#long answer

Shout out to @mama-qwerty for that idea! And you're right, Atwas, the Emeralds never did make an appearance in the show or the games! ;)

Also, just for the record, I'd also like to state that no matter the context, we're never gonna look at Knuckles as having been a complete numbskull to begin with. Because if we're being realistic, Sonic Boom is inconsistent in its portrayal of his intelligence. Some episodes he's just a bit slow on the uptake but is generally competent and well-meaning. Other episodes his idiocy is pushed to Patrick Star levels just so a plot can plot. I like my Boom Knuckles as a well-meaning, fairly competent, light-hearted guy who's willing to get down to business when necessary. Because, at the end of the day, I think Boom Knuckles is more interesting when you look at him as a version of Knuckles that was never given a purpose then a guy whose too stupid to recognize his own right shoe. Maybe he's not so good at social situations, but he's got wicked reflexes in a fight and a talent for understanding the "arcane".

If you want a bit of an explanation for Knuckles' previous antics from the series and how they fit in with SBR in spite of the above: he made mistakes. He's learning and growing from them!

Hey nonnie

My inbox is very full so I’m not gonna answer all my asks because I don’t have the time right now - I got stuff to be doing irl unfortunately - but I will answer this one because there are a few misconceptions flying around within the anger over Buck just being able to get a kid even though he’s single and just had an addiction plotline etc while henren have struggled with the adoption process etc etc.

The two things are incredibly different scenarios - Henrens struggles to adopt a child are fairly true to real life - especially for a queer couple - because the system isn’t set up to allow for different types and styles of family set ups - the system is massively flawed in that way and it should never have been that hard for them to adopt - but it is realistic - regardless of how much I like or dislike a plot like that for them.

Buck how ever is likely going to be put in a very very different scenario to the one henren faced - for starters it’s highly unlikely that he’s just suddenly going to adopt a kid out of nowhere and it be an easy process - that’s not what the show is seemingly doing with bucks plot right now. What they appear to be setting up (and hey I could be wrong - I’ve been wrong before in my speculations - many many times!) is that Conor and Kameron will die and have put buck as their child’s guardian in their will. In season 6 we were shown Kameron going and staying at bucks when her and Conor had a big fight about the baby and him not being present- their entire arc played out as them being isolated and not really having any family - or friends for that matter - and that their (Kamerons at the very least) desire for a child was about them wanting to have a family because they didn’t really have an extended family. If Kameron had friends or family she would’ve had no need to go and stay with buck - hell he should’ve been the last person she’d go to as a guy she didn’t really know before she and Conor asked for his sperm. So they set them up as an isolated couple that would make it realistic for them to put buck - the biological parent of their child - in their will as a guardian - mirroring Eddie doing the same thing with his will and the guardianship of Christopher.

It was all very intentional (and I personally think th sperm donor plot would’ve played out very differently in s6 had the show been cancelled - we know they reshot the birth scenes later on after the move to abc was confirmed - which suggests it was going to have a different outcome if s6 had been the end of the series) as a set up for Buck to end up with his biological child at some point down the line - this is seemingly that point. Now because Buck is named as the child’s guardian in a legal document - that makes it a very very different scenario and process to the one henren went through to adopt a child - ending up with them adopting Mara. It’s not really in the purview of social services to override a will just because Buck is a single man - that’s not a relevant thing - is martial status has zero beating on things. Yes there’s the addiction issue at play to a certain extent - but it’s not a long standing issue that he’s been struggling with for a long period - there are valid ‘reasons’ that lead to his addiction and he got and continues to get help - social services might choose to do a few extra check-ins with him over the next few years, but realistically they don’t have grounds to fight the will in court over the possible safety of the child. Social services would only be involved because the child would need to be placed in care if there is no living family until the will is sorted or if no will exists then the child would be placed up for adoption.

