: censors probablyw eren’t cool with having a cardgame to decide whose legs get sawed off or dies falling thorugh a buliding, so they had to do the best they could even if it was usually just “the shadow realm with you”. I’m not saying they were all okay: their refusal to release uncut versions like Funimation or even include the originals on dvds was very not okay, while I prefer dubs myself I get people preferring subs and want them to have that option legally, and their half assed dubbing of one piece because they didn’t care about getting it (Toei, who has their OWN long record of bad desciions forced it on them apparently) is appaling, especially since the equally family unfriendly yuyu haksho had been succesfully cut for toonami... and I love dit a sa kid despite still being pretty fucking dark, just less bloody, so they have no excuse for how it went. 4kids was far from a perfect company, but it got a lot of kids like me into anime, made it more accesible, and helped , alongside the us version of shonen jump, get more kids into it. So I have some fondness for them if tempered with incredibly stupid descioins.. kind of like how I treat disney in present day. Love some of the things they made, question the hell out of a lot of the things they do. 
Anyways getting back on track, while I did see the show while it was airing I didn’t see much of it. My best guess is I liked something that was on at the same time on kids wb more or that it was simply on too early, as emma remembers it being on at like 6 in the morning. Though what I saw of it was mostly monster of the week stuff that didn’t work as well as what Kirby was doing on the same network, as well as some annoying little kid and as an adult I really havne’t rechecked it out like satam or adventures because I just heard bad things.  I am seriously considering giving the series a full review at some point, season by season, along with giving every sonic series the same treatment (Though for ones like adventures or underground that are one long blob I’m going to chonk it up. ) If you’d be intrested in that let me know in the comments or simply like this post. Point is I dont’ have a through knowledge of this show going in or a huge attachment to it, but I gave it a fair shake, especailly since the episode I was being handed was one of it’s dumber outings.
As a quick primer for those not at all familliar with the show: Sonic X has Sonic and Friends, after a battle with robotnik “Stranded in a new location without any explinaton”: Earth
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Sonic ends up drowning in a pool, oddly for the time not set to drowning pool but 4kids is working on a budget of 4 paperclips and some string as it is so I can’t blame them, and is saved by Chris Throndyke..
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Yeah Chris is a precocious 10 year old boy who the entire fandom wants to punt into the sun. I remember not really liking him and honestly he feels redundant. He’s also likely one of the reasons, among many people were trepedatious about the first sonic movie: Sonic being pals with a human didn’t work out the last time. Thankfully Tom is actually useful, enjoyable to be around, and i’m glad he’s in the sequel, while Chris is mostly forgotten because he was a kid sidekick to a guy who already had the position filled. 
So he invites sonic to live with him, his grandpa chuck (the irony is not lost on me), and his butler whose name I forgot but is voiced by darren dustan aka maximillion pegasus aka Geovanni in a pokemon stage show that one time...
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It’s weird. Amy, Cream and Tails are also living there apparently while Knuckles fucked off to the woods so he can be mysterious and solo and stuff.. you know like he was before the series slowly drained the relevance and dignity from his body. Hopefully being given the second sexiest voice in human history will fix that.. 
Anyways onto this VERY silly episode. And i’m not judging the series by it: a lot of series have weaker or downright insane episodes. It’d be like judging miraculous ladybug by that time a bunch of grown men had a no girls allowed party in a teenagers bedroom till a disco stalker showed up and had to be subdued by a monkey man. It’s just not fair. I am however not going to hold back on this episode. if your looking for so bad it’s good sonic content, this one is is pure crush 40 carrot gold. 
So the plot kicks off thanks to tails just sorta flying around in his plane:
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Sadly instead of his dope plan from sonic adventure 2, or his also dope plane from sonic adventure 2.. we get.. this thing
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Like... this is apparently an UPGRADE but looks like any old jet and just has a sad white and yellow paint job. Which is a colorscheme that could work but just does not here. It’s just so boring and it shoudln’t be. Making your own plane for tails is fine but when both of his in the games at this point are dope as hell and iconic in their own right, why would you half ass it?
Anyways the chaos emeralds natural pull for one another, something I and the games forgot about but X faithfully adapts, causes Tails to have to land in a stadium where he befriends the groundskeeper after he mistook him for the gremlin who steals his shoe at night. The guy is bummed because the stadium is being shut down for one with artifical turf after spending years as a baseball groundskeeper man. He soon turns out to have the light blue chaos emerald, with the stadium being named diamond stadium after it because eh why not. 
This attracts the Eggman, and he’s got the masterplan.. to.. challenge sonic and friends to a game of baseball. 
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We’ll unpack that after the theme song, which no matter the language fucking slaps. The one I heard, the 4kids theme rocks. Which isn’t a huge suprise: one of 4kids best weapons was making catchy as hell themes. And while I wished they and more anime back then used dubs of the original themes, because anime themes fucking slap, they still managed to equal the original with goofy gusto and 4kids was the king of that. Sonic X is fun, incredibly fast, and introduced the whole gotta go fast catchphrase which perfectly fits sonic and is on par with others like “gotta juice” or “That’s no good”. I’m waiiiiting can burn in hell where it belongs. I love jaleel but god damn that’s annoying. 
Anyway, the original japanese theme is also a banger, Sonic Drive, a fucking fuck energetic number sung by the same guy who sung the japanese dragon ball z theme chala head chala. So overall no matter if your watching dubs or subs, your in for a good time and no matter the country, sonic gives you a great theme song guaranteed. 
Anyways yeah.. that’s literally eggman’s plan this time. He made robot baseball players and sends his messenger gremlin bokun to go formally challenge sonic and them. As for why he didn’t just.. you know.. take it take it go robotnik, ultimate power just isn’t as satisfying if you aren’t stealing it from a bunch of furries and some ten year old who they live with. 
But yes he challenges them and Chris made shoos him out of there
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So sonic speeds over there, with amy following since she’s almost as fast and.. oh nope they just.. pile inot chris’ van I guess because they also take him, his butler, and his grandpa chuck. The last one will be their downfall.
Thankfully knuckles decided to live in the woods instead of a sweet ass rich kid mansion because doing so would mean having to live with chris and the other comic relief human characters, which already makes him the one carrying the braincell for this series even before we get to him being the only one in this plot not to have been hit on the head 75 million times. So while Eggman gets there and has to fight tails... who is suddenly scared depsite having fought this guy ten times before coming here, in several episodes since arriving, and having also fought a witch and an empire of birds. more on them soon. 
This is a problem with some versions of the character: they make tails helpless, forgetting he’s not only a genius since adventure, but also a scrappy fighter. He’s more in the mid range sure, not as fast as sonic or strong as knuckles, but he can fly, and he can still move almost as fast as sonic, which combined gives him great agility. And most modern games and apparently this cartoon just reduce him to sonic’s easily breakable genius friend which annoys me. Tails is more than this, and deserves more. It’s why i’m greatful for Ian Flynn as he never forgot how good tails could be in archie or in idw currently, to the point that in one arc of archie the two, after some emotoinal stuff drove a wedge in them, had it out. and while sonic was holding back because you know, he didn’t actually want to fight his best friend while tails had a lot of resintment towards his best bud to unpack, once he stopped tails still kept up and the fight was only resolved by sonic apologizing for making out iwth the girl tails had a crush on. And yes that’s really what happened. It’s actually geninely heartfelt shockingly enough. 
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And it was also cleaning up some crap from the previous run to boot... which I don’t have time to get into. Someday. My point is Ian actually cares what tails feels and remembers he can fight, and thankfully he wrote the next game so hopefully even if Tails isn’t playable (Seriously stop making only sonic playable. This isn’t mario. Cut that shit out), he still won’t be entirely useless.
Thankfully the next person who knock knocks at the stadium door is knuckles, the blow blower, the magical emerald holder who gives the robot the coldest shoulder. Everyone else shows up soon after with Eggman revealing he was 100% sincere about that baseball thing.. and before Sonic can go with the more resonable plan of...
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Chuck chimes in and... i’m going to need to get text loud for this pardon me... 
GENINELY ACCEPTS HIS OFFER OF PLAYING A GAME OF BASEBALL FOR THE TWO CHAOS EMERALDS, ONE OF WHICH IS THERES AND THEY HAVE NO REASON TO WAGER. 
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I.. I don’t even need to point out why this is stupid. And it’s not a strategy thing.. Chuck literally says “Playing baseball sounds like fun”. He is gambling the fate of the world on a baseball game for shits and giggles! I’ve seen people bet their legs on a card game, seen people be their mother’s soul on also a card game when bluffing, and this.. this is still more insane because both of those were out of necsity. Yugi kinda had no chocie and Jotaro was fully planning to scare his opponent into folding. Chuck just wants to play some baseball and is willing to wager his friends chance of getting home, the world’s safety and his grandsons future.. TO PLAY BASEBALL. Against a team of robots! I mean I get he has a bunch of super furries on his team, I do, but the team also includes himself, an elderly man if one in good health, his butler and his 10 year old grandson. This may be one of the dumbest thigns in sonic history and that’s a hall of fame that includes thinking a four player co op game was something fans wanted, nerbs, chaos knuckles, sonic 20 years later, knuckles convoluted history, 80 dozen lost family members,  knuckles as a resitance leader, cyborg tails, sonic blast, and robonik’s weird breakdown in front of the world as he pissed on the moon. And this is a strongest contender for dumbest one there is! 
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See EVERYONE GOES ALONG WITH THIS. Sonic questions it for about a second before agreeing, amy and cream are all “This will be fun! Tee hee! We’re horribly underwritten in this series! and Tails is ONLY mad for a second because those dang kids are going to ruin his friends lawn! And that’s only until the guys like “chill man that’s what it’s for”  after that he’s all for “Operation: We’re Really Doing This huh”
Knuckles is the one carrying the braincell this ep, outright saying this is idotic to start and then rightfully pointing out how horribly half assed this plan is. Everyone else’s response?
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Yes really. They all pray on his ego to get him to go along with the dumbest game ever played. 
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I’m not against an episode being goofy. You can have utterly werid comedy episodes in a show if the tone fits it and sonic x’s seems to be perfectly fine for that. There’s another episode I saw listed on netflix that has eggman make an evil robot teacher to infiltrate chris’ school. This is , at least at this point in it’s history, not the most serious show. 
The problem is this the show isn’t so zany that the plot works on a serious level: they are betting the two chaos emeralds they know about.. because they think it’d be fun. Other shows in more recent times like OK Ko and rise of the tmnt got that. Rise didn’t tie in the demon shredder plot to that episode where they ended up trapped in an 80s montage while ok ko ballanced humor and comedy well, cutting down the comedy whe needed but sometimes managing to have utterly rediculous stuff in plot important eps, like the big reveal behind Professor Venemous’ backstory.... having his partner in both sense Lord Boxman tell him he thought they were going to wait a season. But the episode just.. fully buys into this stupid premise with way too high stakes. It’s hilaroius sure.. but not for the right reasons. 
So the rest of the episode is just goofy baseball shenanigans with impossibly high stakes. Also just to prove our heroes CAN sink lower, they don’t use their powers at first to play fair. 
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I apologize that a LOT of this review is just me ranting at how batshit this is but I mean.. how do I even top this. Our heroes are playing fair in a fight for the one thing that can get them home that they entered because an old man wanted to play baseball. I’m a pretty good comedian, been at this three years now, but.. I can’t top that. I just can’t. I’m person enough to admit my limits. 
Now I will give credit where it’s do: the actual antics.. are pretty entertaining. Sonic catches a ball with super speed but it’s out of bounds, knuckles just.. htis straight homers with his super strength, and amy just shoves the head of her hammer onto a baseball bat. These are great gags. I had to pause to laugh multiple times both because of legit good gags.. and insane ones, like Chuck randomly subbing butler man as a fielder.. for cheese. This episode is entertaning as it is stupid.
The one gag that dosen’t work.. is Cream who tells the robot to go easy on her it’s her first time playnig baseball which creepily sounds like flirting and is animated as such.. because in the original japanese SHE WAS. she said she loved the robot. Helpful reminder: CREAM IS 6
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Also if your wondering how groundskeeper man factors into it, the local 80′s april o neil reports about the game live so tons of people come to see.. which is fair it’s a bunch of super powered furries fighting a bunch of robots> It’s the reason people love this franchise, his boss later comes in and none of this really matters because it’s in an episode about sonic and friends playing baseball for a world conqueringly powerful gem they didn’t have to ante up but did anyway. 
So our heroes do win... the game. But in one final hilarously insane move.. Eggman just.. takes off with them. Yes they let HIM hold the emeralds
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But chuck says we’ll get them next time blah blah blah trying to blatantly paper over the fact this is all his fault before knuckles realizes this and commits some elder abuse with his bat
Final Thoughts on Baseball Episode:
This episode was dumb and I loved it. I sit frustrating... well yes obviously, but it’s just so gloriously stupid you can’t help but enjoy it. Granted I love a good baseball ep from the various x-men baseball games, to jujustu kaizen, to steven universe, to peanuts to bloom county... observe
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So I may be a touch biased despite never playing nor watching the sport, as it’s the funnest to watch other people play in media, but even without that this is just a batshit piece of media even by sonic standards and I commend you to check it out. The series is currently on netflix and hulu at the time of this article so S-O-N-I-C GO!.. watch it. 
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SATAM: Hooked on Sonics
Okay so onto SATAM. If your curious why ti’s called that its because the shows actual title is sonic the hedgehog... and given that was confusing even before we got another game called that and a feature film named that, it was the right call. 