Buck is unlikely to be adopting this child at this point in time - he will simply be welcoming him home because he is his legal guardian and therefore bucks house is now that child’s home. Adoption might come down the line in s10, but it’s not going to be a thin right now at the very end of s9 - the Lee are bigger issues at play - such as the child grieving losing his parents and being very young so not really understanding why he’s suddenly living with a stranger - the trauma that extends from that.

Be furious if you want to be - you’re more than allowed to and I’m not going to stop you - but don’t claim to be done with the writers for this plot line when it’s actually a very realistic one - it’s actually far more common than you’d think for children born from a known donor (egg or sperm) to end up in the care of said donor at some point don the line.

As for the Eddie and Chris of it all - I’m assuming you mean a moment with Buck and this child - I don’t really know what to tell you - just because we’ve had zero spoilers in relation to them doesn’t mean they won’t be a part of this plotline. I wouldn’t expect them to be there when the child first moves into bucks house - it’s gonna be super overwhelming for this child - adding in a couple of extra people to that moment would be wrong on many levels - not to mention that that moment isn’t about buddie - it’s about Buck and this child he’s just gained. We also have no idea when that scene at Bucks is going to take place - I do expect it to be part of the season end montage thing 911 likes to do - showing each main individually (or as a couple) moving forwards in some way - and if so that wouldn’t allow time for Eddie an chris to meet this kid etc - which is fine and normal and doesn’t spell doom for buddie despite what people will try and claim. And if this scene comes earlier in the episode then there is every possibility we will see Eddie a Chris at Bucks house interacting with the kid. But if we don’t we likely will see them doing so pretty early in s10.

As I’ve already said in previous posts and tags - this new child entering the mix does set thins up interestingly on the buddie front - for s10 - the remainder of s9 is much more about setting things up rather than wrapping them up - an buddie still need to work on themselves individually to be able to get together - neither of them are in a place to be figuring out their feelings - regardless of this child entering the story.

I’ve got a lot of asks and seen a lot of stuff moaning about buddie not having scenes together etc etc in the last few episodes despite Tim saying they’ll come out of the New Mexico situation closer than ever and I have to say that I’m either watching a different show to them or reading things in a very different way - because that’s not my read on things at all - just because we haven’t had them in lots and lots of scenes one on one we had a lot of buddie stuff happening that showed them been closer than ever - Eddie was the one Buck was trying to tell about his struggles with the meds he was becoming addicted to - he just wasn’t able to do so - an you can read into the why of that in many ways but it paralleled Bobby with Marcy and Bobby and Athena (in 413 and his helping the drunk driver woman) in connection with Bobbys addiction struggles - which is a pretty big parallel to be drawing if you ask me. We were also shown Eddie being placed in the loudest carer/support role through his withdrawal - he was the one carrying out medial checks - the weren’t part of the montage like hen administering the banana bag was - it was connected to a scene - they had a talk - the chain of command one - which is super important for buddie and plays into a deepening understanding and supporting of one another an tied into the scene post Buck breaking down Eddie door. We were also shown Eddie making multiple attempts to visit and check in on Buck and being concerned about him - and his fears not being fully allayed by what he saw - and then we got a scene of him beating himself for not spotting it to hen - in the kitchen - which we know is a key location in relation to buddie - both arguments and forgiveness etc - Eddie was very much placed into the role of spouse in that scene. And there are multiple others as well. I know everyone wants buddie canon yesterday but ultimately that’s not going to happen - we’ve had a season which has shown us Eddie dealing with his religious trauma an freeing himself of that as well as him growing in other ways - becoming a paramedic, his plot not being solely about him as a parent to Christopher etc an him choosing himself - he’s now in a place where he can start figuring out himself in terms of his sexuality am his feelings for Buck. As for Buck his addiction plot has forced him into the therapy that he’s been side stepping at every opportunity - which will allow him to actually start to dig into his feelings properly going forward - because he’s dealing with his baggage an while that developing addiction was about Bobby and bucks grief over losing him - that really was the final straw on his trauma pile - it was a culmination of everything buckhasn dealt with - starting with his birth and his parents neglect of him - something which him having a child will now allow the show to have him unpack in some way all of which will put him into a place to actually see Eddie as a romantic possibility. They all can have Buck figure out his feeling s before Eddie is shown to the audience to be queer - queer person pining for straight best friend is all sorts of problematic and the shows done a fairly decent job of both avoiding that as well as doing a nudge nudge wink wink to that trope - which time at least feels intentional as a way of saying that’s not what we’re doing here - that Buck is in love with Eddie and Eddie isn’t straight but we’re not going there for Buck until Eddie is out of his closet.

I’d rather they took their time to develop this slow burn properly than have them rush it and it be an unsatisfying canon moment.

Anyway this got rambly and a bit off topic of your ask (but relevant to others in my inbox currently!) but I hope it explains a bit more about why I’m excited by this plot am why I don’t see it as problematic in the way many others are - because I genuinely don’t think the two situations are going to be remotely the same when it comes to Henrens adoption struggles and buck getting this child.

Do you still rewatch ipkknd ?

If you do, what major changes you'd bring to the script that will connect to a modern Indian audience?

Hiya hiya!

Honestly, I have not rewatched it in a long time! At least two years! There's almost a part of the show that I love that I feel I might not love now *eeks*

But yes, some major changes that I would bring in the script is (LONG ANSWER AHEAD);

Treat Khushi like an adult (age her up to 22/23 at least).

Sometimes she was written as a literal child which was undigestible (no sensible woman would turn in circles to find direction, she'd just... literally try to find directions). Zoya from Beintehaa is a great example of a woman who has an exuberant, young spirit but without regressing her to that of a child. So I'd write Khushi more in the guesthouse sequence energy and the later resignation energy because that woman had clarity, thought and growth.

Hold Shyam accountable for assaulting Khushi.

That part was just 'forgotten' in the story. I don't know why. But Khushi needed justice.

A proper redemption track for Arnav post marriage. The fact that he meted out anger on Khushi instead of Shyam for this said a lot.

Flesh out Akash.

He could have really shown the repercussions of Arnav's actions. To know his wife's sister was blackmailed on the night of his marriage instead of thinking his own cousin could consult him was a lot. And the fact his wife's family was ready to hide a disastrous truth about Shyam just to make Payal and his marriage happen says a lot about them. Maybe his mother was right in a way.

Flesh out Payal. There is no way she could live on a marriage that came at her sister's sacrifice. She'd beat herself up. She'd never forgive her own family for letting this happen, nor Arnav.

Balance Khushi as a character.

I definitely see Khushi splitting up into happiness, and numbness to cope with her abusive marriage. So I don't mind her irrational acts - I see it as her inability to deal with the reality of her marriage. As long as it is balanced with her seriousness. So she's crazy silly with the Raizadas to breathe life but once she's in her room alone with Arnav... something dies.

Better utilize Barun leaving in between. I think Barun's absence in between (if that's what happened) could've been far better handled. We could have had a high impact episode of the truth. Khushi's heartbreak and disgust and Payal perhaps overhearing it along with Akash and the sisters leaving the house. And then for a few episodes just focus on Khushi's family and the repercussions of it. And then just when Khushi thinks that ok whatever little marriage is there is ended, BAM, Arnav Singh Raizada is back to take his wife because he knows he's been a horrible husband but he'll spend a lifetime trying to correct it.

OR

Better utilize the kidnapping track. Khushi believing Shyam, getting those papers signed, Manorama Bond, Masala Mama... all useless. Like literally this could have been a solid gripping track. Just... if they went with a bit of logic. I'd have them have the worst argument where Khushi realizes anything she has to say, her justifications, nothing matter because Shyam knows. That somehow even in this marriage, of humiliation, Shyam knows the truth before she does. That it hurts that Arnav didn't shake at her, yell at her, demand for truth. That's the least they had between them. So she won't tell him the truth because the reality is he won't believe it.