SATAM is often held up as the gold standard of sonic cartoons and it’s easy to see why: SATAM swung for the fences, putting sonic in a darker world that he’d seen conquered by robotnik, with only a small band of freedom fighters, all fellow teens, to help him. The Freedom Fighters themselves are awesome characters, only made better by the comics, ian flynn’s runs in paticular, fleshing them out into throughly intresting three dimensional characters who could keep up with sonic. You had Sally, Sonic’s love intrest and tactical genius as well as the resitance’s actual leader (Sonic was the muscle and deputy leader), rotor a tech genius walrus since that wasn’t part of tails character yet, and Bunnie a cyborg southren belle and basically rogue from the x-men as a rabbit complete with tons of angst. There were also Tails, who was religated to kid sidekick in this continuity and early archie and Anotine, a cowardly asshole who was sonic’s rival for sally.. on paper. in practice he had zero chance. Thankfully archie , unlike satam, gave him character devleopment so not only did he move past sally and onto bunnie, aka one of my faviorite ships and something we’ll be getting more into very soon, but became an expert and incredibly brave swordsman. So yeah you might’ve guessed I like these guys, paticuarlly both archie versions, but the satam ones laid the ground work.
As for the cartoon itself it just works. Season 2 from what little i’ve seen of it drops slightly in quality but the atmosphere, voice acting and storytelling are top notch for the time. While it is still very much a 90′s cartoon, there isn’t anything resembling an arc till next season and there’s no real character progression, it’s still one that holds up well and again served as the foundation for my faviorite version of sonic. 
It also, as is custom, has a kickass theme song. And if you’ve never heard it.. welll... 
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This is the best of the intros. And none of them are outright bad. But in both visuals  commuinmcating the shows story PERFECTLY, and the utterly great song that perfectly fits our hero, boastful as hell but he can back. it. UP, it’s the best of the sonic themes and again, the others aren’t slouches with X and Sonic Drive in paticular being damn close. But ultimately you just can’t beat this one. 
This ep sticks out from our other two in that it’s not utterly insane, and instead is just a really well written ep with a decent conflict. Robotnik is draining the life from the trees in the forest using a new machine because he’s a captain planet villian in this series.... wait I take that back he actually has a reason to do this as the great forest, where our heroes live, hides their village of knothole. So destroying it as he often tries to do means they’d have nowhere to hide. It’s things like this WHY the show still holds up: in most cartoons of the time the villian wouldn’t all out assault the rebels because the show would end. Here they have something protecting them that’s logical to the setting and fits it’s environmental themes. 
So sonic wins, of course, and brags to his public. Sally even cheek kisses him and I love their dynamic. Look smartass and more repsonsible person isn’t new, i get that but no matter the medium the two just play off each other well, with jalell and kath sourcie really having good chemistry especailly. The way he says it’s not half bad and then shows her what great is, and she slyly plays it off. it’s what I like to see in a couple.  
Antoine is also used well here: Satam could ping pong between loveable egotist and resentful ass whose mad Sally dosen’t like him, something the comics wisely instead dencostufcted showing that his futile efforts only made him more insecure and he truly got happier and more confident when he gave up chasing someone who simply didn’t see him that way and never would. You know a HEALTHY message about that sort of thing. What a concept. 
Here it works because it decounstructs his resintment as he does his usual trying to brush off sonic’s heroics thing.. before being incredibly sad down by the lake of rings, the magical lake they get the rings from which in this adaptation give the user power. Granted only sonic can use them and that geninely bugs me as they never explain WHY that is in this or the comics (which at least use them to power stuff as well as sonic), but it’s still a neat way to recontextualize them. It’s also not over powered: they only get one a day so sonic gets one shot with them and that’s it. If he looses it while on the mission or uses it too quickly, that’s on him. 
Back to antoine, his resentintment is really just envy.  The girl he likes likes someone whose cooler, more useful and more loved by everyone while he’s just some guy they keep around for reasons even he’s not sure of. It’ ssomething I can relate to: not knowing how to be as up front with your feelings and watching someone else better than you and sometims a dick to you get the girl because you can’t do nothing but pine. It’s not healthy, and he needs to grow out of it and again, he did in the comics to great effect, but it’s relatable. 
So Rotor makes the mistake of instead of trying to be emapthetic, telling him sally might like him if he captured robotnik.. forgetting anotine dosne’t get jokes often and takes the idea seriously, stealing the power ring to use as bait
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It also shows that as much as he tends to  be the useless one of the group... antoine CAN think when eh can. Sure bringing the ring as bait is an entirely stupid plan and he shoudlv’e talked to someone else.. but the episode dosen’t treat it like anything else. He made a bad call for bad reasons and it ends badly.  But he does try: he lures robotnik out, makes sure he not one of his bots comes to get it (which he does) and even has a pit trap ready. And honestly ti’s not bad: in most incarnatoins robotnik isn’t that much of a threat out of his mechs or what not, so it’s resonable to assume once captured he’d be easy to get or at least easy to keep long enough for the others to get to him. 
But he both picked an easy trap.. and the wrong robotnik as Satam robotnik gets one of his most iconic moments to show just how pants crappingly terrifying he is, using jet boots to easily fly out of the trap. I will also say Jim Cummings is tied with Mike Pollock for my faviorite robotnik. POllock fits him as he is now being able to be goofy as hell btu also menaccing and was kept over form the 4kids day for good reason while Jim fits THIS robotnik perfectly, being utterly meancing and nightmarish , a cruel dictator with no remorse, no hope of swaing him or tricking him. Just pure evil. 
So the rest of the gang soon finds out what Antoine done did, with Rotor kicking himself for helping set this off and Sally convinces sonic to save him.. both because it’s the right thign and because if anyone can use the ring it’ srobotnik. And sure enough he was not only working on a new model of the life draining thing but adapts it for the ring. giving it ulmited power. Thanks antoine! He also plans to roboticze him. 
And Robotnik being awesome dosen’t stop there: his weapon for the ep, his other weapon anyay is ingenous, a lighting that hones in on sonic’s speed and is almost as fast as he is. So while he CAN dodge it it’s only just barely and it does hit him once or twice while he’s fighting. It forces sonic to move at normal speed lest he get hit and is a great way to turn his greatest advantage and most iconic feature against him. 
Sonic saves ant, who is sympathetic in part because he apologizes for what an idiot he was and Sonic shows that while he may not like the guy.. he’s not a dick, assuring him they’ll fix this together. Awww. How sonic beats both machines is also great, simply using the machine’s tracking him against it to take out the earth machine thing and get the ring back .. and since robotnik attaached th elaser to that sonic wins, antoine gets a momen tint he son and this episode is really good. it’s simple, sure, but it’s good great pacing, uses it’s three principals incredibly well and shows off why these incrnations of sonic and robotnik are so loved: sonic is a cocky but geninely clever hero who while he will needle a guy won’t kick him while he’ sdown, while robotnik is utterly evil but is clever enough to back that evil up and explain why the heroes can’t just knock his ass out in five minutes. This show is remembered for good reason and i’ll certainly be coming back to it. 
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Sonic Boom; Battle of the Boy bands
So we end this long boy with Sonic Boom, the latest sonic animated show at the time of this writing and the first in over a decade when it dropped. And this one.... was not welcomed on arrival. Boom was, as I mentioned earlier, part of a failed attempt at a new branch of the sonic franchise.. which amounted to “sonic is on an island now, everyone has new outfits, there’s a badger, and Knuckles skipped leg day”. Shockingly this didn’t go well: the game side of it failed on arrival with the infamous shattered crystal and the cartoon didn’t have the best receptoin at first. This can be chocked up to a lot of things: Shattered Crystal being 06 levels of bad, people not digging the redesigns, personally I think all of them but knuckles which objectively looks weird are fine and my only complaint deisgns wide is the weird amount of grip tape because Sagat was Boom’s character designer I guess, instead of gloves, and the series turning out to be a meta character based humor show ala animanics instead of the serious epic many were hoping for.. me included. I didn’t bash the show without watching but after waiting a decade for a new sonic series, and the main games at the time and present day not being great, it was a bit of  alet down to find instead of lore or anythign we were getting shenanigans.
That said i’ve come around to it: You can’t blame a show for not being what YOU personally wanted and on their budget, even if the show looks great, it was probably easier to do a wacky comedy. And frankly given just how bad shattered crystal turned out, it ended up being a strength, allowing this version to distance itself and be it’s own thing. It also isn’t somethnig sonic had done , just go fully comedy, since Adventures, so it was a nice throwback while still being it’s own thing, relying more on clever dialouge than slapstick. The result is a pretty good show: not the best, but still entertaning and unique. 
And this episode is a PERFECT one to show that off. Like X it has a really bonkers premise.. but unlike X it’s not only not taking the premise remotely seriously, but uses it for a purpose: to take pot shots at pop muisc. Granted it can be uneven, a lot of the critisim comes across as paatronizing to pop music even if a lot of it is more packaging than content, but some jokes do really hit hard and the shows fast pacing means we’re onto the next joke before a bad one can really stink up. 
As for the plot music sensation Justin Beaver is in town. And if I have one complaint it’s not using beiber, while he’s been a punching bag for decades he’s not only been relevant for that long, but has THROUGHLY brought it on himself after puberty with his hilariously broey apperance, some choicley terrible songs and somehow not having gone away. It’s that they base him on pre-bro beiber...several years AFTRE he radically changed his appearnce and demeanor, making that part of it come off outdated> I get they needed a pop star but they coudl’ve used one direction (still dated but not as dated) instead of parodying an act that not only had been parodied to death, but had changed entirely. 
The other issue before I get to the good stuff is sexism: it assumes ONLY girls like boybands forgettnig boys of all sexualiteis can enjoy them too. I loved back stret boys as a kid and liked nsync kinda. I gladly watcched the high school musicals in high school... i’m not proud of that but it did give me the greatest musical number ever commited to film so it worked out
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I swear if I could get away with it i’d refrence this thing EVERY review. It’s just sexist to assume it dosen’t work on men and it should honestly work on knuckles. It’s equally condsending to pop fans, saying rock is better. ANd rock is better but there is some great pop.. and some really terrible pop but still. 
But it’s flaws are patched up by some things: While some of it’s critcisim is pretty surfacy, it’s in a show that’s not taking itself seroiusly, so it’s clearly just taking it to the broadest point and it DOES make actual points: how manufactured some of these acts are, the stupid names, the sparkly jackets.. seriously EVERY boy band has a sparkly jacket. It does enough right to counter what it gets wrong. It’s also just really funny so again, the bad takes are drowned out by our heroes being hilarious. The first few minutes alone had me wanting to go back and get tons of reactoin images because their just stuffed with great jokes, from the local reporter ranting about his daughter prefering justin beiber to him (”We’ll just see who pays for your private school instead of those golf clubs he really wanted”), to knuckles declaring his music the soundtrack to his nightmares, to knuckles dooting on a horn he literally pulled out of his ass to try and convince the backstage guy their in the music industry.
We also get plenty of fun with the guys boy band, dreamboat express who again have the sparkly jackets, moves and montages. We also get a great bit of sonci leading them somewhere else to finish his thought in cutaway, with tails wondering why that was necessary.. only to do it himself later and admit it’s fun.  The episodes far from perfect but it’s so spot on in places and so damn funny for most of it, the villians also just happen to explain their plans which is lampshaded to hell and back, and with a perfect punchline for justin, this ep didn’t give me a lot to say but it is good. I recommend checking it out fi your curious about the series and it’s pairing ep tails crush, as tails trie sto woo a lady and robotnik tries to pick up a package. Good stuff. 
So that was the review. Three fun episodes: one insane, one raelly good and one unabashidly silly. All fun.
Next: Knock knock i’ts knuckles.. and he has kind of a weenie voice.But he also has a werid ass dinosaur so it ballances out it’s sonic undergrounnnnnnddd and knuckles only animated apperance in the classic era with a one off intro and a three part epic. 
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rapifessor · 7 months
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Pokéchronology, Volume I: Yellow
Day 4
Wasn't sure if I was going to make much progress today, since school ended early for me today as a side effect of Labor Day this week and I decided to watch Bleach for most of the rest of the time I had. But after sitting around for a while, unsure of what to do with my evening, I talked myself into some more Pokémon.
Spoilers for Pokémon Yellow and such.
S.S. Anne, continued
There were a lot more battles in this boat than I thought. I didn't even realize there was an upper floor at first and the deck had a couple battles as well. During all these battles, I learned that Voltorb and Magnemite can be pretty tough Pokémon to go up against. They typically know Sonic Boom, which always deals 20 damage no matter what and isn't affected by resistances. I don't have any moves that are super effective against Electric, so my Pokémon end up taking quite a bit of damage. At least Prinzessin knows Body Slam now, which is so strong that it makes up for this.
I also ran into Gary yet again here, it seems he still hasn't learned his lesson from Prinzessin sweeping his entire team. He gets spanked and I go on to receive the HM for Cut from the captain, after which I leave and the S.S. Anne sets sail.
Vermilion City exploration
Now that I'd gone through that whole sequence, I took the time to properly explore Vermilion City. I taught Cut to Mycoboss, and got the Bike Voucher and the Old Rod. Seems Vermilion City has a lot going for it; it's opened up so many options.
While riding around on the bike, checking for places I can use Cut, I caught a Venonat and named it Gnatman. I also bought some items in the Vermilion City shop. Finally got some Super Potions, and I picked up a couple Repels and Ice Heals as well. Not sure if they'll end up being useful, but it never hurts to be prepared. I'm also pretty loaded on cash now. I've got a good 20k Pokédollars thanks to all the trainer battles I've been doing and selling that Nugget, which I only today realized serves no purpose other than to be sold of a bunch of money.
Vermilion City Gym
It's time to face Lt. Surge. I actually left Lemon, the Sandshrew I caught, at the daycare because I realized that Prinzessin is Ground type. I thought I'd have to train a whole bunch to fight Surge, but apparently not. All the same, I decided to use the HP Up I had on Prinzessin, and used two Rare Candies on Mycoboss.
The trainers in the gym, unsurprisingly, have Voltorb and Magnemite, who Prinzessin is still my best counter to. I made sure I was healed up after dealing with them, and proceeded to challenge the leader.
Lt. Surge is... a joke. He literally just has one Raichu, and that's it. It's a level 28 Raichu with some strong non-Electric moves, but it's still one Pokémon. I softened it up a bit with some of my weaker team members, just to give them a little EXP and to make it easier to finish off. All I had to do was not field any Pokémon who were vulnerable to Thunderbolt and I was fine. Prinzessin comes in to seal the deal with just a couple of moves, and Surge is defeated with little difficulty.
I'm finally rewarded with a good TM for once, one that teaches Thunderbolt and that will ensure that BIG RAT demolishes everything that's weak to Electric from now on. Ominous also fittingly evolved after the battle with Surge and has a MONSTROUS Attack stat now. Looking forward to using a Gyarados in battle for the first time when I come back to the game. Sucks that it doesn't immediately learn a Water type move in Yellow, though. For some reason. Doesn't matter though because I can teach it Bubble Beam, and it'll learn Dragon Rage soon enough, which is like Sonic Boom, but twice as strong, although it is affected by resistances.
I've got some pretty powerful team members now, but I'm not sure where to go from here. I'm sure if I evolved some of the Pokémon I've caught, they'd become pretty strong, but I'll have to see about that.
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gummygowon · 2 years
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happy new year!
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alright so i've never done one of these end of the year post things but i do just want to take the time to get sappy here for a second. first of all, thank you so much to everybody who has supported, read, liked, commented, or reblogged any of my fics. it truly means a lot that my 2am thoughts are appreciated by many people. to be honest, i started this blog with the intention of just posting my oneshots for shits and giggles and never would have i thought that i would have almost 300 followers on this account.
apart from writing though, this year has been a little hectic for me. i started my senior in high school, trying my best to get into college (and possibly play a college sport), got a job and my license (after failing the first time). it's a little bittersweet to realize how much i've grown as a person this year and i cannot wait to see what's going to happen next year.
again, i would like to thank everyone for supporting my blog, it just really really means a lot to me and i hope all of you have a great and safe 2022!!!
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notes to some of my favs <3:
to @agustdiv1ne: ashlee! i am honestly so thankful for your presence. you've endured so much of my bs this year and i can't thank you enough for being there for me countless of times. it's freaky to think that i've met someone so similar yet, we've never seen each other irl (power of interest friends 🤪). good luck in college and hopefully we can meet soon!!
to @prodbyteez: riaaa! you are an absolute ball of sunshine and hope you continue to bring happiness and light to yourself and others next year! it's been awhile since we've talked but just know that i miss you a lot :) good luck with college and i hope you passion for dancing never withers
to @hwaflms: eve! even though we just met a couple months ago, you're a super cool person and i just wanted to let you know that i've missed you sm! good luck in 2022 and may you live the best year of you life :)
to @yunhoflrtz: q! we literally met like two weeks ago lmfao but i really hope we can get closer this year! you're an amazing writer that i look up to so much and you have the sickest blog that i've seen on this website. happy new year bby!
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to all my moots:
happy new year! i hope 2022 is filled with amazing and great things for all of you and i really appreciate all of you guys so much! thank you so much for making my 2021 :)
@luvanter @woahhwa @bobateastay @sweetheartsannie @ateezinmymind @masterninjacow @cherryatiny @hyetiny @yeostars @atozfic @treasure-hwa @tinkerbellwoo @annasbananas
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some of my favorite songs from 2021!
nabi - bibi
fireworks - ateez
leave the door open - silk sonic
perfect - ph-1
boom! - dpr live
소년, 소녀 - loona (haseul)
mmmh - kai
queendom - red velvet
back 2 u - nct 127
perfect world - twice
trivia 承 : love - bts
stay with me - miki matsubara
asap - stayc
vibe - 1team
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final note!
thank you everyone for all the support you given me this year and i promise i'll try to be more active this year and not just post once in a blue moon! i have so many drafts that i need to finish so please look to that! stay safe and have a great new year everyone!!!
with much love,
mai <3
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canyouhearthelight · 3 years
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The Miys, Ch. 141
Last week I posted a day early because vacation was doing vacation things to my sense of time.... This week I forgot to queue the chapter up because Monday was a work holiday, so I forgot today was Tuesday. *insert facepalm here please*
Thanks on this one go largely to @baelpenrose who rightfully pointed out that one part made very little sense to him and therefore was unlikely to make sense to a reader.  The clarification smoothed things out quite a bit, I think.  Just in case, whoever spots the area I’m talking about gets a cookie as soon as travel restrictions lift.
As always, thanks go also to @the-raven-fae, @charlylimph-blog, and @anotherusrname for completing the corners of my support system. And, a super-duper extra-special to @drinksteawithcake! I don’t know if I am allowed to tell everyone why, but you know why you get the extra-special, and I hope you are having fun!
BWAAAAAHP!   BWAAAAAHP!
“Uhhh?” I squinted in complaint as flailing arms clambered over me. One pair snagged me around my waist to drag me from bed before depositing me shakily on my feet. “What are you - ?”
BWAAAAAHP!  BWAAAAAHP!
Any trace of sleep was shoved out of my system, replaced by sizzling alertness when I realized I was hearing ship-wide alarms.  Shoving myself into the first clothing I grabbed, not even bothering with shoes, I was hot on Conor and Maverick’s heels as we raced out of our quarters and into the corridor. We paused only long enough for both men to kiss me and for “I love yous” to be exchanged before they turned and headed toward the areas indicated on their datascreens, while I hauled ass toward the Archives, ducking and twisting to avoid anyone in my path.
“Forty minutes,” Tyche told me crisply as I basically fell through the door, panting. “The Ark could be invaded and the battle over by the time you make it.”
“I ran….huff….the whole….ugh….way….” I managed to gasp out.  Part of me felt like puking, but I was pretty sure the muscles in my abdomen were too busy to figure out the logistics.
Clicking her tongue, she pulled me up from the floor. “Alistair, make a note to suggest to Xio that Sophia’s quarters be relocated once we have a better idea of when we are dropping into real space.”
I nodded numbly. “And probably… amp up… sensors… give… earlier… warning.”
“Nice outfit, by the way,” she laughed quietly as we finally reached the shelter point within the Archives.
Glancing down, I had to suppress a sigh. The first thing I grabbed to dress myself had apparently been a pair of Conor’s boxer shorts and a very filthy t-shirt that I assumed belonged to Maverick, since Conor’s was usually under coveralls. “At least you can’t say I took my time getting dressed.”
Her shaking head was greeted by faces in various states of wakefulness - this had been a drill, and woke nearly the entire Ark during their sleep interval on Delta shift.  But we weren’t out of the woods, yet: the drill didn’t end until all of Xiomara and Evan’s scenarios played out, including the mock combat and various tests of concealment for the other shelters.  As such, Tyche stood guard over the choke-point into this section, while Alistair had stayed behind at the entrance.
Early on, when the drills started, there had been fifty-fifty odds that the mock-invaders would make it this far, but over the past few weeks, that had narrowed to maybe twenty-percent.  It was still too high a chance in my judgement, and Xiomara clearly agreed as she stepped up training schedules and randomized the timing of the drills. 
Taking a swig of water from a stash of bottles, I queued up my datapad and stood next to Tyche, watching the ‘casualties’ from a point where no one could see over my shoulder to avoid panic, which I would have done in a real situation. “They didn’t find mess hall seven this time,” I murmured.
She glanced at my screen. “Acoustics are still too damned high. She must not be simulating for that this go around.”
One of the decoy locations lit up. “Looks like this time it’s heavy on thermal.” The location in question had been equipped with a cooking surface, triggered to activate when the klaxons that had woken me up went off.  Which Xiomara knew, but did not tell the ‘pirates’ for authenticity.
“How did they get past the combatants this time?” She asked, both curious and slightly worried.
Rolling back the sensor data, I watched it carefully. “Looks like these got in during the initial breaches, multiple points. But the line has held since, that’s good.”
Doing another check toward Alistair’s direction, she didn’t seem to see anything concerning. “How many?”
“Four,” I confirmed.  “Sam’s thermal camouflage is working beautifully, though.”  I couldn’t help but grin, and Tyche snorted at the same time. ‘Thermal camouflage’ was a bit of overkill as a name, but it was working well in every round. Potential access points were equipped with fast-acting environmental simulators - originally designed for temporary habitats on inhospitable moons - modified to release atmosphere like a Terran equatorial rainforest within one minute in an enclosed space.  It was a much more simple and elegant solution than any others we had found for giving combatants defending the Ark an advantage - instead of trying to create technology to make them look colder, make the entire area match human heat signatures.  Boom, instantly blinded enemies.
A tense half-hour later, the ‘all clear’ sounded, queueing grumbling from those who had dozed back off as everyone stood to make their ways back to their quarters. I waited with Alistair and Tyche for everyone else to be accounted for on the way out, and the three of us headed back toward our quarters together.  Alistair peeled off first, living closest to the Archives, and no sooner had my sister and I reached my door than the page sounded for the post-drill meeting.  She waved me off as she answered on her databand, and I did the same as I pushed into my quarters and flopped on the couch. “Councillor Sophia Reid, present, audio only,” I answered. “And no jokes, Pranav… I look like I smell awful.”
“Alistair Worthington, present, audio and video. I can confirm that she does, and she does.”
Laughter filled the comms and the rest of the group leaders and Councillors joined the debrief.  Finally, everyone was present and Xiomara called the meeting to order.  First, the leaders of each shelter reported in, as those usually went the fastest. There were a couple malfunctions in the deployment of the shielding to disguise the entrances and hide heat and electrical signatures, but nothing Huynh’s team couldn’t fix.  Tyche and Alistair made the recommendations around earlier detection and the need to move those sheltering in the  Archives closer as we approached time to drop out of relativistic space. 
Once that was out of the way, it was on to the combat and invasion teams. Overall consensus was that Sam’s trick with the portable environments was a rousing success and would be installed at each point determined to be most likely as a breach, with trigger conditions to be determined later. “I hate to say it,” Michael sighed, “but we also need Charly’s team to crank up the scovilles on the arrows and grenades.” His team had played the ‘invaders’ this go around, equipped with sensors and readouts to simulate the effect our defenses would have on the various species who most commonly were found on pirate vessels.  Evan had worked intensely with Pranav and Derek to ensure that the strategies provided by the readouts were modelled after similar strategies based on which ever species each team member was assigned, to ensure we weren’t accidentally drilling against human tactics.
Michael hated it, but he was strict about his team complying nonetheless.
“Seriously?” I squawked, and I wasn’t the only one. “One of those things accidentally went off in my quarters…. Can confirm, they’re pretty potent.”
“They dissipated too fast against my team, and also the contact element left a lot to be desired. Charly, you may want to consider adding a sticking element.”
“Duly noted,” she chimed in with a yawn, her normal pep doused by being woken up and then the drop in adrenaline post-combat.
“What about the sonic weapons?” Xiomara asked, moving the meeting along.
“Still less effective than Nixe is on her own,” a familiar voice I couldn’t put a name to responded with a sheepish tone.  “How hard would it be to train more people to shatter glass with their voice?”
“Incredibly,” Grey stressed. “It takes a very unique combination of training and the right vocal chords.”
“Then we may need to work on adding a projection component.  The sonic devices can match the pitch, but not the actual tone and direction. They’re very effective given time and especially contact, but we need something more immediately disabling.”
Xiomara groaned. “Are we back to Mariah Carey on this one?” Objections exploded until she muted the comms. “It’s that or opera.” Votes started scrolling up the screen, and I could see Xio nod. “Opera it is.  Let’s find a suitable piece and try using more analogue-style speakers.”
“I still say that death metal would work better,” Arthur suggested as soon as the comms were back on.
“Annnnd we already tested it, I will remind you. The volume works, but the pitches aren’t high enough to hit a broad enough population of species sensitive to sound.” After that nearly-obligatory objection, the meeting continued going through reports from each combat team until finally Xiomara announced the end results. “I have to admit, this was one of our best drills yet. Ten percent casualties of the combatants defending the breaches, only two percent among non-combatants, and the invaders were only able to traverse three decks before they were subdued.” She let the cheers go for a couple seconds before getting everyone’s attention again. “Yes, great job on the improvements, but let me remind everyone - those numbers still leave us below threshold for a healthy genetic population. Engineering teams, make the necessary adjustments with whatever resources are necessary. Shelters Three and Seven, you will start training for armed and unarmed combat with Shelter Fourteen and Combat Team Two daily.  Sophia, your team will coordinate schedules. Any questions?”
There were no arguments, not even a groan or mutter as the meeting was dismissed. Before I could even add the new task to my agenda the next day, I received the notification that Alistair had beaten me to the punch.
Glancing at the time, I wanted to hit something.  I had to be back up and at work in four hours, and the realization weighed me down with exhaustion.  The guys had come in and gone to bed while I was in the debrief, and I could already hear synchronized snoring coming from the bedroom.  Rather than risk waking them with my now-frozen feet, I pulled the quilt off the back of my couch and rolled myself into it.  Only minutes later, a heavy weight oozed across my hip and started purring furiously.
“Yeah, buddy. I agree. We need a nap.”
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fruitcoops · 3 years
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ahhh *le gasp*
you know what would be even better?
Pads meeting Harry for the first time 🥺😳
Thank you for suggesting this, anon! Sweater Weather credit goes to @lumosinlove!
“You okay?” Remus murmured, sliding his hand around Sirius’ waist. They had been standing on the doormat for an eternity, his hand poised to knock without actually moving. Sirius nodded. “Do you want me to do it?”
“No, I’ve got it.” He took another ten count to steel himself, then knocked carefully. The soft sound may as well have been a sonic boom in his ears.
The door opened a moment later, revealing Lily, who was wreathed in the warm light of the house. She looked tired, but the vibrancy that made her so fantastic remained. “Hey, you two. Come on in, it’s cold out there. James, they’re here!”
“Be right down!” Jams called back, his voice echoing in the staircase. A happy babbling sound followed it and Sirius froze midway through removing his scarf. “I know, buddy, it’s so exciting!”