Then Arnav leaves but Khushi is desperate. She's broken. She'd rather have him hear her than think of the worst and calls him to wait at the airport. But Arnav does not show up at the airport - maybe she has a dream sequence of running into his arms and he tells her that nothing else matters (maybe she faints out of anxiety). He has left for London. She knows something is wrong. At first she thinks of going to police who immediately entertain her because she's a Raizada but turns out he's a good friend of Shyam's. So she keeps her questions to herself. Then she goes to Akash who decides to loop Shyam, and then Khushi might also learn how Akash might not forgive anyone for hiding anything so this risks Payal's marriage - maybe when Khushi decides to tell Akash about Arnav, perhaps Payal advises Khushi against it, convinces Khushi that she's overreacting about Arnav leaving.

I'd keep Manorama being suspicious for her own reasons (I found her initial reason justifiable). And then Khushi and NK team up as they should. NK should want to beat up Shyam but Khushi forbids because she knows Arnav is in trouble (because Arnav does confess his love to her over a random call). His safety matters first (and NK gets to know the truth of their marriage, which he did anticipate to a certain point). Then NK can have his friends who can do some digging. Meanwhile I'd have Mami begin to notice how weirdly Shyam was behaving with Khushi. (The fact Shyam begins to openly harass Khushi catches her eye but she does not know whom to tell, how to work this out).

Meanwhile Khushi and NK figure out that tracing Shyam would be the best and involve Aman (cause he was weirded out himself by Arnav not showing up and again, good character to introduce instead of Masala Mama - and this guy could be Anjali's potential love interest later. And prove that Arnav has smart employees). Then let them trace and find Arnav, rabba ve, save him and then show what happened at airport.

Arnav did probably show up but he was kept on gunpoint and threatened to not go to Khushi because she was also kept on a hidden gunpoint (she didn't see who it was but Shyam had kept a man around) so Arnav has no choice but to watch Khushi crying, humility left, as she waits for him at the airport. (Maybe that's how Arnav learns of Shyam's truth where Shyam might even enjoy torturing Arnav by revealing everything and even pitying him over how easily he could've had a happy marriage but now didn't).

And at home, when the revelation blasts open with Arnav, NK, Aman and Khushi holding Shyam accountable - Shyam opens all floodgates. At first Mami hates Shyam (a trump card he did not expect) because he's harassing Khushi. But Shyam reveals he and Khushi were engaged and Mimi's sympathy dies out when she learns Khushi and family hid this truth. Shyam calls out lack of evidence and rather points out the Guptas spinning tales... and even asking if they're a respectable family if they hide such a truth from the Raizadas. So Shyam does get 'arrested', Anjali does not believe anybody because Shyam has a point, everyone is upset at the Guptas (they all hate Shyam for harassing and attempting to assassinate Arnav) but they hold Guptas equally responsible, and Shyam's parting words to Khushi can literally be that the reason why Arnav believes the truth is not because Khushi is his love - it's because Shyam told him the truth. And that creates a deep rupture in their marriage.

I'd go somewhere in these lines. (Phew that's a long answer!)

AND OBVIOUSLY REVIVE SHASHI! HE WOULD BE THE KEY FOR PUTTING SHYAM IN JAIL! (Or even bring another redemption track for Arnav - perhaps that's how he learned the truth from!)

Also probably heighten/develop intimacy between Arnav and Khushi so as to it does not go into the weird 'abhi suhaagraat' karte hai vibes. Arnav and Khushi are perfect during the beginning of Dadi track. They do feel closer physically, they are healing from wounds, they are beginning to laugh. Bring in the fact that they're not married in better light. In fact I'd show Khushi is beginning to panic as six months are coming to a close end and she and Arnav should do something to fix it and for Arnav it's an afterthought cause obviously the marriage is legal.