“He’s been talking about it for days,” Lily said wryly from a million miles away. Sirius’ eyes were fixed on the stairs. “Pads, is something wrong? Do your ribs hurt?”
Pads. Pads, that’s me. “Quoi?” He shook his head after a moment as reality trickled back. “No, I’m fine. Um, there’s a baby upstairs.” Duh.
Lily’s smile held no trace of judgement. “Yeah.”
“That’s your baby. And—and James’.” His brain was short-circuiting. “Your actual child is upstairs.”
“Your actual godson is upstairs.” Lily practically glowed with happiness. “Come on, the living room is warmer.”
He fumbled to grab Remus’ hand and held it tight, doing his best to take steady breaths as they sat down on the couch. “Alright. Alright, I’m okay.”
“You’re going to be the best godfather,” Remus said, giving his hand a squeeze and kissing his wrist. His chest ached, though whether it was from his half-healed ribs or something entirely different, he wasn’t sure.
Slow footsteps came from the hall and Sirius closed his eyes. Deep breaths. Slow and steady. “Are you ready?” James asked from the doorway. He swallowed thickly and nodded.
There was a soft whine as they entered the room and Sirius opened his eyes, immediately checking for any problems. He heard Remus gasp, and then James was standing in front of him with a bundle of red blankets; there were dark shadows under his eyes and a beaming smile on his face.
“Okay, Pads, here we go.”
“I can’t,” Sirius blurted suddenly, tucking his hands under his arms. “I can’t. He’s so small. I’m going to drop him or—or squish him, or something. My palm is as big as his face, James!”
“Crazy, right? Give me your hand.” James reached out with one arm and both of them reflexively lurched forward to catch the baby. He rolled his eyes and fixed them with a patented James Potter Look. “Guys. I’ve got the kid. Sirius, give me your hand.”
His fingers trembled as he held it out and James carefully adjusted him so his arms formed a cradle against his chest. Sirius could feel his heartbeat in his ears and his throat at the same time as James leaned down; there was a brush of soft fabric, a gurgling sound, and then Sirius was holding the baby.
Harry had Lily’s eyes, and James’ nose. Sirius would swear on any holy book that the stars themselves lived in those eyes. His chubby cheeks were rosy as he stared at Sirius with an open mouth. He let out a shaking breath and Harry smiled, toothless and squishy and absolutely wonderful. A couple drops of water splashed onto his round little face. “Stop crying on the baby, Pots,” he murmured.
James huffed. “That’s not me, man.”
With more care than he would use for the greatest treasures on earth, Sirius nestled Harry into the crook of his arm and reached toward his own face—his fingers came away damp. “Oh. Sorry.”
“Don’t worry, we cried all over him at the hospital and he’s fine. Look at how he’s cuddling into your chest. That means he likes your heartbeat.”
“He’s perfect.” Harry reached two chubby hands toward his face and Sirius leaned down, tracing one finger along the unbelievably soft skin before holding his tiny, warm fist to his cheek. “Bonjour.”
“Abababababa!”
Sirius grinned. “Bonjour, Harry. I’m your godfather. And you’re perfect.”
Harry wrapped his hand around Sirius’ finger—his little palm barely made it three-quarters of the way around, but his grip was solid as Sirius tickled his chin. He squealed and Sirius laughed.
“Oh, god, they’re so cute,” Lily sniffled from her armchair. Sirius hummed his agreement, never taking his eyes off the baby. He didn’t think he ever would. “How’re you feeling, Sirius?”
“Everything. I’m feeling everything right now.” Another tear dripped down his cheek and he quickly wiped it on the shoulder of his sweater so it wouldn’t touch Harry; this baby would never have tears in his life if he could help it. “You are the most precious thing,” he said softly, just for Harry to hear. “I will never let you get hurt.”
“That’s what we all promise.” James’ voice was low and a little choked up from the seat next to him. “I wouldn’t count on it, though. Babies are surprisingly accident-prone.”
Sirius shook his head as Harry made unblinking eye contact with him. “No. Not this one.”
A warm hand curled around his shoulder as James leaned into him, reaching out to tap his baby on the nose lightly. They all laughed when he sneezed, looking shocked at the noise it made. “You’re a lucky kid, Harry. You’ve got the best godfather in the whole wide world.”
“Re, you should hold him.” Sirius finally tore his gaze away from Harry and looked at Remus, whose eyes were red-rimmed. “Woah, are you alright?”
“Fine,” Remus said hoarsely, taking a deep breath as he held his sleeve to his eye. “Totally fine. You’re both just incredible and I love you.”
“I love you, too. Hold the baby.”
“Are you sure you want to let him go?”
“You get thirty seconds before I’m stealing him back.” Sirius cracked a grin. “This is your warning.”
“I better make it count then,” Remus laughed, reaching for the blanket bundle. “Hey, kiddo.”
“Watch his head,” James reminded him as they passed the blanket bundle between them. “He has too many bones right now.”
Sirius blinked. Did I hear that right? “He has what?”
“Too many bones,” Lily repeated. She raised an eyebrow. “What, you thought I was about to shove a full human skull through my hips? Hell no, the baby needs to fold.”
“Fold?” Sirius asked, horrified. “When does he stop folding?”
“Somewhere around eighteen months.”
His jaw fell open. They were barely three weeks in, and the baby wouldn’t be safe for another year at least. “But he’s already out?”
“Mhm.”
“So he doesn’t need to fold anymore.”
“We were thinking about making a bubble wrap outfit for him.” Lily glanced over at Remus and smiled. “Aw, Re, are you okay?”
“No.” Remus’ voice was thick with tears. “Yes. I don’t know. This baby is the only thing in the whole world that matters.”
James smiled at Lily. “Hey, that’s what I said!”
She shook her head. “The nurses were getting worried, I think. He was crying more than I was.”
Remus was whispering to Harry with a small smile as the baby gnawed on his sweater cuff, and Sirius rested his chin on his shoulder. Harry’s eyes went wide again when he saw Sirius and he shrieked, lighting up with a smile. “Did you find your favorite person?” Remus asked, leaning some of his weight on Sirius’ chest. “I know, buddy, he’s the best.”
“We’re about to be outranked by the godfather,” Lily sighed. “I knew it was coming, but still. Ouch.”
“It’s cute that you think we’re giving him back,” Sirius teased, reaching down to feel the pitch-black fuzz on Harry’s head. “He’s got your hair, J.”
“I know.” James sounded absolutely thrilled.
Out of the blue, Harry’s face began turning red. His smile slipped and he began wiggling around, flailing his little fists as he let out the most eardrum-piercing, window-shattering screech Sirius had ever heard. Remus paled and Sirius went still.
“Oh, no, no, shhh,” Remus soothed, rocking him gently. “It’s okay, you’re fine, Pots what do we do?”
“He’s probably hungry.” Lily stood up and stretched her back out. “Come here, parasite.”
“Parasite?” Remus and Sirius chorused with equal degrees of offense.
“Relax, mama bear, you know I love him,” she said, rolling her eyes as she hoisted the baby out of Remus’ arms and let him curl up against her. He quieted immediately and an indescribable kind of affection covered her face. “I grew him for nine months in my belly. This little critter made me eat pickles and ice cream together.” She tickled his belly and he burbled happily. “You did! Do you know how gross that is, honeybun? Do you? Oh, mama loves you so much.”
They all stood up as she left the room, though Sirius couldn’t really place why. James wiped his hands on his jeans and turned to them with a mischievous smile. “So, what do you think? It wasn’t super clear—”
Sirius wrapped both arms around him and pulled him in for a crushing hug. “Thank you. And congratulations. But mostly thank you.”
“Love you, Sirius.”
“Love you, too, J. You are going to be the most amazing dad.”
“I meant what I said. Harry’s lucky to have you.” James squeezed him tight and stepped back to hold him at arm’s length. “Dude, I’ve got a baby!”
“You’ve got a baby!” Sirius laughed, wrapping an arm around Remus’ shoulders as well; they swayed for a moment, all laughing and all slightly in shock. It was perfect.
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supergay-supergirl · 2 years
Text
i fixed supergirl season 5 (part 1/3)
hi i'm back on my supergirl bullshit :) anyway my episode by episode notes for how supergirl season 5A could/should have gone is below the cut, enjoy
(the rest will be in another post, this got way too long)
Overall Themes
Season 5 is about facing reality and accepting grief and pain. This is already done well in 5B imo but it could have been even more central to the plot (see plot)
Emotionally Lena is in a terrible horrible no good very bad place right now. They executed this pretty well in the show but I think they should have scrapped Lex and Rama Khan / most of Leviathan and made her the primary villain.
Kara has to learn to forgive herself for keeping a secret she was forced to keep. They also did this pretty well huh maybe season 5 had good themes after all
Overall theme of forgiveness, of self and of others. This ties into the previous themes; you need to face your grief and forgive in order to move on.
Note on CGI
Real talk here the CGI is the one thing that I have no defense of
It's dependent on budget so there probably wasn't much they could have done but. hhh
Anyway imagine all of these things with like season 2 level CGI
Episodes
*important changes in bold.
5x01: Event Horizon
Original rating: 7/10
Absolutely love the cold open. Perfect. Change nothing
Instead of the confusing restrictive contract thing, the crew stays at CatCo because they still believe in it. A small amount of blackballing can be involved.
Kara and Lena scenes are good
Fight scene with Midnight: They don't know Malefic exists yet so there isn't that much you can do with action. But definitely a roll call style fight scene that showcases each character's powers in their most iconic way (Dreamer gets a dream pun, Guardian does his shield slide move, etc.)
And maybe let Supergirl do the sonic boom clap thing, just for kicks
Malefic doesn't tell J'onn he's his brother right away. Like Lena, he wants to hurt the person who hurt him while avoiding direct confrontation with those feelings or that person.
5x02: Stranger Beside Me
Original rating: 5/10
Cold open on William, talking to someone about Andrea and Russell Rogers. We start to get hints of his true integrity; he's kind to his source and willing to show his vulnerability to earn their trust.
Also he should be less annoying in general
Malefic releases some other villain from the Phantom Zone to kill J'onn. Brief villain of the week run ensues.
Lena is continuing to develop Non Nocere, but she's having science problems, as she often does. Perhaps intersperse some clips of Lex from S4 or childhood, showing her emotional volatility.
Leave Eve out of the picture for now
Kelly and J'onn figure out that J'onn is missing memories. J'onn thinks his mind was wiped by someone, but Kelly notes that his brain activity matches that of someone who's repressed trauma.
5x03: Blurred Lines (Ancestral Memory)
Original rating: 4/10
Split this episode in half and stretch it over two episodes. Move James's goodbye to episode 5.
Kara and Lena stuff is good
Malefic releases the Aurafacian from the Phantom Zone in a continued villain of the week fashion.
Nia and J'onn access J'onn's repressed memories. They realize that Malefic (1) exists and (2) is behind all this. J'onn considers reaching out, but he can't find the courage.
The Super Friends defeat the Aurafacian, but Rip Roar kills her before they can take her in.
Fight scene with Malefic: He continually turns into and/or mind controls each of them so that there's very little actual fighting (think DEO scene in human for a day)
Also I think it should be called ancestral memory
Closing scene: William finds an exhausted Russell after the attack. He tries to reason with him, but Russell speeds away.
Closing image: Frustrated at his delegates' failures, Malefic decides to take things into his own hands.
5x04: In Plain Sight
Original rating: 6/10
Cue Sean Astin and temporary Kelly superpowers
Lena works with the DEO to create the modified Phantom Zone projector
They manage to corner Malefic using temporary Kelly superpowers. Right when they're about to hit him with the Phantom Zone projector, J'onn calls out for them to stop—Malefic is worth saving, and one needs to face their past, not lock it away—but Lena sets it off anyway, imprisoning Malefic.
Meanwhile, Kara follows William while he investigates Gemma Cooper (prev. Margot), Eve's white-haired connection to Leviathan. He reveals that he's investigating the disappearance of his friend Russell, which he believes is related to Andrea.
None of the Elena Torres stuff. This is solidly a B plot
He tells her that he was only acting so annoying because Andrea only trusts people who act for their own predictable self-interests (hinting at a deeper backstory for Andrea). However, he got into journalism because he isn't afraid to face the truth. Kara relates.
Kara and Lena talk about what happened with Malefic. Lena asserts that she was right, echoing her words to Lex; Malefic is a bad person, and the world will never be safe with him in it. We see how the events of the past few months have radicalized her mindset. The only way to save humanity is to control it.
5x05: Dangerous Liaisons
Original rating: 4/10
Put James's goodbye here. We can still do the date-aversary and trauma stuff with Kelly in Calvintown.
Wracked with guilt, J'onn tries to reach out psychically to Malefic, but he can't reach him. He thinks it's because Malefic is in the Phantom Zone, but it's actually because Lena has used her data from the previous episode to block J'onn's Q-wave frequencies while she experiments with Malefic's Q-waves.
Big showdown with Rip Roar over the geyser
Fight scene with Rip Roar: Supergirl faces him alone, trying not to hurt him and instead to reason with him. When she says William's name, he hesitates long enough for her to catch him.
Closing scene: At the DEO, William talks to Russell, appealing to their close friendship. When William asks who did this to him (implying Andrea), Russell says one word: "Leviathan."
5x06: Confidence Women
Original rating: 8/10
I highkey love this episode, wouldn't change much about it
Previously on Supergirl: lots of longing looks between Andrea and Lena. But neither of them have the mental or emotional well being to actually talk to the other.
I think overall the adult plot could have been organized better. Spend less time on Acrata and focus instead on Russell, Leviathan, and the general turmoil in Andrea's life.
Draw clear parallels to Lena and Kara's relationship
Canon Rojascorp optional but encouraged
5x07: Tremors (mid-season finale)
Original rating: 7/10
Get rid of Rama Khan. Literally just delete him
Having been told by Kara about William's investigation, Lena follows the clues to Eve. Eve tries to apologize, but Lena won't engage and kidnaps her instead.