Maybe she even has a cute proposal idea - cue in some comedy. She could curse Devi Maiyya that in this marriage Khushi has to do everything herself, even proposal! Maybe she'd watch Hollywood films cause that's what Arnav is more likely to get influenced by and be a little excited and embarrassed that every proposal ends with a kiss and would even try to practice to get closer to Arnav (so there's lot of room for romance and comedy as Khushi vows to renew her marriage).

Then she discovers there's no 'six months' rule like that. And that would devastate Khushi. She believed him, blindly. While he took advantage of her lack of education. He tries to assert of his inadvertent emotions for her to tie her into something that's more permanent even when he thought the worst of her, for Khushi it's again his blackmail. The fact that it's a laughing matter for him... that he's always known more about everything and she's known nothing. Why did she marry? Only he knew. Why did her life turn into a nightmare? Only he knew. How long would this marriage last? Only he knew. If for once Arnav stepped in her shoes... Arnav even does not understand her panic because they are married. Even in a temple. Khushi can even scoff if he calls that a marriage because no ritual ever happened. But she believed in this sindoor smeared in hatred. Because it was him. In shastras marriages without consent don't count, but for her him dragging her to a temple counted because it was him. And then you have a proper fallout of this scene.

A proper declaration of love by Arnav - which Khushi refuses to accept because she's only going to believe any of it when Arnav has nothing to gain from confessing his love. And Arnav would never do anything that would hurt his image or risk him losing what he likes because he's a shrewd businessman.

And then you have him flip the table by confessing everything to Khushi's family, and begging for a chance to get back. Giving Khushi power to select the rest of her life. Dadi can do her usual drama and we think they both are separated but Khushi waits, sees what he does, and when Arnav does respect that she has chosen not to go ahead with him and he apologizes regardless - that's when Khushi decides that yes, she will marry him again. Maybe they marry again privately, the sindoor, pheras, varmala just for them before the family takes them for a BIG grand wedding cause true, they do need their ceremony XD

And to insert more romance, now that they're properly married before a temple they could likely romance as much as ITV would allow them before Arnav is nearly discovered in Khushi's room before running away from the window (a hilarious throwback to the NYE night). You know, as much as feels and cutesies before Dadi 'dadies'.

Damn... I do miss writing fanfics.

But yes this WAS a long answer! Hope you liked these ideas!

Ciao,

Hello! I'm glad to hear that Stan in a Can is hitting the right spots. It really is a horrible form of existence, a haunting thought. And I do hear you. There is something deeply fascinating about a Ford that has to live with his own guilt.

If Fiddleford were to learn about the can, and realise its purpose, he'd probably try his best to help Stanley. (The relationship between Ford and Fidds here is pretty rocky, neither of them trusting the other fully. It's my personal headcanon why ABW! Fidds immediately knew that canon! Ford wasn't "his" Ford.) My quick thoughts regarding some non static routes under the cut:

A kind Fidds would try to break the can and free Stan as soon as he'd learned about it. He'd recognise it as the horror that it was and wouldn't even attempt anything else - also it's too risky. He's on team "let that man die for real please." It wouldn't succeed, naturally. I can't imagine Stanford leaving his brother in an unsafe space. Thus, another fight between the scientists would break out - Fidds might attempt to reason with Ford, but at some point there's not much else he can do. For both of them it'd be final. They've broken each other's trust AGAIN. I do like the thought of Fidds actually getting a vessel/communication system going, but I think it wouldn't be easy for him to even reach Stanley after that conversation with Ford. And while I can't see Ford providing Stanley with the ability to communicate long term; I do think it'd be his hubris to think he could just "check" in on Stanley, and be proven right in his assumptions that everything is fine. It's only short term to see how Stanley is faring, something to 'read' the can, basically. (Just tell Stanley afterwards that it was a prototype and it's malfunctioned.)

That’s a fair question. For me, the issue isn’t that mako cared about korra after the breakup. I actually think exes can absolutely still care about each other and have meaningful emotional moments.