The Super Friends research Leviathan. Supergirl goes to the Fortress to gather more information.
Meanwhile, J'onn gets wind that Malefic is still on Earth.
Fortress scene good
Intercut with the Fortress scene, J'onn tracks Malefic and realizes that Lena's been keeping him prisoner. The two pairs speak in parallel as they finally air their grievances. J'onn and Malefic are able to forgive and make up, but Lena and Kara can't.
The reference in my head is why stay / a promise from Next to Normal
I think they kind of did this but not as deliberately
parts 2 and 3 to come!
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Text
So I just rewatched this week's TFATWS episode cuz my hubs didn't watch it yet and I wanted to watch it with him.
Spoilers below but also discourse/parallels to Steve because we decided to put on CATFA right after to compare something.
:read more:
I'm on mobile so I apologize if the read more code isn't working. Just scroll really fast to the end to avoid spoilers.
I edited it on desktop, but it got a bunch of reblogs before I fixed it.
Hubs had an observation of when Walker and Hoskins walk into the building in that last fight scene, the way Walker held the shield and gun, he was cowering behind the shield. And hubs was like, that's not being Captain America, that is hiding behind the shield.
So after, hubs was like, did Steve ever... and I was like, we can find out. So we turned on CATFA and fast forwarded to the part where he enters the building with the Howling Commandos. And yeah, Steve has gun drawn, full line of sight, and the shield is just an extension of his body armor.
So yeah, Steve would never.
BUT BUT BUT GUYS we're also rewatching the other scenes and you know the scene where Bucky falls off the train?!
Do you know remember what happened to cause Bucky to fall off the train? (Because I didn't, and the following is a really bad paraphrase because it's been like an hour now, so I don't remember super fine details)
So Steve and Bucky are fighting their way up the train to get Zola. They encounter the soldiers (were they robots? I don't remember) with the plasma cannon dealies. Steve throws the shield at it and ducks behind some stuff to avoid fire, at which point, Buck PICKS UP THE SHIELD, and shoots at the bad guy. The bad guy sends a blast in Bucky's direction, the blast hits the shield and then ricochets or sonic booms the side of the train. The impact knocks Bucky out of the train.
At that point, my husband goes, "And that's why Bucky can never take the shield. That's why Steve would never give Bucky the shield."
And I was like 😱😱😱😱 HOLY SHIT!
I never associated the shield with Bucky's WS trauma, but um, yeah, it's kinda right there. (OK, you might have made this connection already, but I literally follow like 2 Bucky centric blogs and I don't always read the discourse.)
And hubs doesn't follow fandom, so it's not like he's read all the discourse about why part of fandom thinks Buck should have gotten the shield either. It was just a moment of observation.
PS - CATFA is going to be 10 years old this year. Seb looked so young in that movie. The snark between Steve and Buck was SO. GOOD.
Also, hubs and I talked about the juxtaposition of John to Steve, and in my opinion, the writing of TFATWS is SO DAMN GOOD! The way they write John, every single little thing can be juxtaposed to Steve. Everything, down to the way they bust through doors (and my reaction to every single one is "Steve wouldn't do it like that", which I imagine is the reaction the production team wants).
But basically, my husband pointed out that Steve always had a supporting team, and he was a super soldier, so where tf was Walker's team? Then we concluded that Walker probably went rogue.
Like they had support on the truck. But so far in Latvia, there's no other support from the US government. Hubs decided that Walker was acting on his when he bailed Bucky out. So Walker and Hoskins were not operating under orders.
Watching CATFA, the only time Steve technically went rogue was when he went to save Buck. And even then, Steve, while enlisted, wasn't in Europe as a military asset. He was a USO performer.
Which hubs then said, Walker is a USO performer trying to prove that he is Cap.
But we also circled back to the reasons each went rogue, and Steve did it to save his BFF. Walker did it to prove something.
Also, we talked about the serum and how I was expecting John to split it with Lemar and if I had to choose between the two to give it to, I would have given it to Lemar, based on the talk in the mall.
And hubs goes, the difference between Walker and Steve is that in the Walker situation, Steve would have given the serum to Bucky because he would have wanted Bucky to have the protection.
And yes. Basically, Steve never did things for himself. It was always for the greater good. (Ok, at the end of endgame, he did, but that was after he fixed the universe, so I think he deserved it.) But Walker did it to prove something.
Hubs also pointed out that Walker is just a trained killing machine and that is what the serum is amplifying.
But yeah, I get the sense that the gvt never told Walker what the job entailed and he's just making it up as he goes along.
Also, Wyatt is acting the shit out of that role.
So yeah, if you have time after watching this week's episode, turn on CATFA for more "Walker does not deserve the mantle" feels. 🤣
God, Chris was so fucking good in that movie.
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kibybun · 4 years
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Hi. Can I ask you to write about Aizawa or Hawks and their darling, who constantly joked about death and eventually she committed suicide, please? I love your writing💞 You are so awesome and talented and cool. Thank you so much for your work💕
Oh my gosh, thank you so much! I hope you like it!💞💞
Platonic Yandere Hawks x suicide joking reader
Tw: Yandere, suicide, self harm, angst
Enjoy!
💛Hawks first met you at the sports festival, showing off your quirk and demonstrating power. You caught his attention rather quickly.
💛Not only were you adorable but intriguing as well. You wore long sleeves, even though you looked uncomfortable in them, and you seemed oddly quiet compared to everyone else, shying away when they come up to talk to you.
💛Another thing that stood out to him was when you were doing the calvary battle. No one came to ask you to join their team, but you didn't go out and ask to join either. You just stood there until a purple hair guy came up to you, most likely getting you to join his group.
💛Though, you seemed to change. Your fighting style and the way you use your quirk changed.
💛It bothered Hawks the whole calvary battle but he was put at ease when some kid with a tail backed out due to the other guy brainwashing him.
💛You end up backing out too, much to Hawk's dismay.
💛Even though you weren't fighting anymore he still keeps his attention on you, not seeing your other classmates or students.
💛He watched you zone out and silently cheer for your classmates, finding it adorable as you watch in awe at some of the battles.
💛The sports festival ends and he follows you home, only to make surd your okay. Once he got home he quickly put in a request for you to come intern with him before going to bed.
💛When you went back to school you were excited to see if anyone wanted you to intern with them, knowing you wouldn't get as many requests like Todoroki or Deku.
💛... two. Only two requests.
💛It hurt to look at the board and see that you one of the most unwanted students in class 1-A. You thought you did really well and maybe impressed more than two people.
💛You get your list of hero agencies and sink deeper into your self pitty when you realize that one of the agencies werebt even specifically asking for you. All the students got requested by them.
💛That leaves Hawk's agency.
💛You didn't know much about him and his work so this was going to be awkward.
💛When the day came to board the subway and head off to your internship, no one wished you goodbye. All the groups and clicks were together, walking each other to their respective trains while you again, stood alone. You ere used to it though.
💛You board the train and zone out, nearly missing your stop.
💛Right as you get off the train your vision is filled with red feathers. Low and behold the pro hero who requested you.
💛His charisma hits you as you instantly feel welcome. He makes witty remarks about the train being too slow as he begins walking with you in tow.
💛Along the way you ask him why he wanted you to intern with him. He smirks and responds with a "Why wouldn't I?" That didn't answer your question.
💛He walks you to his agency and introduces you to all his other interns. After that he shoves you towards the bathroom, telling you to change into your hero costume.
💛He sure didn't waste time as the two of you begin patrolling the city. It seemed very rushed and eager but you prefered it over having to sit in class and do quizzes.
💛During patrol Hawks starts questioning you about school and life almkst like an uncle or brother would. It was very odd to you, considering you never get asked questions about yourself.
💛You felt so pitiful not being able to tell him your birthday, you had forgotten it, but somehow he was so understanding and kind about it.
💛It wasn't long before all of his fans flocked to the two of you, shouting questions and begging for autographs. You didn't like how all the people were surrounding you and Hawks could tell.
💛He uses his wing to shield you and hastily shoos the crowd off. After that he asks if you're okay and checks to make sure you didn't get hurt.
💛His intentions weren't to sleep with you, no. They were pure. He almost saw himself in you, alone and blocked off from the world. He just wanted to protect you and make sure you knew you weren't alone.
💛It was working too.
💛In the short week you were with him you had laughed the hardest you had in awhile and smiled more. You even considered him your bestfriend.
💛The one downside of your friendship was he couldn't see your cries for help.
💛While one roofs or flying with him you'd make jokes about how easy it would be to fall and die or how fun it'd feel to free fall.
💛He'd only laugh these off, thinking it was some kind of dark humor, because if something was wrong he'd trust you to tell him.
💛When the internship was over you had to hold back tears as he hugged you goodbye. Of course he gave you his number to keep in touch but it wouldn't be the same as sneaking away from work and eating fried chicken.
💛The second the train left you felt how alone you were. You didnt want to text him right away because that would feel too needy. Should you even text him? Was he doing it just to be nice or did he actually care?
💛You leave those thoughts behind as your phone buzzes. It was a text from Hawks. "Why did the chicken cross the road?"
💛Your mood brightens as the two of you continue sending dumb chicken jokes, memes, and puns, with the occasional "dark humored" joke from you.
💛You make it home and your texting slowed, mainly due to Hawks having to work. You didn't know he was actually flying outside your house, making sure you were okay before flying off to buy you a dumb looking teddy bear.
💛Slowly, your mood begins to brighten with the constant reassurance of Hawks being there. He knew the right things to say at all times. Self conscious about your outfit? Incomes a barrage of compliments and confidence boosters. Nervous about a test or presentation? Boom, paragraphs about how amazing you are and how you can do it.
💛It almost made the emptiness inside go away.
💛Problems don't just go away, and it really shows.
💛Whenever you couldn't text or call Hawks your loniness sinks in. You had no other friends besides him. Your parents weren't the beat either with their comments about what you're doing or what you're wearing.
💛It only reminded you of all the reasons for the scars on your arms.
💛But before you could act on those reasons he was there. It was always magicly when you were crying in bed or fumbling with a sharp object.
💛Over time Hawks picked up on your thoughts and feelings, causing him to watch over you every second he could. He loved you so much, he couldn't lose you.
💛The amount of cute gifts he gets you griw over time. More stuffed animals, more snacks, more little trinkets. Anything to make you happy.
💛And again, it worked. The nights you spent crying or staring numbly at the ceiling slowly decreased. You also threw away the razors you had hidden, determined to stay clean.
💛When the work studies came you were the happiest you've ever been. You got to be with Hawks again.
💛Upon seeing him you were greeted with the best hug you've ever gotten along with fried chicken for lunch.
💛But something was off this time. He seemed a little more paranoid walking around the city with you, more eager to be inside at night, and disappearing at night.
💛It worried you, making you overthink the hole situation tenfold.
💛What if he was trying to avoid you? Where you being that annoying? Maybe he was tired of you. You should just leave him alone.
💛He hugs you goodbye as you leave, still conflicted.
💛Sadly your thoughts only grow stronger as time goes on. His texts become shorter and less frequent, making you think he was tired of you. His constant gifts had stopped as well
💛Hawks couldn't control his lack of contact with you. He wanted to spam you with memes at two am like he normally did but he was given a mission that couldn't be compromised, even at the expense of your friendship.
💛You fall back into your dark place without him. You were reminded of how forgettable you were to everyone, how you had no friends beside him, how your parents were disappointed in you.
💛What's the point in living in pain?
💛You start cutting again, just wanting to feel something again. You stop sleeping and eating, not feeling the need for it anymore. You completely passed out during training due to this.
💛One weekend you ride a train away from your town and into the one where Hawk's agency was. You were looking for him, a sign, anything, to tell you to stop.
💛The streets were empty and he was no where in sight.
💛You fight yourself at the top of a business building, hands trembling as you sent a final text to your only friend. You told him how much he ment to you, how grateful you were to him, how sorry you were for being annoying and taking up so much of his time, how this was goodbye.
💛You got to feel the wind rush past you. You were right about it being fun to free fall.
💛Hawks was talking to Dabi when his phone buzzed. Thinking it was the commission he checked it.
💛Dabi watched as Hawk's smug demeanor turned to confused then broken. He watched the pro hero fall to his knees and clutch his phone, nearly cracking it.
💛Dabi didn't even have a chance to ask what was wrong as Hawks flew at super sonic speed away from him and up into the sky.
💛He first scanned the buildings looking for you, wiping the tears from his eyes to try and see better. When he couldn't find you he swoops down low to the streets to see if he could catch you before you hit the ground.
💛He stops when he sees the splatters of your body of the ground.
💛He collapses next to you, sobbing as he looked at your remains.
💛It was his fault. He should've been there so much more. He should've watched you more carefully than he did. He should've killed those fuckers who thought they were better than you.
💛You should've lived.
💛Hawks lays there crying, going over all the things he did wrong and how it should've been him to die.
💛The morning comes and police officers tape off the area, pulling a now broken man away from you. They clean the area and leave.
💛Hawks mindlessly sits in the spot you were in, hoping this was a nightmare.
💛Night falls and Dabi managed to find him. He tells Hawks that he saw the news. It was odd for him to feel sympathy for a hero but here he was.
💛Hawks stands and grabs Dabi's hand, placing it on his face before begging him to set him ablaze. He didn't want to live in a world without you.
💛Dabi backs up, retreating his hand and looking at him stunned. What exactly did you mean to him?
💛Hawks continues to beg and pleas but Dabi continues to refuse. Too bad Hawks would do anything to die at this point.
💛Hawks shouts out his plans to spy on the league, to manipulate and destroy them from the inside. How he would kill them all in secret if he could. How it would be the best feeling ever to watch them die in betrayal.