The reason I see it as baiting is because of the specific narrative choices being made so late in the series. If korrasami was intended as the endgame, Book 4 had limited time to develop that relationship. Yet during one of korra’s most important emotional arcs, the show repeatedly placed mako in prominent supportive scenes while asami often remained in the background. From a shipping perspective, that naturally led a lot of viewers to think makorra was still being positioned as a possibility.

I also think it’s important to remember the context of watching the show before the finale aired. Looking back now, it’s easy to say those were simply scenes showing that exes can still care about each other. But at the time, the possibility of makorra getting back together had never been definitively ruled out. The audience didn’t know korrasami was going to be the endgame. So when mako kept receiving major emotional moments with korra, many viewers naturally interpreted them as potential romantic setup rather than purely platonic support.

That’s why memes like “we popping the biggest bottles when makorra happens tomorrow” took off. People weren’t imagining romantic subtext out of nowhere. They were reacting to what the show was emphasizing on screen and to the fact that makorra still seemed like a viable possibility right up until the ending.

the movies completely mischaracterize sonic, turning him from a confident, somewhat rebellious, independent cool-kid figure to a weird lonely outcast who spouts a hundred cringey pop-culture references a minute and befriends a *cop* of all people. that's like the last person sonic would associate with. he's against the establishment and for freedom.

jim carrey isn't even recognizable as dr. eggman, he's just 90s jim carrey, tails is the "friend in distress", knuckles has a very unfitting voice that just sounds really weird and borderline racist because 'haha indigenous-coded character is the dumb one' and shadow is just some kind of fancast to appease the 'oOoOo kEaNu' fans. aside from tails all the voices are celebrities who sound nothing like the character, they couldn't even be bothered to give the original voices like jason griffith back as much as possible. the third movie in particular was literally just a worse version of sonic adventure 2, you're better off just playing the game again because the movie felt like yet another overly-hyped nostalgia cash-grab.

This is going to be such a hugely nerdy response, I love Sonic. I've played a bunch of the games, I've watched a bunch of the shows- I genuinely love the Sonic franchise. So I apologize to anyone who follows me that doesn't care about Sonic.

Look, you can have your own opinions on the Sonic movies, I know I have mine and i CERTAINLY have opinions on fucking Paramount, but I Completely disagree on the over-hyped nostalgia cash grab comment. The director of these movies literally has been working on the Sonic games since the early 2000s. (Shadow 2005 my beloved) He very clearly LOVES these characters and clearly puts a lot of love and care into these movies. I've seen videos from Sonic youtubers pointing out all of the little things he's added to these movies from games HE WORKED ON. The man has posted online about Sonic statues and figurines he's bought. The writers and the many animators/animation studios also all have worked with Sonic for YEARS. Several of them help animate the games on a regular fucking basis. The only person who genuinely has not seemed to be a massive Sonic fan has been the composer.

Putting the rest of this under a read more because it got real long real fast

Love this question! And to be honest, ever since I watched BJBJ I've been wondering about this. Because, to me, at least when I first watched the movie, I got to the conclusion that he must have fallen in love with her over the years; that he never had any true romantic inclinations towards Lydia in the first movie. So I had to wonder, what changed?

This answer got long... So I'll put a little summary, Tl;Dr answer here: I think there's an in-canon reason he fell for her and a meta reason why Tim Burton and co decided to make Betelgeuse be in love with Lydia in canon. The in-canon reason: Opposites attract. She is exactly his type: a dark, mysterious beauty. Plus her calm demeanor suits his unhinged nature. Their energies play nicely off each other, completing and balancing each other in a way no one else could, whether Lydia realizes it now or not. Lydia also never seemed to mind ugly, scary, dark things, and Betelgeuse is kind of all of that. At some point he grew fond of her and started needing this sweet, dark beauty in his (after)life. The meta reason: Lydia and Betelgeuse are a favorite "Burton Couple", almost right there with Jack and Sally, at least to a LOT of people.

Now to the long answer, because I totally always write a lot (below the read more cut bc this one got pretty long):