💛Dabi falls for his trap. Rage was the only thing he could feel as his fire engulfed Hawks, semding him to the grave in a firey blaze.
💛He ran from the scene, leaving another body in the same spot.
kiby~💚
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cutegirlmayra · 4 years
Text
Amy Rose Prompt: Strong
It’s a birthday week! I just thought of this one while watching some inspiring and emotional scenes from all different types of animation. I guess my birthday wish is for characters that I’ve longed to see have a ‘strong impacting moment’ have them again sometime in the future that pumps us all up to cheer for them!
Commissions and prompts are open, but if you’ve submitted 3 ideas already, please hold off and let others have a try! :Db Thank you!
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Prompt:
“Metal Sonic!!!” Amy spread her legs into a balanced stance. Her scuffed up boot dug deeper into the ground to give her a firm footing. The wind howled like a forlorn cry as she brought her hammer up, beginning to twirl it around herself as she did when she miraculously deflected Eggman’s canon-fire.
Metal Sonic was already going after his first priority: Sonic.
However, this little pink hedgehog was proving to be quite the nuisance.
He stopped in his departure and turned to see her still rearing to fight, but his scanners only saw her as an annoyance, not a threat.
The image of Rosy the Rascal was engraved in his memory, Amy Rose could not change his view of her. Pathetic.
“I won’t let you run!” she cried out, feeling the ache in her back and to alleviate some of it’s pressure, she hunched forward just slightly. “You will never be like Sonic The Hedgehog!”
It’s head turned with a creek of its steel, and its eyes blazed red in a heated acknowledgement of her words.
She found a moment to take a step forward, pushing herself to make him see her, to defeat the doubts that told her she could be destroyed trying to take him on.
“I’ve decided something, Metal... I’ve decided... I’m not going to try and redeem you.” she squinted her eyes, feeling her heart grow heavy as she admitted that.
He continued to stare at her, now fully turning his body towards her.
“Instead, I’m going to defeat you!” She took her existing hammer and swung it out, making it grow even larger than when Eggman had tried to trap her in that cavern.
“I could only make that decision because I knew two things, Metal Sonic! One, that you will never measure up to Sonic!”
Metal Sonic’s body hunched over, twitching in his rage.
“And secondly... Not just that... but that you don’t have a heart to redeem.” She turned to a moment of tenderness, as though still wishing that weren’t the case. “You’re true to following your programming, and being what you are... a villain. No, worse than that, a villain’s puppet... bent on being nothing more than a nuisance in this world!” She stepped forward again, “So no matter what I say to you, no matter how hard I try and teach you about friendship and the beauty found in this intangible world... you will only hate. Comparing yourself to Sonic, you are nothing like him! He taught Tails how to fly a plane!” she sped herself back into a ready stance as he charged her. It was like he was teleporting, how fast he moved.
He sent a slashing hand through to her center but she reflexed to holding her hammer like a sword engaging against a metallic shredder.
“Grr...Urk... HARRRAH!!!” she threw him off, and he flew back a moment.
“He brought Knuckles out of his isolation!” She swung her hammer to deflect his version of a homing-attack.
All the while, he was moving her back down the mountain, as though proving a point... she could never face him head-on...
As though mocking her for trying, he kept his next consecutive attacks with full force but slower, allowing her to block and continue to be pushed back by his power.
“Urk, gah... ha!” she blocked again and again, trying to swipe at him but he expertly would dodge her.
Zooming in to grab her hammer, he decided now would be a good time to boost his thrusters and send her farther back down the rocky cliff.
“AHHH!!!” he shoved her down and the hardness of the rock scraped against her bareback side.
He tried to pull the hammer out of her grasp, but she held on, making him pull her up as she took a foot and jammed it above his rotating center core, burning with fuel to allow him to operate.
She kicked off and he willingly let go... to him, this was mere child’s play. Just a way to shake her off his tail while he continued to hunt down Sonic.
She landed well but felt herself start to strain. ‘Not now...’ she got herself back up, ‘Not yet.’ she took her hammer in both hands, moving it clumsily over her shoulder.
“Y-you forget... or you don’t know-!” she bent herself, getting ready for the biggest home-run of her life. “Who taught me to fight..!” she charged forward, and underestimating her momentary rest, Metal Sonic leisurely lifted a hand to stop her but was slammed down by the unforeseen force that came with her hit.
He was knocked to the side, his eye-lights shaking due to his mental computer unable to compute what had just happened.
“He helped me to never give up!” she swung again, forcing him back to his feet and then slammed him down once more, “He taught me that you make your own destiny!!! The way you envision it! The way you want it to be!”
She kept hammering into him, and soon, as he began to step back... unable to brace himself from her impacts, he was losing pieces of his metal hide one after the other.
He stumbled, tripped, and fell over himself with each massive hit she threw at him... now he was the one getting pushed back up the mountain’s side...
“You will never be like him... because you don’t know what’s it like! You’ll never understand what Sonic has learned from us! What we’ve gained from him!” she continued to wham him with sensational fury and continual endurance, a steady show of power that only ever increased with each new powerful hit of her Piko Piko Hammer.
Amy’s swings became more and more rapid, but still carried so much weight in every blow.
Metal Sonic’s systems began to glitch out on his eye-lights, unable to process the progression of how far the battle had turned.
“Maybe it’s all Eggman’s fault... or maybe you truly just want to watch the whole world burn... but either way... There can only be one Sonic that lasts in my heart!” She brought the hammer over her head, and a crack of thunder burst from behind her, traveling like a spiderweb through the dark sky.
But it was that moment that Amy hesitated, breathing hard as her compassionate heart got the better of her.
Her eyes loosened from their fierce anger and narrowed bridge, realizing how awful she must appear.
She saw Metal Sonic struggling to get up, one of his eyes dented by her strikes and the other glaring up at her.
“...I’m no monster...” She stepped away, breathing out as the mental image of herself appeared in her mind. “I’m no villain... I’m just a hedgehog... who can’t stand to see people suffer around her...”
Within Metal Sonic’s programming, the image of Rosy the Rascal was being infiltrated, as Metal Sonic began to override his own logic and erase her image from his memory core... replacing it with that terrifyingly powerful stance Amy held before... and blurred out the threat level... having it massively bolded and blaring red: MAJOR THREAT.
“I’m not you.” she hissed out, seeing him shoot himself into the air, and charge his stomach-engine with a growing energy ball...
She remembered... pleading to the Chaos Emeralds to let her go super, and having her wished denied.
Even though she remembered... she held out her hand... “Chaos...”
Metal Sonic threw his arms back, bringing the the charge to the height of its power!
“...Please...” she squinted her eyes in the brightness of his blast that she knew she wouldn’t be able to escape or dodge from.
The Master Emerald flared to life, spiraling out from around it one of the Chaos Emeralds, a orange light spinning with it as it trailed a beautiful glow of chaos energy.
Tikal’s ghostly image appeared behind the flying emerald, moving like a comet towards her open hand to the side. “Amy..!” her voice cried out to her.
As the beam of Metal Sonic’s energy cascaded down like a vigorous wall of molten heat... The Chaos Emerald zipped to Amy’s side, and she caught it.
“CONTROL!!!!” Amy held up the emerald as time itself broke the fabric of space and reality and pushed her through its limits to appear twisting behind Metal Sonic.
He tried to turn around to her, but it was too late.
With one arm, her quills lingering up in the intensity of the moment, Amy crashed her hammer into his back, crunching the circuitry and snapping the tense wires out of place. Electricity burst from his being as he came smacking down into the earth below... Into the very crater of a grave he created for himself...
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Amy gave her everything to that attack, the Chaos Emerald’s glow ceased and she began to fall through the air.
“Ha...ha... oh no!” She looked around her, realizing taking out Metal Sonic was now the least of her worries. She had been transported thousands of feet into the air, and now... she was plummeting down at accelerated speeds.
“Sonic...” her eyes watered, before she clutched the Chaos Emerald again, “Chaos control!” her trembling hands from the wind pressure exposed its gloss form only to reveal it was still dull of any influence from her voice command... Her eyes widened, “This can’t be...” she squinted her eyes against the wind force again, “CHAAOOSSS!!! Control!” she tried again, turning it up towards the sky but nothing...
“S...S...Soooniiiccc!!!” she released the emerald from her hand, bundling her fists up to her chest and crying out her hero’s name...
In her most dire moment... a shimmer sparked like a star igniting far from her soul... but a sonic boom pulsed through the air as a figure--launched like a missile--swooped in an arch to grab her before she met her end.
She felt the lapping wind as the figure began to come to a screeching halt, trying to slow its momentum down before she felt herself blackout a moment.
When her limp body came too, she blinked to see a glowing figure above her. “-y...Amy..! Amy!”
Her eyes adjusted... and the bright being before her... was her Sonic.
“Amy, are you alright?” He was leaning over her, his two hands holding him up above her resting body, laying her down by the side of the cold mountain...
“Where’s Metal Sonic..?” He seemed concerned, and a gentle smile lifted to her face as her eyes glistened from his warm light.
“Sonic... I... I did it.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it was soft and gentle, something he wasn’t used to.
To show this, he leaned back a moment, his eyes widening in surprise by her sudden expression.
She was so full of gratitude, so content in helping her friends from the threat of Metal Sonic...
His smoking head rest deactivated, after having his form split apart and tumble loose down the rocky cliffs of the mountain’s proud face.
She was proud... but would he be?
“I beat him...” she gave a more fuller grin to her already exhausted and drained complexion. “Now... you’re the only Sonic...”
The only one that mattered.
Sonic’s image was blurring again.
“W-wait...” she wanted it to stay... but in that blurr, it focused only briefly to a proud smile on Sonic’s face, a happy expression.
“Thank you...” He began, as she blinked her eyes softly again, the world darkening once more. “Amy...”
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beevean · 4 years
Text
Sonic and speed: are we misunderstanding them?
This article was originally written in Spanish by @latin-dr-robotnik​ on his blog - you can read it here!
Today on SHP, I’d like to bring attention to a topic that I keep noticing being discussed everywhere (especially now during quarantine), and that somehow worries me: are we misunderstanding Sonic and his characteristic speed?
During these last few weeks there has been a new, relatively unusual explosion of videos and comments on the Internet regarding Sonic and, relevant for today, what is the best game or the best level. The simplest reason has to be the lockdown we’re going through, and which is leaving us with more time to play or think about those games we want to play, or never will. On the other hand, the most cynical side of me believes that this boom of Sonic-related content is because Game Apologist’s video about S3&K and Sonic in general was so popular, it sparked the “interest” of other creators (the video itself is great, and I elaborated my opinions on it here). Whatever the case, there is a greater discussion about Sonic going on right now, and I feel like it’s not directed where it should be.
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Before starting: there are a bunch of videos that helped me shape a good part of the opinions I’m going to explain today. You don’t need to watch all of them, and they’re not mandatory to fully understand this article, but if after reading it you’re left wanting for more, or you’d like to hear different options, I’d recommend you watch these:
1.     Sonic and Speed (Errant Signal)
2.     The First Levels of Sonic Games (Super Bunnyhop)
3.     SONIC the HEDGEHOG: How Level Design Can Break a Game (Broken Base Gaming)
4.     How Sonic Mania Makes a Level (RelaxAlax)
5.     City Escape is Peak Sonic Game Design (ZoomZike)
6.     Lost Valley Is Not Peak Sonic Game Design (ZoomZike)
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What is the problem?
In a series as big and ever-changing as Sonic’s, there is a wide repertory of formulas and possible answers to the question “how to design a game?”. In some cases we’re still looking for an answer, in others we’re looking for alternatives (I talked not too long ago about the accessibility of Sonic Mania and 2D Sonic in general – Spanish only!), and most of the time, the answer has already been given in the past.
This looking for answers in the past has taken us in many directions, like constantly looking back to Sonic Adventure to solve the great enigma that is 3D Sonic; but I’d add that the recent retrospectives about Sonic and its first 2D games have raised some criticism and questions that, while valid, end up muddling a formula that has proven itself to be effective and crucial in the design of everything related to Sonic.
What really worried me is the criticism about Sonic’s speed and the levels that are considered “slow”, and we’re going to delve into this.
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The basic Principles of Sonic
Speed. Platforming. Exploration. These are Sonic’s basic Principles and have always been, from its beginning until today. These three concepts are at the core of not just the level design, but the games themselves as well. The best levels in the series know how to balance these aspects, and the best games are those that can keep a balanced flow, preventing the game from going too fast, and losing its exciting component along the way, or from going too slow and becoming boring, causing the player to lose interest. Naturally, in these games there have to be all sorts  of levels: faster, more relaxed, more open and more labyrinthine, all coexisting in harmony and without going too far in one direction. Ignoring these Principles puts the quality of the levels at risk, and even our understanding of the character.
I would have put my own examples here, but just before starting to write this section I got some wonderful ones from Beevean. If you don’t remember her, she helped a lot with the article about the music of Classic Sonic, and I already warned her that if she kept posting examples this good, I would have had no choice but to feature her again. The discussion started from this post, and she says:
If you approach Sonic thinking its only characteristic is “gotta go fast”, the game you’re gonna get is Advance 2. The very flat, boring, “there’s no way to put normal obstacles in these levels so we’re gonna throw bottomless pits at the player until they get sick of them” Advance 2.
Some fast levels can be awful - Stardust Speedway is a disaster from a level design standpoint and the whole level seems to work against you. Some slow levels can be super fun - you rarely run in Lava Reef and you spend most of the time dodging obstables, but that doesn’t stop it from being one of the most beloved levels in S3&K. There’s no arbitrary reason that separates “good” levels from “bad” levels, it’s an amalgamation of many factors - plus of course your personal enjoyment.
And in her tags (because we both include more information in our tags than in our posts) she adds:
The levels that are widely considered bad usually put too much focus on one of the factors you mentioned.
Marble Zone is too slow and linear.
Luminous Forest is too fast and linear.
The Doom and Lost Impact are too labyrinthine.
And so on.
My personal example is Sonic Mania and its progression during the mid-game, from Flying Battery to Mirage Saloon:
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Flying Battery is a long level, filled to the brim with speed and emotions, especially during Act 2. After beating the boss, the player is likely going to feeling exhausted after being thrown left and right, and so…
The following level is Press Garden. Act 1 is a relatively closed and relaxed level, but still moving at a reasonable pace. If the player is familiar with the level they can finish it quickly, but they still can take their time appreciating the view of the printing and the machinery of the zone. Act 2 enhances this, with an absolutely lovely view and an active but still relaxed flow…
Then there’s Stardust Speedway, which is divided into two completely opposite acts. Act 1 is a relatively fast level, but very relaxed and almost a Zen-like experience when the player lets himself be carried away by the starry night sky, and with a relative absence of lights or discomfort on the screen (enemies and obstacles aside). Act 2 is the other way around, a largely colorful, explosive, fast level (to the point that I, anything but a speedrunner, managed to finish the level in 31 seconds, 2:10 minutes if you include the fight with Metal Sonic), culminating in one of the longest, most intense bosses in the game that marks the halfway point of the adventure…
After such an exciting journey, the next level is Hydrocity, once again split in half with a calmer, more exploration-oriented Act 1, and an Act 2 that, similarly to the original level, is one of the most adrenaline-filled water levels in the series. The boss is intense as well, but verging on being tedious and not nearly as fast as the level itself…
And finally, Mirage Saloon. Every version of Act 1, regardless of the quality, are there to set up Act 2, a largely open, fast-paced level.
In short, the Mania experience is made of peaks and valleys of emotions and adrenaline, keeping the game to a reasonable pace and with a good dose of speed, exploration and platforming. The player can break the flow anytime to look for Giant Rings and other hidden goodies, and that doesn’t ruin the charm of the level. In the same way, the faster levels require the player to be familiar with them and to know how to platform to get the best results, without giving you free speed like it’s not worth it (looking at you, Advance 2).
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Even the worst levels have the chance to redeem themselves, like for example Labyrinth Zone in the “Misfit Pack” Mania mod.
 Breaking the Principles.
When a level or a game breaks the balance for too long, it might become too easy (the infamous “hold right to win”), too boring (the most common argument against Sonic 1 because of levels like Marble Zone and Labyrinth Zone), or too obtuse (the criticism against Sonic CD). The key word is “for too long”, as Beevean already explained how levels that prioritize one thing over the others can still be considered good stages by the majority of the fandom (example: Lava Reef, and I’d add Spring Yard and Final Egg).
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As I said before, Mania shows us how there are levels that prioritize certain aspects, but only for a few minutes at a time. Mirage Saloon Act 1 for Sonic and Tails may be a slow, boring level, but it’s only 3 minutes long in a game that lasts 2-4 hours. Same goes for Carnival Night Act 2, a long, tedious level, but that is still a 4-9 minutes long interval before getting back on track with Ice Cap and Launch Base.
3D Sonic is a much more complicated situation, as every game has its pros and cons. Adventure 1 is one of the games that experiments the most with the Principles in a 3D plane, but it breaks the flow of the stages with the plot and hubs worlds to explore (which are pretty divisive even to this day; for the record, on this blog we’re pro hubs). Adventure 2 gets rid of the time-wasting hubs but each character focuses on one Principle at the time: Sonic and Shadow focus almost exclusively on speed with some platforming, Tails and Eggman on action and platforming, and Knuckles and Rouge are all about exploration (and RNG…). Sonic Unleashed does pretty much the same, just reintroducing the hub worlds, while Sonic Generations is at its core a balanced mix of speed, platforming and exploring (plus a much smaller hub between levels), and… well, I think I made myself clear. 3D Sonic is a mess of ideas that orbit around the fundamental Principles, but that for some reason are never kept consistent between games.
Going back to utterly breaking the Principles, there’s one level above all that destroys every one of those extremes, never taking the middle road and without worrying at all about what players might think of it. This level is…
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Eggmanland
If Sonic Mania is a clear example of a relatively balanced flow, in its mid-game at least, Eggmanland may be the biggest example of what happens when each and every one of the Principles is taken to its extremes. Let me explain:
Speed: Eggmanland can be both too fast for the player to react, between QTE and super quick jumps that may lead to your death if you’re not fast enough (and you rarely will), or too slow of a slog to navigate (the long Werehog sections).
Platforming: Eggmanland can have too much tricky precision platforming, made even harder due to a lack of a drop shade (the second Werehog section is infamous for this), or it can throw stretches where you do almost nothing but hold X and maybe go through a QTE, which if failed lead to your death once again; at worst you have to wait, which sends us back to our previous point.
Exploration: Eggmanland can be a giant, confusing labyrinth (there is no shortage of stories of player getting lost in this behemoth of a level), and at the same time it can have some long linear room to room progression, separated by doors about as fast as Big the Cat.
I should say that, despite all of this, I love Eggmanland a lot, and same goes for Beevean; but this is something that has to do with what we mentioned before, personal preference. From a technical standpoint, and according to many players, Eggmanland is an absolute nightmare.
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Are we misunderstanding Sonic?
Going back to the central topic of this article, I believe that I put enough emphasis on the importance of balance in Sonic, so let’s go back to the previous question: what is the problem?
In short, I disagree with the voices that call for redirecting Sonic towards “fast”, adrenaline-filled stages. These people, with their own retrospective, are doing some sort of revisionism with Sonic levels, automatically branding levels that aren’t as fast as others as “bad”. We’re ignoring the true value of platforming and exploring the levels, and the perception of the character is at risk.
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Like Beevean said, looking at Sonic just as “gotta go fast” is, plain and simple, absurd. Sonic is much more than this restless teenager that, just like that movie with the bus, if he doesn’t run at speeds higher than 90 mph his heart will stop. Yes, going fast is a big part of his initial appealing and his way of life (“My stories only end when I stop running”); but when Sonic’s speed is brought up in these discussions, the rest of what makes the character is left outside: how much he admires nature and how much he likes to take a rest every now and then before the next adventure. Sonic OVA, Sonic Adventure, Sonic X and even Sonic Lost World’s ending show that Sonic is not just speed, but also rest, curiosity, exploration. There are even cases where the journey and the friends and memories made along the way are much more important than the destiny itself (Sonic Heroes, Sonic Unleashed), and on several occasions it’s been shown as an actual weakness of the character the fact that he would act recklessly and under the influence of the fateful “gotta go fast”. This aspect of Sonic’s attitude might probably be product of the aggressive marketing campaigns this character endured (ever since the Genesis “Blast Processing”), but it doesn’t tell the whole story, and it’s unacceptable to enforce this line of thought over everything we know about the character.
And to end this long section where I was hinting at one of the most important points of one of the most thoughtful games of the series, let’s not forget that Sonic is pretty aware that everything has a beginning and an end, because that’s the Nature’s way of things and we have to live life at its fullest, for it is finite. Running at top speed is just one of many ways Sonic lives his life, and his eyes will forever be filled, not so much with speed, but with curiosity.
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Conclusions
To recap this long article, let’s remember that
Speed, Platforming and Exploration are the three basic Sonic Principles. The momentum in the games comes from the interaction between these elements.
Speed is not something that’s delivered for the sake of being delivered: it usually is a reward or an incentive to keep the player interested, engaged and excited for what’s to come.
Breaking the Principles impacts the experience of the game in many aspects… unless you’re Eggmanland and you’re breaking every single Principle in one level anyway.
To narrow Sonic down to just “speed” is to ignore everything else that this character represents. “Gotta go fast” is a facet of his design and personality, but not the only one.
Starting from this, we can sit down and discuss about “good” and “bad” levels in the series all day long, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Now that we’re about to discover what’s next for the series, I believe it’s important to clarify what Sonic represents in every stage, so that with some luck we can see better consistency and quality in his future adventures.
Speaking of this last point, I just remembered The Geek Critique’s series of Sonic retrospectives, another series of videos that inspired me and I found enlightening. Do you guys remember the videos I linked to at the beginning? Well, it’s time for you to watch them :P (if you want to, of course)
(I’d like to thank Beevean again for suggesting the best examples I could have needed. Seriously, she helped much more than it looks)
What do you guys think? What is the ideal Sonic level, and why? Do you agree that Sonic is much more than a speedy blue hedgehog? In the meantime, we’re hopefully going to see each other very soon. See you next time!
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I feel this theme is strangely fitting to conclude this article, lol
~
After the Spanish article was posted, I reblogged with this:
To add something more, I was chatting with a friend of mine who pointed out that, for all the talk in the fandom that we want to see less linear levels, most of the fan favorites are pretty linear - Ice Cap, Speed Highway, City Escape, Rooftop Run… I told him that yeah, linearity isn’t a synonym of bad level design because linear levels can still be enjoyable: with these particular cases, what makes them different from a random Lost Valley is that they have other elements that make them stand out (snowboarding, running down a skyscraper, skateboarding through San Francisco, climbing the Big Ben…). Plus they have something to compensate for the linearity, like fluid platforming.
In the case of Ice Cap and Speed Highway, there’s also a contrast between their halves: IC Act 1 is cramped and heavy on platforming, while Act 2 is much faster and without many obstacles, almost as a reward; Speed Highway starts out as fast and exhiliarating, with little platforming getting in the way of running, but the At Dawn section is a short open space, to let the player catch their breath, to the point that even the music and the aesthetic are much more relaxed. So, as you said, the balance is kept, and when you add a memorable setting and music, you have a great level in your hands.
Thank you @latin-dr-robotnik​ for giving me the permission to post this! I just had to translate this fascinating article to share it with everyone :>
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justanotherfanfic · 5 years
Text
One Last Time
summary: reader tries her hardest to change the events of endgame with her super speed abilities
warnings: anxiety, death, mentions of death
pairings: tony stark x speedster/adoptive daughter!reader
word count: 4.1k+
a/n: happy belated birthday tony! i love you 3000! i’m so sorry if this is trash!! this is the second longest one-shot i’ve made
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BEING A SPEEDSTER was what got The Avengers attention. You didn't always have those powers. When The Attack in New York happened, you were at a family science fair downtown. An explosion went off when Loki dropped the scepter inside that building. You and everyone else in there was hit with the explosion. The chemicals that covered your body along with the Space Stone's explosion is what triggered your powers. Your body was able to absorb the massive amounts of energy.
It was Tony who flew into the building to retrieve the scepter after analyzing the scene. His heart sank as tears formed in his eyes. Seeing all the dead bodies of children and parents traumatized him. It was Jarvis who detected a faint heartbeat coming from the chemical lab. Tony was speechless to see you were alive, it was a heartbreaking miracle to find out you were the only one who survived that incident. Tony attempted to fly you over to the Tower for an emergency surgery but was only to be electrocuted. Your body was covered in lightning and he had no idea why.
Tony was the one who took you in, you had no one else. He saw himself in you and decided to take immediate action. Tony was there for you when you woke up from your coma after a few months. You were star struck when you saw your role model treating you at his medical wing in the Avengers Tower. Tony was there to comfort you when he broke the news to you. You lost your mom and dad, you were the only survivor of the explosion. He was there for you when you didn't understand your powers. He was there through thick and thin.
You were able to freeze time, had speed healing, could vibrate through objects, create mirages, reverse time, throw lightning that radiated from your body, and so much more. Tony and the team knew how you got your powers and knew that having a terrible past helped motivate you to become a better hero. It's hard to see you with so much pain at your age but Tony knew exactly what you're going through.
You remember when you first officially met the team. It was intimidating to be in the same room as all the legendary superheroes who have been saving lives for years. It was Tony who reassured you that you'll be fine and how you belonged with them. He was there through your anxious days. He was there for you through all your training sessions with Steve and Natasha. Whenever you were frustrated with your powers or would accidentally hurt someone with your lightning, he was there for you. He was there for you through all the first awkward conversations with the team members. He was there for you when he introduced you to their new recruit, Peter Parker. He was always there for you.
Whenever you were fighting a difficult enemy and felt like all hope was lost, Tony was right by your side. He was always there to tell you to stand your ground, to always stand up. He was there when you were injured during a mission with The Avengers and went into full protective father mode. He was there when you were having trouble with school. He was there whenever you had nightmares about the explosion from that day. Years have gone by and your father-daughter relationship only grew.
It was when Thanos came when everything changed. The mad Titan who threatened to erase half of the universe. Unfortunately, he did. This left a dysfunctional team (as if Civil War didn't already do enough damage, you all had to deal with this too). You and the team tried to bring everyone back with different ideas. Nothing worked. Tony couldn't handle the pain, losing Peter is what broke him. You were grieving as well, your best friend was gone and you felt as if it was your fault. You weren't there to help them.
Five years passed. Even though the snap left everyone traumatized, you accepted it. It had to be done. That was until Steve and Natasha brought up the idea of time travel with Scott.
You scoffed, you had already tried reversing time with your powers years ago. They shook their heads and explained how far back they needed to go in order to save the universe. Your powers only allowed you to reverse time within a week or two from the present time. You furrowed your eyebrows in curiosity, it's a brilliant plan. Going back to get the stones from years ago is what needed to be done.
You remember Tony declining immediately. Steve, Natasha, and Scott were desperate for his help. They looked over at you knowing that you'd be the one to open his eyes. You did. With a lot of talking, crying, and confessions, it happened. Tony figured it out.
This led to the Time Heist. You remember joking around with everyone saying how much of an expert you were with time travel. Laughs and smiles plastered on everyone's face.
"See you all in a minute," Nat spoke to everyone then winked over at you. You laughed before the machine went off.
You were back in New York. The day it all started. Tony saw you were upset. He reassured to you that you didn't need to help. You shook your head, you knew that you had to do it. It could possibly help you heal from the hurt.
You were crying when you saw them. Your parents smiling down at you as you were staring at a video of Tony Stark building one of his many suits on a monitor next to the chemical lab. You felt your heart sink seeing your parents widen their eyes, the explosion ejecting you and them into the chemical lab where the explosion caused the worst damage. Tony was there for you as you cried into his chest. He hushed you and spoke reassuring words in order to help you gain confidence and grab the scepter before Tony's past self came.
It was a quick in and out mission. You were happy to have been part of the Time Heist. You were grateful for the gift you have been given and was determined to use it to save the universe.
The stones were together. Everyone was on edge, especially with Natasha sacrificing herself for the stone. Everything went according to plan until Thanos from the past blew up the base leaving everyone scattered and injured in some way. The remaining ones who were able to escape the rubble regrouped. That was when everyone came. Everyone who had been snapped was brought back on time for the final battle. It was tough. Every single one of those heroes gave it their all.
You had used all your tricks and abilities to bring havoc on Thanos's army. You enjoyed it completely, being in control and finally getting revenge. You noticed Peter was flying around with the gauntlet at one point and next thing you know, it was on the floor next to Thanos. You used your speed to get to it, which of course you did. Before you could leave, Thanos had a hold of your throat. You choked as he glared into your eyes.
"You are a young one," He spoke. "It's unfortunate you have to die at such a young age." He smirked as he put his hand into the gauntlet. He threw you to the ground as he moaned in pleasure from the power of the stones. His veins were all glowing with each color of the stone.
Tony was quick to his feet along with Carol. When she was punched into a different area, Tony attempted to yank the gauntlet off of him. You began to get up and fight Thanos once he flung Tony across the area. You yelled in determination until he punched you away. Your head and nose were pouring blood when he smirked down at you and Tony.
"I am inevitable," Thanos smirked as he snapped his fingers.
You closed your eyes and waited for death. A moment passed when you didn't feel anything happen. You opened your eyes to see a shocked Thanos and an empty gauntlet.
Looking over at Tony, your eyes widened seeing all the stones connected to his iron gauntlet. He arched his back as he painfully absorbed the power. His veins were covered with all the colors of the infinity stones. He was physically not capable of surviving after using the stones.
Blood was pouring down his eyebrow as he glared at Thanos, "And I..." He breathed out. "Am Iron Man..." He then snapped his finger and a blinding light overcame the area.
Your eyes adjusted to see a burnt Tony staring into the horizon. Your heart dropped as you began to sob.
"No.." You cried. "No no no!"
Pepper and Peter ran over to your crying state. Eventually, the rest of the team came after Thanos and his whole army disappeared.
"Tony!" You cried as Peter was sobbing.
You felt your heart aching at the sight, you couldn't bare the pain. Your heart was racing as you stared at his dying body.
You felt your body electrifying. Lightning coated your entire body as everything slowed down. You looked at everyone's devastation. The thick liquid slowly falling down their face. You needed to go back. You needed to change it. You need to save him. You used your super speed and moved your feet. With every kick off the ground, the angrier you became. You ran as fast as you could as everything around you finally froze because of the speed you were going. You past Scott Lang, Dr. Strange, Clint Barton, Valkyrie, Wanda, Bucky, Peter, the list goes on. Everyone was frozen in place as you sped through everyone.
Your running led you away from the demolished area and into New York City. You didn't stop. You zipped down the busy streets of New York as you thought about your loss. Your anger burned inside of you as you screamed in agony. You continued running and running and running. It can't be him. You can fix this. You shouted into the air as a sonic boom went off. You stopped running and looked around. Your breath hitched when you were back on the battle ground. Thanos and his army was alive, Tony was alive. You successfully reversed time.
You stood there in the middle of the battle looking for the one person who will soon sacrifice himself for the universe. Tony noticed your lack of movement and called out to you, "Why are you standing there kid? Get moving or else you'll be killed!"
You felt like breaking down, there he was. You calmed yourself down as you sped through out the battlefield. You knocked down as many aliens as you could while helping out your teammates. You needed to find the gauntlet and take it back to the time you took them before Tony can die.
You noticed the gauntlet was in Peter's care. He was frozen in the air as his spiderwebs were sticking to the hammer after Steve threw it. The hammer was floating in the air, it's direction slowly inching away from the danger Peter was caught in. You used the aliens that were reaching towards Peter as steps to reach the scared kid. You grabbed onto his leg and stopped using your speed, this allowed time to go back to normal.
Peter yelled in surprise but relaxed slightly after noticing it was you who was clinging onto him, "What the hell [Y/N] you scared me!"
"I need the gauntlet," You ignored his comment.
"It's fine! I have it, I'm taking it away from here." Peter called down to you as he allowed the hammer to pull him further.
"Peter please," You begged. He realized your desperation. He didn't understand why but handed the gauntlet to you. You sighed in relief as you let go of his leg, allowing him to continue flying away with the hammer.
You used your speed again to run away from the battle field. You ran as fast as your legs allowed you too. Everyone and everything was frozen again. You could only hear the lightning that was bouncing off of you. You were hyper-aware of all your surroundings and was about to completely run away until you noticed Thanos was towering over Steve.
A blade was already piercing through his body. You sobbed as you stared in fear. "No no no!" You cried. You stopped running away and ran straight towards Thanos and Steve. With your super speed, you put the iron gauntlet on the floor near by, took Steve away from Thanos then ran back towards the purple Titan.
With your super speed, you punched Thanos in different areas of his body. Your anger boiled in your blood as you ran away at a far distance. Once you were far enough, you ran back towards Thanos at the speed of light. You used your right fist to punch his face causing him to fly backward.
You stopped using your speed and let out a breath of air. You glared at Thanos as he was struggling to stand up. He gave a laugh.
"You took everything from me!" You screamed in anger. Lightning was flickering in your eyes as your hands vibrated.
"I don't even know who you are," Thanos spoke.
Tony was staring in shock at your anger, he didn't know what Thanos took from you. Nothing had happened to you that Thanos caused except for the Snap. Even then, everyone was back. Why were you so distraught? Tony went over to help Steve as he saw you fighting with Thanos.
"N-No, go help [Y/N]." Steve mumbled as Tony began treating him. Blood was sleeping through his suit as be struggled to breathe.
Tony nodded and ran over to you. You screamed in rage as you tried to fight Thanos, completely forgetting about the iron gauntlet. Tony was by your side fighting Thanos with you when Thanos suddenly turned his attention behind you both.
You looked back to see Steve had the gauntlet in his hands. Blood was pouring out of his mouth as he panted, "This is Endgame."
A bright light blinded you for the second time. You felt your heart drop when your eyes readjusted to a half burnt Steve. You cried as you fell on your knees. Your lightning was traveling around your body once again. You sobbed into Steve as he struggled to breathe.
You shook your head, "I need to fix this." You got up and started running. You heard Tony and everyone else shouting your name but you ignored it.
You used all your agony and fear to drive you. With your speed, you managed to go back in time again. You looked around seeing Steve and Tony alive.
Once again, you failed the next time. Clint snapped his fingers to save the universe after you took Steve and Tony away from the battle. You sobbed as you shook your head, "I can fix this." You ran again, leaving a confused Steve and Tony.
You reversed time.
Once again, you failed. You screamed in anger and misery. You then ran away and tried to fix it again. You did it again and again and again and again. You couldn't understand why nothing was working. You felt like your life was on a loop. You go back, get the gauntlet. Sometimes you get it taken from you or you put it somewhere safe. You then go to the battlefield, you bring everyone to safety with your super speed but then someone tries to use the gauntlet to save the universe. You then take the gauntlet away and someone gets injured. You think of hundreds of plans but someone dies every time. You failed them.
You were mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted but you had to keep fighting. You need to, you need to save the team. You need to save the universe. There was a way.
"No matter what [Y/N], always stand up." Tony's voice came into your head. It helped you stay motivated as your feet kicked off the ground.
This was it. You were sure to save everyone. You had the gauntlet in your hand as you ran as far away from the battle. You avoided every single person on the battlefield. You dodged every bullet, spear, energy blast that came your way. You had taken all weapons from Thanos and remembered everyone's route in the battlefield. You were determined to save everyone.
Just as you thought you were safe, you smashed into a figure. Peter Parker. The gauntlet flew from your embrace and fell on the floor where Thanos was. You felt your heart speeding up as you tried reaching for it. Suddenly, Thanos was towering over you. You looked up in anger rather than fear. You did your best to prevent Thanos from laying a finger on the gauntlet.
Just as you thought you were fine, Thanos looked behind you with a bewildered state. You felt your heart speeding up, fearful of what was behind you. You took a moment before finally turned around.
Peter Parker had the gauntlet hooked into his hand. His mask torn off as his nose was bleeding. Tony choked out a sob as Peter mustered up the courage to stare into Thanos's eyes.
"Get the hell away from my family!" He yelled before snapping his finger. A blinding white light consumed your vision. Your eyes readjusted to the light. Your breath hitched when you saw Peter laying on the ground, most of his body burnt from the power. Tony threw himself onto him as he started sobbing.
"No no no not again!" You whimpered to yourself staring at a dying Peter Parker. You choked on your tears as you pulled your hair. You were distraught, you truly thought this was the last time. You felt your mind spinning trying to comprehend what had occurred. You felt like throwing up. You smacked your head in frustration as you tried to think of another plan.
Tony looked up at you, "Again?" Tony stared at your distraught behavior and the way your body was drained. He noticed your running shoes and how worn out they were becoming. They weren't supposed to be worn out for another few weeks. Something was different about you. Tony then realized you were reversing time.
Tony stood up from the deceased Peter Parker and grabbed your arms. He stared into your eyes to see your droopy and puffy eyes. You have been crying for a while now. It's not surprising since you were witnessing the deaths of your family and team.
"[Y/N] how many times have you reversed time?" Tony was determined. The team gathered around as your hands were shaking from the anxiety.
"72 times," You sobbed as your vision was blurry from the tears, "I need to fix this." You then tried running away.
As the lighting was starting to cover your body, Tony's hand gripped yours. You turned around and stared at him, "What are you doing? I need to fix this!"
Dr. Strange came up to you and Tony, "You're reversing time." He knew this was going to happen. He saw it when he was on Titan all those years ago, well in his case, a few moments ago.
You cried, "I need to fix this. No one needs to die. We can figure this out."
Your hands vibrated from your adrenaline. You have been running for hours. You saw Tony die, Pepper die, Steve die, Clint die, Bruce die, Thor die, Strange die, Carol die, Scott die, and now Peter. Each of those times were different. Everyone had different deaths each time. Seeing all those deaths caused you to become hysterical.
"Who was the first to die that made you reverse time in the first place?" Dr. Strange questioned as Tony stared in concern.
You cried as you remembered how painful the experience was for you. How determined you were to bring everyone back. Now, you were drained. You couldn't think of any other ways. You felt like you were suffocating in your own failures.
You hugged Tony as he stumbled back. Tony felt his heart drop when you tightened your grip on him. "I-I can't lose you. Please, I can't. Not again."
Tony pulled slightly away from the hug. He cupped your cheeks as he wiped the tears away from your face using his thumbs. He sighed as tears were coated on his eyes, "I love you so much."
You sobbed again as the team was heartbroken.
"You couldn't find a way, huh?" Tony whispered.
You shook your head, "Pepper, Steve, Thor, Clint, Bruce, Strange, Carol, Scott, and now Peter for the first time."
The team was shocked at how many deaths you had to witness, they accepted the fact that this was destiny. Someone had to sacrifice themselves in order to save the universe.
"[Y/N] don't do anything," Tony finally whispered to you. You felt like falling apart.
"No!" You begged. "I'd rather die than live a life without you."
"Let it happen. It's what it has to be." Tony finished.
"Dad," You cried. That was the first time you said it. Tony's heart flipped when he heard the word. He's been waiting so damn long for it.
"[Y/N]," Tony spoke with a pained smile. "I need you to understand that there will not always be a happy ending. You are more than your speed. You are more than a few chemicals and an explosion. You are my daughter. [Y/N] Stark, I love you so much." He pulled you into a tight embrace, the last you'll ever receive from him. He then kissed your forehead as he stared into your eyes. "Now... run [Y/N], run!" He shouted as he gave you a push forward. You looked at your team, your family. They all gave you a reassuring smile as they hugged Tony.
This is the last time you'll see them together, forever. With your last amounts of energy, you glared into your memories. After all the deaths and agony you had to endure, this is it.
You sobbed as you ran as fast as your energy let you. You shouted as your arms were burning from the movement. Your legs were starting to give out but you needed to continue.
"[Y/N] Stark, I love you." His voice echoed into your mind.
You screeched as you finally heard the sonic boom. There you were, exhausted in the middle of the battlefield, one last time. You had tears falling down as you looked over at Tony flying around and blasting the enemies.
"[Y/N] don't do anything. Let it happen. It's what it has to be." Tony's voice popped up in your head. You wanted to die. You didn't want any of this to happen but you obeyed Tony. You let everything that originally happened occur. Your heart twisted and split in two when you finally saw him with the gauntlet in his hand. The blinding white light covering the area for one last time.
You cried as you crawled over to Tony. His eyes were glossy as he stared ahead. Half of his body was burnt. The team was petrified, you on the other hand, already lived this nightmare dozens of times.
"D-Dad..." You cried as you cupped his cheek.
Tony's eyes opened up to you, "[Y/- [Y/N] Stark."
You cried and hugged him, "We won."
"Tony," Pepper whispered with tears falling. "You can rest now."
Tony's eyes looked around lazily. He made eye contact with every single person until he stopped at you. You smiled as you nodded your head, "I love you so much dad."
His lips twitched up before the light on his chest slowly faded away. You covered your face as you cried. You knew there was nothing you could do. You felt like you failed him. You couldn't think that way though because it's what he wanted.
You wished you were back at the explosion in New York when you met Tony for the first time. You wanted to go back to the time where everything was fine. The times where he was always by your side. Your dad truly cared for you and the team. You missed him so much and there was nothing you can do.
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